Meta Description: This is your guide to mastering all your reading challenges with tips for setting your goal, staying motivated, and expanding your reading list.
As a reader, we often find ourselves stuck reading one kind or genre of books. Of course, with time you develop a taste for a certain genre of books while other genres don’t interest you anymore. Some might call it refining your reading while others might call it limiting yourself. Either way, readers worldwide came up with ‘reading challenges’ to help readers who might be stuck in such a situation. These challenges also help reignite your passion for reading. In this blog, we’ll explore how to set reading challenges and a few tips to achieve them successfully.
Understanding Reading Challenges
Simply put, in a reading challenge you set certain reading-related goals for yourself. This could entail any type of challenge that you wish to master in your set timeline. If you haven’t been consistent in reading, you could set a certain number of books you want to read in a year. If you have been stuck on a genre, you could pick different genres to read, or if you want to explore different authors, you could choose the bestselling books of different authors and give them a try. There are multiple ways to approach this challenge, all with a purpose of you expanding and improving your reading in whatever way you feel comfortable with.
Here is how you could begin with your challenge and also conquer it.
Setting Realistic Reading Goals
No, you cannot read a book in a day, so don’t set goals that are not possible to achieve. The key to a successful reading challenge is setting realistic goals. If you’re not a habitual reader, start with setting 10 books a year to read. And if you want to try different authors, start reading five new authors. Start small, and try to overwhelm yourself with books. it might backfire and you might end up giving up reading altogether, demotivated from not achieving your goals.
1. Choose Your Challenge Wisely
Quantity vs. Quality: Before setting the challenge, make up your mind about what you need to focus more on. If you want to read more books, read books more deeply or try new genres. Always start by picking up fewer books and gradually increasing the challenge.
Specific Themes or Genres: If the genre is your concern, consider picking up a different genre and focusing on it for the first six months or even a year and slowly moving on to the next genre. You might even add the usual genre you read, just so you stay in touch with that genre, too.
2. Personalize Your Challenge
Reading is to be inserted into your routine, not your routine to be readjusted for your reading, so keep your routine, lifestyle, and work-life in mind before setting yourself up a challenge. If you have a busy lifestyle, you might even choose audiobooks, as long as you have a story to listen to.
If you’re part of a book club, align some of your reading goals with the club’s selections to kill two birds with one stone.
Tips for Achieving Your Reading Goals
Setting goals is one thing, but achieving them is another. Here are some tips to help you stay on track:
1. Create a Reading Schedule
Allocate specific times for reading. Whether it’s during your commute or before bed, having a designated reading time can help you stay consistent.
2. Track Your Progress
Keep track of the books and genres that you have read. Get yourself a reading journal, an app, or a spreadsheet to track your books.
3. Join a Reading Community
Online platforms like Goodreads or local book clubs can be great for encouragement and book recommendations.
4. Embrace Variety
Mixing up genres can keep your reading challenge exciting. If you’ve just finished a heavy historical novel, maybe switch to a light-hearted comedy next.
5. Utilize Technology
Carrying hardcover books around can be a task and you can easily forget them somewhere. Utilize technology, such as E-books and audiobooks to make reading fit in your everyday life. They are especially useful when you’re on the go.
6. Reward Yourself
Appreciation can go a long way, especially when you achieve a milestone. Treat yourself to every achievement in whatever you find suitable.
Conclusion
Reading in no way has to be a hassle, it is meant to allow you to escape your reality for a while. So, enjoy and appreciate the journey through the pages, one book at a time.
Happy reading!
