Let’s Talk Bookish – Are Reading Goals Worth it?

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January 12: Are Reading Goals Worth It?

Prompts: Did you set reading goals for 2024? Have you set reading goals in past years? Do they motivate you to read more, or do they make reading more stressful? What kinds of goals, if any, are the most motivating to you? Have you noticed a change in your reading since you started blogging? How about goals you set?

Welcome back to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! Today’s topic dives into reading goals, and whether they’re actually worth it or not. Also, do they even work? I’m sure there are differing opinions on this, though I feel like it’s very common in the bookish community to at least set a minimum number of books as a goal per year.

I didn’t set anything too concrete as a reading goal in 2024. I set a rather modest number of books as a goal, but nothing much beyond that. Between all the busy-ness of life, it’s really easy to plan too much and have a lot of things fall to the wayside as the schedule for the year actually shapes up. I think this year will be another year of just a vague number that I will probably reach. I think I will try and set little goals along the way if anything pops up, but I try not to be overly ambitious just because it’s January.

I think the goal can be both motivating and stressful. One the one hand it reminds me that I wanted to read a certain number of books. On the other hand, if I don’t want to read then it just reminds me of how much I haven’t read and still don’t want to read. I think I know my goals are generally reachable, so I don’t need to stress too much about it. Therefore for me, goals are mostly just motivational, and a small track record of my progress throughout the year. There are inevitably slower and faster months, and I think I have gotten used to that for the most part.

I usually just pick an arbitrary number as my bookish reading goal, but I think I will also slowly think of other small goals I may want to do in the near future, be it genre, author, or perhaps topic-related goals. I find that little short-term goals with a more specific objective in mind tends to help me to be focused on the goal, and to encourage me to continue. Often this will be set off by a particular book, and I think getting the ball rolling is important to timely completion of the goal.

I definitely have noticed a change since blogging. I often think of whether the book I read would be up for review on the blog, and if not, perhaps it may have to take the backburner sometimes. But most of the time I am into reading thrillers, and of course I just want to provide as comprehensive a library as possible (slowly!) for readers, and honestly, myself.

My goals haven’t changed too too much over the years, and I think I like it and will continue with it. It allows me to be flexible when things come up for better or for worse, and if I make it over my goal, that’s great! And even if not, it really isn’t a big deal. I mostly just want to make sure that I was able to enjoy my year of reading, and to not forget about it too often, which I think blogging has helped with significantly.

How about you all? Are goals more encouraging or more of a hinderance? Or does it depend on the kind of goal? Let me know what works for you all in the comments below!