“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go!”

Dr. Seuss.

One of my goals for 2024 is to read more books.

Yes, the goal is a little vague, but keep, ah, reading … more on this later.

While I like to think of myself as a fairly avid reader and — I certainly LOVE perusing bookstores, that new book smell, bookshelves overflowing with books new and old … and, well, everything that goes with that, “I’m a reader” aesthetic — the truth is, I don’t always have time to read.

Or at least, I feel like I don’t have time to read as much as I’d like. And yes, I find this super frustrating at times.

So, yes …

Goal 1: read more.

I’m thinking initially about a book per 1-2 months — I’m giving myself a little wiggle room here with baby being here and all 🙂

Added to that, I’d really love to increase my reading repertoire — to challenge myself with classics like Tolstoy, Dickens, Austen, Orwell …. the list could go on.

But really, I’m all about increasing my reading repertoire with anything and everything!

Goal 2: increasing my reading repertoire.

reading habits

Habit, noun – something that you do often and regularly.

Cambridge Dictionary.

The other week I viewed James Clear’s MasterClass.

James Clear is the writer best known for his book, Atomic Habits.

For anyone subscribed to MasterClass, I highly recommend viewing James’ class — great for the start of a new year when setting goals is generally high(er) on one’s agenda.

James’ takeaways, which I’m going to try to incorporate in my ‘read more’ goal, are:

And obviously these takeaways can be transferred to every goal you’re wanting to achieve.

• Identity: turning your goal into your identity. For me: my goal is to read more. My identity: I’m a reader. An avid reader is the kind of person I wish to become — ‘avid reader’ is the ‘type of identity’ I’d like to reinforce. I’d like to be the type of person that reads every day.
• System: develop a system (habits) to achieve your identity. For me: my system is to read 10 pages of my chosen book each day.
• A clear plan: have a clear plan (clarity is so important to following through with your plan!) of ‘when and where your habits are going to occur’. For me: I will read 10 pages of my current book first thing each morning, with my morning coffee, making the most of the moments when baby is napping.
• Mindset reframe: be clear about why you’re trying to achieve this goal — why you’re performing this particular habit and how it’s benefiting you. For me: I want to read more to learn more. So that I can hold interesting conversations with others. So that the speed at which I read increases. So that my vocabulary continues to develop. To help with my writing. As Stephen King once said, “If you want to be a writer you must do two things above all else: read a lot and write a lot”. Also, remember: you get to do this habit, you don’t have to do it.
• Social component: to help your habit stick, tell others about it — be accountable and surround yourself with like-minded people. ‘The social expectation gets you to follow through with the habit’. For me: starting ‘gosia’s book club’ as part of this blog is my way of staying accountable. Plus, I’m super keen on tallying up all the books I read at the end of the year, to look back and see how many I was actually able to read! 🙂
• Make it easy: start small and improve or build on it each day. For me: with baby here, reading a chunk of a book at one time is never going to happen. Our super cute bubba takes a lot of my attention. The key here is to read a little, often. A page or two of my current book is better than none and a lot more doable (and therefore, more likely to happen) than trying to sit down to read, for example, a full chapter.
• Take action: planning is good but you have to actually do something. You have to actually pick up the book and start reading rather than simply thinking about reading more!

back to the ‘club’

So, back to ‘gosia’s book club’.

The first book for 2024 (which technically I started reading at the end of last year, before baby arrived … but heyho, gotta finish it so it’s becoming the first book for 2024!) is:

Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman

It’s available on Amazon and it’s all about the ‘wisdom of French parenting’ as discovered by ‘one American mother’.

Basically, it’s a light-hearted parenting book — an insight into how French parents bring up their bébé’s as compared to parents in the US (in this case) — which given I’ve just had a baby, is perfect!

And the more perfect the book is for right now, the easier it will be to read it … and so, the easier it will be to kickstart my goal of reading more in 2024 … and turning the goal of reading more, into a habit!

x G.

Margaret Mielczarek

editor, journalist, digital content creator with a background in nutrition & dietetics.