I wrote a post a few years ago called “Taming the Reading Hobgoblin.” In that post, I both accepted and lamented the fact that I was not following my reading game, in which I made a point to finish reading books. For several years prior to that, I kept a log of the books I read, and I generally read 20 to 30 books a year. This was quite satisfying, yet I reached a point where I wanted a break from the game. I did not want to force myself to do something just for the sake of consistency.
Like I did then, I will start out with this quote:
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Emerson
Nowadays, I think I am even more flexible with myself about not having to be “foolishly consistent” about reading. This is good, because this year I have not been following my reading game. Sure, I have read a handful of books. I have also put down a handful of books that I did not get into. I’ve been slowly working my way through Tony Robbins’ “Money: Master the Game” for the fourth time, and I regularly pick up Jeff Galloway’s “Marathon: You Can Do It” and gleam some insight for my marathon training.
Otherwise, I have had to accept the fact that for the time being the reading game has gone to pot!
I still read all the time. Like most of us “moderns,” a lot of my reading is on my phone or on the computer. I tend to read a lot of business and investing-related articles. I haven’t quite adjusted to the idea of “reading” by listening to audiobooks. Yet by that measure, I’m “reading” all the time when I listen to Abraham Hicks.
I think of reading as a kind of association. You are associating with the author, going inside his or her world, gaining insight or being led on a journey. Maybe it doesn’t matter what format that comes in, whether audio (recordings), audio-visual (films), or visual (books).
As for foolish consistency, these days I am more focused on learning and expanding, not having to follow some rigid picture of how I am supposed to learn and expand. The idea of reading as the sole source of learning seems a bit antiquated in the age of Youtube.
And yet I am just as much a fan of reading as I have ever been. I am where I am, and that’s ok 🙂
Long live books!