I’m not the biggest fan of new years resolutions. I’m “that person” who sets a goal only to fall back on it during the second week in January. But, when it comes to reading goals, I can actually stick to them!
This year will be BUSY! One of the busiest I’ve had in a while. We have a vacation planned in August, a wedding for my brother in law where both my kids and husband are in the wedding party, and a bunch of other things. So, the theme when it comes to reading and blogging will be “Go with the flow”. My reading and blogging goals in 2018 were large (See my updated reading goals for 2018 here!). I wanted to see what I could accomplish when I put some pressure on myself….. and I was pleasantly surprised that I accomplished more than I thought I would! As proud as I am in my achievements, it was hard. There was this constant voice inside my head telling me that I couldn’t rest, and it was freaking exhausting. By the end of December I found myself in a massive social media and reading slump. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. The drive wasn’t there and, when I forced myself to do it, I realized that I was very unhappy. 2019 will be the year with as little pressure as possible! I need to get back into the mood where i’m doing things for the fun of it – not because it HAS to be done. With that, here’s a look at my goals for 2019:
READING GOALS:
READ 52 BOOKS:
In 2018, my goal was to read 100 books. I desperately wanted to reach the triple digits! AND I DID!!! I’m so proud of myself for that number! But, like I said above, I was constantly feeling the pressure. I wouldn’t allow myself to watch movies or tv shows because I felt guilty for not reading. I also found that I was choosing some shorter books because I could finish them faster. This year is going to be all about reading what I’m in the mood for – regardless of length. By setting my goal for a book a week, I’ll also allow myself some guilt free down time!
READ MORE MALE AUTHORS:
I’m not sure if I gravitate towards women authors because I’m a woman myself, or if it’s just coincidence. BUT – I would like to actively look for more books written by men. I almost always enjoy the books I’ve read by men! I appreciate their sense of humour, their brutality, creativity, and adventure. I especially love fantasy and science fiction written by men. So my goal is to balance the scales.
HAVE AN AVERAGE BOOK LENGTH OF OVER 400 PAGES:
Another reason for my lowered reading goal of 52 books this year, is to allow myself to read LONGER BOOKS! I don’t want to feel that I need to choose books based on the time it will take me to finish it! I want to be able to choose books because they sound interesting – even if that book is over 700 pages! Even though longer books are intimidating, they don’t really take that much longer for me to read. So less pressure means that I can pick up those brick shaped tomes!
BLOGGING/SOCIAL MEDIA GOALS:
LOOSE BLOG POST SCHEDULE!
Over the last year I told myself that I needed to post 6 days a week. For the most part, this was easy – I have a lot of reoccurring posts, reviews, and things to talk about. But, there were some days that I felt like ripping my own hair out trying to figure out what to post! Remember my slogan for 2019? Go with the flow? Well, if I don’t have something to post (and don’t have the time), I won’t force myself! It’s ok to not post every day!
POST ON INSTAGRAM 2X A WEEK:
My social media slump was HORRIBLE! And, to be honest, it still has its claws in me. But I am confident I can find my way out soon! I really want to get into the habit of posting more on Instagram – both bookish content and my planner. I might not reach this goal, and that’s ok. But I do hope to keep up with this in 2019.
BOOKSTAGRAM POST FOR EVERY BOOK I’VE READ:
This will help with my 2X a week goal, but I want to see if I can take a picture of every book I read in 2019. These pictures really only take a few minutes, and I can do a few pictures at the same time. But it’s also something that I’ve really struggled with. I won’t be crushed if I don’t reach this goal, but it’s a goal all the same.
There are my goals for 2019! As you can see, it’s all about me letting myself take a break without being guilt free. I put so much pressure on myself in 2018 that it all became a chore. 2019 will be all about keeping things light and fun! 2019 will be the year of curiosity, fun, and adventure!
What are your goals for 2019?
Until next time, happy reading!
Bionic Book Worm 
Ooh booksgram for ever book sounds a good way of recording books read; I may copy. Last year I intended to do a colouring in books in bullet journal thing, but failed to keep up and complete. But you are right taking book pics is do able as can do when start book or even after finished if pile ones finished up to do all at once.
Strange how it can be hard to know whether it is one self gravitating towards certain books or there are other factors such as keep reading similar due to that is what exposes to and Amazon suggestions etc…
I realised from book scavenger challenges most books I read are by white people and probably most likely whites females! Like myself!
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I’ve been really trying to read more diverse authors. I never thought to add that to my goals! I like diversity in books, but the voices of authors is more important to me
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Yes! I agree – I love that idea. I may steal it, too!
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I would love to be more into the whole Bookstagram thing, but I always look at the other pictures that people take and then look at mine and realize I have zero eye for design lol The one “artsy” picture I think I liked that I took involved me putting my phone in a plant to show off the audiobook version of “The Nest.” I like the idea of keeping track of every book you read by taking a picture, though, and I think that’s something I’d like to try, too.
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I think that’s part of the reason why I got in an instagram slump – I always look at other pictures and think mine look basic compared to theirs! But I’m going to give it a shot anyways 😂
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These are some great goals and I’m sure you will smash them all 😀💜💜
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Go with the flow is a good mantra to have. I’ll definitely be living by that motto this year too. Last year I made the unexpected decision to go back to school, so reading and blogging kind of fell by the wayside. I felt so guilty for leaving my blog hanging. This year I’m not going to stress about it and just post when I have the material to do so.
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Congrats on going back to school!! That’s sometimes a scary leap. Glad you’re going to try not to stress. There’s only so many hours in a day 🙂
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Well Shanah backing off will be my mantra too! I wish you luck!
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Same to you 🙂❤️
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Excellent post, Shanah, and some well-thought-out goals. They look so attainable and I can so relate to cutting back. I also found myself at odds to try and attain my self-imposed schedule and it became a chore. I’m enjoying graphics and bookstagram and would prefer doing that rather than the reviews, but really enjoy reading. Gotta do the reviews if I do the read. I’ve been trying new authors and genres as well. Here’s lots of wishes for your success!
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Sounds like you’ve got a great year ahead as well! Best of luck!
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Great post! I really like your ‘read one book per week’ sometimes we stress ourselves so much because we set the bar too high and we try out best to get there – and by doing so we sometimes lose the happiness in picking a book just to read it. I hope you do great with your goals!
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That’s so true. I felt like I HAD to read – not wanted to. I can’t wait to see how much I’ll get to when the pressure is off 🙂 good luck with your goals this year as well!
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Yay to 52 books! That’s my goal for the year as well (same as last year and not quite achieved!) I’m all about going with the flow and I’m hoping you find it easy to do, oddly enough I don’t – I have to put in ‘effort’ to relax which sounds ridiculous! I wish you better luck 😉
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I totally know what you mean about putting effort into relaxing. Sounds silly, but it’s true!
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Ugh. My social media game is so weak. Maybe we should do this one together and hold each other accountable?
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That sounds like a good idea. I’m starting off small. Small goals and just remembering to take 5 minutes to post somewhere. Working so far
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These are some great goals 😀 I love how you learned from last year what does and doesn’t work for you. I haven’t done any major reading goals before, but I think I’ll try making a list this year
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My advice is to go easy. Set things that are attainable so you’re not too disappointed if you don’t reach it. But also try to push yourself just enough that it might motivate you 🙂
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Thank you for the advice 🙂
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I want to read more ‘older’ books, not necessarily but books released in 2000-2015 for example
(Www.evelynreads.com)
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Also my goal in a way. I’m trying to really get picky with new releases and focus a lot on books on my backlist
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Good luck with your goals this year!
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Same to you!
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Those sound like great goals, I hope you achieve all of them and they don’t put undue pressure on you this year.
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