As a former health coach, I’m often asked how to reach goals. This is the time of year that we call goals resolutions, and everybody tends to have one in mind. As a former library assistant, my personal resolutions come in the form of reading milestones. So, if you have a book-related resolution in mind, read on to learn how you can stick to and even (gasp!) reach your reading goals this year.
First, a disclaimer. Your reading goal is for you. The good thing about 2025 is that reading is very cool. Book influencers share everything from what to read, when the collector’s edition is coming out, and how many books they will read this year. The bad news is that comparison is the thief of happiness, and when someone challenges themselves to read 200 books this year, you might feel pressured to up the ante.
1. Find your why.
The best way to combat keeping up with the Joneses is to remember why you want to set a reading goal in the first place. This requires visioning. Even if you are not really into vision boards or manifesting, I invite you to take a moment to be present with this thought process.
Imagine how you will feel when you reach your reading goal. Happy? Fulfilled? Accomplished? Really dig into the emotion of reaching your goal. This is your WHY. The WHY is the anchor to your goal. It will ground you when you are losing motivation (and you will…just a fact, no judgment here). What is your WHY?
2. Celebrate your wins.
Once you have that feeling, add a little more to it. How will you celebrate your accomplishment? And yes, buying a new book is a great way to celebrate! Or maybe you get to build that new bookshelf. Will you start a book club now that you know you can reach your goals? Whatever that thing is, remember it as you’re on your journey. Along with your WHY, the celebration will help you turn one page after the other when you feel yourself hitting an obstacle.
3. Set achievable reading goals.
Goals, despite popular opinion, are meant to be helpful and not punishing. They are meant to be attainable. If you’ve set the goal up right, then you’re stretching yourself to grow but not setting yourself up for failure. It’s doing more than you’ve done before but not setting such a high bar that the odds of you accomplishing it aren’t even covered by Vegas. Now comes the point in goal setting that may seem counter to anything you’ve ever heard about goals:
Set a low bar for your goal. Seriously. If you’re thinking about a goal of reading a certain number of books for the year of 2025, go lower than the first number that pops into your head. And use your past experience as a guide. If you read three books last year (and good for you!), then setting a goal of 50 books this year is not doing your future self a favor.
If three books felt comfortable, then consider four or five. If three was easy, then consider six or eight. The point is to find that sweet spot where it will feel like an accomplishment to reach your goal. Notice I didn’t say that it will feel miraculous. It shouldn’t be a miracle to reach the goal. That is not what we are going for.
4. Get specific with your reading goals.
Also, the more specific you get with your goal, the better. If I was advising a bookworm about setting a goal for reading and they said they wanted to read four books this year, then I would have to push back. How will you read four books this year? Sounds silly, but it’s all about getting in the weeds. HOW will this goal happen? This is the difference between people reaching goals or not. The details of HOW to accomplish the task AND the anticipation of the pesky obstacles that are bound to get in the way. It’s not a matter of if but when. You can be simultaneously optimistic and realistic about a goal.
If you’re not a morning person, then please don’t set a reading goal of getting up before everyone else in the house to have protected reading time. It might sound like a great plan, but if you’re a night owl, then you’re expecting something more from yourself than you can deliver and that’s not fair. Maybe being a night owl means that you turn off the TV a half hour earlier and read in bed each evening. Or maybe you read better in long stretches. Maybe you have time on Sunday afternoons that you can put a couple hours in if you won’t be able to read during the week.
5. Remember that all reading counts!
And please, please if you don’t know this already, can I be the bearer of wonderful news? All reading is reading. All reading counts. Do you have a long commute in the car or subway? Consider listening to an audiobook. Does that count as reading? 100 percent. Hands get tired of holding the 700-page fantasy you made it your mission to tackle this year? Consider an ebook. Some libraries even have e-readers available to check out if you don’t own one—or you can use a tablet or phone. (In fact, libraries have all formats of books so go ask your librarian for whatever format is best for you!)
And while we’re talking about unique, customized-for-you goals, remember that your goal can look any way you want it. Maybe you would rather set a number of pages to read instead of number of books. Maybe you tackle a new genre of books this year. A new author or group of writers? Non-fiction? That series you’ve been putting off? Maybe you set goals for each season or quarter instead of a whole year. Your goal can be anything you want it to be. It’s up to you.
Now, formulate a sentence describing how you will reach your goal. You need to be able to measure how you’re doing along the way.
“I will read six books this year by setting aside 30 minutes of undisturbed reading time four times a week.”
When you are specific, you can outplay your obstacles. Notice how the previous goal didn’t say read every day? This gives wiggle room for the terrible, very bad, I-didn’t-have-time-to-read day. And if you come across an obstacle that was unexpected, that’s okay. How will you deal with it differently the next time? You can always adjust the HOW of accomplishing your overall goal once you try out what works for you (and what doesn’t).
6. Keep yourself accountable.
And get yourself an accountability buddy. When you speak a goal out loud to someone, you are more invested in getting it done. If you keep it to yourself, then you can always let yourself off the hook. So, tell a friend, get a reading tracker or put an alarm on your phone. Whatever will be a check-in on whether you’re still working on the goal or not.
TL;DR
As a recap, here’s how to set yourself up for success with your 2025 reading goal:
- Find your WHY for making a goal in the first place and decide how you will celebrate once you’ve accomplished it. These are your anchors.
- Learn from your past behaviors, successes and preferences to guide you to an achievable goal for you.
- Think about the specifics of reaching your goal and consider the speed bumps along the way.
- Write a sentence that lays out HOW you will be actively working on your goal so you can measure your progress and see where to adjust.
- Tell a friend so they can hold you accountable.
- Don’t get caught up comparing your goal and progress with others.
- And when you hit those speed bumps (and everybody does, but you got this), give yourself some grace, pivot, remember your WHY and go at it again!
Whatever your goal this year, remember that reading is self-care, not a competition. And above all, have fun!
Featured photo via Unsplash
