2016 Reading Challenge Review

Last year I challenged myself to read 52 books for the year, which is quite a big one for me because I didn't use to read that many books. It's only recently over the past few years that I took it upon myself to read more. It first started with a book a month in 2014, then 2 books a month in 2015 and for 2016 I challenged myself to read a book a week! Sadly I failed. Or I should say, I didn't completely reach my goal. I read 35 books instead of 52. I started strong but somewhere in the middle of the year, it stopped being a priority for a couple months and I didn't managed to catch up. Perhaps I was implementing some of the lessons I learned from the books, I got sidetracked with many other things I thought I should do. But I still benefited from those 35 books. I even I re-read some books more then once, like the Power of Now by Eckart Tolle and older reads like Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. But despite being a little disappointed that I didn't reach that particular goal of  52 new books for the year (which is silly because the number is not the point of this exercise) I'm happy I got to learn from these books. They definitely expended my view and understandings of many things, people and systems around me.  Open by Andre Agassi reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall book that I had read the year before. It was a great opportunity to see what it takes to be number one in the world. It's certainly not for the faint of heart, but it's also attainable. Some books definitely stand out more then others in terms of the message I got from them at the time. Out of the 35 books I read, the 5 that stood out the most for me are :

  • Power vs Force by David R. Hawkins
  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 
  • When I stop talking you'll know I'm dead by Jerry Weintraub 
  • Open by Andre Agassi
  • The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle


But I honestly really enjoyed and learn from all of them without exception. I noticed that I started to vary the types of books that I read as well. I find it refreshing to jump around from a business book to a biography and then a spiritual book and sometime a random book that just sounds interesting at the time. Looking at the list of book I read last year, I imagine it probably says something about where my mind was at. It's an interesting way to review the year through your readings. 

So what's my reading challenge for 2017? I must admit, I was hesitant to challenge myself to read 52 books this year since I didn't reach that goal in 2016. But that's probably a bruised ego kind of thought. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. I don't have anything to prove. None of us really do. So, I decided to challenge myself to read 52 books this year again. If I don't reach it, it's okay. I'll still put the effort into it but I'll also keep enjoying the benefits of essentially spending time with so many great authors and getting mentored by them in a way through their righting, expanding my own thoughts through their own personal stories and insights. I highly recommend it. There's something for everyone, no matter what you're into. And just like they say you're the average of the five people you hang out with the most, I believe there's also some sort of transfer that goes beyond just learning from the words in a book or audiobook when it comes to reading. It changes you. 

It will be interesting to see what I discover from my readings this year and how it changes me. Perhaps I will take the time to review them on this blog. At the moment I'm reading The One Thing by Gary Keller, and I already found myself adopting some of the teaching from the book in my every day life. 

* Wishing you an enlightening new year *