My 2021 Reads (Some of them impacted my daily habits!)
I used to love to read…..
That was when I was younger. I grew up in a part of the world where libraries were less than common and most places that did have, those ‘rooms’ were more or less empty — that was my elementary school library and my community library; the latter fell completely out of use and became a gathering place for people with — less than ideal habits. Yet, I loved reading — I read all of the handful of books in my elementary school library including the encyclopaedia and the only dictionary the library contained. My father had a shelf library , it must have held over 30 books — I read it all including all editions of Reader’s Digest magazine he collected over the years, as well as a storybook about an African heroin written in a language that was neither my mother tongue nor the language of instruction in school (more on that in another story), several textbooks of my uncle who lived with us and was in high school at the time; I read each one from front cover to back — all before age 13!
My love of reading greatly diminished over time as I got into adulthood, can’t really tell how it came about but it almost vanished; Then in my child bearing and rearing years even when the interest was there, the will was non existent.
I started seriously considering reading as a goal in 2019; I had read maybe three books that entire year and each one was a real struggle to finish. I have to say my daughters were a great encouragement as they cheered each time I announced I had finished a book. When I was planning goals for 2020 (first time to really have written goals in general), it was to read 2 books a month from January to December; I read 7 books by the end of that year! In 2021, I wanted to keep the same goal as previous year, read 2 books a month; with a combination of hard copies and Audible and YouTube (sorry if I broke copyright rules) I was able to complete 29 books! That’s the power of making goals!
Now, back to why you’re here in the first place: Which would I read again? First and foremost, I tend towards self and professional development or leadership books and a lot of the books I read or read are in this genre. There are six I would definitely read over and over: The Goal by Eli Goldratt (I have a manufacturing career background so the book was perfectly relatable!); Notes From The Valley by Andy McQuitty, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, Time Restricted Eating by Julie Wei-Shatzel and The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz.
Which of the 29 influenced me to do or change something in my life? I am going to make one statement of how each one I mention influenced me in 2021 and have helped me create a change: First, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy; This book motivated me to track my eating for 21 days (a challenge in the book). This was how I found I was definitely eating more than I burned. I lost 5lb just 2 weeks in, practicing keeping a food diary. The next book is The Time Restricted Eating by Dr. Wei- Shatzel: just ending my last meal consistently at 7pm each night saw me losing 13 lbs in 3 months (seems like little but considering how I plateaued for over a year, this was a huge gain for me!). Following this is Make Your Bed by Admiral William Mc Raven; there were several takeaways but the one I started literally doing almost everyday since is to make my bed as soon as I wake up. And then there is the book Unfuck yourself by Gary John Bishop; I began to recognise my negative thought patterns and just recognising them has created a big shift. Finally Visual Festations by Peter Adams — I started to journal which up to that point I had never done. I also did writing and ‘dreaming’ sessions a couple of times as a result.
Finally which would I recommend eagerly to anyone? Most. However, I would easily recommend each of the six ‘read-again’ books I had mentioned earlier. Each of them was easy to read or listen to and were full of nuggets for self and personal development and leadership. However, here are a few others I thoroughly enjoy and would recommend in addition to my six: If you’re a fan of historical fiction, I recommend Us Conductors by Sean Michaels. It’s a story about romance, the invention of a musical instrument, the Theremin, of espionage and imprisonment in the Gulag system. I listened to this book on Audible and I must say both the flow of the story and the narration were great. The second book would be Habits for Happiness by Dr. Tim Sharp, I had the audible version; a practical book and definitely helpful points especially at the height of the pandemic. Finally for mothers (and fathers), I recommend the combined read of, From Daughter to Woman by Kim McCabe and Raising Girls by Steve Biddulph.
Looking into the future: For 2022 I set my goals on 4 books a month. For me it’s a stretch goal but not impossible. I intend to do a follow up in 12 months to relate again what I have read and takeaways from as many as possible. I hope you will also set a reading goal for 2022 and surprise yourself!