📖 Goal: 52 books in a year

I don't know if I've read 52 books in my entire life, and whilst trying to list out 52 books I'm struggling...

The goal is to read 52 books this year.

I've always wanted to be a reader, but I've never been able to stick with it. 52 was just a number that seemed like a good goal, and I've seen a few people do it.

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. - George R.R. Martin

Many successful people and entrepreneurs read a lot of books, but it's unclear if their success leads them to read more, or if reading extensively contributes to their success.

Iman Gadhzi came to mind as someone who has said for his early years he was reading a book a week and that powered his success.

I've noticed I rarely set goals and when I do they are far from SMART, so this was an excuse to take 1 goal for the year and focus on it. I'm not here to read 52 books, I'm here to gain more discipline and to train my mind.

Given its week 7 of the year, I've got through one book – I'm already behind, but I'm going to try and catch up.

Plus as you are reading this, I'm doing it in public... so I'm accountable to you now!

Why I'm Taking on This Challenge

To Cultivate a Reading Habit: I've long aspired to be a reader and someone whose knowledge spans volumes of literature, fiction and non-fiction alike.
To Develop Discipline: Completing 52 books in a year requires a commitment that will undoubtedly spill over into other areas of my life, enhancing my overall discipline.
Invest In Myself: This journey is an aspiration to investing in one's self, and broadening my horizons and perspectives.
A Tangible Goal: Having a specific, measurable goal serves as a powerful motivator, especially in moments of doubt or procrastination. I need something that is a clear success / fail at the end of the year.

Rules I've Set

Audiobooks Are Valid: I want my focus to be on reading but to hit 52 books I'll definitely need to listen to some as audiobooks.
Any Length Counts: I'll try my best to mix the lengths of books I read, but I'm not going to be strict on this.
Continuations Are Allowed: Completing books previously started counts towards the goal, encouraging me to finish what I've begun.
Deadline: I will read 52 books before Jan 1st 2025

If anything comes up thats outside of these rules, I'll do a twitter poll – already imagining an issue around some of the grouped philosophy works 👀 and if they'll count individually...

So wish me luck, and if you have any recommendations please let me know!

Matt

I'm tempted to build a dashboard to track my progress, but I'll wait till I'm at least 10 books in before I do that!

So far I've read:

The Art of Focus by Dan Koe
Hard Times Create Strong Men by Stefan Aarnio
The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida
Jobs to Be Done: Theory to Practice by Anthony W. Ulwick
The Psycology of Money by Morgan Housel
1984 by George Orwell (Audible Original)
Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman
Senior Engineer Mindset by Swizec Teller
Jupiter Travels by Ted Simon
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
Extra Focus by Jesse J. Anderson
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore, Doug Gillette
Never Enough by Andrew Wilkinson

I'm currently reading:

MAKE by Pieter Levels

I'm using Beeminder to track my progress via a daily page goal of 30 pages / minutes: