Here's to starting 2023 off with better habits. I decided to leave a specific reading goal off of my New Year's Resolutions this year, however I still want to work on building a habit of reading more consistently. I usually enjoy both wellness/self-help as well as fiction. It's a toss up depending on what I'm in the mood for so I tend to just switch them up randomly. With a new year and new goals, self-help and growth is the current mindset. I also have a plan to start off by reading through some of the unread books I already own. One habit I do a little too well is buying books that I ultimately don't end up reading. I always have good intentions, they just get the best of me!
Normally I like to set specific goals such as reading X books per month/year, however that hasn't really worked for me and the books these last few years. For whatever reason, I've been in an on-again, off-again slump. Sometimes I'm just not in the right headspace to want to read and I think making it too much of a task can take a lot of the enjoyment out of it. At some point I transitioned from "I can't wait to get home to read my book tonight!" to "Ugh, I should probably read some when I get home tonight." This year I want to go in with an intention focused more on the learning and enjoying aspect versus the "I need to read more" mindset. In some ways it's the same thing but different? I think the motivation has always been based on growing more, learning or just escaping reality, however the actual purpose gets lost in translation.
I'm going to focus more on the experience and the content I want to read without putting too much pressure on how quickly I get through something and the number of books I read. This month, I'm interested in two books I pulled from my shelf: The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk and The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma.
I've always said that one of my ultimate, long-term goals is to becoming a 5am morning person. Right now I'm lucky enough that my work day starts a little bit later so I can sleep in, however I would love to become a morning person with a full-blown morning routine. We're talking the gym going, meditating, eat-a-healthy-breakfast and get readying morning person. Currently, we are in the roll-out-of-bed, too-tired to function club. I've always been a night owl so the mornings are a struggle. Maybe between building better sleeping habits and some insight from The 5 AM Club, I'll make some steps in that direction!
When I first bought The Body Keeps The Score, I thought it was based more on lifestyle factors (how what you do, eat, etc., affects the body). I later learned it's more about how trauma and experiences have affected the body. I've never really thought of myself as someone who has experienced a lot of trauma in life, however I think a lot of us have probably experienced different levels at some point. I think the premise of the book is super interesting and because I don't know a lot about the topic, I'm interested in learning more. It seems like an insightful read to kick the new year off and focus on healing and moving forward.
Are you reading any books right now?
