Reading Challenges: Some thoughts on them and how to improve the mindset.

Hello everyone! First of all, I hope the New Years Resolutions are going well for the community. Keep going! I wanted to talk about Reading Challenges, my thoughts on them and how can they improve the mindset of those who started the challenges.

Well, last year I said to myself "I shall read X books until the end of the year" but the goal did not go according to plan. I then got disappointed at myself and rather than complaining about it and setting up excuses for not having achieved what I wanted in terms of reading, I immediately thought on strategies to be able to read the amount of books I had planned.

Somehow the first thing that has crossed my mind was "I established a higher goal than what it could be actually possible for me to. I underestimated time as a number that inevitably goes by and I set a goal that, for the factor time, it would become impossible." After that I started to make a sort of list of the things I usually do every day to help me measure the time I would eventually have available to read. Another reason that I was not able to finish the challenge was "I didn't even had an idea of what would I read, therefore it failed miserably. I didn't even had the books for the matter." So I came up with the subjects I enjoy the most and the authors that I like and started to create a list of the books I had the curiosity to read.

When the New Years Eve came I had already in mind the amount of books I would read and the titles for them. With this being said, I now share with you the respective number for the 2018 Reading Challenge: 32 books. If you want any suggestion for yours, please feel free to try out Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" or António Damásio's "Descartes' Error" (with this being said, I want to inform you that I have them on my Reading Challenge's list, so if you have read them, no spoils please!!). Of the 32 books I have established, I already finished reading 1 book (For a further reference: "Confessions of a Heretic" by Adam Nergal Darski)

What I want to share with you is that sometimes when we set up goals, we need to have our minds focused on that direction. We can't just simply say "I will read 20 books" or... "I will do this, or that" and not put an effort on it. We have to dive deep into our goals and aspirations. Let your soul move with your thoughts. Clear every doubt you have on that beautiful box I call mind. Do not think "I will not be able to do this." but instead think "I will try, no no no, I will make this."

Let out that fierce and motivated soul you have. Set goals, achieve them. And do not, by any chance, doubt in yourself.

Hope this helps you in getting the motto for your goals and aspirations. I also hope that you can accomplish what you have wished for this year. And even if you don't, do not stop trying and pushing yourself hard.

• Carolina Lisboa, 10th January, 2018