making resolutions that stick Archives

Each year, I try to commit to reading a book a week. That is 52 books a year.

With every book read, I reward myself monetarily so that I can purchase something very expensive that I really want. In past years, I used that money to purchase a very expensive designer handbag. This year, I am using my earnings to save money for my new home.

I created a reward system as a way to force myself to save. This year’s reward system is designed to help me save more for my new home, as well as declutter my library (both physical and electronic).

Make the Time to Read

This past year, I found other lovers of books reading more than 100 books in a year. While that is an incredible challenge to complete, I resolved to read more than 52 books this year.

I’ve heard from a lot of people lately how they are lucky to read one book a year. I don’t know what they are doing, but everyone should be reading more. It is important to keep challenging your brain and your mind. We need to always be continuously learning.

I am a very busy person, but I also make the time to read. It is important to analyze what is sucking away your time. I bet the main culprit are your devices. Put down your phones (unless you’re reading a book on it). Stop scrolling through social media. Stop playing games all of the time.

Take a moment to disconnect.

You can find time to read. You can even listen to audio books. I do. At the office, I’ll put my headphones in, find a free classic on audio and listen to the book. That counts as part of the reading challenge.

If you have some free time at the office, find an ebook on Kindle Unlimited and read up on a subject matter that can help you with your job. Many ebooks are 50-100 pages and are very quick reads filled with so much information on how you can be better at your job.

When you’re commuting, listen to an audio book or read a book. You can get books for free at the library, including the latest ones. You can even download library books to your devices.

There are many ways you can indulge in reading a book every single day. Seriously…you can listen to a book and play Candy Crush at the same time.

I would like to challenge all of you to read a book a week this year. I’ll be sharing my resolution with you in hopes that it will inspire you to read more books.

We should never stop learning. We should always encourage each other to become more educated, even if it is just through books. There is always something new we can discover in books.

My Reward System

So without adieu, here’s how my resolution works. You can use this as a guideline when you set up your own reward system.

REWARD SYSTEM

Classic = $100
Library Book (i.e. free book) = $50
Book purchased in 2017 = cost of book x2
Review Books* = $25
Personal library + donated after reading = $50
Personal library = $30
Electronic book = $10

[*I am asked to review books by authors and publishers on a regular basis.]

You don’t have to create your own reward system exactly like mine. Construct your chart based on the type of books you want to read and how much you can afford to save towards whatever your goal is.

I put classics at $100 because they are considered ‘smart’ books, meaning, it takes a little longer to read. Since one of my resolutions this year is to minimize more, if I donate the book, I’m rewarded a little more than if I keep the book.

Keep track

Finally, keep track of what you read. Keep a list of the books you’ve read in the form that is easiest for you.

I record my list in my calendar so I can see the date each book was completed. I also write down the name of the book so that I when I look over my resolutions at the end of the year, I can see what types of books I read for the year.

I also record the name of the books read on a pretty piece of paper…like a library card. I noticed this in the movie “Mr. Church” and thought that would be a cute idea to keep track of what I’m reading all in one place.

Also, since I sometimes forget if I’ve read a book before, I keep a notebook of all of the books I’ve ever read. There have been a few times when I’ll get 3/4 of the way through a book before I realize I’ve read the book before. I am not one of those that likes to re-read books, because there are so many books out there that need to be read and so little lifetime with which to do it in.

PW’s Reading Challenge: Books Read 2017

For those wanting to follow along with my resolution, here are the books I’ve read. I will be doing a review of each book on the site and linking to where you can purchase the book at Amazon. [Note: When review is complete, review link will be live.]

If I am able to interview the author, I’ll also put a link to that interview as well.

So happy reading and good luck.

Currently reading: Silence by Shūsaku Endō and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan.
Lost Horizon by James Hilton.
I am Jim Henson by Brad Meltzer. Review
I am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer. Review
I am Helen Keller by Brad Meltzer. Review

Disclosure: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work.

Happy New Year! Now that 2016 is behind us, right now is a good time to reflect on the things we would like to change about ourselves and put our resolutions into motion to create a lasting change in our lives. We should focus on the things that bring the best out of us.

Learning How to Habit Stack

I read a book recently that I believe is essential in creating successful resolutions, especially those tricky ones everyone fails at every year (i.e. diet and exercise). That book is called Habit Stacking. S.J. Scott offers 97 different ideas on how you can stack habits you would like to make permanent.

He shows how easily things can be done by analyzing the actual ‘habit’ we are trying to instill, creating a specific (and short) time frame with which to complete that task. He even shares additional ideas on how to spearhead getting each job done.

[You can download this book as part of the Kindle Unlimited program for free. Details are in the banner below.]

The way each habit is broken down, you can see how easy it is to apply those principles to your own life. For me, I saw how I could break down a blog post so that I would be willing to write more. The book gave me ideas on how to manage my time throughout the day to be more productive and to reward myself (check emails, play Candy Crush Soda, check social media, etc.) after completing each job. In other words, the book teaches you how to focus on getting the task at hand done by offering a reward after the task’s completion.

In this day and age, we are always distracted by so many things around us. It is difficult to concentrate on getting things done. Scott helps you see how you can create positive habits in your life by showing you how he does things.

One habit I thought was spot on for those who put diet/exercise as their resolution is to do one thing at a time. Don’t start off big (like trying to run a mile in the first week when you haven’t worked out in 5 years). Start off small. Do one push-up. The next day, do two push-ups. Each day, add one more.

Run one block. Go back home. The next day, run a block and a half or two blocks. Or if that progression is too much for you, do one block a week, adding another block each sequential week.

The whole purpose of starting off small is to create a lasting habit. It is easier to give up in the beginning because it seems too difficult when we are trying to make up for lost time on the treadmill after going through the great exercise famine. If you start off small and see how easy it is, you are more likely to create a lasting habit each day/week. You’ll feel more motivated to do more and maybe add an extra 5 push-ups at the end of your workout.

The whole purpose of breaking down each resolution to its bare minimum is so you can see just how easy the task is to complete. The easier the task looks, the more likely you are willing to create a lasting habit to make your resolutions a success.

I highly recommend reading the book. It will give you many ideas on how you can break down each of your resolutions so you can accomplish each and every single one.

PW Resolutions

I probably make this resolution every year for the site, but I definitely need to write more. I had to sit back and try to figure out what I really want this site to be about. I had to think of my niche audience. Truth of the matter is my niche audience is the film industry and lovers of books, especially those looking for book club questions.

I plan on expanding on that more with more interviews from filmmakers and authors. I will be sharing my 52+ books journey for 2017. So far, I’m on book #2. I will couple the journey with book reviews, book club questions (since that seems to be a popular search item on this site), and author interviews (if possible).

I’ll be sharing more tips that I uncover (like saving money, all natural beauty remedies, etc.) and ways to make your life easier. There will be recipes, travel and fashion posts. I’ll even share my own resolution journey.

This year, my main resolution is to complete my novel. It is time to put all of the finishing touches to it. As of now, it is a 3-book series.

I meet with publishers in May and June, but on a different manner (which basically determines all of the “IT” books for 2017-18). I’ve established good relationships with a few major publishing houses, so we’ll see how things go and which route I will take.

Over the course of this year, I will be launching a few campaigns. I’ll leave that as a surprise.

All in all, I have a lot of plans for PW, as well as for my writing career. I’m thankful I read Scott’s book last month. He’s helped me figure out how to get everything I want to do done from here on out.

Give the book a read, I think it will definitely help everyone re-define how they can accomplish their own goals. Dreams are always difficult to accomplish, especially if it seems too hard.

Break down each of your goals so that you can figure out all of the different tasks you need to complete. After you’ve broken them down, work on each task in order. You’ll find that it may be hard at first, but if you keep at it, finish each task, reward yourself, then start on the next task…pretty soon you’ll find you have reached your goal.