Hi there,
I have not been a good reader until two years ago, when I started reading more consistently and increasingly more. I have a certain ideal person to be and that ideal person is one that reads well. But I struggled with consistency when it came to reading. I would read one book fast and not read anything for months after. Two years ago, I decided to change that and read consistently. I made a Goodreads account for that because I wanted to force myself into accountability. I set a small goal for the year and I reached it by the end of the year (partly due to the satisfaction that comes with marking a book read on Goodreads lol). This year, I set a higher goal. I reached it the day before and felt good about it because I thought I was not going to make it. But by this time, reading is becoming an inevitable part of my life, so I picked up a new book and finished it in one day (not long, though, roughly 175 pages)! This is a first for me! And honestly, I didn’t even think about finishing the book but this is a result of me now spending most of my leisure time reading and willingly so!
This is a trait of the ideal person I wanted to be: enjoying reading and making it a major activity in daily life. But it started making an entrance to my life after I stepped into my 30s and settled there in two years. This made me think of two things that are important in habit formation: vision and patience. What drove me to pick up reading as a habit in the firs place is my vision for the ideal person and it is this vision that kept me going when I felt like falling back. Then, patience. It took me about two years to start truly enjoying reading and making it a part of my daily life. I am glad that I was patient enough to give it this much time. I believe this habit will stay and I want it to.
What are your visions when you form habits? What does your habit-formation process look like? Also, do you like reading? Any suggestions? I will set an even higher goal for 2023 (and my ultimate goal is 52 books for some year in the future!).