#100Books2018- Why?

As Simon Sinek would say (and as I learned on this journey- see #Book13), "Start with Why". Why set a goal to read 100 books?  Certainly there are many ways to spend time, right?  With two teenage children and a limited attention span, why devote hours to an endeavor which will undoubtedly take attention away from my beloved? Why spend time reading and not running or getting into better physical shape? Undoubtedly I could benefit from a focus on cardio and more intense conditioning.

So again, "Why"?

And the answer....well, the answer is that I don't know. I have spent hours in my youth trying to avoid reading assignments. I worked with friends in high school and college breaking down reading assignments in an attempt to glean the most information possible with the least effort (i.e. pages read). And evidently, from research from Pew, I am wasn't alone in my reading habits. While I had absolutely read a few books in the 12 months during 2017 it was never intentional.

So why embark on the effort to read 100 books?  I do not know.

I am now well past the half-way point in this journey and I can share that this goal is intense. There is a certain energy that is requisite in reading. To focus on reading means eschewing other habits such as passively enjoying movies and television programs. Choosing to read and spend time reading naturally takes time away from other pursuits. And during the summer months I started to loose focus.

To be accountable to this effort and see this challenge through I started tweeting my progress. I used the hashtag "#100Books2018" as purely a mechanism to keep myself honest because I was loosing steam in this effort in July. The tweets provided the much needed accountability. Then a twitter friend and longtime professional acquaintance recommended expanding thoughts beyond the 280 characters allowed in a tweet. That led to this blog.

Perhaps through the process of writing and reflection I will come to my "why". Perhaps the "why" will be the answer to some cosmic question I didn't even know I should ask.  Perhaps the "why" is to "hear" brilliant voices in pages.  Perhaps the "why" is to find new ways to socialize, meet new people and level-set with old and new colleagues. Perhaps the "why" is to scratch a little obsessive-compulsive itch out there. But rest assured, Simon Sinek, I will figure it out.