When you finish the book you’re reading right now, will it be an act of completion or achievement?
I was talking with a friend this week about books we’d read—business books—and what we got out of them.
She brought up a book we both had on our shelves.
I had not finished it, and she had. But she confessed that she couldn’t recall the last several chapters. She had pushed through to get it done.
This brought us to two ways of reading books:
- Completion – Checking them off, adding them to the stack of evidence that you’re “well-read,” increasing your pile of “done” things.
- Achievement – Learning from them, becoming a better, wiser, or more complete person, improving your life.
I was further struck by the fact that this often plays out at the moment of purchase. I totally have a pile of books that I bought because I felt like I “should” read them.
Here it is (non-exhaustive):
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Some very good books that I’ve not yet read. |
It’s possible that some of these will turn into achievements. (I’m not dunking on these books or authors, I’m just being honest about why I bought them.)
But it’s also possible that if I read them, it will be for the sake of completion.
And I’m trying to get away from that.
Hoping for achievement,
James
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