Friday 13 March 2015

Why Challenges Can Be Fabulous, If Used Right


Now that we're closing in on the first quarter of the year being over, I thought there would be no better time than to discuss reading challenges and events, since we're more than likely either going to be crying because all those challenges and resolutions you set yourself in January have been blown to pieces, or you're going to be crossing things off lists and making sure you're track. Lets face it, you are either one or the other, you cannot and will never be both. I personally am more of the latter, as very recently I took a good look at my challenge page and checked up on how well I doing, where I was at and how far I had to go with my challenges, and you know what, I'm pleased that I'm doing well, and confident enough to say that I'm on track, but not everyone is, and that's because they've put way too much pressure on themselves and it's now come back to bite them. You may currently be hating on those challenges - 'why on earth did I choose this challenge?!' - but the truth is simple..

Reading Challenges Can be Good, If You Use Them Properly

Lets use my reading challenges as an example. I spent a large amount of 2014 saying I would love to read more mythology and dive into different backgrounds behind the myths, and I also said that I'd like to read more Dystopian novels, as that was the genre I read less of when I took a look back, so I set myself challenges that complimented those wants, but I didn't go crazy. At the start of the year, I had 4 unread mythology novels on my shelves, Nobody's Princess, The Goddess Test, The Deep End of the Sea and Sweet Venom, and knew that at some point, I'd be getting around to Everbound and Mortal Gods, which on my count, makes six, so I challenged myself to a minimum of six. It doesn't sound very challenging, I'll grant you that, but why aim for something I may or may not be able to reach? Aiming for what I want, which is also achievable, was much more logical. It's exactly the same reason why when I decided on how many Dystopia's I challenged myself to read, I took into account that fact that I owned over 10 Dystopian novels, and planned to complete both a Dystopia Trilogy and 4 Book Series, which meant that my target of 13 books is very much an achievable aim.

There's No Shame in Having Low Target on A Challenging Aim


Reading Challenges are created to do just that, challenge, but it's up to you exactly how far and seriously you take that challenge. I wanted my challenges to be exciting and encourage me to read more of what I wanted to read, I wanted to read more Mythology and Dystopian novels, so I challenged myself to do just that. I wanted to continue my Commitment to Series, so I arranged for series to include, but I never took it too far, I never gave myself a target I knew I couldn't reach comfortably. The reason so many people fall out of love with challenges or rally against them is because they've pushed themselves too far, knowing fine well that in order to complete the challenge, they might have to go without sleep for a week, or divorce their family in order to make time. Reading Challenges weren't created to fish out the people who are bad at keeping up, and they weren't created in order to show you your weaknesses, they were created to be fun, created to allow you to be more creative with your reading and feel proud once you've completed it. I may or may not complete my challenges by the end of the year, and you know what, if I do, brilliant, if I don't, I'm not going to feel bad or feel as though I've let myself down, because it just means that things came up. Who knows what the year will bring, you might get engaged, or go on holiday, or leave college and get a job, or move out, move house, move country, things may crop up that affect our routine, but if you use your challenges properly, as a way to find new reads, move into different genres, catch up on some reads you missed, then you'll enjoy it so much more.

Reading Challenges can be positive, you've just got to utilise them properly. Take a look at what you decided on in the New Year - did you challenge yourself to do way too much and are starting to think you might not manage? Lower your target, take a look at what you can do and what you want to do, and what will make you happy and change things. Did you decide not to do any challenges but feel tempted by some now you're well into the year? Get involved, take part, but don't strain yourself, think about what you could do in a good year and then take away, things may crop up, and it's easier to over-achieve than it is to not achieve at all. I think Reading Challenges can be great for discussions, great for the community and great for readers, just as long as you don't use and abuse them.

What do you think of Reading Challenges?

11 comments:

  1. Reading Challenges push me into blogging and reading more and I feel proud whenever some of my nonreader friends ask me how many books I've read and I'm like 125 and they're like OHMYGOSH do you even have a life? HAHAHAHHA

    www.lite-rate-ture.com

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    1. I feel that way sometimes! I read 172 last year and my friends were all 'seriously? how do you have the time?!' and I was pretty unsure, but I did have it clearly. They challenge me, that's what they're meant to do, and as long as you use them right, they can be brilliant! :)

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  2. I hadn't done any reading challenges (well, except for goodreads) until this year. I'M HAVING FUN. I'm doing a Fairy Tale challenge (I think I've read 7 books) and I'm kind of doing a personal sequel/finishing-series challenge. I found someone to sign up with, but I missed the signups, so *headdesk* I'm doing it alone. hehe. But I've finished SO MANY SERIES now! Just having a little spreadsheet really makes me motivated to tick things off. It's glorious. ;-)

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    1. I did notice that Cait, and of course it would be fairytales, you and your grim stories ;) There's a Prequel/Sequel challenge you can sign-up with isn't there? Or did I miss that one too, I'm not too sure, ah, but still, personal ones are good! Good luck :)

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  3. I do challenges in a no stress kind of way. I like to join, aim moderately and hope that whatever I read fits in. Usually, it does. I know right now I'm doing a bingo challenge and I've filled at least half the board, which is awesome IMO.

    I do agree that challenges can be good if you stick to them but it also depends on your personality. Since I don't have a good "stick to things" personality, I'm not the best at trying to get the most out of characters.

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    1. Ah, I can see why sticking to them might be difficult, but they are good for you if used well :)

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  4. When I had more time, I really enjoyed reading challenges! I agree, they really helped me read things I probably wouldn't have otherwise. But now with such little time left in my life to read, I feel like challenges are too much pressure for me at this time in my life. But I really hope to eventually be able to do that again. They are a lot of fun! :)

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    1. Of course I can understand that Lisa, you need to read whatever you want, and if challenges take up too much of that time, then no worries, no harm done. I've got a series I was wanting to finish, but the feeling is fading, and I'm not sure I will now.. oh well :)

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  5. Very good point! Challenges can indeed be great if you see them as a way for you to go the extra mile. Unfortunately for me, I'm simply not doing it because I don't want to be limited by the books I read. Maybe one day I'll make one for myself ;) Like I'm planning to do a personal challenge where I'll read a local book from another country once a month. Maybe first, Les Miserables, then second, a Russian story, then the third, perhaps a book written from Japan. Stuff like that!

    Faye at The Social Potato

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    1. I think that's a fair point Faye, you can limit yourself when you do challenges, you can start to read books to do the challenges rather than to read, and that's a bad thing. If it helps you read more diversely, then that's great, but it should take over your reading plans :)

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