It's a new year, and everyone has made their goals and resolutions for 2019. The local gyms are more crowded than usual (don't worry folks who hate crowds, the amount of people at the gym will die down come March), cake and ice cream sales might go down as people try to eat better and students will strive for that 4.0 GPA.

While I do have some similar goals, the goal I always think about the most is my reading goal for the year. Every year I log onto my Goodreads account and I set my goal for the year by determining how many books I want to read by the end of December. Last year my goal was to read seventy five books and exceeded it by completing eighty five. This year I decided to raise the stakes and set my goal to eighty five books, and being the competitive person I am, I will try to exceed that.

This year I'm also not only focused on the amount of books I want to read, but the kinds of books as well. Apart from some new releases coming out that I'm very excited for, I have books that I've put off that I really want to finish this year. My two biggest goals are probably to finish book series (no seriously, the amount of unfinished series on my T.B.R. is a bit ridiculous), and to reread some old favorites, because to me nothing is more comforting than reading an old favorite book.

I used to never set reading goals, I just wanted to read whatever I wanted. I was afraid that making goals would somehow turn reading into a chore, something I never wanted to happen. But when I got a Goodreads account back in 2015, I decided to set a goal, and every year since the amount of books I've read every year has gone up. Setting goals can help us focus on what we want.

We all have goals, we all want to work a little harder, lose a bit more weight and eat better. But having those goals and making plans is useless if you don't set a deadline for yourself. If you always talk about wanting to write a novel, you need to give yourself a deadline to get it done. Because in the age of the internet, it's very easy to do nothing. If I'm not careful, I will very easily go on a Netflix or Youtube binge. So I always set a deadline for myself.

Another helpful thing to help you achieve goals is accountability. Whenever I set my reading goals, I always tell at least one friend that I know will check in on me and motivate me to keep going.

Of course setting reading goals can have drawbacks. I know there are people who never set reading goals because they don't want to feel pressured to read certain amount of books, or just want to read for fun, which I completely respect. Another thing that stopped me from setting reading goals was the fear of failure, fear that I wouldn't reach the goal I set. I used to view a C as a failing grade, so the idea of failing my reading goal was unbearable.

I've learned that it's okay to set high goals, even if I think I won't achieve them, because they push me to go for it. Also, it's important to accept failure as a part of life and the key is to pick ourselves back up. I know, easier said than done, but the feeling you have when you hit those ambitious goals is far more powerful than failing.