In my personal opinion, it’s all down to the type of reader. But, yes, I do believe setting reading goals can be both harmful to your mental health and others.
We live in a society where we overshare… which can be wonderful. You wish to express how many books you’re aiming to read this year… then when it comes to it you’ve read X amount of books. You’re happy about that so you share it.
But, think about who will see it. There may be someone out there that hasn’t reached their goal and is feeling down about this.
In my own experience on Bookstagram ( the bookish community over on Instagram ) I have found setting a reading goal can be extremely motivational and you can push yourself to read so much more knowing you’re X way there to your goal.
That being said, I’ve also experienced the daunting thought of not going to be able to reach it by year’s end.
In this article we’re going to discuss the positives and negatives of setting reading goals and whether it is helpful or harmful.
Are reading goals helpful?
As discussed briefly above, setting reading goals can be a great motivator for yourself and your reading buddies. Competing against each other to see who will get to X amount of books by the end of the year first for example.
Setting a goal can help you plan out your reading for the year; if its goal for reading X amount of books in one year you will be able to work out how many you need to read a month to easily reach this goal
eg. setting a goal to read 52 books in a year would work out on average 1 book a week, or 4 a month.
Another goal that can be interesting is setting yourself goals within your overall goal. For example; If you wanted to read 52 books over the year but also wanted to read 12 Non-Fiction books it would work out as 4 books a month with one of those 4 being a Non-fiction. This can be a great way of reading new genres and authors. Breaking it up makes it seem so much more achievable.
Setting reading goals also enables you to engage more with the bookish communities as I’ve found that when you post your reading goals on Instagram they tend to get a lot more interaction as opposed to just posting a book review for the average blogger.
Are Reading Goals Harmful?
Setting Reading goals can be extremely motivational when done right. However, if you find yourself with little time to read due to current life events or if you’re stuck in a reading slump you can find them daunting and HARMFUL.
Seeing yourself make little progress in a book can make you feel unmotivated to read or feel forced to read which takes the joy away from reading. Let’s be honest, that is the whole reason why we read – we enjoy it!
Setting a goal and not meeting it can be very disheartening, especially when you go on social media and see that many people have exceeded their goals
In my experience
I have experienced both the helpful and harmful aspects of setting a reading goal as a reader.
While I love challenging myself to read X amount of books in a year, I sometimes find myself rushing to finish books just so I can mark them as finished rather than take my time to fully enjoy the book. This I have found to be more so when it is closer to the end of the year.
Last year, in 2022, I set myself a target to read 52 books. I ended the year with 60 books read which I admit felt amazing to reach that total
In 2021, I set myself a target of 20 which I surpassed massively ending with 49 books read.
Although I did pass my targets both times I did see myself competing with not only myself but others. Questioning how people were able to read 100 books for example. This led me to wonder whether I’m a slow reader… and if that’s a bad thing.
I’ve come to realise that yes I am a slow reader and there is nothing wrong with that! Everyone is different and there is no point in comparing reading speeds or goals.
For 2023, I was in two minds about whether to set myself a reading goal because of this doubt I had on whether it was good for my mental health, and whether it was taking something away from the enjoyment that is reading. However, I went ahead and set myself an achievable goal of 40 books read this year.
The reason behind this is I know I can read this many books but it will still be a challenge for me due to what I have planned this year, and knowing this I know if I don’t reach my goal… that’s okay! It’s my goal.
i asked bookstagram...
I posted a poll to my Instagram account to see what the reading community thinks about reading goals.
I asked,
“ In your personal experience as a reader on Bookstagram, have you found reading goals to be helpful or harmful to your mental health and self-esteem? “
After 24 hours the results showed that out of 54 people that responded.
25 readers found it helpful to set reading goals
4 readers found it harmful to set reading goals
25 readers found it both Harmful and Helpful
From these results I have found that a lot of people feel the way I do, reading goals can be but not always.
Overall, I genuinely think it is down to the individual reader. There’s no right or wrong way of tracking your reads. But, to just be aware of the negative sides of reading goals can be a great way to turn them into a positive.
Just remember;
– It’s your goal, you set it.
– Don’t pressure yourself unnecessarily
– Enjoy the book you’re reading.
What are your thoughts?
Let me know below in the comments to where you stand on whether Reading Goals are Helpful or Harmful from your experience
1 thought on “Reading Goals – Helpful or harmful?”
Love this article! Something as simple as a reading goal shouldn’t be harmful but in reality, it really can be – both for the reader and the person hearing you’ve read 100 books and perhaps they’ve only read 10. Really great breakdown of an issue in this piece! ♥️