Friday, January 16, 2015

Why I Won't Raise my Goodreads Challenge this Year

The month of December in 2013 and 2014 was STRESSFUL for me. I struggled to meet my challenge of 100 books. Both times, I began the year hoping to read 50 books, but later raised it due to meeting my goal early.

I will not do that this year. The number one reason? Stress. Why should I be so pressured about reading? It's a hobby. I enjoy books. I should be able to take my time with them.

By this logic, I suppose I could just not do the Goodreads challenge at all - but, silly as it sounds, I always feel accomplished being able to say I finished it. I also like seeing what I read each year, and I'm not sure if Goodreads keeps track unless you participate in the challenge. (Correct me if I'm wrong about this!) And also, probably most ridiculous - I like having it on my profile. I like seeing that I completed several years' worth of challenges.

So, I'm doing things this way. I am keeping my challenge the same all year. After all, doesn't it also look cool when people read way more than they challenged themselves to? Why do I need to change the number from 75 to 100 when it will still say I read 100 books? And if I don't, I did not fail, because I hit 75!

Anyway, I am interested in whether or not you raise your challenges, or have done so in the past. Is it only me who gets super optimistic and ups it by 25 each time?

Also, what is your challenge this year? I'm going for 75!

14 comments:

  1. I'm participating in the challenge for this first time in a LONG time this year, and I haven't ever completed it. My goal is set for 55 which I think is reasonable, for now. I've only read 1 book so far and am about halfway through my second. I would love to see a completed challenge on my profile, but at the same time, as you said, I'd rather just enjoy my reading time altogether. No stress 2015 is my personal goal! Good luck to you!

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    1. No stress in 2015 is a very nice goal! Especially stress about stuff that doesn't matter in the long run, like Goodreads challenges :D

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  2. I've participated in the challenge the last two years, and I raised my challenge both times. The first time, I reached my goal pretty early, and just kept bumping up the challenge as I read more books so that it looked like I reached it exactly - sneaky, I know.
    Last year, I raised my challenge halfway through the year because I could see that I was ahead. I raised it from 30 to 40 and then just left it so that in the end it said I had read 53 of 40 books - and you're right, it looks cooler when it says that as opposed to 53 of 53!
    This year I've set my GR challenge at 45, because I'm aiming for 52 but want to do some rereads.
    Good luck with your challenge! :)

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    1. I laughed at bumping it up as you read! LOL

      Raising it halfway is what I've done the past two years as well, but for some reason I usually read more in the first half of the year than the second, so it doesn't work out for me.

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  3. I feel the same way! In 2014 my goal was 50 books and I ended up reading 75, but I felt the pressure to read 50 and that's why I ended up reading so much. This year I'm only setting my Goodreads challenge for 24, so I have time to read longer, more challenging books and I don't have to worry about sticking to a schedule. Happy reading! :)

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    1. Sounds like a good plan! I also plan to read larger books, and rereads, so hopefully having a lower goal than usual will help with that :D

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  4. I don't think I ever raise my challenge. I always go past it and it makes me feel more accomplished when it says I completed 111% (as per 2014) or 146% (as per 2013). I also like to be at least a few books ahead of schedule, so I'm less stressed. As far as how high my challenge is set, I really shouldn't say. It's an enormously high number because I basically don't have a life. (to give you an idea of high how the number is this year, I read almost 400 books last year. That's how much I read. My challenge isn't set that high, but pretty darn close.)

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    1. I don't think that's a bad thing! Everyone reads at a different pace. Personally, I'm such a slow reader that I would be lucky to reach 400 if I read all year non-stop, but I always think it's cool when others can read so much :D

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  5. Good post. I have decided to raise my challenge, mainly because I read so many more than my original challenge last year. I am trying not to stress myself out so much about meeting it though.

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    1. Thank you! My problem isn't so much that I raise it year to year, as I raise it in the MIDDLE of the year once I hit that goal. Good luck staying stress-free :D

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  6. I don't like pressuring myself to finish the GR challenge too! I heard of someone who started reading GRAPHIC NOVELS because 2014 was ending, and she wanted the finish her reading challenge. That was pretty ridiculous because she was stressing about it :( I definitely agree with what you said! I think the GR Challenge shouldn't be treated like it's a race :) After all, it's just something to be treated as a hobby :)

    Jillian @ Jillian's Books

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    1. I have definitely read graphic novels/short books to finish the challenge on time! It is a ridiculous thing to feel stressed over, and something I hope to avoid this year!

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  7. My original goal for 2014 was fifty, but later, I raised it after I completed it in April. This year, I'm keeping it at fifty just because I hate feeling like it's a competition with everyone to see who wants to read the most books. If I get there, cool. If I get past it, awesome, but I'm not raising the bar again once I'm there.

    It's not a race. It's a hobby, like you said, and I really want to make sure that I enjoy the books I read.

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    1. You're right -- it can sometimes feel like a race or competition. It's easy to look at others' challenges and think that they got to read SO MANY more books than I did. But it's important that we read at our own pace and keep it fun, not stressful.

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