Recently I started reading Do Over by Jon Acuff. I have a goal to read a book a month, and it is my book for April. I do not enjoy reading fiction, so all the books I read are non-fiction. Sometimes the author will give you activities to do while you are reading the book. Something like “write down an answer to these questions,” or “take a few minutes and think about this.” When I get to those parts of the book, I always do the same thing. I skip it. My thought process is usually something like, “I am reading a book not taking a class. Don’t give me work to do.”
A few chapters into Do Over, I realized this one going to be one of those books with tasks. I got to the page with the set up and knew it was coming. The first task was to write something in the margin of the book. I laughed because I bought the Kindle version and that wasn’t really an option for me. My typical train of thought was coming. I was preparing myself to skip whatever tasks came next.
When I got to the next task it involved index cards. I didn’t have any index cards. I started to jump ahead in the book but something inside me stopped. I am reading Do Over because I believe it will add some value to my life. The tasks in the book are probably there to help me practically apply the concepts. So I decided to do something different this time. I stopped reading until I could complete the task. I don’t just want to gloss over the parts that will make me look at my life and see how I am at applying the concepts Jon is writing about. It can be easy to just read over those parts and think they don’t apply to me or that I am doing fine in those areas. It can be easy to just skim the surfaces of those areas.
I’m at a point where I am tired of skimming the surfaces. I want to dive deeper. I want to dig deeper. I want to make some progress. And that is going to take a little work. So for the first time in my life I am going to do the tasks in a book I am reading. I asked Angela to pick up some index cards for me while she was out and next time I pick up the book I will complete the task before continuing. I hope it will be an amazing experience. And if it turns into a bust, I’ll have a better excuse to skip them next time I read a book with tasks.
until next time…