Early this year, or perhaps it was the final days of last year, I wrote out the Values and Goals that would drive my actions throughout 2009. Now we’re coming to the end of the year, and it’s almost time to report on my progress. The year was productive on many levels, but one area where I did not exceed—or even meet—expectations was my reading. I did even worse with regard to writing book reports.
I set the goal of reading 25 books during the year and of writing a book report that would record the reasons why I chose the books, what I learned from them, and how the investment of my reading time would contribute to my success upon release. But as of this writing, on 9 December, I’ve only finished reading 20 books, and I was far behind on writing my book reports.
I don’t know how many more books I’ll finish reading by the end of this year, but it looks rather certain that I’ll miss my goal by at least two, and possibly by four books. That’s a 20 percent miss. My only excuse is that I spent more time writing this year than I had originally intended. The reading list doesn’t take into account the numerous times I’ve read Earning Freedom, the lengthy manuscript I wrote to describe my journey through prison.
Today I brought myself current by writing book reports for the past 10 books that I read. At least I’m up to date with the book reports now. It’s important for me to keep these kinds of records, as I intend to use the book reports as teaching resources. It’s one thing to say a person prepares for success, but a true, lifelong investment in self-improvement requires deliberate steps. These book reports will help me convey the message.
My running and exercise schedule will do the same. This morning I ran 10 miles and I followed with 300 pushups.
[consecutive running log: 3,226 miles in 361 days]
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