There are too many books to read, and not enough time to even make a dent in all the good ones.
At my current run rate of a book every two weeks, and assuming I live an average lifespan, I’ve got about 1,000 books left.
So it’s important to make good decisions on which books make the cut.
This means being ruthless. If a book doesn’t resonate, the rational thing is to stop reading it.
But I, along with many others, suffer from sunk cost bias. We feel committed to finishing a book, regardless of how bad it is, because we’ve either paid for it, or simply because we started reading it.
If you read on Kindle, however, there is a simple way to overcome this problem, and it’s a method I’ll be using in 2020 to make better reading decisions.
If there is a book that catches your attention, download the free Kindle Sample. After reading the first few chapters, and if its message still resonates strongly, buy the book.
It may also be helpful to catalogue which books you decide not to read, and why you chose not to read it. A book that isn’t right for you today, may be just what you need in the future.
H/T Russell for this idea