I’ve recently been getting a kick or desire to write more. Maybe not even more but more quality.

This blog has been a great outlet to get my thoughts out each day. A place to think through ideas, to tell stories, to show what I’ve been learning, etc. It’s also been the dumping ground for some terrible writing.

I’ve come a long way since when I first began writing about a year ago, but I realize there is a lot to improve upon still. One of which goes back to something deeper than writing – reading.

Many would be shocked to know that in the last year of writing daily I’ve read less than two books. I’ve listened on audiobook to probably 5 or 6 books and I’ve read the Bible almost daily, but when it comes to actually starting and finishing a book, I’ve pretty much completely failed. I’m positive that it has been a hindrance to my writing ability and it almost feels hypocritical to write when I’m not reading. I learn from so many things in life, but reading is one of the primary means of educating oneself.

No matter what I try to convince myself of, I don’t enjoy reading. I’ve tried forcing myself to do it, and succeed at times, but it’s something that I get very little enjoyment out of. Even email newsletters that I’ve subscribed to almost always end up in my trash. When it comes to reading or not reading I’ll almost always choose the latter.

Somehow though, even in the midst of the reading crisis, I want to write more. I want to create content that others enjoy, learn from, and that causes others to think.

I’ve never been a particularly creative person. I’ve always loved creating music and legos, but I’ve always been a better innovator than I have been an inventor. I do really well when I have something to work from to create art or content. When I’m not consuming good content on a regular basis my content creation suffers heavily.

The next couple of months I’m going to work on getting better at content consumption. About a year ago I had been going through Isaac Morehouse’s “Forward Tilt” podcast and doing small write-ups for each episode and posting it on Medium. I basically stopped when I entered the program but even the short writeups that I did on the podcast were beneficial for me in my creativity and thinking. I even remember recommending it to multiple friends who were entering the professional world.

I’m also working on reading more. Not because I enjoy it, but because I know the benefits of it. However, I also understand that I learn best audibly, so the reading I do will not be my biggest priority and I’m not going to try to do something unreasonable like reading a book a week.

That may seem like easy pie to some, but to me it’s an insurmountable task. One because of my reading comprehension, but also because of my current desire to read. It’s not high enough to commit to something that ambitious. I don’t want it enough.

If that ever changes, I’ll suck up abilities and apathy and crank it out. Until then, time for some content consumption.