I made the most childish resolution I could last year. I resolved not to read any books. Yep, you heard me right nada, nothing, zippo, zilch. No books.

Before you judge me, let me state that I love to read. I’ll read anything I can get my hands on. As a kid, I would read every Rebecca Caudill book (20+ books a year) every year on top of my regular reading. I would get in trouble for reading during class. After five years of taking band, I still can’t play the saxophone because read during practice (by hiding a book on the music stand). That has stuck with me in college. When I moved to Austin, all I brought with me were two suitcase s, a carryon, and a backpack. Even then I ended up bringing 25 books with me. The point is, I read a lot.

Last year I set out to change something. I wanted to create more than I consume. I know it sounds like something an angsty fifth-grader would say, but I was genuinely curious to see what would happen if I stopped reading. While there’s a large camp out there of successful individuals such as Ryan Holiday who swear by reading a lot, there’s a small but vocal minority of individuals who swear that you’re better off spending your time doing things. Why read about being a pro-cyclist when you can get on your bike and become a cyclist. That’s always been the voice nagging me at the back of my head.