This blog often explores abstract ideas relating to personal development, creativity, productivity, and the like. Today, though, I have a concrete recommendation: a simple, 30-second tip that will make it slightly easier to maintain a [reading habit](https://jonathanvieker.com/3-reasons-to-start-reading-more/).

The Problem

How do we keep track of our progress in a (physical) book?

Using a bookmark, obviously. The trouble with bookmarks, though, is that they only tell us where we left off within a two-page range, and that’s actually not very specific. It’s slightly (okay, very slightly) annoying to open a book and not know if you left off at the top of the left-hand page, the bottom of the right-hand page, or somewhere in between. The denser the book, the more irritating this is.

I was talking to a friend recently about the difficulty of shipping: putting our creative work out into the world.

My friend is a polymath, whip-smart and good at pretty much everything. This person is capable of making an interesting artistic statement in, like, four different mediums.

But the fear of shipping is universal.

I know a thing or two about it. In college, I failed British Romantic Literature because I couldn’t stand the thought of handing in a paper that wasn’t my best work, and the task of producing a paper that was my best work was so intimidating that I couldn’t get started. I mean, you try writing ten great pages on Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It’s hard! Playing Grand Theft Auto was much easier.

Some mistakes are catastrophes, doing deep, lasting damage. Others are just missteps, bruising our egos a bit but teaching us loads in the process.

It’s often hard to tell the difference, though.

When we’re evaluating a potential course of action, fear often magnifies risk. To our fear-addled brains, potential minor difficulties can feel like looming disasters.

Being afraid of making an irreversible mistake can paralyze us, causing us to miss out on great opportunities that carry relatively small degrees of real risk.

How do you feel about Past You?

Are you a huge fan, or are Past You and Present You not even on speaking terms?

Personally, I have mixed feelings about Past Jonathan. He did a lot of things right, and his heart was in a good place most of the time. But he also did some dumb stuff, and it mostly had to do with failing to think long-term. Even last year, the guy spent $1,000 at Jimmy John’s. What a dope!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

In the late 60s and early 70s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a series of groundbreaking experiments at Stanford. The subjects were small children (ages 3-5), and the experiments were simple, elegant, and a little devilish.

Each child was placed in a room with a table, a chair, and a marshmallow. A researcher offered each child a choice:

1. Eat the marshmallow sitting in front of you.
2. Wait 15 minutes and receive two marshmallows instead of one.

Let me remind you that 15 minutes is an eternity to a small child.