Interest-First Reading Habit
Build a lasting reading habit by starting from what genuinely interests you
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 60%
The habit is built by removing friction rather than adding discipline. You start by being honest about what actually piques your interest, then deliberately choose books and authors within that lane so reading feels like leisure instead of homework. Crucially, you grant yourself permission to put down any book you dislike, killing the sunk-cost pressure to finish. You then set aside a fixed time each day, treated like a gym session you build gradually rather than max out overnight. As a stack of enjoyable books accumulates in your interest area, the habit stabilizes, and only then do you push into the periphery, letting curiosity pull you into adjacent topics you would never have started with cold.
Origin
Jim Mullane distilled this from running the Get Better With Books page and fielding beginner questions, echoing the maxim 'read what you love until you love to read.'
Core principles
- 01Reading should feel like leisure, not a chore
- 02Genuine interest is the fuel that sustains a new habit
- 03You are never obligated to finish a book you dislike
- 04Consistency comes from dedicated time, not willpower spikes
- 05Once the habit is stable, curiosity naturally expands your range
How to run it
- 1
Name your genuine interests
Be very honest with yourself about what you are interested in and where you are starting from. Identify the topics and questions that actually pique your curiosity.
Watch out Do not pick books just because they are popular on social media if the subject bores you.
- 2
Choose books inside that lane
Select topics, books, and authors focused on your real interests so that reading feels like a leisure activity rather than a chore.
Pro tip Writing style matters as much as content; an author you vibe with keeps you reading for hours.
- 3
Give yourself permission to quit
If a book does not strike your nerve, put it down. Treat it like a bad Netflix movie you would not sit through, and drop the badge-of-honor pressure to finish.
Pro tip One useful heuristic: if you're 100 pages minus your age in and have no urge to share a passage, quit.
Watch out Social pressure from book clubs or public commitments can trap you into finishing books you hate.
- 4
Set aside dedicated time
Like building strength in the gym, reserve a fixed daily slot, such as 20 minutes each morning. Build the habit gradually rather than trying to read for hours overnight.
Pro tip Read non-fiction by day and lighter story or fiction by night to match energy to material.
- 5
Expand into the periphery
Once you have a few books under your belt and the habit feels natural, start peering into adjacent topics you would not normally read to expand your knowledge and spark new curiosity.
Pro tip Take off-beat recommendations from people who don't know your usual taste; they open unexpected doors.
In the wild
After his interest-driven habit was solid, Mullane took two recommendations from his uncle that were far from the self-help and business books he usually read: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Thunder at Twilight. He had no idea what the first was about but could not stop reading it, and it sparked genuine curiosity about questions like the meaning of meaning that he had never considered in 32 years. The periphery expansion only worked because the core habit was already stable.
→ A stable habit let him branch into unfamiliar genres and discover new intellectual interests.
Common mistakes
Forcing yourself to finish every book
Treating an unfinished book as a failure invokes the sunk-cost fallacy and makes reading feel like a chore, which kills the habit before it forms.
Chasing vanity metrics
Setting a target like 50 books a year makes you rush for a tally mark and lose sight of why you're reading, which is counterproductive to a genuine habit.
Is it for you?
Best for
Beginners who want reading to become a sustainable daily habit rather than a resolution that fizzles.
Not ideal for
Readers who already have a strong habit and specifically want to be challenged outside their comfort zone.
From the transcript
“you need to be very honest with yourself about what you're interested in... if you can choose topics and books and authors that are focused…”
“read what you love until you love to read”
From the episode
How To Get Better With Books - Jim Mullane - #177
Jim Mullane