How to Read a Book Every Week for Self-Improvement Creators
You don't have time to read? I got you.

I’ve been struggling to read a book every week.
I’m a self-improvement creator, writing about self-improvement and making content on platforms like LinkedIn, X, Substack, and Medium. I’ve been building 66k followers on Medium and 2k subscribers on Substack.
But to create valuable content, I need resources.
Those resources come from two things: experience and consumption.
Reading does both.
Reading is the combination of experiencing (your own diary or other people’s experiences from books) and consuming new ideas and wisdom. As a self-improvement creator, reading is essential. And you might be one of them too.
The Gradual Progression Didn’t Work
I tried starting small, like reading for five minutes every day, but it didn’t work.
Despite my efforts to consume and create self-improvement content, I often felt like I wasn’t making progress. Even when I increased my reading time, it still didn’t feel effective.
I even scheduled reading sessions.
But still, I procrastinated more than I read.
One Sentence Every Day
I tried the smallest approach.
Reading one sentence at a time.
I needed to finish a book every week. Why? Because I wanted to learn, experience, and share valuable insights with my readers. Without it, I would just repeat the same things over and over again.
But reading one sentence in my free time won’t help me.
It might work for others, but I needed something faster.
I needed a better way to absorb information and create content efficiently.
Of Course, Escaping Was the Easy Way
Tired of failing to find the right approach, I escaped.
I started playing video games, watching YouTube, and doing nothing productive. And as a self-improvement creator, this hurt me deeply.
How could I preach self-improvement while drowning in bad habits myself?
This cycle held me back from my goals and dreams.
Finding a New Way
This time, I was serious.
I thought I had been serious before, but I wasn’t truly committed. That’s why I decided to rethink my approach. Maybe my strategy wasn’t the problem — maybe my mindset was.
And that’s when I realized: my mindset was the problem.
I believed that reading for just one sentence or five minutes was a waste of time. I thought that unless I read for an hour, it wasn’t worthwhile.
That was my biggest mistake.
Nothing Is a Waste of Time!
Every small step toward productivity is meaningful.
Even reading one sentence isn’t a waste of time. Sure, I might forget what I read, but it still moves me closer to becoming a regular reader.
It’s all about progress.
So, I decided to build reading gradually. From one minute to 5 minutes and into a full reading session.
Even with 5 minutes of reading every day, I’ve built the mindset of reading a book every week. Because now I’m getting addicted to picking up my book in my leisure time and reading.
The main problem is my mindset.
And now, my mindset doesn’t hold me back by feeling like a waste of time. It only strengthened me to keep on reading even if I didn’t understand what I read. This actually helps me become more confident in what I do.
I feel more confident in my writing and find it easier to create content.
My mind is filled with fresh ideas, experiences, and insights from the books I read.
Reading is amazing.
How to Read a Book Every Week for Self-Improvement Creators
It’s not easy, but here’s what you need to do:
Nothing is a waste of time. Even if you read a paragraph and didn’t get it, just keep on reading. No one will judge whether you understand each paragraph or not. The key is to read and understand the main point of the chapter.
Eliminate bad habits. Make your daily activities more boring than reading. If something is more fun than reading — like gaming, smoking, or binge-watching — limit or eliminate it.
Set a goal. Never read a book without a clear purpose. Why did you pick this book? What do you want to learn from it? I explain this in-depth in The Mastery of Reading Course.
Help your future self. Read as much as you can today, so the future you has less pressure. If your goal is 50 pages a day and you read 100 today, you’re ahead of schedule.
Conclusion
Reading a book every week isn’t mandatory.
But it’s a fun and challenging goal. Self-improvement creators don’t have to read that much, but they should at least make reading a consistent habit to gain wisdom and resources.
You learn something. You experience something. You create something from it.
That’s why reading a book every week is a cheat code for self-improvement creators.
I used to read an average of 80 books a year, all because I joined a book “challenge” group called “Book-a-Week”. The goal was in the title. 😉 And we kept track of all the books we read.
While I don’t read nearly as much any more, I do still track the books I read.
And the easiest way I’ve found to finish more books is to aim for one chapter per day.
Thank you so much, Kevin. You are so valuable to me because you introduced me to Substack. I've gained a lot of insightful knowledge.