Last year I made a resolution: to only read non-fiction for one year. I’ve always enjoyed reading and I’ve done a lot of it—I loved Swan’s Way, actually enjoyed Crime and Punishment, struggled through Infinite Jest, and nearly fell off the bed reading Naked, but I have never been much into non-fiction. Nonetheless, it seemed like a good idea and a fun way to further educate myself on topics I was already involved with and wanted to understand better. Little did I realize, however, is that what I really made was a resolution to change my life. Now, I’m not suggesting switching from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to the Wall Street Journal will revolutionize your life, but what I found is, if it is knowledge that you truly seek, you are bound to find what you are looking for.

Fueled by my experience with Sloane, and a desire to take my career in a new direction, I toyed with the idea of going to grad school. But, it seemed like an expensive risk in a bad economy where an MBA doesn’t mean as much as it used to. So, I decide to put myself through my own version of graduate home-school. I read lots of content marketing and social media books, business journals, case studies, consumer research reports, technology blogs, Futurist predictions, music blogs, the WSJ RSS feeds, and followed countless thought leaders on social media. It has given me immense satisfaction and reawakened my critical mind. So, if you haven’t considered a resolution yet, or worse—picked one you already know you’ll fail at—
I suggest you try a year of non-fiction.

Dad, this is for you.