My Favorite Steve Pavlina Quotes:

 Life lessons, Steve Pavlina  8 Responses »
Feb 202013
 

I’ve told you before that my favorite self help book is Steve Pavlina’s Self Development For Smart People. For those of you who are interested have no clue what I am talking about right now, this is my old book-review of Self Development For Smart People and I talked about it again here.

What is special about this self help book is what it does to me. A lot of self help books are very excitatory in their  way of writing: The writer tries to really motivate you and you basically feel the chest-pounding and grunting happening inside you as you read. I like those books, and they get me excited and motivated, and that’s good.

However, motivation wanes. As you may have experienced yourself, reading a self help book gives you motivation for a little while, but often once you’ve finished the book the peak goes to regular level, or even a drop.

But this book by Steve Pavlina has a very calm way of writing. It’s not chest-poundy at all, instead it’s very relaxed…but radically truthful and enlightening. The energy behind the writing is very clear and whenever I read it, I don’t start pounding my own chest – instead I start thinking and figuring things out. It’s nice.

I started rereading it again this week (I reread most of my favorite books a few times a year) and already I feel better and more consciously aware. Thanks to these quotes, mostly. Now, these are quotes JUST from the three first chapters — the book has way more gems and reading everything else puts them in a great context, but I couldn’t resist putting them up.

  • You can’t solve problems if you don’t admit they exist. The first step on your path of personal growth must be to recognize that your life as it stands right now isn’t how you want it to be.
  • By embracing new experiences that are unlike anything you’ve previously encountered, you’ll literally become more intelligent.
  • Establish basic routines only to provide a stable foundation for branching out into unexplored territory.
  • One part of us wants to be healthy, happy, and highly conscious. another part wants nothing more than to eat, sleep, have sex and be lazy. Without the presence of consciousness, we fall into reflexive patterns by default, living more like unconscious animals than fully sentient beings.
  • Journaling is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to discover new truths. By getting your thoughts out of your head and putting them down in writing, you’ll gain insights you’d otherwise miss.
  • The decision to connect is the essence of love.
  • Don’t wait for loving connections to fall into your lap. Go out and consciously create them.
  • In truth, you can love absolutely anything. Love is not an accident. Love is a choice to recognize the deep nonphysical connection we all share.
  • No one is coming to rescue you. No one will hand you the career of your dreams, and no one will solve your relationship problems. No one will lose the extra fat on on your body. If you don’t proactively solve your own problems, they will never be solved.
  • Self determination means that you’re completely free to decide what you want. You don’t need anyone’s permission or approval. Your choices are yours.
  • Self discipline is the willingness to do what it takes to achieve the results you want regardless f your mood. When you’re feeling unmotivated, apathetic, bored, or lazy, self-discipline provides your second wind and keeps you moving. It’s your fail-safe, your motivational back-up system.
  • Disciplining yourself to do what needs to be done, even when you don’t feel like it, isn’t easy. Building your self-disciplin is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. It’s so difficult that some people will do almost anything to avoid it — procrastinate endlessly, do drugs, even commit suicide. But despite the difficulty, self-discipline remains one of the most significant aspects of personal development. Without it, your life is doomed to remain a pale shadow of your potential. Imagine all the wonderful accomplishments that will be within your grasp once you become disciplined enough to consistently follow through on your best intention.

Especially the last four basically buzz with truth for me – I love them. Good reminders for me, and maybe for you too. Hope you guys have a lovely Wednesday. I’m pretty sure I saw ACTUAL sunlight just now, so that’s exciting. Kisses.

My First Toast Masters Meeting!

 Personal, Public Speaking, Steve Pavlina  7 Responses »
Jun 282012
 

(Alas, there was no champagne. People were plenty bubbly though.) 

I like most of the things that Steve Pavlina does. Apart from his more kinky interests, he is kind of a role model to me; I don’t know anyone who has reached so much in terms of self-development & productivity. I think that’s really cool. So Rolemodel Steve often refers to Toastmasters, which is an organization that teaches people both leadership skills as public speaking in bi-weekly meetings, all over the globe.

I myself was especially interested in the public speaking part: I might have to give some lectures next school year as well as do some workshops/crazy self help teaching. I’m not terrible, but I’d love to become even better. So I decided to Google That Shit and found out they have a Toastmasters’ Club in my very own Rotterdam! They meet up every two weeks in a location 15 minutes away from me! I emailed them I was coming and Tuesday night I walked into a messy classroom to find the Toastmasters.

What happens during a meeting is this: First, you have your introductions and announcements. Up next is the Grammarian. That’s a member who takes the stage, sharing the Word of the Day and encourages the speakers to use it in their speeches and also empathizes he’s going to be taking notes on people’s language. Next up there’s Table Topics: A host comes up with a topic or questions and three or four people have to improvise a 3-minute speech. Afterwards, the Prepared Speeches begin.

Finally their is an evaluation round of the speakers & the entire meeting. There is a General Evaluator, a Uh & Ah Counter (that shit is insane – once you hear it, you cannot unhear it), the Grammarian and the Time Keeper. They all take  turns evaluating and then afterwards, the meeting is closed and you can go have a drink in the cafeteria downstairs.

I listened to two speeches: One about cultural differences and a very, very interesting one that was called ‘Lean is Mean’ that talked about the short-sighted economic scope people uphold today when it comes to big companies and all their downsizing. The woman was very passionate about it, talked with some gorgeous, English phrasing.

They welcomed me with open arms, explained everything well. There was another newbie too: A very kind, 23-year old chemist who was carrying some of my favorite Steve Pavlina articles about Discipline around with him! We discussed our mutual idol Steve and I tipped him on Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog.

The vibe was very easy-going and totally not as formal as I expected. To be completely honest with you I would have liked a little more structure (but since the meetings are led by different members each time, this might vary). What pushed me towards going again was taking a peek at the Course Material, now that I loved. Structured, easy and containing lots of information. You can basically go two ways: Competent Leader or Competent Communicator. This is like First Level of Toastmaster Mastery. If I’m joining I’d be focusing on Competent Communicator, although I might combine them.

But hey, I’m just going to back in two weeks and see if I’m still leaning towards joining. And I already recommend it to anyone who wants to get better at public speaking or leading a meeting: It’s cheap, very laid-back vibe and I think you can learn a lot there. But if I get to be in charge one day, champagne is going to be mandatory. ;)

Self Help Book Parade: #1

 Self Help Book Parade, Steve Pavlina, Uncategorized  10 Responses »
Mar 112012
 

Self Help books don’t have to be lame, boring, or weird. If you pick the right ones, the have the potential to really help your life; action on your behalf is required though, never forget that. Especially when the books are insightful, refreshing and well-written, they can spark a fire within you that may have always been there, but needed to be ignited.

Ever since I was a little girl I read these types of books. In the library, I started scouting the Spirituality&Psychology Section as soon as I found out they had one: first book I ever read was one by Louise L Hay, undoubtedly one of the big names in self help. A love affair between me and self help literature was born.

Self help books got me excited about life, about everything I could do. They gave me a peek into a world I liked to live in, one of endless possibilities and wonder. As I grew into a teenager, I kept on reading and started noticing serendipities, beautiful coincidences and sometimes even original thoughts inspired by what I had read. Now that I’m an ‘adult’ (term used loosely), I have very clear perspective about who I want to be, on top of feeling like I’m in a world where magic can happen and my positive attitude. Knowing who you want to be is a powerful thing, and I believe reading these types of books have taught me that, as well as how to take action upon what you know.

I’d like to take you on a tour of my favorite self help books of all time. My hope is you love them too and that they will help you too, in whatever way. At the very least they may be entertaining reads, because I picked entertaining reads on top of their other awesome features. ;) Here’s number one.

Discovery of the book: November 2011, so very new to me. I love Steve Pavlina’s website, and I was curious about the book. It was easy to find on iTunes, and very little money would be wasted if the book happened to be shit. Turns out it’s the best 1,99 I have spent on anything lately.

Main message: The triangle below. Three basis principles, when combined with each other to form other basic principles. If you’re aligned with the principles and their combinations, it’s practically impossible to be unhappy and unsuccessful. The book explains what the principles and their epic combo’s entail and -most importantly- how we can become more aligned with them.


Subjects: Everything. Seriously. This book takes the basic principles and somehow manages to incorporate them in about every area of life. First the chapters are about the different principles and their combinations, the chapters that follow are about health, habits, work, money, relationship, etc. Very effective stuff.

Kookiness Scale (1-10): I’m leaning towards 1, because I have read a lot of books that were way cookier than this one, but to be safe I’m going to say 2.

If you’re not really into super-spiritual stuff and prefer a more rational approach, this book is perfect for you. Most of it is super straight forward. Steve Pavlina is all about intelligent and applicable approaches. The only ‘cooky’ things he talks about is how we’re all connected to each other, but he manages to do it in a way you don’t think he’s a hippie.

Favorite quotes: 

  • “By cultivating your self awareness, you can learn to recognize when your judgment is impaired by strong emotions.” (Truth)
  • “If you want to grow consciously, you must deliberately decide which connections you’ll strengthen and which you’ll allow to weaken. Such choices ultimately determine the shape of your life.” (Power)
  • “Your experience is unquestionably your own. You can let yourself go, slack in your career, eat lots of junk food, and yell at your family, but the mess you create will be yours to experience.” (Power)
  • “No one is coming to rescue you. No one will hand you the career of your dreams, and no one will solve your relationship problems. No one will lose the extra fat on your body. If you don’t proactively solve your own problems, they will never be solved.”
  • “Genuine honesty is truth tempered with love.” (Oneness)
  • “When you’re really hungry, will you wait patiently for food to [just] arrive or will you get up and make something to eat?!” (Courage)
  • “Your honesty won’t always get a positive response, but allow others to have their reactions without feeling you must pretend to be something you’re not.” (Intelligence)
  • “Facing a significant short-term challenge today is vastly superior to decades of regret.” (Habits)
  • “You have the potential to live a powerful, self-directed life of your choosing, but until you step into your true authority, this potential remains a fantasy.”
  • “While it can be very challenging to install good habits, once they’re running strong, the effort to maintain them should be minimal” (Health)
  • “The best relationships serve to increase your power rather than diminish it.” (Relationships)

You should read this book…

  • If you like a straight forward and interesting book
  • If you like practical information on how to improve your life
  • If you like Steve Pavlina’s blog, articles and/or tweets
  • If you’re bored and have 2 bucks to spend.

If you decide to read it (or have read it!), please let me know what you think: I’d love to have your input. In the mean time, enjoy the weather and try not to get into too much trouble. ;) Kisses.