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44th out of 127 books
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Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth
Despite promises of “fast and easy” results from slick marketers, real personal growth is neither fast nor easy. The truth is that hard work, courage, and self-discipline are required to achieve meaningful results—results that are not attained by those who cling to the fantasy of achievement without effort. Personal Development for Smart People reveals the unvarnishe...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
October 15th 2008
by Hay House, Inc.
(first published 2008)
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Background:
Steve Pavlina, a former computer gaming software entrepreneur, started blogging about personal growth in 2004. He has pursued personal growth and self-improvement voraciously since avoiding a jail sentence for theft at the age of 19. Since then, he has undertaken many personal growth experiments, read and studied a great deal of material, and has worked to share that information with other people. He turned his life around and has done some cool, worthwhile things since then. In ...more
Steve Pavlina, a former computer gaming software entrepreneur, started blogging about personal growth in 2004. He has pursued personal growth and self-improvement voraciously since avoiding a jail sentence for theft at the age of 19. Since then, he has undertaken many personal growth experiments, read and studied a great deal of material, and has worked to share that information with other people. He turned his life around and has done some cool, worthwhile things since then. In ...more
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I forget WHY I picked this specific book up. Something must have caught my attention on a blog somewhere about it. The first chapters where he is setting up the vocabulary that he will use later on are... thin and vapid. I found myself doing a whole lot of "yeah, I want you to talk about that", which is responded to with "we'll talk about that in a later chapter."
Once you DO get to the later chapters, he brings up a few good ideas, and a lot of exercises and th...more
Once you DO get to the later chapters, he brings up a few good ideas, and a lot of exercises and th...more
Found this book to be of little or no use. The concepts put forth in this book basically try to break down all personal development into the primary building blocks (truth, love, power). From this, a number of secondary elements are defined as the intersection between the primary elements. Overall, the book seemed to mostly be an attempt to justify the authors' definition of these building blocks, with little in the way of practical advice or direction.
The one section I did enjoy was...more
The one section I did enjoy was...more
Personal Development for smart people
TRUTH
7: In order to grow, you must repeatedly tackle fresh challenges and consider new ideas to give your mind resh input. If you merely repeat the same experiences, you'll stagnate, and your mental capacity will atrophy.
7: Excessive routine is the enemy of intelligence.
7: Think about where your life is headed and and yourself "how do i honestly expect my life to turn out?" imagine a logical impartial obse...more
TRUTH
7: In order to grow, you must repeatedly tackle fresh challenges and consider new ideas to give your mind resh input. If you merely repeat the same experiences, you'll stagnate, and your mental capacity will atrophy.
7: Excessive routine is the enemy of intelligence.
7: Think about where your life is headed and and yourself "how do i honestly expect my life to turn out?" imagine a logical impartial obse...more
I think there was a lot of valuable advice, but some of it just came across as something the author wrote in a manic phase.
Best part is how he recommends simply trying things for 30 days. Treat it like a science experiment, where you hypothesize, you test, and you either discard or keep. I think this really helps the mentality of "it's all or nothing, and I have to jump in at 100% right now!"...which is usually followed by "Ack! I failed...I give up, it was too hard a...more
Best part is how he recommends simply trying things for 30 days. Treat it like a science experiment, where you hypothesize, you test, and you either discard or keep. I think this really helps the mentality of "it's all or nothing, and I have to jump in at 100% right now!"...which is usually followed by "Ack! I failed...I give up, it was too hard a...more
I find a lot of articles on the author's blog very helpful which is why I bought the book. There was a lot of helpful thoughts and advice in this book on living consciously. It was inspiring to me. The flow of the book at times seemed forced to fit his triangle diagram of truth love and power, but at the same time it was convenient to view a lot of topics within the context of these principles. For readers who are Christians, there were a few things in the book that do not resonate completel...more
I stumbled upon Steve's blog last year and found several of this posts insightful, useful, and fun. So I found his book at the library and after reading it, I'm glad I didn't pay for it.
This was a total switch, because where I found the blog posts to be enjoyable, here it seems he was trying to impress everyone with his intellect. I got the impression that because he was now a well-known, published, household name that he was forcing himself to try and cram as many 'big words' into a...more
This was a total switch, because where I found the blog posts to be enjoyable, here it seems he was trying to impress everyone with his intellect. I got the impression that because he was now a well-known, published, household name that he was forcing himself to try and cram as many 'big words' into a...more
Steve is a controversial person. I used to worship him, I used to question his choices in life... but all in all he is a very bright star in the personal development area and this book is one of the few ones that instead of just describing author's approach to personal development, actually tries to establish certain foundation that then can be applied to many other higher-level techniques including GTD, Covey's principles etc
I like self-help books, as long as they're actually SELF-help, as in help-a-person-discover-their-unique-destiny-and-encourage-them-towards-self-determination-books. Not help-the-corporate-economy-by-suppressing-dissent-books. So this is a good book to help you be more yourself, not more someone else.
I loved this book! There is so much to take away from it. It isn't a traditional business book at all. I recommend it for anyone who wants more out of life. It surprises me that it was included on the Personal MBA reading list (http://www.personalmba.com). Readers will also want to check out Steve Pavlina's website, http://www.stevepavlina.com. Lots of great advice!
Rebecca
is currently reading it
I am just starting this and like it. I'm not much of a self help fan, but there is something about him that makes sense to me. I learned about him when searching for stuff about a raw diet. His site is www.stevepavlina.com if anyone is interested.
A good addition to the positive psychology literature. Through personal example, Steve Pavlina has inspired many people to accomplish anything they decide they want to accomplish.
Worthwhile read. I've listened to the author's podcasts for over a year, but there was still new information to digest. Well-organized into chapters that cover his principled approach to self-development. Truth-Love-Power. Found myself using the concepts immediately.
Some kinda-sketchy parts, but some good parts as well. Pretty much exactly what to expect, if you've read any of his online articles.
I enjoyed it. It's a quick read. Reads more like an autobiography than a practical guide.
I've read this at least once before, or at least have tried to read it. I think it's a fairly no-nonsense, straightforward book, and that his framework is actually pretty useful. Perhaps you'll need to get past an initial instinctive distaste at his brazen usage (re-appropriating) of terms such as Truth, Love, and Power, but once you get used to it you'll find yourself drawing useful lessons and new ways of framing your life and how to improve it. (Admittedly though I really have to *do* things ...more
This book was a challenge for me because I am so used to reading fiction mostly romance. I enjoyed this book even though the whole 'truth, love and power' concept was extremely repetitive at times. I took away so many things that I will be able to use in my life. This book has definetly halped me to become a better human being.
I think the book was ok but I like his online articles way better
As a book author, Steve Pavlina may not be among the greatest. This book lacks powerful examples and scientific proofs. But the concepts of the principles are really insightful for me. I really like what the author said about Truth, Love, Power and other principles. The story of the author himself is also quite inspiring.
that I can try anything for 30 days.
Helped me a lot
Just okay.
I have recently started up on reading personal development books again. I love Steve's blog and was looking forward to reading his book. My favorite sections were the ones discussing relationships and money. I feel like I have a better understanding of how value works in terms of financial abundance.
I also enjoyed reading about his background as it showed how he used his mistakes as learning tools to develop his own personal growth. Definitely a good book to add to your personal deve...more
I also enjoyed reading about his background as it showed how he used his mistakes as learning tools to develop his own personal growth. Definitely a good book to add to your personal deve...more
Bought this after it Derek Sivers recommended it very highly:http://sivers.org/book/PersonalDevelopmentForSmartPeople -- Derek's notes are great)
I liked the very coherent and integrated view. It was very short on implementation though, and quite verbose, as much of Pavlina's blog articles are, for the amount of material. I'll keep it on the shelf next to 7 Habits, and probably refer to it a couple of times a year to keep me "aligned", so definitely a keeper.
I liked the very coherent and integrated view. It was very short on implementation though, and quite verbose, as much of Pavlina's blog articles are, for the amount of material. I'll keep it on the shelf next to 7 Habits, and probably refer to it a couple of times a year to keep me "aligned", so definitely a keeper.
I have been a reader of Steve's blog for years, and although the book was ok I didn't feel that there was anything new that hadn't been addressed in his blog. I checked the book out of the library and I'm glad I didn't buy it, but still it's worth reading
Angela Alcorn
marked it as to-read
This book features in Marc & Angel's 40 modern non-fiction books everyone should read, which is a good list. I made the list in Goodreads here: Marc & Angel 40 NonFiction.
Once I got into the right frame of mind to read it, this was an excellent book. Steve Pavlina tends to make broad, sweeping claims in it that take a little bit of getting used to, but his ideas are smart and I bet that if I remembered to apply them in everyday life more often, I'd be better off for it. I should read this again sometime.
The book of common sense. What is common sense in dealing with finances, relationships, religion, career, etc.
It was okay but was left a bit disappointed in some way. Can't really explain why.
It was okay but was left a bit disappointed in some way. Can't really explain why.
Joanna
marked it as to-read
I am currently obsessed with his blog and his view of lightworkers, darkworkers and the non-polarized of the world. Can't waig to get my hands on this book.
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Self-help author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur. He is the author of the web site and blog dedicated to personal development, StevePavlina.com and the book Personal Development for Smart People. He writes on a broad range of topics, and his lifestyle experiments (e.g. polyphasic sleep) have generated some mainstream media interest.
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