Aligned with Truth, Love, Power
I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Steve Pavlina’s book Personal Development for Smart People. The book comes out on October 15, 2008, and you can pre-order it on amazon here. Of course you might want to read my review first!
As you would expect from Steve’s blog, his book is very down to earth and it feels as though he is talking directly to you. The premise is that there are three simple guiding principles that you can apply to every aspect of your life in order to make the most of it. They are: truth, love, and power. Each of these guiding principles can be combined to form a total of seven ideals:
Truth, love, power, oneness, authority, courage, and intelligence.
First Impressions
When I first saw the cover of the book, I’ll admit that I wasn’t really blown away. As the saying goes you can’t judge a book by its cover. The title of the book came as no surprise, having read Steve Pavlina’s blog on and off since 2005. However, after reading the chapter on intelligence, I discovered that there is more to Steve’s notion of “being smart”. He believes that by being more conscious, we are living more intelligently.
Readability
The book is really easy to read. If you’ve read any of Steve’s articles on his website, you will easily recognize his writing style. What I really like is that Steve opens himself up completely and shares with us his most private details. After reading just a few chapters, I realized how much I have in common with Steve. Maybe that’s why a lot of people can relate to him, since he is able to create a large following through shared experiences. What made this book even more fun to read, was a few of Steve’s most candid moments and jokes.
Highlights
The following are some highlights that struck me when reading this book. Hopefully each of these points will help you on your quest to personal growth, and motivate you to take a closer look at Steve Pavlina’s book.
- Decision Making: Steve teaches us how to make decisions from a higher consciousness, which he says tends to lead to better results. When you make a decision from such a high place you know that you can trust yourself when doubts start to creep in.
- Practical Exercises: The book includes simple exercises after each chapter, which are very practical and easy to do.
- Prodding Questions: Steve also offers many moments of contemplation, where you need to ask yourself some questions. These questions are very honest, and will enable you to see the truth about your current lifestyle and direction.
- Call to Conscious Living: Many people have observed that we seem to be suppressing ourselves. We stuff ourselves with junk food, keep ourselves busy with idle entertainment, and pursue empty goals. Steve suggests that by focusing on our power we can live the life that we deserve.
- Entrepreneurial: Steve writes from the perspective of an entrepreneur. This makes the career and habits section of the book more applicable to people who run a business, or work for themselves. For example, someone who works at a 9-to-5 job would have a hard time taking a vacation on a whim, taking a nap, or going for a run between tasks.
- Oneness: The definition for oneness that Steve shares is different than most. Putting yourself first will also benefit the greater good, since we are all connected. One small change will improve the whole.
- Law of Attraction? It was interesting to learn about Steve’s view on the Law of Attraction. He believes that the law of attraction requires action. If you think about it, the word attraction includes the word action.
- Courage: The word “safe” is both a noun and adjective. The adjective means “being free from danger”, whereas the noun means “an enclosed storage container with a lock”. Steve explains that trying to live a safe life means locking yourself up in a cage, trying to have this feeling of security that you can never have.
- Daily Habits: One of the most interesting habits was to reclaim other people’s wasted time. For example, reading a book or writing a to do list, during a dull speech.
- Scarcity vs. Abundance: Steve explained to be scarcity mindset and the abundance mindset in a very interesting way. I had never considered these topics in this way before, and everything suddenly became so clear to me after reading these passages. These concepts alone are well well worth reading the book.
- Relationships: It was interesting to find out that Steve and his wife Erin are very similar to my boyfriend and I. We seem to use the same communication channels, and this led me to wonder whether all men and women communicate through same communication channels or not.
- Fear of Rejection: When you ask for something you might fear being rejected. Steve explains that oneness helps us eliminate this fear. If we ask and we are turned down, the person or project was incompatible to begin with.
- Spirituality: Steve shares the idea that spirituality at an individual level can bring peace at a global level. Instead of focusing on the differences between religions, if we focus on the core beliefs that every religion preaches, we will find common ground.
Will This Book Change Your Life?
We all want to change our lives for the better, but sometimes we actually cling to our current circumstances. I truly believe that the book Personal Development for Smart People will help you let go of your current situation, to grow as a person. The concepts that Steve covers seem so basic, but if you actually apply them to your life, I can almost guarantee that you’ll see a major shift in your life.
Assuming you can actually integrate the principles of truth, love, and power into your life, you will probably never need to read another self-help book. Unless of course, you feel that the book will help you align better with these principles. Steve’s approach is at a much higher level, which gives you the big picture for your life. Personally, I can see this book and these principals impacting many of my future decisions, and even rippling out throughout the world.
Do I Recommend This Book?
Absolutely! Although my boyfriend is not much of a self-help person, he has agreed to read this book. I believe he will find many interesting concepts in it, that will help him grow as a person. I also believe it will help our relationship, our finances, and our health.
If you’ve read a lot of self-help books, you will definitely gain from reading this book. I’ve read a few dozen self-help books, and this one definitely stood out from all the others. Although there were exercises after each chapter, I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the number of things that I had to do in order to practice what Steve was recommending.
I feel that after reading this book, I can start living life just a bit better than I had been previously. Over time I know that I will be able to integrate these principles into my life even more deeply. Soon, we will all be a bit more conscious thanks to Steve’s writings.
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