Archive for October, 2008
A Steve Pavlina Interview on How to Build Your Career
Work Happy Now was granted an interview with Steve Pavlina, the online Personal Development King. I just gave him that title, but I think most of us can agree that no one has more online “personal development” clout than Steve.
I was nervous. I wanted everything to go perfectly. My voice was a little shaky at the start. You’ll notice this when you listen to the first podcast. I calmed down after a few minutes and I delivered a pretty good interview.
I told my wife that I probably would put Steve at the top of my list of famous people to interview.
“What about Obama?” she asked.
“Sure, I would love to interview Obama, but interviewing Steve meant more to me. I would probably get more readers with an Obama interview, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve been following Steve’s blog for almost three years,” I replied.
“Wow! You really enjoyed talking with him.”
“Yeah, he’s down to earth and intelligent. I couldn’t have asked for a better interview.”
“You’ve worked hard for this. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
I broke the interview down into five parts:
The sound quality isn’t the greatest since I recorded it using Skype. I had to increase the volume on Steve’s answers so it matched my volume. It’s not a perfect recording, but I’m sure you’ll find it interesting. Steve’s answers are honest and unique.
Enjoy! I know I did.
Check out my review of Steve’s book Personal Development for Smart People.
Articles Related to Steve’s Brilliant Advice:
- Personal Development for Smart People - Book Review
- 50/50 Effect
- How Transitions Can Dramatically Improve Your Productivity
- Your 3 Careers - Are You Ready?
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Personal Development for Smart People - Book Review
You’re a smart person, right? Of course you are or you wouldn’t be reading this blog.
The title of Steve Pavlina’s book and blog compliment the reader before they even start on the first page. Personal Development for Smart People has a ring to it that makes the reader want to pick it up and check out what’s inside.
The genius behind Steve Pavlina lies in striking the right chord at the right time. He created a personal development blog when all the personal development gurus had static sites. He wrote valuable content on a daily basis and his audience grew fast.
Steve refused to dumb it down so it would be easy to access the information. He asked you to join him on his level and this helped the readers lift themselves up out of their present cyclical thinking.
He can now boast that he maintains the largest personal development website in the world. That took strategic planning and creativity. Few people are willing to dig as deep as Steve has done to discover new personal development ideas. He understood how to stand out (weird posts), but he also understood how to connect with a mass audience (common sense writing).
Steve’s first book is filled with common sense and fresh ideas that will satisfy the most critical reader. It’s already on the best seller list on Amazon and other sites.
Foundation
Steve has learned to adjust his vibrational tuning fork to connect with millions of people. If you enjoy personal development, you have probably already visited his website. Doesn’t it seem like every other personal development blog that you read is influenced by Steve in some way? That is a tribute to a man who paved his own path.
Like his blog, Personal Development for Smart People is a well rounded book. It gives the reader the foundation to create a prosperous life.
The three main themes of the book are:
- Truth
- Love
- Power
I love how he weaves these ideas throughout each concept.
How this Book can Help Your Career
The section on careers is very useful. I’ll share two of my favorite quotes from this chapter:
“When we express ourselves creatively we are sharing what’s most important to ourselves.”
He goes on to say:
“Think of your career as a primary outlet for creative expression.”
He breaks down his thoughts in a user-friendly way to help you apply these ideas to your own life. That’s the most that you can ask for in a personal development book – easy to understand and applicable ideas that encourage the reader to take action.
I encourage you to check out his website in order to supplement the information in the book.
His website gives such gems as:
- How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes
Steve’s writing within the book is incredibly polished and easy to follow. The thoughts connect and always come back to the central themes.
I would recommend this book to anyone trying to reach a deeper understanding of themselves.
Spirituality
One of my favorite sections was the one on spirituality, toward the end of the book. We have an amazing opportunity that few people have had before this time period. We can learn from any culture with a click of the mouse. You and I can learn how Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians handle certain situations. We don’t need to look through one religious lens. We can explore many perspectives to help us gain a better understanding of our lives.
This was also one of my favorite topics that he touched on in his blog, but in his book his ideas really came together to help me gain a better understanding of how to improve my outlook.
Your Choice
It’s your choice to buy this book, but I promise it will change your life, especially if you have never read his blog. If you’ve read his blog, many of his thoughts are brought together with his book into a cohesive pattern that helps the reader understand Steve’s thinking.
Getting inside an intelligent man’s head and taking a few nuggets of knowledge to improve your life is worth $20.
Work Happy Now Interview with Steve Pavlina
Steve was awesome enough to give me an interview that I recorded over Skype. It was really amazing to have the opportunity to ask him anything I wanted. As you can tell I’m a big fan of his.
I broke the interview into five parts:
- Building Your Career Foundation – 8:36
- How to Overcome Fear – 7:53
- Why Passion if More Important Than Money – 6:21
- Spirituality – 4:23
- Steve Pavlina’s Core Principals – 10:39
I will post all 5 Podcasts tomorrow. He answered the questions that I thought would help all of you the most. So stop by tomorrow and enjoy a fun interview.
* Update: Click here to check out the Steve Pavlina interview - enjoy.
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Havi of the Fluent Self and Her Duck Selma - Interview
I’ve been blessed to do an interview with Havi of Fluent Self and her sidekick (Selma, her duck). Don’t tell Selma that I called her a sidekick.
Havi is an expert in patterns, procrastination, and calming techniques – all qualities that many of us are looking to improve. Selma is an expert in floating in the tub. Both of them make a great team. Let’s welcome Havi and Selma.
Thanks for joining me in this interview. Let’s get right into it.
Work Happy Now: After reading Procrastination Dissolve-o-matic (Havi’s procrastination program for people who want to work on their internal blockage so they can get their projects done) I learned some fantastic techniques, but I’m curious - can you describe the technique that works best for you when you are putting something off?
Havi: Lately I’ve mostly been using the focusing yoga mudra that I teach in the book to turn my attention inward, and then I actively let myself NOT WANT to do the thing I think I have to be doing.
Once I’ve softened some of that internal resistance, I check in and find out if there’s something I can do differently. I also give myself five minutes to NOT do the thing and to not want to do it at all.
WHN: The perfectionism syndrome that you described in your book really resonated with me. I too want my projects to be perfect and it keeps me from actually doing the work. How did you overcome this?
Havi: Oh boy. Lots of practice. Lots of reminding myself that everything you do is in flux. Things can always be improved upon, so it’s a matter of finding out: when are you going to just let things be the way they are right now?
Also, one of the things I’ve learned from teaching is that I actually teach much better when it’s spontaneous than when I’m fabulously over-prepared. So that’s helped me get better at releasing the need for ridiculously intense hard-core preparation
WHN: The idea of actually enjoying the work is a difficult concept. Many of us were raised to push ourselves to get the work done, not actually enjoy it. It’s the “work for the weekend” attitude. How do we overcome such deeply ingrained resistance?
Havi: Well, you want to make sure you’re also not guilting yourself here with the whole “how come I can’t enjoy it” thing … it’s important to figure out which parts or aspect of the work trigger your resistance so you can shift your focus.
The work is really just a reflection of your own relationship with yourself … and as you work on that relationship, it gets easier to be a bit more playful with the work. But the truth is that sometimes work does suck. It’s not always going to be fun. The question is, how can you meet yourself where you are when you’re not getting what you need from the work, and give yourself comfort and caring and better options.
WHN: Learning to be a detective with your patterns is a fantastic idea. I think it will help me avoid getting too caught up in my emotions. Can you explain why it’s helpful to become a detective with your patterns?
Havi: If you’re “fighting” your patterns, you get too involved in mastering them and kicking them. But when you’re noticing them, studying and learning from them, picking up clues like a detective — you have some emotional distance from your pain.
This (paradoxically) allows you to get closer to what’s really going on with your patterns — so you can start giving yourself what you need.
WHN: Many of us are hard on ourselves. I’m my own worst critic. I’m learning to become more of a inspiring coach to myself, but it’s tough. How does someone cultivate as you put it “the lover” within themselves?
Havi: Well, as I think the point I tried to get across in the book is that this is really the advanced practice. You don’t start there. No one does.
Instead you start with noticing where you’re hard on yourself and asking yourself whether it’s possible to maybe eventually be able to stand being around yourself some day, despite the fact that you think you’re a mess and it’s all so miserable. That is absolutely step one.
I don’t think we need to rush into pushing towards inspiration, since that often just triggers more resistance. I think it’s all about figuring out where you are and then meeting yourself there.
WHN: I thought your blog post about Planting Clues was a great tool to stay on top of our stuff. You talk about this in your book. How does someone plant clues that will encourage them to do their project or task?
Havi: I have one client who has been putting off working on her new website. She decided that she needed reminders of how meaningful her actual work is for her and how much it grounds her. So we had her take a pebble from her garden and keep it in her pocket. It’s her “meaning and grounding” pebble. It may be a bit cheesy, but it totally makes her feel better. It’s a steady reminder of why she’s doing this work to put what she does out there into the world.
WHN: I grew up looking at a mountain and only seeing more mountains. It creates resistance due to futility. When you are consulting with a person with this attitude, what do you recommend that they do to reduce their avoidance and get their stuff done?
Havi: Yeah, that’s really hard and frustrating. Sometimes it seems like there’s nothing but more horrible ahead, so you just do what you can to meet yourself where you are with that.
Notice the avoidance. Notice what triggers resistance. Allow yourself to NOT WANT to do the thing, whatever it is. You’re entitled to not want to do it. Allowing yourself to feel like it’s all a big waste of time is part of the process of getting back to the point where you can get excited about where you’re going.
That’s what’s going to help you find some of the playfulness and … who knows, maybe even a little adventure.
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Thank to Havi for such a great interview. I know that this will help many of my readers overcome their procrastination. If my readers want to take their career to the next level I recommend Havi and Selma’s program. It’s worth every penny. Havi also does consultations if anyone ever needs to work through any roadblocks to optimal potential.
Click here to check out my review or Procrastination Dissolve-o-matic.
Articles Related to Getting Stuff Done:
- Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic Program Review
- How Transitions Can Dramatically Improve Your Productivity
- Failures You Should Either Release or Keep Pursuing
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Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic Program Review
Havi from the Fluent Self and her sidekick (Selma, her duck) have put together a fantastic “get your stuff done and stop beating yourself up about it when you don’t” program. I would give it four thumbs up if I had four thumbs. Four thumbs? I’ll just borrow yours. Believe me you’ll give this program two thumbs up.
The Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic covers internal blocks and tried and true productivity techniques. As we all know the only way to get stuff done is to understand why we avoid it in the first place. We don’t avoid meeting our best friend at the local coffee shop. So why do we avoid that email or report?
We usually procrastinate the stuff that brings up uncomfortable feelings that we want to avoid. This program helps break these patterns down so we can change our habits.
Three A’s
Havi describes it as:
- Acknowledge
- Allow
- Act
The three A’s that help us overcome our emotional baggage.
We beat ourselves up when we don’t get our stuff done. We look back on the day and wonder where the time went. We know where the time went. It was sucked up by email, the phone, and meetings. It’s important to acknowledge these failures and stop trying to whip ourselves into shape.
If all we do is whip our asses into shape then we’ll just end up with sore asses.
We think that if we are hard on ourselves then eventually it will sink in and we’ll start knocking out the work. How naïve can we be? If our ass kicking hasn’t worked to this point then it probably won’t ever work.
We must feel these blockages, understand why the resistance is there, and figure out how to overcome them.
Gathering this self knowledge will lead you to make decisions that will help you use your patterns to overcome procrastination. Once you come to these informed decisions, all that’s left to do is act on them.
It Really is Up to You
It’s up to you to put yourself in a winning situation, that’s what the last half of the book is all about. This program gives you seven productivity techniques that will help you take action. My favorite was number #4 – Apply Pam’s Algorithm. Chopping down projects into smaller tasks and making them so digestible that it almost doesn’t seem like work. You can accomplish quick amounts of work and know exactly what to do next.
The program is a bit pricey at $108, but in my mind worth the effort, especially if you try these techniques and implement them. I’ve created a little preparation ritual to help me finish my ebook. It has done wonders for me. That’s all you can ask for in any knowledge based program - a few concrete ideas that you can apply to your life.
There is no magic fairy dust that will end your procrastination, although Havi does have a fairy dust method that has helped me calm my anxiety before I begin a project. I digress… It’s up to you to keep adding to your tool chest of good habits. Hopefully over time you stop beating yourself up about the stuff you don’t get done (You need some “me time” too) and appreciate all the hard work that you do for your family, your projects and your own happiness.
If you want a little sample of Havi’s program click this link here and you’ll get a little taste of her skills that will leave you wanting more.
When do you procrastinate? Why do you think you hold yourself back from just doing it?
Do you want more reviews like this? Then help me out and subscribe to my RSS feed and help me spread the Work Happy Now cause.
Check back on Sunday and I’ll have an Interview with Havi that will delight your senses. So much so that you’ll feel like floating away from your computer and doing some great work. You’ll laugh in the face of procrastination.
Related Articles that Will get Your Work Happiness Mojo Rising:
- How Transitions Can Dramatically Improve Your Productivity
- 5 Fun and Easy Tips to Let the “Real You” Shine Through at Work, Southwest Airlines Style
- 30 Seconds of Laughing and a Few Minutes of Learning
50/50 Effect
Every action has an equal and opposite response. It’s the law of our thoughts, nature, and the universe. Accepting this fact will open many closed doors.
I used to be stuck in black and white land. I thought that I was only allowed to walk through the white doors while the black ones were off limits. Where did that obscure metaphor come from? It doesn’t matter, what does matter is my own limitations.
I was limiting my imagination, creativity, and fun by 50%. This happened in almost every situation in my life. These patterns run deep.
$220
When I was 14, my friends and I found $220 on the ground. We were at basketball camp which would have given us the freedom to buy candy, athletic gear and what I thought was happiness. My two other friends wanted to turn the money in. I argued, but to no avail. They handed the money in. I was pissed.
We could have made a terrible time into something fun. I thought this $220 was the answer to my prayers. What I wasn’t able to see until many years later was that I never gave myself a chance to have fun. At the time I thought the camp was a terrible program. A lot of it may have been the camp’s fault, but I never owned up to making a good time of a tough situation.
This outlook ran its course throughout my life. I never thought to argue for just $20 or even consider my friends’ points of view. My two friends were both raised Catholic and if they didn’t turn that money then in that was a sin against God.
That’s way more important than me buying candy.
I couldn’t see any of these options. It was all black and white.
Every Job
Every employer was always lame or boring and wasn’t able to challenge me. They were the dark cloud wrecking my life.
My emotional shift began when I started to see the patterns reoccur at every job I had. I would emotionally pull away and coast.
It’s Never All Your Fault
I wasn’t able to enjoy a job until I realized that I needed to take 50% of the responsibility upon myself and give 50% of the responsibility to my employer. When I stumbled upon this realization, that’s when the joy started flooding in.
No problem is 100% your fault and no problem is 100% someone else’s fault. Blame can be spread all around.
I was giving 25% effort and expecting 100% return. You know what I got - 10% return. I blamed every company for not being more accommodating. However, if I wasn’t trying hard, how could I expect my managers to try to make me happy? They didn’t care because I didn’t care.
Not every company will be weak in all the same areas. I realized my problems extended from my outlook. It was my fault that I couldn’t enjoy my job.
None of the jobs were a perfect fit, but it’s about building your career foundation and using those skills to take yourself to the next level.
That next level may be starting your own business or rising through the ranks to become head engineer. It could mean just being happier with the work that you are presently doing. There are goals to reach at every job and it’s up to you make them happen.
Notice Your Patterns
Watch how you might return to the same emotional choices when confronted by a difficult situation. Maybe your job isn’t giving you all that is required, but are you giving enough in return? This is difficult to diagnose because many times we are too close to the situation.
Be honest and put blame on yourself as well as the company.
Try to find solutions that will fit your needs as well as your company’s needs.
The 50/50 Effect puts the responsibility for work happiness on both ends. If you give more and your company doesn’t return the energy then find a company that is willing to appreciate you.
It’s up to you to make your happiness come alive at your job. If it never blossoms then run like a crazy mad man/woman and find a job or career that’s going to help build your future you.
Have you ever run away from a job like it was the plague? Was it a good decision?
Articles Related to Other Cool Articles Like This One:
- Your 3 Careers - Are You Ready?
- Failures You Should Either Release or Keep Pursuing
- You Should be Celebrating Your Average and Tiny Successes
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Image courtesy of Jairo BD
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