Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth - Steve Pavlina

...is perhaps the first true personal development phenomenon of the Internet age. I am surely not the only Ciao member who has been captivated by his eponymous and incredibly popular blog. He is famous for cheerily engaging in one seemingly madcap but successful challenge after another - such as graduating from college in just three semesters by embracing an Olympian workload, or deciding to test out polyphasic mini-sleep patterns rather than snore ...
...but that is probably a personal preference.

In summary, this is a thoughtful and considered book. It offers substantially different content to his blog and is definitely worth a read. His book is even offered with a compliment, since he explicity offers "personal development for smart people". How could I disagree? ;-)  ... more

Steve Pavlina is perhaps the first true personal development phenomenon of the Internet age. I am surely not the only Ciao member who has been captivated by his eponymous and incredibly popular blog. He is famous for cheerily engaging in one seemingly madcap but successful challenge after another - such as graduating from college in just three semesters by embracing an Olympian workload, or deciding to test out polyphasic mini-sleep patterns rather than snore the traditional eight hours a night.

His debut book is refreshingly simple, jargon-free and intelligent. It can properly be described as a work of philosophy, since it bears little resemblance to the pumped-up, cheese-laden self-help books that typify the genre. Pavlina has a knack for focusing on the core elements of life - a basic triangle of truth, love and power - and developing all the other virtues as combinations of those primary concepts. For example, the quality of oneness is a second order concept, being the mix of truth and love.

In the second half of the book Pavlina focuses on the practical application of these principles in our daily lives. He realises from his own experience that self-development is a hard journey, and there are no short-cuts. That only makes the road more worthwhile. Particularly helpful is his signature concept of the "30 day" trial - the idea that, like a piece of software, any new habit can be piloted for a trial period.

His list of 66 productivity boosting habits (page 149) is a rich menu of ideas and I have applied several successfully myself. Occasionally I miss the show, razzmatazz and hype of the more traditional self-help book, but that is probably a personal preference.

In summary, this is a thoughtful and considered book. It offers substantially different content to his blog and is definitely worth a read. His book is even offered with a compliment, since he explicity offers "personal development for smart people". How could I disagree? ;-) 

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