Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.The Point of No Return
In Act 1 of a story with a 3-act structure, the protagonist often reaches the point of no return. Their old world crumbles, and they stumble forward into a new world, often reactively at first. There is no going back to the old world.
In a novel or movie, there may be multiple progressive points of no return, each creating a deeper level of commitment and increasing the protagonist’s risk as well.
Once Neo takes the red pill in The Matrix, he can’t go back to his old life. The old reality has ended, and now his world is permanently changed.
Once Harry Potter learns that he’s a wizard, his world i...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 24, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Abundance Creating Reality Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
Why You Should Make a Video in Your Bathrobe
I love mental and emotional resistance training because it has done so much for me over the years. It’s a fabulous way to think about skill-building when you’re diving into new territory, especially when you feel anxious, uncomfortable, or off balance.
Consider learning how to record and publish videos online, for instance.
So much of this is about how you model the experience in your mind.
A video can be a performance. It can be a conversation. It can be a form of play. It can be a gift. You can frame the experience however you like, but you won’t really feel free to choose your framing until yo...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 23, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Abundance Creating Reality Emotions Productivity Source Type: blogs
Capturing Story Ideas
On my novel writing journey, I’m starting out by capturing ideas, which are plentiful. I find that committing to a project summons a flood of ideas, and this one is no different in that sense. When I say a firm yes, reality says: Great… let’s unlock that idea space for you.
The ideas have been flooding my mind frequently – when I wake up in the morning, while eating, while running, and even while blogging. At any time I might be struck by an idea for a character, scene, location, plot twist, theme, or anything else related to the novel. When I’m at my computer, I like to capture these ideas on ...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 23, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Productivity Source Type: blogs
AI and Character Design
One thing I have to do ASAP for my novel writing project is to figure out some character and plot ideas. I don’t already have a story in mind, and I haven’t figured out any characters. I haven’t even picked a genre, so I’m really starting from scratch here. I’d love to have at least a basic sketch of what kind of story I’m going to write by November 1st when NaNoWriMo officially starts.
I can lean on past role-playing experience to help with some details of character design, but I also prefer to trust in the flow of inspiration and see where that leads.
One idea that randomly poppe...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 21, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Productivity Source Type: blogs
NaNoWriMo Tips
A couple of days ago, I searched for NaNoWriMo tips from people who’ve done it before. I especially looked for lessons that people discovered by contrasting their own failures versus successes with NaNoWriMo. I compiled a short list of the most interesting tips as reminders for myself, so I thought I’d share this list with you in today’s post.
I’m sure you can generalize some of these ideas to improve your ability to succeed with other short-term challenges as well.
Just write. Don’t do editing, and don’t even fix typos as you go.
This was among the most common tips. Many people...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 20, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Productivity Source Type: blogs
Prepping for NaNoWriMo
I spent some time today learning more about NaNoWriMo, including sifting through their member forums looking for beginner tips and suggestions. Fortunately there’s a ton of advice from other writers who’ve done NaNoWriMo many times before.
I was curious how many people who sign up for NanoWriMo each year actually succeed at writing at least 50,000 words during the month of November. The completion percentage is different each year, but it seems to average around 15%. That lands within my expectations.
When it comes to 30-day challenges, I find that the early game is key. I usually win or lose the challeng...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 20, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Productivity Source Type: blogs
NaNoWriMo 2020
As I’ve shared previously, one of my goals for this year is to write a novel. I’ve never done that before. It’s been a stretch goal of mine for a long time, and I’ve decided the time has come to finally do it.
To move this goal forward in a more concrete way, I signed up for NaNoWriMo on Friday. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it happens every year in the month of November. I’ve been aware of it for years, but this is the first time I’ve ever signed up for it.
If you have a NaNoWriMo account, feel free to add me to your buddy list. Here’s my NaNoWriMo p...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 18, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Lifestyle Productivity Source Type: blogs
Universal Timing Alignment
I’ve noticed that when I get an idea for a big new project, the timing often doesn’t feel good right away. It’s as if the idea wants to get my attention, so I can start thinking about it, but it also needs time to incubate.
If I try to force the idea forward faster, it’s like pushing through molasses. It takes lots of discipline, and I have to forcefully re-engage with the task again and again. The inspiration to move it forward isn’t present. These projects don’t succeed. If they ever get completed, the results are disappointing.
On the other hand, if I conclude that the idea isn&...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 17, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Abundance Productivity Source Type: blogs
Problems You Only Need to Solve Once
If you have a recurring problem and you can reasonably expect it to recur, solve the problem once. Really solve it. Document your solution. Then run your solution each time the problem occurs.
This form of process documentation is common in business. I recommend you use it in your personal life as well.
Here are some examples of problems you can solve just once:
Do you get up right away when your alarm goes off in the morning without ever using the snooze button?If you’re feeling anxious, stressed, worried, frustrated, depressed, or overwhelmed, do you know how to get back to feeling good relatively quickly?...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 16, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Productivity Source Type: blogs
Curiosity Goals
Maybe you have some goals for accomplishments you’d like to experience and enjoy. That’s great. Just be aware that you can also set goals for outcomes and experiences that you don’t even know if you’ll like.
One of my current goals is to be able to walk 80 steps at a normal walking pace while comfortably holding my breath. That’s after exhaling and with only relaxed and shallow nose-breathing beforehand, not while holding in a deep breath. I started working on this goal last week, and currently I’m up to 25 steps.
What will I gain by achieving this goal? I don’t know. I’...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 16, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Abundance Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
Resolving the Unresolved
Sometimes people don’t look at certain dark corners of their lives because they either want to keep their options open or they don’t want to “collapse the wave function” to a negative outcome.
For instance, suppose you’re in a relationship and you suspect that your partner is secretly cheating on you. Or suppose you have a job and want a promotion, and you’re worried that your boss has already excluded you from consideration. Maybe you figure that looking for the truth is worse than not knowing.
Knowing is generally better though. If you avoid collapsing the wave function to resolv...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 14, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Relationships Source Type: blogs
Redefining Your Roles
You have many roles to play in life, such as various job to perform, being someone’s relationship partner, and being a a personal growth explorer.
That there may be gaps, however, in the roles you identify, and you may want to devise a new role to cover a gap.
Look especially for areas where you’ve been procrastinating or getting weaker results than you’d like. Do you have an appropriate role for that area? Have you chosen a suitable label for the role that you like?
Identity Encourages Behavior
Note that identity supports and reinforces behavior, as noted in the recent Be a Voter post. You...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 13, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Lifestyle Productivity Source Type: blogs
Redefining Your Problems
By looking at a problem from multiple angles, you may spot a creative solution you hadn’t considered before. But another approach is to reframe the way you define the problem to begin with.
For example, suppose you define your problem as how to get a new job during COVID times. Within that problem definition, you can consider many ways to solve the problem. You could work on your resume, look through job postings, fill out applications, ask around to discover unadvertised jobs, and take plenty of other actions. But all the while you’re sticking with the original problem definition that you need to get a job....
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 13, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
Nose Breathing During Exercise
I’ve continued practicing the exercises from The Oxygen Advantage for the past several days, and this morning I hit a nice exercise-related milestone.
I decided to take the past two days off from running. Instead I went for walks and practiced reducing my breathing while also doing some breath holds. I figured that some extra practice on the breathing side could be helpful.
This morning I went back to running, figuring I’d continue the interval approach. I decided that if I was going to do intervals anyway, I might as well see what it’s like to skip the 15-minute walking warmup. I wanted to know if ...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 11, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
Be a Voter
Which is better? To encourage someone to vote or to encourage them to be a voter?
If you want the person to actually vote, encourage them to be a voter. It’s been found that this framing is more likely to lead to action.
If you’d like to strengthen a behavior, weave it into your identity. And if you’d like to change someone else’s behavior, encourage them towards an identity change that includes that behavior.
Use this framing with yourself too.
Don’t just get up early. Be an early riser.
Don’t just make a difference. Be a contributor.
Don’t just do personal growt...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 11, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Lifestyle Productivity Values Source Type: blogs
