Comments on: Review: Personal Development for Smart People

By: michael

michael — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:36:48 +0000

Well, thanks to this post and your book review I started checking out his blog, and I liked some of it, till I dug deeper, and his latest blog post about Polyamory and leaving his kids and wife to fulfill himself like it’s perfectly normal have made me consider taking this book off my to read list, and throwing it directly into the trash bin, along with other new age wackos.

By: Giovanna Garcia

Giovanna Garcia — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:46:42 +0000

Thanks for the review. I read his blog and I am reading his book right now. I can’t wait to finish the book and I can compare it with your review.

Thank You,
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action

By: Dana

Dana — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:54:29 +0000

I don’t know, I think I’m fairly intelligent and while as far as I’m concerned the jury’s out about whether there’s a God, some of the arguments for His existence (being polite here with the capitalization) can be compelling even if you approach them from a scientific or philosophical point of view. For instance, if there really is a Person who created the universe and everything in it, wow, that’d have to be a pretty powerful Person–so of course we’re all submitted to Him simply by nature, although some of us recognize it and some don’t (see also Islam, which is almost entirely based on this premise). I don’t even have a problem with the idea that a God would let bad things happen. I mean, ultimately, you have power over all the cells in your body–you could eat the gun tomorrow and it’d all come to a screeching halt. But do you obsess over what every cell in your body is doing? Most people don’t–and we’re supposed to be made in God’s image.

End tangent. Suffice to say I don’t buy that I’m supposed to be an atheist just because I’m smart, as another commenter has suggested. The most I could ever be is agnostic.

As for the book, one of my biggest problems with Pavlina is his preaching about veganism. If I ate the way he says we should all eat my skin would be cracked and bleeding, I would remain overweight, I would have mood swings from hell and I’d probably be diabetic by the time I turn forty. If I avoided the foods most likely to trigger it (just about every grain there is), I’d be listless every day from starvation. People can’t live on vegetables alone, they have to get energy somewhere, and the fats you find in the plant kingdom are not at the proper essential fatty acid ratio to keep us healthy.

I watched his thirty-day raw vegan experiment and was just amazed at his insistence that feeling high and experiencing his hands cracking and oozing was somehow a sign of good health. He claimed he was detoxing. Your body detoxes *all the time.* That’s what the liver is for. It doesn’t call for experiencing almost textbook symptoms of fat deprivation. If he doesn’t watch it he’s not going to live to see his grandkids grow up.

I hate factory farm abuses too, but I don’t see how going against my basic biology is going to help them. And if he’s as accurate about personal development as he is about nutrition, I think I’ll wait until (if) his book shows up at the library. I mean, we can’t be right about everything, so this is probably an unfair thing to say–maybe he’s brilliant about it. I just feel like a lot of what he says sounds awfully contrived. Like, do people really need to be told that love is an important part of life? And is it really that difficult to understand that you form bonds with other people by establishing trust–that is to say, being honest and keeping your word and being someone to rely upon to a reasonable degree?

Ah well. It can’t be any worse than some of the other stuff out there. If it’s really good, I hope people take it to heart and act on it rather than do what most of us do with personal development books, which is to read the book and go “Yeah! What the author said!” and then change absolutely nothing at all in our lives. *blush*

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:12:43 +0000

The title seems to be a little at odds with the spirituality section of the book. More intelligent people are increasingly less likely to believe in a ‘higher power.’

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:51:35 +0000

I’m actually in the middle of reading it now. I’ve been following his blog for about the last year (plus) and I really like what he has to say most of the time.

One thing I found is that the book is a little bit too linear and point by point. It feels like the first part of the book goes like this:

Chapter subject
Sub subject x6
Trials/exercises you can do

By: SomeoneOutThere

SomeoneOutThere — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:05:41 +0000

Honestly, I don’t like Steve Pavelina’s material that much anymore. I was one of his early readers when his blog was more practical. Then like you said, he now goes deep into New Agey stuff. I don’t mind a little bit, but too much of what he writes on his blog is just plain looney. I also don’t like the large number of groupies he has on his forum. It’s really weird. Virtually all of his ideas are from other people’s works anyway, but his book could be a good introduction, perhaps.

By: Moneyblogga

Moneyblogga — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:17:27 +0000

The author is right on the money regarding being truthful to yourself. You really do have to force yourself to face the demons sometimes. It’s either that or keep on doing the same old non-working stuff.

By: Ishtar

Ishtar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:32:20 +0000

Wait, Pavlina is religious/spiritual? I thought he isn’t?

By: Justin @ FixThePig

Justin @ FixThePig — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 03:41:00 +0000

Thanks for the review…this could make for a great stocking stuffer!

By: Maria | Never the Same River Twice

Maria | Never the Same River Twice — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:06:14 +0000

Trent, I agree that Steve's book is quite good and has lots of practical suggestions for personal development. Personally, I think many of the exercises can be found on Steve's blog, but I've been a reader of his site for well over two years. I found the first portion of the book, which is more theoretical to be more valuable. If anyone is interested, I expanded on those thoughts in my review.

By: s

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:45:46 +0000

Hi Trent,
I also am very interested in Personal Development. These are almost the only books I will read besides career growth continuing education books. I read a book in 1 day. I like
this book especially if it is easy to understand.
I do like the habit subject. I have been trying this. If there is someone I don’t like too much,
I will be courteous and pleasant. I feel more integrity this way so far. I am not trying to be fake but personable instead. I don’t want to carry the bad feelings. This I feel is being peaceful. Peace of course is so important. I have
really working hard on this. I like it so far…
S.

By: anna

anna — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:04:01 +0000

Thanks for the review! I’ve read his site before, but wasn’t sure if I would invest in the book or not. I really appreciate the book review section, it’s super helpful. I was wondering, would you consider making the books category visible by book title or author, rather than just chronological?

Thanks again!

By: wren

wren — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:39:09 +0000

I think I’ll have to see about getting this book. From your review and the brief look I gave both his site and that of his wife’s, it seems that it would be both interesting to read and useful for continuing the endless construction project that is me. :D Thank you for a good, comprehensive, objective review.

By: juliemarg

juliemarg — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:14:31 +0000

What a great book review. You gave enough info to be illuminating, but not so much to be boring.

I’m at a crossroads (taking an early retirement buy-out) so am right in the mood for a little self-improvement