Posts Tagged Steve Pavlina

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Todays words from the digital man cave are about Reason #30….

A lot of reasons have been posted here over time, and I think I’ll stop with 30. I suppose I could keep going, since there are a number of reasons to like the guy, his website and his mission, but the last thing I’ll mention is his style. He just writes. I can’t remember where on his website he describes his method, but he doesn’t necessarily follow the conventions of blogging. For the most part I’m still stuck on blogging as it is widely accepted. Shorter articles. Relating posts with links so that people spend more time on the website and have more exposure to the content/advertising, etc. All this is good and fine, if your goal is to have those ads be viewed as many times as possible, clicked a few times, a product pushed here or there. Monetizing your blog. That is certainly one way to go.

If you’re writing for the sake of writing, or writing to cover a topic, you do yourself an injustice by sticking to 350 words or less. Because how much are you really going to say in that time? And how much will you really connect with your audience? I’ve still got it in my head that people have short attention spans and you’ve gotta be quick, and interactive. I do actually believe this is true. That’s just the generation I grew up in.

But I also know that if you’re compelling, or honest, or speak with an original voice (not necessarily an original topic), people will listen. They will stick around long enough to see where you’re coming from and what you’re about.

If you haven’t already seen yet that Steve Pavlina is someone worth paying attention to on the web, you just haven’t been paying attention. Sure, his website probably can be classified as “self-help” but if you assume you know what he’s about without taking a moment to understand him at least a little bit, you’re going to miss out on something that could change the way you look at life, and your journey through it.

Todays words from the digital man cave are about reason #5 on the list of reasons why I’d like to meet Steve Pavlina. It’s actually about one of my personal challenges in life. One I am finally beginning to get a handle on. One of my biggest challenges in life has  been procrastination. Always.

I’ll give you a hint on how bad it is for me.

I started writing this blog post on November 3rd.

Of 2010.

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Todays words from the digital man cave are about the 19th reason why I think I’d enjoy Steve’s company. He’s made choices in life that have resulted in difficult outcomes. He’s familiar with the justice system. He’s had relationship woes. He’s turned life into a learning experience and series of growth moments.

I can relate to that.

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Someone by the name of Derek Sivers. In one post he has single handedly made my list of good people who deserve a handshake and a punch in the arm. Most people on my list can’t say that. Typically it’s their body of work and general outlook that secures them access to that most exclusive of lists.

What has gained him a spot on the list and an impromptu post from me is that just over a year ago, when I desperately needed to be hearing words like his, he was talking about the feeling you get when faced with the paths in front of you. Does it spark you into action, does it make you feel nothing, or does it cause you regret it ever entering your brain space? He talks about and inadvertently recommends a book by someone else on my list that gives a great little exercise on determining what should get your very very, limited time and attention.

Very nicely done Derek. Bravo Steve.

Stay tuned for the regularly scheduled words from the digital man cave!

One of the reasons I would like a sitdown with Mr. Pavlina is because he has written on (and probably coined a term for a phenomenon that I think everyone goes through at some point in their lives. He calls it the Lightworker Syndrome, and describes it as the phenomenon of a person attaining a  higher level of consciousness and having to choose between remaining connected and following that free path, or staying grounded in the physical world. Now the reason this sounded so familiar to me, is because I believe I’d read about it in Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad. It’s the concept of being educated about needing to essentially move from a wage slavery lifestyle to a more free existence, and the mental struggle that comes from that knowledge. This is the context of how I’ve always thought of what Steve describes.

It is a very unique and difficult challenge to know that you should be walking a different path, and actively choosing to continue down the one you’re on. Compromising bits and pieces of yourself, your ideals, your dreams, your integrity along the way, because you’ve got to make sure every day life continues as scheduled for yourself but more importantly for those around you. It is unique and it is sad. It’s unique because it is not the kind of situation that will really make sense to anyone who is not in it or been in it themselves. And it is sad because it’s a slow, self-imposed spiritual suicide (I’m not talking religion, I’m talking about your internal drive, your SPIRIT).

I partially agree with him, in that one of the things that holds a person back, or “grounded” is fear of success. What it looks like. What it feels like. What it means in their life. But I disagree that the two pulls, a reality grounded in responsibilities, and a higher connection and calling are two sides of the same coin. It’s in the way we each look at being grounded vs not.

His desire to follow a higher calling is what moves his feet on the ground, because I do not think he believes that there are/were shackles on his feet. I think for many people, their desire to follow a different path is the key that unlocks the shackles that keep them grounded. When they’re able to pursue the life they need to live, that is when they fly as opposed to doing a zombie shuffle.

So what does all this mean? How do you deal with that? When I find a satisfactory solution, this place will be the first to hear it. In the meantime, I’m reminded of a quote that is all too fitting.

“We do what we have to do, to have what we want to have.”

I’d like to meet Steve Pavlina for a number of reasons. But I think the chief one out of the bunch is that he gets what The 9-5 Project meant for those participating and those reading. The writers in that project were living/had lived the 10 reasons you should never have a job, or they could empathize and relate to them on a personal level. Each writer was able to sum up the experience of one or more of those 10 reasons as a snapshot in time, but also addition they were able to talk about the past and future of that snapshot. How a person gets to that point in time where they begin seeing the puppet strings that prop them up and make them dance, and how they go about cutting those strings and walking on their own two feet.

I actually don’t want to say much more than that. I hadn’t yet discovered Steve Pavlina’s site when the 9-5 Project took place, so it’s nice to see that someone very successful and content with life understands (and in my opinion recommends) hitting some of the points in the collective experience of the 9-5 Project. Each of his 10 points is the equivalent of a lightbulb being flipped on that makes you say “wait a minute, what am i doing? why am i doing this? this is crazy”. I highly recommend checking him out if you haven’t yet. It may give you a different perspective about your dream job, and it may put your week in a completely different light.

Artwork belongs to Natalie Dee. Click for more awesome.

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