Steve Pavlina’s 20 Quotes to Help You See The Bigger Picture in Life

Steve Pavlina is one of the most successful personal development bloggers, motivational speakers, and authors in the world.

He calls himself “the most intensely growth-oriented individual you will ever meet” – and rightly so.

Truly living by his claim – he has done various personal growth experiments including polyphasic sleep, adopting a vegan diet, exploring multidimensional relationships which nurture the mind, body, heart, and spirit. In his blog and seminars, he talks about various topics as such emotions, relationships, productivity, and abundance.

Here are 20 Steve Pavlina quotes to kickstart your new year with a new perspective of success.

1. “If you don’t take the time to get really clear about exactly what it is you’re trying to accomplish, then you’re forever doomed to spend your life achieving the goals of those who do.”

If you don’t know where you’re going, you will have an unclear vision of the future and that is what you’ll manifest in your life. Become really clear about your goals, visualize them every day, and you’ll achieve them.

2. “When you discipline yourself to do what is hard, you gain access to a realm of results that are denied everyone else. The willingness to do what is difficult is like having a key to a special private treasure room.” – Steve Pavlina

Society often rewards mediocrity. There are plenty of jobs to just keep you above water, foods that keep you fat, technology that keeps you lazy. Amidst this chaos, it’s important to cultivate discipline if you really want to achieve goals that are not average.

3. “Everyone you meet in your life – even total strangers – are already intimately connected to you. The idea that we are all separate and distinct beings is nothing but an illusion. We are all parts of a larger whole, like individual cells in a body.”

Everyone is connected. We all want love and respect. We all want to express our creative talents. The true desires in your heart will not only benefit you but also others.

4. “Hard work is painful when life is devoid of purpose. But when you live for something greater than yourself and the gratification of your own ego, then hard work becomes a labor of love.”

When you have a meaningful purpose, working towards it brings you joy and satisfaction.So always question ‘why’ you are doing the things that you do.

5. “Planning allows you to mentally create a model of your future.” – Steve Pavlina

Just as you can’t drive to a destination without a map, you can’t reach a goal without a plan. Planning helps you see the resources, paths, people, and obstacles that you’ll encounter along the way.

6. Regardless of others reactions, do your best to stay true to yourself. Make the choices that allow you to look in the mirror and feel good about the person gazing back at you.”

Society will try to mould you into what appeases their liking. But it’s in your power to live to your personal truths.

7. “In reading the biographies of very successful men and women, one theme frequently surfaces: such people have a strong bias for action. Those who achieve high levels of success in some areas of life tend to take a LOT more action than those who settle for average or below average results.”

Action is superior to thought. When you act, you gain experience, which brings more knowledge than thoughts ever will.

8. “If you aren’t working on your goals, you aren’t working. You’re just wasting time.” – Steve Pavlina

Some people know they should have goals. Few even have goals. And fewer actively work on their goals. Realize that time is the most precious thing you have and make the most of it.

9. “Fear is not your enemy. It is a compass pointing you to the areas where you need to grow.”

Use you fear to grow. Realize that not moving towards your fears will mean that you’ll be condemned to live at a low level of existence forever. To overcome your fears, take small steps of courage one at a time. When you act strong, you’ll feel strong.

10. “If someone offers you a gift, and you decline to accept it, the other person still owns that gift. The same is true of insults and verbal attacks.”

People will judge you and hate you no matter what you do. So it’s best to ignore them and surprise them with your results.

11. “One part of us wants to be healthy, happy, and highly conscious. Another part wants nothing more than to eat, sleep, have sex and be lazy. Without the presence of consciousness, we fall into reflexive patterns by default, living more like unconscious animals than fully sentient beings.” – Steve Pavlina

Realize that it’s easier to fall into unconscious living than consciously pursuing your goals. Become conscious of your daily activities and live like a conscious human being driven by meaningful purpose and goals.

12. “Journaling is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to discover new truths. By getting your thoughts out of your head and putting them down in writing, you’ll gain insights you’d otherwise miss.”

Overthinking can be troublesome. But journaling helps you vent your feelings and find pearls of wisdom amidst all the chaos and confusion.

13. “Pour the bulk of your time into action, not deciding. The state of indecision is a major time waster. Don’t spend more than 60 seconds in that state if you can avoid it. Make a firm, immediate decision, and move from uncertainty to certainty to action. Let the world tell you when you’re wrong, and you’ll soon build enough experience to make accurate, intelligent decisions.”

Don’t “ready, aim, fire”. Instead “ready, fire, aim”. Remember how you learned to ride a bicycle. Were you too busy thinking about the right posture? Or did you learn by actually stepping on and taking the risk to fall?

14. “Understand that relationships are more important than contracts. Business deals are relationships between people. The signed piece of paper is important, but it’s merely the result of the relationship, not the cause.” – Steve Pavlina

Every business runs on relationships – with customers, shareholders, employees, and so on. People will always be more important than papers.

15. “Achieving meaningful goals requires that you commit your entire ass, not just one cheek.”

When we commit ourselves to our goals, we achieve them no matter the circumstances. But when we are merely interested in our goals, we find excuses and underperform.

16. “Stop asking “What should I do now?” That question only brings up what others expect of you. Free people don’t have shoulds.” They have choices.

Don’t conform to people’s ideas of how you should live. Instead, find what lies inside your heart and chase something that excites you and that you really want.

17. “Spend time cultivating your deepest desires, no matter how impractical or impossible they seem. It’s perfectly OK to want the impossible. It’s not OK to pretend that your desires don’t matter.” – Steve Pavlina

Be brutally honest with yourself. That is the only way to actually get what you want in life.

18. “Any relationships that would reject you for being true to yourself are — by definition — abusive relationships. You’ll be much better off when you let them go.”

Don’t live to please people. Everyone has their flaws and quirks. And that is what makes people special. If someone is too disturbed by your interests, it’s their problem, not yours.

19. “I want my life to have had more value than just acquiring stuff and living comfortably. I may die rich, or I may die broke. But I won’t die with my music still in me.” – Steve Pavlina

We are not banks, we are people. Our beating hearts rejoice with the sound of music and melt with the beautiful sight of the sunset or the display of emotions in a child. So live from your heart, go where your creativity takes you, and share your talents with the world.

20. “The only thing stopping you is fear, and the only thing that will get you past it is courage. What you do with your life isn’t up to your parents, your boss, or your spouse. It’s up to you and you alone.”

People evolve only when they move towards their fears. So you must have the courage to do the things that scare you. Small steps of courage can bring you golden opportunities that you’ll be thankful for  your whole life.