Objectively speaking, successful people flock together. You really don’t see highly successful people all by themselves, surrounded by those who have a negative attitude towards success. The movers and shakers in any field tend to be friends and often hang out together.

Work in a field you love, take advantage of audio learning, eliminate interruptions, log your time usage, use timeboxing.

Let me offer you a different way of thinking about problems that’s a lot more empowering and a lot less whiny.

Problems do not exist to beat you down. They exist to help you grow stronger. Problems are like the dumbbells at the gym. If you attempt to lift them, you may feel tired in the short run, but you’ll grow stronger in the long run.

When you think about the various problems and challenges you’re facing in life, you may be tempted to assume that the goal is to reach the solution state — to get past the problem. But that’s a very narrow and largely disempowering perspective. That’s like saying that the point of going to the gym is to reach the end of your workout.

A more productive perspective is to consider that the activity of solving problems is what really matters. It’s the activity, not the final solution state, that helps you grow.

If people want to become close friends with me (as opposed to mere acquaintances), I require that they unconditionally accept me as I am. If there’s anything about me you can’t accept, you’re welcome to keep reading my work from a distance. I hope you still find parts of it helpful and worthwhile. Just be aware that as long as you maintain such judgments, the wall you’ve erected will prevent us from becoming any closer. We’ll never be close friends, nor will we likely do any business together. So please keep that in mind if you ever decide to contact me about anything. Some people compartmentalize their personal life and their career/business life. I do not. To me it’s all the same thing.

Steve Pavlina is one crazy guy... it'll be fascinating to see where this road leads.

It’s been said that people spend their first 50 years trading their health for wealth, and then they spend the next 50 years trading their wealth for health. But this isn’t a trade that you should make at all.

I recall that the times in my life when I exercised the most, I also had the clearest thinking, and I could concentrate for long periods without getting tired. Among the many benefits of exercise are in increase in blood flow, which helps oxygenate the body and especially the brain.

One of the key benefits of improving your body is that you’ll see physical results. When you look in the mirror or step on the scale and see that you’ve made progress, it’s very satisfying. And this self-esteem boost can lead to greater accomplishments in every other area.

In high school I was comfortable within certain social circles, but I was still introverted. Starting at college, I decided to become more extroverted; I just dove in and attempted to be as social as possible. I accepted any and all opportunities for social interaction. If anyone invited me to go out, I always said yes. I made a huge commitment to elevate this part of my life, and I stuck with it for my entire freshman year. This strategy actually worked. I hadn’t read any books on social skills at the time, but I quickly calibrated my social skills via trial and error. Within a few weeks, I’d made dozens of new friends, and I was going to parties every week. I created an absolutely amazing social life. In the beginning, it seemed like I was always the one to initiate new connections, but soon additional connections began flowing into my life almost effortlessly. Eventually I had so many invites coming to me passively that I didn’t have to initiate. I probably went overboard.

The optimal solution for me has been to combine both approaches. It’s very simple, and many early risers do this without even thinking about it, but it was a mental breakthrough for me nonetheless. The solution was to go to bed when I’m sleepy (and only when I’m sleepy) and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time (7 days per week). So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5am), but I go to bed at different times every night.

Interesting rant.