Almost all of the articles Ive posted this year – or ever, actually – were written on the same day they were published. Its been my blogging style for the past 16 years to write and edit posts in a single writing session and then to publish them when theyre complete. This year is unusual&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/batch-blogging/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=batch-blogging

Heres a really simple idea that can be useful for self-motivation. Sometimes our frames are too flabby, giving us lots of leeway to drop the ball and slack off. In such cases it may be useful to adopt harsher frames, at least temporarily, to demand more from ourselves. Here are some of these ass-kicking frames&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/ass-kicking-frames/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ass-kicking-frames

While its good to set goals and establish priorities, theres a risk when you become myopically focused on a single outcome. Single mindedness can be okay for a while if youre progressing nicely, but if youve gotten stuck and the needle isnt moving, this stuckness can prevent you from making progress in any area of&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/your-1-priority-may-lead-you-astray/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=your-1-priority-may-lead-you-astray

Some habits are more fragile than others. Once established, some habits are very delicate. If you miss a day or try to alter them, its easy to knock them out of place completely and see them fade out. Other habits are more resilient. You can push and prod them, change them in different ways, and&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/fragile-habits/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fragile-habits

One of my favorite business books is The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz. It uses the analogy of growing giant pumpkins and applies it to building a business. The basic idea is to figure out who your best customers or clients are, so you can specifically tailor your business to serving them well. Then ideally&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/your-giant-pumpkin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=your-giant-pumpkin

One of the most delicious phrases to hear in a sexual encounter is, You can do whatever you want with me. Mmmm! Thats a form of pre-consent. In that case its perhaps overly broad, and there may be some hidden boundaries to discover along the way, but it really opens the door to less constrained&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/pre-consent-in-relationships/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pre-consent-in-relationships

Sometimes people ask me about my stance on pets, so Ill share that in this post. My family had a pet when I was growing up – a rabbit named Cinnamon. Sometimes it roamed freely around the backyard, while other times they kept it in a large cage. I wasnt the rabbits main caregiver. At&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/is-it-unethical-to-have-pets/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-it-unethical-to-have-pets

If youre active in online discussions, remember to invite discussions on topics that interest you. Dont just post memes or trivial updates about your life. Dont just read or respond to other peoples topics. Actually invite discussions to explore and advance what interests you. This may expose a weak social circle or a weak platform.&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/inviting-disappointment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=inviting-disappointment

Yesterday Rachelle and I watched an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise where the crew goes into the Dark Mirror universe. This alternative universe shows up in multiple Star Trek series and novels. All the characters have identical looking mirror versions with different personalities and values. Its a place of violence, belligerence, war, and conquest. Imagine&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/sexual-and-virtuous/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sexual-and-virtuous

I live in a gated community with fairly strict standards that all homes have to follow. Anyone who wants to live in the neighborhood must contractually agree to these standards. If anyone falls short of them, theyll get a letter from the community management association with a request to bring their property up to standard.&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/08/the-baseline-of-order/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-baseline-of-order

In the past 11 weeks, Ive lost an average of 1.15 pounds per week, mainly just by logging what I eat. This simple practice has helped me tweak and adjust my meal choices even though Im still eating the same foods as I was previously. Im eating less food in terms of calories, but my&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/appreciation-density/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=appreciation-density

Were used to thinking about receiving value as a passive endeavor most of the time. We expect items and services that we purchase to provide value to us. We pay the price up front, and then we feel entitled to just relax and enjoy the value weve purchased. Its easy to expect that if you&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/how-to-extract-5-10x-more-value-from-your-personal-growth-investments/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-extract-5-10x-more-value-from-your-personal-growth-investments

One is a squishy, emotional, heartfelt hug with bright, shining smiles. The other is a grayscale photocopy of a hug photo. Visually theyre both easily identifiable as hugs. Experientially theyre vastly different, and when given, they land very differently with the receiver. Pretending to care can still lead to a contribution, albeit one bereft of&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/caring-vs-pretending-to-care/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=caring-vs-pretending-to-care

Las Vegas doesnt get a lot of rain – about four inches per year – but when it does rain here, it sometimes comes down in torrents. Homeless people have been known to sleep in the citys drainage areas and have been been washed away and drowned during heavy rains. My ex-wife was involved in&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/societys-warning-signs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=societys-warning-signs

When you have a lot of quarterly goals, it can be tricky to keep them prioritized, especially since priorities can shift as you go through the quarter. So its good to have a reliable practice to refocus your attention on your top priorities. One simple practice Ive been using lately is to create a priority&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/your-weekly-priority-card/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=your-weekly-priority-card

One simple tip for inviting more abundance into your life is to elevate the cost of the problems you normally focus on. Suppose you order groceries online and have them delivered. And suppose the company screws up several items in your order. Maybe you feel inclined to complain and get a refund on those items.&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/graduating-from-20-problems-to-20k-problems/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=graduating-from-20-problems-to-20k-problems

When I first began exploring income-generating strategies, I started with the very common freedom frame. I wanted to get something going financially, partly so I could have more freedom in life. This frame has some major drawbacks though, so I actually dont recommend that you use it. It can easily get you stuck running in&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/dump-the-freedom-frame/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dump-the-freedom-frame

This morning I experienced a fun little synchronicity – realitys way of dropping me an extra clue when I need it. I went for my usual sunrise run, this time along a paved running and biking path that circles the outskirts of Las Vegas, known as the Beltway Trail. Here are some pics of what&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/realitys-clues/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=realitys-clues

Confidence and certainty are often disconnected from accuracy. Im sure youve seen plenty of cases where someone holds a belief that clearly isnt true. What you see so clearly in others in harder to see within yourself, however. For that reason its wise to identify, question, and test some of your assumptions to see if&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/imaginary-failure/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=imaginary-failure

For todays post Id like to pause and check in with you. Id also like to invite you to check in with yourself and reflect on how youre doing. Id genuinely love some feedback from you – not about me or my writing but about you and your life. Would you be willing to share&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/07/checking-in-with-you/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=checking-in-with-you