If you tend to procrastinate on certain projects, one reason could be that you havent created a victory in your mind first. When you think about a project that isnt advancing very well, consider these questions: Do you have a clear vision of what success for this project looks like? Can you see your desired&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/win-before-you-begin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=win-before-you-begin

Why do you feel needy sometimes? You feel needy because your own brain doesnt believe you. Your brain sees what you want. It also sees what you dont want. And it genuinely expects that youre going to keep getting what you dont want. It doesnt believe that youre going to get what you want. Your&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/how-to-overcome-your-feelings-of-neediness/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-overcome-your-feelings-of-neediness

Why do some people lie? One reason is that they dont trust the receiver. They may be worried about a negative reaction to the truth. Thats an obvious answer but not really the deepest one. Perhaps a better answer is that a person lies to control the receiver. By withholding the truth and sharing something&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/lying/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lying

One framing that I find empowering is to do something for the experience. If you choose not to do something, you dont get the experience, which means you miss out on a lot of potential benefits. When you lean into new experiences, youre likely to gain some or all the following: New lessons More character&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/for-the-experience/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=for-the-experience

I mailed in my ballot on Friday. This is the first political election Ive ever participated in. Heres the first question filled out (not a difficult one): Voting for Biden / Harris for President was the only sane option given how hideous the other candidates are. You may not even recognize two of the candidates&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/i-voted-for-the-first-time-ever/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=i-voted-for-the-first-time-ever

In Act 1 of a story with a three-act structure, the protagonist often reaches the point of no return. Their old world crumbles, and they stumble forward into a new world, often reactively at first. There is no going back to the old world. In a novel or movie, there may be multiple progressive points&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/the-point-of-no-return/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-point-of-no-return

I love mental and emotional resistance training because it has done so much for me over the years. Its a fabulous way to think about skill-building when youre diving into new territory, especially when you feel anxious, uncomfortable, or off balance. Consider learning how to record and publish videos online, for instance. So much of&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/why-you-should-make-a-video-in-your-bathrobe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-you-should-make-a-video-in-your-bathrobe

On my novel writing journey, Im starting out by capturing ideas, which are plentiful. I find that committing to a project summons a flood of ideas, and this one is no different in that sense. When I say a firm yes, reality says: Great& lets unlock that idea space for you. The ideas have been&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/capturing-story-ideas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=capturing-story-ideas

One thing I have to do ASAP for my novel writing project is to figure out some character and plot ideas. I dont already have a story in mind, and I havent figured out any characters. I havent even picked a genre, so Im really starting from scratch here. Id love to have at least&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/ai-and-character-design/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ai-and-character-design

A couple of days ago, I searched for NaNoWriMo tips from people whove done it before. I especially looked for lessons that people discovered by contrasting their own failures versus successes with NaNoWriMo. I compiled a short list of the most interesting tips as reminders for myself, so I thought Id share this list with&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/nanowrimo-tips/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nanowrimo-tips

I spent some time today learning more about NaNoWriMo, including sifting through their member forums looking for beginner tips and suggestions. Fortunately theres a ton of advice from other writers whove done NaNoWriMo many times before. I was curious how many people who sign up for NanoWriMo each year actually succeed at writing at least&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/prepping-for-nanowrimo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prepping-for-nanowrimo

As Ive shared previously, one of my goals for this year is to write a novel. Ive never done that before. Its been a stretch goal of mine for a long time, and Ive decided the time has come to finally do it. To move this goal forward in a more concrete way, I signed&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/nanowrimo-2020/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nanowrimo-2020

Ive noticed that when I get an idea for a big new project, the timing often doesnt feel good right away. Its as if the idea wants to get my attention, so I can start thinking about it, but it also needs time to incubate. If I try to force the idea forward faster, its&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/universal-timing-alignment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=universal-timing-alignment

If you have a recurring problem and you can reasonably expect it to recur, solve the problem once. Really solve it. Document your solution. Then run your solution each time the problem occurs. This form of process documentation is common in business. I recommend you use it in your personal life as well. Here are&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/problems-you-only-need-to-solve-once/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=problems-you-only-need-to-solve-once

Maybe you have some goals for accomplishments youd like to experience and enjoy. Thats great. Just be aware that you can also set goals for outcomes and experiences that you dont even know if youll like. One of my current goals is to be able to walk 80 steps at a normal walking pace while&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/curiosity-goals/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=curiosity-goals

Sometimes people dont look at certain dark corners of their lives because they either want to keep their options open or they dont want to collapse the wave function to a negative outcome. For instance, suppose youre in a relationship and you suspect that your partner is secretly cheating on you. Or suppose you have&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/resolving-the-unresolved/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=resolving-the-unresolved

You have many roles to play in life, such as various job to perform, being someones relationship partner, and being a a personal growth explorer. There may be gaps, however, in the roles you identify, and you may want to devise a new role to cover a gap. Look especially for areas where youve been&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/redefining-your-roles/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=redefining-your-roles

By looking at a problem from multiple angles, you may spot a creative solution you hadnt considered before. But another approach is to reframe the way you define the problem to begin with. For example, suppose you define your problem as how to get a new job during COVID times. Within that problem definition, you&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/redefining-your-problems/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=redefining-your-problems

Ive continued practicing the exercises from The Oxygen Advantage for the past several days, and this morning I hit a nice exercise-related milestone. I decided to take the past two days off from running. Instead I went for walks and practiced reducing my breathing while also doing some breath holds. I figured that some extra&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/nose-breathing-during-exercise/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nose-breathing-during-exercise

Which is better? To encourage someone to vote or to encourage them to be a voter? If you want the person to actually vote, encourage them to be a voter. Its been found that this framing is more likely to lead to action. If youd like to strengthen a behavior, weave it into your identity.&

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/10/be-a-voter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=be-a-voter