Guru Ratings

Steve Pavlina

Bad.

Remember my ratings criteria. I’m not judging these gurus on “global” or moral values, but very specific criteria. Many of my favorite books would be rated “bad” by my criteria for self-help (probably, because they are not self-help books). My ratings don’t reflect how well an author met his own goals, but how well they met my criteria for useful, accurate self-help.

Pavlina’s blog has hundreds of articles, on many topics.

• Success: 30 Days to Success.
• Productivity: How to Become an Early Riser.
• Happiness: Living Congruently.
• Spirituality: Beyond Religion.
• Self-employment: 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job.
• Blogging: How to Make Money from Your Blog.
• The Law of Attraction.
• Polyphasic Sleep.
• Astral Projection.
• Psychic Development.
• PhotoReading (which I debunk here).

He launched two blogging crazes: personal development (e.g. Dumb Little Man, Zen Habits) and blogging for money (e.g. ProBlogger, Dosh Dosh).

A mix of motivation, practical advice, pseudoscience and spiritual nonsense, Pavlina is the blogosphere’s very own Tony Robbins. Sometimes he is very useful, but usually not. You’ll be safer just avoiding him and sticking to better gurus.