Steve Pavlina Interviewed at Goodlife Zen

Goodlife Zen has posted an interesting and inspiring article with personal-growth guru Steve Pavlina.

Here is a little taste:

Steve Pavlina: Why Personal Growth is So Important

Photo by Matthew Fang

In the core of your consciousness, what kind of being are you? Are you brave or cowardly? Are you truthful or dishonest? Are you generous or selfish? Are you responsible or irresponsible? Life in the physical universe exposes your true inner qualities.

These are challenging questions by Steve Pavlina in the following conversation with Mary Jaksch. Read on to be inspired by what Steve Pavlina, one of the most successful authors on personal growth, has to say about personal development:
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Mary Jaksch: Steve, you’re easily the most successful personal development blogger on the Internet, attracting more than two million monthly readers to your website StevePavlina.com. And your new book Personal Development for Smart People is about to become a bestseller. I hear that it’s just cracked the Amazon top 100 list. And it’s still three months away from release! When I read your website, I get the feeling that you are totally passionate about personal growth.
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Why do you think personal growth is so important?

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Steve Pavlina:
I think growth is the primary reason we find ourselves here on earth. I came to this conclusion while pondering the seemingly unavoidable fact that someday I’m going to die, and I don’t even know when that will happen.
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You must realize that everything you’re experiencing in your human life is temporary. Your body, your home, your career, your possessions, your human relationships — all temporary! When you die, all of those things will be left behind.
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The only thing that can possibly survive your physical death is your consciousness, your awareness of existence. Now you may believe that even your consciousness won’t survive, and that’s fine. But at the very least, you must recognize the simple truth that nothing rooted in physicality can endure forever.
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Facing the inevitability of death can be rather disturbing at first. But if you fully accept this as true, it helps you see the physical world in a whole new way. You realize that there’s no point in living for anything physical because in the long run, it’s all dust. But you still find yourself here in the physical world. Why? If it all ends in dust, then what could possibly be the point? Why exist as a physical being with a sense of consciousness and self-awareness? How shall you live if you know with certainty that it’s all going to end someday?
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The answer I found to these questions was growth. By growth I’m referring to the development and expansion of your consciousness, the very core of your being, independent of your physical experiences. If you find the word consciousness too abstract, you can loosely substitute the word mind.
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In the core of your consciousness, what kind of being are you? Are you brave or cowardly? Are you truthful or dishonest? Are you generous or selfish? Are you responsible or irresponsible? Life in the physical universe exposes your true inner qualities. Your human experience ultimately reflects back to you who you are on the inside. Consequently, human life gives you the opportunity for deep self-understanding, enabling you to experience growth and change. The physical world gives consciousness the opportunity to experience itself objectively. This is a tremendous gift.
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We all experience growth while we’re here, but most people still grow unconsciously. Life constantly reflects back to them who they are, but they aren’t fully aware that this is happening. Once enough lessons have been learned in the unconscious stage, the next step is to progress to conscious growth. At this point we accept that the reason we’re here is to grow — to use the physical world as a tool to examine and expand our inner selves. For example, do you want to be more courageous, more honest, more loving, more powerful, or more peaceful? Physical life will offer you the opportunity to experience whatever form of conscious growth you desire. There are fears to face, truths to discover and accept, love lessons to learn, challenges to overcome, etc.

Go read the whole interview.

Tags: Steve Pavlina, Interview, Goodlife Zen, Why Personal Growth is So Important, personal growth, self exploration, Psychology, consciousness