I woke up bright and early this past Saturday and went into New York City to meet our favorite personal development guru, Steve Pavlina ^[1]. He was visiting our great city, from his residence in Las Vegas for the week, and had a small meet up for his friends that read his personal development site. His companion on the trip was his lovely wife Erin ^[2], who is a real life psychic medium (the first one I’ve ever met).

As soon as I walked up to Steve and Erin, I could automatically sense their aura. They just radiate confidence and tranquility. They’re both really nice, and very present. What I liked about talking with them was that I could tell their mind wasn’t elsewhere, it was with me.

The community that surrounds the Pavlinas is really nice as well. Exactly what I imagined everyone at the meet up to be like. Very friendly to introduce themselves, and quick to make me feel welcome. I also got to meet a fellow blogger, Jenny Mannion ^[3], who I’ve been interacting with via e-mail for a while. Many other great people were there, but without any blogs to link over to. I gave out some business cards while I was there, so if you find this post, please comment below, it was great meeting you!

Steve Pavlina Talks About Blogging

We asked Steve what the key to making money online was. (paraphrasing)

It’s all about traffic. It’s like getting people into a warehouse. Once they’re there, you could put up signs and sell things, such as coffee, and based on the shear number of people there, someone will buy, and money will be made.

The next obvious question was, how do you get the traffic to come. I hoped he would say something other than content is king, and he did! (paraphrasing)

Honesty. I write about what I believe, and am not swayed by current trends or hype. Aside from being transparent, the trick is to write to people on an individual basis, rather than standing in front of a podium. People want to feel connected with the writer, so you want to cater to that.

Personal Development and a Special Message

During the end of the meet up, Steve and Erin did a short Q&A session to address some of the questions that were on our minds. Richad, the youngest member of the group (I believe he was 16), asked a really powerful question.

What is your message to the younger generation? This kind of took Steve by surprise, since with a shocked expression he replied “Younger generation? But I’m only 36!”. Yes, Steve is also a really funny guy. However, Steve and Erin took this question very seriously, and both replied with what I consider two cornerstone life lessons.

Steve Pavlina (paraphrasing)

Pursuing money and financial abundance is not what we’re here for. You could be really good at what you do, and make a lot of money doing it, but still be unhappy doing it. Joy and happiness is what we should strive for, and we can do this by taking the things we already love to do, and getting good at them. By doing the things that we love, we will not only generate value, by bringing genuine value into the world, but we will be happy NOW, instead of chasing the happiness at the end of some rainbow.

Erin Pavlina (paraphrasing)

Live consciously in all the decisions that you make and thoughts that you have. Do not follow the leader, just be conscious of yourself as an individual.

Well said guys!

The overall experience with the Pavlina NYC meet up was a great success. It was a pleasure meeting them, and everyone else that had attended. If you haven’t had the opportunity to read their blogs, you can do so now, by clicking through to Steve ^[4] or Erin ^[5].

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