How to Beat the Competition (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

How to Beat the Competition

[Calculusaurus]

A transparent example is in science. Many scientists routinely spit out grunt-work publications, and they might get their name out there due to their sheer quantity of work, but it takes someone willing to work on a hard problem to get a nobel prize (or in some cases, it takes right-experiment-at-the-right-time type of luck).

You'd be surprised at how many scientists avoid the obviously challenging problems just to work out smaller details. There's an inherent fear of failing in science, especially for tenure track professors, because so much rides on the quantity, not quality, of results. Throughout history, however, the scientists whose names we know today are precisely those brave enough to tackle the hard problems.

[Jon]

I'm really looking forward to this book. Steve, do you have an ETA? Are you going to publish it in print, electronically or both?

[joylangtry]

Steve says

avoiding what’s easy is precisely the solution

.

How elegantly simple. Nicely illustrated, too.

Now, how would this feel if one decided that the challenge, while too tough for others to take on, was going to unfold with ease... that the answers would appear, and that it would actually be easy and effortless to complete? I suspect that you anticipated success all along, even while achieving what others couldn't.

I think people take the easy way out of fear.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Heh, it's just the other day that I said to someone:

"Hmmm, I'm starting to understand why people don't use the approach I'm using -- it's not easy at all! In fact, there's a massive barrier to entry that you must first climb before you even start to get any results, but because so few people are willing to make the climb, it's even more worth it for those who do make the climb."

FYI, the "approach" I'm talking about involves living a life that is consciously aligned with your own sense of purpose and creative self expression, the alternative being getting a 9-5 job and all that other "fun" stuff social conditioning (not to mention practically everyone I speak with) tells me I should do.

Note: 9-5 jobs can be purpose/expression aligned, it's just that the majority of them aren't, hence why they serve as such a good example. Plus, if the 9-5'ers didn't try to push their beliefs on others (read: me!) so often, I probably wouldn't feel a need to call them out as much.

[Zukin]

After reading the post, I can't wait to read this book. Let us know when it's available for preorder so I can buy 20+ copies

[Bruce Achterberg]

In the article, Steve implies that his new book is 80,007 words (I'm sure that number is rounded, but work with me here). To make some observations, I did a little exercise to determine approx. how many pages Steve's book will have in it.

Method

I took an excerpt of Steve's text from his article and duplicated it many, many times. I made sure to take a sample that included words of various size (ie. I didn't just use words like "the" or "and"). The font I used was Times New Roman and I sized it at 11.

Result

Taking the page dimensions into account, 8,007 words that Steve is likely to use pasted into Microsoft Word says that Steve's book should be 137 pages long (or around that).

Final thoughts

Steve's pretty good at writing, and most people who are good at writing tend to express themselves efficiently and write books that are less than 200 pages, so it'll be interesting to see how accurate my experiment was/is.

[Bruce Achterberg]

In Steve's article he mentions that his book is based on 7 core principles that are at the core of all personal development related... err... "stuff".

However, on his keynote speaker page, Steve mentions that one of his keynote speeches is about the 3 "fundamental" principles of personal growth.

I'd surmise that the 3 "fundamental" principles are the essential patterns found within the 7 core principles Steve is covering in his book.

Either way, there's lots of interesting (and useful) info you can draw from this, assuming my theory is accurate. It almost makes me want to avoid reading Steve's book so I can see if I can discover these concepts for myself (since that type of work is my forte).

[Steve Pavlina]

FYI the tentative release date for the book is October, but that decision is up to the publisher, Hay House.

I'd love to share the ideas in the book now, but I can't post articles that would compete with the publisher's interests.

However, I'll be speaking about the concepts in the book at Hay House's I Can Do It! seminar in Vegas on June 29 and again in Tampa in early October.

For the Vegas conference, you can see the full list of speakers here. That's the first time I'll be sharing these ideas publicly.

Once the book is out, I'll probably blog often about the book's ideas to further expand on them and answer questions.

[Hari.c]

It’s a wonderful article Steve. This is a great approach to follow. By the way is the audio version is also coming along with the book?

[Eloquy]

Thank you Steve. What an eye opener.
I have been working on my blog for five months (since I first found your site). I just couldnt get my head around why it wasnt working - and you have provided the answer!! A small part of my site IS working - the bit that others won't do because its hard work - and the bit I love to do, but wasnt spending enough time on because I felt I had to 'blog regularly'.
What an idiot I have been - thank you so much for providing the answer. You have renewed my enthusiasm when I was on the verge of quitting.
Yipee!! Thanks again. Eloquy.

[Steve Pavlina]

When it comes to blogging, the hard part doesn't have to be the thinking and writing. The hard part could be taking some kind of action and then writing about it later.

Consider the polyphasic sleep and raw food diet trials I did. The thinking part was pretty easy -- other people inspired those ideas. The writing part was time consuming but still easy; I just logged what actually happened. The hard part was running the experiments. Any blogger can get the idea for these experiments. And anyone can log their day-by-day experiences. But relatively few will be in a position to actually run the experiments.

Even consider a simple article like How to Become an Early Riser, which was my first real blogging hit (7-8 months after I started blogging). It's about 1,000 words of fairly straightforward text, and it only took me an hour to write. The hard part was the years I spent trying to master this habit and finding a solution that worked for me.

You can get a lot of mileage in blogging from figuring out what would be interesting/helpful/important to read about but which fairly few people would be willing or able to do.

A lesson I learned from my time participating in a local improv troupe: If you're clueless as to the best way to act out a scene or character, go big! Aim for big gestures, exaggerated expressions, and over the top act-outs. Even when you miss the mark, the result is usually fun for the audience to watch.

The blogging equivalent of this is that if you have no interesting ideas to write about, go big and create your own news.

[FreelanceWanderer]

Steve, I've used this same concept in my career as a freelance magazine writer. I'm a fast writer -- in fact, the most time-consuming part of writing an article, for me, is tracking down sources and nailing them down for an interview. So I started billing myself as a rush writer, and the work has been flowing in from editors who suddenly find themselves with a hole in the magazine due to a writer who flaked out or other reasons. I've written articles in as little as three days to a week for magazines ranging from Pizza Today to Health. These are articles that require research and multiple interviews.

As far as I know, I have no competition in this arena as most writers struggle with writing quickly.

Great post!

FW

[ricky]

Hey Steve,
Are you still running the million dollar experiment? I haven't checked whether you had or not.
And do you contribute your success from the website due to that experiment (at least after you started the experiment)?
And what about the success that'll surely come from the book?

[DavidDavidDavid]

Re: tackling the hard stuff and fear...

I think fear plays a great part in many people's (usually) unconscious calculations, but, you know, everything in this world takes the easy way -- evolution demands it, actually, where "easy" mean "most efficient"...this is why your body tries to pack on the fat but resists making more muscle (yes, obesity is not totally "your" fault!)...I think the central tenet of Daoism is to go with the flow, like water. Indeed, the admonition to follow our passion is, in a certain very deep sense, to pursue the "easy," or most natural, path!

Whew, that's a whole host of semantic assumptions right there...sorry to muddy the waters...thanks for the article, Steve; it helped reaffirm my initial impressions of my undertaking: recall that I've been saying how incredible it is that I've got a great idea that no one's exploited yet? Well, duh -- 'cause it's hard to do! I guess the closest example I can give is, like, a situation where no one tries chatting up the prettiest girl in the office 'cause they assume she's taken...but she's not...but then again, it turns out that she's really "high-maintenance!"

Anyway, as regards competition proper: sure, building a better mousetrap is the way to go. Yes, having someone copy that better mousetrap forces you to come up with a yet better one. MySpace wasn't the first social networking service, but it seems like it edged out Friendster, Facebook, etc. due to the musicians-and-free-.mp3 angle. So okay, I get that.

I'm just wondering if there are principles for dealing with competitors besides "innovate innovate innovate." For example, advertising campaigns create perceptions of difference where there really is no difference, like between different brands of toilet papers or microwavable popcorn. Again, I'm asking 'cause I'm totally new to business and business-think, but it seems like many brilliant minds must have already pondered just these issues.

[Sam988]

After many articles that i didn't get interested in, this one was really great.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by DavidDavidDavid

MySpace wasn't the first social networking service, but it seems like it edged out Friendster, Facebook, etc. due to the musicians-and-free-.mp3 angle. So okay, I get that.

Myspace existed before Facebook, so there was no edging of Facebook. Furthermore, the problem with Friendster was that it was based on links. You couldn't just search for anyone's profile, you had to go only to people you were linked to. This meant that 1) You were limited on whose profile you could view, and 2) There could be a long wait time for your page to appear as it calculated all whom you were linked to. Myspace removed that, allowing you to view anyone. So Myspace was really innovative in this fashion.

Facebook then came around and was innovative in the sense that it created more privacy and made it more real by first sticking to colleges, and having your name verified by your email address. Thus it innovated by having more privacy, and making it more real-based by using names, etc.

Hence the rise of Facebook the last year or so to be a real competitor to Myspace.

For example, advertising campaigns create perceptions of difference where there really is no difference, like between different brands of toilet papers or microwavable popcorn.

Remember, too, that products are sold not just based on the actual product, but also based on the feeling you get when using it. So, if advertising causes a product to feel better then another, then when you purchase that, you're also purchasing the feeling of using the product. Advertising campaigns helps with creating that feeling. That's terrific for all those people who are unable to control their feelings other then by buying stuff.

[Fullcrum]

I volunteer to read for the audio book version of Steve's book.

Everyone around me tells me I should. I read realy deep and resonant. If you're interested, PM me.

In other news, this is a very nice post! I'll definitely be getting this book and applying it to my life!

[DavidDavidDavid]

Seeker: many thanks for the 411! Part of the problem with self-education, especially WRT these kinds of things, is that there is no "text" or "timeline" and thus one integrates willy-nilly, as one may.

As for advertising, yes, I know that's precisely the point of it (like why the Marines advertise differently than the Army). That's why I brought it up...I was wondering whether there are any other such "tricks" to be employed in business besides, obviously, a better mousetrap, in order to overcome or at least keep even with one's competitors.

[Ree]

Steve, I loved this article! Thanks!

In my case, and maybe in others, it's not necessarily fear but contentment that is the barrier to taking the next step. My situation is such that I'm getting more than my fair share of business and have recently spent a great deal to update all my equipment so I'm now working with the latest technology. Business is great....... BUT there's one more idea I've had stewing around in my mind for a while now. No one else has done it, it's probably going to require more expensive equipment, and I admit I it has occurred to me that it probably isn't such a hot idea, otherwise someone else would have come up with it. Thanks to your article, I'm going to give it a go!

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Steve's blog entry

In a recent forum thread about starting a new business, someone asked about the best way to handle competition. How do you ensure that your efforts will pay off instead of merely jumping into a giant pool with everyone else and being unable to stand out?

Actually, the post was about launching a new idea in a not-yet-populated niche without having an established giant grab your idea and run with it. It wasn't about jumping into an existing pool.

Still a good blog entry, though...

[sheffy4]

This was a cruel teaser! Now I am salivating for those damn 7 ideas... arg

Also, the idea of finding an overarching solution to all personal development problems reminded me of all those physicists searching for that ever elusive "Theory of Everything." I wonder how many scientists are actually really trying to find this theory, if it exists. They would definitely blow away the competition if it was discovered.

[Raymond Fernando]

Originally Posted by sheffy4

This was a cruel teaser! Now I am salivating for those damn 7 ideas... arg

Also, the idea of finding an overarching solution to all personal development problems reminded me of all those physicists searching for that ever elusive "Theory of Everything." I wonder how many scientists are actually really trying to find this theory, if it exists. They would definitely blow away the competition if it was discovered.

google: Covey’s 7 Habits

which Steve mentioned in his blog post

about the 4th one down shows the summary of the 7 habits:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People

You can also check out Covey's book at the library for free (paid for by our tax money), as well as other books Steve mentions or recommends in his blogs. Libraries are excellent sources of information.

[Jake Birkett]

The book sounds great Steve! Really looking forward to it. I like looking for patterns too...

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Keith

Actually, the post was about launching a new idea in a not-yet-populated niche without having an established giant grab your idea and run with it. It wasn't about jumping into an existing pool.

Still a good blog entry, though...

That's effectively Steve's point. If you go for the more challenging idea, an established giant would probably not want to run with it in the first place.

For example, could any search engines have taken Google's idea and run with it? Probably not.

One of the reasons I openly share all of my best ideas is because I know that it doesn't threaten my ability to generate value, either for myself or others. The value I generate comes from my internal resources, not one specific idea that, if someone was to find out about it, all is lost. If you ground yourself in similar things -- ideas that leverage your unique talents and strengths -- you'll never have to worry about your competition again since they simply "can't" compete with you... they just don't have unique combination of resources needed.

[Airwick]

Thank you for the great post, Steve! I can't wait to hold your book in my hands. You're amazing.

[MercuryLime]

While I am looking forward to Steve's book, I am disappointed that it remains so non-biased. We don't need a book that works on the moon. We don't need a book that works 10,000 years from now. We don't need a book that can apply to any sort of logical mammal.

Personally, I want a book that is tailored for me, an irrational human being living on the earth in the year 2008. Writing a book lacking specifics may make people awed when they read it, but will it really bring them happiness? Does it have the specifics that I'm looking for?

Honestly, books that center on an ideal mindset have not helped me as much as books that provide real world solutions.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by MercuryLime

We don't need a book that works on the moon.

Speak for yourself! I intend to be going to the moon, and I'll be taking my personal development with me! If Steve's book is the only personal development book that was designed to work on moon, then by god, I'm taking it along with me.

[sheffy4]

Originally Posted by Raymond Fernando

google: Covey’s 7 Habits

You can also check out Covey's book at the library for free (paid for by our tax money), as well as other books Steve mentions or recommends in his blogs. Libraries are excellent sources of information.

Oh yeah, I am no stranger to libraries! I go about once a week to load up on books. However, I've been avoiding reading Covey's "7 Habits" book.
I started reading his son's book called The Speed of Trust, and I really didn't like the way it was written. Perhaps because it seemed to focus so much on big corporations and this annoyed me.
Still, Covey's book is for "highly effective people", implying that it focuses on the individual... so I probably would like it better than his son's.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by MercuryLime

While I am looking forward to Steve's book, I am disappointed that it remains so non-biased. We don't need a book that works on the moon. We don't need a book that works 10,000 years from now. We don't need a book that can apply to any sort of logical mammal.

Personally, I want a book that is tailored for me, an irrational human being living on the earth in the year 2008. Writing a book lacking specifics may make people awed when they read it, but will it really bring them happiness? Does it have the specifics that I'm looking for?

Honestly, books that center on an ideal mindset have not helped me as much as books that provide real world solutions.

Figuring out the core principles of human growth that are timeless, universal, irreducible, collectively complete, and practical was the only way I could be sure the ideas were sound. Many people need to understand why and how an idea will work before they're willing to try it. Otherwise they have no compelling reason to believe that what works for the author will work for them.

Fear not because practical application is a hugely important part of the book. If the ideas aren't practical, what good would they be?

The book has two parts of roughly equal length. The first part explains the high-level principles and how they interact with each other. Real-life examples are included to illustrate them. The second part is all about applying the principles in specific ways to produce results. These chapters include career, money, health, relationships, spiritual development, emotions, mental development, and more.

The point of figuring out the principles is so you can apply them to solve problems using a consistent method. Once you learn the principles and then read the application section, you'll still be able to apply them to new situations 20 years from now that can't be anticipated.

I think there's a real need for a book that presents a universal, principle-centered approach to across-the-board personal growth. With this book you use the exact same method to improve your health, relationships, career, finances, and spiritual practice. There are no separate, compartmentalized rules for each area. There's just one universal approach that is consistently good at diagnosing problems and generating solutions no matter where you apply it.

The laws of physics are the same whether you're building a submarine or a rocket. Why shouldn't the laws of personal growth be the same whether you're trying to lose weight, double your income, find your life purpose, or fall in love? When you deepen your understanding of the laws of physics, you can solve problems you've never encountered before. The same benefit occurs when you understand the core principles of personal growth.

Not everyone cares to learn the laws of physics, nor will everyone care to learn the principles in this book. But whether you're aware of such principles or not, you're still subject to them.