Steve Pavlina criticism is unavoidable. As a life coach and personal development expert with a few controversies surrounding his personal life, it is not surprising that Steve would meet some level of doubt and skepticism about his work.
The Top 3 Things Steve Pavlina is Criticized For
Here are some of the factors on which Steve is commonly criticized for:
- Pseudoscience. Steve has been widely criticized for his thoughts on science. Basically, Steve does not believe that science has a contribution to health and has released a statement saying that ‘health studies are worthless’ if you really care about health. He says that the current paradigms in health studies are profitable only for those who are invested in them, which targets the ‘big pharma’.
- Subjective reality. One of the biggest Steve Pavlina criticisms that are used against the self-help guru is on his belief in subjective reality. He discovered more of this belief when he tested what he called ‘inspired living’ in an experiment where he acted impulsively for weeks without thinking things through. Through his blog, he said that living impulsively is a much more sensible way to live because there’s no need to fear the possibilities in a world that is merely a projection.
- Polyamory. Steve is most controversially criticized for promoting polyamory. As a well-known personal development guru, it was quite an unusual occurrence when Steve suddenly announced that he wanted to explore polyamory. Polyamory is the concept of having several intimate relationships with the consent of everyone involved, including his wife. He wanted to keep his family intact, but he also wanted to pursue other desires. Steve did an experiment on this before his divorce, and following his separation from his wife Erin, he admitted that polyamory also had a part in their decision to separate. Despite this, his experiments with polyamory has allowed Steve – as well as Erin – to realize their true desires, and this helped them figure out that they needed to separate in order to grow and fulfill their personal goals. In the end, Steve and Erin both benefited from what happened.
These are just some of the factors that many people criticize Steve for. The fact is, Steve lives in an unusual and unconventional way, which is enough reason for the conventional people to criticize his actions.
How Steve Keeps His Cool: Strategies for Facing Criticisms
In an interview, Steve himself spoke about how he faced his horde of critics and how he is able to continue his projects positively despite the constant negative attacks coming at him.
According to Steve, he reacts to criticism depending on its nature. Criticism comes in many forms. Some of them, such as meaningless comments or some needless name-calling, just don’t have any substance that he simply deletes such messages without being affected by them. He simply concludes that they are not the right audience for his unique message.
Steve Pavlina has also received criticisms that were inconsistent with the way he experienced his concepts and beliefs. In such cases, he simply accepts that the he and the critic are incompatible in a certain area.
But when a certain criticism makes him angry or defensive, these are the ones that really have an emotional impact on him. He considers this as a sign that there is some element of truth to the critical feedback, and this prompts him to ‘turn within’ to explore and understand his reaction. According to Steve, he often writes about them in his journal or sometimes discusses them with someone else to get an objective point of view. He asks questions such as:
- Why am I reacting this way?
- Is the criticism valid or true?
- Does it give me an opportunity to grow?
- What can I learn from it?
- How can I improve on this aspect?
According to Steve, some of the criticisms he has received have helped him come to an epiphany, and that these criticisms are definitely contributing factors to who he is presently.
The Role of Criticism in Success
Steve’s exposure to high-profile criticisms allow him to be used as the perfect example of how to take the criticisms that are sure to follow anyone who decides to live a little less conventional. Steve simply interprets the critical messages as messages of caring. He also uses his critics to drive him further to success.
Steve has said that it is certainly not easy to be a public figure even just on the Internet, but he believes that being exposed to criticism helps accelerate his growth tremendously.
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