If you head over to Steve Pavlina’s site, you’ll see plenty of reviews of his book, Personal Development for Smart People. I want to take a little different route here. I want to focus on what this book can do for you if you’re trying to lose weight or just get healthier.

What makes this book different is that he doesn’t focus on one aspect of your life to improve. This isn’t a book about making more money, improving your career, finding better relationships, or improving your health. It’s certainly not a typical weight loss book. You won’t find a particular diet or exercise plan here, but you will be encourage to find something that works for you.

In short, Personal Development for Smart People is a manual for improving whatever aspect of your life you choose to work on. Maybe you want to eat better, develop closer friendships, or work on finding a truly rewarding career. Regardless of what you want to work on, you’ll find techniques in this book that will help you.

Will you get a to-do list to fix your life? No. That isn’t what this book is about. You will get tools that will help you evaluate where you are, where you’re going, and how to change that path if it’s not something you’re happy with.

Part I

In part one, Steve discusses what he calls the fundamental principles. You’ll use these principles later in part two, when you focus on specific aspects of your life you’d like to change.

The three primary principles are truth, love and power, and they’re covered in the first three chapters. I found these chapters a bit abstract, but I read Steve’s blog, so I’m used to his approach. He might take a while to give you the background you need, but rest assured, he’ll get to the practical application.

Truth

For those of you who think of the truth as being a little subjective, you might be better served to think of this chapter as “fact.” One of the most important things you can do is learn to take an honest assessment of your current state and use that to predict what your future will be like. When it comes to our health habits, that can be a little uncomfortable. Of course, if you don’t like the prediction, changing it is what this book is all about.

• Think about your eating habits. If you continue doing what you’re doing now, what state will your body be in in five years? Ten years?

• Think about your overall health. What is your blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, blood sugar? Do those numbers look “good”?

• Are you likely to be able to live the life you want as you age, or will you face a host of health problems.

It’s difficult to do, but Steve will encourage you to take an honest assessment of where you are today. That’s the first step to making improvements.

Love

Love isn’t, in this book, really about romantic love, although it does encompass that concept. Think of love as being connected to others, and you’ll have a good idea of what Steve is getting at.

Being connected to others can help you appreciate the need to care for yourself. Your family and friends need you to be healthy, so that can serve as added motivation to improve your habits.

In addition, you may find that working with others who have the same goals can help you achieve yours. Meet and spend time with others who are trying to improve their health.

Power

Power includes concepts like self-discipline, focus, and effort. Obviously, losing weight and getting more fit are hard work. You’ll need self-discipline and focus in order to succeed. Take the time to focus on what you’re good at, where you’ve succeeded, etc. Use those as reminders for how strong you can be. Tap into that when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

Part II

Here is where we get to the “meat” of the book. Resist any temptation to skip ahead to this half; you’re not likely to be able to follow it unless you know what Steve means by his principles discussed in part one.

Here Steve talks about practical things you can do to improve specific areas of your life. He covers habits, career, money, health, relationships, and spirituality. However, you’ll find techniques within these chapters that will help you evaluate where you are and work on changing your life into what you want it to be.

The chapter on health will be of particular interest. Steve talks about his changing eating and exercise habits, as well as things he’s tried that didn’t work out for him. One great thing about the book is his insistence that you try things for yourself and evaluate how well they work for you. That’s particularly important in weight loss. Remember, the best diet is the one YOU can follow, lose weight on, and stay healthy on.

The chapter on habits was also a useful one. Steve talks about his thirty day trials and how to do one of your own. Try giving up coffee for a month, or chocolate, or exercising every day for a month. Since you know you can stop at the end of the trial, it doesn’t feel like such a deprivation. Make it a game, and enjoy tracking your progress.

This book is a good choice if you’re tired of the typical diet and exercise book.