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Comment by zavulon | Hacker News Reader

I was one of his early readers, and used to love his stuff on productivity and personal development. I even tolerated his articles about astral world, lightworkers, law of attraction, etc. But when he posted a glowing "review" of a scam like Site Build-it, complete with an affiliate link, I've decided I've had enough and hit "Unsubscribe".

Lesson to be learned: never trust someone who became successful by telling others how to become successful.

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I learned a different lesson, which is that you can win big by being willing to get your hands dirty. After all, Steve Pavlina's site is like a burlap bag filled with a mixture of turds and diamonds. I'd get over my disgust for fecal matter pretty fast if I found such an object.

(For example, his advice regarding waking up to an alarm was invaluable to me.)

You don't have to trust somebody to learn from them.

I found the key with his waking up early system was that you only fix your waking time, and you stay up (ideally doing something without stimulation close to when you need to sleep) until you're ready to fall asleep within 5 minutes.

I got extra waking time because my body was regulating how much I slept. If I stayed up too late I'd get tired earlier the next day, but in general I dropped my sleeping hours by about 1.

"a burlap bag filled with a mixture of turds and diamonds"

nailed it

Site Build-it, while I DON'T recommend it, is not a "scam." What they do and how they support delivers the service and product they promise. The problem is that they (1) overcharge compared to a more DIY approach, and they (2) overpromise the likelihood of success. Also known as (1) packaging and (2) marketing. (I've never used them, but I know someone who does.)

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