This is a parody of Steve Pavlina’s Post: Opting out of Holiday Gift Exchanges
Today I got a call from my mother reminding me that it was her birthday and it might’ve been nice of me to send her a card. Of course, being the complete self absorbed jerk that I am, I told her that I no longer want to get any gifts from anyone nor am I ever going to send any gifts.
Many people grow up with holiday traditions that center around buying and exchanging gifts with family members. I enjoyed and appreciated this when I was younger, and I have many fond memories about it. Of course, now I’m the mighty Steve Pavlina, soon to be the leader of an interwebs cult. Now it just, uh, doesn’t ‘resonate’ with me to do anything that doesn’t feed my ego.
Of course I don’t have the guts to say it like it is, so I will just use words like ‘resonate’, to put the blame on something else.
So, from now on, whenever I’m too lazy to do something, or when I don’t get my way and I’m being a baby about it, whether its closing the forums or not sending my family any cards, I’m just going to say that it doesn’t ‘resonate’ with me. The universe / my guardian angel / the force has decided that this thing is no longer a ‘vibrational match’ for me. I mean, what’s the alternative, that I’m too lazy? That I have FLAWS? No, that certainly can’t be it. It must be the resonation thing.
Pretty soon, I’ll not resonate with doing anything except eating, sleeping, and fucking. But that’s just my ‘conscious’ decision about it.
Steve Pavlina Lies 
Jan 27, 2012 @ 15:00:37
This article of Steve’s left me floored, and I normally do not react much to what he writes. I sure hope that he is at least going to give his children some money on their birthdays.
Since he made no mention of his children, I am going to assume that he isn’t giving them anything either. God knows he can afford it with the tens of thousands of dollars he makes every month from advertising revenue.
I have a feeling we are going to be reading a lot more stuff like this from him now that he has eliminated pretty much all of the bigger channels for criticizing him.
Shutting down the forums was brilliant because now it’s much harder for people to come together and realize “Hey, maybe what he writes isn’t so great…”
The next step would be to get rid of the forums entirely: “Keeping the forum archives around just isn’t something I feel good about. It’s all old energy and hanging on to the past and not worth the effort required. Blah, blah, blah.”
I would not be surprised if soon he publishes an article saying that he isn’t going to help pay for his kid’s college education because he wants them to learn to provide for themselves and to be responsible and other lame reasons for weaseling out of his parental responsibility.
Jan 28, 2012 @ 07:20:14
What exactly do you think you are achieving by doing this?
You can hate Steve as much as you want, but he’s still richer and happier than you. Use your time to work on something that actually matters… or don’t. Whatever.
“Critics will never change the world.”
– Chris Guillebeau
Jan 30, 2012 @ 14:35:23
Steve doesn’t resonate with giving gifts because it’s not about him enough. Everything has to be about Steve, and centered on and in Steve, for Steve to be interested in it. Buying presents for other people makes you actually think about the other people! Definitely not Steve’s cup of tea!
Jan 31, 2012 @ 07:42:42
Hey,
Thanks for creating this blog. Now that Steve Pavlina has officially severed all means of being held accountable for his views via public feedback, your blog and your posts provide a really valuable resource. You inject some balance into the dialogue for those who are looking for it.
I’m not sure what triggered all of this in Steve — all I can figure is that the perceived ‘power’ of his blog’s success has really gone to his head. The plain truth is: Steve is a fairly geeky-looking (and geeky-sounding) guy who probably never got much female attention in his life. Now he’s capitalizing on his internet ‘celebrity’ and trying to fuck any and all of the “groupies” who offer themselves to him… It seems to me the majority of these women are lost and broken souls who think attaching themselves to Steve will somehow boost up their sense of self… Sad, sad, sad.
And, worst of all — to do all this, he let an amazing woman go, hurt her deeply — someone who really loved him (Erin, the mother of his children), all to feed his ego and delude himself into believing he’s something he’s not.
SAD!!
Ah well, maybe there is still hope for Steve?! I truly hope he has an awakening before his hubris results in a tragic fall.
Get back to true Love, Steve, stop the living just for gratification!
Keep up the great posts on this blog, and thanks again.
Feb 06, 2012 @ 15:52:30
Would be interesting to see him wake up to himself, but I’d be just as happy to see him fail, big time. Like, James Ray type failure.
Feb 22, 2012 @ 14:19:16
Ditto on seeing him fail. The false hopes he peddles driven by vague language are hurting more people than helping.
His video “creating abundance” still has far more likes than dislikes. Let’s get busy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad1DhUdtcFs
Mar 04, 2012 @ 19:10:32
To be more specific, by “false hopes” I am mainly referring to his article “10 reasons why you should never get a job”, written as if everyone is ready to start a business. Such an article can be damaging if someone spends hundreds or thousands of dollars on lessons on “how to make money”.
And by “let’s get busy”, I’m asking others who have to YouTube account to take a moment to click the dislike button. You may spare someone from being sucked into false hopes.
Mar 02, 2012 @ 01:20:18
Bud, seriously? You need a hug in the worst way! Stop, breath, and ask yourself if this is the type of contribution you really wish to make. If you really don’t like the guy, to spend so much time on one person is a waste of energy. Take that energy and channel it into something good for this world. We have enough negativity on this planet at this time. Last thing we need is a website that deliberately spreads hate.
The fact that you are hiding behind your annonimity says it all. Either you don’t want to face the critism directly and have this site directly tied to you. Or deep down it really doesn’t feel right. If this were a public place in a city I don’t think you would have as much to say. We all have good and bad tendencies. And to throw judgment at one person from behind a wall of annomimity is not what is needed. This blog is 100% a reflection on your character. The only ones that you will connect with are those that have been hurt as well. Most intelligent people will see this for what it worth.
It has been some time since your last post. I hope this is due to the fact you have come to realize its not worth it. If you continue, I would suggest you come out from behind the wall. We are much different people when we allow ourself to stand naked in the judgement of others. Use this situation to learn and better yourself. Don’t sink and hide.
Peace
Peace
Jul 24, 2012 @ 17:21:31
Criticism isn’t the same thing as hate, although even hate isn’t so terrible as long as it is focused and restrained. Your reasoning only holds up under the notion that things we ignore go away. They don’t, and while Steve is a small-fry in the bigger scheme of things, he’s also one of the most prolific and available gurus out there, so if you want to criticize new age stuff, he’s one of the best people to focus on. You can kill so many birds with one stone just by talking about what he’s said.
Mar 31, 2012 @ 14:55:45
I agree with Horizon.
“Thanks for creating this blog. Now that Steve Pavlina has officially severed all means of being held accountable for his views via public feedback, your blog and your posts provide a really valuable resource. You inject some balance into the dialogue for those who are looking for it.”
Interesting that he doesn’t even allow comments on his YouTube videos.
The whole situation…with Steve and his groupies…It made me think about how a cult might actually start….. scary stuff.
Thanks for creating the Blog. Hope you continue.
Sep 22, 2012 @ 14:08:06
Indeed, not allowing public feedback on his blog posts OR youtube videos is not something a respectable person would do.
Nov 14, 2012 @ 09:44:03
>implying he didn’t disallow public feedback because of people like you
also tl;dr of your blog:
>stay fucking mad
Apr 14, 2014 @ 15:56:08
This really does seem like an extreme decision, and it really does seem to show a side to this man’s character that is NOT very pretty. I’ll get right back to that in a sec…
I don’t have quite as much “invested” in this as some of you. I’ve never been a member of Steve’s forum, nor too regular a reader of his blog or other materials. I HAVE occasionally found myself on his blog, as I enjoy self-help / personal development material. I only arrived at this particular blog, after reading about the closing of his forums, and doing a little googling to read the “other side” of the issue. My point here, is that I have no vested interest, no “grudge,” and no real reason to want to ridicule him for its own sake… So this opinion is as objective as it gets:
This post really makes the guy seem like a completely out-of-touch with reality NARCISSIST.
He admits that when he was younger he loved participating in gift giving (and I am guessing, what he actually mean here was gift RECEIVING) and has fond memories of this. And yet he now will not give gifts to his own children, because he feels that material gifts are cheapened by other, more meaningful forms of expression?
I will agree with him that there are more meaningful forms of expressing affection. Yes… to you, as an adult, as a father, a hug from your child means more than all the gifts in the world. But your child is not an adult, nor a father. And yes, I believe it is important to teach children values, and part of me does respect him for wanting to instill such values in his children. But I am of the opinion that this can be done alongside gift giving, and does not have to fully replace it.
Sure, gift giving may feel good sometimes. Or it may not. Maybe it’s just stressful for you. But I have to say… THAT IS NOT THE POINT. You don’t give gifts so that YOU feel good, you horrid narcissist! You give them so OTHERS are happy. Any happiness you gain is supposed to be directly derived from making OTHERS happy.
You can have the most mature children in the world… but if all their friends are getting an xbox for christmas, and you KNOW dad has that Personal Development cash… but just doesn’t give you squat… I can virtually promise you, that this will mess your child up in some psycho-emotional way, and possibly cause them to question how you feel toward them, if not your very normalcy and sanity.
His entire post really does come across as “I just don’t feel like it.”
I’m sure your children “just don’t feel like” cleaning their rooms sometimes… but I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that Steve gives them a good talking to, if not an ass-whooping, if they don’t.
This is not ABOUT YOU, you petulant child. Not everything is.
Personal development is not an excuse to be a ridiculous narcissist. Especially when your children are involved.
Grow the hell up, Steve.