When I started Aliventures a few months ago, one of my key aims was to avoid being yet another run-of-the-mill personal development blogger. If you’ve emailed me recently, you might’ve noticed my signature line:
Is Aliventures for you? Well … have you ever changed your life for the better after reading posts like “Top Ten Secret Ninja Ways to Supercharge Your Awesome Life Today?” No? Me neither. That’s why I started Aliventures, a blog for thinking people who aren’t satisfied with easy, glib answers.
Thankfully, there are a load of other folk in the blogosphere with a similar outlook to mine. None of these blogs are huge (IttyBiz is the biggest): I’m sure you’ve already come across Steve Pavlina, Zen Habits, Dumb Little Man and other blogs of that ilk. And all of these bloggers are consistently useful, honest, entertaining and totally real about the struggles that they – and we – face.
So without further ado… here are my top recommended reads:
Charlie Gilkey – Productive Flourishing
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Charlie is seriously awesome. He understands how creativity works – and he can break it down and explain it, and show you how to get more of the good stuff done rather than go after some crazy inbox zero, super-productive-ninja plan.
I would be Charlie’s number one fangirl, but I think I’m in line behind a whole lotta others (including the below-mentioned Naomi Dunford.)
Typical Charlie:
If you’ve taken care of the time-sensitive email messages that you need to and you have to choose between clearing out your Inbox and creating something meaningful, you’re probably better off creating something meaningful. If your muses aren’t cooperating and you’re still willing and able to process email, then, by all means, process away.
Buy Charlie’s Stuff:
If you ever feel reluctant to open your inbox for fear that somewhere in the dark depths of it, a new dark form of life is growing, you gotta go and get Email Triage – you can read my Email Triage review here.
Tim Brownson – The Discomfort Zone
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Tim is consistently funny and profound. He’s got a huge amount of experience as a life coach, and he writes detailed, seriously useful posts that go way beyond the “well, that was obvious” sort of stuff you get on other blogs. His posts all have great cartoons on, too.
If you find yourself struggling to meet goals, to overcome procrastinational tendencies, or if you just want an insight into what life coaches actually do, Tim’s your man.
Typical Tim:
Yes there may be times when you end up dicking about on Twitter like I do, but that’s cool. Just decide to dick about on Twitter, commit to dicking about on Twitter and focus on dicking about on Twitter, then it’s not procrastinating it’s having fun, and we all need some fun in our lives.
Buy Tim’s Stuff:
Tim launched a fantastic, impressively in-depth ebook called “How to be Rich and Happy” last month (with co-author John P Strelecky): it covers all the stuff Tim does with clients and brings in lots of John’s expertise too. You can read my review of How to be Rich and Happy here.
Naomi Dunford – IttyBiz
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Naomi blogs about marketing rather than personal development per se, but her whole attitude is one I love. She’s totally in the “making the world a better place” mindset (and she has no shame about wanting to make a ton of money along the way). She’s wickedly funny, totally bad-ass, and if you’re in any sort of small-biz thing – or aspiring to be – you totally need to read IttyBiz.
Naomi also bought me a glass of wine once… a big glass. Not that I’m easily bribed, or anything…
Typical Naomi:
Let’s define marketing, shall we? We talk about it a lot here, this being a marketing blog and all, so maybe it’s time for a common terminology… Marketing is the shit you do that makes people buy your shit.
Buy Naomi’s Stuff:
Naomi’s stuff is worth buying purely for entertainment value: SEO School (reviewed here) is a brilliantly good read and it’s about search engine optimisation, pretty much the dullest topic imaginable.
Naomi is the Queen of teeny-tiny-business advice, and if you can afford it, I recommend getting your greedy hands on a copy of Online Business School – I have a 4,000 word review to give you all the details.
Glen Allsopp – PluginID
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I first came across Glen as a fellow blogger and guest blogger all over the damn internet. People sometimes email me to say “I see your posts everywhere” – well, Glen can wipe the floor with me when it comes to being on a heck of a lot of blogs at once. I’m trying not to be jealous.
Glen knows a hell of a lot about productivity, running a business, and making serious money online. Like the others on this list, he’s also a great writer.
Typical Glen:
The whole point to this challenge if I haven’t made it clear enough yet is simply this: to eliminate all of the mental escapes I have in my life and learn to live with myself in the most mundane and bland situations. I will use my spare time to be as active as possible, as I know I will go insane if I just stare at a calendar and hope the days pass as quickly as possible.
Buy Glen’s Stuff:
I totally didn’t know this when I decided to do a roundup of bloggers-I-love today, but Glen’s running a sale for the next 48 hours on his ebook Cloud Living (cutting the price to just $18) – I reviewed Cloud Living a couple of months back, and it’s been a big hit with Aliventures’ readers, so this is a superbly good time to get your copy if you haven’t done so already.
If you’re not reading this the day it goes live, Cloud Living is still a great bargain!
Sid Savara – SidSavara.com
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I’ve been really happy over the last few weeks to see Sid blogging regularly again. He’s a fantastically in-depth blogger, often doing a ton of research for posts – and from having written for SidSavara.com, I know he’s also a great editor!
Like the other bloggers on this list, Sid doesn’t take things at face value. He debunked the Harvard written-goal study, and he takes an analytical approach to figuring out why we tend to screw up on our goals.
Typical Sid:
If you had a magic button that let you experience intense pleasure and euphoria whenever pressed, you might push that button thousands of times a day, and beg me not to take it away when I tried to stop you.
(Personal Development Roadblocks – Pushing Pleasure Buttons)
Buy Sid’s Stuff:
Sid has nothing to buy yet (aww), but he does have a great free ebook of Motivational Quotes. If, like Sid (and like me), you get kinda sick of all the crappy lists of quotes you can find online, this is a great little ebook to have.
Nick Bryan – Feeding the Black Dog
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Lastly, a shiny-brand-new-barely-outta-the-shrink-wrap blog which launched this very morning. I was so excited about this one that I postponed lunch in order to tweet about it. Nick’s a great writer, and pops up in various corners of the internet.
Like me, Nick has a realistic approach to “useful stuff” and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, with a dollop of amusing cynicism. If you’re gritting your teeth and getting by on grim determination, rather than by dancing merrily from cloud to cloud, Nick’s the chap you want.
Nick also has the honour of being one of about four people who’ve slept on our sofa…
Typical Nick:
But what about those who have a somewhat negative outlook, yet still want to get stuff done? You’ve accepted that life is suffering, have a downright evil sense of humour and find that most productivity blogs make you want to seize the nearest axe and (life-)hack your computer into tiny, tiny pieces.
Buy Nick’s Stuff:
No ebooks here, yet. But you can buy Nick himself (sort of): like me, he’ll write for food/beer/preferably cold hard cash. See his About page for details. I highly recommend him – especially if you want a bit more “edge” to your writing. He’ll do serious stuff too, I’m told.
I have missed off a half-dozen more blogs that I love, simply because I didn’t want this post to become too much of an epic. So if you’re not on here, feel free to leave your hate mail in the comments. 
I'm Ali Luke, a writer and 
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Thanks Ali, I really appreciate your support.
Sincerely – your biggest fan
– Glen
.-= Glen Allsopp´s last blog ..50% Off Cloud Living for the Next 48 Hours =-.
You’re eight shades of awesome, Ali, and I really appreciate the support. More than that, though – I’m really proud to see you becoming yourself on your own blog. I had a feeling that your growth would be something for people to watch, and you’re showing people why with every post. Keep on rockin’ it!
.-= Charlie Gilkey´s last blog ..November 2009 Planners Available =-.
Thanks Glen, and Charlie … you’re making me blush!
I enjoyed spending a year or so popping up and down in various corners of the internet, but it’s great to have a blog that’s finally “home”. And you two have both been inspiring, both with your actual blog posts, and in the way you’ve taken your blogs forwards. It’s a lot of fun to watch!
Hello. Thanks very much for spotlighting me during my blog’s confused infancy. (Or should it be puberty? Looking at all the misdirected rage, very probably.)
Anyway, yes. I would offer to link back in return, but I’ve already done that. God bless, keep doing what you do.
.-= Nick Bryan´s last blog ..The ‘Welcome Message’ =-.
This is a great idea – I’ve never really seen the point in continually promoting the bloggers at the top. I’ll check some of these out. Thanks!
.-= Ben´s last blog ..Injader plugins =-.
So, that’s why I love all these bloggers! (Well, I’m new to Nick so thanks for that recommendation)
Great list, Ali!
.-= Baker´s last blog ..Budgeting Ups and Downs: October and Beyond =-.
Nick’s new to everyone, he’s the wildcard on the list…
Ben, glad you liked it! I couldn’t see much point in promoting the blogs with 100,000+ subscribers … everyone knows about them anyway. The blogs and bloggers I really love tend to be the ones that are smaller and more unique.
Awesome list! I read all of these – well, except Nick’s since it just launched, but I’ll check it out =)
And thanks for the shout out Ali =)
I’m really glad I had the opportunity to work with you. Truthfully, having worked with someone as professional and complete in their work as you has made it excruciatingly painful for me to work with some other writers now who are *not* as on top of their game as you are =P
.-= Sid Savara´s last blog ..Seven Reasons You Check Email So Frequently – And How To Stop =-.
Aww, thanks Sid! I’m lucky as a blogger in that the writing side comes easily to me; I know some folk struggle a lot more with just getting the words onto the screen.
Speaking of lunch, I did NOT skip lunch to read your blog post. I’m eating lunch while reading your blog post. Which is unfortunate for you because, while thinking of something to say, all I can really think is WHY IN HELL can’t pizza people read? Why is “easy on the sauce” ALWAYS taken to mean “make sure this calzone NEVER ENTERS THE SAME ROOM AS SAUCE EVER”? Why?
But I digress.
Seriously, thank you. How incredibly flattering, and I’m delighted to meet Nick. Off to offer him a job ranting about pizza on my blog. Anybody who writes “How To Harness Your Cynicism” is ok by me.
.-= Naomi Dunford´s last blog ..Social Media and Social Proof: On Twitter Lists, Metrics, Mammals and Marketing =-.
Hello Naomi!!
And darn it, I want calzone now. Sadly, Paul (who makes great calzone, makes the dough and everything from scratch) is out. And I had to eat a ham sandwich for dinner. Pah.
Nick is awesome, and does a good line in rants…
He MAKES the dough?
(Do you see what this pizza situation is doing to me? I’m reverting to soap opera style caps lock.)
Sorry about the sandwich. That’s too bad. Shall we all find Paul and beat him for you?
.-= Naomi Dunford´s last blog ..Social Media and Social Proof: On Twitter Lists, Metrics, Mammals and Marketing =-.
Alas, he’s 6 foot 4, so beating on him has little effect other than amusing him.
(He can pick me up too, but he’s totally not allowed to. I can scream verrrry loudly.)
However, he looks good in an apron, and makes sure I eat sensibly. Which I totally wouldn’t if left to my own devices (case in point: I have just been eating dry cereal straight from the box for supper… I think I’d better go to bed.)
I can confirm that anyone smaller than about six feet probably won’t get far beating on Paul. Luckily he more or less buys me drinks willingly now.
.-= Nick Bryan´s last blog ..The ‘Welcome Message’ =-.
It looks like I’m late to the party, but nothing new there really.
Thanks a lot for the mention Ali and it seems I am mixed in with some fine company, and Naomi is here too!
.-= Tim Brownson´s last blog ..The Day The Dog Bit My Testicles =-.
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Just sayin.’
.-= Charlie Gilkey´s last blog ..November 2009 Planners Available =-.
@ Tim — I’ve never liked you and I’m glad your dog bit your testicles.
@ Charlie — Thank you. I agree. Paul is toast. Unless he makes me toast. In which case I will agree wholeheartedly with Ali that he does, indeed, look good in his apron and sit and eat my toast peacefully.
.-= Naomi Dunford´s last blog ..Social Media and Social Proof: On Twitter Lists, Metrics, Mammals and Marketing =-.
Quite a blog.
I came to read, Aliventures sounds like a very promising and delivering giver of good stuff to read and indeed does its proposal.
Thank you. Specially for that:
“That’s why I started Aliventures, a blog for thinking people who aren’t satisfied with easy, glib answers.”
I don’t know… so far… hold on… (the word glib)
… ow… “fluente”… good… got to be something like “sleepery”, as we say in portuguese.
Yes, I love easy answers, when they are answers, of course.
You did you come from? Light?
That answer would do it for me.
Do you know how?
Know who knows?
I might, lol.
Tim, you are more than welcome! *I* like you. Even if Naomi is mean. And I was, y’know, really sorry to hear about the testicle incident. I only laughed for, like, five minutes…
Naomi, you are totally welcome to our slightly broken sofa and our toast. Like, any time. Paul can even make BREAD itself. Which is pretty much magic. He has about twenty times more patience than I do. I like to make things that are (a) very quick and (b) involve a lot of chocolate. I’m doing mars bar crunchies later this week: mars bars, butter and cornflakes (melt the first two, then add the third. Top with more chocolate if poss).
I digress…
Marcos, welcome to the blog! By “glib” I mean stuff that might sound good but has no depth or substance, and avoids the real images. “Superficial” would be another word of saying it. Hope you stick around!
Thanks for the list, Ali. I’ve come to trust your judgement and am looking forward to reading Nick’s stuff.
The comments on this one are nearly as much fun as the post.
Ooh, I knew about everyone except for Nick (given that’s he’s new it’s understandable).
Off to add him to the feedreader!
.-= Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog ..I Want To vs I Need To: Finding the Cause of Someday Syndrome =-.
Thanks so much for this great roundup. I am just getting back into my writing stride after a bumpy couple of months, and am in sore need of both the advice and humor on these blogs. Cheers!
.-= Angela´s last blog ..Do you really need a blog? Maybe not. =-.
I’m trying to figure out why aliventures hasn’t been in my RSS feed… is now.
While I work on solving this mystery, I’ve decided, partly as a result of this article, to just screw off all day and write code. Phooey on product development, copywriting, product launch preparation. That crap isn’t going anywhere. I own it. It doesn’t own me dammit. Dammit.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..My Eyeballs Are Bleeding – And How I Write Thousands of Words Every Week =-.
Angela, have fun getting back into writing! (And I completely know that feeling of trying to pick up when you’ve had a break… it’s happened to me a few times.) Enjoy all the blogs; they’re real gems.
Dave, thanks for subscribing! Have a fanatstic day writing code: I spent the whole morning writing my novel. Sometimes you really need to *force* that creative time out of your day. Everything else can, and will, wait.