Incorporating healthy habits into your day is great for fostering a positive physical and mental health environment for yourself. With the daily struggles of everyday life and the ongoing pandemic, stressors have intensified in every facet of life. It’s essential to find motivational avenues that work for you. Self-help podcasts are a great source of inspiration for millions of people.
In this article, we’ve listed the best podcast for self-improvement to help you find one that resonates with your personal development journey. We’ve also provided a list of the best self-improvement podcast episodes. This list will hopefully help you kickstart your journey to creating a balanced daily life.
Why You Should Listen to Self Improvement Podcasts
You should listen to self-improvement podcasts to help you achieve individual life goals, get mental health or career advice, or create daily routines to improve your life. There are a wide variety of compelling podcast genres discussing a multitude of topics catering to human dynamics and the daily life of real people.
Whether you are looking to manage college stress and anxiety, attain financial freedom, cope with grief, or manage procrastination, an inspiring podcast can make a huge difference in your overall outlook on life. Finding a podcast that caters to your personal and professional life can also help you practice discipline and form positive habits essential for meeting your ambitions.
What Makes a Great Self Improvement Podcast?
There are many factors that contribute to making a great self-improvement podcast. Below are the top five factors you should look for in the inspirational podcasts you listen to.
- Delivery. The overall delivery and tone of a podcast are crucial and can make or break a podcast’s success. A life coach or motivational speaker needs a mastery of interpersonal skills and overall delivery tactics to keep their audience engaged and inspired. Factors such as tone, pitch, sound editing, and charm are contributors.
- Content. The content of a self-help podcast plays a vital role in making it successful. The topics and discussions on the podcast must reflect a genuine desire for the host to help their audience. Podcast hosts should use their expertise to cater to their audience’s interests and needs.
- Podcast Guests. A key factor in making a great podcast lies in providing interesting content. Interviewing interesting guests is one way to do that. Great guests for self-improvement podcasts can include psychologists, financial advisors, romantic coaches, and health coaches. Inviting experts can establish a podcast’s credibility.
- Consistency. The regularity of a podcast release is extremely important for self-improvement podcasts. Consistency allows listeners to incorporate the podcast’s advice into their daily lives. It also solidifies and increases the popularity of the podcast, which is crucial for its monetary success.
- Information Credibility. Today’s digital era has provided us with an abundance of information and, unfortunately, much of this information can be false or harmful. A great podcast must cite information taken from credible sources.
The 10 Best Self Improvement Podcasts
1. On Purpose with Jay Shetty
- Available On: Apple, Spotify, SiriusXM, Pandora, Stitcher, Google
- Subjects Covered: Meaningful life advice, spirituality, relationship advice, career growth, self-improvement
Jay Shetty is a popular life coach and interviewer whose podcast offers advice about happiness and spirituality. Shetty created the podcast to take a deep dive into relationships, anxiety management, meditation, the purpose of life, and entrepreneurship. This podcast is ideal for people looking to regularly listen to motivational thought leaders.
2. Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik
- Available On: Apple, Spotify, Podbean, Google, PodChaser
- Subjects Covered: Memory training, mental models, brain performance improvement, productivity
Your productivity and brain’s performance are vital to a successful career and life. The Kwik Brain podcast provides you with mental model training and memory improvement tips to help you achieve your dream life. Jim Kwik’s podcast is beneficial for students, entrepreneurs, learning therapists, and senior citizens looking to enhance their brain performance.
3. The Joy of Procrastination
- Available On: Apple, Player FM
- Subjects Covered: Embracing procrastination, increasing productivity, creativity
The negative aspects of procrastination can impact almost every aspect of your daily life, professional and personal. Learning to manage procrastination is vital for productivity, efficiency, and success. Dean Jackson and Dan Sullivan help their listeners turn negative elements of procrastination into positive ones. They offer advice on how to find creative solutions.
4. The Minimalists
- Available On: Apple, LearnOutLoud, PodChaser, Anghami, Minimalists.com, Google, Spotify, YouTube, RSS
- Subjects Covered: Meaningful minimalist life advice
The constant pursuit of materialistic elements and clutter in your regular life can often lead to unhappiness, anxiety, and stress. Buddhism and Hinduism link happiness to leading a minimalistic lifestyle. Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields offer advice on living minimally through daily life choices and positive thinking. If you want to declutter your life, then this podcast is for you.
5. Happier with Gretchen Rubin
- Available On: Apple, Spotify, Audacy,
- Subjects Covered: Daily habits, books, happiness, relationship, knowledge, practical advice
The journey towards living a happy life can be a struggle. According to the World Health Organization, 280 million people suffer from depression. Societal, professional, medical, and personal factors contribute to this. Gretchen Rubin provides insightful advice on how to create a happier life. This podcast covers daily habits, emotional experiences, happiness lessons, and life improvement tips.
6. We Can Do Hard Things – The Podcast
- Available On: Apple, Spotify, Audacy
- Subjects Covered: Mental health, lifestyle advice, relationships, addiction
Navigating through relationships, work stress, and global issues on a daily basis can take a significant toll on your mental health. We Can Do Hard Things is a great option for finding ways to deal with these issues. This weekly podcast is hosted by Glennon Doyle, bestselling author of Untamed, who answers questions on how to manage your life.
7. The One You Feed – Practical Wisdom for a Better Life
- Available On: Apple
- Subjects Covered: Anxiety, depression, addiction, meditation, daily habits
If you’re looking for an interview-based podcast about life improvement, then this podcast by Eric Zimmer is worth a try. Zimmer interviews guests from a wide variety of expertise every week to discuss topics surrounding human psychology, spirituality, and entertainment, among others. This podcast offers actionable insights and practical tools to maneuver through everyday life.
8. Unlock Your Best Self – Rich Roll Podcast
- Available On: YouTube, Spotify, Apple
- Subjects Covered: Addiction, health and wellness advice, life coaching, spirituality, entrepreneurship
Rich Roll invites influential thought leaders on a weekly podcast to cover health, spirituality, wellness, and entrepreneurship. This podcast provides advice on how to live a life authentic to yourself. This podcast is suitable for those who want to enhance their communication, life, or professional skills.
9. How to Be a Better Human – Chris Duffy
- Available On: Apple, TED, Spotify, PRX, PodParadise
- Subjects Covered: Self-improvement, life advice
If you are a fan of TED Talks and the comedian Chris Duffy, then this self-improvement podcast is for you. Each week, Duffy sits with motivational speakers to discuss a wide range of topics to help inspire people to become a better version of themselves. The podcast covers art, history, psychology, and emotional intelligence.
10. WorkLife with Adam Grant
- Available On: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Castbox, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic
- Subjects Covered: Professional life balance advice
Adam Grant’s WorkLife offers an interesting podcast beneficial for entrepreneurs, professionals, and other curious individuals the advice of academic and business experts. The podcast invites STEM professionals and CEOs to discuss professional burnout, work-life balance, procrastination, and career growth elements.
The Best Self Improvement Podcast Episodes to Get You Started
Below are our picks for the top five self-improvement podcast episodes you can listen to to get started. Do your best to choose episodes whose content best matches your personal and professional needs.
Recovery Stories: Finding YOU in Recovery | The Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast
If you or your loved ones are suffering from an eating disorder, this podcast episode by Dr. Jeanan Anderson is a great resource. Dr. Anderson converses with recovery coach Sarah Rzemieniak, who offers insight into the process of recovering from eating disorders and shares personal stories about fighting eating disorders.
Grief and New Relationships and Second-Hand Trauma | The Hardcore Self Help Podcast
If you are looking for guidance on grief management and second-hand emotional struggles, then this episode is for you. This episode answers questions concerning losing a loved one as well as how to cope with guilt and may be beneficial.
Friendship – My Reliable Gift | Where Should We Begin
Relationships play a crucial part in the pursuit of happiness. If you are curious about the intricacies of human friendships or want to learn how to manage your expectations and improve your friendships, then this episode is for you. Esther Perel has a conversation with two friends about their conflicts. This is an interesting podcast that covers the impact of culture, gender, and professional success on friendships.
BONUS: How You Can Help Fight Diet Culture in Your Life with Heather Caplan, Anti-Diet Dietitian | Food Psych Podcast with Christy Harrison
The prevalence of diet culture, weight-based discrimination, and beauty norms affect women around the world. If you are struggling with weight, eating, or image disorders, then this episode is worth listening to. It celebrates the anti-diet culture and weight inclusivity by providing professional advice on strategies to combat diet culture and leading a healthy lifestyle.
On a Summer’s Horseback – Listener Favorite from 594 | Sleep With Me
If you suffer from insomnia or struggle to fall asleep quickly, then Drew Ackerman’s Sleep With Me podcast episodes are worth a try. Ackerman shares life stories while slowly leading you to a restful night of sleep. This episode uses a story about horse riding.
What Is the Best Self Improvement Podcast?
The best self-improvement podcast for you depends on your needs and desires. A great self-improvement podcast is engaging, motivating, credible, and interesting. Finding the right podcast can often take some time, as it should resonate with you and help you grow professionally and personally.
Best Self Improvement Podcasts FAQ
The best self-improvement podcasts should act as a medium to motivate and inspire you to improve your overall lifestyle. On Purpose, We Can Do Hard Things, The Minimalists, and The Joy of Procrastination are some of the best personal development podcasts.
You can listen to an immense variety of self-improvement podcasts on streaming services such as Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, Google, YouTube, and Audacy.
Self-improvement podcasts cover a wide variety of topics including mental health, spirituality, health, entrepreneurship, grief management, relationships, and life goals.
Yes, listening to a self-improvement podcast is worth it as it can serve as a source of inspiration, comfort, and education that can help you balance and succeed in your everyday life. However, it is essential to find a podcast that caters to your personal needs and wants.
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