Personal Development is so important. I’m totally hooked and constantly try to find ways to improve myself. A lot of my progress over the last few years was only possible because of podcasts.

I’ve been listening to podcasts for about 5 years now and I can’t tell you how many invaluable life lessons I got – for free! And all while doing things like driving, working out, walking my dog etc.! It makes me feel so motivated listening to others sharing their advice, perspective and stories.  

In the spirit of my tag line “live life purposefully” I’m sharing 4 awesome podcasts that are about to change your life on the go.

Natalie Bacon – Design Your Dream Life

Natalie just launched this podcast recently. She is a successful six-figure blogger and her philosophy, in a nutshell, is that everything is possible. You limit yourself by believing that you’re not good enough or that you can’t possibly achieve something (such as starting your own business). Once you learn how to let go of that fear and self-doubt you’re unstoppable. Natalie also has amazing goal setting techniques and tips she shares frequently.

Best episode: Design Your Dream Year From Your Future

A perfect episode to set yourself up for success in the new year (and the year after and the year after that). She describes all the things that made her last year the best year yet. She is determined that this upcoming year will be even better. Learn how to make every year better than the last!

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Ever since I read Gretchen Rubin’s book “The Happiness Project”, I felt so relieved that others feel the same way about wanting to be happier even if they seemingly already are. Gretchen has a loving husband, two kids, work that she enjoys and an overall fulfilling life. And yet, she dedicated one year of her life to find more ways to be happier.

Her podcast has a similar approach. She and her sister talk about practical, manageable habits to create a little more happiness in everyone’s life.

Best episode: Episode 84 – Try Doing something EVERY day (instead of only some days). Great for habit forming.

Bonus: Happier has 2 minute episodes called “A Little Happier” that talk about a favorite quote or habit to implement in your life.

A Cure For Feeling Annoyed About Clutter – Remember Love

Now Is Now, And Now Is Already A Long Time Ago

Sam Laura Brown – The Perfectionist Project. 

The Perfectionism Project (formerly called The Smart Twenties Podcast) is a podcast sharing personal growth and life advice for perfectionists. Sam has dealt with a lot these past few years (fear of not being good enough, doubting herself, feeling like she doesn’t deserve success or respect – spoiler alert: she definitely does) but now runs a successful coaching business and blog.

In her podcast she talks about life lessons and gives practical advice for helping “ambitious women get out of their own way” as she puts it. She has a lot of insight on mindset, goal setting, career, entrepreneurship and everything in between. 

Best episode: My absolute favorite episode (and one of the reasons I started this blog) is Blogging, Self-Doubt + How to get started.

It is loaded with practical advice and personal stories of her blogging journey. She talks about how self-doubt held her back from actively pursuing her dreams for years and how she finally overcame her limitations. 

Bonus: Sam sets herself an “impossible goal” every year and I love that concept. Check it out in this episode: My Impossible Goal For 2018.

Optimal Living Daily with Justin Malik

Justin created Optimal Living Daily as his passion project. He curates and reads the best blog content he can find (with the author’s permission). It’s like an audio book for blogs with posts from authors like Steve Pavlina. There are a total of four other shows – Optimal Finance Daily, Optimal Health Daily, Optimal Business Daily, and Optimal Living Daily Relationships. All 5 have received over 50 million downloads combined!

Best episodes:

1088: How We Spend Our Days by Anthony Ongaro of Break The Twitch on Personal Development

1031: One Daily Gratitude Ritual that Will Change the Way You Think by Marc Chernoff of Marc And Angel

Bonus:

512: Life Habits to Improve Your Writing by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist on Content Creation from Optimal Business Daily

There you go – 4 of my favorite personal development podcasts. I learn and apply so much to my life every day from listening to these podcasts. What are your favorites?