In order to become your best self, you first need to know how you want to grow, what you want to learn, and how you’ll use that knowledge to practice being your best self every day.

After all, what we practice on a daily basis, we inevitably get really good at.

If we practice patience, we get really good at being patient. If we practice anger, we get really good at being angry. And if we practice self-love and appreciation, we get really good at loving and appreciating ourselves.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Oh, Hello: The P’dcast Longtime pals, collaborators and Big Mouth co-stars Nick Kroll and John Mulaney wrapped up a Broadway run of their show Oh, Hello in 2017. Spotify Since it started in 2009, WTF With Marc Maron has become one of the most well regarded comedy podcasts around. Maron starts each episode off with a monologue then gets into some seriously.

And that’s where self-improvement podcasts come in.

Self-improvement podcasts are a miraculous passage into the world of your highest, wisest self. And getting hooked on the most empowering, inspiring and enlightening ones will put you on the fastest track possible.

So, we’ve put together a handy-dandy guide (in no particular order) of the best self-improvement podcasts out there — ones that will keep you on the edge of your seat and becoming your best self more and more every single day.

But First, How Do I Hear A Podcast?

Before we launch into our top self-improvement podcasts, let’s cover the basics. After all, if you want to dive into a podcast, you’ll need to know how to access it.

Whether you want to listen to a motivational show on the go, or while you’re drifting off to sleep, there are numerous ways to access motivational podcasts.

Try visiting a podcast’s website for a library of recently aired shows. You can often stream or download episodes from your phone or laptop as long as you have a secure Internet connection.

Or, if you like to listen to podcasts on the go, there are numerous apps you can use.

What apps can I use to listen to podcasts?

Podcasts have become so popular that there are numerous apps you can use to access your favorites.

If you’re looking for an app to listen to a podcast, be sure to check out:

1. PocketCasts

And once you’ve got the hang of that, there’s a whole world of powerful podcasts for you to explore. With that in mind, let’s dive into 15 of the best self-improvement podcasts out there today.

The 15 Best Self-Improvement Podcasts

1. The Mindvalley Podcast

With its brilliant host, Vishen Lakhiani, The Mindvalley Podcast pulls together a vast variety of insight and inspiration from world-leading visionaries and thought leaders in personal transformation (such as Tom Chi, Neale Donald Walsch, Mel Robbins, and Steven Kotler).

This exceptionally well-rounded podcast explores juicy ideas throughout a multitude of lifestyle topics — from how to access higher states of consciousness, to running a kick-butt business, to becoming the very best version of yourself in mind, body, and spirit.

Whether you want to hear profoundly transformative advice on health, performance, relationships, mindset-shifting, or accessing altered states, you’ll find it here.

2. School of Greatness with Lewis Howes

What is it that makes great people so great?

Hosted by New York Times bestselling author, world record holder, lifestyle entrepreneur, and former pro athlete, Lewis Howes, the School of Greatness podcast is on a mission to answer precisely that.

The podcast explores this question by interviewing some of the greatest people on the planet: from game-changing business minds, to world-class athletes, to some of the most influential thought leaders out there.

This profound personal growth podcast is sure to keep you dreaming big, and — better yet — achieving those dreams.

3. The Marie Forleo Podcast

New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur Marie Forleo was named a thought leader for the next generation by Oprah Winfrey, and if you’ve heard the inspirational interviews on her award-winning video series MarieTV then you know why.

On the audio version of her weekly series, The Marie Forleo Podcast, she brings on some BIG names in the personal development world to tackle everything from productivity to happiness to love to career advice to fulfillment. Basically whatever you’re looking for, she’s got you covered.

Regardless of the topic, Marie is able to effortlessly break down some of the most complex and pressing issues of our time into witty, down to earth, and actionable advice to help you build a career and a life you fall more in love with every single day.

4. The Robin Sharma Mastery Sessions

Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.

Globally celebrated author, leadership speaker, and former lawyer, Robin Sharma, hosts this cutting edge podcast. And it’s wholly dedicated to bringing mastery into all aspects of your personal and professional life.

The Mastery Sessions are designed from Sharma’s analysis of the world’s top 5% performers. He has condensed their habits, rituals, and practices into short and easy-to-listen audio clips.

This podcast will leave you confident in your inherent capabilities and excited to grow and evolve into the best version of yourself possible.

5. Superhumans at Work

We spend over 70% of our waking hours at work, yet so many of us spend that time unhappy, uninspired and desperately waiting for Friday. Well, Mindvalley’s new podcast Superhumans at Work is here to change that.

This fascinating podcast hosted by Mindvalley’s own Jason Campbell dives into the minds of world-leading peak performers, authors, and workplace experts to uncover the most cutting-edge systems and strategies you need to become ‘superhuman’ at work.
Whether you want to learn how to reinvent your career, level-up your business, manage overwhelm and anxiety on the job or become an impactful and conscious leader, this podcast will give you all the tools you need to find meaning, passion, and purpose in your work and everyday life.

6. The Lively Show

Recently rated the “#1 Podcast That All Female Entrepreneurs Should Listen To” by Inc. Magazine, The Lively Show hosted by business owner turned life coach, Jessica Lively, is all about uplifting and inspiring you to move from a ‘hustle’ mindset to finding alignment and flow in your work and your life.

This thought-provoking podcast breaks down the science behind some of the most “woo-woo” topics like the law of attraction, flow, intuition, and the subconscious in such a way that even skeptics can’t help but get on board.

The Lively Show will intrigue, motivate, and ultimately move you to approach your life and career with profound intention so you can achieve more than you ever thought possible.

7. The Good Life Project

Created and hosted by Jonathan Fields, The Good Life Project takes a real-world approach and features embodied teachers in every facet of life, presenting their views and methods on living a better life.

These teachers have tried-and-tested systems to integrate more meaning, connection, and love into life. And they are the best in their field of practice — from Buddhist philosopher and professor Robert Thurman (father of Uma Thurman), to human guinea pig Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-hour Workweek and Tools of the Titans.

This personal development podcast will nurture your progress with novel ideas from truly profound thinkers and doers.

8. Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu

Do you want to know the greatest secrets to success?

With the Impact Theory podcast, you will learn these secrets to success from none other than Tom Bilyeu — unbelievably successful world-renowned serial entrepreneur, and co-founder of Quest Nutrition (#2 Inc. 500 company).

In fact, on top of everything Tom personally has to offer, he interviews some of the world’s highest achievers, such as Peter Diamandis, Jim Kwik, and Vishen Lakhiani, in order to ensure a tasteful variety of these secrets.

The passion, wisdom, and zest for life all of these super-achievers share will leak out of your headphones and radiantly infect all aspects of your being.

9. Unlocking Us

Created and curated by #1 New York Times bestselling author, Brené Brown, this eye-opening podcast unpacks some of the most real, raw, unpolished, and honest elements of the human experience she’s learned over 20 years of research.

In Unlocking Us, Brené dives into some of the most complex and trigger-worthy topics like shame, vulnerability, and the permission to feel with anyone from New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle to legendary singer and songwriter Alicia Keys.

No topic is left untouched, and Brené hopes that these powerful talks which reflect “both the magic and the messiness of what it means to be human” will show how we can find courage and connection by sharing our most unfiltered and (at times) uncomfortable experiences.

10. Kwik Brain Podcast

If you could be the best at learning one thing, want would it be? Languages? Mathematical equations? People’s names?

How about learning?

This podcast is all about Jim Kwik’s specialty: learning how to learn, A.K.A. meta-learning.

Jim Kwik (his for-real name), has trained many of the world’s top CEO’s and celebrities (including the cast of the movie Dr. Strange) to become top-notch mental performers.

Kwik Brain Podcast is a fun and fast-paced podcast designed to help you learn how to learn and double your brain power — you will be able to learn, read, and remember anything in half the time!

11. The Tony Robbins Podcast

Hosted by perhaps one of the most influential motivational speakers of our time, and touching over 50 million people across the globe (including Bill Clinton, Serena Williams, and Wayne Gretzky), the amazing Tony Robbins leaves no stone unturned in his revolutionary podcast.

With deep and practical insights into business, health, finances, and relationships, the Tony Robbins Podcast has amassed a huge following for the wisdom conveyed through the masterminds he hosts — Dr. Mark Hyman, Dave Asprey, and Deepak Chopra, to name a few — making it one of the best self-improvement podcasts of our time.

12. Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project (among other popular self-help books), is on a life-long mission to answer the question: how can we be happier?

The Happier Podcast was created by Gretchen to share her findings on happiness with the world. She is happier, and she wants you to be happier, as well.

The bottom line is, she’s happier, and she wants you to be happier as well.

13. Optimal Living Daily

With a step-by-step approach to personal growth and development, host Justin Malik takes his listeners on an inspirational, motivational, and educational journey.

Every week, the Optimal Living Daily podcast chooses a topic (like minimalism, productivity, strength training, and more) and features experts on the topic, as well as summaries of the best content on the internet, into an intriguing 10-minute audio clip.

In the Optimal Living Daily blog, you can find supplemental information regarding the podcasts, including excerpts from books and online sources.

14. Bulletproof Radio

What used to take lifetimes to achieve, Dave Asprey has now biohacked.

Dave Asprey is a bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Nutrition, world-class speaker, and professional biohacker. His podcast, Bulletproof Radio, is dedicated to combining his in-depth life work of hacking human biology (to achieve optimal health) with the ground-breaking insight of experts in various fields all around the planet.
Each episode aims to help answer the question, “What are the simplest things you can do to be better at everything?”

It will not only keep you on the edge of your seat, but will also provide you with everything you need to know to intensely upgrade your body, mind, and life.

15. Design Your Dream Life

In the uplifting and inspiring podcast Design Your Dream Life, one of the most renowned life coaches and personal growth writers out there today, Natalie Bacon, shares her powerful insights about what it takes to create a profoundly fulfilling life and career.

After making a massive career shift from law and financial planning to teaching women how to accomplish their greatest goals in life, you could say Natalie knows a thing or two about working for your purpose and not just a paycheck.

So if you want to learn how to master your mindset, make more money doing what you love, tackle seemingly impossible goals, and build a business that brings you unlimited freedom and fulfillment, you’ll definitely want to tune in.

And if you’re still looking for an extra dose of inspiration, here are five of the best motivational podcasts you need to add to your playlist after you’ve finished this list.

5 Bonus Podcasts to Play

Looking for some unadulterated motivation?

We know how tough it is to pin down a single best motivational podcast, so here are the shows that made our shortlist:

So, which of these self-improvement podcasts are you keen to explore? Let us know in the comments below.

Most people think that learning is the key to self-development

It’s how we were raised – when we were young, we studied algebra, read history, and memorized the names of elements on the periodic table.

But once you grow up and experience life, you realize that you can’t ‘learn certain things – like personal growth.

Vishen Lakhiani, founder of Mindvalley and New York Times Bestselling author, discovered that the key to self-development was not to ‘learn’, but rather, to ‘transform’.

If You Want To ‘Transform’ And Are Ready To Accelerate Your Own Personal Growth, Then Join Vishen Lakhiani’s FREE Masterclass, Where You’ll Learn:

✅ The Framework For Flow: The 3 Big Pillars of Life which will help you to rapidly grow on autopilot, so personal development happens naturally.

✅ How you can harness the energy surrounding you to automatically attract the tools you need to unlock your true potential, allowing you to easily make transformative shifts in your life.

✅ Apply the #1 principle to eliminate obstacles in your life, and subsequently show up as your best self and make a positive impact on the world.

Discover The Proven Framework for Extraordinary Transformation and a Brand New You in 2020

What's the magic ingredient of a really great podcast, the thing that makes people tune in time after time? It's simple in theory: Have a really good story. But how?

There are all sorts of ways. Take Serial, the investigative journalism podcast that launched with the true story of the unsolved murder of high school senior Hae Min Lee. It's been downloaded more than 350 million times as of 2018. Come September 20, it will debut its third season. Or, consider This American Life, where producers have been sharing good stories since 1995.

SEE ALSO: This is the most important thing you need to start your own podcast

However they do it, one thing is for sure: You won't want to stop listening. These 15 podcasts deliver on story-telling like no others.

1. Serial

Serial's first season earned its popularity with its strategically timed narrative, quality production, and a dogged attempt to get as close as possible to the 15-year-old murder of Hae Min Lee, for which her ex-boyfriend was convicted — don't worry, this isn't a spoiler: It's merely where the story begins before delving deeper into the case.

In Serial's second season, the podcast focuses on the true story of U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdah, who returns home from Afghanistan in 2014 after being held prisoner by the Taliban for five years. Bergdah's celebratory homecoming is cut short when the public suddenly denounces his hero status, calling him a deserter and traitor. Bergdah shares the events that lead up to the public's general disapproval of his actions in Afghanistan.

What makes Serial so captivating, whatever the season, is host Sarah Koenig's dedication to uncovering the truth behind each story, and delivering key findings, research, and conversations with the people involved.

2. Longform

The Longform podcast is made alongside Longform.org, which curates some of the best longform journalism, like Atlas Obscura's overview of Britain's secret nuclear bunkers and the New Yorker's speculation of whether or not Facebook has had a direct impact on democracy.

Each episode features an interview with journalists about their most hard-hitting stories, their methods, and their connection to their subjects. Well-known interviewees have included Gay Talese, Malcolm Gladwell, and Michael Lewis. Learning what happens in the making of a story gives listeners a better understanding and appreciation of journalism as a whole.

3. The Moth

The Moth has been around for about as long as This American Life, though not necessarily in audio form. The New York City-based nonprofit started with live storytelling events and contests (StorySLAMs with themes like 'Saved,' 'Scars' and 'Gratitude'), and now has a podcast featuring these short stories.

What makes the podcast so great is its simple format: people sharing their stories. The tales are heartfelt, humorous, original, and sincere, and they're told by everyone, from comedians to professional storytellers, like Hari Kondabolu and Elna Baker. You'll hear of exotic dancing, heartbreaking high school rejections, and experiences with Australian wild life that will make you laugh, cry, and everything between.

4. Strangers

Strangers comes from Peabody award-winner Lea Thau, former director of The Moth. The podcast's ethos is the notion that you can create a connection to someone despite their being a complete stranger just by hearing their story.

Thau explores heartbreak, the connections we make, and what happens when you realize you're not the person you thought you were. You'll hear about a person whose parents control their dating profile, what happened when a Somali refugee family moved to Vermont, and learn of the enduring career of a bank robber.

But what really makes this a great storytelling podcast is when Thau shares her own stories. In the three-part episode 'Love Hurts,' she delves into the difficulty she faces dating. Her vulnerability and openness is emblematic of the series' ability to evoke your deepest emotions.

5. Uncivil

History buffs keen to learn more about the Civil War should listen to Uncivil. The 2017 Peabody Award-winning podcast delves deep into lesser-known Civil War history. You'll hear stories about everything from political uprisings to corruption scandals, and wonder why, or how, these stories were left out of the textbooks.

The podcast connects abolitionists' stories to the world we live in today, making the past thrilling, and revelatory, for today's listeners.

6. Snap Judgment

Snap Judgment, like The Moth, is based off a live storytelling show. The difference is that Snap Judgment, which is produced by NPR and hosted by Glynn Washington, adds musical accompaniment to stories, usually making for an experience more along the lines of slam poetry. Public listening risks public tears, thanks to Snap Judgement's moving and affecting stories.

7. Backstory

The aim of Backstory is to take the headlines of history, both banal and historic, and make them into stories. It's hosted by three American history scholars, so you'll get both accuracy and fun — thanks to the hosts' undeniable chemistry and interactions.

Sure, you could just read a history book or google events you're yearning to learn more about, but then you'd miss out on all the links being made to current events, not to mention the hosts' witticisms. Learn about the history of college sports, utopia, and extinction in America, among many other things.

8. Radiolab from WNYC

Radiolab makes human interest stories out of science and philosophy's most difficult questions, interweaving these mysteries with music. Popular recommendations include 'Falling,' 'Numbers' and 'Limits' — episodes exemplary of Radiolab's ability to tackle big themes.

9. The Truth

The Truth offers short stories — frightening, funny and heartwarming — woven through with audio elements, like narration and sound effects, to make them come alive. Subjects include everything from co-ops to mall Santas. Then there's the episode 'Brain Chemistry,' in which a cryogenically frozen man returns to life and finds it is not what he expected.

10. Welcome to Night Vale

If you like your stories creepy and soothing at the same time, you'll love Welcome to Night Vale. This podcast blew up with the help of a Tumblr fan base, and has been spinning tales of the weirdest supernatural fictional desert town in America ever since.

The podcast is formatted as if it were a traditional local radio news program, giving its community updates on things like mysterious hooded figures, a sentient glowing cloud, and an old women who lives just outside of town with a bunch of angels.

Watch out for now-renowned one-liners like, 'Weird at last, weird at last! God almighty, weird at last!'

11. The Thrilling Adventure Hour

The Thrilling Adventure Hour is based on a live production staged in Los Angeles, and it has the nostalgic charm of old radio. Each episode features three unique stories, along with fictional sponsored ads and songs, lending the show an eclectic and whimsical vibe.

With a collection of well-known guest stars and an expanding universe of story arcs, you might want to start at the beginning — and listen to them all.

12. We're Alive

While many of these podcasts are trying to keep the radio form alive, We're Alive has been focusing on keeping it undead. It's a serial podcast that tells the story of one group of people surviving the zombie apocalypse in Los Angeles.

Tune in for vivid and dark descriptions of the apocalyptic landscape, the creatures that inhabit it, and the close bonds formed among the main characters. The characters reveal their hardships, fears, and hopes for survival in this emotional drama.

13. The Leviathan Chronicles

Leviathan is a science-fiction audio drama with high quality audio effects and an original soundtrack. The premise might seem too stuffed — a secret race of immortals in a city called Leviathan underneath the Pacific Ocean in the midst of war —but it gets a human face with Macallan Orsel, a genetic scientist in New York, who becomes embroiled in a war when she finds out she's descended from the people of Leviathan.

14. The Habitat

Ever wonder what it would be like to live on Mars? Well, so did the six people who signed up to reside in a concealed, imitation Mars habitat in Hawaii for a year. This podcast documents the true story of what occurred during this NASA-organized project.

The goal of the project was to help NASA gauge what they could expect upon visiting Mars, and the results of the project are fascinating. The Habitat recounts the experiences of the volunteers, and what life is like on Mars, well, fake Mars, anyway. You'll learn everything about the mission, from the freeze-dried food ingested to the meticulously monitored and curated 'Mars' landscape.

15. Dirty John

Best Spotify Podcasts

Dirt John tells the true story of interior designer Debra Newell, who meets and becomes entangled with John Meehan, a handsome doctor who seems to fulfill all of Newell's needs. But something's not quite right with Meehan. Eventually, he's revealed to be a con-artist, and he becomes the menacing center of the story — terrifying not only Newell, but also the people who surround her. L.A. Times' Christopher Goffard, who reported the story, also hosts the podcast.

Podcast On Spotify

The story was originally published in 2014 and updated in 2018.