There is a plethora of podcasts out there, but there are only 7 podcasts that I subscribe to on my iPhone. I’ll tell you why those specific shows are part of my personal space and I’ll finish with 6 podcast episodes that were mind-blowing for me.
I consider listening the best way to connect with people you look up to and want to be like them- in other words, to change your personal philosophy.
I don’t listen to audio materials very much nowadays. Listening is a great way to keep your mind occupied whenever you do something manual (like doing the dishes) or you do nothing at all (like waiting on a train).
But I value prayer much more than listening and whenever I can hide inside my mind I’d rather pray than listen.
However, I still made a room for listening to podcasts in my daily schedule. A part of my morning ritual is stretching for about 15 minutes and during that time I can listen to about 25 minutes of a podcast episode (I use 1.5 acceleration to consume more audio content in a given time).
I listen to personal development and business stuff. I love the shows that mingle both of those things together.
Let’s dive into the list:
This is a show whose host I know personally. Scott Beebe is my mentor and he is a member of my mastermind, IronSharpensIron. I met him in Nashville twice.
His podcast is done in a short snippets, usually 4-7 minutes at a time. It’s recorded in the trenches, usually when Scott goes back with a coaching meeting with a business owner.
While there is a lot about building a business in his show, there is also quite a lot personal development advice. Scott is a firm believer that business is not “just a business” but incorporates you as a whole person.
I discovered Brian less than a year ago. And I immediately fell in love with him. He is the most Jim Rohn-like person I ever (virtually) met. No wonder. Jim was his mentor. Early in his career Brian attended Jim Rohn’s seminars. Later, Jim was a speaker on events Brian organized.
I love that Brian is sharing so much good stuff of Jim, stuff that is not talked about very often. For example, I feel like I and Brian Buffini are the only two guys on the planet discussing personal philosophy. When I listened to his episode about changing one’s mindset I was like: Wow, this guy totally stole my “Trickle Down Mindset” book 😀
It was because we both learned from Jim and we teach what he taught.
I love everything about this show. It’s a weekly podcast in a diversified format. There are plenty of interviews, but also some keynotes from live events or solo shows by Brian where he dives deeply into one topic.
I’m addicted to the Brian Buffini Show and every Wednesday morning I consume the latest episode.
This show is an amazing mix of business, leadership and personal development with the more of the latter. Ken Coleman, the host, is a master interviewer. I loved many episodes of EntreLeadership, especially with nonfiction authors talking about concept from their books.
The episodes are usually concise, half an hour long or shorter, an exact fit to my stretching routine.
There were so many episodes that it was easy for me to pick from their archives only the things which applied well to my situation.
The host of this show is Engel Jones, my only friend from the Caribbean. He is super-amazing guy fascinated by variety and underlying universalism of human beings. He holds the Guinness world record for the most people interviewed in 3-month time!
On his podcast he interviews people from all over the world in the same fashion, with the same questions.
I listen to it because Engel is my friend, because his voice and Caribbean accent immediately soothes my ears and mind, and because the variety of his guests are mind-blowing.
He already interviewed over 2,000 folks on his show! Binge-listening through 12-minute convos archives is not an easy feat!
The host of this show is Susan Friedman. This is a podcast for authors, mostly self-published and it’s about all things marketing.
I had followed a few high-quality self-publishing podcasts in the past – Rocking Self-publishing and Authority Self-Publishing by Steve Scott… but they ended their shows!
I value Susan for her non-standard approach. Yes, there is a lot of basic advice for beginners, and it’s nothing new for me, but she also interviews people who are outside of the self- or even publishing world altogether and bring their tactics to the table.
If you are an author, you will find something good for you in Book Marketing Mentors podcast’s archive.
I also had the pleasure of being interviewed by Susan and had the opportunity to meet her on a video call. She is as great in person as on her show.
This is another podcast I had the privilege of being interviewed on. However, I subscribed to it not because I listen to my interview over and over again.
I love Jay’s concept of the business – the one that doesn’t wear you out, stress you out, and make you ready to quit. This is the formula for entrepreneurship success – creating something that lasts while living your life at the same time.
Jay is doing a terrific job of bringing amazing guests on his show (don’t judge it by my appearance; I was lucky to get there). His guests usually have businesses that lasts for decades and more often than not they are millionaires.
There is also quite a lot of personal development in his show. Jay is interested in the holistic approach to building a business and it shines through his questions for his guests.
This is the first podcast I ever listened to. In fact, thanks to following Pat Flynn I discovered what podcasting is.
The fact that I still listen to this show speaks volumes about the quality of the show and the host.
Pat Flynn is an amazing dude who was laid off his position in an architecture company in 2008 and started an online business. After initial success, he started teaching others how to build and run a successful online business.
His episodes are an excellent mishmash of personal lessons, great interviews, success stories and business lessons.
SPI is one of the very few podcasts that publish their whole transcripts to every single episode. I love this. I learn by reading, not listening. I can find the specific information in a written document 100 faster than by trying to go over an audio file searching for this 15-second point which captured my interest. And when I find something in the transcription, I can copy and use it. I quoted Pat Flynn in my books in my books using his podcasts’ transcriptions.
The three of the six podcasts episodes that hit me really hard were produced at Smart Passive Income.
The most impactful podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to
Sometimes, very rarely, the episode I listen to blows my mind. It struck straight into my heart. It’s not the host, it’s not the guest, and it’s not the show. Usually, it’s just one or two sentences that hit hard and a light bulb comes off. The below six episodes did that for me:
Internet Business Mastery was a company behind Pat Flynn’s online success. The two hosts of the podcast with the same name recorded hundreds of episodes. Plenty of them are darn good. I listened mostly to those that touched personal development and they have plenty of them.
I am no longer a subscriber of this podcast since it became a solo show, but I can easily recommend the first 300 episodes or so.
Anyway, this particular episode was about goal setting. Jeremy Frandsen shared one of his recent goals- to be able to take his family to a no “no” trip to a Disneyland. What’s no “no?” He agreed to everything his daughters asked him. Buy this or that thing? Take this or that [karuzela, widowicho]? Yes, no problem.
I listened to this episode while commuting back from work. I waited for a train on the platform.
Hearing how Jeremy describing his trip I suddenly burst into tears. I would love to do this for my family too. I yearned for that. We had gone through awful financial struggles at the beginning of my marriage and we lived very modestly ever since I joined the workforce.
The kind of experience Jeremy described was like an impossible dream for me.
Have I said Ken Coleman is an awesome interviewer? You bet! This podcast episode was one of a very few which I listened to several times with a pen in my hand and noting down snippets of it.
In this episode, Shawn Achor explains the scientific basis of happiness research. I listened to this episode in autumn 2015. Back then, I already had been practicing gratitude for three years.
And I had no idea how powerful it was!
Listening to this episode was eye-opening. I finally could connect so many missing dots in my own journey. I understood why I was able to change my life so quickly, how my mindset changed and how I improved practically every single area of my life. It was all thanks to gratitude.
I shared discoveries from this episode in several Quora answers and articles and they always resonated very well with my readers. Two of my six top Quora answers are about gratitude, including the #1 answer.
I had been sending people over to this podcast episode so often that finally I saved it in my reference file.
The tagline on my blog says “Change Yourself, Change Your Life, Change the World.” So, this particular podcast episode was right down my alley before I even started to listen to it.
And it is about shaping one’s personal philosophy. This is so neglected in today “self”-help world.
I listened to the episode and I swelled with pride. Here was a goy’ (I love this Irish accent!) who own 47 companies and hires thousands of people. His company provides coaching to tens of thousands of small business owners.
And his teaching was like directly taken from my book “Trickle Down Mindset.”
Brian’s advice is right on the spot. Unlike pitiful gurus who teach to “just believe in yourself” or “just think that…” Brian says exactly what to do, in tangible steps. No magic, just common sense and you can enhance your mindset for good.
This is an awesome episode in itself, telling the story of Adam Braun and his initiative, Pencil of Promise, which funds schools around the globe.
I was excited to listen to it because it says in the title “how to change the world” and I’m personally interested in this subject.
I wasn’t disappointed. At the end Pat asks his guest:
What is the mindset we need to have in order to affect the most people in the world?
And Adam provides the precise answer.
Pat from time to time does some fanboy interviews with guys and gals to whom he looks up to. This is one of them.
However, Pat doesn’t stutter in awe when he has his heroes on the podcast. He asks intelligent and insightful questions.
In this episode he dissected the newest book of Hal Elrod, “The Miracle Equation.”
Again, I was deeply encouraged by what I was hearing. Hal’s conclusions, and he is far more successful than me, were exactly in line with my own findings.
I wrote this piece at the very beginning of my transformation, barely a year into it. I wrote it more from my studies than experience. Yet, my post was a mirror copy of Hal’s equation.
Of course, I like the most Pat’s line from the episode:
“It is extraordinary to be consistent.”
It’s nice to be called extraordinary by one of my personal heroes.
This is an amazing episode for everybody who is going to do anything online. Writers, entrepreneurs, bloggers, youtubers – they all need to memorize this episode by heart.
I started to put my stuff out there in 2013. This was fresh after Pat Flynn overcame his struggle with a hater. I took Pat’s advice and applied it diligently. I got my (un)fair share of negative reviews and hate. It bothered me very, very little, despite the fact I was at the beginning of my journey- full of self-doubts and insecurities like all beginners.
Thanks, Pat Flynn.
However, I got the most from this particular episode in regard to my personal life.
“Hurt people hurt people.” – this phrase stuck with me. I will never receive personal attacks in the same way.
Thanks again, Pat Flynn.
Off you go to listen to those awesome podcasts! Please, share with me the particular episodes that have blown your mind in the comment section.
I found this question on Quora.
The kind of success we constantly see in media can poison our minds. Golden medals at the Olympics, massive IPOs, scaling a business from five figures to seven figures in a year, wonderful weddings, decisive military victories or losing 100 pounds in five months. All those stories have common themes: they are shiny and fast.
