If I’m running or driving I will be listening to either a podcast or an Audible book. I find it to be a great way to get better and often return from a run with renewed inspiration or ideas to boost my progress.
I use Google Podcasts as it hands-off the episodes to the Google Home Hubs we have around the house so I can pick up where I left off on my phone and vice-versa. I always listen on 1.5x speed which drives everyone else in the car or kitchen nuts but I’m used to it.
My phone has been playing up recently so I had to do a factory reset. This meant that I had to reinstall everything so I took the opportunity to clear out the podcasts which I’ve collected along the way.
Here’s the seven I kept and why.
- The Tim Ferris Show, obviously. 600 million downloads and 3 ‘Best of Apple’ Annual Awards speak for themselves. Otherwise for me, the quality of questions he asks are better than any I have ever heard. He gets right inside the thought loops of his guests, exposing their top performance for us all.
- The Daily Dad. Bestselling author (see below for covers) Ryan Holiday serves up these 3-4 minute episodes which deliver one key actionable per day based on the application of stoic philosophy to Fatherhood. Great to drop into the playlist to give something to think about, hopefully improving in the Dad department at least a little bit every day. Also available as a daily email. The Daily Dad blog is top notch too.
- Radio Headspace. This is the same Headspace as my mindfulness app which I profiled here in Mind Full of Presence. Much like The Daily Dad, it’s very short episodes giving one thing to think about each day which improves your practice. Andy Pudicombe, creator of Headspace, shares anecdotes from his time in the monasteries which support the teachings in the app. Although it doesn’t need us to be practitioners of mindfulness, these episodes are meant to support and encourage us in our practice and for me, they work.
4. The Mindset Mentor, with Rob Dial. A very recent addition to the catalogue, I’ve really got into this, sometimes listening 2-3 times to the longer episodes of up to 30 minutes. Superb for sticking on during a run and finishing with motivation to shoot for the stars in whatever projects I am working on. He goes BIG on abundance thinking which is a big area I’m trying to improve in this year. Typical episodes listed on the left, the content of which is better than the cheesiness of the titles.
- The Knowledge Project, with Shane Parrish. I haven’t even listened to this one yet but it’s staying subscribed due to the quality of the guests in the list. Josh Kaufman of The Personal MBA, Seth Godin who is possibly the best digital marketer alive and Nir Eyal, author of Mastering Distraction are the three most recent guests. This is going to be seriously high-value.
- Mr. Barton Maths Podcast, with Craig Barton. One for the Educators and mainly maths teachers obviously. For me, the best podcast there is on the topic.
- Side-Hustle School, with Chris Guillebeau. Chris shares one inspirational story a day of someone who has converted an idea into income. Episodes are 8-10 minutes long and Chris’ puns are worth the listen alone but they are also genuinely top quality.
So that’s the lot for now. Again, for me this is about using that time when I’m running or driving or otherwise by myself to improve the quality of my thinking and my mental state. If I get out of the way of listening to them for a while for whatever reason, I feel like my optimism for my projects is affected.
It’d be great to hear if Podcasts serve another purpose for you or if I’m missing any gems so why not share a word or two below…
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