5 Podcasts That Will Get Your Mind Right

I never really gave podcasts their proper shot until earlier this year. When I used to hear the word “podcast,” I thought of Sirius Satellite Radio-like talk shows, which sounded boring to me. I would dabble in them here and there after college but never really found any shows that kept me coming back for more.

That all changed when my favorite author and blogger James Altucher announced in late January that he was starting a weekly podcast. For those of you who don’t know James, he’s a killer blogger, author, investor, speaker and serial entrepreneur who’s been through it all. Just when I thought I couldn’t get enough of his daily blog posts and weekly Twitter Q&A’s, James stepped out of his comfort zone to add even more value to his community through another medium.

Since James gave me my first glimpse into the wonders of the podcast world, I’ve found myself downloading and subscribing to a number of different shows. The ones I’m most attracted to typically involve some sort of entrepreneur host who brings on interesting guests to share their success stories. I just love hearing about how other people have carved their own paths and made something of themselves. It’s the ultimate inspiration to go out and do the same.

Every morning, I skip out on watching TV. Instead, while getting ready and making breakfast, I’ll play aloud any number of the latest podcast episodes that I have yet to listen to. There’s nothing like starting your day by soaking in some new knowledge and getting inspired by the fascinating lives of successful people. This morning routine has given me such peace and is something I look forward to daily 🙂

As soon as I’m ready to head out the door, I’ll pop in my headphones and further lose myself in the podcast world for my 25-minute subway commute. I used to be more of a voracious article reader on the train thanks to Pocket but actually prefer listening to podcasts because it takes less effort, and they dive further into detail than most articles do. Between listening when I get ready and during my commute, I can pretty much knock out close to an entire episode.

Since I’ve really enjoyed podcasts since the beginning of the year, I want to do my best to open up this world further to you by exposing you to the shows that really inspire me each and ever day. Below are 5 of the podcasts that I love listening to and a quick description of each. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

1. The James Altucher Show (James Altucher) – This is the weekly podcast I spoke of above. James’ show is really an extension his self-published, bestseller Choose Yourself. He likes to bring on successful men and women who have invested in themselves and re-invented their careers. Typically, James will interview well-known authors he knows and talk about their new books. Some notable guests to date include Tim Ferriss, Mark Cuban, and Arianna Huffington.

2. Ask Altucher (James Altucher) – Soon after James got into a groove with The James Altucher Show, he decided to start a shorter form daily podcast. The basic premise of the show is that James’ co-host will ask him one life question curated from submissions by James’ fans. James will then improvise the response and riff on the topic for about 10 minutes. For those of you not familiar with James, this daily podcast is basically an extension of his weekly Twitter Q&A from 3:30 pm – 4:30 EST. If you’re looking for wisdom and life advice, this will be your jam!

3. The School of Greatness (Lewis Howes) – I’ve been familiar with Lewis’ work for a few years now. He’s a lifestyle entrepreneur, athlete, and hustler who built himself up through LinkedIn after experiencing a career-ending injury as an arena football player. Lewis’ show is similar to James’ in that he brings on a diverse crowd of guests who have achieved greatness in their respective fields. What I love about Lewis is his optimism and ability to inspire his community to make difference in the world through their passions. Some notable guests of his include my boss Gary Vaynerchuk and Marc Ecko.

4. The Tim Ferriss Show (Tim Ferriss) – This man needs no introduction. In the past 10 years, he’s inspired thousands of men and women to become entrepreneurs, lose weight, cook, and become more productive through his 3 #1 best-selling books. While Tim does bring on successful men and women on his podcast, he sets himself apart from the shows I mentioned above in a couple ways. First, his conversations are typically longer than average, lasting anywhere from 1-2 hours. In addition, he experiments with different podcast formats. For example, he’s done a couple short form podcasts of him doing a live reading of one of his past blog posts. What I love about Tim is his fun personality and analytical mind. Some of Tim’s notable guests include Kevin Rose and Chase Jarvis.

5. The Competitive Edge (Scott Britton) – Scott is definitely an up-and-comer in the podcast world. He’s done some great biz dev work at startups as well as built a following through his Life-Long Learner blog. The two of us have developed a little rapport over the past couple years after meeting at a Skillshare class he taught in NYC. Similar to the shows above, Scott does a great job bringing on really interesting individuals as guests. The focus of his show is educating his listeners about things they can do to get an edge in their business and life. One thing that sets Scott’s show apart from others is that he ends each show with a mindshare in which he shares insight into how he deals with current problems / successes in his business / life. This mindshare often extends beyond the podcast into a private Facebook group he’s created. Overall, what I love about Scott is his positive attitude, hunger to learn from his guests, and ability to not lose sight of his audience.

Time for you to hit the iTunes store and step your podcast game up!

Feel free to add to my list in the comments 🙂