Now Hear This: 8 Podcasts to Enrich Your Mind and Soul
Headphones and earbuds are everywhere. You see people wearing them while shopping at the grocery store, driving their cars, walking down the street, exercising at the gym and even while they’re at work.
It wasn’t this way when the Walkman came out. Why must everyone be listening to tunes 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
Actually they’re not. Although plenty of people may be streaming iTunes, Spotify or Pandora from their smartphones as they go about their days, more and more are plugging into an easier-listening genre: podcasts.
Podcasts are nothing new, but slowly, the medium has continued to expand and improve, acquiring more listeners as it does. As of 2023, 64% of people over 12 years of age had listened to a podcast at least once in their life, and 42% had listened to one within the last month, according to “The Infinite Dial” survey. In comparison, 27% of people in 2013 had listened to a podcast at least once, and just 12% had listened to one within the month prior.
The best podcasts for entrepreneurs
Nowadays, if you know how to find it, there’s almost certainly a podcast for whatever your niche interest might be, from subjects as broad as literature or international politics to as narrow as remote-controlled airplanes or Star Wars: Episode VII spoilers. But since you’re here reading SUCCESS articles, it’s a fair bet that one of your primary passions is to reach your greatest potential in all aspects of life—such as business, relationships or health—while increasing your clarity of purpose and motivation to chase your goals. So we decided to highlight some of the best podcasts for SUCCESS readers.
Now instead of reading your dentist’s 10-year-old copy of Redbook while you’re sitting in their waiting room, you can expand your horizons and listen to something new. You’ll be amazed by how many life-changing lessons you can squeeze into each week while walking the dog, cooking dinner or at countless other unexpected times.
Give these great listens a chance:
1. Business Accelerator
Apple Podcasts rating: 4.8 stars
Each week—and sometimes more than—hosts Michael Hyatt and Megan Hyatt-Miller record their easily digestible show with the goal of helping you “get the insights and tools you need to win at work and succeed at life,” according to the podcast description. The podcast for entrepreneurs includes suggestions on everything from improving personal productivity to leading yourself and others to setting goals.
In one recent episode with guest Tim Vandehey, Michael and Megan offered five questions for moving forward with a stalled goal. The episode description reads, “As the end of the first quarter approaches, now is a good time to reflect on how your goals are going. Hopefully you’re progressing on all of them and feeling great! However, there’s a good chance that at least one of your goals is either dragging behind or stuck entirely. If that’s the case for you, then there’s no need to panic! This episode is going to help you get unstuck and get moving towards your goals.”
2. NPR: TED Radio Hour
Apple Podcasts rating: 4.3 stars
Each episode of this illuminating weekly listen, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi, is based on a theme inspired by talks from TED conclaves, large and small. Predictably, that means the topics are wide-ranging, unexpected and always thought-provoking—including taking care of yourself and others, lessons from—and risks to—nature, and leadership.
3. Eventual Millionaire
Apple Podcasts rating: 5 stars
Business coach Jaime Masters has interviewed more than 100 millionaires for her book, The Eventual Millionaire. To her, it’s obvious what’s keeping the regular working stiff from reaching the seven-figure milestone.
“They let their excuses and fear stop them,” Masters says. “Millionaires have fear and excuses, too, but they don’t let it stop them. They continue to move forward anyway, even if it’s uncomfortable and even if they don’t know exactly the right steps to take. They are masters at jumping in and figuring things out. And yes, they fail a lot doing things that way, too, but they keep moving forward.”
4. The School of Greatness
Apple Podcasts rating: 4.8 stars
This podcast shares inspiring stories through interviews with entrepreneurs, athletes, celebrities and other highly successful individuals. The School of Greatness is an expression of the host’s passions, including mental well-being, health, productivity and breaking down fears.
“It’s about becoming the best version of ourselves at all times and embracing where we are and where we want to go—then the action steps on how to get there,” host Lewis Howes says. In addition to interviews, Howes shares his personal perspective on “solo round” and “GREATNESS+” episodes.
During his latest “solo round” episode, for example, Howes discusses the law of attraction and the successes it’s helped him achieve—and how you can apply the same principles to your own life. In another example, a recent masterclass episode alongside guests Muniba Mazari, Priyanka Chopra, Lindsey Vonn and Lisa Nichols, Howes and his guests unveiled tips for finding your purpose in life and successfully chasing after your dreams.
5. Entrepreneurs On Fire
Apple Podcasts rating: 4.8 stars
We let three iTunes reviewers vouch for this podcast for entrepreneurs, hosted by John Lee Dumas.
“If you are an Entrepreneur or someone looking to be inspired then you MUST Listen to Entrepreneur on Fire. John Lee Dumas interviews the most successful people this world has to offer and gives great advice in each and every podcast. Each show gives you content that you can use in your own life to become more successful. John is the Man!!!”
—Brandon T. Adams
“This podcast provides such valuable conversations and great insights into what it takes to build a business. A must listen for anyone just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey!”
—Leslie Zane
“My wife Ana and I were recently guests on JLD’s show and had what I can only describe as a transcendentally excellent time — John Lee is that wonderful combination of consummate professional AND utterly authentic human being. His questions were crisp and clear and on point, not a wasted moment, and yet we never felt hurried. We have been on a *lot* of podcasts over the past season, close to 100 — Entrepreneurs On Fire ranks in the top three. (Maybe in the top one!)”
—John David Mann
6. The Human Upgrade
Apple Podcasts rating: 4.6 stars
Formerly known as Bulletproof Radio, this podcast for entrepreneurs features multiple episodes per week. It’s intended to help you “expand your knowledge, explore your own performance and embrace possibility,” according to the podcast description. A tech entrepreneur, author and “The Father of Biohacking,” host Dave Asprey draws on lessons from “bright thinkers and radical doers who push the boundaries of science, technology, personal development and human performance in every way imaginable,” as well as his own experience, to share tips that will help listeners reach their own peak performance. One of the most important factors in reaching our daily potential, Asprey emphasizes, is sleep.
“I remember as a young entrepreneur in Silicon Valley the pizza and beer fueled things for me,” he recalled on an early episode with Arianna Huffington. “I finally had to reject that…. I just shudder when I see people who are making the same mistakes I did when I was in my early 20s because it doesn’t… I mean your startup will succeed or it won’t, and if you live on peanut butter for six months or something ridiculous, which I’ve seen, it doesn’t mean you’re a better person. But there’s a certain badge of courage, especially among young men where it’s like I beat the crap out of myself, and that’s part of how I improved myself.”
As Asprey repeatedly underlines, it doesn’t work that way.
7. The Tim Ferriss Show
Apple Podcasts rating: 4.6 stars
“The world’s best human guinea pig” host of this podcast, which often includes multiple episodes per week, is a master of modern productivity. Bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, as well as books such as Tools of Titans and The 4-Hour Chef, Timothy Ferriss uses his show to pry useful tips from big-name guests. Among those who have opened up to him recently are Kelly Starrett, DPT, and Brené Brown, Ph.D.
8. The EntreLeadership Podcast
Apple Podcasts rating: 4.6 stars
This podcast for entrepreneurs, which includes discussions with business and leadership thinkers such as Lewis Howes, Daniel Ramsey, Naomi Bagdonas and Rory Vaden, is currently hosted by Ramsey himself. Episode to episode, the interviews unveil nuggets of wisdom for leaders of all ages to learn and grow from.
This article was updated April 2023. Photo by Inside Creative House/Shutterstock
Josh Ellis is the former editor in chief for SUCCESS magazine. Before joining SUCCESS in 2012, he was an accomplished digital and print sportswriter, working for the Dallas Cowboys Star magazine, the team’s gameday program, and DallasCowboys.com. Originally from Longview, Texas, he began writing for his hometown newspaper at 16.