Best Podcasts for Self Improvement and Starting Your Side Project3 min read

How do you start something? A website? A business? A YouTube channel?

There are four podcasts that I listen to weekly that teach me how to improve myself and pursue my side project.

1. Tim Ferris Podcast

Tim Ferris, better known as the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, talks to amazing guests such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, LeBron James, and Ray Dalio.

The great thing about Tim is that his entire life has been spent dissecting and perfecting routines and “life-hacks.” His podcast is a perfect utilization of analyzation skill set as he learns what makes the big winners tick; what are there morning routines, habits, and favorite books?

Here are some great episodes to start you off:

• Naval Ravikant
• David Allen
• Derek Sivers

2. Indie Hackers

This is a less well-known podcast that everyone starting something on the internet should know about. The focus is mainly starting something with a leaning towards the pro-consumer and software developer.

Courtland Allen, the host, works at Stripe which is a payment processing service that was valued at $35 Billion in 2019.

The podcast looks at people who started companies like Grasshopper,

The great thing about the show is that we learn everything from how the company was started to how they hire employees and train leaders.

Here are 3 great episodes to start with:

• #43 Confronting Your Fears and Taking a Leap with Pieter Levels of Nomad List
• #71 Bootstrapping to $1 Million as a Non-Technical Founder with Christy Laurence
• #108 Keeping It Simple to Build a Multimillion-Dollar Business with Sam Parr

3. Joe Rogan (certain guests)

Joe Rogan makes this list because of the access to guests he has. I also enjoy his perspectives, but that is not the main reason I listen.

Some people that have been on his show include Elon Musk, Dan Bilzerian, and Edward Snowden.

Joe Rogan is a stand-up comedian and jiu-jitsu black belt that now has, arguably, the most popular podcast ever. The great thing about Joe is that he is open to ideas, there are clear influences from Howard Stern as he talks about the outlandish things first and nearly always sides with the guests.

What I would do is go through the list of 1.5k episodes and download episodes that stand out to you. If you don’t want to do that here are 3 great ones to start with:

• Elon Musk – Yes the Elon Musk Episode
• Dan Bilzerian
• Naval Ravikant – My personal favorite episode

4. Smart Passive Income

Even though I don’t like how he advertises for Bluehost (it sucks and shared hosting in general sucks, use WP Engine instead), Pat Flynn provides actionable tips and advice for starting pretty much anything on the internet including websites, affiliate marketing, business development, and email marketing.

I started following him eight years ago when he began publishing his monthly income. Since then I turn to his website constantly for actionable advice on starting something on the internet.

The podcast provides tips and tricks on starting your own business and making money on the internet. Something, I think, most people reading this are interested in.

Here are 3 great episodes to start with:

• #75 Six-Figure Earnings with Ebooks (Not on Amazon)
• #192 Types of Passive Income Generated Online
• #308 Starting a Youtube Empire

I listen to these podcasts every week and they have taught me so many things in regards to starting this website, my youtube channel, and making money on the internet.