Monthly Archives: September 2019

My Top 5 Personal Development Podcasts

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What is a Podcast?

In this article I am going to discuss my top 5 personal development podcasts in 2019. Let’s start with an explanation of what a podcast is just in case you are not familiar with the term. According to Apple iTunes:

“Podcasts are episodes of a program available on the Internet. Podcasts are usually original audio or video recordings, but can also be recorded broadcasts of a television or radio program, a lecture, a performance, or other event. “ Source: https://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/fanfaq.html

My own way of explaining it is that a podcast is like a radio programme on a particular topic. Basically anyone nowadays can make a podcast and publish it on the internet. You could make a podcast and I could make a podcast. All you need is a microphone and a device to record on such as a phone or laptop. Since your phone has a built in microphone you can also make a podcast with just your phone. It is wonderful that anyone and everyone can publish a podcast. The challenge is that there are now a lot of podcasts out there! According to podcast stats available on the internet there are 700,000 active podcasts and more than 29 million podcast episodes in 2019 (source: https://musicoomph.com/podcast-statistics/ ). That is a lot of podcasts and I have listened to only a tiny fraction of them!

Where to find podcasts?

If you have a smartphone you can download a podcast app to your phone on iOS or Android. I use an app called Castbox but there are many others. You can also go the website of the particular person you want to follow and you will also find their podcast there. For example if you want to find Oprah Winfrey’s podcast do a Google search for ‘Oprah podcast’ and you will find it very quickly. Chances are that a thought leader you are interested in has his or her own podcast. By the way I tend to listen to podcasts while doing boring and mundane tasks such as cleaning or cutting the lawn (with earmuffs!). I also listen while driving to make the best use of my time. Below are my top five favorite podcasts at the moment:

1. Infinite Potential – Deepak Chopra

In his podcasts Dr. Chopra interviews a series of really interesting guests such as Dr Jane Goodall, Russel Brand, Dr. Michio Kaku and Christopher Wylie. The podcast looks at what makes us conscious beings and why does it matter that we are. All the interviews in the relatively short series are fascinating and very educational. Deepak is also very good to listen to and has a slow and calming voice. Overall the podcast is well worth a listen and gets my number one spot.

2. Super Soul Conversations – Oprah Winfrey

Oprah is a great interviewer and is always very engaging and interesting. You are always given the impression from Oprah that each guest being interviewed has something really important to say. “Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations”, features interviews with “the world’s top thinkers, teachers and luminaries”. Oprah has some great interviews with people such as Eckhart Tolle, Melinda Gates, Michelle Obama and Malcolm Gladwell. Her interviews also have a deep spiritual dimension and frequently question the meaning of life and what comes next. She also interviews religious leaders such as Father Richard Rohr. There is a huge range of very interesting guests to listen to. Overall Oprah’s podcast comes in a very close second favorite for me.

3. Tim Ferris

Tim Ferris is an interesting guy and a great interviewer. This Podcast is about peak performance and how to be the best you can be.  The podcast has been rated the #1 business podcast on all of Apple Podcasts which is a great achievement. Tim has interviewed a huge range of interesting people. On the downside I think some of his personal performance ideas only work from single people (as far as I know he has no kids). Overall however a great podcast and you will learn loads.

4. Owen Fitzpatrick – Changing Minds

Owen is a fellow Irishman from Dublin and I came across his podcast recently. He does interviews, discusses personal development topics such as NLP and hypnosis. He also does great podcasts where he reviews top personal development books. For example I listened to one the other day on Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’. Owen is very knowledgeable and entertaining to listen to as well. By the way another Irish Pod-caster I intend to listen to more is Pat Divilly who is also another really interesting guy (Check him out as well – In fact Owen interviews him and he gives some really great advice)..

5. James Altucher

James Altucher is a business podcaster who does interviews with successful/famous people. James has an interesting story and has made millions, gone broke and made millions again. At one point he was a hedge fund manager. At another point he was homeless and living in Airbnbs. So he is quirky and as you can see really good at marketing himself. At the moment James is an aspiring stand up comedian. Therefore he frequently interviews comedians. His podcasts are always funny and self deprecating. Overall he is just a fun guy to listen to. If you sign up to his emails he is a bit salesy and that is the part I don’t like. However in his podcast he comes across as a genuine guy – overall well worth listening to.

So that’s it! Now you have my top 5 personal development podcasts. If you sign up for the above 5 podcasts there is enough wonderful material there to keep you busy from now until this time next year! And the best part is that its all FREE.

Best wishes,

Tom

PS Please share you own top 5 personal development podcasts in the comments section below. Thank you!

PPS Check out my online courses (up to 90% OFF) https://lifeisalaboratory.com/udemy_courses/

Top 5 podcasts 2019
Please share your own favorite podcasts below this post

Goal setting 101: How to Set and Achieve Goals

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At the moment I am working on developing a new online course on goal setting. The title of the course is ‘Goal setting 101: How to Set and Achieve Goals’. My goal is to complete the course and publish it by the end of September 2019 [stay tuned for further updates!]. I am very much enjoying working on this goal because I am taking the opportunity to refresh my own knowledge on goal setting, reflect on my goal setting experiences as well and review and update my own goals. Currently I have three goals. I recommend setting no more than three goals at a time because I find that if I have too many goals then I become torn between different goals and end up achieving very little. I like to focus on one to three big and challenging goals at a time.

Why Goal Setting?

Goal setting is a topic which has interested me all my life. I have been setting goals since I was a kid. Reflecting back on goals that I have set in the past they have a tendency to come to fruition. However not necessarily in the way that I intended them to happen. The planning fallacy is a constant challenge. In short the planning fallacy is where we tend to underestimate the resources and time needed to achieve a goal and overestimate the benefits of achieving the same goal. We can spend years chasing a goal. Imagine how disappointing it is to finally achieve a goal only to find out that it was all a waste of time and you should have focused your time, energy and resources elsewhere! This is why we need to be careful about the goals we set for ourselves and also to be ready to drop them and pivot if something better comes along.

Watch out for my forthcoming course launch towards the end of September 2019!

Quarter 4 – 2019

By the way this is a good time of the year to be thinking of your goals. At the end of September we will be starting the last quarter of 2019. Did you set goals for the year ahead in January? How has the year gone for you? Are you on track to achieving the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year? Don’t worry if things haven’t worked out as well as you expected. If you hit the ground running in the last quarter of the year you can certainly turn things around and make 2019 a year to remember!

“Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.”

Jim Rohn

Keep an eye out for my forthcoming course launch. In the meantime I am giving away a limited number of free copies of my audio-book ‘Experiments in Personal Change’ on audible. If you would like a free review copy please email me for the promo code tcarroll@lifeisalaboratory.com The audio book is packed full of life changing tips and you might even use some of the ideas in the book to inspire your last quarter goals 2019.

Best Wishes,

Tom