22 Best Motivational Podcasts to Listen to Right Now (2024)

If you’re lacking in the motivation department (as many of us are!) and need a serious boost of inspiration, why not try listening to a podcast? These podcasts cover a range of topics from health and happiness, to productivity, forming new habits, and financial success.

To get a better idea of why these are considered the best motivational podcasts out there, grab a set of headphones or turn up the volume in your car, and get ready to conquer the day.

Personal Growth

It comes as no surprise that the topic of personal growth tops the list of best motivational podcasts. Striving to become your best self takes time, practice, perseverance, and a whole lot of patience. And what better way to gain inspiration than to tune in to one of these podcasts?

The Science of Success

Science meets psychology in this weekly podcast hosted by Matt Bodnar. Guests on The Science of Success range from neuropsychologists and entrepreneurs to FBI hostage negotiators and mindfulness gurus.

The goal of the show is to get you thinking about your potential for success and learn ways to become a better version of yourself.

The School of Greatness

Whether you’re in a growth slump or just need an extra boost of confidence and inspiration to scale-up your life, Lewis Howes, host of The School of Greatness, will give you everything you need, and then some.

Through his own experiences and interviews with influential people, Howes shares stories about facing loss, dreaming big, becoming a champion, attracting wealth, and setting yourself up for success, with the hope of helping you find your sense of purpose.

Health

Fill your morning commute with tidbits of inspiration, information, and motivation about how to take better care of your health with these podcasts. Get answers to some of your most burning questions all in the time it takes you to get from home to the office.

TED Talks Health

If you have questions about your health, TED Talks Health has answers. Each episode is packed full of information from doctors and researchers on a truly wide range of topics. Whether you're curious about sleep, medication, vaping, or bad breath, this podcast has something for everyone.

Optimal Health Daily

Sometimes all we need is a quick summary of the most pressing health topics to motivate us to take better care of ourselves. With the Optimal Health Daily podcast, you get a daily dose of information about everything from dieting and pesticides to activated charcoal, supplements, and exercise.

And the best part? Each episode is under 15 minutes, with the average running time around eight to 10 minutes.

The Maintenance Phase Podcast

In the Maintenance Phase podcast, hosts Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon discuss the science behind the wellness industry. Episodes of the podcast work to debunk junk nutritional advice, fad diets, and other dubious health claims.

If you are looking for well-researched takes on wellness trends, the show offers an informative, nuanced exploration of a wide range of topics including diet books, obesity, eating disorders, and more. It will help you feel equipped to make more informed decisions when it comes to consuming wellness trends.

Happiness

Wishing for more happiness is something most of us are familiar with, but it’s the actions you take that determine how much joy you will have in life. These podcasts will give you a glimpse into the lives of other people and how they are choosing happiness every single day.

The Happier Podcast

If you’ve ever wanted to create more happiness in your life, then The Happier Podcast is for you. Host, Gretchen Rubin, examines daily habits and the role they play in the overall quality of your life.

From work and friendships to productivity and creativity, Rubin uses humor and human nature to deliver simple tips that can help you live a happier life.

The Good Life Project

The Good Life Project podcast turns your living room, car, or weekend run into an intimate conversation with some of the most inspiring, well-known guests, and everyday people.

Through interviews filled with thought-provoking questions, host Jonathan Fields asks guests to share something unfiltered about their life, and how they’ve turned those experiences into powerful messages of hope and happiness.

The Happiness Lab

Yale professor Laurie Santos, PhD explores the science of happiness in the popular podcast, The Happiness Lab. The podcast itself is based on the psychology course that she teaches at Yale, which has become the most popular class in the school's history. Episodes focus on a range of topics related to happiness including burnout, languishing, and guilt.

Fitness

Staying the course is a whole lot easier when you have someone guiding you along the way. Find the motivation you need to stick to your workout routine with one of these fitness podcasts.

Ali on the Run

Runners of all levels will enjoy listening to Ali on the Run. Each week Ali Feller gives subscribers a healthy dose of motivation through her words of wisdom about working hard, running hard, and doing whatever it takes to break a physical and mental sweat. Feller interviews guests about everything from marathon training and yoga to mental health and wellness.

Hurdle

If hitting the gym is your "go-to" when stress levels rise, then Emily Abbate’s fitness podcast, Hurdle, is for you. Appropriately named, Abbate features people facing hurdles or challenges in life, like, we all do, but with a focus on how they integrate wellness into their routines as an outlet for stress and anxiety.

What makes this podcast one of the best, is Abbate’s unique ability to keep things real while pushing forward, which is not always easy to find in the fitness world.

Home Cleanliness and Organization

When life gets busy, as it so often does, spending time scrubbing toilets and organizing your clothes in super specific ways might be the last thing you want to do. But with the help from these genius hosts, you’ll get your house (and life) back on track in no time.

A Slob Comes Clean

Regardless of how messy your house is, you’ll always feel right at home with Dana K. White. With an extra-large dose of humor and some excellent, down-to-earth tips and tricks, A Slob Comes Clean will motivate you to tidy and scrub every inch of your house, or at least the parts of your house that people see.

Clutter Free Academy

Imagine how much time you would have if you had a decluttering expert available to you 24/7. With Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy, you’ll learn how to clean up your house and your life, and still have time to do the things you love. Tune in once a week to get tips and advice to help you start your clutter-free journey.

Relationships

Let’s face it: Our days and nights are packed full of to-do lists, tasks, and everything else that needs to get done before your head hits the pillow. It can be hard to find time for your own partner, let alone go out on dates. These podcasts will come in handy when it comes to gathering tips for better relationships.

I Do Podcast

When you can’t make it to couples counseling, and you need some insight and advice about how to manage your relationship, check out the I Do Podcast from husband and wife team, Chase and Sarah Kosterlitz.

They share practical wisdom about their own marriage and raising a family, plus tips from therapists and relationship experts on topics ranging from resentment and loving through differences to learning about your partner’s love language.

Dear Sugars

Co-hosts, Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond team up to give you unfiltered advice about all things relationships. Their podcast, Dear Sugars, tackles some of the most frequently asked questions and concerns about family issues, sex, love, divorce, infidelity, and so much more. Plus, they encourage listeners to email them with their most burning questions.

Career

It’s not uncommon to spend the majority of your waking hours at work. And with all that energy being devoted to your career, there’s a good chance you might need a bit of motivation from time to time. These podcasts will hopefully give you a leg up and make for a great partner on your morning commute.

Pivot

Whether you’re looking for a way to scale-up in your current job or you need some guidance on how to change careers, Jenny Blake, host of the podcast Pivot with Jenny Blake, has you covered.

This former Google career coach knows all about the connection between motivation and work, and she uses her wisdom to share tips on how you can make your next move.

Being Boss

While geared towards freelancers and entrepreneurs, the Being Boss podcast is actually a good listen for anyone looking to gain knowledge about the mindset, habits, and routines that are either helping you or preventing you from making money doing what you love.

Co-hosts, Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon, take on career and work-related topics like setting boundaries, marketing, productivity, self-limiting beliefs, and goal setting.

Financial Success

There is a certain subset of people who are brilliant when it comes to all things money. And then, there’s the rest of us. The good news? Tuning into a weekly podcast can help boost your financial IQ and put some money back in your pocket.

The Stacking Benjamins

Three days a week, Joe Saul-Sehy broadcasts live from his mom’s basem*nt, which is part of the charm of this awesome podcast that focuses on helping others build wealth. Learn about saving, investing, and risk management from Joe and the variety of experts he brings on The Stacking Benjamins Show.

Planet Money

NPR has done it again with their twice-weekly podcast, Planet Money, which breaks down what’s going on in the economy and gives you information about finance that actually makes sense.

Through great narration, story-telling, and interviews, this eclectic line-up of hosts will make you feel like you’re having a conversation with your best friend.

Productivity

Do you feel like you're always trying to get caught up? Learn how to increase productivity, both at work and in your personal life, with these top podcasts.

The Brendon Show

Do you live a charged life? That’s the question Brendon Burchard, host of the podcast, The Brendon Show, asks listeners each time he goes live.

Burchard keeps it real by sharing what he’s struggling with and working on to help you target the areas in your life you want to improve. He covers topics such as careers, work ethic, tips to boost your productivity, and how to motivate others.

The Tim Ferriss Show

The Tim Ferriss Show is home to the author of the famous book, “The 4-Hour Workweek,” among others. In his weekly podcast, he interviews experts in various fields on everything from personal and character development, to exercise routines, acting, venture capital, investing, business, time-management tricks, and so much more.

Forming New Habits

Breaking old habits and forming new ones can be challenging, especially if you’re not sure where to start. The good news is, you’re not alone. These podcasts will help you feel inspired to dive in and get things done.

The Habit Coach

If you need encouragement to make permanent changes in your life, then The Habit Coach With Ashdin Doctor is for you. Each episode is centered around tips and motivation that encourage you to create new habits that impact your daily life.

Host, Ashdin Doctor, covers topics like nutrition, fitness, health, sleep, and productivity. And the best part? The majority of the episodes are less than 10-minutes long.

Tiny Leaps Big Changes

Forming a new habit takes time. It also requires tiny leaps along the way, and no one knows that better than the host of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes, Gregg Clunis. This personal development podcast dives deep into the most common daily behaviors and looks at how those behaviors determine results, both positive and negative.