Top Personal Development Blogs
"You don’t overcome challenges by making them smaller but by making yourself bigger." —John C. Maxwell
This is my map of top personal development blogs. It’s organized for fast scanning. Where possible, I listed the blog owner because I find that behind every great well of wisdom, is somebody making it happen.
When I think of personal development, I think of hacks, skills, principles, patterns, and practices for improving mind, body, emotions, career, financial, relationships, and fun. I distinguish personal development from self-help although there can be overlap. I have a developer background so I tend to prefer personal development blogs that take more of a “design” or “engineer” approach (e.g. “you by design,” “life by design,” or “architect of life.”). I also tend to prefer personal development blogs that are more holistic or integrated that include mind, body, emotions, and spirit, unless I’m looking for a focused niche. In that case, I tend to like a lot of insight and depth on that specific topic.
It’s a living map of top personal development blogs, so let me know any great personal development blogs that I’ve missed. I’ll be adding it to my top blogs page from my sidebar. It’s my way of making it easier to hop around the Web to find insight and action for work and life.
Top 10 Personal Development Blogs
- Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, by Steven Aitchison
- John Maxwell on Leadership
- Illuminated Mind , by Jonathan Mead
- Mind Adventure, by Rob White
- Scott H. Young
- Steve Pavlina
- The Blog of Timothy Ferris
- The Personal Excellence blog, by Celes Chua
- Think Simple Now, by Tina Su
- Zen Habits, by Leo Babauta
Top Personal Development Blogs A – Z
- 2 Achieve Your Goals, by Dia Thabet
- A Beautiful Ripple Effect, by Carolyn Rubenstien
- A Daring Adventure, by Tim Brownson
- A Flourishing Life, by Gail Brenner
- A Meaningful Existence, by Karen Ruby
- Abundance Tapestry, by Evelyn Lim
- Advanced Life Skills, by Jonathan Wells
- Adversity University, by Stephen Hopson
- Always Well Within, by Sandra Lee
- Alex Shalman
- Avani Mehta
- Brite Talk, by Andrea DeBell
- Brian Tracy
- Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, by Steven Aitchison
- Delightful Work, by Tom Volkar
- Diary 4 Life, by Paul Worsick
- Discovering Purpose, by Ayo Olaniyan
- Dragos Roua
- Dumb Little Man
- Entrepreneur’s Journey, Yaro Stark
- Experience Life Fully, by Adrienne
- Get in the Hot Spot, by Annabel Candy
- Get More from Life
- Goodlife Zen, by Mary Jaksch
- Graceful Balance, by Emma
- Grow with Stacy
- GTD Times
- How To Change the World, by Guy Kawasaki
- Hustlers Notebook, by Jk
- Illuminated Mind , by Jonathan Mead
- Improved Confidence, by Kate Irwin
- Inspiring Shipments, by Ivana Sendecka
- Jane Be Nimble, by Lori Franklin
- John Maxwell on Leadership
- Learn This, by Mike King
- Less Ordinary Living, by Phil Bolton
- Lifehacker
- Life Optimizer, by Donald Latumahina
- Litemind, by Luciano Passuello
- Lionslinger, by Walter
- Live Bold and Bloom, by Barrie Davenport
- Living Authentically, by Evan Hadkins
- Marc and Angel Hack Life
- Make It Happen, by Arvind Devalia
- Mind Adventure, by Rob White
- Mind Hacks, by Vaughan Bell and Tom Stafford
- Mr. Self Development
- Naked in Eden Blog, by Robin Easton
- On Simplicity
- People Skills Decoded, by Eduard Ezeanu
- Personal Success Factors, by Stephen Borgman
- Pick the Brain
- PluginID, by Brett Hagberg and Glen Allsopp
- Practice This, by Alik Levin
- Productive Flourishing
- Prolific Living, by Farnoosh
- Raptitude.com, by David Cain
- Schaefer’s Blog, by Cameron Schaefer
- Scott H. Young
- Self-Improvement Saga, by Nea
- Serene Journey, by Sherri
- Seth Godin
- Sid Savara
- Simona Rich’s Self Improvement Blog
- Stepcase Lifehack
- Steve Pavlina
- Sources of Insight, by J.D. Meier
- The Alternaview, by Sibyl
- The Art of Change, by Dr. K
- The Blog of Timothy Ferris
- The Bold Life, by Tess Marshall
- The Drop Out Kid, by Jonathan Figaro
- The Emotion Machine, by Steven
- The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
- The Jungle of Life, by Lance Ekum
- The Personal Excellence blog, by Celes Chua
- The Positivity Blog
- The Power of Choice, by Amit Sodha
- The Rat Race Trap, by Stephen Mills
- Think Simple Now, by Tina Su
- Timeless Information, by Armen Shirvanian
- Urban Monk
- Work Awesome
- Work Consciously, by Chris Edgar
- Work Happy Now, by Karl Staib
- You Simplified
- Zen Habits, by Leo Babauta
Additional Lists of Personal Development Blogs
- Alltop Personal Achievement Category: http://personal-achievement.alltop.com/
- PostRank Personal Development Topic: http://www.postrank.com/topic/Personal%20Development
- BlogRank Lifehack blogs: http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank/Lifehacks
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impressive.
Thanks for the plug.
Hey JD, thanks for including me and also introducing me to some fellow bloggers that I’ve never come across before!
Hi JD,
This is an incredible list with many of my favorites and a few I have yet to meet. Thank you for this wonderful gift and for including my blog Always Well Within too. You are so generous, JD.
I’m enjoying the recent changes you are bringing to Insights in Action to make even more user friendly. The way you are consolidating and presenting information is very resourceful. This is a great way to focus energy while Mercury is retrograde (till the end of the month). January will be the time to launch into new endeavors. I’m going to focus on similar activities in the coming week.
I’m so glad to know you.
Thanks JD for including me and also introducing me to some more great bloggers to check out:-)
Wishing you all the best for the festive season.
Not only an honor to be on this list and to be a small contribution in an area of deep passion, but a gratitude for all the other wonderful others on the list, most of whom I know and some of the new ones I need to learn about. Many thanks JD!
Thanks so much for putting Graceful Balance on the map, J.D.!! Bravo for including your site there too. I look forward to venturing to some new sites thanks to you. The changes going on here have been wonderful. Keep up the awesome work.
Great list of sites! I’m looking forward to checking these out. Thanks, J.D.!
Great list. I’d add Brian Tracy’s blog (briantracy.com/blog/) and PlugIn ID (pluginid.com).
Grateful and inspired to be among such passionate shippers=bloggers.
Thank you J.D.!
Hi J.D.
Thank you for the inclusion.
Nice compilation J.D., and thanks for including my blog on your list!
I’ve been looking into new blogs to read and comment on – so I will definitely use this as a resource.
Thanks for the mention.
My favourite out of them all is probably Urban Monk. Although he hasn’t been writing much lately there is a huge back catalogue of great posts there.
JD,
This is an impressive list…and it’s a sincere honor to be listed here amongst these other great writers. Thank you!!!
Hi JD,
Thank you for including my blog, it is an honor my friend
What a nice list you have got. It is a nice thing that you gathered all of the personal development blogs in one post. Thanks for sharing JD
Hi JD .. I love these lists – your sight was so useful and now will be even more so .. because it’s good to have recommendations that we can trust .. rather than randomly search the net – & then are not sure of the source or the information etc .. It’s good to see some well loved friends on there .. thanks .. Hilary
Hi JD .. can I amend that .. “site” .. oh well!! Cheers H
@ Alik — Thank you. Your earned it.
@ Amit — It’s one big tribe
@ Sandra — I’m glad to know you too. Thank you for noticing the changes, and I like the way you framed it within the context of Mercury and January.
@ Arvind — It’s a pretty amazing Web of people and blogs. It is a wonderful Web.
@ Farnoosh — That’s what I look for this list — deep passion. Values are the common bond.
@ Clearly Composed — Thank you for bringing balance to the table and adding your unique value to the Web
@ Positively Present — Thank you!
@ David — Thank you. I added your suggestions. I originally had PluginID, but must have landed on the wrong pages and thought it was dead. I checked it out again, it’s alive and well. I’m glad to see Brian Tracy is on the scene. I wanted to add Stephen Covey and Tony Robbins, but when I went to their blogs, I couldn’t find enough signs of life. I think they’re investing more in their seminars. That’s fine, but I’d like to see them more in the blogosphere too.
@ Ivana — It’s a great tribe of people on a growth path.
@ Alex — Your welcome. Thanks for stopping by.
@ Steven — Thank you. I included you because you bring depth to the table in some key areas.
@ Evan — Urban Monk is especially insightful. I hope to see more of their insight flowing in the coming year.
@ Lance — Thank you. Your raw and real contribution to the space is outstanding, and sets a great bar. You lead by example.
@ Dia — Thank you. While I know I don’t have the complete list, I aimed for the 80/20 rule and I like having a quick map now for hopping around the Web.
@ Hilary — Thank you. I like “sight”, it’s like a double-entendre
I’m hoping I both save people time, surface some value that might be tough to find, and connect people in a common space. I like creating a way to look from the balcony.
Thanks for the complementary mention in this list. I appreciate it. I was happy to see this site listed!!!
Thanks J.D.
@ Jk — You’ve got an insightful blog with great words of wisdom for the path of life.
Hi JD! Thanks so much for your kind mention. You compiled an awesome list with some incredible bloggers. I’m truly honored to be in such great company. Beautiful work! Loving blessings!
@ Andrea — Thank you. You’ve built a beautiful blog and a wonderful tribe. It’s great to have you on the list.
hello jd,
how are you?
apologies for not acknowleding this article on time.
thanks for the mention, i really appreciate it.
take care of yourself and enjoy the rest of the day
Nice list. Great way for me to keep up with my marketing..lol..jking. A wonder of works, truly beyond there times…Thanks for keeping up informed J.D.
@ Ayo — I’m doing well — thank you. Happy Holidays!
@ Jonathan — Thank you. I hope it helps connect folks that share a passion for personal development. Happy Holidays!
Holy cow, what a great list! I’m touched to be included, JD
Although I have heard of most of the sites you listed, some are new to me, so thanks very much for the new recommendations to check out.
I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and all the best to you in 2011.
Karen
Hi J.D. — thanks for the appreciation, and I’m honored to be in such distinguished company. I know that you’re an executive and you have a very practical focus on this blog, and I appreciate that you can see the practical value of the ideas and techniques that I talk about for the business world.
@ Karen — Thank you. I’m really looking forward to the contributions by this collective tribe to the personal development space this year.
Best wishes for 2011!
@ Chris — I’m a fan of success from the inside out and your focus on inner-engineering and taking a mindful path is a perfect recipe for results.
Thanks for the high quality list everyone of which I plan to visit. I am however disappointed that no site on Building on Strengths as advocated by Martin Seligman in his best seller Authentic Happiness figures on your list. If you are interested in getting a feel for the underlying ideas and research about building on strengths and my experience in applying these ideas you are very welcome to visit my site at ww.personaldevelopmenttoolbox.com.
Keep up the good work,
regards,
mjcostello
What an impressive list! Thanks for amalgamating & sharing, J.D.
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