Top Personal Development Blogs – Personal Growth, Inspiration & Motivation

Long before I was even inspired to start my own blog, I have been following certain blogs and authors, who stand out in the value and the content they give in the areas of Personal Growth.

Some of the blogs in the following list are my personal favorites for years and others I stumbled upon or heard about due to their popularity among a large audience. Some of them are impressively run by a single person and others by large teams (and yet have similar rankings in popularity and same standards in quality of articles!).

In the list of top personal development blogs, I included blogs that combine the topics of personal development, motivation, inspiration and productivity with entrepreneurship and leadership advice, as I believe all these terms are interrelated.

The results are not only based on extensive research of top blogs in popularity among people who are in the personal development community, but also on number of visits per month and Google rankings. The hierarchy of the list below is based on Alexa global rankings at the time of publishing this article ( July 2012). I also looked at Facebook and Twitter followings as an indication of popularity.

 1. The Blog of Author Tim Ferris 

Tagline:  ‘Experiments in Lifestyle Design’

Timothy Ferris is the author of a book that started a movement in online entrepreneurship and lifestyle design. His book The 4-Hour Workweek has been a bestseller since it was first published on 2007 followed by Tim Ferris new bestseller The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman in 2011.

Tim Ferris has inspired and given guidance through his articles, talks and books, to thousands of entrepreneurs to create successful online businesses that free up their time so that they can live their dream lifestyle and more recently, has helped thousands of people transform their body and lose unwanted weight. Tim’s articles (and books) are amazingly well researched and in-depth with case studies and real life examples of how you can practice what his recommends in your life. Each and every article is like a mini-guide with plenty of resources to take away and implement. A blog with unquestionable value in each and every article and I admit it is one of my personal all time favourites.

Alexa Global Rank:  4,886
Facebook following: 168,000 Subscribers
Twitter following: 340,677

2.   Seth Godin’s Blog 

Tagline: ‘Go Make Something Happen’

Seth Godin is an innovative marketing genius of our times. He has has written 14 books that have been translated into 33 languages and each one of his books has been a bestseller, including Unleashing the Ideavirus, Purple Cow, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, All Marketers are Liars,Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers, Poke the Box and the latest We Are All Weird.

He is famous for understanding what really works marketing world at each specific point in time, for introducing new marketing ideas and inventing his own words. He impressively posts incredible articles daily and all the content of his blogs and books is written by himself. Although this can be considered more of a marketing blog, much of the content is about personal development.  He is also an entrepreneur and founder of multiple companies. His latest company Squidoo.com, is ranked among the top 125 sites in the US (by traffic) by Quantcast.

Alexa Global Rank: 6,439
Facebook following: 161,619 likes
Twitter following: 194,534

 3.   Pick The Brain 

Tagline: ‘Grow Yourself’

Pick the brain is a website dedicated to self-improvement,  with multiple contributing authors. It was launched in 2006 and grew to be one of the most popular blogs on self-improvement covering 5 basic areas of self-improvement: Personal Productivity, Motivation, Self-Education, Psychology and Philosophy.

Alexa Global Rank: 7.006
Facebook following: 32,744 likes
Twitter following: 15,683 followers

4. Steve Pavlina 

Tagline: ‘Personal Development for Smart People’

No he is not my uncle or a faraway relative and the fact that his last name is the same as my first name is sheer coincidence! 😉

I actually found out about Steve Pavlina when doing a google check on my name sometime around 8 years ago. This blog is one of the oldest personal development blogs online (launched in 2004) with a huge database of quality articles. For this reason Steve Pavlina’s blog receives a great deal of respect from Google, as something from Steve Pavlina usually shows up on the first page of Google, when you are searching about anything to do with personal development. Pavlina has also published a book titled Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth, he speaks at events and coaches people.

Alexa Global Rank: 7,959
Facebook following: 9,200
Twitter following: 25,500

5. Stepcase Lifehag

Tagline: ‘Your daily digest on productivity and life improvements’

Founded by Leon Ho in 2005, it is one of the most popular productivity and lifestyle blogs on the internet. The site is dedicated to lifehacks, which is a phrase that describes any advice, resource, tip or trick that will help you get things done more efficiently.  The blog is frequently updated by a team of contributors.

Alexa Global Rank: 8,215
Facebook following: 19,899
Twitter Following: 14,418

 6. Zen Habits 

Tagline: ‘Breathe’

Another star blog on this list, Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. A popular blog for many years, Zen Habits was created by Leo Babauta who is a writer, a husband, a father of six, a runner and a vegan as he introduces himself on his blog.

It has been named by Times magazine as one of the top blogs and top websites in the world and boasts an active mailing list of 250k. Zen Habits features one or two powerful articles a week on simplicity, health & fitness, motivation and inspiration, frugality, family life, happiness, goals, getting great things done, and living in the moment. Leo Babuata has also written 6 e-books and 1 print book The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life .

Alexa Global Rank: 9,095
Facebook following: Although there is no official Facebook page for the blog (Too ‘Zen’ to be bothered with Facebook?), there are 11260 ‘likes’ on the Wikipedia link about the blog on Facebook. 
Twitter following: 103,020 followers

7. Brian Tracy’s Blog

Brian Tracy is one of the most popular authors and speakers on personal development and he coaches people through his online and offline programs how to achieve their highest goals. He had been a popular figure in the personal development industry for more than 3 decades, has published numerous books and speaks to 250,000 people per year – and therefore can definitely be considered a ‘classic value’. His website includes his blog, where you can read excellent advice almost daily on Personal Development, Sales Training, Business Training, Time Management and Leadership.
Alexa Global Rank: 14,664
Facebook following: 126,675
Twitter following:  87,159

8. Marc and Angel Hack Life

Tagline: ‘Practical Tips for Productive Living’

A blog written by Marc and Angel and guest bloggers, who provide well researched blog posts in list format, on range of topics pertaining to life, hacks, productivity, aspirations, health, work, tech and general self improvement.
Alexa Global Rank: 15,058
Facebook following: 47,000
Twitter following: 29,576

9. Dumb Little Man 

Tagline: ‘Tips for Life’

How did a blog called ‘Dumb Little Man’ end up in the top 10 list of personal development blogs you would wonder.

As the author himself admits, he is not sure where the name ‘Dumb Little Man’ came from! The point is that Jay White has provided since 2006 tons of great content on productivity, exceeding goals, automation, and, finding a simpler way for doing things through his blog and 17 million people have stopped by to read. Since the blog grew big in popularity, he has opened it up for selected articles from contributors.

Alexa Global Rank: 21,826
Facebook Following: 16,190
Twitter Following: 10,632

10. Success Magazine Blog

Tagline: ‘What Achievers Read’

Backed by celebrity publisher Darren Hardy (who also has his own popular blog within the Success Magazine website)  and a large team of contributing experts, this is a blog packed with value daily on Business, Wealth, Relationships and Well-being.
Alexa Global Rank: 29,976
Facebook Followers: 271,000
Twitter Followers: 34,400

 11. Ali Brown 

Tagline: ‘Entrepreneurial Guru for Women’

Ali Brown is the founder and CEO of Ali International LLC, a dynamic enterprise, which was included in INC500 list of fastest growing companies for 2009,  devoted to empowering women entrepreneurs around the world.  She is a self-made multi millionaire and has been featured on ABC’s ‘The Secret Millionaire’. Her blog gives advice to women on how to succeed in life and in business and promotes her coaching business.

Alexa Global Rank: 32,056
Facebook Following: 32,215
Twitter Following: 35,659

12. Tiny Buddha 

Tagline ‘Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives’

Tiny Buddha is a blog about reflecting on simple wisdom and learning new ways to apply it to our complex lives. Over the last three years, Tiny Buddha has emerged as a leading resource for peace and happiness, with more than 21 million views to date.
Alexa Global Rank: 32,967
Facebook Following: 96,631
Twitter Following: 283,605

 13. Finer Minds

Tagline: ‘Your source of mind blowing awesomeness’

Finer Minds blog was created online publishing company MindValley, which was conceived by successful online entrepreneur Vishen Lakhiani. MindValley owns a number of websites and blogs and promotes personal development authors and products like the Silva Mind Control method and Omharmonics.  Finer Minds has over half a million subscribers currently and it is updated daily by MindValley team of bloggers who work from the company’s offices in Malaysia, in an environment that has been voted as ‘The most democratic place in the world’. Mindvalley is also popular for the innovative method of selecting the top talent to work for them, by asking people to post their Video CV on Youtube!

Through FinerMinds, Mindvalley promotes all its authors, products and initiatives like the non-profit Awesomness Festival (which I have on my to-do list to attend!). Also, part of MindValley is the highly popular blog ‘MindValleyInsights’ where they share for Free their best tips and practices, on how to be a successful online author, coach, blogger or online marketer.

Alexa Global Rank: 38,101
Facebook Following: 57,761 
Twitter Following: 4,049

14. Personal Excellence 

 Tagline: ‘For People Passionate about Achieving Excellence in Life’

A blog and online community founded by Celestine Chua, a writer and personal development teacher who lives in Singapore. The blog started in Dec 2008, it has since evolved into a go-to resource for all things related to personal development, with over one million page views a month

Alexa Global Rank: 44,131
Facebook Following: 6,974
Twitter Following: 6,048

15. The Positivity Blog 

Tagline: ‘Happiness and Awesomeness Tips that work in Real Life’

A blog with quality articles on personal development designed and run by one guy who lives in Sweden and handles everything that has to do with this blog, from its clean cut design to writing insightful posts, on his own! Author Henrik Edberg writes practical articles, newsletters and premium guides about simplifying life and improving self esteem, happiness, social skills, productivity and awesomeness.

Alexa Global Rank: 41826
Facebook Fan base: 16,638
Twitter followers: 7,737

16. Danielle La Porte

Tagline: white hot truth + other sermons on soul, work, life, love, cash, desire

A writer with very unique style, writes about freedom and liberating truth, love, affluence, work and passion. Danielle La Porte is also the author of the book The Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful + Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms.

Alexa Global Rank: 52,718
Facebook following: 17,117
Twitter following: 36,564

17. Positively Positive 

Tagline: Your Attitude + Your Choices = Your Life

An inspirational blog with various contributors where you will find blog posts and videos on living, loving, playing, working and giving.

Alexa Global Rank: 56,536
Facebook following: 1,266,084
Twitter following: 78,208

 18. Live Your Legend 

Tagline: Change the World, by doing Work you Love

A Blog by Scott Dinsmore, an entrepreneur, coach and author of Live Off Your Passion. The mission of the blog to help people build a career around work they Love.

Alexa Global Rank:  56,638 
Facebook following: 1,897
Twitter following: 4,533

19.  Early to Rise 

Early to Rise posts one blog every day, with the mission to wake you up with inspiration and practical advice on how to accomplish your goals. Whether you want to start your own business, become CEO of the business you work for, achieve your most treasured personal goals, or increase your wealth. They also stand by certain beliefs of how success and wealth is achieved and why we should not follow the financial advice of mainstream media.

Alexa Global Rank 57,436
Facebook Followers: 5,102
Twitter Followers:  N/a

20.  Think Simple Now 

Tagline: A moment of Clarity

Think Simple Now (TSN) is a personal development community with self-reflective stories from real people. Our mission at TSN is to empower each other to find inner clarity and fulfillment in an ever complex world filled with distractions and painful moments.The blog is run by Tina Su and is written by her and a team of contributors.
Alexa Global Rank:68,382
Facebook followers: 24,491
Twitter followers: 11,182

 21. Simple Wealth 

Tagline: Freedom without Compromise

The founder of SimpleWealth, Greg Habstritt is a lifelong entrepreneur with a varied and successful background, and has helped through his training programs, thousands of students harness the power of creation and success secrets. SimpleWealth is also a learning organization which provides training, coaching and education to those looking to create Freedom Without Compromise for themselves, their family and their community.

Alexa Global Rank: 79,209
Facebook following: 3,437
Twitter Following: 1,394

 22. Prolific Living

 Tagline: Smart Habits for Rich Living

Bloggger and personal development coach Farnoosh, coming from a corporate background that she gave up to follow her passion, blogs to help you create the lifestyle and work-style design that will give you freedom from the chains that shackle you,  live out your brilliant potential and serve the world in your best and highest self.
Alexa Global Rank: 84,908
Facebook following: 2,735
Twitter following: 3,977

23. Amish Shah

Tagline: Make Money, Give Back, Create Happiness

Amish Shah is a rising star in the online marketing world and the personal development community.  He has been described as a savvy new-age internet entrepreneur and he owns successful online businesses (developing apps being the most popular at the moment) and coaching people on how to succeed in the online world. He shares his own experiences and useful articles about entrepreneurship, mindset, mobile apps, marketing, life, cool people and even about the healthy superfood smoothies he makes, everything with an approach on developing yourself.
Alexa Global Rank: 99,825
Facebook Following: 3,054
Twitter following: 6,784

24,  Katie Freiling

Tagline: ‘Helping Entrepreneurs Create Wealth from the Inside out’

Katie Freiling integrates personal development with online marketing in her work and you will find more video blogs than written ones, as she seems to do excellent on camera. I credit Katie for inspiring me to start my own blog through one of her series of free videos that talked about personal branding and offering value through your knowledge. I recommend it mostly for people who are looking to create an online presence for themselves.
Alexa Global Rank: 105,728
Facebook Following: 9,577
Twitter Following: 21,592

25.  Robin Sharma ‘Lead without a Title Blog’

Tagline: Helping People in Organizations Lead without a Title’

Robin Sharma is a person worth to follow! He has been recognized as one of the Top 5 Leadership Experts in the world and is a globally celebrated author of 11 international bestselling books on leadership including The Leader Who Had No Title that is inspiring a movement. He shot to fame with The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, which has topped international bestseller lists and sold millions of copies. On his blog you will find podcasts, videos and some of his most popular articles.
Alexa Global Rank: 113,290
Facebook Followers: 213,000
Twitter Followers: 118,173

I have done my best to include the top 25 most popular personal development blogs in the above list, but I know I have left out many excellent blogs. With regards to visits and google rankings, the popularity can be verified and all of the blogs and websites in the list,  which are updated daily or a few times a month and include well researched writing work from the authors.

If you have any comments on how you have been helped by one of the above blogs or other favourite personal development blogs I would love to hear from you in the comments below!  🙂