I want to put a post together listing the best Life Coaching and self development posts on the Internet and I want your help telling me which are the best.
I’d like to get at least 10, preferably 20, self development posts if the quality is high enough.
And btw, I’m sure it is.
So come on, delve into those memory banks and blow me away, because we all (me included) want to read great self development material, no matter how old or what the source.
Then I’ll link through to the best posts so we can all expand our horizons and get some brilliant new insights into self development.
There’s only a few rules and here they are:
- You can’t nominate one of your own posts
- You can’t nominate one of my posts as much as my ego tells me to allow you to
- You can’t nominate a product ot service review post or anything that is looking to make money through affiliate links
- You can’t nominate more than one post and I will brutally delete comments that say something like “I know you only said one, but……”
- You can ask somebody to nominate a post of yours because if it’s not brilliant I’ll just ignore it
- You can nominate any post that has something to do with Life Coaching, psychology or self development in general no matter how old it is. In fact old posts gratefully recieved as they often get lost in the midst of time.
- You can repost his on Twitter, Facebook and Google+….please :-)
- You can comment until next Saturday 3rd March and then I’ll close comments and compile the list ready to publish on Mondayish.
I’m looking for knock your socks off “holy shit, I wish I’d written that!” type of posts that stand (or will stand) the test of time
Feel free to support nominations, but I doubt I’ll take that into consideration. After all you know what an opinionated bastard I am when it comes to self development!
Leave your nomination in the comments, but please understand, as you’ll be leaving a link Akismet will dump it in my spam or pending folder, so you won’t see it to begin with.
Worry not though, I’ll fish them all out and manually, check the links for suitability and presuming they’re ok approve them. No need to make multiple attempts to comment if it doesn’t appear within an hour or so I’ll still get to it.
I will read all the posts that get nominated and then link to what I think are the best. I will also make the links ‘dofollow’, so that should help SEO as well as traffic for smaller blogs.
There’s no award as such so I won’t be sorting them in any order because posts are far too subjective and all that happens with things like that is it becomes a pissing competition and egos get bruised.
I’s just a way to showcase material that deserves a wider audience so if you’re up for it, comment away.
Core Values – Time To Get In On The Action
My book Aligning With Your Core Values has generated me some of the best feedback of anything I’ve ever written.
I know a number of Life Coaches are already using the book to good effect with their clients.
This work is the most important I ever do with a client and has provided more breakthroughs that everything else I do combined.
To help spread the word I’m doing a relaunch and will be using affiliates.
As affiliate marketers usually require a minimum of 50% commission the price will be going up to reflect that in the next 3 or 4 weeks.
So if you have been pondering, get in there now.
And remember not only do I offer 100% money back guarantee, but you also get a bonus copy of the ebook version of How To Be Rich and Happy that retails at $19.
If you live in the US and would prefer a hard copy, mention this post to me when you order and I’ll mail you one and pay the shipping.
If you run a blog and would like to help promote the book for me and get paid into the bargain, please e-mail tim at a daring adventure dot com
And Finally…
I almost forgot to tell you that I am taking part in a series called ‘Simple Self Confidence’ and I’ve contributed an 18 minute video explaining a really cool way to tap into confidence.
At this stage I haven’t seen any of the other material so I’m not recommending it per se.
However, I am saying it may be well worth checking out to see if it’s something you may benefit from.
I am an affiliate, but seriously, do not buy it unless it’s right for you!
Hi Tim! My all time favorite is one of Seth Godin’s. It’s about comparing yourself to others: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/09/run-your-own-race.html
Thanks Bori, although Seth is a marketing guy he definitely writes some great self development material.
http://www.handelgroup.com/the-hidden-victim-in-all-of-us/
When I was first informed that I play the victim, I balked – hell no, I do not! Then I learned that a lot of the baggage I was carrying was because of anger or hurt feelings that I had never expressed when an affront OR misunderstanding had occurred. Instead, I kept my mouth shut. Now, I try to speak up and either inquire or resolve a misunderstanding, or find a mature way to let someone know that they were out of line. Most of the time, when I address uncomfortable situations, I discover it has nothing to do with me, and the affront or misunderstanding simply and easily disappears.
Excellent post, thanks!
Here is my all time favourite blog post. It asks such an important question that is not always easy to answer. But is SO worth answering! Working on the answer to this question has revolutionized my life in ways that I couldn’t have even begun to imagine before I started to ask this question. Mainly, it’s freed me to be who I am not who other people want me to be or who I think they want me to be. It’s an awesome post.
http://makebelieveforreal.com/burning-question-dumb-thing-to-believe-in/
The line “fuck the order’ definitely made m laugh!
Hey Tim, self-improvement is a daily effort of mine for a number of reasons. This is one of my favorites because it talks about listening to that inner voice and BEING who you were meant to be on this earth. I love this article because it validated who I am and it’s a great reminder:
WTF??? I’m completely confused bud.
what part is confusing to you?
Well the post asks for your favorite self development post and I wasn’t sure how it was a great reminder. It almost seemed like you were responding to my previous post?
This might clear things up! http://www.inspir3.com/here-are-your-official-ownership-papers/
LOL, yes it does!
I just noticed after my first reply that there was no article link. The link tags didn’t seem to work. So, the title is Here are Your Official Ownership Papers. Thanks Tim!
I really like this one by Liz Strauss:
The Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life
http://www.successful-blog.com/1/the-top-10-ways-to-start-living-your-life/
Some very solid advice there, especially about letting losers win, love that! Thanks Ali.
Liz is great!
I think I messed up the link in my last comment so I’m reposting without the html. Please forgive me if you see this twice.
I like Melissa Karnaze’s Mindful Construct blog a lot. This is one of my favorites:
http://mindfulconstruct.com/2009/05/01/5-mindful-ways-to-sharpen-your-creative-focus/
No worries Kristen I sorted it and thanks for the nomination.
I adore Colleen Wainwright’s (aka The Communicatrix) blog for all sorts of great ideas and inspiration. I believe her New Year’s motivational message for 2009, this YouTube video, pretty much sums up self-development. It speaks to me, anyways :)
(Language NSFW – “sing along if you know it”) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysh7ZxWew-M
LMAO – that’s great!
I really find helpful this one written by Tony Alicea:
From What to Why
I find it interesting in all areas of life (work, relationship… and even when I play something).
http://www.tonyjalicea.com/2011/11/from-what-to-why/#more-4622
Hmm, not sure about that Cheryl, it confused me somewhat although I can see the message.
http://www.cjbecker.com/autobiography.htm
That’s my alltime favorite. It’s been quoted everywhere, and I’m sure you’ve heard it.
Actually no I hadn’t, thanks!
I really like that. It reminds me of the 4 stages of learning a skill, from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence.
Oh wow…I have some favorite bloggers but picking a favorite post will be tough. I’ll get on it and see what I can come up with.
I know how much this post moved me and I’ve heard from many others who felt the same.
http://www.productiveflourishing.com/so-much-more-than-damaged-goods/
Mr Gilkey is an excellent writer, and that’s an excellent post.
A post that I’ve shared many times is from Tim Ferriss’ blog. It’s about how to remake your life, totally change your career or follow your passion in an easy-to-follow plan. It also questions the value of formal higher education when you can get something more specific (and probably better) for free over the course of one year instead of four or five.
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2011/09/29/8-steps-to-getting-what-you-want-without-formal-credentials/
I’m not a fan of Tim Ferriss, especially his marketing, but he is a very good writer and gives good value.
Here is a post by Ken Wert of “Meant to Be Happy” that made me wish, holy shit, I wish I’d written that! “What’s on the Dashboard of your Life”? Here is the link: http://meanttobehappy.com/whats-on-the-dashboard-of-your-life/
Thank you, Tim. This is such a wonderful initiative. I look forward to reading your final round up post with the best ones. Now THAT would be one for my bookmarks.
Pretty damn good for a substitute post eh?
Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement address. Not strictly a blog post, but close enough. I find myself referring back to it frequently.
Here’s the YouTube URL: http://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc
It is truly excellent mate, but as you say not strictly a blog post.
I really loved this post from Brandon Allen over at Build Your Soul Purpose. I spend a lot of time multi-tasking which occasionally leads to prolific but somewhat mediocre results.
http://buildyoursoulpurpose.com/im-writing-this-post-while-watching-tv
I don’t know the blog, so thanks for that Angie.
I’ve just discovered Gretchen Rubin’s excellent blog and book “The Happiness Project.” I don’t know if it’s my all time fave, but it qualifies as my new bff of personal development blogs. I usually read it right after yours.
The post I’m citing here is a good sample and place to jump in, and is one I’ve read more than once: “Paradoxes of Happinesss: the sadness of a Happiness Project” http://bit.ly/w3GZmB
LMAO – Don’t ask me what I think of that book!
I’m genuinely curious! I started (but didn’t finish) that book. I loved the first chapter on boosting energy levels and de-cluttering.
Here’s the thing Rob. As you know when it comes to self development, and any books for that matter, it’s subjective.
Having said that I think it’s the worst book I’ve ever read on self development, seriously I do. Unfortunately I bought the unabridged audio and got about 60% in when I had to stop.
Self-indulgent, whiny, banal, lacking in any real depth and the way she padded the book with blog comments turned me off and was confusing because when she was reading the book she didn’t differentiate. Maybe in the book it was clear that you were reading a couple of pages of comments by the use of italics or something.
If you’d written that book it would never have got published, but it was a masterstroke of marketing, which when you are that wealthy is a tad easier to do.
But as I say, if you, or anybody else gets value from it, then it was worth it and my opinion is irrelevant.
Hi Tim,
I would like to share Arvind Devalia’s amazing post:
http://www.arvinddevalia.com/blog/2010/03/24/how-to-live-your-life-as-if-everything-is-a-miracle/
http://makebelieveforreal.com/matter-of-death/
This post gets right into the nitty gritty -life and death in an engaging sparkling way with terrific metaphors. It’s refreshing to me to get to this level of what really matters.
Wow, not a single vote yet for the likes of Pavlina, Sen Habits and many of the big blogs and MBFR gets two!
Hello Tim,
What a fabulous idea to get us all to share our favourite articles. Your post is going to go viral:-)
My favourite post is this moving piece from Alex Blackwell:-
http://www.TheBridgeMaker.com/How-to-Love-Consciously/
The quote at the beginning of the post sums it all up for me:-
“The way to love anything is to realise that it may be lost” – Gilbert Chesterton
Enjoy!
I don’t even need to click through because I remember that post from when Alex first published it. Good stuff.
Hey Tim,
Fabulous idea! I can’t wait to read the final line up! And I totally agree with Arvind. :)
I’d like to submit the following post by Nea Joy:
http://blog.self-improvement-saga.com/2011/01/ego-defense-mechanisms-examples/
I believe that one of our main goals in life is to become as authentic as possible and Nea’s post really illustrates how we “protect” ourselves and keep ourselves from that goal.
Huge hugs!
Melody
A couple of times I have thrown down the gauntlet for somebody to send me a guest post on the LoA that is remotely credible and I would publish it.
And I have only ever had one response and that was half-hearted at best.
I have slammed it a few times not least of which is this post http://www.adaringadventure.com/law-of-attraction/the-law-of-attraction-is-a-con/
But I would genuinely love a different take that makes me think Hmmmm, maybe I’m wrong on this.
If you are prepared to step into the Lions Den, I’d love to read something Melody. Maybe something like “Why The Law of Attraction Works”?
I’m sure it would generate a lot of talk and worry not, even though you may have some wildly conflicting opinions I never allow people to attack my guest posters, not even myself ;-)
I’m a Law of Attraction lover, so it’s fitting that I nominate Melody of Deliberate Receiving for her post that explains some of the truth behind the sensationalized version of Law of Attraction presented in the movie The Secret.
http://www.deliberateblog.com/2011/12/20/the-secret-behind-the-secret-how-we-manifest-reality/
Now what’s the odds of that? That you both have favorite posts by each other? ;-)
Tim ~ This post from Barrie Davenport of Live Bold and Bloom, although straight-forward in its message, opened my eyes to all the little things I was allowing to get in the way of my happiness and daily living.
Her list of 50 things to Stop Doing Forever is a wake-up call to what really matters, and the little choices you can make to create better, more joyful days in your life.
I recommend it to all of my friends!
http://liveboldandbloom.com/08/self-improvement/50-things-to-stop-doing-forever
Steph
Only got to know Barrie relatively recently and she writes some good stuff, so thanks for that Stephanie.
What an amazing post! So many of those 50 things spoke to me and reminded me that it’s stuff I aspire to too, but perhaps haven’t fully integrated into my daily life yet. Thanks so much. I think i’ll print that out and put it up on the wall at work by my desk.
Hi Tim,
Great idea. Thanks for making it happen.
This was a tough call. There are several that I could choose from.
But this post written by Nea Joy resonated with me.
http://blog.self-improvement-saga.com/2011/01/ego-defense-mechanisms-examples/
Only post to date to have two nominations!
Hi Tim,
I love this challenge. There are so many fabulous bloggers out there. But, narrowing it down to one post from one blogger…..very difficult task. I don’t envy you Tim – it’s going to be hard.
Okay, here’s my pick:
http://www.simplemindfulness.com/2011/08/21/eliminate-fear/
From Paige Burkes at Simple Mindfulness.
Yeh, very good.
Tim – My favorite post of all time is one that sits in my Bookmarks Bar and I do pull it up every now and then for an occasional kick in the ass. It’s “The Grand Pep Talk” from Danielle LaPorte: http://www.daniellelaporte.com/white-hot/the-grand-pep-talk-decide-to-rise-refer-to-this-when-in-doubt-or-sick-tired/
I know I’m going to like that, because DL is a great writer, thanks!
How had I not discovered Danielle LaPorte? Great content and fabulous aesthetic!
Hi Tim,
Here is my nomination…a post I love from an inspiring blogger Angela Artemis of Poweredbyintuition.com : http://www.poweredbyintuition.com/2011/11/12/finding-purpose-in-your-pain/
Love this post and the idea!
Much Love,
Z~
I didn’t know Angela, but I do now, thanks!
Hi Tim,
I like this one from Vidya Sury!
- http://www.vidyasury.com/2009/04/take-time-to-smell-flowers-part-i.html
I was definitely considering that, but can’t see anyway on her site of contacting her!
:-) I recently moved my “pages” to the sidebar, Tim. I just added an email me at the top. :-) Inconvenience regretted! Thanks for pointing it out.
Tim,
I nominate this deeply moving post from Tess Marshall:
http://theboldlife.com/2010/12/touched-angel/
Thanks for your consideration,
Alex
Yes indeed, thanks Alex.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011anything worth doing is worth doing well
A few days ago I was at an event, sitting around a table with fellow educators and college administrators; people who I had just met. And as new colleagues do, we began introducing ourselves; talking a little bit about our lives. At some point, I mentioned that I was married to an actor/screenwriter and before I could say another word, someone at the table said, “You know I’ve been thinking about doing a little acting work myself.” I wasn’t surprised. I rarely mention my husband’s or even my own experiences without someone “jumping on the bandwagon.” But, I gave the gentleman the benefit out of the doubt and said, “Well, I always love chatting with an artist, what’s your story.” Turns out the guy had a degree in computer science, had been working in information technology for years, and had from what I could tell zero acting or performing arts experience.
I said, “Well, I could connect you with some wonderful teachers or studios in the city, if you’re looking to take a few classes.” His response was the kicker. He asked, most earnestly, “Do you think that’s really necessary?”
We live in the age of celebrity. Watch ten minutes of cable television and you’ll see that very little talent is required to get your fifteen minutes (or three season run) of fame. And I worry about the impact this phenomenon has on the professional performing arts. People are under the impression that you can just wake up one morning and become an actor, writer, singer etc.
Keep reading Simply Defined and you’ll soon realize that I am very pro career assessment and transition. I have no problem with people taking a 180 degree shift and pursuing something radically different than what they’ve done before. But any shift requires thought, preparation, and intention. I can’t wake up tomorrow and start doing a little computer engineering work any more than this gentleman could (or at least should) do a little acting work.
The lessons are these:
#1 Don’t take your interests lightly, because I guarantee you that someone takes those same interests quite seriously. And she will run circles around you when it comes to execution.
#2 As the old saying goes, “Anything worth doing, is worth doing well.”
I’m confused Becky, is that a submission? If so do you have a link please?
I think I may let this run a tad longer people as it’s taking me a while to check each post.
Keep ‘em coming!
I’d like to nominate Zeenat of Positive Provocations post:
http://positiveprovocations.com/2012/02/01/how-to-lovingly-support-someone-who-is-experiencing-hopelessness-and-depression/
A tip for any bloggers who want to get people to hire them in some way shape or form.
Get your e-mail and/or telephone number on your site!!!
I have already given up on two posts because I can’t find a way of contacting them. Captcha forms suck!
I use one, but I also give people the option of e-mailing or calling me, and many chose the latter options.
I’d rather have a couple of spammy e-mails per day than lose a client because they got pissed off trying to read some indecipherable word on captcha.
Aye. Noted, Tim. Lesson learned :-) Contact email added.
Hi Tim, I’d love to nominate this one from the fabulous Zen Mama: “The Sky Is NOT Falling! 7 Solutions To Stop Living In Fear” http://www.zen-mama.com/2012/01/the-sky-is-not-falling-7-solutions-to-stop-living-in-fear/
Don’t know the site, but I shall check it out.
http://www.illuminatedmind.net/2012/02/23/get-things-done/ this is the post I was referring to in my tweet :)
Hmm this might show up twice (told me I had already submitted, delete if so (; ) But this is the post I was referring to in my tweet http://www.illuminatedmind.net/2012/02/23/get-things-done/ :)
‘ey up Browno… ‘ow are ya?
I’ll go for “Seven things happen to you when you are completely honest” by the splendidly inimitable James Altucher, author of “I Was Blind But Now I See” and “How to Be the Luckiest Person Alive!”
You can find it here: http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/10/7-things-happen-to-you-when-you-are-completely-honest/ on Altucher Confidential. @jaltucher
OK mi duck, catch ya later.
Much love,
Ian “Think Better. Feel Better. Take an Aspin.”
I like that one, thanks me mucka.
cheers dude!
I think I shall abuse my power and nominate http://tonyteegarden.com/life-hacks-how-improve-quality-of-your-life-15-minutes/ by Tony Teegarden
My favorite self development post is a recipe for empowering your inner space!
As quality ingredients are creating a healthier life balance, I give it a ☆!
Great, but where is it?
It was there all along just had to truly see! :)
http://makebelieveforreal.com/ingredients-for-bliss/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ingredients-for-bliss
Several from Albert the Urban Monk, who doesn’t write much at the moment. This is the best one I’ve read for quite a while http://just-eliza.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/words-they-didnt-say.html?spref=tw
I too miss old Albert, he wrote some great stuff. Thanks for the nomination Evan.
This is a fav from Martha Beck. I love the matter-of-fact approach and an acknowledgement of things that are hard for us to name sometimes. We don’t have to be nice when we can just be real.
http://marthabeck.com/2011/12/logging-off-the-power-of-disconnection/
LAMO – at the “There’s my doorbell” line.
Excellent post, thanks Sabrina.
They are a lot of great blogs and bloggers out there, but the information that Justin Mazza posts is by far my favorite as it goes beyond the standard personal development blogs.
http://www.mazzastick.com/2011/09/10/the-illusory-nature-of-reality/
http://www.mazzastick.com/2011/07/29/change-the-projector-of-your-reality/
I only read the first post Wendy and I’m sorry to say it was absolutely awful.
Firstly, it showed a fundamental misunderstanding of what hypnosis is. The problem is, it sounded like he knew what he was talking about. And if you had no prior knowledge about hypnosis you would probably take it on face value because it was well written.
But anybody that talks about hypnosis and hypnotists putting people into a trance shouldn’t be blogging about it.
Also, a very, very, minor point but most hypnotherapists (especially Ericksonian) will talk about the unconscious rather than the subconscious. The reason being the latter expression suggests the subconscious sits under the conscious and it doesn’t.
Then his explanation about left and right brain wasn’t very accurate. Losing one half of your brain is nothing like only seeing one side of a movie screen, nice though it would be to think. It’s an easy analogy to use but is deeply misleading.
It would be like me saying if you’re baking a cake and I removed half the ingredients, you would end up baking only half a cake.
Do we live in a left-brained world? There could be a case made for that if you’re generalizing wildly for artistic effect, but we all use all of our brain, so to say:
“There is no problem with the left brain in and of itself but when it is our main, or for many, their only means of perceiving reality it can become a problem.”
Is nonsense. And it sure would be a problem if it were true, but nobody only uses one side of their brain, presuming they still they have the other side that is.
We are constantly flicking backward and forwards and the predominant blood flow to each hemisphere switches about every 90 – 120 minutes or so, which is why left-brained people can sometimes have bursts of creativity and vice versa
And the second half of the post was just a verbatim report of what Jill Bolte Taylor said at TED.
I’d read with caution because that maybe going beyond what other blogs do, but not necessarily in a good way.
Sorry to be a miserable bastard Wendy :-(
I’ve been putting off commenting on this one because the task seemed impossible…how could I possibly choose ONE of the thousands of self-development blog posts that have changed my life? Then I looked around my office to see which posts I was actually so inspired by that I was moved to print them out and hang them up to see every day. The clear winner was Brooke Castillo. She completely walks her talk and amazes me with how she can say so much in so few words. It’s equally impossible to choose which of her posts is the “best” — but here are two that I’ve had hanging up for a while now:
http://www.brookecastillo.com/brooke_castillo/2010/03/that-was-meant-to-happen.html
http://www.brookecastillo.com/brooke_castillo/2010/02/its-so-worth-it.html
You really can’t go wrong with anything she’s ever written, though, IMHO!
Oh, shoot, I just remembered you said ONLY ONE NO MATTER WHAT! So, you may brutally delete my comment. Sorry :)
If I had to narrow it down between those two, I guess it would be the first one…
And I’m not trying to sneak around the rules by nominating someone else, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you I totally and absolutely agree with you about the genius of Sandi Amorim, too.
Well I definitely agree that Sandi should be in there, so maybe I can bend the rules ;-)
Just tried to contact Brooke Castillo to ask for permission to use hers and get an intro from her and I can’t find any way of e-mailing her. In fact I have tried to contact 2 people this morning and probably spent 10+_ minutes trying to find contact details on their websites and failed :-(