My Top 20 List of Personal Growth Sites
A recent success story in the personal development community has been Priscilla Palmer’s Personal Development List. This was a brilliant idea by Priscilla that has given exposure to a number of different blogs. A recent (off-topic) comment in another post suggested I re-post the list on my site (as has been happening elsewhere). I, however, like to do things differently.
First, let me explain how I think. Before I post anything on this blog, I always ask myself 2 questions: (1) Will this add value to my readers? (2) Is the information in this article different to what is being posted elsewhere on the net? Re-posting the entire Personal Development List would not, in my opinion, add value and it is clearly not different to what is available elsewhere.
With this in mind, I have decided to compile a list of my 20 favorite personal growth sites: 10 well known, and 10 lesser known (in no particular order).
The Well Known:
Zen Habits: Leo is pure inspiration. Being a father of 6 (!) and working full-time does not stop him from running one of the most popular personal development sites on the net. How does he do it? He wakes at 4am and is a productivity fanatic, among other things.
Pick The Brain: if mental stimulation is what you seek, this is the site to visit. John’s focus is on intelligent self improvement. He has recently opened the site up to guest bloggers, so there is a great variety of topics covered.
Today Is That Day: what a great name for a site. Aaron writes with such enthusiasm for personal development that it can’t help but be infectious.
John Place Online: John’s articles are always interesting and insightful. Posting approximately 3 times per week, John’s focus is on quality over quantity. He is particularly good for career advice (John tells me he is writing a career book).
Scott H Young: Scott is a young man wise beyond his years. His productivity tips are great, but I think it is his articles regarding habits that make him one of the best.
Live The Power: Karen is a living example that you can change a life of misery and depression to one of happiness and joy. I always feel inspired after reading her articles.
Brian Kim: Brian’s motto is “invest in yourself and make it happen”. I guarantee that reading any of Brian’s excellent articles is a great investment in yourself.
Steve Pavlina: you would have to have been living under a rock to not have heard of Steve Pavlina. His articles are amazing, but it is his forums that make me visit each day.
Synergy Institute: Tristan’s passion for personal development shines through in all of his articles. He has an inspiring story of overcoming adversity and creating the life he wanted (see the interview with him - it is his most popular article).
Genius Types: Brian writes about a wide range of topics, including money, creativity, and life. Be sure to check out his articles on passive income.
The Lesser Known:
A Miracle A Day: Jason’s site is quickly growing and I’m sure it won’t be long before it is considered “well known”. Visually the site looks great, and you can tell from Jason’s writing that he knows what he is talking about.
Scott Andrew Bird: Scott manages a few blogs, but the one that bears his name is my favorite. He has a particular talent for finding interesting and unique stories on the net.
Goddess: a site for those wanting to “let their life be divine”. It is a relatively new site, but I always enjoy what bluskygirl (when will we properly meet? 
) has to say.
Daniel Roach: Daniel is another blogger who takes the time to properly explore the issue at hand. His philosophy is that “lasting changes require lasting effort”.
Success Is In You: Gustav is clearly living a happy and successful life, and he genuinely wants to help his readers do the same.
Goal Setting College: Ellesse is a personal development enthusiast who writes about goal setting, success, and motivation. Check out her articles concerning vision boards.
Cheerful Monk: I only discovered this site in the past week, but I immediately subscribed to it. In one of her most recent articles, Jean dares her readers to “live your own life”. Exactly.
Sui Generis: Derrick is a 17 year blogger from Singapore. He manages to find some of the best links on the net, but it is his thoughtful reflections on life I enjoy most.
Essential Life Skills: Zorka’s site is packed with interesting articles designed to help your personal development and growth. I particularly enjoy the Philosopher’s Corner.
Jenny and Erin: Jenny and Erin describe themselves as on a tongue-in-cheek quest for understanding. I often find personal development sites far too serious, so I love the approach these two ladies take.
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If you have a personal growth site, and are not listed here, my apologies. Firstly, I just do not have the time to regularly read all the sites out there. Secondly, I had to make some tough decisions in narrowing down my list. I would still love to hear about your site, though, so feel free to give it a plug in my comments section.
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20 Comments
September 17th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Hi’ya Peter! I am grateful and honored to be on your list. We read a lot of the same stuff, but you have given me some new places to check out! I suppose it’s time we “properly meet”!
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September 17th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Great list! Thanks for including PickTheBrain.
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September 17th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
bluskygirl: that’s the idea behind the list. Most people will recognize the well known sites, but hopefully some of the lesser known sites that I enjoy can get some exposure.
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September 17th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Hey Peter, I’m indeed very honored to be included in your list too! I’m already subscribed to a lot of the well known sites, time to go through the lesser known list. Thanks for doing the nitpicking for us
Cheers
Ellesse
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September 17th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Thanks Peter! I’m honored to be included on your list.
There’s a few here that are new to me, I’m looking forward to checking them out!
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September 17th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Thanks. =)
I’m honored to be on the list. Glad you like my blog.
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September 17th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
These are some great personal development blogs, great list!
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September 17th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Thank you for linking to the personal development list, and for sorting out your favorites too! There were a few on your lesser know list that I didn’t know about. I added them to the personal development list as well.
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September 17th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Wow, Peter, I can’t tell you how flattered I am to be on this list. I started reading this from my Google feed reader and certainly didn’t expect to see my name come up. Thanks for that, it’s very kind of you. I’ll have to find a way to return the gesture.
Thanks again, and keep up the great work as usual,
Daniel Roach
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September 18th, 2007 at 12:43 am
Hello Peter!
It is quite pleasing to be included with so many other wonderful sites that I love and a couple I look forward to checking out.
Thank you so much for including Erin and myself on this list (particularly as the bonus #21).
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September 18th, 2007 at 12:51 am
Hey Peter. Thanks for including Jenny and I to your list. I especially like that we are the bonus - as we never seem to make our success the typical way! You included some great blogs here - and a few I haven’t had the chance to devour yet - so it looks like I’m going to busy getting acquainted with a few new in the coming days!
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September 18th, 2007 at 1:18 am
Thanks everyone. All I can say is that I had a lot of fun making the list - it gave me an excuse to spend some time getting to better know your sites. I hope I send some traffic to each of you
.
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September 18th, 2007 at 4:51 am
Thanks for including my site in your list Peter! I’m honoured to be counted amongst such wonderful people.
I too considered a condensed list rather than the entire thing, but in the end decided that I would go with the flow, while working on a more unique contribution in the meantime (when I have time).
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September 18th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Whee! Thank you for you very kind words. I really appreciate the vote of confidence (and of course the link!), as my writing is my passion… it is part of my purpose in life.
My name, Jason, means “healer”… and there is very little that satisfies me more than helping someone to heal. Hopefully my site can help me to take that to many more people.
Again, thank you, I am very happy to be on your list, especially with such a good review.
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September 19th, 2007 at 4:52 am
Thank you! What a delightful surprise. You’re already on my technorati favorites list, and now I’ll try to subscribe. I tried a few minutes ago, but the process got hung up.
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September 19th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Thanks for adding me to your list, will put up online on my blog in order to spread the word…
GS
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September 20th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Thanks very much for the mention Peter. There are some brilliant sites on there - looks like I’ve got some reading to do
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December 26th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Peter: I recently came across your blog and would like to share mine with you. It’s called Beyond Behaviors, site about helping people achieve good emotional health and be their best.
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September 4th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Hi - thanks for your list…
I’m slowly going through them all to check out the differences - some great material!
Feel free to check out my site also, I love to hear feedback as it’s only 1 month old.
Take care..
- Ross
http://www.willitchangeyou.com
Your Portal for Personal Growth
Rosss last blog post..Alcohol caused this!
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October 22nd, 2008 at 11:05 am
If your interested in a great personal development site, check out “www.raisedpath.com”
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