I’ve been “into personal development” since I was a 13-year-old scouring the Danville Public Library’s audio racks for more Stephen Covey and Tony Robbins. Once I got my driver’s license, I would bump their phat beatz cruising across town in the MOC 55. The 1989 Chevrolet Celebrity lacked a tape deck, but its passenger seat’s safety belt doubled nicely as a boombox holster.
I’ve been more or less familiar with book authors in personal development ever since… but with the delightful proliferation of blogs, I’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cool stuff that’s totally new to me. This table and diagram summarize the results of identifying and exploring 68 noteworthy blogs (which took many hours; be sure to scroll to the chart!). It represents my initial attempt at making sense of it all.
In the chart, each bubble represents a blog from the table above. To make better sense of the chart:
- A bubble’s number ties to the table for reference and is its very rough web traffic rank amongst this peer group
- A bubble’s color ties to its Technorati authority (a measure of how much a blog is linked to, gold is high, blue is medium, brown is low)
- A bubble’s size represents relatively how many pages a blog it has (small is few pages of content, large is many pages of content)
- A bubble’s position indicates the approach of the blog. More reflective, philosophical blogs appear at the bottom, while more tactical blogs are at the top. Meanwhile, blogs that cover many subject areas appear on the left, while blogs with a tighter focus are on the right.
I recommend printing them both out at the same time and just going bananas (B-A-N-A-N-A-S). For more information on the methodology, click here.
While this reference is no Danville Public Library, I do hope you find it a useful tool to discover some of the web’s greats. I’m looking forward to creating a v2.0 with better data that also incorporates all your fabulous recommendations.
Bloggers: this thing is totally a first crack and could really benefit from your comments. Also, I do have a few extra “uncorrected bound galleys” AKA “advance review copies” of Team Up, which releases to bookstores December 29th. If you’re interested in getting an advance copy and doing a review, please holler so I can send you one.
| # | Name | Description | Estimated browser traffic (UV, in K) |
Pages | Technorati authority |
| 1 | Life Hacker | Quick tricks and hacks to enhancing life with a lean toward technology. | 1,837.8 | 216,000 | 818 |
| 2 | Zen Habits | “Finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives” | 261.5 | 5,570 | 659 |
| 3 | 4-Hour Work Week | “Experiments in lifestyle design” by Tim Ferriss. Fascinating tactics for everything from holding your breath to uber-rapid weight loss | 240.4 | 9,600 | 552 |
| 4 | Steve Pavlina | Candid, elongated posts covering topics as mainstream as success psychology and self-employment and as alternative as polyphasic sleeping and polyamory | 217.6 | 41,700 | 541 |
| 5 | Life Hack | “Hacks, tips, and tricks that get things done quickly…” | 194.7 | 8,940 | |
| 6 | Dumb Little Man | “Tips that will save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane” | 145.3 | 1,690 | 622 |
| 7 | 43 Folders | All about “finding the time and attention to do your best creative work,” rich with humorously rambling video | 84.4 | 23,200 | 541 |
| 8 | Tony Robbins | Web home of the big-toothed king of personal development himself. Provides interactive tools, handy info, and plenty of Tony products | 75.6 | 296 | |
| 9 | Unclutterer | “The blog about getting and staying organized. A place for everything, and everything in its place is our gospel.” | 72.7 | 2,260 | 575 |
| 10 | I will teach you to be rich | I guess technically, this is “personal finance” blog, but Ramit just rocks at showing young adults how to save money | 72.4 | 2,000 | 560 |
| 11 | Marc and Angel | “Practical thoughts on a broad range of topics pertaining to life, hacks, productivity, aspirations, health, work, tech and general self improvement.” | 63.1 | 431 | 405 |
| 12 | Pick The Brain | “Dedicated to self improvement with a focus on personal productivity, motivation, and self education…” | 56.9 | 777 | 491 |
| 13 | Positivity Blog | Posts typically include an enumerated number of tips to “social life, health, happiness and general awesomeness” | 53.8 | 440 | 456 |
| 14 | Litemind | Fun explorations in “ways to use our minds efficiently” including creativity, problem-solving and more. | 48.5 | 373 | 469 |
| 15 | Dragos Roua | Thoughtful inquiries into a little bit of everything | 43.4 | 397 | 523 |
| 16 | Think Simple Now | Personal inquiries into “real-life personal issues on our path to happiness and fulfillment, along with practical and simple solutions for those issues.” | 39.6 | 251 | 443 |
| 17 | PluginID | “Named after the slogan ‘Plug into Your Identity’” | 37.8 | 177 | 411 |
| 18 | Steven Aitchison | “Change your thoughts, change your life” | 36.2 | 282 | 418 |
| 19 | Happiness Project | Tips, resolutions, quotations, and reflections on happiness from author Gretchen Rubin | 36.1 | 2,260 | 549 |
| 20 | Illuminated Mind | Advances “a social movement of people liberating themselves through living on their own terms” for “the unconventional soul.” | 30.2 | 151 | 405 |
| 21 | The Chief Happiness Officer | All about “happiness at work” | 27.4 | 1,950 | 409 |
| 22 | Jonathan Fields | Generally awesome “tips, strategies, and conversations at the crossroads of work, life, entrepreneurship & play” | 26.4 | 448 | 528 |
| 23 | Life Optimizer | “How to Live Life to the Fullest Through Personal Growth” | 25.7 | 482 | 480 |
| 24 | David Seah | Intermingling of “design, productivity, and inspiration” | 25.6 | 4,070 | 119 |
| 25 | Escape From Cubicle Nation | Thoughts for first-time entrepreneurs | 22.7 | 420 | 478 |
| 26 | Productivity 501 | “Regular tips and tricks to help increase your personal productivity.” | 21.1 | 1,400 | 495 |
| 27 | Quest for Balance | About “a personal quest to find the balance between the things I need to do and the things I want to do… or finding happiness amidst the challenges of life.” | 20.2 | 282 | |
| 28 | The Wisdom Journal | Tips about personal finance, relationships, and success | 19.0 | 799 | 557 |
| 29 | Alex Shalman | “Practical personal development” from a passionate dental school student | 18.6 | 624 | 483 |
| 30 | The Daily Mind | “A place to help make the daily grind more meaningful.” | 16.5 | 335 | 91 |
| 31 | The Personal MBA | Helps you educate yourself “about advanced business concepts on your own terms” with numerous book references and recommendations. | 16.1 | 633 | 478 |
| 32 | Stephen Covey | Home of the Stephen R Covey community and infrequent blog posts by the famed author himself | 16.1 | 347 | 91 |
| 33 | A Daring Adventure | Variety of posts coming from the perspective of a life-coach / NLP master–complete with engaging cartoon images | 15.5 | 417 | 505 |
| 34 | Keith Ferrazzi | Tips on relationships and networking from a balling speaker/author | 15.5 | 221 | |
| 35 | LifeDev | Tips on “empowering creative people” | 14.5 | 659 | 108 |
| 36 | Scott H Young | A young (hehe, get it?) writer documenting his experiments on getting more out of life (e.g. energy management, speed-reading) | 14.5 | 1,520 | 417 |
| 37 | David Allen | Official web home of David Allen’s GTD (Getting Things Done) mother lode. Seminal stuff. | 14.1 | 829 | 442 |
| 38 | The Change Blog | Articles on personal change, and a real hodge-podge of handy life stuff | 14.1 | 374 | 411 |
| 39 | Christine Kane | Warm, sensible perspectives that just make you feel good and empowered | 13.5 | 1,030 | |
| 40 | Abundance Blog | “Tips and resources to help you increase your creativity, be more productive, and simplify your life.” | 13.5 | 421 | 456 |
| 41 | Hunter Nuttall | Wide variety of content based on the premise that “what world really needed was a holistic site that brings everything together” | 13.1 | 332 | 99 |
| 42 | Productive Flourishing | “The art of meaningful action.” | 13.0 | 344 | 463 |
| 43 | Goodlife Zen | A zen master provides “weekly, practical inspiration” | 12.6 | 289 | |
| 44 | On Simplicity | Blog on simplicity and “creating a happier, easier, more enjoyable life for yourself” | 12.5 | 552 | 499 |
| 45 | My Supercharged Life | Near-daily posts across seven categories: “adventure, committed to cause, continual learning, entrepreneurship, excellence, finances, leadership” | 12.4 | 366 | 488 |
| 46 | Urban Monk | “Personal development for Bliss. Success. Love” | 11.8 | 2,650 | 461 |
| 47 | Learn This | An engineer / mountain unicyclist provides “a productivity site for self learning career, leadership and life improvement tips”–with book reviews! | 11.3 | 468 | 99 |
| 48 | Sid Savara | Sid uses “analysis driven prersonal development” and isn’t afraid to debunk popular myths. | 10.9 | 128 | 454 |
| 49 | Tickled by Life | “Life-enhancement” across nine diverse categories | 9.6 | 1,980 | 130 |
| 50 | Put Things Off | “a refreshingly useless compendium of observations, short stories, unwelcome advice, and autobiographical titbits” | 9.1 | 92 | |
| 51 | Motivate Thyself | Motivation, goal-setting, and life planning | 8.8 | 169 | 99 |
| 52 | Martial Development | “Unlocking human potential through the martial arts” from the funny Chuck Norris fact guy | 8.5 | 960 | 405 |
| 53 | Organize IT | Thoughts on the productivity lifestyle and how to “work smart, play smart” | 8.0 | 597 | 116 |
| 54 | Ririan Project | “Creating a new life… that represents maximum achievement and inner peace” | 7.4 | 312 | |
| 55 | Ego Development | “The way to find inside yourself personal power that can change everything for reaching the perfect life.” | 6.3 | 153 | 99 |
| 56 | John C. Maxwell | Leadership expert/Author/Pastor shares perspectives–and pieces of upcoming book for comment! | 6.0 | 59 | |
| 57 | The Cranking Widgets Blog | “Productivity for entrepreneurs” | 5.8 | 328 | 99 |
| 58 | Quantum Learning | Posts on peaceful conversations and more | 5.7 | 310 | 411 |
| 59 | Life Reboot | Reflections that help to raise awareness and pursue passions | 5.6 | 137 | |
| 60 | All Things Workplace | An executive coach teaces “smart people practical ways to become extraordinary!” | 5.5 | 1,130 | 535 |
| 61 | Avani Mehta | Espouses “themes of positivity, happiness, love, personal power, relationships” | 5.4 | 150 | |
| 62 | Someday Syndrome | Frequent articles on curing “someday syndrome” with posts on “Procrastination. Choice. Happiness” | 4.8 | 505 | 421 |
| 63 | Evolving Times | Explores “the leading edge of thought.” Big into law of attraction | 4.6 | 208 | 112 |
| 64 | Will It Change You | “All about being challenged, staying motivated, making the most of life and getting excited about living again.” | 4.5 | 260 | |
| 65 | Insight Writer | “Personal Development, Personal Finance, and Personal Health.” And it feels personal with all the smileys | 4.4 | 237 | |
| 66 | Powerfull Living | Helps readers “find success and happiness in your life.” Often has free teleseminars with guests | 4.3 | 412 | 113 |
| 67 | Life Coaches Blog | Five life coaches banded together and started creating a variety of polished personal development articles | 4.2 | 685 | 1 |
| 68 | Timeless Information | “Discussion about the thinking you do and how you connect with those around you.” | 4.0 | 312 | 110 |
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks, this is incredibly helpful and amazingly detailed. I can see the work you put into this! I can’t wait to check out the sites your reference.
This really is a great piece of work, you must have spent a long time on it. Thanks also for the link on the explanation post!
Pete – this is awesome! As a personal development blogger, also also as an econ/comp sci/stats geek, I salute you. I’m tweeting this!
If you’ve got more pre-release copies, of Team Up – I’d love to take a look at one and review it on my site.
Nice work once again, very cool! There are tons of other pieces of data that would be interesting – multi author, post frequency, specific subject matter on the tight blogs, etc. I am not sure what is feasible or appropriate, but who doesn’t like a good spreadsheet and graph!
Pete…you are incredible. The DPL would be proud. And I remember the Celebrity!!! : )
Whaaa?? Wow! This is amazing. I can’t wait to make it onto this list.
Good stuff.
Thanks
Wow. This is exactly why I ask for your assistance with all things related to data and Excel!
I spent 3 years where my wife worked for Bain & Co. I know Marimekkos and data driven like I had worked there myself. I can see you were well Bainified – but great to see this analytical talent put to an interesting and useful end. My new 2010 goal is to make it onto your list
I teach MBAs and am currently writing a book “The Human Journey: How to accomplish what matters most; Enduring Human Performance”. The section on accountability groups is only just taking shape (which is how I found your blog). I would love to share experiences and connect to discuss this stuff. Best. Conor
Andrea, Thanks for the public Excel props!
Conor, I’m still trying to figure out how to work a mekko into the blog…will welcome suggestions
. I’m certainly intrigued by this work.
google
Hiya, good day.. Your content is quite impressive. I never thought that it was possible to do something like that until after I read your page. You definitely gave an excellent insight on exactly how this kind of whole scheme functions. Ill make sure to visit for more tips. Keep writing!
Thank you for the great article. I will follow you via RSS.
I have made it through some of your blog and so far so good. I’m still a little lost on the subject, but plan on saving it to my favorites and coming back. I have found several other sites and am trying to consolidate them all so i can compile a list of resources.
Thanks for sharing this helpful info!