What are the Best Motivational Audiobooks?

Why do we need to be motivated?

For obvious reasons, we need to find a purpose to start a certain activity or to gain a better perspective on a particular subject.

It all started with books. Then, people were able to purchase LP records or audio cassettes with motivational material, including motivational quotes. Now, we have YouTube with tons of information.

In this post, we will focus mainly on audiobooks. The good thing about the internet is that many books are also available for free.

So, what are the best motivational audiobooks?

It all depends on your preferences. In this post, you will find a list of audiobooks that, in my opinion, are the best.

I will mention books that I have read or listened to and will explain a bit about each one. At the end of this post, I will leave an open discussion. I am sure you have also read some great books, and it would be beneficial for everyone if we can share our experiences with such literature.

Let me start with the very first book I stumbled upon back in 2010.

It was an audiobook, accompanied by a PDF, so I read and listened at the same time to have a better understanding. I also had a USB in my car, so whenever I was driving for a couple of hours on the highway, I would listen to this audiobook.

The book was The Law of Success in 16 Lessons:

The Law of Success in 16 Lessons by Napoleon Hill

I think I don’t have to introduce Napoleon Hill to you.
Not that I knew him personally; what I mean is that he is probably the most famous author in the literature on self-improvement.

The book was published in 1938. However, it originally consisted of 15 separate brochures or pamphlets, and only afterward did Hill create a single book.

Today, we have an updated version available that includes 17 lessons.

I believe you can also download the PDF of the book.
Together with the audiobook available on YouTube, you can both listen and read this intensive course on self-improvement.

You can also find the entire book, lesson by lesson, at this link.

To get through all the volumes of the book, be prepared for it to take more than 20 hours. However, this course is not something you can fully comprehend in just 20 hours. As you will hear, it is better to listen to some lessons several times, ideally with a pen and notebook in hand.

This course is comprehensive, and Napoleon Hill wanted to include every detail. Let me share with you the content:

Volume I

• Lesson 1 – Introduction to the Master Mind
• Lesson 2 – A Definite Chief Aim
• Lesson 3 – Self-Confidence
• Lesson 4 – The Habit of Saving

Volume II

• Lesson 5 – Initiative and Leadership
• Lesson 6 – Imagination
• Lesson 7 – Enthusiasm
• Lesson 8 – Self-control

Volume III

• Lesson 9 – The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For
• Lesson 10 – A Pleasing Personality
• Lesson 11 – Accurate Thinking
• Lesson 12 – Concentration

Volume IV

• Lesson 13 – Cooperation
• Lesson 14 – Profiting by Failure
• Lesson 15 – Tolerance
• Lesson 16 – The Golden Rule
• Lesson 17 – The Universal Law of Cosmic Habitforce

I understand that for some people, it is unnecessarily long.

However, in my experience, if something goes into great detail and the person who reads it is humble enough to comprehend all those details, that person is much better prepared for upcoming situations.

For those who consider The Law of Success in 16 (or 17) Lessons too lengthy, there is a solution:

As a result, Napoleon Hill came out with a shorter version of that book:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich was originally published in 1937 and is based on the booklets that were available prior to the publication of The Law of Success, which we mentioned above.

This book was written at a time when the first major financial crisis hit the world. (Perhaps it was not something that just happened by chance, but that is another discussion).

The point is that, during the darkest time of the modern era, he released a new book called Think and Grow Rich, which became one of the best motivational books in history.

When we check the content, we see similarities with the previous book:

1. Thoughts are things
2. Desire
3. Faith
4. Autosuggestion
5. Specialized Knowledge
6. Imagination
7. Organized Planning
8. Decision
9. Persistence
10. Power of Master Mind
11. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
12. The Subconscious Mind
13. The Brain
14. The Sixth Sense

It still to this day remains the most-selling Napoleon Hill book.

Probably back in 2018, I bought it for my fiance, and after she read it she gave it to her sister.

You also might have noticed that there is also a movie, Think And Grow Rich The Legacy Movie.

Honestly, it is not as good as the book, but still, it is worth watching.

Let’s go on with our list, but before that, I would like to mention what brought me to the 3rd audiobook.

I need to get back to the revised edition of the Law of Success.
As I was reading the following part – I was wondering who this guy is?

This is a screenshot from the book The Law of Success in 17 Lessons (the revised edition that contains comments).

I am always a bit skeptical, and in some instances, probably too much. With this attitude, I started to watch Tony Robbins’ videos on YouTube and realized that this guy really has something valuable to say.

Long story short, I found myself listening to one of his best audio courses on self-development.

Note:
Tony does not consider himself a motivational speaker. Rather, he teaches people how to find the solutions and the energy we all have inside ourselves. He believes we all have the power to take action toward our goals.

It is not always easy, and the following audio course has the answers. Thus, the name Personal Power.

Personal Power II by Tony Robbins

An awesome audiobook together with a workbook was published back in 1996. The audiobook consists of 25 CDs (or 12, depending on where you purchase it). I believe some of the material is available on YouTube as well—search for it.

• And by the way, in the picture here, it really is Tony, back in the mid-1990s.

Tony explains how to achieve success, and in a nutshell, there are four key points:

1. Know your outcome in every walk of your life. The essential question you have to ask yourself is “What is my outcome?” Most people struggle because they don’t know what they really want.
2. Take action towards your outcome. Decide and just do it. (Learn how to use fear)
3. Notice what you are getting from the actions. Are you getting desirable results?
4. If you are not getting the results, change your approach.

In case you decide to purchase the entire program (for example, from Amazon) and you don’t get the workbook inside the package, you can download it. It is called the Success Journal and it is available on the Tony Robbins website.

I have listened to it several times, and every time I found something new. This program can really change your life if you follow it.

From my experience, it is recommended to listen to it at least twice.

The Richest Man in Babylon

This book was published in 1926 and the author is George S. Clason.

The story is set in ancient Babylon but the principles of finance have not changed since then.

The most important thing is saving and then properly investing the money so that eventually, the money will make more money.

If I may add; finances are like a grenade.
If you are not careful it may blow in your hand and it can cause unrepairable damage.

So the biggest takeaway from this book:

• Save 10% of your income no matter what
• Don’t rent but rather own property
• Invest the money, to make more money

Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill

I have not found this book on Amazon or any other source.

To be honest I did not search for it since I did find it on YouTube as an audiobook.

The book was written in 1938 by Napoleon Hil but was not released until 2011.
The reason was that Hill’s wife did not want it to publish, that was because of the role of the Devil. Apparently, it was too controversial back then.

It is written as an interview between the good side of a personality (Mr. Earthbound) and the dark side of a personality (the Devil).

I used to listen to the outwitting the devil before I went to sleep.
What was the most interesting part was the presence of the devil within us.
I mean I could perfectly understand how he acts and why he acts that way.

On the other hand, I could also understand the other “guy”. It is perfectly normal as we all have at least 2 personalities.

Life would go easier without the devil. But maybe we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the progress.
So with that being said once we learn how to deal with the devil, we reach a new level of understanding of life.

Principles by Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio is a hedge fund manager and founder of Bridgewater Associates. The company’s net worth is estimated to be more than $18 billion as of February 2020.

Ray started investing at age 12.
In 1975 he founded the company from his apartment and by 2005 it was the largest hedge fund firm.

During his business life, he learned that certain life situations or problems are happening over and over again and many of them have similar patterns.

So he developed basic principles that can be applied to those situations or problems.
In other words, once we learn how to apply these principles, our life will be easier since we find out that the problem is just another one of those.

This is not outright motivational literature, but it certainly gives you a lot of useful information when it comes to personal life and also business life.
Especially when you run your own company or you are about to this is a great book to be read.

I have not found the free audiobook but you can definitely watch Ray Dalio on YouTube.
Also, here is the 30 minutes version of the Principled for Success (as of today it has more than 5.8 Million views)

As a Man Thinketh – James Allen

Very short and very powerful book.

It was published in 1903 and according to the author, this book ” deals with the power of thought and particularly with the use and application of thought to happy and beautiful issues”

This book is also described as a “pocket companion for thoughtful people”.

It has only 68 pages, you can finish the book within a few hours.

The biggest takeaway?
Here is the thought:

“Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will produce their kind.”

You have probably read it somewhere, right?

Here is the entire book and you can get through it within 2 hours:

12 Rules of Life by Jordan Peterson

Jodan B. Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist and also a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto.

The first time I came accorded Mr. Peterson was an interview on the YT channel Valuetainment.

Then I found a lot of videos he has on YouTube.
In 2013 he started to record his lectures and uploaded them to YouTube.

In August 2018 his YouTube channel had more than 1.8 million subscribers and videos received more than 65 million views.
As of today, his channel has almost 3 Million subscribers and videos have received almost 160 million views!

Here is one lecture on what o do to be successful.

When it comes to his book 12 Rules for Life, it is not available as an audiobook for free (at least not that I am aware of).

Nevertheless, if you want to learn what is the book about, I share with you an interview with Mr. Peterson where he talks about each chapter and explains what is it all about.

As a result of this interview, I decided to buy the book.

And I bought one for my mother as well, the Slovak or Czech translation (can’t remember) as she does not speak English.

Jordan Peterson has a website (www.selfauthoring.com) with a series of online writing programs that help to explore one’s past, present, and future. This course is very affordable, it costs $29.90.

If you currently don’t have a budget for the course, he has also a great Essay Writing Guide. It is a word document and it is available for free.
You can download the guide, Here.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

This book, originally published in 1997, was written by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter.

At first, I thought that Robert had two dads, but that was not the case. His own dad was well-educated but always struggled to make decent money. The other father was his best friend’s father, who had a company and knew how to use money to generate more money.

The story begins with young Robert and his friend deciding to learn how to become wealthy. They both started working for Robert’s friend’s father—for free.

Although they did not like the idea initially, they later realized that it was a great lesson and it helped both of them get through the struggles they encountered later in life.

The book contains practical advice that is simple and easy to implement.

You can find the audiobook on YouTube; it runs for a little over six hours.

Is It Really Helpful?

This is a question you have to answer for yourself.

My point is that we can watch tons of motivational videos and read hundreds of books, and I believe it will be helpful.
But is our life going to change solely based on the number of books we read?

Of course not. We must take some kind of action.
The purpose of such material (whether a book, audiobook, or video) is to make taking action less painful. We become willing to change, and change becomes inevitable.

So, all these books are tools that can flip a switch in our brains.

Depending on your previous experiences, you might need one or two books, or you might need to read a hundred.

It doesn’t matter how many books you read or how long it takes—the most important thing is progress.

When we see that we are closer to our goals than we were a year ago, that’s a sign we are on the right path.

What is your favorite book? Have you read (or listened to) any of the books mentioned above? If so, which one?

I would also like to know what book you would recommend.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. I would love to make this post an open discussion.

Thank you for your support in advance.

Mike