The 22 Best Motivational Audiobooks for Jump-Starting Your Life

In this inspiring memoir, performed in the author’s own voice, show-runner and producer Shonda Rimes shares stories from the year she decided to say yes to each and every opportunity that came her way. While she already had more than enough on her plate with three kids and a successful Hollywood career, opening herself up to unexpected challenges changed her life for the better, pushing her to be a braver person and grow in new and exciting ways. This is a listen that will definitely motivate you to say yes more often in your own life.

If you need a little motivation to clean up and organize your life, look no further than the KonMari method. In her best selling book, narrated with good humor by Audie Award winner Emily Woo Zeller, Kondo gives practical and forthright advice on how to tackle all aspects of your home and life, sort and organize, and get rid of things that don't spark joy. The result? A cleaner, less cluttered home that will inspire peace and harmony, so you can stay focused and keep striving.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is the ever-inspiring creator of the musical Hamilton, about the quintessential self-starter: founding father Alexander Hamilton. He also writes encouraging good-morning and good-night tweets that are loved by thousands. In this delightful collection, narrated by the author himself, Miranda compiles his words of encouragement, crafting the perfect pick-me-up when you're gearing up to do something hard or seeking reassurance or validation.

If you are looking to become more effective and efficient at what you do, we recommend this classic self-help and success guide by educator, business professional, and speaker Stephen Covey. It's a straightforward presentation of the seven things that successful people do in order to help them succeed. This author-narrated listen will encourage you to be proactive, set goals, face adversity, and achieve everything you set out to do.

Science writer Charles Duhigg teams up with clear, crisp narrator Mike Chamberlain for this in-depth look at why human nature includes the instinct for habit-forming patterns. Habit, Duhigg argues, is a driving force behind why we do what we do, and understanding human habits have been at the core of major social change, successful businesses—and even the NFL. If you're looking to make some changes in your life to become more productive, taking the time to understand innate nature and habit will help you make the right moves to establish healthy routines.

If pep talks and positivity don't really motivate you, then this alternative is the audiobook for you. It's a no-holds-barred listen that keeps it real with the core message: sometimes life sucks, things aren't always fair, and, in fact, we do have our limits. As author Mark Manson argues, it’s in knowing what those limits are, accepting them, and then focusing your attention on what really matters in life that true happiness and motivation can be found—a message that’s underscored by the strong performance of narrator Roger Wayne.

If you need a no-B.S., straightforward approach full of practical tips and advice on how to find motivation for work or life in general, this is the perfect audiobook for you. Reese Owen’s guide will show you how to find hours in the day to do all that needs to be done, develop your willpower, fight against fatigue and stress, and maximize productivity. It's also a tongue-in-cheek reminder (brought to life by narrator Fran McClellan’s spot-on comedic timing) that will give you a good-natured kick-start to get things done.

This audiobook, also narrated by the excellent Lauren Fortgang, is ideal for the modern woman, as traditional self-motivation guides often neglect to consider the unique cultural challenges and societal pressures women face. Women are expected to have it all and do it all—from careers to relationships, motherhood, and friendships. It can be overwhelming. Here, Falconer makes an argument for delegating, outsourcing, and putting a stop to caring about stuff that's not really important, so that you can excel at what really matters.

This audiobook is beloved in the motivational genre and has even been recommended by some of the most impressive celebrity tastemakers in the world (like Oprah!). After just a few minutes of listening, you’re sure to be a believer too. Author Rhonda Byrne performs her own text, which focuses on our internal power to manifest change with mindfulness and intentionality, making for the perfect guide on the journey to self-empowerment. Since the idea that simply visualizing a goal can help bring about its achievement can sound a bit far-fetched, Byrne is sure to include examples, research, and testimonials interwoven throughout her narrative to support the legitimacy of the Law of Attraction. She is also joined by the voices of contributors who collectively make this listen feel like an encouraging conversation instead of a how-to manual.

The first edition of Getting Things Done has been a cornerstone of the motivational genre for years, and in this updated version, David Allen has expanded his already foolproof method to account for more modern challenges that the era of technology presents. Productivity, Allen asserts, is simply about organizing your to-dos in the proper way so you don’t overwhelm your brain. Once you’ve done that, it’s possible to reach the ever-elusive inbox zero—both in your literal email server and the rest of your life. Allen narrates this audiobook with the comforting tone of someone who is a true expert in his field. Listening to his anecdotes about how he developed his method is like listening to a particularly great university lecture—whether you decide to take notes or not is up to you.

When was the last time you really considered your limits and whether you’re pushing yourself to achieve all that’s possible in life? This audiobook packs a motivational punch—it doesn’t beat around the bush, but instead teaches you how to wake up and do the work necessary to get what you want. Narrating his own work with an infectious passion for life and success, Cardone lays out his 31 tenets of success, most of which hinge on the notion that being successful takes high rates of activity (10x our normal rate, to be specific). Pushing ourselves into overdrive, Cardone says, gives you the ability to reach for bigger and better in all areas of your life—better personal relationships, stronger moral ethics, bigger risks, and all-out commitment to your dreams.

In her seventh title, best selling author Gabrielle Bernstein allows herself to dive deep into the spirituality of her teachings on the law of attraction. For listeners familiar with Bernstein, it should be an enjoyable, easy jump from her past work to this new exploration, and for new listeners, all that’s required to enjoy is an open mind. Super Attractor is an Audible Editors Pick and an engaging, motivating look at how being in alignment with higher forces at work in our lives can bring us the things we’ve always wanted.

Sitting at the popular intersection between the motivational and entrepreneurship genres, this audiobook provides just as much great life advice as it does strategy for entrepreneurial success. Vaynerchuk, who energetically narrates his own work, encourages the listener not to seek out a career that fits their passions, but to find a way to turn their passions into a career. It is only in doing so, this listen argues, that you can identify the line of work you have enough drive to pursue aggressively to achieve success. Hearing the author tell his own success story—ups and downs included—is as inspiring as it is helpful, and his passion for his own project is the perfect companion to yours.

This ambitious audiobook follows in the footsteps of best selling author Jonathan Haidt’s first book, The Righteous Man, to bring more ancient wisdom to the motivational book canon. Here, he studies individual ideas that have endured through centuries and permeated different cultures, examining the source of their staying power. Listeners are encouraged to find comfort in how blockers to happiness, though they may feel completely unique, have been universally felt by millions across times and cultures. With Haidt’s diligent, thoughtful examination brought to life by the skillful narration of Ryan Vincent Anderson, the listening experience is simultaneously like an enthralling lecture series and an excavation of the wisdom of past ages.

To say this book is popular with listeners would be a massive understatement. Millions of people have engaged with Schwartz’s classic (originally published in 1959), and millions have come away inspired and changed. Today, the wisdom within is just as resonant—and actor Jason Culp’s narration ensures every word has an impact. Schwartz’s message is simple: to get the big results we all dream about, we have to think big first. Once we start thinking big, we can act big and then, finally, achieve big. The best part of this audiobook is how easy the advice is to follow and implement—after each chapter, Schwartz recaps the most important points and practical takeaways so the message never fails to stick.

How to Own Your Own Mind is a unique opportunity to hear motivational advice in the original words (performed with measured, deliberate delivery by actor Robertson Dean) from one of the most revered and successful people in history: Andrew Carnegie. Napoleon Hill’s original interview with the steel magnate provides the structure for each of the three (yes, only three) chapters of this audiobook in which Hill explores the most important steps to having a mind that works with your ambitions instead of against them. The cadence established by the question-and-answer format of this audiobook gives it a rhythmic quality that makes it particularly easy to listen to. But don’t be fooled—the simple structure contains nuanced, in-depth gems of advice for diving into our own thoughts.

You might think having a Navy SEAL as your roommate would bring about an attitude of stoicism—but when author-narrator Jesse Itzler invited Navy SEAL David Goggins to live with him, it instead caused a boatload of unexpected shenanigans. From Goggins’s scheduling a snowy run in the middle of the night to a series of unfortunate walk-ins, Itzler recounts his housemate’s antics in a way that brings some much-needed humor to the motivational genre. Along the winding road of Itzler’s month with a SEAL, expect joy, friendship, and a healthy dose of serious motivation. (After all, Goggins is also an ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, and current world-record holder for most push-ups in 24 hours.) In the end, what he offers Itzler and listeners alike is a much-needed attitude adjustment: what we think we’re capable of is nowhere near our limits

David Goggins, former Navy SEAL and internationally renowned endurance athlete, certainly has a world of expertise when it comes to strength and perseverance. He’s been well acquainted with pain and adversity—from poverty and abuse in childhood to racism—and both success and failure. Life is not easy, Goggins knows and stresses, but your decisions and your mindset can go a long way towards improving your happiness. So, if you’re looking for a large dose of inspiration or need a little push to get over a proverbial hump, there's no better place to start than with Can't Hurt Me.

Cynt Marshall is currently one of the most influential executives in the US, having become the first Black female CEO in the history of the National Basketball Association in 2018. In her debut memoir You’ve Been Chosen, she reveals how her faith and determination allowed her to navigate significant adversity—including surviving domestic violence as a child and advanced stage colon cancer as an adult—to get to where she is today.

Daymond John, the CEO and founder of the $6 billion global brand FUBU and a serial entrepreneur, brings his success story into focus with Founding FUBU. John came from humble beginnings and rose to his current position through grit, determination, and belief in his idea. A passionate supporter of Black-owned businesses, he is also a two-time Webby Award winner for his Black Entrepreneurs Day event. In this memoir, Daymond John imparts his invaluable advice to the listener.

Staying motivated would be easy if everything we had to do matched everything we wanted to do. Unfortunately, that’s not the case—which is something author-narrator Brian Tracy knows all too well. Eat That Frog! is his advice for maximizing our task-doing impact on those items you put off, making you not only happier when they’re complete, but much more efficient too. With crisp, clear narration by Tracy himself, this audiobook is the perfect choice for any listener looking to beat the endless cycle of procrastination, boost productivity, and adopt a better system of time management.

In The Obstacle Is the Way, author and narrator Ryan Holiday posits that successful figures throughout history were not successful in spite of their obstacles, but rather because they engaged with those obstacles and impossibilities in a specific way. The principles and stories Holiday lays out in support of these claims are nothing short of fascinating. In exploring an ancient formula for success with a tone that feels like listeners are on a field trip through time, this audio—which one listener called crystal clear and well-paced—is sure to have you rethinking the way you approach every roadblock along the way.