​8 Non-Real Estate Podcasts You Should Be Listening To

When my Spotify subscription ran out last year, I was left with a void in my 35-minute commute to work (BTW that is extremely short for Southern California standards). I was looking for something to fill that void each day. Enter the podcast.

I am a big fan of several podcasts. It’s the perfect format. Most are about 45 minutes to 1.5 hours long. They are easy to digest and can be insanely interesting. Some are interviews. Others are dialogues between hosts. But best of all, all of them are FREE, which sure beats the $10 monthly subscription to Apple Music or Spotify.

Here’s a list of my favorite non-real estate podcasts that can help you out with different aspects of your business and personal life.

1. The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss, author of the bestselling (and incredibly awesome) book The 4 Hour Work Week, has a podcast where he interviews entrepreneurs, artists, authors, entertainers, and innovators. Although most interviewees are in the Silicon Valley world (Ferriss lives in San Francisco), each of the them have a wealth of knowledge about founding and bootstrapping startups. And this is where most RE investors get hung up in my opinion. I know people who have dismissed Ferriss because of his book, but typically they haven’t even read the book. Sure the title is a little gimmicky but his lifestyle design ideas are as relevant as ever for RE investors and entrepreneurs.

Sample guests: Jamie Foxx, Chris Sacca (venture capitalist), Rick Rubin, Tony Robbins

2. The Dave Ramsey Show

Dave Ramsey is a financial advisor, radio host, motivational speaker, and one of the most trusted personal finance gurus of all time. In debt? No worries, because Ramsey will help you climb out of the hole. Each of his podcasts clock in at around 40 minutes and he gives pragmatic advice on how to manage your assets no matter if you’re a millionaire or in debt up to your neck.

Interesting tidbit: Ramsey had a real estate portfolio in his mid-20s worth $4 million.

3. The James Altucher Show

Continuing on my tirade of entrepreneurial podcasts, be sure to check out the James Altucher Show. Altucher is a self-made entrepreneur who has created 20 companies (including 17 that failed). He’s also a former hedge fund manager and the author of the book Choose Yourself! Although he’s often dismissed for his radical views (he doesn’t believe in college or homeownership), I love the guy. His transparency into his personal life is a rare and valuable gift and his opinions may seem unusual at first, but they usually ring true.

Sample podcast: AA Ep 272: How to Make 7-Figures a Year on Youtube

4/5. The Cardone Zone/Young Hustlers

These podcasts are hosted by perhaps the greatest salesman of our time, Grant Cardone. And they are the antidote you’ve been looking for to jumpstart your life no matter what you chose to do. I think of all real estate professionals as salesmen/women, no matter what your field or area of expertise. At some point in your investing career you are going to have to sell people on yourself (BTW, THIS is your greatest asset). Cardone’s book The 10x Rule changed my life and got me to think on a much larger scale. Cardone (and his Young Hustlers co-host Jarrod Glandt) host shows once a week and will get you to pick up the phone and start dialing potential deals as fast as your fingers can fly. If you’re feeling bold enough, they answer calls each week on their live podcast. If you’re a millennial, you need to be listening to Young Hustlers. It will inspire you to think about your financial life differently.

Sample podcast: Ep. 193: Cold Calling is Dead Because You Suck

6. The Smart Passive Income Podcast

Speaking about transparency, perhaps no one is more transparent than Pat Flynn who goes as far as to publish his monthly income statements. Flynn was on the outs of his architectural career, and decided to start this blog/podcast to document his experiments with passive income. He is a self-made guy and his podcasts offer a great look into how you can bootstrap your own online business. Although he doesn’t discuss real estate, he’s looking for the same things as real estate investors...building systems now that will automate cash flow in the future.

Sample podcast: From Welfare to Nearly $1 million with Kimra Luna

7. Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics is the 2005 bestselling book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. For those not familiar with the book, Levitt (an economist) and Dubner (a journalist) expose weird ways the world works and how we can benefit by understanding them. Example: Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? They blow the lid on riddles in economics and have fun explaining these mysteries. If you are going to be an investor, it’s an invaluable tool to be able to “predict the future.” Looking through this podcast is a good place to start understanding human eccentricities and incentives.

Sample podcast: How to Be Less Terrible at Predicting the Future

8. The Joe Rogan Experience

OK…I will admit that this one won’t help you achieve your dreams of being a real estate investor. But if you want to have a good belly laugh like you haven’t had in years, tune into this hilarious podcast. This is one of my favorites. Rogan and his array of guests cover everything from MMA to conspiracy theories to comedy, healthy eating, and everything in between. Well worth a listen.

That's it.

Do you have a podcast you think I’m missing here? I mean there’s only so many hours in the day. Let me know in the comments so I can start listening!