A book can change your life. A film can also change your life and the way you carry yourself. If you watch a really inspirational film, it can change the way you see things and act.

Personal development films

Without further delay, here are my top 6 films about Personal Development, if you haven’t seen them, I strongly suggest you get yourself a copy and watch them all at least once each!

Top inspirational movies of 2017 (list)

I’m going to summarize each movie a little bit, but don’t worry, even with a summary I won’t give away the twists/things you’d rather find out for yourself. Clicking on a link will open a new tab, so you won’t lose your place.

1: The Shawshank Redemption

This film shows the internal struggle of a man who is wrongly accused of a crime and thrown in jail. He battles with inner demons as well as external threats, and is forced to change his mindset, and his entire character to deal with the new environment.

In a seemingly hopeless and depressing situation, he finds hope and manages to keep himself motivated. He struggles on, sometimes through pain and a sense of ‘hopelessness’. While dark at times, the end message is beautiful and needs to be seen to be fully appreciated.

2: Limitless – Bradley Cooper

This is a good feel good film, it shows a man who by discovering something is able to more than quadruple his brain power and the transformation you see in his life is incredible. Going from an unknown writer to a multimillionaire that huge companies are coming to for advice all in the space of a few months. It makes you think about the human brain and how we only use a small fraction of its potential. A great film about personal development.free your mind.

3: Avatar

Avatar shows a disabled man struggling to get through life become more connected to life when he is offered the chance to ‘take control’ of an alien body through a mental connection. It’s futuristic and flashy but it shows that while the situation can seem hopeless at times, our minds are never caged unless we let them become caged.

The film shows him slowly become more and more alive in this ‘alien body’ known as an Avatar. He lives through it on another planet and is able to go on adventures and eventually do something amazing.

4: The Bucket List

The Bucket List is a classic film about Personal Development, it shows two people who are diagnosed with a terminal illness, given a set amount of time to live and decide to start living.

They compile a list of things they’ve always wanted to do, in the form of a ‘Bucket List’ and work through that list. Although they’re well past their prime in terms of age, they just go out and start living. It’s a very powerful film and shows us that although we tend to get too comfortable in our lives, it’s easy to forget what it is that we really want to do in life.

5: The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid is a brilliant film about a small boy who learns how to fight and use karate to triumph over his opponents. It shows his transformation and skill improve as he is trained by the old Karate master he crosses paths with.

What’s good about this film is that it shows him improving his skill over time, and it shows how hard it really is to become excellent at any skill. It shows that although it’s hard, in the end if you put the work in, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, you can become amazing.

6: Yes Man! – Jim Carrey

The film, ‘Yes Man!’ shows Jim Carey attend a Personal Development Seminar and decide to take on the challenge of saying yes to any opportunity that comes his way. This is probably one of my favorite films about Personal Development.

It is meant to show us that we miss out on so many of life’s adventures by simply staying at home or refusing offers from friends family etc to go out and do things. It shows him start to say yes to everything and his life gets gradually more and more interesting and filled with meaningful experiences. He travels, picks up a hitchhiker, and much more.

The best personal development movie?

What’s the best one? Well, personally I think it’s.. Well.. Personal!

Everyone is different so the best one is whichever movie makes you feel the most driven to act and to improve yourself. For me it’s a mixture of loads of films but it might be one in particular for you!

So that’s my top 6 films about Personal Development, I included only a small summary because I didn’t want to give away the whole story! That’s something you need to experience for yourself. There are small links to the films if you are interested and decide to grab a copy and see what they’re all about.