I’ve Watched 600+ YouTube Channels so Far — These 6 Are the Best
Spanning self-improvement, fitness, personal finance, philosophy, and more
YouTube is a hulking, double-edged sword.
While you can learn literal rocket science from scratch, it isn’t hard to deepen your eyebags by bingeing pirated Anime and blonde girl vlogs.
After YouTube incinerated my college years, it settled the debt by putting my personal growth on steroids.
The platform isn’t to blame or praise — it’s the creators you choose to follow.
Let me help you with some stellar recommendations — diamonds I’ve uncovered in my decade-long stint as a YouTube miner.
6) Calisthenic Movement
No better way to start this list off than with CaliMove.
True to their channel’s name, Sven and Alex have truly pioneered a movement — of making high-quality fitness education free.
They are also debunking the myth that you need a fancy gym to build a strong, functional, and aesthetic body.
Despite achieving massive success, CaliMove has only doubled down on its production quality, factual correctness, and content.
Branching out from bodyweight fitness, they also make amazing videos on injury prevention, physiotherapy, exercise tutorials, posture correction, and self-improvement.
5) Andrei Jikh
Andrei’s mastered the art of amalgamating personal finance, magic tricks, light humor—and Yoda memes.
Jokes aside, Andrei produces some of the most engaging, honest, and easy-to-digest finance videos. Here’s an example:
Macroeconomics. Cryptocurrency. Geopolitical concerns. Government policy changes. Border tensions. Interest-rate hikes—Andrei stitches them all into one coherent narrative.
Most finance YouTubers “sell out” — producing fear-mongering dishonest videos and endorsing sh*tty MLM schemes.
Unlike them, Andrei Jikh has stayed honest.
Rather than “How to make the most money,” Andrei takes a “How best to understand money” approach.
4) Alex Hormozi
Alex’s USP? He has nothing to sell you.
No sneaky sales funnels leading to “exclusive” 1-on-1 coaching or mastermind groups. No pesky ads. No snake-oil sponsorships. No affiliate links.
As a 31-year-old centimillionaire, Alex’s only intent is to share the best business and life lessons.
Some of his videos are so value-packed that it feels illegal that they’re free.
Even if you’re not into entrepreneurship, his mindset-shifting ideas and mental models are gold.
Since the time he started uploading, he’s rapidly upgraded his production quality, editing, thumbnails, and content presentation.
The meteoric growth of his channel has only been a side effect of this good samaritan effort.
3) 3Blue1Brown
Cramer’s rule. Binomial distribution. Hilbert’s curve. Matrix exponentiation. Bayes’ theorem. Fourier transform. Eigenvalues. Riemann's hypothesis.
You either haven’t heard these terms — or they made you break into a cold sweat.
95% of people think math is a scary behemoth of sheer boredom — but Grant Sanderson’s out to disprove them.
Through his 3B1B videos, Grant lays bare the bewitching charm of math.
What’s incredible is the sheer ease with which he breaks down complex topics into easy-to-digest videos — especially the series on AI neural networks.
If you’re a curious soul who orgasms to “Aha!” moments, 3B1B’s your nirvana.
2) 1STMAN
In a world of weak and toxic male role models, Kris Sturmey from 1STMAN is a gust of fresh air.
An ultra-rare combo of humility, intelligence, benevolence, honesty, and a brutal work ethic.
No wonder he built himself from a balding, broke, street guy to a modern-day Viking demigod millionaire.
While every YouTuber’s snorting the ad-sense money, juicy sponsorships, and affiliate moolah — Kris has stuck true to his mission since the start.
Simple camera setup. Plain truthful video titles. Dignified apt thumbnails. And 20 to 45 minutes of spitting absolute facts.
Literally the antithesis of what does well on YouTube — but it was this sheer integrity that helped him accumulate an audience of intensely driven men.
No man on the planet has my respect as much as Kris does.
1) The Pursuit Of Wonder
Philosophy has always been the stuff of dusty alcoves, raving lunatics, and closeted thinkers.
But through brilliant storytelling, surreal visuals, and soothing instrumentals, The Pursuit Of Wonder unlocks deep philosophical ideas for the public.
Here’s an amazing doorway to this addictive library of gut-punching wisdom:
Be it spiraling anxiety or ramping stress, one The Pursuit Of Wonder video brings me back to a soothing awe-filled calm.
The actual wonder?
How Robert Pantano has made his Pursuit Of Wonder videos free.
Final Thoughts
No way is this an absolutist list of the best channels I’ve ever watched.
This is more of a well-rounded list of diverse YouTube channels I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and found valuable.
Kurzgesagt. Improvement Pill. Hamza. The School Of Life. Ted-Ed. Alpha Destiny. Ali Abdaal. David Hammond. Masculine Theory. Mystics Of India. Fitness FAQs. Think School. MIT OpenCourseWare.
There are tons of other amazing channels that didn’t make it to the list.
If you had to rank your top 6 YouTube channels, how would the list look? I’m curious.
