When I list my heroes, I am stating of who I think is worthy of emulating in my life. This is a personal list! I never push this on other people! You should have your own heroes and values for whatever goal you’re pursuing.
Current
- Sam Walton: hard working, customer focused, learning machine, determined, common. Focus on the fundamentals every day and do it for decades. Less talking, more doing. (Made in America)
All Time
- James Dyson: creative, persistent, incredible product mind, Edisonian, making things new, self-belief. Go for innovation and control. Aginst the Odds
- Seneca. I read Letters From a Stoic when I was 14. I felt that my entire worldview was validated. One of the philosophers with a clear writing style (alongside JS Mill, Bertrand Russell). An audiobook introduction I like is The Practicing Stoic by Ward Farnsworth.
- Samuel Johnson. Essays in the Major Works. Ancient wisdom here. I read small parts biweekly. In particular: The Need for Enterprise, The Need For General Knowledge, The Role of the Scholar, Limitations of Human Achievement.
- Derek Sivers: the Self-Reliant/Stoic Entrepreneur. Who cares what other people think? Who cares about how business is supposed to be done? Do business for your own reasons and in your own way. Ditto for living life. I think of Derek Sivers as embodying Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance in the internet age. Ancient stoic ideals need modern heroes. Derek Sivers is it! (Anything You Want, Your Music and People)