Author Seth Godin differentiates between heroes and mentors, saying:
"Mentors provide bespoke guidance. They take a personal interest in you. It's customized, rare and expensive.
Heroes live their lives in public, broadcasting their model to anyone who cares to look."
Here is my shining Hall of Heroes
Richard Feynman
Astrophysics
Why? - Anything can be deconstructed and learnt, and then taught. Foundations and fundamentals are key
Bodies of Work I Like - Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman
Neri Oxman
Architecture & Design
Why? - Future landscapes can be grown, and don't have to be assembled. Combining Science, Engineering, Design & Art
Bodies of Work I Like - Material Ecology
Bill Watterson
Philosophy
Why? - Think like a child. Curiosity is the most valuable resource in the world.
Bodies of Work I Like - Calvin & Hobbes
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Astrophysics
Why? - Science is sexy, and vital to understanding everything
Bodies of Work I Like - StarTalk Radio
J.K. Rowling
Storytelling
Why? - Our minds are magical places and have no limit on creation
Bodies of Work I Like - Harry Potter
Anton Gaudi
Architecture & Design
Why? - Mother Nature is the source of Divine art and structure; Biomimicry
Bodies of Work I Like - Sagrada Familia - Barcelona
Paul Graham
Technology & The Future
Why? - Deconstructing the exciting world of startups and company building
Bodies of Work I Like - Hackers & Painters; www.paulgraham.com/essays
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Leadership & Strategy
Why? - Legendary love for science, teaching and his nation, all while staying true to his values and principles
Bodies of Work I Like - Ignited Minds
Ayn Rand
Philosophy & Storytelling
Why? - Objectivism and Libertarianism; Capitalism should be cherished
Bodies of Work I Like - Fountainhead; Atlas Shrugged
Alain de Botton
Philosophy
Why? - Realist approach to getting comfortable with and coping with Life's banalities
Bodies of Work I Like - School of Life; Book of Life; How Montaigne Can Save Your Life
Anthony Bourdain
Storytelling
Why? - The story of cultures through their food.
Bodies of Work I Like - Parts Unknown; No Reservations
Masayoshi Son
Technology & The Future
Why? - The audacity to have a boyhood dream, and have a 300-year vision gameplan, the infinite game
Bodies of Work I Like - Softbank; Cluster of No. 1 Strategy. Fund of Funds Vision Fund
Tim Urban
Storytelling
Why? - Everything should be questioned; In depth long-form is sexy
Bodies of Work I Like - Wait But Why. Esepcially the Musk series and Reasoning from First Principles
Aswath Damodaran
Investing & Venture Capital
Why? - Anything can be Valued
Bodies of Work I Like - The Little Book of Valuation; Corporate Finance class; Valuation class
Charles Duhigg
Personal Development
Why? - Keystone habits. Cue -> Routine -> Reward : Craving
Bodies of Work I Like - Power of Habit
Walt Disney
Storytelling
Why? - What you can imagine, you can create; Ability to go against all odds, and bet it all, to build a timeless Happiness delivering empire
Bodies of Work I Like - The Walt Disney Company
Naval Ravikant
Technology & The Future
Why? - Philosopher Angel Approach to Business & Life; Life as a Single Player Game
Bodies of Work I Like - AngelList; How To Get Rich - tweetstorm
Shekhar Gupta
Storytelling
Why? - For decluterring complex stories in a world of noise via unbiased storytelling, with facts
Bodies of Work I Like - The Print - Cut The Clutter; Walk The Talk
James Burke
Technology & The Future
Why? - Everything in the World is connected and the evolution of inventions is fascinating
Bodies of Work I Like - Connections TV Series 1, 2, 3
Charlie Munger
Investing & Philosophy
Why? - Being the ultimate investor and capital allocator
Bodies of Work I Like - Berkshire Hathaway; Poor Charlie's Almanack; The Psychology of Human Misjudgment
Shane Parrish
Community Building
Why? - Building a community of pure knowledge and wisdom
Bodies of Work I Like - The Knowledge Project Podcast; Farnam Street
Ray Dalio
Philosophy
Why? - Principles are vital. Life needs feedback loops. Radical transparency and radical honesty
Bodies of Work I Like - Principles; Bridgewater Capital
Michael Pollan
Storytelling
Why? - Identifying the value of taking our foods and minds seriously
Bodies of Work I Like - How To Change Your Mind
Joe Rogan
Storytelling
Why? - Insatiable curiosity and urge to question everything; You can fashion yourself into anything you want to be
Bodies of Work I Like - The Joe Rogan Experience
Yuval Noah Harari
Storytelling
Why? - Myths and history are important and fascinating
Bodies of Work I Like - Sapiens
Jim Rohn
Personal Development
Why? - Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better
Bodies of Work I Like - YouTube audiotapes
Edward Bernays
Behavioral Sciences
Why? - People are, at heart animals and are easily manipulated, especially in groups
Bodies of Work I Like - Father of Modern Advertising
Mukesh Ambani
Entrepreneurship
Why? - Unparalleled audacity to disrupt, relentlessly. Creating a dynasty and empire; Whatever you do, do at scale
Bodies of Work I Like - Reliance Jio; Reliance Retail
Archimedes
Astronomy
Why? - For questioning the status quo and changing the Centre of the Universe; Leverage is Key
Bodies of Work I Like - |
James Altucher
Personal Development
Why? - Everyone can be creative and 'choose themselves'. Experiment and control our identity
Bodies of Work I Like - The Altucher Confidential
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Storytelling
Why? - Humans act based in certain predictable patterns, and according to biases. The financial world is a theatre for the human condition
Bodies of Work I Like - Fooled by Randomness; Skin in the Game; Antifragile
Paul Stametts
Mysticism Spirituality & Meditation
Why? - Mycology is an amazing Gift from Nature
Bodies of Work I Like - Interviews where he appears
Jordan Peterson
Personal Development
Why? - Spreading uncomfortable truths, and serving as a 'father' for a fatherless generation
Bodies of Work I Like - 12 Rules of Life; Maps of Meaning
Ryan Holiday
Personal Development
Why? - Reviving Stoicism and conveying it as a balanced tool for Modern Living
Bodies of Work I Like - The Daily Stoic; Ego is the Enemy; Obstacle is the Way; Conspiracy
Daniel Kahneman
Behavioral Sciences
Why? - Identifying and classifying 104 cognitive biases
Bodies of Work I Like - Thinking Fast & Slow
Jared Diamond
Storytelling
Why? - Being able to wade through human history to understand why some communities have more "cargo" than others
Bodies of Work I Like - Guns, Germs & Steel
Vishal Khandelwal
Investing
Why? - Teaching value investing from a First Principles framework
Bodies of Work I Like -
Ramit Sethi
Finance & Personal Development
Why? - Simplifying convenience. Everything is negotiable. Automation is key and liberating. Asking for things is underrated. Those who ask, get. Exercise your "ask" muscle
Bodies of Work I Like -
Seth Godin
Personal Development
Why? - Monk like approach to crafting your own identity and building brands
Bodies of Work I Like - Linchpin; Purple Cow; His daily blog posts - seths.blog
Maria Popova
Writing
Why? - Curating quality meditations and writing in the age of information overload
Bodies of Work I Like -
Carl Jung
Behavioral Sciences
Why? - Identifying personality types; Creating the entire foundation for modern psychology
Bodies of Work I Like - |
Leonardo Da Vinci
The Arts
Why? - Being the quintessential Renaissance Man
Bodies of Work I Like - All his inventions; all his art
Robert Greene
Storytelling
Why? - Using the lens of history to identify patterns in human nature that we can learn from
Bodies of Work I Like - The Laws of Human Nature; 48 Laws of Power