Author Seth Godin differentiates between heroes and mentors, saying:
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"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."
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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
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - Material Ecology
Bill Watterson
Philosophy
Why? - Think like a child. Curiosity is the most valuable resource in the world.
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Bodies of Work I Like - Calvin & Hobbes
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Astrophysics
Why? - Science is sexy, and vital to understanding everything
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Bodies of Work I Like - StarTalk Radio
J.K. Rowling
Storytelling
Why? - Our minds are magical places and have no limit on creation
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Bodies of Work I Like - Harry Potter
Anton Gaudi
Architecture & Design
Why? - Mother Nature is the source of Divine art and structure; Biomimicry
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Bodies of Work I Like - Sagrada Familia - Barcelona
Paul Graham
Technology & The Future
Why? - Deconstructing the exciting world of startups and company building
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - Ignited Minds
Ayn Rand
Philosophy & Storytelling
Why? - Objectivism and Libertarianism; Capitalism should be cherished
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - Connections TV Series 1, 2, 3
Charlie Munger
Investing & Philosophy
Why? - Being the ultimate investor and capital allocator
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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
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - Principles; Bridgewater Capital
Michael Pollan
Storytelling
Why? - Identifying the value of taking our foods and minds seriously
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - The Joe Rogan Experience
Yuval Noah Harari
Storytelling
Why? - Myths and history are important and fascinating
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Bodies of Work I Like - Sapiens
Jim Rohn
Personal Development
Why? - Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better
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Bodies of Work I Like - YouTube audiotapes
Edward Bernays
Behavioral Sciences
Why? - People are, at heart animals and are easily manipulated, especially in groups
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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
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - |
James Altucher
Personal Development
Why? - Everyone can be creative and 'choose themselves'. Experiment and control our identity
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - Guns, Germs & Steel
Vishal Khandelwal
Investing
Why? - Teaching value investing from a First Principles framework
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like -
Seth Godin
Personal Development
Why? - Monk like approach to crafting your own identity and building brands
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like -
Carl Jung
Behavioral Sciences
Why? - Identifying personality types; Creating the entire foundation for modern psychology
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Bodies of Work I Like - |
Leonardo Da Vinci
The Arts
Why? - Being the quintessential Renaissance Man
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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
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Bodies of Work I Like - The Laws of Human Nature; 48 Laws of Power