Your heroes show which way you’re facing

Another way around the question of "What do you want to do?" which answers without an agenda.

So many of my heroes have been songwriters. I do that. But I've been very reluctant, even resistant, to performing my songs. I'm not sure whether that's because I don't want to, or I'm afraid to. It really could be either one, or both.

Thanks for that. A quick and simple exercise.

I quickly jotted down mine:

Steve Jobs

John Hegarty

Carl Jung

Joseph Campbell

Spike Jonze

George Lois

Tinker Hatfield

Dave Trott

Will study them like tea leaves over the next few days.

Writers don't explain their symbols, and I won't explain the metaphor below:

I have been trying to get into fiction, because years ago writers were my heroes and I would read the way a normal person watched television.

I have been sweating, learning the word "writers block," noting what my man-hours (NOT writing fiction) said about my actual values.

I was telling Derek that I was not sweating the writing just now: Instead I was trying to get into reading fiction as much as I used to read. Why? Because:
If a man does not know why he is writing fiction, then he should STOP until he does.

Application: If my meeting group does not know what the topic is, if it does not even know why it is meeting, if I don't know what my relationship is leading to, if I don't know why I am doing the same old vacation, same hobby, or who my heroes are, then I would do well to STOP until I do.

Obviously, by stop I don't mean shoot with my phaser pistol—gone forever—I merely mean hit the pause button to think.

...Now I will go to write down some heroes, starting with folks I respect in my humble everyday life. This will be fun.

My man. This can be a fun exercise, but just because you look up to someone doesn't mean you will love doing what they do. But congrats on doing more writing!

Insightful as usual, and I'm loving the frequent posts lately!

Thanks for all you do, Derek.

p.s. appears there's a little typo: "would sometimes would"

Entreprenuers, Investors, and Intellectuals like Naval Ravikant and Reid Hoffman

If I look at my list I see a jack of all trades, which makes sense, at least for now. One thing they have all in common is they are doing a lot to be helpful to others.

I agree on the conceptual idea, but I disagree on the execution. What I mean with this is that "your heroes" will probably be people with public profiles. People who give talks, people who write books or blogs, etc.

In that regard, some professions tend to have more visibility than others, for example authors.

As you once said about being successful, most entrepreneurs would say Richard Branson is their hero. But there are probably better entrepreneurs who nobody knows.

Also to be fair, if I look at my heroes the only thing they have in common is that they are content creators (and that's why I know them). But the content they create has nothing in common. There's probably a lot of people who'd be my heroes if I knew them, but I don't because they don't have an online presence and aren't my neighbours nor co-workers.

My Heroes:

Joseph Bartz

Frank Forencich

Katy Bowman

Chandler Stevens

Derek Sivers

Tim Ferris.

They teach movement (first 4) simple and direct (derek Tim).

Congratulations, Derek.

This is so good, Derek. What you’re saying is similar to an idea I’ve been developing re: jealousy. In the past, whenever I felt jealous of someone, it was always because I wanted that thing or experience in my own life. I began to realize that jealousy is a friend, an indicator of what I’m supposed to be doing. Jealousy and envy are not the same. I can be jealous of someone without wishing them harm or acting like I deserve something more than they do - that’s envy and that leads to bitterness, unfulfilled potential and broken relationships. But you can be jealous of someone without wishing them harm or tearing them down - you just have to turn it around on yourself and let it fuel you to take action in your own life towards your goals. Thanks for sharing!

This is an awesome article, Derek! Excellent work as always. It's great to narrow down your interests in order to focus on what you truly love the most. I believe we all go through different stages of life where one talent will take over another, for a brief period of time, and allow the brain to dig deeper in one area. I keep enjoying writing songs and recording them when time permits, but I also love graphic design, film editing, photography, acting, and helping others with marketing ideas for their art. I juggle these interests, but my heroes are songwriters and my high school teachers. Thanks Derek for making me think and for an excellent article here. I'm so glad you have some heros to keep inspiring your writing and brilliant ideas! Keep 'em coming!

Trey:)
http://www.WhiskeyChild.com

Wow, what a life-changing exercise! Thank you for writing and sharing this, Derek. My ultimate hero is Thich Nhat Hanh, so I'm not really sure why I'm in the music business haha! Hmmm... food for thought.

Firstly - totally digging the ramped up writing. Always a pleasure witnessing where the light of your mind shines.

Hero is a strong word for me. But people I admire the most (that others know):
Peter Attia
Bill Gates
Michael Lewis
Malcolm Gladwell
Naval Ravikant
Andrew Yang (and I despise politics and am fiercely apolitical)

Upon review, it doesn't really help for me. I of course wish to write with insight and cleverness and panache, and live longer and learn about science and help others be healthy, and come up with goliath solutions to solve massive problems, and fix our broken government...but all this is so broad (and I know it and I love the breadth and I don't see myself losing my interest in these) that inertia keeps me grounded in my ruts. But I have a little boy now so life is bigger than myself, so I suppose ultimately my number one is being the best dad I can be. Not a bad job...Cheers and I look forward to reading more from you.

programming is somehow also writing ...

You are one of my hero sir. I love your mindsets on some things.

I like drafting up a creative family tree. Who are my creative ancestors that I can call upon during my ideation. What would they likely do in this situation? Well, I have the luxury of observing their thoughts in their writing. This helps me determine what they would likely do in my situation. They too happen to be writiers in some capcity. A writer is someone who feels confident enough to present their thought into a format that will live longer than they will. This is couragous, and I think it is why we both admire writers. They run from the ego towards the self and contribute to something much larger than just their small window of time here. Seneca, Lincoln, Dr. Jordan Peterson, You, and Robert Johnson are authors of words that have given me strength to do the inner work. I too seek to foster the same strength in others.

I had started to organize my favorite things here http://jpc2.org/lists

I think my buckets of heroes are similar:
- Entrepreneurs - Musk, Naval, Dalio, last but not least Sivers!
- Philosophers - Kant, Marx, Zizek
- Authors - Taleb, Stoppard, Tolkien

However for me it's tough as you could put almost all of those names into multiple buckets. I think ultimately it comes down to Taleb's quote about being a philosopher king:

twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1112076802300755971?lang=en

"To become a philosopher king, start with being a king, not being a philosopher."

Or for me, keep moving forward as engineer/entrepreneur until you can afford to spend more of your time contemplating the nature of intelligence and purpose.

From a short analysis of my heroes, I'm all about business, marketing and critical thinking.

I love this! I made a list of my top 5 heroes:
1 - Imran Khan (Prime Minister of Pakistan)
2 - Arnold Schwarzenneger
3 - Warren Buffett
4 - Muhammad Ali
5 - Keanu Reeves
.
2/5 have had more than 2 careers.
All 5 of them have patience and work extremely hard.
All 5 of them are multi-millionaires.
3/5 are known for excellence in one major field.
All 5 of them are self made.
.
Gosh, this tells me a lot about myself!

My favorite sheroes and heroes are athletes, engineers, writers, philosophers, and entrepreneurs that choose to live with tenacity, solving humanities biggest problems by doing the best they could with their gifts, right where they were. The keys they all shared were imagination, faith, resolve, resiliency, action and courage. It only takes a spark to start a fire.

I love to write, too. And coming across this article of yours today is validation for me to continue down this path of writing and see where it takes me. I've started to write more lately and post them on a few different sites. I became psychic (and an energy healer) 8 years ago, It's been a fascinating journey that I'm documenting and starting to talk more about as I create TV shows and businesses around these new areas of my life...PsychicSongbird.com, MatchmakerMedium.com, DareTruthLove.com and LanaTheSinger.com. I'm with CDBaby.com/LanaKress. That's how I know you, Derek. I appreciate your sharing!

My heroes are people who try to do good and help as much as they can. And, the last is that they try to be successful as well.

My Heroes:

Kevin Richardson (Lion whisperer)
Jane Goodall (chimpanzee whisperer)
Diane Fossey (gorilla whisperer)
Carol Buckley (elephant whisperer)
Anna Breytenbach (animal whisperer)
Indiana Jones

Wow.... didn't realise who my heroes are until your post and making that fast list! oh wow.

Finding the parts, fragments of self in others parts, resonance... Quite beautiful.. Then there's you.. 🙏 Thank you for sharing

hm,, my heroes are dave brubeck, paul desmond, axel v, picasso, laozi all over the different areas but I'm not an artist nor musician at all! perhaps my current career path is not the right one?

thanks for sharing the book list. I'm reading through your book list. currently, I'm reading the book 'a guide to the good life' by william irvine again after listening to his talk at an event a few wks ago. He's a smart witty man. :)

I don’t have heroes anymore - there are people I admire who’s work I admire. I suppose it depends on your definition of hero...I think you’re confused about your passions and skills...

My favorite people are ones who work to prevent and alleviate suffering in the world. Composers are next. I love reading them talk about their processes. I like reading about the conditions they prevailed in.

Very interesting idea...

I seem to have diverse heroes.

Musicians, film makers, entrepreneurs...

Difficult to say what I feel like myself.

The great thing in life is that we can we anyone or anything we want. If we want it bad enough, and ready to do the work. In the past people live up to 30 years or less. Now we can have multiple lives in one live time. Isn't it great !

I have been trying to figure out the next step for my life for over one year, yet this idea never occurred to me.

My heroes are:
Tim Ferriss
Seth Godin
Dale Carnegie
Jocko Wilink
Naval Ravacant
Paulo Coelho
Derek Sivers

These are my heroes because they have all changed the way I look at the world in some way and they all seem to have a freedom and discipline that I desire.

I don't yet how this insight will direct my next steps but it is insightful non the less.

OMG!! I almost cry, you´re one of my heroes. Thanks Derek

Seneca, Marcus Aurelius. Patton. Stravinsky. Glenn Gould. Dexter Gordon. Chick Webb.Otto Preminger.
William Powell.Barbara Stanwick.Keith Emerson. Iconoclasts always intrigue me.

I look up to you more as a thinker than an entrepreneur. Yes, I learned of you because of the business you created (and the book you wrote) but it was the thoughts you gained and shared from that journey that kept me reading your writing, internalizing (and quoting to others) things you share and following your life through your writing.

That being said when I look at your list of books I think there is a second topic that could be interesting to explore which is: what do your heroes write about?

Songwriting has always been my passion and I've poured my life into it and many dollars also. I've never had a financial success with it but that was not my main aim. I write mostly Gospel songs and the most financial success I've had is with CCLI who licenses songs for churches to use. Money wise I'm not getting rich but satisfaction wise I am. My songs are being heard in churches all over the Christian world. I don't know and may never know this side of heaven whom I'm reaching with the messages in the songs. I do know of one who got saved while listening to some of my songs just before he died of cancer. His wife wrote me to tell me that the messages in the songs led him to salvation. That was worth a million dollars to me.

Derek
Pure gold.
Is the only way to describe your blog.
In particular, today.... your piece/notes on "BOOKS I'VE READ
Thank you for sharing such detailed insight into these worlds.
I just went down the rabbit hole of reading all notes on "The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy"
WOW.
Each note a nugget of gold.
I feel super stoked to have been gifted your list of favourite books. I can meander through this for months to come.
So from Wanaka, NZ-please accept a sincere HUG of warm appreciation for you and for taking the time to write your notes, and share them.
Sigh.
Your writing makes me feel here. alive. vital. breathing. real. reflective.joyful.
AHO !
Take care and hope all is well in your world
Cheerio
Sarah

Yes, it's true. Heroes make a difference in our lives. I know they have in mine. Thank you Derek

This makes it so clear who my heroes are.

Peter Adeney aka Mr. Money Mustache, Naval Ravikant and any other rebel that retires early and doesn't play by the rules.

Listening to Naval and his podcast with Nivi that they created after his tweet storm is like some kind of masterpiece to me. His episodes are like singles and he's stitched them together like an album. So sometimes I'll listen to an episode and sometimes I'll listen to the whole thing. (There's also a transcript of each episode for people who prefer reading instead of listening.)

Each episode is like a song with a song title and there are so many beautiful quotes in there but I'll refrain from quoting directly. :) Quotes are just like melodies to me, they make things easier to remember and to recall them when I need them. But that just might be how my brain works.

It's like your favourite musician creating an album with all the songs that you love and can never get sick of. If there ever was a playbook on how I wanted to live my life this podcast would be it. It's the way they live their lives and retire early while also being kind, humble and giving. That's the kind of life I want to live, that's the kind of life I aim for. Those are the people and those are the kind of people that are my heroes.

Thank you. This is so great.

(Whenever I'm at a crossroads in my life, I find my way back at sive.rs. Because the questions I need to think about are usually laid out in one of your blog posts. Weirdly enough, it's typically one of the most recent ones.)

Some years ago, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. So I started a business (after reading your posts and book on it.)

The business actually worked. Much better than I deserved. But now I'm tired of it. Now working on my biz has become a should, not a want. I go to tradeshows but can barely muster enough 'give a damn' to enter the hall. And I realized that my "why" for the business has shrunk to simply funding the rest of my existence on the planet.

Which it seems to have achieved. Even in light of my most paranoid scarcity imaginings.

And I'm a bit embarrassed to say that my heroes of the moment are guys who got off the success train and are nomading & expating the world. These are the blogs and videos I can't wait to consume. (While biz blogs & videos are consumed out of guilt of my laziness and fear of being overtaken.)

Not that nomads & expats are what most people consider heroes. But I guess they are to me, because every time I look at their posts I wish it were me.

Derek, to me your posts are the most intoxicating blend of clarity and permission.

Ahh, Derek. Life seems to bog me down pretty heavily every few years. Your writing and podcasting always un-bogs my thinking. Thanks man.

great post. my heroes inspire my work in marketing. find out more here http://rudylearningaboutstartups.blogspot.com/2019/11/social-media-has-turned-world-upside.html

Now this is interesting, I love writing shorter forms of poetry but I don't practice as a craft. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I will sit on them for a bit while I consider what to do next.

regards

This exercise helped me evaluate my values. I agree with some comments that you may not want to emulate your heroes.

Mine are mostly content creators (writers, podcasters, youtubers, artists). But my take away is there intelligence, generosity, freedom, kindness and courage to put their ideas into the world.

I see those as very important to me and I strive to improve!

"If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim" Kipling in "If."

I too like writers because they think. If I am riding a bus, without any digital device, then I would rather think, or read, than merely be flatlining my brain. (Note: Before there were devices I observed that the vast majority would ride without reading) In my life I shout Eureka! from thoughts or from suddenly understanding more than from stuff or actions.

I am content driving with my radio/audio turned off, so I can hear myself think. And it's nice to hear my tires.

My heroes:
Otabek Mahkamov
Elon Musk
AZIZ RAHIMOV
Steve Jobs