Five (or more) role models and the characteristics that make them worthy of admiration and emulation
Writers
There are many writes that I admire but I below are my favourites:
- Stephen King (Fantasy/Horror)
- Isaac Asimov (Science Fiction)
- Seth Godin
Although I definitely love and admire all of there writing the thing I found most admirable is there dedication and and consistency. I believe all three are huge advocates of writing every day. I have read in their autobiographies that both Stephen King and Isaac Asimov wrote every morning usually starting early and finishing around midday. Seth Godin has written many times, on his daily blog, about writing everyday.
Like Charlie Engle mentioned below Stephen King has discussed his issues with drink and drugs and as has Charlie Engle has now been a long time sober. Sobriety and will power is an very admiral quality.
Entrepreneurs
I could certainly mention the likes of Richard Branson and Steve Job who are of course hugely impressive and have undoubtedly changed the world but my list for role models would be:
- Matt Mullenweg (Automattic CEO owner of WordPress)
- Joel Spolsky (Founder of Fog Creek Software and creator of Trello)
- Gerald Ratner (Previously head of Ratners Jewellers)
- Michael Acton Smith (Moshi Monsters and the Calm App)
Runners
As I have become interested in running and I have read a few books by people who are normally not traditional athletes but show amazing dedication to training, taking part and completing their races. The stories are nearly always as much as a mental challenge as a physical:
- Charlie Engle
- Vasos Alexander
I am sure there are many others but I have not got round to reading their books yet!
Other inspiration
- Ant Middleton
Characteristics I admire
- Sobriety
- Focus
- Consistency
- Doing the hard thing
- Bounce-back-ability (it’s a thing!)
- Dealing with failure
- Focus on physical and mental health
