Who are your heroes? What makes them a hero? Usually it’s some character trait that we admire. Our heroes form our vision for who we want to become. Since I’ve been exploring who I want to become a lot recently here’s a summary of my current heroes, what they did, and what character qualities they had which I desire to emulate. Who are you? What do you want? Heroes give us an encapsulated version of these desires in another individual. We can take what we want and leave what we don’t and depending on our exposure to them, our character may begin to reflect theirs. Those who you uphold as your heroes will have a profound impact on your life. I urge you to consider who your heroes are!
Non-fiction Characters:
- Jesus: (God, sacrificed himself then rose again) He was a great man who perpetuated ideas including as “The Greatest Commandment” (to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength), “The Golden Rule” (love your neighbor as you love yourself), grace, and mercy, all of which are ideals which I want to live my life by.
- William Love (My dad): His love for Jesus, his love, loyalty, and devotion to our family, his provision for our needs, his enthusiastic and perpetual curiosity, his love for other people, his desire to live a life of significance.
- George Washington (First U.S. President): He motivated and led an army against nearly impossible odds. His ability to walk away from power also stands out.
- William Willburforce (British Politician, Abolitionist): His laser-like focus on a single, just goal throughout nearly his entire life, and his commitment to follow his own conscience, not a political party. He publicized Thomas Clarkson’s research to bring about a significant change.
- Thomas Edison (Inventor of the lightbulb, entrepreneur): His perseverance in spite of failure after incremental improvement after failure. His continual ability to find how to offer people value.
- C.S. Lewis/Francis Schaeffer/Os Guiness (Theologians/Authors/Apologetics): Their pursuit of truth and commitment to explore Christianity without sacrificing their intellect.
- Leonardo da Vinci (Artist, Inventor, Engineer, Polymath): His inventive streak and desire to think innovatively about nearly everything while also performing so many arts with great skill.
- Leon Battista Alberti (Renaissance man): A great Renaissance man, an author, artist, architect, sculptor, and athlete.
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author): A brilliant author and psychologist who influenced my very definitions of life, love and liberty. An obviously passionate man who had faced his own death, yet kept going.
- Thomas Jefferson (U.S. President): His continual devotion to learning, his leadership and brilliant writing ability, his opposition to banking, his architectural innovation.
- Teddy Roosevelt (U.S. President): His commitment to excel despite initially being stricken with severe asthma, his hard-nosed treatment of criminals, his principle to “speak softly and carry a big stick”, his courage, and his trust-busting.
- Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister): His brilliant oratory skills, his ability to lead a country under extreme circumstances and his never give in speech.
- Chuck Yeager (Pilot): He broke the sound barrier with broken ribs in a plane when many said it was impossible. The man was brave beyond belief.
- Albert Einstein (Physicist): Someone who pursued imaginative and ingenious research, not just putting his head down and submitting to the expectations of incremental improvements.
- Marco Polo (Explorer, merchant): A perpetual explorer.
- Elon Musk (Entrepreneur): Willingness to take on tasks he’s passionate about and bring about realistic technological innovation.
- Rick Lind/Peter Ifju (Professors): My research advisors, tirelessly advancing the state of the art in unmanned air vehicles while teaching enthusiastically
- Sean Parker (Entrepreneur): His leadership at Facebook, his sharp intellect which he uses to help people through Causes.
- Johnny Chung (Researcher): He focused his technical work on areas where it could help other people and then gave work away that could easily have made him a great deal of money.
- Thunderbird Pilots/Astronauts: They are the cream of the crop and have dedicated themselves to developing a skillset requiring enormous precision.
Fictional Characters:
- Jason Bourne: He is his own man and has more skills than I can possibly name. He has been refined by years of testing.
- Aragorn: The man stepped up to his destiny even when it was to become king to oppose a tyrannical evil.
- MacGyver: A “nice guy” with a bit of a bite and the ability to think on his feet.
- Michael Westen: The spy with a bit of a heart and a knack for hacks.
- Fitzwilliam Darcy: A man of character who defends those he loves.
I’ve noticed a few trends in my heros: they are usually Renaissance men with a gigantic skill set and independent almost to a fault. Many knew well how to motivate a team of men toward a common greater vision and they stepped up and did it. Many of these men fit the archetype of a self-actualized man with an extremely diverse skill set. It has been suggested that the weaknesses for these type of men is that they end up being selfish and not respecting the authorities in their lives. I want to be an integrator, polymath, and autodidact, not a dilettante. I hope to also be able to balance a desire to learn with the ability to perform without disregarding the ability to relate well with others.
Honorable Mention:
Bill Gates: Microsoft founder, now uses his billions to help others toward some of the most meaningful projects out there as defined by the Copenhagen Consensus Center and by the Millennium Development Goals
Nikola Tesla: A famous electrical engineer and inventor
Ferdinand Magellan: Circumnavigated the world
Hans Rosling: Turns data into something meaningful
Saul Griffith: Inventor and has empowered the DIY community through Instructables
Bernard Amadei: Started Engineers without Borders
Eric Sander: Engineering Entrepreneurship teacher who encouraged us to do something with our lives
James Willis: 4th grade teacher, launched my interest in mathematics and geometry specifically
Jake Collins: Empowering the legal system to catch child predators by founding Tiny Stars and Global Centurion
Tim Ferris: Exploring himself and devoting himself to becoming a more efficient person
Elon Musk: The real life version of Tony Starke (Iron Man); a bold engineering entrepreneur who doesn’t rest on his laurels (Pay Pal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX).
Batman: Taught me that fear is one of our most dangerous enemies and that giving in to hopeless anarchy is never worth it. He’s a man but he makes himself into a superhero. He perseveres even when all hope is lost.
Who are your heroes? What does that say about who you want to become? Want to find some modern-day heroes? Check out TED.com; perhaps you can start by defining success for yourself! As Alain shares, we can’t have success at everything so we must choose something. We must be careful to consider how our pasts (especially our parents) may influence us and foresee as clearly as possible the effects that choosing our heroes in the present may have on our future!
The Life Examined 
