Derek Sivers on heroes is essentially this:
If all your heroes do X – you may want to head that way too.
It’s obvious if you think about it, but how many of us flounder looking for our “passion?”
When our mom needs to come along and grab us by the collar and shout: “Your heroes are all writers! Go live the literary life!”
Let’s not flounder on this any longer.
Time is short. Make haste!
People with many interests often ask my advice on which industry or career path they should follow.
Years ago, I felt I was just a programmer and entrepreneur. Yes sometimes I write a tiny blog post sharing what I’ve learned, but that’s just something on the side.
But something never felt quite right about this. I spend most of my time writing, very little time programming, and hadn’t started a business in years. Still, I kept saying I was a programmer and entrepreneur, and felt I should really spend more time doing it.
But everything changed when I asked myself a question:
“Who are my heroes?”
I thought, wrote them down, then realized they were all authors! Basically, look at my list of favorite books, and there are my heroes.
The people I look up to the most… The people I’d most like to meet… The people I’d most like to emulate are not entrepreneurs, and not programmers — just writers.
So, that day, I realized I actually want to be a writer.
I re-arranged my hierarchy of interests. Yes I enjoy programming, and yes I’ll probably start another business. But really my main love and top priority is writing.
How about you? Who are your heroes? Does that help you see which way you’re actually facing?