If I were to ask you to name
your biggest role models in life, could you rattle them right off? Most
people can't. Most people have never consciously chosen role models,
although of course, we all are influenced by others throughout our lives.
When it comes to living an
extraordinary life, role models are a requirement. They're necessary
because odds are, few people in your day-to-day life are inspiring you to
greatness. And even if you do have some powerful women or men you
especially look up to and strive to be like, I've found we need lots of role
models to embody a variety of different qualities we want to develop in
ourselves.
Role models are
delicious. They widen your world from what you personally have
experienced, inspire you, motivate you, fill your head with ideas and best of
all, their influence is available to you any time at no charge thanks to
libraries, bookstores, movies and the Internet. How do you find
them? It's so easy. Just look around at people, lives and experiences
that speak to you. As you read books, websites and magazines, notice what
jumps out at you and find a way to delve deeper into that in your free time.
Throughout my adult life I've
had dozens of role models who embodied qualities I wanted to develop. My
list includes:
- Cary Grant for his
enduring friendships, financial frugality and foresightedness
- Audrey Hepburn
for
her grace and huge heart
- Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis for her fierce privacy and immovable personal
boundaries
- Princess Diana for her raw
humanitarianism
- Marilyn Monroe for her
constant striving to perfect her craft
- Cindy Crawford for her
entrepreneurialism and willingness to take professional risks
- Hubert Keller for his
tireless enthusiasm and incredible work ethic
- Helen Gurley
Brown
for her generous career teachings to her own and future generations
- Jim Rohn for his humor and unique way of speaking that conveyed important ideas so simply and clearly
- Diana Vreeland for her boldness
and elegant eccentricity
- George Balanchine for his extraordinary creativity
This list is just a small
sampling of extraordinary lives I've studied in detail. Each of these
people has provided me with valuable instruction in how I want to live my life,
even if I have never met them. As they entered my world and engaged me, I
made it a point to read books and articles about them, so I could get a
detailed picture of their uniqueness and how they came to develop those special
qualities.
1 comment:
When I think of role models, I usually think of people I actually know. While your role models are all amazing people, I wonder if you actually met them.
In my circle, from my mother I learned to be tolerant of other people.
From my former boss Errol, I learned that there are limits to what I can do, and to accept and work within those limits.
From my sister Ann and my brother Fred, I learned to appreciate what I have in my life, and to enjoy the life I have.
Choosing a role model from among people we know does limit our options, but I thinnk the traits we choose to emulate also says a lot about who we are.
Just somoe thoughts.
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