Four "Actually Good" Idols To Follow

Listen up kids. While you might think humanity is doomed when you see a generation of kids looking up towards idols like Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Pauline Hanson ... rest assured, we’re not completely screwed just yet. I discovered a small trick to help uncover some really awesome people to admire. You see the trick is to actually know where to look – #Revolutionary!

Did you know when you get off Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and search elsewhere on the internet, you can uncover some amazing projects, start-ups and inspiring free thinkers to listen too and follow. You can even then jump back onto Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and follow your newly found awesome peeps. Fill your feeds with greatness, rather than vanity.

This post is my 'Starters Guide' to finding these awesome idols by providing you with four amazing people who pop up in my inbox and notifications on a daily basis.

To give you a sneak peak, I have Tim Ferriss on my bedside table for the morning and night, Lewis Howes on my headphones while I drive to work, Mark Manson on my phone ready to teach me something new about life, and Elon Musk in my brain to inspire me to be badass in everything I do.

If you need something more than the Bieber-fever in your newsfeed, these blokes should be the first legends introduced to it.

Lewis Howes

I first came across Lewis Howes when I started getting into podcasts.

The podcast ‘The School of Greatness - with Lewis Howes’ was featured on iTunes every time I logged in so after about the million's suggestion from iTunes that I needed this podcast in my life, I decide “bugger it” and added it. As Brian Bosworth observed, "When you’re 20, we all make stupid and impulsive decisions” but this additional to my life proved to not be one of them - that was once I got past the “Oh My God, they’re like an hour long, argggghhh” stage.

I started finding time to listen to one episode per week. This quickly turned into two episodes a week. Then three - plus. It was the ideas and the way his guests exhibited confidence and pride in their work that got me hooked.

Before I knew it, I had heard every interview and ‘5 Minute Friday’ uploaded.

With this influence in my life, I started exhibiting the same characteristics Howes presented and I looked for new and exciting ways to approach problems. I started asking questions and introducing myself to small business owners, creatives and students alike. Engaging in their answers to mindset questions and finding something exciting to learn from them no matter their immediate qualities. I learned how to process strange ideas and information without jumping to obsoletes or judgement, and I opened my mind to different problem solving methods.

I learnt how to think like a successful world changer.

If your interested in adding a little Howes to your list of idols and daily routine, start with his podcast - then book. You can stream one of my favourite episodes right here ... timely introduction to the next bloke.

Tim Ferriss

It was in The School of Greatness podcast I first heard about Ferriss. The words, “When was the first time you read The Four Hour Work Week?” were uttered into my ears by Howes to an unknown guest. Thanks to that throw away comment, I discovered 'the man' who was 'the man' to the people I was learning to admire.

What makes him so great though? Was it his tips and success hacks that made his advice so successful? Why did every successful person Howes had on the show admire him so much?

Well, I soon discovered it was his raw data-based approach, his brutal honesty and outright charisma. How he personally connected with his anything that could help him drive his vision to the finish line.

Once you know how to think like an entrepreneur, it is hard to find things to read which speak directly to you without rolling your eyes at the clichés. Most stuff out there is catered towards inspiring you to be the best you can be and that you should dream for the heavens and strive for greatness every day by faking it till you make it.

Not Ferriss!

The man takes a step back and presents the ideas of the greats - modestly. He asks the questions in his interviews you would ask and avoids all the pandering bullshit. This means his books are sort of 'scientific textbooks' about living life on your own terms – but he doesn’t show you the path, but rather gives you the tools to find your own way.

I highly recommend reading The 4 Hour Work Week too. As a bonus, because of it's age, you can pick it up pretty cheap. This short book will open your eyes to the Ferriss way of thinking and the entrepreneur way of living before you get your hands on his other, more raw stuff – you know, the scientific-textbook-like stuff.

PS: Also, you can check out his podcast here and add it to the list next the ‘The School of Greatness’.

Elon Musk

The modern day legend that is Musk (I'm still not 100% sure he's real).

You can not truly respect this man until you had read Ashlee Vance’s book, Elon Musk : How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future. The way Musk ran his projects at all costs, putting all his eggs in the one basket, learning everything he needed to know himself without any shortcuts, and never taking the “that's impossible” answer as serious, will inspire you every day as it does me.

At the moment, the man is getting so much mainstream attention for what he has achieved with SpaceX you can get you dose anywhere. His humble dream of saving the planet one car (and truck) at a time no matter what is also incredibly inspiring despite what Top Gear’s crew punching Clarkson says.

Here’s some quotes just to get you started;

• “I wouldn’t say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I’d like my fear emotion to be less because it’s very distracting and fries my nervous system.”

• “Patience is a virtue, and I’m learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.”

• “[As a child] I would just question things…”

You can find out a little more about this awesome dude in this video by Bloomberg. Add him to your idol list right now because this guy is a bloody legend.

Mark Manson

You know that book that pissed off a lot of people who judged it by its cover - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck - well that’s Mark Manson. That free thinking, no bullshit blogger who basically dedicated a whole page of his book to explaining the phycology of an old grandma giving too many fucks about a 50cent coupons at the supermarket, is actually a really awesome writer. His content just takes a few minutes a day to read because it’s straight down the barrel – just like the book – and will transform your life again and again with how you process the world around you.

Let me repeat that last bit: Manson will make you rethink everything.

I came across the bloke when I started using the Pocket app on my phone. My spying privacy ignoring smartphone must have listened in on how much I swear and the AI must of been like, “this asshole would love Mark Manson” and I’m so bloody glade it did.

His work is funny, inspiring, well written and practical. He is on New York Times bestselling author list with a book featuring the word ‘FUCK’ in bold letters on the cover. His blog is read by millions. And both Ferriss and Howes have interviewed him.

If your tight on cash, you don’t even need to buy his book. His blogs are equally just as great - and mostly free.

You can check him out on Pocket – and while you’re there you can follow the articles I share by clicking here.

Serious though, download the Pocket app on your phone at the very least and add this bloke to the list because every day you’ll learn something new about yourself with it.