Game Changers

Recommendations

A list of role models, books, and podcasts that have changed my
worldview and continue to inspire me to this day

My Role Models

Theodore Roosevelt

The quality that I idolize most about Theodore Roosevelt is his courage. From childhood, he has demonstrated the resolve to overcome his fragile asthmatic self through exercise and training. The encapsulation of his courage for me was his “Man in the Arena Speech”.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,… who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. … Who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
This speech of his exemplifies why I admire him so much. It is about the courage to strive towards the creation of our future. To dedicate ourselves despite knowing that we will fail again and again. For the only way to manifest our vision is the determination to push past failure and defeat. That effort and courage are a victory within themselves, regardless of the outcome. This is the message of his that I carry within my heart whenever I learn something new, or attempt something I have never done before. This is why I admire Theodore Roosevelt.

Steve Jobs

The quality that I admire most about Steve Jobs is his inventiveness. He was a visionary, willing to see beyond the confines of the technology industry, infusing liberal arts and technology to create something truly unique. He believed in his ability and had the diligence to bring his project to life.
A prominent example of his outside-the-box thinking was in 1985. As Steve Jobs was in the process of getting kicked out of Apple, he saw an opportunity to acquire Lucasfilm’s computer division. This division, which would later be called Pixar, comprised the hardware and software to create digital images and animation. As years passed, the hardware and software lines performed poorly in the market. The digital animation business was showing some promise, however. Steve Jobs always idolized the intersection between technology and creativity. Despite losing money for 5 years straight, he kept on believing in Pixar’s Animations. As a result, he continued to pour resources towards manifesting his vision into reality. Finally, his success came with the debut of Toy Story in 1995, grossing 362 million that year and heralding a new era of digital animation.
It was Steve Jobs’s openness to invest in unconventional, but promising ventures and his determination to bring his vision into reality despite many obstacles that I admire him so much for. 

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali’s resilience: his ability to come back and emerge victorious despite his losses and setbacks is what I admire so much about him. He demonstrated this the most in 1973, during his journey to regain his heavyweight title from George Foreman.
Coming up to the fight, it seemed almost trivial. Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of that era, only being stripped of his heavyweight title rather than being beaten in the ring. On the other hand, Ken Norton was fresh blood just coming into his own as a fighter. He had bested no noteworthy opponents compared to a legend like Ali. During the fight, Ali was dealt a broken jaw in the second round, resulting in a devastating loss. It was the second in his career up to that point, his only other one at the hands of the legendary Joe Fraizer. 
His critics like Jimmy Cannon declared that he was old news, being relegated only a stepping stone for up-and-coming fighters to pad out their names. Even his supporters began to lose faith that he would ever reclaim his heavyweight championship belt. Instead of wallowing in despair and giving up, he used his failure to motivate himself, to come back even harder than before. This impressive display of resilience not only allowed him to beat Norton in a rematch but also Fraizer and Foreman to reclaim his heavyweight champion title. It was Ali’s resilience, despite such a shattering defeat, that made him one of my heroes.

Eminem

Lately, I have been drawn towards Eminem, particularly in this period of uncertainty about my future. I admire his grit above all, how he dealt with the uncertainty before he became famous, and how he kept persisting towards his dream no matter how hopeless it seemed. 
It was 1997, and the man who would be Eminem seemed like he was going nowhere. He was living with his girlfriend’s parents in their attic with her and their newborn daughter. They were broke, destitute, and constantly getting evicted in an impoverished area of Michigan. He didn’t have any clear goals for the future, but he knew that his daughter needed to escape these desperate circumstances, and that rap was his only ticket out. He choked and got booed off stage countless times, but he kept rapping and persisting despite the world being against him. It was only after countless failures and missed opportunities that his lucky break finally came at the 1997 Rap Olympics, paving the way for him to be recognized by Dr. Dre and the world.
Eminem’s grit and determination despite the poor circumstances of his life are what inspire me to keep moving forward during this uncertain period of my life.

Game Changers

Game changers are books that changed my life and the nature of the “game” as I know it, in no particular order.
  • Drive by Daniel H. Pink
  • iGen by Jean M. Twenge

My Favorite Podcasts

A list of my favorite podcasts that will expand your horizons.

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