In October I took part in a 30 Day Stoic Challenge. For every day of the month there was a new activity to do, the idea being that by the end of the month some of these activities may have converted into habits.
On day seven the challenge was to name five role models and list the qualities you admire in them. In the email introducing the challenge, Ryan Holliday wrote:
Like most people learning to apply new things in their life, we need examples to follow.
Or as Seneca put it:
Without a ruler to do it against you can’t make the crooked straight.
There’s an interesting coaching exercise that asks you to describe the qualities of someone you admire. Its purpose is to help you to identify your own values by describing the values you appreciate in others. I kept that in mind as I thought about who my role models are.
For my list of role models it was important to include people I know and have spent time with. With these people it is more likely that we have a clear idea of the whole person, of who they are and how they live(d). Choosing people we don’t know personally has the potential to lead us to make assumptions about their lives.
I found this a tougher task than I expected. But the first person I picked was an obvious one for me, and the one I’m most certain of — my Nan. To hear why I chose her, and the qualities that I admire, listen to this short audio clip.
Over to you
Who would be on your list of role models and why? What qualities do you admire in them? How do these translate to your core values?
Featured image by Milind Ruparel on Unsplash
