My hero is my grandfather Robert L. Landis. He raised me in such a way to show me what life was truly about.
It surely wasn’t about worrying about paying for the bills. It surely wasn’t about attaining massive wealth. Nor was it even about trying to manipulate the world. No, he didn’t care about any of that.
Instead, he lived life by example. He raised me the exact same way I try to live now. Everywhere he went, he shared his love. He volunteered as much as he could. He told stories of his youth. When someone asked him for a hand, he touched their heart instead.
He lived a life filled with a fiscal responsibility to make the world a better place, for each and every single person he encountered. If he didn’t make you smile and feel like you were fulfilled with love, then he must not have physically been there that day.
As I sat on his lap as a child, he showed me the world through his eyes. He shared story after story of how he endured through life and made it to where he was, as successful as can be.
Now all I do each and every day of my life is try to emulate him. However, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fulfill my hopes too live my life as he did here on earth.
My other hero would be James Altucher. He is alive and well, after going through turmoil and turmoil again. He reminds me of myself, someone who has lost everything multiple times, yet had the courage to share his story. He took the lead to do what no man has ever done before publicly, share his life without a single filter.
Without James sharing his stories of heartbreak and failure, I may still have been too scared to even think of sharing my own. For that, I will always thank him for helping me take the first step into sharing who I was, which in turn shaped me into who I am today.
I wonder who else can make it onto my short list of heroes. Maybe my future wife perhaps? A child who is yet to be born?
Only time will tell…
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Originally posted on Quora.
Leonard Kim consults startups and writes books like The Etiquette of Social Media: How to Connect and Respond to Others in the World of Social Media