For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual.

The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular.

Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of them are old. Some of them are business leaders, some thought leaders, some sportsmen and some coaches. Some of them are artists and some spiritual leaders.

However, if we look deeply, all of them are like you and me, ordinary people who’ve had an extra-ordinary impact on me and potentially a lot of others. And once you get to know them, may be they will have a similar impact on you as well or maybe not, only time will tell.

The reason I am putting together this list and share what I have learnt from them, to thank them publicly for being a teacher and teaching me important lessons in life and in the hope that some of you might be inspired by their company and they can impact you and your life as they have impacted mine.

So, let’s get started.

14. Heath Brothers

I have always believed in that our ability to communicate effectively is a strong foundation for success in any field of work. And I can not emphasise the impact that the work of Dan and Chip Heath and their work has had on my ability to communicate. I discovered them through their book Switch and got hooked to everything that they create.

Since then, I have read every single book that they have written together – Switch, Made to Stick, Decisive, Upstream and The Power of Moments. I’ve been gifting books every year to my customers and friends and it is their books that I have gifted the most.

You can watch Chip Heath talk about their book The Power of Moments here.

You can watch Chip Heath talk about his book “Made to Stick” here.

Here is a short video which summarises the core concepts from their book Decisive.

You can watch Dan Heath talk about their book Upstream – How You Can Solve Problems Before They Happen here.

Conclusion

A lot of books are written and are valuable for a certain moment in time. A few books stay relevant beyond the time when they were published. Every single book written by the Heath Brothers remains relevant years after they were published and I am sure will continue to stay relevant for a long time to come as well.

My ability to communicate did improve significantly (which I believe has had an impact on my subsequent success) due to their books. If you haven’t read their work, I strongly recommend that you pick up any of their books and start giving it a shot.

I am truly grateful to both Dan and Chip for their work and the impact that it has had on me and my success.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #1 Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #2 Paulo Coelho.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #3 Swami Vivekananda.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #4 Seth Godin.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #5 Porus Munshi.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #6 Srinivasa Chakravarthy.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #7 Dan Ariely.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #8 His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #9 Matt Church.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #10 Clayton Christensen.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced Me: #11 Zig Ziglar.