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.

4. Seth Godin

When it comes to contemporary thinkers and thought leaders, I think Seth Godin is probably one of the foremost authority on culture in general and marketing in particular. His ability to discern what is happening around him, the ability to see the shift in culture taking place, which it is taking place, before anyone else has seen it is phenomenal.

I have read a lot of his books multiple times. You may see this as a trend. (If I like a book, I generally read it multiple times). Here are some of them that have influenced me greatly and I highly recommend – The Purple Cow, Tribes, Linchpin, The Icarus Deception, This is Marketing, The Dip, What will you do when It is Your Turn.

He is also the founder of Akimbo, home of the altMBA. I did sign up for and completed altMBA and the experience taught me so many things, the most important lesson I took away from that experience is that we will always find time to do things that we think are important for us. It is possible that we can deliver something every single day. That each and everyone of us has a lot to offer to the world and to each other. That we learn better when we do it together, that we learn better when we learn by doing rather than just listening to lectures.

The most important role that he plays for me in my life is that of a teacher, a teacher who teaches by practicing what he preaches. He writes and publishes a blog every single day and don’t know since when he has been able to keep up this practice. His podcast is full of insights and stories and observations which are so on the point that at times it seems uncanny that he sees the same things that we see in the world.

I really like his perspective on almost everything. I have read almost every single blog post written by him in the past 4 – 4.5 years. I have listened to every single podcast episode that he has released. I have watched very many keynotes that he has delivered that I can find on YouTube. And when I wrote to him after completing my altMBA and he replied back, I so happy.

I also really appreciate his outlook to work and life in general. I like it that he is clear in terms of what he wants from life and what he is willing to do to get what he wants. I have rarely seen this level of clarity and would love to have it for myself sometime.

Here are a few of his recent blog posts that I have really enjoyed reading:

One of the quotes that I use when I talk about culture and deliver presentations about how to create a culture that supports creativity and innovation is by Seth.

People like us, do things like this

– Seth Godin

A lot of my thinking about entrepreneurship, marketing, branding and culture is significantly influenced by Seth Godin’s thinking. Some of my thinking about education and the future of education is also influenced by Seth but we differ slightly in the approach that we think the world of higher education will take in the future.

The sheer amount of work that he has created in his life time (and continues to create) is unbelievable and it is one of my ambitions to leave a significant body of work as well. I know that this is possible as I see Seth doing it day after day. I hope to follow in his foot steps.

The sheer amount of influence he has over so many different people from different generations is just unbelievable. Though it is not my intention to have influence over people, I would love to be able to interact with people and hopefully play a small part in their journey to becoming the best versions of themselves.

Here are a few of the conversations that Seth has that I find really insightful.

His conversation with the amazing Shane Parrish for The Knowledge Project is here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIHx2H5YT60

In this video, he is talking to another of my favourite thought leader – Marie Forleo. If you are an entrepreneur and are looking for words of wisdom, please go check out Marie’s work. You will be blown away.

In this video, he is talking about how to spread our ideas at the Nordic Business forum. As leaders, it is one of our responsibilities to communicate in a way that is persuasive so that our ideas spread and get traction. Seth is a master teacher who can teach us about what can we do to get our ideas to spread and take root.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I would only say that Seth is a phenomenal teacher. I hope I be a fraction of as good a teacher he is. I know that I will continue to learn from him, listen to him, watch him in action and hopefully someday get to know him better and maybe host him on my podcast. Never say never, right.

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.