Hero Worship

Today’s Topics

• When Admiration Turns Into Distraction 😍

• Build-A-Hero Workshop ⚙️

  5 Mins Read Time

When Admiration Turns Into Distraction 😍
By Jo

Who’s your favorite actor, athlete, or musician? How often do you check in on their lifestyle? Can they do no wrong in your mind?

These are honest questions—and important ones—when we talk about hero worship.

Living on a pedestal must be nice. But the real question is: why do we put people there in the first place? And more importantly, how much real estate are they taking up in your life?

I can honestly say I’ve idolized people over the years. If we’re talking famous names, you could easily list someone like Tupac, Roy Jones Jr., Ice Cube, Martin Lawrence. They all represent something—confidence, resilience, mastery, authenticity. And there’s nothing wrong with appreciating that.

But here’s the truth: Those figures mostly exist in the world of entertainment.

The people I truly idolize—the ones who shaped my values—aren’t celebrities. They’re real. They’re people I lived with. People I watched handle pressure, failure, responsibility, and life in real time.

One of those people is my father.

I had the opportunity to actually know my father and live under his tutelage, even during the seasons when I didn’t understand it or agree with it. That’s part of growth. You don’t always get clarity in the moment—you earn it later. Now that I’m on the other side of that relationship, I’m no longer trying to win or resist it. I’m seeking to understand it. The playing field leveled out.

And that’s where real appreciation comes from.

These days, I find inspiration in unexpected places. Sometimes it’s people who have zero direct impact on my life. Just watching how someone navigates adversity, solves problems, or quietly builds something for themselves can be powerful. I don’t idolize the person—I admire the process. The techniques. The discipline. The mindset.

That’s the key difference.

Hero worship becomes dangerous when we forget that what works in their life doesn’t automatically work in ours. Different environments. Different resources. Different responsibilities. Different paths. Too many people try to copy outcomes without understanding context—and that’s where things go wrong.

Respect people. Appreciate people. Learn from people. Just don’t surrender your identity to them.

Because the moment someone else’s life becomes more important than building your own, admiration turns into distraction. And distraction is expensive.

The Golden Rule
The goal isn’t to live like your heroes. The goal is to become someone worth watching yourself.

Build-A-Hero Workshop ⚙️

By Marcus

Step 1. Understand human psychology—tribalism, cognitive bias, connection.

Step 2. Have some type of talent or marketable quality.

Step 3. Get the mass media machine going—TV, socials, magazines, carefully curated appearances.

Step 4. Branding—products, clothing, key partnerships.

Step 5. Storytelling—documentaries, collaborations.

Step 6. Leverage the fan base—incentivize the community, fan culture, award shows, echo chambers.

What has now become what seems to be an annual tradition: each year a celebrity or person of high status is dragged back down to earth by the consequences of their actions. Their true character and actions are exposed for the world to see.

People who idolized these high-status people are crushed and go through denial, disappointment, and anger. Others will double down on their support no matter how much evidence proves they picked the wrong person to put up on the magical pedestal where one can do no wrong.

Separation State

There are positive aspects to supporting and admiring someone's work. You can get inspiration and ideas that drive your own journey. Their upbringing or background may be similar to yours, so you are invested in wanting them to succeed, but there is a downside to blindly supporting someone you don’t know personally.

Someone whom you consider a terrible person can have a genius business idea that could help millions of people. Do you write off the genius idea because it came from someone whom you consider to be a terrible person? It could help millions, and maybe under your oversight, it’s in good hands and it will be a net positive. Do you discard everything?

When someone becomes “larger than life” and you can see no wrong in what they do, that’s where the problem begins. Lack of accountability can foster unfortunate outcomes.

At the end of the day, we are all people. Our human nature can be exploited and create larger-than-life figures that don’t necessarily need an elevated status. It’s perfectly fine to view someone’s success and achievements and remember they are human like everyone else.

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