Who I Spend the Most Time With…

They say you are the average of the people with whom you spend the most time. There are people in my life I hold close for this reason. I respect them endlessly and would like nothing more than to be like them in ways.

I also have another set of people who are public figures: artists, authors, speakers, philosophers, and educators who wouldn’t have coffee with me, so instead, I spend time with them by studying their work.

The following people influence my personal life, my work in the classroom, and the Medic Mindset podcast heavily:

Tim Ferriss– Oh Tim Ferriss. You are the reason I podcast. You taught me that podcasting is about self-improvement and connecting with others, not dollars.

Derek Sivers– You help me embrace my inner introvert. You role model that it’s completely cool to want to spend the whole day alone reading and thinking.

Salim Rezaie– Salim, you make the most beautiful and educational slides in MedEd. People really do like looking at gorgeous things and you take the time to make educational materials beautiful. (You’d probably have coffee with me but you still get celebrity status in this blog post.)

Debbie Millman– You ask the most beautiful questions and demonstrate how to really listen. I can hear you listening as you host your podcast.

Alain de Botton– You taught me that Philosophy is useful in modern day.

Austin Kleon– You taught me that artists do their best creative work through deductive processes. For every hour of the Medic Mindset podcast that listeners hear, the guests and I talked double.

That’s them. The people I spend the most time with without them knowing! Who are your influencers?