Neat. Building my list now.

Off the top of my head:

1. Oprah Winfrey, Media Mogul. For inspiring the world.

2-3. Pierre and Pam Omidyar, Philanthropists. For kindness, compassion, leadership, and putting effort into empowering people all over the world.

4. Ellen Degeneres, Entertainer. For love and humor, and not letting haters get her down.

5. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist. For extraordinary communication skills.

6. Jed York, 49ers President. For chutzpah of huge vision, and amazing follow through.

7. Jeremy Lin, Professional Athlete. For work ethic, teamwork, and never giving up.

8. Reid Hoffman, Entrepreneur. For teaching the world about the power of networks.

Should I keep going?

Here's a few....

1. Winston Churchill. He turned his severe bipolar disorder into his greatest personal asset.

2. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex. He invested his kingship into his kingdom, built towns and roads, simplified taxation, encouraged economic development, defeated the Northmen invasions, established the first legal API (i.e. Writs) and the Anglo-Saxon concept of rights, and in the process invented the nation-state.

3. Ted Nugent. I wish I had his level of energy

4. Lech Walesa, an ordinary working man who got sick and tired of being sick and tired, and brought down the Evil Empire.

5. My Grandpa. the only sane person in an entire family of ADHD crazy people... taught me patience and agape

Cool.

The article talks about how to break your list down to qualities you admire, so then you can self-improve on those qualities.

You admire overcoming internal proclivities, leadership, energy, leadership, patience, and agape.

In the examples given, the author admires intelligence, humor, creativity, kindness, work ethic, and seduction:

Intelligent: Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Raymond Kurzweil, Daniel Dennet, Marvin Minsky, Ayn Rand, Christopher Hitchens, Douglas Hofstadter

Funny: Robin Williams, Dave Chapelle, Bill Hicks, Louis C.K., Doug Stanhope, Norm MacDonald, Zack Galifianakis, Steven Colbert, George Carlin, Aziz Ansari

Creative: David Lynch, Frank Zappa, Charlie Kaufman, Quentin Tarantino, Alex Grey, Salvador Dali, Coen Brothers, Pixar, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton

Kind: Buddha, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Carl Rogers, Anne Frank

Hard working: Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Gary Vaynerchuk, Mike Patton, Henry Rollins, Lil Wayne, Google, David Wright

Seductive: Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Gene Simmons, Jared Leto, Neil Strauss