I’m NOT trying to get political, but I do have a Mt. Rushmore of my own.

While the purpose of the Mt. Rushmore memorial is “to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt,” as business people, we all have our own individual goals for founding, expanding, preserving and unifying our relationships and our businesses.

We each have our own purpose.

In order to be a successful business person, you have to know who you are. You have to know your purpose. We each find that in different ways, even subconsciously.

Thus, I believe, even if it includes your spouse, your kids, your past boss or mentor, your parents, your aunt or uncle or grandma, we each should recognize our own individual Mt. Rushmore.

Everyone’s Mt. Rushmore should be personal to them. Your Mt. Rushmore should motivate you to be a better human being. Period.

Mine consists of the most motivational basketball player in the world, the baddest ass business person (stone cold sniper assassin of a business person), the dude that always makes me laugh the most, and just a freaking stud of a human being who has been successful at hip-hop, entrepreneurship, building fitness brands and acting and producing.

Each of these dudes have one thing in common — freaking work ethic.

Their work ethic comes from loving what they do.

Earvin used to dribble a basketball every day with his left (off hand) down the streets of Lansing, Michigan until it got as strong as his right. After ending his NBA career early due to contracting HIV in the 90s, Earvin started a successful business career, now an owner of several successful business ventures outside of professional sports, but also is a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the President of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s a freaking Leader.

Gary carries a chip on his shoulder from being a Russian immigrant, not knowing how to speak english and getting made fun of as a 4'11" as a freshman in high school. Getting D’s and F’s in school, and channeling that into building businesses and influencing millions of young lives in a positive way with his message of positivity. His 18 hour work day is his reward. As CEO of VaynerMedia and the 2.5 million follower side hustle of GaryVee, he’s a freaking Leader too.

Jerry honed his craft and continues to focus on “what is funny” and constantly weeding out what is not funny. He’s a freaking practitioner. That’s why I love him.

Mark gets up at 4:15 a.m. every morning to workout, then run his businesses, and work his ass off acting and producing, getting home for his 6 p.m. dinner with his family. He's a freaking badass.

I know all these guys are famous, but I have a connection to each of them. They each display work ethic, and as a result are successful at whatever they put their minds to, because they love what they do.

Because they love what they do, they’re happy, successful and live great lives. You can too.

Who’s On Your Mt. Rushmore?

Paul Hickey has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.