I think you always have a choice. If somebody you really admire is vegetarian, for example, it is up to you to decide whether you really want to do that yourself (whether doing that will lead to you being more in line with what you admire in them). Many people say that if you want to be as successsful as your hero, you should just go and do everything just as he does. I'm not so sure that is a good idea because it ignores your own strengths and weaknesses. So to answer the question "To what extent does the actions of someone you consider a hero influence your own actions?", what extent they influence your actions is entirely up to you.
I personally don't have any heroes. I realize that everyone has their faults. Nobody is better than anyone else; it is just that we each have our own unique strengths and talents, and each of us is more attracted to certain (probably complementary) talents and strengths than others in the people we meet. So I admire one quality in one person and another quality in another. There isn't anyone I would choose to be exactly like
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