No. 289 July 11, 2025
Welcome to this week’s Friday Five: insights, inspiration, and a few personal favorites to kick off your weekend.
Music of the Week
This week I’ve been listening to Pops, aka Louis Armstrong. Born in New Orleans in the early 1900s, Armstrong basically helped invent modern jazz. He started as a trumpet prodigy and ended up one of the most recognizable entertainers on the planet. His unique gravelly voice, playful stage presence, and improvisation made him a legend, not just in jazz but across all genres of music at the time. If you don’t know where to start, try What a Wonderful World, Hello, Dolly!, or anything from his duets with Ella Fitzgerald (Ella is also a personal favorite). Timeless, soulful, and just flat-out feel-good music that puts me in a positive mood.
Quotes of the Week
“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius
“You accept things as they are, not as you wish they were in this moment.” — Deepak Chopra
“Frame your thoughts like this — you are an old person, you won’t let yourself be enslaved by this any longer… you’ll stop complaining about present fortune or dreading the future.” — Marcus Aurelius
“The great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“You don’t get a prize at the end of your life for having consumed more, worked more, spent more… than everyone else.” — Ryan Holiday
Articles of the Week
Dwight Eisenhower’s timeless insight—“The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent”—sparked one of the most useful productivity tools ever created: the Eisenhower Matrix.
It’s a simple four-quadrant system:
- Do urgent and important tasks (Q1)
- Schedule important but not urgent work (Q2)
- Delegate urgent but less important stuff (Q3)
- Delete the rest (Q4)
Most of my deep work and long-term progress lives in Quadrant 2. I use Trello to tag and prioritize tasks, freeing up hours every week.
👉 Read the full breakdown on how I apply the Eisenhower Matrix daily.
Book of the Week
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
A close friend recommended this book when my work stress was at an all-time high, and I’m beyond grateful he did. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success helped me calm the inner storm I couldn’t calm and reset my perspective.
Chopra flips the script on success. Instead of pushing harder, which I was doing, he invites you to align with natural laws and live with ease, clarity, and intention. The result? Peace of mind, deeper relationships, more energy, and a healthier sense of purpose. Peace of mind was what I drew from the book the second time around, reading it.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or out of sync, like I was and continue to be with work, I highly recommend giving this one a read.
Podcasts of the Week
This week, I revisited the podcast I’ve probably listened to more than any other — The Tim Ferriss Show — and it didn’t disappoint.
Episode #812 is a classic “Random Show” with Tim and Kevin Rose, where they riff on everything from the latest health gadgets and AI-powered genome tools, to drinking less, zen retreats, and yes… colonoscopy confessions. I laughed out loud several times during the episode.
The Tim Ferriss Show continues to be a go-to for personal growth, experimentation, and tactical ideas you can actually apply. If you’re curious, start here — and be ready to take notes.
Enjoyed this? Hit reply and let me know what resonated — or forward to a friend who might like it too.
Until next week,
Michael
