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No. 324 | March 20, 2026
Welcome to Friday Five—a short dose of insights to start the weekend with clarity.
This week’s theme: the power of choice.
From Ray Kroc’s strategy to Roger Federer mastering his craft, the biggest returns come from choosing what fits you best.
If this issue resonates, forward it to someone who enjoys ideas like this. Most readers find Friday Five through a friend.
This Week in Friday Five
Five ideas this week: systems beat talent, choice shapes identity, mastery takes patience, and small beginnings can scale fast.
🎸 Three songs to start with Chubby Checker
💬 Power of choice
📝 Ray Kroc on building McDonald’s
📚 Roger Federer on becoming a master
🎙️ Sal Khan and Khan Academy
Music of the Week
Chubby Checker is a rock-and-roll singer and dancer from South Carolina, best known for popularizing dance crazes—especially the twist.
He’s performed since the late 1950s, earning many honors, including induction into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame.
Start with Sauce Picante Zydeco, My Zydeco Shoes, and The Cisco Kid.
Quotes of the Week
We can’t control external events, but we can control how we respond. These quotes capture that idea:
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.” — George Eliot
“There are two primary choices in life: accept conditions as they exist, or accept responsibility for changing them.” — Denis Waitley
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t—you’re right.” — Henry Ford
Article of the Week
“Greatness is just good repeated.” – Ray Kroc
Growth required systems. McDonald’s realized this during its 1950s expansion. Every new franchise needed training, so Ray Kroc built a system of repeatable fundamentals.
Building it required an obsession with detail. Kroc wanted near-perfection. Every store had to meet his standards. The experience had to feel identical everywhere.
Competitors built nearby and cut prices to undercut McDonald’s. Kroc didn’t play that game. He focused on what McDonald’s did best: quality, service, cleanliness, and value.
Kroc didn’t invent fast food or the hamburger. He built something harder to copy: a system built around precision. Put it on repeat, and success followed.
For more on Kroc, McDonald’s, and how it was built, read:
📝 Ray Kroc’s Business Strategy That Built McDonald’s
Book of the Week
A New York Times correspondent sits down with Roger Federer—and those closest to him—to tell his story in The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer.
Federer’s long path to greatness mixed talent with unusual determination.
The book focuses on the people, places, and moments that shaped Federer’s career.
Key timeless lessons from The Master:
- Stay curious and ask questions
- Stay focused in the moment
- Demand more from yourself
- Be consistent in everything you do
- Surround yourself with positive energy and people
- Be willing to stop what isn’t working
- Believe anything is possible, dream big
- Be playful—don’t stress or take life too seriously
- Focus on self-improvement and self-acceptance
- Shake off losses and move on quickly
- Do activities that recharge you
- Wins and losses tend to balance out
- Keep yourself mentally and physically fresh
- Value long-term personal relationships
- Listen more than you talk
- Planning allows you to be in the moment, fully present
For more on Federer and how he became a master:
📚 The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer
Podcast of the Week
Khan Academy began in 2009 when Sal Khan left a high-paying hedge fund job in New York to start something without a clear revenue path.
His idea: a nonprofit teaching platform to help the world learn. It started by tutoring his cousins in math online.
He posted the videos to YouTube. At first, no one noticed. Then people slowly began to watch.
Khan started thinking: maybe there’s something here. Soon after, a $10,000 donation arrived through his website.
Khan emailed the donor to say thanks. That donor, Ann Doerr, was a philanthropist. At the time, it was the largest gift in Khan Academy’s history.
They met in person. That meeting turned into another $100,000 donation. The rest is history.
For more on Khan, Khan Academy, and building a non-profit, listen:
🎙️ Khan Academy: Sal Khan. From Tutoring His Cousins To Teaching the World For Free
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