Welcome to this week’s Friday Five: insights, inspiration, and a few personal favorites to kick off your weekend.
Music of the Week
311 (Omaha’s finest) — Omaha is more than just Berkshire Hathaway HQ. It’s also home to 311, the band behind tracks like Amber, Beautiful Disaster, and Love Song. Formed in the ’80s, their fusion of rock, reggae, and rap still holds up.
Quotes of the Week
There are two ways to always be right. One is to always guess right. The other is to change your mind whenever you’re wrong. – Gustav SÖderstrÖm
Simplify, simplify, simplify. – Henry David Thoreau
Don’t take it personally when someone turns you down. Assume they are like you: busy, occupied, distracted. Try again later. It’s amazing how often a second try works. – Kevin Kelly
All misery comes from dependency. If you weren’t dependent on income, people, or technology, you would be truly free. The only way to be deeply happy is to break all dependencies. – Derek Sivers
Don’t be the best. Be the only. – Kevin Kelly
Recipe for greatness: become just a tiny bit better than you were last year. Repeat every year. – Kevin Kelly
Book of the Week
Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf – Hogan believed any golfer could break 80 by mastering the fundamentals. Each chapter is packed with illustrations and timeless insights from a true swing technician.
Also worth checking out:
Driven from Within
Drive: The Story of My Life
Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich
Michael Jordan: The Life
Podcasts of the Week
The Knowledge Project by Shane Parrish is packed with timeless wisdom. A few standout episodes:
- Marc Andreessen – Interview with an Icon
- Jack Kornfield – Finding Inner Calm
- Frank Slootman – Doing Less, Doing Better
- Charlie Hoehn – Write Something People Want to Read
Articles of the Week
- 21 Powerful Life Lessons From My Mentor (George Raveling) – Tips from George Raveling on productivity and legacy.
- Thomas Edison’s Ego: Lessons from the Wizard of Menlo Park – What the Wizard of Menlo Park teaches us about pride in entrepreneurship.
- Productivity Rain Dances – Find the one thing that drives the most value in your work.
- Pure Independence – Why doing it your way hits differently.
Enjoyed this? Hit reply and let me know what resonated — or forward to a friend who might like it too.
Until next week,
Michael
