No. 330 | May 1, 2026
Welcome to Friday Five, a short dose of ideas to start your weekend with clarity.
Focus on the present. Keep your head during stressful moments. It’s just as hard to achieve big goals as small ones. Challenge yourself with one big test, six adventures, and four quarterly habits.
If this resonates, forward it to someone who’d enjoy it. Most readers discover Friday Five through a friend.
This Week in Friday Five
🎵 Three songs to start with: Alabama Shakes
💬 Live in the present
📝 Play nice but win
📚 Stephen Schwarzman on tackling big problems
🎙️ Jesse Itzler’s Yearly Challenge
Music of the Week
Alabama Shakes is a rock band from Athens, Alabama, consisting of Brittany Howard, Heath Fogg, and Zac Cockrell.
They’ve won Grammys over the past decade, blending blues, rock, and soul into a sound all their own.
The band has been compared in style to artists such as Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, and Aretha Franklin.
Start with Hold On, Don’t Wanna Fight, and Hang Loose.
Quotes of the Week
Live in the present and accept the past. Act today instead of reliving yesterday or waiting for tomorrow. The present is all you have.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
”Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the now the primary focus of your life.” — Eckhart Tolle
”Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” — Buddha
”Know that life can only be found in the present moment.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
Article of the Week
“As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own.” — Michael Dell
Michael Dell sits in a University of Texas dorm room, taking apart computers and ignoring the map everyone else is using. He’s 19.
Steve Jobs pushes a room full of engineers past what they think is reasonable.
Edwin Land holds a camera that develops photos instantly and realizes the world isn’t ready for it.
Charles Mitchell watches financial chaos unfold faster than he can control it.
Jerry Jones makes bets most people wouldn’t touch.
Different fields, same instinct: they move before the evidence is obvious. They’ve decided not to wait for permission.
Play nice but win. Demand greatness. Keep your head under pressure. Outwork the competition. Do something your own way. These are the themes running through my January reading list:
📝 January Reading List: 5 Best Books I Read in January 2026
Book of the Week
Stephen Schwarzman is the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager.
What It Takes shows how he built Blackstone and offers lessons you can apply to your own work.
As a kid, he folded handkerchiefs in his father’s linen shop.
Eventually, his grades and sports got him into Yale. After Yale, he started his career at DLJ before moving on to Lehman Brothers, where he was promoted to lead the mergers and acquisitions group.
Blackstone was started post-Lehman with his Lehman colleague, Pete Peterson, who vowed to make Blackstone a different kind of financial services company.
Building anything, including Blackstone, wasn’t easy. That’s why Schwarzman focused on culture, hiring the best people, and implementing processes to evaluate risk.
His mantra throughout the book is simple: don’t lose money. He also stressed to everyone to be the best in the world at what you do.
Schwarzman’s lessons apply to both business and life. He sharpens how you think about scale, risk, and opportunity.
Lessons that stuck with me include:
- It’s as hard to achieve big goals as small goals
- Inflection points matter most
- Be fearless with difficult problems
- Tell the truth
- Keep asking: why not
- Success comes from rare moments of opportunity
- Solve other people’s problems
- Put yourself in positions you’re not ready for
- Failure is a teacher
- Protect your reputation
- Find the right people
- Adapt when new information arrives
For more on Blackstone, Schwarzman, and his lessons, read:
📚 What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence
Podcast of the Week
Jesse Itzler is an entrepreneur and author who co-founded Marquis Jet and The 100 Mile Group, and is an owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
He’s married to Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. Entrepreneurship runs deep in the family.
Itzler joined My First Million to talk about his Memorable Year Challenge, which consists of a Misogi, Kevin’s Rule, and Quarterly Habits.
A Misogi is one big, year-defining challenge. The goal is to test your limits with something that feels impossible.
Kevin’s Rule is six mini-adventures inspired by a friend. Think cooking classes, concerts, new cities, or new sports.
Then come four quarterly habits like 10,000 steps a day, no phone in the bedroom, weekly date nights, and consistent workouts.
To learn more about the challenge and Itzler, listen:
🎙️If You Want a Rich Life, Watch This Before 2026
Enjoyed Friday Five? Hit reply with what stood out, or forward it to a friend.
You can also follow along on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
