Friday's Five ✋ #455

Free Will

Jul 10, 2026

Happy Friday! ☀️

After three weeks in France, straight into the backlog, a day in Berlin for the final module of a leadership development journey, and now in Belgium. Today is a day that will stay with me. Visiting my godmother, my late mother's oldest sister, to say goodbye. It is the last time I will see her.

What I’m reading 📖

J. Eric Oliver’s How To Know Yourself works as a great primer on self-knowledge. Each chapter like Psycher, Morality, Essence, Ego, or Intention builds on the last in an almost causal chain. Much of it was familiar, some of it new, and listening to it in a single day felt like a useful refresh on the tools available to understand oneself better. More about the book.

What I’m listening to 🎧

Ben Folds and his piano-driven pop were a big discovery in the early 2000s and that sound has been rare on my radar since. This week Dressed Like Boys appeared, a Belgian solo artist who fills that gap immediately. Curious whether Ben Folds is on his list of inspirations.

What I’m watching 📺

The premise of Silo hooked me from the start: a civilization rebuilding itself in a massive underground silo after an unclear catastrophe. Suspenseful, well-made, and the kind of show that rewards patience. The first two episodes of season 3 are out and there is some catching up to do. Watch the trailer.

What I’m thinking about 🧠

“Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose." — Paulo Coelho

What else?! 💯

A neat find on Twitter.

The problem was an all-cash economy full of small shops. A merchant pockets the cash, skips the receipt, and the sale never existed. Auditors can't catch what was never recorded, and hiring enough of them to watch every noodle stand costs more than the missing tax.

The solution is genius and elegant.