Finkel's Fast Five - Issue #33

September 14th, 2018

I'm happy to finally knock this book off my must-read list and if you feel like you're always busy, you should read it too:
The book is called The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done and it shows up on almost every business book list imaginable. What's awesome about this book is that while it can be used by C-Suite Execs (awful term) at giant corporations who say things like 'we need to synergize core competencies' (worse term), it can also be used by you and me to drop our dead weight and get more done. Just started working my through it and so far so good. You can get it here.

This is what happens to your old iPhone and laptop and flat screen TV after you throw them away:
The title of this story on Wired.com by Michael Hardy is 'The Hellish E-Waste Graveyards Where Computers Are Mined for Metal'. and that's actually being kind once you read the article. From Ghana to obscure cities in China, whenever we 'upgrade' to version 'x' of a product, our tech gets shipped to salvage dumps that look like they belong as set pieces in Mad Max: Fury Road. I found the piece very well-written and interesting on a few levels. You can read it here.

In honor of this being the 33rd issue of Finkel's Fast Five, AKA, the Larry Bird issue, I present to you the greatest basketball highlight video of all time:
If the first twenty seconds of THIS VIDEO don't give you chills then you might be dead inside (or possibly you're just not a Celtics fans, which is basically the same thing - just kidding - not really). Still, the artistry, trash-talking, circus-like no-look passes and between-the-legs bounce passes from Larry Legend are second-to-none. And there's wayyyy more dunking than you'd expect. I have to warn you... Once you START WATCHING THIS, you won't be able to stop.

School's back and I just discovered this great book series for grade school kids:
New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer specializes in historical, government-based thrillers for adults, but his kids book series called 'Ordinary People Change the World' is phenomenal for young kids. The books in the series are all first-person biographies of true icons, from Albert Einstein and Harriet Tubman, to George Washington and Amelia Earhardt (the book my daughter has now read 10 times). Can't recommend these books enough. The newest one on Neil Armstrong came out this week. Visit www.BradMeltzer.com for info.

A tremendous quote about winning in life by none other than the Hick from French Lick himself:
"A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals." - Larry Bird

Have a great weekend and make sure you spend some time working your tail off to accomplish your goals!

We have a lot of new readers and members of the FF5 crew this week and I want to say 'hello' to all of you! You're one of us now. Welcome!

If you haven't shared this yet, all I ask is that you send this next link to two people who you think would like it. It would mean a ton. THANK YOU:

- Jon