- The Friday Fix
- Posts
- #82: The Fantastic Five
#82: The Fantastic Five
Shem Opolot
August 02, 2024
Hi! Welcome to The Friday Fix! You’re reading this because you probably stumbled upon this post somewhere on the internet instead of where it should be—in your inbox. But no worries; we can fix that.
Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
Why should you subscribe?
I have over ten years of work experience in healthcare, program management, and data analytics on two continents. So, I know a little about helping you work smarter
I comb through tonnes of self-improvement content so you don’t have to, and I distill the content into bite-sized wisdom for you
I’ll occasionally make you laugh
If this sounds good, click the subscribe button below, add your email, read my welcome email (check your spam folder or Promotion tabs), and follow ALL the instructions. This is important so you don’t miss future posts.
Hi! I'm Shem Opolot, and this is The Friday Fix, my weekly newsletter. If you've received it, you’re either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If you fit into the latter (yes, I’m the kind of person who uses words like “latter”) camp and want to subscribe, then click on the shiny button below:
You can also skim the past posts here.
Otherwise, grab a seat 🪑.
Happy Friday 🎉 Faiza is free! Let’s imagine we’re all in one big room, and we all like each other. Now, on 3, not after 3, say, “Welcome back, Faiza!” And whenever she speaks out of turn, tell her, “Prison has changed you,” while shaking your head in disappointment.
***
Book Club enthusiasts, we’re ready to have you. Please fill this out, and we’ll get started. Latecomers are allowed, too 😉.
LIFE.
🦸🏾♀️ The Fantastic Five
Original photo by Marvel. Inc.
“You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.“
I don’t like that phrase. Mostly because it’s a little off. Incomplete.
One of my earliest childhood memories is from when I was 6 years old. I skipped class to play cops and robbers, er, I mean, thieves and police, behind the school with Willy and some other hoodlums.
Willy was tiny but mighty. Kinda like The Penguin in Batman—an unassuming frame you’d ignore but casting a large shadow.
Willy said we should skip class, so we did.
The details are foggy, but I remember my class teacher approaching from the left while my elder brother approached from the right. They cornered us because I assume they deduced that such brazen stupidity had to be taken seriously.
We yielded without incident, and my memory cuts from that point and picks up with me in the living room at home: hips on the floor, torso propped up by my stiff arms, neck craned to turn my head backward and upwards to look at my dad, and Dad’s cane above my bum.
In Primary 5, I sat with all the goody-two-shoes kids near the front of the class. While handing out homework papers, Mrs. Mirembe called me the most disciplined pupil in the class after I said thank you as I accepted my homework paper.
The bar was on the floor.
A couple of weeks later, Mrs. Mirembe changed the seating arrangement, placing me at the back with Malik, one of the smartest, most troublesome fellows I’ve ever known.
Two days later, the teachers pulled my dad aside after school because I got involved in a few spats here and there.
In high school, I learned compartmentalization.
I had friends I talked about TV shows with, friends I’d lie to about how many bases I went to with the ladies (listen, I never said I was perfect ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), friends I played basketball with, friends I skipped morning prep with, friends I studied with, and friends I’d known all my life.
I say you can be anything you want by spending protected time with people who are really good at that thing.
You don’t have to cut off your friend like a thieving arm; you just need to create compartments.
THINGS.
A quote
Source: Jack Butcher, Visualize Value
The world rewards the people who are best at communicating ideas, not the people with the best ideas.
A picture.
Nsemere doesn’t remember what crawling is. She spends her days scaling new heights and harassing her brother.
WORK.
Turn your articles into audio.
Gif by magentamusik on Giphy
This app will turn your articles into audio and so much more.
*Whispers* There’s a free tier.
FUN.
The Friday Fix Playlist
Shem’s picks
✅ Add “fluent in body language” to the other lies to tell on your CV.
✅ Save this for when you go to Europe.
✅ A glossary of AI terms in case you’re assigned to a task force.
✅ How the UN translates everything in real-time.
✅ Listen: The story of Adidas vs. Puma
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
Reply