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Ari Meisel on Optimizing, Automating and Outsourcing For Maximum Profit – Episode 10


In 2006, Ari was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s is an incurable disease of the digestive tract.

Ari’s case was severe, and required over a dozen daily medications and several hospital visits. After reaching a personal low point in hospital, Ari decided he would do everything in his power to strengthen his by then weak body.

Through a combination of yoga, nutrition, natural supplements and rigorous exercise he was able to fight back the symptoms of Crohn’s until he was finally able to suspend his medication. Eventually Ari was declared free of all traces of the ‘incurable’ disease, and competed in Ironman France in June of 2011.

Ari has since spoken at seminars and at a regional TED Talk about his struggle against a seemingly insurmountable opponent. Through the process of data collection, self tracking, and analysis, Ari helped develop Less Doing.

This was a way of dealing with the daily stresses of life by optimizing, automating, and outsourcing all of his tasks in life, health and business.

Ari’s 3-part framework for less doing, more living:

  • Optimize – This process involves identifying any inefficient processes so that you can try to make it inherently more efficient before doing anything else.
  • Automate – Set it an forget it. This can sometimes include people but, more often than not this is systems, processes or web apps that will just run for you.
  • Outsource – If there’s anything left over after optimizing and automating (and a lot of times there isn’t), then the final step is to outsource.

Lose Your To-do List

Ari says to get rid of your to-do list. If you’re like most people, the majority of items on your to-do list are things that can’t be dealt with right now anyway. That, or you’re waiting on someone else to do something first.

Instead, use services like followup.cc that bring it to your attention exactly when you need it.

Passions

  • Ari has a geeky obsession with making things more efficient. He’s passionate about helping people save time. He wants your awesomeness unobscured from the mundane.

App of the Day

  • Check out Ari’s resources page on his blog. There are a number of apps and services Ari uses listed here that helps make him more efficient. He cautions too that it’s not about the technology. You still need to optimize first, then you can use the tools.

Book of the Day

Resources

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