If I hear, see, or read the word manifestation one more time, I'm going to explode.

It's not a new concept. It's just a new word. Well, I mean it's not a new word, it's just someone somewhere hit upon the Abraham Hicks lectures on YouTube and Ta-Da! We have a revolutionary way to receive some cosmic entitlement from the world.

Dreaming a big dream, setting an intention, making a plan, developing a process, are as old as time. The problem is most people don't follow through on them. They just wait for another ideology to get enthusiastic about.

And that's fine, but I don't think concentrating on a good thought for seventeen seconds, ten times a day is a sensible way to scale a business, find a boyfriend, or amass great wealth.

I'm spending this August while most folks have set their email to "Away from Office" to recommit myself to keeping things simple, living in the day, and expressing gratitude for all things great and small. I don't think there will be some beautifully wrapped manifested gift waiting for me come September. But that's not why I do it.

Okay. I feel better. Thanks for letting me rant.

From the Less Doing Labs

My family and I were in the IKEA in King of Prussia, PA. I was jetting to get me some meatballs, when I saw this sign next to a phone in a little workstation. 

So on one hand, it's kind of crazy. But if you zoom in on the image, the questions are fascinating. Like, what was their demeanor? What ethnicity did they sound like? Were they familiar with the store? Was there background noise? And then my favorite... When is the planned explosion time? 

My first impression was, um do they really need a checklist for this? Like has this happened more than once? But then I thought,  yeah. you absolutely need a checklist for this. 

It is indeed a process that we may never need or at first glance seems silly, like creating a process for how we change the paper towel rolls in the bathroom. What's important to understand is that it's not necessarily about making the paper towel roll or bomb threat process more efficient. It's about getting people in the mindset of using processes and checklists, all the time, every time.  

So we don't have to make decisions about it.  

Decisions we don't need to make are exhausting and open us up for errors. 

So even a bomb threat should have a checklist. Even if it may never happen. Because the greater good here is that it's getting everybody in the mindset that we have a checklist for everything, and you need to follow it, 

Now if IKEA could focus a bit more on clarifying the directions for this stupid kid’s hammock, I’d be super grateful. 

--Voxer message 8.4.2021

It's Not Clubhouse. It's Better. The Less Doing Labs is a private group chat that gives you access to me for $12 a month or a hundred dollars for the year. If you're interested, watch this super-fast video for more info.

Coolest Tech of the Month

boaxbi - a dwelling delivered.

Voxer Integration - aka Hannukah in August.

TikTok Resumes? - Say Less.

Blockchain Goes Green - Climate Negative is the new carbon neutral.

Is there an App for that? - Layman's Guide to building your own.

STUFF AND EVERYTHING

Have you checked out my new personal brand website?

Here's the final episode of the Less Doing Podcast. Sniff Sniff.

Have you heard I'm doing a project on some of the world's oldest businesses?

I'm picking twelve to do a deep dive on. So if you have a favorite 200, 300,400 - 1500-year-old business you'd like to see analyzed, reply to this email and let me know.

Manifest an effective day, K?

Ari