Jonathan D. Byrd SR

Don't wait for the perfect moment to start your business. Start now, and perfect it along the way.

@IAmAlenSultanic I completely agree with you. It's amazing what happens when you find the "RIGHT" person versus just "anyone." I've now integrated AI into the mix to help me pick up on things I might have missed, and I'm getting even better results than before.

One of my favorite quotes that has served me well over the years in business is by Henry Ford, who said: "Fire fast, hire slow". Most of us do the complete opposite; we hire fast, fire slow. Before I started living by this quote, I would hire fast, mostly what you call at "arms-length" hiring, whoever was around, and wouldn't take the time to really curate, discover and find the right person, and then when that person (to no fault of their own, btw) wouldn't be a good fit... ...I would HOPE that one day they would step up and become a good fit, and in the process, it would cost me anywhere between $50,000-$100,000. The moment I flipped it, using Henry Ford's advice, is the moment everything changed. Finding good people, and the moment someone is not a good fit, we need to let them go so they can grow in a better environment. And this last bit is very important, because firing can be emotionally difficult for most of us, so think of it this way — you're not firing people, you're letting them go so they can grow in a better environment. You're doing a disservice to them by holding them back; it's not fair to you or them. Fire fast, hire slow. Have a great start of the week and crush it, Alen

If I could write a letter to my 22 year old self, here are some things I would share: 1. The people you look up to are nothing special, they’ve just been doing it longer. At each level of progress I’ve reached over the last 10 years, I’ve gotten to meet someone I admired. And each time, I walked away recognizing they were nothing special. They weren’t a superhuman. They had simply been working with more clarity, more intention, and for a longer period of time than I had. 2. Most of the things you are caught up in will not matter at all in 5 years. This is one of the benefits of daily journaling. If I pick up a journal from 5 years ago, I’m always shocked how much energy & bandwidth was going toward things that I can hardly remember now. You can apply this to the present moment, recognizing that future you thinks the same thing about your current problems. So release the grip a little bit, chances are it won’t end up mattering in the future. 3. Get in shape, build a business, explore the world, and treat the people in your life with respect. Everything else is noise. This has been the guiding vision of my last 7 years. • I pulled myself out of rough physical shape • Built a business to $20m in lifetime revenue • Visited 15 different countries • Nurtured a handful of high-quality relationships while shedding plenty of others Looking back, anything that pulled me away from these things was a waste. And anything that pushed these forward was time, money, & energy well-spent. 4. Invest more in memory dividends, they’re extremely underpriced. Here’s my best piece of money advice. Take 10% of every dollar you earn and put it in a separate account. Set up your account to do so automatically. Hide that number from any tracker so you basically forget it exists. This is now your Memory Dividend Investment Account. Just like you put money in the stock market so it compounds over time, you want to allocate money for trips & experiences that pay memory dividends over time. Now, when a trip opportunity or memorable experience pops up, you have money set aside to purchase it. And because that money is already “pre-allocated” & you basically forgot it exists, you won’t feel a big drop in your net worth. This deserves an entire post on its own, and for a deep dive check out the book Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. 5. No one on earth is thinking about you anywhere near as much as you think they are. Despite what you believed growing up, you are not the center of the universe. The people you think are judging you are too worried about themselves. And even if they were judging you, that’s just a reflection of their insecurities. Do not let the imaginary opinions of people you don’t even care about keep you from doing something new. 6. You’re stuck because you lack strong enough reasons to grow. During periods I moved the fastest, I had a crystal-clear motivation driving my every action. However, that motivation will change as you grow. At a certain point, the thing pulling you forward will not generate the same spark. When that happens, you must audit your drivers and find a new one. This may take time. You may feel lost during that search. And, that’s okay. That’s what growth feels like. So when you’re stuck, be honest with yourself: your reasons needs upgrading. Then, spend more time upgrading them. 7. You can solve almost every modern-day problem with writing, exercise, clean eating, sunshine, and meditation. Every time I face a mental health dip, it’s always when I’ve drifted away from these basics. So now, whenever I feel off, I always start with checking each of them off in a single day. Then, once I’ve reset my baseline and I’m thinking clearly, the problem I thought I had either disappears or is much easier to solve. Because I’m operating from a position of clarity. 8. 95% of reading, planning, and brainstorming is procrastination disguised as productivity. There are only 2 reasons to consume content. • It’s providing an answer to a problem that will remove the current bottleneck in your life or business OR • It’s going to inspire you to create more content after you’ve consumed it. If it’s not solving a problem for you or inspiring you, be honest with yourself that it’s not actually moving you forward. Then, get to work doing the work you’re avoiding. 9. Success comes from doing somewhat-monotonous things every day for years. But no one wants to hear that. So you’re sold quick hacks, pills, and shortcuts. Instead: • Do the basics • Do them every day • Do them for a long period of time Every success I’ve had in my life came from repeating a handful of small daily activities every day for years. Writing, exercising, meditating, building, tinkering on a new skill, tracking my progress. Extremely boring, extremely effective. 10. Learn to write. Learn to sell. Everything else becomes easier after that. Each year of my business journey, I’ve focused on mastering one new skill. In 2021 it was writing. 2022 it was offer creation. 2023 it was sales. 2024 it was hiring. 2025 it’s been paid ads. All of these are important skills. But the biggest “leaps” of income came in 2021 and 2023 when I learned to write and learned to sell. Why? Because these two skills are the “magnifier” skills that took something I already had and squeezed way more juice out it. So pick a project or side hustle that forces you to 1) write about it and 2) sell it to someone. These skills will let you write your own paycheck. 11. People will say “you’ve changed” because they don’t know how to say “you’ve grown.” So if you’re looking for permission to outgrow someone or something, this is it. Not everyone will be a part of every chapter of your life. Some will come and go, and that’s okay. If a person, group, or situation is keeping you from continuing to grow and evolve, it’s time to move on from them. However, recognize this will not come easily and they will actively try to keep you from doing so. Be ready for this. 12. Money stops flowing the second you see it as scarce, and starts again the second you see it as abundant. Once you start seeing money as energy, you recognize it’s important to constantly circulate it. When you start trying to “hoard” it, cut corners, or overly embrace frugality, its circulation will slow. But once you release that feeling of scarcity, money starts to flow again. The easiest way to see this in action is to pay for the person behind you’s coffee. Watch how that small $4 purchase has a positive ripple effect on your mood & energy. Repeat this for a few days and watch as your brain rewires for abundance in real time. 13. Life becomes much more fun when you view everything as an opportunity. • Flight delay? Time to flex the patience muscle. • Rude service worker? Time to flex the empathy muscle. • Unexpected fire at work? Time to flex the problem solving muscle. Easy mindset shift. Instant life upgrade. 14. Work 12 hours per day, 6 days per week. It will never be easier to do so than it is right now. My periods of greatest intensity have always been my periods of greatest growth. When I was working full time at BlackRock, I woke up at 4:30 AM every day for 3 years. • I would spend the first 90 minutes of my day writing as a side hustle • Then hit a 60-minute workout, before arriving at my desk in Midtown Manhattan by 7:30 AM • I’d work there until 6:30 PM, take the bus home, and then work on my side hustle again for an hour before going to bed at 9. That was my only choice to get ahead. If you want to accelerate your progress, you need to do the job you currently have AND the job you want to have in the future. This is not a prescription to do it forever. But if you commit to a season of intensity, you can condense a decade of progress into 3 years. 15. Life becomes a lot easier when you view every problem as a skill issue. • Out of shape? Skill issue. • Ugly bank account? Skill issue. • Low energy? Skill issue. • Anxious thoughts? Skill issue. I affirmed to myself these would go away if I got better. And magically, they did, once “I” did. 16. Call your parents every day. You’ve already spent 90% of the time you’ll ever spend with them. And they’re the only people on earth who have been a part of your entire story. In 2023 I lost my dad unexpectedly. What stings me most is how few times I called him in the months leading up to it. Part of me often thinks “what if” and how a few extra calls here or there could have changed that trajectory. So let me save you some future regret with this reminder: find a time of the day or week or something that is your cue to call your parents. Even if it’s just for 90 seconds, future you will be extremely glad you did. 17. Smile more. There’s almost never a reason to go about your day in a bad mood. And to prove it, think about this: Current you would cherish the opportunity to live a day as younger you. And younger you would cherish the opportunity to live a day as current you. And even current you (if you were sick or injured) would cherish the opportunity to live exactly as you are now. Take these reframes and remind yourself of them daily. You will feel more joy as a result. 18. Pay to learn from people ahead of you. It’s almost always the highest-return investment you can make. Every “power level” of both skill & income came immediately after I made an uncomfortably large investment in myself. Recognize the problems you’re facing are not unique. The skills you want to learn are not rare. So with a little research, you can find people to learn from who have what you’re looking for. • Find them • Pay them • Borrow their experience And you will save yourself hundreds of hours trying to figure it out on your own. 19. Stop comparing yourself to people ahead of you. Only compete with your former self and your future self. You can draw inspiration from others, but never judge yourself negatively for the gap that exists. Instead, reward yourself for the gains you’ve made relative to the person you once were. And motivate yourself by measuring the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Shift between these energies as needed, recognizing how far you’ve come but realizing how far you have to go. 20. You can only commit to grow 3 things at a time. And these 3 things will come from 4 areas: • Your health • Your lifestyle • Your business • Your relationships Notice I said you can only commit to 3 despite there being 4 areas. That’s because one of them will stay on pause when you commit to the other 3. You can try to grow all 4 at once, but in my experience that leads to overcommitment, which leads to growing none of them at all. So choose wisely. Spend more time auditing your commitments. Chunk them down into daily activities you can perform & measure. And stick with them long enough to see a result. 21. Prune your life of miserable & mediocre people. Have zero tolerance for those who blame, gossip, complain, or criticize. These energy vampires are not adding value to your life in any way. And this is one of the best “reasons” to build wealth & acquire resources, so you can avoid situations with like this and walk away from them if you need to. 22. The world is rigged hilariously in your behavior if you simply believe it to be. Last but not least, this is the single most empowering belief I could instill in someone. Every single thing I thought was devastating at the time turned out to be awesome in hindsight because of what it taught me or how it shaped me. And you can pull this into the present & apply it to your future. No matter what life throws at you, you can take it in stride knowing it’s shaping the person you will eventually become.

Confusion is the price of clarity. Failure is the price of competence. Confrontation is the price of honesty. Anxiety is the price of ambition. Criticism is the price of authenticity. You're not on the wrong path, you're just not there yet.

@IAmAlenSultanic The remedy is to replace complaints with gratitude. I was thinking about this very thing this morning and how much we have to be grateful for. Thanks for the reminder to suck it up!

The thought that gives birth to all other negative thoughts, emotions, feelings, situations, and all other negatives and challenges in life is complaining. Never complain, under any circumstances, no matter what, never complain, because when you do, you are telling yourself that you are powerless to do anything about it, otherwise, why would you complain? Why would you complain if you could do something about it? Exactly. And complaining is sneaky, it's everywhere, and it's one of the favorite tools of "the powers that be" to take away our personal power, because they get it going through different ways... ... Complaining is everywhere, news isn't a form of reporting, it's a form of complaining that gets you going, and there are many, many other ones... Direct complaining: Venting to friends, posting on social media, workplace gossip, telling your story repeatedly. Indirect complaining: Sarcasm and cynicism, dark humor, sighing heavily, eye-rolling, shaking your head disapprovingly. Systemic complaining: Weather complaints, traffic complaints, price complaints ("Everything's so expensive"), body complaints ("I'm so tired"). Victim narrative: "Nobody understands me," "The system is rigged," "I never get lucky," "People always take advantage of me". Disguised complaining: Sharing "concerned" articles about problems, offering unsolicited advice (which implies others are failing), excessive worry expressed to others. Entertainment: Watching dramatic shows, reading scandal-filled content, consuming true crime obsessively, scrolling outrage-inducing social media. Professional: Complaining about bosses or coworkers, blaming market conditions, saying projects are impossible before trying, focusing on obstacles rather than solutions. Spiritual/philosophical: "The world is getting worse," "People are so disconnected," lamenting "the state of humanity" Once you see it, you can't unsee it and stay clear of it. Hopefully this post has given you new perspective on how the world tries to program you to give up your own personal power. Have a great Wednesday, and no more complaining. Alen

@IAmAlenSultanic Three stages: Mow your own lawn. Pay someone to mow your lawn. Mow your own lawn.

On your come-up… ...Your first initiation will be based on whether you can endure the pain. Can you endure the pain, the suffering, and the uncertainty — when nothing’s working, when nobody believes in you, and when the results don’t match the effort? Once you pass that level, the next initiation is whether you can endure the pleasure. Enduring pain is easy — it sharpens you. But enduring pleasure… that’s the real test. Can you say no to luxury, comfort, cars, houses, and all the material possessions? Can you say no to trips, parties, people, and everything that comes your way? Can you say no to what the money you've been given can give you? So you can stay on track and keep growing? Because pleasure is a liar. It makes you think you’ve arrived when you’ve only just started, because you're only on your second initiation of the journey. Most pass the first initiation, yet most who pass that fail the second, only to never recover again. I passed the first, but failed the second many times, until I learned the lessons to continue to the third imitation. So, can you say no to pleasure? That's your key to growth. Have a great weekend, Alen

I have always remembered a line from the movie "Cinderella Man" that reminds me of this. He said, "My heart is for my family, but my brain and my balls are for business, and this is Business!" I thought it extremely callous at the time it came out; however, as I age, I realize that within bounds, you must take care of yourself and your family before you take care of others. Basically, put on your own oxygen mask before you help someone else.

Oftentimes in business, most of us operate on a win/win, and this is the right and noble thing to do... ...Which means, you get what you want and the other side gets what they want. The problem with this model of thinking is that often, it's nearly impossible to match the two wants. This is one thing that held me back for quite a while, because the way my subconscious manifested it is to lower my wants in order for the other side to get what they want. The change happened when I had this realization: "When you get what you want, the other side does not have to get what they want; it's not your responsibility for them to get what they want. Your responsibility is ONLY to get what YOU want." This changed everything because it meant no longer did I have to shrink or downsize myself in order to accommodate others, and from there, I experienced massive growth. I share this with you because deep down, I know most of you try to do the right thing, and sometimes the right thing ends up being the wrong thing for you. Have a great week, Alen

When considering the kinds of mistakes you are willing to allow in order to promote learning through trial and error, weigh the potential damage of a mistake against the benefit of incremental learning. In defining what latitude I'm willing to give people, I say, "I'm willing to let you scratch or dent the car, but I won't put you in a position where there's a significant risk of your totaling it." #principleoftheday

I went through this before and it lasted a few years. Entrepreneurship is hard enough as it is, but when you lose that "mojo" it any form of self confidence you had, you can lose everything fairly quickly after. One of the best remedies is this thing called courage. Keep fighting and eventually you come out the other side.

It’s very dangerous when you start doubting yourself.

@SpartanPsyche We know this to be the case for our muscles, but we tend to forget it applies to the brain as well.

Neuroplasticity has a “use it or lose it” rule. If the addictive circuit goes unused long enough, it loses myelin efficiency, making it slower and weaker. Every day clean is not just a win, it’s making the old habit biologically harder to execute.

@AnwarTameem Most things come back to the basics. If you do them correctly, things tend to work out.

The highest signal doesn't come from 'secrets.' It comes from proven blueprints. • Meticulous Systems • Principled Execution • Deliberate Frameworks Reduce the noise. Amplify the signal.

@KevinSzabo14 This is one of the things that drives me nuts. The more people talk about those things, the less I believe them and the less I want to interact. Just be yourself.

Stop putting so much of your personal business on social media. The truth is, the whole “influencer” thing has you over sharing. Stop sharing how many clients you secured this year, how much money you made, how many meetings you had, the partnerships you secured, what your day to day looks like, etc. Everyone is not your friend. Everyone shouldn’t know what you have going on. Just live.

It’s been a long time since I first started a business from scratch. However, I still remember the fear. In some ways, that fear has never left me. There are so many unknowns in life and we want to believe there is some master plan that if we just follow this (go to this school, get this degree, get this job, live here, etc.) that everything will work according to that plan. The reality is much messier. The truth is, none of us knows that we will even be alive tomorrow. The odds might be in our favor, but that isn’t a concrete reality. You have today. Who do you want to be tomorrow? Try becoming that man/woman today. When you boil it all down, it's one step at a time. Be present today - do the things, today, to become who you want to be tomorrow. One day at a time, eventually, you create that person. The fear is the unknown, so you can control what you do right now - so go do it.

@Liminal1988 This is incredibly true. I focused not on what can't be done but what I could do or find out how to do and it worked out.

A pattern I've noticed in successful people:

@KevinSzabo14 Ha, I came to the same conclusion prior to dropping out. I was currently running my own at that time and questioning why I was trying to learn from someone who has never even done what I did.

I knew school was a scam when my business teacher never owned a business.

You can't use someone else's map to find yourself

The breakthrough you’re praying for is always on the other side of doubt.

@TheRealBradLea I like this, Brad. Perspective is easily lost if you don't take the time to remind yourself of why you are doing it and what is the point.

Success Rule #1: Never hustle so hard you lose the people you hustled for.

@thejustinwelsh The more people are on social media chasing someone else's dream this tends to happen. In reality, at the end of the day, you 10x your business but lose the small joys of your family, you didnt win, you lost the most important thing.

If you make enough money to thrive daily, save for retirement, and live the life of your dreams, but you're ignoring your family to "10x" it...you're not quite the badass you think you are.

If it looks boring, repetitive, and lonely… You're probably on the right track.

@Oliver_Clingain @sharran Lol

@sharran I used to say I had an income problem turns out it was a DoorDash problem lol

Unpopular opinion: Most people are broke not because they don't make enough, but because they spend everything they make.