The 100K Trap: Why Hard Work Isn't Getting You More Deals

Welcome back to Catalyst Conversations, where we explore the ideas, leadership lessons, and Transformative conversations that help us build businesses and lives rooted in clarity, structure, and soul. Today's conversation is for every entrepreneur who knows they're capable of more. You're intelligent, you're hardworking, you've proven you can create results. Maybe you've crossed 6 figures, maybe clients are coming in, maybe the business looks successful from the outside. Behind the scenes, You're carrying everything. You're making every decision. You're solving every problem. And somehow, despite all that effort, growth feels harder than it should. What if the answer isn't working harder? What if it's learning to think differently? Today's guest believes many entrepreneurs aren't limited by effort. They're limited by organization systems and the way they approach growth itself. Joining us today is Sajjad Hussain, who helps driven business owners dramatically increase results while reducing stress, improving productivity, and creating more control in both business and life. We're diving into how entrepreneurs can land significantly more deals, create sustainable momentum, and stop feeling trapped inside the businesses they've built. Sajjad, welcome to Catalyst Conversations.

Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to be here.

Yeah. Before we get into strategies and systems, I'd love to start with your story. Many people reach a point where they realize hard work alone isn't enough. Was there a moment in your own journey when you recognized that success required a different way of thinking?

No. Yes. I've always been an organizer of people. So, uh, yeah, ever since I was a little kid, like even when, when I was 9 years old, I was coaching soccer, I was refereeing soccer, and I was playing soccer. And I was 9, I was in the like 14 and up league. And so, yeah, I, I've, I've always understood that it was a circle of people. I don't know where that must have come from, my parents or innate knowledge, but I always understood it was a circle of community people. Oh, I can't tell that story. I also— I can tell the story, and I'll tell you when we get offline after this, after we hit stop recording. I got a story for you about the Humpty hallway when I was, uh, in 7th grade. So I always knew there was tons of people involved in the community to influence things, and I also found a way to get other people to do most the work And I make most— I get most of the benefit, make most of the money, get most of the validation and recognition. Well, yeah, that started when I was like 12 years old. I figured that out at a very young age that I could get other people to do work and get paid for the work they did. Yeah. Well, I started reading Entrepreneur Magazine at 9 years old, the adult version. So that's probably where that came from.

Probably. And, you know, I think that's such a an important realization, um, because so many entrepreneurs are taught that the solution to every problem is simply to work harder. Yeah. Yet what you're describing is something entirely different. You're talking about intentionality, you're talking about structure, you're talking about ownership. Um, when you look back now, what were some of the biggest habits or mindsets that were actually holding you back, even if they felt productive at the time?

Uh, oh, okay, that was difficult because this is 40 years ago.

Well, I like to, I like to put you on the spot. That's just, that's what we do here.

I had to, I had to dive deep into the 7th generation of my brain. Um, yeah, I recall when I was a kid, a teenager, uh, teenager's not a kid, when I was young I used to think I had a lot of people trying to mentor me because I'm a genius, and, um, I didn't listen. And now that I'm old, I realize there's 2 ways of learning life. I just had this thought like less than an hour ago about one of my teenage neighbors that I mentor. You can either learn on your own the hard way, try to figure it out, or just find a 50-year-old man or woman, find an old person who's made all the mistakes for you, and you can save hundreds of thousands of dollars and decades of life. So when I was young, I thought the good idea was, I'm going to figure it out by myself. And now I'm old, and now I just pay everybody who's better than me at everything, which is pretty much everything, because I'm not good at doing much of anything. I'm an expert at a few things. I'm the best in the world at a few things, and I suck at everything else. So when I was young, I thought the best way— I think that's male ego as well, but I could be wrong. Maybe I mean sexist against men. The best way to learn was to figure it out on your own. And now I realize that's completely stupid. Oh, I know another thing. When I was young, I used to think managing people was a good idea. It made me feel important and powerful. And now I don't manage anybody. I have all contractors so they can quit when they want. I can fire no cause. Like, You can leave. I can leave. No obligation. Um, so yeah, when I was young, I thought learn on your own and managing people made you important. And I think both those things are completely wrong.

Right.

Well, learning, learning on your own is stupid and managing people is dumber than that.

Well, I think managing people, um, you and I have had a lot of conversations. Managing people is more about feeding the ego.

Yeah.

Than being truly beneficial to you. And, and I love your point about, um, finding mentors and being open to learning from them, uh, even from a young age. I think it influences a lot and saves you.

I didn't, I didn't listen. I didn't listen.

I know.

I bet you wish you had though. Oh my God. This is what I told one of my clients when he hired me last year. He made zero. Well, he made $5,500 between January and September. He's made $370,000 in the last 6 months since hiring me. And he was 23 years old. And before he hired me, I'm like, dude, just listen. I'm going to save you 30 years. I'm going to save you 30 years of life. Because if I would have just damn listened when I was 23— he's making $400,000 a year now. Yep. Or no, $400,000 in 6 months. If I would have just listened, not to everybody, but found the right person to listen to, which I'm sure I came across some of those people, I would have saved at least 20 years.

Yeah, yeah, that's a really important, uh, distinction in presencing. Um, what stands out to me a lot of the times is how often leaders confuse activity with progress, right? Uh, we become busy solving today's problems while unintentionally creating tomorrow's chaos, and eventually That chaos, it starts costing us energy opportunities and joy, right? And happiness. Was there a point where reducing stress became just as important and just as important as increasing revenue for you?

When did I become lazy? Okay. Oh man, you ask interesting questions. So I tried to change the world for 30 years. I was a social worker, community organizer, trying to create a democracy with a free press and educational system. So I was community organizing, and then I became an attorney, and then I became Deputy Chief of Staff for the state of Illinois with DCFS, 4th in charge of the government. And then I got to the level Where I mean, I always believed it was all intentional, but I wanted to get to the level where I could see if I can actually create change. Turns out you can't because it's all designed to be as it is. And then I was intellectually, not biologically, not chemically, intellectually suicidal for the next 2 years. And then I decided, well, fuck it, I'll just make a lot of money because I can't make the world a better place. Now, the work that I do assists other people to make a lot of money. Off of the work they do, and the work they do makes the world a better place. So by proxy, I'm still making the world a better place. Um, what was the original question right there?

Was there a point where reducing stress became just as important as increasing?

Yes, I was stressed out all that time. Now I'm not stressed out anymore at all. Uh, if people do what I say That's good. And if they don't do it, you know, I'm not gonna— I'm not gonna— unfortunately, sorry, Tupac, I am not going to change the world. Uh, the world is as it is, and the people are well enough, at least for right now, at least in the United States, they're well enough to, uh, not do something to actually, uh, create massive change. So when you're trying to change the world, it's very stressful. So, so now I'm just worried about the well-being of my wife, my dog, my 23 friends, my mom, my dad, and my clients who I care about. Other than that, no, that, that's when I decided to stop. I feel no stress, no pressure at all.

Right.

Um, and I know that what I teach works. The last 4 clients of mine made over $100,000 new money in 90 days. And, uh, I know what I teach works, and not everybody wants to— not everybody wants— a lot of people want to do things their own way, even if their own way doesn't work. And that doesn't stress me out anymore because I know— I mean, this is 27 years of coaching people. 27 years. 11 years of business development. 16 years in the hood. I know I have no control over what anybody else does, and so I don't— I don't I don't— I mean, I still stress to some extent because I want them to be successful, but not like I used to when I was younger, when I wanted a democracy with a free press and educational system. My stress is way lower now. I'm old. I've given up. Y'all young people, go change the world and shit. Have fun.

And I, I think there, there is a powerful distinction in that, because when you reduce the stress, you're still Creating impact. You're— I mean, people talk about you. I hear it, right? It's, it's creating a ripple effect. Um, and leadership isn't simply about building a bigger business. It's about building a business that supports the life you're trying to create. And I think you, you've emulated that beautifully.

Thank you.

Um, tell us about the people help— you help today. I know you, you told us one story. Who typically comes to you? What are they experiencing when they first arrive?

I want to say something different. Thanks for the compliments. I wasn't raised with positive reinforcement, so I don't want that to run over my head. Then I'll come across as more egotistical than I am. I want to say a compliment you— well, not a compliment, an observation you gave to me a year ago. Um, I think it was a year ago. I'm not good with time frames because I do the same thing every single day, which is work and have fun. And my fun— my work is fun. So I just have fun all doing it. You told me a year ago, yeah, well, you're never stressed out because— not never, you're, you're, you're, you're rarely stressed out because you're in alignment. You're having fun all the time.

Mhm.

And so if you're having fun all the time, like my clients will say, I need a break, I need a vacation, uh, I feel burnt out, I feel tired.

Right,

then you're not doing the right shit then, because if you're doing exactly what you want to be doing and making good money off of being you and living how you want to live, there's nothing to be stressed out about or tired about. Sorry, can you go back to your question now? Because I want to answer the question you didn't ask me first.

Who typically comes to you and what are they experiencing when they first come?

Uh, they're overthinking and they're stressed out because they're extremely intelligent Super hardworking, but they don't know what's missing, which is lack of structure, organization, processes, and protocols. Ego is a major problem. I have a gigantic team. I'm working my ass off. Um, nobody can do what I can do. Uh, people are just in their own way in a multitude of different ways, but the root cause is ego every time. That they're just stuck. I don't want to say stuck on stupid. Who said stuck on stupid?

You can say stuck on stupid.

I don't know who said that. It was some guy or whatever. Um, they're stuck in their ways that do not work, and they're just afraid, right? So there's a fear of success, there's a fear of failure, there's a fear of the unknown. So what I'm doing is working. I'm making $200,000 a year. But are you really making $200,000 or $300,000 a year? And then you don't spend any time with your wife, your 2 kids, or your dog, and your wife is dying of cancer. I mean, this is real shit I've dealt with. It's like you're not really living a great— you're not living a great life. You mentioned a couple of questions ago, lifestyle, right? Mm-hmm. Like, is it a great— because I don't know, man. I love my life. Are you living a great lifestyle? Because you could have a lot of money. And still be suicidal or depressed or anxious, or, and you can have no money and be super happy. So is, is the lifestyle the one you want? Are you doing it what it takes to get the thing that you say that you want?

Yeah, no, I love this conversation. What's interesting to me is that so many business owners assume that revenue solves the stress. And often that revenue simply amplifies whatever systems or lack of systems, right, already exist. What are some warning signs that someone has become the bottleneck inside of their own business?

What does it mean somebody's become the bottleneck? What does that mean?

Uh, meaning someone is the stopping point for forward momentum.

Well, when you think you already know everything, then you know everything.

I mean, it's very true.

I turn down more than half the people that want to hire me because I'll tell people, oh, you got to change these couple things. They're like— and this is during the pitch meeting where they're looking to hire me— I turn down more than half the people that want to hire me because they'll say, no, that what you're saying ain't gonna work. And I'm like, okay. They're like, they're like, this is the way it's going to work. I'm like, but how long you been doing that? A year? Well, it hasn't worked yet, but it's about to work though. Like, really? You know, you even know, you know, a particular person that's in my head right now that I'm saying, no, no, the money's about to come. You've been doing it 2 years that way.

Yeah.

How long should it take to make money? Less than 30 days.

Yeah.

If you've got the right guide. It should take less than 30 days to start making new money. I don't think— I think it's been at least, yeah, maybe 3, 4, 5. It's been a long time since somebody hired me and listened to what I said and didn't have money. I only had one person last year, of a lot of people, I only had one person last year not make a bunch of money really fast, and he said, you ruined my life And I said, no, you did that all without me. You hired me and I showed you how you've ruined your life. But no, yeah, you're— the bottleneck is your brain. The bottleneck is your belief system. The bottleneck is believing you've got it figured out and not taking heed to good advice, which is crazy. I don't understand why people pay me. I turn down more than half the people that want to hire me. And then some people still hire me, and as you know, because you're doing some coaching for me, still don't freaking— they still don't listen, even though, even though they know what they're doing, it's not, it's not working. It's like I'm on a chocolate diet to lose weight, and I don't know why it's not working. Okay, cut out the chocolate diet, go on a vegetable diet. No, no, no, I'm gonna stick this chocolate diet. You know, it's like, no, your chocolate diet is not going to work.

Oh, I knew this conversation was going to be fun. And I think that's a really important leadership lesson, because growth without structure eventually creates friction, right? And friction eventually becomes exhaustion, right? The leaders who scale sustainably learn how to create systems that support success Rather than relying solely on personal effort, and I I love that. Well, let's dive into the topic everyone wants to hear about: How do entrepreneurs land more deals?

I'm so tired of talking about that for. Fine, Desi. Run business meetings. Stop doing coffee chats. Stop doing discovery calls. Stop making fake friends on the internet. Operate with intention. Be detached from the outcomes. Run business meetings. 1, 2, 8, 8, 11. 1 minute form report, 2 minutes add massive value. Say, I researched you. Here's 3 things, uh, that could help you out. Or, well, first say, is it cool if I give you some input? Because the subconscious is adolescent. Then say, I researched you for an hour. Can I give you 3 quick tips? They say yes. Give them 3 quick tips to help their business. 8 minutes they pitch you. While they're pitching you, you take short handwritten notes on their pain points. Next 8 minutes you pitch them, incorporating their specific needs in an interwoven way. The last of 11 minutes is to close. When closing, you should not be talking. You should be asking the correct questions in the correct way. At the correct time. Uh, and there's 32 more tips I can give on this. Make sure you're asking the right qualifying questions on your Calendly survey. Uh, what is your current status? What barriers you're facing? What does outrageous success look like for you in 6 months from now? There's a lot. There's a lot. And also, I'll say one last thing in capstone here. Nobody can teach closing. Completely perfectly, because each close is organically different, which sounds like a cop-out, but it is. You have to anticipate barriers. They're going to bring up time or money. You have to be confident for them because they're going to be scared because they've been ripped off before. And with all that stuff said in the last 3 minutes, it's still different each call. And you have, you have to be very engaged and conversational. It's like, it's like speed chess when you're going to close a deal, right? Like, they're gonna bring up something, you gotta be like, ah, uh, oh, Desi, uh, so you can't afford this right now. Is it— so is money the only issue? Yes, money's the only issue. Great, here's what we can do. Pay half down, or pay half and then $500 a month, $30 a month after the program's over. I don't have time for this. Oh, okay, that's cool. I get that. So, oh, where are you going to be at in 3 or 6 months from now if you don't do this now? What? So there's, there's a lot to go— I mean, there's a lot to closing deals. And no matter how well somebody teaches— Alex Hormozi has awesome videos, Myron Golden, Les Brown— they all have awesome videos on closing. And, and, and they're— I'm not gonna say they're lying. It's— you gotta, you gotta practice it. Yeah.

Yeah,

you can watch videos on how to please a woman, but you need a lot of practice before you figure out how to actually get it done.

Good luck with that one.

I haven't figured it out yet. I'm 74 years old.

Um, I— yeah, no, there's a lot to, to closing deals. There's a lot to the sales conversations. And I think a lot of times the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make Is they overtalk. They overtalk. They don't, you know, stop talking. Let them speak. Let them think. Right. Um, okay. I know you place a huge emphasis on organization, on strategy. Many people don't immediately connect organization with revenue growth. Can you help us connect those dots? How does becoming organized directly impact someone's ability to close more deals?

Activity does not equal productivity. Prior to hiring me, people say they're working 17 hours a day. Within 3 days, they realize they're working 4 hours a day. So they're reading, researching, creating, analyzing. Here's bad words: wish, hope, luck, try, busy. If you are busy, you are an idiot. You're not getting anything. Being busy means absolutely nothing. Uh, hold on, I took notes. Wish— hopefully I took notes. 1, 2, 3, write it down, ladies, gentlemen, and confused people. Number 1 is sales. You get people in front of you, you got to sell them crap that sucks. Number 2 is marketing. Marketing is where you add massive value everywhere you go. To add massive value means to say stuff so useful that people write it down. Then they're ready to buy before they even meet with you. So when I go buy a pair of Nike Air Force Ones, which are $400, I walk into the Nike store. They don't have to sell me those shoes. I've already brought it. I've already bought into the perceived value of the brand. I've already bought into wanting Nike. I have them on right now. They're very fancy. I can't stick my head up that far because I'm too old. One, sales. Those suck. 2, marketing. 3, systems, organization, structure, logistics, protocol, processes. So when my clients hire me, First, they go through an online program, which is my entire course in modules. Then they meet with one of my former clients who's the best at that particular thing. Then they meet with me. So by the time they get to me, they're pretty much, pretty much done. Much more so done than if there wasn't an online course which had my book and videos, and they didn't meet with one of my other coaches. Also, uh, my, my coaches— you learn the most by teaching. So they're learning, they're getting potential clients from working with my clients, because most people that hire me now are doing extremely well financially. Their shit's just messed up, like what you're focused on in this conversation. And then when you create systems, you're making way more money while working way less. It's easy to make $100,000 a year.

Yeah.

But the question is, how hard do you have to work to get $100,000 or $200,000 or $300,000? Because if you got to work all the time, we're all going to be dead soon. That's not really a great lifestyle choice. If you can make $100,000 or $150,000 or $200,000 and you work 6 hours, or you're obligated to work 6 hours every couple weeks, um, that comes by Getting past the sales step, number one, getting past the marketing step, number two, and getting into the system step, which is number three. Which, thank you, black guy from TikTok who taught me that breakdown a couple years

ago. It's so good. And what I'm hearing in this, and what I know, is that organization isn't just an operational tool, it's a growth tool. Um, it creates consistency, it creates follow-through, it creates trust, and ultimately it increases the conversion opportunities, right? Are there other tools that you use? Productivity tools? I know there's one that I use. I want your thoughts.

Which one do you use?

Well, I love my AI. I do. My AI and I have a great relationship, and it's— I look at it as a resource, right? My consciousness is downloaded into my AI. So it understands how I think and how I feel and how I talk.

Are you having sex with your AI?

No.

I feel like this is intimate. I saw a video on this the other day, why people are no longer going to fall in love. It's because they're going to fall in love with their AI. And I actually had a conversation, I think last week, with my AI. And a couple, like a month ago, I saw a video that said the most frequently asked question of AI Is how do people feel about me? And I'm like, that's stupid as hell. So then I went to my AI and said, how do people feel about me? So, um, yeah, AI. What about it? What's the question regarding AI? Oh, how, how does it affect productivity?

Yeah, for you, in your experience, how is it affecting your productivity?

Well, I hated it for the past 3 years because it seemed like a magic pill. Everybody wants the easy way out. Everybody wants a dessert. Nobody wants to finish their broccoli. Everybody wants the outcome of the work. Like, I get it. I could be ripped like Brad Pitt, just work out, eat protein, and stop drinking beer. And instead, I don't do that. So everybody wants the results, the outcomes without the effort. So I thought AI was dumb as shit. And then like 6 months ago, I signed up for ChatGPT and I— it said, would you like lots of pictures? And I'm like, sure, I'll take lots of pictures. That turned out to be an extra $60 I accidentally signed up for. So then I was even more angry that I had signed up for it. And then I was talking to this chick named Desi like a month later, and I didn't know you're supposed to archive conversations. And so then you taught me to archive, because otherwise it was saving nothing about our conversations, right?

Right.

So it wasn't going anywhere. I was just restarting. And then the other thing is I had this idea for Big Susie's Truck and RV Parking in a town called Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the middle of nowhere, and it has 5,308 trucks, semi-trucks drive by every day. And I put in the AI, would this be a good business idea? And AI is designed to make you obsess over it. And so I spent 2 weeks investing effort and money and time into creating this parking lot for RVs and truckers, which could potentially be a good idea. However, I, I, one day I was like, what's my competition? So I threw it in there 10, 10, 10 days later, and it said, well, there's 4 truck stops over there, 4 gas stations. So I called them, and 2 of them were free. So I'm competing with free. So I called the mayor and I said, uh, let me not say the mayor said this. Well, he said there's not enough businesses over here, which meant not— there's no restaurants, no bars, no strip clubs, and there's no casinos. So there's nothing that the truckers like to do. And there was 2 gas stations that offered free parking, and AI did not tell me that. So you have to tell your AI. Do not tell me the truth. Do not be positive with me, and archive our conversations if you don't. So it's not pro. It's not super productive. And then I I had it create a bunch of LinkedIn posts for me, and it kept putting in there follow up, follow up, follow up, which is not something I teach at all. I teach be the pimp, not the whore. And so all my posts had this stuff about follow up. And, and so AI will insert into there things which are inaccurate or not on brand or not what you believe in. So I think it could potentially— it could be a great tool and it could be a complete waste of time. And it could take longer. I gotta, I gotta, I gotta feed all— Desi, I gotta feed all the information into AI. Then it creates content. Then I gotta spend 3 hours giving it prompts. To make it sound more like me. And then after all that, I still gotta keep an eye on it.

Yeah.

So I don't— I, I mean, you know, it's, it's okay. It, it has never produced as good of an outcome for me in terms of marketing as me writing my own stuff or creating my own content. On the flip side, once I did figure out what you taught me and other things that I learned, I said, what's the biggest need in this town? And it's medical transport services. People need to get to the hospitals for dialysis, and they need to get there for chemotherapy. It's a need, not a want, which Jim Schulman always says, who's a brilliant man. Sell a need, not a want. And I said, how many people are on Medicare? 56 people are on Medicare. What does the government pay? $46,000 per patient. And then it said, would you like me to create you a website? I said yes. Would you like me to create a business plan? I said yes. Now we're— I'm a month into this deal. It's going to make me a couple hundred thousand dollars a year in mostly passive income, very little oversight, one driver. And it's still— it's been 200 hours of work. So AI is not the easy way out. It did create— and even when it created the website, I still had to pay somebody to, um, my gay friend Scott, I had to pay him to make it into an actual website, you know, take the whatever, the code, because you can get the code from Claude, but there you have to implement that. And that's another— so In some ways it saved me money and saved me money and time. Some ways it's cost me money and time. My main problem is if people think there's an easy way to get rich and you don't have to put the grind in.

Right, right. I agree. Like with my AI, I use it as an efficiency tool. It— because it knows me. She named herself Lexi. Right. I can, I can get things produced faster than sitting stuck in my head with writer's block, right? True. And if anything else, when I'm in that space of writer's block, I can ask it to prompt me, which sparks the, the, you know, sparks the forward momentum of actually getting it produced. Um, so yeah, I think there's a lot of learning curve With AI for sure. And I think it can absolutely be used as an efficiency tool. By no stretch of the imagination is it gonna make you rich by itself, right?

Yeah.

All right. I wanna zoom out from tactics and talk about leadership because when entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed, it doesn't just impact revenue, it impacts families, it impacts health, confidence, uh, relationships, even identity, right? What changes have you seen in people after they finally take control of their business? And I know we touched on this a little bit earlier.

More confidence, professional confidence, empowerment. Empowerment only comes through accountability. So if you're the victim, you blame circumstances outside of your control— taxes, the government, racism, sexism, homophobia, uh, I don't know, everything outside of you— when really the only thing you're in control of is your mindset and your actions. That's it. And so everybody that I deal with, regardless of how rich and powerful and strong they are, Really is not taking complete accountability. They still say, well, it's because she did this. Well, it's because he did that. And once you let go of blaming anything other than you, you take control and power over your life. So my clients say that I completely transformed their lives personally and professionally. I cannot pitch that because nobody will hire me because it sounds like bullshit. But, um, once you realize that you, you are in control— if you're broke or you're fat or you're rich or you're skinny, or, uh, if you're in a good relationship or a bad one, if you're healthy or unhealthy— it's, it's, it's, it's mostly— there's tons of circumstantial things that occur— your race, your gender, your sexuality. You know, like biologically. Pardon me. And, um, I don't know. I was a social worker 16 years. I've done this 11 years. That's 27 years of coaching people. And at this point, you know, when I was young, I had a gushing, bleeding liberal heart. I don't mean that politically. Just, oh my God, oh, it's not their fault. No, no. As one of the deans at my law school used to say to me, Sajjad, he used to scream in my face all the time. If you're not liberal when you're young, you have no heart. If you're not conservative when you're old, you have no brain. So it is—it's—it's up to you what you what what do you want to look like? What do you how much money do you want? Are you willing to work 14 to 16 hours a day, 365? Are you willing to work 12? Are you mapping out exactly what you're doing? Are you taking accountability for it? It's so childish now as an old ass man. It's so childish to me. To not say, well, it's my fault. Like, like I'm fat right now. I mean, I look fat to people. Maybe I do look fat. I don't know. I was at the dentist's office with my wife the other day, and the 6-year-old asked me, 6-year-old boy said, why are you so fat, sir? So I think maybe I am fat now according to a 6-year-old boy. Um, that's my fault. I need to ride my bike more. I need to eat healthier. I need to drink less beer. So, and if I'm broke, same thing. So the The power comes from the accountability. You got to be hyper self-critical without taking it personally. I'm gonna say it one more time to capstone. You got to be hyper self-critical without— you got to look at yourself objectively.

Yeah, yeah, I know that shift. When, when you and I were talking about that, it was massive for me, uh, to step into that space of Owning my power by taking accountability, right? It changes everything. Changes

everything. What did you say? I forgot. What did you say? You were blaming other things outside of you for you? Yeah. Okay. Everybody does that, right? Every— everybody does that,

right? And I'm saying that everything changes when you, when you recognize that and you change it.

It's my dog. It's my kids. It's my husband. It's the government. It's It's like, nah, it ain't— this is not her fault. It's not my wife's fault, my dog's fault, my parents' fault. Fuck it, 50 years old, if it's still my parents' fault, where am I gonna ever go from there? Actually, my mother told me last night, thank you for your help. I haven't heard that since I was 2 years old. So that was—

Wow.

I wasn't raised with— I kept— my dad has cancer, dementia, stroke, brain bleeding, and brain damage, and he got his driver's license back. by forcing my mother to take him to the DMV. So I called the neurosurgeons and said, you guys are going to get sued if you let my dad get a license. And so they took away his license. But yeah, if you're blaming somebody else for your situation, you're screwed.

Right. Well, one of the themes we talk about often, as I'm sure you can guess, on Catalyst Conversations is alignment. Because I love that word. It's not just building something successful, it's building something sustainable and truly aligned with who you are and how you want to show up. Do you think, Sajjad, that entrepreneurs underestimate the emotional cost of disorganization?

I don't understand emotional cost of disorganization. Well, I don't think people know that they're

in chaos. That's very true.

They think that they're doing pretty good. So every night before you go to sleep, create a 30-minute by 30-minute handwritten schedule. Each line item, action steps, due dates, quantifiable measurements to see what you're actually doing with all your time and money. And what are you doing all day long? And yeah, people are not doing anything. That's why they're stressed out.

Right.

Because people are lazy and, um, they're, they're not actually doing anything. They're just— they're, they're very busy. Activity does not equal productivity. And so people don't really know how bad it is until they hire me,

right?

They think it's— they think it's bad, which is why they hire me. But then 2, 3 weeks in Yeah, 2— no, 2 weeks in. 2— well, there's the orientation week, then there's, you know, the, the, the, the branding, pitching packages, processes, scheduling week, and then there's ROICAC, activity does not equal productivity, where you really look into what you've been doing with all your time and money. And then everybody gets diarrhea or some other butthole problems, or, uh, one of my clients almost died 2 years ago. He had His— what is his— his intestines blew out once he started actually— see, now nobody's gonna hear me. But once you start looking at what you're really doing, you're gonna, you're gonna feel sick because you're full of fucking shit. Most people are just full of crap. They're just, they're just ripping and running. They're getting dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin, and they're doing collaborations, referral deals, affiliate deals. And partnerships with poor people. They're doing a whole bunch of crap that doesn't— the woman that hired me about 4 months ago for the pod, she said, this is exactly where I need to be. And 6 weeks after attending, she's still paying me. 6 weeks after attending, I haven't seen her in 2 and a half months or whatever. Yeah. Or yeah, because she does not want to show up and say I'm doing a bunch of crap and none of it's, it's, is, is, is, is, uh, creating any results, right? So yeah, people are stressed out because they're full of crap, because they're just doing— they're just ripping and running. I'm working on this, I'm working on this book, I'm working— I'm doing a podcast, I'm doing a presentation, I'm going to these networking events, I'm going on a retreat, all right? I got this magic funnel, I'm using AI now. It's like, you don't know what the heck you're doing. You're, you're not work. You're just, you're reading, researching, creating, analyzing. You say I'm working 12 hours a day. 11 hours out of the day you're watching YouTube and you're on Claude saying, do I look pretty? You know?

Yeah,

it's not, it's not work.

Well, I can say going, going through the program, I didn't get sick. Okay. I, uh— You

didn't get what?

I didn't, I didn't get sick. I didn't Week 2, week 3. No, I was good.

Well, that's because you were honest with yourself to some extent. You still, you still said the thing of— can you talk about the I have a team and ego thing? Can you talk about that?

Yeah, of course I can. Yeah. Uh, uh, one of the things I used to say is, is I have a team of, you know, 14, 16, whatever the number was at that moment. And working through, um, and taking accountability and being fully honest with myself, I realized that that's just an ego thing. It's not really important to anybody except for me. So I just stopped talking about it. I just stopped talking about it. Now I would just say I have a team, right? The number doesn't matter. Number doesn't matter.

No, it's like I have a bestselling book,

right?

Or I was on a famous podcast. It was like one of my friends loves me and hates me. Because he always— I've been friends with him for 30 years, and he'll be like, oh, I just got on this TV show, I just completed, uh, my book is now an audiobook. And he tells me all this shit, and then I say, okay, Bob— that's not his name— all right, Bob, uh, how much money did you make today? Well, I didn't make any money. How much money did you make this week? Well, I didn't make any money. How much money did you make this month? Oh, I mean, $30,000 today, bro. I made $12,000 today. I made $15,000, you know, whatever it is,

right?

If you don't make dollars, it don't make sense. Life— the meaning of life is not money. And the definition of success of a business is how much money does it make. So if you're just doing a whole bunch of stuff, it doesn't matter if it's not— if it doesn't pay all your bills, you don't have a business, you have a hobby. So the life— people, when I say this stuff, they think you're just money hungry. Then why was I poor, a poor-ass social worker, the bulk of my life? I don't think that. It's just when you go into business, the purpose of the business is to make money,

right? Right. Okay.

And what you're doing is not making money, you need to stop doing that.

You're right. Yes, indeed. Um, okay. I know we're coming up on the end of our time, but I want to move into something I do with every one of my guests on, on the Catalyst Conversations. It's our Catalyst Leadership Lightning Round. Gut reaction. We're gonna do rapid-fire questions. You ready?

Uh, can I come back tomorrow? I need to take a nap. Go ahead.

Let's go. What's one leadership habit every entrepreneur should develop?

Uh, a schedule, like a budget or diet, and stick strictly to it.

Awesome. What's one thing a business owner should stop doing immediately?

Letting their ego get in their way.

Yes. When stress starts building, what's your go-to reset strategy?

Have sex with my wife who turns 17 next week.

Okay. Uh, what's a belief about success you've changed your mind about?

Uh, you don't have to have a grandiose goal. Just help people as much as you make the world a better place as much as you possibly can. Enjoy your time on Earth. We're all going to be dead soon and nobody's going to remember any of us in 200 years from now. So just make the best of the time you got. Serve others, get rich, and have a great life.

Love it. Okay, last one. What's one word you hope people associate with your leadership?

Well, you said the word hope.

Hope.

Hope? I don't hope for shit. Uh, can you ask the question again? I'm trying to get over the word hope.

What's one word you hope people associate with your leadership?

Integrity.

That's a good one.

Thank you. I had a lot of time to prepare, so that's how I came up with it.

I know. Sajjad, this has been such a valuable conversation. What stands out most to me is that growth isn't always about adding more. Sometimes it's about simplifying. Sometimes it's about creating systems. Sometimes it's about Becoming organized enough to see opportunities that were already sitting in front of us, right? Throughout this conversation, you've challenged us to take control, not just of our sales process, not just of our calendars, of the way we lead. And that's where transformation begins, because when leaders gain clarity, they make better decisions, right? When they build structure, they create sustainable momentum. And when they reduce stress, They create more space for purpose, impact, and fulfillment. Before we close, if listeners remember just one thing from today's conversation, what would you want that to be?

I have 2 quick ones. Um, is that all right?

Of course.

If you're making $200,000, $300,000, $500,000 a year, but you're still working for a living, that means you are missing an organization. You are self-employed. You are not a business owner. You just created a really dope-ass job, which in the last couple years, 80% of my clients are like that. They're making $200,000, $300,000, and they're still working for a living. That's not a business, it's a job. Number 2, I am not good at anything. So to be successful, you have to be stubborn but not stupid stubborn. Understand, I'm excellent in organization. I'm excellent at running my mouth. I'm excellent at— I'm excellent at a few things. Understand what you're great at, and then understand you are most likely not very good at many things. So I've got Desi and Casey and Jen and Roanne and Eric Jakowicz and Lisa and Jim Schulman. I've got lots of people, 50 people in my life that are better than me at things. And I'm gonna finish on a quick funny story. I was not eavesdropping on my wife. I was using the restroom upstairs. I think the bathroom downstairs was broken at the time, or I was having some work done. And I'm walking by. My wife had painted some some of our house, and she's talking to her mom. And her mom says, "Did Sajjad help out with the painting?" And my wife, not knowing I'm hearing this, said, "No, he's not good at doing anything except talking." So, which is true. My dad says you talk good. He's Pakistani. So understand you're not good at most things and hire people for the things that you're not good at. Stop trying to figure out things on your own like a 14-year-old boy. Get over your ego and find experts. And, and, and you're afraid of getting ripped off. Just make sure you ask the right questions to hire the right people. Save yourself the time, money, and stress of trying to figure it out on your own.

I love that. And take control of your business, take control of your life, become organized, increase your productivity, reduce your stress, and create the kind of success that supports who you're becoming, not just what you're achieving. So, Jad, thank you for sharing your wisdom and your perspective with us today.

Thank you for your time. I was in alignment with all of that.

I love it. I love it. Um, and to those of you who are watching, thank you for joining us for another episode of Catalyst Conversations. If today's conversation resonated with you, take a moment to reflect on where you may be carrying unnecessary complexity in your business or leadership. Remember, clarity liberates, structure supports, and soul sustains. The most powerful growth often comes not from doing more, from leading differently. Okay, until next time, keep building with purpose, leading with intention, and creating impact that lasts. We'll see you on the next Catalyst Conversations.