June 19, 2023

Good morning, Vetrepreneurs!

In the crosshairs:

This week we're going Mach 3 with our hair on fire.

Our featured Vetrepreneur is Justin 'Hasard' Lee, an F-16 pilot turned F-35 pilot turned video content creator phenom turned published author. He has grown an impressive following of over 500,000 people with more than 44 million views in just the last couple years. His way of bringing the fighter pilot world to the public, especially in an era where so many believe pilots are soon to be replaced by AI, has been nothing short of inspiring.

We had a great conversation about building a media empire because of a school teacher's request, the lessons he's learned from entrepreneurship, and what it took to write his newly released book, The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions.

2017 was the year of change for Hasard.

He had just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan and was waiting to go through F-35 conversion training when he was asked to speak at an event at Luke AFB about being a pilot. A woman in the crowd was so intrigued by his story that she asked if he would speak to her elementary school class.

As word got out, that then grew to speaking to the entire school.

But it couldn't have had a bigger impact on the trajectory of his life. That speaking engagement became the genesis for his content series. There was a real desire from people to know what pilots flying multi-million dollar, fighter aircrafts experience. They wanted to have their most pressing questions answered.

Like can you pour water into a cup while in a barrel-roll?

Or, how do fighter pilots go to the bathroom?

His easy-going demeanor and clear explanations of complex subjects made his videos instant crowd pleasers for all ages. Since he was the only one offering this perspective, he was able to provide real answers that displaced misinformed pundits and journalists from the space. What makes his story even more interesting is that he taught himself every aspect of the video production process through a cool platform called Google.

Yup. He's self-taught on nearly every part of the content creation.

While he describes himself as a 5 out of 10 in these skills, after seeing the production quality of some of his videos, I'd say he's being modest. He did, however, point out the importance of learning the foundational skills when first getting started, along with a few other pointers to veteran entrepreneurs.

3 tips for aspiring entrepreneurs:

Tip #1: Know your craft before you bring on team members

You don't need to be an expert in every function of your field, but you do need to know what you're hiring people to do and be able to vet them accordingly. In the beginning, Hasard had to learn all of the video and marketing skills to operate as a one-man team. When the time came for him to expand, this allowed him to build a stellar team and know who could actually do the work they claimed.

The military spends a great deal of time and money ensuring its people have a strong foundational knowledge of their job. The private sector doesn't have anything equivalent. There are a lot of people inflating what they can do and it's your job as the business owner to ensure you're bringing on the right talent.

Tip #2: There is no minor league for entrepreneurs

In the military, you have a clear path to learning your trade, you have a syllabus to follow, and you have an entire organization trying to make you successful. In entrepreneurship, you're immediately jumping into the deep end competing against people who have been doing this for 10-20 years.

To hedge your bet at being successful, he recommends starting a business as a side-hustle to learn the skills of the trade. He was still a fighter pilot for the first 3 years he was producing videos. He finally got out in 2020, but even today, he's still in the reserves. Having multiple revenue streams will only increase your likelihood of success.

Tip #3: Find a mentor

When he first started making a name for himself, Hasard was fortunate enough to meet Dan Schilling, a combat controller from the Blackhawk Down story, who was also an accomplished author (he wrote Alone at Dawn). When he mentioned his interest in writing a book, Dan immediately walked him through the process and made crucial introductions.

There's no reason for you to reinvent the wheel when starting a business. There are others out there with incredible amounts of experience who would make exceptional advisors to your cause. By putting yourself out there and asking for help, you'll only increase your exposure to these individuals.

Writing a book has been one of his most challenging achievements

Telling Dan Schilling he was interested in writing a book changed Hasard's entire approach to becoming an author.

In his mind, you simply started writing a few paragraphs here and there, and you eventually had enough content to present your idea. Dan was able to shed light on his misconception, that he needed to instead write a proposal then get an agent who would be able to guide him the rest of the way.

It took months just to get a meeting with the agent, which in hindsight was the easy part. Hasard spent more than 500 consecutive days holed up in his office writing 4+ hours a day. There were sessions he would flow through content, getting 2,000 words on paper. Then there were days his content was terrible and he scrapped it all.

He poured his heart and soul into this work, which was just released May 23. It's now a Wall Street Journal best seller and is the #2 business book in the country for June.

It'll be fun to watch where Hasard takes his career next.

He has several irons in the fire to include continuing his YouTube channel, working on his media company, Hasard X - a creative storytelling company that develops, produces, and distributes world-class content, and is considering writing a second book. All the while, he's still flying F-35s in the Air Force Reserves.

Pretty damn impressive, to say the least.

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Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs):

Time and focus are precious resources.

As an entrepreneur, you often find yourself juggling numerous responsibilities, opportunities, and requests. It's easy to fall into the trap of saying "yes" to everything, fearing missed opportunities or disappointing others. However, the power and importance of saying "no" cannot be understated.

In this article, we'll explore the significance of setting boundaries, the impact of saying no on productivity and focus, and how you can avoid feeling pressured to saying yes.

Setting personal boundaries is the initial defense against misusing your own time.

According to the Entrepreneur article "The Art of Saying No: Why It Matters for Entrepreneurs," setting boundaries is crucial for maintaining productivity and focus. By establishing clear limits, you can prevent burnout and ensure your energy is directed towards the most important tasks. Saying no to non-essential requests allows you to protect your time and keep a healthy work-life balance.

It's essential to recognize that saying "no" doesn't mean rejecting opportunities altogether, but rather making intentional choices towards your accomplishing your goals.

By embracing the word "no" you'll increases your productivity and have to better decision-making.

Selectively choosing where to invest your time and resources will give you more ownership of your schedule and let you feel more satisfaction in your work. Inc.'s article "The Power of No: How Saying It Can Help You as an Entrepreneur" highlights these benefits.

Saying no keeps you from spreading yourself too thin and lets you to focus on projects that promote your long-term goals. More importantly, making deliberate choices through saying no leads to better decision-making because you have the mental space and clarity to evaluate options thoroughly instead of constantly jumping between tasks.

Saying yes too frequently will leave you constantly shifting focus preventing you from ever getting into Flow.

Setting concrete priorities is the only way to guide your decisions.

Taking the time to clearly articulate what your priorities in both your personal life and in business will allow you to build a roadmap taking you where you want to go. Long-term priorities can be broken down into quarters, months and days - just like goals - so you know exactly what needs to get done first.

Without this hierarchy, constant decisions will burn you out and leave you feeling scattered.

By saying no to opportunities that don't align with your vision, you can concentrate your resources on the most impactful options. Prioritizing the right opportunities leads to focused growth, increased efficiency, and ultimately, greater success.

Remember, successful entrepreneurs are not defined by how much they do, but by what they accomplish with their time.

We are our own worst enemy when it comes to saying no.

Rarely do we face external pressures as entrepreneurs to say yes to non-critical tasks. Fast Company's article "Why Saying No Is Key to Your Success as an Entrepreneur" delves into the psychological aspects of this. It highlights the fear of missing out (FOMO) and our nature to be people-pleasers as common barriers to saying no.

FOMO and people-pleasing are huge drains on you emotionally and often stem from your own personal insecurities. You want to be involved with everything to get social validation and you want to say yes to people to be accepted. Just remember that you accomplishing your entrepreneurial goals will bring much more validation and acceptance.

As entrepreneurs, our success depends on effective time and resource management.

Saying "no" is a powerful tool that allows you to protect your time, maintain focus, and prioritize your most valuable opportunities. The insights from these articles highlight the significance of setting boundaries, the benefits of saying no for productivity and decision-making, and the not letting FOMO sabotage your success. By recognizing the power and importance of saying no, you can create a more fulfilling and purposeful journey.

Remember, saying "no" is not a sign of weakness or missed opportunities but a strategic move to ensure you stay on track and maximize your impact as an entrepreneur.

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