0:02 This sheet of paper will show you how to
0:05 stop working hard and finally work
0:08 smart. I'm David. I'm the CEO of
0:10 Filterby. We're an air filter company
0:13 that makes $22 million per month. I keep
0:15 getting comments that don't believe I
0:18 can run a $250 million a year business
0:20 and make YouTube videos on the side. But
0:23 I can because I understand the
0:25 principles on this paper. So, let's
0:27 automate your life. If you don't just
0:30 want to make money, but actually build a
0:32 life that gets simpler every day, watch
0:34 this video to the end. Let's start at
0:36 the beginning of our flywheel. Your
0:39 number one goal is not have a job.
0:41 Understand these points and you'll stop
0:44 selling your time for money. Most people
0:46 think being rich is about having
0:48 thousands of employees and constant
0:51 oversight. But my favorite billionaire
0:54 did it with 18 people. He's able to do
0:56 this [music] because he buys businesses
0:58 that can run themselves. He has a famous
1:00 line that I love. He wants businesses
1:04 that an idiot can run because one day an
1:06 idiot will. That's the real test of a
1:08 smart system. If it still works when
1:10 you're not there. Most people make life
1:12 harder than it has to be. Not because
1:15 they're lazy, but because they confuse
1:17 activity with progress. They build
1:19 systems that depend on them to function
1:22 and then wonder why they can't scale. I
1:24 see it everywhere. Entrepreneurs who
1:26 hire too fast, thinking [music] more
1:29 people equals more output. Managers who
1:31 have to approve every decision because
1:32 they don't trust their team. Founders
1:35 who measure their value by how busy they
1:37 are [music] instead of how replaceable
1:40 they've made themselves. The irony is
1:42 the people who appear to work less
1:45 usually spent years building machines
1:47 that work for them. That's why Buffett
1:50 can run a trillion dollar empire with 18
1:52 people because he focuses on buying
1:55 businesses that already run themselves.
1:57 Working smart isn't about doing less
2:00 work today. It's about designing systems
2:02 that require less of you tomorrow. Even
2:05 if you don't own a business yet, you can
2:07 start applying this principle right now.
2:10 Your goal is to find and fix the part of
2:14 your life or work that only you can do
2:16 and make them run without you. Here's
2:18 how to spot those opportunities. First,
2:21 identify what's repetitive. Anything you
2:23 do more than twice a week should be
2:27 automated, delegated, or standardized.
2:29 If it's repeatable, it's [music]
2:32 replaceable. Second, document once,
2:35 delegate forever. Write down how you do
2:39 something the right way, step by step.
2:41 That's how you begin to turn chaos into process.
2:42 process. >> [music]
2:42 >> [music]
2:44 >> Whether it's running a meeting, sending
2:47 quotes, or on boarding a customer.
2:50 Third, test for idiot proof. My
2:52 favorite. Ask yourself, if I disappear
2:53 tomorrow, could someone else pick this
2:56 up and keep it moving? If the answer is
2:59 no, that's a bottleneck you need to fix.
3:01 That's how you stop working hard and
3:03 start working smart. And the beauty is
3:06 when you do this, it frees up your time
3:09 to be able to add to your foundation to
3:11 be able to grow and compound even
3:13 faster. So the faster you're able to do
3:15 this, the more you're actually able to
3:17 accomplish. The goal of any business is
3:20 to build something that runs even when
3:21 you can't. That's when you know you're
3:23 not just working in a [music] business,
3:26 you're running a system. The real secret
3:27 to building a business that runs without
3:30 you isn't choosing between great people
3:33 and great systems. It's building both so
3:35 they reinforce each other. Even the best
3:37 systems fail without good leadership.
3:39 And [music] even the best leaders fail
3:41 without clear systems. What makes filter
3:43 by work isn't that it's automated. It's
3:45 that we have great managers and
3:48 operators who understand how to run the
3:51 playbook. When people know the mission,
3:54 the values, and the why, they don't just
3:55 follow the system, they improve it.
3:57 That's when you start getting real
3:59 compounding returns from your leadership
4:01 team. So, the goal isn't to replace
4:03 people with processes, it's to build
4:06 processes that empower great people.
4:08 That's how you create an organization
4:10 that runs smoothly, grows consistently,
4:12 and can thrive, whether you're in the
4:15 office or recovering from surgery like
4:17 me. And when a business depends entirely
4:20 on people showing up every day, it might
4:22 make you rich, but it will never make
4:24 you free. Here's a simple test to see if
4:26 you're running a system or just selling
4:29 hustle. First, run the no new customer
4:32 simulation. [music] Ask yourself, if I
4:34 stop selling tomorrow, would revenue
4:36 keep coming in? Look at your repeat
4:39 purchase rate, subscriptions, or organic
4:42 inbound demand. If income drops to zero
4:43 without your daily effort, you've built
4:47 a job, not a business. Second, check for
4:49 repeatability. [music] Do you have a
4:51 process that can deliver results the
4:53 same way every [music] time with or
4:56 without you? If outcomes depend on your
4:58 personal skill or energy, systematize
5:01 it. Let's say you run a pizza joint and
5:03 have your systems [music] dialed in.
5:05 You've maxed your current capacity, 100
5:08 pizzas a day, all selling out. You know
5:10 that if you invest $100,000 in a new
5:12 oven, you [music] can produce 200 pizzas
5:14 a day. Based on your numbers, that adds
5:17 another $100,000 a year in profit.
5:20 That's a [music] 100% return on your
5:22 money in one year. It's better than
5:23 anything you'll find in the stock
5:26 market. And best of all, you control it.
5:28 Investing in your own business has
5:30 [music] asymmetric upside. You control
5:32 the inputs, levers, and outcomes. The
5:35 risk is concentration. Your capital and
5:37 time are [music] tied to one system. The
5:40 reward is control. Unlike the market,
5:42 you can directly change the outcome.
5:45 Small errors in your inputs can compound
5:47 into massive errors in your decisions.
5:50 If you can't model the return, don't
5:52 spend the money. The people who win are
5:54 the ones who understand every number in
5:57 their business and act only on what
5:58 compounds. You're going to be tempted to
6:01 use AI to automate big parts of your
6:03 life. That's a great idea, but there are
6:06 good and bad ways to automate. AI's
6:08 biggest weakness is also your favorite
6:11 feature. AI gives you consensus level
6:13 information. It tells you what's already
6:17 been agreed upon. That's by design. Its
6:19 goal is to make you comfortable, not
6:23 uncomfortable. But comfort never created
6:25 breakthroughs. The truth is [music]
6:28 breakthrough thinking lives outside the
6:30 consensus. AI is great for speed, but if
6:33 you rely on it for insight, you'll find
6:35 yourself drifting toward the average.
6:36 There's one way that looks like a great
6:38 place to spend your money, but could
6:40 easily financially ruin it. Everyone
6:42 will tell you this is a smart way to
6:43 spend your money, but there's a [music]
6:45 secret risk. Why is it that everyone's
6:48 first instinct is to buy ads on Amazon,
6:50 Google, or Meta? Because those platforms
6:52 [music] are the gatekeepers to new
6:55 customers. They make it look easy.
6:57 Instant reach, instant traffic. But what
6:59 most people miss is that these companies
7:02 are designed to extract every possible
7:04 dollar of value from that relationship.
7:05 They're not in business to make you
7:07 rich. They're in business to make
7:09 themselves rich. And the longer you rely
7:12 on them, the smarter their algorithms
7:14 get. Learning your margins, your
7:16 behavior, your bidding patterns, until
7:18 they're capturing nearly all the value
7:20 that you once had. If you don't build
7:22 something beyond that, something
7:24 customers remember, you will always be
7:26 renting your growth instead of owning
7:28 it. Once people trust you, every new
7:30 problem they have brings them back to
7:33 you automatically. Brand builds
7:35 momentum, the kind that compounds
7:36 quietly in the background while you
7:38 sleep, while you work on other things.
7:40 It's the difference between chasing new
7:42 customers every day and owning
7:44 relationships that pay you again and
7:46 again. Brand isn't about getting
7:48 someone's attention once. It's about
7:50 owning the relationship that follows.
7:52 When people trust you, they don't just
7:54 buy once, they come back again and
7:56 again. Be known for something specific,
7:58 something people trust and tell others
8:02 about. Start small. Own one niche. Serve
8:04 it well enough that your name becomes
8:07 the default. Because repeat business
8:09 isn't just about transactions. It's
8:12 about trust that compounds over time.
8:13 When you're in business with repeat
8:16 customers, that's a moat that deepens
8:18 every year. It's totally different from
8:20 a business built around one-time sales.
8:22 Those businesses are always starting
8:25 from zero. You turn a service into
8:27 subscription. You turn a transaction
8:29 into a relationship. If you're a
8:31 designer, create a retainer package
8:33 where clients pay monthly for updates.
8:35 If you're a consultant, you build an
8:37 ongoing advisory program instead of a
8:38 one-off project. [music] If you're a
8:40 trades person, you offer maintenance
8:42 plans that keep you in the customer's
8:45 life year round. The key is simple. move
8:47 from hunting to harvesting. You don't
8:49 need millions of new customers. You need
8:51 hundreds who never leave. That's how you
8:54 move from linear growth to exponential
8:56 compounding. And that's how small
8:59 businesses turn into empire. Once you
9:01 have your systems, you'll be tempted to
9:03 sell your business. So, is selling your
9:05 business overrated? Yeah, I think it is.
9:07 People sell something they deeply
9:09 understand where they control every
9:12 lever and see every problem up close and
9:14 they trade it for exposure to businesses
9:15 they barely know. They move their money
9:18 into the S&P 500 at record valuations
9:21 run by CEOs they'll never meet with
9:24 problems they can't see. It feels safer,
9:26 but in reality it's often riskier
9:28 because now you've given up control.
9:30 You've been trained to think a liquidity
9:33 event is the goal. But the truth is the
9:35 wealthiest people, they don't sell their
9:37 compounding machine. They keep them,
9:39 refine them, and pull cash out tax
9:42 efficiently over time. Everyone's built
9:44 differently. For some, selling might
9:46 bring peace. For others, it's the
9:48 beginning of a slow decline in purpose
9:50 and momentum. I just want people to
9:53 realize not selling is an option. You
9:55 can keep compounding. You can keep
9:58 reinvesting in what you know. You can
10:00 build wealth, freedom, and purpose
10:02 without ever needing an exit. Because
10:04 the moment you stop operating from fear
10:06 and start operating from conviction,
10:08 you're already wealthier than most who
10:10 ever sell. This is episode one of my
10:13 three-part series on simplifying your
10:15 [music] life. Subscribe to watch the
10:16 next episode. If you want to take your
10:18 business to the next level, [music] I
10:21 want to learn more. In 2026, I'll be
10:23 visiting and maybe even [music]
10:26 investing in some of my favorite boring
10:28 businesses in the world. Send an email
10:31 to the email on the screen now. Tell me
10:33 a [music] bit about your business, where
10:34 you're located, and what you're hoping
10:37 to do next. Hopefully, I'll see you soon.
