Next Level University
Confidence, mindset, relationships, limiting beliefs, family, goals, consistency, self-worth, and success are at the core of hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros' heart-driven, no-nonsense approach to holistic self-improvement. This transformative, 7 day per week podcast is focused on helping dream chasers who have been struggling to achieve their goals and are seeking community, consistency and answers. If you've ever asked yourself "How do I get to the next level in my life", we're here for you!
Our goal at NLU is to help you uncover the habits to build unshakable confidence, cultivate a powerful mindset, nurture meaningful relationships, overcome limiting beliefs, create an amazing family life, set and achieve transformative goals, embrace consistency, recognize your self-worth, and ultimately create the fulfillment and success you desire. Let's level up your health, wealth and love!
Next Level University
#1391 - A Reframe For New Problems
It's common to view your problems as negatives, but you can also view them as opportunities for growth and success. In this episode, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros share how reframing their problems has helped them level their lives, and they hope it will inspire their listeners. They talk about gratitude and maintaining perspective amidst life's challenges. They also discuss the importance of never lowering your standards to match your current situation. On the contrary, they recommend using your struggles as stepping stones to reach greater heights.
Links mentioned:
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To learn more about group coaching - https://nextleveluniverse.com/group-coaching/
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- Next Level U Book Club - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/next-level-book-club/
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Email 💬
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Alan@nextleveluniverse.com
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Show notes:
[2:23] Grateful ambition
[9:43] Problems of privilege
[11:33] Some people think life owes them something
[15:50] Janine Morris talks about how valuable Group Coaching is, what her takeaway is, and why she thinks you should take the leap
[16:30] Getting your goal will make life more meaningful, not necessarily easier
[22:58] What's necessary to achieve your goals?
[29:40] Outro
Record. I don't like the person.
Speaker 2:Intention. My intention I just want to make this a simple a simple episode.
Speaker 1:It's not gonna be super complex, it's not gonna be super deep, but just a Valuable lesson simple but powerful.
Speaker 2:Let's rock one, two, three, four, five, six. One, two, three one, two, three four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna make sure. All right, let's do it here. We go next level nation. Welcome back to another episode of next level University, where we teach you how to level up your life, your love, your health and your wealth. We hope you enjoyed our latest episode. It was episode number 1390. How would someone else introduce you today for episode number one thousand three hundred and ninety one, a reframe for new problems.
Speaker 1:I was on a podcast the other day and Oftentimes people say how's business, how's life, what's new? all of that stuff in the preamble. And I said, oh, my goodness, i am overwhelmed. This is like my ninth call of the day, it's a whole thing. And they said, my goodness, that's, that's heavy. You must be under a lot of pressure. And I said, yeah, but the problems I have today are the problems that I wished for five years ago And that has been my, my latest reframe for new problems And I wanted to share that with all of you, the NLU family, because hopefully That's the direction you're moving in. Hopefully you're you're moving in a direction where your new problems are higher quality problems We've talked about this many times where I don't expect a life Free of problems.
Speaker 1:My goal is to have a life that has higher quality problems, and that's what I want for all of you as well. So I'm really trying to stay in the mindset of that gratitude. We've said this before grateful ambition. I'm eternally grateful for all of the quote-unquote success. I'm eternally grateful for all the opportunities, but I'm also ambitious for what's to come. But that does start from a place of saying, okay, i am very grateful for the problems I have because I would have wished for them five years ago, but I'm also gonna have different problems in five years. What are those problems gonna look like? and again, maybe for you it's not five years, maybe it's six months, maybe it's a month. Right, it depends on the time perspective that you have.
Speaker 1:But I remember what it was like to be broke and not be able to pay the bills. I remember what it was like not to be able to get clients. I remember what it was like not to be able to get on podcasts. This is a relatively new thing. Being able to get on so many shows and Laura is sending all these messages and crushing it and just being the most consistent human. That's all relatively new in the grand scheme of things.
Speaker 1:So my intention, as Alan asked me before this episode, is to just make it simple, where you can have a next-level nugget of What am I grateful for today, or what am I not grateful for today that I would have been grateful for six months ago. What is something that seems like a negative today that I would have? I Don't want to say I would have killed for, but I would have wished for X amount of time ago. And then how can you Practice that in your everyday life? We're record. We have to record three episodes today. We get to record three episodes today.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I have to remind myself that, kev, right now you could quite literally be working up in an attic. It's a hundred, it's gonna be a hundred degrees out, it's gonna be 150 degrees in the attic. That could be what you're doing today. So don't ever lose sight of that. Five years ago, five years ago, you wished for the opportunity to wake up when you want and podcast from your home studio. That is a very, very Important reminder for myself, for Alan and, i would say, for everybody.
Speaker 2:I have a story that I think will articulate this very well for everybody. I have a client and Bianca wouldn't mind me sharing this. So Bianca posted a huge success story recently about and I've talked a Lot about it because it's such a awesome feat and such a rare thing She lost 22 pounds in 20 weeks And I know what that takes. Kevin knows what that takes. That is that is no small feat, and this is not the Yo-yo dieting type of thing. This is like something that's actually sustainable. So that's a huge win and One of the things that I find really fascinating and I've said this many times on the show Kev People believe that getting to the next level is going to be easier.
Speaker 2:It's unconscious, but we believe it'll be easier. Once I have money. It'll be easier once I have XYZ it'll be easier. Once I have more clients, it'll be easier. Once I get XYZ home, it'll be easier. Imagine you do get that multi-million dollar home on the beach that you've always dreamed of. Now You have to take care of it and, by the way, the ocean and the salt water and the, and the wind and the rain and it degrades. So now you have more work on your hands And I I've said this a thousand times but success actually makes life more challenging. So if you're not balancing that out with Gratitude and with remembering what it was like at the previous level, you might not. You might be overly focusing on the new challenge rather than the new opportunity.
Speaker 2:And so, with Bianca, she actually messaged me right after she succeeded. She's like I did it 22 pounds in 20 weeks. She celebrated and she celebrated with, i think, ice cream and whatever. She went out with her partner and she texted me saying now I'm scared. And I said what do you mean? She said I'm scared now to lose it. I'm scared to ever go back to the way I used to be, the way I used to look, that level of body fat. And I said, bianca, this is so interesting. You have achieved a level of physique that most people in their own mind thinks that if they were to be able to achieve that, it would be like life changing, life transforming the best thing in the entire world And it would be awesome. So I'm not taking away from the fact that being in shape is awesome. That is a fact. Okay, i've been there. But it is not what you think, because once you're that lean, now you have to hold on to it. Now you have to track every Oreo. When you're that lean, when you look that good, it goes quick If you're not really careful. Now, when she misses a workout or she overeats, she has to be concerned, because she's not someone who really had 22 pounds to lose And so anything that's peak performance or next level, it requires far more challenge, far more effort, far more work, far more intelligence to sustain.
Speaker 2:Emilia just got her dream car And that's awesome, but now she has to figure out how to go to these superchargers. It's a Tesla She she texted me earlier. She's like I got to figure out where a supercharger is. Some of these, i guess the Tesla. Sometimes there's some chargers that take like eight hours or something crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so just new challenges. I got a new laptop. We've still been dealing with audio issues with Windows 11.
Speaker 1:In this moment Alan's audio and I can hear it. I don't know if it's going to come through in the final version, but it is popping a ton.
Speaker 2:And it is. It pisses me off.
Speaker 1:It makes me so angry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100%. So I got a new laptop Best computer I've ever had in my entire life But Windows 11 is way better. It's amazing. But, for whatever reason, kevin and I spent three hours troubleshooting this last night. We didn't get to bed or we didn't get off the microphones until basically 10pm. And, for whatever reason, windows 11 is trying to create an efficiency mode with Chrome, firefox and Microsoft Edge in web browsers, which is good. That's progress towards what I think needs to happen, because they're trying to save power. I appreciate it, but it's messing with my microphone, yeah, and so here we are recording. I have this new laptop, new equipment, new microphone, new mixer, new camera. Right, you and I used to have no equipment. We had one of our mentors donate the camera that you have. It's what was once a dream we have now achieved.
Speaker 2:But what people don't realize is the level of responsibility, the level of discipline, the level of challenge that comes with that, and whether it's Bianca losing 22 pounds and then now needing to sustain that and make sure that she doesn't go off the rails and do her reverse diet wrong. But it's interesting because she achieved something she didn't believe was possible. She posted about it Awesome, awesome, awesome. But now she's so scared to lose it. So does she transfer from playing to win to playing not to lose. And I said B, it's time to reverse diet. We got to build some muscle, we got to build some strength And now she's so scared. Now again, she's overcoming that. But every single new level requires more than the previous level.
Speaker 1:I think some of the problems are almost problems of privilege, and all I mean by that is they are a requirement to get to the next leg of the journey, kind of.
Speaker 1:And the interesting thing is because people tell me all the time oh, make sure you take a break, oh, make sure you, maybe you should do less whatever, you can always take some episodes off, or whatever it may be. And I understand why they're saying that, because where they are they're having different problems. Their problems are being able to do one episode a week or whatever it may be. I remember those problems for sure, 100%. That's why a lot of people take their foot off the gas, because they think the problems that they have are bad. And I'm not saying the specific problems, i'm just saying if you ever get to a point where you say I am a level of successful, fulfilled in love, in shape, and I shouldn't have any problems, you're most likely going to end up stopping the process and you're going to end up with different problems, less privilege problems less constructive problems, less lower quality problems And that really, that's what I'm trying to get to land in this episode, because I don't think I would have understood that in the beginning.
Speaker 1:Again, I'm a yeah, this.
Speaker 2:I want to make sure that we make this land for everybody, because I wrote an article recently and I did have a realization and there was one of our team members, lizzie, who posted about this specific quote And it was something along the lines from my article that said I've never understood people who think that life owes them something. And for me, statistically speaking, i grew up in an environment that was very traumatic And when I I've talked about this before when you have a parent who passes away, when you're a child, you immediately don't feel lucky. There's like no part of me that feels like lucky And a lot of people think literally Kevin and I are super lucky. We're inaccurate, statistically speaking, based on trauma and challenges and adversities. So what I want to try to get to land here is this idea of what do you think about problems? Do you think problems shouldn't be a thing?
Speaker 2:Okay, this past couple of weeks I had my cat spayed and that came with a whole host of challenges. We onboarded new team members. We have had home issues The gutters are leaking and it's rotting some of the wood and arcando, the AC, heating and cooling system shut down. We had power outages in our condo complex. There's a dozen others. These last couple of weeks, emilia and I had a moment of like this is like we're getting beaten up. That's what we call it. We're just getting beaten up. Life is just beating us up. But I said this. I said first world problems. I've been saying that the whole time. I mean, at the end of the day, i'm grateful to have a cat, i'm grateful that I got to go to the Tufts ER. Yeah, i stayed up till 5.30 in the morning, but at least I know she's okay. I don't know. I think these laptop issues, audio issues, they're not real problems.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, i agree. You know what?
Speaker 2:I mean, i think it's important to understand that, yeah, they're annoying and they're frustrating, and that's never going to not be the case. You want to wake up in the morning and do your morning routine and you want to not have a call until 10, and then your coaching program fills itself and the fish are jumping in the boat and there's rainbows and butterfly. I just I got to say this That's absolute crap. I mean, you go to the gym and you have perfect workouts, and the other thing that's funny is Google has our address wrong and my stuff keeps getting delivered to everyone else's doorsteps in my condo complex. But I remember when I didn't have a condo, and so these are not real problems. And so here's my point They are frustrating, they are annoying, they are adding pressure that I cannot necessarily always handle with perfect grace, but at the end of the day, i always have those moments of. This is still an amazing, magnificent life, and I think that, if anyone is listening, i want to give you a gift right now, and then I'm going to ask Kevin some questions. This is the gift. Do not listen to anyone on social media who is making it seem like their life doesn't have any problems.
Speaker 2:I coach a lot of people, some famous people, some people who are multimillionaires. I am telling you right now their life is more challenging than you think. I'm certain of it. Way more challenging than you think. Two things. Number one if you think on any unconscious level that life is supposed to be easy, you are in so much trouble. In my opinion, life is not supposed to be easy, it's supposed to be challenging and that's what makes it meaningful. And if you have high goals, it's definitely going to be challenging. Because there's that quote of if it was easy, everyone would do it. That's a fact. If losing 22 pounds in 20 weeks was easy, everyone would do it. There's a reason. It's remarkable. No one does it, including me. I don't want to do that. She worked out two hours a day, every day for 20 weeks. She missed me three times every day. Terrible, she was so hungry. I'm eating Cudoba, loving my life eating ice cream. I don't get the same results, and that's okay. That's the way it's set up, okay.
Speaker 2:And then the last piece here is Just eliminate from your consciousness, if you can, this idea that getting this dream or getting this goal or getting this success or getting this relationship or getting this business Or getting this team, that it's gonna make life easier, because it's.
Speaker 2:It's not true, but it will make life more meaningful, it will make life more fulfilling, it will, and it will make some things easier, like, obviously it's a lot better of a problem for Kevin and I to try to Grow us a half million dollars in our business this year than the first year when it was like, dude, how do we even get 75 bucks a month here, mm-hmm? and so that's my point is Eliminate this idea that problems are ever gonna not be there because they are. No matter who you are, no matter where you live. The extent of the problems are different. The question is, are they aligned problems? Are you using those problems as challenges to transform yourself? and so my question for you, kev, is what's three problems that You have right now that you would have loved to have at the beginning of this journey? Oh man.
Speaker 1:We had. We had a down month for listens and we only had 10,000 listens That that.
Speaker 2:Ten times more than the entire first. 10 times more than the entire first year that I.
Speaker 1:I mean, i look at the numbers every day, obviously, and it's like wow, this, this Last couple months has really sucked in terms of listens. But then I, then I think back, it's like no, i mean, we would have killed for this, we could get this in the first year, my goodness. Now, here's the thing, though You also can't lower your standards to match that yes, and that's a whole nother episode. Right, there's intricacies to that. That's one. The other thing, the other one is I Am just, my body is beat up right now.
Speaker 1:I've gone to the gym every day since, and when I say go to the gym, i mean I've gone to the gym. I've stepped foot in the gym Every day since after my surgery so I don't know how many days it is, but I've been lifting heavy. I've done mobility every single day. I haven't missed. I've tracked my calories every single day. I haven't missed that. I've weighed myself every single day. I'm just exhausted, but I Went to physical therapy so I could be able to do this. Right, it's much better than waking up saying I'm in so much pain, i don't want to go to the gym, i'm having negative associations with the gym. I've been crushing my workouts. It's been great feel I feel good, so that's awesome. And then I Have this understanding right now. Well, let's just say this There's a lot of travel coming up in the summer for me. So Taren and I are going to Belgium. You and I are going to Pittsburgh for a speech. Taren wants me to go to Vermont with her because her workshop.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, it really is thinking that the way we're doing it break out sessions and all that. But I'm excited.
Speaker 1:I'm very excited for that. But Taren wants me to go to Vermont and I want to go to Vermont. But I said I was like I Get sometimes. I get triggered when she brings up travel. And she said are you okay, are you mad at me? and I said no, anytime you sense hesitation or I pull back, it's just because I'm doing the. I'm just crunching how the hell am I gonna do all this in my head Because I'm gonna. I said I'm gonna probably have to grind the week before and the week after our trip to Belgium. You will not see me at all because I'm gonna be playing catch up for all the stuff that I didn't do in Belgium. So I'm just thinking is two days in Vermont gonna Jeff me? and? Well, there's Wi-Fi so I can work, but I can't be on other podcasts.
Speaker 1:So there's a lot going to.
Speaker 2:A lot of our listeners right now are thinking like Kev, what's the big deal? you go on a vacation, can? can you try to unpack for the listeners? Why? Why that's so difficult? Because a lot of people listening might be thinking to themselves. I'm really trying to. I'm really trying to get in the mind of the listener. They might be thinking like, well, what's the big deal? It's just a weekend And for most people that isn't that big of a deal. But the way that we are currently operating, well, it depends.
Speaker 1:It depends on the goals, right? So I have goals to get on X amount of podcasts, to get X amount of new clients and to get X amount of listens, and every day, if I miss two interviews, that takes two off the I'm not going to hit my goal. I'm not going to hit my goal. So it really is. It's a balance of trying to do what we've been doing better And once we start doing something, we try to never stop. I don't want to do it worse, it is that.
Speaker 1:But here's the thing though if you're listening, it's going to be different. If you're listening, it's going to be drastically different than the way we do it. Just because, unless your goals are similar to ours And if they are awesome, good for you. If they're not awesome, good for you It's just the understanding that if we don't do what got us here, three months from today, we're going to have different problems that we actually don't want.
Speaker 1:It's almost like if you, if you take your foot off the gas and you avoid the problems that you did want in the present, you get the problems you don't want in six months, and it's just kind of that cycle forever, forever, forever, forever. So that's the best answer I can give is I know that if I don't do what's necessary now I didn't work super hard so I could take time off and then play catch up. I worked super hard so I'd hit my goals And then the next time I work super hard I'll be able to hit my goals again and then kind of rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat forever. Now I'm excited to travel. Trust me, i am so excited, but there will be a part of me that has to figure out how to be okay with that.
Speaker 2:This is another episode. I know we got to jump, but at the end of the day, kevin and I have designed lives that we don't necessarily want to travel away from, and that's another piece of this as well. We love what we do And that does not mean we love every day. I want to be very careful about that. Like we do not always want to record, we did not want to stay up till 10 o'clock at night. Last night working.
Speaker 2:Kev went from 530 to 10 pm basically, and then I went for a late night walk after that.
Speaker 1:And then I ate and I were working late again, like it's just that's kind of the season.
Speaker 2:That's also predicated on the size of our goals, and we've talked about this before. I really want to just highlight one thing you said, and then we'll jump. Kevin said what's necessary to achieve my goal, that's, when he says necessary, he doesn't mean necessary meaning everything's going to burn to the ground if he takes a day off. He means necessary if he wants to achieve X by X day. And we have everyone set up on quarterly goals that we try to really do. We've tried to really hit.
Speaker 2:And if you're out there listening and you are like, well, i have this problem, this problem, this problem, ask yourself, are these problems actually responsibilities that I would have loved to have when I was younger? Because I remember making $7.25 an hour, feeling so insignificant and really not feeling good about myself at all. And now, yeah, i work out every day and I have to take care of a home and I have pets and I have a magnificent relationship. I would have loved to have all of those things back then, but I also have to take responsibility for growing those things.
Speaker 2:Emilia said to me recently. She said lately, with all these challenges we've been having, and I felt a little bit emotionally disconnected And it was like whoa. She's like, no, no, it's okay, like I understand, It's totally like I get it, i'm an entrepreneur too. But it's like whoa, really You know. And she's like, yeah, well, we haven't really you know. It's like, oh yeah, i guess that's true, because I've just been putting fires out left and right. But at the end of the day, if she had low standards for our relationship, she wouldn't even have mentioned it. You know, her standards for our relationship is 10 to 10, how are we flourishing and growing and contributing? And so it all comes down to standards and it all comes down to what you're aiming at. And I would much rather have an aligned challenge or an aligned problem of needing more responsibility towards something I actually value and want to achieve than a bunch of stuff happening to me because I'm not really achieving, and hopefully that lands for people.
Speaker 1:Last thing if you, if it's hard for you to predict the positives, it's going to be very hard for you to predict the problems too. Right, A lot of the things that we get to do I didn't really foresee happening. I didn't know a lot of these things were going to be the way they are, But I also obviously can't imagine what the downsides of those are too.
Speaker 2:This is the real reason I don't celebrate. Well, I do enjoy. I think I enjoy celebrating more than you. Honestly, I do. I was just being playful. No, no, I know, I know.
Speaker 1:But I do want the, I do want the NLU family to know I do enjoy traveling.
Speaker 2:I really do. I really did a big W and Kevin's pumps and celebrating and I'm not, maybe it's because I'm aware of what we have to do now.
Speaker 1:But I do. I want to make that clear. I do enjoy traveling, now more than ever. I'm excited for us to go to Pittsburgh. That'll be blast. Yeah For our speech I already got the air beamer down. I'm super excited, i'm super excited.
Speaker 2:It'll be different. It'll be way different than it ever was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, But even going to Europe I'm super excited for that, Tara and I have never I mean, we've traveled a little bit, but not, Not like that.
Speaker 2:It's like a life-changing thing. Build your waffles, son.
Speaker 1:Yeah, build it. We're gonna have beer chocolate waffles. I gotta hit my order.
Speaker 2:In that order.
Speaker 1:Probably, yeah, probably. Alright next level nugget, i would say that Write down five things, five things that you could reframe from a problem to a gratitude. That's my next level nugget.
Speaker 2:My next level, nugget. Realize the wisdom that, no matter what you achieve, no matter how far you go or how much you grow, life has challenges that will be present And it's the way in which you react to those challenges and the way that you frame those challenges that's gonna matter At the end of the day. Life is not easy, in my opinion, but it can be deeply meaningful And if the moment you start thinking life is supposed to be easy is the moment you start looking around and reacting I think, really overreacting to little things that are probably made into mountains that are actually molehills.
Speaker 1:I've never seen a molehill up close with you. No, neither.
Speaker 2:Are they real? It's just a cool saying Mountains and molehills, mountains and molehills. Are they real?
Speaker 1:I would assume so Well, you know what happens when you assume Next level nation. If you are looking for an environment with positive people who think like you, they want more success, fulfillment, love, whatever it may be please join our private Facebook group, Next Level Nation. We are 700 members strong and we would love for you to join us. You are welcome And the link will be in the show notes.
Speaker 2:There are many NLUT members who have done group coaching. There are many community members who have done group coaching. You've heard the testimonials. You've heard how it's changed their life. As far as value for the money, this is our very best stuff all condensed into one program. And if you feel lost and you feel like you're not on track, you know we just got done with July 4th. It's summertime. This is a perfect time to get back on the rails, Set up the train tracks, stay on the train tracks towards your goals and dreams. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself, but at least you'll enjoy yourself knowing you're also accomplishing with another team of people who are also accomplishing. So group 11 is closing on Tuesday.
Speaker 2:Okay, Reach out to Kevin or myself. We have a promo code for listeners for 30% off. It comes to $96 per month for three months. It's a three month program, $96 a month. That is insanely cheap for the value. I promise you that will pay you back. And then some We talk about health, wealth and love. So it's going to pay you back. This is an investment in yourself and an investment in your future. Click the link in the show notes and email us for the promo code.
Speaker 1:In real talk. If you spent $96 over the fourth of July weekend on partying or food or whatever it is, you know this would be a probably a better use of your funds. So I get a heart driven. But no BS tomorrow for episode number 1392. Are you the opposite of arrogant? I think people assume the opposite of arrogant is confident. I don't think it is. Now more than ever. I don't really think that's what it is. Or maybe they'll say humble. I don't think that's what it is either, honestly, based on a lot of the people I've studied and what we've seen. So we're going to do a hyper conscious episode on that. As always, we love you, we appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you, and at NLU we do not have fans, we have family. We will talk to you all tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Reframe those problems. Next definition Nice.
