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
#1426 - Discipline Is Much Harder Without This…
Are you tired of constantly battling with your inner self, struggling to make the right decisions, and failing to achieve your goals? In this episode, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros talk about the power of self-discipline and the pivotal role it plays in shaping your destiny. They dig deep into the essence of believing in oneself and how it catalyzes disciplined decisions that are instrumental in your growth and self-improvement journey. They share insights on the power of setting smaller, achievable goals that build self-belief and lead to long-term success. They also talk about the power of pride, external accountability, and self-belief to keep you on track.
Links mentioned:
Next Level 5 To Thrive (free course) - https://bit.ly/3xffver
Training on How to Be More Productive in Less Time - Email Alan at alan@nextleveluniverse.com
______________________
Website 💻 http://www.nextleveluniverse.com
The best way to track your habits is here! Download the app: Optimal - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/optimal/
_______________________
Any of these communities or resources are FREE to join and consume
- Next Level Nation - https://www.facebook.com/groups/459320958216700
- Next Level 5 To Thrive (free course) - https://bit.ly/3xffver
- Next Level U Book Club - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/next-level-book-club/
- Next Level Monthly Meetup: https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/monthly-meetups/
_________________
We love connecting with you guys! Reach out on LinkedIn, Instagram, or via email
Instagram 📷
Kevin: https://www.instagram.com/neverquitkid/
Alan: https://www.instagram.com/alazaros88/
Email 💬
Kevin@nextleveluniverse.com
Alan@nextleveluniverse.com
__________________
Show notes:
[7:06] Self-discipline is difficult
[12:36] The fourth reason why people don't achieve their goals
[15:06] Helen praises Alan’s Next Level Business Solutions coaching for providing safe and empowering coaching services
[15:57] The last thing Alan wanted to do after their trip
[18:20] Where are you unreasonably disciplined?
[20:30] Doing what you don't want to do
[27:54] Outro
The kid is sleeping.
Speaker 2:We have raised our standards, haven't we? I can tell, with all the feedback you're giving me, you and I are on a truth telling spree with each other. Feedback wise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know, man, whatever.
Speaker 2:You've asked me to improve like six things.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's because I think we crossed a chasm and it's like I think I'm right about this now.
Speaker 2:Now I think I'm right. That's all part of it, but it crosses one chasm, and the things prior to that that you didn't mention all become, you know, because your belief shifted. That's why belief is so powerful, because your belief about what, your belief in self, has changed since this week, which is good, but because of that, everything that used to fly under the radar now needs to be you know. So I feel a little bit water bordered for lack of better phrasing, but that's okay, it's not. That's how you get better, it's how you get better, unfortunately. How do I do on the? You know?
Speaker 1:more of that episode.
Speaker 2:Really.
Speaker 1:It's a connector. It only happens when you start talking fast, when you get excited, you do it Okay, and he likes the rums I don't think so. I think it was mostly you know, and it's like it's when you're connecting to points. Yeah, I've been ahead.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to figure out how to get, and then I I'm on it. That's my only intention for this episode.
Speaker 1:Don't say you know.
Speaker 2:Yep, no fillers. Okay, big idea.
Speaker 1:Discipline is hard enough. Never mind if you don't Believe you can actually do the thing. Get the outcome and or think it'll be worth it. Got it, that's what I would say. And you're plugging course. I am plugging the free course next level, five training.
Speaker 1:Yes, let's do it right knuckle this time, believe it. 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 Was episode number one thousand four hundred and twenty five. What song is playing on repeat in your head? My heart will go on by Celine Dion. For me, currently today, for episode number one thousand four hundred and twenty six.
Speaker 1:Discipline is much harder without this. When Alan and I are on the road, we tend to optimize for Convenience. So I said, hey, man, I'm probably gonna get Domino's while we're out here. I'm gonna keep it Respectful and respectable. I'm not gonna go crazy every single night, but it's easy. I know there's one relatively close. Let's do that.
Speaker 1:So the first night we got Domino's. Second night I said, hey, what do you think? And he said yeah, yeah, of course, same thing. I said you want the same exact thing? And he said, yeah, love you, man, you're so easy. So I repeat the order, no problem. And for some reason they got there and I'm not exaggerating when I say it took them 15 minutes. It was amazing, the Pete. It was the best pizza I've ever had. The delivery driver was world-class kind. It was awesome. They, I said to this gentleman. I said were you waiting outside with the pizza? How did you get here so fast? And he said I know, I know we're now best friends. I Made a mistake because the first night I got brownies, so I reordered Some brownies. By accident, I didn't know, they dropped the food off. There's an extra box. I said oh wow, we must get an extra pizza. They like us open it up brownies. So we had too many brownies. Allen had some of my brownies and that's where this episode came from.
Speaker 2:So that's the end of the episode. That's the end of the episode. I hope you learned something.
Speaker 1:Please do like, subscribe and tell a friend, and we are both open to new clients, if you're interested.
Speaker 2:You funny man, thank you funny. So it's late at night. This was so we got there. Drove there Thursday. This was Saturday night Spoke, yeah, three and a half hours on Friday, and then Saturday night you watched UFC. I caught up on work.
Speaker 2:I would say you watched, you have see with me for sure, for sure, and we also had deep conversations, which was awesome, seriously. You went to bed before I did, because I went FaceTime date with Emilia. We did FaceTime dates every night and I came back down and you're like, hey, man, I'm going to bed. I'm like, okay, no worries, and I'm hungry. So Kevin got Domino's and and I ended up getting.
Speaker 2:I ended up going back to the event, the convention, and we ended up having lunch there. It was chicken breast. There was this, this delicious garden salad. I was actually sitting in the very seat that we had spoken to, one of the very seats that we had spoken to the day before. So it's kind of cool. They were giving away some scholarships to some young kids. It was so inspiring, so inspiring. So, anyways, no one ate their salad and there was a couple empty seats at my table Because no one wants to sit with the kid. I'm good, I ain't everybody's salad. It's great I had. It might as well been the biggest huge garden salad ever and I'm also trying to make up for calories, because we had Domino's the two, two nights before. So, and then it was chicken breast, great, great, great. On the way home, I get this awesome workout in and I text Kev. I said, hey man, do you want subway? He's like no man, I'm good.
Speaker 1:No, dude dom's one more night. Let's run it, let's run something like that.
Speaker 2:So I get a subway sub. At this point I'm really conserving calories because I'm doing this new, this new regimen, and I'm sitting there late at night and you can always feel when you're in a deficit. So real quick explanation you have surplus, you have deficit. Caloric surplus, caloric deficit those are fancy fitness terms for you. Eight less calories than you burn Surpluses you eight more calories than you burn. So obviously, when we got dominoes, I was over and over, meaning I ate more calories than I burned, even though we did work out every time, every day there and Then this last night, saturday. I'm in a deficit and I can feel it.
Speaker 2:When you're in a deficit, your body's hungry. It triggers your body's hunger response. It's supposed to. It's supposed to say hey, you're in a deficit. If you keep this up, eventually I could die. That's your body talking to you. Now, obviously, I have plenty of excess energy in my fat cells and all of that, so I'm not gonna die. But my body is like, hey, hey, alan, what if? What if you ate those brownies that Kevin didn't eat, that he got extra brownies, he didn't eat the brownies. They're right there on the counter, what if?
Speaker 1:and I did tell Alan he could have some, so it's not like he was sneaking them away. I said, hey, man, whatever, what it's mine is yours.
Speaker 2:Do you?
Speaker 1:think, just don't touch my pizza. But you can't touch my pizza because it's in my belly.
Speaker 2:Exactly, you finished it. You're at the whole pie, yep. So I'm sitting there and it's 11 30 at night, probably midnight actually at the stage Saturday night, and I am very, very, very hungry. I had a Crushed a workout earlier that day, our plus Just super hungry.
Speaker 2:And all of a sudden my brain starts doing what it does, start saying, alan, it's not that big a deal, couple brownies. Hey, I mean, it's not that big a deal, you're. You're uncomfortable, you're uncomfortable. What if you just ate a couple brownies? So I did. I went to the, to the kitchen and I grabbed three of the five. And I remember that specifically because I it took everything in me not to eat all five of them. And Later that day, or, I'm sorry, the next day, kevin and I wake up, we pack our shit, we get going and in the car we're talking about it and he's like you ate some of my brownies.
Speaker 2:I was like, yeah, man, and we had this conversation. And this is where the value of the episode comes. We had this conversation about discipline and how difficult it is. Self discipline is ridiculously difficult and Some of us are better in certain areas than others. You know, when it comes to dieting and food, I'm much more disciplined about exercising than I am about not eating in a surplus. So for me, I'm much more disciplined with training than I am with nutrition. Some people are the opposite. Some people are way more disciplined with nutrition than they are with training, and Ideally you'd be, you know, high standards in both if you really want to be in shape. But anyways, kevin and I were talking about how hard it is, especially at the end of the night, to keep your promises to yourself. It's very easy to eat brownies when brownies are available and, by the way, they were absolutely delicious.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, they were excellent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like cookies slash brownies great, and Maybe a lot of people out there don't struggle with over eating. I I think that everyone to some extent, to some extent has trouble with this. But Kevin and I got to talking and and he's like and you're certain, imagine someone who's not even certain that it's gonna work. How hard it would be for them to not eat the brownies. Because, at least Mathematically speaking, when it comes to the deficit in the surplus and tracking calories, I have years and years and years and years of doing that. I do know that if I want to lose weight, what I have to do is train more and eat less. And I know that if I eat in this deficit, I'm gonna lose this weight by this time. I do that for clients, I do that for myself. I have a spreadsheet that's I'm certain it's gonna work and I still ate the brownies.
Speaker 2:He said imagine what it would be like for someone who is even sure it's gonna work. How hard would it be for them to stay self-disciplined? And I had this light bulb moment of whoa If you're uncertain it's gonna work and you're uncertain It'll be worth it, why would you suffer, why would you struggle? Why would you sacrifice. I Didn't even sacrifice, even though I knew it would work, and so that's what this episode is about. How certain are you that it's gonna be worth it? How certain are you that it's gonna work? Because if you have low certainty that you're gonna get the goal whatever weight loss, income, revenue, intimate relationship if you're uncertain, it's gonna be infinitely more difficult to stay disciplined, especially when it's hard.
Speaker 1:I Was trying to think of a good example of this and really what it is. Discipline is much harder without this. What? What is this? Belief that the outcome is actually going to happen or belief that the outcome is actually going to be worth it? Those are really the two, the two big ones. I Would have to assume that Many of the New Year's resolutions that get set are ends up failing because of this, because we don't set the New Year's resolutions based on the fact that we actually believe we can do them, because if we did, we wouldn't wait to the that original date or that actual date.
Speaker 2:That's got to be one. It's almost like people are setting them because everyone else is setting them.
Speaker 1:I remember we did an episode we it was, I believe it was called Don't wait on a date to change your life and it was about New Year's resolutions great title, it was a pretty good title. So I would say that. And then, if you don't actually believe in your ability to do it, you subconsciously don't think it's gonna be worth it, so you just pull the plug. It's it's a self-fulfilling prophecy of alright, I'm gonna set a goal and this is why and I really think we're on to something with setting bite-sized goals. Yeah, definitely, that landed really well at the at the presentation.
Speaker 1:You set a goal that's too big. You think to yourself I Don't think so, I don't think I could do that, no way, no way. Then in your mind, it's Well, what are we doing? Why do we? Why should we even try? It's not gonna be worth it because we're not actually gonna accomplish it. And then that breaks or that creates a cycle of Every time I set a goal, I don't actually believe I can do the goal and I know it won't be worth it for me to even try because I don't believe it's possible, I'm not gonna set goals anymore and that becomes the, the unfortunate Cycle.
Speaker 1:And I said that to the, to the kids, to the teenagers, to the young adults. If, if you sat me down and said, kev, your goal is 1425 episodes and your goal is all the results that you have today, I never would have started, I Never would have believed it was possible. I always believed it would be worth it. I still, to this day, believe it will be worth it, but I never believed it was possible. I never would have continued going it's, I believe it's as much a goal issue as Anything else. Now, on the other side of that, you know that well, you know Worst case scenario, I'll just eat a little bit less tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm, because you did which right?
Speaker 1:right, because you have the awareness of how to actually solve that problem.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm realizing in this moment, kev, that I gave a incomplete truth to the students, the undergrad students, that we spoke to on Friday. I Said there's really only three reasons people don't achieve their goals. Number one is they don't know where they currently are self-awareness. Number two is they don't know what they actually want to achieve, what the specific goal is. Or, number three, they don't know how to get there. There's a fourth option I forgot, which is they know where they are, they know where they want to go and they know how to get there, but they don't have the discipline.
Speaker 2:Because I know where I'm at in fitness. I'm a hundred and eighty five point six pounds. I know the goal a hundred and seventy five. I know exactly how to get there. I just don't want to do it. I Don't want to do it, so it's. I don't know if it'll be worth it. I don't want to suffer anymore than I already am. I Understand, I know and, but that, but guess what? I Don't get to have a ripped six pack. I Do. I want an eight pack. As bad as I want to not eat brownies, obviously not. Well, what?
Speaker 1:is there anything that would make you want it more or want it to that level?
Speaker 2:Yeah, be annoyed with myself. Enough to eventually it's a great question, kev, because the Ten pound and ten week challenge we did did it because the pain was great enough to where it's. I'm not missing an episode.
Speaker 2:And I'm not gonna be a hypocrite. That's why you got to put skin in the game. I'm convinced there's not enough skin in the game. I haven't told anyone I'm gonna reach 175. I Haven't even told anyone I want to and and Don't get it twisted public account abilities everything I I have a lot of clients and I have, and when you come on the NLU team is a perfect example for the team members. They'll resonate with this. But for listeners, imagine you come on the NLU team one day All of a sudden, everyone can see your stats, everyone can see your total productive output. Everyone can see whether or not you're consistent. Everyone can see whether or not you're tracking habits. We have a very powerful thing going. I want the accountability. The NLU fit pick challenge 123 days in a row of consistent 30 minutes of exercise. That's why I'm more disciplined with exercise than I am with brownies, because I'm not posting hey, no brownies today. The public accountability is a cheat code. That's skin in the game you have. You have to risk. You have to risk something and I just haven't risked enough in that arena.
Speaker 2:I'm, you know, 124 book clubs in a row as of yesterday the last thing I wanted to do yesterday, after 16 hours in a car between the last four days was do book club. But I promised book club. I keep promises I make to the community. I promised book club we would never miss and We've never missed. 124.
Speaker 2:I think Kevin and I calculated it that's five, no 2.38. I believe 2.38 Years in a row every week. On the week I stayed up last Wednesday until 2 am. I don't recommend doing this to get my blog done, because I promise the community I'll never miss. I'm not gonna miss. I'm gonna do a blog every other week for the rest of my life and those are really powerful and they're getting better. I don't want to miss I, but I do. I let myself down. I let myself down with the brownies. I. I need to attach it to something that is More. I'll do a lot more for NLU than I'll do for myself. I'll do a lot more for Emilia than I'll do for myself and I have to know that about myself and I think that for the listeners they're probably similar.
Speaker 1:I noticed a drastic uptick in my motivation and Ability to show up. Not necessarily just motivation, discipline must say discipline, knowing that I was gonna be working out with you for sure, 100%, 100%. There also is why do you think I threw?
Speaker 2:out my back there.
Speaker 1:There also is a big piece of me that now identifies as the fitness guy again. So when I post on my story, I'm the fitness guy again. I love it. I don't want to lose that. So I don't want to lose that. I'm afraid I'll lose that if I don't do what it takes to Keep it. So there's yeah, that's the necessity there. It's a challenge. This whole thing is a challenge.
Speaker 2:That is what, what's your?
Speaker 1:next level, nugget. My next level nugget? Don't ever interrupt me again. Is my next level, nugget? My next level nugget? Practice discipline on easy mode and connect. What are you really disciplined at and why I never miss? I won't say I never miss. That would be a lie. I very rarely miss scooping the litter box Very rarely. It's not for me, it's for the cats. It's not about me. I'm not doing it because I want to. I'm doing it because, if I don't, it makes their life less luxurious.
Speaker 2:Well, didn't you tell me every Saturday you go in there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's what you said you imagine. I can't imagine that would be a really nice life. There's perceived pain. That's not for me. It doesn't affect me whether I do it or not. It affects the pride that I have in being the Ultimate Cat Dad.
Speaker 2:There you go, that's why.
Speaker 1:I always say you're not, you can't, you couldn't possibly be the Ultimate Cat Dad more than I am. No way, no, it's not possible. I do more.
Speaker 1:I do way more than you do. That in my mind. So that's part of my identity. Right, makes sense. It makes sense. That would be the next love of nugget. Figure out where you really unreasonably disciplined More so than other people. For you and I, it's podcasting. There's two of us. We said publicly we'll never miss, we can't miss. And I've said it on hundreds of shows at this point, every show I go on, I say well, we're never going to miss, we won't miss If I'm in the hospital or Alan's in the hospital, or I have to say, hey, siri, create a podcast episode for Next Level U and I'll record it and put it up on whatever we're going to do, whatever it takes. That will be my next love of nugget.
Speaker 2:Yeah, where do you? What do you pride yourself on? If you were honest with yourself? I know that everyone says pride is a bad thing. I think that it can be used for good. I really do. If you pride yourself on how generous you are and you're more generous toward a charity that helps people. Good for you. Good on you, as Emilia and I would say good on you. It's her thing, but I picked it up Good. My next level, nugget.
Speaker 2:Self-discipline is doing things that you don't actually want to do in the moment. That's why it requires self-discipline, and self is the important part. Self-discipline. No one's going to be upset with me that I ate three brownies. Why would you? Doesn't make any sense. Good for me.
Speaker 2:If I want to earn my goals, I'm the only one who's going to keep me accountable. But to my point earlier if you want extra accountability, you can pay for it. I've never missed a therapy call. I never will. You can pay for it. I have a lot of clients who they are paying for accountability. It's my job to make sure they get their shit together. I say that hardcore for a reason I want to see them win. They're not going to do it without accountability. They're not going to do it to the same extent without accountability.
Speaker 2:Whether it's Kevin knowing he's working out with me in a week or it's me throwing out my back trying to impress Kev, that's the truth. Kev said wow, you look better in person than you're doing pictures. Strong work. It gave me a fist bump. Don't pretend that that's not motivating. Of course it is. Yes, you have intrinsic motivators. Yes, you have maximizing your potential. Yes, you want to be better and be a good person. But there's external motivators too. You would work out harder in a gym with people that are inspiring. You will work out harder if you're going to the gym with a friend. You'll let yourself down more than you'll let other people down, most likely if you're listening to the show.
Speaker 2:I think that you need both. That would be my next level. Nugget is get some personal accountability, get some skin in the game, but also get some public accountability. We can help you with that. If you want public accountability, you can DM Kev a checkmark hey, I did it. Or DM me. I have one client who checkmarks me every single day and I love it. I hit the little heart button on WhatsApp Reach out.
Speaker 1:I would argue that you don't actually want the result as bad as you think. Same for me, not not just you. Because if I said, oh yeah, I have a nutrition coach you could reach out to yeah, here's, here's his number, and it'll be cheap too, you could, it's wildly affordable. You wouldn't do it. You'd say, now, I don't want to do that because then I have to send him pictures every day. And if I don't, if I have three brownies is gonna yell at me yeah, same, trust me, same.
Speaker 1:We want to want it. We want it more than we want it, more than we don't want it, but we don't want it as much as we need to want it. Really well said, and I'm right there with you. We're, we're getting a turn. I are getting dinner. My birthday, if you're listening to this, was on Tuesday, I think Monday. Tuesday, tomorrow. We're getting Food tonight for dinner.
Speaker 2:Good, no, I thought I missed your birthday. I was like this Tuesday, you know, yeah, but I am eating over my calories tonight.
Speaker 1:Of course I don't want somebody to say hey, kev, you know, I know it's your birthday and yeah, you had a long travel week, but yeah, you know you probably shouldn't have that extra side I. So this is what I get real quick. It's called a crunch wrap burger.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm taken from the crunch wrap supreme, a Taco Bell. I love Taco Bell. I'm gonna love the burger side of Cajun fries. On top of that, I like to get the Teriyaki cauliflower, and here's a cheat code for anybody out there. I'm gonna share this with you because I love you all. I get a side of Children's fettuccine Alfredo. The reason is it's cheap and it's a decent size portion and I don't need a whole Separate meal. That's what I'm gonna be eating tonight for dinner.
Speaker 2:Nice so, but Listeners, yeah. If Kevin and I for some reason, all these audio files that we've recorded today all get destroyed and we somehow have to redo episodes, you would not miss an episode tomorrow. No no no, no, no matter what no no, that is what.
Speaker 2:Figure out what you actually do want bad enough to actually do what it takes. And and don't worry so much about the other stuff. If you try to hold level 10 standards and everything, you will fail forever. I'm convinced of that. But you can incrementally, slowly and surely Improve your standards holistically over time, which is what I know he was all about.
Speaker 1:So Next level nation. We are actually. Alan and I are on the calendar this week I believe Friday, thursday or Friday to record the intro and outro videos for our new course Coming out in the near future. But we have a course up on the website. Currently it is called the next level five to thrive, the five C's as we call it. Alan will always tell you what the C's are. I'm not gonna tell you what the C's are because I think if you really want the five C's, you'll go get them and you'll find out what they are behind the scenes. It's totally free. We spent eight hours together on a Sunday when we had the studio doing this. I wanted to charge for it. Alan said it should be free. Alan won the argument because he's the CEO and I don't have any say and what happens in this business? Evidently, but it is to your benefit. It is some of the fundamentals that we've built this business on and have helped us so much you disagree with.
Speaker 2:He's joking. He's joking. I've never played the CEO card once never, kid makes it seem like I'm playing it on the reg no, no, no, never.
Speaker 1:I would never. I would never accuse you of such. I'm joking for everybody listening. I'm not joking about that meal, though that is what I'm having for dinner tonight. I can write that down. That's a lock. I'm done now.
Speaker 2:Oh, the five C's are. I'm kidding, all right. So Kevin knows that I do that when I don't know what I'm gonna say. E me, lenny is on the team and I have a department called trainings. Her and I have done many Trainings where, if you're out there and you feel like your team, you have a team or a group of people, it can be five people, it can be 20 people, it can be a hundred people the first one is free. The first training is free. It's virtual and if you feel like you need more direction, more structure and more productive. So if anyone out there listening feels like they don't have self-discipline Based on this episode or feels like they're not super productive, that's what this training is about how to become more productive, get more done in less time. And if you want a training the first one is free Please reach out, alan at nextleveluniversecom say hey, I listened episode 1426. I checked out the course. I want the training. Let's book on your calendar.
Speaker 1:The next episode is going to be my favorite title of all time. Are you prepared to hear it?
Speaker 2:It's a bold statement.
Speaker 1:I am Tomorrow for episode number 1427. A simple question, but powerful Are you a turtle or a puffer fish? That's tomorrow's episode. Nice, yeah, as always, we love you, we appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you and an L you either another fans, we have family. We will talk to you all tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Keep up the self-discipline. Next combination
