#1781 - What Does Your Life Revolve Around

Can self-awareness truly transform your life? In this episode, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros explore the power of self-awareness and its impact on personal growth and daily decisions. They share personal stories and practical advice on identifying your core focus, whether a hobby, family, or career and juggling it with life’s responsibilities. Join us to discover how understanding yourself better can lead to a more fulfilling and intentional life.

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Show notes:
(1:35) Self-awareness as a lifesaver
(3:01) Personal growth through self-awareness
(5:21) Aligning life around core values
(7:53) Achievement
(9:08) At NLU, we want you to win! So, we’re giving tools and resources to ensure your success. Join our Monthly Meet-up every first Thursday of the month at 5 PM. https://bit.ly/4bKaSdl
(10:03) The unseen challenges
(11:40) Passion and practicality
(13:55) Real-life struggles
(16:52) Outro

🎙️ Hosted by Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros

Next Level University is a top-ranked daily podcast for dream chasers and self-improvement lovers. With over 2,100 episodes, we help you level up in life, love, health, and wealth one day at a time. Subscribe for real, honest, no-fluff growth every single day.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Next Level Nation. Welcome back. Give me a second, alan, because my Wi-Fi just jaffed, so let me get my Wi-Fi back here in a second. Here we go. I just want to make sure it's smooth. All right, here we go. Next Level Nation. Welcome back to another episode of Next Level University, where we help you level up your life, your love, your health and your wealth.

Self-awareness as a lifesaver

Personal growth through self-awareness

Speaker 1 0:24

Today, for episode number 1,781, what does your life revolve around? I was talking on a podcast the other day, alan, and somebody said why is self-awareness so important to you? And I said honestly, in many ways it saves my life. I went through most of my life not understanding why I did any of the things I did, and when you don't understand why you're doing the things that you do, it's really hard to change the things that you do. And then from there I started to think of how basically everything that I talk about on other podcasts is self-awareness almost everything. Some of the most successful episodes I've had on Podcast Growth U have been about mindset, and when I'm doing mindset episodes it's kind of self-awareness. Why do you feel like you have imposter syndrome? Why do you think that you get intimidated when you turn the camera on? I was. I'm thinking of starting something new on my Instagram story. I did it today, a question of the day. Why do I like asking questions so much? Because I think it helps people raise their self-awareness, because that's what I did in the beginning. In the very beginning, I started asking why, why do I feel this way? Why do I avoid this thing? Why am I attracted to this thing? And that really, really helped my self-awareness and that's like my favorite thing in the world to talk about. My favorite thing in the world to talk about is self-awareness. That's kind of what my life revolves around at this point Now. Yes, I'm a podcaster and yes, I'm a business owner and yes, I coach podcasters, but I told Alan this today when I'm going through something and I'm learning a ton about me, I tend not to seek out external lessons, because I think the most important thing for me to be learning about right now is me. That's my belief. If my self-awareness increases everything that I've learned up to this point, I'm able to use better Everything, every single thing. If I am going in the opposite direction direction and I guess this is the thing my self-awareness is decreasing. I'm actually losing knowledge by the day because I don't understand myself, and if I don't understand myself, I don't understand how to use and utilize all the stuff that I've learned. So that's kind of our thought, for today's episode is, ever since I started this, and even before, this, self-awareness kind of became the thing that my life started to revolve around, because it was the thing that saved me in many ways, and now it's my favorite thing to talk about. I love talking about weird stuff that doesn't seem to make any sense, so you have something like that too. I don't know what it is.

Speaker 1 3:03

For some people during football season, it's football. Your life revolves around football. Everything you do and everything you don't do is based on what time the games are on. Can you look at your fantasy scores and your updates? Can you go hang out with your friends and watch the game? Maybe during the holidays? Your life revolves around the holidays, but what does it revolve around the rest of the year? Is it family? Is it fun? Is it pleasure? Whatever? That's our chat today.

Speaker 2 3:33

So for the last seven years, since you and I started podcasting, you've been loving the episodes that have to do with self-awareness hyper-conscious change the way you think, change the way you act, change the way you live. It's a self-awareness podcast. When I started Conversations Change Lives, way back before we partnered up, the idea that I had was these people go to college and or don't, and they go into these career paths, but they've never actually talked to an engineer and asked their day-to-day life. Go to college and or don't, and they go into these career paths, but they've never actually talked to an engineer and asked their day-to-day life. Or they've never talked to an astronaut. Or they've never talked to a nurse. One of my ex-girlfriends went into nursing but she didn't really know what it was going to be like actually nursing. So I wanted to create a podcast that I had a conversation with a nurse. I would have a conversation with a nurse and ask, like, what's your day-to-day actually like? And I would ask things like the career you chose, what did you think?

Speaker 2 4:32

it would be like versus what it's actually like, so that young people could go. You know what? Maybe engineer isn't my path. My voice is terrible. One second.

Speaker 1 4:49

Drinking, drinking, drinking.

Speaker 2 4:50

Me, me, me, me, me me. So I had to learn this the hard way when I did engineering, because engineers make a lot of money. It was basically Alan, you're good at math. Engineers make a lot of money, you should be an engineer. Alan, you're good at math. Engineers make a lot of money, you should be an engineer. Alan, you're good at math. Engineers are good at math. Engineers make a lot of money, you should be an engineer. It was pretty much that and I'm very grateful for because I do think like an engineer. So I think that actually fits pretty well.

Aligning life around core values

Speaker 2 5:18

But I remember when I worked for a company called Tyco Safety Products. It was a summer internship and I was in a room by myself designing circuits, basically the entire summer, and I remember thinking, wow, this, this kind of sucks. I don't know if this is for me, I don't know if this, this, no way, this isn't going to be my life. And then I went into business and all the stuff and ultimately that was the climb anyway, because I wanted to engineer, masters in business and then ceo of a tech company eventually.

Speaker 2 5:47

But the point that I'm making here is that kevin's thing. One of the things about him that's never changed is the self-awareness piece. You love the episodes where we talk about self-awareness and you tolerate, I'm kidding you enjoy the episodes where we talk about success and achievement as well. But from the moment you and I met till now, in some ways I picture a little infinity symbol. It's like I give him feedback, he gives me feedback, I give him feedback, he gives me feedback, and we both grow. The feedback that I give you usually has to do with habits or tendencies or some sort of achievement. I think I've helped you learn how to achieve and I think you've learned helped me learn a lot about myself, and so self-awareness is Kevin's thing. So everyone in Kevin's world essentially is going to raise their self-awareness just by being around you, assuming you actually talk to them about this stuff. Everyone in my world is going to end up achieving more, and I do think that that's what's happening and it's cool to see this sort of manifest over all these years.

Speaker 2 6:57

But the point of this episode for the listeners, like what's the thing that your whole world orients around? Because, yeah, I talk about fulfillment and I think fulfillment matters as much, if not more, than success, but I'm still focused on achievement more than anything. I'm an achiever, I identify as an achiever. Some people do, some people don't. I don't know if you identify as an achiever. I identify as an achiever. Some people do, some people don't.

Speaker 1 7:17

I don't know if you identify as an achiever or not. Not really. Now more than ever, but I didn't.

Achievement

Speaker 2 7:22

Yeah, and so achiever plus humble self-awareness man, team up and change the world. But for the listeners, what is the thing that you are, the thing about you that's never changed, the thing about you that you are obsessed with, that you adore that you always go back to. It's kind of your go-to in a tough time. My go-to in a tough time is okay, let's just design a new system. Let's get back on track. Let's get back to the fundamentals. Let's track new habits. Let's cut our spending, earn more money. Let's get after it, let's achieve our way out of this. That was my. That was my trauma response as a kid when my stepdad left. It was okay, I'm gonna achieve my way out of this.

Speaker 1 8:02

And it worked and didn't work I think it's hard because you and I have the ability and the privilege and the opportunity to practice what we. It's this weird thing where it was like, oh, self-awareness is amazing. And then we start the ability and the privilege and the opportunity to practice what we. It's this weird thing where it was like, oh, self-awareness is amazing. And then we start a podcast. I start a podcast on self-awareness, you start a podcast on success. Then we pair up and it's like kind of both yeah, probably more self-awareness. And then we had seasons of it was like interviewing guests that were all about success. How do you get better at marketing how?

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Speaker 1 8:40

But I can imagine it's harder for somebody who has a 9-to-5 that isn't connected to what they want to do, it's not part of their thing, and they only get to do it at night or on the weekend or they're so I don't want to say so far outside of their comfort zone In terms of doing stuff that scares you every day, but so far outside of your comfort zone where you're just burnt out from work that you don't get to do or you don't prioritize doing the thing that you want your world to revolve around.

Speaker 1 9:13

That's the weird. There's a space between I want my world to revolve around this thing and I have to find a way to fit it in to a world where everything else is revolving around it right now, and then, hopefully, it can be more and more and more. Greater percentage, greater percentage, greater percentage, because I think that it's easy to forget that when I started the podcast, I was still working 50 hours a week at another job and the podcast was 1% of my week. But it was the 1% that I wanted to add 99% to. And now what percentage? 2,000%, it's everything.

Speaker 2 9:55

Out of 100%.

Speaker 1 9:57

The podcast itself.

The unseen challenges

Speaker 2 9:59

No, the business. Yeah, 80%, yeah, at least 80%. And that was the dream. I mean, that was the dream. It's podcast, episode number seven. It's quickly becoming a nightmare. Yeah, it's quickly becoming a nightmare, it really is.

Speaker 1 10:13

It's a lot. It's a lot, but I really wish. I wish I could have asked somebody what's it like to be a podcaster full time. What does that mean? Now here's the thing the answer they gave me probably would have not helped, just because they might be doing it in a. We're doing it in a very different way. When I talk to podcasters and I tell them, yeah, this is how we did it, a lot of people say I've never thought of that and I've never heard of that before. Like, yeah, well, sponsorships and ads that's not the way to do it for most people. So even if I did have that conversation, I don't know if that would have helped, but here's the ultimate help.

Speaker 2 10:53

I think it would have helped, just not it wouldn't have been well, because there's a lot of presuppositions not to interrupt. You know the person would have to have to take taken a traditional quote-unquote podcaster route. They'd also have to be honest with you and vulnerable about how hard it's actually been.

Speaker 2 11:10

Yeah, rather than putting on any sort of show and then they'd have to pull back the curtain accurately to show you what it's really been like. But it would always be through their lens, and that's one of the reasons why learning from other people can be so difficult, because the principles are always there, like what are the principles of podcasting what? What did you think it would be like versus what it actually is? Like someone should interview you on pgu about that, or you could just do an episode on that. What did I think it would be like versus what it actually is like for the new?

Passion and practicality

Speaker 1 11:34

I'm recording. I'm recording two today, so that might be a I might hammer one of those right now I love that question.

Speaker 2 11:40

What did you think it was going to be like to be an oral surgeon, versus what it actually is like what? What didn't you think that no one else would know unless they've been in your industry for a decade?

Speaker 1 11:50

questions like that are my favorite, yeah well, I think that's why it's so hard. When you hear somebody say, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life, it's like, well, I think it depends. I think if somebody's very honest with you, they'll they'll say look, the fact that I get to do what I love every day makes all the other stuff that I do, that I don't want to do, worth it. I think that's a different conversation. But again, that's, that's a much longer bumper sticker. It's, it's a much the.

Speaker 1 12:19

The stuff that I get to do that I love at 10 out of 10 makes up for all the stuff that I hate to do at two out of 10. It's a long ass bumper sticker. You need like a you know an RV to fit that thing on there. So but it's, it's a very I think it's a very challenging conversation. Maybe at some point we can, we'll do a deeper dive, because we don't have a ton of time today, but it, it, it's, it's never going to be. Maybe it's let me rephrase, it most likely isn't going to be. This is the thing I want my life to revolve around, and then it just does.

Speaker 2 12:49

No, no, no way.

Speaker 1 12:50

There's mud, there's a lot of mud between where you are and where you want to get to, and you've got to be willing to crawl through that mud. Now here's the last thing I'll say. I saw somebody post this the other day. They posted this kind of like journey of from when they were 21 to where they are now, when they're 25. And it was unfulfilled out of shape, and this was their words, not mine. Unfulfilled out of shape, lost, whatever it is, bad habits, all these things. And then, like 22 is a little bit better 23, 24, now they're 25. And one of the things they said is they left their job to pursue what they're doing today, full-time.

Real-life struggles

Speaker 1 13:25

Again, I'm not saying this to to negate this person, but they're not making any money yet and I am, I would say, 99.999 sure that their partner is supporting them financially. Nothing wrong with that. Taron supported me a ton in the beginning, I'm not saying. But that doesn't mean the person went from their full-time job to doing this full-time and then they just made it. They are in the struggle bus. They're just not talking about it. And again, there are times where I didn't talk about how much I was struggling. So I'm not making that wrong Again, just about awareness, for you?

Speaker 2 13:57

Yeah, quickly. Why do you think it's important for people to know that?

Speaker 1 14:07

Because it's very easy to think oh, that person left their job two years ago and now they're making a full-time living doing this.

Speaker 2 14:10

There's no reason I can't do that. Yeah, when you and I when you first saw me having quit corporate. What you didn't know is that I was liquidating 150 000 that I had in an investment account and I had all the tech companies that I had bought. Etfs never told me.

Speaker 1 14:22

Index funds, told the kid you know we were going to Chipotle Hammer and Burritos, yeah, but if you had asked, I would have told you.

Speaker 2 14:29

You could have said how are you making money? And I would have said I'm honestly not. Right now I'm living off of the money that I made in corporate.

Speaker 1 14:36

Yeah, I know you would have answered. I probably didn't want the answer Really. Maybe not Like who cares, don't worry about that.

Speaker 2 14:48

You wanted to believe Don't worry about that. You wanted to believe that you can hang out on the beach and get fit.

Speaker 1 14:54

And talk on. Yeah, yeah, I think everybody does.

Speaker 2 14:57

That should be an episode at some point.

Speaker 1 14:59

We have a lot of episodes that came up in this episode. Alright, we gotta go, because the kids got the kids got stuff. Jeff, too, alan has a meeting right after this. Self-awareness is everything.

Speaker 2 15:09

Huge fan, huge fan of self-awareness. I just am.

Speaker 1 15:12

All right if you are trying to get more self-aware. Seven days a week, just a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, just a little bit, times seven. Make sure you are subscribed to us on your podcast, platform of choice, as well as YouTube, so you never miss an opportunity to get to the next level. As always, we love you, we appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you, and at NLU we don't have fans, we have family. We will talk to you all tomorrow.

Speaker 2 15:36

Keep doing your thing. Next level nation.