Why Accurate Thinking Is EVERYTHING (1862)

Unlock the secrets to success. In today’s episode, hosts Kevin and Alan explore the dangers of being too confident or doubtful and why a realistic mindset is the secret to reaching your goals. Kevin shares a relatable story about someone expecting quick success, while Alan explains how actual achievement comes from years of dedication and growth. Together, they break down the importance of understanding yourself, others, and how the world works, offering practical tips to keep you grounded while you chase your dreams. Join us for honest, helpful advice on staying focused and consistent!

Link mentioned:
Next Level Book Club - https://bit.ly/3BQBYDr

______________________

NLU is not just a podcast; it’s a gateway to a wealth of resources designed to help you achieve your goals and dreams. From our Next Level Dreamliner to our Group Coaching, we offer a variety of tools and communities to support your personal development journey.

For more information, please check out our website at the link below. 👇

Website 💻  http://www.nextleveluniverse.com

_______________________

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://bit.ly/3BQBYDr
Next Level Monthly Meet-up:  https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/monthly-meetups/

_______________________

We love connecting with you guys! Reach out on Instagram, Facebook, or via email. We’re here to support you in your personal and professional development journey.

Instagram 📷
Kevin: https://www.instagram.com/neverquitkid/
Alan: https://www.instagram.com/alazaros88/

Facebook ✍
Alan: https://www.facebook.com/alan.lazaros
Kevin: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.palmieri.90/

Email 💬
Kevin@nextleveluniverse.com
Alan@nextleveluniverse.com

LinkedIn ✍
Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-palmieri-5b7736160/
Alan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanlazarosllc/

_______________________

Show notes:
(2:16) Overconfidence Vs. Doubt
(3:50) Personal story of misguided expectations
(5:05) The importance of consistent effort
(7:57) Cognitive biases and their impact on thinking
(09:19) Example of accurate thinking in business
(10:57) 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/3BPR2B4
(11:48) Self-awareness and understanding of the world
(18:36) Accurate thinking and decision-making
(21:04) 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

Well, I think the hardest truth is the reason most of us don't achieve what we want is because we don't accurately understand how to do it. And that's why accurate thinking is so important, because if you think it's going to be easier than it is, you're off. If you think it's going to be harder than it is, you're off. If you think you can't do it, you're probably off, and I know this is going to sound so freaking arrogant.

Speaker 2 0:19

I don't even. I have to say it. I have to say it. Candor is one of my top core values. Candor is truth. How to, for me, is the easy part. I know how to do it. It's a matter of time, effort people.

Speaker 1 0:33

Welcome to Next Level University. I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri.

Speaker 2 0:38

And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.

Speaker 1 0:46

At NLU.

Speaker 2 0:46

We believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers. Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health and wealth.

Speaker 1 0:54

We bring you a new episode every single day on topics like confidence, self-belief, self-worth, self-awareness, relationships, boundaries, consistency, habits and defining your own unique version of success.

Speaker 2 1:10

Self-improvement in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free.

Speaker 1 1:16

Welcome to Next Level University, next Level Nation.

Speaker 1 1:24

Welcome back to another episode of Next Level University, where we help you level up your life, your love, your health and your wealth.

Speaker 1 1:31

Today, for episode number 1,862, we did a little teaser preview of what we were going to talk about why accurate thinking is everything. And this came about because I was talking about how, at the beginning of a journey, there are two frames of mind. One is, honestly, this doesn't really matter that much, because I'm talking about how, at the beginning of a journey, there are two frames of mind. One is, honestly, this doesn't really matter that much, because I'm not going to be successful. No matter what I do, I couldn't be successful. And on the other front, it's I'm just going to start this because I know once I start it, I'll be super successful. And neither of those are true. I was on one end of that and I'm way more successful than I thought I would be. And when we were talking about that, alan asked if we could do this episode. So I'm going to kick it to you, because you were the inspiration for this episode, and then we'll see what happens.

Speaker 2 2:16

So, first and foremost, let's identify which end you're on. Do you think you'll be successful Definitely, almost, regardless of time, effort, money, situation, economy, dangerous. Or do you think you won't be successful no matter how hard you try? Neither one of those are accurate. Kev anonymously, please share the story of the person who you think thinks they're going to be successful almost no matter what.

Speaker 1 2:46

Oh, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, they're going to be successful, almost no matter what. Oh, I know this. I know what you're talking about. Yeah, they're man, there's a person and I care about this person. I'm not saying this to talk trash about them, but every time I reach out and check in, I just I'll reach out and say, hey, long time no talk, how's everything? And every time I talk to this person, this, the next thing is going to be the thing like yeah, you, everything's kind of moving together in the right direction.

Personal story of misguided expectations

Speaker 1 3:06

I feel like the timing's more right now than it's ever been and I feel like there's a big opportunity coming. And I'll reach out six months later and there was no opportunity. And this person, just, they think they're going to be successful, they think they'll have a successful podcast, they think they'll have a successful coaching business. But they have a successful podcast. They think they'll have a successful coaching business, but they are, they're off, they're not doing, they're not doing the things necessary. They just think it's going to happen. And again, I have empathy for that, because that was kind of me in the beginning. I didn't really, I didn't really understand how much was going to have to go into into something in order to get an outcome, so that's the best example I can give, and the micro example you're referring to is you get a big guest like a Lori Harder and you think that'll.

Speaker 1 3:50

Yeah, you think that's it.

Speaker 2 3:51

You think that's it, that's the, that's the thing it's like. Oh, it took us 34 episodes, it's like, that's not that bad.

Speaker 1 3:57

You know, it only took us 34 episodes to get Lori Harder. That's true, but it didn't. That becomes a platform that's a little bit higher, and then you can see more from that platform and then you have different opportunities. But it's not. You're most likely not going to go viral, right?

Speaker 2 4:15

Right, let's do it from this frame. Who would you bet on Three people? Fred, ted, and Ed.

Speaker 1 4:27

Ah, the old Fred, ted and Ed, here we go.

The importance of consistent effort

Speaker 2 4:29

You know it, fred doesn't think he'll be successful, no matter what he does. He's like what you described in the last episode of no matter what I do, I'm always going to be a loser. Okay, ted, I, no matter what I do, I'm always going to be a loser. Okay, ted is at five. Ted says I know I can do it, but I know it's not just going to happen. I know it's possible and I and I think it's possible for me, but I'm going to need some help and I really can't miss a trick.

Speaker 2 5:05

I got to, I got to work and I got to work consistently and I got to do the right things and I got to learn and I got to stay humble, but I got to, I got to get after it. I can't hang out, fred and Ted, ed. Ed is honestly and this is a person I'll just keep this anonymous, but honestly I actually think I would do a better job doing group coaching than you guys. I think I should have my own group and the truth is that, last person, you don't know what it took for us to fill this group. You don't know, you have no idea. It's not just one group, it's everything leading up the brand, the business, the, what 500 episodes at that point, whatever it is, the community, the listeners, the DMs, the social media there's so much that went into that one moment. We now have this incredible group of 11 podcasters Grow yourself, grow your podcast, grow your business.

Speaker 2 5:58

It's awesome, love it. Shout out to group 16. Crushing it, love it. But that was an accumulation of years and years, and years and years and years of effort. And so who would you bet on?

Speaker 1 6:12

Ted.

Speaker 2 6:12

The middle one, the second one, yeah, second one.

Speaker 2 6:15

Kevin and I in some ways were Fred and Ed, and I think that as we mature, we drive to five and we are more and more and more like Ted, and that's our goal in this episode. It's not just going to happen, it's possible, and it's possible for you, most likely, and you better stay humble, you better work and you better learn and grow and improve consistently for a long period of time. And that's really what I think we need to talk about, which is accurate thinking, because if you think it's going to happen easily, you're in trouble because it's not. And even if it does, you're going to think the next thing is going to be easy, and it's definitely not. You might have got lucky.

Speaker 2 7:00

Here's the problem, and Kevin and I are both reading a book called the Art of Thinking Clearly, and it's shout out to Bianca. She recommended it to me and it's one of my top ten. There's no question it's in my top ten. And the reason why is it talks about all our cognitive biases. It talks about all of the ways in which we think inaccurately, and one of the ways we think inaccurately is we are overly optimistic or we're overly pessimistic, we're overly confident, arrogant, or we're overly detrimental, which is self-deprecation. We believe in ourself too much or too little. We have too much grit or not enough. We think hard work will do it all and no smart work. Or we think smart work will do it all and no hard work, and none of that is true. None of that is accurate. I'm telling you, right is true. None of that is accurate. I'm telling you right now. None of that's accurate. What does accurate even mean? It means it works. When you're looking to get a result, you're looking to get a specific outcome.

Speaker 2 7:57

I said this on a podcast earlier and I loved this. This was a lawyer. It might as well have been the lawyer versus the engineer. It was really cool. And it was extra cool for me because that was the two paths I was going to go down. And he's a PhD lawyer and he owns his own law firm and it was just awesome because we just got to banter. And what did I say to him, banter? And what did I say to him? Oh, I said I said the thing that I said to you way back, which is I said kev, I'm I'm never fully right, but I'm definitely never fully wrong. Everything's a spectrum. So when I say we were cocky. We had big months and we got cocky. I don't mean more cocky than other people, I mean more cocky than we should have been. Everything's benchmarked up against this optimal place that you can never get to. And I want you to transcode, because oh boy the whole thing.

Speaker 2 8:49

Why do you? Well, no, because accurate thinking was not on your radar at the beginning, so it's not.

Example of accurate thinking in business

Speaker 1 8:58

It's not that it wasn't on my radar, I just the level of accuracy wasn't super high. There were certain things that I had very accurate thinking in Fitness, very accurate but that's where I had the most experience. But other stuff I didn't understand numbers and money. I understood relationships, kind of not really. I didn't understand the world. This is something that, again, for you, it's going to be laughable. Don't just sit with it. Okay, I was watching a video last night and one of the YouTubers are usually sponsored by a lot of times. Pardon the French, I'm going to swear here. It's just a lot of f***ery.

Speaker 1 9:39

It's like you know this supplement or this and then five years, five years or five months later it comes out. It's like this was never real and it never worked. But one of the most common ones is casinos online casinos and I had a moment last night where it was you get all you have to do is place a $5 bet and whether you win or not doesn't matter. You get $50 in the virtual casino bucks. And I had a moment where I said, ah, I understand. I understand. The lifetime value of a customer is far higher than $50, so you're making money even though you're giving away $50.

Speaker 2 10:19

That is accurate thinking. So what they're doing is 100 people. See that ad. Yes 30 of them sign up, 10 of them win, 20 of them lose. The losers pay for the winners.

Speaker 1 10:31

And they make money. They also know.

Speaker 2 10:36

The average person plays for X length and we're going to make our money back eventually anyway. That's why you said this a while back. You said you used to watch a lot of shark tank and you said one of the ding dongs on the show, uh, said that engineers are the the people who winning business in the 21st century. Something like that, mr wonderful, or whatever his name is yeah, yeah, yeah, he said he bets on engineers.

Speaker 2 10:57

Nlulu listener, what is happening? I just wanted to jump in here and let you know if you want to get to the next level faster. We have a free virtual monthly meetup at the first Thursday of every month. You can connect with like-minded people and become a bigger part of this amazing global community. The link to register will be in the show notes.

Self-awareness and understanding of the world

Speaker 2 11:20

Okay this is why this is the only reason why uh, self-driving car analogy I know I've done it before. You need three things. You need accurate self-awareness, which is a current location accurate current location. You need an accurate destination address, a goal, specific, clear goal. And then you need accurate data on the terrain. If it thinks, if you're gonna, if it thinks the road there's a road to the right and it's actually a cliff, you're gonna keep driving off a cliff and not know why, and so we don't. For me, it was self-awareness that was missing.

Speaker 2 11:48

I understood the goals and the terrain the external science, technology, engineering, mathematics, business and finance, the economy I I that all came easy. I had blind spots big time. When it comes to self, I take full ownership for that. I mean, I didn't get it, I didn't understand myself, I didn't understand any of it.

Speaker 1 12:07

I think that's my thing. One of my goals is to help people raise their awareness. I'm excited to write a book and hopefully it'll be a bestseller. So I can tell you exactly how many copies it took me to get a bestseller.

Speaker 2 12:20

I don't care, that's your thing. Man Saying the truth, other people don't say I'm telling you, that's your thing.

Speaker 1 12:26

Well, I don't want to use awareness against people. I don't want to weaponize awareness. Many of you might not know this. Maybe you've seen your favorite influencer in front of Times Square with a billboard with their book or their picture or their speech. You can pay for that. It's not as much as you think it is. It's not that much money. Yeah, you can get in Forbes for 600 bucks. I've been offered that many times. I always say no. I have almost worked with people. I didn't and I'm kind of glad I didn't, but he's in Forbes every month. He just pays $600 every month to get in Forbes. He's never done anything worth being in Forbes. It's weird.

Speaker 2 13:04

Yeah, it's so tough.

Speaker 1 13:05

It's so tough because if you don't know, that should be your thing.

Speaker 2 13:09

That would be so good. I just don't know if.

Speaker 1 13:11

I'm willing to face whatever negative repercussions come with it, but that's what we're doing here Podcast Growth Nation, a podcast group, a Facebook group for podcasters. First question I asked was what was the biggest misconception you had? Because I want to know what did you think podcasting was versus what is it actually? And then I want to know why. Who convinced you it was going to be easy? Was it somebody? Or was it? Were you just off, like I was? I thought it was going to be easier than it was, but maybe that was just hopeful, because that's the only way I would have started.

Speaker 2 13:40

I don't know. Naive, yeah, naivete. We're all naive to start and then we learn over time and then, unfortunately, some people use that naivete against you. It's sad.

Speaker 1 13:51

Yeah, it really is.

Speaker 2 13:52

It is sad. Okay, so accurate thinking. What are the things you need to think accurately about yourself, self-ness, how you work and why you work that way. So you're, you're starting to lean into who you are more than ever. The newest version, the 3.5 version, and it's telling people the truth that they might not know, that you didn't know. For me, it's the how-to. I never understood how much how-to matters, because and I know this is going to sound so freaking arrogant, I don't even I have to say it candor is one of my top core values. Candor is truth. How to, for me, is the easy part. I know how to do it. It's a matter of time, effort, people. I already know how to do it.

Speaker 1 14:36

No, one else knows. I know because you haven't done it yet, but I have well, I know, but I was a tall, lanky, freaking.

Speaker 2 14:44

You know, it's like when I, when I was a fitness model, it was so annoying. It's like kev didn't even know what he was doing compared to me and he was more jacked than me. I'm mr lanky, right. So it's just frustrating because I would coach and I'm just going to share this, so I would coach these extremely wealthy multimillionaires and I would be like you have no idea how you did it. I know exactly. I know how you did it more than you know. It's fair and that was so. How to? When you have a superpower, you don't know it because it comes so naturally you don't value it. I had no idea that how to. When you have a superpower, you don't know it because it comes so naturally you don't value it. I had no idea that how to is even important because my brain's like oh, that's how you do it.

Speaker 1 15:25

Well, that's strategy.

Speaker 2 15:26

How to strategize, yeah, strategizing, yeah, exactly. So how you work and why you work that way. That's number one how you work and why you work that way. That was the one that I was low in myself. I didn't know how I worked and why I worked that way, and that's why the car accident changed my whole life. I started looking inward Now. The next one is how the world works and why it works that way. That I've got Government, business, you know, consumer, residential versus commercial economy, currency, how the globe, internet, 5.44 billion people, 8 billion people on the planet. People still say 7. Look it up, sir. Stop saying 7 billion, there's 8 billion. And, by the way, it's been $8 billion for a hot minute. And remember when everyone was saying $7 and I kept saying $8? It's because we were at $7.9?.

Speaker 1 16:15

Yeah, but you were just very fixated on that. Other people just don't care as much.

Speaker 2 16:21

Yeah, Okay. So that's how the world works, why it works that way. You've got to know how the economy works, you gotta know how business works. You gotta know how the stuff works, because if you don't know how it's like engineer, if you don't know how the phone works, you don't know how to build them.

Speaker 1 16:36

In the metaphor, I'm gonna slow us down real quick. Okay, if there is a piece of you right now that is thinking Alan, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Trust me, I don't know how phones work either. I know how economy kind of works not to the level Alan does but it's not all or nothing.

Speaker 2 16:55

Right and I don't know how, cars, cars, plumbing, I don't know.

Speaker 1 17:02

I can always tell when you get fired up. Because you get so fired up about this.

Speaker 2 17:05

I just I want to see people win. If you knew how the phone worked in this metaphor, you could go see people win. If you knew how the phone worked in this metaphor, you could go build phones. If you know how the economy works, you can go build businesses. You can go build your dreams, you can. If you don't know how to succeed in your career, you're not going to succeed and you're not going to have a successful career, right, if you don't know how to build wealth.

Speaker 2 17:23

I have a 24 year old who's going to be a multi-millionaire. He's you. You know who you are. You're going to crush forever. You just know how to do it. It's really that simple and it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to be 10 years of work ethic, but it's going to happen. And when it happens, it won't be a shocker. It'll be like, yeah, strong, freaking work, man, awesome, now what? Right? So, anyways, that's the the how. That I totally understood, which is why I probably sound so freaking arrogant about it. All right, the next one is uh, people, how they work and why they work that way. That one was harder for me too, because I didn't understand people's perception of me, yep, and so when it came to things that didn't involve other people, I feel like I I could achieve whatever I wanted within reason, like I could achieve whatever.

Speaker 2 18:09

I wanted within reason, but when it came to people, I never understood relationship. Why? Why does that person not like, avoid? And now I get it Okay Trauma responses, neuroscience, psychology, human behavior, got it Okay. So I figured a lot of that out. But ultimately that's what accurate thinking matters, because if you don't have accurate thinking, you can't make good decisions. If you can't make good decisions, you can't achieve what you want.

Speaker 1 18:36

Well, I think the hardest truth is the reason most of us don't achieve what we want is because we don't accurately understand how to do it. And that's why accurate thinking is so important, because if you think it's going to be easier than it is, you're off. If you think it's going to be harder than it is, you're off. If you think you can't do it, you're probably off. I mean maybe yes, there are 99.9% of the people listening more than that to this will never be the richest person in the world. It's just not in the cards for you. But it's not supposed to be. You would be miserable, it wouldn't be a good life for you, you wouldn't want it anyway. So, yeah, maybe that's not going to happen. I'm never going to be seven feet tall, so it's accurate in me saying that. But how delusional would I be if I thought well, if I keep, maybe one day I'll be six two. It's not going to happen. I would just be miserable for the rest of my life if I thought that was going to happen. So it is.

Speaker 1 19:23

It's so important. It's just hard to to okay 60 second answer, because I gotta go because I have a coaching call, as do you. How does somebody increase that awareness? How do you increase that humble curiosity?

Speaker 2 19:36

humble curiosity. You have to ask questions and you have to observe and you have to learn. It's the scientific method you, you've been doing it for, you've been asking me questions. You've been I've also been force feeding most knowledge down. You know your gullet, I'm kidding but these books, the art of thinking clearly, how much has that changed the way you think?

Speaker 1 19:54

I would recommend that it's. It's boring and the stories in her pretty good, though every single chapter is like a story lesson takeaway. It's it's very well written. It's probably my favorite book that I've ever read and shout out to be shout out to Bianca. I love awareness books. I love that it's changing the way I look at everything.

Speaker 2 20:15

Oh good, awesome, yeah, yeah. I highly recommend it to everyone and, by the way, for anyone listening, thank you for sticking with us. Our goal is to help you think more accurately so you can make better choices. When you make better choices, you have a higher statistical probability of being successful and fulfilled. That's what we're doing always.

Speaker 1 20:31

I vote for the art of thinking clearly to be in book club. It would take you forever to get through, because I think there's a hundred chapters. That's going to be, that would be my vote, and I think it would be a game changer.

Speaker 2 20:43

Book club members, please reach out. Let me know. If you want to do that. Check out the book.

Outro

Speaker 1 20:54

Let's see. I would love that, but I also think it's heavy. Some people might hate that. Understandable, understandable, all right, book clubs every saturday, 12 30 to 1 30 eastern standard time. Alan has never missed a session. Sometimes it's been on sunday because we had events or stuff on saturday, but he's never missed in 20 000 years. As always, we love you, we appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you at nlu. We don't have fans, we have family. We will talk to you all tomorrow keep thinking accurately.

Speaker 1 21:13

Next level nation thanks for joining us for another episode of next level university. We love connecting with the next level family we mean it when we say family.

Speaker 2 21:24

If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. Everything you need to get a hold of us is in the show notes.

Speaker 1 21:31

Thank you again and we will talk to you tomorrow.