Next Level University

It’s So Hard To Grow Without This (2011)

• Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros

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In today’s episode of Next Level University, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan uncover the surprising connection between self-belief and long-term thinking. They explain why people with low confidence struggle to visualize success and how shifting your perspective can unlock incredible growth. With real-world examples and personal breakthroughs, they reveal the secret to staying motivated even when progress feels slow.

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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

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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.

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

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Alan@nextleveluniverse.com

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

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Show notes:
(2:49) The power of self-belief in success
(6:34) How confidence shapes long-term vision
(10:15) Misconceptions about self-belief and success
(17:40) Why thinking long-term feels unnatural
(22:21) The compound effect: Small actions add up
(25:25) Join Next Level Live: A virtual, immersive event for those committed to growth, meaningful relationships, and a life they love. https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/next-level-live/
(28:32) Measuring growth beyond numbers
(36:01) Playing the long game in life
(47:11) Outro

Send a text to Kevin and Alan!

Kevin Palmieri:

I think one of the reasons I didn't think I could grow that much is because my time perspective did not allow me to look far enough into the future and I was only thinking, well, how much could I grow this week, how much could I grow this month, how much could I grow this year? And now I actually have more belief, which has allowed me to have a longer time perspective and now I'm way more willing to do the stuff. That kind of sucks but I know will pay off long-term.

Alan Lazaros:

And the question becomes why would someone with low self-belief think long-term? It's chicken or egg. If you have higher self-belief you'll think a little higher term, higher term, longer term, and then when you do and then you eventually achieve it, then you gain more self-belief. But it's that chicken or the egg. So you kind of have to start small. So start with a day, then a week, then bi-weekly, then monthly, then quarterly, then yearly and eventually you learn how to think more long-term. But you do have to start small if you don't feel like you believe in yourself a lot.

Kevin Palmieri:

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

Alan Lazaros:

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

Kevin Palmieri:

At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros:

Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri:

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.

Alan Lazaros:

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

Kevin Palmieri:

Welcome to Next Level University, next Level Nation, today for episode number 2011. It's so hard to grow without this. Alan is making me laugh. This is one of those late recordings 8 o'clock on a Tuesday right now. It's been a long, freaking day.

Alan Lazaros:

Did you hear me fade off?

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the beginning. I could tell you were holding your breath.

Alan Lazaros:

350 barked down from 10. What's?

Kevin Palmieri:

that from Liar liar, episode 2011. So hard to grow without this. I had a lot of breakthroughs in that speech that I gave, which is interesting because I'm somebody who, when I get an experience, I'm somebody who, when I go do an like, I get an experience, I get lessons, and then I have stories. It's like, oh, I want to do a podcast episode on that. And one of the thoughts I had when I was talking about what was it the improvement? I was talking about how we've done 2000 episodes and in the beginning we were terrible and but we just try to get a little bit better and a little bit better and a little bit better with the understanding.

Kevin Palmieri:

You had an understanding, I had a hope. I think that eventually that would add up. And I had this moment where I said, if you don't have pretty high self-belief, there's no part of you that's thinking well, if I just do this 2,000 times, I'll get really good at it.

Alan Lazaros:

That doesn't exist.

Kevin Palmieri:

That's not happening and my thesis with that was your time perspective affects your belief in your growth, because if you can only and sit with me on this, hang with me on this ride, with me, with, with this, whatever of those makes the most sense. If you can only imagine yourself a year from today, it's probably going to be really hard to imagine yourself in a very different place than you are today. You know what I?

Alan Lazaros:

mean real quick, real quick, and I apologize to anyone watching or listening this. We will bring value, I promise. Do you have a window open, man?

Kevin Palmieri:

oh yeah, 100.

Alan Lazaros:

I can hear something like wind. It's just yeah, it's nice out there.

Kevin Palmieri:

That's going to go, that's gone in post-production, that goes away. Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, that goes away.

Alan Lazaros:

It's freaking me out, man. It's nice, I'm just glad it's you. Now I know what it is.

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah, yeah. So I'm going to one of the. I got asked on a podcast earlier.

Alan Lazaros:

A woman named Lori is awesome and she said what is unique about your content?

Kevin Palmieri:

and I said nothing.

Alan Lazaros:

Nothing at all, nothing at all. The fact that it takes us 20 minutes to get to the value. No, what's unique is I actually think that we're playful and fun and funny more you than me but the other piece of it is it is a. We analyze things from two different lenses. Kev, in the beginning, had very low self belief and a very short time perspective. I didn't, and that's why I constantly ask Kev stuff on the show, because I feel like you could help you understand this better than I could.

Alan Lazaros:

I'm speaking to a group of undergrad engineers tomorrow in a business class that I found out about earlier today. It was supposed to be a business panel and then the professor got back to me kind of late and it was literally earlier today and it's like, okay, 11 o'clock tomorrow, because he said I'll see you on wednesday. I was like it's, it's tuesday, and then I looked back at our thread it was the 19th. I'm like, wow, time is flying. But my point of this is I'm gonna open. Kevin had this insight behind the scenes and I'll share it here. He said I think that you have to understand the level of true self-belief in the room before you speak Not just me, but everyone. So you gave a speech at a mastermind that was $50,000 a year and these are very successful people statistically. There's a high level of self-belief in that room right, very high yeah.

Alan Lazaros:

Very high. Okay, zero to ten.

Kevin Palmieri:

The vast majority of people, I would say, are eight and up.

Alan Lazaros:

Do they know that they are?

Kevin Palmieri:

We. There was somebody who wanted to work with us In some capacity From that group and on our first it was either our first or our second call. It's a couple, it's a husband and wife. I think it was like the second call, the second time I had ever talked to them. He said give it to us straight, like what's the biggest issue, like where's our biggest mistake? And I said if you don't start treating your business Like a business, he said give it to us straight, what's the biggest issue, where's our biggest mistake? And I said if you don't start treating your business like a business, you're gonna fucking die. And they both started laughing Like all right, cool, yep, we got you.

Kevin Palmieri:

You can't say that to most. I mean, that's a dangerous thing to say to somebody if they don't have a lot of self-belief, because they're gonna think, well, kevin's kind of an ass Like why would he say something like that? I wanted them to know that I see a ton of potential in them and I don't think anybody else is going to tell them that. I don't know, I don't think anybody else has told them that yet. So I wanted to really give it to them so that the example I I use that. That for is they have very high self-belief.

Alan Lazaros:

And I think they know it and I want to share this as well. But I want to make sure that anyone watching or listening this is taken out of context. This would be perceived probably wrong, and that's not how I mean it. I was on with a client who is a millionaire and five years ago he said he was going to do everything that he's done now five, six, seven years ago. And he's like I had more clarity back then than I do now and we were talking about his net worth goal and we got on a financial calculator and we did the numbers based on where he is now and where he'll be in 10 years, and it's, you know, upwards of 5 million, and that's if he does nothing else. Right, it's like just coast mode. And I said, dude, you're aiming too low in my honest opinion, like that's, that's my truth. Now here's the problem. Everyone else isn't going to come up to him and say, hey, you're aiming too low.

Alan Lazaros:

I said this is the problem. Everyone else in your life is really impressed and I'm kind of, but not really, because I know that that's nothing close to your potential and with a couple little tweaks, I mean, we can jack this up and it's good for everyone. We actually went through why it's good for everyone. The way he's building wealth is good for everyone, right, and we actually unpacked that, and so I'm trying to get him to up the ante, but that's predicated on his level of self-belief. His level of self-belief is very, very high, so I'm trying really hard. So the undergrads tomorrow and again, maybe I'm a better.

Kevin Palmieri:

I don't know if I'm better to answer this than you, but what do you think? Their level of self-belief is Less than you do I used to? You and I are both losing our voices just at the same second.

Alan Lazaros:

Six o'clock at night. For some reason it's been a day.

Kevin Palmieri:

The reason I used to think that a room like that would have a super high level of self-belief is because you were in a room like that and you had very high self-belief.

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri:

But just because somebody is super smart does not mean they have a ton of self-belief.

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri:

So probably less than less than you think, maybe more than I, but I don't know man. I mean more than I, but I don't know man. I mean you and I. We went and spoke to a fraternity, your old fraternity, and I was surprised. I mean you could tell pretty quickly there was just a very high level of insecurity. I would have been insecure too. So it's, but it's easy to kind of forget that.

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri:

So probably low. That wasn't't a. So the chapter of my no, I know, I know, yeah, that was a national. I just was people in general, country in general.

Alan Lazaros:

I mean, these are but you assumed college kids were probably more confident than they really are Because you didn't go to college. Is that fair?

Kevin Palmieri:

I just assumed if you, if you threw 200 men in a room, you'd see a lot of confidence. I think Like college.

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah, but I was surprised with a lot. I mean, there wasn't a ton of clarity and I think there was a good amount of humility too, like I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with how much. So maybe what would have been disguised as confidence through arrogance wasn't there, but that could have been a piece of it too.

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah, well, the insight. Going back to the self-belief and time perspective, we just got off of a group coaching session an hour ago. Shout out to Voices, unleashed group 17. They are one session away from ending their 12-week program, so they're technically graduated, but there's one more. But that was the last presentation and it was built on this concept of playing the long game and we kind of took them behind the scenes of NLU from the inside out instead of the outside in, and how different that is, and that's also why our voices are struggling right now. But congrats to anyone in group 17 and for anyone who wants to join group 18, who's a podcaster, reach out April 15th. Yes, april 15th. Okay, so if you have and this is the thing too it's very challenging to gauge someone's level of self-belief because it's something that is inside of them.

Kevin Palmieri:

Well, what if you can't see it? What if we did this? What if we did this? Whether you're watching or listening, define or label. When it gets comical, okay.

Kevin Palmieri:

So imagine you doing your thing, whatever it is. If you're an artist, cool, whatever. That means. Poetry, music, painting, watercolor. What's the other one? Charcoal, whatever that. If you're an author, that. If you're building a business, that. If you're a chef, that Just imagine. Whatever your thing is Cool.

Kevin Palmieri:

How good at it do you think you will be a year from today? How good at it do you think you'll be five years from today? How good at it? Do you think you will be a year from today? How good at it do you think you'll be five years from today? How good at it? Do you think you'll be 10 years from today? How good at it? Do you think you'll be 20 years from today, 30 years from today, 40 years from today, 50 years from today?

Kevin Palmieri:

If you're still hanging around at 50 years and you can really think to yourself like okay, 50 years from today. If you're still hanging around at 50 years and you can really think to yourself like okay, 50 years from today, not from a place of delusion, like well, I think everything's going to align and I'm going to be no, no, no, like we have to have some. There has to be some actual strategy, because that's not confidence, that's potential delusion and or, just, with kindness, I don't mean it in the negative way but potential ignorance as well, because that was my thing. It's like eventually I'll just be successful. No, no, no, you gotta kind of have some pieces to the pie.

Kevin Palmieri:

If, if, at five years, you're like I can imagine that, but I can't imagine 10, okay, that's that's where we start. I don't think it's as cut and dry as confidence, because confidence without direction isn't necessarily constructive. I mean it's probably more constructive than not having self-belief. But because in group coaching today you were talking about how you were doing, the numbers of if you improve this much, and when you got to 50 years or when I saw it on there, I was like I don't.

Alan Lazaros:

I wonder how many people would actually ever resonate with that yeah, because I don't I was with emilia's family on sunday and I I playfully said out loud like well, I figured, because you know, started from very humble beginnings and they did very well and I'll keep that all high level. But I remember saying we were watching home videos of when they got married and this is back in the 1991 is when they got married. So they've been married 34 years and we were just reminiscing and I was talking to them about their dreams and when did you decide to do it different? You know, because entrepreneurs and it was just a really cool conversation and and in a playful mode of that whole entrepreneurial conversation I got really pumped and I was like, well, I always said my career wouldn't even start until I was 50. And I said that and I could tell there was a moment of breaking rapport, like what does that mean? And I want to break this down.

Alan Lazaros:

I think I have a good example. So Emilia and I are watching Black Hawk Down Came out in 2001. Now let me provide some context to this Gladiator. The first Gladiator movie is Ridley Scott the director. Context to this gladiator the first gladiator movie is ridley scott the director, and we I've always been a big movie, buff film. Kevin asked me one time what's the difference between film and movie, and it's basically just a pretentious way to say it movies and films are the same I think movies are more for entertainment.

Alan Lazaros:

Film is deeper. I think that's a better way to, but anyways, so ridley Scott is a filmmaker, I mean he. He opened with a play-doh quote for Black Hawk Down and Gladiator is one of my favorite films. We watched Gladiator 2. I loved it. Most people didn't. Whatever, it doesn't matter. The point I'm making is I was watching the film last night with Emilia, super pumped. I got home theater going on dream come true and I told Emilia I said this is a world class movie. If you have not seen Black Hawk Down, it is awesome. Now here's the fascinating thing, and again time perspective. I said sweetheart, you know what's really cool about this? This is one of the most famous movies in history based on true events, and ridley scott was in his 60s already. You don't get dude the cast in that movie. You know tom hardy's in that movie yeah, tom hardy, there's ewan McGregor.

Alan Lazaros:

Josh Hartnett. I mean I can keep going the cast in that film I would argue Vince Vaughn isn't Vince Vaughn in it. I know you're thinking Saving Private Ryan. Saving Private Ryan the cast of Black Hawk Down, I would argue, is the most prestigious cast in any movie in history. That's my bet. I would bet money on that now. Cast in any movie in history? That's my bet. I would bet money on that now. The guy from sandlot, the kid from sandlot, is in that movie.

Alan Lazaros:

I didn't know that yeah I don't know if I've ever seen it.

Kevin Palmieri:

I have a story about it.

Alan Lazaros:

I'll save it for later well, emilia has never seen it before and it's 2001, and she was five years old then. I'm kidding, um, she's six years younger than me. We joke. But here's my point. Just looked it up.

Kevin Palmieri:

Ridley Scott is 64. When he made that, or now, when he made it, when he made that he's in his 80s now still making films.

Alan Lazaros:

Now it's not that crazy for me to say that I'm gonna. I sent you a Warren Buffett clip recently. I sent that to you. When I say I'm going to start my career in my 50s, I don't mean to sound arrogant. I actually mean that that's when things are actually going to pick up. Question.

Kevin Palmieri:

Okay, good Question how would you teach somebody to use that? I just had a breakthrough and this is what we do at NLU. I think sometimes the reason it seems arrogant is because you don't tell people how to do it.

Alan Lazaros:

Okay, I don't know if I know how to do it, I know. Which is actually humble to say that I think.

Kevin Palmieri:

I don't know how to teach that. Three easy payments for your course.

Alan Lazaros:

Your VIP course $5,000. Well, when I put it in context like that, Ridley Scott's still making movies.

Kevin Palmieri:

I don't know if it lands, though, because it never landed for me, because I assume Ridley Scott has something that I don't Well, he does he's. I'm not a filmmaker, and I'm not.

Alan Lazaros:

Here's what he really has that you don't. He has 50 years Doing the same thing Over and over again, getting a little better each day, do you?

Kevin Palmieri:

think he was any better than your average director at the beginning.

Alan Lazaros:

Yes, all right, let me give you this. I do think that there is some genius in that man. I don't know him, okay, so he might be behind the scenes. He might not even be a good person, okay. So please don't associate me with Ridley Scott. His films Napoleon, I mean, his films are world-class. He's one of the best filmmakers in history. And now studios just say do whatever you want.

Alan Lazaros:

I knew yesterday little side tangent here we were on Netflix and I saw it and I was like let's, we got to watch that. Have you seen it? She said no. I said it's good, the history is good and the cast isn't. I mean it's, it's just a must for anyone who loves film, and we've been on kind of a kick of those types of films lately. So I was like no, no, we can't watch this one, though. She's like what do you mean? I said I guarantee you there's a director's cut. So I went and I bought it. Okay, it's 14.99 kev. Don't freak out, I'm kidding, but I bought it. And the reason I bought it is because her and I like the director's cut of Napoleon much better.

Alan Lazaros:

There was no director's cut for Gladiator, because the studio was like you know what, ridley, do what you want with the film. So for those of you who don't know the film industry, when a director has final cut some filmmakers in the beginning, they have to prove their stripes, prove their stripes, prove their stripes. If you have too many flops in a row, the studios won't even work with you. But if you film after film, after film so Steven Spielberg, for example, jurassic Park, et, like all the Jaws, all that stuff, it's like Steven Spielberg won't even start a film unless he has final cut, because these directors can't stand when the studio slices up their movie. And so I personally, as a film lover, I love the gladiator extended edition. The director's cut is so much fucking better than the theatrical version. But again, I love film. That's like you wanting to hear rappers behind the scenes versus their theatrical version.

Kevin Palmieri:

I'm so pissed. There isn't a better podcast where people ask them deep questions well, maybe one day you'll be able to I mean maybe so here's the deal.

Alan Lazaros:

To answer your original question, I do think there's a hint of genius there. However, if you take away the compound effect of consistency over time, there's. It wouldn't matter. There's a lot of. I know a talented filmmaker. I don't know if he's going to make it or not. I think he has a hint of genius. But it doesn't matter if you don't have work ethic and consistency over time. And that's the whole thing of work hard beats talent. But what happens when talent works hard? And me, in my past I am guilty of resting on talent. I mean, I could literally party all night and get straight A's on calc exams without going to any of the classes. That was just talent, right. But I wish that I had taken it more seriously because after 26, in my car accident, I started to realize that it doesn't matter how talented you are. I don't care, and that's what I, going back to my millionaire client it does, I don't care, dude, like congratulations, you're better than this, you. You can't be pumped about mediocre results when you're gifted.

Kevin Palmieri:

It's hard, it's I don't know. I think it's just one of those things where you just have to get going and I think maybe the more you do it and the longer you do it, for the more your time perspective expands. Because I don't know, I'm fully bought in now on. Okay, just get a little better, and I have been for a long time, but now I'm really starting to see it.

Alan Lazaros:

Well, it's eight years in, so you're really starting to see the impact. I mean, you can speak with very little prep and do a really good job. That's just the compound effect, right?

Kevin Palmieri:

not tonight our voices are not uh not happy my sincere apologies to anybody watching or listening because, again, we don't really do edits, so we're not going to edit it out every time. We do that just because that's just not how we do it. I do apologize, we will take care of our voices better moving forward.

Alan Lazaros:

Well, this is where we need to transition it to you. As someone who didn't think this way. How did you start? Because I honestly don't know mine. When you start small, build I tried to keep up with you.

Kevin Palmieri:

I tried to keep up with you. That was pretty much what it was, let's say you take me out of the equation.

Alan Lazaros:

How would you coach Kevin eight years ago? How would you get him to start igniting the power of this concept? When I say Einstein said that compounding, the law of compounding, is the eighth wonder of the world, what does your brain say Now?

Kevin Palmieri:

or eight years ago? Both Give me both. Eight years ago. What are the first seven wonders of the world? The pyramids. You think I fucking knew that oh.

Alan Lazaros:

I didn't know that. Yeah, it doesn't matter.

Kevin Palmieri:

What's number two? You know, you know all seven no.

Alan Lazaros:

Oh seven. No, oh okay.

Kevin Palmieri:

No, I knew the pyramids were one. I don't know any others Bermuda. Triangle right. No, that is not even fucking real. The Bermuda Triangle is not even a real thing.

Alan Lazaros:

Why do you say that?

Kevin Palmieri:

It's because it's not Just like the Loch Ness Monster, is it?

Alan Lazaros:

The Bermuda Triangle is a real thing. It's a. It's a. I don't believe it. It it represents a triangle that's dangerous based on weather well yeah but not like you know.

Kevin Palmieri:

I don't think it's the second wonder of the world that's might be true, I don't know.

Alan Lazaros:

Let's, let's look it up. I'm intrigued. Pyramids, uh, gardens of babylon zeus at olympia I don't know what the fuck that is. I'm intrigued. Pyramids, gardens of Babylon Zeus at Olympia? I don't even know what the fuck that is. There's one in Turkey. Temple of Artemis, colossus of Rhodes in Greece. Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt. Oh, the new Seven Wonders of the World Modern list. There's multiple lists. Yeah, apparently Taj Mahal, taj Mahal, we've gone down a rabbit hole.

Kevin Palmieri:

Colosseum, colosseum. Ah, okay, yeah, that makes sense Great.

Alan Lazaros:

Wall of China. Ah, okay, now okay, yeah, that makes sense. Great Wall of China.

Kevin Palmieri:

Okay.

Alan Lazaros:

Now again, I don't care who knows that or who doesn't, and what I do think we need to get back to is when I say that Einstein said the law of compounding is the eighth wonder of the world. What did you think before?

Kevin Palmieri:

Nothing. I thought nothing before. I don't even know what compounding is, eight years ago.

Alan Lazaros:

So I thought nothing before. I don't even know what compounding is 8 years ago. So you presuppose that other people had something you didn't. That's like always the presupposition.

Kevin Palmieri:

It still is Just less than ever, I assume, and I think I'm accurate. I think there are people out there that just have way more confidence than I do, who are willing to take shots that I'm not yet. I think that's factual. I don't think that's a limiting belief. I think that's factual. I don't think that's a limiting belief. I think that's an accurate belief. Next Level Nation. We are very, very excited to announce that we are doing our first purely virtual Next Level Live. On April 5th 2025, from 10 am to 4 pm Eastern Standard Time, alan and myself will be live streaming from Worcester, massachusetts.

Alan Lazaros:

Next Level, live 2025. Be there, it's only $47 for a full day of personal development, self-improvement, holistic health, wealth, life and love.

Kevin Palmieri:

We have a global audience. Obviously, if you live somewhere else in the world, it's hard to come across the country or across the world for a one-day event, so we wanted to make sure it was accessible to everyone.

Alan Lazaros:

You're not going to get to the next level of your life by default. You're going to get there by design. Join us, design that next level.

Kevin Palmieri:

So, yeah, it was always that it was always. And now it's almost like, in a weird way, I had a client send me a message today and he's like I was at this conference with this giant guy, super big, super famous, like super successful. You should get in his program really help you take your business to the next level. It's like, brother, no. And he was like, yeah, this guy told me like his hack to go viral on all these channels and it was like this is an interesting thing because that's not real. And this is a case where I think that person has something, not the person who was talking to me, the person who was teaching him has something I don't he has less morals?

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah, the willingness to sell out that. So that's different.

Kevin Palmieri:

It goes both ways. What does Kevin think now? So Kevin used to think?

Alan Lazaros:

what are the other seven? What does the new Kevin think?

Kevin Palmieri:

It makes sense. I mean it really makes sense, and I mean if really makes sense, and I mean if you're going to do something. But even that it's like if you can dedicate yourself to something for a year, for a year and I'm not saying you have to do it every day, I just mean like this is your thing and this is a priority for a year and I know that's a long time and that's a big ask If you're going to gonna do it and you just focus on getting a little bit better every time, a little bit better. Sometimes you won't even notice it. At the end of the year, when you look back, you're going to be a completely different person.

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah, but I would never explain it with numbers. I don't get it. I don't really understand. Now, what I am curious to is when I do start really leveraging that from a financial thing, like when I'm stashing away money and I'm focused on it compounding. Maybe it'll make more sense then, because I'll actually see the numbers. I think it's hard when we talk about it from a place of potential. Maybe it'll make more sense then, because I'll actually see the numbers. I think it's hard when we talk about it from a place of like potential, like you're 37 times better than you were.

Alan Lazaros:

It's like I don't know what that means, though Do you feel 37 times better at podcasting? Yeah, definitely. I mean. Look at your calendar eight years ago. Compared to now, you're 37 times more capable, for sure.

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah, this is the thing.

Alan Lazaros:

That's really hard to understand too. I'm very grateful we just got a really big client in our podcast production company and I talked to Kevin about it after we got the W's. It's only the last eight years of getting a little better, little better, little better, little better that we we're even capable of handling all this. I mean, the Kevin back then quite frankly couldn't get this client. No, no, but right, we didn't have a team, we didn't have our website person, we didn't have me, we didn't like you just can't, you can't. Just. I know, I know, I know you can't just snap your fingers and you know. The other thing that I really wish was true too.

Alan Lazaros:

Think of, like the harry potter movies and I know I'm talking a lot about movies, but emma watson was cast in that. She didn't have to do anything other than act. There had to be a studio that fronted the money. There had to be a bank that the studio lent the money to they. There had to be marketing teams and branding teams. There had to be marketing teams and branding teams. There had to be costume designers. There's a million things.

Alan Lazaros:

So Emma Watson got famous on the back of other people's work and I'm not making that wrong. I like Emma Watson. I don't know her, but you understand what I mean. It wasn't Emma, it's not like she, just she happened to get kind of lucky in that and the studio and all the people behind the scenes. There's a lot that goes into why those movies are successful, rather than just the person you see on the screen.

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah, yeah, and a lot of the people that are actually more the reason it's successful actually don't want to be on the screen, and that's what we talked about, about, you know, fame versus behind the scenes, and I I'll never forget this. There was a producer that we uh interviewed, brent Pinvidick, and he I think I told this story on a couple episodes ago, but I'll go quick with it he was one of the people that was a producer on extreme weight loss and some bar rescue, some other big shows. And I remember I was at a wedding with emilia. It's actually the uh first time we ever danced, slow danced together, and it was in newport. It was amazing. I actually asked her to be with me that night. But, uh, there was a group of people there from not national geographic. It was like what's the home TV or something.

Kevin Palmieri:

There's like a big one.

Alan Lazaros:

HGTV that one, I think, or one like that and I knew that they would know, because I know that's a small world. I mean if you're in television, you're going to know Brant's name. If you're not in television, you're not going to know Brant, unless you know your wife knew the turkey, or whatever what was the rooster.

Alan Lazaros:

The or whatever it was, the rooster. It's a famous rooster he had or something. I don't remember what the name was. It was some famous youtube creature that he had, yeah, and but anyways, so that that's the thing is, you see people's success from the outside in and you don't fully understand that they spent usually a decade or two, sometimes three or four, building that from the inside out and and all along the way they actually didn't feel very good necessarily about it or about themselves?

Kevin Palmieri:

what were you going to say about brand?

Alan Lazaros:

you just stopped in the middle of the thought, I think about brand yeah my, I think my, my point of that is the people in the industry know him and know what it's taken to get to that place. But he what's a good example of this, a better example, I think, that overnight success, the iceberg thing, I have a good example.

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah Well, it hasn't happened yet, but we had somebody on the podcast I don't know, 2019, named Justin Freeman, world-class rapper, like one of the most talented. He's world-class, he is supremely talented. Let's say he and he's young. I think he's younger than we are. Let's say he was to go viral and blow up in five years. We talked to him in 2019, 10 years before he made it. Yep, and there's some people who know of him, but most of the world doesn't yet. And if he makes it, it's because he kept grinding and getting better and improving and yeah so that's.

Alan Lazaros:

That's a good example, potentially it is, and to make that land too. Because I thought of Justin as well on this podcast, this episode, when Kevin and I interviewed him. Justin Freeman has very high self-belief and Kevin said well, of course, if some random stranger hates on your stuff and thinks you're a bad rapper, that's not a big deal. But if Eminem were to say you suck, I mean that would crush you. And I was like, nope, kev, you do not understand this man For sure. And I said, no, that wouldn't affect him at all. And then he confirmed live, he's like, yeah, that wouldn't bother me at all.

Alan Lazaros:

But that's also because I could recognize his level of self-belief enough to actually do this is another story, but I knew that he was the type that it doesn't matter if eminem tells him or if some random person tells him he. He knows that he's capable of it and I actually would bet money he would. He would make something of himself. But again, I don't know him behind the scenes and I don't know if he's fallen for delusion or whatever. I don't know, I don't know. Okay, so, and I take nothing from him, but I do know what it feels like to know in your heart of hearts and in your soul that you can do this.

Kevin Palmieri:

It's a question of whether or not you will but how do you know if it's knowing versus delusion? That's? I mean, how many people? I've talked to so many people who are like I know it's going to happen one day. It's like I. There's a difference between there's a difference between the empowering thought that you believe one day and it's like I. There's a difference between there's a difference between the empowering thought that you believe one day it'll happen and then knowing how to do it. Those are two very different things well, you taught me this.

Alan Lazaros:

You said look at the actions. Like the reason you knew I wasn't delusional is because you saw my actions.

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah, but it's hard to. It's hard to know how long those actions will last. That's the hard thing yeah is.

Alan Lazaros:

I don't think I was ever good at recognizing delusion, brother. Well, that's fair, I think I am now Much better.

Kevin Palmieri:

Well, that's a question for everybody out there, as opposed to you and I having the answer to it, because I don't, I don't, I don't have the answer to it. I think my next level lesson for this episode would be if you're not bought in yet on getting out of your comfort zone and doing things that scare you and all of that stuff, you're leaving just so much opportunity on the table, not just oh, in 10 years you're going to regret it. I'm not saying that. But if you believe in yourself a little bit more, you might have a more specific visual of what five years today you want to look like and what you believe it could actually look like. And I think that's why, for a lot of people, it sounds arrogant. Because if somebody came up to you and said, well, in 50 years, why couldn't I have a net worth of $10 million? You absolutely could, mathematically Right. But if you don't have that belief, somebody might say that's super arrogant to say.

Alan Lazaros:

Well, if you look at the math, that's actually not. I know it's not even that impressive. Here's my question, and again, let's have a brief dialogue about this how do people think people get wealthy, Like if 50 years doesn't?

Kevin Palmieri:

do it. What the hell does? I don't know. I never thought about the time, All I thought about and I don't know if I could make this land or not I'm thinking about my now versus them arrived. I'm not thinking about before for them, I'm only thinking about where I am at this unique point in time and where they are and how much further ahead they are. And I'm not there, I'm not close right now. That's what I used to think of.

Alan Lazaros:

Yeah, and I think that, and again, this has created many blind spots, and I certainly don't don't know everything, but one thing that has always come naturally to me is reverse engineering, so even Ridley Scott's whole career, I mean I, I, I can analyze it and research it. It makes perfect sense. James Cameron's, very old as well, same deal, right. So I just he didn't even do avatar till he was what? 64, 62.

Kevin Palmieri:

Like I was what? 64, 62, like I don't know how, I don't know how old he is yeah, I mean he's.

Alan Lazaros:

I think he's in his 80s. Now again, we'd have to look it up. But the point is is that it is a math equation and and I know that if I could show everyone, step by step by step, where you and I started, and I could actually unpack every little step we took along the way, it wouldn't surprise anyone that we've gotten here. I think that you just can't do that and again someone in the world.

Kevin Palmieri:

How do you make an algorithm that shows where somebody is today, where they'll be if they continue doing exactly what they're doing? How does that get created?

Alan Lazaros:

It's a math equation. That's what an algorithm is.

Kevin Palmieri:

I know that I mean, how does it happen? You want me to do it, I can do it. I can do it this weekend, if you want. So I have a.

Alan Lazaros:

I have a client who is a YouTuber and we created I created an algorithm that calculates a projection. How do you?

Kevin Palmieri:

do that with human potential. Because I don't think the numbers, it's like, yeah, if you put a dollar in, it's like good, I'm not a dollar though, okay well if you took a picture of you when you were I don't know.

Alan Lazaros:

So you're 35. Okay, let's take a picture of you at 30. Let's take a picture of you at 25. Let's take a picture of you at 20. Let's take a picture of you at 15. And then let's take a picture of you at 10. At 15, and then let's take a picture of you at 10. And then you showed that you'd see a trajectory and you'd see a peak in fitness in your late 20s, and then you'd see a massive drop off of dad bod with all the love, and then you'd, and then you'd see another like you're coming back. I mean coming back in a big way.

Alan Lazaros:

I'm very impressed I appreciate and I don't say that lightly, but that that's what transformation photos are is a picture of someone's potential. You ever see one of those bodybuilders? That was a skinny mini, like me of course, and they're massive now. It's a whole lot of drugs, but it's also the compound effect it's so.

Kevin Palmieri:

You've done it, naturally, so it's yeah, exactly.

Alan Lazaros:

Well, it's so external. That is one of the problems about this is and this goes back to the episode we did last time and then we'll get out of here the episode we did yesterday. I talked about how the unsung hero is brainstorming yeah, this brainstorming session that we just had anyone watching or listening and you and me. There's nothing tangible whatsoever that has come of this, but this is the unsung hero. These brainstorming sessions that we have is what has created the awareness that is necessary to achieve success. And so read the book the Compound Effect, go ahead.

Kevin Palmieri:

I was going to say these are some of my favorite episodes. I love the episodes when there aren't any answers. I don't know if it makes for a good podcast. I'm sorry if it doesn't. I just this is what we have. Yeah, there's been courses and yeah, there's been a lot of books, right, but it's been deep conversations more than anything. It's just, it's been this.

Alan Lazaros:

Conversations change lives and Kevin used to say when they're hyperconscious, when they're hyperconscious.

Kevin Palmieri:

And that's where it all started.

Alan Lazaros:

That's what this started as, and that's what this always will be, one way or another.

Kevin Palmieri:

It'll package different.

Alan Lazaros:

It'll be framed different, but ultimately it'll never go from that main core. So my next level lesson is read the compound effect. Now. My next level lesson is ask yourself how far into the you know what Actually everyone research. You can Google, google or chat gpt, whatever you use bing, whatever you use I'm kidding, but whatever you use little nerd in me coming out how dare you use bing instead of google? I'm joking, I don't have any, whatever.

Alan Lazaros:

I had one of my clients recently look this up. I said you need to look up the psychological concept of projection. The human mind can project into the future. Other recently look this up. I said you need to look up the psychological concept of projection. The human mind can project into the future. Other animals can't do this as well. So we can project into the future 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 years out. Now it's a skill and it's a muscle. So some people can project very far into the future. Some people can only project a week.

Alan Lazaros:

So I had one client. I had her close her eyes. I said okay, picture you a day from now. She said yep. I said a week from now. She said yep. I said two weeks from now. She said yep. I said a month. She said whoa, she's like got blurry. See now to me. And she said there was shame attached to it. The blur that's not. Yeah, she said I pictured. And she showed me a picture of her. She said I pictured me fat and and in shame. I was like whoa. So you're fear-based. That's a fear-based response. You're so fearful that you're going to end up overweight or whatever. Now she's retraining her brain to think more positively and more long term and she's crushing. And I don't. I don't want anyone to feel bad for where they're at now. I want you to figure out where you are now and then build that muscle. I mean that is in the neuroscience that that part of the brain is the most important. Emilia and I take care of our brains because that's that's the most important thing.

Kevin Palmieri:

That's what makes me. Is there a book that's like uh?

Alan Lazaros:

neuroscience books. But this you can re research, this. I'll do it real quick Cause I uh the psychological cons define, uh, tell me everything you know, chat GPT. Tell me everything you know, chat GPT. Tell me everything you know about the psychological concept of projection, future projection, and we'll just see what comes up. I've never done this before, by the way. I've researched this, but not on Chat GPT. Let's see what it comes up with. Future projection is a psychological concept that refers to an individual's tendency to mentally stimulate or anticipate future events, emotions and experiences. It plays a crucial role in decision-making, motivation, goal-setting and emotional regulation. Future projection can be both conscious and unconscious. Influencing our behaviors and expectations about what is to come can be both conscious and unconscious. Influencing our behaviors and expectations about what is to come. Everyone can research this. I highly recommend you do.

Alan Lazaros:

All of your current decisions need to be based on what the future outcomes are. And again, that's based on data. It's based on a lot of stuff.

Kevin Palmieri:

Yeah, I think it's so much of its belief, so much Agreed, agreed, 100% of stuff.

Alan Lazaros:

It's yeah, I think it's so.

Kevin Palmieri:

So much of its belief, so much agreed, like, if you if you, if you won the lottery today and you believed you were going to die tomorrow, you would spend all of the fucking money terrible idea. But if you believed you'd be around in 100 years, you'd save, or whatever, however many years you'd save more of it like that, yep, that is such a an example of you. Just, you burn it all if you don't think you're going to be there to burn it the next day. It's weird. All right, we're going to get out of here.

Alan Lazaros:

Oh, you have something quick, I've got to say one more thing. That's why I always say the average life expectancy is 79 for women, 77 for men, because that data is critical. You can't, you don't want to play a short game in a long life.

Alan Lazaros:

Oh, quote that and and that's now I mean medical breakthroughs. I mean you can research. You can. You can research all the things that have gotten. I mean poverty is better, starvation's lower, crime is significantly lower, despite what the news is saying.

Alan Lazaros:

Like, you can look at the statistics and if you're playing a short-term game in a long-term life, you're potentially in trouble. I mean, why wouldn't you just get in credit card debt and why wouldn't you just right? So if you again, no one knows for sure what the future holds, but you can make some educated choices based on what you think is most likely going to be, based on learning from the past. History is to learn from the past so that you can project into the future, and that's what the chess masters of the world do. That's what these business owners are doing. They're just. That's what stock investment is. If I invest in kmart right now, that's really dumb. I don't think you can, because they went out of business. But, like amazon or km, it's obvious now. But what was it in 1996? What was it in 2001? What was it in 2007,? Right, so you can predict outcomes in advance without having to do them. You don't have to, you know, get hit by a car to realize you should look both ways.

Kevin Palmieri:

Well, you might once when you're young.

Alan Lazaros:

Well, that's why two-year-olds you know it's the parent's fault, not the kid. Because, you know awareness, so, anyways, that's the next level lesson is look up projection and see what your time perspective is, because that's a good starting point. For sure man a deep one tonight. Appreciate you talking about it, man.

Kevin Palmieri:

I love this stuff Of course, my apologies again to anybody. Our voices were not the best on this and I yeah, I don't take your listenership for granted, so we'll we have to take care of our voices better. You more than I, cause. You do more. You speak more than I do. I'm. I was behind the scenes all day today. For some reason. I just here's the problem I didn't have any water. That's my issue. I ran out of water after my last call. All right, we're going to get out of here.

Kevin Palmieri:

Next Level Live 2025, april 5th 2025, 10 am to 4 pm Eastern Time. One of the common questions is am I allowed to just kind of come and go? Or, if I show up, do I have to be there from 10 am to 4? No, you can come and go, you can pop in. You'll have access to the replay. So if you buy a ticket, you get the full replay.

Kevin Palmieri:

If you can't make it for the whole day, it's all good. We just appreciate you coming and you're going to learn something. If you're there for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, the whole day, you're going to leave with more than you came with. That's the goal. And if you have to pop, no worries, you get access to the replay. That'll be then, and round of group coaching is starting. So if you're a podcaster who wants to focus on leveling up yourself, leveling up your podcast, and you want to turn your podcast into a business eventually or maybe you're stuck where you're at within your business we'll have the link in the show notes for that as well. As always, we love you. Oh, my God, you have something to say. Good, he's good. As always, we love you. We appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you and, at NLU, appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you, and at nlu we don't have fans, we have family.

Alan Lazaros:

We will talk to you all tomorrow keep it.

Kevin Palmieri:

Next level, next levelers. Thanks for joining us for another episode of next level university. We love connecting with the next level family.

Alan Lazaros:

We mean it when we say family. 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.

Kevin Palmieri:

Thank you again and we will talk to you tomorrow.

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Alan Lazaros

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Kevin Palmieri

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