External Results Can’t Change Internal Focus (2129)

Success fades, principles stay. In this episode, Kevin and Alan reflect on their first-ever $100,000 month and share the surprising emotional reality behind big wins. From humble beginnings to now working with over 100 podcasters and business owners, they explore why success isn’t the destination, it’s a daily decision. You’ll hear the raw, behind-the-scenes story of their first client, lessons in money mindset, and how staying consistent with the right principles matters more than ever. If you're chasing success but still feeling unfulfilled, this episode is for you.

Learn more about:

• 👥Join our Facebook community “Next Level Nation” - https://www.facebook.com/groups/459320958216700
•  📈Reach your potential in life and business: “Business Growth University” - https://www.youtube.com/@BusinessGrowthUniversity 

Free 30-minute Business Breakthrough Session with Alan -
https://calendly.com/alanlazaros/30-minute-free-breakthrough-session?month=2025-04
Free 30-Minute Podcast Breakthrough Session with Kevin -
https://calendly.com/kevinpalmieri/free-30-minute-podcast-breakthrough-session-with-kevin

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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.

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/

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Show notes:
(4:25) The emotional story of their first client
(13:02) The principle behind sustained success
(16:40) At NLU, your success is our purpose. Join our Monthly Meet-up every first Thursday of the month for tools, insight, and the spark to move forward. https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/NzwOxCMxTDyRJg4CLJS1qg
(22:00) Each level br

🎙️ 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.

Chapters

• 4:25 The emotional story of their first client
• 13:02 The principle behind sustained success
• 16:40 At NLU, your success is our purpose. Join our Monthly Meet-up every first Thursday of the month for tools, insight, and the spark to move forward.
• 22:00 Each level brings new problems
• 25:50 Discipline over emotion
• 28:45 Why growth must be non-negotiable
• 30:58 Outro

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:00) I have a lot of opportunities today that I dreamed of having, but the skills and the habits and probably the mindset that it took to get these results have changed the way I want them and changed the way I've reacted to them and it's this weird thing and we're going to talk about that today.

Alan Lazaros

(0:20) We are coming up on our biggest month we've ever had and I get a message in WhatsApp from Kevin Palmieri, the one Kevin Palmieri from Vermont. (0:28) He says, hey man, I just saved us 20 bucks this month and I remember thinking in my head, where in the fuck was that when we really needed it? (0:36) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:39) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri, and I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus. (0:44) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:50) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:57) 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

(1:13) Self-improvement in your pocket every day from anywhere completely free. (1:19) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:25) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2129, External Results Can't Change Internal Focus. (1:34) Yes, it can, and I was going to name that external results shouldn't change internal focus, but it kind of should, so just hang with us, okay? (1:43) I'm going to give a little bit of a disclaimer.(1:45) This is going be an episode where we talk about our success. (1:48) If you don't like that, this isn't the episode for you. (1:51) We have earned it.(1:52) I want to lean into it. (1:53) We don't mean it from an arrogant place, and if you're just not in a good spot, you're feeling like a hater, check out another episode. (1:58) This ain't it for you.

Alan Lazaros

(1:59) Okay. (2:00) When you say we've earned it over the last 10 years, how many hours do you think you've worked?

Kevin Palmieri

(2:07) 10 years? (2:08) Well, I wasn't doing this. (2:09) I started this in 2017.(2:11) 2017 was a wash because I took it a quarter serious. (2:15) 2018 to 2025, what's that? (2:19) Seven years?(2:20) Yeah, seven years. (2:21) I mean...

Alan Lazaros

(2:23) Technically, it's eight because of the... (2:27) Yeah, the bread and the sandwich. (2:30) Yeah, the bread and the sandwich.(2:32) We're not going to get into it, but you posted something recently, Confident Women's Consortium we spoke at together, and you did a Facebook memory, and it says six years. (2:40) It's seven years ago, dude. (2:42) It's seven years ago because that was when?(2:44) 2019? (2:45) That was 20... (2:47) I think it was 2018.(2:49) Okay, 2018 to 2019. (2:51) Yep. (2:52) 2019 to 2020.(2:53) That's two. (2:54) 2020 to 2021. (2:56) Three.(2:57) 2021 to 2022. (3:00) Four. (3:00) 2022 to 2023.(3:02) Five. (3:03) 2023 to 2024. (3:04) Six.(3:05) 2024 to 2025. (3:07) Seven. (3:08) Seven.(3:08) It's not six years ago, man. (3:10) It's seven years ago. (3:11) Yeah, but I wonder if I shared it.(3:12) That has always annoyed me, but maybe I shared it a year later. (3:15) You didn't. (3:16) Oh.(3:16) You didn't. (3:16) That was the actual video, the promo video for the event. (3:19) That was even before it.(3:21) Oh, yeah, yeah. (3:21) It's... (3:22) This is why Y2K was such a big thing, you remember?(3:25) Everyone's freaking out because in computer science, you start with zero, one, two, three, four, five. (3:30) Zero, one, two, three, four, five. (3:31) And it's zero to nine if you want to count to 10.(3:34) This is why. (3:36) It's the bread, the sandwich, the meat. (3:37) Bread and the sandwich.(3:38) Yeah. (3:39) All right. (3:40) I'm always so annoyed.(3:41) I know, side tangent. (3:41) I'm always so annoyed when you... (3:44) I actually didn't reshare that.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:46) The reason I didn't reshare it is because it's inaccurate. (3:48) Alan literally said before this episode, he's like, yeah, man, we got to keep it on. (3:52) Let's really stay on track with these episodes.(3:53) The through line. (3:55) That's on you, sir.

Alan Lazaros

(3:58) All right. (3:58) It's very important.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:59) I was in Vermont. (4:01) So Taryn planned a cousin's weekend where a bunch of the family was going to come up. (4:05) Almost nobody came up.(4:07) It was me, Taryn, and one of our cousins. (4:09) Awesome dude. (4:10) Shout out to Devin.(4:12) Just the jolly giant. (4:15) Just a giant human, nicest dude on the planet. (4:19) And we...(4:20) I got an email about a very big win that we had. (4:25) And if this month continues at the rate that we think it probably will, and it has, this will be our first $100,000 month, which is fucking wild to me. (4:36) Just wild.(4:39) And I messaged Alan and we did some strategizing around some stuff. (4:43) Bada bing, bada boom. (4:43) Awesome.(4:44) Cool. (4:44) Do the thing. (4:45) And Alan asked me today, he said, when you woke up the next day, what changed?(4:49) And I was like, nothing. (4:51) Nothing changed. (4:52) Nothing.(4:54) But if you asked me that question seven years ago and you said, Hey man, I know right now you want to be a podcaster and you want to be a business owner and you fucking hate your life and you don't know if it's all going to be worth it. (5:06) Eight years from today or seven years from today, you're going to have a month where the business earns $100,000. (5:12) How do you think you'd feel?(5:14) And I would probably say I would feel amazing. (5:16) It would be the best. (5:18) I would feel truly successful.(5:21) All of that stuff. (5:24) I do feel successful, but it's not, it was literally like, okay.

Alan Lazaros

(5:30) Yeah. (5:30) Wake up tomorrow and do the same thing. (5:32) I always have you do this, but I think it's important.(5:34) And I want to be me. (5:36) You told a story and I don't mean this in a belittling way, even though some listeners will think that I do. (5:43) There's a story that I think is really cute where you called Taryn from the elevator after getting the first big client and you said, we made it.(5:50) And compared to being broke, you had made it quote unquote. (5:54) But I think it's to give perspective. (5:57) Yeah.(5:58) Can you tell that?

Kevin Palmieri

(5:58) Somebody, I was getting a massage. (6:03) I was broke as shit. (6:05) I had no business getting a massage.

Alan Lazaros

(6:06) I have no idea why I was. (6:08) Hence why I said the, when he sent the message in the opening, I just saved us 20 bucks this month. (6:14) I said, where was this years ago, seven years ago when we needed it, I walked out of my massage.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:18) I had a message from a mentor and he said, Hey, I have a guy that I know who I've worked with who wants to start a podcast and he's got money. (6:25) He's wants to pay for it. (6:26) He doesn't want to do anything.(6:27) And I was like, okay, what, what do you, what do you mean? (6:32) What are we doing here? (6:33) He's like, yeah, man, here's his number.(6:35) Give him a call. (6:36) I'm sure. (6:36) I texted Alan and said, Hey brother, pretty big opportunity here.(6:40) What do I do? (6:41) So I ended up calling the guy and he said, yeah, I work at an office in wall fam, Massachusetts. (6:48) This is the name of it.(6:50) I'm the CEO. (6:51) Just come in, ask for me and they'll send you up. (6:53) Okay.(6:54) Let me Google quickly. (6:55) What is CEO? (6:56) Okay, cool.(6:57) He's the top. (6:58) Cool, cool, cool.

Alan Lazaros

(6:59) Good to know.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:59) Favorite stories. (7:00) Good to know. (7:01) So I go meet with this guy and I dressed in my finest khakis that I had my finest dress shirt, which was not fine at the time.(7:09) Nice, nice dude. (7:10) Super nice guy. (7:11) Awesome.(7:12) Awesome human. (7:12) And he's like, yeah, I just want to get some more information on it. (7:15) It's like, we could have done this over the phone probably.(7:17) I don't have to drive all the way here, but I understand this is how you do things. (7:20) Let me see what I can. (7:21) You didn't actually say that, right?(7:22) No, no, no. (7:23) I thought it was in your head though. (7:24) I thought it.(7:25) And we had like a 40 minute conversation and he's like, all right, man, that's cool. (7:29) I'll, I'll, uh, I'll send you a message. (7:31) Let me think about it.(7:32) It's like, shit, that's not how it happens in the movies. (7:34) Usually this is, this is where they start celebrating. (7:36) Like, okay, whatever.(7:38) Usually it's a celebration party. (7:40) Yeah, it's usually. (7:41) So I tuck my tail and leave.(7:42) It's like, fuck. (7:43) I lived with Matt at the time. (7:45) And I told Matt how excited I was.(7:46) And I went back and I was like, dude, I don't know. (7:48) I don't know, man. (7:48) He, he seemed into it, but he said he'd let me know.(7:52) He was like, ah, shit, man. (7:53) Okay. (7:54) He texted me a week later or whatever.(7:56) He's like, all right, all right, man. (7:57) I'm, I'm interested, super interested to come back in. (7:59) I'd like to discuss more.(8:00) It's like, fuck yeah, here we go. (8:01) Put on this same khakis different shirt. (8:05) Cause that's all I had.(8:07) And I drive 45 minutes and same thing. (8:11) Great conversation. (8:12) And at the end I was like, here we go.(8:14) And he's like, all right, man, I don't know if I'm ready yet. (8:16) I don't know if it's the right time, but I'll let you know. (8:18) It's like, fuck again.(8:21) Again. (8:22) I thought for sure this was it. (8:23) I thought for sure.

Alan Lazaros

(8:24) Mind you, this is someone who struggles with rejection.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:26) Yeah. (8:27) I don't like being rejected.

Alan Lazaros

(8:28) Middle school.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:28) Ever since forever. (8:30) Go back, tell Matt, I don't know, man, not looking good. (8:34) Not looking good.(8:35) I don't know if I said the wrong thing. (8:36) I feel like we hit it off. (8:37) I feel like he likes me.(8:39) I like him. (8:39) We get along friendly dude. (8:41) Couple, maybe a week later messaged me again.(8:44) All right, man, come on in. (8:45) I'd love to discuss how to get started. (8:47) It's like, I don't, I don't believe you.(8:49) I don't believe you, but I'm going to come on in. (8:52) I'm going to come on in. (8:54) So.(8:55) Because I have no self-respect.

Alan Lazaros

(8:56) Well, look, I gotta, I gotta do what it takes.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:59) I gotta do what it takes. (9:00) So I go to this guy's office and this time I get invited into his office. (9:04) The other times he came down from the ivory tower to see me at the cafeteria.(9:08) So I was like, nice, interesting. (9:10) And I go in and I think I had to ask the person at the front desk, again, I'm here for, I'm here for this person. (9:16) I'm like, all right, cool.(9:16) He'll come out. (9:17) It's like, all right, cool. (9:18) And we go into the office and he's like, all right, how much does it cost?(9:21) I'm good to go. (9:22) And I was like, what? (9:23) No way.(9:24) And I was like, what you're looking for? (9:25) I think at the time it was like 1500 bucks a month. (9:28) And he's like, is it just 1500?(9:29) And I was like, well, it's $1500 to start to the 3000 total. (9:32) Again, I don't know what the fuck I was doing. (9:33) I was just making up numbers.(9:35) And he was like, cash, card, credit, Venmo. (9:37) Like, what do you need? (9:38) And I was like, Venmo is great for me.(9:40) If it works for you. (9:44) I'll pay you, I'll pay you half today. (9:45) And then after the setup, I'll pay you the other half.(9:48) It's like, okay, cool. (9:48) And it's like, in my mind, you could have said anything. (9:51) Like, I'll give you a dollar today.(9:52) I'll give you the rest later. (9:52) It's like, I'm in. (9:53) I accept that.(9:55) So I got in the elevator. (9:56) Early entrepreneurship is so bad. (9:58) It's brutal.(9:59) I got in the elevator. (10:00) And as the elevator was going down, I texted Taryn. (10:03) And I said, babe, we did it.(10:05) And I was literally crying. (10:06) No, no, I texted her. (10:07) I texted her.(10:08) And I said, baby, we did it. (10:09) Cause she, she knew like how much I was pushing for this. (10:12) And she knew how fucking broke I was.(10:13) And I was trying to figure it out. (10:15) And yeah, that became our first.

Alan Lazaros

(10:17) Emotional right there a little bit.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:18) Yeah. (10:18) A little bit. (10:19) Yeah.(10:19) That's a, it's one of my favorite stories. (10:21) Cause one, it just shows how brutal this could be for sure. (10:26) Two, she believed in that long before I did.(10:29) Right. (10:29) That was huge. (10:30) You believed in that long before I did.(10:31) And then three, it was like the, oh, this could be a thing. (10:36) This might actually be a sustainable thing that we could continue doing. (10:40) I just wanted to make enough money to get to the end of the month.(10:43) And at that point, I was not making enough money to get to the end of the month.

Alan Lazaros

(10:47) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:47) Taryn was paying rent for us at that point.

Alan Lazaros

(10:49) I checked the metrics this morning. (10:51) Yeah. (10:51) As of this morning, we work with 108 podcasters and business owners between the two of us.(10:56) And that was one of the first. (10:58) That was the first.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:00) For podcast production. (11:01) For podcasts. (11:03) Anybody podcasting.

Alan Lazaros

(11:05) Nice.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:06) Yeah. (11:06) That was our first paying podcast client in any capacity. (11:11) That's awesome.(11:11) Yeah. (11:12) Zero to one is the hardest. (11:13) It was brutal.(11:14) It was brutal.

Alan Lazaros

(11:15) If you ever teach that concept, zero to one is the hardest. (11:17) That's the fucking story. (11:18) That's the story.(11:19) Cause you came, you had to go there, what, six times or something? (11:22) Cause that's not even the end. (11:23) You had to go figure it out.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:24) Yeah. (11:24) I went to, yeah, I had to go set up the stuff at his house. (11:28) I couldn't figure it out.(11:29) His house was from like 1880. (11:31) You remember, you remember you bought an $84 fucking power strip, man. (11:39) My thought was this is an old house.(11:42) I'd Googled it. (11:43) There was no chat GPT. (11:44) I Googled it and it said it might be a grounding issue because the house is so old.(11:47) I was like, all right, let me buy a really nice grounded surge protector power. (11:51) That didn't fix it. (11:52) So I had to do some more troubleshooting.(11:54) Eventually I fixed it. (11:56) Problem solved. (11:57) Nice.(11:57) Don't know how I did it. (11:59) It just fixed itself. (12:01) And at one point I was working at his house and he's like, Hey man, I got an emergency.(12:04) I got to go. (12:04) Can you just lock up when you leave? (12:06) And I was like, yeah, I got you.(12:07) I got you. (12:08) So I was hanging out with his dog, but we got everything set up. (12:11) We get everything set up.(12:13) If what I want to make a land is the way I reacted to that, the external result that did change the internal focus, the external results did change my principles. (12:29) The external result I assumed was going to be the result that continued no matter what, when that's not the truth. (12:38) If you get a big win, you get a hit, you get a, a surprise win.(12:45) I want you to feel good about yourself. (12:46) That's important, but you can't stop doing the thing that got you to the result. (12:51) And that's the difference between then.(12:54) And then Alan and I having a really big win this month and me literally texting Alan the same day saying, I just found, I found a way to save us 20 bucks. (13:02) I was going through our bank statement and there's something called Opus Clip, which we, we use to like it, it adds subtitles to videos really well. (13:16) And it, it helps with social media clips.(13:19) We pay for a yearly subscription because it's cheaper than paying monthly. (13:22) I saw a monthly charge. (13:24) Interesting.(13:25) What's this? (13:26) What's this? (13:27) Nice.(13:28) Found out.

Alan Lazaros

(13:30) How fucking dare they?

Kevin Palmieri

(13:31) No, no, this is me. (13:33) Found out that I had my own Opus Clip for whatever reason. (13:38) And the free months, quote unquote, even though we don't use it, had probably signed up for a free trial for some one off and then you forgot to cancel it.

Alan Lazaros

(13:45) And it was 20 bucks a month. (13:46) So I found it, canceled it. (13:47) Boom.(13:48) Speaking of which, I just found another charge that was on one of my old cards and I was like, shit. (13:53) So it's always, it's always something. (13:56) Is it me?(13:56) It was like 24 bucks. (13:57) No, it was me. (13:58) I just need to delete it.(14:00) But it is something we use for production or at least used to use or whatever.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:03) Well, yeah, we'll look into it. (14:04) That's my point is we, yeah, we're, we're going to have the biggest month we've ever had. (14:08) And that's amazing.(14:09) Awesome. (14:10) And we celebrated very quickly and very shortly. (14:14) What matters is we continue doing the thing that brought us that in the first place.(14:17) And I think this really ties well to Monday's episode, successes in a feeling it's a pattern. (14:23) I felt really good and it felt nice. (14:26) And then I woke up the next day and did the same stuff that I did the previous day.(14:29) And I think that is where a lot of people try to convince you that you can have success without pressure. (14:36) That is what now I have to make sure that we continue doing that. (14:39) Now Alan has to make sure that we continue doing that and we have to sustain that.(14:43) And we have to make sure that we're even more responsible. (14:45) And so I think what we think we will feel and we think we will do and how we think we act is not how it actually is when we get there because the skills and the competencies and the discipline and the mindset and the limiting beliefs and the habits you've had to lock in and get rid of completely affect the way that you feel today. (15:07) And it's really hard to surmise all that.

Alan Lazaros

(15:10) Okay. (15:11) If I said, my name is Alan Lazarus. (15:14) I'm the CEO of Next Level University.(15:15) I'm a coach trainer and podcaster, and our business is going to do a hundred thousand dollars plus this month. (15:21) I'm talking to Kevin eight years ago. (15:23) What would you have thought?(15:25) Ballin. (15:26) Ballin.

Kevin Palmieri

(15:27) Okay. (15:28) Real, really though. (15:29) What does that mean?(15:29) That. (15:29) Why you're wealthy AF. (15:32) You're wealthy.(15:33) You make a hundred thousand dollars a month. (15:34) That's 1.2 million dollars a year. (15:36) You are fucking ballin baby.(15:38) Okay. (15:39) Okay.

Alan Lazaros

(15:40) That. (15:41) I'm sorry. (15:42) I'm not.(15:42) This is fun for me. (15:43) Okay. (15:44) Uh, now what do you think?

Kevin Palmieri

(15:49) I mean, you're a strong month. (15:52) You're spending 80% of that to grow the business. (15:55) So that's cool.(15:56) I mean, awesome. (15:57) That's good. (15:57) It looks really good in paper, but it's not real really.(16:01) Okay. (16:01) Hold on. (16:02) It is still free.

Alan Lazaros

(16:03) No, no, I know.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:03) Go into it. (16:04) Yeah. (16:08) That's, that's gross.(16:09) That's before anything goes out. (16:11) Like, yeah, that's, it's a really good chunk of change that's going to go into the business, but all of that money is already spoken for. (16:16) It's already, it's all going somewhere.(16:19) It's not like I'm going to, Allen's going to get a check for $50,000 and I'm going to get a check for $50,000. (16:25) We're going to ride off into the sun. (16:26) So that's not.(16:26) And even then that, that, I know, let's say that was the case.

Alan Lazaros

(16:30) That's still not. (16:31) I know. (16:31) I know.(16:32) I know. (16:32) Right. (16:32) That's not enough to retire on.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:34) I know.

Alan Lazaros

(16:34) Okay. (16:35) I want to, I want to make this land too. (16:37) And I don't know if we're still on the original through line.(16:38) We'll see. (16:39) Bring us back if not. (16:41) NLU listener, what is happening?(16:44) 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. (16:52) You can connect with like-minded people and become a bigger part of this amazing global community. (16:58) The link to register will be in the show notes real quick.(17:04) Can you talk about the economy right now? (17:05) Can you talk about the economy? (17:07) Hold on.(17:07) Hold on. (17:08) So I used to say this all the time, and now I realize that it needs far more explanation because as an engineer, I deconstruct everything and then rebuild it in my head, in my head. (17:19) And by everything, I mean certain things I'm interested in.(17:22) Okay. (17:23) I used to hear success is never something you can actually own. (17:30) You can only rent it.(17:31) And the rent is due every fucking day. (17:34) Okay. (17:36) That is obvious to me.(17:38) I've met a lot of millionaires, one billionaire. (17:40) I've interviewed them. (17:41) I interviewed a millionaire earlier today.(17:45) Okay. (17:45) This dude is working as hard, if not harder now than he was when he was my age. (17:50) And he's 49.(17:51) His name's coach Michael Burt. (17:52) That interview will be launching next week on the Business Growth University podcast. (17:56) That is only if you are a business owner who wants to build a business.(17:58) Okay. (17:59) But my point is, is that I used to say that quote, and I used to presuppose that everyone knew what it meant. (18:06) What it means is that you earn a certain level of success, and then in order to keep it, you actually have to go to the next level of success.(18:14) And then once you get to that level, you have to go to the next level. (18:18) And success actually makes life more difficult because now you have more responsibility. (18:22) I'm thinking of someone I know who has nine properties.(18:25) Okay. (18:26) This person has more pains in the ass than they did before. (18:30) I'm thinking of another person who has 110 team members.(18:34) He just hired a COO, and I was talking to him on a walk. (18:38) And I said, that's awesome because he'll take care of a lot of the stuff. (18:43) And I said, but you're still on the board of directors, right?(18:45) He said, yes. (18:46) I said, so you're still going to have to deal with some of the problems. (18:49) So when you start a company, the worst problems come to you because you're the most competent.(18:57) And so your life becomes this whole thing of everything that's an issue, eventually. (19:03) If it's a big enough issue, it gets to me. (19:05) And the main point of this is, success is never owned.(19:11) It's only earned. (19:13) And the rent is due every day. (19:15) From this frame, what did you use to think about that quote versus now?(19:23) Because you are successful now, but you immediately lose it if you were to go hang out for a year.

Kevin Palmieri

(19:29) I think I thought it was easier to keep earning it. (19:34) I think it was, I don't know. (19:35) I think I thought it would be easier to earn it after you got it to a certain point.(19:39) And again, I think it is eventually when it's just numbers, maybe. (19:44) If somebody gave me $100 million, I could invest that optimally and I would be fine forever.

Alan Lazaros

(19:51) But the only way, if you gave someone $100 million that doesn't know how to build $100 million of wealth, they would squander it. (19:58) For sure. (19:59) For sure.(20:00) Most likely, right? (20:01) Yeah. (20:01) Most likely.(20:02) Or they'd get a really smart financial advisor, give them a percentage of it, and that's what I use it to. (20:07) Yeah. (20:07) Well, that's very smart.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:08) Here's $10 million. (20:09) Someone you trust. (20:10) Do whatever you want with that.(20:12) Hang on to that.

Alan Lazaros

(20:12) Do whatever. (20:13) And then give me the person.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:14) Yeah.

Alan Lazaros

(20:14) And then let me live my life. (20:17) Okay. (20:17) But this is why a lot of times, generational wealth and families, the person who built the wealth usually teaches their kids, like, hey, I need to teach you how to sustain this because if I don't, you're going to squander it.(20:29) Okay. (20:29) What is your take on the success needs to be earned every day thing now versus before?

Kevin Palmieri

(20:35) I think it needs to be earned even more when you have it than when you don't. (20:40) Because there's just way more expectations. (20:42) I was listening to, what was I listening to?(20:49) One of the Jim Collins books. (20:51) I don't remember which one it was. (20:52) And he said something very similar of, I don't know what's harder, getting success or keeping it.(20:56) He said, I think actually keeping it is. (20:58) And I was like, I think that too. (21:00) And you think that, and we say that all the time.(21:04) You don't think so?

Alan Lazaros

(21:05) I think getting it is harder. (21:07) I think keeping it. (21:08) I think keeping it is almost just as hard.(21:11) I think growing it is nearly fucking impossible. (21:15) Okay. (21:16) Let's say that then.(21:17) Yeah. (21:17) Because in order to keep, so I think getting to the next level is really difficult. (21:22) I think staying at a certain level is actually pretty easy.(21:25) And I think that getting worse is.

Kevin Palmieri

(21:29) Well, this is assuming that your, your definition of success is next level versus previous level forever. (21:38) Correct. (21:38) Which I think is incredibly, incredibly challenging.(21:43) The most challenging, the most challenging. (21:46) So that I think, this is, this is the surprise to me. (21:51) When, when we achieved a certain level of success and I'll just say financial success, I instilled a new belief in me that we could actually be more quote unquote successful.(22:02) When I got a certain level of physique, it instilled in me that I could probably actually be in better shape than I am. (22:09) When I got a certain level of relationship with Taryn, it was like, wow, there's way more potential for us to be an amazing couple than I thought. (22:16) That is the challenge of the next level is when you reach, when you reach the next level, it allows you to see the next one.(22:24) And then when you get there, it allows you to see two ahead. (22:26) Good.

Alan Lazaros

(22:26) So for you that from that frame, it is, once I see it, then I believe it makes me believe a little past it.

Kevin Palmieri

(22:32) A hundred percent, a hundred percent. (22:34) Okay. (22:35) Seeing is believing.(22:36) Experiencing is believing. (22:38) Then there's a little buffer of like, okay, for me, for me. (22:43) Yes.(22:43) Yes. (22:44) For me. (22:44) And you think that's the case with most people?(22:47) I think a lot of people are experiential. (22:50) They, they, there's literally businesses built out there where you can go rent a Ferrari and drive it around a track for a day. (22:58) They wouldn't exist if everybody thought they were going to get a Ferrari, right?(23:04) It just wouldn't, it wouldn't exist.

Alan Lazaros

(23:05) So yeah, I would say it's our biggest month prior to this. (23:08) It was like 70, right?

Kevin Palmieri

(23:10) I honestly don't know.

Alan Lazaros

(23:11) I don't know. (23:12) I think it was a little above 70 was our biggest month. (23:14) The moment that we did this, I'm thinking, okay, next time let's make sure it's 120.(23:20) Well, that's not going to be next month. (23:22) No, no, no. (23:23) No, but it'll, it'll definitely be within like within six months.(23:26) I want a 120 month, but here's the thing. (23:29) You have to do that if you want to grow the company, like you can't have a successful company and not grow. (23:35) And there's a lot of reasons.(23:37) I was in my master's program. (23:38) I know we'll go in a second. (23:40) And there was a guy named Jerry Schofield.(23:42) He was the CEO of Honeywell. (23:44) And he said, you can't, if a company is not growing, it's dying. (23:48) I said, yo, okay, I'm with you.(23:50) And he said, here's all the reasons. (23:51) And we went through them. (23:52) We went through every reason why a company has to grow, has to, if it doesn't.(23:57) And I'll, I'll do a BGU episode on that at some point, but NLU is growing. (24:04) The point of the company is to grow the company. (24:06) The point of the company is to help more people.(24:08) If we don't grow the company, we don't get to help more people. (24:10) We certainly don't get the credibility necessary to help more people. (24:14) Like most people listen to people who have results that they want.(24:18) That's the only reason why we're even doing this episode is like, we want to teach you that, listen, we were born and raised in humble beginnings. (24:25) I lost my dad when I was two. (24:27) I lost my stepdad when I was 14.(24:29) It was just me and my mom in that house. (24:31) And I was statistically screwed. (24:36) And you, you know, didn't meet your dad until you were 27 years old.(24:40) You were raised by your mom and your mema. (24:42) And we started out with very little, born and raised in a free country, Massachusetts, born and raised. (24:49) You know, we had some advantages, of course, but for the most part, we were, we started out kind of fucked and we made something of ourselves.(24:57) And we, we built a business that's very statistically successful. (25:00) And the reason we're saying that is not to brag, but so that you guys know you can do it too. (25:05) Not necessarily the same way or the same thing.(25:07) That's been hard on me lately. (25:09) I had a client say, Hey, I feel like you, why don't, why do you question me? (25:13) Like, you don't, you never used to question me.(25:14) I said, it's not you. (25:15) I question everyone now. (25:16) It's it's, I feel like I used to believe in everyone more in the past.(25:21) I think I still believe in people maybe more than anyone, but it's much more like, Oh, okay. (25:27) You don't actually want to work though. (25:29) So if you don't want to work every day, you're the chances of you succeeding is one of the reasons I know you'll be more successful is you work six days a week, every week.(25:38) Like you're never going to work six days a week, every week and not be successful. (25:41) That's like very rarely a thing. (25:44) Right.(25:44) So there's a lot under this, but what's your takeaway?

Kevin Palmieri

(25:49) We've talked about it many times, but this, it feels the truest it ever has to me. (25:55) The, the principle eventually it gets to the point where the principle matters more than the result, because you know, the principle is what led to the result. (26:02) And it's very, I try to be very cautious now.(26:07) Again, I was not good at this for most of this time, not to get too high emotionally, not to get too low emotionally. (26:13) Yeah. (26:14) We had a great win.(26:14) Awesome. (26:15) Big win. (26:15) Great.(26:16) I mean, that's bucket list stuff. (26:18) Okay, cool. (26:20) But it doesn't, it all goes.(26:25) If you get caught, yeah, it all goes celebrate. (26:27) Cool. (26:27) Go get a dinner.(26:28) Yeah. (26:28) You want to get a nice dinner? (26:29) Go get a nice dinner.(26:29) Awesome. (26:30) And then tomorrow, get your ass up and do it again. (26:33) And then next time something big will happen.(26:37) It's one 20. (26:38) Awesome. (26:38) And then it'll be the same thing.(26:40) The dinner might be a little bit nicer. (26:43) Okay. (26:43) I'm going to get, I'll get, I'll get an extra appetizer next time.(26:46) And then you get up and you do the same thing. (26:48) And I, I think celebration is important. (26:51) And maybe for you, celebration feels like a requirement.(26:54) Awesome. (26:55) Celebration is a break, not a break in the principle. (26:59) And that is, that would be my next level.

Alan Lazaros

(27:02) Yeah. (27:03) Emilia asked me how I want to celebrate. (27:05) And I said, sweetheart, I don't, I don't, I appreciate it.(27:08) I mean, I want to watch a movie, but I want to do that anyway. (27:12) And so to me, I, I think, and maybe this is a level that some people might be at already or want to aspire to success is it becomes who you are. (27:24) I, I think reaching my potential is what matters to me.(27:30) And I can't do that unless we keep growing the company. (27:32) So I think that if I reach my full potential, I think NLU will reach its full potential because I'm the biggest bottleneck. (27:39) And so I'm, I'm really grateful.(27:41) And it's really cool to see us evolve a lot. (27:45) And that's why the Facebook member of the day has been really good for me because I was listening not two days ago to episode 170, hearing you and I talk about stuff. (27:54) And it's just like, okay, wow.(27:56) Wow. (27:56) Wow. (27:59) Uh, so we've gotten a lot better.(28:00) And I, I honestly, I'm just excited to do it to the next level. (28:04) Like I don't, I want the next level. (28:07) I know, I know.

Kevin Palmieri

(28:08) If anything, the, our, our principles now or my principles now are way better than my principles were back then. (28:14) Not even close, not even close. (28:18) And that is the lesson.(28:20) That is the lesson in this. (28:21) It, the success doesn't change unless your principles change. (28:26) It does.(28:26) Time is great principle and a principle, a belief, a behavior, a, I think it's almost like a rigidity. (28:33) It's like something that you are committed to regardless of anything else. (28:39) Nice for us.(28:41) Let's not recording an episode a day, recording an episode a day is a principle. (28:45) Yeah. (28:45) That's consistency is a principle.(28:46) Consistency is a principle. (28:48) Don't spend money mindlessly or needlessly as a principle at this point. (28:51) For me, it was usually the opposite.

Alan Lazaros

(28:53) I was like, yeah, it's nice that you have that now. (28:55) That's like really nice. (28:57) It's helpful.(28:58) When you said, Hey man, I just saved us 20 bucks this month. (29:01) It's the biggest month we've ever had. (29:03) It's like, brother, we don't really need that as much as we did back then.(29:07) But that's the paradox.

Kevin Palmieri

(29:08) Better late than never.

Alan Lazaros

(29:09) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(29:09) Better late than ever. (29:10) And yeah, we will. (29:12) That's the thing is we'll always need it.(29:14) It'll, it'll always, it'll always be important. (29:16) It's just important in different ways. (29:19) It, it was more important eight years ago, man.(29:21) Well, yes, but it's still very important. (29:24) Yeah. (29:24) I agree.(29:25) All right. (29:25) Cool. (29:26) All right.(29:26) Next level nation. (29:27) We are coming up on 800 next level nation members. (29:30) Next level nation.(29:30) I'm going to say it one more time is our private Facebook group for amazing people who want to get to the next level. (29:35) They want to level up their life, their love, their health, and their wealth. (29:38) If you are growing and you're evolving and you feel lonely, that is a great place to check out because there's posts in there every day.(29:44) There's community every day. (29:46) That is a community that Alan and I needed when we didn't have anybody who was chasing dreams like us. (29:51) So we'll have the link in the show notes.

Alan Lazaros

(29:52) If you are out there and you're a next level university listener, you are into success and personal development and you want to reach your true potential. (29:59) If you want to start your own brand, personal brand, and your own business, business growth university is for you. (30:05) There are currently nine episodes.(30:07) I just recorded my 10th this morning with coach Michael Burt, the multimillionaire I mentioned. (30:11) The reason I respect that man is he's got 33 years of consistency. (30:15) So that business growth university podcast helps you reach your potential in life and business and it is designed to be a staircase that literally starts from ground zero.(30:25) What I wish we had when we first started, that is what business growth university is. (30:30) Use YouTube. (30:31) The link will be in the show notes.

Kevin Palmieri

(30:33) I will be watching the interview that Alan did. (30:36) I'm super excited. (30:37) It's going to be a great opportunity to see Alan in his element.(30:41) Alan knows a lot about business. (30:42) I don't really want him to talk about it on here because most of you aren't here for high level business information. (30:48) So I got to keep on the rails.

Alan Lazaros

(30:51) It's a good way for me to... (30:52) I got to get it out.

Kevin Palmieri

(30:54) Yeah, I know you got to get it out. (30:55) That's what BGU is for, baby. (30:56) That is what BGU is for.(30:57) All right, cool. (30:58) As always, we love you. (30:59) We appreciate you.(31:00) Grateful for each and every one of you and NLU internet fans. (31:02) We have family. (31:03) We'll talk to you all tomorrow.(31:04) Keep it next level. (31:06) Next level nation. (31:09) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University.(31:13) We love connecting with the Next Level family.

Alan Lazaros

(31:15) We mean it when we say family. (31:17) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (31:21) Everything you need to get a hold of us is in the show notes.

Kevin Palmieri

(31:24) Thank you again, and we will talk to you tomorrow.