Results Goals Just Aren’t Enough (2184)

In today’s episode of Next Level University, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros challenge the way you think about results, habits, and the daily work it takes to succeed. They share surprising truths about what really drives achievement, why so many people miss the mark, and how you can avoid the same trap. If you’ve ever wondered why some goals stick and others fade, this conversation will give you the clarity you’ve been looking for. Join us for this conversation and you’ll be glad you did.

Learn more about:
Free 30-minute Business Breakthrough Session with Alan -https://calendly.com/alanlazaros/30-minute-free-breakthrough-session?month=2025-04

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For more information, check out our website and socials using the links below. 👇

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Show notes:
(2:06) Betting on yourself and your future
(3:19) Risk, debt, and staying afloat
(4:34) Reverse engineering million-dollar goals
(6:07) Why mentors matter more than ever
(7:46) If you want to start, grow, scale, or monetize your podcast? Join our "The Next Level Podcast Accelerator" - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/group-coaching/ 
(11:10) Process is the key to real success
(13:52) Outro

🎙️ Hosted by Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros

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

Chapters

• 2:06 Betting on yourself and your future
• 3:19 Risk, debt, and staying afloat
• 4:34 Reverse engineering million-dollar goals
• 6:07 Why mentors matter more than ever
• 7:46 If you want to start, grow, scale, or monetize your podcast? Join our "The Next Level Podcast Accelerator"
• 11:10 Process is the key to real success
• 13:52 Outro

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:00) All right, so we're doing another part two and it's because we went off the freaking rails yesterday. (0:05) And again, I want to make sure we talk about results and process goals as opposed to some of the weird stuff we talked about yesterday.

Alan Lazaros

(0:12) Is it the process that leads to results or is it the result that determines the process?

Kevin Palmieri

(0:18) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:21) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:23) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.(0:26) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:32) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:39) 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

(0:55) Self-improvement in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:01) Welcome to Next Level University. (1:07) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2184, we are doing a part two to yesterday's episode. (1:15) If you've liked these quick hitters, let us know.(1:17) If you haven't liked these quick hitters, please do not let us know because it will hurt me. (1:22) I enjoy these, but I also know they're relatively intense because we have very little time and we're compressing a lot of content. (1:28) Okay, cool.(1:29) But either way, please reach out. (1:31) We would love to connect. (1:31) Yes, yes.(1:32) If you have positive feedback, kevin at nextleveluniverse.com. (1:37) Anything less than positive, alan at nextleveluniverse.com. (1:42) Alan doesn't even use that email, so we won't even see it.(1:45) So it's all good. (1:46) It's all good. (1:47) All right.(1:48) We have 11 minutes from this moment. (1:51) How can we make this the most valuable 11 minutes possible? (1:56) Well, let me ask you this.

Alan Lazaros

(1:59) Is it the result that determines the process or is it the process that creates the result?

Kevin Palmieri

(2:06) I think it is the result that guides the process. (2:11) I don't think anybody wakes up and says, I'm gonna... (2:14) Well, that's not true.(2:15) The correct process, the correct answer, sir, was both. (2:21) But I do think humans are wired a certain way. (2:24) Talk to me.(2:26) I think you need the goal. (2:28) You need the goal in order to believe that the process will actually be worth it. (2:33) I think you need the result in your minds to know that the process will actually be worth it.(2:37) But you just said in the last part one of the episode that you didn't know this would work. (2:42) I didn't. (2:42) Why didn't you team up with me if you didn't know we would win?(2:45) I knew my statistical probability was much higher with you than without you. (2:49) That's smart. (2:50) I've been saying that for years.(2:51) It's very smart. (2:52) I didn't know. (2:52) I just knew I had a better...

Alan Lazaros

(2:54) Smart bet.

Kevin Palmieri

(2:54) Yeah, smart bet. (2:55) Yeah. (2:55) I pushed all three of my chips to the center.(2:57) I said I'm all in. (2:59) All three chips.

Alan Lazaros

(3:00) That's what I got. (3:01) For people who don't know poker, that's not going to land.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:03) It's not a lot of chips.

Alan Lazaros

(3:05) For the listeners, would you bet on you? (3:09) How much are you betting on you? (3:12) When we took out, when you took out those cards, that showed me, the credit card, Kev invested a lot in our company early on.(3:19) That showed me you were serious. (3:21) I didn't know you were reckless. (3:23) Yeah, I was reckless.(3:24) Yeah. (3:25) In hindsight, you were a lot more reckless than I thought.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:29) I did what I had to do to stay afloat. (3:30) You did what you had to do. (3:31) Yeah.(3:31) I thought that was a calculated bet. (3:34) And honestly, I'd rather go into debt than like rip people off. (3:38) There's a lot of ways to stay afloat.(3:40) And for us, it was, I want to, yeah, I'm going to be a person. (3:44) I'll let me sabotage my own life and I'll find a way to figure it out later, hopefully, not scam people or anything like that.

Alan Lazaros

(3:50) Yeah, of course.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:50) There are easier ways to do it. (3:52) It's just less character. (3:53) Integrity.(3:54) Yeah. (3:55) I thought those were calculated bets. (3:57) Nope.(3:58) No, I was flipping a coin. (4:01) I was flipping a coin, man. (4:04) Okay.

Alan Lazaros

(4:05) As scary as this is for me to share, I never was. (4:07) I know. (4:08) I was calculating all the potential outcomes in advance.(4:10) I know. (4:11) I was not capable of doing that. (4:13) Process.(4:14) I say Kev, you need to accumulate $1 million in the next decade. (4:19) Go.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:21) What's the process? (4:24) What's the process? (4:25) One, figure out how, how, what level of process do you want?(4:30) What you do every day or like how the whole thing, how would I do it?

Alan Lazaros

(4:34) Uh, start from the top and reverse engineer it, baby. (4:38) See, I go the other way. (4:39) So you need a hundred thousand dollars per year.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:41) I started this. (4:42) What am I really good at? (4:44) Oh, what problem can I solve?

Alan Lazaros

(4:46) Micro?

Kevin Palmieri

(4:47) Yeah, of course. (4:48) I go micro to macro always.

Alan Lazaros

(4:49) Never.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:50) I, but I think that's how most people operate.

Alan Lazaros

(4:52) Agreed. (4:52) So chat GPT says 70% of people are microscopic thinkers and 30% are macroscopic. (4:58) I do not agree.(4:59) I think it's, I think it's way lower macro way.

Kevin Palmieri

(5:01) I do too. (5:02) Yeah. (5:03) Now you just created the macro when you said you have to make a million dollars.(5:06) You just created macro for me. (5:07) So now I have, I go micro and I say, okay, what am I really good at? (5:11) What is a problem I can help people solve?(5:13) And then how do I get direct access to those people? (5:15) And then I start there. (5:16) And then the process would be every single day, three things.(5:20) One, every single day I need to learn and master the thing that I'm going to help people solve. (5:25) That's one. (5:25) Nice.(5:26) So let's say it's, let's say it's speaking. (5:27) Cool. (5:28) I'm going to study speaking.(5:29) I'm going to study effective communication. (5:30) I'm going to study pausing. (5:32) I'm going to study hooks.(5:33) I'm going to all of it, study everything. (5:34) Cool. (5:36) Second thing would be, I need to get direct access to people who need help with that problem.(5:42) So whatever that is, I would probably start a podcast. (5:45) I would interview people on speaking and coaching and leadership. (5:48) And then I would follow up and say, Hey, Alan, thank you so very much for coming on my podcast.(5:52) I appreciate it. (5:53) Do you know anybody and or corporations and or companies that are looking for better communication and leadership? (6:00) I would love to be a free asset for you and your team.(6:03) If that's something you would do leadership. (6:04) Really? (6:05) No, I'm just making sure this is hypothetical.

Alan Lazaros

(6:07) You're missing one of the most important ingredients. (6:10) Find someone who has already accumulated a million dollars. (6:14) See, that is the mentor, man.(6:16) That's gotta have, I've had dozens of coaches and mentors.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:19) That was my weakness. (6:20) I had a built-in mentor. (6:21) I don't have to do it.(6:22) I'm jaded in that I'm jaded.

Alan Lazaros

(6:26) I've never had to go get this. (6:28) You, you gotta go get someone who has already achieved the outcome, but be careful because they will take advantage of you. (6:35) Potentially.(6:38) What would you say to someone who wants to design a process? (6:42) They want to achieve a goal. (6:44) They need to design the process.(6:46) They need to get a mentor or a coach. (6:48) How would you tell them like watch out for people who are going to, who are going to scam you?

Kevin Palmieri

(6:53) Honestly, how many people have you seen get scammed, dude? (6:56) So many of them brutal. (6:58) If in my mind, again, blanket statement, if your mentor is a network first mentor, I would avoid them like the plague.

Alan Lazaros

(7:06) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:06) That is a suggestion to me that they just don't want to do the work anymore.

Alan Lazaros

(7:09) And their process is, is party hopping network. (7:12) Like that's their process is just the people they know your network is your net worth. (7:16) I don't want to do that.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:19) I want somebody who's doing it.

Alan Lazaros

(7:20) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:20) That's the other thing too, is like, well, when I did it, when I did it, why you're not doing it anymore? (7:25) So you don't fucking know. (7:26) Oh, you sold books in 1980.(7:29) Love that for you. (7:31) It's 2025. (7:32) Things are different now.(7:33) It's not the same. (7:34) It's not the same as it was last month. (7:36) Nevermind.

Alan Lazaros

(7:37) 45 years ago. (7:38) A hundred percent. (7:38) You actually dealt with that with some of my mentors.(7:41) They have no idea social media, all that stuff. (7:43) Yeah. (7:43) What's real quick.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:44) Yeah. (7:46) Next level nation. (7:48) What is happening?(7:49) If you've thought to yourself, I want to try coaching, but you don't really know where to start. (7:55) Group coaching would be a wonderful place for you. (7:57) That's really why we created it in the first place.(7:59) We start a new round every 90 days. (8:02) So if you're hearing this, go to the website, nextleveluniverse.com. (8:06) And we have the landing page where you can actually hold your spot right now.(8:10) Even if there's a group going on right now, you can still lock your spot for the next one. (8:15) The biggest thing that we've seen is as we get closer and closer to the date, unfortunately, some people end up missing. (8:21) The group fills up and they can't do it.(8:23) And then they end up regretting that. (8:24) So please head over to the website. (8:26) The link will be in the show notes and we would love to see you there.

Alan Lazaros

(8:30) You do this unconsciously, brother. (8:33) You have a formula. (8:34) You just didn't know you had it ready.(8:36) When you wanted to win a bodybuilding show, that was the goal to win a bodybuilding show.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:42) Okay.

Alan Lazaros

(8:43) Someone came over to you and said, Hey, you would do well in bodybuilding.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:46) That's important. (8:47) Okay. (8:48) You're right.(8:48) You're right. (8:49) Somebody come on. (8:49) He did macro for me and said, Hey, you would do really well in a bodybuilding show.(8:53) Have you ever thought of doing it? (8:55) And you said, nah, nope. (8:58) I said, well, I know somebody who's a really good coach.(9:01) Give him a call and go see him. (9:02) I said, okay, I'll go. (9:04) I'll take a gander.(9:05) Is that how you met Justin? (9:06) No, I met some other coach who was fucking terrible and he was ghosting me.

Alan Lazaros

(9:10) I was like, Whoa.

Kevin Palmieri

(9:11) Then I followed up with Justin and he said, I normally don't take clients from other coaches, but it's abundantly clear that you're hungry and you want to do this and your coach is Jeff. (9:20) And yeah, nice. (9:22) But I, that was created in my mind from somebody else.(9:24) That wasn't even my idea.

Alan Lazaros

(9:25) So you never created the macro yourself? (9:28) Almost never. (9:30) And I wanted, you did the same process with me.(9:32) You want to start a podcast and then you, I created the macro for you. (9:35) I was good at, you said you wanted to be Joe Rogan and I was like, okay, let's do it. (9:40) It was more like, it would be, it would be really cool to be that you thought I've engineered Joe Rogan's entire career.(9:47) I know I could unpack the entire process. (9:49) I understand fear factor, comedy, UFC. (9:53) I studied his entire career.(9:55) It's called decoding greatness. (9:56) You can, you can study. (9:57) I have no, the entire rocks career, Oprah's career, Tony Robbins career.(10:01) I know all of their careers. (10:02) I, you don't just stumble upon success. (10:05) We didn't just like, Oh, let's just start a podcast and fucking wing it.(10:08) There's a book called decoding greatness. (10:10) You don't start a tech company and then not study other tech companies. (10:15) You imagine, yeah, I'm going to start a tech company.(10:17) Do you know anything about tech companies? (10:19) No, not really. (10:20) Well, I think it, I don't know.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:21) I imagine it's, it's harder for people to know what actually made the difference.

Alan Lazaros

(10:26) Yeah. (10:27) That's why you have to study it. (10:29) It's like, if you want to build this phone, you got to take it apart.(10:32) Yeah. (10:32) You take it apart piece by piece. (10:34) You go, Oh, that's what that is.(10:35) And then you rebuild it better. (10:37) Well, you said you wanted to be Joe Rogan. (10:39) I studied Joe Rogan's entire career.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:41) I appreciate that. (10:42) I could help you become, I have since changed my mind in many different directions. (10:46) That's part one.(10:46) And part two was, I never, I thought it would be cool more than intended. (10:52) I didn't intend on it. (10:53) When I started the bodybuild, when I started the process of doing the bodybuilding show, I intended on winning.(10:57) That was my goal. (10:58) That was my goal. (11:00) When I crossed a certain level of self-belief in this, I intended on having the most successful personal development podcast ever of all time, eventually.(11:11) But that took me years and years and years and years to actually have that belief.

Alan Lazaros

(11:14) So what do we do for the listeners? (11:15) They have a results goal. (11:17) They need to develop a process.(11:18) I would say decode, like break it down and figure out who I always do this with clients. (11:23) Who has the career that you want? (11:25) One of my clients said Bernie Brown.(11:27) I said, okay, well, Bernie Brown started as a researcher. (11:29) She had 15 years of research before she ever wrote anything. (11:32) And then she was an author.(11:34) And then she started speaking. (11:36) Then there was a Netflix special. (11:37) Then she got known for vulnerability.(11:39) You can't just be Bernie Brown. (11:42) Bernie Brown didn't even know she was going to be Bernie Brown. (11:45) You have to study what happened and then make it unique to you.(11:48) And this person, she ended up leaving my coaching. (11:50) And the reason she left it is because she's like, Alan, I don't want to work like that. (11:53) I said, well, then you can't have Bernie Brown level impact.(11:56) And she's like, well, what do you mean? (11:57) I'm going to do it. (11:58) And I was like, no, you're not.(12:01) You're going to work three days a week. (12:03) Bernie Brown grinded. (12:05) Like it's to me.(12:10) And again, I know this is hyper-rational, but you're not going to get results without the process. (12:15) That's not even mathematically possible.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:17) Well, I think that's the takeaway is the, I don't really care anymore about the goals that people say. (12:23) I don't care. (12:24) I care the process that you're willing to put yourself through.(12:26) Yeah. (12:26) That's fine. (12:27) The goals aren't the problem for most people.(12:30) It's the fact that you're not willing to do the process. (12:32) And look, same, I signed up to do a second bodybuilding show. (12:37) The second I realized I was no longer willing to do the process.(12:40) I said, fuck this. (12:41) I'm out. (12:41) This is bad for me.(12:42) I don't want to do this. (12:42) I do not want to do the process anymore. (12:44) The goal is now, it doesn't exist.(12:47) Doesn't matter. (12:48) It's not real unless I'm willing to do the process. (12:50) And I think that's, that's an important takeaway.

Alan Lazaros

(12:53) Well said. (12:53) You can, you can study people's careers and see how they did it and then make it unique to you. (12:57) But then you also have to study what's changed in the industry.(13:00) You have to study like, cause obviously the internet, things are different now, right? (13:03) You can't just be like, Oh, I'm going to start a YouTube channel like Joe Rogan and blow up. (13:07) It's well, he was one of the first podcasters on YouTube ever.(13:11) Remember when we watched his very first YouTube video, it was like four hours long. (13:14) It was bad, but macroeconomic things are different now. (13:19) So if anyone wants to help reverse engineering finish lines, I know we got to jump.(13:22) I got to get to book club. (13:23) If you want a goal, I will. (13:25) That is my favorite work in the world.(13:28) I will tell you, we'll, we'll dissect it. (13:31) We'll, I'll give you an exact process, metrics, and habits, and then you'll probably either do it consistently and we'll improve and iterate or you'll say, fuck this. (13:40) And that's fine.(13:42) I've been doing it for years.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:43) It's a shining indoors. (13:44) Look, that's the way it goes. (13:45) That is the literally the way it goes.(13:46) You can, you can wake up one day and say, I don't want this goal anymore. (13:49) Cool. (13:49) Then we'll change the process.(13:50) Yep. (13:51) It's up to you. (13:51) It's up to you.(13:52) All right, cool. (13:52) As always, we love you. (13:53) We appreciate you grateful for each and every one of you.(13:55) And if you are as committed as you say you are to getting to the next level, make sure you tune in tomorrow because we will be here every single day to help you get there. (14:02) Keep reaching for your full potential.

Alan Lazaros

(14:04) Next level nation.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:07) Thanks for joining us for another episode of next level university. (14:11) We love connecting with the next level family.

Alan Lazaros

(14:14) We mean it when we say family, if you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (14:19) Everything you need to get ahold of us is in the show notes. (14:22) Thank you again.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:23) And we will talk to you tomorrow.