Maybe The Simplest Reason Why Most People Aren’t Successful (2213)

Success fades when comfort becomes the goal. In this episode, Kevin and Alan expose the hidden trap that keeps most people from ever hitting their goals. They break down why success isn’t about working harder. It’s about the order of your priorities, the habits you build, and the standards you live by. If you’ve ever felt frustrated by slow progress or distracted by comfort, this episode will hit home. Success favors the focused. Listen now and prove you’re built for more.

Learn more about:
👥 Grow together, rise higher. Join our Facebook community “Next Level Nation” - https://www.facebook.com/groups/459320958216700

🎁 Your first 30-minute "Business Breakthrough Session" call with Alan is FREE. Designed to help you reverse-engineer success with clarity and confidence - https://calendly.com/alanlazaros/30-minute-breakthrough-session

_____________________

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

Website 💻  http://www.nextleveluniverse.com

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

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

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

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

_____________________

Show notes:
(3:40) 97% don’t achieve clear goals
(6:19) Goal orientation Vs. Lifestyle orientation
(8:29) Travel reveals hidden habits
(11:19) The real reason you haven’t achieved your goals
(12:23) The short-term trap of comfort
(13:25) 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

• 3:40 97% don’t achieve clear goals
• 6:19 Goal orientation Vs. Lifestyle orientation
• 8:29 Travel reveals hidden habits
• 11:19 The real reason you haven’t achieved your goals
• 12:23 The short-term trap of comfort
• 13:25 Outro

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:00) In math class, I learned about the order of operations. (0:03) I believe it's PEMDAS. (0:05) I can't remember it to save my life and it didn't help me much in school, but we're going to talk about how the order of things matters more than you probably think.

Alan Lazaros

(0:12) Syntax matters a ton. (0:14) The order that you do things matters a ton. (0:16) Let's talk about why.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:18) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:20) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:22) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.(0:25) 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

(0:38) 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

(0:54) Self-improvement, in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free. (1:01) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:06) Next Level Nation, today for episode number 2,213, maybe the simplest reason why most people aren't successful. (1:15) This is our first episode back. (1:17) Alan was traveling, so this is our first episode we've recorded in like a week, which is weird because I cannot remember the last time we went that far.(1:24) You wanted to do this episode. (1:25) I'm going to kick it to you because we don't have a ton of time. (1:27) This is most likely going to be a part two situation at the end.(1:30) We'll find out. (1:31) Why do you want to do this episode? (1:32) Okay.

Alan Lazaros

(1:34) You know that saying, it's like riding a bike? (1:39) Emilia and I traveled probably a year, over a year ago, we did a road trip down to South Carolina. (1:45) Her parents live down there.(1:46) They have a home down there. (1:47) They don't live down there. (1:49) We did the said road trip again because Emilia and I are going to be moving next year.(1:54) That was the plan, may or may not still be the plan, depending on how this trip went. (1:59) We're looking at different areas, Tennessee, Maryland. (2:02) We went through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, the whole Southeastern side of the country in the South.(2:09) We drove from Massachusetts to South Carolina and we did a bunch of different routes. (2:14) The saying, it's like riding a bike, I actually think is silly because it's been one week since you and I have been on the microphone and I already feel a little dusty. (2:26) It's a little dusty, right?(2:28) Well, I've been on the mic since you left.

Kevin Palmieri

(2:32) Oh, so it's different for me.

Alan Lazaros

(2:34) I've not been on the mic in a week. (2:35) I haven't gone a week without being on the microphone since last year, since the last time I did this road trip. (2:41) We said this on the road trip, wow, we had a lot of what we call software upgrades, mindset upgrades, standard operating procedures, the way in which you take your trip.(2:52) And I said, there's too much time in between the last trip and this trip to lock all that in. (3:00) By the time we got really good at traveling on this road trip and prioritizing and optimizing everything, which is what I'm going to get to, we were on our way home. (3:10) By the end of the week, we got really good.(3:13) Now, I said this to you earlier. (3:15) I'm going to read this. (3:19) Did I send you in WhatsApp or did I message you?

Kevin Palmieri

(3:22) WhatsApp group coaching.

Alan Lazaros

(3:24) Nice. (3:24) Thank you. (3:26) That is not where I'm going to go.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:26) I've been getting sleep. (3:27) My mind is like a fucking steel trap now. (3:29) I love it.(3:30) Since the stress of Alan left my life for a week, God, I'm firing on all cylinders.

Alan Lazaros

(3:34) Nice. (3:36) Just do, oh, no, that's not the one. (3:39) That's a different one.(3:40) That's business related. (3:41) When I travel, it makes it very obvious to me why, and this is the research, 97% of people do not have clear written goals that they achieve. (3:51) You can research it on your own.(3:53) There's a bunch of different, some people say 9% of New Year's resolutions get achieved. (3:58) So less than 10%. (4:00) And if 10 people do a New Year's resolution, only one of them achieves it basically.(4:05) And there's a bunch of different studies and all that. (4:06) But the study that I'm referring to, the research that I did for a meetup a while back was 3%. (4:11) So I locked in on that number, clear written, smart goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound is 3%.(4:18) And I think that's actually probably high. (4:22) And I said this to Kev, I said, P.S. Kevin, we should do an episode on the difference between goal orientation and lifestyle orientation. (4:30) Super important concept.(4:31) Okay. (4:32) So in driving south, I got to see all the different cultures, all the different states. (4:40) I got to see the weather change, the climate change.(4:44) It was, it was interesting. (4:45) So it's basically a 15 hour drive and we did it in different legs, but it was very hard for me to optimize and orient my life around my goals. (5:00) So two things for this episode.(5:03) One, I witnessed a lot of other people. (5:05) I did a lot of people watching in the less creepy sense of it. (5:08) Okay.(5:08) I just saw a lot of different walks of life, tons. (5:11) I mean, truckers, people at the gas, you name it. (5:15) And kids, families, all different walks of life.(5:19) We do Tesla chargers. (5:20) So we had to stop at chargers all down the East coast. (5:25) And I got to people watch a lot because you're sitting there, you're doing work in the Tesla, you're doing whatever you got to do.(5:30) And I realized that number one, it did seem to me like a lot of people are wandering around somewhat aimlessly in comparison to my normal life. (5:46) I have a very, very, very, very, very high goal orientation. (5:52) And my goals require me to have that.(5:55) And this is the Olympic athlete metaphor. (5:57) If you want to win an Olympic gold medal, you basically have to dedicate and orient your entire existence around that goal. (6:02) And you still might not achieve it.(6:03) Most people don't. (6:04) I mean, how many people go for an Olympic gold medal versus how many people actually achieve one? (6:08) I mean, it's, if a hundred people go for it, only one person gets to win gold every four years.(6:14) And that's in every country on the world. (6:15) The Olympics is global. (6:16) So that's a good metaphor, I think.(6:19) So I wanted to talk about lifestyle orientation versus goal orientation. (6:22) The thing that was frustrating as fuck for me was that we had too many fucking priorities. (6:29) Safety was number one.(6:31) We tried not to travel at night. (6:34) Sleep was number two. (6:36) Fitness was number three.(6:37) Family was number four. (6:39) The top priority to encapsulate all of it was to find potential properties and homes and areas that we like. (6:48) I had to take care of myself, take care of Amelia, take care of Tucker.(6:53) He was with us. (6:55) Spend time with her family, research, hotel optimization. (6:59) I didn't miss a single coaching session.(7:02) So it's just a lot. (7:03) It was insane. (7:04) And to make it as simple as humanly possible, I didn't realize how fucking goal-oriented I am until I leave my life.(7:11) Dude, this house is set up for success. (7:16) Everything in it is ready for success. (7:18) It's set up.(7:19) I have my office is set up. (7:21) Awesome. (7:22) Someone just came through group coaching.(7:23) That's awesome. (7:24) Hey, shout out to you. (7:25) Yeah, awesome.(7:26) So everything in my life is oriented around goals, not lifestyle. (7:32) And I was around a lot of people, strangers on this trip that very clearly are not that way because the way we traveled versus the way we saw other people traveling alongside us, for lack of a better phrasing, and I don't mean alongside us obviously, but doing their travels, it's very different because we have a sense of urgency pretty much at all times. (7:54) There's always that next thing that needs to be, okay, the hotel room needs to be set up.(7:57) We need to make sure we have good Wi-Fi. (7:59) We have to pick a Tesla charger that has good Wi-Fi. (8:01) We have to pick a Tesla charger that's actually available.(8:04) We have to make sure we do our research. (8:05) We have to make sure it's not in too sketch of an area, blah, blah, blah. (8:08) And so, and then Tucker has to do, you know- Pee-pees and poop-poops.(8:13) Pee-pees and poop-poops. (8:14) And Amelia and I have to, we have to get our protein in. (8:17) We have to hydrate.(8:18) Dude, it's crazy. (8:19) It's a lot. (8:20) I fucking kind of hate it, to be honest.(8:22) And you want to know what really blew my mind last piece? (8:25) I realized that this is actually what a lot of people enjoy doing.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:29) Well, traveling and success are not necessarily a good couple. (8:35) It's always good for me when you go do this because to me, it's always like, yeah, of course. (8:41) It's very much a common thing for me versus like a blind spot for you because I travel way more than you.(8:49) And I know this is the thing. (8:54) And this is like really the theme we've been on recently of privilege creates pressure in a lot of ways. (9:00) Privilege creates pressure.(9:01) Privilege, I'm able to do awesome, more awesome things than I've ever been able to do. (9:05) And there's way more pressure to actually get everything done while I'm doing those things. (9:10) Yeah.(9:10) So I'm already one client wants me to go to New Jersey to help them set up their studio. (9:15) I'm going to Toronto to Evan Carmichael's Mastermind in December. (9:19) And then we have another client who has a second home in Florida where I might go help them set up their studio there.(9:25) And the one of the people from that podcast and YouTube channel wants to play golf. (9:31) It's like awesome. (9:32) And travel is way more stressful than it is relaxing because I don't really get to.(9:38) It's like, okay, Wi-Fi in the Airbnb. (9:41) It's got to make sure it's good. (9:42) Okay, cool.(9:43) Does it make sense to rent a car? (9:44) Should I just Uber? (9:46) Well, okay, cool.(9:47) Let's figure that out. (9:49) When am I going to batch my WhatsApp? (9:50) Because I'm going to be setting up the studio.(9:52) So I'm not going to be able to be in WhatsApp all day. (9:54) Okay. (9:54) What about clients that need anything that pop up?(9:56) Okay.

Alan Lazaros

(9:57) Well, everything you just said is goals. (10:00) Yes. (10:01) Golfing is lifestyle.(10:02) So we went on the boat. (10:04) It was, it's almost like pre-trip, pre-road trip. (10:11) My life is goal-oriented.(10:13) My relationships, my team, my, what I do and don't do, what I think and don't think, what I say and don't say, what I feel and don't feel, what I believe and don't believe is predicated on a goal orientation. (10:24) Everything in my life is oriented around goals. (10:29) And then when I go on this trip, we have to interweave lifestyle.(10:33) And all of a sudden, it's like a lifestyle orientation. (10:36) And her family's in a very different phase of life. (10:39) Her parents are obviously older.(10:40) They're in their late fifties and early sixties. (10:43) And they're, I don't want to say retired because they're definitely not, but they're like on the way toward retirement. (10:49) It's a very different stage.(10:50) And they're very lifestyle oriented. (10:53) They're like, yeah, we're going to go look at a car. (10:55) We're going to do this.(10:56) It's like, what are we having for dinner? (10:57) And Emily and I are like, listen, we have to work the whole fucking time and that's okay. (11:04) And it was just very interesting to me.(11:06) And this is a success podcast. (11:08) This is a success company. (11:10) I'm very grateful for that because it lets me be more me.(11:15) I want to say this out loud to everyone out there watching or listening. (11:19) One of the reasons you have not achieved your goals and dreams is just purely your prioritizing lifestyle over goals. (11:25) For sure.(11:26) I had to prioritize lifestyle over goals this week and I fucking hated it. (11:32) Hated it. (11:33) Now, I didn't hate all of it.(11:35) I liked the boat. (11:36) I went from coaching session, tech center, back, let Tucker out on the boat, two hours, beautiful ocean, unbelievable, back to the tech center, team huddle. (11:47) You have one that you value more than the other.(11:51) And I do actually believe the large majority of the population values lifestyle way more than goals. (11:57) And ironically, because of that, they're actually going to have a worse lifestyle. (12:00) And I saw a lot of that too, because we went through really nice areas and we went through really not nice areas.(12:05) And that's a lot of really good perspective for me too. (12:07) Because it's like, well, if you are trying to live a good lifestyle all the time and you always are focused on immediate gratification, which I saw a lot of, you basically guarantee that you can't achieve your goals because all of your goal orientation basically requires you to sacrifice some lifestyle.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:23) It's a percentage game. (12:24) Again, if you're 80, 20, you want to, if you want your lifestyle to improve, there's two ways to do it. (12:29) The short term one is you take from the 20% that has goals and you say, well, now I'm going to do 85, 15.(12:36) That the problem is that runs out. (12:38) That runs out. (12:39) What is your thoughts about that now?(12:40) We have one minute and I have a call with somebody who wants to be a client. (12:44) So I can't fuck that up. (12:46) That's a goal orientation right there.(12:48) We're going to do part two. (12:49) Yeah. (12:50) Honestly, that is sometimes why it feels rushed on this podcast.(12:53) Why sometimes we do 14 minute episodes. (12:55) Very honestly, there's so much going on behind the scenes that are connected to the goals that we have to go do that. (13:00) We have to go take care of that because the business will burn down if we don't.(13:03) All right. (13:04) Um, next of a nation, I haven't said that in a freaking week. (13:07) Next of a nation, a private Facebook group of like-minded people like you who are trying to get to the next level.(13:12) And if you are looking for a coach that can help you prioritize these things and put the things in the right order, Alan has coaching slots available. (13:18) If you have not done a free business breakthrough session, the first one is free. (13:22) We'll have those links in the show notes below as always.(13:26) We love you. (13:26) We appreciate you grateful for each and every one of you. (13:28) 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 to help you get there.

Alan Lazaros

(13:35) Keep reaching for your full potential next level nation.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:39) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (13:43) We love connecting with the next level family.

Alan Lazaros

(13:46) We mean it when we say family. (13:48) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (13:51) Everything you need to get ahold of us is in the show notes.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:55) Thank you again. (13:56) And we will talk to you tomorrow.