What Does It Mean To Be Next Level? (2245)

What if “Next Level” isn’t a place, but a way of living? In this high-energy episode, Kevin and Alan get real about what it takes to grow, lead, and stay consistent when most people quit. Simple, sharp, and straight from the heart. Hit play before the average tries to talk you into staying there.

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Show notes:
(2:16) Building a culture and community that grows together
(5:55) Amy’s story and the heart of NLU
(8:02) Alan’s definition: Better every day
(9:30) Kevin’s perspective on growth and ownership
(12:20) The paradox of always becoming next level
(14:01) Lessons from the Patriots and building a winning culture
(18:18) Tracking habits, sleep, and sustainable growth
(19:59) Identity, influence, and choosing the right tribe
(23:27) Leadership, humility, and leading by example
(25:33) 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

• 2:16 Building a culture and community that grows together
• 5:55 Amy’s story and the heart of NLU
• 8:02 Alan’s definition: Better every day
• 9:30 Kevin’s perspective on growth and ownership
• 12:20 The paradox of always becoming next level
• 14:01 Lessons from the Patriots and building a winning culture
• 18:18 Tracking habits, sleep, and sustainable growth
• 19:59 Identity, influence, and choosing the right tribe
• 23:27 Leadership, humility, and leading by example
• 25:33 Outro

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:00) The business is called Next Level. (0:03) The podcast is called Next Level. (0:05) Every single thing we do is branded Next Level.(0:08) At the end of the day, what does it mean to be Next Level? (0:10) We are going to discuss that and hopefully come up with an answer.

Alan Lazaros

(0:14) The culture of a company, the culture of a brand, what does it mean, identity, tribe? (0:22) I am very, very excited to unpack this.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:25) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:28) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:29) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.(0:33) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven, but no-BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:39) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:45) 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

(1:01) Self-improvement in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free. (1:08) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:13) Next Level Nation, today for episode number 2,245, what does it mean to be Next Level? (1:19) I think Alan and I have a very similar thought process on this and different in our own unique ways.

Alan Lazaros

(1:27) You said on an episode three or four ago, we talked about doing this episode, what does it mean to be Next Level? (1:35) And you said, this might be the end for us.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:38) This could be the end. (1:39) Yeah, that was in the hotel room. (1:40) I had a pretty severe head cold going on at that time.(1:44) I still do. (1:44) I still don't feel great, but I feel better than I did. (1:46) You're all hopped up on NyQuil?(1:47) No, nope, never. (1:49) I will never. (1:50) DayQuil.(1:50) I mean, at that point, I feel like the DayQuil was kind of wearing off. (1:53) You can't take NyQuil before a performance. (1:56) I meant DayQuil.(1:57) It was nighttime, so the DayQuil had probably worn off, unfortunately, at that point. (2:01) This episode brought to you by NyQuil. (2:04) DayQuil.(2:05) DayQuil. (2:07) What does it mean, from your perspective, to be Next Level? (2:11) And why does it even fucking matter to the wonderful humans watching?

Alan Lazaros

(2:16) If you're listening or watching, our podcast is very different than most. (2:23) We do an episode every day, so we're a part of your morning routine, hopefully. (2:29) So we're in the fabric of your day.(2:31) We're how you start your day off. (2:32) We're how we start my day off. (2:33) This morning, I was listening to NLU.(2:36) And if you are listening and you listen to a lot of episodes, you become a part of the community. (2:44) You become a part of... (2:46) Kevin and I have often said in the past, we don't want to be some gurus on the top of a mountain talking down to you about what you should do.(2:53) We want you to be on the growth train with us. (2:57) And I'm only 37. (2:59) He's 37 as well.(3:02) No, I'm 37, November 17. (3:03) So I'm actually 36. (3:04) I'm rounding up because I'm about to be 37.(3:07) Whoa. (3:08) So we're both 36 years old. (3:09) We're still young.(3:10) We're still young leaders. (3:11) So we're not going to talk from some mountaintop of like, we have it all figured out. (3:14) But we do have a lot figured out.(3:15) Okay. (3:16) So why does this matter? (3:18) You're a part of this community.(3:20) And if you're a new listener, maybe you will be. (3:22) After this episode, maybe you definitely will be. (3:25) Or maybe not.(3:26) But it's evolved a lot over the years. (3:29) And I think that the tribes that you're a part of, the communities that you're a part of, we'll call it community because I think that's the 21st century version of tribe. (3:37) They affect your decisions.(3:38) They affect your beliefs. (3:40) They affect your philosophies. (3:41) They affect the way that you operate in the world.(3:47) And what does it mean to be a Mac user versus a Windows person? (3:51) What does it mean to drive a BMW like Kevin? (3:55) What does it mean to golf?(3:56) What does it mean to be an American or wherever you live? (4:00) These identities shape us. (4:02) And I use the example a few episodes ago about, I watch CrossFitters when I want to get motivated in the gym.(4:09) And I love a lot of the CrossFit workouts, but some of it I think is dumb as shit. (4:14) And the crawling on your hands thing, I'm not interested. (4:16) My wrists are going to snap.(4:17) But at the end of the day, you go to a CrossFit gym to try to get in shape. (4:22) And then all of a sudden you have the same knee sleeves. (4:24) You start eating paleo.(4:26) You all start doing the same lifts. (4:28) I'm not making that wrong. (4:29) I think that's a good thing.(4:30) I think that's a positive, constructive tribe. (4:32) I'm a huge fan. (4:34) Okay.(4:34) I'm really not trying to hate on CrossFit because I think it's kind of awesome, but it's not for me. (4:39) Certainly not all of it. (4:40) Some of it is, some of it's not.(4:41) I treat my life like a buffet. (4:43) So enough about me. (4:43) Why does this matter?(4:45) NLU is a community. (4:48) And the deeper you get into our company and our community, I'll give you an example. (4:54) So Amy Lennius, shout out to you, Amy.(4:55) I know you listen every day. (4:58) She started out as a listener. (4:59) She was driving across the country with a group of her friends and they were listening to the Hyperconscious podcast.(5:03) I do think we were hyperconscious back then. (5:06) She's like, who are these guys? (5:09) She goes from that to, she starts working with us.(5:13) She started a podcast called The Evolution of Mom and we produced her show. (5:18) She got coached by you and I, individually, not at the same time, individually. (5:23) Then she started coming to book club, which is the best.(5:31) Then she started to do the monthly meetups back then. (5:34) Now they're called masterclasses. (5:36) Then she started to, I had an interview with her for her to come on the team.(5:42) Again, it might not have been in that order, but the point is she got closer and closer and closer and closer and closer to the core of NLU. (5:48) The reason why, I think, is every company, every tribe, every community, every business is supposed to have core values and core goals in common, even though you're different. (6:01) Complementary skill sets, different countries, different people from all over the world.(6:06) So we have this awesome global community now with a bunch of sub-communities. (6:09) One of them is a fitness group. (6:10) One of them is a masterclass group.(6:12) One of them is group coaching. (6:14) Shout out to team Hypecast, group 20. (6:16) One of them is book clubbers.(6:18) I might've already said that. (6:18) We have next level nations. (6:19) So we have this global community of people that identify as next levelers, but then we have sub-communities within that.(6:28) All of that is by design. (6:32) Back in the day, I used to host parties and I used to try to figure out, okay, why does this person not want to come? (6:37) And why does this person want to come?(6:39) And if I get this girl to come, then this guy will want to come. (6:42) And then if that guy comes, all this group will come. (6:44) It's all this tribes, right?(6:45) So you learn through middle school and high school, how, how tribes work and leadership. (6:50) So I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole. (6:51) But what I will say is most people are influenced unconsciously by the core values and the core passions and the core goals of a tribe.(7:01) So one of the hardest parts about our company is that we do habits every day. (7:06) So every team member, Kevin, every client of mine, we all track metrics and habits. (7:11) We all have clear specific goals.(7:13) We're consistent and we work toward those goals every day. (7:15) We're a success podcast that also talks personal development. (7:18) We're into growth.(7:19) We try to get better every day. (7:20) And we have a bunch of hashtags that I've written down that are our culture. (7:23) Hashtag whatever it takes.(7:24) Hashtag better every day. (7:26) Hashtag failing forward. (7:27) Hashtag next level you.(7:28) Not next level me, not next level Kevin, next level you. (7:31) Hashtag consistency over everything. (7:33) Hashtag character over everything.(7:35) So it has evolved a lot over the last eight years, but certain fundamentals never shifted.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:44) That whole thing was based on me asking you what it meant to be next level. (7:49) Can you answer the fucking question? (7:51) I just did.

Alan Lazaros

(7:53) That's what it means to be next level.

Kevin Palmieri

(7:54) To you, to you personally, as a human being, Alan Lazarus, what does it mean to you?

Alan Lazaros

(8:02) Okay. (8:02) What it means to be next level is no matter how hard your past has been, no matter how hard your present is, you have a bigger, better, brighter future. (8:12) Not just you, but all of us, me as well.(8:17) That's the most fundamental. (8:20) It also means to me reaching my full potential, working toward reaching my full potential every single day. (8:27) That's the hashtag better every day.(8:29) So I did kind of fucking answer the question. (8:31) I'm kidding. (8:31) All right.(8:32) But it means you're consistent. (8:35) It means you're disciplined. (8:36) It means you have clear, specific goals.(8:39) It means you are trying to make the world a better place. (8:41) It means you're trying to be the change you wish to see in the world. (8:43) It means you learn every day.(8:44) It means that you try to get a little bit better every day. (8:47) It means that you care more about who you are and what you are when no one's watching than you do your fucking social media. (8:54) It means a lot of things.(8:56) It means that you focus on the unsexy fundamentals. (8:58) It means you do not lie through your teeth like a lot of people on the fucking internet that are just complete showboating and vanity metrics all day that aren't even real. (9:08) It means that you believe in helping real people in the real world in a really meaningful way.(9:13) It means you're someone who chases your passions. (9:15) It means you're someone who has a purpose beyond yourself. (9:18) It means you live for something greater than yourself.(9:20) It means you're on a hero's journey to try to help make the world a better place.

Kevin Palmieri

(9:25) Nice. (9:25) I like that. (9:26) All right.(9:26) All right. (9:27) What about you? (9:28) Mine is very simple.(9:30) Mine is very simple because I like to take complex things and hopefully make them simple because that's what would have helped me understand in the beginning. (9:36) Can you tell I've thought about this a bit? (9:38) Yes, for sure.(9:39) You are somebody who is probably more committed than almost anybody you know to getting a little bit better every day, to learning about yourself a little bit more, to be willing to look in mirrors that are challenging but rewarding eventually. (9:57) You are more committed to growth than most people around you. (10:00) That.(10:01) Because if you're not, you're not going to want to be here anyway because this is ... (10:06) One of the upsides of doing a podcast episode every day is we get to grow every single day no matter what. (10:12) One of the downsides is if you're having an off day, you're not going to want to listen to us, most likely.(10:16) Because if you start, if you get into the doom loop of feeling bad, I'm not productive, I want to run from my stuff, you're going to run away from us too.

Alan Lazaros

(10:24) When I'm having a bad day, that's when I feel like my guardrail is personal development. (10:30) Well, remember, your trauma responses get better.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:32) Yeah. (10:32) Right? (10:33) Your trauma responses get better.(10:35) Mine is not that naturally. (10:38) I like to run away. (10:40) Scoot, scoot, scoot.(10:41) Scoot my boot. (10:43) What else does it mean to be next level? (10:45) It's good stuff.(10:46) I feel like you take ownership for ... (10:49) You take ownership for your success or lack thereof.

Alan Lazaros

(10:54) Yeah. (10:55) It's almost like your success is your responsibility.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:57) I think it is. (10:59) Again, circumstantially things change, but at the end of the day, there are very few things we can control with 100% of our ... (11:08) There are very few things that are in 100% control of our own doing.(11:13) I think you got to take ownership for what you can. (11:16) That's one. (11:17) You want to rid your life of delusion.(11:20) Yeah. (11:21) Nice. (11:21) I don't want to be delusional.(11:23) Delusion feels really good in the moment, but it does not serve you in a lifetime. (11:28) Getting undeluded sucks. (11:32) I mean, that hurts.(11:33) It hurts to learn certain things about yourself. (11:35) Yeah. (11:35) You pop that bubble.(11:37) Once you pop that bubble, there's certain things where the second they come out of the bag, you can't put them back in the bag. (11:41) You're better for them coming out of the bag because if you live your life under the delusion of every time it rains, you can't go outside, you literally, depending on where you live, just lost whatever, 20 days a year or a third of the year. (11:56) If you live on the West Coast in Seattle, you lost the fucking whole year because it rains almost every day over there.(12:02) That depends. (12:03) That depends. (12:04) Then I think the last thing I would say, it means that you understand that life is a journey and you will never actually be next level.(12:20) You're in pursuit. (12:21) You're in pursuit. (12:23) This is my new favorite thing.(12:25) I am the most next level I've ever been and I'm also the least next level I'll ever be. (12:30) Nice. (12:31) It is the duality of you're the best you've ever been because you've grown every day and you're the worst you'll ever be again because you're going to grow every day.(12:38) I think that is a beautiful paradox.

Alan Lazaros

(12:42) I'm not 100% sure about this yet and you and I have talked briefly about this, but there may be a time when Emilie and I buy commercial real estate and NLU will be a part of that and maybe we will have a headquarters and if we do, I'm not sure. (12:57) We'll see. (12:57) We'll see.(12:58) And maybe an in-person studio again. (12:59) I don't know yet because Emilie and I have done a lot of traveling lately and we're looking for properties and planning out our future and I think New England is coming out on top. (13:09) Interesting.(13:10) So it might be a possibility that we have an in-person studio again. (13:13) Okay. (13:13) Whereas when I first moved in with her, she didn't really like the winter.(13:18) So I was thinking, oh shit. (13:19) Okay. (13:19) So we're going to have to move south.(13:20) We've got to stick with the fully virtual stuff. (13:22) So now we might be mostly virtual, but you and I might be in person. (13:25) We'll see.(13:27) Ultimately, the reason I'm saying this is I'm reading a book. (13:32) I've actually read three books. (13:35) One of them, Tom Brady's book.(13:36) One of them, Bill Belichick's book. (13:38) And one of them, Edelman's book. (13:39) Regardless of them and who they are and what you think of them, that is not my point.(13:43) My point is the New England Patriots in an 18-year span won six Super Bowls, which is tied for the most Super Bowls ever won in history. (13:54) And I like to study people that are the most successful so that I can learn what makes a culture and a company successful. (14:01) Because even though it's a sport, it's a company.(14:03) It's an organization. (14:05) And so they have certain mantras. (14:07) Do your job is one of them, right?(14:10) Work hard is one of them. (14:11) And I was thinking a lot about our mantras and our culture. (14:16) And if we did have a headquarters in the book, Bill Belichick's book, he talks about how they have them written on the entrance to the stadium.(14:23) They have them written. (14:24) And so on the way in, it's do your job, work hard, all this stuff. (14:27) On the way out, it's don't trust the hype or feed it.(14:30) Like it's things on the way in and out. (14:32) I thought that was really cool. (14:33) You walk into the building, you get certain mantras, and then you walk out of the building and you get certain mantras because it's not just what you do on the field.(14:39) It's also who you are in life. (14:41) And I agree with that 100%. (14:42) I do.(14:43) I know we do. (14:44) So, but we're not the Patriots. (14:45) We're Next Level University.(14:47) But the concept is the same, which is if Kevin and I don't lead by example, when no one's watching, meaning we do these things, not just once, but every day, we're not going to be able to lead and we're not going to be able to be credible. (15:01) And so consistency is one of them for sure. (15:04) One of them is humility, which is look in the mirror at all of your inadequacies.(15:11) Constantly be looking at where you suck. (15:13) What if I don't have any? (15:18) Well, I think you lose the humility.(15:21) Can I just point out yours instead? (15:22) Yeah. (15:23) You just mostly point out mine.(15:26) Full ownership, radical ownership, taking personal responsibility for your success or failure. (15:32) And again, I wrote down these hashtags because we've been using them over the years. (15:36) I've been using these.(15:38) How many times, Kev, have I said hashtag better every day to you? (15:44) Do you think? (15:44) Oh my gosh.(15:45) So many.

Kevin Palmieri

(15:48) Probably thousands.

Alan Lazaros

(15:49) Nice. (15:50) All right. (15:52) In my posts, if you looked at my Instagram, and again, this isn't about me, I just want you to think about culture and your beliefs and what you stand for.(16:00) Hashtag Next Level YOU. (16:02) Instead of Next Level You, it's Next Level YOU. (16:04) I use that in most of my posts.(16:05) How many times have we said hashtag character over everything? (16:10) Many times. (16:11) And then hashtag whatever it takes is on the reg.(16:14) I say that all the time. (16:15) You were traveling this week and getting sick and not sleeping well and struggling. (16:22) And I said hashtag whatever it takes.(16:26) That's one of the rough ones for sure. (16:28) 60 sleep score today. (16:30) 60.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:30) Yeah, not good.

Alan Lazaros

(16:31) Not great. (16:32) Not great. (16:32) We actually changed this.(16:33) I don't know if I've told you this or not. (16:36) We do a DEM score now. (16:40) Deep.(16:41) Yep. (16:41) Deep. (16:42) Nice.(16:45) You got this. (16:45) Deep REM. (16:45) Nice.(16:46) Deep and REM. (16:47) So here's what we do. (16:48) So we take the deep and the REM and we add it up.(16:51) You're aiming for three hours, right? (16:53) That's the goal. (16:54) Did I tell you this?(16:55) This was weeks ago. (16:56) Yep. (16:57) Okay.(16:57) Yeah. (16:58) So I got a 3.33 yesterday. (17:00) Because dude, I actually think that that's what matters.(17:03) So we've been more precise than Aura. (17:06) Emilia just texted me. (17:07) She got a 4.8. How now? (17:10) When she first... (17:10) And this is a side tangent. (17:11) How is it even possible?(17:13) Dude, when I first met her, she wasn't sleeping well. (17:17) And I got her this book called Memory Rescue for Christmas. (17:20) And Leadership Series is what I called it.(17:22) And it was trying to help her reach her full potential and all kinds of stuff. (17:25) But I remember I was the best sleeper in the game. (17:27) Kevin would joke before the plane takes off...

Kevin Palmieri

(17:30) So frustrating. (17:30) Okay.

Alan Lazaros

(17:32) I remember saying to her, you're never going to beat me at sleep. (17:35) I'm going to help you the best I can, but you're never going to beat me at sleep. (17:38) I had a conversation with her this past week of you are the best sleeper I have ever met in my entire life.(17:44) It is unbelievable. (17:45) Dude, I haven't gotten above a four once since we started the DEM score. (17:48) So that's four hours, right?(17:50) 4.8. 4.6 is her...

Kevin Palmieri

(17:52) 4.6 hours.

Alan Lazaros

(17:53) So she got... (17:54) I'm looking at her screenshot right now. (17:55) She got three hours and four minutes of REM sleep and one hour and 31 minutes of DEEP.(18:02) That is amazing. (18:04) And she got a 91 sleep score. (18:06) So I got a 65 sleep score.(18:09) I lied. (18:09) I thought it was a 60. (18:10) But your DEEP and REM might be better than you think.(18:12) It was. (18:13) My guess is a 2.7. No.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:16) Under. (18:17) Really? (18:17) Yeah.(18:17) I got an hour and 29 minutes of REM. (18:19) And we're not, again, we're not sponsored by URA. (18:21) Just, it's cool.(18:23) I got an hour and 29 of REM and then I got 22 minutes of DEEP. (18:26) Ooh. (18:27) Ooh.(18:28) Yeah. (18:29) You got a 1.85. That's not good. (18:31) I think the reason is I'm sick.(18:34) So that's a piece of it for me. (18:35) Not good.

Alan Lazaros

(18:36) Anything below a 2 is red. (18:39) Anything between a 2 and 3 is yellow. (18:42) Anything above a 3 is green, in my opinion.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:45) The best I've gotten in recent past, Tuesday... (18:49) Let me just look at this real quick and then we'll get off this. (18:52) Yeah.(18:53) Tuesday, November 4th, I was in bed for, and again, this is when I like, wait. (19:02) Oh yeah. (19:04) Woke up at 3.30 in the morning. (19:06) Drove seven hours down to New Jersey. (19:08) Worked. (19:09) This was like a 16 hour day.(19:11) I got an hour and 17 of REM and I got an hour and 33 of DEEP.

Alan Lazaros

(19:16) That's good.

Kevin Palmieri

(19:16) I was almost at 3.

Alan Lazaros

(19:18) This brings to this episode, too, though, another part of our core of what NLU, what it means to be next level, tracking. (19:25) And sustainability. (19:27) We track a lot more.(19:30) One of our team members just started working at another company and I know you're listening. (19:37) She's like, oh, they're not like NLU. (19:41) I was like, what do you mean?(19:42) They're not tracking. (19:44) We track everything. (19:45) We have metrics for every department.(19:48) We track metrics and habits, goals. (19:49) So tracking is another big thing and sustainability as well.

Kevin Palmieri

(19:53) Yeah. (19:53) Last thing, because I think this might be the through line. (19:56) It is a piece of you.(19:59) It is a part of your identity. (20:00) You are the type of person that aspires to get a little bit better. (20:03) And I don't know if it, you don't really ever turn that off.(20:09) Everything is, again, we talk about, we BS about golf a lot. (20:14) One of the reasons I am doing more golf and less watching UFC is because it requires exercise. (20:21) It's getting me outside.(20:22) There's, there's, that actually helps me. (20:24) I track that as my Sunday exercise.

Alan Lazaros

(20:26) I don't go to the gym. (20:27) You said you don't identify with UFC like you used to. (20:29) I don't.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:30) No, I don't.

Alan Lazaros

(20:30) Which is because their culture has shifted a lot in a way that you don't think is good. (20:34) Yeah, for sure. (20:35) So again, if nothing else for anyone out there watching or listening, there are, there are consequences, both positive and negative to every culture, to everything you identify with.(20:47) For sure.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:47) The other big piece of it too, for me is dude, I can't stay up until one o'clock anymore. (20:50) What the fuck are we doing? (20:52) I can't stay up.(20:53) So it's either. (20:54) Yeah. (20:54) That demographic can, quote unquote.(20:56) Yeah, I can't, I can't, I can't. (20:59) They're not going to have golf on at 1am. (21:02) Unfortunately.(21:02) Well, they have golf reruns on, but yeah, no, golf is on like 8am on Sunday. (21:07) Yeah. (21:07) That's, that's where it's, that's where it's supposed to be.(21:09) So the question is, what does it mean to you? (21:13) And what is one thing you could do to be more sustainably next level? (21:17) That's the thing about this whole thing.(21:19) We've been trying to get a little bit better every Alan longer than I, but I can say, I can say confidently for six years in the first two years. (21:28) I think it sounded really good to say I'm, I'm into peak performance and that I wasn't, I was, I was faking it for sure. (21:34) Last six years.(21:35) I've been very dedicated to getting a little bit better. (21:38) I want to listen to the radio. (21:41) I want to listen to music in the car.(21:42) I always have something on. (21:43) I always do my minimums. (21:46) Will I say I'm maxing out every day?(21:47) No, I will not. (21:48) Because I, I'm not every day. (21:50) I always try to hit my minimums because consistent 70% days are better than spotting 100s.(21:54) I, I live my life by that philosophy and I think I've gotten better over the years at it and I think that's the, the goal and that's the ask for all of us.

Alan Lazaros

(22:02) I could talk about this topic for hours and hours and hours. (22:07) I think we gave a really good taste and I think that every company you're a part of, every group you're a part of, every tribe, every community you're a part of, like the next level fitness accountability group is built on the core identity of we show up even when it's hard. (22:28) We are accountable to what we say we're going to do.(22:31) And even if it's not perfect, we're going to show up and check the box on the hard days and we're going to crush it on the good days. (22:38) And I think that when you, I do believe the future, the AI revolution is upon us. (22:43) We all know this.(22:44) The future is going to be human connection, belonging and community. (22:49) And we've had people leave the next level community that makes me very sad because they feel like they're not next level. (22:54) There's one person I'm thinking of right now who I emailed probably two months ago and I asked how she was and she sent me this whole long email.(23:02) It was awesome. (23:02) You actually might be listening by the way. (23:05) Shout out to you if you are.(23:06) And this person was on the team at one point and we're all a huge fan and she basically said, listen, I can't keep up with you guys. (23:12) I gotta go. (23:13) I love you.(23:14) It's nothing personal. (23:15) I gotta go do my thing. (23:17) And the truth of the matter is, is that when you have a culture of next levelness, sometimes people who feel like they're failing will want to run away.(23:27) And I think that that makes me really sad. (23:28) And then there's some people who aren't next level who have a huge ego who think they are that they try to stay and they actually don't belong here at all. (23:34) So we just talked off air about if you come with a big ego around in the next level community, you're just going to stand out like a sore thumb because there's also some unconscious layers of it's not about you.(23:47) It's about the greater good. (23:49) And I think that this is all sort of undertones that we've never maybe talked about consciously, but I'm thinking about this as a leader. (23:55) I think about this every single day.(23:58) If I stop tracking habits, how much will that rub off on people? (24:02) If I stop leading by example, leading by example is the hardest and most important thing. (24:07) And so for you out there, are you leading by example?(24:11) Are you being the change you wish to see in the world? (24:12) Are you a part of this community? (24:14) Because that's what you want.(24:15) Because every group, you are the sum average of the five people you spend the most time with. (24:19) Everyone's heard that quote. (24:21) And if you haven't, it's true.(24:23) But really what the quote should say is you are the sum average of all the tribes you associate with.

Kevin Palmieri

(24:30) Alright, you heard about the various things we have to help you get to the next level, whether it's the Dreamliner, Next Level Nation, Master Classes, all the stuff, coaching, group coaching, there's a bunch of different stuff. (24:43) So if you are somebody who wants to get to the next level in a different way, more than this podcast, we'll have some of the links below for that stuff. (24:50) We'd love to have you.(24:51) If you're humble, if you're heart driven, if you're dedicated to growing, you're going to fit in very, very well with this community. (24:57) If you're not those things, this community probably isn't for you. (24:59) And that's totally fine.(25:01) I'd rather you find a community that's more aligned. (25:03) But if those things speak to you, we will speak into your lives and we can get to the next level together.

Alan Lazaros

(25:08) The only two people we don't like at NLU is bullies, people who put others down to feel bigger and better, and spoiled brats, people who believe they deserve things with minimal effort and they just think because of who they are and their last name, they deserve nice things. (25:24) And so as long as you're not a bully or a spoiled brat, you're going to get along great. (25:28) And we hope to see you at the Master Classes and book club and all kinds of stuff.

Kevin Palmieri

(25:33) As always, we love you. (25:34) We appreciate you. (25:35) Grateful for each and every one of you.(25:36) And if you are as committed as you say you are to get into the next level, which we spoke eloquently today about, make sure you tune in tomorrow because we will be here every single day to help you get there. (25:47) Keep reaching for your full potential.

Alan Lazaros

(25:50) Next elimination.

Kevin Palmieri

(25:51) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (25:55) We love connecting with the Next Level family.

Alan Lazaros

(25:58) We mean it when we say family. (25:59) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (26:03) Everything you need to get ahold of us is in the show notes.(26:07) Thank you again, and we will talk to you tomorrow.