The #1 Reflection From This Month’s Masterclass (2247)

In this tactical episode of Next Level University, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros reveal how understanding yourself is the real key to self-belief, discipline, and lasting success. It’s raw, real, and guaranteed to shift how you think about growth. Hit play and meet the version of you that finally believes it’s possible.

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Show notes:
(3:37) Alan reveals the Success Loop framework
(5:39) The link between understanding and self-belief
(8:05) Why knowledge makes laziness harder
(10:16) The compounding math of consistency
(13:33) The gap between knowing and understanding
(16:16) 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

• 3:37 Alan reveals the Success Loop framework
• 5:39 The link between understanding and self-belief
• 8:05 Why knowledge makes laziness harder
• 10:16 The compounding math of consistency
• 13:33 The gap between knowing and understanding
• 16:16 Outro

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:00) I have been fired from every job I've ever had, including co-host of the Next Level University Masterclasses. (0:07) I don't even know what this episode is going to be about because I wasn't at the previous masterclass, but it's the number one reflection from the masterclass. (0:15) It was amazing.

Alan Lazaros

(0:16) Without Kevin, the five major productivity fundamentals you must master to achieve your dreams.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:22) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:25) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:27) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.(0:30) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:36) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:43) 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

(0:58) Self-improvement in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:05) Welcome to Next Level University. (1:11) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2247, the number one reflection from this month's masterclass. (1:19) So obviously I am joking.(1:20) We have decided that as I grow, podcast, growth university, and that stuff, and the things that are coming from that, Alan is primarily the coach anyway when it comes to the masterclasses that used to be meetups. (1:33) So we're going our separate ways, but aligning in the same direction.

Alan Lazaros

(1:38) You remember way back when they were live podcasts? (1:41) I do. (1:41) I do miss those days, honestly.(1:42) And then they were monthly meetups, and now they are monthly masterclasses. (1:47) Weren't they meetups originally? (1:50) No.(1:50) Because the first one was done in a motorhome, remember?

Kevin Palmieri

(1:54) And I got booted out of it. (1:56) No, that was on Zoom. (1:57) Yeah, it was a meetup, then it was a live podcast.(2:00) Oh. (2:00) Because remember, somebody had to go Zoom. (2:02) You're absolutely right.(2:03) Yeah, nice work. (2:04) Strong work. (2:05) Memory of an elephant over here.(2:06) Okay. (2:06) Of an elephant.

Alan Lazaros

(2:07) All right. (2:08) Go do the thing. (2:09) So I have my remarkable up right here.(2:11) Boom. (2:11) Look at that on YouTube. (2:13) And these are the notes from last night.(2:15) And I prepped, and I can't not share this because this is the success loop that I think is super valuable. (2:20) We're going to get into the productivity points, but you and I have argued many times, Kevin and I have argued many times on the mic and off the mic about self-belief. (2:31) Your thesis is that a lot of what I say is not of value to everyone to the extent that I think it is because I have a lot of self-belief.(2:42) So that's fair. (2:43) So you try to talk to people who might not have undying self-belief or whatever. (2:50) Okay.(2:51) Now, you and I had an argument on the show, Healthy Discord, probably three weeks ago or something like that. (2:59) And you were like, yeah, that works for you, motherfucker, but not for everybody. (3:02) Something like that.(3:03) Okay. (3:04) We were heated, but it was good. (3:06) It was like a good, respectful-ish heated moment.(3:09) Doesn't sound very respectful, but I'll take it. (3:10) Yeah. (3:11) I don't know if he said exactly that, but that's how it felt.(3:13) Okay. (3:16) I reflected upon said episode, because I'm always trying to figure out if you actually know what the fuck you're talking about. (3:22) And what'd you come up with?(3:23) I came up with, you're wrong. (3:26) And here's why. (3:28) No, but there was some merit in what you said.(3:30) Genuinely. (3:31) I'm being playful. (3:32) I figured out that when you have a new, this is the success loop, and then I'll explain.(3:37) Here we go. (3:38) Step one, new understanding. (3:41) New understanding leads to the second step, which is new vision of what's truly possible for you.(3:47) Leads to the third step of setting a new goal. (3:49) Because once you see a new vision, once you have a new understanding of how to do something, now you see a vision of what's possible for you. (3:55) Now you set a goal.(3:56) Okay. (3:57) After you set a goal, you get a new strategy, because now you have to strategize on how to get the goal. (4:02) Then you take a new action.(4:04) When you take a new action, you get a new result. (4:05) Even if it's not the result you want, you get a new result. (4:08) That's the success loop.(4:09) Now, I could make this loop those one, two, three, four, five, six steps, or I could expand it. (4:15) New learning, new growth, new peers, new whatever. (4:17) But this is the simple success loop.(4:20) Your thesis was, Alan, that doesn't work for other people. (4:23) You always had belief. (4:25) And I was like, no, I didn't.(4:26) I was born a fat infant who couldn't keep his own head up watching Winnie the Pooh. (4:31) I've seen the pictures. (4:33) Okay.(4:34) But what I did have, and I'm very grateful for this, I had a very powerful brain that could recognize patterns. (4:41) And I always felt very, very, very intellectually gifted. (4:45) So I think because I was intellectually gifted, I could see things other people couldn't see.(4:50) That is a through line in my life. (4:52) I can always see things other people couldn't see. (4:55) I could notice things other people didn't notice.(4:57) I could connect dots other people couldn't connect. (4:59) And so because of that, I think I had a deeper understanding of what was possible than other people. (5:06) Therefore, I had a bigger vision for what I was capable of.(5:09) Therefore, I set more goals than other people. (5:11) Therefore, I had new strategies. (5:12) Therefore, I had new actions.(5:14) Therefore, I had more results. (5:16) So Kev, you asked me one time, you said, how do you know all this? (5:19) And I said, I had to know all this.(5:21) You're like, what do you mean? (5:22) I said, I had to know all this to achieve my dreams. (5:24) I think that when you set a goal that you actually intend on, that you know is possible, I think the world becomes your library to learn how to achieve it.(5:33) I know you think that's unique to me. (5:35) Is that fair? (5:36) Yes.(5:37) Okay.

Kevin Palmieri

(5:39) But the principle can apply to everyone. (5:43) Just like, you know how sometimes I'll talk about how I have a weird relationship with relationships, and you'll say, Kev, that doesn't work for most people. (5:50) That is factually correct.(5:52) Yeah, I understand. (5:55) Right.

Alan Lazaros

(5:56) But there's a principle. (5:57) Same, same. (5:58) That could apply to everyone.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:01) Yeah. (6:03) But I think it's a stretch.

Alan Lazaros

(6:03) So for example, you believe in yourself now the more than you ever have, right? (6:06) Yes. (6:07) Why?(6:07) I think it's because you know, you understand how life works. (6:12) How you, think about it this way. (6:15) If I said, Kev, you're going to drive from fucking where you live to New Jersey.(6:20) And you're gonna be like, how certain are you, you can get there? (6:23) Zero to 10? (6:24) 10 out of 10.(6:24) All right. (6:25) Your brain does a calculation. (6:26) I have a car.(6:27) I know that it works. (6:28) I know there's electric chargers on the way there. (6:31) I know the roads are there.(6:32) There's a certainty formula that your brain calculates that you can get there. (6:36) If you weren't intelligent, and let's say you had, you got a bad concussion, you couldn't think you wouldn't have any certainty. (6:44) So I think that our brains are calculating what's possible for us.(6:48) And the more you learn about yourself, others in the world, the more you will believe in yourself. (6:55) So I think the precursor to self belief is deeper understanding, which is the point of these masterclasses in the point of this episode. (7:03) You've always been trying to give tactics.(7:05) We talk about teach a man to fish versus give him a fish woman to by the way. (7:09) But I think deeper understanding is where all self belief is created. (7:17) And my I opened the masterclass with this last night.(7:19) I said, I'm going to open with this loop. (7:23) Because I figured out if I want to help all of you reach your potential, I have to first help you all believe in yourself more. (7:30) That's like my focus.(7:32) How do I get people to believe in themselves more? (7:35) I figured it out. (7:36) If they see a new, if they learn something new, that gives them an actual understanding of what's possible for them, they will believe in themselves more.(7:46) And then there'll be more pain associated with not going for it. (7:51) So when I teach these productivity principles, I taught them last night, I was thinking to myself, nice, all of you who came have fallen for it. (8:01) You're all going to believe in yourself more after this and being lazy is going to be harder for you.(8:05) True or false, as someone who used to be in my opinion, hardworking at work, but lazy at home, and outside the gym. (8:16) Is that fair? (8:17) All right, you were you were hardworking in the gym and at work, lazy at home there.(8:20) Yeah. (8:21) All right, now someone who is very, very hardworking, believes in himself. (8:30) Isn't it harder to be lazy now that you know what's possible?

Kevin Palmieri

(8:33) No.

Alan Lazaros

(8:35) Because I don't actually know what's possible. (8:37) That's where I think you know, but you do. (8:39) It would be very hard for you to go back and say, ah, screw it.(8:43) I don't want to work weekends ever again. (8:45) I don't want to work weekends ever again. (8:47) No, I know, but it would be hard.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:48) But you do though, real quick. (8:50) You don't want to.

Alan Lazaros

(8:51) I don't work Sunday.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:53) I could work Sunday. (8:55) I could do exactly. (8:56) Yeah.(8:56) Hold on. (8:58) All right. (8:58) How many days a week do you work?

Alan Lazaros

(9:00) This isn't the point of the episode. (9:02) That's okay.

Kevin Palmieri

(9:02) That's okay. (9:02) And we have seven minutes. (9:04) Seven minutes.(9:05) I work six days a week. (9:07) Technically seven, because I do batch WhatsApp on Sunday. (9:10) Beautiful.

Alan Lazaros

(9:11) Beautiful. (9:11) Okay. (9:13) That is, you do that because you want what comes with that.(9:19) And you can't not do that because you know what you're leaving on the table now. (9:25) Yeah. (9:26) You have a deeper understanding of the benefits of that.(9:28) I know, but it would be different if you weren't around.

Kevin Palmieri

(9:30) But that's because I got you to understand it. (9:32) No, because you're my fucking boss. (9:35) Take that away.(9:36) Let's pretend I'm not. (9:37) You still wouldn't do this. (9:38) Not to the same degree.(9:40) No. (9:40) Just nobody else is courageous enough to tell you that. (9:43) No, I wouldn't.(9:44) I'd fuck off way more. (9:45) Yeah, but you wouldn't as much as you used to. (9:48) No.(9:48) That's fair. (9:49) Okay. (9:49) That's my point.(9:50) That's fair. (9:51) But I don't think it would be because I'm thinking of what am I losing by not. (9:55) It's not that.(9:56) It's not what am I losing in five years. (9:58) It's like, what am I going to regret next week? (10:03) More from me.(10:05) Genuinely. (10:06) I don't know what five years is going to look like. (10:09) I have no idea.(10:10) But you know it's going to be way better if you invest today. (10:16) Yeah, but I don't know how much better. (10:18) Well, giving one percent more today.(10:21) I have a firm belief it will pay off forever. (10:22) I just don't know how much. (10:23) I have no clue.(10:24) But you have a better idea of how much than you used to. (10:27) Yes, but I also don't know. (10:31) There's a reason when you and I, you're like, okay, I'm going to do, I'm going to pull out a financial calculator.(10:37) Yeah, a hundred percent. (10:38) I'm going to put in one dollar to start and then it's going to improve by one percent for the next 365. (10:44) What do you think the number is going to be?(10:46) Thirty-seven. (10:46) No fucking clue. (10:48) Thirty-seven.(10:49) Well, okay. (10:50) But then when you do like, okay, now it's going to be 10 years. (10:54) You got no clue.(10:57) Yeah, but you know how many times you've asked me and then I guess and it's like, nope. (11:01) It's when you take weekends off, it's actually 16,000. (11:04) And I was like, I think it'll probably be like 4 million.(11:06) Nope. (11:07) 16,000. (11:08) All right.

Alan Lazaros

(11:08) For the listeners, let me get, I can't have you doing the numbers wrong. (11:11) I can't. (11:11) It's against my life.(11:13) Real quick. (11:14) Take a dollar and a financial calculator. (11:17) Oh yeah.(11:17) Oh yeah. (11:19) Put it in there for 50 years. (11:20) Mm-hmm.(11:22) 50 times 365. (11:26) That's how many days. (11:27) Yeah.(11:27) All right. (11:28) That $1 grows into almost $84 million.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:33) If Kevin takes weekends off. (11:36) I want you to guess if you're watching or listening, I want you to guess what you think the number is going to be. (11:40) So you take just weekends off.

Alan Lazaros

(11:42) Yeah. (11:42) So I put a dollar on a financial calculator and I grow it by 0.1%, which is one 10th of one one 10th of a penny of a percent. (11:51) Okay.(11:53) Just one 10th of 1% 0.1% for 50 years. (11:56) Okay. (11:57) Boom.(11:58) Boom. (11:58) That's $84 million rounded up. (12:00) Yeah.(12:01) It's like 83 something. (12:02) Okay. (12:03) Kevin takes weekends off.(12:04) He's like, nah, fuck that noise. (12:06) I'm going to golf every weekend. (12:07) And I don't, I get a little better on the weekends.(12:10) Kevin doesn't, he gets a little worse. (12:11) No, he stays the same. (12:12) It doesn't get any better.(12:13) Okay. (12:15) You put a dollar on a financial calculator. (12:18) 52 weeks a year times five days a week, instead of seven for 50 years.(12:23) Guess how much it is.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:25) I, this is, it's like, uh, isn't it like 18,000 or something?

Alan Lazaros

(12:33) It's more than that, but it's crazy. (12:36) Yeah. (12:36) It's 439,000.(12:38) That's rounded up. (12:39) I don't understand how anybody, I have 191 times the results of you just for working two more days a week. (12:45) Right?

Kevin Palmieri

(12:46) Right. (12:48) That's why I don't take days off. (12:49) It's not because I want to work.(12:51) That's so that's pie in the sky that like that. (12:53) I know, but the concept still, you're still applying the concept. (12:57) You just aren't applying that concept.(12:59) I understand. (12:59) Understand. (13:00) But in order for the concept to be applied, it has to make logical sense.(13:04) Did that not make logical sense? (13:06) It's a logical, it's very hard for the brain. (13:08) I mean, we, we both read a book called, uh, but the numbers book algorithms to live by.(13:14) No, no, not that one.

Alan Lazaros

(13:15) The one where it's not.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:16) No, not that one. (13:17) The one where it explains making numbers count. (13:19) Yes.(13:19) That right. (13:23) That right there was high school without in Lazarus in a nutshell that it was like, if you, most people don't know the difference between a million and a billion. (13:33) All right.(13:34) All right. (13:35) In the book, it literally says that a million, it's a thousand times different. (13:39) Yeah.(13:40) But okay. (13:40) What does a thousand look like at that? (13:44) What does a thousand millions look like?(13:48) A billion. (13:49) I know, but what the fuck does that look like? (13:51) One eighth of the planet.(13:52) Okay, here you go. (13:53) This is this one eighth of the people on the planet. (13:55) There's 8 billion people, but nobody knows that.(13:58) What does one eighth of the planet look like? (14:00) I've never seen all the people on the planet in one picture. (14:02) You're going to make me break that up into eight.(14:04) There was, I don't remember what company it was. (14:07) They almost went out of business because they went from quarter pounders to third pounders and people thought they were getting less food for the same price. (14:17) That bothered me a lot.(14:18) That, so what I'm saying is stuff like this is really hard because I know the numbers bring you certainty. (14:24) That's because you understand the numbers. (14:26) Yeah, it's fair.

Alan Lazaros

(14:28) I have an AP Calc teacher. (14:29) I coach, we talk about this all the time. (14:30) We, we feel so alone in this.(14:33) It's so sad. (14:33) I can only imagine.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:35) What are, excuse me. (14:37) Be well, be well. (14:37) What are we going to name this episode based on the fact that we didn't even, we didn't even talk about anything.

Alan Lazaros

(14:42) No, no, we're doing it. (14:43) Ready? (14:43) Check this out.(14:45) Kevin wanted to talk about figuring out the best use of your time. (14:50) We're going to do a part two. (14:51) We're going to do a part two.(14:52) Oh, we have to, I have a call.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:53) Can we do it?

Alan Lazaros

(14:53) I know, we have one minute. (14:54) We got to do a part two. (14:55) In part two.(14:58) Listen, this was valuable.

Kevin Palmieri

(15:00) That was a valuable discord. (15:02) I agree. (15:02) But I think this is the first time maybe ever that we said we were going to do something and we didn't do it at all.(15:07) We just did something completely different. (15:08) This is going to be a part two. (15:09) Yeah.

Alan Lazaros

(15:10) Part two is going to be one of the things that I taught at the masterclass. (15:14) Shout out to anyone who came by the way. (15:15) That meant a lot to me.(15:16) It was great. (15:16) Appreciate you. (15:17) It was awesome.(15:18) BC, shout out to you, man. (15:20) Just going in, coach live. (15:22) Awesome.(15:22) Okay. (15:23) 3D thinking and how to choose what actually matters most long-term. (15:26) There's something called the Eisenhower matrix, urgent and important uses of your time productivity.(15:31) I call it the Eisenhower matrix on steroids for lack of better phrasing, literally, but it's essentially a 3D way to think about your time. (15:40) Doing one NLU episode was the example we were going to use. (15:42) We're going to do that in part two.(15:44) Cool. (15:45) This is good. (15:47) This is always fun.(15:48) My next masterclass, which Kevin will not be invited to after this fucking conversation, I'm kidding, is coming up on the first, it's the first Thursday of every month and we are doing it on, right now the vote that's winning is leadership. (16:03) No, it's business. (16:04) So, leadership, business, personal development, professional development, and skill acquisition.(16:08) Business is in the lead. (16:09) If you are in the masterclass, private WhatsApp group, vote, please.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:14) Boom. (16:15) All right. (16:15) We got to go.(16:15) As always, we love you. (16:16) We appreciate you. (16:17) Grateful for each and every one of you.(16:18) 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.

Alan Lazaros

(16:24) Keep reaching for your full potential.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:27) Next level university. (16:31) We love connecting with the next level family.

Alan Lazaros

(16:34) We mean it when we say family. (16:36) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (16:39) Everything you need to get a hold of us is in the show notes.(16:43) Thank you again.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:43) And we will talk to you tomorrow.