Next Level University
Success isn't a secret. It's a system and we teach it every day.
Next Level University is a top-ranked daily podcast for dream chasers, entrepreneurs, and self-improvement addicts who are ready to get real about what it takes to grow.
Hosted by Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros, this show brings raw, honest conversations about how to build a better life, love more deeply, lead with purpose, and level up in every area... from health to wealth to relationships.
With over 2,000 episodes and listeners in more than 175 countries, we combine experience, data, and deep coaching insights to help you:
- Master your mindset and habits
- Scale your effort and income
- Create deep, aligned relationships
- Stay consistent when motivation fades
- Build a life you’re proud of one day at a time
No fluff. No hype. Just real growth, every single day.
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Next Level University
What Happens Vs What It Means About You (2274)
In today’s episode of Next Level University, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros reveal why your confidence and consistency are shaped less by what happens and more by the meaning you attach to those moments. After thousands of coaching calls and nearly a decade of daily episodes, Kevin and Alan have seen how unexamined beliefs quietly influence decision-making, self-improvement, and long-term personal development. This conversation challenges the assumptions you’ve been operating from and offers a clearer lens for understanding how identity is built and reshaped over time.
If you’ve ever felt stuck, uncertain, or confused by your own reactions, this episode delivers the perspective shift you didn’t know you needed.
Learn more about:
Your first 30-minute “Business Breakthrough Session” call with Alan is FREE. This call is designed to help you identify bottlenecks and build a clear plan for your next level. - https://calendly.com/alanlazaros/30-minute-breakthrough-session
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NLU is not just a podcast; it’s a gateway to a wealth of resources designed to help you achieve your goals and dreams. From our Next Level Dreamliner to our Group Coaching, we offer a variety of tools and communities to support your personal development journey.
For more information, 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/
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Show notes:
(2:11) Kevin’s trip and the challenge of accurate self-assessment
(4:22) Confidence–humility balance and the identity “sweet spot”
(7:00) Staying grounded when success and struggle collide
(10:34) Readiness, anxiety, and growing into the next level
(15:16) The compound effect of long-term relationship capital
(17:03) When deep work finally becomes visible
(19:11) Disempowering beliefs disguised as strength
(23:03) Trendline thinking and sustainable self-belief
(30:49) Outro
Send a text to Kevin and Alan!
🎙️ 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.
Kevin Palmieri
(0:00) There are a lot of things that are going to happen to you in your lifetime, and you can either decide this means something good about me, this means something bad about me, or this doesn't really change anything about me, and I feel like the choice hopefully can be yours.
Alan Lazaros
(0:15) What is the limiting belief that has disguised itself as empowering? (0:20) Welcome to Next Level University.
Kevin Palmieri
(0:23) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri, and I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus. (0:28) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.
Alan Lazaros
(0:35) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.
Kevin Palmieri
(0:41) 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
(0:57) Self-improvement in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free. (1:03) Welcome to Next Level University.
Kevin Palmieri
(1:09) Next Level Nation, today for episode number 2274, what happens versus what it means about you. (1:18) You're going to get a steady flow of travel stories, because when I'm away, my brain is going a million miles an hour because I'm learning stuff, and maybe most importantly, I'm learning stuff about me, which is always important. (1:33) This was a really strange trip for me, because the client I came with was just talking me and us up a ton, which is just weird, and they have a very successful YouTube channel, and everybody was saying, like, what are you guys doing?(1:52) Who are you working with? (1:53) And they were just like, Kev, Kev does so much of the stuff, and the team does so much of the stuff, so shout out to the team behind the scenes. (1:59) And then Evan was like, you got to find yourself a Kev, find yourself a Kev, and they're pulling up the thumbnails that I did, and it was just really interesting.
Alan Lazaros
(2:10) Nice.
Kevin Palmieri
(2:10) And there was a point where, so Evan has a program where you can split test thumbnails. (2:19) He has his own program that'll do that, and all a split test is for you, a thumbnail is what you see on YouTube before you click on a video, and split test essentially means you create two thumbnails, and you let them compete against one another, and whichever one wins, you can then make another one and compete against that, and rinse and repeat. (2:35) And he said, it looks like you did a, you can also do title split tests.(2:42) So he pulled a thing up, and he said, it looks like you did a title split test on this, but they're the same title. (2:47) And I said, no, I removed a plus sign, because the episode was, it's like...
Alan Lazaros
(2:55) Did you know this was going to happen? (2:56) No. (2:58) And you remembered that you removed a plus sign?
Kevin Palmieri
(3:01) I dialed in with that.
Alan Lazaros
(3:03) That's awesome.
Kevin Palmieri
(3:03) I spent a lot of time.
Alan Lazaros
(3:04) Good for you, man.
Kevin Palmieri
(3:05) I spent a lot of time in that.
Alan Lazaros
(3:06) Old Kev would have shit his pants.
Kevin Palmieri
(3:09) When they pulled up that stuff, I was like, oh, Jesus, let's hope I didn't spell anything wrong here.
Alan Lazaros
(3:14) I'm going to get...
Kevin Palmieri
(3:14) That's awesome. (3:14) This is not going to be good. (3:15) But he said, it doesn't look like anything's different.(3:17) I said, I removed the plus sign. (3:19) It was something like 20 plus years of advice. (3:24) And I was like, 20 years is way more specific than 20 plus years.
Alan Lazaros
(3:28) Which one did you do better?
Kevin Palmieri
(3:29) 20 years.
Alan Lazaros
(3:30) Nice.
Kevin Palmieri
(3:31) Yeah, I removed the plus. (3:32) So, and then I called that out, and he's like, see, strong work for knowing exactly what you did. (3:36) So that was weird.(3:37) Yeah, way to go. (3:38) It was super weird. (3:39) So I guess the point of this is the point of this whole episode is I'm trying to figure out what all that means for me, to me, about me, for the future, for the past, for everything.(3:55) And I always come back in weird mindsets and mind frames after events like this, because I don't know who I am. (4:04) I don't know what I was right about and what I was wrong about. (4:06) So I think having a conversation about what that's like for you out there, it's, again, it's not going to be exactly the same thing that I'm doing, but what are the cases for you where you start to question everything you thought you knew about yourself?(4:20) I think that's a valid conversation.
Alan Lazaros
(4:22) Well, I think on one side of this, every time you replant your plant in a different pot, you come back different. (4:30) Every time. (4:31) You leave your environment, you leave your normal world, you go out on the hero's adventure, and you come back, hopefully with more understanding of yourself, others in the world.(4:40) And that's very clearly what's happening to you. (4:42) The point of this episode, though, was sort of this confidence, humility, sweet spot. (4:48) Hopefully you come back with higher self-esteem, higher self-confidence, higher self-respect, and a more accurate understanding of your value.(4:57) And how do you do that without losing the humility that got you here? (5:02) I'm always doing this in my head, and it's mental subtraction. (5:09) I've said to Kev behind the scenes, take away everything.(5:13) Take away my nice shirts, take away my tech, take away this home, take away everything, and I'm going to find a way to still make a life out of that. (5:22) Alan loves his shirts. (5:24) You know I do.(5:25) Big fan of these. (5:26) And again, I want to share this. (5:31) When my stepdad left, we shopped at Salvation Army, and I always had hand-me-down shirts.(5:36) I got free lunch at school, and we were broke as a joke. (5:40) Didn't have cable, and how do we keep the house and the family? (5:43) So for me, this is nice.(5:47) It's real nice. (5:49) Yeah, I can afford shirts. (5:50) It's real nice.(5:51) Now, that's neither here nor there. (5:53) At the never was doing it for that reason. (5:57) It's all just gravy.(5:58) But at the end of the day, how do you stay humble amongst success? (6:04) And how do you stay confident when you're fucking losing?
Kevin Palmieri
(6:08) I think the staying humble amongst success, you have to screw it up a few times. (6:19) I think that's the only way to really do it. (6:22) At least for me, I've had times where something good would happen, and I was like, I'm the fucking man.(6:27) I am the man. (6:28) And then very quickly, honestly, this is the truth. (6:33) I'll give you the 100% truth.(6:36) This morning was terrible. (6:38) I was putting out fires all morning. (6:40) I was talking to the team about some things that have not been good.(6:45) We've had some underperformances. (6:47) The morning was fucking terrible. (6:49) That's probably the best way to explain it.(6:53) So yeah, I had a great day. (6:56) But the morning wasn't good. (6:57) The morning was humbling.(6:59) The morning was grounding. (7:00) The morning was realistic. (7:01) It's you might have a really good workout, or you might win the championship, and then you go home and have an argument with your partner.(7:09) It's like that's one fucking quick way not to get arrogant. (7:12) You don't very rarely does everything line up to the point where you can lose sight of how easy it is to make a mistake. (7:19) So I think that's one piece.(7:22) And then the other piece is you have to understand that long after the good feelings go away, that's when you have to deliver on the things that were created for you. (7:36) So let's say we get a big client, which is a very realistic potential here. (7:42) In three months, when I feel like shit, and I don't want to do it, and I'm having doubts because I'm not sure I can help, that's going to be the real thing.(7:55) So I think it's just the highlight real thing.
Alan Lazaros
(7:58) So I want to ask you stuff, because again, this is big differences in your life right now. (8:06) This is different. (8:07) So we talked last week.
Kevin Palmieri
(8:10) Real quick, isn't it weird how nothing has actually happened though? (8:14) Nothing like externally making the same amount of money, same amount of clients. (8:20) Nothing is different.(8:22) If anything, I kind of feel less successful, honestly. (8:26) Really? (8:26) Kind of.
Alan Lazaros
(8:28) Because I'm not around. (8:29) No, because I'm not home. (8:31) Yeah.(8:32) And you're not productive. (8:32) Yeah. (8:32) Yeah.(8:33) Not as productive.
Kevin Palmieri
(8:33) You're not grounded in your routine. (8:35) Yeah. (8:35) I haven't updated my, Alan messaged me today, yesterday and said, Hey man, can you update your PPT?(8:39) No, dude, I can't. (8:41) I said hashtag flying blind. (8:42) You are flying blind.(8:43) I feel so unproductive, but also extremely productive at the same time, which is a different way. (8:50) And it's very weird.
Alan Lazaros
(8:51) We're holding down the fort. (8:52) Christina and I, the team, we got you.
Kevin Palmieri
(8:54) I appreciate it. (8:54) I appreciate it.
Alan Lazaros
(8:55) We're holding down the fort. (8:55) You're doing what you're supposed to do. (8:56) Chief sales officer.(8:58) I'm out here doing it. (8:58) You're a man of the people. (9:00) It seems to be.(9:00) You're doing what you, you build trust. (9:02) You're doing great. (9:02) It seems to be.(9:03) Killing it. (9:04) Okay. (9:05) What was my question?(9:06) Yeah. (9:06) So we did an episode earlier this week or the week before, I forget which listeners that are long-term you'll, you'll hopefully remember. (9:13) We talked about how, if your awareness and your skills do not exceed the level you're at, you feel kind of scared and trapped.
Kevin Palmieri
(9:24) Yeah.
Alan Lazaros
(9:25) And you talked about how going to the next level, taking a risk before you're ready increases necessity. (9:31) And then you find a way to swim. (9:33) And I said, it'd be much better if you just trained at swimming.(9:35) And then when something bad happened, you could actually jump in the ocean type of thing. (9:40) I feel, and I could be wrong, but I want to hear from you. (9:42) And again, I haven't talked to Kev almost at all while he's on this trip, other than in WhatsApp.(9:48) I feel like you're prepared. (9:50) I mean, they pull up your YouTube thumbnails and you're, you're out here killing it. (9:55) I feel like you're prepared.(9:56) I feel like you, okay. (9:58) In the past. (9:59) And again, I love the fact that we've been working together for so long.(10:02) And the fact that we grew up in the same town and went to high school together and middle school together because I get to see the whole freaking trajectory of Kevin. (10:09) And I think there's a lot of lessons in that. (10:13) Didn't have a dad, didn't believe in himself, you know, blue collar, didn't think he'd be successful, all stuff.(10:21) Now it's so interesting because when I, when Kevin and I first started working together in March of 2017, I think it was a little after that, but, um, the hyperconscious podcast conversations, changed lives, teamed up, all that. (10:34) I would kind of drag you to certain networking events, like the, the password Island down the Cape and all this stuff.
Kevin Palmieri
(10:42) I had a date that day. (10:43) I had a date. (10:44) I turned the date down to go to the Island party.
Alan Lazaros
(10:46) Do I know who it was with? (10:48) Yes. (10:49) Can you give me a first letter?
Kevin Palmieri
(10:51) S.
Alan Lazaros
(10:53) Do I know who that is?
Kevin Palmieri
(10:55) Yes. (10:56) Yeah, of course.
Alan Lazaros
(10:57) Oh, Hey, I'm glad you turned it down also. (11:01) I'm good. (11:02) All right.(11:02) So inside jokes, Kevin and I, so we went to a bunch of different things. (11:06) We lived in Florida and you know, the business launch house. (11:10) And, uh, we went to Arizona, Brendan Burchard event, blah, blah, blah, blah, all this stuff.(11:14) And we went to the sort of private Island networking event, all this stuff. (11:17) And you used to struggle with anxiety and panic attacks. (11:21) I think in hindsight, we were, we were, you know, you're in Brent pin vidics house and you're in Malibu and you're in infinity pool and all these different cool stories that you've heard over the years.(11:32) If you're a long-term listener. (11:32) And I realized I just condensed years into one freaking sentence that probably made no sense, but to Kevin does, I think the reason you had so much anxiety is because you were, you were so far beyond what you were ready for. (11:46) And now it feels like you're ready.(11:48) It doesn't feel like this is that anxiety written because you're ready. (11:51) You were ready to be in that room.
Kevin Palmieri
(11:53) No, you're ready to be in that room yet to a degree. (11:56) But I will tell you last night, it's a mix of things because there's just so much behind the scenes with self-belief without me knowing about it. (12:03) No, no, not self-belief.(12:05) It's more, I'm just overwhelmed last night. (12:09) I went to bed at nine o'clock. (12:12) I fell asleep.(12:13) It was amazing. (12:14) I woke up at 11 and I didn't go back to bed until three. (12:18) Cause I just, my brain was just going and not like bad things.(12:22) Just like, Oh shit, this has to get done. (12:24) And this has to get done in order for this to get done, this, this, this, and that. (12:27) And it's just like, when am I going to do that though?(12:31) It's not going to happen tonight.
Alan Lazaros
(12:32) It's not going to happen tomorrow, but identity wise, you feel ready. (12:36) You don't feel ready for being on this trip and running the company. (12:40) That definitely not.(12:41) Okay. (12:41) But you do feel ready to be in the room without the company, like just you as a human being.
Kevin Palmieri
(12:46) If I didn't have to worry about WhatsApp, it would be not, it would be pretty easy. (12:52) Honestly, it wouldn't be.
Alan Lazaros
(12:53) Isn't that so different than the past when it was like, I guess, but I didn't think of it that way. (12:58) Cause that's never going to happen. (13:00) You know, I think it's pretty cool.(13:03) You've become your, his skills and awareness talking about Kev while he's here, your skills and awareness are actually higher than that room requires.
Kevin Palmieri
(13:14) Yeah. (13:14) But I don't ever feel, I'd always feel like I'm losing anyway because it's, I know, I know.
Alan Lazaros
(13:20) I'm not trying to lessen that. (13:21) I just, it's very different than in the past when it's you're kind of freaking out inside.
Kevin Palmieri
(13:28) Yeah.
Alan Lazaros
(13:28) It's almost like it's flipped.
Kevin Palmieri
(13:30) Maybe I, maybe I just haven't recognized it yet because I am still in it. (13:35) And again, like I just have stuff. (13:38) I have so much stuff to do.(13:40) Just, there's just so many things, which is great. (13:43) I mean, we have so many opportunities. (13:44) It's amazing.
Alan Lazaros
(13:44) Do you feel like a fish out of water there or do you feel like you belong? (13:48) Cause remember when you went to the Brendan Burchard event and you were afraid that you wouldn't belong and you did belong, you actually were like ahead of a lot of the audience. (13:57) And I went thinking I was a great speaker until I saw Brendan Burchard speak.(14:00) And I realized I had a long way to go and you and I, I went optimistic and I got humble pie. (14:06) You went pessimistic and you got confidence. (14:09) And then when you came back, you came back confident.(14:13) I came back humble and that moment happened. (14:16) So what do you think is going to happen this time? (14:19) That's the point of this is for everyone out there watching or listening, you're always going to get either more confident or humble pie every time you go out into the world.(14:29) I think I have trouble believing the hype.
Kevin Palmieri
(14:33) Honestly, this, this is very honest. (14:34) And again, this is fresh. (14:35) I haven't thought about this.(14:38) It's kind of like cheating because I know Evan and because my client said really good things. (14:43) So it's not even real. (14:45) It is based on a body of work, but it wouldn't.(14:50) You know what I mean? (14:51) As opposed to what though? (14:53) Nobody having any idea who I am then, then, then figuring it out and then, then doing it.(15:01) It's almost like, I feel like I didn't really have to work that hard at it.
Alan Lazaros
(15:06) So I would be lying. (15:08) I mean, but let's connect the dots looking backwards, right? (15:11) You met Evan, but can you just, that's weird.
Kevin Palmieri
(15:15) That's weird. (15:16) Yeah. (15:16) Yeah.(15:16) We that's the compound effect though. (15:18) Well, I'm never, I've never, the only thing I ever did the compound effect with well was fitness. (15:24) So that I understand, but I, I mean, I never really like things are starting to make sense from, from that perspective.(15:32) So we interviewed Evan 2019 maybe, and we interviewed him virtually. (15:39) He said he was going to give us 20 minutes, stayed with, stayed with us for an hour. (15:42) And he told that story a bunch of times this weekend, which is nice.(15:45) Well, that was awesome. (15:46) And he said, hi. (15:47) And he's like, what's Alan up to?(15:48) I say, he's grinding his face off most likely. (15:50) So I can be here. (15:51) What up Ev?(15:52) What up Ev? (15:54) He stayed for an hour. (15:55) He, he invited us to interview him in Toronto.(15:58) We did it. (15:59) We drove up on a whim. (16:00) We drove 10 hours, did it again.(16:03) Then we had him speak at one of our events. (16:06) Then he invited me up to keynote this mastermind a year and a half ago. (16:11) So him and I, and then he's like, you know, we talked through Instagram, we're buddies at this point, which is awesome.(16:15) It's cool. (16:15) And weird, super weird. (16:17) So we have history and he likes me and he likes to give me opportunities and elevate me, which I'm super grateful for.(16:23) And then my client is just a good dude. (16:26) He's a good human. (16:27) So he was elevating me.(16:29) So I just think it was.
Alan Lazaros
(16:30) Yeah. (16:31) But that's all the work you've done to this point. (16:33) Like if you didn't do a good job with that client and didn't do a great job with Evan, like every one of those seeds grew into what you now are experiencing.(16:42) I just don't know what to feel about it yet. (16:45) Yeah. (16:45) And I'm not asking you to, Hey, tell us how you feel.(16:47) Like, that's not my point. (16:48) My point is, is it's cool to have you go from scared to go to a networking event to now running one in a way, not running it, but you know what I'm saying? (16:59) It's just, it's just cool.(17:00) I love it. (17:01) I love to see the fucking people reach their full potential.
Kevin Palmieri
(17:03) This is well, I think the whole point of this is the deep work, the dark, the dark work behind the scenes, it will come to light eventually. (17:14) It's just a matter of how long it takes and who sees it. (17:17) And I think the, the interesting thing is there are certain people that will see it faster than others.
Alan Lazaros
(17:21) Yeah, for sure.
Kevin Palmieri
(17:22) Evan saw it early on and, and, and he's, he's really tried to elevate it. (17:28) He saw the commitment.
Alan Lazaros
(17:29) He saw the, the, the dedication.
Kevin Palmieri
(17:31) Yeah.
Alan Lazaros
(17:32) Yep.
Kevin Palmieri
(17:32) And still to this day, like he would, he taught something and I was already doing it. (17:38) Like, that's just the way, you know, I like to learn something and do it, but. (17:42) Nice.(17:43) So did he bring up the thumbnail? (17:45) No, he didn't bring up the thumbnail. (17:46) Nice.(17:46) What was your, what was your main takeaway? (17:49) I want to make sure we, we get.
Alan Lazaros
(17:50) Yeah, so Emilia at Evolve does a lot of the inner work and they did Evolve Movie Club. (17:57) If anyone wants to join Evolve Movie Club, DM me, DM Emilia. (18:01) And if you go to my Instagram, she'll be all over So send her a DM, say, Hey, I would love to join Evolve Movie Club.(18:07) BC was there actually. (18:08) Shout out to BC. (18:09) He came and they had a really, we did Wicked 2 and they pulled up a digital asset that I thought was really powerful about the inner work.(18:18) And really what it comes down to is your identity and your belief systems about yourself. (18:23) And in Movie Club, they picked Inside Out 2. (18:29) It's a Pixar movie.(18:30) If you haven't seen it, most people have, but it's the first one's great. (18:33) The one's better, I think. (18:35) And there's something in the movie.(18:37) I don't want to spoil it, but there's an identity tree. (18:39) So there's these core memories that get put into this pool and they form this belief system identity tree. (18:45) And Riley, the character in the film has an identity.(18:48) I'm a good person. (18:49) And then anxiety comes in and starts to freak it out and destroy some of her identity. (18:56) And now she's like, I'm a bad friend and all this kind of stuff.(18:59) So I don't want to give away the movie, but ultimately what's the disempowering belief that has disguised itself as empowering is one of my favorite questions of all time, because people would think confidence is important. (19:11) Overconfidence is not. (19:14) So if you suddenly come home cocky, we're screwed.(19:19) So you've already overridden that in your own head, you told me.
Kevin Palmieri
(19:25) I tried. (19:26) Yeah. (19:26) I had the moment of like, okay, none of this is real.(19:30) It's not that it's not as real as you think it is. (19:33) I know you feel like it is.
Alan Lazaros
(19:34) I know you, yeah, I know you feel like it's what would rookie version of you do? (19:38) Cause I mean, much less good things happened in the past. (19:41) You came back temporarily cocky and we've all been guilty of that.(19:45) I think it's because I believed it never would happen.
Kevin Palmieri
(19:47) And this, it was like, I mean, you and even you and I had a conversation before and I was like, I'm just going to go be me and meet people and try to add value. (19:56) And you know, whatever happens, happens cool. (19:59) So it wasn't, I think so many other things I went into thinking it was, it had to be a big thing.(20:05) And if it wasn't a big thing, it wasn't a thing at all. (20:07) And then this, it was like, I just want this to be a thing. (20:09) I don't, I don't care what happens, which is weird.(20:13) That's the whole, that's the whole detached from the outcome thing that we've talked about in the past where I have a takeaway.
Alan Lazaros
(20:21) I'm sorry to interrupt you, but you struggle with the opposite. (20:27) You went to podfest once and we're struggling on a park bench. (20:31) Yeah.(20:31) I was very upset. (20:33) What a waste of money. (20:35) No.(20:35) So that was, I was, I was charged.
Kevin Palmieri
(20:38) Yeah. (20:39) I just went to the chocolate store. (20:40) I'm sitting on a bench crying right now.(20:42) So how's your day going?
Alan Lazaros
(20:43) You call, I ended up calling you immediately. (20:46) And I were on a walk. (20:46) We were charging the Tesla and I talked to Kev.(20:49) It was a, that was a, a different, I think that you struggle on the, so the drive to five is 10 out of 10 is overconfident zero out of 10. (20:58) You don't believe in yourself at all. (21:00) And I think you struggle to climb out of zero, but I don't, I think you're better at staying humble than you are climbing out of lack of confidence.(21:09) Whereas I think I'm the opposite where in, in the past, I think I've gotten better at this, but in the past, I feel like I could go, I could get my ass kicked and get up and crank the next day. (21:21) Like, well, let's go.
Kevin Palmieri
(21:22) It is the identity for me. (21:24) It's like, it's downhill from here. (21:26) You know, like it's going to tomorrow, you're going to wake up and there's going to be another fire to put out that I literally, when you were on that, I opened my what's it's nine 42.(21:36) Nobody's messaging me on WhatsApp. (21:37) I literally opened, I had to look. (21:41) I literally, while you were talking, I opened my WhatsApp.(21:44) I, I, I'm not saying that's healthy either though. (21:46) That's the thing.
Alan Lazaros
(21:47) Yeah.
Kevin Palmieri
(21:47) Well, I mean, there's a fine line.
Alan Lazaros
(21:49) Every listener out there probably struggles with one or the other. (21:51) Which one do you struggle with more? (21:53) Do you struggle to keep your self-esteem and self-confidence when you're down?(21:58) For me, I feel like that comes naturally for me. (22:01) I got to worry and focus on when things are going well, don't get cocky, never, ever get cocky. (22:07) Like stay the course.(22:08) Don't you dare let any of this go to your head. (22:10) Stay humble, stay the course, stay humble, stay the course. (22:12) It is not anything other than the compound effects, fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.(22:16) Because the moment you get cocky, you start making poor choices. (22:22) You start taking people for granted. (22:23) You start getting a fucking big head.(22:25) And, and I think everyone struggles with one or the other. (22:28) We all need to stay centered. (22:30) We all need to stay confident and humble simultaneously, but I think we all struggle with one or the other.(22:35) For me, I have to work on humility. (22:37) I feel like it comes pretty easy to you for the most part. (22:40) And I think you have to focus on staying confident when things are tough.(22:43) I have an answer. (22:44) This is my answer.
Kevin Palmieri
(22:44) Okay. (22:45) You'll have to explain this in math terms and then we'll get out of here. (22:48) I know, I know this might seem like a new high, but the new high will go down to a low.(22:57) The low just won't be as low as it's been before. (22:59) And the trend line will be up into the right, that. (23:03) So it might be the highest it's been in a minute.(23:06) Tomorrow, it won't be most likely. (23:08) I'm not saying it's gonna go all the way down, but I, yeah, I understand this energy and this abundance in this, whatever it is, is finite and it will go back to normal. (23:22) Like Cinderella, the glass slipper.
Alan Lazaros
(23:26) Yeah. (23:26) What will you take? (23:28) Because some of it shapes you and changes you.(23:30) It's not like it all goes. (23:32) I, I have a new level of macro self-belief.
Kevin Palmieri
(23:37) Yes. (23:37) Because so much of what I've been doing and saying behind the scenes has proved to be correct. (23:44) Yeah.(23:45) So it's like, oh, oh, I was right about that. (23:48) Okay, cool. (23:50) Is sometimes you just need someone ahead of you to tell you you're right about the thing that you didn't know you were right about.(23:56) And then I think it allows you to take a shot and say, ah, okay, so what else am I right about? (24:04) Is there, there's gotta be other things. (24:05) And when I say right, I just mean like accurate, optimal on par with.
Alan Lazaros
(24:10) So if anyone out there is struggling with self-confidence and self-belief and self-efficacy, my coaching is designed to keep you centered. (24:19) I was just on with a client earlier today. (24:22) And when she gets a big head, I kind of check her.(24:26) And when she is struggling, I lift her up and believe in her. (24:30) And ultimately it's my job as a coach to keep you centered, to keep you in the sweet spot. (24:35) It's called the challenge skills, sweet spot.(24:37) If you think you're awesome, we're going to up the ante and we're going to grow. (24:39) If you are struggle bus, barely, you know, able to hit your goals, we're going to lower the target. (24:44) Make sure you build self-belief.(24:47) I've worked for years and years and years. (24:49) I have currently 24 people on my roster. (24:51) I want to coach.(24:52) It's my favorite work in the world. (24:54) If you want to start grow, scale a business, please reach out to me. (24:58) The first one is free.(24:59) If you've never done a free one with me, the link will be in the show notes, 30 minutes free. (25:04) And essentially it's my job to help you achieve your goals and reverse engineer your finish lines. (25:10) I have 24 people on my roster right now.(25:12) I genuinely believe and want to have 30 people on my roster in 2026. (25:19) And I believe that I can do that without the quality of my coaching, taking a hit. (25:26) I love leading leaders.(25:28) I love this work. (25:29) I want to help you reach your full potential. (25:30) I want to get to 30.(25:32) And so, and I don't think that will hurt the quality of my work at all. (25:36) I believe I can handle 30 clients without the quality, taking a hit. (25:40) That means there's six spots left.(25:42) Please link in the show notes, give it a shot. (25:44) I promise you it's more affordable than you think.
Kevin Palmieri
(25:47) I want to do something a little different. (25:48) If you're out there and you resonate with what we talked about today, maybe from my perspective, reach out, reach out. (25:55) Because I think one of the things that I always aspired and still aspire to do is to talk to people from the perspective of, I know if you're out there, I know you know what it's like to look at somebody and say, I, they have no fucking clue what it's like to be me and doubt myself.(26:15) So if you've ever felt like you're in that bucket, reach out because I probably understand you more than you think I do, especially based on the history.
Alan Lazaros
(26:24) Do you think people think that you've, you don't know what it's like to doubt yourself?
Kevin Palmieri
(26:31) I have no idea. (26:33) I would not even know how to gauge that. (26:34) Probably not.(26:35) I mean, if you look at my story, I'm walking around Toronto. (26:38) It looks like I'm living the dream. (26:41) And again, I am right.(26:42) There's, I don't know. (26:45) The self doubt is usually behind the scenes, not in person. (26:50) It's usually like after the noise.
Alan Lazaros
(26:52) Would you reach out to you?
Kevin Palmieri
(26:55) I don't know. (26:57) I think I'd be scared.
Alan Lazaros
(26:59) I think I'd probably be scared. (27:00) What would, what would you need to say to you to not be scared? (27:07) What would I say to me to not be scared?(27:10) Cause I'd say something like fortune cookie, one courageous moment can change your entire life.
Kevin Palmieri
(27:20) Honestly, you'll probably have a bigger impact on me than I'll have on you. (27:25) That. (27:27) Yeah.(27:28) You might get nothing out of it other than like a conversation. (27:33) Honestly, I might not, I might not know what to say. (27:37) I might not say the right thing.(27:39) I might not know exactly what to say, but I'm, I don't know. (27:42) I feel like I might get more out of it than you. (27:46) And that would help you hold you.
Alan Lazaros
(27:47) Yeah. (27:48) Cause I loved helping people. (27:50) Right.(27:50) Nice. (27:51) Still to this day, we've been getting a lot of these Spotify and I'm not sharing all of them. (27:56) I, a lot of my clients have reached out and just shown on Spotify that NLU is one of their top podcasts.(28:02) As a matter of fact, we've gotten the top spot with several people. (28:05) So I just want to say thank you for anyone who we show up on your top podcast for Spotify, please reach out and let us know. (28:11) Seriously.(28:12) Like DM us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, do Instagram. (28:15) Please do it.
Kevin Palmieri
(28:16) I know we complain. (28:17) I'm behind busy. (28:18) I know we complain about how busy and overwhelmed we are, but that doesn't mean we don't want to hear from you.(28:21) I promise.
Alan Lazaros
(28:21) We want to hear from our listeners. (28:22) A hundred percent. (28:23) Yeah.(28:23) Please, please reach out, especially on Instagram. (28:26) Instagram is the best place. (28:27) Uh, LinkedIn, I just cannot promise I'm going to get back to you right away.
Kevin Palmieri
(28:31) Don't ever, if you need anything from me ever, do not message me on LinkedIn under any circumstance. (28:36) It's no, I'm never going to get back to it. (28:38) I'm the worst on LinkedIn.(28:39) I don't even belong there. (28:41) I was forced to make a profile and never done a professional job in my life. (28:46) What the fuck are we doing here on LinkedIn?(28:47) You know what I mean? (28:47) What are we doing?
Alan Lazaros
(28:48) Everyone at that networking event probably has a LinkedIn man.
Kevin Palmieri
(28:52) Well, that's fair. (28:53) Don't message me there.
Alan Lazaros
(28:55) Okay. (28:56) I connect with podcasters all the time on LinkedIn. (28:58) Yeah, but you're a LinkedIn guy.(29:00) I don't know about that, but I would say for professional development, LinkedIn is the way, but please Instagram for listeners. (29:07) Instagram is the way. (29:08) Yeah.(29:08) DM Kev on Instagram. (29:09) He will get back to you.
Kevin Palmieri
(29:10) There's a reason I don't like talking at colleges. (29:13) Cause I'm going to tell everybody to drop out. (29:16) Like I'm not the guy.(29:18) I'm not the guy say, Hey, look, is your professor in here? (29:21) No. (29:22) Why don't we all just get the fuck out of here?(29:23) Go chase our dreams. (29:24) You know, we don't need this.
Alan Lazaros
(29:26) I'm on a panel at WPI coming up and I was thinking about my story and our story and that's what they're having me to just share our story. (29:37) It's just interesting. (29:38) And I was thinking about what do I want to share?(29:41) Like, what's the important takeaway? (29:42) What would we need to hear? (29:43) And I can't really ask that question because for sure you and I are very weird.(29:49) What would we want to hear? (29:51) It's, I don't know. (29:52) I don't know if that's the right question to ask, but anyways, what's the empowering belief that has disguised?(29:58) No. (29:58) What's the disempowering belief that has disguised itself as empowering? (30:01) Meaning maybe you're too confident.(30:04) Maybe you're too humble. (30:06) Maybe you're it's, it's an empowering belief that's actually holding you back. (30:12) That is one of my favorite questions of all time.(30:15) I'm telling you, everybody's got a belief that other people rave about. (30:20) You got to believe in yourself and shoot for the moon, land amongst the stars, like that might be hurting you. (30:25) So last, last, last, what is the disempowering belief that has disguised itself as empowering?(30:32) It's a friendly reminder.
Kevin Palmieri
(30:33) If you shoot for the moon and miss, you're dead. (30:35) You die. (30:36) You know, you can't land in the stars.(30:39) It's not real. (30:39) It doesn't work that way. (30:40) You can't.(30:41) You ever tried, you ever seen somebody trying to land on a star? (30:43) No, not personally. (30:44) No.(30:45) It's hot as shit. (30:46) Burn you right up. (30:47) Dumb.(30:49) As always, we love you. (30:50) Appreciate you. (30:51) Grateful for each and every one of you.(30:52) 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
(31:00) Keep leveling up to your true potential. (31:03) Next level nation.
Kevin Palmieri
(31:04) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (31:08) We love connecting with the Next Level family.
Alan Lazaros
(31:11) We mean it when we say family. (31:13) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (31:16) Everything you need to get ahold of us is in the show notes.(31:20) Thank you again, and we will talk to you tomorrow.
