Personal Development Is The Glue (2287)

What if the biggest driver of self-improvement is the one thing you barely notice while it’s working?

In this episode, Kevin and Alan draw from their own years of daily execution, coaching, and thousands of recorded conversations to explain why personal development shapes consistency and decision-making long before results appear. They share how looking back at earlier versions of themselves revealed the real impact of small, repeated habits and disciplined inputs. This is a grounded conversation about awareness, identity, and why progress often only becomes obvious in hindsight.

Audit your daily inputs. They are quietly building the person you will have to live with.

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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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To support this event, you can donate here: https://gofund.me/5c6abcf7f

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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:
(1:13) Personal development is the invisible advantage
(2:06) What high-level leadership actually looks like
(3:21) Growth comes from doing what you avoid
(4:29) Why small daily inputs compound over time
(9:37) The personal development set point explained
(13:15) Competence is what opens every door
(20:06) 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

• 1:13 Personal development is the invisible advantage
• 2:06 What high-level leadership actually looks like
• 3:21 Growth comes from doing what you avoid
• 4:29 Why small daily inputs compound over time
• 9:37 The personal development set point explained
• 13:15 Competence is what opens every door
• 20:06 Outro

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:01) Unfortunately, some of the most valuable things that we experience as humans, or some of the most valuable things that we learn as humans, we do not understand the value until we lose it or we stop doing it. (0:12) Again, I didn't set it up that way. (0:14) It's just the way it is sometimes.

Alan Lazaros

(0:16) Yeah, it provides tons of perspective. (0:18) You don't know the true value of someone or something until you lose it.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:24) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:27) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:28) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.(0:32) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven, but no-BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:38) 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. (1:07) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:13) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2,287, Personal Development is the Glue. (1:18) That might be the least sexy title of this podcast ever of all time. (1:24) Disagree strongly.(1:25) You like it? (1:26) Yeah, of course, personal development is the glue. (1:28) In fact, I had an experience today that showed me it was the glue.(1:35) I'll keep things anonymous and probably pretty high level because I want to respect anonymity. (1:39) That's a tough word to say. (1:41) I was on site with a client today and where their studio is in their building, it's like way away from everything else.(1:49) So it's on the second floor in the opposite corner of where everything else is. (1:52) So it's relatively private. (1:54) There's like no foot traffic through there.(1:57) And I was setting up the lights. (1:59) I was finishing the cameras. (2:00) And the owner was having a conversation with one of the workers there.(2:06) And it was a, I'll say it was a gentle redirection. (2:11) The person wasn't getting their stuff done to the degree that they were supposed to be getting it done and they were working together to figure out how to solve the problem. (2:18) And it was just a really good leadership scenario where the owner of the company was very supportive and very kind and very empowering and painting a picture of a brighter future.(2:31) And I had a moment where I was like, he's just, he's really good at business, but he also very clearly has done a lot of personal development work. (2:39) Nice.

Alan Lazaros

(2:42) And I don't know, maybe. (2:44) How do you know that? (2:45) What are the indicators?(2:46) What are the visible signs?

Kevin Palmieri

(2:50) Great emotional intelligence. (2:52) Love it. (2:54) Very clearly understands energy.(2:56) And like he gets, he understands a vibe when he gets a vibe from someone. (3:00) Right. (3:01) For lack of better phrasing.(3:04) Growth mindset.

Alan Lazaros

(3:05) We literally talked about feel forward today. (3:08) Tangible. (3:09) You're always the one challenging me to make it tangible.(3:12) What's something that someone could actually witness? (3:13) Because you're right. (3:14) High EQ, growth mindset, vibe.(3:17) What are you witnessing though? (3:19) Like if we were in the room, what did you see?

Kevin Palmieri

(3:21) He did things that he was afraid of doing because he knows that's how you grow. (3:28) That literally said, like literally said to the person who's having a conversation with, I'm about to go in this room right now and do something I'm terrified to do. (3:35) Cause I know that's what I have to do in order to grow.(3:38) That, that's not something you just say. (3:40) That's something that you learn over time and then you start practicing it. (3:44) And then you connect when I did that in this thing, it paid off.(3:48) And then I did it in another place and it paid off. (3:50) So I don't know. (3:52) It's just starting to make a lot more sense to me where, I mean, I've worked with some people in the past for sure that just never practiced personal development.(4:01) And while they may have been good at one thing, they just didn't have the competency to carry that over to other things. (4:09) That was a conversation I had with this client today. (4:11) I said, it's one of the interesting things about working with a very successful business owner is you're very competent.(4:18) So your personal development set point is very high. (4:20) So my ability to give you feedback and my ability to lead you is way different than it might be with other people. (4:25) And it's just a very, it was a very unique breakthrough for me today.(4:29) And I thought doing an episode on it, because I think it's easy for us to think, well, I'm only reading 10 pages. (4:34) It doesn't really matter that much. (4:35) It matters more than you think it does.(4:38) It matters more than you, just like if you listen to 10 minutes of an artist every day, let's say it's 10 minutes of Taylor Swift every day. (4:46) By the end of the year, you're gonna have a really good idea of who Taylor Swift is. (4:49) And you're going to know way more about Taylor Swift than I am.(4:53) Personal development is the same thing. (4:55) You're going to know way more about habits. (4:56) If you listen to 10 minutes of a habit podcast or listen to Atomic Habits for 10 minutes a day or NLU every day, you're going to be way further ahead in that thing.(5:07) And then you're not going to feel like it almost at all until you stop doing it and or see a past version of yourself. (5:14) And that is my thesis. (5:16) I can't say that.(5:16) That is my perspective in today's episode.

Alan Lazaros

(5:20) We don't talk about this enough, in my opinion, because I guess it's boring, but I'm pretty sure I've read every day for the last 11 years. (5:29) I believe it. (5:30) Yeah, I use Audible always, every day.(5:36) Yeah, every day, sometimes multiple times a day. (5:39) I'm trying to think if there's ever a time where I didn't. (5:43) In the last 11 years, it would be a very, very strong rarity for me not to have opened Audible.(5:49) I wish I had stats on that. (5:50) But anyways, why does that matter? (5:52) Last night, I was reading Stephen Hawking before bed.(5:55) Two reasons. (5:56) One, I want to get smarter. (5:57) And two, it's boring as shit, so I'll fall asleep.(6:01) But the truth is, is all that stuff expands who you are. (6:06) One of the things that I think is very noticeable when you get around certain people, their world is really small. (6:16) And I think that books and podcasts and travel and meeting people and networking and trying new things and chasing goals and dreams, all of these things force you to expand who you are.(6:34) And then when you get around people who haven't been doing that, it is pretty drastic, honestly.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:42) Yeah. (6:42) I think if anything, this episode is a really good suggestion that even if it doesn't feel like you're doing well at this, if you're doing it consistently, you're doing way better than you think. (6:51) It's very hard to fuck up learning.(6:54) I know, is it optimal to do it in a certain way? (6:58) No. (6:58) But if you're doing it, you're doing roughly 100% more than somebody who's not doing it.(7:02) And it really, really carries over. (7:04) It carries over. (7:07) I think sometimes you need a unique experience for yourself to realize that.(7:13) For yourself, for you, whatever. (7:16) That. (7:17) I'm having a lot of those lately.(7:18) Sorry.

Alan Lazaros

(7:19) No, no. (7:19) I'm sorry. (7:20) How dare I?(7:23) No, but I think we do lose sight as adults of how much. (7:27) So I went on a neuroscience TED talk binge where every morning I would wake up, do my protein, my cereal, and I would watch on the big screen a TED talk. (7:39) And I would just type in neuroscience TED talk and whatever came up.(7:42) Some of them are shitty and some of them are great. (7:45) Most of them were pretty strong. (7:48) And here's what I know for sure.(7:51) That is, first of all, I know a lot more about neuroscience than most people now. (7:58) Number two, it's going to be a hell of a lot more informative than most of the shit I could watch. (8:04) And number three, now I know a ton about how the brain works.(8:07) Okay. (8:08) And it's not like I didn't before. (8:09) I've always been obsessed with neuroscience.(8:10) But why does that matter? (8:13) There's no tangible thing you can say, Oh, Alan knows how the brain works. (8:18) Okay.(8:19) Who cares? (8:21) What? (8:21) So he can talk about it?(8:22) No, I. (8:24) How do we make it land? (8:26) Why that actually is practically important?

Kevin Palmieri

(8:29) Because when you understand one thing at a deeper level, you essentially understand everything at a little bit of a deeper level.

Alan Lazaros

(8:38) That when we, when I posted the clip of you and I almost nine years ago. (8:45) Yes. (8:46) You said wild exclamation point.(8:48) Was your response? (8:50) Yes. (8:51) What did you think?(8:52) I need you to be as real as humanly possible with me right now. (8:55) This is, I need this. (8:57) I live for this.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:58) What did I think? (8:59) How hard was it for you to listen to that clip? (9:02) Oh, impossible.(9:03) Yeah, no, it's terrible. (9:06) Terrible, painful, embarrassing, ashamed. (9:09) Isn't the right word.(9:10) Cause I, again, I'm, I'm proud of the fact that we were doing it, but it's garbage. (9:13) I mean, that's not, that's not high quality content.

Alan Lazaros

(9:15) What do you end? (9:16) What about your consciousness back then? (9:18) Cause that's what jumps off the page for me is your personal development set point.(9:22) Yes. (9:22) And dude, well shit.

Kevin Palmieri

(9:23) But I think here's the, this, and again, I'm not pumping our tires. (9:27) But I think I probably had a higher personal development set point than the average person. (9:33) Even at that point.(9:33) That is wild to think about.

Alan Lazaros

(9:35) That's why it matters. (9:37) Compared to you now, you were an ignorant child. (9:40) And again, you were still great.(9:43) You were 26, whatever. (9:44) It's all good. (9:45) I don't mean to be unkind.(9:46) It's just when you do personal development every day for nine years, for me, 11, for you, probably nine, it's coming up on it. (9:56) It compounds so much. (10:01) Watching those clips changes my fucking life because it's such good perspective.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:08) I just think, I honestly, the, the thing, the thing I think jumps off the page the most is there's no way I could possibly have my current life with that awareness. (10:20) That like there is no possibility.

Alan Lazaros

(10:23) Yeah. (10:23) Agreed.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:24) I could have all the things I have with that level of awareness. (10:27) Not possible. (10:28) No way.(10:29) Agreed.

Alan Lazaros

(10:29) Don't know how to create it. (10:30) Okay. (10:31) Okay.(10:31) Let's do this. (10:32) Why? (10:33) I agree with you a hundred percent, but we need to unpack the layers, which is nearly impossible to do.(10:38) I find it very difficult to unpack the layers of that. (10:40) I know that. (10:41) By the way, when I listened to that clip, it's like, if I had known what I know now, right, I'm being playful.(10:49) I'm very grateful for the work we've done together. (10:51) But there is a part of me that's like, I didn't realize how little you knew, dude.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:55) Well, that also suggests how little you knew about how much I knew.

Alan Lazaros

(11:02) I agreed. (11:02) Which is my ignorance.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:04) You also understood very little about how much you actually knew.

Alan Lazaros

(11:09) I know. (11:09) Which is all fucked up. (11:11) That whole thing is low self-awareness, low awareness in general, low other's awareness.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:16) Yeah.

Alan Lazaros

(11:16) In comparison again. (11:17) And here's the fucking thing. (11:18) We were both above average for sure.(11:20) Well, I was faking it too.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:21) I wanted you to think I was, I think I was, while my personal development set point, I don't think it was very high. (11:27) My curiosity, I was very curious and I was open to new ideas. (11:31) For sure.(11:31) I think that was like a sponge. (11:32) That was a sponge phase where I just wanted to have deep conversations and see what landed. (11:36) And I was so excited with the fact that like.(11:39) The sponge phase. (11:40) The sponge phase. (11:41) I was so, and again, this whole thing's a sponge really.(11:44) You're a sponge throughout the whole journey. (11:45) You just get to the point where you realize like that stuff I probably shouldn't absorb as much. (11:50) That's poison.(11:52) Give me the water. (11:54) That's the thing that jumps off the page the most. (11:56) I did not have nearly a high enough.(11:59) I am working with clients that are very successful. (12:05) Like one client's going to do $10 million this year in their business.

Alan Lazaros

(12:08) Like that's a lot of fucking money. (12:09) Top 1%. (12:10) You're working with clients that are in the top 1%?(12:13) No way. (12:14) Successful. (12:14) Is that fair?(12:15) Yes. (12:15) Yes. (12:16) Yes.(12:16) For sure. (12:17) Yeah. (12:17) Probably the 1% of 1% but whatever.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:19) When I get on a call and I say, all right, by the time we chat next time. (12:23) I did this yesterday. (12:25) I had a call with clients at 1 p.m. Had a great call. (12:31) I helped them build some brand strategy and some brand alignment. (12:35) I said, all right, cool. (12:36) I'll have 15 episodes and 15 outlines to you tomorrow.(12:41) And then right after I logged off, I was like, fuck. (12:45) That's a lot. (12:46) That's a lot.(12:46) I got to do a lot. (12:48) There's no way. (12:50) Here's the truth.(12:51) Seven years ago, I never would have had the call because I wasn't capable enough to even attract a client like that. (12:58) That's part one. (12:59) Part two, I never would have promised to give them that because I wasn't capable of actually handling it.(13:05) And then part three, I never would have got the result that they never would have got the result that they're going to get, which then will hopefully increase my personal development set point even more. (13:15) So it really is. (13:16) It's like a domino effect of you're not you're not competent enough to open the first door and every other door behind the first door is the results you get eventually anyway.

Alan Lazaros

(13:27) Did you know back in the day when someone had a higher personal development set point? (13:32) I assumed everybody did. (13:34) What do you what do you know now?(13:35) Like, do you know now? (13:40) Do I know now? (13:41) No, I think I'm still a little fucked up with it.(13:45) I think I'm still like. (13:47) How do you know when someone has a high personal development set point? (13:51) Oftentimes books.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:54) I was talking to somebody the other day. (13:57) Oh, yeah, one of our clients. (13:59) And I was talking about how I'm reading the Jim Jim Collins books and him and I have a great relationship.(14:03) He's like, yeah, man, I love them. (14:05) I remember reading those 20 years ago. (14:07) And I was like, yeah, OK, OK, but he's very high personal development set point.(14:16) So I think it's like just like how do you know a sports fan is a sports fan? (14:20) They know who's winning and who won and who has the best stats. (14:24) I think personal development is similar.(14:25) Just books. (14:28) That and you can tell where the words people use. (14:32) Consistent.(14:34) People, the whole like I get up every day and exercise thing, that's kind of a dead giveaway. (14:38) Most people don't do that, especially later in life, especially if they're not into some sort of fitness industry. (14:45) That's kind of a dead giveaway.(14:47) Morning routine. (14:48) If you have a morning routine, if you have an evening routine, that's usually, you know, that. (14:52) Yeah.

Alan Lazaros

(14:52) High performance routines. (14:55) Yeah, I don't I don't know where to go with this other than a lot of there's a couple things that jump off the page. (15:02) Number one, it is possible to have external success without internal personal development.(15:09) And I think that's what screws this up, because there's a lot of people that I that I know that have, I think, low lower personal development set points than the results they've achieved. (15:19) And that is because it's built on perception, not reality. (15:23) So that kind of fucks up the whole equation right there.(15:26) That said, however, if you want a guaranteed way to increase the chances that you are more successful, personal development has to be where you start. (15:38) And I don't know if this metaphor lands, but all my clients, I try to explain like you're going to invest in yourself, invest in my coaching. (15:47) I'm going to teach you things that took me decades to learn.(15:50) And I'm going to customize them for you specifically. (15:53) And when you invest in yourself, you'll go and have the opportunity to earn more. (15:57) I promise you that.(15:58) And then when you do that, you can reinvest again and then earn more and then reinvest again and then earn more and then reinvest again and then earn more. (16:05) And I always try to use the iPhone as a metaphor of. (16:09) This is the iPhone, what, 16 Pro Max.(16:11) OK, so iOS 18 or whatever just came out. (16:14) I don't actually know the numbers, but I do know is they improve it every every year, honestly, every quarter. (16:18) And so they come out with a new phone every year.(16:22) The 2007 first iPhone revolutionary breakthrough, I always use this metaphor was amazing at the time. (16:29) This is why I always send you what was the last thing I sent you? (16:32) I haven't looked at it yet, but it was.(16:34) I don't I don't know off the top of my head. (16:37) I saw earlier today the first ever digital camera from Kodak. (16:42) In the 70s, in the 70s, I didn't send it to you.(16:46) Oh, no, I should have, but I didn't. (16:48) And the reason I love that stuff is because we do. (16:51) We forget how much these improvements stack on each other.(16:54) And now every phone in your pocket from anywhere has a thousand times better camera than that. (17:00) And so the metaphor of personal development is the same thing as R&D in a company. (17:04) So Apple invests in research and development, best engineers to make the best phone to then sell it.(17:10) You can invest in yourself and coaching training programs, books, and you get better. (17:17) And then you have more opportunities. (17:19) It's almost like when you're a kid, you don't really know how to do anything.(17:21) So you don't really have a lot of opportunities. (17:24) And when you're an adult, you hopefully have a higher awareness of noticing these opportunities and then capitalizing on them. (17:32) So to end here, investing in your own personal development is the best investment you can make.(17:39) If you want to do that in 2026 and you want a good coach in your corner, reach out to me. (17:43) I have 24 clients currently about to be 25. (17:46) I have room on my roster.(17:48) I will be investing more time and effort into coaching in 2026 than any other single thing I do. (17:54) It is my favorite work in the world. (17:56) It's also what I am the best at.(17:57) I've been doing it for 11 years and I will make sure you are far more successful than you would be without a coach. (18:05) A decade in the industry.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:06) That's a pretty big fucking, that's a long ass time. (18:09) A decade. (18:11) Damn.(18:13) Damn.

Alan Lazaros

(18:14) I appreciate that, of course. (18:16) And I feel like that's still the beginning. (18:18) Just get it, hashtag just getting started.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:20) This is the last thing I'll say before we get on out of here. (18:24) When you, I've been working on a long time. (18:28) I don't think I've ever like been in the gym and had a moment where I was like, oh, just got stronger.(18:33) That doesn't happen. (18:34) That never happens. (18:35) I don't, I've never had a meal where I was like, ah, that was it.(18:37) That was the one that made me stronger. (18:39) Nope. (18:39) Never done a mobility session ever because I'm out here Jeffing, but I've never done a mobility session that I was like, that's the one.(18:48) Now I've loosened right up. (18:49) Everything's going to be fine. (18:50) But when you start taking those away, you start losing the result.(18:54) I think that is personal development in a nutshell. (18:57) Okay. (18:58) If you're looking to achieve a greater result with your podcast, or if you want to start a podcast, maybe for the first time, and it seems impossible, we have another round of the Next Level Podcast Accelerator starting first week in January.(19:11) Yes. (19:11) Is that true? (19:12) Yes.(19:13) Okay. (19:13) We dive deep. (19:14) No better time to start.(19:15) No better time to start. (19:16) And what is very, very appropriate is we start with personal development. (19:21) The entire program starts with getting your mindset right.(19:24) Understanding if you have high self-worth, low self-worth, high self-belief, low self, everything we've built this podcast on, we also pour into that as well. (19:31) So if you're a podcaster who is interested in growing, scaling, and monetizing your show, we'd love to help you do that. (19:35) We will have the link below in the show notes.

Alan Lazaros

(19:38) The very first session is January 6th at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. (19:44) It's a 12-week program. (19:45) It starts in 18 days.

Kevin Palmieri

(19:46) It's crazy.

Alan Lazaros

(19:47) 10 people at a time. (19:49) Next Level Podcast Accelerator. (19:50) We promise you, you will leave this more successful than you went in.(19:53) A hundred percent.

Kevin Palmieri

(19:54) And our goal is to make sure that when you leave, you're able to continue the journey of being successful. (20:00) We literally don't want you to need us at the end, which is weird. (20:02) I understand, but that's something we aspire to.(20:05) Okay, cool. (20:06) As always, we love you. (20:07) We appreciate you.(20:07) Grateful for each and every one of you. (20:09) 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

(20:16) Keep reaching to the next level of your true potential. (20:19) Next Level Nation.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:21) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (20:25) We love connecting with the Next Level family.

Alan Lazaros

(20:28) We mean it when we say family. (20:30) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (20:33) Everything you need to get ahold of us is in the show notes.(20:37) Thank you again, and we will talk to you tomorrow.