Start Designing Your Future! (2359)

What if your future is not uncertain, just misunderstood?

In this episode, Kevin and Alan explain why outcomes are rarely random. They unpack how patterns, distinctions, and honest self-awareness shape your trajectory far more than motivation alone. Drawing from years of coaching and personal experience, they reveal why some people consistently move forward while others stay stuck despite effort.

This conversation is direct, practical, and rooted in how long-term growth actually works. If you want more control over where your life is heading and fewer surprises along the way, this episode will challenge how you think about planning your future. Listen closely. One shift in awareness can redirect years of your life.

_______________________

Learn more about:
The “Next Level Dreamliner” is a productivity journal that turns clarity and accountability into consistent action. Grab your copy 👉  https://a.co/d/9fPpxEt

Track the Work. Earn the Results. To know more about the "Next Level Fitness Accountability Group," reach out.

• Kevin: https://www.instagram.com/neverquitkid/
• Alan: https://www.instagram.com/alazaros88/

_______________________

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

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

Email:
Kevin@nextleveluniverse.com
Alan@nextleveluniverse.com

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

_______________________

Show notes:
(1:38) The three factors that improve accuracy
(4:48) Knowing your real position and limits
(10:18) Experience, awareness, and pattern recognition
(12:32) Designing life versus winging it
(22:21) Awareness as the path to control
(26:01) 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.

Transcript

Kevin Palmieri

(0:00) In yesterday's episode, we were talking about simulation and trying to predict the future, for lack of better phrasing, influence the future, maybe as a better label. (0:08) I tried like hell and it didn't go the way I had it planned at all. (0:13) Yeah, you look around, you see what you think you want and what you definitely don't, and then you try to recreate it.(0:19) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:22) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:24) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.(0:27) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers. (0:33) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth. (0:40) 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.(0:55) Self-improvement, in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free. (1:02) Welcome to Next Level University. (1:08) Next Level Nation, today, for episode number 2,359, we're going to talk about kind of, sort of what we talked about yesterday, or at least we led into.(1:16) We're going to talk a little bit about simulating your future and what that means. (1:19) And I'm very curious about this because, and this is going to be a short one because, again, time crunch, it's a whole thing. (1:25) We'll give details at a later time.(1:28) What are the three things, from your perspective, that allow somebody to have an accurate, a more accurate simulation of the future? (1:38) Yeah, number one is distinctions. (1:40) A good example of that is if you and I went and played baseball in a real game, you would be better than me because you have more distinctions.(1:48) I would be physically better or understand the game better? (1:51) You'd understand the game better. (1:52) I don't know if you'd be physically better.(1:53) I 100% would. (1:54) How? (1:55) You definitely would with hitting.(1:57) Dare you. (2:00) Anyways, but you understand the game much better, for sure. (2:04) Yeah, I would say so.(2:05) Okay, that's distinctions. (2:07) Number one, it's, on the last episode, distinctions is, we have a QWERTY keyboard. (2:13) You know the difference between K and L and J and U.(2:15) There was a time when you, no one knew that. (2:17) There was a time, remember type to learn? (2:19) I was terrible at that.(2:21) Really? (2:22) Hey, hey Kev, put your skins back on. (2:24) Oh, they must've fallen off.(2:26) Sorry. (2:27) He's over there playing Oregon Trail. (2:29) Always.(2:30) Yeah, you know it. (2:30) I met somebody from Oregon via the internet the other day and I said, tell me a little bit about your state because all I know is from Oregon Trail. (2:38) I don't think they hated it.(2:40) They were kind about it. (2:41) They were kind about it. (2:42) Nice.(2:42) Yeah. (2:43) All right, so number one is distinctions. (2:44) The difference between regular snow and yellow snow.(2:47) Difference between, yeah, right. (2:49) So distinctions, number one. (2:51) Number two is, what was the original question?(2:54) Uh, three factors that go into the most accurate simulation. (2:59) Yeah, distinctions, um, time perspective is, is, it's probably all distinctions. (3:12) Let me ask you a question real quick.(3:14) Distinctions and how they connect and relate to each other. (3:16) That relationship between distinctions. (3:18) Go ahead.(3:18) When you, when you think your eyes go like this, back and forth, what do you do? (3:22) Yeah, yeah, yeah. (3:23) Are you Rolodexing your brain?(3:25) Always. (3:26) It's always been fascinating to me. (3:27) Always.(3:27) And for those who can't see it on YouTube, you don't know what I'm talking about, but. (3:30) All right. (3:31) Do you, skills?(3:33) Do you factor skills into simulation at all? (3:36) Or is that? (3:37) You, you honestly, you factor everything in.(3:39) Okay, so, so you talked to, in the opening about, no, at the end of the last episode about fitness, you can predict with pretty high accuracy what you're going to look like in three months, right? (3:52) Yes. (3:53) Okay.(3:54) Okay. (3:54) And there's, there's a bunch of future potentialities. (3:56) So you could look like shit or you could look really good.(4:00) You get to choose now because you're aware of it. (4:03) Because you know how to get both, right? (4:06) Yes.(4:06) Okay. (4:06) So if I said you need to get out of shape as soon as possible, you know exactly what to do. (4:10) I've been waiting.

Alan Lazaros

(4:11) What did you say?

Kevin Palmieri

(4:12) Done.

Alan Lazaros

(4:12) I've been waiting. (4:13) Okay.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:13) Same is true, but in the opposite direction.

Alan Lazaros

(4:15) No, that's harder.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:16) Yeah, yeah, it's harder. (4:17) But it's harder. (4:18) Yeah.(4:18) Of course it's harder. (4:19) That's why I asked about the skill because you got to give me three. (4:23) All right.(4:24) It's distinctions and then understanding the relationship between those distinctions. (4:30) So distinctions and how they fit together. (4:32) Ah, nice.(4:33) Okay. (4:33) That's one. (4:33) And then the third one would be.(4:35) No, distinctions and how they fit together. (4:36) That's one. (4:37) No, no.(4:39) Number one is distinctions. (4:40) Number two is the relationship between distinctions.

Alan Lazaros

(4:44) Okay.

Kevin Palmieri

(4:45) All right. (4:45) All right. (4:46) I believe it would be among.(4:48) I know, I hate to be the guy, but between I think is two. (4:51) Number three would be where you fit within those distinctions. (4:55) Yeah.(4:56) So when I say I can't be the strongest man on earth, I know that I can't because I've seen them and I've seen me and I've seen that there's no, there's no, not enough drugs on the planet. (5:06) There's nothing I can do to bridge the gap. (5:08) How is that's a simulation though, right?(5:10) Yeah, for sure. (5:11) How do you know? (5:15) My mom and grandmother are convinced I could have been a professional baseball player.(5:18) Same. (5:19) For sure. (5:19) Certainly could have.(5:20) I don't think so. (5:21) There's not a question. (5:22) It's not.(5:23) I know people that are way better than me. (5:25) Now, again.

Alan Lazaros

(5:25) Brother.

Kevin Palmieri

(5:26) I know, I know. (5:27) You didn't even fucking try. (5:28) You weren't dialed in at all.(5:29) Hold on. (5:29) Hold on. (5:30) They're saying it based on where I was, not if I could go back and do it over again.(5:35) I am too. (5:39) How, how old, when, when do I get to coach you metaphorically? (5:44) Sixteen.(5:45) Yeah, for sure. (5:46) Oh, it's too late. (5:48) Sixteen.(5:49) It's right on the line. (5:50) It's right on the line. (5:50) I could do it though.(5:51) Ken Griffey Jr. got drafted into Major League Baseball at like 17 years old. (5:57) He was playing against. (5:58) I'm not saying you're gonna be the best in the league.(6:00) I think he played against his own father. (6:01) There's a lot of differences between best on planet Earth and in the major leagues. (6:06) Well, he isn't even the best on planet Earth.(6:08) I mean, he's good. (6:08) He's really good. (6:08) He's top 1% of all time.

Alan Lazaros

(6:11) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:12) Right. (6:12) So it's like Kobe Bryant was 18 when he got drafted in the NBA. (6:16) Just because you don't have to be Kobe Bryant to be in the NBA.(6:19) There's a lot of layers. (6:21) You could be a bench player. (6:22) Like we got distinctions.(6:24) Distinctions. (6:24) See, distinctions. (6:25) It's all statistics and math.(6:27) And before we bore everybody, I just, I want to get back to that. (6:31) Like if I got you, your chances of getting into Major League Baseball increase exponentially as you give me a chance to meet you earlier and earlier and earlier. (6:42) Like when did you first start playing T-ball?(6:44) I never played T-ball. (6:45) Dumbest sport ever too, by the way. (6:46) What'd you say?(6:47) Never played T-ball. (6:48) Um, I am joking. (6:50) That's a good example of starting small.(6:52) T-ball. (6:53) Never played. (6:53) My mom made me play baseball.(6:55) I started when I was nine. (6:56) Okay. (6:56) So when you were nine, if you, I think genuinely, if you actually had the right guidance and were willing to do the work, you could have been in Major League Baseball.(7:08) Now, I don't think you'd be one of the best, but you definitely could be in Major League Baseball for sure. (7:13) I was not willing to do the work. (7:15) Well, then you, then there's no, they're wrong and so am I then.(7:20) Brother, that, I think that was the thing that I, excuse me, misunderstood is. (7:25) I remember, do you remember when I started saying, if you aren't willing to work, I can't help you? (7:30) Yeah.(7:31) When did I start saying that? (7:33) A couple, two years ago, maybe three years ago. (7:36) That's when I realized.(7:36) It's recent. (7:37) Recent. (7:38) That's when I realized it.(7:40) That most people don't want to work. (7:42) Don't want to work. (7:43) I never understood that.(7:45) Dude, I play all day. (7:46) With the video game thing, all day. (7:49) I was one of the best Halo players on earth.(7:51) I played all fucking day. (7:53) Every waking minute I could get on that game, I played. (7:56) That's why I believe like, dude, some people, and again, not to minimize, but like, I think some people are just wired differently.(8:04) I won't say for success. (8:06) Yeah, they've learned to associate massive pleasure to the process of mastery. (8:11) That makes sense.(8:12) And I know that some of that is probably genetic, but I think a lot of that is conditioning. (8:18) Dude, for people who, I think this is probably hard to talk about publicly. (8:26) I think in some ways my mom wired me for this.(8:30) Like she gave me a lot of praise. (8:33) Like I would come home with soccer trophies and football trophies and basketball trophies. (8:38) Like in middle school, I was pretty good at basketball.(8:40) I remember like Rob Wilson, Ryan Hepburn. (8:41) Like I was one of those guys back then. (8:44) And Ryan kept playing and I didn't, I went to ski club instead.(8:48) So I did snowboarding, but I was always, my mom praised me a lot for winning at stuff. (8:53) And then eventually I was just like, that stopped. (8:59) That stopped completely because I started going in a direction that she didn't agree with.(9:05) And that happens by the way. (9:07) So if you have parents that like are trying to wire you as an achiever, whether it's conscious or not, and there's pros and cons to that, by the way, we've all seen it, right? (9:17) Serena Williams' dad.(9:19) Some of that's kind of fucked up and some of that's really awesome, right? (9:22) One of the Olympic snowboarders has been snowboarding since he was two years old.

Alan Lazaros

(9:26) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(9:26) I was on the mountain at four. (9:28) That's a question of like, is that by choice? (9:31) Obviously not.(9:32) Not to get to a mountain. (9:34) Just got sent there. (9:34) Dude, I have videos of me at four.(9:37) Like if you and I snowboarded, I'm, and again, I'm not professional by any means, but brother, I've been snowboarding since I was four. (9:44) That's not it for me. (9:45) I remember I was at Cognex.(9:46) We went on a trip and they were like, what the, like, holy hell, you know? (9:51) I'm slightly above average at snowboarding, probably. (9:54) Slightly.(9:54) Minimally above average. (9:56) Well, here's the conversation we can go here briefly and we'll go back to simulation is I chose in advance to stop playing basketball and snowboarding so I could be a better coach. (10:05) Because I know that if I put time and effort into those things, not only am I going to get injured because I like to do 540s off rocks, but also it's detrimental to my mastery process of this.(10:18) Like everything we've done in these last couple episodes, I've learned through all the reps of coaching people from all over the world. (10:24) Like there's very few industries at this stage that I don't have a pretty good idea of. (10:31) And that was part of the simulation.(10:34) You can simulate more and more accurately as you understand more and more. (10:37) Yeah. (10:39) That's why I feel like it's like a video game you've played before.(10:41) Right? (10:41) Imagine, imagine you're playing, what's a game you loved growing up? (10:45) GoldenEye, baby.(10:46) Yeah, I love it. (10:46) Awesome. (10:47) We both love GoldenEye.(10:48) Yeah, it's one of the best. (10:49) Oh, the soundtrack? (10:50) Are you kidding me?(10:51) Did I send you that thing where he's like, okay, nice. (10:54) Best soundtrack ever.

Alan Lazaros

(10:55) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:56) So, so let's say we're both playing GoldenEye. (10:59) If I've played before, let's say I've played all the way to level seven and there's only 10 levels. (11:03) I can pretty much guess what the next three levels are going to be.(11:06) If you jump in on level seven, you're not going to be able to guess anything. (11:10) Right, right. (11:10) That's what life is.(11:12) That's why when we're two, three, four, like we don't know shit. (11:14) We don't know anything. (11:16) I had a guidance counselor in high school who told me not to apply to MIT.(11:21) And at the time I listened to him because I thought he was smarter than me. (11:24) And then when I got older and I went back to Uxbridge and I went back and visited the high school, I was like, oh my God, I should not have listened to this man. (11:33) Oh my goodness.(11:35) But I didn't know because I was fucking 17. (11:38) Well, that's the hard thing is like people sit you down. (11:40) It's very hard to like have an accurate simulation at 17.(11:44) Yeah, for sure. (11:45) I had no, I thought his simulation was more accurate than mine. (11:48) It wasn't.(11:50) Definitely wasn't. (11:51) But I didn't know. (11:53) I didn't know that I knew more than him.(11:55) Right. (11:55) Well, this is, that's why I think, ah, when was I talking about this? (12:01) Maybe it was podcast growth university.(12:03) I was talking about this. (12:03) I don't remember the having awareness beyond your results is a better way than having results beyond your awareness. (12:11) Because at least if you have awareness beyond your results, you have the opportunity to choose.(12:15) Yep. (12:15) You're in control of your own future to an extent. (12:17) To an extent.

Alan Lazaros

(12:18) But it's fucking hard.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:19) If a meteor hits the earth, there's nothing you can do about it. (12:21) Right. (12:21) Now we're all gone.(12:22) Yeah, there's nothing you can do. (12:24) But when it comes to your own decision-making, remember when I used to talk about the, um, the puzzle metaphor. (12:32) You can imagine you and I are both going to do a puzzle and we only have, in this metaphor, let's say the average life expectancy is 80.(12:38) So we have 80 minutes instead of years. (12:40) We'll do minutes. (12:41) Kevin and I both have 80 minutes.(12:42) I've seen the cover. (12:44) Yeah. (12:45) You are just puzzle pieces strewed amongst the room.(12:48) You've never done a puzzle before. (12:49) You have no idea what the cover is supposed to look like. (12:51) You're like, ah, is that a boat?(12:52) Is that a fucking log? (12:54) And I'm over here just hammering pieces down and I'm like, done. (12:58) That's a good metaphor for, for people who have vision.(13:01) It's called visioneering. (13:02) You engineer the vision in the future. (13:04) Like before phones existed, no, like we had to come up with that based on what already existed.(13:12) And this is a good metaphor I think everyone can relate to is, well, first there was an MP3 player. (13:18) Then there was the iPod. (13:19) And then there was like the iPod with video.(13:24) And then there was the iPod with video that also could connect to the internet, the iPod touch. (13:30) Then it was like, let's make a phone out of this thing. (13:33) And then it was the iPhone.(13:35) And then it was AirPods and iPads and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. (13:39) But before that there was no internet. (13:41) So when, when the MP3 players came out, you couldn't connect to the internet because the internet wasn't good enough yet.(13:48) Wi-Fi infrastructure didn't exist yet. (13:50) Someone, my point of this is someone created all of this. (13:55) Human beings, no better or worse than you.(13:58) Maybe they're smarter than you. (13:59) I don't know, but you can change things. (14:03) They're definitely smarter.(14:06) That's not necessarily as true as you think. (14:07) I've, I've seen some really successful with, with that thing though. (14:12) Yes.(14:12) Smart and very aware in that. (14:15) Yeah. (14:15) I don't know.(14:16) Wi-Fi works as a fucking mirror Bluetooth to me. (14:19) Oh my God. (14:20) If you got me a little drunk and said, Hey, I want you to do like a, an inspirational talk about Bluetooth.(14:26) Be the best thing you've ever heard. (14:27) It is magical that I just hit a button and it connects to a speaker anywhere. (14:32) No, it's not anywhere.(14:34) Connected.

Alan Lazaros

(14:34) Connected.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:35) You're in their garage. (14:36) All of a sudden it kicks out. (14:38) You know, I don't, yeah, I don't know if it's a distance to Bluetooth, but well, look, it's a miracle.(14:43) There is no distance when it comes to miracles. (14:45) You could study it if you wanted to learn how it works. (14:48) One of the things that I think is personally very exciting is you can pretty much learn how everything works pretty much anytime you want.(14:58) You just have to make the choice. (14:59) The problem is the paradox of choice is now that you can learn anything. (15:04) Now it's like, what do I choose?(15:06) Because the truth is while you need to want to learn everything required for your goals and dreams, you kind of can't focus on learning everything at the same time. (15:18) And I think that's what creates overwhelm and stops you altogether. (15:21) Because one thing I will share with everybody listening is I am concerned when I have children, for example, they're being born into a very different world, an exponentially different world.(15:33) When I was born in 1988, the regular Nintendo was pretty much the best thing the world had ever seen in terms of technology, which is, it could fit under my pinky finger now. (15:51) So the options were so limited. (15:54) It used to be keeping up with the Joneses like, oh, my neighbor got a trampoline.(15:58) I didn't know those existed. (15:59) I think I should get a trampoline. (16:01) And everybody started breaking their neck.(16:03) I'm kidding. (16:04) I'm joking. (16:05) But people get hurt.(16:06) And then all of a sudden it's like, ah, maybe we can that. (16:09) That neighbor has a trampoline with like the padding around it. (16:12) Yeah.(16:12) Gotta get the padding. (16:13) We gotta get the netting. (16:14) Right.(16:15) So what used to be you would see and then do now is like overwhelmed constantly. (16:23) There's 56 types of jelly. (16:25) There's 500 types of laptops.(16:27) There's 5,000 probably at this point. (16:29) The point is, is the paradox of choice. (16:33) Life got very overwhelming very quickly for everybody.(16:37) And I think that messes our brains up if you're not like ready to make decisions. (16:47) Well, I don't think children are ready for these cell phones. (16:49) We got my God.(16:52) I remember I used to have, I used to have to spend like four hours downloading a song on Kazaa and then it was like, maybe it's the right song. (17:01) Could be. (17:02) You know, I just want to, I just want to listen to Hootie and the Blowfish.(17:04) And then in the middle of the song, they're like, you know, hood beats or something. (17:10) They just had like weird stuff. (17:12) Get this track.(17:14) No, I want to, this isn't right. (17:16) I want Hootie. (17:17) You were pirating it.(17:19) So I didn't realize that. (17:20) I didn't know that shit was illegal. (17:21) I wasn't of age.(17:24) No, I didn't understand copyright law. (17:27) Yeah, that's fair. (17:28) Everybody was doing it.(17:29) That's fair. (17:30) That's true.

Alan Lazaros

(17:31) And now that's not a good excuse.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:32) I know that, but this is the great conversation. (17:35) I love this stuff because plus my mom probably downloaded it.

Alan Lazaros

(17:40) Honestly, I don't know if it was me.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:42) You remember back in the day when I really do miss these times because for me, I love learning. (17:51) I just always have. (17:53) There used to be new shit all the time.(17:56) It would be like, wait, what? (17:58) That's a thing. (17:59) It was exciting.(18:00) You'd go over your friend's house. (18:01) They have a Game Boy and you're like, oh, Game Boy. (18:04) I remember the first time I saw N64 and I was like, I need that so bad.(18:10) And I just schemed and dreamed like, when is Christmas? (18:13) What do I do? (18:15) Am I going to do a lemonade stand?(18:17) How much do they cost? (18:18) I would reverse engineer it. (18:21) Now, at 37, there's very little that surprises me.(18:24) That's the weird paradox about knowing so much. (18:27) God, I sound pretentious. (18:29) The weird paradox about being an adult is you simulate everything.(18:33) So you aren't that shocked when things happen. (18:37) Because it is kind of sad, right? (18:39) Whereas when you're a kid, you are constantly seeing things.(18:43) Remember the first time you ever saw, I don't know, a goose? (18:46) No. (18:47) Okay.(18:47) Of all things, that's what you go with? (18:49) Well, I grew up in a lake and I remember there's this picture of Chris and I playing with the dog down by the water with the geese. (18:56) It's really cute.(18:59) And that must have been a cool sight the first time. (19:01) I'm sure it was. (19:02) I'm sure.(19:02) It's like, what the hell is that? (19:03) You were probably terrified. (19:04) Yeah, dude, right?(19:05) I remember my first jump on a trampoline that we- The best. (19:08) We used to ride on Marywood Street, right? (19:13) Near the town park.(19:13) You've heard me talk about the town park. (19:15) Then we got to get out of here because I got to go. (19:16) But there was this hill and we used to ride down there.(19:19) And then there was this family that lived on the hill. (19:22) And there was a boy and his sister. (19:24) And one day their dad came out and said, hey, you guys want to come jump on the tramp?(19:29) And I was like, I don't, that doesn't sound good. (19:31) What do you, no. (19:32) What are you saying?(19:33) We've got a trampoline in the backyard. (19:34) You want to come jump on the tramp? (19:35) Oh, hell yeah.(19:37) I may never leave. (19:38) That was the best. (19:39) The best.(19:40) And they had so many things. (19:42) They had a four-wheeler and they had a trampoline and they had a freaking creek in their backyard. (19:48) We used to get crawdads.(19:50) We used to crawl through the creek. (19:51) They had a rock wall. (19:52) It was incredible.(19:53) It was like Narnia's closet. (19:55) Every time I went over there, I learned something new. (19:57) It was amazing.(19:58) Every time. (19:59) Every time.

Alan Lazaros

(19:59) Amazing.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:00) It was amazing. (20:00) You can do that still as an adult. (20:01) It's just harder.(20:02) You got to do it through travel and through books and through podcasts and through experiences. (20:10) I wish I knew. (20:11) But yeah, it is different than it used to be.(20:13) I wish I knew. (20:14) Everybody tried to tell me. (20:15) Try to tell you what?(20:16) I think that's what they mean when they say these are the best times. (20:18) I'm not, they're not talking about high school. (20:20) They're not talking about the actual times.(20:21) They're talking about before that when things were... (20:25) I have nightmares of high school still. (20:27) You think I want to go back?(20:28) No. (20:29) Yeah. (20:30) But I miss the first time you ever went to Chuck E.(20:33) Cheese. (20:34) I was like, oh my God. (20:34) Yeah, Chuck E.

Alan Lazaros

(20:35) Cheese was sick.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:36) The pizza was garbage but you still hammered it. (20:39) It was terrible. (20:40) We used to go to, do you ever go to Roller Palace?(20:43) Skate Palace. (20:43) Skate Palace. (20:44) Dude, remember when they made a skate park?(20:46) Sick. (20:47) I went with, we had Craig. (20:49) We talked about Craig recently.(20:50) He broke his wrist. (20:52) Dropped in. (20:53) Oh no.(20:53) Broke his wrist. (20:56) The 19 year old person there that was like overseeing us was like, ah, it's not broken. (21:00) Definitely not.(21:00) No, it was broken. (21:01) He shattered his wrist. (21:03) Shattered his wrist at Skate Palace.(21:06) You can't let just anybody use those ramps, man. (21:10) Yeah. (21:10) You should have to, you got to pass some sort of test first.(21:14) Last thing I'll share on this. (21:16) And I, again, I think that Kevin and I grew up very unique. (21:19) I think that's probably clear.(21:21) But I got to say the adventure part was really good. (21:26) A lot of my childhood was really, really subpar. (21:29) Polite way to put it.(21:30) But the adventure part was awesome. (21:34) It was good. (21:34) I don't know, man.(21:35) The nineties were fucking awesome. (21:36) In the woods. (21:37) You probably spent so much time in the woods.(21:38) Oh, so much in the woods.

Alan Lazaros

(21:40) All the time in the woods.

Kevin Palmieri

(21:41) Paintball. (21:42) We used to do paintball in the woods. (21:44) Climb trees.(21:45) You know all the time. (21:46) Jump into leaf piles. (21:47) Yep.(21:47) Now? (21:48) Sometimes there's a rock at the bottom.

Alan Lazaros

(21:50) Unfortunately, yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(21:51) That's why you never jumped first, baby. (21:53) Yeah. (21:53) Never jumped first.(21:54) You'd never jump first. (21:55) I do miss that. (21:57) I do miss that.(21:59) A little nostalgia here on Wednesday's dropping Monday. (22:02) What's your big takeaway for this? (22:06) Man.(22:07) I don't know. (22:07) We didn't talk about simulation almost at all in fairness. (22:10) So probably like don't- We just simulated our childhood again.(22:14) Yeah, that's true. (22:15) Don't stream music illegally if you want. (22:17) That's one for sure.(22:18) Probably don't do that. (22:21) Um, man. (22:22) I think it goes back to the science project.(22:25) It's really hard because there's so many things that go into it. (22:29) If you always focus on becoming more aware, I think you're probably going to be in a pretty good spot because you'll be able to simulate. (22:37) Look, you might not be able to simulate where you are now because you're here, but you can simulate the next five years.(22:41) You can simulate the next 10 years. (22:43) There's still time, as Gary Vee would say. (22:45) You're 96.(22:46) There's still time. (22:47) There's still- You're just getting started, baby. (22:49) Plenty of time left.

Alan Lazaros

(22:51) So that.

Kevin Palmieri

(22:52) No, serious.

Alan Lazaros

(22:53) Yeah, my takeaway would be there's two ways to approach life.

Kevin Palmieri

(23:04) One of them is you kind of wing it and hope it works out, which it often does not. (23:10) Unfortunately. (23:11) Yeah, unfortunately.(23:12) It really doesn't. (23:13) Um, definitely not. (23:15) It could, but I seriously doubt it.(23:17) And then the other approach is I'm going to design a life by increasing my awareness and capabilities over time so that I can simulate my own future. (23:27) If you can only think a week ahead, start there. (23:30) If you can think a month ahead, go there.(23:31) If you can think a quarter ahead, go there. (23:33) If you can think beyond your own lifetime, go there and then reverse engineer it. (23:38) Rocking chair test.(23:39) When I'm 80 and I'm in a rocking chair, I'm with my grandkids or whatever it is. (23:42) Maybe no kids. (23:42) I don't know.(23:44) Design a life that's great. (23:48) Does that guarantee it's going to be great? (23:50) No.(23:50) But it does guarantee that you do the best you can with the one life you're given, which as fortune cookies, this ends up sounding like that is what matters. (23:58) I, I'm very, very grateful. (24:02) I was journaling earlier.(24:02) I top three gratitudes that next level dreamliner will be in the show notes. (24:06) It's, uh, starts out with three gratitudes every day. (24:10) And I was just like, I do really love my life.(24:14) This is like way better than what it was in my twenties for sure. (24:19) The only thing I think I miss is like the, how new stuff used to be. (24:25) But other than that, I would never go back in a million years.(24:27) I mean, this is way better, right? (24:29) We're much more in control of our own life and our own future. (24:32) And I think that that's what everybody really wants.(24:34) You want a sense of control that, that what you do matters. (24:40) And once you master that game, then it's, what can I do for the earth? (24:43) What can I do for the world?(24:44) What's the change I wish to see in the world? (24:46) And then you basically master your own life. (24:50) And then you help other people master theirs in whatever way.(24:52) Maybe you invent something. (24:53) Maybe you, you know, I think, dude, I like when we were kids, we would talk about dreams and I'm going to be an inventor. (24:59) I'm going to be an entrepreneur.(25:01) I'm going to be an astronaut. (25:02) I'm going to be a fireman or a firewoman. (25:05) We don't talk about like that stuff anymore.(25:07) Not we, but like the collective, we, once you're an adult, people get boring, man. (25:12) Well, the bills don't stop coming. (25:13) I think that's the problem.(25:17) I can't even with that. (25:19) I can for sure. (25:22) A hundred percent.(25:23) Then lower your goddamn lifestyle. (25:25) Then that's a different, that's a different conversation. (25:26) But you got three kids.(25:29) There's four, six, and seven. (25:32) You want to quit your job and become a podcaster? (25:34) Go for it.(25:36) I didn't say that. (25:37) But you better have some. (25:39) You better downsize quick.(25:41) You better have some Skrilla saved up. (25:44) Is the first. (25:44) And if you do, next level podcast solutions.(25:46) Next level podcast solutions. (25:47) All right, cool. (25:48) Next level dreamliner.(25:49) If you're looking to consistently journal and consistently get gratitudes. (25:52) And honestly, I need to get back into it. (25:54) I have it somewhere here.(25:56) The move has been mayhem, but there's something about doing that every day. (25:59) It takes a couple of minutes. (25:59) It's not going to take you super long.(26:00) And then next level fitness accountability group. (26:02) If you are looking to level up your fitness, as always, we love you. (26:07) We appreciate you.(26:08) Grateful for each and every one of you. (26:09) 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. (26:15) Keep leveling up to reach your full potential.(26:17) Next level nation. (26:19) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (26:23) We love connecting with the next level family.(26:26) We mean it when we say family. (26:28) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (26:31) Everything you need to get ahold of us is in the show notes.(26:35) Thank you again. (26:36) And we will talk to you tomorrow.