EVERYONE Needs This Habit (2369)

What if the biggest thing holding you back is the one thing you refuse to measure?

In this episode, Kevin and Alan explain why tracking may be one of the most underrated habits in personal development. After years of coaching and thousands of conversations with high performers, they’ve noticed a consistent pattern. Many people say they want better results, yet they avoid looking closely at the numbers that reveal the truth.

Kevin shares real examples of clients who didn’t realize what was happening in their own finances, while Alan breaks down a few simple metrics that can immediately increase clarity and decision-making. If you want to grow your income, strengthen your discipline, and make smarter choices, this episode challenges a habit most people overlook.

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Learn more about:
Book Alan’s Business Breakthrough Session. Your first 30-minute coaching call is FREE. Learn how to prioritize success and let your quality of life become the byproduct. - https://calendly.com/alanlazaros/30-minute-breakthrough-session

Join Next Level Live: Level up your life in 2026. Completely virtual, completely transformative (Saturday, April 11, 2026) - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/next-level-live/

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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:
(4:34) The most important habit: Tracking everything
(6:14) Why do people avoid looking at their finances
(10:23) The three financial numbers everyone must track
(11:19) Why systems matter more than income
(16:33) You cannot manage what you do not measure
(18:00) 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) I cannot tell you how many times I have had a client message me and say, hey, do we like owe you money? (0:06) Do I owe you any money or what's going on? (0:08) And I'll say, no, no, we've been like charging your card based on our contract for the last six months.(0:13) You haven't looked at your bank account in six months. (0:15) I am mind blown how often that happens.

Alan Lazaros

(0:19) Yeah, I coach 29 individuals.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:24) Tracking finances is absolutely critical. (0:28) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:31) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri.(0:33) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus. (0:36) At NLU, we believe in a heart driven, but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:43) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:49) 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

(1:05) Self-improvement in your pocket every day from anywhere completely free. (1:12) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:17) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2,369. (1:21) I don't know what the title is actually going to be. (1:23) I titled it How One Thing Leads to Everything Else because it depends on where the conversation goes.(1:27) But you'll see the title when you click on this. (1:30) Client messaged me last night. (1:32) And this client is like very successful.(1:36) An international speaker who gets flown all over the world. (1:40) And this is not BS, like the world. (1:43) Best-selling author, very successful.(1:45) And an awesome person, awesome human. (1:47) And they said, hey, do I owe you? (1:48) Like, have you invoiced me or do I owe you money or am I good?(1:52) And I said, no, no, you're good. (1:54) Yeah, you're good. (1:54) We auto-charge, right?(1:56) You have a card on file, we auto-charge. (1:58) All good. (1:59) You're good.(1:59) Taken care of. (2:01) And she said, I haven't seen anything come through. (2:04) Like, I haven't seen anything on my statements or like...(2:08) And that to me means you must not be looking at the statements. (2:12) And this is not something...

Alan Lazaros

(2:14) She said, what do you look for? (2:15) And you said, Next Level University. (2:16) I said, Next Level University, yeah.(2:17) Yeah. (2:17) And by the way, you manually do that. (2:20) Yes.(2:20) Right? (2:21) Yeah. (2:21) You and I are...(2:22) Kevin and I are very... (2:23) I want to make this clear because I know some of my clients listen. (2:26) I could see your eyes widening as I said it.(2:30) One of my selling points in coaching, one of the promises I make to my clients is I'm the CFO, so I'm doing all the charges myself. (2:38) Yes. (2:39) Because I want to make sure nothing goes wrong.(2:40) So I wanted to make sure we made that clear.

Kevin Palmieri

(2:42) No, that's good. (2:43) Yeah. (2:43) People ask all the time.(2:44) They're like, why don't... (2:45) Is it on auto-pay? (2:46) No, because things get...(2:48) We manually do it. (2:49) Yes. (2:49) You and I.(2:49) Yes. (2:50) Yes. (2:51) Nice.(2:51) And it's always under the guise... (2:53) The client knows that. (2:55) Of course.(2:55) In the onboarding it says every 28 days or whatever. (2:58) Yep. (2:58) But this is not an isolated incident.(3:02) This happens all the time. (3:03) Yeah. (3:04) And or people have no idea what they paid for.(3:10) I know. (3:11) And can some of that be on me with lack of communication? (3:14) Definitely.(3:15) And I'm sure it was in the beginning, but we have a very clear, this is what you get, this is how many episodes. (3:20) And it's just mind blowing how many people don't understand that. (3:24) That's part one.(3:25) And then the second part is it's easier now than ever to just sign up for shit. (3:34) And then just forget about it. (3:35) The barrier to entry is so low now.(3:38) If you have the face ID on your phone and you sign up for an app, you just put your face up to it. (3:46) You sign up. (3:47) It's already connected to your Apple account.(3:48) You don't have to do anything. (3:50) And the next thing you know, you're getting charged $19 a month for something that you haven't used and you don't even know it exists. (3:55) So I think tracking finances is one of the unsung heroes for NLU based on your suggestion, not mine.(4:04) And I am super excited to track finances now because I understand it seemed, oh, it's only 19 bucks a month. (4:13) It's not that big of a deal, but that's one. (4:16) So if you let 19 bucks a month slip, you're telling me you're not letting another hundred bucks a month slip somewhere else.(4:21) Yeah. (4:22) It adds up. (4:22) It adds up.(4:23) It's the principle.

Alan Lazaros

(4:23) It's, uh, where do I want to go with this? (4:34) I got asked on a podcast yesterday, what is the most important habit you've ever cultivated? (4:39) And I said, tracking, tracking.(4:45) I do not think you can be, how do I level 10 successful without tracking? (4:53) I think you'd be successful. (4:55) Was that even a sentence?(4:57) I think you can be successful, but you can't be level 10 successful without tracking. (5:01) You don't think so? (5:03) No, no, I don't.(5:04) Someone would have to be tracking on your behalf. (5:07) Well, I have a CEO client who is extremely, extremely, extremely successful, but not nearly as successful as he could be. (5:17) And I said, how much did you make last month?(5:22) He's like, my CFO knows all that. (5:24) No, no, no, no. (5:26) You're the CEO.(5:28) You got to know the numbers. (5:29) How do you make decisions without the data? (5:31) I need to see the numbers, baby.(5:34) I'm not going to coach you if I don't have the numbers. (5:37) I'm going to drive you off a cliff. (5:39) This is the thing I want to share.(5:40) I know I'm frustrated, but it's because it's passion. (5:45) Imagine a car that didn't know if it was a road or a mountain or a lake. (5:51) It's like, should I take a right?

Kevin Palmieri

(5:54) One that doesn't have a speedometer.

Alan Lazaros

(5:56) Yeah, same shit. (5:57) I can't even with that stuff, dude. (6:00) But I also know that I'm weird in this.(6:01) But what are you just like winging it?

Kevin Palmieri

(6:05) You're just like, hope it works. (6:07) I think most people, unfortunately...

Alan Lazaros

(6:09) How do you know if you're losing weight? (6:11) You track your weight. (6:12) How do you know if you're making money?(6:13) You track your money.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:14) The things we're afraid of, we run away from. (6:16) And then we become more afraid of because we get further away from it. (6:19) Like that's...(6:20) Yeah, yeah, fair. (6:20) But I'm not saying that as like a defense. (6:24) It makes sense.(6:25) I understand completely because I was that guy who, when I didn't have... (6:30) When I was struggling financially, I didn't want to look at the numbers. (6:32) I didn't want the reality.(6:34) I didn't want the accuracy. (6:36) Yeah. (6:37) And I was also fucked.(6:40) I was jeffed. (6:43) That's the thing. (6:44) Total shocker, man.(6:45) You gotta know... (6:46) You don't track your finances, total shocker.

Alan Lazaros

(6:48) You're spending more than you should.

Kevin Palmieri

(6:49) You gotta know how much money you make. (6:51) Yeah. (6:53) Before taxes, after taxes.(6:55) You gotta know like how much is your car payment. (6:58) Let me make this real simple. (6:59) You're gonna make it simple?(7:00) You're gonna make it simple?

Alan Lazaros

(7:01) This is what I teach every single day. (7:03) I know you're making it simple. (7:03) You're usually the simple guy.(7:05) Let me just make it really simple. (7:05) Make it really simple. (7:06) You gotta know how much money you make.(7:09) You said that. (7:10) I know, you said that. (7:12) But forget about the second part.(7:13) Seriously, I know this sounds crazy. (7:15) I want total in. (7:16) Total in, baby.(7:19) It makes it simple. (7:20) I tell this to my clients. (7:23) Because here's the deal.(7:24) When someone says they make six figures, they don't actually make six figures. (7:26) That's not take home. (7:28) Right?(7:29) You made... (7:29) One of my clients made $102,000 in 2025. (7:32) Awesome.(7:33) You make six figures. (7:34) She didn't take home $102,000. (7:36) You pay taxes.(7:37) You pay health insurance. (7:39) No one takes home $102,000. (7:41) Like, nobody.(7:43) Squad, nobody. (7:46) Okay, our client made... (7:49) Upwards of $9 million last year.(7:50) He didn't take that home. (7:52) Everybody knows that, right? (7:54) Am I out of my mind with this?

Kevin Palmieri

(7:56) Nobody takes home $9 million. (7:59) No, but again, we only hear about like... (8:02) Taylor Swift made $300 million.(8:04) Whatever, whatever it is. (8:05) Yeah, but she didn't take that home. (8:07) I know, but that's what the ticket sales were, man.(8:10) That's gross sales. (8:11) I know, I understand. (8:11) How much the venue cost.(8:14) I understand. (8:15) Okay, but it's... (8:16) I'm sorry.(8:16) It's a business. (8:17) No, it's all good. (8:18) It's a business concept.

Alan Lazaros

(8:19) It's a business concept that most people just... (8:21) Okay, so total in. (8:23) You measure it because it's the easiest to measure.(8:27) Imagine... (8:30) Hey, you know, you're going to pay me... (8:32) Let's say, hypothetically, you pay me $100 for doing services rendered.(8:36) Awesome. (8:37) Am I going to track the $100 or am I going to track... (8:39) Oh, well, Stripe takes three.(8:42) And I'm going to pay taxes on anywhere from $15 to $18 to $25 of that, depending on how much...

Kevin Palmieri

(8:47) What are you going to do? (8:48) Well, in theory, you're... (8:50) Yes, you are.(8:51) You're supposed to take the $25 and put it in a separate account for when taxes... (8:54) Brother, that ain't it because... (8:56) Oh, I know, but I'm just saying technically.

Alan Lazaros

(8:58) No. (8:59) Nope. (9:00) Because you're going to track that in the other end, which is expenses.(9:04) Okay, fair. (9:04) Okay, so total in is the number that... (9:08) It's called top-line revenue.(9:09) If you're a personal human being, it's called top-line income. (9:13) I know, I know. (9:14) Dude, this is finance that we were never taught.(9:17) I'm not mad at anyone else. (9:18) I'm mad at the school system straight up. (9:20) You should have taught us finance.(9:21) This is fucking crazy. (9:23) Top-line revenue. (9:25) So my client, $102,000 last year.(9:27) Great. (9:28) Awesome. (9:29) Global top 2% earner.(9:31) Awesome. (9:31) You're killing it. (9:32) Congratulations.(9:33) Love you. (9:34) Okay, top-line. (9:35) Now, the next is cash on hand.(9:37) How much of that actually ends up in your bank account? (9:40) Okay, checking account. (9:42) Savings accounts are fairly useless, with all the love.(9:45) It's the same thing. (9:47) Savings accounts and checking accounts are the same thing. (9:50) I asked this to someone recently.(9:52) I said, Kev, if I give you $100 right now, I'm going to give you a crisp hunt. (9:57) Okay, I'm going to come to your house right now. (9:58) I'm going to give you it.(9:59) How much is it worth next year? (10:01) You do nothing with it. (10:02) You don't put it to work.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:03) You do nothing with it.

Alan Lazaros

(10:05) 97, 96. (10:06) Because of inflation. (10:08) So you now have less money, right?(10:11) Most people, unfortunately, are not even taught that. (10:14) That's fair. (10:16) Your money is just going nowhere if you're not using it.(10:19) Put it to work. (10:21) Okay, three things to track. (10:23) I said I'd make it simple.(10:24) My bad. (10:25) Top-line revenue. (10:26) Top-line income.(10:26) Boom. (10:27) Track that number. (10:28) Okay, $102,000.(10:29) Cash on hand. (10:30) She has, call it, $3,500 in the bank. (10:34) Cash on hand.(10:34) Awesome. (10:35) Capital. (10:36) Liquid capital.(10:37) Working capital. (10:38) Cash on hand. (10:38) It's cash you can use right now.(10:42) Not a credit card. (10:44) Actual cash. (10:45) Good.(10:45) Then you have expenses. (10:47) Expenses are what you use for your credit card, what you use from your debit card, and what you use with actual physical cash. (10:53) Awesome.(10:54) That's it. (10:54) Track those three. (10:56) Those are your vitals.(10:57) Those are your vitals. (10:59) If you track those three, you know how much is coming in. (11:02) You know how much is staying.(11:04) And you know how much is going. (11:06) That's it. (11:07) If you track those three, you're going to be...(11:09) I have coached people that make $40,000 a year and people who make $9,000,000 a year. (11:16) And I'm telling you, the principles are the same. (11:19) The person who makes $40,000 a year is so dialed in.(11:22) I know you're listening. (11:23) I love you. (11:24) It's awesome.(11:24) She has more invested than most people. (11:27) She's going to be wealthier than most people just because of her habits of tracking. (11:31) She has spreadsheets on spreadsheets of tracking everything.(11:34) It's not the amount you make. (11:35) It's the amount... (11:36) It's the system.(11:37) It's the system. (11:38) It's not just the amount you make. (11:39) It's the system.(11:40) We all start out at the bottom. (11:41) I made $7.25 an hour when I started. (11:44) I was broke as a joke.(11:45) And now I'm here. (11:47) Awesome. (11:47) It's the system that matters.(11:49) The tracking system.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:51) I... (11:51) Okay. (11:53) I'm saying this as a guy who hated all of this.(11:57) So this isn't me like talking from the rooftop to people. (11:59) Because I hated this. (12:00) I was like, this...(12:01) I was like, fuck this. (12:02) I don't care about any of this. (12:03) I don't want to learn any of this.(12:04) None of that. (12:05) When we were planning on moving, I did... (12:09) I wanted to know how much the electric was going to be.(12:11) I wanted to know how much the gas was going to be. (12:14) If HVAC was gas versus electric. (12:16) I want to know how much water was going to be.(12:18) I want to know how much electric was going to be if I charge my car at home. (12:21) As opposed to going to Electrify America. (12:24) Just got our first electric bill.(12:27) $250. (12:28) Hold on. (12:29) Hold on.(12:29) Hold on. (12:30) But it was $150 a month charging at Electrify America. (12:36) So it's actually way cheaper than it would have been if I combined those two.(12:40) Just got our water bill. (12:42) Had to fix the... (12:44) Shower was leaking a little bit.(12:45) Is it a full month? (12:46) You've been there a full month? (12:46) 28 days.(12:48) Oh, yeah. (12:48) Yes, we've been here. (12:49) Yes, we've been there.(12:50) Nice.

Alan Lazaros

(12:50) Yeah. (12:50) Well, 2,400 square feet is harder to heat. (12:53) But it's a nicer place.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:54) It's newer.

Alan Lazaros

(12:55) Super insulated. (12:56) Yeah. (12:56) Well, you know, weatherization.(12:57) Super insulated. (12:58) Real good. (12:59) But the point of all that is...

Kevin Palmieri

(13:01) You guys have a click-on fireplace? (13:03) No. (13:03) Ah, sick.(13:04) That was... (13:05) Yeah, it's devastating. (13:07) It's all good.(13:07) But the piece of... (13:11) The piece that I'm trying to connect to this episode is I did so much research about all of the costs to figure out what the difference would actually be to make it... (13:19) To know whether or not it was actually going to be worth it.(13:21) I never did that before. (13:23) I would just show up and then suffer after. (13:28) I was just super reactive.(13:32) Okay. (13:32) Super. (13:33) Super reactive.(13:33) Appreciate your honesty. (13:34) Now it's like I have the bill right here. (13:36) Our water bill was $53.(13:39) $53.57 per water. (13:42) Not bad. (13:43) Not bad.(13:44) And that was like a high month.

Alan Lazaros

(13:45) Can we still get water? (13:46) We don't need any more, right? (13:47) No, no.(13:48) What do you mean? (13:50) You're getting water delivered. (13:51) Oh, yeah.(13:53) But I told you this.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:55) I was super excited. (13:56) It's not the same. (13:57) Those filters are garbage.(14:00) They are garbage. (14:01) You got to look them up. (14:02) Garbage.(14:03) I've done the research. (14:04) I know. (14:04) I know.(14:07) I, since we have a garage and we have space now, we get them delivered eight bottles at a time. (14:12) Cheaper. (14:13) Because I was crunching the numbers and I was like, what the fuck?(14:15) I can't fucking do this. (14:16) I'm going to get four bottles delivered. (14:18) It's like a $20 charge every time.(14:19) What are we doing here? (14:21) Oh, if I get eight bottles. (14:23) It's all math, baby.(14:23) It's all math. (14:25) Maybe that's the, again, I know math sucks and it's not sexy, but it probably is like the best thing you can learn for success. (14:33) I know you've been waiting nine years for me.(14:35) I have. (14:36) Yeah. (14:36) That was a moment.(14:37) Delete that. (14:38) Edit that out. (14:39) Edit that out.(14:39) I'll say something different. (14:41) I'm kidding. (14:41) He's joking.(14:42) Don't edit that out. (14:43) Please. (14:43) I've been waiting nine years for that.(14:44) You have one minute and then you got to go.

Alan Lazaros

(14:46) Wrap this in a bow. (14:47) I know. (14:47) So all my clients track.(14:51) I no longer coach anyone who doesn't track. (14:53) I sound like such an entitled coach. (14:55) I don't do it because I can't.(14:57) This is my pitch and I'm going to make a point. (15:01) I'm not trying to sell coaching right now. (15:02) If you want to coach though.(15:03) Okay. (15:04) Awesome. (15:05) Here's my point.(15:07) I can't do my job if you don't track. (15:10) I don't know what these other coach like. (15:13) How do you even measure whether or not it's working?(15:17) I need to see measurable results. (15:22) One of my clients I was on with earlier today. (15:25) I've been coaching him for four years.(15:27) He's going for $525,000 this year. (15:30) When we started, it was like 250. (15:33) Like he's grown his income a ton.(15:36) And I know a lot of it is my coaching and he knows it too. (15:39) What's up? (15:39) If you're listening.(15:41) I can't. (15:43) I can't know that it's working unless you track. (15:47) If you do nothing else with this episode.(15:50) Track one of those three. (15:53) Total in cash on hand or expenses. (15:58) Just pick one.(16:00) And just start doing it for a month. (16:02) Commit to a month every day. (16:04) Alan, what about my birthday?(16:05) Every day. (16:07) That is, I told my clients. (16:11) I am not successful unless you are successful.(16:15) I will not feel successful if you're not successful. (16:17) And I won't feel successful if you don't fucking track. (16:20) So you need to track for me.(16:22) If you're not gonna do it for you, do it for me. (16:24) Because I'm not gonna coach you if I can't track that this is working. (16:27) I always make the joke.(16:29) What if Michael Phelps's coach was like, hey, just jump in the pool, swim around.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:32) It's my favorite. (16:32) It is my favorite.

Alan Lazaros

(16:33) You can't do that. (16:35) The people who get paid a lot in life, who are successful in life, any industry, sports, music, they're tracking things. (16:41) They're tracking listens.(16:42) They're tracking downloads. (16:43) They're tracking Spotify. (16:44) They're tracking Netflix.(16:45) They're tracking analytics. (16:46) You have to measure. (16:48) You have to measure.(16:49) You cannot manage what you don't measure. (16:51) Peter Drucker said that. (16:52) And I couldn't agree more.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:55) I want to do an episode on the psychology of... (16:59) One of the things that was really hard for me is I had so much significance tied to not caring about how much I spent on things. (17:04) And it was really hard to be cheap.(17:09) I have lots of stories I can share. (17:11) I think that is one of the hardest things is internally rebuilding your identity around money. (17:17) Let's do that tomorrow.(17:19) I love it, man. (17:19) You dig it? (17:20) Mm-hmm.(17:21) Cool. (17:21) All right. (17:21) Next Level Live is April 11, 2026 from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. Totally virtual, $47. (17:27) We're only taking 30 people. (17:28) 30 people virtually. (17:30) We want to make this the best event possible.(17:32) Alan has his hands up. (17:32) He wants to say something. (17:33) We are tracking that.

Alan Lazaros

(17:35) We're only taking 30 people. (17:36) In advance, we've decided 30 people only. (17:38) Lock your spot.(17:39) It's $47. (17:41) You will get so much value. (17:44) This is going to be the very best.(17:45) We've done nine events. (17:46) This is our ninth event. (17:48) Fully virtual, fully private.(17:50) You'll upload the recording to Google Drive private folder only for the emails that sign up. (17:56) Only 30 people. (17:57) And we're tracking that.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:58) So anyways, we're tracking that. (18:00) All right. (18:00) As always, we love you.(18:01) We appreciate you. (18:01) Grateful for each and every one of you. (18:03) 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'll be here every single day to help you get there.(18:09) Keep leveling up to reach your full potential.

Alan Lazaros

(18:12) Next Level Nation.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:13) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (18:17) We love connecting with the Next Level family.

Alan Lazaros

(18:20) We mean it when we say family. (18:22) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (18:25) Everything you need to get a hold of us is in the show notes.(18:29) Thank you again, and we will talk to you tomorrow.