3 Success Understandings We Didn’t Learn In School Part 2 (2377)

In this episode of Next Level University, Kevin and Alan continue their conversation on the success principles that school never taught. They unpack the hard truths behind personal responsibility, grit, entitlement, self-discipline, and what it really takes to build a strong life when no one is coming to rescue you.

Drawing from their own experiences, coaching lessons, and years of helping people grow, they challenge the idea that life is supposed to get easier with time. Instead, they explore why so many people stay stuck, what real maturity actually looks like, and how to build the mindset needed for long-term growth, consistency, and success. If you are serious about personal development and are done waiting for perfect conditions, this episode will challenge the way you think and raise your standard.

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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. 👇

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

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Show notes:
(2:22) The hard truths most people learn too late
(8:23) Why personal responsibility changes everything
(14:51) Success does not make life easier
(17:24) Gratitude must be backed by action
(22:27) How entitlement quietly destroys progress
(26:42) 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) As promised, we are going to do a part two because, number one, the episode wasn't super long, and I think once we started talking about what we didn't learn in school that we wish we did, the list is way longer than three. (0:13) It's way longer than... (0:14) I mean, we could probably do an entire month on this, so we're gonna dive deeper into it today.(0:19) What you have to master in life is so complex. (0:24) It's so much. (0:25) We're gonna try our best to make it simpler today.(0:29) Welcome to Next Level University. (0:32) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:34) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazarus.(0:37) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers. (0:43) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth. (0:50) 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.(1:06) Self-improvement in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free. (1:12) Welcome to Next Level University. (1:18) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2,377, three success understandings we didn't learn in school part deux.(1:27) What? (1:28) Part deux. (1:30) D-E-U-X, I think, is two.(1:32) It's like something in some language. (1:36) Sure. (1:37) That's what people do when they're really philosophical, really intellectual.(1:43) That's how you name your part two movie. (1:45) Something I know a bit about, but what can I say?

Alan Lazaros

(1:48) All right.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:49) Where do you want to go in this episode? (1:51) So we, on the last episode, we talked about the four subjects at the theoretical Next Level University High School, which makes no sense as a title. (2:04) No, no.(2:05) Just being Next Level University would be perfect. (2:07) Right. (2:08) And we landed on habits, time management, self-awareness, finance.(2:15) Finance. (2:15) And you said investing, which is finance. (2:18) Yeah.(2:18) Ultimately. (2:19) Okay. (2:21) What else?(2:22) Let's each come up with at least one more. (2:23) I got a good one. (2:24) I don't know how you could ever possibly humanly accomplish this.(2:29) Like, the hard truths about life that you can't, you'll never learn until you experience them horribly. (2:37) That. (2:39) Like, give me the truth about life.(2:42) Ooh. (2:43) Like that. (2:44) I was on a call today with a client who has an ex-husband who has a new wife and there's like kids involved and there's custody and it just sounds terrible.(2:56) And I just feel like. (3:00) So this would be an anti-naive. (3:04) Yeah.(3:04) Like, yeah. (3:05) Like you're going to, you're, we are going to strip any level of naivete from you. (3:09) And honestly, I think there would probably have to be like a requirement to attend this class.(3:17) The school of hard knocks. (3:18) You have to like sign a contract.

Alan Lazaros

(3:20) Something.

Kevin Palmieri

(3:20) Because again, there are things I've learned. (3:22) Like there are certain things you learn that you can't put back in the box once you learn them. (3:25) And I don't think you can definitely learn too much too fast, but that would have helped me tremendously.(3:33) Tremendous example of that. (3:34) Um, Hey guys. (3:35) So I know for today's class, it's going to be a bit of a downer.(3:39) I hope you have your coffee, your Starbucks, whatever. (3:41) Put your fucking cell phones on silent. (3:43) Get them out of here.(3:44) What are we doing? (3:45) No AI bots. (3:46) Let's do this.(3:47) I know down in Mr. Smith's class, he tells you all the time that if you try hard and you believe in yourself and you go off to college, it's going to be amazing. (3:58) And eventually you'll have a partner and a white picket fence and all that, that none of that is real. (4:03) None of that is real at all.(4:07) And at the end of the day, unfortunately, a percentage of you are going to end up in a very bad place. (4:16) And some of you are going to statistically average. (4:18) And some of you very rare, a very small amount of you are going to crush it at life that, and like almost nothing I say is going to matter because when you leave here, it's up to you.(4:34) It's up to you. (4:35) Nice. (4:35) And your parents can't do it for you.(4:37) Your employers can't do it. (4:38) It's up to you. (4:39) You're on your own that like that level of, I wonder if I knew that earlier in life than most, when I went to my mom and we were like looking at colleges, I was very quickly like, there's no way I'm fucking go to college.(4:54) There's no way this is going to work. (4:56) Zero, 0% chance. (4:59) I think I knew pretty early on that this was again, my mom is super supportive and you know, always did the best she could with that.(5:07) But like, I don't know. (5:09) In hindsight, do you think you were less naive than most? (5:12) I think so.(5:15) Yeah, I think so. (5:17) Unfortunately, like one of, Oh, in retrospect, this was traumatic. (5:22) I didn't realize how traumatic at the time.(5:24) One of my best friends, not, it's not funny. (5:26) This one is not funny. (5:27) One of my best friends got addicted to drugs.(5:30) Dude. (5:30) One of the hardest things I can't watch. (5:32) I know what comedy got Kevin through the top.(5:37) We're not making light of this. (5:38) Like this, we, we have a pattern where I tell stories about how I was a loser and Alan laughs because I'm not a loser anymore. (5:45) That's so that that's what that is.(5:47) One of the hardest things ever was just letting him go and being like, well, I'm never going to see him again. (5:52) And there's nothing I can do. (5:54) I tried.(5:55) I tried to be there. (5:57) I tried to support him. (5:58) I tried to be the voice of reason.(5:59) I, there was nothing I could do to help him. (6:02) Nothing. (6:02) And he, I was there one day and he got drunk and came in and said, you weren't there.(6:06) You bailed on me, blah, blah, blah. (6:07) And I was like, dude, I was the only person there. (6:10) Fuck you.(6:10) I was the only person there that seeing that. (6:14) And then seeing what that divulged into do that. (6:17) You guys ended up fighting?(6:18) No physical fight. (6:19) No, no, no, no, no close. (6:22) No, no.(6:24) We were like brothers, man. (6:27) We were like brothers. (6:28) So it was just, I think he was as sad as I, he was as mad as I was sad.(6:33) But when you, that like, there's no level of, it's like, this is, I'm, I'm literally watching a human life self-destruct in front of my eyes and there's nothing I can do about it. (6:43) And he will never be the same. (6:45) That person will never be the same again.(6:46) I mean, he's done irreversible damage that to his, yeah, to his brain, to his relationships that I feel like, I don't know. (6:58) You got to be very honest with yourself about that. (7:01) You know, heavy, heavy opener, heavy opener today.(7:07) So the, the class of hard knocks. (7:11) Yeah. (7:12) You know, what's interesting is what a paradox that is.(7:14) It's that class would change your life more than the other ones. (7:19) I, as long as you did something with it, I, you know who, I would much rather learn from somebody who tells me every, I don't know if I ever want to learn from somebody who says like, yeah, everything just works out. (7:30) I don't want to learn from, I'm not interested in learning from you.(7:32) Yeah. (7:32) It's not true. (7:33) That's, I feel like that's such a skewed and I don't want to learn from somebody who says, no matter what you do, you'll never make it like, no, neither of those are true.(7:39) Neither. (7:40) Yeah. (7:40) Who, who says that it'll all work out?(7:43) That's gotta be some horse shit, huh? (7:45) I would say. (7:46) I think that's arrogant.(7:48) Statistically speaking. (7:49) I, from what I have seen, don't villainize me for this spiritual, the spiritual community, the spiritual community says like, it'll, if it's meant to be, it'll be, or everything happens for a reason or it'll all work out. (8:01) Yeah.(8:02) That's not, I mean, if you unpack that, it seems pretty arrogant. (8:06) I think people like to be, like to feel guided. (8:10) Yeah.(8:11) It's scary. (8:12) I had a moment very recently. (8:14) You can make it work out, but you can't just like hope it does or hope is not a strategy.(8:19) No, no, no. (8:23) I had a moment recently where like Alan and I's finances are split for the first time in nine years. (8:27) And I was like, this is all on me.(8:29) This is fucking weird. (8:30) And it's on, it's just me. (8:32) Like nothing else matters.(8:33) It doesn't matter if I think we're going to be, none of that matters. (8:36) These are numbers and they either work or they don't. (8:38) And it's up to me.(8:39) Right? (8:40) Like. (8:40) Yeah.(8:41) And you're going to be wealthy or broke based on what you do and don't do. (8:48) Yeah. (8:48) And I was on a podcast earlier with a woman named Donna.(8:51) It was awesome. (8:52) And she asked me, is there anything you want to leave the listeners with? (8:56) Imagine there's a listener out there who is really resonating with you and you have something to tell them that they need to hear.(9:03) And I said, personal responsibility. (9:06) I, all the things that I thought were a disadvantage, losing my dad at two, losing my stepdad at 14, losing three families by the time I'm 14, like all those things that I, I thought were like a really big disadvantage. (9:24) In hindsight, definitely developed me into something and someone very unique.(9:32) And I don't know, like when I'm on the treadmill doing a timed mile and I'm trying to beat my best, it's just suffering. (9:41) Like running is pain. (9:44) Runner's high after is great, but during is just purely suffering.(9:48) It's just terrible. (9:49) And I just dig deep and I'm like, okay, suffer, suffer by choice. (9:54) And I remember when my stepdad left thinking like we're fucked.(10:03) And I remember having the real moment of, if this is going to be a bright future, it's going to be because of me. (10:11) And that was probably too much for a 14 year old at the time, but I still feel that way right now, dude, I don't have, if my future is going to be bright, it's going to be because of me. (10:28) I'm not expecting you to fucking fix my company or my future or my house or my, like, I don't expect, I don't have any expectations of like anyone coming to save me.(10:40) Even to the point where like, and I think that that there's something to that. (10:46) There's something to that. (10:48) There really is.(10:48) I had a person that I knew I'll keep it anonymous. (10:52) And I remember thinking like, you're in so much trouble because you got everything handed to you. (11:00) You don't have any grit.(11:02) You don't have any skills. (11:03) You don't have any resilience. (11:05) You're not able to like, listen, you can't even exercise consistently.(11:09) You think you're going to go build a company and be an entrepreneur? (11:12) Like, I know no one's going to like this, but I have to say it. (11:18) Like if you can't get yourself to do hard things, you're absolutely screwed.(11:23) I get myself to do hard things every single fucking day. (11:27) And I don't know why people don't talk about that more. (11:30) Self-discipline, self-trust, self-love, self-respect, self-improvement, self.(11:38) No one gives a shit if I'm on this microphone. (11:42) Nobody cares if I post on social media. (11:44) Like there is no one else who can get my ass on the fucking treadmill.(11:48) There's no one else who's going to do that mile tonight. (11:51) There's no one else who's going to, you know what I mean? (11:52) Nobody gives a shit what I eat, nor should they.(11:56) I just, I wish, I wish that we had a course that taught personal responsibility. (12:03) Like I had a friend way back. (12:06) I love this person deeply.(12:08) One of my favorite people. (12:09) And I remember I called him up. (12:11) I said, dude, I got this opportunity.(12:13) I'm dipping. (12:13) I'm going to this other company. (12:14) Like they want somebody now.(12:17) And this is an opportunity that this dude could never, and he would say it to all of you, could never have gotten on his own. (12:23) And I'm joking. (12:24) Like not a fucking chance in hell.(12:26) And he woke up, it was like 1 p.m. And he's like, nah, I was like, dude, get your shit, get your resume done. (12:34) Like send me your resume. (12:35) I'll look it over.(12:36) Let's do it. (12:37) And he was like, nah, man, I can't like, no, like, you know, I'm tired. (12:42) I said, dude, get your shit together.(12:45) Let's go get your resume. (12:46) I got you. (12:47) This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.(12:49) Seriously. (12:50) This dude worked for minimum wage at a fucking bowling alley at the time. (12:54) Okay.(12:55) And that's okay. (12:56) That's fine. (12:56) I'm not making that wrong.(12:57) But this dude had serious potential. (12:59) All right. (13:00) And I had an opportunity for him and I gave him it because I care.(13:05) If I didn't care, I wouldn't have called him. (13:07) If I didn't care, I wouldn't have been hard on him. (13:09) And he's still to this day is at that company.(13:11) And he's doing very, very well. (13:13) I'd be surprised if he wasn't six figures plus now. (13:16) And I don't know where he would have been, dude.(13:19) And, and whatever, that's not me being the hero here. (13:22) That's, that's like, nobody's going to come save you like I did for him. (13:28) Nobody is, it's not going to happen.(13:30) Like some people do have that thing where they'll like come and try to shake you out of it, but eventually you gotta, you gotta shake out of it. (13:40) And well, I'm really hoping someone motivates me. (13:43) It's like, well, what if they don't show up?(13:44) I just, there's something to that. (13:46) I, I do think sometimes it's really hard for me to see how little responsibility people take. (13:54) Like it's so many excuses.(13:56) You and I right before this episode, I had a moment and I was talking to myself and I was like, okay, I gotta get back in the fight. (14:04) Like it's been a tough day, this and that and that and this and all. (14:08) And it's like, all right, let's go, let's go get back in the fight.(14:10) Come on. (14:11) We're fine. (14:12) Everything's fine.(14:12) We got this, we can do it. (14:14) You know, how quickly do you go from fuck to let's fucking get it. (14:18) Like you gotta have that.(14:20) You do. (14:20) And if you don't have it, you gotta build it. (14:22) You gotta build it.(14:23) Right. (14:23) You can't, it's like sports is a good metaphor. (14:26) You can't go cry when you lose.(14:30) You know, I always cried first. (14:34) Yeah, I was first. (14:35) Yeah, for sure.(14:36) Seriously. (14:36) Yeah. (14:37) Oh, when I was young, when I was young, yeah, for sure.(14:40) You had to get back in the fight quick and I got back in, but I cried first for sure. (14:44) Yeah. (14:44) Last piece on this.(14:45) I know we got a jump. (14:47) I said this on the podcast and I really love this quote. (14:51) Success does not make life easier.(14:55) You handle hard better. (14:58) That's so good. (14:59) And if, if anyone out there is trying to tell you that life is supposed to be easy, dude, I don't buy it, brother.(15:05) I don't buy it. (15:06) I don't buy any of that shit. (15:07) Oh, it all happens for a reason.(15:09) Yeah. (15:11) Yeah. (15:11) You made it work out.(15:13) Yeah. (15:13) Yeah. (15:14) You made it work out.(15:15) Right. (15:16) And dude, I don't buy that life is supposed to be easy shit. (15:19) I really don't.(15:20) I never did. (15:21) I did for a short time and I fucking hated my life. (15:23) But honestly, there's something wrong with that.(15:26) That, that camp of like life is supposed to be easy. (15:31) Every time something's wrong, you think something's wrong with the world or you think something's wrong with you or you blame whatever, something external. (15:41) Like when you have the baseline of life is supposed to be really hard.(15:47) I think that it helps you because when something's wrong, you don't think something's wrong. (15:52) You just think, okay, this is life. (15:54) And I got to, I got to tackle it head on.(15:56) What one camp is life is supposed to be easy. (15:59) And every time it's, it's not, I think something's wrong. (16:01) The other camp is life is supposed to be hard and I'm going to tackle it head on.(16:06) And I, and that second one is powerful. (16:09) Well, it's even like, I, you either believe that you're supposed to earn it or you believe you're supposed to be given it. (16:15) It's like, that's the same thing.(16:16) If you think you're supposed to earn it every day, you're okay with going out and earning it. (16:21) But if you think you're supposed to be given it, it's like, I don't think that's ever going to happen. (16:26) Yeah.(16:26) And I don't think this is conscious, dude. (16:28) I think some people have these in their subconscious and unconscious. (16:33) These beliefs are I got that from my mom, dude, my mom telling you, I say this, I've said this to you many times.(16:39) My, my mom went like 20 years without missing a fucking day of work ever. (16:44) She never called out. (16:45) She worked overnights.(16:46) She just went, she never missed ever. (16:49) It was like unbelievable, unbelievable. (16:52) I don't even know how she did it.(16:53) I worked overnights for a year and a half and it was fucking terrible. (16:56) Let me crunch the numbers on that real quick. (17:00) 52 weeks a year times five days a week.

Alan Lazaros

(17:02) Right? (17:02) Yes.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:03) Yes. (17:03) Yeah. (17:03) Times 20 years.(17:04) She went 5,200 days of work without missing anything. (17:08) She never missed. (17:10) It was, it doesn't matter.(17:11) It doesn't matter. (17:12) She goes, it doesn't matter. (17:13) I know.(17:14) I think she cared as, as she's gotten older. (17:15) I think she cares less. (17:17) Like she doesn't care as much.

Alan Lazaros

(17:18) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:19) And like Mima, you know, meme is getting older. (17:21) So it's different, but the last thing before we get out of here, great. (17:24) Well, you would say your mom, that's not entitled.(17:28) No, no, no. (17:28) People say I'm grateful. (17:31) I want to see it.

Alan Lazaros

(17:32) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:32) Yeah. (17:32) You're grateful for your job. (17:33) Fucking prove it.(17:35) Show me that. (17:36) I don't want to hear it. (17:37) I want to see it.(17:38) I want to hear it too, but I want to hear, I want to see it. (17:41) If I'm grateful for our business, I, I, I show that with my time and effort. (17:47) I think it's arrogant to like, imagine if I was like, yeah, whatever.(17:53) I mean, who cares? (17:54) Right. (17:55) 1% improvement every day.(17:57) Like whatever the listeners don't want to listen. (17:59) Screw them. (18:00) You know, it's just so off.(18:05) I'm grateful. (18:08) I was on a show earlier with Donna grateful. (18:10) I said, I'm so grateful to be here.(18:12) Cause I remember in the beginning when it was crickets, there's an entitlement that happens when you, the one thing you once wanted. (18:19) Now you're like, Oh, I don't, I mean, I don't get out of bed for any less than a Jibo. (18:25) It's, it's, it's, you know that nothing less than a Jibo baby.(18:28) Yeah. (18:29) I told Alan, I was like, cause he was, you came in hot to the room and I was like, if it's any consolation, I literally have, I, I give not all my clients, but there are like a large, some of my clients that have my personal cell phone number. (18:43) Like nobody's doing that.(18:44) You know why? (18:45) Cause it's dumb as shit. (18:46) Stupid.(18:47) I get texts all the time. (18:49) And it's like, you want to talk about never having time off, give people your personal cell phone number. (18:55) They'll just text you.(18:56) And that's what I want. (18:57) I like that. (18:57) I love that.(18:58) I love the fact that that's me. (18:59) Last thing, before we get out of here, I had a very good job in the past. (19:02) You've heard like made really good money for what it was like very little educational requirement.(19:08) My boss one day said, Hey, we're hiring. (19:10) You know anybody? (19:11) I know somebody.(19:12) Yeah. (19:13) No, somebody great. (19:15) Hard worker.(19:16) Love this person. (19:16) Seems like a great individual. (19:18) Done.(19:19) So bring them in for an interview. (19:20) We'll see what happens. (19:21) Cool.(19:21) I don't know how I was this close to that person at that. (19:24) I have no idea. (19:25) Call him up.(19:25) Hey man, I have a great fucking opportunity for you. (19:27) Okay. (19:28) I was on a job last week.(19:29) I made $120 an hour, $120 an hour. (19:33) Okay. (19:33) I got you an interview back then.(19:35) This is 2000 and what was this? (19:39) 13. (19:42) Yeah.(19:43) 13. (19:45) Yeah. (19:45) Maybe 13, 14, 15.(19:47) Yeah. (19:48) 13, 14. (19:50) Awesome, man.(19:50) Love it. (19:51) Cool. (19:51) Cool.(19:52) Does the interview. (19:54) Do they ask, do you smoke? (19:55) He says, I do, but I won't smoke.(19:57) I won't smoke on this job sites or I won't smoke when we travel. (20:00) None of that. (20:00) I was like, cool.(20:01) Awesome. (20:01) He gets the job. (20:02) Awesome.(20:03) Great. (20:04) Not three weeks later, he gets caught smoking butts in the hotel parking lot and gets fired and makes me look like an asshole. (20:13) Yeah.(20:13) A hundred percent. (20:14) And I'll never forget. (20:15) It was like, dude, you, all you had to do was just not screw this up.(20:19) Well, dude, that, that's the thing is, and I know this person well, and I care for this person deeply. (20:25) And I was, I remember thinking like, don't screw this up. (20:28) I was so pissed.(20:29) I was close friends with this kid. (20:32) A huge fan of him. (20:34) We grew up together.(20:35) I thought, I didn't even want to tell, I didn't want to tell the story because I do enjoy this huge fan. (20:40) I got to say, and I would say this to his face. (20:42) I actually did.(20:42) Eventually that was entitled. (20:45) That wasn't like, there's no such thing as something for nothing. (20:48) I don't know what planet you're on, but on this one, there's a price for everything.(20:54) And if you think I didn't want to, I had to, when I tried to get a new, new job there, they said they were going to drug test. (21:00) You think I wanted to stop smoking weed? (21:02) No.(21:04) All my friends at the time, just smoking weed all the time. (21:07) I couldn't. (21:08) No thanks.(21:10) Kev, now as a business owner, talk from both ends of that. (21:13) Isn't that, doesn't that make sense? (21:14) Of course it makes sense.(21:17) It's the dumbest thing ever. (21:18) You work in schools, man. (21:21) It's yeah, but they didn't get, they didn't even drug test me.(21:23) So it didn't matter. (21:24) It didn't matter. (21:25) But still, but that part, a lot of people like, oh, I can't believe they drug test.(21:28) It's they're allowed to have standards. (21:30) Go start your own company and make your own rules. (21:32) Of course.

Alan Lazaros

(21:32) Yeah. (21:33) Whatever.

Kevin Palmieri

(21:33) But the other thing I would hang out with people and it's like, yeah, I fucking, I can't stand my job. (21:39) It's the worst. (21:40) Like, all right, let's, what can we do to get a new one?(21:42) It's like, oh dude, I'm not going to quit smoking weed. (21:46) No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. (21:50) That's it.(21:51) Yeah. (21:52) I just don't like my job and I'm not going to quit smoking weed. (21:54) Jesus.(21:54) No way. (21:55) It's like, okay, we got to zoom out here. (21:58) Nice.(21:59) We got to zoom out here. (22:00) This is insane. (22:02) This is insane.(22:03) This is entitlement, brother. (22:05) What are we? (22:05) That's what that is.(22:06) It's, it's, it's not conscious. (22:08) I didn't want to stop smoking weed. (22:09) Of course not.(22:10) I wanted a better job though. (22:13) It's like me. (22:13) I went to business school.(22:14) I had to take the GMAT. (22:16) Imagine if I was like, nah, yeah, not for me. (22:18) I know that that's required for the application, but do you know that I'm Alan fucking Lassner?(22:23) You know who I am? (22:24) Did you not know who I am? (22:25) Like you guys can't bend the rules for me though.(22:27) Come on. (22:28) At the end of the day, thinking you deserve something without any effort is the definition of entitlement and it's unconscious. (22:39) I've been entitled at times.(22:40) Of course. (22:41) Of course.

Alan Lazaros

(22:42) Absolutely.

Kevin Palmieri

(22:43) There are times when you and I were like winning and I got arrogant and entitled. (22:46) That's my truth. (22:47) Now did I, I didn't let it destroy the company.(22:50) I didn't let it destroy my life. (22:51) Like if you stop caring for your partner and she leaves you good for her or him, like entitlement destroys all things. (23:02) It does.(23:04) You know, you appreciate things and you show it with investing into them. (23:09) Like when we get entitled, we stop answering messages to listeners. (23:13) We stop posting on social media.(23:15) We stop investing in the Facebook group. (23:17) We stop like, I think it's really important. (23:20) I think it is.(23:21) It's arrogant and entitled to think. (23:23) I think it'll all work out regardless of my effort and my actions. (23:27) Like, no, the truth is you have to get better.(23:30) There's never going to be a time where, where the answer to your problems isn't, I have to get better at something. (23:37) I think that's why self-awareness as a class would work because you could talk about ego and humility and all that because I don't know, that's, it's nuts to me. (23:48) It's nuts to me.(23:49) Another class would work. (23:50) It's a core value we didn't know we had. (23:52) Yeah, for sure.(23:53) We both didn't like entitlement a lot. (23:55) Self-sabotage. (23:56) Imagine a class on self-sabotage.

Alan Lazaros

(23:58) That'd be a good one.

Kevin Palmieri

(24:00) So what do we got? (24:01) We got finance. (24:01) I know we got to go finance, time management, habits, uh, self-awareness, the school of hard knocks, personal responsibility, grit, personal responsibility.(24:13) Again, these things we didn't, imagine if we learned about grit. (24:17) Okay, what is it? (24:18) Why does it matter?(24:19) Perseverance, resilience, grit. (24:21) Remember the Pacer test? (24:22) That was grit.(24:23) Oh, dude, the Pacer test was awesome. (24:26) I hated that, man. (24:27) Yeah, yeah, yeah.(24:28) Beep. (24:30) Oh, yeah, dude. (24:32) Beep.(24:32) I was the last one. (24:34) You're the last one? (24:35) Yeah, last one.(24:36) No BS. (24:36) You think you could beat me in a push-up competition?

Alan Lazaros

(24:38) I couldn't stop, dude.

Kevin Palmieri

(24:39) Back then, in the push-up competition? (24:40) You think you would have beat me in the push-up competition? (24:42) I don't know, but I did win sit-ups and push-ups in mine.(24:46) How many did you do, you remember? (24:49) I want to say 47 or something, but I don't, my camera's going nuts. (24:53) There was, I'm not sure, I think 47.(24:54) I didn't like the individual I was doing it against, so I was like, there's, I will die on this floor in front of this, these people. (25:00) I need to beat this kid. (25:01) This kid's a little, got a little arrogant in him.(25:02) I need to defeat this- Grit, baby. (25:04) This person. (25:05) My goodness.(25:06) All right, cool. (25:08) All right, if you're looking to have a professor, for lack of better phrasing, who's going to teach you all the things we talked about today, in like a very real, useful way, Alan is the guy. (25:19) So reach out to Alan directly via whatever.(25:21) If you have him on WhatsApp, reach out on WhatsApp, Instagram, all this stuff. (25:24) Go ahead, sir. (25:24) I want to say this to everybody.(25:26) If you're struggling to take personal responsibility, I will help you do that. (25:31) What's your relationship with responsibility? (25:33) I have one client where I said, I don't know if you have a good relationship with responsibility.(25:37) When you set a goal, you have to take responsibility in advance for everything that comes with that. (25:44) You can't say, I want to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks and then just like go to the beach. (25:50) There's a system of success that needs to fall underneath that.(25:54) Goal one is set the goal. (25:55) Goal two is create a system that holds you accountable to the responsibilities of that. (26:01) And the more success you have in life, the more responsibility you're supposed to have.(26:06) That's the way it's supposed to work. (26:07) It doesn't always work that way. (26:08) But in real life, it does.(26:12) When I have children, I'm going to take on more responsibility. (26:15) My life's going to get harder, not easier. (26:17) And that's a privilege.(26:19) That's a choice. (26:20) And I'm going to become more because of it. (26:22) If you feel that way and you want a good coach in your corner who's going to keep you aligned with that, I promise you, you can start off small and it's way more affordable than you think.(26:33) I have so many clients that started out with once every four weeks and they bump up to bi-weekly and then weekly. (26:39) It's a mountain we climbed together. (26:41) All right.(26:42) As always, we love you. (26:43) We appreciate you. (26:44) Grateful for each and every one of you.(26:45) 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. (26:50) Keep leveling up to reach your full potential. (26:53) Next Level Nation.(26:55) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (26:59) We love connecting with the Next Level family. (27:02) We mean it when we say family.(27:04) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (27:07) Everything you need to get ahold of us is in the show notes. (27:11) Thank you again, and we will talk to you tomorrow.