The Skill All Next Levelers Need (2506)

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In this episode of Next Level University, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros explore why resourcefulness is one of the most important skills for personal growth, career development, and long-term success. Many people believe they need more time, money, support, or certainty before they can make progress. In reality, the bigger issue is often a lack of problem-solving, ownership, and willingness to learn through action.

Kevin and Alan break down how to become more valuable by solving problems without creating unnecessary friction for others. They discuss the role of self-belief, disciplined action, micro failures, and building competence through research, repetition, and responsibility. You will also learn why external resources cannot fix internal leaks such as poor habits, weak decision-making, or a lack of follow-through. Before you ask for more, prove what you can do with what you already have.

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NLU is more than a podcast. From the Next Level Dreamliner to Group Coaching, we provide tools and communities to help you grow with more clarity, consistency, and accountability.

Visit our website and socials through the links below. 👇

Website: http://www.nextleveluniverse.com

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

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

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

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

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Show notes:
(2:01) Why resourcefulness is the skill that creates value
(4:00) Solve harder problems and become more valuable
(8:05) Learn through research, action, and repetition
(9:25) Micro failures lead to long-term success
(15:07) The lesson behind a failed podcast interview
(22:14) Why more money will not solve a lack of resourcefulness
(25:36) Fix the bucket before you focus on the faucet
(29:29) 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) You may have heard the quote that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. (0:04) While that might sound like a good thing, when it comes to being a person of value, that is not a good way to look good.

Alan Lazaros

(0:11) The most important skill is to do all you can with all you have. (0:16) That's called resourcefulness. (0:18) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:20) I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. (0:22) And I'm your co-host, Alan Lazaros. (0:25) At NLU, we believe in a heart-driven, but no-BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

(0:32) Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health, and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

(0:38) We bring you a new episode every single day on topics like confidence, self-belief, self-worth, self-awareness, relationships, boundaries, consistency, habits, and defining your own unique version of success.

Alan Lazaros

(0:54) Self-improvement, in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free. (1:01) Welcome to Next Level University.

Kevin Palmieri

(1:06) Next Level Nation today for episode number 2,506. (1:11) The skill all Next Levelers need. (1:14) That's what I'm going to start calling you.(1:16) Everybody who watches and listens. (1:17) Next Levelers. (1:18) Nice.(1:21) It'll stick, I think. (1:23) Also, behind the scenes, reach out to us and let us know. (1:26) I want to make shirts for the Next Level Fitness Accountability Group.(1:30) If you're interested, let me know. (1:31) If you're in the Next Level Fitness Accountability Group and you would buy a shirt for the Next Level Fitness Accountability Group, let me know. (1:36) Because I will have them made.(1:37) If not, I'm not going to have them made. (1:39) But I would like to. (1:39) I think it would be pretty cool.(1:40) I had a call with a team member, a new team member the other day. (1:46) And I was, first call we've had since they came on board. (1:50) And I was like, hey, you're crushing it.(1:52) You're doing a really good job. (1:54) Where do we want to improve? (1:55) What are your thoughts?(1:57) Hit me with all this stuff. (1:58) Really buttoned up on these meetings.

Alan Lazaros

(2:00) Yeah, super dialed in.

Kevin Palmieri

(2:00) I went through the full checklist. (2:02) But at one point, I said, one of the things that I really, really appreciate. (2:06) How was your weekend?(2:08) I didn't ask that. (2:10) I said, one of the things I really, really appreciate about you is you almost never ask me for anything. (2:15) You just find a way to figure it out.(2:18) And I don't mean that of like, oh, you're not worthy of my time. (2:21) I don't mean that. (2:21) It's more the fact of whatever question you have for me, most likely, you could probably Google and get a reasonable answer.(2:29) If you can't, obviously, I'm always there. (2:31) But we are very much like, go mess up and then we'll fix it. (2:36) As opposed to don't make a decision and then just wait and wait and wait and wait.(2:41) And then something happens that wouldn't have happened if we just made the decision. (2:44) Momentum over everything, baby. (2:46) Momentum over everything.(2:47) So, to Alan's point, what we're talking about is resourcefulness. (2:49) Google, Chat GPT. (2:51) You can find answers to anything.(2:56) And those are always the people, one, I enjoy working with the most. (2:59) And two, I feel the most certainty around. (3:04) We brought two people on recently.(3:06) Well, shout out. (3:07) Shout out to Barrett and Heather. (3:09) And they're just crushing it.(3:11) They're crushing it. (3:13) And it's been beautiful. (3:15) It's been wonderful.(3:17) If that wasn't there, I don't think I would feel the same. (3:20) Not that I wouldn't like them, but you know what I mean. (3:23) I do.

Alan Lazaros

(3:26) So, where do I want to go with this? (3:30) I don't want anyone to be the unsung hero, which is potentially the case. (3:37) That's a good point.(3:38) You are never the squeaky wheel. (3:39) That's a good point. (3:40) So, while I don't want anyone to be a squeaky wheel, I also don't want you to be an unsung hero.(3:44) So, take this with that in mind. (3:47) I was going to say with a grain of salt, but screw that saying. (3:49) Take that with this in mind.(3:54) Business owners, the biggest constraint, well, two things. (4:00) Business owners, the biggest constraint, number one, is demand. (4:04) I mean, if you don't have demand, you're in trouble.(4:06) If you don't have demand, you're not a business owner. (4:08) You're about to be at a business owner. (4:10) All right, so that's number one.(4:11) Number two, assuming there is demand, the biggest constraint is immediately the business owner's time. (4:17) And so, what you do is you leverage your time by delegating less important tasks that are still important. (4:28) I got to share this for context.(4:32) Kevin and I, in order to scale Next Level University and have a bigger impact, more impact and profitability, we have to take our 168 hours each per week. (4:44) You sleep eight, you got 112 waking hours. (4:46) I sleep more than eight, so it's less than that.(4:49) We can't get any more time. (4:51) So, what we have to do is turn labor into leadership. (4:56) The things that need to get done in order to serve our clients, we have 152 paying clients right now, as of my latest calculation.(5:05) It's actually a little different than that now, but you understand. (5:08) So, in order to serve the 152 paying clients, you and I have to do what only you and I can do, this podcast being one of them. (5:19) I remember way back in the day, we had the team podcast.(5:21) That was my idea. (5:22) It was a terrible idea. (5:23) My bad.(5:24) The what? (5:25) The team, remember? (5:26) We had them on the podcast.(5:27) Oh, yes, yes, yes. (5:28) It was an awful idea. (5:29) It's my bad.(5:30) The reason why it was an awful idea is they're not good podcasters. (5:33) It was a learning experience. (5:34) It was a learning experience.(5:35) And I'm not trying to be mean here. (5:36) I just want to be honest. (5:37) They were terrible podcasters compared to us.(5:42) They haven't done it thousands of times. (5:43) That's unfair. (5:44) That is my truth.(5:46) Sorry. (5:46) Anyways, the point that I'm making is the only way to grow the company is to lead other people and delegate the things that can be done by them. (6:00) And for everyone listening, if you're an entrepreneur or not, even if you work at any organization, nonprofit, charity, company, the organizational structures work the same way, even in the Although I think that's very different.(6:15) Union, the whole thing. (6:16) But what I will say, and I know the union isn't government. (6:19) My point is, is that the government's a little different because it's not as much of a meritocracy.(6:23) I know. (6:23) I know. (6:23) I'm getting there, Kev.(6:25) No matter where you work, if you work in a free, capitalistic society, you get paid in proportion to the difficulty of the problems you solve. (6:34) And the difficulty of the problems you solve without a hassle. (6:41) That's the reality.(6:43) As a business owner, I want everyone who is not a business owner yet, or maybe never will be, to realize that you get paid in proportion to the difficulty of the problems you solve, how reliable you are at solving those problems, how good you are at what you do, how needed you are, how needed what you do is, which is changing based on AI. (7:06) And the point that I'm making is Barrett and Heather are a perfect example. (7:12) Of being reliable at what they do, making our lives easier.(7:19) If you make our lives harder, you're going to be fired. (7:23) Because we can't. (7:26) And I think people, I think people don't know that.(7:29) Genuinely. (7:30) In career dev, you have to make the business owner's lives easier, not harder. (7:34) I coach a company in Florida.(7:36) And if you spend your life, your career at least, trying to make the business owner's lives better and easier so that they can free up their consciousness and their time to do more important things, you will be the most valued employee. (7:54) MVP, most valuable player. (7:56) If you want to be the MVP at a company, be the best at solving problems that the company has.

Kevin Palmieri

(8:05) I was thinking about this the other day because oftentimes, more so when I was going on other podcasts, people would ask me, how'd you learn about this in the beginning? (8:16) Like, how'd you learn about it? (8:17) And I said, I just started and then figured stuff out.(8:20) I didn't know how to audio edit. (8:22) I didn't know how to video edit. (8:23) I didn't know how to set up the microphone.(8:26) I didn't know any of that. (8:27) I had no idea. (8:28) I just researched it and then tested it.(8:31) And then if it worked, it was like, all right, cool. (8:33) That's now, that's kind of a tool in my repertoire. (8:35) If it didn't work, if yeah, and if it didn't work, I failed and then figured it out next time and then tried to not make that mistake.(8:42) But all of that was just me trying to be resourceful. (8:45) That was all it was. (8:46) I didn't, nobody ever taught me how to audio edit or video edit.(8:51) I just learned how to do it. (8:53) And again, I'm not a great video editor. (8:55) I am a, I'm a very good audio editor.(8:57) I can crank on audio videos a lot harder. (8:59) So shout out to the video team. (9:00) But like that's a skill that anybody could just research and put enough time into and learn.(9:07) I'm not going to say, well, I'm not saying you're going to master it, but you could learn it to a fairly high degree. (9:13) Why don't they? (9:16) Because I think the gap for how long it takes to feel competent at it is just, and the necessity is not high enough.

Alan Lazaros

(9:25) The necessity isn't high enough to force the failing forward. (9:29) And it goes back to what I said to my client the other day. (9:31) I mentioned this on two episodes ago.(9:34) The fail forward framework, micro failure for macro success, is believe, try, fail, pain, contemplate, breakthrough, better decision, better results. (9:47) But you have to get through pain and failure first. (9:50) No one starts out like, I'm good at basketball now.(9:53) Like you basically fail repeatedly. (9:56) It's called deep practice. (9:57) You're right on the edge of your competence zone.(10:00) When I used to snowboard, you'd have to really push it. (10:04) And I think that goes back to what we said on the last episode of going to war with someone who's a little reckless. (10:10) That's why.(10:11) You have to be a little reckless to try a 540 when you've only ever done a 360. (10:18) I mean, it is. (10:19) It's reckless.(10:20) I got a couple videos of me wiping out hard. (10:23) For sure. (10:24) For sure.(10:25) But that's how you learn. (10:28) Imagine a pro skater or a pro snowboarder who's never fallen. (10:31) Or they could just do one trick.

Kevin Palmieri

(10:33) It's like, all right, Ollie. (10:34) Okay. (10:35) Ollie.(10:36) Okay. (10:37) It's like, wait, what else you got? (10:38) I've never fallen down.(10:39) I haven't learned anything else.

Alan Lazaros

(10:40) Well, let's talk about this. (10:42) Fail forward, we talked about for the whole Hyperconscious podcast at least the first year or two. (10:47) We said fail forward all the time.(10:50) That was the phase we were in. (10:51) We were just failing at basically everything. (10:53) We still are, but it's just different.(10:56) Yeah. (10:57) What do you think the ratio is for us now? (10:59) Failure to success?(11:02) I don't know. (11:03) Yeah, that's hard to say. (11:04) It's higher success than it used to be.(11:06) For sure. (11:07) But the failure rate is still pretty.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:10) Well, we also do far more specific things now, which makes it hard. (11:14) Yeah. (11:15) You know?(11:16) It's definitely, I don't know. (11:17) I don't know. (11:17) I wouldn't even have a clue to throw a number out there.(11:20) In the beginning, it was mostly failure. (11:21) Yeah. (11:21) Yeah, yeah.(11:22) Yeah. (11:23) It's still very high, but it's just not like life-altering, life-ending, massively detrimental failure. (11:31) It's just like, ah, fuck, that didn't go the way I thought it was going to go.

Alan Lazaros

(11:33) That's why we call it micro failure. (11:35) Yes. (11:35) For macro success.(11:36) For macro success. (11:37) Macro failure is catastrophic. (11:40) That's when you neglect something for a decade.

Kevin Palmieri

(11:42) Yes. (11:43) I think one of the reasons it doesn't land is because we talk about how everybody was once a beginner. (11:49) Everybody starts as a beginner.(11:50) I love that. (11:50) Same. (11:53) And it's really hard to imagine yourself being as good as somebody who has been doing it for 25 years.(12:03) Even if you think of yourself doing it for 25 years, it's like you don't really know how much can change. (12:11) That's the hard part.

Alan Lazaros

(12:13) I'm not going to do this, but it's a cool conversation. (12:19) I put on some playlist with the harp last night. (12:24) We were just chilling, eating.(12:25) I was like, I want to do something different because we have a certain playlist that we unwind to. (12:30) I said, I want to hear some harp. (12:32) I also started playing some Ocarina of Time beats.(12:35) Did you ever play Ocarina of Time back in the day? (12:36) Of course, brother. (12:36) Of course.(12:38) Remember the- The water jar?

Kevin Palmieri

(12:40) Oh, yes.

Alan Lazaros

(12:40) Of course, yes. (12:41) The Ocarina, yes.

Kevin Palmieri

(12:41) Of Time.

Alan Lazaros

(12:43) Of Time. (12:43) Of course. (12:44) But anyways, I was thinking, I bet you I could get good at the harp.(12:51) And then I was like, Alan, remember how we did the episode on ideas? (12:55) Alan, what are you going to do? (12:57) You're going to be a martial artist, and a podcaster, and a speaker, and a coach, and you're going to play the harp on the side.(13:02) And you're going to be a father, and, and, and, and, and. (13:05) Dude, come on. (13:06) You're going to be a good coach, a great leader, and a great business owner, and a great husband, and a great father.(13:12) And you're going to be into fitness. (13:13) That's about it. (13:14) And even that is too much.(13:16) So, at the end of the day, I don't know. (13:20) I think that everybody, give yourself a decade. (13:24) You can get good at whatever you want.(13:26) I really feel that way. (13:27) I know, but it's hard. (13:28) Now, there are some people who can't.(13:30) I know that. (13:31) Like, some people really do have disabilities, and there's certain things they just cannot do.

Kevin Palmieri

(13:35) But for the most part, if you want to get good at harp, you could do it. (13:42) But it goes back to the episode for 2,500. (13:47) It's a very big ask.(13:50) It's a very big ask. (13:53) But I think that's the thing, is like, you have to have a certain amount of belief to say you're going to do it for a decade.

Alan Lazaros

(13:58) Yeah. (13:59) Well, then what do you recommend if you don't? (14:03) How do you get, how do you believe in something you can't see yet?(14:06) Because people say, I'll believe it when I see it. (14:09) You're not going to see it then.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:10) I know. (14:10) Well, we're going to do an episode on that. (14:12) That's tomorrow's episode.(14:13) Nice. (14:15) I almost feel like in the beginning, you have to just do it because you enjoy it. (14:21) That doesn't work because most of the stuff is not enjoyable.(14:24) But like podcasting was. (14:27) Podcasting was always- Nothing around it was. (14:28) Yeah, but I'm not saying anything around it.(14:30) I'm saying- Oh. (14:32) Okay, you love- How long? (14:35) What?

Alan Lazaros

(14:35) Because event, I mean, how long did it take for it to suck?

Kevin Palmieri

(14:40) Podcasting?

Alan Lazaros

(14:41) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(14:43) I don't know. (14:43) But when we're doing this part, it never sucks.

Alan Lazaros

(14:46) No, no. (14:46) I know. (14:46) I meant you podcast at the beginning.(14:50) Justin Wren. (14:52) Oh, yeah. (14:52) It was pretty cool.(14:53) You got to tell that story because it took, what, three episodes for you to have a catastrophic failure?

Kevin Palmieri

(14:58) I think that was seven. (15:00) I think I had seven. (15:01) I had a buddy of mine who I was making a dream list of guests.(15:07) At the time, 2017, everybody's dream list included Joe Rogan. (15:11) Somebody had been on Joe Rogan. (15:13) He was a martial arts fighter.(15:15) His name was Justin Wren. (15:17) He was a heavyweight fighter in Bellator. (15:20) I don't think he ever fought in UFC.(15:22) He also had this side thing that he did where he would go to the Congo and he would build water wells for the pygmy villages there. (15:30) I was like, Jesus Christ, this is fucking incredible. (15:32) Like, my God.(15:33) One of my buddies sent me something where he did a post on Instagram where he was going to do a podcast tour. (15:38) He said, I'm choosing 20 podcasts. (15:39) I want to come on, tell my story, and help promote the water wells that we're building.(15:44) And my buddy said, you should reach out. (15:46) And I was like, there's no fucking chance he's going to do this, but yeah, whatever. (15:48) I'll reach out.(15:49) I reached out. (15:51) On the clock at my old job, I took a call with his booking manager. (15:56) And he's like, dude, he loves to come on.(15:57) And I was like, fuck yeah, this is awesome. (15:59) I have no idea how to do a virtual podcast interview. (16:03) Like, this is, again, this is 2017.(16:04) Perfect example.

Alan Lazaros

(16:05) No idea.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:06) Perfect example of what we're talking about. (16:06) Perfect example. (16:08) Messy action.(16:08) Messy action. (16:09) And when you get to the end, you'll see it wasn't my fault, but that's okay. (16:13) I download a voice recorder on my phone.

Alan Lazaros

(16:16) It was your fault.

Kevin Palmieri

(16:16) No, no, it wasn't. (16:17) On my phone, I download a voice recorder. (16:19) It was the other podcast host's fault.(16:21) Figure it out, get it all connected, set it up. (16:23) I'm in the hotel after work one day. (16:25) And we do this interview.(16:27) I think it was an hour. (16:28) And we finish it. (16:29) Thank you so much, Justin.(16:30) I appreciate it. (16:31) Awesome, amazing, cool. (16:32) And I listen back to it, and it's just fucking garbage.(16:36) Garbage. (16:37) Unusable. (16:38) From his end.(16:40) From his end. (16:41) Now, I don't know if I knew during the interview. (16:46) You didn't set him up for success, man.(16:48) I didn't know what success was at the time. (16:51) And I remember I sent it to Alan, and I said, what do you think of this? (16:54) So you blame Justin Redd?(16:55) No, no, no. (16:56) No, it's my fault, of course. (16:57) But all I'm saying is it wasn't like I set something up incorrectly.(17:00) I was there. (17:01) I was prepared.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:01) I was on time.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:02) There was no pre-flight checklist back then. (17:03) There was no, no. (17:04) We crashed the plane.(17:05) I remember I sent it to you, and I said, dude, this is like, to my current capabilities, I feel like this is a 9 out of 10 interview. (17:12) I asked every question I wanted. (17:14) We had some really good conversation.(17:15) We got some vulnerability from it. (17:16) It was really good. (17:18) And then I like paid somebody to try to fix it, and it was just useless.(17:23) And I couldn't release it. (17:24) I messaged him like a month later, this long message, and asked him to come back on. (17:29) And I think he ghosted me.(17:30) I don't think he answered it. (17:31) I think he read it. (17:32) He left me on read.(17:33) And again, like, what? (17:34) And that's par for the course, I understand. (17:36) But yeah, that was seven episodes in.

Alan Lazaros

(17:39) That was pretty shitty. (17:40) Can you go back to how did you keep going? (17:46) I mean, I was fucking up.(17:47) Just mostly your undying self-belief? (17:48) Yeah, I just knew that this was going to work out, so I just kept going.

Kevin Palmieri

(17:51) It didn't even affect me.

Alan Lazaros

(17:54) Isn't it wild how we make fun of you saying things that I said?

Kevin Palmieri

(17:57) Yes. (17:58) But you're the one who said it, so you tell me.

Alan Lazaros

(18:00) I didn't really say it out loud, I don't think, but. (18:02) I do now.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:03) It does sound silly when you say it, though. (18:07) I think to some degree, but like when you're on top of the podium, it doesn't. (18:11) In between, it does.(18:13) There's only so much you can say in between when you start and when you reach greatness, quote unquote. (18:17) But once you reach greatness, you can say whatever you want.

Alan Lazaros

(18:19) And people believe it. (18:20) That doesn't make any sense.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:20) I know, but it's true. (18:23) I'm telling you. (18:24) Why is that true?(18:26) Let's say you had more self-belief than Kobe, hypothetically. (18:29) Whatever, I'm not saying you do. (18:30) Hypothetically.(18:31) Hypothetically. (18:31) Nobody in their right mind could possibly believe that, because he's Kobe. (18:36) But if you became Kobe of this industry, people would be like, ah, fuck it, maybe that kid was on to something.(18:42) Maybe he knew. (18:42) Maybe he actually did believe in himself.

Alan Lazaros

(18:44) But that's all based on third-party perspective. (18:45) Who cares? (18:47) What matters in real life is you believing in you.

Kevin Palmieri

(18:49) Well, 100%, if anyone else does. (18:50) I know, but that example we were using was third-party perspective.

Alan Lazaros

(18:53) Yeah, yeah, yeah. (18:53) But again, you're thinking from the frame of other people's perception rather than inside of you. (18:58) I'm going to do this regardless of who believes in me.(19:01) Well, I'm just using that as an example. (19:02) But other people believing in me does help.

Kevin Palmieri

(19:04) I'm just using that as an example that you brought up, sir. (19:07) I know, I know, I know. (19:08) Rule number four of debating.(19:10) You want to start a debate. (19:11) Rule number four? (19:12) Yeah.(19:13) What are the first three? (19:14) I can't tell you. (19:15) You know them already, probably.(19:16) You probably taught them to me. (19:18) How did I keep going? (19:20) Brother, I was fucking up all over the place at that point.(19:22) I wasn't doing weekly episodes. (19:24) I was all over the place.

Alan Lazaros

(19:26) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(19:26) We didn't get dressed together until we partnered up. (19:29) 100%. (19:30) Yeah, 100%.(19:31) I was all over the place. (19:32) I was just doing episodes when I felt like it. (19:35) And that's like, God, we could do a- Traditional Kev.(19:39) We could do a whole episode on that. (19:40) If you only do things when you feel like doing them, you're going to do it three times. (19:46) And then you're never going to do it again.(19:47) And then you're going to think about, man, I feel like doing it again, but it's too late. (19:52) I've waited six years. (19:53) I can't do it again now.(19:55) We could do it a whole episode on that. (19:57) We should. (19:58) But yeah, that's the- What does that have to do with resourcefulness?(20:04) I don't know.

Alan Lazaros

(20:06) I have no idea. (20:07) No, doing all you can with all you have is the most important skill.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:12) Oh, we were talking about how I learned all of this along the way. (20:16) And I said, I love the podcasting part.

Alan Lazaros

(20:20) And you also didn't have all the answers. (20:22) The whole point of this episode was Googling it, researching it, failing forward, doing your- Don't be the squeaky wheel.

Kevin Palmieri

(20:30) I went to what I thought at the time was the end of the road. (20:34) I think I paid somebody hundreds of dollars to try to fix that episode. (20:40) I tried to fix it myself.(20:42) Couldn't do it. (20:43) I researched how to fix it myself and tried again. (20:45) I couldn't.(20:45) It wouldn't work. (20:46) And then I went on Fiverr or whatever was around in 2017. (20:49) And I think I hired an audio engineer.(20:52) Probably got ripped off. (20:53) Probably wasn't an audio engineer. (20:54) And I think I spent $250 to get it fixed.(20:59) And it was no better than when I did it myself.

Alan Lazaros

(21:01) We got to do this more.

Kevin Palmieri

(21:03) Then I reached back out and then he wouldn't answer me.

Alan Lazaros

(21:05) How wild was that right there to hear yourself say hundreds of dollars? (21:10) Dude. (21:11) And again, I understand money is relative.(21:14) So I don't want anyone taking this the wrong way. (21:16) But that is hilarious to me now. (21:17) Dude, we dish out thousands regularly now.(21:22) Isn't it interesting how at one point that was like a ton of money?

Kevin Palmieri

(21:26) And again, I'm not even saying it for that. (21:28) I'm saying it more because if I knew somebody that would charge $1,000 and fix it, I would have done it.

Alan Lazaros

(21:34) You would have done it for sure. (21:35) Yeah, for sure. (21:36) I know that's not why you're saying it.(21:37) But I just love the nostalgic moment right there of like in the beginning in business, that's like a big deal. (21:43) You can't risk. (21:44) You can't take that kind of risk.

Kevin Palmieri

(21:45) That's pre-business.

Alan Lazaros

(21:46) And the way you said that was so nostalgic for me because, I mean, honestly, the majority of my life is spent focusing on where we suck and where we need to get better and how to achieve our goals and get to the next level. (21:58) But every now and then it's kind of nice to be like, you know, I remember when a few hundred dollars was like a make or break thing for us. (22:06) Yeah.(22:06) You know, way back in the early days. (22:08) So it's just good perspective. (22:11) What's your takeaway for the audience?(22:14) I want to share this story. (22:16) We had a mentor and I've – okay. (22:20) This is going to make you sound terrible.(22:21) I'm sorry. (22:22) I'm used to it, brother. (22:24) All right.(22:24) So back in the day, we were in business and Kevin didn't know that much about business. (22:31) It's totally fine. (22:32) Love you, brother.(22:33) It's all good, you know. (22:35) We're doing it and, you know. (22:37) And we had – I knew many multimillionaires who very easily could have lent us money, okay, when we were in trouble.(22:46) And Kevin wanted to do it. (22:48) Many times. (22:48) Many times.(22:49) Every time. (22:49) He's like, brother, what if we just – you were looking for a way out. (22:53) And I understand why because you were struggle-busting probably harder than I thought, okay?(22:59) I grew up with nothing, man. (23:00) So for me, it was like, whatever, dude. (23:01) We're going to be fine.(23:02) I'm obviously being playful. (23:03) I didn't grow up with nothing but we were very broke growing up. (23:06) My point is I was like, dude, we can't.(23:09) And I had you read a book called Stretch by Scott Stevenson. (23:14) Son and Sheen, I believe. (23:15) Son and Sheen.(23:15) Nice. (23:16) Thank you. (23:16) Scott, Son and Sheen.(23:18) I think. (23:18) It's called Stretch. (23:20) Great book.(23:21) Boring as all hell. (23:22) Okay? (23:23) Really important book.(23:24) And it talks about how if you can't succeed with your current resources, resources are not the problem. (23:32) You're just going to – if you're wasteful with $10, you're going to be wasteful with $100 and you're going to be extra wasteful with $1,000 and even more wasteful with $10,000 or $100,000. (23:41) So I said, Kev, I don't want to bail us out of this.(23:45) Because when you bail yourself out or get bailed out, you don't learn anything. (23:48) You don't improve. (23:50) I said, the issue is not that we don't have any money.(23:53) I know it feels like it does. (23:55) The issue is we don't know how to earn more, spend less, and invest the difference intelligently. (24:01) And we're never going to learn that if someone bails us out with $150,000 loan.(24:06) I said, and this is what I think sold him on it. (24:10) We'll see. (24:11) I said this, I said, Kev, look at what we've been – look at the impact we've been able to have on people's lives with no money.(24:19) We had a big impact at that point and we'd only made like less than $100,000 between the two of us. (24:24) Okay? (24:25) The first year was $13,000.(24:27) The first year was $0. (24:28) Next year was $13,000. (24:29) The year after that was like $90,000.(24:31) And then we doubled many times since then. (24:35) I said, if we can have this level of impact on the world with no money, imagine what we can do when we're actually wealthy. (24:43) And I think that's what sold you.(24:45) No. (24:45) No. (24:46) What sold you?

Kevin Palmieri

(24:46) It was just your stubbornness mostly. (24:48) Like even if I wanted to do it, we weren't going to do it, so it didn't matter. (24:51) So I think I just shut up.(24:52) Oh. (24:54) I thought I sold you. (24:55) No, no.(24:55) I thought I sold you the dream. (24:57) No, I was leveraged in a good way, not a bad way.

Alan Lazaros

(24:59) Do you want to go sell sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to come with me and change the world? (25:03) That's what Steve Jobs said to John Scully back in the day.

Kevin Palmieri

(25:05) It worked.

Alan Lazaros

(25:06) I thought I sold Kev on changing the world.

Kevin Palmieri

(25:08) Your pitch was not nearly as good as that. (25:09) How dare you? (25:10) No, I'm sorry.

Alan Lazaros

(25:12) I remember listening- Stretch is the best concept in the game. (25:14) Now you understand.

Kevin Palmieri

(25:15) Yes. (25:15) I remember listening to that book- Because look how much we can do. (25:17) In the sauna.(25:19) What? (25:19) In the sauna. (25:21) One of our 10 pound in 10 week challenges, or maybe like the first one ever we did, I was using the sauna almost every day back then at the gym.(25:29) And I used to listen to my books in the sauna until my phone overheated and died. (25:32) What's your biggest takeaway from that book? (25:34) Yeah, that.(25:36) I know you think you need more of A, B, C, or D, but you most likely need more understanding and discipline because an influx of ... (25:46) The hole in the bucket is the best example. (25:47) If you have a hole in the bucket, you can just keep pouring water into the bucket, but it's always going to go.(25:51) You have to figure out how to plug the hole in the bucket.

Kevin Palmieri

(25:53) Yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

(25:53) And that's going to take resources that you probably don't think you're going to need to learn because you're focused on the faucet. (25:59) You're not focused on the bucket. (26:00) You've got to fix the bucket before the faucet matters.

Alan Lazaros

(26:01) Yeah, exactly. (26:02) And then when you fix the bucket and the faucet's going, and it eventually overflows, and that's ... (26:10) I just hope ...(26:11) Until you're doing all you can with all you currently have, resources just seem like the issue, and they're really not. (26:19) The real issue is resourcefulness. (26:21) Now, there are some extreme exceptions to that rule depending on where you live and all that, but for the most ...(26:26) I mean, we were ... (26:27) Come on. (26:28) The real issue was you and I need to get better.(26:30) That's the issue, especially you with love. (26:33) No, but the truth of the matter is, dude, we got better because we didn't bail ourselves out, and I easily could have gotten a loan or whatever, but I wasn't interested. (26:41) I wanted us to level the fuck up.

Kevin Palmieri

(26:45) Shout out to the haters. (26:48) I wanted that loan. (26:49) I wanted anything.(26:50) Anything that would have been given, I would have taken. (26:52) Please, please give it. (26:54) That way we could have had our breakfast that time we got the card rejected.(26:57) Yeah, we got our credit card rejected for two muffins. (27:00) That was it. (27:01) Two coffees.(27:01) Just two muffins. (27:02) Two coffees. (27:04) Okay, two coffees and two muffins.

Alan Lazaros

(27:06) Yeah, that was a bad day.

Kevin Palmieri

(27:08) That was a rough day. (27:09) We have so many stories. (27:10) All right, we got to go.(27:10) We got to go. (27:11) We're going to be out here NostalgiaVille talking about how much of failures we've been in this journey. (27:17) Future successes, I would say.(27:19) I appreciate that very much. (27:20) All right, if you are a future success sitting there watching and or listening to this, one of the best ways to become a future success is to be a person who's coached today. (27:28) Reach out to Alan.(27:28) Alan will help you with that. (27:30) Smooth transition. (27:32) Next level fitness accountability group.(27:33) I'm just going to keep talking about it because I do believe that is one of the best things we have going because there's a lot of amazing people that are the most consistent they've ever been when it comes to fitness and that's awesome. (27:43) Health, wealth, and love, that's a big piece of it. (27:47) If you want to be the most consistent version of yourself when it comes to fitness, come join the next level fitness accountability group.(27:52) It's free.

Alan Lazaros

(27:53) Kevin, Paul, Mary, and myself right here. (27:57) Yes. (27:58) Nine years ago, 10 years ago in March, started a company together and we bootstrapped the whole thing.(28:05) No investors. (28:08) We reinvested, reinvested, reinvested. (28:10) We have grossed multi seven figures underneath the brand and the business of this podcast.(28:19) If you are a business owner out there, we have been to the bottom and we are rising. (28:25) I know how to do it. (28:27) We didn't build this on a trend.(28:29) We didn't build this on COVID. (28:32) We built this on fundamentals that work for everyone. (28:36) I am a peak performance coach.(28:38) I can specialize in finance, business, fitness, but if you want to grow and scale a business from the ground up without investors and without loans and by being resourceful, I can help you do that and it's more affordable than you think. (28:49) On purpose, by design, we can start really small and build. (28:53) As long as you have humility, work ethic, and an improvement orientation, and you want harsh feedback to get better to the next level.(29:00) Just, I hope, I think there's a lot of people that went viral or whatever and then they coach. (29:07) I don't think those are good coaches. (29:09) Good coaches are people who are in the fight, who bootstrapped this company from the ground up, and who went through all the micro failure for the macro success.(29:18) We're far from done because there's always a next level, but if you want to start, grow, scale, and monetize a company, I can teach you how to do it. (29:27) Reach out to Alan, for sure.

Kevin Palmieri

(29:29) All right. (29:29) As always, we love you, appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you. (29:32) 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.(29:38) Keep leveling up to reach your full potential. (29:41) Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. (29:45) We love connecting with the next level family.

Alan Lazaros

(29:47) We mean it when we say family. (29:49) If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. (29:53) Everything you need to get a hold of us is in the show notes.

Kevin Palmieri

(29:56) Thank you again, and we will talk to you tomorrow.