Next Level University

#1624 - What Should YOUR Ideal Day Look Like?

• Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros

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In a world where the measure of success is often gauged by material wealth and titles, it’s easy to lose sight of what genuinely matters to us personally. In today’s episode, Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros offer an alternative perspective, emphasizing the importance of aligning your daily life with your innermost values and passions. They explore how crafting an ideal day isn’t just about ticking off career goals and nurturing your soul’s deepest yearnings. This discussion invites the listeners to ask if their daily activities contribute to a larger purpose that resonates with their core values. Doing so opens the door to a life of intentionality, where every action and decision is infused with personal meaning and joy.

Links mentioned:
Next Level Dreamliner - https://a.co/d/f1FWAQA
Next Level Live - Saturday, March 23rd, 2024 (10:00 am to 4:30 pm) https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/next-level-live/
Next Level Book Club - Every Saturday (12:30 PM EST) - https://bit.ly/42E4n8M

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For more information, please check out our website at the link below. 👇

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

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Kevin: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.palmieri.90/

Email 💬
Kevin@nextleveluniverse.com
Alan@nextleveluniverse.com

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Show notes:
(1:55) What’s your ideal day?
(5:10) Aligning your ideal day with personal values and passions
(8:33) Identity, Process and Result
(12:17) Setting goals aligned with values
(13:13) Next Level Dreamliner: the planner, agenda, journal, and habit tracker to rule them all. Get a copy: https://a.co/d/f1FWAQA
(15:38) Shoot for the ideal and figure out what’s realistic to create an ideal.
(17:41) Be honest with yourself: Proper size mountain
(19:11) The inherent responsibilities that come with significant life choices
(21:54) Outro

Send a text to Kevin and Alan!

Kevin:

Next level nation. Welcome back to another episode of next level university, where we help you level up your life, your love, your health and your wealth. We hope you enjoyed yesterday's episode where we talked all about bad habits. Have you slipped into a bad habit or back into a bad habit today? For episode number 1624, what should your ideal day look like? The reason I wanted to do this episode out is because Many times people, when I was on their podcast, would say how does someone find their thing, how do they find their purpose, how do they find their calling, all of that stuff and You've heard me say this before and whether you're watching or listening, you've heard me say this before as well.

Kevin:

I would say imagine you never had to worry about money again. You never had to worry about money again, but you had to do something in the service of others, in the service of the world and the service of the environment, in the better For the betterment of mankind. What would you do and when? I? I've worked with a lot of Podcasters specifically, but these podcasters have other businesses and they have families and they have hobbies and they have interests, and what I've really come to understand is If we can figure out what is your ideal day look like, not what are the results you want. I think that's a really good place to start now.

Kevin:

Obviously, understanding the results you want and setting goals based on that is super important. But the only way you're gonna get the results you want and accomplish the goals that you want to accomplish is If your day is set up in the right way, where you're actually gonna do it sustainably enough for you to actually get those goals. So that's really what I wanted to chat on today, not what do you want to accomplish. What is your ideal day look like? Realistically, now, that's a fine, a fine line. I'm not saying not to shoot high. I'm not saying not not to dream big. But on episode number seven of the hyper conscious podcast, throwback solo episode miserable at life, miserable at my job I believe it was getting burnt out in the rat race. I believe was episode number seven.

Alan:

It was called stretching the surface.

Kevin:

Getting burnt out in the marries.

Alan:

Yeah, I remember, because I liked scratching the surface, I listened and I liked that.

Kevin:

I appreciate that.

Kevin:

I appreciate that you're an og I was you've been here since the beginning, so I have, good sir, been here since the beginning. I was listening from the start. I don't know why in that episode I said my Ideal day there was probably a lot more ego. Probably, yeah, there was definitely a lot more ego. My ideal day I Wake up when I want, I Go to sleep when I want, I work out when I want, I Get to spend time with my friends and my family as I desire, and I get to podcast for a living with amazing people. That's all true. That's all true. Right, yeah, but it's a lot different than I thought I was going to look, let's talk about that. Everything's different. Everything's different. I podcast a lot more than I ever thought I was going to. I podcast with you. You're an amazing person, but it's just you and me, that guest, like I originally had planned. Things have changed and it just doesn't make sense. But I think it was a really good exercise. I know those interviews again.

Kevin:

What are your?

Alan:

views.

Kevin:

I would love to. Maybe we'll put it on the schedule for next week. I just think it's powerful not to think of the results you want, because if the results you want are not in alignment with what your ideal day looks like, you're probably not going to get the results you have a story about. Or at least a sustainable day.

Alan:

Right, you have a story about someone who you coached early on, who wanted to be an orthodontist and who wanted to be an orthodontist.

Kevin:

Yeah.

Alan:

Yeah, yeah.

Kevin:

Can you tell that? I was working with a gentleman I showed out to DeVosio. I said what do you want out of life, man? What are you doing? What do you want?

Kevin:

At the time he was a truck driver. He was a long haul truck driver who would just hammer audio books and podcasts because he just had so much time to listen to stuff. He said there's something about when you meet someone and they are proud of their smile. That really inspires me. So that's awesome. He said I want to be an orthodontist and I said okay, cool, let me look into what that takes. I don't know. I don't really understand the process of that. I don't know.

Kevin:

So on our next coaching call, I said all right, I did some research and, based on what you want to accomplish, you're going to have to go to school for a long time and then you're going to have to open your own practice, most likely, and you're really going to be stuck somewhere for a long period of time. Let's talk about what motivates you and what your core values are as a human. And we were going through and he said movement, the ability to move about freely and just the freedom to not be attached to one place is super important. Okay, what was the other one? I don't remember. I think that was the big one.

Alan:

Movement slash freedom, mating slash romance, mission slash purpose. Those were all aligned Mastery slash status, and then that was aligned. And materials and possessions. Materials slash money.

Kevin:

It was mostly the I like the ability to go where I want when I want I said, all right, cool, the result you want is very clear. Based on the fact that that's not necessarily the process, is not necessarily aligned with that real, important human need of yours, do you think it would be worth it? Or do you think you'd get a year in and decide, ah, this isn't it. And we had a real conversation that day and he ended up going into real estate and he's been. We haven't talked to DeVosio in a minute. I'm guessing he's the type of person that's going to be successful at whatever he does, because he's a really hard worker and a really consistent human.

Alan:

Last time I spoke to him he actually sent me because he was considering coaching. He sent me his P&L profit and loss. He's doing, I think, very well, very good, very happy for DeVosio.

Kevin:

Devosio is a good human, but it was that conversation of. I know I understand what you think you. The goal is that you want, but is that the way you actually want your days to be set up? There's a I said this today on one of our calls. This was in a movie I saw, so I can't take credit for it. Be careful at what you get good at, because unfortunately, a lot of us are really good at things that we don't want to do. So, yeah, you could be the best he could be the best orthodontist ever, but if that's not what he actually wants to do, based on who he is as a human being, that's setting him up for long term quote unquote failure, discomfort. So that's really what I wanted to talk about today, and I'm assuming it's a little bit of a different direction than you expected based on our conversation we had before this. Well, what?

Alan:

came up for me is we have a simple framework, as you, if you're a long-term listener of NLU, you expect it to be a pyramid. It is a pyramid. There's three levels Next Level University. So there's three levels. The bottom of the pyramid is your identity, which is your core values, who you are, who you aspire to be, your character. Then the next level, level two, is the process. And then the third level, level three, is the results, and so the result that that person wanted to be an orthodontist, the process they didn't want, which is being landlocked and being in school for another eight years or six years or whatever it is. And so what you want to try to do is align the results you want with the process necessary to achieve it, with your identity, which is who you are, and I think a lot of people don't have that figured out. It can be really difficult. If you want to be what's a good example of this, let me try to think of one of my clients. Oh, okay, so let's say you want to be a doctor.

Alan:

Do you also like academics? If you don't like academics, like you now, obviously some of us hate academics. I prerequisites in college kind of sucked. There were certain classes I didn't want to take. I remember chemistry was a little bit of pain in the butt but I loved physics. But overall I adore academics. I always have. I've always loved math and science. I've always been obsessed with business and I'm a business coach.

Alan:

So the question that I would have everyone ask themselves think about the results that you want in life and think about the things that you really actually are obsessed with. I know obsession is a word that not a lot of people use to describe their passions, but I really do believe that everyone has some obsessions. Some of us are more obsessive than others. I tend to be on the very, very, very obsessive end. But if you're obsessed with video games, you might want to consider being a pro gamer or a streamer.

Alan:

If you're obsessed with podcasting, you should consider starting a podcast. If you're obsessed with personal development, you should consider joining the personal development industry. Write a blog or a YouTube channel, whatever it is. One of my clients is obsessed with motorcycles. He's also obsessed with personal development, so he's actually combining them. He's going to create a YouTube channel. I wish I remembered the name two wheel development or something like that. I wish I remembered the name, but he's going to be talking about personal development while on his motorcycle on YouTube.

Alan:

That's a perfect example of the process is in alignment with the result you want, and the result that he wants is to be a successful business owner. And so if you want to be a successful business owner and what comes with that you have to also want to learn and grow a business. A lot of people get into business because they're a really good author or they're a really good podcaster, or they're a really good artist or they're a really good hairdresser even is a good example but they don't necessarily like the business aspects. So you either have to partner with someone who does, or like Kev, you're a good example of this. You love podcasting, but you didn't necessarily. You weren't obsessed with business.

Kevin:

Oh no.

Alan:

Business is a necessity for Kevin. Unfortunately, he has a business partner who is obsessed with business and fortunately, you're also obsessed with things that I'm not building relationship sales all kinds of stuff. You have C wrap.

Kevin:

All that valuable stuff, all that really valuable stuff.

Alan:

But that's really what I want for everybody, which is, what are the results that you want, what is the process necessary to achieve that result and what is your identity, aka, who are you? And is there anything outside of alignment with that? Because the grass always looks greener from the outside, but the grass is greener where you water it, and you're not going to water it if you're not enjoying the process. I used to think you can grind your way to success. I think you can grind your way to some success I certainly have but you're never going to be world class or really really break through at something that you don't like at all. You're just not Now. Do Kevin and I like every day? No, we obviously are obsessed with personal development, self-improvement, existential questions, talking into these microphones, having deep conversations about life. I mean we are. You could never talk for 1,624 episodes on something that you weren't obsessed with, at least to some extent.

Kevin:

All of branch for your client. Wisdom on Wheels could be a very good title. Wow, you want the alliteration of Ws, or?

Alan:

Wills of Wisdom. I do believe this person listens, so hopefully that person Two-wheel wisdom, two-wheel wisdom.

Kevin:

If you want, if it's on a motorcycle specifically, reach out. If you need help, name it and reach out. I'm happy to throw some.

Kevin:

You've named many of shows I've named hundreds of shows at this point. Most of them well, some of them well, some of them probably not so well. This was my thought. This is more of a rhetorical question than anything. Okay, would you rather your life be harder but you get to do stuff that you love every day, or your life be easier but it's consumed with stuff that you don't like doing and it almost seems like it's a waste of your time? That would be a question that I would ask. I would rather struggle more and podcast more than struggle less and podcast less. That's because I'm very passionate about it. I wouldn't go back. I don't want to go back. I love this. Are there more struggles than there would be? Are there different struggles than there would be? Yes, 100%, but I do like the way my days are Well, it used to be when you clocked out, you were done.

Kevin:

Yes.

Alan:

You remember those days? How different that is Some days.

Kevin:

I miss those days. I do Not everything else, but yeah, when I'm getting text messages at eight o'clock at night that are giving me anxiety because it's client facing stuff, it's like, oh my goodness, I have to find a way to fix this. It's stressful. It's stressful, but there's also going to be some things that creep into your ideal day that are just kind of par for the course. My ideal day does not. It would not have consisted of making sure that I'm batching hundreds of messages a day, but that is necessary.

Kevin:

So it's almost like you shoot for ideal and then you figure out what's realistic to create ideal and then that improves and that improves and then improves. Rather than saying, well, if the goal you want is to make a lot of money, there's a million ways to do that, but you might be miserable doing it. You might be better off making and Gary Vee talks about this all the time. I don't listen to Gary Vee anymore, but this is always something that resonated with me. There are some people that would just they'd rather make $55,000 a year and do something they love and have a short commute and be at home every night for dinner and be at their kids recitals and baseball games and whatever soccer games, basketball games, that's just that is more important to them.

Kevin:

But if you think about it, that is what your ideal day looks like. That's what you're saying is my goals are actually to make sure my day is ideal, in alignment with what I value as a human. I think that's a. That would be my next level nugget, because I know we have to hop here, but that's really what I wanted to discuss in this episode, because I just think it's a different way to set goals. It's a more informed way to set goals and that's why we're so big on the awareness of if you have massive goals, awesome. I love that for you as long as you love the process, because if you don't love the process, you're going to end up regretting that. We're actually going to talk about regret a little bit tomorrow as well.

Alan:

I was on a podcast yesterday or the day before and the it was a great interview. The host is 39 and she's had children at this stage and she was talking about how my energy reminded her of her and her early 30s and she kind of wishes that she had that same motivation back. But I think that what's underneath all this is maybe she evolved, maybe she had kids and decided you know what I don't want to grind as a business owner all day, every day. And so Be honest with yourself. Be honest with yourself and this is what one of my mentors told me way, way, way back, and this was probably the best advice he ever personally gave me Never do anything that feels too unnatural. If it feels too unnatural, you're not going to be able to sustain it. For me, it feels really unnatural not to work consistently. It doesn't feel right for me and I don't know if I've ever been able to explain that.

Alan:

We did the push-pull motivation, inspiration, calling stuff. I just really want everyone to shoot at the proper size mountain for their own unique character, for what you really want in life and what you value in life, and I think that Kevin and I, as we've matured from, shoot for the stars. You know, shoot for the moon, land amongst the stars. I've really grown to understand myself in particular, because I used to be guilty of that. I just have so many clients that some of them really do want to climb really, really, really high mountains and they want to do whatever it takes to get there, and they want to lead teams of 50 plus people and they want to do all those.

Alan:

And then I have some who need to be honest with themselves and say you know what, maybe what I thought I wanted isn't what I really want, and what I really want is XYZ. To make this less esoteric you can't. I don't want to say you can't. You should not be shooting for a goal that you don't also want the responsibilities that come with it.

Alan:

Emilia and I have decided to have children. We want to have children in the future. I'm not doing that without also saying, alan, you also need to want all of the responsibilities that come with that, and we've talked for years now about what that's going to look like and how we're going to navigate that and where we want to be before we start trying all that stuff, and so hopefully all of us can make more informed choices about the mountains that we climb and the things that we want in our life, because I've always wanted to be a father. But I also need to in advance decide to take on the responsibility of what that's going to entail, knowing that I'm not a father yet. So I don't fully know yet, but at least I'm going in informed and with that sort of understanding.

Kevin:

I'm hoping that when you have children, I can take vacation like a vacation. No children, no children, for maybe we'll adopt at some point. I don't know, but maybe I'll do some. Traveling when you're changing dirty diapers Sounds good. I'll never see these. These, these spawn because I'll never see them.

Alan:

Uncle Kev.

Kevin:

Well, uncle Kev, from the distance, virtual, you know what I mean. Well, they'll have.

Alan:

VR goggles on yeah that's true.

Kevin:

Yeah, it's times are weird. All right, we got to get you out of here because you have a call. My friend, if you have not yet purchased your tickets whether they are virtual or in person for next level live, please do so. We would absolutely love to have you there. And don't wait till the last minute, because we only do this once a year and, if you are interested, I just don't want you to miss out and have to wait another year, and who knows what's going to happen over the next year. Obviously, a lot changes, so Link will be in the show notes. We would love to see you in person or virtual. Either way, we are grateful and our goal is to deliver as much value and a few laughs as well.

Alan:

At this point I think we're 26 or 25 days out. If you haven't got your tickets yet, please do. Can't wait to see you. Hope we get to see you. Also, we have book club. Every single week, 12, 30 pm Eastern Standard Time. We are reading a book called the Courage to Be Disliked. It is helping all of us lean into who we really are and overcome the fear of judgment which I know many of you I certainly struggle with always have. So it's helping tremendously. It's a like-minded group of people, so the registration link for that will be in the show notes. If you've never tried it, give it a shot.

Kevin:

Tomorrow for episode number 1625, as I alluded to, what can our regrets teach us? I don't know if there's any such thing as living without regrets. I don't know. I know some people say it I definitely have regrets. I know Alan has regrets, so we'll talk about regrets tomorrow and the lessons that they will leave for us. As always, we love you, we appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you, and at NLU we don't have fans, we have family. We will talk to you all tomorrow.

Alan:

Talk to you soon, next time on Nation.

People on this episode

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Alan Lazaros

Host
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Kevin Palmieri

Host