WEBVTT

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I think that's the biggest secret, for lack of

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better phrasing, is a lot of people think I got

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to focus on the right things when in reality

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what works even better is stopping the things

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that are nonsensical. I often joke, I say, how

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much would Michael Jordan be paid to play basketball

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150 years ago? And the answer is zero dollars.

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There was no market. There was no NBA. There

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was no... So you kind of have to figure out what

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is profitable and self -improvement. I started

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doing therapy in my 30s and realizing, oh...

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Got it. So I had there's four trauma responses.

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I'll go brief with this There's fight flight

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freeze and fawn drinking too much and too often

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for sure grew up around a lot of alcohol Didn't

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know that didn't know it wasn't normal, right?

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What does next level mean to me? It means no

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matter how hard your past has been you have a

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bigger better brighter future on the other side

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of taking personal responsibility. Hey, family.

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This is a Throb Word journey. Look, life's too

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short to just get by. And 2025 is the year to

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persist. We're here to grow, build, and thrive.

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This podcast is all about powerful stories, real

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talk, and practical steps to help you level up

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in every area of your life. Now, if that sounds

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like something you need, don't just watch. Be

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a part of the journey. Let us know you're here.

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Do us a favor. If you're listening on the podcast

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platform, download the episode and if you're

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watching on YouTube, you know what to do. Hit

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that like button, subscribe and turn on those

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notifications so you never miss an episode. And

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as we always say, let's make thriving our new

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normal. So today we will be talking about scaling

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your business and life like a no BS guide to

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fulfillment and wealth. And our guest at just

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two years old, our guest, Alan Lazarus, lost

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his father in a car accident. And at 26, after

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surviving a near fatal crash himself, he found

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himself questioning everything, his choices,

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his purpose, realizing that external success

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meant nothing. without true alignment. He turned

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to holistic self -improvement, immersing himself

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in learning and transformation. And today he's

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the founder and CEO of Next Level University,

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a global top 100 self -improvement podcast, 75

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countries with a heart -driven, but no BS approach.

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And he's here to help us elevate love, life,

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health, and wealth to the next level. And we

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just had a cool little conversation before we

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started. Alan, how you doing man? I'm very well.

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I really appreciate being here. And the first

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thing I always want to share, other than gratitude,

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because that's definitely where I want to start,

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is I don't take it lightly. Anyone who is out

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there watching or listening, 10 years ago, after

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that car accident that you mentioned in the intro,

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I found podcasts, I found self -improvement,

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I found books, I found courses, and I really

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started reflecting on myself and my life. And

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podcasts were very, they helped me sort of re

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-orchestrate and reconstruct my life in a much

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more positive way. of direction. So whatever

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you're listening to, or watching is definitely

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influencing you a lot. So I don't take it lightly

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to be here, because a lot of podcasters in the

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past helped me tremendously. So now I help people

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and I think it's, it's a dream come true. So

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thanks for having me. Absolutely. We were kind

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of talking about the podcast world and how you

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just said it was like crickets in the beginning.

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And now like, you're busy. You know, like what's

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I mean, you have over 1700 episodes, we're new.

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And so thank you for being here, man. We're new.

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This is like, you know, season 145. I think you're

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episode 16 or 17. You know, like, what's the

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secret to longevity and success that you that

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you've encountered. Well, so we're coming up

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on 2000 episodes that that's actually I think

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1996 was last night. And these usually when you

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say that to someone who doesn't podcast, it's

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like, what do you do, man? Right? When you say

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it to a podcast or they're like, wait, what?

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Yeah. Yeah. So you mean like one minute episodes?

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No, our average length is a half an hour. And

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we it's 1 % improvement in your pocket from anywhere

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on the planet completely free. But similar to

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what you just said, I don't ever want to forget

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where we started back in early March of 2017

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and we started out I remember back when I was

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hoping for four listens a day you know and now

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we get you know thousands a day and I track it

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every day where we just surpassed 1 .17 million.

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listens, which is wild. And again, some podcasters,

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that's not that great for us. That's, that's

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a big deal for anyone in the beginning. That's

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a really big deal. And so we all have our niches,

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right? But the secret to staying power, the secret

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to sticking around and sticking with it. And

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I have these sort of four rules of success that

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I give to all my business coaching clients, 25

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individuals right now that I'm coaching. It's

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the first one is stop the wrong trains, which

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I think that's the biggest secret for lack of

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better phrasing is A lot of people think I got

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to focus on the right things when in reality,

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what works even better is stopping the things

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that are nonsensical. So for me, prior to my

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car accident that you mentioned at 26, I'm 36

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now, even though I look 12. You're not looking

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30, whatever. You're looking young. I used to

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be able to say... I'm hoping to hit puberty at

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37, but then I grew this little mustache I got

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going, so I can't say that anymore. And by the

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way, as a business coach, looking young is super

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helpful. People love to be taught by a teeny

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bopper. I'm obviously joking, but again, it is

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what it is. But anyways, so the first rule is

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stop the wrong trains, which is prior to 26,

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my car accident, I was drinking too much and

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too often. I had high school friends and college

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friends and corporate friends. And I brought

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my high school friends to college and my college

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friends to corporate. I was just in too many

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circles with too many groups. I was a chameleon

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trying to fit in everywhere. I was a wandering

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generality. Zig Ziglar is a personal development

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speaker from way back in the day, a wandering

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generality versus a meaningful specific. And

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now I coach, I train, and I podcast. That's kind

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of all I do. And I help people align their passion

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and their purpose with profit. And that's actually

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really hard to do because what the economy pays

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for is actually not usually what is fulfilling

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and meaningful to you. It's very hard to align

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those two. I often joke, I say, how much would

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Michael Jordan be paid to play basketball 150

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years ago? And the answer is zero dollars. There

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was no market. There was no NBA. There was no

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right. So he's very, he was very blessed in the

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sense that his passion and his purpose were aligned

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with something very profitable. And not all of

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us are that fortunate. So you got to have to,

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you kind of have to figure out what is profitable

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and self -improvement, for example, it's not

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super profitable, but business coaching is So

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if I frame myself as a business coach, but I

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help all the business owners improve themselves

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I get to be a self -improvement coach for a profit

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because when they grow their revenue I can get

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a percentage of that type of thing So how do

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you turn your passion to purpose into profit?

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How do you stay long -term the first answer?

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is stop doing all the bullshit that is holding

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you back. So I quit drinking, I'm over five years

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sober. It took me a long time to stop that. And

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I really, I gotta say this too, the hardest part

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for me has been losing people. So. I think some

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people are really good at relationships and I

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think some people are really good at success.

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It's very rare to be good at both. I was definitely

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good at success, not good at relationships. Engineer,

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mathematical thinker, structure, discipline,

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systems, structure, strategic thinking, chess

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player of the game, so to speak, which is why

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people don't like me. I'm reframing that to people

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don't understand me fully. So my business partner,

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Kevin, he's the people guy and I'm the systems

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instructor, metrics guy, and you really need

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both in business. And so for me, the hardest

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part has been prior to 26, I had a lot of friends,

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friends of friends and friends of friends of

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friends. And I was invited to all the weddings

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and all the barbecues. And now I quite frankly

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have a very, very small circle by design, but

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that's been really hard on my heart. But I realized

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in hindsight, success is hard enough, even without

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any friends, nevermind with a ton of them. So

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I think one of the hard truths about success

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and staying power is you kind of have to say

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no to a lot of other things in order to stick

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to the one really important things. Yeah, you

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will actually I'll get the best of both worlds.

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I have you on. I believe your partner is coming

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on in a few weeks. So I'll get to have both of

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those energies here. Good luck following this,

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Kev. I'm joking. Everyone will like him more

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than me. That I promise. Well, it's great to

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have both energies intertwined because it seems

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like it's working for you. Just talking about

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the podcast space, how can entrepreneurs effectively

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use their podcasting? if they're doing podcasting

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to grow their business. Well, the first thing

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I think it comes down to. So I have something

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called a business star. It's just a framework.

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It's a star with five points. And I actually

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just taught it in a group coaching program last

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night. And it's the group coaching program is

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level up yourself, level up your podcast, level

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up your business. It's six sessions, two, two,

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two. And we just got to the business session.

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And so this is the business star that I taught

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last night. The first one is branding. Second

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is marketing. Third is sales. Fourth is delivery.

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And then fifth is community. So to me in the

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21st century, the most important five things

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to master in business are those five. But a lot

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of people don't know the difference between them.

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And I certainly didn't in the beginning. It's

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over time that I started to understand all this.

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Okay, so branding is it's essentially who you

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are in someone else's consciousness. So if you

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think of who was the most, so Kevin and I, we

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went to the same high school. So if you were

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to ask Kev, who was the most, who was the jock,

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the biggest jock in our high school, him and

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I would come up with the same, probably three

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names. That's their reputation. Life, and again,

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this is a metaphor, so don't take this literally,

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but business is kind of like a huge high school.

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I always say Tesla should not sell energy drinks

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and Red Bull should not sell cars. You need to

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be a meaningful specific. And so a lot of people,

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They stray so much and Kev, he came to me early

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on. He's like, what do you think about this?

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And how do we do this? And this would be profitable.

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It's like, dude, we got to stick to our thing.

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And a lot of times business owners trying to

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make money, they end up doing a bunch of stuff

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that's not relevant to their sort of core value.

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Like Nike is about athletics. It's not selling

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cars and it shouldn't. That would water down

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the brand. Okay. So branding is what people say

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about you and think about you when you're not

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there. Yeah. Okay. Good, bad or ugly. That's

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your brand. That's the brand. Yeah. All right.

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Number two. Two, marketing. Now, in some ways,

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marketing, I think a lot of people think is making

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yourself look better than you really are. We

00:10:17.809 --> 00:10:19.690
try not to say that that's what it is. This is

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what it is for us. Number one is knowing your

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target demographic. In the podcasting world,

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it's knowing your listener. So I'll use mine

00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.519
as an example, but I want everyone thinking about

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their own. So our listener are women in their

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twenties, thirties and forties who struggle with

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courage, clarity and confidence who want more

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success in their intimate relationships and especially

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in their careers. Okay. It's people who are humble

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have have high work ethic and actually low self

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-worth. We don't deal with entitled people. We're

00:10:46.059 --> 00:10:48.159
like tryhards who came from nothing, both didn't

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have dads, so we don't believe in the big rewards

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for minimal effort stuff. Whatever that's going

00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.960
on in the internet, not for us. Again, it is

00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:56.779
what it is. People are like, oh, just raise your

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prices. It's like, well, did you get any better?

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What are your thoughts? But anyways, so marketing

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is knowing who your target listener is. We call

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it an ILA, ideal listener avatar. Which in the

00:11:07.269 --> 00:11:08.590
beginning, you don't know because you don't have

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any listeners yet. So you got to go meet them

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and reach out to them and have calls with them

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and understand them and study them and social

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media. So we figured it out. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

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So we didn't know at the beginning, right? We

00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:20.909
thought bros bodybuilding bros, we're going to

00:11:20.909 --> 00:11:22.889
listen. Okay. Yeah, that's where you came from

00:11:22.889 --> 00:11:25.269
that world. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But Kevin and I

00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:27.309
both used to, we still bodybuild, I guess, I

00:11:27.309 --> 00:11:29.450
guess we don't brand ourselves that way anymore.

00:11:29.450 --> 00:11:32.370
But yeah, and definitely got a little less in

00:11:32.370 --> 00:11:34.690
shape than in my fitness competition. He's unfortunate

00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:38.100
branding. a business or be in shape. Never both

00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:40.879
unless it's a fitness business, right? It's very

00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.200
hard to do both. Two full -time jobs. It is.

00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.080
All right. So branding who you are and what people

00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:47.399
say and think about you when you're not there.

00:11:47.460 --> 00:11:49.799
Marketing is who you're talking to, so the person.

00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:52.240
What you're saying, which is the message. So

00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.620
Lowe's has never stopped improving. BMW is the

00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:56.960
ultimate driving machine. Geico has saved 50

00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:59.139
% or more on car insurance, right? So the message,

00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:02.009
the person you're messaging too. And then it's

00:12:02.009 --> 00:12:06.090
the channels. Okay. So the channels are podcasts.

00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:09.669
WhatsApp is big for us. Facebook is big for us.

00:12:09.769 --> 00:12:12.169
Yeah. Instagram is big for us. So LinkedIn, not

00:12:12.169 --> 00:12:14.529
as much. Again, think of the demographic part

00:12:14.529 --> 00:12:16.750
driven, but no BS. LinkedIn is more professional.

00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:19.230
Gotcha. I would have thought LinkedIn. Nope.

00:12:19.450 --> 00:12:21.509
In hindsight, Facebook and Instagram, 90 % of

00:12:21.509 --> 00:12:23.830
our listeners, right? So you got to figure this

00:12:23.830 --> 00:12:25.110
out through massive pain and failure, by the

00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:27.049
way. All right. Branding, branding, marketing,

00:12:27.429 --> 00:12:30.389
sales, sales, building meaningful relationships

00:12:30.389 --> 00:12:33.389
with your target demographic in the real world.

00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:36.070
So we like to say, change the word sales with

00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:38.169
help. Instead of I'm going to sell you, I'm going

00:12:38.169 --> 00:12:40.429
to help you. Or instead of I'm going to sell

00:12:40.429 --> 00:12:42.309
you, I'm going to invite you. Yeah, I like that.

00:12:42.370 --> 00:12:44.509
So we have a meetup tomorrow night. I invite

00:12:44.509 --> 00:12:47.470
you. So we are inviting people to a meetup tomorrow

00:12:47.470 --> 00:12:49.860
night, totally free on productivity. So if you

00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:51.259
want to get more out of your time and effort,

00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:54.259
boom, free. So sales, and this is the best thing

00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:55.840
I understand about sales at this point. And I

00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:58.580
screwed this up for years. You cannot have a

00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:01.320
level eight ask for a level six relationship.

00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:04.519
Now here's, here's the, so my beautiful girlfriend

00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.179
and future wife, Amelia, if I walk into her office

00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:08.559
and I say, Hey sweetheart, I give her a kiss

00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:11.080
on the cheek. Totally appropriate. If I do that

00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:12.919
to some stranger, I'm going to get slapped in

00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:15.940
the face as I should. It's you don't know me

00:13:15.940 --> 00:13:18.809
like that. You haven't earned that. a lot of

00:13:18.809 --> 00:13:20.889
people in sales, especially in the 21st century

00:13:20.889 --> 00:13:24.070
online, they're selling and pushing products,

00:13:24.309 --> 00:13:27.049
but they haven't built a relationship yet. So

00:13:27.049 --> 00:13:29.649
Michael, if I found out that you listened to

00:13:29.649 --> 00:13:32.389
500 episodes of our show, I would invite you

00:13:32.389 --> 00:13:34.429
to the meetup, but we just met. So it's like,

00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:36.549
Hey man, come to my meetup. It's like, you don't

00:13:36.549 --> 00:13:39.100
know me like that. And so people get offended

00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:43.000
when you have a level 10 ask for a level two

00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:45.919
relationship. And that's why free is so powerful

00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:48.179
because it's not an ask, it's an invite. Wow.

00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:50.159
I love that. You know, again, we're in the beginning

00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:54.080
stages and you know, it's a lot of work. And

00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.620
I mean, I like it, you know, I mean, it's, it's,

00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.379
it's an arm of my business, but I like what we're

00:13:59.379 --> 00:14:01.500
doing, you know, myself and the producer, two

00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:04.820
man, man, woman team. And as I'm hearing you

00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:07.440
say all these things, I'm like, man, Okay. So

00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.159
we shouldn't be so upset when we get, you know,

00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:13.759
low views or low listens, but it's when I look

00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:15.620
at analytics and all that kind of great stuff,

00:14:16.059 --> 00:14:18.440
it's the same people, or at least the same area.

00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:21.240
So it's like we're creating a relationship with

00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:24.480
people and it's prime where we are. And everyone's

00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.379
low in the beginning. Yeah. You know, and it's

00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:30.059
like, it's the love of it. Really. I love being

00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:31.820
able to have these kinds of conversations and

00:14:31.820 --> 00:14:35.059
meet people like yourself. who have rich offerings,

00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:37.440
so to speak, from their experience, from who

00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.620
they are, and then just being able to share that

00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:43.960
with people. And it brings such, I don't know,

00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.539
just a fulfilling moment for me when I get to

00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:48.720
have these moments like this. So all that you

00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:52.019
just shared was like, it's gold, and you never

00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:54.320
know who can pick that gold up and use it. cash

00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:56.399
in at some point in the future. I appreciate

00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:59.039
that. And I think that one of the reasons why

00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:02.940
we are successful is because we are so open to

00:15:02.940 --> 00:15:06.399
giving value for free. Yeah, I mean, I have done

00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:10.059
I think 340 I track everything. So I'm an engineer.

00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:11.899
I always have to preface this because I come

00:15:11.899 --> 00:15:14.519
off so pretentious. I track everything we at

00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:17.379
NLU we track every listen every single episode.

00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.039
I mean, we have 54 podcasts as we work with plus

00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:21.799
11 from group coaching. So you're looking at

00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:26.870
60. Five and then you've got it's 58. I'm sorry.

00:15:26.950 --> 00:15:29.570
It's 58 podcasters plus 11 which is 69 I knew

00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:31.769
my mind was off on that and then I work with

00:15:31.769 --> 00:15:33.809
25 business owners So we're looking at almost

00:15:33.809 --> 00:15:36.909
a hundred paying clients But what we tell people

00:15:36.909 --> 00:15:38.909
first of all, there was no clients in the beginning

00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:41.330
We didn't make any money in the beginning second

00:15:41.330 --> 00:15:45.309
of all all of those clients were after free sessions

00:15:45.309 --> 00:15:47.490
We built relationships with people for free.

00:15:47.490 --> 00:15:49.779
I coached for free eight years ago I say I've

00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:51.500
been mentoring for 10 years coaching for eight

00:15:51.500 --> 00:15:53.440
because I didn't get paid until two years in

00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:55.259
and I was a fitness coach and I was a mindset

00:15:55.259 --> 00:15:56.940
coach and I was a peak performance coach and

00:15:56.940 --> 00:15:59.299
I was a life coach and I was a business consultant

00:15:59.299 --> 00:16:02.360
for a time and now I'm a business coach. So it's

00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:04.899
been a hell of a journey. So if you look at our

00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:07.639
moment now, I like to use the iPhone as a metaphor.

00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:10.399
Like when you see the iPhone, I don't see an

00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:13.840
iPhone. I see the 48 years Apple has been perfecting

00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:16.720
technology. See, the very first iPhone in 2007

00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:18.799
when I was a senior in high school was a revolutionary

00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:20.620
breakthrough. That thing would be hot garbage

00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:23.360
compared to this iPhone 14. It wouldn't be close,

00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.399
right? So me eight years ago was not good, didn't

00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.399
have a business star, wasn't able to articulate

00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:31.940
to the way that I can now, right? So in the beginning

00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:34.830
though, you really do need to... put it on the

00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:37.549
court and, and add a lot of value and be willing

00:16:37.549 --> 00:16:40.090
to work for free and offer free trials. I've

00:16:40.090 --> 00:16:43.049
done 340 free business breakthrough sessions

00:16:43.049 --> 00:16:46.529
and I only have 25 clients. So if you look at

00:16:46.529 --> 00:16:49.690
the, if you go into business entitled, I think

00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:51.850
you're screwed long -term short -term, you can

00:16:51.850 --> 00:16:53.870
kind of look like you win and that kind of thing.

00:16:54.149 --> 00:16:56.049
But what we've found, we've had a lot of podcasters

00:16:56.049 --> 00:16:58.409
come and go because we've, we obviously do podcast

00:16:58.409 --> 00:17:00.750
production. We produce 58 shows, including three

00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:02.899
of my own, but At the end of the day, we've seen

00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:05.140
so many come and go and it goes back to that

00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:06.880
staying power thing. And so you have something

00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.940
which is you just found fulfillment while podcasting,

00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:13.180
which in the beginning, unless you have a side

00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:15.059
business that's really crushing it, that's connected

00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:17.099
to the podcast is basically all you can play

00:17:17.099 --> 00:17:19.420
for. In the beginning, all we were playing for

00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:22.079
was that fulfillment, learning, growing and fulfillment.

00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:25.039
And then eventually over time, you start to know

00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:26.720
your value. You start to go, okay, well, I'm

00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.440
actually pretty good at this and we should really

00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:30.299
start charging for this. And well now we know

00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:31.900
how to audio and video edit. And now we know

00:17:31.900 --> 00:17:34.000
how to do this, show notes, all that stuff, mid

00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.119
-tro, outro, intro. So you just accumulate so

00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:39.539
much expertise because you were so focused for

00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:43.259
so long on adding value. Then you start to charge

00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:46.240
and then you can reinvest that back into branding.

00:17:46.600 --> 00:17:48.759
marketing, sales. And then you go to the other

00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:50.640
two that I didn't finish, which is delivery.

00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:53.079
So a lot of people, unfortunately, I came into

00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:55.079
the self -improvement space, very naive. And

00:17:55.079 --> 00:17:57.359
I thought, you know, this is going to be different

00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.339
because I came from industrial automation. I

00:17:59.339 --> 00:18:01.660
came from the corporate world. I came from a

00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:03.779
world that I think has some alarming things about

00:18:03.779 --> 00:18:05.880
it. Taking jobs is all good. It's happening.

00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:07.660
It is what it is. Okay. I come into the self

00:18:07.660 --> 00:18:10.119
-improvement space. I'm this naive 26 year old.

00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:12.049
And I'm thinking this industry will be different.

00:18:12.170 --> 00:18:14.690
This industry will be of integrity. Yeah, that

00:18:14.690 --> 00:18:17.269
was wrong. Oh, there are just as many snakes

00:18:17.269 --> 00:18:20.130
in this garden. Oh my goodness. I mean, some

00:18:20.130 --> 00:18:22.650
people are quite frankly just lying straight

00:18:22.650 --> 00:18:24.710
up lying about their listeners. You're sitting

00:18:24.710 --> 00:18:26.269
there going, well, we don't have that many listeners.

00:18:26.930 --> 00:18:28.950
That's honesty. In the beginning, most people

00:18:28.950 --> 00:18:31.390
are lying. Hey, we have 60 ,000 a month. All

00:18:31.390 --> 00:18:34.069
this. No, you don't. I produce 58 podcasts. I

00:18:34.069 --> 00:18:36.109
know you're lying, but most people don't know,

00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:38.589
right? So they're airing on the high side of

00:18:38.589 --> 00:18:41.250
perception. It's not real. We say air on the

00:18:41.250 --> 00:18:44.490
high side of reality. So delivery means you can't

00:18:44.490 --> 00:18:47.170
just brand market and sell. You have to actually

00:18:47.170 --> 00:18:49.549
over deliver. We've all opened a bag of chips

00:18:49.549 --> 00:18:51.970
and had it one third full and been like, where's

00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:54.789
my chips? Yeah. Where's my chips, man. You go

00:18:54.789 --> 00:18:57.009
on a first date and it's like, this is back in

00:18:57.009 --> 00:18:58.849
the day. Cause I've been with Emilia monogamous

00:18:58.849 --> 00:19:01.609
five years adore everything. Uh, but in the past

00:19:01.609 --> 00:19:03.750
it was like, Oh my God, your Instagram looks

00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:06.150
so good. Right. It's it's they're really good

00:19:06.150 --> 00:19:08.470
at making themselves look good rather than actually

00:19:08.470 --> 00:19:11.529
being great on the inside. Okay. And so in business,

00:19:11.529 --> 00:19:13.630
it's the same deal. Branding marketing and sales

00:19:13.630 --> 00:19:16.150
is only the first three steps. After that, you

00:19:16.150 --> 00:19:18.190
have to have a product or service. that's actually

00:19:18.190 --> 00:19:20.609
amazing. Yeah. If the iPhone sucked, it doesn't

00:19:20.609 --> 00:19:22.829
matter how good the website looks, right? Fifth

00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:25.549
is community. Zappos is a great example. They

00:19:25.549 --> 00:19:28.170
sell shoes, they sell a commodity, but it's got

00:19:28.170 --> 00:19:31.210
this whole community around it. And so we have,

00:19:31.269 --> 00:19:33.450
so our community, and this is, I'll define delivery

00:19:33.450 --> 00:19:35.750
and I'll define community. What's up Thrivo Journey

00:19:35.750 --> 00:19:38.789
listeners and watchers. Look, if you're someone

00:19:38.789 --> 00:19:41.549
with big dreams of entrepreneurship, but need

00:19:41.549 --> 00:19:44.109
a flexible way to earn income while building

00:19:44.109 --> 00:19:46.710
your business, let me tell you about the Oriens

00:19:46.710 --> 00:19:49.920
Group. Through our partnership with Arise Virtual

00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.000
Solutions, you can become a customer support

00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:57.099
professional, aka CSP, and start earning from

00:19:57.099 --> 00:20:00.880
home on your own terms. Arise offers a streamlined

00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.319
certification process, getting you trained and

00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:06.160
ready to work with well -known brands all across

00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:09.380
America. You can set your own hours to the clients

00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:12.180
you want to work with and create a work -life

00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:14.279
balance that fits your entrepreneurial goals.

00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:17.369
The best part? You don't have to choose between

00:20:17.369 --> 00:20:20.390
your side gig and your business dreams. Being

00:20:20.390 --> 00:20:23.049
a CSP with the Orion's Group means you can bring

00:20:23.049 --> 00:20:26.109
in extra income while having the flexibility

00:20:26.109 --> 00:20:29.730
to focus on growing your own venture, much like

00:20:29.730 --> 00:20:32.430
I did. Whether you're looking to supplement your

00:20:32.430 --> 00:20:35.450
income or need a bridge while building your empire,

00:20:36.230 --> 00:20:39.029
this is the opportunity for you. You interested?

00:20:39.369 --> 00:20:43.329
If so, head over to www .TheOrientsGroup .com

00:20:43.329 --> 00:20:45.950
to learn more about becoming a CSP with the Orients

00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:49.009
Group. Look here, support your entrepreneurial

00:20:49.009 --> 00:20:51.549
journey while supporting the Thrabu Journey podcast

00:20:51.549 --> 00:20:55.470
at the same time. All right, one more time, www

00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:58.849
.TheOrientsGroup .com. All right, we're done

00:20:58.849 --> 00:21:01.329
with the spot. Let's get back to the podcast.

00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:07.079
Listeners expectations. So if you coach with

00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:09.440
me, you're gonna get you pay for an hour -long

00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:11.519
session. You're gonna get an hour and 15 That's

00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:16.759
actually why I was late by the way, sorry That

00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:19.259
lateness what you're giving now makes up for

00:21:19.259 --> 00:21:25.000
it 100 % Alright and then the last one is community

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:27.900
which is it's it's getting people together surrounded

00:21:27.900 --> 00:21:30.539
by a core value So we have a place called Next

00:21:30.539 --> 00:21:31.900
Level Nation. It's a private Facebook group.

00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:34.720
Next Level University is the podcast. NextLevelUniverse

00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:37.000
.com is the website. Next Level Nation is the

00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.200
private community. All right. In the community,

00:21:39.619 --> 00:21:42.859
we're not in there talking about politics or

00:21:42.859 --> 00:21:44.920
religion or any of that. We're talking about

00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:46.859
holistic self -improvement. And in the beginning,

00:21:46.900 --> 00:21:48.400
we didn't know what the hell we were doing. But

00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.559
over time, it's like, what is it that we're actually

00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:52.410
providing? Right? What's the business you think

00:21:52.410 --> 00:21:54.170
you're in versus the problem you're actually

00:21:54.170 --> 00:21:56.609
solving? The problem I think we're actually solving

00:21:56.609 --> 00:21:59.009
is that this growth journey is lonely as shit.

00:21:59.049 --> 00:22:01.450
Yeah. And when you start looking inward and you

00:22:01.450 --> 00:22:03.329
start looking at all your inadequacies and you

00:22:03.329 --> 00:22:05.349
start building self -belief and self -worth and

00:22:05.349 --> 00:22:07.990
you start this dream chasing unorthodox thing,

00:22:08.190 --> 00:22:10.569
like becoming a podcaster, you're alone and you

00:22:10.569 --> 00:22:14.009
don't feel like anyone supports you. And so it's

00:22:14.009 --> 00:22:16.990
all heart -driven, but no BS like -minded dream

00:22:16.990 --> 00:22:19.509
chasers that now it's cool to talk about self

00:22:19.509 --> 00:22:22.369
-improvement. So we created a space just earlier

00:22:22.369 --> 00:22:25.630
today. It was a joking post. Amy, she does Next

00:22:25.630 --> 00:22:26.849
Level Nation. She's one of our team members.

00:22:27.089 --> 00:22:28.490
And in the beginning, we had to do this all ourselves,

00:22:28.490 --> 00:22:30.890
by the way. That's another thing. But she posted

00:22:30.890 --> 00:22:34.250
caffeine or motivation. And I messaged both.

00:22:34.410 --> 00:22:36.210
I commented. And there's a bunch of comments

00:22:36.210 --> 00:22:37.529
on there and all this kind of stuff. So some

00:22:37.529 --> 00:22:39.710
of it's fun and playful. Some of it's what books

00:22:39.710 --> 00:22:41.910
are you reading? Some of it's, you know, are

00:22:41.910 --> 00:22:44.759
you journaling? And so it's just a place where

00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.420
there's no bullies and self -improvement is actually

00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:50.359
cool because trust me, I wish it was self -improvement

00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:53.119
is not cool. You know, be at a holiday dinner

00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.160
table with your whole extended family and say,

00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:58.140
who's excited to grow and contribute at a higher

00:22:58.140 --> 00:22:59.799
level next year? What are your, what are your

00:22:59.799 --> 00:23:01.220
goals and dreams? Everyone's going to be like,

00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:03.420
okay, I got to get away from end of days over

00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:05.680
here, you know? And they want to go back to talking

00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.190
about sports or the weather or some other. nonsense

00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:10.809
that really isn't super relevant. So if you're

00:23:10.809 --> 00:23:13.490
the esoteric weirdo like me and like you, obviously,

00:23:13.609 --> 00:23:18.049
you're welcome here. And there is a place for

00:23:18.049 --> 00:23:19.690
you. And so that's what community is. You got

00:23:19.690 --> 00:23:23.390
to build a space where people can gather around

00:23:23.390 --> 00:23:25.670
a common core value. Never be a rapper at a country

00:23:25.670 --> 00:23:28.450
concert. Yeah, that's funny. That's funny. I

00:23:28.450 --> 00:23:30.130
don't know. Sometimes they may cross over a little

00:23:30.130 --> 00:23:34.509
bit, but I get you. Actually, let's kind of talk

00:23:34.509 --> 00:23:37.869
about the world of self -improvement. At two,

00:23:38.109 --> 00:23:42.039
you did lose your father. At 26, you got... car

00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:45.240
accident. Is that when things started to shift

00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:49.319
for you? And who were you before the accident

00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:51.059
that you had? If you can tell that story just

00:23:51.059 --> 00:23:53.740
a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. So you don't

00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:56.680
really know when you're young, where you fall

00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:59.680
on the spectrum, the bell curve. So some people

00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.920
have a ton of trauma in their childhood. It's

00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.880
called an A score adverse childhood experiences.

00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:06.630
Some people are on the very, very, very far end.

00:24:06.910 --> 00:24:08.829
And some people are in the very, you know, happy,

00:24:08.829 --> 00:24:11.150
you know, childhood. I didn't know because you

00:24:11.150 --> 00:24:13.269
don't know any different, right? Right. And then

00:24:13.269 --> 00:24:15.490
you get older and older and older and you rewatch

00:24:15.490 --> 00:24:17.930
the movie of your own life. And it's either wow,

00:24:17.950 --> 00:24:20.390
it was actually really good or it's alarming.

00:24:20.990 --> 00:24:24.470
And it's what in the oh my that wasn't normal.

00:24:24.670 --> 00:24:27.069
Oh, that wasn't normal. Okay, that wasn't normal.

00:24:27.309 --> 00:24:30.390
So the metaphor that I use is we do relationship

00:24:30.390 --> 00:24:32.309
talks, coaching Emilia and I we coach couples

00:24:32.309 --> 00:24:35.289
and we use this metaphor because what happens

00:24:35.289 --> 00:24:37.349
in couples is they have different Richter scales.

00:24:37.589 --> 00:24:39.509
And I'll circle this back to my story as well

00:24:39.509 --> 00:24:41.390
to answer your original question. If you grew

00:24:41.390 --> 00:24:44.849
up in California and you feel a little tiny earthquake,

00:24:45.069 --> 00:24:46.970
you don't even notice it. I've lived in California.

00:24:47.230 --> 00:24:49.369
I know. Perfect. Okay. So I'm in Massachusetts.

00:24:49.630 --> 00:24:52.490
So if we feel anything, it's like, oh my God,

00:24:52.569 --> 00:24:55.450
what is happening? Yeah. Right. But if it's down

00:24:55.450 --> 00:24:57.170
in South Carolina, apparently they got snow this

00:24:57.170 --> 00:24:59.920
year. People are losing their minds. And in New

00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:02.960
England, we're like, that's a Tuesday. So the

00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:06.059
problem with childhood, and I can only laugh

00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:07.660
about this because I've done a lot of therapy

00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:11.220
in my 30s. You don't really know that you've

00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:13.880
been in level 10 earthquakes repeatedly your

00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:16.920
entire childhood until you get a partner who

00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:20.960
hasn't. And you bring them to a family gathering.

00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:23.319
No, I'm kidding. All right, so and they're like

00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:26.619
Yeah, okay. So it's like oh, this is normal for

00:25:26.619 --> 00:25:28.920
you So but here's what happens right one person

00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:31.019
is raising their voice and the other person's

00:25:31.019 --> 00:25:33.799
going I never what's going on here. This is is

00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:35.259
this is really bad It's like oh you thought I

00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:37.180
was raising my voice I got that was nothing so

00:25:37.180 --> 00:25:38.859
it all depends on what you grew up around, right?

00:25:38.940 --> 00:25:41.660
So we all develop now the benefits of an adverse

00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:45.000
childhood are you have a ton of grit? you most

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.119
likely can suffer more than other people. You

00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.579
just, you can run through a wall, right? The

00:25:49.579 --> 00:25:53.799
downsides are you probably don't understand your

00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:56.039
worth and your value. You're probably used to

00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:57.720
being disrespected. So you probably tolerate

00:25:57.720 --> 00:25:59.519
it all the time without even knowing it, that

00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:01.559
kind of stuff. Okay. So to go back to my childhood,

00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:03.839
father passed away at two. I had a stepfather

00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:06.039
from age three to 14. My mom and stepdad did

00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:07.880
not get along. That's a polite way to put it.

00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:10.140
It wasn't all bad for anyone who ever would have

00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:11.799
listened from my child. Like it wasn't all bad.

00:26:11.950 --> 00:26:14.210
We had a lot of adventure. We had snowmobiles

00:26:14.210 --> 00:26:17.089
and we had ski trips and we, it was the sort

00:26:17.089 --> 00:26:19.470
of mid to late nineties, early two thousands.

00:26:19.789 --> 00:26:21.930
And my stepdad worked for a company called AGFA.

00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:24.700
Steve Lazarus. So my real last name is actually

00:26:24.700 --> 00:26:26.940
McCorkle. John McCorkle was my birth father.

00:26:27.099 --> 00:26:29.180
Big Irish Catholic family. It was Jim, Joe, John,

00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:32.000
Jane, Joan, Jeanette. He was one of all J and

00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:33.539
I didn't know my dad. I was two and a half when

00:26:33.539 --> 00:26:35.579
he passed. Stepfather came into my life, Steve

00:26:35.579 --> 00:26:38.640
Lazarus from three to 14. And I playfully refer

00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:41.640
to this time of my life as boats and BS. It was

00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:44.400
the nineties, which first of all, The 90s dot

00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.579
com bubble globally was very big economic boom

00:26:47.579 --> 00:26:50.160
times. You can research this. It's nuts how much

00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:52.500
the economy grew during that time. And in the

00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:54.940
U .S. in particular, the largest economy in the

00:26:54.940 --> 00:26:57.119
world. Again, you can look this up. The 90s were

00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:59.799
wild. Yeah, it was wild. Right. You know. OK.

00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:01.740
So you were in California during the 90s. So,

00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.259
you know. No, I was in Michigan during the 90s.

00:27:04.519 --> 00:27:07.240
But you still know. Yeah. Yeah. What do we do?

00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:09.539
I guess we'll I guess we'll do inline skating

00:27:09.539 --> 00:27:11.880
and snowboarding and we'll do might as well skateboard

00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:13.700
because everyone's just everyone has money. It

00:27:13.700 --> 00:27:16.799
was wild times. Not everyone but like comparatively

00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:20.299
statistically. Okay, so We had snowmobiles and

00:27:20.299 --> 00:27:23.579
my mom drove a BMW and we had ski trips and we

00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:27.359
lived on a lake and trucks and he drove a Ducati.

00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:29.759
And I mean, again, I didn't know any different.

00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:32.599
So from the outside looking in, it looked awesome.

00:27:32.940 --> 00:27:34.579
I mean, everyone thought I was rich and all this

00:27:34.579 --> 00:27:36.359
stuff. And it was awesome. We literally had a

00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.140
yacht. We had boats and ski trips. Very nice.

00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:40.420
Very nice. Yeah. But from the inside out, mom

00:27:40.420 --> 00:27:43.069
and stepdad didn't get along. They partied a

00:27:43.069 --> 00:27:45.190
lot. I didn't know any different, right? So I

00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:48.170
go from Xbox, streamcast, early Christmas presents,

00:27:48.589 --> 00:27:50.869
computers, right? Video games, all this stuff.

00:27:51.250 --> 00:27:53.990
To stepdad leaves at 14. Now I get free lunch

00:27:53.990 --> 00:27:56.309
at school because our income is so low. He takes

00:27:56.309 --> 00:27:58.430
90 % of the income with him. Takes his entire

00:27:58.430 --> 00:28:00.390
extended family with him. Haven't seen a single

00:28:00.390 --> 00:28:02.970
one of them since. Not one. We don't associate

00:28:02.970 --> 00:28:05.730
with them as much anymore. I'm 14 years old because

00:28:05.730 --> 00:28:08.009
we were trying to be the Lazaruses, right? Same

00:28:08.009 --> 00:28:10.250
year, sister moves out with her older boyfriend.

00:28:10.750 --> 00:28:12.950
Same year, mom gets in a fight with my aunt Sandy,

00:28:13.029 --> 00:28:15.549
her sister. My aunt Sandy ostracizes us from

00:28:15.549 --> 00:28:17.670
that side of the family. To this day, I've seen

00:28:17.670 --> 00:28:21.369
two human beings from my mother's side. So used

00:28:21.369 --> 00:28:23.109
to be too much of a coward to share any of this,

00:28:23.269 --> 00:28:26.130
certainly not publicly. The abandonment issues

00:28:26.130 --> 00:28:30.529
that came with that were beyond my current fathomability.

00:28:30.750 --> 00:28:33.670
And I didn't know that this was happening to

00:28:33.670 --> 00:28:36.089
me. Like I didn't consciously, oh, I'm being

00:28:36.089 --> 00:28:37.930
abandoned, right? Obviously that wasn't conscious.

00:28:38.250 --> 00:28:40.150
And I started doing therapy in my thirties and

00:28:40.150 --> 00:28:43.210
realizing, Oh, got it. So I had, there's four

00:28:43.210 --> 00:28:45.009
trauma responses. I'll go brief with this. There's

00:28:45.009 --> 00:28:47.809
fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. The one I didn't

00:28:47.809 --> 00:28:49.569
know was fawn. And that's the one that I did.

00:28:49.670 --> 00:28:52.390
So fawn is you're a social coward. You just appease,

00:28:52.529 --> 00:28:54.730
appease, appease people. Yeah. People pleaser.

00:28:54.869 --> 00:28:58.150
And so I became this sort of chameleon, be whatever

00:28:58.150 --> 00:29:01.380
I need to be to not be abandoned. so i can fit

00:29:01.380 --> 00:29:04.200
in with the jocks i can fit in with the nerds

00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:06.619
all this stuff now the cool thing that i'm very

00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:08.759
grateful for even though it was it came with

00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:11.539
constraining effects later was socially it was

00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:13.759
fun still working through that literally in this

00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:15.900
moment like i'm probably red i'm not that red

00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:18.660
okay that's good news but usually i became this

00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:21.180
sort of social coward don't speak up don't tell

00:29:21.180 --> 00:29:23.559
anyone you think that they're wrong don't challenge

00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:25.480
anyone or anything right just don't get abandoned

00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:27.500
don't get abandoned don't get abandoned But behind

00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:30.160
the scenes, there was a drive in me that you

00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:32.779
wouldn't fucking believe. I mean, it was fight.

00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:34.599
It was aim higher, work harder, get smarter,

00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:36.440
aim higher, work harder, get smarter, aim higher,

00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:38.440
work harder, get smarter. So this sort of super

00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:40.660
achiever was built because I looked into the

00:29:40.660 --> 00:29:42.579
future. It's like, okay, how do we keep the house

00:29:42.579 --> 00:29:45.319
in the family? There's no dad. There's no trust

00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:47.720
fund. There's no generational wealth. Like we

00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:51.319
are screwed. Yeah. And what are we going to do?

00:29:51.660 --> 00:29:54.599
So I got, I bootstrapped. I got straight A's

00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:56.420
in all of high school. Didn't get a single B.

00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:58.900
Got one B plus in honors English, but it was

00:29:58.900 --> 00:30:00.539
weighted because it was an honors class. I got

00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:02.160
the president's award. It's behind me signed

00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:04.779
by George W. Bush, which basically means you

00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:07.720
get a 95 or above GPA for all 16 report cards

00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:09.859
for all four years, four report cards, four years

00:30:09.859 --> 00:30:12.660
in a row. And now you know why no one likes me.

00:30:12.759 --> 00:30:17.579
I'm kidding. I got all the scholarships and financial

00:30:17.579 --> 00:30:19.859
aid that I could because my dream was to go to

00:30:19.859 --> 00:30:21.700
WPI, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It's kind

00:30:21.700 --> 00:30:24.250
of like a mini MIT in Massachusetts. one of the

00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:25.930
best engineering schools in the entire world

00:30:25.930 --> 00:30:28.230
but it's 50 grand a year and this is back then

00:30:28.230 --> 00:30:30.730
and we don't have money so i can't go right so

00:30:30.730 --> 00:30:33.089
i i went from i hope i get in to even if i do

00:30:33.089 --> 00:30:35.509
get in i can't go so i get straight a's i get

00:30:35.509 --> 00:30:37.269
all the scholarships and financial aid i can

00:30:37.269 --> 00:30:40.269
possibly get academic scholarships i get in i

00:30:40.269 --> 00:30:42.430
do computer engineering graduate with high distinction

00:30:42.430 --> 00:30:45.529
get my master's in business and then i mean i

00:30:45.529 --> 00:30:48.700
went from broke in high school and college I'm

00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:50.640
talking rogue and again, we weren't gonna starve

00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:53.660
but like Salvation Army hand me downs like mom

00:30:53.660 --> 00:30:56.039
trades in her BMW for little Honda Civic. I know

00:30:56.039 --> 00:30:58.460
what broke is. Yeah. I know I see you. I see

00:30:58.460 --> 00:31:02.539
you. Yeah, not fun But anyways, so I'm used to

00:31:02.539 --> 00:31:04.859
you know, we didn't have cable, right? So I'm

00:31:04.859 --> 00:31:09.279
like I start making money dude 65. Okay, so 2008

00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:11.779
economy crashes. I'm a sophomore in college.

00:31:11.819 --> 00:31:13.660
I get my master's in business. I stay boom boom

00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:17.410
boom 2012 bachelors 2013 masters. I've got an

00:31:17.410 --> 00:31:19.150
MBA with a computer engineering degree in the

00:31:19.150 --> 00:31:22.410
21st century I know this now linkedin linkedin

00:31:22.410 --> 00:31:26.769
boom boom boom 65 to 85 85 to 105 105 to 125

00:31:26.769 --> 00:31:29.990
125 to 180 in like a four -year period So now

00:31:29.990 --> 00:31:33.609
it's 2015. I'm in my early 20s. I'm a 1 % global

00:31:33.609 --> 00:31:35.730
earner. I paid off 84 grand worth of debt in

00:31:35.730 --> 00:31:37.910
a single year. Beautiful. Thank you. That was

00:31:37.910 --> 00:31:40.950
my goal, get out of debt, right? Yeah. And so

00:31:40.950 --> 00:31:43.230
debt -free, celebrated that, got made fun of.

00:31:43.410 --> 00:31:45.890
That is what it is. 150 grand in a Vanguard account

00:31:45.890 --> 00:31:48.309
with all tech companies. I'm this weird computer

00:31:48.309 --> 00:31:50.609
engineering esoteric, built my first computer

00:31:50.609 --> 00:31:53.289
at 12 guy. So... I know what tech companies are

00:31:53.289 --> 00:31:54.769
going to win. And I know that sounds arrogant.

00:31:55.069 --> 00:31:57.309
So I picked all the good ones, right? Smart.

00:31:57.630 --> 00:32:00.230
Thank you. Thank you. And that's what I said,

00:32:00.410 --> 00:32:02.150
but you're not supposed to say that. So whatever.

00:32:02.609 --> 00:32:04.450
Oh, I was all, yeah, exactly. You're not allowed

00:32:04.450 --> 00:32:06.289
to say you're gifted or smart or any of that,

00:32:06.549 --> 00:32:08.609
which by the way, we'll talk about it. Kevin's

00:32:08.609 --> 00:32:11.390
like, dude, that's not normal. So we'll talk

00:32:11.390 --> 00:32:15.559
about it. But basically now I'm This I am with

00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:17.740
a girlfriend named Courtney. We live on a lake

00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:20.900
in Worcester, Massachusetts. It's 500 bucks a

00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:23.359
month for rent. I bought a 2004 Volkswagen Passat

00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:26.579
for five grand cash. I'm making more money than

00:32:26.579 --> 00:32:28.480
I know what to freaking do with because I grew

00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:31.319
up broke, right? So at least after 14 and now

00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:33.759
it's like, okay, I'm making all this money. Then

00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:37.430
my car accident. So I went from iRobot, Sensata

00:32:37.430 --> 00:32:40.049
Technologies, Oz Development, Tyco Safety Products,

00:32:40.250 --> 00:32:41.769
Simplex Grinnell, all these different companies.

00:32:41.950 --> 00:32:43.630
I'd interview at SpaceX, all this stuff. I ended

00:32:43.630 --> 00:32:45.609
up at a company called Cognix. They sell industrial

00:32:45.609 --> 00:32:47.450
automation equipment into manufacturing facilities

00:32:47.450 --> 00:32:49.509
all across the world. It's machine vision equipment.

00:32:49.730 --> 00:32:51.609
Picture the eyes of a robot. Simplest way to

00:32:51.609 --> 00:32:53.630
explain it. My territory is Vermont, Connecticut,

00:32:54.029 --> 00:32:55.849
Western Massachusetts. I'm going to GE. I'm going

00:32:55.849 --> 00:32:57.269
to all these big companies. I'm not even supposed

00:32:57.269 --> 00:32:59.029
to talk about it. Okay. I'm making all this money.

00:32:59.130 --> 00:33:01.119
Great. Awesome referral program brought my high

00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:02.539
school friends to college college friends to

00:33:02.539 --> 00:33:04.319
corporate Big referrals come in my way because

00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:05.500
they didn't have to pay the headhunters because

00:33:05.500 --> 00:33:07.299
I brought like three or four people from my college

00:33:07.299 --> 00:33:09.700
to the company So I just am making tons of money,

00:33:09.700 --> 00:33:12.400
but I don't need much. So awesome invested it

00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:16.480
all 2015 I get in a car accident and I realize

00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:19.910
I have done this wrong So the best way I can

00:33:19.910 --> 00:33:22.069
describe it now, and at the time I did not get

00:33:22.069 --> 00:33:24.029
this, so the car accident was my fault. I crossed

00:33:24.029 --> 00:33:25.769
the double yellows, it was three -way intersection,

00:33:26.069 --> 00:33:27.950
dark winter night, snow banks were covering the

00:33:27.950 --> 00:33:29.730
yield sign. What I thought was a Mack truck,

00:33:29.849 --> 00:33:31.529
it was a lift -kidded pickup truck, thankfully.

00:33:31.769 --> 00:33:35.130
Yeah, what saved my life was Volkswagen the Volkswagen

00:33:35.130 --> 00:33:37.450
Passat I used to call it the tank little German

00:33:37.450 --> 00:33:39.809
engineered steel trap of a car The whole front

00:33:39.809 --> 00:33:41.769
end is completely smashed head -on collision,

00:33:41.769 --> 00:33:44.549
but the frame stayed airbags deployed. Okay,

00:33:44.549 --> 00:33:47.190
that's good So physically I'm okay. My little

00:33:47.190 --> 00:33:49.109
cousin hurt his knee on the airbag I hurt my

00:33:49.109 --> 00:33:51.369
face in the airbag second cousin for my mom's

00:33:51.369 --> 00:33:53.150
side one of the two people that came back He's

00:33:53.150 --> 00:33:55.130
17 tweeting about it thinking nothing of it.

00:33:55.130 --> 00:33:58.369
My dad died when he was 28 in a car I've seen

00:33:58.369 --> 00:34:00.279
pictures of his car I'm looking at pictures of

00:34:00.279 --> 00:34:03.400
my car just rattled. So physically I'm okay,

00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:04.920
but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, I

00:34:04.920 --> 00:34:07.700
mean, existential quarter life crisis. Just,

00:34:07.880 --> 00:34:10.320
this is the second chance my dad never got. You

00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:12.940
know, who, what, when, or why? Who am I? Why

00:34:12.940 --> 00:34:16.320
am I here? What am I doing with my life? Did

00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:18.579
any of this money even matter, right? All of

00:34:18.579 --> 00:34:20.500
that. Drinking too much and too often, for sure.

00:34:20.679 --> 00:34:22.599
Grew up around a lot of alcohol. Didn't know

00:34:22.599 --> 00:34:24.940
that. Didn't know it wasn't normal, right? And

00:34:24.940 --> 00:34:27.380
the best way I can describe it now... These four

00:34:27.380 --> 00:34:29.239
buckets of life that we all go through and this

00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:31.760
is what I help people with now the first bucket

00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:35.800
is unsuccessful externally and Unfulfilled internally

00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:38.639
when I was 14 and my stepdad left. I remember

00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:41.119
15 16. I was a car kid and a busboy at a golf

00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:43.719
course I was miserable. I was people would say

00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:45.119
high school the best years of your life, and

00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:47.909
I remember thinking god. I hope not This is terrible,

00:34:48.190 --> 00:34:49.789
right? Pretty pubescent. You think I look young

00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:52.969
now? Imagine me at 16, man, you know, overlooked

00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:55.650
by every girl, bullied by every jock. I mean,

00:34:55.769 --> 00:34:58.949
just brutal, man. These are the best years of

00:34:58.949 --> 00:35:02.070
your life. Oh no. Seriously, Hope? Nah, I was

00:35:02.070 --> 00:35:05.489
like, nope. So luckily they were wrong. But anyways,

00:35:06.210 --> 00:35:08.130
unsuccessful and unfulfilled. I think statistically

00:35:08.130 --> 00:35:10.469
speaking, as scary as this might be to share,

00:35:10.610 --> 00:35:13.800
I think most people are probably there. Unsuccessful

00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:16.719
externally and unfulfilled internally. I feel

00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:19.400
you, I've been there. It's terrible. The next

00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:22.940
stage, I was externally super successful, which

00:35:22.940 --> 00:35:26.000
I thought would solve my problems. Stepdad left,

00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:28.519
lack of money caused pain, so I figured money

00:35:28.519 --> 00:35:30.699
would do it. Definitely doesn't, but it helps.

00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:33.840
So I became externally successful and internally

00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:36.690
unfulfilled. Post car accident. Dude, I flipped

00:35:36.690 --> 00:35:39.130
the script. I was like, okay, screw this external

00:35:39.130 --> 00:35:41.409
achievement thing. I'm going all in on internal

00:35:41.409 --> 00:35:43.590
work. I'm going to go self -improvement, personal

00:35:43.590 --> 00:35:45.829
growth, personal development, fitness, happy,

00:35:45.889 --> 00:35:48.429
healthy, productive. Went broke. Liquidated all

00:35:48.429 --> 00:35:51.010
my assets. Started my own company, Alan Lazarus

00:35:51.010 --> 00:35:53.329
LLC. What you'll never learn in school, but desperately

00:35:53.329 --> 00:35:55.769
in all caps need to know. Good luck getting speeches

00:35:55.769 --> 00:35:57.409
at high schools and colleges with that tagline.

00:35:57.969 --> 00:35:59.829
Dumbest idea ever, right? Trying to bring personal

00:35:59.829 --> 00:36:02.929
development to the masses. Naive. Still kind

00:36:02.929 --> 00:36:05.269
of on that mission, but you know. Sneakily here.

00:36:05.650 --> 00:36:08.590
So now I'm fulfilled as hell internally fitness

00:36:08.590 --> 00:36:11.309
model fitness competitor fitness coach 43 photo

00:36:11.309 --> 00:36:13.730
shoots three fitness competitions Happy healthy

00:36:13.730 --> 00:36:16.909
and productive fulfilled as hell love my life

00:36:16.909 --> 00:36:19.590
and love who I am, but I'm broke So now I'm externally

00:36:19.590 --> 00:36:21.789
unsuccessful Kevin and I and he'll tell you that

00:36:21.789 --> 00:36:26.090
too Fourth bucket didn't happen till my 30s.

00:36:26.090 --> 00:36:28.269
The fourth bucket is where all of us want to

00:36:28.269 --> 00:36:30.849
get It's when you can look in the mirror and

00:36:30.849 --> 00:36:34.269
say I want my future to be an amplified version

00:36:34.269 --> 00:36:37.570
of what it already is. You are externally successful,

00:36:38.010 --> 00:36:39.630
relatively speaking, and that's a mountain that

00:36:39.630 --> 00:36:42.340
gets higher as you climb. And you're internally

00:36:42.340 --> 00:36:45.639
fulfilled. In other words, your external success

00:36:45.639 --> 00:36:48.320
in your career and your calling are in alignment

00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:50.440
with who you actually are and what's meaningful

00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:53.420
work for you. And that's, I mean, it took me

00:36:53.420 --> 00:36:56.139
30 years and I think some people, it takes them

00:36:56.139 --> 00:36:57.760
a lot longer and it would have taken me a lot

00:36:57.760 --> 00:36:59.519
longer had I not gotten in that car accident.

00:36:59.900 --> 00:37:01.699
So I think that's the fourth bucket everyone

00:37:01.699 --> 00:37:04.639
wants to get to. Very few people are there. That's

00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:06.889
been... really hard for me to see. Like, I coach

00:37:06.889 --> 00:37:08.530
a lot of people, right, blah, blah, blah. Awesome.

00:37:08.730 --> 00:37:11.710
Congratulations, Alan. Very few people. Usually,

00:37:11.969 --> 00:37:14.489
there's a lot of external success with very little

00:37:14.489 --> 00:37:16.809
internal fulfillment, or there's a lot of internal

00:37:16.809 --> 00:37:18.949
fulfillment, but they're not that successful.

00:37:19.309 --> 00:37:21.769
Very hard to do both. And that's why it's so

00:37:21.769 --> 00:37:24.329
rare, but it can be done. And that is my main

00:37:24.329 --> 00:37:27.530
focus in life. Nice. You said, like, in everything

00:37:27.530 --> 00:37:30.429
you said, it was so much and I just want to first

00:37:30.429 --> 00:37:32.389
honor what you said. So thank you for sharing

00:37:32.389 --> 00:37:34.679
all that. acknowledge all that you've been through

00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:37.880
to get to where you are at this point. And it

00:37:37.880 --> 00:37:40.300
takes a lot, you know, from where you were to

00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:42.699
where you are. There's a, there's such a growth

00:37:42.699 --> 00:37:46.480
pattern that, that, that you go through for people

00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:50.719
who are in their beginning stages of getting

00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:53.880
their business or entrepreneurs that, that want

00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:56.780
to take the aspiring entrepreneur out to entrepreneur.

00:37:57.219 --> 00:38:00.539
What do you say to them when it's such where

00:38:00.539 --> 00:38:03.739
they are missing something internally? but they're

00:38:03.739 --> 00:38:07.280
really completely focused on the external value

00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:11.360
only. Like how do you get them to connect the

00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:14.400
two or even realize that one thing is missing?

00:38:14.940 --> 00:38:18.460
Yeah. I think the hardest part still to this

00:38:18.460 --> 00:38:22.320
day about being an entrepreneur is playing the

00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:24.500
long game and making sure it stays your game.

00:38:24.739 --> 00:38:27.480
There's two worlds we all live in and one of

00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:29.719
them is the social world and the other one is

00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:32.280
the real world. Okay, the economy is built on

00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:35.199
the social world. So this is your instagram profile

00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:37.119
So the best metaphor for the social world versus

00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:40.300
the real world and i've had oh god How do I not

00:38:40.300 --> 00:38:42.079
come off pretentious kevin's like dude you got

00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:44.179
to say that different dude? Just say it. Yeah,

00:38:44.199 --> 00:38:46.400
just say yeah, literally just say okay It's okay.

00:38:46.739 --> 00:38:48.820
It is what it is. I gotta own it Okay, i've had

00:38:48.820 --> 00:38:51.719
dozens of coaches and mentors many multimillionaires

00:38:51.719 --> 00:38:54.139
one billionaire what I came to get freaked out

00:38:54.139 --> 00:38:56.469
by is how unfulfilled they are and how out of

00:38:56.469 --> 00:38:58.809
shape they are now the old me didn't have the

00:38:58.809 --> 00:39:00.630
courage to say that publicly but internally it

00:39:00.630 --> 00:39:02.550
was like you take better care of your Porsche

00:39:02.550 --> 00:39:05.429
than your family like i can't i can't even there's

00:39:05.429 --> 00:39:07.269
got to be a way to do both right and that's the

00:39:07.269 --> 00:39:09.730
health wealth and love thing like holistic and

00:39:09.730 --> 00:39:11.969
i know why it's harder i gotta i gotta make this

00:39:11.969 --> 00:39:14.090
clear mathematically if you're one in a hundred

00:39:14.090 --> 00:39:16.730
health one out of a hundred wealth and one at

00:39:16.730 --> 00:39:20.449
a hundred love you are one in a million it's

00:39:20.449 --> 00:39:23.300
just way harder right yeah Michael Jordan tried

00:39:23.300 --> 00:39:25.960
to play basketball and baseball. Like, it's not

00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:27.619
going to happen, brother, with all the love,

00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:29.880
right? Michael Phelps has 23 gold medals, but

00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:31.820
they're all in swimming. He's not going to have

00:39:31.820 --> 00:39:33.659
a gold medal in swimming and then also run a

00:39:33.659 --> 00:39:36.460
marathon, right? So it's very hard to be good

00:39:36.460 --> 00:39:39.159
at multiple things. It's very hard to be extremely

00:39:39.159 --> 00:39:41.199
good at multiple things. Okay. That's the whole

00:39:41.199 --> 00:39:42.780
strength and weaknesses conversation. Okay. So

00:39:42.780 --> 00:39:44.440
go back to the social world and the real world.

00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:47.079
Hardest part for an inspiring entrepreneur, if

00:39:47.079 --> 00:39:49.400
I could give you a golden nugget here. The social

00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:52.360
world is the wedding and the wedding photos.

00:39:52.619 --> 00:39:54.659
The real world is the marriage when no one's

00:39:54.659 --> 00:39:58.099
watching. Oh, yeah. Yeah. OK, so clarity to it.

00:39:58.099 --> 00:40:01.079
Yeah, sure. Good. OK, so I try and again, I'm

00:40:01.079 --> 00:40:03.760
not perfect at this, but I try after 26 in particular.

00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:06.440
I tried to focus more on the marriage. And again,

00:40:06.460 --> 00:40:08.340
I'm not married yet. So in this metaphor, the

00:40:08.340 --> 00:40:10.519
relationship than I do the wedding photos, the

00:40:10.519 --> 00:40:12.659
way I see it is inside out is better than outside

00:40:12.659 --> 00:40:15.360
in. If I focus on my relationship with Emilia

00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:18.010
when no one's watching. and I work on myself

00:40:18.010 --> 00:40:19.989
and I make sure I'm courageous, humble and vulnerable

00:40:19.989 --> 00:40:22.329
and I make sure that I'm there for her and supportive,

00:40:22.429 --> 00:40:24.869
but also challenging all this stuff. Okay. Then

00:40:24.869 --> 00:40:27.469
it will ripple into social media versus what

00:40:27.469 --> 00:40:30.230
a lot of people are doing is making social media

00:40:30.230 --> 00:40:32.409
look good at the expense of their insecurity

00:40:32.409 --> 00:40:34.090
because their real life actually isn't great.

00:40:34.250 --> 00:40:36.809
So I call it the inverse 10 law. If someone is

00:40:36.809 --> 00:40:39.389
portraying level 10 wealth, they are one 10th

00:40:39.389 --> 00:40:42.469
as successful as you think. I have some other

00:40:42.469 --> 00:40:44.429
people that are, I've seen their bank account

00:40:44.429 --> 00:40:46.940
that don't portray wealth at all. and they're

00:40:46.940 --> 00:40:49.059
multi -millionaires. So they are 10 times more

00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:51.679
successful than you think. However, in the self

00:40:51.679 --> 00:40:53.820
-improvement space, in the entrepreneurial land,

00:40:54.099 --> 00:40:56.400
because of the 21st century, how do you have

00:40:56.400 --> 00:40:59.820
credibility if you don't look successful? Right.

00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:01.840
So if I don't drive a Tesla and blah, blah, blah,

00:41:01.980 --> 00:41:04.159
are you going to come to me for business coaching

00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:05.579
or are you going to come to the guy who rented

00:41:05.579 --> 00:41:08.139
a Ferrari? That's been my hardest part because

00:41:08.139 --> 00:41:11.780
what's fulfilling is the real world. What brings

00:41:11.780 --> 00:41:15.119
success, unfortunately, is branding and marketing

00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:18.420
and perception. And you have to master both.

00:41:18.750 --> 00:41:22.050
I say syntax matters, make sure the real world

00:41:22.050 --> 00:41:24.570
is first. And then that ripples into the social

00:41:24.570 --> 00:41:26.949
world. If you put the social world first, you

00:41:26.949 --> 00:41:30.130
are you are gonna end up very broken inside.

00:41:30.349 --> 00:41:32.389
And that's just I don't want anyone to do that.

00:41:32.530 --> 00:41:35.550
Yeah, you know, I mean, listen, like this, that's

00:41:35.550 --> 00:41:38.159
a whole meal. Okay. That's a meal with some,

00:41:38.159 --> 00:41:40.940
with some, uh, you know, some, some extra stuff

00:41:40.940 --> 00:41:44.119
on the side, you know, a little take home bag,

00:41:44.460 --> 00:41:47.300
all that stuff you just said. And I, I want to

00:41:47.300 --> 00:41:49.219
get into that, you know, some more, but I know

00:41:49.219 --> 00:41:51.519
we have time limits. So I'm loving this. If you

00:41:51.519 --> 00:41:53.679
want to keep going, it's up to you. I just, I

00:41:53.679 --> 00:41:55.920
gave you a hard stop, but I, I want to keep going.

00:41:56.099 --> 00:41:58.300
If, if, if you want, I want to honor your time.

00:41:58.300 --> 00:42:00.679
Appreciate you. So I definitely want to do that.

00:42:00.900 --> 00:42:03.460
Let's, let's do this then. I'd love to have you

00:42:03.460 --> 00:42:06.420
back on maybe. with your partner, you know, at

00:42:06.420 --> 00:42:08.739
a, do it like maybe a live event, if that's possible.

00:42:09.079 --> 00:42:11.760
And we can create that. And because this is,

00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:13.960
this is really, this is gold, man. I would love

00:42:13.960 --> 00:42:16.739
to, we would love to. Yeah. That's so great.

00:42:16.980 --> 00:42:18.699
But I want to honor your time. That's a big thing

00:42:18.699 --> 00:42:22.469
with me. Thank you. definitely will arrange something

00:42:22.469 --> 00:42:24.650
where you and your partner can come on together

00:42:24.650 --> 00:42:26.489
and we'll have a live event or something like

00:42:26.489 --> 00:42:28.550
that. I would love that. Yeah, really. You know,

00:42:28.670 --> 00:42:31.309
pump that thing up. So I know so much. Okay.

00:42:31.650 --> 00:42:33.909
So in the entrepreneurial space, like, and I'll

00:42:33.909 --> 00:42:36.769
just ask this for the last question. What is

00:42:36.769 --> 00:42:38.809
next level to you? Because it's your business,

00:42:38.989 --> 00:42:42.349
right? Next level to you. And what would be your

00:42:42.570 --> 00:42:47.150
words to aspiring entrepreneur or beginning business

00:42:47.150 --> 00:42:51.170
owner to really help them fulfill on what you

00:42:51.170 --> 00:42:54.110
just shared as far as fulfillment on the inside

00:42:54.110 --> 00:42:56.550
and excellence on the outside. Okay. What does

00:42:56.550 --> 00:42:58.789
next level mean to me? It's the mountain that

00:42:58.789 --> 00:43:01.170
gets higher as you climb it. I think it's reaching

00:43:01.170 --> 00:43:03.389
your potential. Next level you, pun intended.

00:43:04.070 --> 00:43:06.420
It's not the next level version of me. It's not

00:43:06.420 --> 00:43:09.639
the next level version of Kevin. Our podcast,

00:43:09.960 --> 00:43:12.219
what I've tried to do, what we've tried to do

00:43:12.219 --> 00:43:14.599
is make it feel like you're on the growth journey

00:43:14.599 --> 00:43:17.179
with us. We're not talking from a place of we've

00:43:17.179 --> 00:43:19.539
arrived. I'm 36, he's 35. Like we're still young.

00:43:19.699 --> 00:43:21.619
We've not arrived. We've achieved many of our

00:43:21.619 --> 00:43:24.059
dreams and that's great. But like we are barely

00:43:24.059 --> 00:43:26.500
scratching our potential and I'm very future

00:43:26.500 --> 00:43:27.980
oriented. I always said my career wouldn't even

00:43:27.980 --> 00:43:30.440
start till I was 50. I'm weird with that. Right?

00:43:30.599 --> 00:43:32.380
Yeah. And if you look at the statistics, most

00:43:32.380 --> 00:43:34.539
people's careers really take off when they're

00:43:34.539 --> 00:43:36.760
like late forties, fifties, that kind of thing.

00:43:37.639 --> 00:43:40.199
If they stay, you know what I mean? So next level

00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:44.000
you is pun intended. It's it's the becoming the

00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:45.659
best version of yourself, the next level version

00:43:45.659 --> 00:43:47.400
of yourself. So I'm Alan version three point

00:43:47.400 --> 00:43:50.199
six and Alan version three point seven is going

00:43:50.199 --> 00:43:52.920
to be hopefully smarter. It's going to be smarter.

00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:55.880
more capable, more aware, more virtuous, more

00:43:55.880 --> 00:43:58.380
humble, more confident, real confidence, not

00:43:58.380 --> 00:44:01.659
arrogance, more a better leader, a better communicator,

00:44:01.780 --> 00:44:03.519
hopefully, a better podcaster, coach, trainer,

00:44:03.599 --> 00:44:05.199
all that stuff, and better partner, intimate

00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:07.199
partner, health, wealth, and love. So what does

00:44:07.199 --> 00:44:09.500
next level mean to me? It means no matter how

00:44:09.500 --> 00:44:12.099
hard your past has been, you have a bigger, better,

00:44:12.239 --> 00:44:14.320
brighter future on the other side of taking personal

00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:16.039
responsibility. Now, this is one of the things

00:44:16.039 --> 00:44:18.480
that's really hard for me. I had a client once,

00:44:18.539 --> 00:44:19.940
her name was Bonnie, she wouldn't mind me sharing

00:44:19.940 --> 00:44:21.679
this, and she's not my client anymore, she's

00:44:21.679 --> 00:44:23.809
working with my girlfriend now. And she said,

00:44:23.949 --> 00:44:26.409
Alan, you have trouble having compassion for

00:44:26.409 --> 00:44:29.789
people because you started in worse circumstances

00:44:29.789 --> 00:44:32.610
than they did and they are making excuses and

00:44:32.610 --> 00:44:35.130
you didn't make any excuses. What I've come to

00:44:35.130 --> 00:44:37.909
understand as I've matured is that if you don't

00:44:37.909 --> 00:44:40.829
have high self belief, none of what I just shared

00:44:40.829 --> 00:44:42.989
about my story would have been possible. There's

00:44:42.989 --> 00:44:45.449
two, three advantages that I have and I need

00:44:45.449 --> 00:44:46.929
to make this as clear as possible for anyone

00:44:46.929 --> 00:44:48.730
out there thinking, well, that wouldn't have

00:44:48.730 --> 00:44:50.719
worked for me. Number one. You're not allowed

00:44:50.719 --> 00:44:53.219
to say this, but I have to have courage. I definitely

00:44:53.219 --> 00:44:55.800
am gifted. I as a kid, everything came fairly

00:44:55.800 --> 00:44:58.559
easy, like not everything, but most things. Okay.

00:44:58.820 --> 00:45:00.440
Especially intellectually, math and science.

00:45:00.539 --> 00:45:03.179
I mean, simple, right. Partied all night, straight

00:45:03.179 --> 00:45:05.300
A's in Calc, that kind of thing. That's cool.

00:45:05.539 --> 00:45:07.019
Didn't have to go to any of the classes, straight

00:45:07.019 --> 00:45:08.840
A's on the test type of thing. So there's definitely

00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:11.900
that component. Number two, born in the US, which

00:45:11.900 --> 00:45:13.860
is by far the largest economy. Again, you can

00:45:13.860 --> 00:45:16.579
look that up. And I was born in a state, Massachusetts,

00:45:16.840 --> 00:45:19.699
that had no child left behind. So I got financial

00:45:19.699 --> 00:45:21.360
aid and scholarships to go to one of the best

00:45:21.360 --> 00:45:24.239
colleges in the world. That's extremely expensive.

00:45:24.340 --> 00:45:26.199
I actually spoke there a couple months ago and

00:45:26.199 --> 00:45:27.739
I wouldn't have been able to go if I was born

00:45:27.739 --> 00:45:30.030
in a different country. that was less economically

00:45:30.030 --> 00:45:33.630
sound. So that was not me, right? These are the

00:45:33.630 --> 00:45:35.510
things that weren't me. I was born gifted and

00:45:35.510 --> 00:45:38.309
I had that. The third thing, and I do believe

00:45:38.309 --> 00:45:40.769
that this was me but not consciously, I had a

00:45:40.769 --> 00:45:42.909
ton of self -belief. You can research. It's called

00:45:42.909 --> 00:45:45.050
self -efficacy. There's two types of self -efficacy.

00:45:45.190 --> 00:45:47.690
There's external self -efficacy and then there's

00:45:47.690 --> 00:45:49.809
internal self -value. External self -efficacy

00:45:49.809 --> 00:45:52.969
is your unconscious belief in your own ability

00:45:52.969 --> 00:45:55.570
to figure it out and make it happen. I can build

00:45:55.570 --> 00:45:58.380
the castle. Self -worth is different. Remember

00:45:58.380 --> 00:46:02.099
the two worlds, real world, social world? I had

00:46:02.099 --> 00:46:05.239
very high real -world skills and competence levels

00:46:05.239 --> 00:46:07.739
and I feel very confident in the real world,

00:46:08.239 --> 00:46:11.780
but socially I never felt valuable. So I had

00:46:11.780 --> 00:46:14.639
low self -worth in the social world and very

00:46:14.639 --> 00:46:16.949
high self -belief in the real world. which most

00:46:16.949 --> 00:46:18.869
people are the opposite statistically. Okay.

00:46:19.070 --> 00:46:20.510
And that's why a lot of people with low self

00:46:20.510 --> 00:46:22.610
-worth get bullied. And that's why a lot of engineers

00:46:22.610 --> 00:46:24.869
feel like losers because they're actually really

00:46:24.869 --> 00:46:26.750
smart and they're calculating everything. So

00:46:26.750 --> 00:46:28.989
they have very high confidence in the real world,

00:46:29.110 --> 00:46:32.090
but yet no one likes them type of thing. So if

00:46:32.090 --> 00:46:34.690
you combine all those things, what you eventually

00:46:34.690 --> 00:46:37.869
learn is that anyone can be better tomorrow than

00:46:37.869 --> 00:46:40.570
they are today, but not everyone will. So why

00:46:40.570 --> 00:46:43.070
not? Most of it comes down to self belief. If

00:46:43.070 --> 00:46:45.250
you don't believe in your own ability to build

00:46:45.250 --> 00:46:48.110
a business, you won't even if statistically you

00:46:48.110 --> 00:46:49.969
could. And then the second one is self worth,

00:46:50.130 --> 00:46:51.750
meaning if you don't think you're worth it, if

00:46:51.750 --> 00:46:53.750
you don't think you're worth it, you won't do

00:46:53.750 --> 00:46:56.489
it. Every one of us is calculating unconsciously

00:46:56.489 --> 00:46:57.989
whether or not it's worth it. I had to determine

00:46:57.989 --> 00:46:59.489
whether or not it'd be worth it to come to the

00:46:59.489 --> 00:47:01.769
show right now. Right. You had to determine whether

00:47:01.769 --> 00:47:03.929
it was worth it to have me on. And then we both

00:47:03.929 --> 00:47:05.829
have to believe in our abilities to show up and

00:47:05.829 --> 00:47:07.340
show up well. And even though it's not going

00:47:07.340 --> 00:47:08.659
to be perfect, we're going to be able to get

00:47:08.659 --> 00:47:10.679
better. So that's the growth mindset and the

00:47:10.679 --> 00:47:12.780
self -belief. So what I've found coaching so

00:47:12.780 --> 00:47:15.219
many people, literally I have it tracked again,

00:47:15.320 --> 00:47:18.760
over 7 ,000 one -on -one hour long plus coaching

00:47:18.760 --> 00:47:21.460
sessions. I have this all tracked. You find some

00:47:21.460 --> 00:47:23.820
people think they believe in themselves consciously,

00:47:23.820 --> 00:47:26.719
but don't at all deep down. Like Kevin, that

00:47:26.719 --> 00:47:29.139
dude has tons of unconscious self -belief, but

00:47:29.139 --> 00:47:30.840
doesn't think he believes in himself. You ever

00:47:30.840 --> 00:47:32.320
meet someone who's like, no, I don't really believe

00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:34.260
in myself that much, but they always take action.

00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:36.929
And then you meet the opposite. They think they

00:47:36.929 --> 00:47:38.750
believe in themselves a ton, but they never follow

00:47:38.750 --> 00:47:41.909
through. That's called, that's called the Lulu

00:47:41.909 --> 00:47:45.130
delusional. Yeah. It's not in their central nervous

00:47:45.130 --> 00:47:48.469
system. Right. So I happen to have a lot of self

00:47:48.469 --> 00:47:50.889
belief and now I have a formula to build it.

00:47:50.909 --> 00:47:52.769
I'll give it to you quickly. It's state proof,

00:47:52.909 --> 00:47:54.469
self -assigned quick story. I know we got to

00:47:54.469 --> 00:47:57.869
jump. I was in college in 2007 and there was

00:47:57.869 --> 00:48:00.869
a website back then as freshmen in college, my

00:48:00.869 --> 00:48:03.409
dorm Riley one side tangent. We were mining for

00:48:03.409 --> 00:48:07.639
Bitcoin in my dorm room. We had no idea. Yeah,

00:48:08.659 --> 00:48:11.099
okay. Just a weird nerd school, right? But anyways,

00:48:11.139 --> 00:48:13.559
so there's this website called stumble upon dumb

00:48:13.559 --> 00:48:15.860
as shit ever. You literally it's like webcam

00:48:15.860 --> 00:48:17.880
roulette. You everyone in my dorm was doing it.

00:48:17.880 --> 00:48:19.579
I thought it was stupid. But now I realize why

00:48:19.579 --> 00:48:21.840
you basically just stumble upon other webcams

00:48:21.840 --> 00:48:23.659
of people all over the world doing dumb things.

00:48:23.780 --> 00:48:27.820
Yeah, right. Funny, gross, whatever. I think

00:48:27.820 --> 00:48:30.440
unfortunately, a lot of people walk through life

00:48:30.440 --> 00:48:33.150
that way. They stumble upon a job. They stumble

00:48:33.150 --> 00:48:35.610
upon a career. They stumble upon a partner. They

00:48:35.610 --> 00:48:38.329
stumble upon this friend. They stumble upon,

00:48:38.650 --> 00:48:41.710
and unfortunately it doesn't build belief. Belief

00:48:41.710 --> 00:48:44.190
is only built when it's premeditated. Intentional.

00:48:44.409 --> 00:48:46.469
So I didn't just get straight A's in high school.

00:48:46.710 --> 00:48:48.769
I decided I'm going to get straight A's in high

00:48:48.769 --> 00:48:51.590
school and go to WPI. And then I proved to myself

00:48:51.590 --> 00:48:53.789
I could do it. And then I self -assigned it once

00:48:53.789 --> 00:48:55.570
I did it. But if you don't state, you're not

00:48:55.570 --> 00:48:57.010
going to self -assign. You're just going to think

00:48:57.010 --> 00:49:00.250
you got lucky unconsciously. So what we tell

00:49:00.250 --> 00:49:02.489
people at Next Level U is state, prove, self

00:49:02.489 --> 00:49:04.670
-assign. State, I'm going to the gym tomorrow

00:49:04.670 --> 00:49:06.789
no matter what. Prove to yourself you're going

00:49:06.789 --> 00:49:09.489
to go. Keep the promise to yourself. And then

00:49:09.489 --> 00:49:11.769
self -assign it once you do. Now you're building

00:49:11.769 --> 00:49:14.670
unconscious self -belief. Now what else can I

00:49:14.670 --> 00:49:16.780
do? What else can I do? What else can I do? But

00:49:16.780 --> 00:49:19.320
most people are just stumbling upon stuff and

00:49:19.320 --> 00:49:21.519
they feel out of control and then they have to

00:49:21.519 --> 00:49:23.239
inflate socially to make it seem like they're

00:49:23.239 --> 00:49:26.400
not. So next level you is that building inside

00:49:26.400 --> 00:49:28.719
first and then letting success be a by -product

00:49:28.719 --> 00:49:30.380
of that. And then the last part of your question

00:49:30.380 --> 00:49:33.079
was, well, I mean, you pretty much captured it.

00:49:33.079 --> 00:49:35.360
It was really more about how entrepreneurs can

00:49:35.360 --> 00:49:38.659
really fulfill or connect with fulfillment on

00:49:38.659 --> 00:49:41.579
the inside as well as the external success. Okay.

00:49:41.579 --> 00:49:44.480
I'll touch on that quick. So I was actually successful

00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:46.519
and wildly unfulfilled. I mentioned that. And

00:49:46.519 --> 00:49:48.119
then I flipped the script and went all in on

00:49:48.119 --> 00:49:50.480
fulfillment and then eventually became successful.

00:49:50.880 --> 00:49:53.199
I would say both are really important, but the

00:49:53.199 --> 00:49:56.300
syntax matters. Number one is what is meaningful

00:49:56.300 --> 00:49:58.940
work for you? It's a Venn diagram. I got to close

00:49:58.940 --> 00:50:00.739
my eyes when I do this. All right. Three circles,

00:50:00.920 --> 00:50:02.639
Venn diagram. You got to find the star in the

00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:04.480
center. And I wear this star around my neck to

00:50:04.480 --> 00:50:07.519
represent my true North. Okay. Thank you, brother.

00:50:07.900 --> 00:50:10.619
So three circles. The first one is what are you

00:50:10.619 --> 00:50:13.139
ridiculously good at? This is usually something

00:50:13.139 --> 00:50:15.440
that makes other people insecure. So your relationship

00:50:15.440 --> 00:50:17.659
with it might not be great. Okay. Number two

00:50:17.659 --> 00:50:20.699
is what will the economy actually pay for? Right?

00:50:20.920 --> 00:50:23.019
I love self -improvement. Really good at it.

00:50:23.119 --> 00:50:25.699
The economy doesn't pay for it. Right? Business

00:50:25.699 --> 00:50:28.679
coaching, they pay for it. Okay. You will not

00:50:28.679 --> 00:50:30.400
pay me to improve yourself, but you will pay

00:50:30.400 --> 00:50:32.500
me to help you grow your revenue. Right? Right.

00:50:32.539 --> 00:50:34.039
And what do you have to do to grow your revenue?

00:50:34.300 --> 00:50:37.039
Improve yourself. Right. See? Finally figured

00:50:37.039 --> 00:50:38.639
it out. All right. So the first one is what are

00:50:38.639 --> 00:50:40.420
you ridiculously good at that most people hate

00:50:40.420 --> 00:50:42.579
you for? They're insecure about. The second one

00:50:42.579 --> 00:50:44.960
is what will the economy actually pay you for?

00:50:45.179 --> 00:50:47.440
And the third one is what's the most meaningful

00:50:47.440 --> 00:50:49.500
work for you? It doesn't mean you always want

00:50:49.500 --> 00:50:51.460
to do it. I don't always want to coach. There

00:50:51.460 --> 00:50:53.280
are some days where it's like, ugh, but after

00:50:53.280 --> 00:50:55.539
I'm done, I'm always glad I did. Yeah. Yeah.

00:50:55.880 --> 00:50:57.559
You don't know you love something because you

00:50:57.559 --> 00:50:59.780
always want to do it. You know you love something

00:50:59.780 --> 00:51:02.039
or someone because you're always glad you did.

00:51:02.039 --> 00:51:05.179
You did. Right. That. And so if you find the

00:51:05.179 --> 00:51:07.699
center of that Venn diagram, meaningful work

00:51:07.699 --> 00:51:10.570
the economy actually pays for. not just now but

00:51:10.570 --> 00:51:13.369
in the future and something you're actually statistically

00:51:13.369 --> 00:51:15.570
good at because let's be real you're competing

00:51:15.570 --> 00:51:18.070
it's like when you buy a house it's okay you

00:51:18.070 --> 00:51:19.869
got to check the comps okay well that one sold

00:51:19.869 --> 00:51:21.869
for five and a half that one sold for seven and

00:51:21.869 --> 00:51:23.429
a half okay what's this one worth six and a half

00:51:23.429 --> 00:51:25.369
that's how the economy works everyone's like

00:51:25.369 --> 00:51:27.190
well i'm worth a thousand bucks an hour no you're

00:51:27.190 --> 00:51:29.429
not no you're not i can get someone doing that

00:51:29.429 --> 00:51:31.230
same thing for seven dollars an hour therefore

00:51:31.230 --> 00:51:34.010
you're not despite your self -worth issues right

00:51:34.010 --> 00:51:37.349
so that center of that epicenter is if you can

00:51:37.349 --> 00:51:39.949
build a career there you will shine And then

00:51:39.949 --> 00:51:42.550
you'll have social challenges with people trying

00:51:42.550 --> 00:51:45.090
to Berg off you and Berg is Baskin reflective

00:51:45.090 --> 00:51:47.570
glory. Okay. And all that kind of social stuff.

00:51:47.690 --> 00:51:49.949
What is that? Yeah. Baskin reflect. It's like

00:51:49.949 --> 00:51:51.949
our team one. It's like really your our team

00:51:51.949 --> 00:51:53.469
where you're on the field. It's that kind of

00:51:53.469 --> 00:51:55.409
thing. So once you become successful, now you

00:51:55.409 --> 00:51:56.949
have social issues that you're going to have

00:51:56.949 --> 00:51:58.449
to deal with and setting healthy boundaries.

00:51:58.829 --> 00:52:02.130
Yeah, I got you. Okay, I like that. Man, it's

00:52:02.130 --> 00:52:04.699
so rich you have So much to share. And I can't

00:52:04.699 --> 00:52:06.619
wait to talk to your partner as well. You have

00:52:06.619 --> 00:52:09.880
so much to share. And I appreciate you sharing

00:52:09.880 --> 00:52:12.820
that. And I really think that anybody that listens

00:52:12.820 --> 00:52:15.420
to this, they will, man, a bag full of nuggets,

00:52:15.699 --> 00:52:17.760
man, gold nuggets that they can cash into in

00:52:17.760 --> 00:52:20.960
their lives. And how does, I know you talked

00:52:20.960 --> 00:52:23.159
about Next Level U and Next Level University.

00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:26.019
How does our listeners get in touch with you?

00:52:26.280 --> 00:52:28.380
Again, thank you so much for having me. This

00:52:28.380 --> 00:52:30.820
is awesome. Yeah, happy to do it again. Sometimes

00:52:30.820 --> 00:52:33.380
I playfully joke with Kev because I feel like

00:52:33.380 --> 00:52:35.280
sometimes we're, you know, those girls in a bar

00:52:35.280 --> 00:52:37.480
like watch out for that creep because we go on

00:52:37.480 --> 00:52:39.739
a lot of podcasts. Right. So he'll always tell

00:52:39.739 --> 00:52:42.300
me, dude, that guy's awesome. That girl's awesome.

00:52:42.579 --> 00:52:44.840
Right. So I'm going to tell him like 10 out of

00:52:44.840 --> 00:52:46.860
10, this is awesome. So thank you. We do green,

00:52:46.860 --> 00:52:49.320
yellow, red. You're green, my friend. You're

00:52:49.320 --> 00:52:51.519
welcome. Thank you. Thank you for being a good

00:52:51.519 --> 00:52:53.920
person who sincerely has an interest in actually

00:52:53.920 --> 00:52:55.860
serving people and isn't trying to sell me something

00:52:55.860 --> 00:52:59.579
on the backend. Right. Yeah. So where can you

00:52:59.579 --> 00:53:03.360
find me? The website is next level universe .com.

00:53:03.619 --> 00:53:06.260
The podcast is next level university, 1 % improvement,

00:53:06.619 --> 00:53:09.360
holistic health, wealth, life and love in your

00:53:09.360 --> 00:53:11.079
pocket from anywhere on the planet, completely

00:53:11.079 --> 00:53:13.699
free. Anyone can get a little bit better each

00:53:13.699 --> 00:53:16.440
day. Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram

00:53:16.440 --> 00:53:18.860
is probably the best. And if you Google my name,

00:53:19.099 --> 00:53:20.539
you'll definitely be able to see, you can chat

00:53:20.539 --> 00:53:22.900
GPT or Google my name. All of this stuff will

00:53:22.900 --> 00:53:25.219
come up. The website, we got a book club that's

00:53:25.219 --> 00:53:27.260
free every week. We've been doing it for four

00:53:27.260 --> 00:53:29.340
years. We have monthly meetups every month. We've

00:53:29.340 --> 00:53:31.099
been doing that for three and a half years. We

00:53:31.099 --> 00:53:32.960
got one coming up on Thursday. It's totally free.

00:53:33.199 --> 00:53:34.780
We have a journal. We got all kinds of stuff.

00:53:35.119 --> 00:53:37.679
So if you're looking to reach the next level

00:53:37.679 --> 00:53:40.119
and you feel stuck and you want some inspiration,

00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:42.639
motivation, and education consistently, you want

00:53:42.639 --> 00:53:44.619
to get around people who are ignited and excited

00:53:44.619 --> 00:53:48.000
for the future in this very doom and gloom world,

00:53:48.260 --> 00:53:49.900
this is the place for you. If you're humble,

00:53:50.199 --> 00:53:53.119
grateful, work ethic, you're gonna love us. Nice

00:53:53.119 --> 00:53:54.840
sincere interest to get to the next level, you're

00:53:54.840 --> 00:53:56.699
gonna love us. If you are entitled or arrogant

00:53:56.699 --> 00:53:58.739
on any level and you want big rewards for minimal

00:53:58.739 --> 00:54:00.699
effort, do not reach out under any circumstance.

00:54:01.059 --> 00:54:04.860
That's not your world. Yeah. Listen, people,

00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:07.639
when you watch this, you know, all this stuff

00:54:07.639 --> 00:54:09.880
will be in the description. Somehow we'll get

00:54:09.880 --> 00:54:12.849
it from your camp, but rewind, play, rewind,

00:54:13.030 --> 00:54:15.929
play, because there's so much here to take away.

00:54:16.789 --> 00:54:19.269
And you know, so much in my mind, in my heart,

00:54:19.269 --> 00:54:21.070
in my heart and my spirit to talk about. But

00:54:21.070 --> 00:54:23.670
we'll stick to the scripts a little bit and let

00:54:23.670 --> 00:54:28.269
you go. And really, man, Alan. Lazarus. First

00:54:28.269 --> 00:54:29.869
of all, your last name is awesome. Thank you

00:54:29.869 --> 00:54:31.829
for being here. Thank you for sharing what you

00:54:31.829 --> 00:54:34.110
had to share. And I look forward to us doing

00:54:34.110 --> 00:54:37.730
this sometime in the future here. And as we say

00:54:37.730 --> 00:54:41.369
around this time on this podcast, make thriving

00:54:41.369 --> 00:54:44.829
your new normal. Thank you, Alec. Thank you so

00:54:44.829 --> 00:54:46.429
much for having me. Thank you. Absolutely.