Breaking Boundaries: How Facing Your Fears Can Propel You Towards Success

Yes. Yes. Everybody, and welcome to the jump podcast. Is this your first time? I'll wait because I gotta ask you. Where have you been all this time? We're having great guests, and we're having fun. And jump is not about jumping up and down. Like I always say, jump is to get to that next level, and I think I know I found the people that are gonna help you get That next level, it's all about what are you waiting for, so let's without further ado, let's get into it. My next guest is gonna talk to you about leveling up. What are you waiting for? It's time to jump. So let's go. Kevin, what's going on, my friend? Another day in paradise, Charles. I appreciate you having me, my friend. No. I appreciate you being here. Like, When I when I first saw you guys, I said yes. My show is about jumping to the next level, and you're all about next level university. So, hey. This is like a marriage in heaven right here. We're gonna make sure we help people get to that next level because that's what it's all about. But before we get into that, Who is Kevin? Born and raised where are you from? Born and raised in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, a small town that nobody has ever heard of an hour outside of Boston, which everybody thinks is all that Massachusetts has to offer. Oh my goodness. So growing up, the little boy in you, what did you wanna become? Many different things. I wanted to, and I was convinced That even without work, I was gonna be a professional baseball player. I wanted to be a professional wrestler, a stuntman, and I also wanted to fight Mixed martial arts professionally as well. Is that a combo? Like, you're just gonna do everything? How does it work? I thought I could. Yeah. I didn't realize I didn't realize you have to put in 20 years to get really good at something. So I figured, yeah, why not? We'll do all of it. Oh, okay. Okay. I was wrong, Charles. Very wrong. And when did you find out you're wrong? What sport were you doing? When I graduated high school, that was the end of baseball for me. And then then I started training for mixed martial arts, tore my shoulder shortly thereafter. Then I was like, this might not be be it either. So, Yeah. It was just kinda 1 momentous failure after another, pretty much. But do you consider it a failure, or did you learn something from it? I learned a lot. I learned a lot. It's one of the most humbling experiences and lessons I have is when I was training martial arts, I wanted to look good more than I wanted to be good. So I would only do the things I knew. I'd only drill submissions on one side. And the 1st time I went to a grappling competition, I was out of my league, and It was a very, very humbling experience for sure. I like that you that you said that. I'm gonna I'm gonna curve that right there because we we tend to when we're getting to the tough times, We don't go into the trenches. We go to something that we already know. Yeah. Why do we do that? I don't know. I think It could be that fact of you wanna look good rather than be good. Growth requires failure, which I don't know why it's set up that way. It just is. If you wanna grow, if you wanna get really, really good at something, you're gonna have to be really, really bad at that something for at least as long. So going through those dark nights of not getting any results, that's a challenge. And I think a a lot of us, definitely me in the beginning, I had a very fixed mindset. I didn't understand that growth came from experience. I didn't understand that growth came from failure to lessons. I wanted to get a result. I wanted to quote, unquote win, not learn. Now more than ever, I realized that Learning is winning. It's delayed winning, I would say. And maybe if you haven't got to that place yet where you understand that failure isn't final, it's lessons, Maybe you tend to just lean into the thing that you're really good at, and I definitely understand because I spent a lot of my life doing that for sure. For sure. So then What was your I'm I'm I'm I'm I wanna judge. I'm I'm trying to think. What was your 1st job? What was your very first job you ever did? I worked at a butcher shop for 2 weeks, and then actually, no. No. Not even 2 weeks. 2 days. And then I no showed on the 3rd day and then quit. And then my my first real full time position, I was pumping gas at a local gas station. That was the first job, quote, unquote, that I ever had where I actually stayed there for a long enough period of time. So why did you quit the butcher shop? The bosses were terrible, and I didn't enjoy the job at all. And I also didn't know. I didn't, I mean, I was probably, like, 15, so I didn't really need money that bad. So it just wasn't worth it. The necessity wasn't there, and I didn't like the leadership. Let's say that I didn't like the leadership very much. So there's something you said, and I always tell people, like, when I, when I go somewhere and they're giving me attitude, I'm like, I'm like, listen. I know what problems you're having today. I don't know what's happening, but if you don't like your job, don't blame me. Quit. Yeah. Do something different. How come do you feel that a lot of us in our day and age, we're at a job we don't like? We're sitting there. Is it like you said, is it kinda convenience because they have to pay a bill? Is it Why are we still there? And every day we get up, we're like, I don't wanna go to this thing, but then we still go. I have this would be my guess, and we've talked about this many times. Everything starts off kinda cool. So when I started pumping gas, it was like, this is pretty awesome. I get to work outside in the summer with my friends that I went to high school with. It's not bad. The hours aren't bad. It's right down the street from my house. In the winter, I'm still working outside, and it is cold as heck. That's not cool. So what I think happens is we get a new opportunity. We see all the shiny new fixings of this new opportunity, and then we make long term decisions based on that love factor of the new thing. So you get a new job, you love your new job, you go buy a new car. That car payment is for 5 years. That job might wear off. The lust of it might wear off in 6 months doesn't really matter because now you have a new level of responsibility that you have to take care of. So I do. I think it's In the beginning, all relationships are easy, jobs are fun, the commute's awesome, whatever. The car is awesome. As it starts to become more familiar and the law of familiarity creeps in, then we have to keep up with the responsibilities that we made promises to. And I think that's where a lot of us get stuck, or we all have a reputation that we're trying to uphold. So If you have a car and you have a reputation, you have a home and you're used to traveling, you might not want to see or you might not want your peers to see that, oh, Kev's taken a proverbial step back here. I wonder what's going on. Is everything okay at home? So that judgment, I think that rings true for a lot of us. And I, I'm glad you brought that up. The judgment, the peer pressure. Can we ever get rid of that? Can we ever say one day? Because as I get older, I just I realized I'm saying, I don't care what this person think. I don't care what that person think. I'll just do it. I don't care. But when we're young, It's all that we think about. What's our friends gonna think? What are my high school friends gonna think? You know, what's why do we do that? You have a very good point where I think judgment is much like fear where we convince ourselves that we can't handle it, so we avoid it. So just imagine one of my biggest fears is heights. Planes, I don't get them. I don't know how they fly like they do. It doesn't make any sense to me. It's metal. It doesn't make any sense. So there's 2 versions of Kevin's life. 1, I am afraid of planes. Therefore, I avoid everything involving planes. That's version 1. Version 2 is I am afraid of planes, but if I do want to achieve many of the results I desire, I'm gonna have to get on a plane. Then that fear is no longer controlling me to the same level, so I would argue that if you can choose a place to get judged where you have the most confidence. So right now, I have pants on, my pajamas, that have tacos on them. Oftentimes, I'm not even kidding Charles. I will literally wear these to to the store, because I'm I'm seeking a little bit of judgment on something that I can handle. I'm not worried about somebody saying, hey, man, those pants are stupid. I know that. I know they're very dumb, but I like them. So, Yeah. I think a lot of us avoid judgment because we don't understand that exposure to something creates growth to that something. And if you could find What is something that you might feel safe to be judged on? Start there. Start there. Something that you feel very competent in, something you feel very confident in. That way you can get proof that judgment isn't always as negative as we originally thought. Okay. So then let me lead right into it then. Why did you start the university then? What made you think I need to help other people? I need to find a way to help other people with this university. I have always loved helping other people. That was never that was never the issue. I never knew or I never didn't know that was a thing. I can look back to when I was the captain of the baseball team. I love doing the the camps with the younger kids. I was always a huge fan of that. Even in my early twenties, I was coaching people on relationships even though I had no idea what to do on my own. For some reason, I felt like I could add value to them. I was a personal trainer. I helped people build habits and and be more successful long before the podcast. Charles, for me, I think the thing that really sticks out is I do believe I had an understanding of what my purpose was. The thing that I didn't know was the vehicle. Many people ask, Kev, how do you think people should find their purpose? And I usually say, I believe you probably have a finger more on your purpose than you realize. I bet you don't think you have a viable sustainable vehicle yet. So for me, I was already talking about positive stuff on social media. I was already coaching people. I ended up getting interviewed on a podcast about health and fitness and mindset and discipline, And at the end of it, I said, imagine if you could do that for a living. Imagine if you could be a professional podcaster. And one of my friends said, you can. There's people out there that do it. So from that point on, I was off to the races, and I went and bought all the equipment and that has evolved into The online vers online university that you're speaking of. But for me, once the vehicle became visible to me, That's when everything started to connect. So I think purpose and vehicle are 2 different conversations worth having. I like how you said that because A lot of time, people are like, oh, this is you cook so good. You should open up a restaurant. Oh, you sing so great. You should go sing at your church. Oh, but We don't see it. Someone else has to tell us that how great we are. Sometimes we don't see it ourselves. Is it because that we're shy? We don't have the confidence. We didn't hear it enough growing up. What do you think it is? Like, if someone's singing every day, And then someone says, oh, you should go sing. They're like, nah. I'm not a singer. But they sing every day at work. I think it's it's courage. I think I think courage is a big piece of it. And I do believe now more than ever that one of the biggest things holding us back is lack of self belief. That is what held me back for For the longest, longest time, I very transparently did not expect to be where we are today. I didn't believe most of what my reality is was possible. I have to pinch myself. When I logged in to the meeting, you you heard me singing, and I said, I'm just I'm just happy to be here. I'm fulfilled. I'm excited. I'm gonna bring the positivity. Some days I feel like I'm playing with house money. I think the reason is because I didn't have a lot of self belief. And If you don't have self belief, you're not gonna try things that are gonna give you a certain level of result, a certain level of feedback, a certain level of proof. So if you think about the people who are really, really successful, a lot of them have a very, very high level of self belief. So they're willing to try things. They'll just try it. Yeah. Yeah. And then somebody might say, Charles, hey. Hey. Hey. You got a you got a good voice, my friend. You should you should come on tour with us. And you're like, yeah. Sure. Whatever. I'll try it out Right. Versus someone who might not have that self belief. They might say, oh, no. I could never do that. Those are 2 very different lives. Love it. Love it. Alright. Well, let's have some fun. Let's go. My friend, time for rapid fire. What's gonna happen is I'm about 2 minutes on the clock. You get to choose your own questions, a, b, c, or d. But here's the funny thing, though. You can elaborate, but remember, we gotta get through them in just 2 minutes. So 2 minutes starts on the clock when you ask you when we ask you your first question. What would you like? A, b, c, or d? D, my friend. D. I don't think it wait. Oh, has anybody ever asked for d? I've never I don't even know these questions. This is gonna be fun. Alright. Let's go. 2 minutes starts on the clock. Can I ask you the first question? What was your most memorable year? Oh, man. 2017 because I started the podcast. Nice. If you could tell something about yourself that's a little nerdy, what would you tell anybody? I am the ultimate cat dad. Cat I'm a cat you got. 2. Fudge and ace. If you won$1,000,000 today, what was the first thing you would buy? I would probably buy a BMW M4. Favorite TV show? Parks and Recreation. Celebrity Crush. Blake Lively. What's the worst advice you've ever gotten? Just add a 0 to your pricing, and you'll get wealthy. Hold on. I gotta think about that for a second. Okay. What was the best advice you've ever gotten? Big things start small. Who is your biggest fan? My wife. What's the first thing you do in the morning? Roll out of bed, wipe the sleepies from my eyes, and I go do my mobility before I go to the gym. What's your dream career? Podcaster. What do you fear of? Heights, sharks, Failure, rejection, embarrassment. Top 5. Last 2. What was the worst subject in school? Math. What was the best subject in school? Phys Ed. Sunset, sunrise. Oh, sunset. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate. And describe yourself in 5 words. Funny, consistent, heart driven, Loving. There you go. You've made it with 4 seconds left. Let let's talk about it. When you were talking different things, I could hear family is key to you. You know, a lot of stuff you've been mentioning and loving wife and everything. Talk about friends and family around you that give you that boost of energy, that give you that boost to go try different things. Yeah. I'll be very honest. The whole Community circle friend thing has been very, very challenging and humbling since I started this journey, because, obviously, we're trying to do a lot of different stuff, and I don't have a ton of time, and I don't really do cookouts, and I don't really do stuff like that. So I have a very, very small circle of people that all believe a ton in what I am doing, and they believe in the man that I am becoming, and that more than anything matters to me. I don't I don't need someone to tell me the podcast is good or that they're proud of us for what we're doing in the business. The character piece means the most to me. So when someone says, hey, You're a really good man. Hey. I really appreciate the way you treated that person. Hey. I really appreciate how you chose your words when you sent this message. That's what matters the most to me, and I have 3 to 5 really, really amazing people in my life who care way more about my character than any results I'll ever have, And that keeps me humble, that keeps me honest, and that keeps growing me as a man. So that is what I would desire for each and every one of you, someone who cares more about who you're becoming, not what you're creating. Alright. So let's talk about the university. When did you open it up? Technically, 2020. And how what's the first thing that you've noticed when you opened up the Next Level University? What came at you? What did you find out? We found out that almost every person walking the planet that we talked to wants more out of life, but it's very, very vulnerable for someone to say, hey. It's not that I don't enjoy my life. It's that I don't enjoy my relationship. It's not that I'm not proud of the body I've created, but I I do desire for more. That's a very Vulnerable place to be to say, hey. I really do value growth, and a lot of the people I'm around don't value growth at the same level I do. So that's probably been the biggest the biggest lesson I've learned is if you're surrounded by the wrong people, it's gonna be really hard for you to be authentically yourself. Okay. Yeah. Authentically yourself. I like that word authentically yourself. Be you and not not the not the cake and the pie that people want to see coming out. So tell everybody how they can get in touch with you. They they want to join the university. They want to get in touch with you. They know you can help them out. How does it work? Just search Next Level University. That's the name of the podcast, and we're also on YouTube. We do an episode every single day. Start there. I always suggest that because you need to know who you're hearing from. You need to know someone. You need to like someone. You need to trust someone long before you're gonna move through the business. So I would start there. If you do resonate, you can check out the website nextleveluniverse.com. We have all the stuff on there. There is a lot of stuff, and we have a lot of free stuff. So I always advise people start with free. Don't give me your money until you know we are the type of people that you wanna spend time around. And tell everybody about your podcast, when they can catch it, listen to it. Yeah. Every single day. So our we have an episode that drops every single day, 7 days a week At 4 AM Eastern Standard Time, and we're talking all about life, love, health, and wealth. Not just external success, but internal fulfillment, Self worth, self love, confidence, consistency, all of that stuff we're talking about every single day. So let me ask you that. Where does the dedication come from? Every every single day, you flip on the switch, You do a show. Yes. YouTube all the time. Where does this passion keep coming from? Like, this is this people don't understand. This is dedication. You gotta come downstairs, turn on the lights, Set the system. Do this. Do that. Get the mic ready. Do it takes a lot of dedication. Where does it come from? It comes from the fact that we have set some really large goals. And in order to accomplish the goals, not just in terms of of finances, not just in terms of accolades, but in terms of Actual impact. This is what it will take for us to accomplish those goals. So for us, that's what we've determined. If Charles creates an 8th Day of the week, Charles' Day. We're gonna record another episode because that's what we're in this for. That's a that's a big piece of it. Now I also have a business partner, So there's a lot of accountability there. If I'm waiting for him, he's gonna show up. If he's waiting for me, I'm gonna show up. So there's necessity there. And then the other thing too is it's literally in our branding. So you wanna talk about accountability. We say in the intro, self improvement in your pocket Every single day every single day from anywhere completely free. So we've backed ourselves into quite a corner, Charles, and So far so good. It it seems to be working and then congratulations on that. Thank you. Let me ask you this. Where have you seen improvement in yourself and in your partner by doing this? My wife or my business partner? Both, actually. Let's go let's go let's go with both because that's, you know, something I I'm glad that you add wife in there because people don't understand that when you grow in your business, It actually goes with family as well. Family, friends, they everything would grows together, so I'm I'm glad that you asked me that question. So, yes, let's see the growth between business partner and your wife. Yeah. I would say the growth between my business partner and I, We have very little ego when we're with one another. We have what we call pilot, copilot. So I pilot the podcast. I choose the topics. I name every episode. I'm in charge of the podcast. He is pilot when it comes to business decisions. We have an agreement, an unspoken agreement that, hey, you know more about this, you run that. That is not something we had in the beginning, because I think we both wanted to be right in the beginning. So that's Alan. With my wife, I would say I'm a much better communicator, and I'm far more patient than I've ever been just because the business has put me under tremendous amounts of pressure, where everyday life isn't nearly as much Pressure is I'm dealing with when I'm in the office. So I think the contrast of that has made me a more patient partner, a better communicator, and Also having to explain things at a deeper level. There's if somebody hasn't done what you're doing, Whether you're watching or listening, they can't really understand unless you can explain it really well to them what you would like for them to understand. My wife has done a really good job of saying, I don't know what it's like to be a podcaster or an entrepreneur or a business owner or do all these things, but I do empathize with what you're doing based on the fact that you have communicated it with me. Yeah. And I like that that there's there's an outlet, and people need to understand that, you know, an entrepreneur, sometimes you need that outlet. Of course, sir. Right? A 100%. So what is your ultimate goal for your for your business? Like, what is the ultimate goal? To be the most successful self improvement company on the planet. That is our our, like, 50 year from today goal. Hold on. 50 year. How you said you've been doing what? 7 years in? I'm only 34. Right? So I'll be 84. I mean, the way Technology, science, medicine, I should still be kicking by then. I love it because I was like, wait a minute. I'm trying to do the math real quick. I'm like, 50 years without any point. Hey. He's still gonna be doing I love it. I love it. Alright. So let's get into it. Before we let you go, my friend, let's have some more fun. Okay? It's now time for pick 3. You are going to pick 3 numbers between 1 and 10, and those are gonna be the last 3 questions I ask you before I let you go. The fun thing about it is You get to ask your own questions to yourself. Okay. So, give me three numbers between 1 and 10. 3, 5, and 7. 3, 5 and 7. Alright. Number 3. If you could follow someone for 48 hours, Past or present, who would it be and why? 48 hours. You just wanna be a fly in the wall and just hang out with them, be their shadow for 48 hours. Past or present, who would it be and why? Dwayne The Rock Johnson because I don't know if there is another human on the planet that does as much as that man does, and I need need to see what he is doing and how he does it. Yeah. He's up pretty early. Like, he's up working out, Then from working out to the business, from other business to the show to another, like, yeah, he's, he's got some energy going there. So, yeah. Alright. Number 5. If you were in my shoes, what question would you ask yourself that I never asked you? Probably what is the I don't know. We always talk about the accolades. What's the biggest downside of living life the way you live it? Hey. That hey. I like that question. And the answer is? It's just a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure. It's it seems really cool to be To be in this position, and it is it's amazing. It's it's privilege pressure. I get to choose my pressure, which is amazing. I get to choose my stress for the most part, which is amazing, But there is definitely a lot of it that I did not understand before I became an entrepreneur and a business owner. Again, it's aligned. It's privileged, but there is a lot of it. Okay. Yeah. Let me let me add to this then. What what is the pressure? Like, people are like, what pressure is he talking about? He's on camera. He just talks. He just Does what he loves to do. He gets all this fancy gear, and he's it's a podcast. What pressure are you talking about? Right now, we have an 18 person team. We do an episode every day. I have another podcast. So I do an episode every week for, so that's 8 podcasts a week. And then I average 7 to 12 other shows a week. So I'm doing a month's worth of episodes each week On top of 6 times at the gym every single week, on top of coaching calls, on speeches and all that. So, yeah, it's just a very regimented life where my calendar is pretty much booked every single day, every single slot, and that just gets it gets heavy after a while. And the other thing too is one of my fears is I'll get really good at business, but my relationship will suffer, or my relationship will be amazing, but my health will suffer. There's a lot of pressure when you're trying to juggle health, wealth, and love, so that's what I mean when I say that. No. Please repeat that last part again. There's a lot of pressure when you're trying to juggle health, wealth, and love when you really want to be the best, you can at all 3. I think people forget about that part. That's the part that people forget. They're like, oh, he's doing so well, and he he's always out there. Yeah. But did you remember that, you know, he's married with kids. He's you know, sometimes you gotta do this and slow down for this, and It might look glamorous, you know, they're always traveling, but there's a lot to juggle. So when you see 1 someone grinding the way, you know, Kevin's grinding right now, Just sit back and look at him and say, Hey, he's doing a phenomenal job with family and friends. So good on you, my friend. Thank you. If no one tells you, I'm telling you right now, you guys are doing an awesome job. I appreciate you. Alright. So last 1 before we let you go. Give us books, Videos, anything that you've read, seen, heard, or done that made you better person right now. Any books you recommend? Any movies? Any life stories? Anything. The Pursuit of Happiness is a really good inspiring movie that it just moves me every time I watch it. I would say for books, Mindset by Carol Dweck, Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin, those are really good places to start for books. And then Almost any TED Talk. If you can find a TED Talk, you're gonna learn something. I would say TED Talks are a cheat code as well. I kinda agree there. Once in a while, you just slide in 1, listen to it, and say, I didn't think about that. Right. Okay. Something to think about. Okay. Wait. Wait. Let's go back. Rewind. Oh, again. Rewind. Oh, again. Just like what you should do with this show. Listen. Kevin's given us a lot of nuggets to think about. Rewind, play again, tell a friend to listen to the show, and tell a friend to listen to his podcast, Which, Kevin, tell us one more time when they can catch you. Next Level University, we are on all the podcast platforms as well as YouTube, an episode in your pocket every single day. There you go. Listen, everybody. I always say I'm so glad that you listened. Stop by, but here's the next level. It's time to jump. Time to jump and get to that next level. Hey. There's somebody out there that's gonna help you to jump. Give him a call. Check him out. Go to his YouTube channel and just listen and say, hey. What can I do to get to that next level? Well, there's people out there that will help you. It's not easy. I know that for a fact, but you can do it. You see it in you. You can do it. It's time to jump everyone. Thanks, my friend, for being on the show. Thank you, buddy. Alright. We'll see you next time, everybody. Take care. Has come to an end, but the fun doesn't have to stop here. If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback, head over right now to Twitter and Facebook, and like, share, and get involved. Join us Next time Please be advised