Should You Start Chasing Money? (2099)

Do what you're passionate about , you know , do what you feel your purpose is , what your calling is , and eventually you'll get there and the money will come . Somebody said that to me the other day . They said I know as long as I stay in my calling and do what I love , the money will come . No , it won't .

Yeah , it's hot in here . Okay , yeah , a little hot in here . I didn't turn the ac on today . It's a whole thing . Also , your audio is dog shit , so I'm gonna need you to step off me . Okay , you're the producer of the show look , my audio sucks . That's on you . No , it's not because you and I have been working on it .

You can't use this fucking laptop . I tell him all the time . It's a whole thing . I tried using the other one .

Whole new tech setup .

I believe you should prioritize something to the degree of importance it has in your life , and I think people say don't chase money , because the reason people chase money is because they think it's going to fix your problems . That's not true , unless you have money problems .

If you have money problems , more money will obviously help that , but if you have self-worth , self-belief , relationship problems , strategy problems , money is not necessarily going to help that at all . So I don't think it's bad to chase it . I think it's bad to chase it thinking that it's going to solve all your problems . I don't know .

When you messaged Emilia , you were chasing the opportunity for a relationship . 100% , love , love . I'm chasing fitness . The reason we do a 10 pound in 10 week challenge is because that's the only way we're going to get our asses in shape 100% , and I'm talking about Alan and I , but I know it's super helpful for everybody in the community too .

I'm chasing being in better shape . Why is chasing something a bad thing Now ? Chasing with the assumption that when you catch it , everything is going to be rainbows and unicorns . That's where I think things get dangerous .

The bottom has to be wider in order for the pyramid to go taller . So I think if you want to reach your potential and have the highest quality of life possible , you need to master three things , in this order . Number one health . Physical , mental , emotional and spiritual health . That's the bottom of the pyramid and that has to be the widest .

Next is wealth how you earn your money . In other words , is it meaningful work to you ? Number two how much do you earn ? Is it increasing or decreasing , based on where the future is headed ? I always joke . It's a metaphor , don't get offended . I had someone reach out . I love horses . Listen , it's a metaphor , take it easy .

So don't sell horses when the car is invented . That's . It's a metaphor , right ? A lot of people they , they train for something and then it gets automated . It's like oh shit , uh-oh right . So it has to be . Number one how you earn your money . Is it meaningful work to you ? Number two is it increasing or decreasing , based on the future ?

So truck drivers potentially in trouble ? You guys know this . Don't villainize me . You guys know this . When there's going to be self-driving trucks there already are people are going to be losing their jobs . That's a fact . That's going to happen , whether you like it or not . So you better be retooling now . I care enough to tell you the truth .

Number three investor versus consumer . Baby , where are you investing your money ? I've been working with someone behind the scenes and we have already made her . So I said if you want to be wealthy , you can . We just got to learn how to do it . You , you were spending so much money needlessly . We just got to button it up . I couldn't believe I .

A lot of people really are spending money needlessly . For sure , of course I . I don't think I've ever done that , brother I was a huge fan .

Dude , I appreciate you coming to me with that idea . That's 40 bucks a month . We can now put that in team or put that in cameras , or put that in thai food , which is where I'm gonna put it . I'm joking . You understand my point paninis for this weekend . Seriously though , paninis hot table , paninis , paninis , hot table .

I told you remember , remember the hot , the hot table .

Then it's immediate family , extended family , friends , colleagues , clients , mentors , mentees , team , not necessarily in that order , but love , the love bucket . And if you have those three , if you're healthy , wealthy and in love and you're investing your time and effort to become healthier , wealthier and more in love that's the dream . You only get one life .

I think about this . Earlier I was in the garage just frustrated because my day's off the rails . I was like you know , alan , you really are maximizing this one life that you have . You're doing a good job . Keep it up . It's all good , it's all good .

It needs to be in that order and they all need to be worked on and invested in and and focused on consistently .

No , that's not a coincidence , but again , I think it's with the assumption that chasing means you assume when you catch it , everything will work out . No , that's not . I'm not under that illusion . I know that's not . This is how focused I am on money right now . Okay , I bought a brand new car . You've heard kind of the Chronicles . I bought a brand new car .

Apple CarPlay didn't work . Tried to fix it myself . Couldn't do it . Brought it there the bmw geniuses that's what they're called . Like the geniuses , they couldn't do it . Damn , yeah , drop it off , we'll fix it . Should take a day . Love that for me . Awesome , go to pick it up the next day . No , it's not ready . We'll let you know .

By the time I get this vehicle back , I'm gonna be how I'm gonna have been without it for a month . I'm not gonna pay six hundred dollars for a car I couldn't use . Damn straight . That's not fair , damn straight .

Now here's the interesting thing that makes me feel really weird , because I aspire to have the abundance where that doesn't matter , but the discipline , that's it . Hold on , I'm not done yet , but the discipline and the principle to make sure that I am able to optimize as much as possible .

If I didn't care at all about money and we didn't have a goal of making and saving and doing what we're doing , do you think I would even that wouldn't even be on my radar Be like , yeah , it sucks , I don't have my car . You know , they gave me a really nice rental , though . It's not the point . That's not the point .

The point is this is an opportunity .

We'll call it even . It's not that big of a deal . You guys got to kick me a thou . It's not that big of a deal . I'm not saying to be bad . I'm not saying to be bad . I'm not saying to short change people , to take advantage . I'm not saying that .

But what I am saying is I do think so much of what we're taught is well , if you do what you love , if you do what you're passionate about , if you add value in the world , then you'll get paid for that . Yes , yes and yes and yes . If you ask , you gotta ask , and there has to be some strategy . There does Hold on , though .

Okay , this is something I explain on other shows all the time . I never talk about it on this show . Perfect , for whatever reason . Let's do it

. Well , I go through the four buckets of life . I'm going to do this very , very briefly . I know this is going to seem like it's not the point . I'll make a point , I promise . Hang with me . The four buckets of life . In my opinion , we all go through all four . Hopefully , you get to the fourth one . It took me 30 fucking years to do it .

It took Kev 30 years to do it 32 probably , and I know , but it's true , all right . So the first bucket is you are unsuccessful and unfulfilled . I was a car kid and a bus boy at 15 and a half 16 years old and I hated my life and I was making no money and I just I hated . It was bad , not a good time . Stepdad left Not good .

People said best years of your life . I said God , I fucking hope not , because this is terrible . Okay , high school sucked .

Hello , hello , hello . Nlu listener . Thank you , as always , for listening to Next Level University . Real quick , I just want to jump in and let you know about the Next Level Dreamliner . Real quick , I just want to jump in and let you know about the Next Level Dreamliner . This is a journal that I use every single day .

Achieve your dreams 90 days at a time . It breaks down your dreams into goals , milestones and daily habits . We hope you enjoy it . The link will be in the show notes . Second bucket successful externally , but internally unfulfilled . Kevin and I six figures . I was in corporate .

I did preschool , kindergarten , middle school , high school , college , corporate corporate 1% global earner $150,000 in a Vanguard account , investments , stocks , growing boom 84 grand worth of debt , debt-free , paid off in a single year . I'm paraphrasing here .

But I was really , really , really successful in a really young age in corporate for tech companies and I was externally successful , but I was drinking too much and too often I wasn't taking care of my health the pyramid that I said earlier on this episode . I wasn't taking care of my health and physical , mental , emotional or spiritual health was not a priority .

It was all about finance and fun and I invested a lot in the stock market . Blah , blah blah . Externally successful as hell , internally unfulfilled . Car accident 10 years ago , 26 years old Dad died in a car when he was 28 . So this was my . I found personal development . This is when I found personal development and I dialed it up to 12 .

Worked on myself every day . Fitness , fitness model , fitness competitor , fitness coach . Start my own company , alan Lazarus LLC . What you'll never learn in school but desperately need to know . I wanted to bring personal development to the masses , to the school systems .

Good luck getting speeches at high schools and colleges with that slogan Went past broke , liquidated all my assets . Now I'm happy , healthy , productive , love myself , love my life , in the best physical shape of my entire existence still to this day , unfortunately . But yet I went broke .

I went past broke , actually liquidated all my assets , went into a little bit of debt here . So I was externally unsuccessful but I was internally fulfilled as hell , and I know you've been there as well . You talk about the moment in the kitchen with the yeah , with the six figure thing .

Okay , fourth bucket , this is the one , statistically , I got to be real here . Statistically , almost no one gets to . I would say maybe the top 10% get to this bucket . Maybe 10% of people , and even that I I don't know . I don't know . I don't know the numbers . I got to do a research study at some point .

The point is , it's very few people get to this bucket . The fourth bucket is when you are externally successful and internally fulfilled and they feed each other . And the reason why this one's so hard to do . I'm talking so hard to do , so don't beat yourself up if you're not there . This is so hard to do .

I'm talking so hard to do , so don't beat yourself up if you're not there . This is so hard to do . Here's why what the economy pays for is usually not meaningful work . What the economy pays the most for is not usually deeply meaningful , passionate work .

Podcasting if you have a passion for it , is great , but the economy does not statistically pay a lot of money for that . Yes , joe Rogan makes a lot , but the other podcasters don't so . But yet engineers , for example , I didn't like being an engineer , designing circuits in a dark room by myself , but I made a lot of money .

So what the economy pays the most for is rarely deeply meaningful work . That's why acting and actresses , and and it's so hard to become an a-list actor , because everybody wants to and it's it's very hard to make money in that industry unless you're really really really successful . Okay , the fourth bucket is a mountain that gets higher as you climb it .

And if you have gotten there and you are externally successful and internally fulfilled and they feed each other , you are at the mountaintop . Stay humble , keep after it , stay consistent . And now it's all about the next level . Next level , next level success , internal health , wealth , love , boom , boom , boom , boom , boom . What was my point of this whole thing ?

To bring this back to the original point of the episode , which is about money . The reason why the advice of money isn't everything is so bad is because you can't reach that fourth bucket unless you find a way to integrate what is meaningful work with what actually provides income . I'm coaching someone right now who does computer science .

She's also getting her massage therapy license . She's in full-time school , enrolled for massage therapy , and that's meaningful work for her Reiki , massage therapy , all this stuff . If you're listening what's happening , shout out to you , keep it anonymous . I said are you going to be getting some side work in computer science ?

For the computer scientists out there in the 21st century , the demand is way higher than the supply . There are not enough computer engineers and enough computer scientists , and one of the reasons why is because it blows . It's terrible . You've never programmed a computer , right ? No , not by accident . Okay , it's terrible .

Now , at the end of the day , when work is terrible , usually there's a lack of demand for it , and so there's usually not enough supply and a huge demand . And I kind of screwed that up , because when very few people want to do the thing and everybody needs the thing , people have to pay more to get it done .

Like there's a lack of plumbers , there's a lack of , because everyone went to college , stopped going to trade schools , so there's like those people make a lot more money now because there's less of them . Right ? Okay , economics , alan . What's the point ? You have to be worried about money . If you're not worried about money , you will not be successful .

But it isn't the number one most important thing . Your health matters more for sure , because if you are not healthy , you can't do shit with your money .

We started a podcast , we added a lot of value and there was no money . And then we were like , okay , how do we turn this into a business ? Awesome , let's coach people . Cool , love coaching . Awesome . And that changed and that evolved

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I did like one episode the first month and then maybe one the second . I was all over the place , man . I just wanted a podcast . I didn't . What would you ?

You're gonna love it more if you can do it more , right , yeah , probably . Okay , let's figure out how to do that . Man , if you really want to do it , you might as well do it all the way , if that's , if that's really what you want . But yeah , I didn't start this under the the guise of ah yes , this is a great way to to grow a business .

Nope , nope , I started it because I wanted to talk to people and have cool conversations with cool people . That was it . That was it . So I think that's . The truth is , I would have been screwed . I never would have gotten to the place where I I made money .

Look , do you know how many people , how many podcasters I talk to that say I literally every time ? Based on where you are today and where you aspire to be , what do you believe is the most valuable use of our time together ? For free podcast breakthrough session . I want to monetize Good Cool , love that . What have you thought of ? What have you thought of ?

What have you tried ? I've never thought of anything before . Okay , cool , then you're , you were gonna die if we didn't have this conversation . Probably your podcast was gonna die because you were gonna run out of money . I don't think it's bad to want money . I don't think it's bad to ask for money . I don't think it's bad to have money on the mind .

I think it's great as long as it's constructive . And you know it's not going to fix all your problems .

There was this friend of mine back in the day and now I realize okay , I've reflected on this a lot , I've got a good memory oh , you didn't have any idea what money really was . He was saying oh , I should , I'm so sick of this money shit , like I'm just gonna go live in the woods and live off the land .

And I remember thinking you're not gonna do that . So you can bitch all you want , but someone has to pave the roads and you live in a house and you you play call of duty like someone has to make that game . What an ignorant person . Right , it's like you . You , literally and , by the way , you smoke weed . You're lazy , like why are you so upset ? We ?

someone has to pave the roads and make the computers and program them and build the iphones and deliver things . I I feel grateful when I get subs at subway . Someone has to order that food and put it together and like people like , oh , subs cost too much . Well , not really , it's kind of awesome actually .

I mean , in in the past people would have to go hunt to get food .

Even even I asked emilia's mom what was it like back in the day when you had to go to 17 stores on a Sunday just to get everything you needed . Now it's all in one Walmart , right ? So there's two sides to every coin , and I wonder if other people are not everybody .

Obviously , some people are thinking about this stuff , but I have been a little bit alarmed at how few people are thinking deeply about this stuff . It's like someone has to work there to get you your electricity .

Well then , that means you don't care about your son's college tuition in the future , and I understand it's a logical leap , but it's not really when you really dig Money matters deeply because it's how you provide for your family and build schools and it's really important .

It's just you got to figure out how to use it and you got to figure out what your relationship is with it , because , if not , you're going to end up getting used by it instead of being able to use it for good .

As always , we love you . We appreciate you . Grateful for each and every one of you in NLU . We don't have fans , we have family . We'll talk to you all tomorrow .