How to Transform Obstacles into Superpowers with Alvaro Nunez

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of the Longevity and Lifestyle Podcast. I'm your host, Claudia von Boeselager, here to bring you the latest insights and learnings to improve your health, live a longer and happier life in the meantime too.

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It also enables me to bring you more free content from amazing speakers. So having your support in that way would be hugely grateful. Again, so grateful for you as this community and tribe keep growing and growing around the world. Thank you. My guest today is Alvaro Núñez, who I met at the Live Long Summit in Palm Beach. And one thing that really captivated me with Alvaro, he has this beautiful energy and this optimistic, positive side to him, as well as many other things, because he's an entrepreneur and bestselling author originally from Madrid, who is not only this amazing energy, but he's designed the life of his dreams, which we're going to dig into today too. He's also the founder of the Super Luxury Group, and his passion extends beyond business to cool things like skydiving, helicopter piloting. And he's also an ultra-performance athlete— sorry, an ultra-performance endurance athlete as well. His life philosophy is an inspiration for crafting your own path and pushing boundaries to level up and live with purpose. Alvaro, such a pleasure to welcome you on the Longevity and Lifestyle Podcast today.

Thank you so much. I mean, that was definitely an amazing introduction. And I'm super excited to be here with you today. And to go more deep into what Level Up is all about.

Yeah, and I had the chance also to check out your book in the meantime since we met, Level Up. So for those interested, do check it out. It's beautifully written, super personal, and has great and inspiring tips and ideas because so many people struggle with getting into a rut or negative thinking. And I think you've quite mastered this, Alvaro, and created these beautiful big dreams. So I I'd love to start with your life philosophy of leveling up. What does this actually mean?

Well, it's a lifestyle. I think that it's not something that you just do one day and then carry on with your regular life. It's about how can you continuously find ways to reinvent yourself, keep on growing, keep on expanding, keep on inspiring and empowering others along the way. So beyond the lifestyle goes the mindset behind it, right? So It's about waking up every day with a purpose, understanding your strong why, and really going after your wildest dreams, knowing that it's gonna be a long journey, but that's the journey that will define who you become and the people that you're gonna lift with you.

Mm-hmm.

Can you give some examples of moments where you were maybe in a challenging situation, but you applied these strategies to your life to really level up?

Yes. I mean, everybody goes through different obstacles, right? In fact, the book is called Level Up: Turning Your Obstacles into Superpowers. 'Cause there is always a beauty, a gift in any obstacle that we encounter. So those are the moments that you actually level up when you embrace those difficult situations and turn them around to turn them into superpowers. So for me, I've been going through many of those obstacles. I'm sure that you as well and anybody listening, they're probably either going right now through some obstacles or they've been through those difficult situations. I remember one in particular when, I had the American dream already because I'm from Madrid, Spain, and I came here to the States with a tennis scholarship. And then I graduated, I got a great job. I was actually doing everything that I envisioned doing when I first moved to the US. So that was my version of the American dream. And when everything seemed to be working perfectly, my visa was canceled and I had to leave the country. And you can always lean back into the comfort zone, go back to Spain, be with your family. Or you want to take that as an opportunity to reinvent yourself and go deep into really what will make you more fulfilled. So there is the philosophy on how you can see things as the wheel of life, not just one thing. You can focus on your career and try to become the best version of yourself in your career, but you can also keep on looking at these other areas, whether it's your spirituality, your relationships, your physical and health, your social environment, like everything that transforms this whole wheel of life into a whole is what I've been focusing on ever since I started to apply this Level Up concept is how can I become my best version in each one of these areas? Which ones are the biggest goals that I can apply so that will push me forward? And I remember situations where I thought everything was already going in the perfect direction. Everything got in a completely different sideways. And that's when you use that pain as fuel to push you towards the next thing, to dream bigger. And when you dream bigger and you have that pain that you're using as fuel to take you and to supercharge you forward, you become unstoppable.

I love that, to use the pain as fuel. And so I think, you know, typically, right, we as humans are like, pain, ah, run away. But I guess what you're also saying as well is like, when you find that there's the goals in the pain, and then use it as the opportunity, that's where things really, really shift, right?

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And with the Wheel of Life, how did you— and maybe you can explain also for some people around the world that mightn't be that familiar with it, how did you come across it and how has this impacted your life? Because it seems like you really live your life by it as well. So maybe you can share with my audience a bit more how you found it and how you use it.

Yes, exactly at that moment I was telling you about where I think that, oh, life is perfect. I finally am living this American dream. And I realized that as soon as that visa was taken away, I had nothing left because I had to leave the country. And I remembered that I realized that I've been putting all my energy and effort into becoming the best version of myself in my career, but I did not put any attention whatsoever in all these other areas. So I was living out of balance. And a lot of people say that in order for you to become successful, you need to be obsessed at one thing that you do and that you're going to be completely out of balance. And yes, to a certain extent, that could be correct. But I do believe that in that particular moment, it was an opportunity for me to ask the question, am I really fulfilled? Am I really following my passions? And I did not really have any bigger passions than the ones that I have today. It was just a moment of realization that I had to be more curious about what life has to offer. I had to try new things, realize that I was not really satisfied with what I was living. A lot of us go into this constant motion of doing things that seem to be normal or the norm for us, but in reality is completely out of what we really want in life. So that was a particular moment where I asked myself, what is the business that I can build that fuels my passion? And I started to add the things that I was passionate about. Okay, I'm passionate about traveling, I'm passionate about luxury homes, I'm passionate about experiences, I'm passionate about connecting with people. How can I put all those dots together? So I started a business that was exactly that. It was renting luxury homes in jet-set locations with incredible people and providing experiences. So it was just a matter of betting on yourself, betting on your passions, because if you're gonna go down, you're gonna go down doing something you love. And there's one thing in that, that it's been applied to my life since, is not just for your career, but for everything in life. It's always about setting up bigger targets in each area so that it keeps expanding you in all areas and have a balanced but extraordinary life and not an average, which a lot of people seem to misinterpret on what balance means. Balance, a lot of people think is average, but you can supercharge it to have it as an extraordinary balanced life.

I love that. I had a download the other day around what's the quality of life. So the quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you ask, of the time you spend outside of your comfort zone, and the amount of curiosity you have for things and the thirst for knowledge. And so I was contemplating that as well. And I had a mentor once that asked me, do I spend time out of my comfort zone every day? And I was like, oh, at the time, like, oh, once a week maybe. But you live outside of your comfort zone. It seems, Alvaro. So tell us about deciding to become an ultra-endurance athlete, which is just a whole nother level. And you've done Marathon des Sables, which is 6 days, a marathon a day, and one day 2 marathons, right? I have friends who did it as well. And not only that, did you carry a weight on your back. So can you share with my audience what that— why you set yourself such a grueling challenge and why you added the weight onto your back on top of it, and, and how that How was that for you? What was going on through your mind and your mission and purpose of it?

Yes, absolutely. I always say that life begins on the other side of fear. So when you have choices in front of you, just go with the one that you are the most afraid of. And that's going to really help you level up in life. And in this particular case, it was about, okay, I want to do a mizogi, which is a Japanese term for doing something that you're afraid of doing, but that you know that is going to have a huge impact in your life. And I always try to set up a misogi for each area of my life. So when it comes to my physical and health, for that year, I figured I wanted to do something that was gonna push myself beyond my limits that I'm afraid of doing. And that was the toughest foot race in the world, the Marathon des Sables, which is 6 marathons in 6 days across the Sahara Desert. And you need to carry all your food and supplies with you. Now, when you embark in such challenge, you wanna have a strong why. Otherwise, you're going to quit in between. You need to have something so strong attached to that, that is going to carry on with you throughout the entire process. For me, that was the weight of depression, a campaign that I started to raise awareness for those that were struggling with mental health issues. I unfortunately experienced some of my closest friends and family members going through depression, and some of them are no longer even with us today. So I wanted to do something about it. And the reason that a lot of people end up taking their lives away or going really deep down into the rabbit hole of depression is because they don't speak up. They don't share what they're going through. And I wanted to build a platform or build an opportunity for people to feel inspired to share that story and to pass on the weight to someone else. So we started to build this campaign called The Weight of Depression that represented a weight that I was going to carry in my back throughout the entire race. So that at the end of the race, I will bury that weight in the sand and leave all those struggles behind. So it became a very powerful race, and definitely the purpose is what kept me going through the toughest times.

Yeah, can you share some of those toughest times? I heard a little bit about them, but you didn't have an easy time in this, Alvaro. It seems so smooth, right? But maybe you can share a little bit about the tough times during the race.

Absolutely. I mean, like any other big challenge, there's going to be some difficult situations that you're going to encounter and have to navigate through those. For me, it was just from the very beginning, just arriving there, not being a professional athlete as a profession, right? I was just a regular athlete trying hard to be ready for this race. And I got there, it was incredible environment. I saw a lot of professional athletes that I was following on social media, and I was very excited. But at the same time afraid. And it's the same feeling whether you're afraid of or excited. It's just what you put yourself into perspective is like, am I excited or am I afraid? But in reality, it doesn't matter because you're going to start the race and it's just going to be you against yourself. There's going to be a lot of external factors like big sandstorms, like 110 Fahrenheit degrees, like certain things that you're going to be going through that are going to be being challenging, not just physically but also mentally. And this is what happened to me. After the first day, I was already feeling defeated, and I still had 5 more marathons to go. And it was on the second day where I was going through the marathon, and halfway I saw one of these guys that I was following on social media that were laying on the sand, and they were calling the helicopter because they could not continue. And at that point, I remember I started questioning myself. Am I strong enough? Am I capable of even continuing? If this guy who is an elite athlete cannot continue, who am I to even keep going? And it was around that time that I started to feel very lightheaded. I started to throw up. I started to pee blood because I had kidney failure, completely dehydrated. And I was starting to bleed everywhere because of the weight that I was carrying and the friction. So my shoulders, my back, my hips. And neither to mention my feet. But it was one of those moments where I hit rock bottom, and I also asked myself, why am I even here? And as I took my backpack down to the ground to call the helicopter, I saw that weight, the weight of depression, that plate that I was carrying. And it was a huge reminder of why I was there. And all the names of all the people that shared the story with me started to come through my head and their stories. And I said, listen, I'm not here just for myself. I'm here for all these people. And I put that backpack back on and I kept on going. And at that point, I locked in the why to a deeper level, to a degree where no matter what was going to be in front of me, I was going to finish the race. So my body was getting worse, but my mind was getting stronger. And the reason that your mind gets stronger is because you keep on accomplishing little goals that take you towards the bigger goal, and you're always doing it while attaching yourself to that strong why. So it got to a point where it was no longer just about how I was feeling, it's about how I was gonna finish. So you got to reinvent yourself. You gotta break down those bigger goals into smaller ones. Start to focusing not on doing the 5 remaining marathons, but 1 mile at a time and slowly advancing and building momentum. And that's what gives you the strength to really become unstoppable.

Beautiful. So it's like a muscle, right? That you, in, in all sense of the words, keep building. And I'd love to touch on why, right? And getting a very deep, passionate why. How do you, or do you have certain practices to check in with your why and to know that it's the true why? What do you do and how do you uncover your one?

Yes, every morning I actually go through what I call my vision process. And I wake up, 3 things I'm grateful for. Then I go through the list of things that I have built, which is my vision. I see a movie that I created with all the images, the sounds, my voiceover talking about it. So it's kind of like my moving on a present tense as I'm already living it. It's a way of manifesting what I want in life. And then I want to attach always that with a strong why. So I look at myself in the mirror and I'm going through my why. I listen to it while I'm saying it. And I want to look at myself in the eyes and get to the point where I'm getting goosebumps. The moment that I don't get goosebumps is because my why is not strong enough. And that's one of the practices that I do every day to make sure that I'm starting the day with a clear vision, a clear why, and then I'm backing it up with the values, the values that need to be on top of those goals or that vision that I have. Because it doesn't matter what you do in life, if you're not doing it with the right values, then you're never going to advance fulfilled in life. So those are just some of the little things I do. Of course, I have many more added things that I do throughout the morning, but those are just the the key factors, I guess, to have a clear why.

So every morning though, and this is just around the why piece, and then we're going to jump into the full spectrum because my audience loves things longevity and biohacking. So I want to hear about the rest of the routine. But to get to your why, so do you ask yourself afresh every morning, what is my why, until you get to goosebumps? Or do you sit down once a quarter, once a year, and really dig deep to think, what is my why, what is my focus, and check in if that's still the case? Like that, that that why that gives you the goosebumps, as you were saying?

So every morning I just listen to the why. So I have a text that I already wrote down and I have a voiceover of it. So I basically just read and listen to my voice while I'm looking at myself in the mirror. And if it's a strong why already from the very beginning, it's still gonna be a strong why. I mean, you don't change your why from one day to the other, right? Unless something drastic happens. But you're usually just, tight to your why for a period of time. So I always check in every Sunday to see if I need to make any minor adjustment. Then quarterly I check to make adjustments because my why should never be the same as we evolve and, you know, as humans. So then once a year I completely change it, not change it, but like I keep adding, no? And my why is not the same now than when I was 25 years old, right? So in 5 years a lot has happened. And a lot of people try to stay to their same why and then you keep staying in the same level and the whole mindset here and lifestyle that we talked about is level up. So you need to have a bigger purpose as you keep on growing. And back to your question, every morning I make sure to go through the simple thing that I've already put together, which is the text that shows my why and that voiceover that I'm listening while I'm looking at myself in the mirror. And that's already strong enough to carry on throughout the day.

So let's dig into the health optimization and the longevity and the energy part of pieces. So part of what we know from, from many guests that I've had on the podcast as well is that optimal morning routine is so essential. Can you walk us through your optimal morning routine? I know you shared some with getting clear with the why. What other practices do you have around that?

Well, I can give you the simple version or the—

We like the details. Bring it on. Don't be shy.

Well, so I've never shared this, by the way, because I've been implementing a lot of new things throughout this last year. It might sound a little bit crazy, but I mean, a lot of people say, right, and including myself, that your morning routine starts the night before. So I like to always have the alarm at 9 PM. The day before. That's when I shut down my phone and I just focus on the goals for the next day. I also make sure that I review everything that I've done throughout the day to make sure I can be grateful for the good things, but also improve on the things that can be improved. And then as I'm focusing on what I want to do for the upcoming day, make sure everything is already on the calendar, everything is already lined up. You want to be already with momentum. And when you go to sleep, you go to sleep already thinking, or your subconsciousness is already working on that because that's the last thing that you've been putting on your brain. Now, if you manage the time that you go to sleep, then you'll have an easier time managing the time that you wake up. So I like to prepare everything already ahead for me for the next day, even though I have that as a Sunday ritual where I have all the meal prep, supplement preps, you know, the shaker preps. Clothing preps, the books that I'm going to be reading, the things that I'm going to be reading for the week, like everything. Like I have everything prepared for the week. Now, every day, like throughout the week, I make sure that I just review it, but everything should be already in motion so that you build that momentum. Now, when I wake up, first thing I do is I go into my balcony. I have beautiful views. I just, you know, make sure the cold plunge is prepared for when I'm done with the workout. But the first thing I do is I look out through the balcony and I'm saying the 3 things I'm grateful for. Then I'm going into the restroom. I do my morning routine of like, okay, the face and brushing my teeth and so on. But then what I'm doing is after that, while I'm listening to my vision and the movie and all of that, I do, I lay down on a mat, a PMF mat. Then while I'm recharging my cells through the PMF and kind of like alkalizing the body, I put the, the, what do you call it? The, I call it the AYO wearable. It's just for your circadian rhythm.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm waking, I'm working, I'm waking up at 5:00 AM or 5:30. So there's no light yet. So I want to have that to adjust my circadian rhythm. Then I make sure that I'm breathing through a machine called NanoVI, which really just helps you unfold the proteins and from your cells. And I'm doing that while also doing something called PowerBreath. So I'm doing breathwork but with a machine so that it's also working on my lungs.

Is it the Aerofit or which one?

No, it's called PowerBreath.

Oh, it's called PowerBreath. I don't know. Yeah.

So I do that and I'm doing that, you know, like I'm doing a bunch of different things like stacking. I call the biohacking stacking. So that's 15 minutes of my time. Then after that, I make sure that I drink the you know, amino acids with some ginger and Baja salt with some lemon and hot hydrogen water. And I just mix that, drink it. That's how I kind of like add something to my body without breaking the fast. Then after that, while I'm keep on listening to all my things, whether it's my vision, my why, the values, the will of life, the habits, I remind myself all the habits And once I'm doing that, I go again through the goals for the day. I do some power push-ups until I fail, and then I go do the workout, whether it's in the morning, it's usually cardio. It's a half marathon, a marathon, a 25-mile bike ride, or I go for a swim. And then after that, I go into the sauna while I'm stretching and kind of like going through affirmations. When I'm done stretching in the sauna and all that, detoxifying myself, I go into the cold plunge. I do cold plunge. For 5 minutes after the cold plunge. I let my body, you know, gain the heat by its own. Then I drink my smoothie, which is already prepared. After the smoothie, I just make sure that I take a moment to be grateful for the people in my life. And I take 10 minutes to just text or send an audio or a selfie to 10 people. I mean, 10 to people throughout those 10 minutes. And once I'm done with that, I review my goals once again and start on So usually that morning routine might take around, including the workout, like 3 hours, 3, 3.5 hours. And by, I will say 9 o'clock, I have my phone in do not disturb until 9 AM. And 9 AM, I'm like ready to tackle the day.

Wow. And that's every morning, Alvaro? You're running a marathon every morning?

No, no, no, no, no. I don't run a marathon. I mean, I run an average of 75 to 100 miles a week, plus the biking, plus the swimming, plus also the gym. But I do believe that one, like, one of the things that I love about doing this sort of activities like running is that, yeah, I might do a marathon. I do a marathon every Monday, that's for sure. It's called the Marathon Monday. But then every other day I do like 10 miles or 15 or 18. Or, but you, you know, like, one of the powerful things about running is that you're again in nature. You're like, I love to run here in Miami Beach. I go through the beach and you can do it either. I like to run whether it's with no headphones, just like let my thoughts go. And that's kind of my sort of meditation. I used to take more time to meditate at home. It was too much time. So I found that blissful meditation while running, which is very powerful. And sometimes I put just the headphones to listen to audiobooks or podcasts. There's something that helps you. Gain more knowledge in what you want to improve.

Yeah, to expand the thing. Yeah, very, very impressive. Absolutely love it. And I think one of the keys I'm also hearing in there is the phone in do not disturb. And I think that's with so many people, we get distracted. And then it's like that rabbit hole you go down. And yeah, I think, was that a big thing for you before? And that was then a conscious shift? Or have you always been very disciplined and strict with having your phone away from 9 PM to 9 AM?

No, I was very disciplined when it comes to morning routines and so on, but I always had this bad behavior and it's not about behavior. Look, anybody has different choices and lifestyles. You know, a lot of people need to be on phone duty for whatever reason. I was that guy. I was the guy that woke up at 4 AM. First thing I did, check my messages, answer to all of them, showcase that I'm an overachiever, that I'm here taking care of business first thing in the morning. Kind of killed my momentum, right? Like, yeah, maybe I'll finish at 4:30 and then it's okay. I'm still like, it's 4:30. I can still do a lot, you know, but sometimes it becomes kind of like this wheel of you do one thing and then the other and then the other. And then, okay, maybe I went into social media because somebody sent me a link and that lets me into social media and then I see social media. So I don't have notifications on my phone. First of all, I don't. The only things that I have notifications on are WhatsApp, text message. And phone calls. That's it. The rest, I don't see any notifications on my phone. Now, what I do is I have in my calendar moments for when to check my emails, when to check this, and I have it like periodically. It's not just one time a day. I think that that was very powerful to not have distractions throughout your morning routine. It kind of gives you clarity on the things that matter to you. I'm in a position where I don't have kids. I'm 30 years old. I don't have really any external responsibilities when it comes to being a doctor that somebody might call me because he's dying. And there's one thing about phones these days is that you can make your settings however you want them to be, right? So if somebody's calling me 3 times, it's gonna ring on my phone. And that's, you know, if somebody has really an emergency, they'll reach out to me. But I think that that's very powerful and I will encourage everybody to try it. The biggest mistake I see with a lot of people is that they sleep next to their phone. I never— like, if you go to my bedroom, there is no TV, there is no electronics, there is nothing. So I just use my bed to sleep and, you know, make some love, but that's it. But the rest is outside. So my phone is outside, everything's outside, and that way you can have a proper sleep. And with the phone, I actually don't even need to wake up with my phone because I have the watch. That has the alarm because otherwise my girlfriend will kill me, you know, if she hears the alarm on the living room and I need to run. But what I do is I put the alarm on my watch 2 minutes before the actual alarm on the phone. And when it vibrates on my watch, I'm already thinking, okay, I need to get up before this thing sounds because otherwise I'm in trouble. And yeah, that's one of the little tricks. And again, there is tricks for everything and everybody's different. Do whatever works best for you to avoid jumping right into a screen.

But I think it's one of the keys to success is that setting yourself up to win every morning, and then the difference in your day, right? And as you said, it starts with the evening routine the night before. But I even notice if I don't do my morning priming, is what I call it, routine as well, like the difference in the day, and I become much more reactive than I would be otherwise in terms of proactive. And Do you focus a lot on flow state? Is that something with your work? I don't know if that's possible, but do you try to do that as well?

100%. And we talk a lot about it as an athlete, right? I mean, that flow state of mind where everything is flowing, you don't need to think about it. You just let your instinct take place. So in this particular case, I think when you have that optimal morning routine, it's a great way to lock into that flow state of mind because you're just going with the flow. And this is kind of why preparing things ahead of time is so important, because you no longer need to put the energy to think about the things you need to do. It's just kind of flowing. That's why habit building is so important. And then you can stack on those habits to keep on making them easier. But for me, morning routine has become that one of the choices of, of love for me to just get into that flow state of mind and, and carry on with the day.

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And win the day as well. So Alvaro, if someone's listening and they're like, okay, Alvaro seems to have it all and he's got it structured and organized, you know, where do I start? How can I start creating a life? Obviously, your morning routine is maybe more extensive than your average person's, right? So that's maybe not the first thing to start with. But for someone looking to really design the life of their dreams, where would you recommend they start with? What would be that journey?

It's a great question, and I'm not a guy that was the girl in this routine or having all these dreams when I was younger. I'm somebody that came also from a humble background, and it's just a matter of never being— I wouldn't use the word satisfied, but to always want to keep on improving and keep on challenging yourself in a way that you're grateful throughout the process. Because I I don't think that anybody that is never satisfied will eventually find ultimate happiness. So it's just a matter of really, wherever you are in life right now, start checking with yourself. Am I happy where I am right now? Where am I really want to go? And there's a gap in between where you want to be and where you are today. And what are the things that you can do backwards, like reverse engineering? Like, what will it take you to get to that point and break it backwards? And then in order for you to be reaching out those small goals and build momentum, you need to change certain habits. I'm a big fan of habit building. So right now it's identifying on a list what are the things that you're currently doing throughout your day. Document your day, really analyze what is it exactly that you do throughout the entire day from morning to end. And that is going to start showing you certain habits that are not good for you or that are good for you. And slowly start replacing the things that don't help you with things that will help you. So if you're drinking a soda for lunch, change it for water. If you're changing, if you're doing this, like, you know, start replacing things and slowly you'll get better and you'll get more excited as you're accomplishing goals because this is the reality. You're gonna see the progress. And I always said that in order for you to reach your dream life, you need to stay accountable and keep track of the progress because tracking is one of the things that is going to show you if you're either going up or down. So those were just some of the little things that I would recommend anybody. Just have a big vision, dream big. Don't let anybody around you tell you otherwise. Back it up with a strong why. Make sure that you have values attached to the things that you do. And then make sure that you're just doing things on a daily basis that are gonna help you move forward. Mm-hmm.

Beautiful. So Alvaro, I like that you think outside of the box and you do things a bit differently. Can you talk about how, um, you mentioned where you started with real estate, but what are you doing now and how becoming a helicopter pilot was included in this?

Huh. Yeah, I mean, look, I think that when you step out of your comfort zone, there is always new ideas that might flourish. When I was climbing Kilimanjaro, and again, this is something that doesn't need to be Kilimanjaro for anybody. It could be just going out of your comfort zone and going for a long walk. But I remember it was in that moment that I was reaching the top of the mountain, which is the tallest mountain in Africa. And I don't know if it's because I was hypoxic, the lack of oxygen, but I felt that I was on top of the world. And I said, oh my God, like, I'm really leveling up here. And I wanted to do something special. And this is when I started to say to myself, all right, time to write a book, time to get my helicopter license, time to do the things that I've always wanted to do, but I never really put a timeline to it. And it was just one of those moments where I said, that's it. And I started to lock it up. And it's just about following the passions that you have and not just put them on the side until eventually everything will be aligned because there is never a perfect moment. The perfect moment is today, it's now. And this is one of the things that I've learned throughout the process is that why would I wait for something when I can start taking action now? And again, action doesn't mean to complete the goal now. Starting the journey towards completing that goal. And this is one of the, in my opinion, superpowers that I've been able to kind of develop over the years. And every superpower is different for everybody, right? I consider that a superpower for myself, might not be for somebody else, but for me, the fact that now every time I have a big goal, I can start taking action today by breaking it backwards and doing, okay, if I want to get my helicopter license, how many hours do I need to do? How long will that take? How does that look like? All right, break it backwards. So every morning going from 5:00 AM to 7:00 to do this or do that, or, you know, a book. How long will this book take me to write? What's the timeline I'm giving myself towards the end of the year? Okay. So every Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00, I'm going to be writing the book. Every Sunday from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM, I'm going to be writing the book. So you set yourself certain things that you commit yourself to it. And I think that those are just little things that for me, getting a helicopter license or starting to write a book or, you know, it's things that eventually open you up to even more opportunities. So I had a huge social media following. I said, all right, how can I leverage this? Not just to entertain people, but to empower people. And a lot of people seem to think that my life is so amazing and it's all like been great ever since. But I have also a story, right, on where I am now versus where I was before. So I wanted to showcase that through the book, through what I'm doing now with speeches. And I think that eventually everything gets on together because if people looked me up from the outside a long time ago, it's like, man, this guy's all over the place. He's flying a helicopter, then he's skydiving out of a plane or a hot air balloon, then he's doing these crazy races, but then he's also selling real estate, but then also he's coaching and doing this thing. And you know, And I was like, man, this guy's all over. But then eventually you can connect all the dots. And this weekend was a perfect example of it, right? So, we hosted a really powerful wellness weekend retreat at the largest home for sale in Miami. And if you look at it, right, it's about building a community of people that want to improve their health, that want to socialize in a very powerful setting. Like, it's not just going to a restaurant or a bar and drinking and that's what Miami, a lot of people think is all about. But there is also another way of doing it, which we are creating it, right? And this is why we started this community, Level Up Community. We wanted people to learn that you can also network with incredible people while also optimizing your health, biohacking yourself, doing amazing experiences, creating content to pick your, you know, to grow your following and your community and all that while also doing it at a property that is for sale. So that's the real estate component, celebrity in a home, right? Then we're also doing it, um, flew the helicopter straight to the house, which was very cool because that's one of the things that I've never done before, to land the helicopter on a house. So that was unique. But that's also one thing I'm passionate about. And then I had the book there and talking about Level Up. And, you know, it's all the sudden, like, you're connecting all the dots. And this is one of the things that you need to bet on, bet on your passions, bet on yourself. And eventually you're gonna find the machine that will make you live this lifestyle by doing all the things that you're passionate about. And the truth is that that will make you an outlier. This is one of the beautiful stories that I love to talk about, that there might be a lot of people that sell real estate, there might be a lot of helicopter pilots, there might be a lot of skydivers, there might be a lot of bestselling authors, there might be a lot of speakers, there might be a lot of ultra-endurance athletes, But is there a person that does it all? Yeah, it's called Alvaro Núñez, right? And that's one of the things that I encourage everybody not to do all these crazy things. And yes, by definition, you're an outlier, but focus on what you're passionate about, whether it's going on a boat and then going fishing and then at the same time flying this or selling furniture. It doesn't matter. Find the things that you're passionate about and start combining them. And that's what's going to help you live a well-optimized and fulfilling life.

Beautiful. So some people listening might be like, I'd love to, and I have these ideas, but I can't do it, or not me. So what do you say to those people who have very strong self-doubt? What would you advise?

Change your surrounding, change your circle. I always like to look it up like as an onion, right? But backwards. So start within yourself. Like, what are the thoughts? What are you consuming? Are you consuming garbage? Get that out.

Yeah.

Whether it's for your mind, for your body, for your soul, whatever it is, focus first on yourself. So that's why I always do an analysis of what am I watching? What am I listening to? What am I eating? What am I smelling? What am I, you know, all the senses. And I want to make sure that everything that I put into my system It's positive, it's strong, it's powerful, it's touching me. So I don't want to be having a conversation with somebody that is complaining or watching the news with this. I don't do that stuff, right? So start with yourself, then your environment at home. That's your temple. Like, after your body is your house. What do you have in your house? Do you have alcohol hanging out in there? Do you have bad foods? Do you have things that distract you? You have the TV on all the time. Like you have clean your environment at home, right? Make it powerful so that it's supporting wherever you want to go in life. And then after, go outside of your house. What's your community looking like? What's your neighborhood looking like? Are you surrounded or being close to the things that you want to see? I live in front, like if I walk into my balcony, I see Star Island right in front of me. I see the most powerful people with the most powerful properties and lifestyle. Right in front of my eye. So I find that super inspiring and I go and walk around that neighborhood all the time because it kind of gives me the strength to see that I'm going towards that vision. Again, that's just my vision. It's different from somebody else. But if you want to be healthy and you are in the middle of a street full of clubs where everybody's drinking there, then that's not the right environment. So I always recommend to start within yourself, your house, your neighborhood, and then keep on expanding.. And that will be the first step, the first step to start changing the narrative of I can't, I can't, I can't. Because once you start really taking care of that, then you're gonna start feeling like, oh my God, I can, I actually can. So one big change that was for me was like all of a sudden start surrounding myself with people that are like overachievers that are doing incredible things in life. And it all, it didn't start by me meeting somebody in person. It was by first seeing it on social media. Listening to podcasts, listening to books. I didn't know anybody that was successful really. And slowly you start meeting one person and then another and then another, but start off by consuming that first. And then eventually you'll meet somebody. I started to find ways on how I could provide value to these people. And when you go always with that mentality of how can I add value, how can I give, then eventually things will come your way.

I love it. There's an expression my mother used to also tell me, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. So choose wisely. Very true. And I think that it reflects that too. And I think it's so important to really assess, you know, the people in your surroundings, how they impact you. And if there is that negativity or somebody complaining, you almost need to kind of break up with some relationships. And it might be friendships as well, which isn't easy as well. But I think that that mindset piece is so key because, as you said, it's like the core of the onion, right? In order to create the life that you want. So if that's being infiltrated it's not a good place to be. Totally. I'd love to ask you some rapid-fire questions. Are you up for them?

Let's go.

Let's go. Do you have a favorite quote or piece of advice that's been a real game changer for you?

Yeah, actually, look, it's funny that you asked me that because when I started the book, right, Level Up, I have a quote. And that's how I started the book. And I don't need to read it, but it makes me just happy to read it. The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams by Oprah Winfrey. And that is a quote that I like to live by. And I will encourage everybody to reflect on this, the ultimate adventure.

Exactly. And as you said at the beginning, that whatever you fear most is where you need to go through, right? The gold is at the other side. So I love that. Who would you say is the most successful person of all time, potentially, and why?

Well, that's a great question. The most successful person of all time, I think, is yourself. And I could tell you a lot of names, right? Like, I have a lot of people that I admire that I even have a relationship vision board. The same way that you have a vision board for your future, I have a relationship vision board with the people that I admire in each area of my life. I could tell you, you know, Elon Musk or Richard Branson, or, you know, then I can go a little bit more philosophical with people that have actually had a huge impact in the world. But I will say that if you want to really find that ultimate supercharge within somebody, it needs to be yourself. So I think that I will say yourself, yourself, you're the most successful person. You're the— because you have everything within you to make anything you want. Everything else is outside of your control, but you, you are the ultimate machine to make success happen.

I love that. Yeah, we underestimate ourselves. What are some of the things you've gotten good at saying no to, Álvaro? Maybe it's obviously the bed, the phone beside the bed is outside now, right? But what are the things that you've gotten better at saying no to, be it invitations, distractions, etc.? And what approaches helped in realizing what was needed?

Well, as a very social person, that I'm always in events and so on, I learned how to say no to alcohol. I don't drink anymore. And it's not that I was a big drinker or anything, but, you know, one drink or two drinks here and there, it kind of slows you down from doing what you want. And we are, as humans, social pleasers. We always like to say yes just to please everybody around us but ourselves, because we know that it's not going to help us. So I learned how to say no to alcohol. I learned how to say no to staying late. And I think those are just one of the most powerful things that had a huge impact in the way that I'm doing things in life.

Yeah, really important too. I rarely, really drink now these days too. It's such a game changer because it affects the next day. So that's a good idea for those listening as well. Highly recommend. What has been the most exciting purchase you've made in the last 6 months?

In the last 6 months.

We love specifics. So maybe a brand or model. What has excited you most?

Well, I will say a trip for my family. That was something that I always wanted to take my family on a trip and that was something that took place. So, that's something that was very powerful. It doesn't need to be material. I've always been the type of guy that even in the last 6 months, I can tell you a book or a webinar or a networking event. I've always been a big fan of investing in myself. And when people say like, oh, where are you like, what are your major purchases in life? You know, like, oh, I have a beautiful car that I love, but doesn't really matter. Like, I just see more value on investing in myself. And this time of the year, a lot of people are always like, oh, it's almost getting towards half of the year. Like, what do I do? Like, where do I invest? A lot of people even come to me like, where should I invest or put my money on? I always say, put it on yourself. Put it on yourself. Yeah.

Warren Buffett said the best investment you can make is in yourself. And Warren Buffett definitely knows a thing or two, right?

Yeah, exactly. He's done a little bit well.

Yeah, exactly. What book have you most gifted, Alvaro? I assume Level Up. Yeah.

Is there another one? I'm giving this book to everybody.

No, but everyone listening, please do check it out. It's a beautifully written, very personal, really exciting book. So highly recommend Level Up. Is there another one or is that the only one you've ever gifted?

No, I've been giving a lot of books. And in fact, it's one of the things that every time I go to a house, well, now I'm giving mine more than anything else, but it's always been a habit of mine. Every time I go to a house, I give a little book with a note and a candle or something that relates to that person, right? So it's just, uh, it's better to, to give knowledge than just a material thing. But a book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, that was a book that had an impact on me. And then I like The Compound Effect. That was a, that was a good book because we sometimes overestimate the little things that we can do consistently. And the same way that when you invest Over time it starts creating that compound. It applies to anything. So you start eating healthier, you start exercising a little bit, you start doing the phone calls, or you start doing the things on a daily basis and you'll be surprised how far you can take it. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Love that. What if you could get a message out to a billion people, let's say on a billboard or a skyrise in Miami South Beach, uh, skyline, what would it say and why?

Who can you serve today? And why? Because I believe that if we all go with that mindset on who we can help today, we will all make a better world.

Beautiful. Yeah. Because when we start thinking outside of ourselves, I think also depression, because a lot of focusing inward and in the past. And I think it's Tony Robbins that says that the opposite of Being depressed is being grateful. Yeah. So it's finding those gratitude pieces, right?

Yeah.

And what excites you most, Alvaro, about the future of health and longevity and living well and having high energy?

Wow. There's so many things coming up in this space. It's just fascinating to see all the new technology, the new studies, the new practices that we can all bring on to our lives. That it's just very interesting to see how far we can take it. You know, because if this is happening now, and as we talked about the compound effect, could you imagine where we're going to be in 10, 20 years? So for somebody that is implementing things already from the very beginning and being very tuned in into what the whole industry is about, then I find that super exciting, but also apply to something because This happened in the conference when we were there all together in Palm Beach. A lot of people want to live past 100 years. That was the first question I asked. Who wants to live past 100 years? Everybody. Why? Why do you want to live past 100 years? If you don't have a purpose of what you're doing things in life, then what's the matter? I'd rather live a very well-fulfilled life and reach 80 years old than to live 100 doing nothing. But now, You don't have to choose. You can do both. And this is what I'm excited about. I want to keep on doing all these crazy challenges, jumping out of planes when I'm like 85 years old. I want to be doing 100-mile races when I'm in my 90s. Like, I want to do things that seem impossible and I want to do them because I love doing them, because inspire people, because it's something that I think that now with what we have, it's possible.

I love it.

And I think that's a really important point as well. Um, in a conference previously in Miami, I was speaking and I talked about the triad to longevity. It's about optimizing the body, yes, the mind, but also the spirit and healing, right, from any trauma. So you can find a purpose that's bigger than yourself. So you're doing something for the human collective as well. And then you have the why to want to live to 100+, etc., as well. And I also have as a goal to be 100 and dance on tables still. My 7-year-old, when she was 3, asked me to go to her— with her to outer space when she's grown up. So that's also on the list of things to do. So I think why not, right? Set the big goals and the big dreams. And speaking of which, Alvaro, what are your big projects and exciting things coming up over the next while? What are you planning?

I have a lot in all the different areas of life, right? For career-wise, working on a TV show, real estate, big projects, fun events, and on a personal level, so with the speeches, I'm organizing more of a tour where I'll be giving some keynote speech about Level Up. But then on a physical level, I love the upcoming races that I have. I have one called RAM Race Across America, and it's going to be supporting a big friend of mine, Colin O'Brady, who is also a very interesting guy that you definitely should interview, who has broken lots of different world records. So it's basically biking from the west to the east of the US, and it's for the world record to do it under 6 days. So over 3,000 miles. And then the other race that I'm going to have later this year in November is called the Great Wall Race, which is 7 marathons in 7 continents in 7 days.

So excited about that one. Say that again. 7 continents, 7 days, and 7 marathons. And 7 marathons. Okay. You have to dig into that for a moment, Alvaro. How is that going to work?

Well, we start in Antarctica. We do the first marathon there, then jump on the plane, get into Africa, do another marathon, jump on the plane. Go to Australia, do a marathon, then go to Asia, same thing, Europe, South America, and we finish in North America. And our full place is Miami, my hometown. So we're gonna have a, a big, big celebration at the end.

That is super exciting.

And well, even this, the logistics and planning something like that, and it's a lot of planning, but you know, like everything in life, I think that also for this particular race, I have a big purpose, which I'll be announcing more about it But it's one of those things that when you have a strong why, you'll find the how.

Well, it sounds super exciting. So look forward to following you on social media with that too. Alvaro, for my listeners interested in understanding about more about leveling up and just being the best version of themselves, obviously to check out your book Level Up, but are there other resources that you would recommend they start with? Books or online resources?

To be honest, I think that first of all, being curious. We always try to look for so much information and knowledge outside, like, okay, well, what can I read? What can I listen to? Where can I go? Start with yourself. Like, we have so much knowledge and so much power within ourselves. Even if you don't think so, you do. You just need to stay still and ask yourself some questions. A lot of people don't like to do that. They like things thrown at them already with the answers for everything. You got to do the work and go deep with what you already got. So ask yourself questions first. Like, ask yourself, go deep into the questions. You said something about how important it is to ask questions. And those questions is not just for the people that are around you, but also the questions for yourself internally. So I will start there first.

Beautiful. Where can people follow you on social media, website? Where would you like point people to who are curious to keep up and we can link them in the show notes.

You can check everything that is going on, on my life on Instagram. You can connect there with me as well. So Alvaro Nunez, you have my website as well, alvaronunez.com, where you'll see a little bit more of the other things that I'm doing, whether it's for the real estate, the speaking engagements, the book and so on. Um, yeah, of course, Level Up is on Amazon available. Level Up, Alvaro Nunez, you'll find it there. And anything else in between. So I'm here available for anything you guys want. So I appreciate you again for the opportunity to be here today.

No, thank you for being here, Alvaro. It's such a pleasure. And do you have any final ask recommendation or any parting thoughts or message for my audience today?

Like we said at the beginning, level up, level up the mindset, level up your lifestyle. It's never about reaching one thing and staying there. It's about the constant, never-ending improvement. Because a lot of people, they go towards one goal. Once they've achieved it, they go back to its original way of doing things. No, use that as an opportunity to level up, to build momentum. And no matter how many times you fail, just keep getting up and keep on pushing forward and enjoy the journey. Because this is one of the things that You never know who you might be inspiring because there's a lot of people watching and this is how we change the world by being better with ourselves first.

Beautiful. Alvaro, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your wisdom. It's been such a pleasure and thank you everyone for listening as well.

Thank you.