DO THIS Everyday To Instantly Improve Memory & LEARN 10x FASTER | Jim Kwik

1. 0:00 – 5:03

   Learning How to Learn: The Genie Wish and Experiential Learning

   1. JKJim Kwik0:00

      There are three questions when I said there's turning knowledge into power that I want everyone to obsess about. I mean, this will make you a master. [upbeat music]

   2. LHLewis Howes0:14

      Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness Podcast. We've got the inspirational Jim Kwik in the house. My man, good to see you.

   3. JKJim Kwik0:21

      Good to be here.

   4. LHLewis Howes0:21

      Very excited. We had you on five years ago, we found out it was, when we did a video interview, one of my first video interviews back at your other place in Hollywood Hills with all the Marvel comic stuff and Hulk and-

   5. JKJim Kwik0:35

      Uh-huh. Yeah, I remember

   6. LHLewis Howes0:35

      ... all these big, uh, action figures you have. And you have been impacting so many people's lives over years, decades. You've been working with massive celebrities, massive CEOs, helping them become limitless in their mind, helping them really capitalize on the tool, the technology that we all have, which is our brain, to remembering things more, learning things faster, accelerating all these things in our lives so that we can maximize the impact we have in our businesses, our careers, our relationships, everything. And I'm so excited you're here. I've been telling you to do a book-

   7. JKJim Kwik1:08

      Yes

   8. LHLewis Howes1:08

      ... for five, six, seven years now. You finally got it out. It's called Limitless. Make sure you check this out. Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your, uh, Exceptional Life. This is going to be amazing. And it's really like three books in one. Um, and there was a model that you give that I think we should start with.

   9. JKJim Kwik1:27

      Yeah.

   10. LHLewis Howes1:27

       There's a method that you give or a model for how to become limitless, and if we don't follow this model, then something's gonna be broken in our life. Isn't that right?

   11. JKJim Kwik1:36

       Yeah. There's this model really is a framework for learning anything faster. So for people who are listening and watching and they wanna learn a language, they wanna learn Mandarin, music, martial arts, management, marketing, math-

   12. LHLewis Howes1:49

       Anything

   13. JKJim Kwik1:49

       ... anything.

   14. LHLewis Howes1:49

       Any skill.

   15. JKJim Kwik1:50

       A- I think if there's one skill to master in the 21st century, it's our ability to learn faster. Like, if there was a genie and a genie could grant you any one wish but only one wish, what would you wish for? If there was only one wish, what would you wish for?

   16. LHLewis Howes2:03

       It, you know, most people would say money or this or that, but you think learning is the, is the key?

   17. JKJim Kwik2:07

       I, I mean, I think a lot of people don't know-

   18. LHLewis Howes2:08

       I think being The Matrix, like downloading The Matrix-

   19. JKJim Kwik2:11

       Yeah

   20. LHLewis Howes2:12

       ... to where I could learn jujitsu in a second.

   21. JKJim Kwik2:15

       Exactly.

   22. LHLewis Howes2:15

       If I could learn a language in a second-

   23. JKJim Kwik2:16

       Yeah, like-

   24. LHLewis Howes2:17

       ... if I could have this skill.

   25. JKJim Kwik2:18

       So I think b- the, the hack a lot of people would do is if it was any one wish, they would wish for more wishes, right?

   26. LHLewis Howes2:23

       Right. Exactly.

   27. JKJim Kwik2:23

       They would ask for infinite wishes. So the equivalent, if I was your learning genie and I could grant you any one wish to learn any subject or any skill, just, like, become a master at it, the equivalent, what's the equivalent of the answer of asking for infinite wishes? It would be learning how to learn.

   28. LHLewis Howes2:39

       Mm.

   29. JKJim Kwik2:39

       Because if you can learn how to learn, the world is yours, especially today, 'cause nobody who's listening and watching gets paid for their brute strength. It's their brain strength. It's not your muscle power. It's completely your mind power. And the challenge is your brain doesn't come with an owner's manual. It's not user-friendly, and that's the reason why I wrote this book. But the Limitless model is an explanatory schema, a framework for learning anything faster, and not only that, but really for accessing our human potential. 'Cause I think if there's one infinite limitless resource on planet Earth, it's human capability.

   30. LHLewis Howes3:13

       Mm.
2. 5:03 – 8:06

   Learning Styles and the Opposite-Hand Exercise

   1. JKJim Kwik5:03

      It's not how smart somebody is, like their IQ or their intelligence. It's how are they smart? And it's always context-dependent. And so some people learn.

   2. LHLewis Howes5:10

      Mm.

   3. JKJim Kwik5:10

      We talk about learning styles in the book. It's like if... Have you ever been interested, just like you were saying, you're interested in a topic, but you're not getting it? S-

   4. LHLewis Howes5:18

      Yeah

   5. JKJim Kwik5:18

      ... 'cause sometimes the way you prefer to learn is different than the way the teacher prefers to teach.

   6. LHLewis Howes5:23

      Mm-hmm.

   7. JKJim Kwik5:23

      And it's like you're two ships in the night and you pass each other, and you don't even realize. There's no connection. You don't even realize the other one is there.

   8. LHLewis Howes5:29

      Mm.

   9. JKJim Kwik5:30

      And it feels uncomfortable. Like, if I asked everybody as an exercise to take out a piece of paper, I encourage everyone to take notes 'cause I'm gonna drop a lot of, like, practical methods. Uh, when you're taking... If you were to write your name, first and last, on a piece of paper... Actually, you could do it right now.

   10. LHLewis Howes5:43

       Sure.

   11. JKJim Kwik5:43

       First and last. And everyone, I encourage you to just, to do this, or imagine you're writing your name, first and last-

   12. LHLewis Howes5:49

       Mm-hmm

   13. JKJim Kwik5:49

       ... on a piece of paper. And then when you're done, I want you to switch hands.

   14. LHLewis Howes5:53

       Oh, man.

   15. JKJim Kwik5:53

       And in your opposite hand-

   16. LHLewis Howes5:54

       That is gonna-

   17. JKJim Kwik5:54

       ... right below it, write your first and last name-

   18. LHLewis Howes5:57

       [laughs]

   19. JKJim Kwik5:57

       ... with your opposite hand.

   20. LHLewis Howes5:58

       I don't even know if I... It'd take me 10 minutes. So bad.

   21. JKJim Kwik6:00

       And so while people are doing it, you'll notice when you're doing with the opposite hand as we're doing it- That's actually pretty good.

   22. LHLewis Howes6:08

       Yeah.

   23. JKJim Kwik6:08

       That if I was to ask you which one is the, which one was easier, first or second, and you would say the first was easier.

   24. LHLewis Howes6:15

       Mm-hmm.

   25. JKJim Kwik6:15

       Which one is, is, uh, more comfortable, first or last?

   26. LHLewis Howes6:19

       The first one.

   27. JKJim Kwik6:20

       The first one. So not only was it faster, it was easier. And then which one was higher quality? Let's check that out.

   28. LHLewis Howes6:25

       This, the, the first one.

   29. JKJim Kwik6:27

       The hopefully the, the-

   30. LHLewis Howes6:27

       The first one for sure
3. 8:06 – 10:50

   Digital Deduction, Mental Fitness and Brain Care

   1. JKJim Kwik8:06

      And when, when I talk about in the book, I talk about the, the, the four super villains that are holding you back in your work, in your schooling, in your life is driven by technology. But one of them is digital deduction, where we're, where we're depending on technology to tell us what to think. We're not even using... The children right now, they're finding that their reasoning abilities, their ability to analyze critical thinking is not as sharp as where it should be-

   2. LHLewis Howes8:30

      Mm

   3. JKJim Kwik8:30

      ... because, because of technology, because technology is doing the thinking for us. And our mind, I'm gonna say this repeatedly, is like a muscle. It's use it or lose it.

   4. LHLewis Howes8:39

      Mm.

   5. JKJim Kwik8:39

      And just like when you go, you have your personal trainer to make your muscles stronger, more energized, more flexible, more pliable, um, you know, more... You want your mental muscles to be stronger-

   6. LHLewis Howes8:51

      Mm

   7. JKJim Kwik8:51

      ... more energized, more pliable, more, more flexible.

   8. LHLewis Howes8:54

      Yeah. Of course.

   9. JKJim Kwik8:54

      And so many people refer to me as a brain coach, 'cause what I do is I, I train your brain because I think we're in the millennium of the mind, and it's really about mental fitness.

   10. LHLewis Howes9:04

       It is.

   11. JKJim Kwik9:04

       Our ability to adapt, our ability to think, our ability to solve problems, and this really is everything. When people see me wearing brain shirts all the time or pointing to my brain, the reason why I do that is because what you see, you take care of. You see your hair, you take care of your hair. You see your skin, you take care of your skin. You see your clothing, you take care of your clothing.

   12. LHLewis Howes9:22

       You don't see your brain.

   13. JKJim Kwik9:23

       Exactly. And that controls everything. And so when I point to the brain or h- honor it with the shirts, just like people have their emotions on their sleeve, you know, I have my brain on my chest-

   14. LHLewis Howes9:33

       Right

   15. JKJim Kwik9:33

       ... because I wanna put it forefront to remind people to love their brain.

   16. LHLewis Howes9:36

       Mm.

   17. JKJim Kwik9:36

       To care for their brain.

   18. LHLewis Howes9:38

       Yeah. I think it's... I mean, that's why a lot of people, uh, doctors and nutritionists are talking about gut health. It's like we can't see it-

   19. JKJim Kwik9:43

       Yeah

   20. LHLewis Howes9:43

       ... but we can start to feel rashes or we can start to feel the effects of it. I think it's also heart health is a big thing right now. It's just, it's like the emotional health-

   21. JKJim Kwik9:52

       Mm-hmm

   22. LHLewis Howes9:52

       ... self-care, self-love, you know, mental health and, and emotional health kind of tied together.

   23. JKJim Kwik9:57

       And, and, and I love your work because you bring that to, to-

   24. LHLewis Howes10:00

       Mm

   25. JKJim Kwik10:00

       ... everybody, to the world, and it's all connected. I talk about in the book, you know, there's this heart intelligence and also your, your gut, as you mentioned, a lot of people call it your second brain.

   26. LHLewis Howes10:09

       Mm.

   27. JKJim Kwik10:09

       It's the second-highest concentration of, of, of nerve cells.

   28. LHLewis Howes10:13

       Really?

   29. JKJim Kwik10:13

       And so, and it, there's, and it's connected, too. And, and sometime, and your, what you eat affects what, how you think.

   30. LHLewis Howes10:19

       Mm.
4. 10:50 – 13:40

   Knowledge Is Not Power: Three Questions to Turn It Into Action

   1. JKJim Kwik10:50

      There are three keys to reaching your goals, and this is my distinction here. Because originally, I remember years ago when you prompted me to write this book.

   2. LHLewis Howes10:58

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JKJim Kwik10:59

      You're like, "Jim, you know, it's been, you know, over two decades."

   4. LHLewis Howes11:01

      You gotta do something.

   5. JKJim Kwik11:02

      "You, you need to put something in this book." And, um, so because, you know, fundamentally I'm a reading teacher.

   6. LHLewis Howes11:07

      Mm-hmm.

   7. JKJim Kwik11:08

      And I, you know, somebody has decades... Why I love reading, if somebody has decades of experience and they put it into a book, like you, and all of a sudden people could read that book in a few days, they could download decades into days.

   8. LHLewis Howes11:18

      Mm-hmm.

   9. JKJim Kwik11:19

      And readers are leaders. We know that. Reading is to your mind what exercise is your body.

   10. LHLewis Howes11:23

       Mm.

   11. JKJim Kwik11:23

       It's the best mental fitness. And so the limitless model as an exercise, what I want everyone to do, so it's not hypothetical, because in part of the book I demystify the three, the seven lies of learning. There are seven lies that hold you back to learning, and one of them is knowledge is power. We hear that all the time. I've even said it also as well. But when we think about it, is it really true? Right? Does knowledge, just knowing something give you power? No. Not unless you act on it.

   12. LHLewis Howes11:51

       Mm-hmm.

   13. JKJim Kwik11:51

       Not unless you apply it.

   14. LHLewis Howes11:52

       Yeah.

   15. JKJim Kwik11:52

       So knowledge times action equals, equals power. And so I would encourage everybody as you're listening to this to take immediate action. And there are three questions I want you to ask as you're listening to this episode to make it very valuable, and I would encourage you to write these down. Three master questions. Um, you know, we were talking about some of the, um, uh... ... famous actors that I work on-

   16. LHLewis Howes12:12

       Mm-hmm

   17. JKJim Kwik12:12

       ... before we started filming. And, uh, we're, you know, Will Smith did the cover endorsement of the book that says, you know, "Jim Kwik," you know, "gets the maximum out of me as a human being." I've learned so much from this, this man, just being around, so many-

   18. LHLewis Howes12:25

       Mm

   19. JKJim Kwik12:25

       ... around, around clients.

   20. LHLewis Howes12:26

       Yeah.

   21. JKJim Kwik12:27

       And before I-

   22. LHLewis Howes12:27

       What have you learned from Will?

   23. JKJim Kwik12:28

       So one, one of the things is this, this idea of... We were in, uh, Toronto, and I help actors speed-read scripts, help them to memorize their lines faster. I mean, you imagine, like, 30 pages of scripts.

   24. LHLewis Howes12:39

       [laughs]

   25. JKJim Kwik12:39

       There's a lot of infor- a lot-

   26. LHLewis Howes12:40

       Can't remember a sentence

   27. JKJim Kwik12:41

       ... 'cause there's a lot, right?

   28. LHLewis Howes12:42

       [laughs]

   29. JKJim Kwik12:42

       And it, the, and some of them have their strategies. And, and, and no matter how great somebody is, you know this because you stu- you make, you know, your life about studying and researching greatness.

   30. LHLewis Howes12:52

       Mm-hmm.
5. 13:40 – 17:40

   Dominant Questions and the Reticular Activating System

   1. JKJim Kwik13:40

      And I want everyone to think about what your dominant questions are-

   2. LHLewis Howes13:43

      Mm-hmm

   3. JKJim Kwik13:43

      ... including you.

   4. LHLewis Howes13:43

      Okay.

   5. JKJim Kwik13:43

      And I'll give you a couple examples to get you started. So for example, I t- uh, one of my friends, we went through this exercise of, of meditating and, and writing, journaling down. We found out her dominant question is, "How do I get people to like me?"

   6. LHLewis Howes13:56

      Mm-hmm.

   7. JKJim Kwik13:56

      "How do I get people to like me?" Now, she asked that q- question all the time, and you don't know anything about her. You don't know her age. You don't know her background. You don't know what she does for a living. You don't know what she looks like. You don't know where she lives. You don't know anything about her, but you know a lot about her.

   8. LHLewis Howes14:10

      Mm.

   9. JKJim Kwik14:10

      If you asked yourself, "How do I get people to like me?" hundreds of times a day, what, what's her personality? What's her personality gonna be like? What's her life gonna be like?

   10. LHLewis Howes14:19

       Um, well, I guess it could be, it could be either side of the spectrum. She could be super outgoing and super adventurous to try to get people to be more attracted to her.

   11. JKJim Kwik14:27

       Yeah.

   12. LHLewis Howes14:27

       Or she could be super shy and introverted because she's so worried about what people think about her.

   13. JKJim Kwik14:33

       Yeah.

   14. LHLewis Howes14:33

       So that's the first thing I thought of.

   15. JKJim Kwik14:34

       Yeah.

   16. LHLewis Howes14:34

       But I'm not sure if that's true.

   17. JKJim Kwik14:36

       And it's absolutely true. She actually does both of those things.

   18. LHLewis Howes14:38

       Really?

   19. JKJim Kwik14:39

       I mean, if you ask yourself, "How do I get people to like me?" then what are you doing? You're people-pleasing all the time.

   20. LHLewis Howes14:44

       Yeah, of course.

   21. JKJim Kwik14:44

       You're, you're a sycophant.

   22. LHLewis Howes14:45

       Mm-hmm.

   23. JKJim Kwik14:46

       Um, just, uh, you know-

   24. LHLewis Howes14:47

       Saying yes to everything or-

   25. JKJim Kwik14:48

       Yeah. You, people take advantage of you because you're martyring yourself because they're-

   26. LHLewis Howes14:51

       Mm

   27. JKJim Kwik14:51

       ... always trying to do, they're making themselves less than or, uh, or their, their personality's never consistent because their personality changes.

   28. LHLewis Howes14:59

       The chameleon. The, they change-

   29. JKJim Kwik15:00

       Exact-

   30. LHLewis Howes15:00

       ... for people
6. 17:40 – 34:46

   The Broken Brain Story and Jim's Personal Questions

   1. JKJim Kwik17:40

      So for learning, because I grew up with the broken brain-

   2. LHLewis Howes17:43

      Mm-hmm

   3. JKJim Kwik17:43

      ... many people know my, my story from the last episode, when they see me do these demonstrations at summit series or it's, uh, you know, events you and I have s-

   4. LHLewis Howes17:51

      Remembering a hun- thousand per- people's names-

   5. JKJim Kwik17:53

      Right, all-

   6. LHLewis Howes17:53

      ... in 10 minutes and those kinds of stuff, yeah

   7. JKJim Kwik17:55

      ... all of that kinda stuff. I say that I don't do this to impress you. I do this to express to you what's possible because the truth is we could all do that and a whole lot more.

   8. LHLewis Howes18:01

      Yeah.

   9. JKJim Kwik18:01

      We just weren't taught.

   10. LHLewis Howes18:02

       Yeah.

   11. JKJim Kwik18:02

       If anything, we're taught a lie that somehow our intelligence is fixed, like our shoe size. But I do it as a demonstration because I grew up with learning difficulties, right?

   12. LHLewis Howes18:11

       Mm-hmm.

   13. JKJim Kwik18:11

       I had my brain injury when I was five. I fell, had a very bad fall when I was in kindergarten. Um, rushed to the hospital.

   14. LHLewis Howes18:18

       Wow.

   15. JKJim Kwik18:18

       Before I was curious and very energized, my parents would say, but then I became very shut down. And my superpower growing up was being invisible. It was shrinking 'cause I didn't want the spotlight.

   16. LHLewis Howes18:28

       Wow.

   17. JKJim Kwik18:28

       I didn't wanna be called on, so I was, literally, physiologically, I was always trying to look smaller to protect myself so teachers wouldn't call on me or-

   18. LHLewis Howes18:36

       Wow

   19. JKJim Kwik18:36

       ... I wouldn't be bullied or something like that. And-

   20. LHLewis Howes18:39

       I would do that as well, except for I was just a giant in the class.

   21. JKJim Kwik18:41

       Right, right.

   22. LHLewis Howes18:41

       So I knew how to do, I, I was always picked on [laughs]

   23. JKJim Kwik18:43

       So for me, I would actually be sitting behind you-

   24. LHLewis Howes18:46

       Right. [laughs]

   25. JKJim Kwik18:46

       ... and I would l- that would, that would be guaranteed no one would b- be able to see me.

   26. LHLewis Howes18:49

       Exactly.

   27. JKJim Kwik18:50

       But going back to my, my question, my question became all the time, first of all, when I was nine years old, I was slowing the class down, and a teacher pointed to me and said, "That's the boy with the broken brain."

   28. LHLewis Howes19:00

       Mm.

   29. JKJim Kwik19:01

       And that label became my limit. And so we have, w- think about when you're listening to this, what are the labels that we put on ourselves? It's like we're not born, we're born with a blank slate, right? But through experience, through expectations of other people, um, through our environment, we learned that we are limited. Yeah. And the good news is we can unlearn it. Yeah. And that's, that's, that's the point of the book. But because I was i- the broken state, I would always ask myself, you know, you know, "Why am I, why, why am I broken? Why am I the stupid one?" And I started getting answers of why I'm so stupid, right? And I would, every time I did badly on a test, I would be like, "Oh, 'cause I have the broken brain," right? If I wasn't picking in sports, I would be like, "Oh, 'cause I'm the broken one." And that became my self-talk. Adults have to be very careful with their external words because they become a child's internal words. Mm. But later, I started to get so frustrated bec- I started asking, getting curious, and when you're curious, you start to ask different questions. I was like, "Why, why is that person so, why, why are they, are they so smart? And how come I'm studying three times harder and getting- Mm ... less grades than, than them," right? Right. And I started getting answers. My primary question started, my dominant question ended up being like, "How do I make this better?" But the three questions that I focus on, a- and, uh, let me tell you first what Will's is. Will Smith's, one of his dominant questions when we went through this exercise, is, "How do I make this moment even more magical?" Mm. How do I make this moment even more magical? It used to be how do I make- In every moment or like in acting alone? This moment. This mo- Any, any moment ... no, any mo- any moment. Wow. Like, and, and it shows up, right, in his, in his life because later that night when we're filming, it was like 2:00 in the morning, and his family, we, we're all outside for the superhero movie that many people know of. And it was, it was really cold, 'cause it was in Toronto, and it was, it was wintertime, and we're all just waiting, and just waiting and waiting and waiting. 'Cause people think that, and you meet all these people all the time on your show- Mm-hmm ... and, w- and you, they think it's so glamorous. No. They're just- Hurry up and wait ... exactly. Yeah. And I, and I ask him this question, 'cause I believe genius leaves clues. I was like, "You know, how do you, how do you prepare? How do you get ready when the director, you're just sitting here for hours and then the director calls on you? How do you get ready?" And he was like, "Jim, I don't have to get ready. I stay ready." [laughs] That's a good line. And I'm like, "Wow, that's-" [laughs] "... it's good to be Will Smith." It's hard to stay ready for six hours of waiting, though. Yeah, exactly, but that's just who he is. Yeah. Because I believe the life you live are the lessons you teach. Mm. The life you live- Yeah ... are the lessons you teach others. Yeah. But going back to his dominant question, his family was there also at the same time visiting the set, and, um, you know, from West Philly, you know, you know, you know the song. Yes. And we're all outside and shivering, and when he wasn't shooting, he would, he would bring us blankets. He would make hot chocolate and bring it to us. He would crack jokes. He would live that c- that dominant question, because the life he lives, he, like, "How do I make this moment even more magical?" Now do you, uh, before it was like, "How do I make this moment magical?" Then we, we played with it, like, even more magical. Mm. Presuming it is already magical- Nice ... and amazing. And so these questions we ask are very important. Now, there are three questions when I said there's turning knowledge into power that I want everyone to obsess about. I mean, this will make you a master. Okay. And if you get a, this is it, three questions to turn knowledge into power, because knowledge alone is potential power. Number one, how can I use this? When you're listening to this podcast moving forward, uh, every time you listen to it, I want you to ask yourself, "How can I use this?" Get obsessed about this. Mm-hmm. Like, even write it down. And this is where your mind can be very creative, 'cause I, in here I teach a power of, uh, note-taking. Because people don't realize this. When you listen to a podcast or you go to, you know, a summit or an event or have a great conversation with somebody, within two days, 80% of it is gone. Mm. We forget it. They call it the forgetting curve. And one of the ways to retain it is to, by taking notes, exactly what you're doing. Yeah. Now, I encourage people to take notes a very specific way, is to take, put a line right down the page. Okay. And on the left side of the page, I want you to take notes, and on the right side I want you to make notes. So on the left side of the page, you're taking notes. You're, you're capturing- So it'll be a list, the- Right, you're capturing information ... quotes, the, yeah. You're like, "This is how Jim remembers names. This is how Jim reads a, you know, a book a day," or whatever it is. So you're, on the left side, you're capturing, but on the right side, you're creating. Now, that's a subtle difference. On the left side, you're note-taking. On the right side, you're note-making. Mm. What's the difference? Again, on the left side, you're taking notes. You're writing down the quotes and the strategies, the processes. But on your right side, what you're doing on the right side, creativity, instead of your mind being distracted when you're listening, have it be distracted on, focused on, "How can I use this?" The, on the right side is where you're writing your impressions of what you're learning. "How can I use this?" Mm-hmm. Another great question, second dominant question I would ask, is not only how can I use it, 'cause you come up with all these answers, just like I see, you start seeing pug dogs everywhere. It's like, "Oh, this is how I could use this in my relationship. This is how I could use it, you know, in my career." Second question I would ask is why must I use this? Why must I use this? You know, we know, um, y- one of the, uh, people that endorsed my book, he's on your show, is Simon Sinek. Mm. Very good. And, you know, s- one of my favorite books, I'm gonna mention a lot of books, including your own, Start With, you know, his is Start With Why. Yeah. Right? And so why must I use this? So once you have all these ideas of how can I use this, why must I use this? Because if you don't have the reasons, you won't get the results. Right. We- You won't care enough about it. Exactly. Yeah. Reasons reap results. I'm gonna give a lot of people a lot of quickisms here. Because it goes from your head to your heart to your hands. You could affirm things in your head all day, set goals in your head all day, but if you're not acting with your hands, you're procrastinating, putting things off, check in with your second H, which is your heart, which are, are the emotions, right? Because we are not- Mm ... logical. We are biological. Dopamine- Mm. Oxytocin- Mm-hmm ... serotonin- That's good ... endorphins, these c- this chemical soup drives us to act. Just like people don't buy logically, they don't fall in love logically, they do these things emotionally. So find your emotions. And in this book, we do, we really, uh- Uncover and I decode motivation

   30. LHLewis Howes25:04

       Mm.
7. 34:46 – 38:50

   Family, Values and Lessons from Parents

   1. LHLewis Howes34:46

      What's the greatest lessons you've learned from your parents and family?

   2. JKJim Kwik34:51

      So, uh, the dominant question my da- you know, when we're talking about making family important and valuing it, um, they're, they, they weren't extraordinary. They don't, they don't have the most money or the mo- greatest health. They're not spiritual or anything. But they're just hardworking people who are kind.

   3. LHLewis Howes35:06

      Mm-hmm.

   4. JKJim Kwik35:06

      And so I would say hard work from my dad. Like, I, we would, by the time I was nine, I was pushing a lawnmower and shoveling and doing that in my neighborhood to earn extra money. But every time I would... I don't know, talking about this. Like, I, I, there was, like, I, I was, like, I was trying to do all this 'cause I have, like, these allergies. I was like, it's really hard in the summer to mow lawns and stuff. [laughs]

   5. LHLewis Howes35:27

      And where was this, what city?

   6. JKJim Kwik35:28

      When the- So I grew up outside New York City-

   7. LHLewis Howes35:30

      Yeah

   8. JKJim Kwik35:30

      ... in Westchester, New York-

   9. LHLewis Howes35:31

      Okay

   10. JKJim Kwik35:31

       ... which is the home of the X-Men, which is the story-

   11. LHLewis Howes35:33

       Sure

   12. JKJim Kwik35:33

       ... of how I ended up working with the cast of the X-Men, 'cause the school was there.

   13. LHLewis Howes35:38

       Yeah.

   14. JKJim Kwik35:38

       And at nine years old, I used to, when I read in the comic books, I taught myself how to read by reading comic books. The stories brought a hope in my life.

   15. LHLewis Howes35:45

       Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

   16. JKJim Kwik35:45

       'Cause I would escape in my imagination because my reality wasn't, wasn't very comfortable.

   17. LHLewis Howes35:49

       Right.

   18. JKJim Kwik35:50

       But I would ride my bicycle. I found out this school for the X-Men, 'cause they're not the strongest, they just didn't fit in. And I felt like I didn't fit in in school. And so I used to ride my bicycle around my neighborhood because that's where, in the comic books, where this Professor X's school was.

   19. LHLewis Howes36:04

       Mm-hmm.

   20. JKJim Kwik36:04

       So I used to look for it on the weekends-

   21. LHLewis Howes36:05

       Really? That's cool

   22. JKJim Kwik36:05

       ... 'cause I wanted to find my superpowers. I wanted to find my super friends, where I fit in somewhere.

   23. LHLewis Howes36:10

       So the city that, uh, the school, what's it called? The school for X-Men?

   24. JKJim Kwik36:15

       Yeah, it's, it's-

   25. LHLewis Howes36:15

       What's it called?

   26. JKJim Kwik36:15

       ... the School of the Gifted.

   27. LHLewis Howes36:16

       School of the Gifted?

   28. JKJim Kwik36:17

       It's the X-Men school.

   29. LHLewis Howes36:18

       Was it actually in the city you grew up in?

   30. JKJim Kwik36:19

       It's in my neighborhood.
8. 38:50 – 41:33

   Passion, Purpose, Choice and Protecting Your Time

   1. JKJim Kwik38:50

      So for me, I'm introverted.

   2. LHLewis Howes38:50

      My girlfriend's the opposite.

   3. JKJim Kwik38:51

      Really?

   4. LHLewis Howes38:51

      She wants to be at home all day. She doesn't wanna see anybody. She just wants to focus on with her family only.

   5. JKJim Kwik38:57

      Yes.

   6. LHLewis Howes38:58

      Work out, eat clean, like, learn her stuff.

   7. JKJim Kwik39:00

      And that, and that's me because that's where I recharge, but I do, my, my passion is learning, right? I lo- I love learning now because it wasn't when I was growing up.

   8. LHLewis Howes39:09

      Mm.

   9. JKJim Kwik39:09

      I love to learn, but my purpose... You know, so learn, again, your passion is what lights you up.

   10. LHLewis Howes39:14

       Mm-hmm.

   11. JKJim Kwik39:14

       Learning lights me up, and your purpose is how you light other people up.

   12. LHLewis Howes39:17

       Mm.

   13. JKJim Kwik39:17

       My passion is teaching other people how to learn.

   14. LHLewis Howes39:19

       Mm-hmm.

   15. JKJim Kwik39:20

       And that, that's really my mission 'cause I grew up with a broken brain, is I wanna build better, brighter brains, and everybody has this genius inside of them regardless of their age, their background-

   16. LHLewis Howes39:28

       Yeah

   17. JKJim Kwik39:28

       ... their career, gender. None of that matters. What matters is choice. I start the book with this quote from this French philosopher saying that, "Life," you'll love this, "Life is the C between the B and the D." Life is the C between the B and the D, and people listening thinking this guy speaks in tongues-

   18. LHLewis Howes39:48

       [laughs]

   19. JKJim Kwik39:48

       ... 'cause he's like, oh.

   20. LHLewis Howes39:49

       Okay.

   21. JKJim Kwik39:50

       I'll give you a hint. B-

   22. LHLewis Howes39:51

       What's the B and D?

   23. JKJim Kwik39:52

       B is birth.

   24. LHLewis Howes39:53

       Oh, and D is death.

   25. JKJim Kwik39:54

       Death. So what's life? It's the C, choice.

   26. LHLewis Howes39:57

       Oh, wow.

   27. JKJim Kwik39:59

       Like, let that sink in.

   28. LHLewis Howes40:00

       Let's get it.

   29. JKJim Kwik40:00

       Life is the C between the B and the D, and C is choice. Life is all about choices because we are-

   30. LHLewis Howes40:06

       Mm
9. 41:33 – 50:36

   Regrets, Fear of Judgment and Trying Things Three Times

   1. JKJim Kwik41:33

      Even coming back to the second gift I got from lack of sleep, the second gift, besides doubling down on all my skills, was protecting my time, okay? So here, here's something. When you have a-

   2. LHLewis Howes41:43

      Mm

   3. JKJim Kwik41:43

      ... finite amount of energy and you only slept two hours or three hours or four hours last night, you don't overcommit. And I find one of the things that drains energy from people, that makes them stressed out of their mind, is they are saying yes to way too many things.

   4. LHLewis Howes41:58

      Yeah, yeah.

   5. JKJim Kwik41:58

      And when you lack sleep every single day and you're exhausted, you only do the things that you're supposed to do.

   6. LHLewis Howes42:04

      Mm-hmm.

   7. JKJim Kwik42:04

      Meaning that you don't have the luxury of saying... Like right now, there's nowhere else I'd rather be, no one else I'd rather be with than right here with you.

   8. LHLewis Howes42:12

      Mm-hmm.

   9. JKJim Kwik42:12

      And there's a power in that. So whether I got three hours of sleep last night, or got off a plane last night, or I'm still doing this with focus, with energy, it's because I made the decision to do this-

   10. LHLewis Howes42:22

       Mm-hmm

   11. JKJim Kwik42:22

       ... and everything, as you've heard, everything is like heaven yes or heaven no, right? Like, if you don't-

   12. LHLewis Howes42:27

       Yeah, right

   13. JKJim Kwik42:27

       ... feel completely, like, yes-

   14. LHLewis Howes42:29

       Like yes or heck no, yeah

   15. JKJim Kwik42:29

       ... yeah, then you say no. And here's the thing. A lot of people feel they're burnt out because they're doing too much. I don't think you're burnt out because most people are burnt out because you're doing too much. I think you're doing too little of the things that make you feel alive.

   16. LHLewis Howes42:42

       Mm.

   17. JKJim Kwik42:42

       You're doing too little of the things that really matter in your life.

   18. LHLewis Howes42:45

       And saying, you're saying yes to things that don't matter.

   19. JKJim Kwik42:47

       Exactly. So the second gift I got out of years of not sleeping was-

   20. LHLewis Howes42:51

       You just, you said no to everything.

   21. JKJim Kwik42:52

       Y- exactly. And I only do the things that are important because one of the lessons I got from spending time with elderly, 'cause I lost my grandmother and I spent a lot of time in senior centers and nursing homes and training them and, and helping with them, the gift I got back, I always get a gift back from working with anybody, is I heard stories-

   22. LHLewis Howes43:09

       Mm

   23. JKJim Kwik43:09

       ... and so much wisdom of generations that have gone through, you know, like real hardship, right? I mean, our lives compared to theirs is- You know, now is it's, it, there's no comparison Yeah. But one of the things I do hear, 'cause I do believe genius leaves clues, and when s- when I, somebody asks me, "What's the definit- definition of genius?" I don't think it's IQ. It's not this number that you test at eight years old and then that's your number when you're 88 years old. You know, I, I demystify, you know, IQ and everything else in this book, that everybody can learn to be better in all these areas interpersonally- Mm-hmm ... you know, in with their focus, with their memory, everything. One of the things that I, that I've learned is that, um, with working with these seniors is that, you know, there's a lot of, of regret at that place. Mm-hmm. When you're at, when you're taking your final breaths, you know, my definition of genius is pattern recognition. That you can see patterns. Like, you know- Mm-hmm ... someone who's, you know, a genius at greatness, you see patterns in what- Yeah ... you know, everybody who sits across from you. You see, like, they're doing certain similar things. Right. Certain habits, certain mindsets, certain, certain drives, certain they're eating a certain way. There's a commonality with that. Mm-hmm. And so I believe genius leaves clues and genius is, is c- could be built, not born. Mm-hmm. And that's a big part of- Yeah ... part of my training. But the other thing I learned from these, these seniors is these regrets, they come out, and the biggest regret always is that somehow they lessened or limited their life because of other people's expectations. Because, uh, they were fearful of other people's opinions about them. They didn't date that person or marry that person because of what society would think, or they started a career because their parents wanted them- Right ... and expected them to do that. And, and I'm here to remind everyone, it's not a, a pleasant conversation, but you know, when we're thinking about our mortality, and you know, one of the things that was the impetus for this book was, you know, I was, uh, I had an, like a, a near-death experience, like in a, a car accident, and it made me think about legacy- Mm-hmm ... and ask a new question. Like, I was like, "Wow, I'm gonna, I wanna get this book out," because shame on me if somebody's struggling and suffering the way I was with distraction, with memory loss, with overload, overwhelm, not feeling good about themselves, and I didn't help them. Mm-hmm. So I feel like what gets me on stage, even if I am an introvert and shy, is that I'm focusing on, on them. Right. Right? And that's my- Service, yeah ... that's my focus. But the regret people have when you're taking your final breaths at, at the end of our life, none of other people's opinions and expectations will matter. Mm-hmm. What will matter... None of our fears will matter. What will matter is how we lived, how we laughed, how we learned- Mm-hmm ... how we loved. Mm-hmm. You know, that, that's really what's gonna matter. And one of my mentors, Dr. Stephen Covey, another great book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People- Mm-hmm ... one of the habits of the most highly effective people is begin with the end in mind. Mm. You know? And then the ultimate end is, like, when we're, you know, when we're passing. Because when you think about being in that box, that coffin, there's no room in there for possessions. And I'm all for people having toys and everything else like that, but there's no, you can't take that with you. And in that coffin, there's no room for regret. Mm. You know, one of the things I learned from Jim Carrey, and I'm dropping a number of names. Sure. And the reason why is because when you see their movies, you see s- you know, Sonic Hedgehog or- Yeah ... or you watch another Will Smith m- it reminds you of the lessons. Mm-hmm. It triggers. That's how human memory works. I was spending the day with him, and he was like, "You know, Jim, I wanna get really smart before filming Dumb and Dumber." I'm like, "That's, that's, that's ironic, but that's really, you know-" Sure. "To play dumb, you have to be really smart to do that, right?" [laughs] And so I spent the day with him at his home, and we take a brain break. This was a long time ago. Yeah, it was. And we were at his home. We were taking a brain break where we make all these brain foods during lunch, and I wanted to know motivation again. I wanted to get into this model about motivation- Mm-hmm ... because I'm always curious what drives people, and I found out. I was like, "Why do you do what you do?" And he's like, "Jim," he's like, "I act like a complete fool on camera, so extreme, because I wanna give people watching permission to be themselves." Mm. He's like, "My religion is to free people from the concern of others." Mm. "Because that's what limits us." And isn't that interesting how adults, what keeps us limited- Mm-hmm ... are sometimes the expectation. It puts us in a box, right? We don't wanna look bad. We don't wanna make a mistake, and yet children are really, they have this limitless mentality, right, where they could do anything. You don't look at a child... You know, for people who have children and they're learning to walk or talk, how many times do they fall? Thousands, hundreds, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And never after the f- 500th time they fall do they say, "Okay, I'm just-" "This is not for me." Yeah, exactly. "I'm not gonna walk. That's done," right? Right. But as adults, they ch- take a Spanish lesson. Fall o- fall once and we stop. Exactly. They take a salsa lesson. Yeah. And they're like, "Okay, this is not for me." Too much embarrassing. And I always encourage people to at least ex- You, I'm telling you, we have one life to be able to figure this out.

   24. LHLewis Howes47:56

       Mm-hmm.

   25. JKJim Kwik47:57

       So you try new things. The brain thrives on novelty, right? To build your brain cells, two things, just like your body, novelty and nutrition, and obviously rest and sleep.

   26. LHLewis Howes48:06

       Yeah, of course.

   27. JKJim Kwik48:06

       Novelty, you give it stimulus, you work it out, and then you give it nutrition to feed that muscle.

   28. LHLewis Howes48:10

       Mm-hmm.

   29. JKJim Kwik48:10

       Same thing with your mental muscles. To create neuroplasticity, right, you, all you need to give is novelty. You learn something new every single day, and then you feed it the right nutrition-

   30. LHLewis Howes48:19

       Vitamin
10. 50:36 – 56:02

    Mastering Skills and the Competence-Confidence Loop

    1. LHLewis Howes50:36

       Yeah. I... This is... I mean, I, I've wanted to stop you non-stop for 20 minutes, but it's all so good. I wanted to go back to, uh, the choices we make.

    2. JKJim Kwik50:44

       Mm-hmm.

    3. LHLewis Howes50:44

       You know, you, we talk about choices. You talk about habits, mindset habits-

    4. JKJim Kwik50:48

       Yeah

    5. LHLewis Howes50:48

       ... physical habits in here with food, the way you think, all these different things. I really believe that habits allow us to make better choices automatically-

    6. JKJim Kwik50:57

       Yes

    7. LHLewis Howes50:57

       ... as opposed to should I make this choice today, yes or no? Should I make that choice? You know, every day we have the opportunity to make different decisions. And habits-

    8. JKJim Kwik51:05

       Yeah

    9. LHLewis Howes51:05

       ... keep us on the right path-

    10. JKJim Kwik51:07

        Uh-huh

    11. LHLewis Howes51:07

        ... to making better decisions and choices every day. The mindset, and you're just... You know, you've got mindset, motivation, and methods-

    12. JKJim Kwik51:13

        Yeah

    13. LHLewis Howes51:13

        ... which is your, your whole, uh, limitless mindset process. The mindset will keep you on the right path. The skills, for whatever reason-

    14. JKJim Kwik51:22

        Yeah

    15. LHLewis Howes51:22

        ... skills I think is one of the most important things.

    16. JKJim Kwik51:24

        Yeah.

    17. LHLewis Howes51:25

        More than habits in a sense because when you acquire new skills, you become bulletproof, limitless to any-

    18. JKJim Kwik51:33

        Yeah

    19. LHLewis Howes51:33

        ... economic downturn, to any breakup in a relationship-

    20. JKJim Kwik51:36

        Yeah

    21. LHLewis Howes51:36

        ... to any career change. You become limitless when you have a tool belt of skills at your disposal.

    22. JKJim Kwik51:43

        Yeah.

    23. LHLewis Howes51:43

        And it takes courage to create new skills.

    24. JKJim Kwik51:46

        Yeah.

    25. LHLewis Howes51:46

        And it takes learning how to learn to get a lot of skills, because it takes time to master a skill-

    26. JKJim Kwik51:52

        Yeah

    27. LHLewis Howes51:53

        ... if you don't know how to learn the right way.

    28. JKJim Kwik51:55

        Yeah.

    29. LHLewis Howes51:55

        And I've learned all the wrong ways over the years, and found out for me that learning the right way is throwing myself in immersion of it.

    30. JKJim Kwik52:04

        Yeah.
11. 56:02 – 1:11:26

    The Limitless Model: Mindset, Motivation and Methods

    1. JKJim Kwik56:02

       And so let's deconstruct how to do that confidently. The Limit... We'll start with the Limitless Model. All right? So this book used to be a book completely on skill development, which was all methodology. It was everything that I teach about how to read three times faster, how to learn a language, how to remember names, how to do the things that... How to get to inbox zero, how to do the things that... How to be focused, concentrate, critical think, solve problems. Mm-hmm. All the important things that really is our life, right? But then when I finished it, you know, I talked to friends like you and every, and everybody else, everyone was like, "This is a really good self-help book," but if somebody found it just on the street, they still, even if they know what to do, they still wouldn't do it. Mm. Like, how come you wanna learn Spanish or something else and you put it off, or it takes longer than you should? Because method is only one of the three parts. And so this is the Limitless Model, and I want everybody to think about a subject or some area of your life where you're feeling held back. It could be your relationship, it could be you're not making progress in your career, it could be make- maybe in your physical- Mm ... um, performance or wellness. Think about one area where you're stuck in a box. All right? Now, a box is like a cage. 3D box, and 3D is three dimensions. What keeps you in the box? Three forces, and these are the three Ms. Okay. And I want everyone to draw a circle, and in that circle we're gonna draw a Venn diagram. You know what a Venn diagram is? Mm-hmm. Three intersecting circles. Three circles. And the first circle is your mindset. Three Ms. And I always alliterate everything because it helps you to be able to remember it better. First one is your mindset. Now, your mindset are your assumptions and your attitudes about something. Now, let's break that down. For me functionally, what your mindset is about this subject, and I want people to make this very personal. Think about something, an area you're held back. This is what you believe is possible, is your mindset. It is what you believe you are capable of. It is what you believe you deserve, is your, part of your mindset. Mm. 'Cause that's a big thing. That's your thermostat, right? If somebody has a mindset of... Like, I could teach someone the method of how to remember names, but their mindset is, "I'm stupid." "I don't deserve to remember names"- Right ... or, "I'm not capable of it," or- Exactly. Or, exactly, or, "I'm too old," or whatever it is. Mm-hmm. That's their mindset. "My brain doesn't work that way." Exactly. Then the method won't ha- won't take hold. It won't matter. Exactly. So this is, this is the formula here. I've literally- S- so how do you learn to b- how do you learn to believe that you are capable? Yeah. So we'll go, we'll go into this. Yeah. So that's, that's, that's exactly what the book does. I take people through a new, a process called unlimiting. Mm. It's a word that I coined years ago. Unlimiting is different than unlimited. Unlimiting is, like, the process of removing limits. It's- Limiting beliefs. Exactly. Or behaviors- Mm-hmm ... or, or, or habits, right? So unlimiting is an active word where it's, you're redrawing the boundaries and borders of your life. Limitless is not about being perfect. Limitless is about advancing and progressing beyond what you believe is possible. Mm. That's what this book is about. Mm-hmm. Now, I apply that towards accelerated learning, so you can learn your languages- Right ... and, you know, give speeches without notes and all that stuff. But really it's a process of liberating yourself out of that box. Mm. So one of the dimensions that keep you in that box is your mindset. Yep. All right? And, um, and we can go deep into how to change negative beliefs and everything. Okay. And I talk about the seven lies. Yeah. Lies for me, again, is an acronym. LIE is a limited idea entertained. Mm. Because it's not true. It's not true that you don't deserve it. It's not necessarily true that you're stupid. But it's an idea we're giving energy to. Mm-hmm. We're entertaining that idea- Sure, sure ... in that moment, and I show people how to unravel it in a three-step process. But that's the mindset. Okay. All right? Now, the second M, you can have the Greatest Mindset and believe everything is possible, you're capable, you deserve it, but if you don't have the second M, which is motivation, you're not getting out of that box, right? That, in your career- "I believe I can do it, but I'm gonna sit here and eat chips on the couch," right? Ex- exactly. Yeah. And so your motivation, for me, is your drive- Mm-hmm ... it's your purpose, it's the vitality that you bring to something. Now, most people think motivation, they'll say motivation is a lie. And in some respects it is, because the way a lot of people perceive motivation is just rah-rah, get excited, get hyped up, and next day nothing changes. Mm-hmm. So my evidence, the evidence of motivation, is something is happening. There's an action. There's a new action taking place, and if you're not doing that action, you're not motivated. No matter what you say, if you're not doing it, it's better well done than well said. Even like a lot of people on social media, they, they, they promise things, but prove it, right? Don't say it. Show it, right? You t- take it to action. Yeah. 'Cause knowledge is not power. It's potential power. Applying it makes it powerful. So motivation for me is a three-step formula. And here's the formula. And I go deep in, in this book 'cause there's a chapter on each, on each part. The key to sustainable motivation, how to overcome procrastination if you're putting things off, this is the key. It's this. P times E times S3. Now, this is a formula for sustainable mot- not just a surge in motivation, right? We've all watched the Limitless movie- Mm-hmm ... where he takes a pill, and he can learn languages and, and read really fast and remember everything. And, and Dr. Mark Hyman who wrote the, the forward of the book, who's a mutual friend of both of ours, and I know he's been on your show, he says that there is no genius pill, but Jim gives you the process- Ooh. I like it ... for, for a brighter brain, right? [laughs] I like it. Like, it's the process. And there's no side effects, right? Yeah, it's good. But going back to this, you know, when he had a surge in motivation, but then when h- the pill wore off- It's gone ... it goes back to g- Okay ... no motivation. But this is the key. There's no pill. There's a process. And these three things, P times E times S3, is sustainable for the rest of your life. Because I've, I've lived on no sleep for over a decade, right? Yeah. My sleep has gotten much better since, you know, of, of recent. You know- Sure ... um, just some, some breakthroughs this in, um, in medicine and everything else like that. But you know, I had sustainable motivation. I was still doing all the conferences- Right ... still doing my podcast every week, still speaking and traveling and doing all this stuff- Mm-hmm ... because I had these three things. Number one, so the P stands for purpose. Now, again, if you feel not motivated in any area of your life, pick ... Now, so some people could have motivation ... Now, some people are very motivated to sit on the couch and, and binge-watch Netflix. Yeah. They, they're highly motivated- I am, yeah ... to do that, right? But if you're, if you're lacking motivation to work out consistently ... And now here's the, the, here's the, another lie, limited idea entertained, is that you have to enjoy the activity, right? Like, you know, it doesn't mean that you have to do that. Like, I was having this conversation with, with, uh, uh, Tom Bilyeu, right? And he was like, "I work out 4:00, 5:00 every morning." I was like, "Do you enjoy it?" He's like, "No. I don't like working out at all." Oh, geez. You know, but he's motivated, doesn't miss a day. So he has the motivation. So motivation doesn't mean you enjoy it. Like, every morning I do my cold showers. Mm. You know, like Wim Hof. Yeah. Right? Now, the, the- It's not fun all the time, but ... Exactly. I ha- I grew up in the Northeast. I hate the cold, right? Yeah. But I do my cold showers or my ice baths. You know, I, I post all the time on, on Instagram about doing it- Mm-hmm ... because I know I have a purpose. Yeah. Right? So I don't enjoy it. Okay. But the P in the formula is purpose. Reasons reap results. Mm-hmm. And if you get the reason ... So even if I'm not s- you know, getting my sleep, I have a purpose. I have a reason to help people every single day. I want every single person that comes in contact with me, whether it's on my podcast or a video or a book, their brain is better off because of it. Yeah. Okay. You know? And so that's my reason. And, and really, you know my story. Like, my first student three decades ago almost, she read 30 books in 30 days. Mm. And what was her purpose? Her mother was dying of terminal cancer. Mm. Two months to live, 60 days. And the book she was reading, health, wellness- Right ... energy, right? Wow. And she ended up saving her mom's life. Wow. And that's when I realized that if knowledge is power, learning is her superpower. Mm-hmm. And I dedicated my life to make that kind of difference. Yeah. And that's what, that's what ... So I have my reasons to do something. Okay. So I don't have to pump myself up. So P is purpose. Tap into your reasons. And it can't be intellectual. You know. You have to feel it. Of course. Right? And even you could even feel the pain. Like, who's counting on you to do this activity? You know, who's watching you? Who's m- role modeling you, right? Who's counting on you to, to show up today? You know, it can be painful too, but if it gets you to move, that's what's important. Have that reason, the purpose. This E ... Now, I, now, here, my mind does this thought experiment, scientific experimentations, right? If somebody just has a reason, do they, are they always motivated? Are there any cases where they're not motivated? And I said, "Yes." Mm. If they're lacking the E, energy. Mm-hmm. So somebody could have a reason to, uh, work out, or they could have a reason to read, you know, or learn Spanish, but if they're trying to do it late at night and they didn't sleep the night before or they, they had a big processed meal- It's hard to have the motivation ... exactly, in their food coma, they can't be motivated 'cause they lack energy. Energy. So in the book I talk about 10 keys for brain energy. Mm-hmm. The 10 things that I do to light up my brain, and one of them is, are brain foods. Yeah. Another one is optimizing your sleep. So I do a whole area of- Wow ... what I've learned really moves the needle for- That's cool ... maximizing your sleep, 'cause how's your, how's your thought process if you don't sleep? How's your focus? Fog. Foggy. How's your memory? How- Yeah ... you know, how are you making good decisions? Right? I, I, I heard that that was the advice, you know, presidents give other presidents is, like, get a ... Don't make a big decision if you didn't get a good night's sleep. Wow. Right? So I talk about sleep. So in the book, in Motivation, we do a whole section on finding your purpose and even life purpose and passion and a whole area on optimizing your energy. Mm-hmm. Now you have energy to do it. I ask myself, "Okay, you have a purpose for something, to work, to work out, whatever. You have-" The energy, yeah. "... or to start this business. You have the energy." Now what? In what case, if you're, like, doing this critical thinking, in what case won't you be motivated? You t- like, let's say you wanna start a business or whatever. You're, you're just procrastinating on starting that business. Number one, you have the motivation. You really need it, and you know why. You have the energy because you're eating the right foods. You're maximizing your sleep. Mm-hmm. You're with non-energy vampires. Yes, there is. S3. What the problem is, is you're making it too big in your mind. Mm. That will keep you from being motivated. Starting a business, like where do you even start? Yeah, it's hard. Or getting, getting that perfect relationship or having perfect health, that's way, way too big. So what do you do? Small, simple steps. Mm-hmm. That's what keep, will keep people unmotivated. They could have the reasons and purpose. They could have the energy, unlimited energy, but they don't know where to start and because they make it too big in their mind. Mm. Or, and, and a confused mind doesn't do anything. Yeah. Confused mind doesn't do anything, so clarity is power. I like that. So small, simple step. All you have to do is ask a magic question. What is the smallest action I could take where I can't fail? Mm. It allows me, give, give me some progress, but I can't fail. Yeah. What's the smallest step? And I cite the work in here of the habit experts that you and I have interviewed. You know, Dr. BJ Foggs or the, uh, the, the, the James Clears- Mm ... Atomic Habits. And really my take on how to make sustainable habits because what you do repeatedly becomes that habit, but it starts with a small, simple step. What's an example of that? I want people to read a book a week. It will change their life. I think if there's one thing people could, that would change their life immediately, long term, it's just read every day. Mm. Reading is to your mind what exercise is to your body, even more than audio. And I, at my podcast, and I do everything on audio, I still encourage people to read 'cause it activates a different part of your brain. Mm-hmm. Also, um, and I listen to audios when I, when I drive and when I work out. But when, when the people are tested i- in terms of what they read, in terms of comprehension, what they listen to, reading- Remember it, yeah ... the actual, w- more and they'll understand more. You know why? Is not only does it activate a different part of your brain 'cause it's active, 'cause listening can be passive. Like watching a movie or anything can be very passive. You don't have to get involved. But reading forces you to get involved. But the second reason why is because usually when someone's listening to something, they're doing something else. Mm-hmm. And they're trying to multitask. Yeah. They're cleaning their house. They're working out. They're driving. So they're not, their attention's not fully on what they're listening to, so that's why the comprehension- Gotcha ... is down. But reading every single day is a great activity. But I don't tell people, you know, read an hour a day. A small, simple step to get a, someone reading is read one sentence. Mm. That's a small, simple step. Open up the book. That's a small, simple step that you can't fail. Right. Right? And nobody's gonna stop at one sentence. You know, the example of Dr. BJ Fogg talks about with tiny habits is, hey, we know flossing is good for your longevity. Just do one tooth. One tooth. Yeah. And who's gonna stop at one tooth? Yeah. Right? So how do you break it down? And really motivation is energy management. It's really about energy management, meaning when you have clarity and purpose, it gives you energy, right? When you have energy, like if you activate, you eat the right foods and everything else, and vitality, you have energy. And small, simple steps requires very little energy. Mm. Requires very little effort, output. And there's something in memory called the Zeigarnik Effect. It's by a psychologist, a woman who in Europe noticed that at the cafe she frequents, that the waitstaff would remember all the orders until they were delivered. And once they were delivered- Forget it ... they would forget it. And the Zeigarnik Effect, which is her last name, means that the mind doesn't like open loops. So like, oh, and, and, and all of the, the series on, that you binge watch knows this 'cause at the end they open up a loop. Yes. And you're like, "One more." Who does that? Like, one more, and you end up, uh, watching until like 2:00 AM, 3:00 AM because it doesn't like the open loops. Well, starting something, like an order, remembering someone's order, and then it delivered, it closes the loop. Well, when you start something anywhere, it for, your mind still keeps an open loop about it, so it's more likely to finish. Mm-hmm. And that's another way to overcome pr- procrastination. Break it down into small, simple steps- Mm ... where you can't fail. Yeah. That's the three-step formula. That's great. So I do a chapter, so this is really three books in one. It's, it's whole book on mindset- Mm-hmm ... on how to eliminate negative self-talk, how to be able to get rid of negative beliefs that you don't deserve it, you're not capable of it, how, how to have optimization. Mm-hmm. So a chapter on, on- More ... on purpose, a chapter on energy- Yeah ... a chapter on small, simple steps. And then I added a chapter on habits and flow because- Right ... the ultimate state, and you've had Steven Kotler and all these- Mm-hmm ... amazing people on here- Yeah ... um, talking about flow state is when you're in the zone, where you lose, flow states is you lose your sense of self. Mm-hmm. You lose, it's effortless. Time, yeah. And you lose your sense of time, and there's no motivation required 'cause you're just- In it ... in the zone. You know that as an athlete. Of course. When you're in the zone or you're on stage and it's just coming through you. Yes. Right? We all have those moments. So we debunk and apply this method for a whole chapter on, on flow. And then finally, you could have the mindset and motivation and still be stuck in that box. Because again, let's say you're, you believe everything is possible, and that's your mindset, and you're capable, and you deserve it, and you're motivated, but if you don't have the last M, which are the methods- Mm ... then you're stuck in that box. Okay. You could have, be- believe that you deserve this income. You could, you could do, you could be- Work hard all the way along ... motivated, motivation. But if you're doing the wrong things- Mm-hmm ... then you're not gonna get the result. If you're doing the wrong marketing tactics- Yes ... or if you're doing the wrong things in a relationship, right? If you're using bad advice. And in here I document the example of learning because we learned very poor, antiquated methods of learning in school. It was rote repetition. To learn something, repeat it 100 times in your mind, and the problem is it just takes a lot of time. Yeah. That's not the optimal way the brain learns. The human brain doesn't learn through consumption, it learns through creation. Mm. Right? The human brain does not learn by consuming, it learns by creating.

12. 1:11:26 – 1:16:36

    Methods: Subvocalization, Reading Speed and Outdated Habits

    1. JKJim Kwik1:11:26

       And so we also learned a bad habit, a method of reading, which was subvocalization. Subvocalization is, have you ever noticed when you're reading something you hear that inner voice inside your head reading along with you? Yeah. Hopefully it's your own voice. Yeah. [laughs] It's not like somebody else's voice. The reason why it keeps you reading slow is if you have to say all the words in this book, you can only read as fast as you can speak. Mm. That means your reading speed is limited to your talking speed- So how do you li- ... not your thinking speed ... how do you limit the conversation in your mind? Yeah, it's interesting, right? Because the question becomes everybody reads about 200, 250 words per minute because that's how the average person talks. Speaks, wow. But do you have to say, the question becomes do, analyze it, common sense, do you need to say all the words in order to understand what those words mean? No. Truth is no. Like when you see a stop sign, you don't say to yourself stop, but you comprehend what that means.

    2. LHLewis Howes1:12:16

       Of course. It's a symbol.

    3. JKJim Kwik1:12:17

       95... Exactly. And just like symbols in the book, periods, punctuation mark. You don't say question mark when you read-

    4. LHLewis Howes1:12:23

       Yeah

    5. JKJim Kwik1:12:23

       ... or comma when you read. You know? So the, and, there, because, of, all those are sight words, and you don't have to pronounce them by sound. You pronounce it... You do do them by sight, and the fastest readers actually-

    6. LHLewis Howes1:12:34

       Mm

    7. JKJim Kwik1:12:34

       ... only subvocalize the more difficult words.

    8. LHLewis Howes1:12:37

       Mm.

    9. JKJim Kwik1:12:37

       And so I'm not saying you-

    10. LHLewis Howes1:12:38

        Really?

    11. JKJim Kwik1:12:38

        I know-

    12. LHLewis Howes1:12:39

        So you just kinda skip through and just go through the-

    13. JKJim Kwik1:12:40

        You go... You, you read all the words. No, you read all the words-

    14. LHLewis Howes1:12:43

        Mm

    15. JKJim Kwik1:12:43

        ... but you don't have to say all the words. And so that, that subvocalization is my example of an old method, an antiquated method that will keep you in that box of learning slow.

    16. LHLewis Howes1:12:53

        So let me, let me do an example here.

    17. JKJim Kwik1:12:54

        Yes.

    18. LHLewis Howes1:12:54

        Here's, here's a sentence from your book.

    19. JKJim Kwik1:12:57

        Mm-hmm.

    20. LHLewis Howes1:12:57

        On part, part two about mindset.

    21. JKJim Kwik1:13:00

        Yeah.

    22. LHLewis Howes1:13:01

        And if I were to read this, I would read it slowly just 'cause that's how I'm used to it.

    23. JKJim Kwik1:13:05

        Yeah.

    24. LHLewis Howes1:13:05

        I would say... And I already get nervous reading out loud from my childhood-

    25. JKJim Kwik1:13:10

        [laughs] Yeah

    26. LHLewis Howes1:13:11

        ... uh, s- fears of s-

    27. JKJim Kwik1:13:12

        You're not, you're not alone

    28. LHLewis Howes1:13:12

        ... of stumbling

    29. JKJim Kwik1:13:13

        You're not alone.

    30. LHLewis Howes1:13:13

        The deeply held beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions we create about who we are, how the world works, what we are capable of and deserve, and what is possible.
13. 1:16:36 – 1:26:08

    Four Digital Supervillains and How to Overcome Them

    1. JKJim Kwik1:16:36

       So this book is about unlimiting those bad habits of learning, of rote memorization, of bad habits we make about decisions. Like h- why are we always da- why are people dating the same people or making the same financial mistakes and everything else? It's not insanity doing the same thing over and over again. It's a bad memory.

    2. LHLewis Howes1:16:53

       Mm.

    3. JKJim Kwik1:16:54

       And we weren't taught decision-making. So like in the book, I talk about four supervillains that hold us back, and it's really-

    4. LHLewis Howes1:17:00

       What are those?

    5. JKJim Kwik1:17:00

       ... 'cause I talk about superpowers.

    6. LHLewis Howes1:17:02

       Yep.

    7. JKJim Kwik1:17:02

       Four supervillains, and I'll go back to the model and make this very, like aha to everybody. Four supervillains that are holding you and your team back, your children back, your team back, your employees back, your spouse back. Number one, and they're all driven by technology, digital deluge. Digital deluge is this information overwhelm. It's like do you feel nowadays like you can't keep up? It's like taking a sip of water out of a fire hose.

    8. LHLewis Howes1:17:26

       Yeah.

    9. JKJim Kwik1:17:27

       And here's the thing. People buy a book, but they don't read the book, right? It just sits on their shelf.

    10. LHLewis Howes1:17:31

        [laughs] That's me.

    11. JKJim Kwik1:17:32

        It becomes shelf help not self-help, right?

    12. LHLewis Howes1:17:34

        [laughs]

    13. JKJim Kwik1:17:35

        And here's the thing.

    14. LHLewis Howes1:17:35

        That's good.

    15. JKJim Kwik1:17:36

        Buying a book is a different skill set than reading the book.

    16. LHLewis Howes1:17:39

        I'm really good at buying books.

    17. JKJim Kwik1:17:40

        Yeah. Some people-

    18. LHLewis Howes1:17:41

        I'm not that good at reading the b- [laughs]

    19. JKJim Kwik1:17:42

        Some people are excellent at that, right?

    20. LHLewis Howes1:17:43

        I can buy books all day long.

    21. JKJim Kwik1:17:43

        Exactly. But reading is a different skill set, but digital deluge is a real medical condition. They call it information fatigue syndrome. Higher blood pressure, compression of leisure time, more sleeplessness, and this is happening... If you own a business or you have managed a team, that four or five hours a day on estimate do, are we spending processing information. Just think about your team, how much they have to process.

    22. LHLewis Howes1:18:06

        A lot.

    23. JKJim Kwik1:18:06

        Right? That means half of their salary is being paid to process and learn and read. So if someone's being paid $80,000, 40,000 is just to read something. Oh my gosh. So if I could double their reading speed, that's like, that's a huge, that's a huge amount of time. Like, if it normally takes four hours to read something and you read it in half the time, two hours- Mm ... what's two hours over the course of a year? A lot. [laughs] That's like a mo- And we can't even do the math because that's another one of the digital- Exactly ... challenges, um- Okay ... because but, but that's two, that's ... Even if you save one hour a day, 365 hours a year. Right. 40-hour work weeks. How many 40-hour work weeks? Nine. [exhales] Two months of productivity we get back- Wow ... just saving one hour a day on something ubiquitous like reading. Wow. That's why this book will help you read every other book- Okay ... to save you time. That's amazing. So digital deluge. Yep. Number two, digital distraction. Mm. With every ring and ping and, and ding, every s- app notification, social media alert, it's training our distraction muscles. Mm-hmm. And we are so good at being distracted. That's why so much of my morning routine that's, that people do, like something simple like brushing your teeth with the opposite hand, right? Because it, it engages the opposite side of your brain, which is good for making new connections, neuroplasticity. But it's also good for making you present. You have to focus. Right. It forces you to be in the moment. So it's something you do every day that little things where you g- add novelty, where it fo- focuses you to be here as opposed to about everything else, right? And how you do anything is how you do everything. Mm-hmm. So if you wake up first thing in the morning and touch your phone, I think if you should have a to-do list, I think your not-to-do list- Don't touch your phone. Yeah, don't touch your phone- Yeah ... first hour of the day. It rewires your brain to be distracted- Mm ... and also it rewires your brain to be reactive. Mm-hmm. I can't stress this enough. When you pick up your phone the first hour of the day, and a lot of people talk about this, and we have videos ... My video with Simon Sinek has 28 million views- Wow ... on just this thing on Facebook. It literally just says, "Don't touch your phone because it rewires your brain to be distracted and reactive because you're fighting fires." You're on the defense. Like, why are you gonna check your email and voicemail and takes you off tangent, and you're not even focusing on what's most important- Right ... like in terms of your win. Our friend Brendon Burchard says this exactly, and you're like, you have, you know a lot of quotes that you remember. But he says, "Your inbox is nothing but a convenient organizational system for other people's agenda for your life." Boom. Wow, Brendon Burchard. [laughs] Your inbox is nothing but a convenient organizational system for other people's agenda for your life. So don't, don't go on the defense. Yes. So don't pick up your phone, 'cause when you wake up, you're in this relaxed state of awareness. You're very suggestible, so you're, it's training your distraction and your reaction. You have to be proactive. Wow. You wanna be a thermostat, not a thermometer. A thermometer reacts to the environment. A thermometer sets the environment. Mm-hmm. So digital distraction, second. Third supervillain that's driven by technology that's, that's, you know, potentially holding you back, digital dementia. Mm-hmm. Digital dementia is where our, our phones become an external storage device. It keeps our to-dos, right? It keeps our phone ... How many phone numbers did you know growing up? I knew a lot growing up, yeah. Yeah. How many do you know now? One. Like, is there one person- My own. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] It's only one. Is there somebody- Two maybe ... you can text and call all the time? I know my mom's 'cause I've had to like write it down- Exactly ... as like emergency contact. Exactly. Yeah. But if you don't, if you don't have your phone with you or you, your other phone, its battery's dead, you can't ... Now, here's the thing. Nobody wants to memorize 200 phone numbers. No. I don't wanna do that. But isn't it concerning that we've lost the ability to remember one? Yeah. Or a passcode, or a conversation we just had. I believe two of the most costly words in life- Or a name ... yeah, in life or business, I forgot. Every time you say the words I forgot, you lose credibility, you lose trust, you lose, you, you just, you don't show you care about the person. Mm. You lose, you could lose a sale. I can't tell you how many clients come to me saying, "Look, I forgot s- I called this person by the wrong name, and he was so offended that he didn't do the deal with me. I lost a million dollar commission." Like, like those kind of things, right? And how are you gonna show somebody you're gonna care for their future, their finances, their health, their family if you don't care enough just to remember their name, right? So we do 13, 14 tips on just how to remember- Wow ... people's names. And we covered it in a previous episode also- Yes, yes ... as well. Okay. So digital dementia- Yeah ... is where it's a real source, I mean, Dr. Daniel Amen has talked about it, other people have talked about don't be over-reliant on technology to do everything. Memory is a muscle, and it's use it or lose it. That's why I'm such an advocate for mental fitness. I remember I walked into the office one day. I d- I picked up the phone first thing in the morning, and a woman's voice was like, "I love you, I love you, I love you." I'm like, "Whoa, who's this?" She was like, "I found it." She went through our, you know, our online memory course. Mm-hmm. And she, she, sh- she was given a family heirloom, a necklace by her grandmother. It didn't go to her mother or her three sisters. It went to her, and she hid it somewhere in her house. She forgot. She forgot. Oh my gosh. And she thought, for three years, she thought it was stolen. She felt so much guilt, and she got so much shame from like her family. And she just, you know, it passed on for generations. And after going through this course, and, and she f- she woke up at 2:00 AM in the morning, ran down two flights of stairs, went behind the boiler in her basement, pulls out this crevice, the necklace. Wow. And I was like, "I didn't teach you a method on how to find lost items in this program." She was like, "I don't know what it is, but my focus, or I'm just remembering this without even using a method. It's just ... " She was like, "Thank you for giving me my brain back." Ooh. 'Cause she felt like her brain- Dementia ... was 20- Wow ... years younger 'cause it was fit. And that's what I'm talking about. Mental intelligence is very important. Yeah, facts, figures, foreign languages, you learn how to do that in the methods of the book. Mental fitness and mental health- Mm ... you know, that's also very important. Yeah. Where if y- you're, you're physically fit, right? So, so if you were gonna go up Runyon Canyon or wherever, if somebody is not physically fit, they're gonna have to use more effort- Stronger ... more energy because they're not trained. And so if, if you're an athlete, you could train s- you could help them as a coach in two ways. You could show them the strategies, like how to do a forehand or a backhand or hit a golf ball, and you could take them into the gym and optimize their fitness. Mm-hmm. You know, their heart rate variability, their, their, their foods and everything. Yeah. So get people mentally fit, digital dementia. Okay. And finally, the last one that we talk about in the book- Digital deduction, right? I always iterate DDDD.

    24. LHLewis Howes1:24:03

        Mm-hmm.

    25. JKJim Kwik1:24:03

        So digital deduction is where we're, our phones and our smart devices are doing the thinking for us.

    26. LHLewis Howes1:24:09

        Mm.

    27. JKJim Kwik1:24:09

        Because it just, it literally d- because it's just spoon-feeding you. And I'm not just talking about fake news. I'm talking about algorithms-

    28. LHLewis Howes1:24:16

        All the answers, everything

    29. JKJim Kwik1:24:16

        ... that just give you everything. But you don't have to think anymore, and we've lost our thinking abilities to the point where you look at a menu and you're like, "I don't even know what to eat," because normally an app tells me what to eat or what-

    30. LHLewis Howes1:24:27

        What next
14. 1:26:08 – 1:32:58

    Model Intersections, Book Bonuses and Memory Tips

    1. JKJim Kwik1:26:08

       Because here's the thing. When you look at the model everyone drew out, when you look at mindset, motivation, and, and methods, where mindset crosses over with motivation you have inspiration.

    2. LHLewis Howes1:26:18

       Mm-hmm.

    3. JKJim Kwik1:26:19

       Right? So there are books on mindset.

    4. LHLewis Howes1:26:20

       Yes.

    5. JKJim Kwik1:26:21

       One of my favorite books, Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck.

    6. LHLewis Howes1:26:23

       Right.

    7. JKJim Kwik1:26:24

       There are books on motivation.

    8. LHLewis Howes1:26:25

       Yeah.

    9. JKJim Kwik1:26:25

       And, you know, pro- courses on motivation. Where they intersect, you have inspiration.

    10. LHLewis Howes1:26:28

        Mm-hmm.

    11. JKJim Kwik1:26:29

        So I'm gonna give you three Is. Inspiration. Where you have mindset and methods cross over in the Venn diagram, you have the mindset of everything is capable and you deserve it, and you have the methods, you know what to do, so you have ideation.

    12. LHLewis Howes1:26:42

        Mm-hmm.

    13. JKJim Kwik1:26:42

        But without the motivation, you're not gonna do it.

    14. LHLewis Howes1:26:44

        Right.

    15. JKJim Kwik1:26:44

        And where you have motivation cross over with methods, you're motivated and you know what to do, but you're still in that box because you don't just c- because you don't know what's possible.

    16. LHLewis Howes1:26:55

        Mm-hmm.

    17. JKJim Kwik1:26:55

        And you don't even believe you deserve it maybe, and now you're missing the mindset. So where that crosses over, you have implementation.

    18. LHLewis Howes1:27:01

        Mm-hmm.

    19. JKJim Kwik1:27:02

        Right? Three Is. And where all three circles come together, you have the fourth I, which is integration.

    20. LHLewis Howes1:27:08

        Mm.

    21. JKJim Kwik1:27:08

        Integration. That's the limitless state because-

    22. LHLewis Howes1:27:11

        Wow

    23. JKJim Kwik1:27:11

        ... it is who you are. You are limitless because you've unraveled yourself. You've liberated yourself out of that box because you have the right mindset, you have the sustainable motivation, and you know exactly the methods to get the results.

    24. LHLewis Howes1:27:24

        I don't know how you remember all this. I was like, is he gonna remember all the p- different parts of his Venn diagram? It's amazing that you've done that.

    25. JKJim Kwik1:27:29

        Yeah, in, in, in the book actually we have full, like size, like diagrams, color-

    26. LHLewis Howes1:27:34

        It's great, man

    27. JKJim Kwik1:27:34

        ... everything like that for it. And people, um... And we do something really special right now, and you, I know you're a big proponent and champion for this.

    28. LHLewis Howes1:27:41

        Yes.

    29. JKJim Kwik1:27:41

        We want people to get a real, big experience for... So people that wanna be able to listen to this, um, 'cause it's not out on audio-

    30. LHLewis Howes1:27:48

        Yeah
15. 1:32:58 – 1:42:12

    Three Truths and the Four Gs of Greatness

    1. LHLewis Howes1:32:58

       I'm gonna ask you a, uh, one final question.

    2. JKJim Kwik1:33:00

       Sure.

    3. LHLewis Howes1:33:01

       I don't know if I asked you this the last time, so I'll ask you now. It's called the three truths. Imagine you've written every book you wanna write in the world, you've put out millions of pieces of content, and you live till 1,000 years old, but eventually the brain's gotta shut off and you've gotta go into the next world. Whatever happens next. But you get to leave behind three things you know to be true from all the lessons you've learned, that you would share with us. And this is all we would have to remember you by.

    4. JKJim Kwik1:33:27

       Yeah.

    5. LHLewis Howes1:33:27

       Are these three truths.

    6. JKJim Kwik1:33:29

       Yeah.

    7. LHLewis Howes1:33:29

       What would you say you would wanna share with the world?

    8. JKJim Kwik1:33:32

       Okay. I would start with responsibility. Um, I tell this story when I took, uh, Stan Lee to meet Richard Branson for dinner, and we're in the car, and they wanted to meet each other, and I like to connect people. And I asked Stan, I was like, "You know, you've created some of the best, the most amazing superheroes, my heroes. Who's your favorite?"

    9. LHLewis Howes1:33:53

       Yours was Spider-Man, right?

    10. JKJim Kwik1:33:54

        Right. Now, his, so his was Iron Man. And when he asked me who mine was, I would've said Spider-Man, because I, I posted this picture on Instagram. I had a big Spider-Man tie. And when I said Spider-Man, he said, "With great power comes..."

    11. LHLewis Howes1:34:05

        Great responsibility.

    12. JKJim Kwik1:34:06

        Yeah. And I, you know, still, I had three brain injuries and, you know, I, I reverse things a lot, and I was like, "You're right. With great power comes great responsibility." And the opposite is also true. With great responsibility comes great power. When we take responsibility for something, we have great power to make things better.

    13. LHLewis Howes1:34:22

        Mm.

    14. JKJim Kwik1:34:23

        And a lot of people think responsibility is something that jails them, but if you don't take responsibility for something, then you can't fix anything. So when you take responsibility for your finances or the state of your relationship and you don't blame... When I talk about mistakes, you know, you, we don't make, you know, mis- we don't make mistakes, mistakes don't make us. The, the idea here is, the second thing I would say is take responsibility so you can fix it.

    15. LHLewis Howes1:34:43

        Mm.

    16. JKJim Kwik1:34:43

        The second thing I would say is forget about the concerns of others. Make m- make your mistakes, because here's the thing when you make a mistake. Just, you are not your mistakes, and mistakes don't make you.

    17. LHLewis Howes1:34:58

        Mm.

    18. JKJim Kwik1:34:58

        The three keys for m- make a mistake, make them old. O, own that mistake. Don't blame other people, right? You know, apologize if you've hurt someone. You own it. Fix it if you can, right? You own it. You take responsibility. And then the L in old mistakes, learn from that mistake, right? You wanna make sure you learn from it, 'cause that's the point of making mistakes. There's no failure. There's only feedback.

    19. LHLewis Howes1:35:20

        Mm.

    20. JKJim Kwik1:35:20

        And feedback is the breakfast of superheroes.

    21. LHLewis Howes1:35:22

        Mm.

    22. JKJim Kwik1:35:22

        Right? You know, and if failure's not an option, then neither is success.

    23. LHLewis Howes1:35:26

        Yeah.

    24. JKJim Kwik1:35:26

        Seth, Seth Godin said that.

    25. LHLewis Howes1:35:27

        [laughs]

    26. JKJim Kwik1:35:28

        Failure's not an option, neither is success.

    27. LHLewis Howes1:35:29

        Wow.

    28. JKJim Kwik1:35:30

        And finally, the D in old, don't repeat it. Right? A lot of people, th- they don't, they, they, they, if they learn it, they'll repeat it and they start doing the same mistakes over and over again. So I would say take responsibility so you could change things. Don't, um, and don't be afraid of making mistakes.

    29. LHLewis Howes1:35:44

        Mm.

    30. JKJim Kwik1:35:44

        Don't fear other people's opinions, because they don't matter at the end, as we talked about. And when you're taking our final breaths, it's gonna be how you lived, loved, lived, learned. That's what's matters. And then the, the third thing I would say, commit yourself to lifelong learning-

Episode duration: 1:42:12