[00:00:00] Jim Kwik: There's no such thing as a good or bad brain. There's a trained brain and an untrained brain. That's the truth. If people truly understood. How powerful their mind is they wouldn't say or think something they didn't wanna be true. So many people at events come to me and they talk to me about their lives.

[00:00:14] They say, I'm too old. I'm not smart enough. And I say, Stop. If you fight for limitations. You get to keep them. These difficult times, they can diminish us or these difficult times. They actually can develop us. We ultimately decide, every single day. I really do believe there's a version of every single person who's listening to this.

[00:00:33] There's a version of yourself that you haven't met yet. There's a version of your brain you haven't met yet, and the goal is we show up every single day until we're introduced

[00:00:45] Hala Taha: What is up Young and Profiteers. You're listening to YAP, Young and Profiting podcasts. Where we interview the brightest minds in the world, and turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in your daily life. I'm your [00:01:00] host, Hala Taha, aka the podcast Princess. Thanks for listening and get ready to listen, learn and profit.

[00:01:17] Hey Jim. Thanks so much for joining us on Young and Profiting podcast. 

[00:01:23] Jim Kwik: It's so good to be here. Congratulations on your show. 

[00:01:25] Hala Taha: Thank you. I am super excited to have you. I've been wanting to have you on the show for two years now. And for those who don't know, Jim has been spending the last three decades dissecting the signs of learning and memory.

[00:01:37] He's now an internationally renowned expert in memory improvement, brain optimization, and accelerated learning. He's worked with huge names, politicians, celebrities, and his latest book, Limitless, has become an instant New York Times bestseller. And considering all that you've accomplished. I think a lot of our young a nd profiteers, would be surprised to hear that you actually had a traumatic brain injury.

[00:01:59] It left [00:02:00] you learning challenged. And when you were nine. One of your teachers came to do your defense, while others were teasing you and said, That's the boy with the broken brain. Leave him alone. And that was a defining moment for you, and that your brain was broken. It actually became your limit until the age of 18.

[00:02:16] Today you're known for your incredible brain and your ability to do this seemingly impossible, like memorizing everyone's name in a room filled with hundreds of people. So let's begin here. Talk to us about those early years. When you were the boy with a broken brain and tell us about this boy you were before you started your transformation.

[00:02:34] Jim Kwik: Wow. Okay let's go back. You mentioned my traumatic brain injury when I was in kindergarten and I was rushed to the emergency room. And where I really showed up the effects was in school. I had trouble learning. I couldn't focus. I had a horrible memory. I couldn't process information like everybody else.

[00:02:52] Teachers would repeat themselves over and over again, and I learned to pretend to understand, but I really didn't understand anything. It took me a few [00:03:00] years longer just to learn how to read and now those are really, there's a lot of anxiety and stress for a kid. You remember sitting in those reading circles, they would pass around a book and you have to read out loud when you came to you.

[00:03:09] And I just, I would look at the page and the words meant nothing. And I thought I had the broken brain and every single time I did badly on a test or wasn't picked for sports in school. Which was a very often, I would always say, cuz I have the broken brain. And adults have to be very careful with their external words because they become a child's internal words that became myself talk.

[00:03:29] Even when at events, when people see me do these demonstrations. I never do it to impress them. I really do them to just to express to them what's possible. Because the truth is every single one of your listeners could do that and a whole lot more. We just weren't taught. If anything, we're taught a lie that somehow our potential, our intelligence is somehow fixed, like maybe our shoe size.

[00:03:47] And we've discovered more about the human brain. Here's the exciting news and more in the past 10 years, in the previous thousand years combined that we've found is we're grossly underestimating our own capabilities. That really, it's not even the sky's the limit. It's really our minds are [00:04:00] the limit. And so my mission really is to build better, brighter brains.

[00:04:03] No brain left behind. I know what it's like to struggle, to be distracted, to not feel confident in your own mind. And I really feel that your brain is your number one wealth building asset. And the faster you can learn, the faster you can earn. Cuz today, knowledge is not only power. Knowledge is a lot of what your show is about.

[00:04:20] It's about profit. And I don't just mean financial profit. All the treasures of your life gets better when you understand how your brain works. You could work your brain and when you can learn and focus and remember and apply. You could apply that towards anything. Money management, martial arts, music mandarin, everything in your life gets so much easier. 

[00:04:40] And so my message to everybody really is that limits are learned and that it's just our school system didn't really teach us how our brain works. There's no class on focus or memory. And so when we beat ourselves up because we can't concentrate or we can't understand something. It's not, I realized after years of doing this, it's not how [00:05:00] smart we are.

[00:05:00] It's really how are we smart and we're all smart in different ways and I think the most important skill for entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs, or people who really want to get to the next level is learning how to learn. And then that's really what focus on. 

[00:05:15] Hala Taha: I really relate to you and I was so excited to bring you on because I think this is such an important topic and I think a lot of people have been through a similar struggle.

[00:05:23] I remember like I wasn't always good at math. They would always put me in the poor math class. When I was younger, and then I had this stigma that I was like always terrible at math. Then I get to college and I'm great at that. And you just have this transformation once you realize, that these are actually just labels and limitations. And you can get over it as an adult, but so many of us spend years believing, this lie that adults told us when we were little or like one thing happened and we go on believing forever.

[00:05:53] That's just who we are. 

[00:05:55] Jim Kwik: Word do you use is absolutely, I use that in the book Limitless Lie. We believe these lies and a lie for [00:06:00] me stands. Everything's turned into an acronym or some kind of monic to make it easy to recall. But lies for me stands for a limited idea. Entertained.

[00:06:08] It's not true that you're not smart enough. It's just a limited idea that we're entertaining. It's not true that you're not smart enough or that you're not, You don't have the resourcefulness. And so it's really about transcending. I think the nature of personal growth is about transcending. It's about ending the transcending, this massive osis maybe through.

[00:06:29] We got in our, from our parents or marketing or media. That somehow that we're broken somehow that that somehow we could only, have only a small amount or be a small amount or share, a small amount. And we found that it's, that we shouldn't be. I find especially of recent that the big mistake people make is they shrink all that's possible to fit their minds. When maybe we should explore expanding our minds to fit all that's really possible.

[00:06:55] Hala Taha: I love that. So let's fast forward to your college years. So your [00:07:00] label became your limit from your age of 5 to 18. You were put in this box, you didn't believe you could be better necessarily, or you didn't have the tools and you were a freshman in college. You still had a difficult time learning like your peers, and you were actually ready to drop out of school, but you ended up meeting a mentor.

[00:07:17] It was your friend's dad, he gave you a new direction and it was a very pivotal point in your life. I'd love for you to share that story with us and why that moment in time was so eye opening for you. 

[00:07:28] Jim Kwik: As you mentioned, I thought getting into school would gimme a reset. If I thought freshmen meant fresh start as I took all these classes and I wanted to show the world and, show myself really made me make people around me proud and I did worse.

[00:07:41] And it was so difficult for me and I didn't have the money to be in school to begin with. And so I was ready to quit. And when I had that thought, I was talking to friends and a friend said, Hey, that's a big life decision. Why don't you get some perspective? And he invites me to visit his home over the weekend where he was [00:08:00] gonna just get some time off.

[00:08:01] And I agree. And, when I get to the, this person's home it's beautiful kind. It's not in the water. And the father walks me around his property and before dinner and asks me a very innocent question. And the question is, how school? And that is, I'm just getting choked up even like thinking about it right now.

[00:08:18] Because it's I didn't, that was the worst question you could ask me. And I start bawling in front of this stranger because I have so much pressure that, I haven't told anybody. And I told 'em my whole story about having my brain injury and not feeling enough, and school's not for me and I'm ready to quit.

[00:08:35] I don't know how to tell my folks. And he said, Jim, and this question, one question changes everything, right? He said, Why are you in school? What do you wanna be? What do you wanna do? What do you wanna have? What do you wanna share? And completely honest, I didn't have any answer cause I didn't know why I was in school.

[00:08:50] I just thought, that's what you do, right Hala? It's I was on that path and when I start thinking about it, I go to answer him and he says, Stop. He reaches out in his back pocket. It takes out a [00:09:00] notepad. And he just asked me to write down. Tear this out a couple sheets.

[00:09:02] Make me write down, all the things I want, if anything's possible. And if you can't fail. What would you do? And I start writing these things down, and I don't know how much time goes by. I lose track of time. And when I'm done though, I start folding the sheets of paper to put in my pocket and he rips them outta my hands and I'm freaking out because he starts reading him.

[00:09:22] And I've never shared these things, my dreams or my desires, my goals with anybody. I didn't even realize some of these things I wanted until he, I went through this exercise and I'm freaking out because I'm afraid of being judged. Like anybody, you don't wanna be judged. You don't wanna feel like you know that, Oh, that you're not good enough for all these things.

[00:09:41] And when he is done, he starts, he looks at me, he says, Jim, you are this close to everything on this list. And he's, for those who I'm watching on video. He's spreading my index fingers about a foot apart. And I was like, No way. I'm not that close. Give me 10 lifetimes. I'm not gonna crack that list.

[00:09:58] And he takes his index [00:10:00] fingers and he puts them to side of my head. Meaning what's in between is the key that would unlock, those achievements and meaning my brain. And he walks me into, his home, then into a room I've never seen before. It is wall to wall, ceiling, the floor covered in books. And at this point, I've never read a book covered to cover.

[00:10:21] I still have, some reading issues, ability issues, and I'm freaking out. It's like being in room full of snakes, for people who are phobic of, and have anxiety around something. And what makes it worse is he starts going to the shelves and grabbing and grabs these snakes. If you will, and starts handing them to me.

[00:10:36] And just book after book. And I start looking at the titles. And there are these biographies of some incredible women and men in history. And some very early personal growth books. The classics, Norman Vincent Peale The Power Positive Thinking, Thinking Grow Rich Narrat, Napoleon Hill. And he says, Jim, Leaders are readers.

[00:10:55] I want you to read one book a week. And my honest reaction was, [00:11:00] Have you not heard anything I've said to you this entire time? I have learning disabilities, I have challenges. I can't read very well. I have so much schoolwork. And when I said, I have so much schoolwork. He said, Jim, don't let school get in the way of your education.

[00:11:14] And I didn't even realize it was a Mark Twain quote at the time, but I was like, Wow. It's really profound and I can't promise to read a book a week. And then very smart man. He reaches into his pocket and he takes out my goals. Like my bucket list, and he starts reading every single one of my goals out loud.

[00:11:30] And something all about hearing like your goals and your deepest desires, said by a stranger like can it out into the world and mess with my mind and my my spirit. Honestly, something fierce. And a lot of the things on that list were things I wanted to do for my parents. Things that they could never, even if they could afford to, they wouldn't do for themselves.

[00:11:51] And with that motivation, in those reasons, I promise to read one book a week. Fast forward now. I'm back at school and I have all these midterms. I'm sitting at my desk. I [00:12:00] have a pile of books I have to read for school and a pile of books I promised to read and I already couldn't get through pile A.

[00:12:05] So what, what do I find the time? So I don't eat, I don't sleep. I don't socialize. I don't work out. I don't do anything. I just live in the library day and night for weeks and weeks. And one night I pass out at the library. 2:00 AM I fall down a flight of stairs. I hit my head again and I woke up two full days later in the hospital.

[00:12:26] And at this point I was hooked with all these IVs. These, I was malnurished, dehydrated. I was down to 117 pounds. I was wasted away cuz I haven't just taken care of myself. And it was the darkest point in my life. And at that point when I woke up, something else woke up inside of me also and, renewed sense of like purpose.

[00:12:45] And I thought, and it's interesting cuz, I just, I didn't know what to do and the nurse came in with a mug of tea and I had a picture of Albert Einstein and a genius. But the words, the quote was one you've heard before, It said the same level [00:13:00] of thinking that has created your problem won't solve your problem.

[00:13:03] And it made me ask a new question. The power of questions again. What's my real problem? My problem is I'm a slow learner. And I was like, how do I think differently about it? Maybe I can learn how to learn faster. So I put my schoolwork aside and I just started studying the art and science around learning.

[00:13:19] I wanna understand how my brain works so I can work my brain. How does my memory work so I can work my memory better? How does focus work? I started studying ancient methodologies of what did ancient civilizations do before there were printing presses? How do they remember things and, new brain science.

[00:13:35] And after a couple of months of studying this a light switch just flipped on. And I started in school understanding things. For the very first time in my life. I started to have this renewed focus and interest in learning. I started to be able to read, be able to retain and do better. My grades shot up.

[00:13:53] And then, but not only that, but my life got better. And, the reason why I'm still here 30 years later. Plus [00:14:00] years later is because I started, it's fun, funny when you learn something. Like you watch movies like The Matrix, or your favorite superhero, whatever. It's always you go from this Joseph Campbell's work.

[00:14:10] You go from this ordinary world to this extraordinary world and then you can't help but bring back things. And I started sharing some of the things I was doing with friends, and I started tutoring and one of my very first students. I was teaching her how speed reading. She read 30 books in 30 days.

[00:14:26] Can you imagine? 

[00:14:28] Hala Taha: That's a lot. 

[00:14:28] Jim Kwik: So many people are really good at buying books and that's a different skill set than reading those books. They, people buy books, they sit on your shelf and become shelf help, not self-help. And I start I wanted to know not how she did it, but why? And I found out that her motivation was her mom.

[00:14:44] Her mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Doctors, gave her mom maybe two months to live. And the books she was reading were books on health and wellness books to save her mom's life. And I find out six months later, she calls and she's crying and when she stops crying. I find out they're [00:15:00] tears of joy that are mother, not only survived, but it's getting better.

[00:15:03] Doctors don't know how or why the doctors were calling it a miracle, but her mother attributed the great advice she got from her daughter who rendered from all these books. In that moment, I found my mission in life, cuz I realized in that moment of knowledge is power. We hear that a lot then. And reading and learning is our superpower.

[00:15:19] And I realize it's the most important superpower and it's the power we all have inside of us. 

[00:15:24] Hala Taha: Wow. Thank you so much for sharing that incredible story. So I'm gonna take us down a rabbit hole. I wasn't originally planning this, but as you were telling your story. I couldn't help but start thinking about immigrant parents and like the pros and the cons of immigrant parents.

[00:15:38] So I came from immigrant parents. I'm assuming you came from immigrant parents. Am I correct? 

[00:15:43] Jim Kwik: Yes. 

[00:15:44] Hala Taha: And I remember like all my friends, I actually had a, my dad was a doctor, but even though my dad was a doctor. Nobody helped me with homework when I was a kid. Like I remember, like I, it was like on my own because my mom didn't speak that great of English.

[00:15:58] My dad was [00:16:00] busy at work providing for the family. So I felt like I was always alone. Where I feel like other people, peers that might have had American parents probably got help with their homework and things like that or better guidance. Like you had that conversation with you when you were 18 and nobody ever told you to write your goals down before.

[00:16:17] Cause when you have immigrant parents. They're figuring out how to navigate the world and provide, and they're on this lower rung, than everyone else trying to figure it out. I feel like sometimes you don't get the advice that you need when you're kids. Talk to us about that. Does that ring any bells for you?

[00:16:33] Or, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

[00:16:35] Jim Kwik: Let's go there. My, my dad came to the United States when he was 13. He lost both his parents and didn't speak the language, didn't have any money, came and lived with his aunt. Who I knew as my grandmother and her mother grew up. They lived in the back of a laundrymat that my grandmother worked at.

[00:16:51] And so it was that environment didn't speak the language and. It's interesting cuz sometimes we think about resources and growing up. We didn't have [00:17:00] any network or connections or money or education or those kind of things, but feel like a lot of it comes to the resources we have inside.

[00:17:07] And I think, again, our most important is the resource of our own mind. It's really truly limitless. And so I think within every disadvantage, there's that word advantage. With challenge comes change. My two biggest challenges growing up were learning for the long, for decade and a half. And because of it, my other challenge was public speaking because my superpower growing up was shrinking down.

[00:17:32] I didn't want to be seen because I never had the answer, never. If I was ever called on in class. I would never know what the right. What the solution was. I never wanted the spotlight and my insecurities, my inadequacies seen by everybody. And so my superpower was being invisible. And the universe has a sense of humor because what do I do?

[00:17:50] My is for a living, all I do is public speak on this thing called learning. And so I really think that our disadvantages can be an advantage. That through our struggles, lead [00:18:00] to strengths. That through challenge, leads to change. My parents they're remarkable, attribute it and all fairness. That anything that's good that's come outta me has come from them.

[00:18:09] And anything that's fallen short is really on me. I take that responsibility because they're the reason why, I learned to do what I say that I'm gonna do. Discipline, kindness, working hard. And I really do think that if somebody is, they do the right things for the right reasons.

[00:18:27] They're kind, they're willing to learn and make mistakes and then I feel like there are results will speak for themselves. My challenge is sometimes where we give up our power outside of us. We give up our agency by making an excuse or complaining. And the truth is, we can't be upset by the results we didn't get from the work we didn't do.

[00:18:45] And then, so I feel like it's so important that, especially if somebody's on the path, like building wealth or starting a business in the beginning. It's really hard because you've never done this before. There's a learning curve. The results don't show up right away. It [00:19:00] tests your persistence, your patience, your commitment also, and you have to feed your dreams.

[00:19:05] You have to feed your business until your business or your dreams feed you back. And then in the beginning your grossly underpaid, if anything. But if you're consistent and you're, you work hard, you're always learning, then I feel like at some point it switches. And you get overpaid for the things that you do because of all the work that you did before that.

[00:19:23] And so I feel like Jim Rohn has this quote that. What you do, what you're rewarded in public, which, for the work you do in private. And I feel like everybody right now that's struggling. That's putting in the hours and the early mornings or the late nights. I just feel like part of it is just taking care of yourself and believing in yourself and we hear this all the time, for me believing myself is I saw this bird the other day and I realized, while it's singing its song and it's calm and it's confidence. It's calm and its confidence doesn't come from putting its trust in the tree branch.

[00:19:54] The bird's calm and confidence comes putting its trust in its own wings. And I feel like [00:20:00] that, when we have to know ourself and have the curiosity to know ourself, but then also trust ourself and then having the courage to be ourself also. It's a different practice. 

[00:20:09] Hala Taha: Let's hold that thought and take a quick break with our sponsors.

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[00:24:10] So let's talk about the ability to unlimit ourselves, right? So I think that's really important, being able to believe in yourself, like you were just saying. And so I'd love to understand the importance of motivation related to believing in yourself. 

[00:24:25] Jim Kwik: So motivation for me is not something that's abstract, it's something very tangible.

[00:24:30] This actually came from, I have a formula that I use to motivate myself and motivate clients that I get to work with. And it's very simple. And people, a little masterclass I encourage everyone take notes. It's P times E times S three, three factors for limitless motivation. So if you struggle with getting yourself to do what you know you should do, because knowledge by itself is not power.

[00:24:55] Only cause power. When we apply it, when we implement it, right? P times E times s3. [00:25:00] And so what we could do with thought, experiment, everyone, think about something that you're not motivated to do. Something that you know you should do. But you're not doing it. Maybe it's in meditation or maybe it's working out.

[00:25:11] Maybe it's reading each day, whatever it happens to be. So the P stands for purpose. And I don't mean our life's purpose. We could talk about that, but the reasons like without reasons you won't get the results. Even if you wanna remember names, which I think is one of the most important skills.

[00:25:28] Networking business skills, business etiquette skills. Because how are you gonna show somebody you're gonna care for their future. Their family, their health, their finances, whatever it is you sell them. If you don't care enough just to remember their name. A lot of people will remember names better if they just, had a reason to remember their names.

[00:25:42] Ask yourself, why do I wanna remember the person's name? Maybe it's to show the person respect. Maybe it's to practice these things I learned from this podcast, right? And so it has to go from your head to your heart to your hands. Meaning if you could have visualization, if you visualize in your head you have goals in your head, a bucket list, KPIs, whatever [00:26:00] in your head, and you're not acting consistently with your head, Check in with your hands, check in with the second H, which is our heart.

[00:26:07] And the heart is a symbol of emotions cuz we are not logical. Even people don't buy logically. We know that. People buy emotionally, right? Because we are not logical, we are biological. You think we're not logical or biological. You think about dopamine and oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins. We are this chemical feeling soup.

[00:26:26] And, but we don't do things unless we feel it. And that's really the key to a long term memory. We tend to remember things that are charged with emotions. And there's a song you could hear that could take you back to when you're a teenager or fragrance or a food that could take you back to when you're a child, right?

[00:26:41] Cause information by itself is very forgettable. When information when's combined with emotions become unforgettable because that part of your middle brain that's your amygdala is processing all these emotions and it's connected to your hippocampus, which is your memory. And so we remember things that make us feel certain way.

[00:26:56] And when it comes to motivation, we have to start with that feeling. So when I [00:27:00] say purpose, it's not intellectual purpose. We all know we should do these things, but common sense is not common practice unless we feel it. And so allow yourself to feel the sensations of who's counting on you to play your a game.

[00:27:13] What are the rewards you're gonna be able to enjoy if you're be able to follow through. So purpose. Now, let's say it's to do something like reading each day, readers. If anyone see me on social media with Elon or Oprah or Bill Gates or whoever we bonded over books, cuz you read to succeed.

[00:27:30] If somebody has decades of experience and they put into a book and you could sit down in a few days and read that book, you could download decades in a day that, that's the biggest advantage there is in the world. 

[00:27:39] Hala Taha: Yup. Best ROI on your time. Yup!

[00:27:41] Jim Kwik: Absolutely. And so people intellectually know that, but if they're not doing it, part of it is they might not feel the benefits of doing it. After that, though, somebody could have limitless purpose and still not read each day.

[00:27:52] Because they need the E and the P times E times S three. The E stands for energy. Such an important component and [00:28:00] element of sustained motivation is sustained energy. And here's the thing, here's a trick when it comes to energy. Energy is not something you have and people are listening, right? Jim, I have no energy.

[00:28:12] It's something you do. And one of the principles that I subscribe to for accelerated learning is get in the habit of taking your nouns and transferring 'em into verbs, transforming them into verbs. Meaning we hypnotize ourself with the language we're using on a regular basis, right? And your brain is this incredible super computer and your self-talk is the program it will run.

[00:28:32] So if you tell yourself, I'm not good at remembering people's names, you will not remember the name of the next person you meet because you program your supercomputer not to. Same thing with saying, I don't have energy because you don't have energy. You do energy, just like you don't have focus. You're like, Jim, yes.

[00:28:48] That's my problem. I have no focus. You don't have focus, you do focus. There's a process for focusing. There's a process for generating energy. You don't have creativity. There's a process for being creative, right? Even [00:29:00] you don't even have a memory. There's a three step process for memorizing something and the benefit of taking some noun and turning 'em into a verb is all of a sudden you turn into a process, right?

[00:29:11] It's a strategy now that you could execute on, and so that's really my goal is to take these processes and show people, There's a method behind what looks like magic. When I can memorize and in front of an audience, 50 people's names or a hundred people's names that pass around in microphone or a hundred random words under random numbers or shuffle tech cards or whatever.

[00:29:30] There's a time, obviously I couldn't do that, right? I was worse off than most people who are listening. But there's no such thing as a good or bad memory. There's a train memory, an untrained memory. Just there's no such thing as a good or bad brain. There's a trained brain and an untrained brain.

[00:29:43] So the second part for motivation is not just having purpose. Yes, you have purpose to read, to succeed, to make more money, to have greater impact. But if you're not doing it, maybe you lack energy. Maybe you ate a big process meal and you're in a food coma. Maybe you're waiting to read at when you're most tired in the day and you haven't [00:30:00] slept, and so you're depleted and you can't get yourself to act right, because you lack the energy.

[00:30:05] And we talk about, in our podcast, in the books 10 different ways you could optimize what are the best brain foods? What's the best way to reduce stress? Because stress uses up a whole lot of energy. How do you optimize your sleep? Now, after purpose and energy, let's say you have a limitless purpose, you feel it, and you have lots and lots of energy, and you're still not following through, working out, or reading or whatever, making those sales calls, whatever.

[00:30:30] Then S three, the final part, three S's, Small, Simple, Steps. Here's the thing. A lot of times people are not motivated because this thing is too abstract and a confused mine doesn't do anything. Just like even if you're marketing to somebody, right? And if you make it too intimidating, they're not gonna do anything because you have to break it down in the small simple steps that they could see themselves following through on.

[00:30:53] So maybe working out an hour a day is too hard for someone. That's not what they normally do. So maybe [00:31:00] it's putting on their running shoes, maybe it's getting them getting to the gym. That's a small, simple step. Maybe if you can't get a kid to floss their teeth, maybe it's getting to floss one tooth or clean their room is too difficult.

[00:31:12] It's too intimidating. It's like climbing a mountain, but maybe putting one sock in the hamper. So inch by inch, it's a cinch yard by yard. It's way too hard. And my thing is, how do you find the small, simple step? I ask myself, simple question. What is the tiniest action? And people could write this down.

[00:31:28] What is the tiniest action I could take right now that will gimme progress towards this goal where I can't fail? What is the tiniest action I could take right now that would gimme progress towards this goal so tiny that I can't fail? Because you eliminate the friction, so then you can create that positive momentum.

[00:31:45] So for me, you don't have motivation, you do it. And the process is purpose, energy, and small, simple steps. 

[00:31:53] Hala Taha: I love that because I feel like you're giving people ownership over their brain. A lot of people feel like they're [00:32:00] born a genius, right? They're that you've gotta have these smarts and you're born with it or you're not, they're living with these labels.

[00:32:05] So I think everything you're saying is really impactful and also really practical. You're giving us steps that we can take to actually improve our brain. So let's talk about myths, because a lot of people think that we only use 10% of our brain. You say that's not true. I've heard that a thousand times.

[00:32:21] And I'd love to hear some of the myths that you've heard over the years about learning and our brain. 

[00:32:27] Jim Kwik: Yeah, let's listen. Name a few of them. The lies or the BS. The BS stands for our belief systems. So the limited ideas entertain one of them is exactly what you mentioned, that we use 10% of our brain. The truth is that we actually use a hundred percent of our brain, and it's just, But here's the caveat.

[00:32:45] Some people use that a hundred percent differently than other people. It's like we use a hundred percent of our body. Most people use a hundred percent of their bodies throughout the day. But some people are just more physically fit. They have endurance, they have flexibility. They have a [00:33:00] level of agility and strength because they've trained those muscles. 

[00:33:04] Well. I think the most important muscle, which is an organ, but I metaphorically, it's more like a muscle is the mind and it's used it or lose it. But if I put my arm in a sling for a year, it wouldn't grow stronger. It wouldn't even stay the same. What would happen to muscle? It would just atrophy.

[00:33:18] It would care weaker. That's a lot. What, How happens with our mental muscles? We're not utilizing them. So we actually use a hundred percent of our brain just so use a hundred percent of our body. But if somebody needed to climb, go for a hike, and it's a pretty steep incline. Some people are just gonna navigate that easier than others.

[00:33:35] And same thing when people are reading, some people will navigate through a book with greater speed, efficiency, focus, understanding, retention, enjoyment because they're just mentally fit. And so again, there's no such thing as a good or bad brain. There's a trained brain and an untrained brain. That's the truth.

[00:33:51] Another myth is that genius is, as you mentioned, genius is born. You're either born with it or you're not born with it. And the truth [00:34:00] is that it's not how smart you are, it's how are you smart? There's a story in Limitless, and I don't wanna go and get all Audible right now, but maybe I could read this anecdote.

[00:34:10] I talk about the how genius is is actually built. So the story that I share in here says, the king was watching a great magician perform is act. The crowd was enthralled and so was the king. At the end, the audience wared with approval and the king said, What a gift this man has. A God given talent.

[00:34:30] But a wise counselor said to the king, My Lord, genius is built not born. This magician skills the result of discipline and practice. These talents have been learned and honed over time with determination and discipline. The king was troubled by this message. The counselors challenge had spoiled his pleasure in the magician's arts limited and spiteful man.

[00:34:50] How dare you criticize a true genius. As I said, you either have it or you don't, and you most certainly don't. The king turned to his bodyguard and said, Throw this man [00:35:00] into the deepest dungeon, and he added for the counselor's benefits. So you won't be lonely. You could have two of your kind to keep you company.

[00:35:06] You shall have two piglets as cellmates from the very first day of his imprisonment. The wise counselor practice running up the stairs of his cell to the prison door, carrying in each hand a piglet. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, the piglets steadily grew into sturdy boars and with every day of practice. The wise counselor increased in power and strength.

[00:35:28] One day the king remembered the wise counselor and was curious to see how imprisonment has humbled him. He had the wise counselor summoned, when the prisoner appeared he was a man. A powerful physique carrying a bore on each arm. The king exclaim. What a gift. This man has a God-given talent. Otherwise, counselor replied, My Lord, genius is built not born.

[00:35:50] My skills, the resulted discipline and practice. These talents have been learned and honed over time with determination and discipline. 

[00:35:58] Hala Taha: I love that story. [00:36:00] 

[00:36:00] Jim Kwik: It's one of those ideas that people don't see, as we were talking about earlier. The work that goes on behind the scenes and what you've done for, to build your business, to build your brand, they don't see that.

[00:36:11] And so it's the tip of the iceberg kind of theory. But the idea here is that people aren't born that. They're actually with genius. It'd actually be built. And I believe genius leaves clues that when somebody's exceptional, and you've had so many of these guests. That are exceptional in certain areas, that and you're helping them to deconstruct. What they do and making it, the methods more clear, conscious for people who are listening and helps them develop their fast track. Their shortcuts, if you will.

[00:36:38] And, I really do believe genius is something that's available to all of us. 

[00:36:41] Hala Taha: 100%. And doing is so important, like you're saying, the reps, the repetition, the consistency. I feel like that's really the key to everything. I feel like, so I always talk about this on my podcast. Get the skills, get the experiences, do the things.

[00:36:55] And like you said, it's not an overnight success ever. It's years and [00:37:00] years. And then people just see the tip of that iceberg usually. So let's talk about memory. I love this memory is so foundational to everything that you say. You actually have said in the past that no learning is happening without memory.

[00:37:14] So talk to us about how memory plays into everything that you teach. 

[00:37:18] Jim Kwik: I believe two of the most costly words in life, or I forgot, like how often do we say these words? Like I forgot to do it. I forgot to bring it. I forgot that meeting. I forgot what I was gonna say. I forgot that conversation. I forgot that person's name.

[00:37:32] Every single time we have the, those thoughts, we could lose time, we could lose trust, we could lose, we could hurt it, lose a sale even. And so I believe on the other side then memory will actually make you money. When you could easily remember facts and figures and talking points. Product information, client information, right?

[00:37:50] And you have it at your mental fingertips. Cuz everybody who's listening here, nobody, it's not like it was a hundred years ago or generations ago weren't. It's not like you're compensated for your [00:38:00] boots strength. Today, it's your brain strength. It's not like it was agricultural age where you're paid for your muscle power today.

[00:38:07] It's your mind power. And so memory is foundational. Socrates said learning is remembering the challenges. Memory wasn't a class back in school, right? I always thought it should have been the fourth r reading, writing, arithmetic. But what about retention? What about recall? What about remembering? And so there's certain things we could do to be able to improve our memory.

[00:38:26] And so a lot of times people come to me and say Jim, I do, I wanna get better at my memory. And I say, That's like saying I wanna be better at sports. What area? Specifically with sports specifically. So let's say let's go back to remembering names. . 

[00:38:39] Hala Taha: I love that. 

[00:38:40] Jim Kwik: So I think there, there are three keys to remembering names.

[00:38:42] The first one I mentioned already, and I use the acronym mom om and is like the mother of all, memory techniques. The M stands for motivation. So just a reminder, when we forget something. We usually aren't connected to the reason why we want to remember it. And here's the thing, we don't remember all names, but nobody [00:39:00] listening to this forgets all names either.

[00:39:02] And remember I said genius leaves clues and you're probably motivated to remember those names that you did remember. Maybe you're attracted to that person. Maybe that person could be good for your business or something. 

[00:39:12] Hala Taha: Hiring manager or something, right? 

[00:39:14] Jim Kwik: Exactly. And you could ask yourself, You could connect with that Again, by asking yourself Why?

[00:39:19] Why do I remember this person's name? And come up with just one reason. Cause if you came up with one reason, you won't remember the O. And MOM stands for observation. And this is so simple, but it's usually the simple stuff that people forget to do. Observation means your attention. A lot of people aren't forgetting a name, they're just not paying attention.

[00:39:38] You could remember one or two words a name. But most people, what are they doing? They're thinking about how they're gonna reply or what they're gonna say in response or waiting for their turn to speak. And so a lot of people, they're not forgetting, they're just not listening. And the art of memories.

[00:39:53] The art of attention. So I would remind you, imagine and if you're writing this down, write the word listen. And here's a brain [00:40:00] exercise. It's kinda like a wordle, change the letters around. Scramble the letters and what word does it spell perfectly? Also, like if you scramble the letters and listen, it spells another word.

[00:40:09] Hala Taha: Silent. 

[00:40:10] Jim Kwik: Silent. And that's all I would ask people to do. If you wanna improve their memory, remember names, ask yourself why. Come up with a couple reasons and then just be silent, right? One of my favorite books by one of my mentors, Dr. Stephen Covey, he wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

[00:40:26] And one of the habits is seek first, understand, then to be understood, seek first to understand, then to be understood. That we don't have to be the most interesting person in the room, but I think to have greater impact, have greater income, certainly have greater influence. Instead of being the most interesting person in the room, try to be the most interested person in the room.

[00:40:45] Right that curiosity and get seek first to understand. And it starts with a person's name, right? Cause how are you gonna again show you're gonna care? If you don't care enough? Just remember their name cuz people don't care how much you know until they know 'em that you care. And so that's so important.

[00:40:58] So just pay attention. Then the [00:41:00] final M and Mom are the methods. The things that we have in our podcast and our book and we could talk about some of them. For remember, name something simple. So six steps on how to remember names and faces. If you see me do this and at a live event or on video.

[00:41:13] Very simple. Be believe. Cause if you believe you can or believe you can. Either way, you're right and you want, So you wanna limit the negative self-talk. Because remember I said your brain's like a super computer. Self talk is the program will run. So if you tell yourself, I'm not good at remembering names. You won't remember the name of the next person you meet.

[00:41:29] So many people at events come to me and they talk to me about their lives. They say, I'm too old, I'm not smart enough. And I say, Stop. If you fight for limitations, you get to keep them. 

[00:41:38] Hala Taha: That's so good. 

[00:41:39] If people truly understood, although how powerful their mind is, they wouldn't say or think something they didn't wanna be true.

[00:41:46] So you wanna be able to keep it encouraging. And so the B and b SWA believe the E exercise, and I don't mean physical exercise, although people who are more physically active is if you're listening to this podcast right now and you're on an elliptical [00:42:00] or you're going for a brisk walk. You'll probably learn it better.

[00:42:02] Because as your body moves, your brain grooves, when you move your body, create brain derived neurotropic factors. Which is like fertilizer for neuroplasticity, great for learning. But I don't mean exercise, practice cuz practice makes progress. Practice makes progress. And so I'm very good at remembering names.

[00:42:19] But after the first month or two of learning how to do it. I haven't improved a whole lot more. Cuz once, once you know how to do something. You know how to tie your shoes, then you just know how to tie your shoes, right? You know how to type, you know how to drive a car and after 30 or 60 days, it's a skill.

[00:42:35] So I just wanted just reaffirm. It's not a, you don't have a good or bad memory. There's a trained memory, an untrained memory. And so I would say practice, you don't have to go out there and practice remembering 15 people's names, but just start with one, and then one becomes two. And little by little a little becomes a whole lot.

[00:42:51] And now a quick break from our sponsors.

[00:42:59] I love [00:43:00] that. And there's one part that I wanna stick on, and that's the fact that it's not about retention art. It's not a retention problem. It's an observation problem. You need to actually pay attention and care. I'm actually really happy that you brought up the name recognition thing, because I was at podcast movement.

[00:43:16] You probably have heard of it. It's like a big conference, right? And I met some new friends and like at the end of the night, and I'm like one of the bigger podcasters there. And at the end of the, I said bye to this guy that we were hanging out with all night. I'm like, Bye Ben. And he is Hala, my name is Chase.

[00:43:29] And I was like, Oh. And I was like, Damn. And then I felt so silly. And then, when I saw this. I was like, how important is it to remember names? Like it is one of the key foundations of networking. Cuz that guy is forever gonna remember that I embarrassed him in front of the other people calling him the wrong name.

[00:43:46] And and then it just seemed like I didn't pay attention. 

[00:43:48] Jim Kwik: Yeah. And it happens. So shout out to Chase. Then the second half of will help you do that. The S and SUAVE say the name. So when you, when somebody introduces themself, say the name back to them and [00:44:00] just literally just repeat it. Right?

[00:44:01] Chase, It's nice to meet you and just by hearing it again, won't boost your retention. Cause you get to hear it from them. You get to hear it from yourself. U and stands for use it. Now you wanna use it. You don't wanna abuse it. So three or four times in the context of the conversation, Wonderful.

[00:44:16] But you don't. Go to somebody and and just meet them. Chase, it's nice to meet you, Chase. You wanna grab a bite chase, house war, that would be an abuse. But using it, planting it three or four times will help you retain it. The A in SUAVE ask, and you could ask all kinds of things about a person's name.

[00:44:32] You know who you named after. How do you, is that spelled with a Y or an I? Especially for names that are unusual, that you haven't heard before, Like your own. Where'd it come from? 

[00:44:43] Hala Taha: It's arabic and it actually means welcome. 

[00:44:46] Jim Kwik: Oh, that's beautiful. And then you can ask somebody how they spell it and the origin and what's where it from and all of a sudden asking about person's name, right?

[00:44:53] They say a name is the sweet of sound, a person's ears. Your name will automatically trigger someone's particular activating system. I know you've done [00:45:00] shows on that also and had guests talk about the RAs, but that's one of the things that are programmed. It's the sweetest sound, right? So it gets your attention automatically.

[00:45:07] And calling people by name, asking about their name. So that's the A. And finally, the V and the E in SUAVE, the V is visualized. And here's the thing. So many people are better with faces than they are with names because they could see it, right? You go to someone and say, I recognize your face, but I forgot your name.

[00:45:24] You never go to someone and say the opposite. You never go to someone and say, I remember your name, but I forgot your face. 

[00:45:28] Hala Taha: So true. 

[00:45:29] Jim Kwik: Someone make a lot of sense, but we tend to remember what we see. And because more of our nervous system, our brain is dedicated the real estate towards visual processing.

[00:45:39] And so there's a proper that says what I hear. I forget what I see, I remember what I do. I understand what I hear, I forget. I heard the name. I forgot it. What I see, I remember I saw your face. I'll always remember your face. And going back to what I do, I understand, through practice makes progress.

[00:45:55] So I would say for the, if you tend to remember what visualize and try seeing what you wanna [00:46:00] remember. So if you meet somebody, name Chase. Then all of a sudden you can imagine at first split second that they might be chasing you, or something like that. Or if someone named Ben. Imagine and they, maybe they have a, great head of hair and you imagine, that their head is like somehow associated with Big Ben or something like, and then all of a sudden. It's and it sounds childish, but how fast are children and learning. They make these images and then that's feeling to it too.

[00:46:27] We already said that information when times emotion become a long term memory. And so how can you visualize a person's name to make it more memorable? Person's name is Mary. Imagine them carrying two lambs or getting married to them. And someone's name Mike. You just imagine them jumping on the table and seeing karaoke on a microphone.

[00:46:47] And again, and these are temporary. It's to overcome what I call the six second syndrome. Somebody tells you their name, you have six seconds to do something with that. Otherwise, what happens? As soon as the handshake breaks, it like falls right [00:47:00] through the. So it grabs it. It forces you to focus on the person, and it forces you to focus on the name.

[00:47:05] And that focus will lead to remembrance. And so remember what you wanna see by seeing what you wanna remember. That's the B. And then finally, the E and B SUAVE is end. When you leave somebody, you use their name saying goodbye using their name. Because if you could walk into a room of strangers and 20 people and then leave saying goodbye to every single one of them by name, who are they all gonna remember?

[00:47:29] They're all gonna remember you, right? And that's a standout skill in a world where a lot of services are commoditized and you need to be able to stand out and become unforgettable. And I think one of the easiest ways to stand out in a room is remembering people. 

[00:47:43] Hala Taha: I a hundred percent agree, like this is such a good hack.

[00:47:46] I feel like everyone should rewind. Take some notes down and give yourself a homework assignment. Start to practice SUAVE, when you're at your next networking event or party or whatever it is, and see if you can remember every single person's name and give it a try. [00:48:00] I think it's really cool. And you know what?

[00:48:02] Based on your work, I found out that we're actually getting worse at stuff like this because of digital dementia and some issues like this. So I'd love to move on to that as we start to close out the interview. So you call these super villains. And this is all related to our relationship with technology.

[00:48:18] You have four drivers of the digital age that reduce brain performance, digital, digital deluge, digital distraction, digital deduction, and digital dementia. So I'd love to learn a little bit about those areas. 

[00:48:29] Jim Kwik: So these are the four horsemen of the mental apocalypse. And it's one of those things where, let's start with digital deluge.

[00:48:35] It's one of those things where it's overload. Information overload and how many people listening feel like there's too much information, and not a lot of time right to go through it all. That we're drowning in information but we're starving for that practical wisdom, if you will. Or the ability to learn how to swim right?

[00:48:50] In a world flooded with information and data. So the amount information is doubling at dizzying speeds. They say that you know that it's the amount [00:49:00] information. It when you graduate school it get the half-life information is getting shorter and shorter cuz it could be outdated and it's insane because like it's up theat.

[00:49:09] I was doing a program at Google and I heard somebody say there that the chairman said that the amount information that's been created from the dawn of humanity to the year 2003, just a couple decades ago, that amount information, think about the Library of Congress, that amount of information that was created every 48 hours online.

[00:49:27] Hala Taha: Oh my God, that's crazy. 

[00:49:29] Jim Kwik: Think about all the podcasts and all the social media and all blogs.

[00:49:32] Hala Taha: That's insane to think about. 

[00:49:34] Jim Kwik: So the amount of information's doubling, but how we learn it and read it and retain it, that hasn't changed a whole lot. But that growing gap creates digital deluge information anxiety.

[00:49:43] And that's an actual like they call it information fatigue syndrome, higher blood pressure, compression of leisure time, more sleeplessness. I think we'd all identify. So the goal is you upgrade your learning skills to keep up with that overload. Then you have digital distraction. And how do you maintain your concentration?

[00:49:59] In our role, flow of [00:50:00] rings and pings and dings and app notifications, social media alerts. And I think I, and again, I'm pro technology, it allows us to do this, right? Allows us to inspire, to empower, to entertain. And there's the other side of the coin or the sword. Where it's driving us to distraction, with every share, comment, cad, video, whatever.

[00:50:19] We're gonna just this dopamine flood. And we wonder why we can't concentrate? When we're on doing our screen time with work or just having a conversation with somebody and our mind wanders. And part of it is, I feel like it's, our brain has been just distracted and overloaded and it's going all different ways.

[00:50:35] So that's why we train in limitless chapters on focus and flow. And then besides digital deluge and digital extraction, we have digital deduction. And that's the term I just coined. Basically, I read this study where children, when they're tested this generation, they're not showing the scores and the same kind of results as previous generations.

[00:50:56] In fact, it's lower in their ability to deduce and to [00:51:00] rationalize, to apply logic. And the so suggest is because of the technology is doing the thinking for us. Remember, like even like GPS, like how would we know to get from here to there where you'd have to use some kind of visual s spatial intelligence.

[00:51:15] But here we're just on autopilot and technology with algorithms. Like it'll teach you not how to think, but teach you what to think based on things. And so that's digital deduction. And I feel like it's so important for school, not only to teach us, you know what to learn, but how to learn, not what to think, but how to think ourselves.

[00:51:31] And then finally, the last one, as you mentioned, is this one called digital dementia. And that's the equivalent of us physically. If we just took Uber and Lyft just to go five blocks and we didn't walk it. Then there's a physical, it's convenient, but it could be crippling to our body. If we rely on taking an elevator just to go to our apartment on the third floor every day. Then we lose an opportunity to exercise, our muscles and just think about something simple I don't know, phone numbers.

[00:51:57] Like how many phone numbers did you used to know, like growing [00:52:00] up. 

[00:52:00] Hala Taha: Yeah, so many. Now I don't even know my best friend's phone number, but I couldn't tell you my best friend's phone number by heart heard cellphone. 

[00:52:07] Jim Kwik: And you're communicating with that person every single day. And so then that's digital dementia.

[00:52:11] And I have to say, again, I don't wanna memorize 500 phone numbers, but it should be concerning. We've lost the ability to remember one phone number or a passcode, or a pin number or a seed phrase or like the har our hotel room or credit, whatever it happens to be. And so your memory is a muscle.

[00:52:28] It's use it or lose it just like the rest of our mind. And again, technology is not good or bad. It just like fire is technology. It could cook your food or it could burn down your home. Just how it's applied. And I would just say just like with anything there, there's a quote in Limitless that says, Life is the C between B and D.

[00:52:47] Life is C between B and D. B stands for birth. D stands for death, life, c choice that our life's is a sum total of all the choices we made up to this. And the these difficult times, they can define [00:53:00] us. These difficult times can distract us. These difficult times can diminish us or these difficult times. They actually can develop us.

[00:53:07] We ultimately decide, every single day, and I wanna remind people that we always have that ability to decide to just to show up for ourselves, right? Cause I think we're all on this journey to reveal and realize our fullest potential. I really do believe there's a version of every single person who's listening to this.

[00:53:23] There's a version of yourself that you haven't met yet. There's a version of your brain you haven't met yet. There's a version of your business that you haven't met yet. And the goal is we show up every single day until we're introduced. 

[00:53:34] Hala Taha: Yeah. And like you said, technology is not good or bad. We just need to evolve with that technology and learn how to learn better.

[00:53:42] And what a great conversation we had today about building a better brain. Jim, the way that we close out our show is I give two questions that I ask all my guests at the end of the show. We do think fun at the end of the year with them. So the first one is, what is one actionable thing our young and profiteers can do today to become more [00:54:00] profiting tomorrow?

[00:54:01] Jim Kwik: So I would say one of the most important things you do is to love your brain. And what do I mean by that? Let's say when you reached the age of driving, you were given a car and, but this was just like the one car that you had for the rest of your life. How well would you take care of that car?

[00:54:16] Hala Taha: Keep it spotless? I would take it to service. I would do everything right. 

[00:54:19] Jim Kwik: And we have this vehicle that we're going through life in, with which is our body. And part of our body is our brain. So I would ask everybody the one, one thing that you could do to be able to do that have more purpose and profitability is to love your brain.

[00:54:32] And then just the simple thing you could do is ask yourself. Is this good for my brain or is this bad for my brain? Is watching this good for my brain or bad for my easing? This good for my brain or is bad for my brain? And not that you have to be absolutely perfect, but the goal is progress.

[00:54:45] And so, love your brain because your brain controls everything. It's your number one wealth building asset.

[00:54:50] Hala Taha: I think that's super smart. A lot of people concentrate on their bodies and they forget about their brain. So I think that's great. All right. What is your secret to profiting in life?

[00:54:59] And [00:55:00] profiting does not have to mean money. 

[00:55:01] Jim Kwik: So I think if you want your business to grow, your brand, to grow your book sales, to grow your bank account to grow, then your brain has to grow. And I say this because I always wear a brain on my shirt. I'm always seen on social media pointing to my brain.

[00:55:14] And I see, I think what you take care of, you see your car, you take care of it, you see your hair, you take care of it, your clothes, you take care of. But we don't see the thing that controls everything, which is the human brain. And so I would say that you want to be able to, just like with technology. We hear about, you upgrade your apps, you upgrade your phone, you get the upgrade, your software, your computers. But when's the last time we upgraded the most important technology that has created all that other technology, which is the human mind.

[00:55:38] And so I would say the fastest way to grow to get that area is you reach and then you rest, and then you repeat. You stretch, you stabilize, right? You can climb an amount, you stretch yourself and then you stabilize. And then you stretch some more and then you stabilize. And so I think that would be it, that you learn to earn, to return.

[00:55:57] You learn. Cuz the more you learn, the more you earn. [00:56:00] And the more you earn, the more you have the ability to return. And I think that return is really important cuz that sense of contribution. You train your nervous system your brain. That there's more than enough. We gave away a hundred percent of the proceeds to Limitless, to charity, to build schools everywhere.

[00:56:15] From Ghana to Guatemala, to for teachers, to school buildings, to healthcare, clean water for the children. And also Alzheimer's research for women. Cause women are twice as likely experienced Alzheimer's than men. And I lost my caregiver, my grandmother to Alzheimer's. So we do it in her memory. But I would say one of the best things you could do, chronic stress shrinks your brain.

[00:56:36] And one of the best ways to get outta stress is to contribute. Is focus on somebody else. And so how can you invest some of your time, your talent, your treasure, to making a difference? Cause it's nice to make a dollar and I think it's better to make a difference. And when you can do both, I think is remarkable.

[00:56:51] B do have and then share. 

[00:56:54] Hala Taha: What a great way to end the interview. That was so powerful, Jim. Thank you so much. Where can [00:57:00] our listeners learn about you and everything that you do? 

[00:57:03] Jim Kwik: Yeah, if you like this conversation, we have a podcast. It's 20 minutes long and links are in my Instagram profile, so it's hard not to find us.

[00:57:10] And then our book, limitlessbook.com. You can find it anywhere you buy books. And, I'm really passionate and I just wanna thank you so much, Hala. I'm glad we can make this happen after the past couple years. 

[00:57:19] Hala Taha: I'm so happy. I really respect how much energy and effort you put into preparation.

[00:57:25] Jim Kwik: I respect expertise. 

[00:57:27] Hala Taha: Thank you so much. 

[00:57:29] Jim Kwik: And I've listened to your show. Remarkable that you could have, that you have these conversations with these experts and pull out the information you do, but also make it so much fun, and memorable for people. 

[00:57:38] Hala Taha: Thank you so much.

[00:57:40] Jim Kwik: I would challenge everyone actually take a screenshot of this episode in whatever form you're consuming it, whether it's, an iTune, Spotify, whatever, YouTube, and tag us both there. And I would love as you post that and share it. Cause I think the fastest way to learn something is to share it with somebody else.

[00:57:55] You teach it. Cuz when you teach it, you get to learn it twice and post it. So we get to [00:58:00] see it. Cuz if you tag us, we'll see it and then share one thing you're gonna do for a better brain. What's one thing you're gonna do for a better brain? And I'll actually repost. Some of my favorites when it goes live and I'll actually gift a few copies of Limitless to to some random people. 

[00:58:15] Hala Taha: Perfect. I would love to do a book giveaway. We could definitely do that. And I'm gonna stick all of your links to my show notes, so don't worry. We're gonna make it super easy for everyone to follow you on social media to get your book. 

[00:58:26] Jim, this was honestly such a great conversation. Thank you so much for the lovely compliment.

[00:58:31] It is makes my job very easy when I have an expert like you on the show. So thank you so much for your wisdom and your time. You are the ideal Young and Profiting guests and just so happy we could make this happen as well. 

[00:58:42] Amazing. Be limitless everybody.

[00:58:49] All right, Young and Profiteers. We just heard from the boy with a broken brain who has turned into one of the leading brain experts in the entire world. [00:59:00] Jim Kwik was somebody that I've been trying to interview for years now. And so I was so excited that I landed this interview and felt like this conversation was so useful for everyone, and there's so many takeaways to go over.

[00:59:14] So let's start with something we talked about early in the interview. For any of my listeners out there who are feeling a little lost. Who are feeling like they are not operating at their full potential. Who may feel untalented or not as smart as they want to be. I wanna be the mentor that was Jim's mentor for him.

[00:59:35] I wanna be that mentor for you. A lot of people don't have a mentor. A lot of people don't have access to people who are very successful. Who will help guide them the way that Jim, by chance got to have. And so I'm gonna be that mentor for you and ask you to do the same activity that mentor had, Jim do.

[00:59:56] So first of all, I want you to take out a sheet of [01:00:00] paper and I want you to think if you could accomplish anything in life. Without the risk of failure, understanding that anything is possible. If you could achieve anything in life and it would be possible for you to do. What would you want to do with your life?

[01:00:15] What are the things that you would wanna accomplish? What are the milestones you want to achieve? Write down that list of everything that you wanna achieve in your life. And you can share with me and DM me this list on Instagram @yapwithhala. And then I'm gonna make a recording and send it back to you. All right, So you can share it with me.

[01:00:34] I can be the only person you share it with, or you can share it with your friends and family. But then I want you to go a step further. And I want you to read that list of things that you wanna achieve. Every night to yourself before you sleep, and every single morning, when you wake up. You can always change and refine this list as time goes on.

[01:00:53] Now, the key to achieving these milestones. YAP fam, is to level up your mind. [01:01:00] Okay, you need to improve what's in between those two ears of yours. And so I want you to read one book a week for the next six months. A lot of you are probably thinking one book a week. I don't have time for that. I don't have, I have school, I have you know, family things to do.

[01:01:16] I have obligations. I don't wanna hear it. I want you to read one book a week for the next six months. Even if you absolutely can't stand to read, you can listen to a podcast every day. Instead, you can also listen to an audio book every week instead. And if you don't have spare money, get used to your local library.

[01:01:37] It's there for a reason. Or ask your friends and family if you can borrow their favorite nonfiction books. Okay, So this isn't about reading fantasy books, guys. This is about reading business, human behavioral, entrepreneurial thinking type books, okay? And I promise you it will change your life. I remember.

[01:01:57] In the years before I started YAP. If you guys know my [01:02:00] story, I was in a rut, okay? I was doing great. I was actually like working a corporate job, but I wasn't following my dreams. I was working corporate marketing at Hewlett Packard. I was really thriving in my career, but I really wasn't following my dreams and I felt very empty and like I wasn't fulfilling my life.

[01:02:16] And I was like pretty lost in terms of what I wanted to do with my life. And I remember during that time, a year before I decided to launch Young and Profiting. I was obsessed with self-improvement books. And I listen to an audio book on self-improvement every single week, and many of the people that I listen to I've interviewed on my podcast like how Full Circle is that?

[01:02:40] Like for example, Charles Duhigg was like a book that I listened to over and over again. The Power of Habit, The Like Switch by Dr. Jack Schafer. I interviewed him, never split the difference. Chris Voss, I interviewed him. So many of the books that I read. I ended up interviewing on my podcast. And the only reason.

[01:02:57] Why I decided to start my [01:03:00] podcast is because reading gave me my mojo back. It made me believe again that life is limitless. It gave me new skills, new perspective, and it gave me the confidence to go on and launch Young and Profiting podcast. Which has turned into YAP Media, which has also turned into, YAP Media Network.

[01:03:17] My podcast Network, which is now also turned into YAP Academy. Which is some new courses that I'm about to launch. Very excited about that. So essentially, reading books has kicked off my lifelong legacy at YAP Media. And it's been very successful. So I want you guys to take a page from Jim's book. Take a page from my book and read one book a day for the next six months.

[01:03:41] If you're in a rut, I promise it will help you get out of it. And again, write down a list of all the things that you wanna achieve in life. Read 'em out loud, send share 'em with me. You can DM me on Instagram @yapwithhala. And I want you to read them to yourself twice a day in the morning and at night. [01:04:00] I guarantee you that things will change if you do that.

[01:04:02] Okay, So we talk about retraining your brain a lot here on Young and Profiting podcasts, because understanding that you have control over your brain is crucial to unlocking your full potential. If Jim had that limiting belief of having a broken brain. He would've never become one of the world's top brain coaches who has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Clinton.

[01:04:24] Okay? He's so successful now, and it's only because he decided to believe he didn't have a broken brain anymore. Your limitations are learned. Young and Profiteers. Geniuses are not born. Geniuses are created and you can create your own genius. We all have genius inside of us. Intelligence is learned. It's not inherited.

[01:04:46] You can learn how to learn. I want you all to realize that you are all so smart. You are not broken. Your brain is limitless. You just need to understand how to better use it. Because everything is a process. [01:05:00] Okay. It's not something you have or you don't have. People say, I have bad focus. I have bad memory.

[01:05:04] No. Okay. Focus is a process. Memory is a process. Being creative is a process. These are all processes that you can learn, right? And there's lots of material out there. There's lots of books about this type of stuff. There's no such thing as a good or a bad brain. There's only a trained and an untrained brain.

[01:05:26] You can train your brain on the things you feel weak. Okay. Another way to improve your brain health is to address the effects of technology. We talked about this in the interview, Digital dementia, Okay? It's a real thing. We are letting technology do so much of our critical thinking and reasoning for us.

[01:05:43] And if you're struggling to learn new things and remember things and you can't focus and the information doesn't stick. Consider changing your relationship with technology and social media. Maybe try to get to that place that you wanna get to in your car using a map instead of GPS, right? Maybe it's about [01:06:00] learning phone numbers and memorizing phone numbers instead of being so dependent on your contact list in your phone, right?

[01:06:06] So just use your brain in a different way. Don't just rely on technology to think for you. And finally, the last takeaway from me is to love your brain. Okay? Your brain is a muscle and an organ that we often ignore. How often are you thinking about improving your brain? Whereas a lot of you guys out there are really focused on, getting a super toed bum, for example, right?

[01:06:31] Building your biceps, whatever it is, you need to treat your brain in the same priority. Okay? Eat move and exercise and choose to think well, okay? Jim said, we hypnotize ourself with the language that we use on a regular basis. If you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them. Okay? If people truly understood how powerful their mind is, they wouldn't say or think something that they don't want to be [01:07:00] true.

[01:07:01] Like Marisa Peer, I've said this a million times on the podcast, Tell yourself a Better Lie. Whatever you tell your brain is what's gonna happen. So tell yourself a better lie. Don't say something that you don't want to be true, otherwise it's gonna come true. All right. I feel super motivated. I feel that life is limitless, like I have the power to become a genius and on top the full potential of my brain.

[01:07:28] Thank you guys so much for tuning into another incredible episode of Young and Profiting Podcast. This time it was featuring Jim Kwik. If you guys enjoyed the show, be sure to drop us an Apple Podcast review. Let us know, or Spotify Reign or review. Those two are really important to me, and you guys can also find me on social media.

[01:07:47] I'm on Instagram and TikTok @yapwithhala. I'm also on LinkedIn. You can search for my name. It's Hala Taha, and if you guys like to watch this type of content, we're also on Youtube. So I actually record all of these podcasts as a video [01:08:00] podcast for over two years now. So we've got two years of video content on YouTube and our YouTube channel is skyrocketing right now.

[01:08:07] And speaking of skyrocketing. I am the number one entrepreneurship podcast on Apple in the us. I am the number two business podcast on Apple, which is a main category in the US. And last week I broke the top 200 podcast on Apple. I was all the way up to number 76 in the world. Oh my God. The people I'm next to is like Gary V, Alex Hormozi, Patrick Bet-david, Ed Mylett. 

[01:08:35] I feel blessed Young Improvers. Oh my God. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. Thank you guys so much for all those Apple podcast reviews. That's definitely helping. We're getting so much visibility on Apple. Like many of you guys know, I'm really popular on a lot of non-traditional apps like Cast box player fm, and now I'm getting really popular on Apple and I'm so excited. When you have good intentions and you put them out to the [01:09:00] world.

[01:09:00] YAP fam, things come back 10 x. Without further ado, this is your host feeling very happy today. This is your host, Hala Taha, signing off. 

[01:09:12] Voice Over: Ross Mathews talks to celebrities, friends, and people with interesting stories to tell.

[01:09:17] Who's saying, Hello Ross. This week, Chelsea Handler.

[01:09:20] Chelsea Handler: I'm not home enough to have a third dog.

[01:09:22] My housekeeper basically is their parent. I am not gonna get another dog so that she has to take care of another dog until one of these dogs exits. 

[01:09:29] Voice Over: It's a good move. I have three rescue dogs and only two hands. And when you're one person that's too hard to do. I recommend two max. Okay, Use your foot, Ross.

[01:09:37] Hello Ross. Available on YouTube or wherever you listen.