115 3 Ways to Master Your Memory and Unlock Your Inner Superhero with Jim Kwik

"If knowledge is power, learning is a superpower." - Jim Kwik If you enjoyed this episode (and want to see the awesome videos we took during this interview!), visit www.lewishowes.com/115. Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 115 with memory master Jim Quick.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  You know, all those times you go to events and you get introduced to like three or four people at once. And right after you get introduced to these people's names, you forget them instantly and you go absolutely blank. Do you ever have that feeling? Well, if you do, then today's episode is meant for you. This is going to be extremely powerful episode because we've got the man Jim Quick on, who is the CEO of Quick Learning and founder of Superhero U. He is a widely recognized world expert in speed reading, memory improvement, brain performance and accelerated learning. And some of the things that we talk about in today's interview blew my mind, literally.

• 1:18Lewis Howes?

  And there's going to be some links up on the show notes at lewishouse.com/115 with a video that, an extra video that Jim does with me and he literally blew my mind. I couldn't believe what he was doing and how he remembered some of the things that he remembered. But the cool thing is, he shows you how you can apply this in your own life and how you can remember seemingly really hard and difficult things to remember in a very easy, light fashion. So I'm very excited to introduce you guys to Jim and make sure to watch the video. If you're listening to this podcast, you can go back into the show notes, lewishouse.com/115. We've got a video interview at Superhero HQ with some cool Iron Man in the background

• 2:02Lewis Howes?

  and the Incredible Hulk and all these cool superheroes. So make sure to check out the video and the extra video where Jim blows my mind and all the different links to get Jim's information on memory and speed reading back at lewishouse.com/115. Now, without further ado, let's go ahead and dive into this interview with the one and only Jim Quick.

• 2:27Lewis Howes?

  So I'm here with Jim Quick, thanks so much for coming on my man, I appreciate it.

• 2:31Jim Kwik?

  Thanks for coming to Superhero HQ.

• 2:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, this is an epic place and you're gonna have lots of parties here, so I'm gonna be visiting a lot soon. Now Jim, for those who don't know, Jim is the master of memory is kind of what I think of you, you're like this master of the brain, memory. I remember watching you on stage, I can't remember specifically where, I think it was a Summit Series potentially, and you just captivated me by your memory. You went on stage and you're like, "Okay, 50 audience members, you know, give me two different numbers each." And we all raised our hands and we said like, "21, 15," or something. And it was like 100 numbers, and then you recited it all back. And I was like, "Whatever he has, I need to learn how to have it." So, very excited to dive into how to master the brain and memory and some different tools

• 3:16Lewis Howes?

  and tricks that we can do to become superheroes ourselves, right?

• 3:20Jim Kwik?

  Cool. Well, I'm a fan, so anything that has to do with greatness is all about, so.

• 3:24Lewis Howes?

  Very cool. So, let's start off with what really inspired you to hack the brain in the first place? Was there something that happened to you that wanted to do this?

• 3:32Jim Kwik?

  It was. A lot of people, when they see me do these demos where I memorize a roomful of people's names or numbers, like you mentioned, or lots of words, I tell people, "I don't do this to impress you, I do this more to really express to you what's really possible." Because anyone could do this. Because we've been, we've been told, we've been told a lie, that our memory, our intelligence, our genius is fixed, kind of like our shoe size. And through my experience of doing this for the past two decades, nothing could be further from the truth. You know, people have unbelievable gifts inside them, they're just not shown how. I always thought it was interesting that school would teach us like what to learn. Like those subjects, important math, and history, and science, and Spanish, the what to learn, but not, never on how to learn. You know, how to focus, how to concentrate, how to be creative, how to think for yourself, how to read faster, how to remember things.

• 4:16Jim Kwik?

  Maybe it should have been the fourth R, remember reading, writing, arithmetic, but also recall. Because there is no learning without remembering, and Socrates said that. But how I got started on this is I actually grew up with learning challenges. And a lot of people don't know that, but when I was in kindergarten, I had a really bad accident and I had a head injury. And it left me feeling like I was broken, that my brain didn't work and I had these focus issues. I couldn't remember things and it took me extra two years to learn how to read. And I struggled, you know, privately and then also publicly. And you know, when you're that age, you you know, you get very self-conscious.

• 4:52Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 4:52Jim Kwik?

  You know, you become very introverted, very shy. You don't want to connect with people because you feel like there's something wrong with you. And so that was that was my academic life, you know, I just worked so much harder. And I don't know if people watching this can relate, but just, you know, struggling with overwhelm or overload, too much to learn, too little time. And it stresses you out and you're like, why can't I do this? Why is everyone else succeeding so much faster? And I have to do this, like, not even fair.

• 5:17Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 5:18Jim Kwik?

  And that's that's what happened.

• 5:19Lewis Howes?

  Wow. So that that's kind of early on made you want to then master it since you were having such a hard time.

• 5:25Jim Kwik?

  It did. I mean, I think our struggles really could be some strengths and you know this.

• 5:29Lewis Howes?

  Of course.

• 5:30Jim Kwik?

  You know, like, you know, when when challenge, you know, with these kind of challenges come change, you know, and problems become, you know, help you progress. And so when I got to college, I remember first freshman year at college, I wanted to start fresh. And I thought that I could really make my family proud because they sacrificed a lot. And but I was doing so poorly and I took all these classes and I thought I would do better and have a clean slate, but I actually did worse. And and I remember I wanted to quit school and at that time, you'd appreciate this, a friend asked me to to come visit him and his family out on the West Coast. Because I was on the East Coast and and he was like, I go out there. I was like, yeah, I'll just take a weekend, get a little space from school. Because I was thinking about quitting. And when I get there, the family is extremely successful. And I don't just mean financially, they had an amazing home on the on the water, but they were happy.

• 6:15Jim Kwik?

  You know, they were they were givers, they were learning all the time. And and the father before dinner asked me these kind of questions. We were walking on his property. And he he asked the kind of questions you would ask somebody who just started college, like, how's school and, you know, that kind of stuff.

• 6:28Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 6:29Jim Kwik?

  And I I broke down crying. I was like, you know, and to a stranger I just met like, you know, ten minutes ago. I said, I'm ready to quit. School is just not for me. I'm not one of those, I'm not smart enough. And he's like, well, why are you in school? You know, what do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want to share, if you will? And it's funny when people, when you're not asked a question in life, you know, it takes a moment to pause to come up with an answer. Do you know what I mean?

• 6:52Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 6:52Jim Kwik?

  Like when you're asking questions and no one's ever asked me those questions before. And when I started to answer, he paused. He said, wait, and he takes out out of his back pocket, I swear to you, like a journal and like a diary. And I always thought like 12 year old girls carry diaries and own diaries. And he makes me, he tears out a couple of pieces of paper and he makes me write down all the goals like of what I wanted to do in my life. And I've never, something very powerful about taking pen to paper and just writing like those dreams, your aspirations down. And after maybe 20, 30 minutes, he asked me if I'm done and I maybe have 40, 50 things there, which is like a bucket list, it was before I knew what a bucket list was. And I start folding the sheets of paper, thinking I'm done with the exercise, put it back in my pocket and he grabs it from me.

• 7:35Jim Kwik?

  And I was like, I freaked out because like on that was like, like everything. Exactly. And I don't even know who this guy is and he's very successful. And he starts to just read it. And I'm so intimidating.

• 7:48Lewis Howes?

  How loud do you?

• 7:49Jim Kwik?

  No, in his mind. And I, and I feel this small because everything, I just, I didn't know if somebody was gonna look at it, right? And he looks at it and he says, Jim. And I'm, I don't know what he was gonna say, cause this guy's very, he's successful. He says, Jim, you are this close to everything on that list. And I'm just thinking, there's no way. How could it, give me 10 lifetimes, I couldn't put a dent on that list. And then he goes like this.

• 8:13Lewis Howes?

  Ooh.

• 8:14Jim Kwik?

  Yeah. And he says like, like as if this was, you know, the key here. And he takes me into his home and it's this beautiful home. He takes me into a room I've never seen before. And it's wall to wall, ceiling to floor, covered in books. I mean, I've never seen like a library in somebody's house before. And he starts grabbing these books, you'll love this. He starts grabbing books and starts handing them to me and starts to pile up really, really, really high. And when I start looking at the titles, cause I'm curious, there are these biographies of amazing men and women in history. And some really early personal development books like Napoleon Hill, Thinking Real Rich, and Power Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale, and Psycho-Cybernetics and all these. And I'm just like, and then I kind of get an inkling of what he wants me to do with these

• 8:59Jim Kwik?

  books, and he asked me to read like one of these books a week. And I'm just thinking, and I say to him, there's just no way. I just told you I have all this schoolwork.

• 9:08Lewis Howes?

  And you're what, nineteen now?

• 9:09Jim Kwik?

  I'm eighteen years old. I'm like, there's no way. I have all these, I can't even finish one book. I have these reading challenges, and I have these learning challenges, and I have all this schoolwork. And he was like, Jim, he said, he looked me right in the eye and said, Jim, don't let school get in the way of your education.

• 9:23Lewis Howes?

  Ooh, that's powerful.

• 9:25Jim Kwik?

  And I didn't even realize, that's a Mark Twain quote, but this is like, you know, a couple decades ago. And I'm just thinking, wow, and it hit me like that. But still, I'm like, you know what? I still can't do this because I have all this work I need to study. And then he, you know what he does? He takes out that list, which he still has in his possession, my dream list, my bucket list, and then he starts reading it out loud, every single thing, line by line. And I get chills thinking about it because there's something about watching a man who you just met, who's, you know, very, one of the most successful people that you've met, and he's encanting and putting it out to the universe out loud, you know, your dreams.

• 9:59Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 9:59Jim Kwik?

  And it's very unnerving. And honestly, Lewis, a lot of the stuff that was on that list, and I think about it, it was things that I wanted to do for my family. You know, these are all things that my family, you know, because I had mentioned they sacrificed a lot, like a lot of, a lot of hardworking people do. And, and I want to do things for them that they contribute for themselves. So with that leverage, it commits, I commit to reading one book a week.

• 10:21Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 10:22Jim Kwik?

  And then I go from that, I go back to school, and now I have all this pile of stuff that I need to learn, and then a pile of stuff that I want to learn. And that puts me over the edge. Because in order to keep up, I have to sacrifice the things that you know are important to you, that your sleep, things like eating, things like working out, things like relationships. And so no one sees me. I'm just in the library all the time. I don't sleep, I don't eat. And you know, that's a recipe for like, you know, disaster.

• 10:45Lewis Howes?

  Disaster.

• 10:46Jim Kwik?

  It is. And how it came up, how it showed up was, I was at the library, and my body actually, it's the scariest time of my life, it actually just gave out. Like, like, the battery just ran out and I just passed out and I fell down a flight of stairs. I hit my head again and I woke up in the hospital two full days later.

• 11:03Lewis Howes?

  Whoa.

• 11:04Jim Kwik?

  And I was down to, I was hooked up to these IVs because I was malnourished, dehydrated. I was down to a hundred and seventeen pounds.

• 11:10Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 11:10Jim Kwik?

  And I thought I died. And when I had that thought, I was thinking, you know, what's going on here? You know, because I was ready to check out, like, check out of school, check out, check out, check out.

• 11:19Lewis Howes?

  Check out of life.

• 11:19Jim Kwik?

  And I was just like, because I just, I was just like, I'm a total failure. I can't do any of this, you know? And then when I was thinking about it, I was just, the nurse came in and she had the answer in the form of a mug of tea. And this is a true story. She gives me a mug of tea, of like, green tea, and it has a picture of a pretty smart guy. This is Albert Einstein. And there's a saying on there that you've heard a hundred times. It said, "The same level of thinking that's created the problem won't solve the problem." "The same level of thinking that's created the problem won't solve the problem." And it made me think, just, you know, power questions.

• 11:52Lewis Howes?

  Did she bring that to you to say, hey, here's the answer?

• 11:55Jim Kwik?

  No, it was just part of that.

• 11:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 11:57Jim Kwik?

  And it's funny when you put things out in the universe, you know, ask a new question, you get a new answer. And made me say, well, what's my problem? And I was like, you know, my problem is, I'm a really slow learner. That's what I came up with. I was just like, I'm a really slow learner.

• 12:09Lewis Howes?

  Is that your problem or is that your story?

• 12:11Jim Kwik?

  That was, that was definitely my story and my perceived problem there. And so, and I was owning it too, because I was fighting, no one could tell me different, because I was fighting my limitations.

• 12:20Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 12:21Jim Kwik?

  And so I got to keep them.

• 12:22Lewis Howes?

  And it became true every day.

• 12:23Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, and I was really, and you know, I had this whole story, I had this brain injury and everything. But I was like, well, if my problem is I have a, I'm a slow learner, how do I think differently about it? And I was like, well, you know, how do I learn how to be a faster learner? And then I thought about school and I was like, no, school doesn't teach you those things, much like, you know, school doesn't teach you a lot of things.

• 12:42Lewis Howes?

  The things that are most important, right?

• 12:43Jim Kwik?

  A lot of things that you have in, you know, in your podcast, right? The things that are just, you know, move the needle on people's lives in terms of their joy and their health, their relationships, their success, their finances, everything.

• 12:53Lewis Howes?

  Most important things.

• 12:54Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, and so, and this is not like a diss on schools. I mean, I think they're, they're, my mother's a school teacher and my aunt's a professor. I mean, the teachers work so hard, right? It's just. The system itself is a challenge, you know, because if you're, if you're watching this and they're stressed, they're overload, there's too much that people keep up with. It's not their fault. It's because we all grew up with a 20th century education.

• 13:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 13:16Jim Kwik?

  That prepared us for a world that doesn't exist anymore. That 20th century world of working in factories and working on farms, doing manual labor. You know, like, you know, because the school system back then, which is now, it's like one size fits all, assembly line, cookie cutter, don't talk to your neighbors, sit quietly by yourself. That doesn't work in the digital age anymore. You know, so right now, like, you know, when we're talking about the brain, how important the brain is, you know, we're not paid for our brute strength, we're, we're paid for our brain strength. We're not paid for our muscle power, it's really our mind power. You know, and so the challenge is, is where, you know, your brain is this unbelievable supercomputer, but it doesn't come with an owner's manual. You know, it's not always user friendly either.

• 13:54Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 13:54Jim Kwik?

  And so when I got out of that hospital bed, I decided to study this subject called learning, like learning how to learn. I started to pick up every single book I could on brain science, adult learning theory, multiple intelligences, focus and concentration, you know, things early works by, you know, like on flow and stuff like that. And in a very short period of time, 60 days, I swear to you, it was like a light switch just went on and I started to understand things for the first time.

• 14:19Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 14:20Jim Kwik?

  I mean, I would sit in class and actually, because I can't tell you, growing up, when someone's talking to you and not understanding, it doesn't make sense, you're not making the connection. Things there and then all of a sudden you're focusing, all of a sudden you're remembering things, I start reading faster. And I started getting like better grades in less time and it started transforming my life. And the reason I teach this to this day, because this is two decades later, is after you have that kind of like awakening.

• 14:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 14:44Jim Kwik?

  You can't help like with what you do, share that greatness with other people.

• 14:47Lewis Howes?

  Of course.

• 14:48Jim Kwik?

  And one of my very first students, I'll never forget, she's 18 years old, a freshman. She, I teach a speed reading program to teach anyone to read two or three times faster with better comprehension. But she struggled for a few days and then that same light switch went on and she ended up reading 30 books in 30 days.

• 15:04Lewis Howes?

  Whoa.

• 15:04Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, I mean, can you imagine like what books you would read if you go to Amazon right now, pick out 30 books and know in 30 days, you're like, you own that information.

• 15:11Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 15:11Jim Kwik?

  As well as like those authors.

• 15:13Lewis Howes?

  Sure. Now, what is it, you know, I've always. This is my story.

• 15:16Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 15:16Lewis Howes?

  I've always had a hard time comprehending and staying focused in books.

• 15:20Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 15:20Lewis Howes?

  Now, half of it is probably, I'm just not interested in the topic or the book, or it's not well rented. But what are some things that people can do just, you know, right away uh to increase their comprehension and just speed it up a little bit?

• 15:32Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 15:33Lewis Howes?

  So that they are able to stay focused long enough throughout the book?

• 15:36Jim Kwik?

  It's it's amazing what people could do because here's um here's part of it. It's like motivation plays a big role, first of all. Like you've mentioned, like things that you're interested in.

• 15:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 15:44Jim Kwik?

  Like this this girl, I I wanted to ask, not how she did it, but I want to know why she read thirty books in thirty days. And I find out that she paused and she eventually told me it's because her mother was dying of terminal cancer and was given sixty days to live. And the books she was reading were books to be able to save her mother's life.

• 16:03Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:03Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 16:04Lewis Howes?

  Talk about motivation, she got chills, wow.

• 16:06Jim Kwik?

  I and I like I I don't, it's hard for me to even talk about because my memory is so clear of these events.

• 16:10Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 16:11Jim Kwik?

  And not just because I I'm a memory expert. It's just, it takes me back because I I at that time, I'm eighteen, I just wished her luck. I'll say prayers and said, you know, but what do you do? And then six months later, I get a call from this young lady and she's crying and crying, crying for minutes. And I find out that they're tears of joy.

• 16:29Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:30Jim Kwik?

  And I find out that her mother not only survived, but her mother's really starting to improve. Doctors don't know why or how. The doctors actually call it a miracle, but her mother attributes it a hundred percent to the great advice she got from her daughter, who learned it from all these books. I mean.

• 16:46Lewis Howes?

  Whoa.

• 16:46Jim Kwik?

  And those kind of things, that's why I really went into my body that, you know, the right, that learning, that if knowledge is power, learning is a superpower.

• 16:55Lewis Howes?

  That's what I was gonna ask you next, because I saw that on your website. So can you speak more into that? The power of learning and, you know, not just having knowledge, but being able to learn?

• 17:04Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 17:04Lewis Howes?

  Why is that a superpower?

• 17:05Jim Kwik?

  I I think that if there's one skill to master in the twenty first century, it's the ability to learn rapidly. It's it, you know what it is? They call it in the military a force multiplier.

• 17:14Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 17:14Jim Kwik?

  A force multiplier is like um and input goes in, but you get exponential output from it. It's like optimism, being positive is a force multiplier.

• 17:24Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 17:24Jim Kwik?

  Right, you know, and call. Palace said that and so certain things like learning how to learn like meta learning or improving your memory improves everything. It improves your business improves like, you know, you could remember people's names. You can remember sales presentations, you could remember things about a people. Cause like, for example, it's hard to show somebody for people who are watching this, they're entrepreneurs, right? And they're wearing a business development hat, you know, it's really hard to show someone you're going to care for their business, their future, their family, their health, their fitness. Whatever you're selling them, if you don't care enough just to remember things like their name.

• 17:53Lewis Howes?

  Their name.

• 17:54Jim Kwik?

  You know, or some or their or their kid's name or their birthdays.

• 17:57Lewis Howes?

  So true.

• 17:57Jim Kwik?

  You know, so that's a memory is a multiplier there, a memory is a multiplier in their relationships. You know, like relationships, just remembering those those moments, you know, like, you know, not even just remembering anniversaries, remembering to take out the garbage, that kind of stuff. But remembering, you know, the first time you and your loved one, you know, took that walk on that beach, you know what I mean? Those kind of moments that make everything worthwhile.

• 18:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 18:16Jim Kwik?

  But it's it's wonderful for every area. So I do believe that two of the most costly words in business, for example, are I forgot. You know, I forgot to do it, I forgot to bring it, I forgot the meaning, I forgot your name.

• 18:27Lewis Howes?

  It's the worst.

• 18:28Jim Kwik?

  Like you could, you could, forgetting someone's name, and I've seen this time and time again, it could hurt a relationship, it could kill deals. I've had people call someone by the wrong name and they've lost multiple million dollar deals just on that.

• 18:40Lewis Howes?

  I've had people email me and use a different name in my email.

• 18:43Jim Kwik?

  Right.

• 18:44Lewis Howes?

  And it's frustrating. I'm just like, if you don't even, if you're trying to reach out to me and you use Mark because you weren't even paying attention, you weren't paying present. It leaves a bad taste in people's mouths, you know, I know I'm not perfect, I've forgotten people's names and I've probably said the wrong name at times. So, um, you know, what are some things people can do to remember names?

• 19:02Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, okay, so there are, there are three keys for improving your memory, three keys, right? So if you're ever forgetting something, you forget things, you feel absent minded, like senior moments are coming a little bit early. You're you're in the shower, you can't remember if you shampooed your hair, you know, so you end up doing it twice. You misplaced your wallet, your phone, your keys or your car. You see the people like, where did I park my car?

• 19:23Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 19:24Jim Kwik?

  You know, these kind of things, and they waste a lot of time too, and they take away, you know, all the treasures. And I don't mean just financial treasures, I mean just the important things, you know, in our life. But there's three keys and remember mom, M O M. Always remember mom. So if you're ever forgetting something, usually one of those three things are missing. Alright, so let's take names. Cause when people say, I want a better memory, I, I hear them say like, oh, I want to be better at sports, you know, cause you're, you're just, you're such an athlete. But it's like, somebody comes to you like, like, well, what sport specifically do you want to be better at? Because you, there are different techniques and different training for different things. So remembering names, different than learning languages, different PIN numbers and pass codes and all the different things.

• 19:58Lewis Howes?

  So everything's different.

• 19:59Jim Kwik?

  Everything's different. And so, but there's certain principles that are the same. So the M in mom is this, let's say someone has horrible names, right? But let's say that there's a suitcase of a hundred thousand dollars cash, if you just remember the name of the next stranger you meet. How many people are gonna remember that person's name?

• 20:15Lewis Howes?

  I'll remember.

• 20:15Jim Kwik?

  Everyone, right? Everyone. And so that's the thing. The M stands for motivation. So it's interesting. So all of a sudden, everyone's a memory expert, but it had nothing to do with their capacity or their potential. Everyone could do it. It's just whether or not they decided to do it or not, if they wanted to.

• 20:30Lewis Howes?

  It's almo- it's almost like if it's worth it enough or the consequences are, uh, you know, that big or the stakes are that big if we're gonna miss out on, on not, right? It's the motivation.

• 20:39Jim Kwik?

  Exactly. Cause, cause one of the things to learning, we know with human motivation, cause I did this presentation and, and Bill Gates was there. Like, we're talking about wealthy individuals, right? And so, you know, he, I, I, afterwards I talked to him and I was, we're talking about the, the bridge between education and technology. And I was like, what's missing with the future of learning? And he was like, Jim, you know, the key is, is human motivation. Really understanding what drives people. And I was like, wow, you know, that's really right. Because you know this, people could go out there and they could buy courses, you know, but a lot of people-

• 21:07Lewis Howes?

  Never open it.

• 21:07Jim Kwik?

  Exactly. Because it has everything to do with drive and reasons. Cause motivation is like, you know, like, what is your motive for acting? Right? What's the fuel? And I believe there's a success formula, I call it H cubed, that it goes from your head to your heart to your hands. That people could visualize and affirm and, and see things here all the time and think about it. But if they're not acting with their hands, you know, actually doing something about it, then usually what's missing is the second H, which is the heart. The emotion, the energy of motion. I had a martial arts instructor too, and tell me years ago, you can't steer a parked car. You know, you need fuel. You know, where's the energy that's gonna do that? And so, what's people's motivation? So, simple. When people are remembering people's names, ask yourself, why do you want to remember this person's name? Because reasons reap results. I've always found that in life.

• 21:52Jim Kwik?

  Wow. Reasons reap results because you need a big enough why. Sure. You know, like Simon Sinek's book, you know, start with why. Yeah. And so you want to get that drive first, right? So motivation. The O is something interesting. You know, I have people do this. I have them just kind of shake out their hand like this. And I say, make a fist. And I say, put it to their chin. And then I go like this. And everyone puts it here, but I said chin. Hmm. And this is the difference. The O stands for observation. Okay. And I find that a lot of people blame their memory issues. And they think it's like a retention issue. But I find it's really a attention issue. Okay. It's an attention issue. Be present, you mean, or? It is. That's a big part of it. It's like, you know, let's say everyone uses a search engine like Google every single day. But a lot of people, they use it 10 times a day.

• 22:35Jim Kwik?

  If I ask them, are you willing to bet your life you know what colors the letters are? I don't know. Because that's, that's an observation. Sure. You know, there's a difference between looking at something and seeing it, really seeing it. There's a difference between hearing something and really listening. You know, like leaders, like for example, um, I had this whole escapade with the X-Men, which was insane. But I had to leave the, the set because uh, there, I had to go to a charity event. And one of the people that I think leaders, independent of your political bent, who has incredible memory is President Clinton. Every single time I've met President Clinton, he's remember my name. No way. He does. And how many people does? He says, hey Jim, good to see you. How many people does Clinton meet on a regular basis, right? A lot. And so that's a leadership skill though, right? And so FDR was incredible with names.

• 23:19Jim Kwik?

  Also, he would walk around the White House and point people out and say hi to them, say, saying hi to their spouse and using by name. I mean, that's because think about the sweetest sound of a person's ears, right? Their name. It's their name, right? And so, so anyway, I asked him what's memory trick he uses? He uses no memory tricks at all. And he tells me this, you know, this amazing story. To Bill, to Bill. Yes. And so he tells me this incredible story about how, you know, his grandfather, you know, in Arkansas, who'd get all the kids around, tell stories to them, but then he would quiz them. They'd really need to listen and be present. And it's funny because I noticed that like he's, Bill Clinton is an, regardless of where you how you feel politically, incredible communicator. Yeah. Incredible charisma, incredible connector, right? And he also, this memory, I find, he, you know, he's this incredible presence, this powerful presence.

• 24:04Jim Kwik?

  But I find that his powerful presence and his memory comes from being powerfully present. His powerful presence comes from being powerfully present. And here's the thing, when people are networking, because I know a lot of people, they're entrepreneurs, they're social entrepreneurs, and millennials, and they're going out there and meeting people. Because really, it's what you know, and it's who you know. But that's all memory. What you know, a lot of people go to a seminar, two days later, they'll forget everything. Right, eighty percent, there's this big forgetting curve. But also who you know, and who knows you. Right, but what the challenge is, is they'll be networking, and how many times do you find yourself talking to somebody and then looking over their shoulder?

• 24:38Lewis Howes?

  I hate that.

• 24:38Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 24:39Lewis Howes?

  I hate when people do that to me.

• 24:40Jim Kwik?

  Exactly.

• 24:40Lewis Howes?

  It's like annoying.

• 24:41Jim Kwik?

  Because you're distracting yourself all the time. Or if you're not distracting yourself externally, you're like talking to yourself.

• 24:46Lewis Howes?

  What am I gonna say next?

• 24:47Jim Kwik?

  Exactly. So the people aren't even listening. Now, this is so key. When people are communicating, most of the times you find that they're not even really listening. What they are is they're thinking about how they're gonna respond.

• 24:57Lewis Howes?

  Right, yeah.

• 24:58Jim Kwik?

  And if you look at the word listen, and you scramble the letters, it becomes the word silent.

• 25:03Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 25:03Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, isn't that crazy? If people would just do that. And we're talking about really fundamental things. That's one of the reasons, you know, I love your podcast, is because some of these basics, those are the biggest things that move the needle. I mean, just understanding why you want to remember something, being present and paying attention, and being silent and really listening. I mean, that's not magic, but that's just like going to the gym.

• 25:25Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 25:25Jim Kwik?

  I mean, think about the fundamentals. We're talking about exercise, we're talking about sleep, we're talking about, you know, a good diet.

• 25:30Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 25:30Jim Kwik?

  That's like, that's maybe, yeah, and the mindset, that's ninety-five percent of it right there.

• 25:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's incredible.

• 25:35Jim Kwik?

  And then finally, the third M is mechanics.

• 25:38Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 25:38Jim Kwik?

  You know, for mom. So M is motion, the O is observation, and then the final M is mechanics. And these are not the person that's gonna fix your car, but this is the tips, the techniques, the hacks, if you will, the strategies on how to learn a language, how to speed read, how to remember that person's name, how to give a speech without notes.

• 25:55Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 25:55Jim Kwik?

  You know, but the M and the O, motivation, observation.

• 25:59Lewis Howes?

  So what's the mechanics then for? Uh, you know, say I'm going to an event and there's ten people that someone's introducing me to and I'm shaking their hand. We've all done this before. It's like, hi, hi, hi, hi. What's the mechanics to remember?

• 26:11Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, I mean, we've all had the experience. So, relationship is all proximity and it's all who you know, right?

• 26:16Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 26:16Jim Kwik?

  And who knows you back?

• 26:17Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 26:17Jim Kwik?

  Right? And one of the most standout skills that I know of is walk into a room, meeting twenty strangers and leaving saying goodbye to every single one of them with their name.

• 26:26Lewis Howes?

  Can you do that?

• 26:26Jim Kwik?

  Because who, yeah. Because who, because who are they all gonna remember when you walk out of the room?

• 26:30Lewis Howes?

  You.

• 26:31Jim Kwik?

  That's, that's a standout skill.

• 26:32Lewis Howes?

  That's a skill.

• 26:32Jim Kwik?

  And that, that's the thing that, because when you remember people's name, they feel like that you care. Because what's the opposite? If you forget someone's name, how do they feel?

• 26:39Lewis Howes?

  You don't care.

• 26:39Jim Kwik?

  That you don't care, that they're not important.

• 26:41Lewis Howes?

  And, you know, this is what I've been, uh, you know, thinking my whole life, because I've never felt like I've had the book smarts.

• 26:47Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 26:47Lewis Howes?

  But I felt like I've cared more than, you know, ninety-nine percent of people.

• 26:51Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 26:52Lewis Howes?

  And, uh, I feel like that's what's been able to get me to where I wanna be by showing people how big my heart is.

• 26:58Jim Kwik?

  Yeah.

• 26:58Lewis Howes?

  As opposed to how much I know.

• 27:00Jim Kwik?

  Yes.

• 27:00Lewis Howes?

  And I think that's, could be the most powerful thing, is like remembering and just being connected to people as opposed to telling them what you know.

• 27:09Jim Kwik?

  And that's huge too, because a lot of people, a lot of traditional networking or business advice will be like, oh, you have to, you know, when you're going to people, tell them all these amazing stories and, and really be interesting to them. I think there's a difference between interesting and interested.

• 27:23Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 27:23Jim Kwik?

  You know what I mean? When you meet somebody, being interesting and talk about, oh, I can do this, and then also being interest, sincerely interested.

• 27:30Lewis Howes?

  People love.

• 27:30Jim Kwik?

  In the other person.

• 27:31Lewis Howes?

  When they get to share.

• 27:33Jim Kwik?

  Yes.

• 27:33Lewis Howes?

  And you listen.

• 27:34Jim Kwik?

  Yes.

• 27:35Lewis Howes?

  When you just allow people to share their story and what they're excited about, and you remember their name, you don't even have to say anything. And they feel like you're the best person in the world.

• 27:42Jim Kwik?

  Completely.

• 27:43Lewis Howes?

  Right?

• 27:43Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, the, the late, uh, Stephen Covey, who had an opportunity to, to, to spend a good amount of time with and share a stage with. He has that, you know, seek first to understand, then to be understood. I mean, that, that's huge. That, that's huge. So there's seven tips for remembering names. And this is what you wanna do. Every time you wanna go, you go to a wedding, you go to a conference, you go to a networking event, seven tips. You don't even have to use all seven. Just any part of this would be better than nothing.

• 28:07Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 28:07Jim Kwik?

  Right? I want you to remember, be suave. Be suave, like you are. That's how I live my life, man. I know. So when you're, people are going out and they're, they're checking the mirror on their makeup and their, their clothing. When they say, "I'm gonna be suave." So the B stands for believe, because you know this better than anyone. Believe you can or believe you can't, either way. You're right, right? And so, here's the thing with beliefs. What I mean by that is you wanna kill the ants. You know, our, our friend, Dr. Daniel Amen, the big brain doctor, talks about killing ants, automatic negative thoughts. Because here's the thing, like, um, you know, with a name like Quick, I had to be a runner growing up. You know, like, I always tell people, "My gym wave, quick learning, help people learn quickly." And they're like, "Quick really is my last name?" Yeah, it's really my last name. Because with like, a name like Quick, your life and destiny is pretty much planned out.

• 28:51Jim Kwik?

  I had to be a runner back in school. I have to, I get to be careful when I'm driving, because the worst name would be pulled over when you're speeding. Alright, a little quick over there. Yeah, it's like, you want to have that on your license, you're not gonna talk your way out of that ticket. And I get to teach speed learning, you know, and speed reading, speed memory and stuff. Were you a distance runner or a sprinter? Uh, sprinter. So, so I was, I was preparing for a marathon. And I was really excited about it. I, of course, I read books on it and stuff like that, because I read a book a day and I just have to learn it. And I was like, "Oh, it's like Matrix, Scott Style and everything." I go to like Barnes and Noble, I'll pick up a book and then just read it, put it back on the shelf. Save a lot of money that way. But I was reading this book on running a marathon, and there's one chapter on the psychology of running a marathon. And that's what I was really interested, the mindset. And it opened up with this paragraph, verbatim, uh, because I'm a memory expert.

• 29:34Jim Kwik?

  It said this, "Your mind is like a supercomputer and your self-talk is the program it will run. So if you tell yourself you are not good with names, you will not remember the name of the next person you meet because you programmed your computer not to." I was like, "Wow." Powerful. So B for be suave, the B stands for believe. Believe you can, believe you can't, either way, you're right. Because here's the thing that I've learned, and here's the tweetable, if you will, is your mind is always eavesdropping on your self-talk. Your mind is always he's dropping on your self-talk. So you want to monitor that. So I encourage everyone to spend a week, do a 30-day fast, no negative thoughts, or you have to regroup, right? So that's the B. The E in B-SWAB stands for exercise.

• 30:16Jim Kwik?

  And I don't mean physical exercise, although people who are more physically active will always do better on mental acuity and memory exams. Because anything that's good for your heart is really good for your head, right? But I mean, practice. Because practice makes progress. Practice makes progress. It always does. And so, the bad news, to remember names, it takes effort. The good news, not as much as people think. So, bad news, takes effort, but what's not valuable in your life that doesn't take effort? Right? And so, there's no magic pill, like, there's no magic memory pill, but there is a magic memory process. And that's what we're talking about. There's no magic memory pill, but there is a memory process. And so, the E is exercise. And so, it takes about 21 to 30 days.

• 30:59Jim Kwik?

  You know, we learn in psychology, the law of 21, practicing something for 21, 30 days, whether it's learning how to type, or learning how to drive a car, or what have you, until you get to be second nature with it. So, you practice. And where can you practice? Everywhere, right? Just anytime you're flipping through the channels and people get introduced, you're meeting people all the time, you can practice all the time. And so, it doesn't take that much. Exactly. You could go to the grocery store and see three strangers and just make up their name. That's Bob, that's Sue, that's Mary. And then, when you leave, like, you get to checkout and you're at the whole food. See your mom, see your siblings, see your siblings. Yeah. And then, so that's the thing. That's the difference, right? Tony Robbins talks about, what you practice in private, you're rewarded for in public. You know, so that's what you do. You practice. So, that's the E in B. So, B-E. So, B is believe, E is exercise. Now, the SWAB is the actual mechanics.

• 31:44Jim Kwik?

  Alright, so the S in SWAB, when you're meeting this person for the first time, the S is you say the name. Alright, you say the name. So, "Hi, my name is Jim." Hey, Louis. Louis, it's nice to meet you. Good to meet you.

• 31:55Jim Kwik?

  Man, if I was any better, my name would be Lewis Howes. That's my pseudonym. So here, so I'll say the name right away. And just by hearing the name again helps me. So now I've heard it twice, one from you, one from me. All of a sudden, I'm gonna remember it better. My retention's gonna go up. I also wanna say it because I wanna make sure, going back to mom, the O. I wanna make sure I observed it correctly. Sometimes you're networking, a lot of things going on. You meet someone named Ted, you say goodbye, Ed. You know, better to get corrected upfront than later on. Right. So you say the name. The U in Swabs means use it. You wanna use the name. Very simple, right? You wanna use it, not abuse it. But this, you know, cuz Louis, thanks for coming. Louis, we wanna talk about Louis. Then it gets creepy. Right. That's like a Seinfeld episode. Yeah, exactly. It's try hard. And it's like a Seinfeld episode where, like, the close talker.

• 32:41Jim Kwik?

  You know, or there was actually a Seinfeld episode. I haven't thought about this in years. Wasn't there a Seinfeld episode, like a rerun? You might have seen that he was dating somebody and was intimate with her, but he actually forgot her name. And every single time she would leave, he'd try to go into her purse and get her driver's license and meet Kramer and try to get the name to come out. But here's the thing, it rhymed with a part of the female anatomy. And that was the famous, that was the famous episode. If you remember, if people watching this remember what that is. So you wanna make sure that you use it three or four times in the conversation. Sure. The A stands for ask. And this is a really big one, ask. Cuz what's everyone's favorite subject? It's like, it's not travel, it's not entrepreneurship, it's not even, you know, it's not shopping. It's themselves, right? And you ever meet somebody and their name is a little different than you're used to? Like, you've never heard that name before?

• 33:27Jim Kwik?

  You know, probably eighty percent of the people you meet, you know, Louis and Jim, they're pretty, pretty common names. But sometimes you meet someone named Afzal, or Rittiger, or Isis, or what have you. You know, then you ask about a person's name. And what can you ask about a person's name? You know, you could ask like, how do you spell it? What does it mean? What does it mean? What does it stand for? Who you're named after or related to this person? You know, all these questions. And, you know, for the most part, everyone gets very complimented. Because a name, again, is the sweetest sound to a person's ears. Right? And think about why, though. Like, the psychology of it. You know, a child, what's one of the first words they learn how to write? Their name. Exactly. How much, how much love were they given when they did it right? You know, all that emotion tied into like, cause I think, you know, one of the challenges people have, like one of the biggest fears people have is not being good enough.

• 34:12Jim Kwik?

  You know, that we're not good enough. And if we're not good enough, we're not gonna be loved. And if we're not gonna be loved, you know, we're not gonna be, we're gonna die or something, you know? And so, but that name is like our identity, right? So you always wanna be able to refer to us. You ask about a person's name and they're complimented. So like, for example, I was speaking at the country's largest life insurance company. About a hundred people in the room, training director was there and her name was Nankita. Nankita. And I was like, wow, that's a really beautiful name, sincerely, right? Yeah. And so I was like, you know, you know, how's this bell? And where's it from? I said, what does it mean? And she paused and she looked at every, all our coworkers. And she says it means graceful falling waters. And I was like, whoa, and I got like chills. And then, you know, like half the audience was like making these sounds. And it made me just spontaneously ask, you know, how long have you worked here?

• 34:56Jim Kwik?

  You know, uh, she was like about four years. I was like, with all these people? She was like, yeah, you know, like a lot of people are my good friends or at my wedding. I was like, that's nice. How many people in this room knew that's what her name meant? And out of a hundred people, how many people raised their hand? Zero. None. None. And that was one of my biggest clients. Cause this was first it made was a training director. Sure. And so it brought me into all, but that name was a bond, right? So that was sincere interest. So you ask about a person's name. Okay. And then finally, the V and the E in Swab. The V is visualize, visualize. And this is a really simple memory tip. Where we tend to remember more what we see than what we hear, right? You go to somebody, it's like their face. You know, I remember your face, but I forgot your name. You never go to someone and say, hey, I remember your name, but I forgot your face. That wouldn't make any sense, right?

• 35:41Jim Kwik?

  So you remember what you see. In fact, there's a Chinese proverb that goes, what I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. And what I do, I understand. What I hear, I forget. I heard the name, I forgot the name. What I see, I remember. I saw the face, I remember the face. What I do, going back to exercise and practice. I understand, right? And so if you tend to remember what you see, then try seeing what you want to remember. So this is the trick that you meet somebody, you take their name and you turn it into a picture. So let's say you meet someone named Mike and then for a split second you imagine them taking a microphone and singing karaoke on the tabletop, right? You meet someone named Carol and you imagine she's singing Christmas carols, right? You meet someone named Mary and imagine she's carrying these little lambs, you know, around. And you do this in the privacy of your own mind, right?

• 36:25Jim Kwik?

  And people say, well, that's so childish. Who are the fastest learners on the planet? Children. Children. How fast can they learn a musical instrument compared to that? How fast can they learn like languages like that, right? So children, they do that. They're playful. They make fun of people's names, right? You know, they could, you know, kids could be in therapy for 10 years because their name was made being fun of and they don't even know, right? So that's what you want to do. You want to take someone's name, turn it into a picture. So a person's name is David, I use a slingshot for David and Goliath. You know, someone named Bob, I imagine them bobbing for apples, just something very... See, because here's the thing, there's something called, I call the six-second syndrome. The six-second syndrome is someone tells you their name, you have six seconds to do something with that, otherwise it's gone. It's gone, that's it. And if you don't practice it daily, you're gonna lose it and it's gonna forget. Exactly.

• 37:10Jim Kwik?

  And so here, at least you're focusing on the person and you're focusing on the name. So a person's name is John, you could picture whatever. Do you remember what you used for me when we met? When we first met? So here's, yes, so, yeah, yeah. So everybody has their, their own thing. Like, it's so funny, is like, I use, okay, so you come up with a picture that works for yourself. So when we met, I actually use, it's a slinky. And I don't, don't ask why, because it doesn't sound like it or anything like that. But one of my best friends, growing up as a kid, was Louis. And all he would do is play with this slinky, like this little toy, this iron, all the time. So I just think about him every single time I think about that. So when I saw that, I just picture it and I just remember. Now, after you remember the person, then the picture just disappears. But you need something just to hold it for six seconds and then you have it, right?

• 37:55Jim Kwik?

  And it's using, the other part of the reason why it works is that left brain, part of your brain does logic and words and sounds. We'll talk about this with speed reading. That, that's only using part of your brain, but your right brain is like pictures and imagination. Visualization and emotion that's activating more of your brain people say we use like 10% of our brains potential we use all our brain but in terms of its potential you know like you know but no one shows us how to activate the rest of it but part of it's just using your imagination because imagination is more powerful than knowledge

• 38:22Lewis Howes?

  wow

• 38:22Jim Kwik?

  yeah einstein said that and so you want to turn into a picture and finally E and Suave stands for end and that's going back to saying saying goodbye using their name go into a room meeting 10 strangers leaving saying goodbye to every single one so that they all remember

• 38:37Lewis Howes?

  wow

• 38:37Jim Kwik?

  you

• 38:38Lewis Howes?

  okay let me see if I can remember this because I was trying to be present but also remember so be Suave uh the B stands for belief

• 38:45Jim Kwik?

  belief

• 38:46Lewis Howes?

  E uh I mean exercise

• 38:48Jim Kwik?

  exercise practice

• 38:49Lewis Howes?

  S is say it

• 38:51Jim Kwik?

  say it

• 38:52Lewis Howes?

  uh how do you say what's how do I Suave U is uh use it

• 38:56Jim Kwik?

  use the name

• 38:57Lewis Howes?

  um A is ask about the name

• 39:00Jim Kwik?

  ask about the name

• 39:01Lewis Howes?

  D is visualize and E is end

• 39:03Jim Kwik?

  nice

• 39:03Lewis Howes?

  yeah man

• 39:04Jim Kwik?

  dude

• 39:05Lewis Howes?

  I'm picking it up as we go very cool

• 39:07Jim Kwik?

  and this is so what I'm saying is when people people they they experience this they practice this you'll see a big lift and that's what I love about it and then all of a sudden what you have a competence it increases your confidence

• 39:18Lewis Howes?

  yeah

• 39:18Jim Kwik?

  you show up differently when you're out there with other people

• 39:20Lewis Howes?

  yeah you probably don't have to use every one of them

• 39:23Jim Kwik?

  no

• 39:23Lewis Howes?

  of course you can just say I'm gonna say it a few times

• 39:25Jim Kwik?

  maybe just say it and visualize it and then you're done

• 39:27Lewis Howes?

  yeah

• 39:28Jim Kwik?

  you know so any any part of it is better than most people which is

• 39:31Lewis Howes?

  because if I say uh you tell me your name is Jim I'm not gonna say that's an interesting name

• 39:35Jim Kwik?

  right

• 39:35Lewis Howes?

  you know

• 39:35Jim Kwik?

  exactly

• 39:36Lewis Howes?

  tell me more about who

• 39:37Jim Kwik?

  exactly

• 39:37Lewis Howes?

  who called you that

• 39:38Jim Kwik?

  but if you just imagine like me doing something funny with my you know like barbells or whatever like imagine you have Jim or whatever yeah and if people are motivated they're asked like they're asking like why they want to remember a person's name like like I would ask myself for motivation why do I remember the person's name maybe it's because I want to I want to get some business or I want to show this person respect or maybe I just want to practice these these tips that I've learned you know on this podcast

• 39:57Lewis Howes?

  that's cool uh I'm gonna have a couple of questions left for this interview and we're gonna have some extra videos

• 40:02Jim Kwik?

  yeah

• 40:03Lewis Howes?

  some more memory tips for people I'll tell you guys where to go for those at the show notes uh after this interview but I want to ask you what are some daily habits or rituals that you have to just sharpen your mind every single day that others can apply.

• 40:17Jim Kwik?

  Okay, so um, so I think here's the thing when it comes to your memory. Two thirds of it is so people are concerned that they're growing older. But I could say you can improve your memory regardless of your age, your background, your career, your diet, your level of education, your financial situation, your gender, your health situation, your IQ, anything, it can be improved. Here's the thing, one third of your of your memory is predetermined by biology and genetics. But that's so exciting because that means two thirds, the majority of it, twice as much, is completely in your control.

• 40:47Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 40:48Jim Kwik?

  And so the things that move the needle, for example, are like ten things that I'm thinking about that's going to move the needle completely of that that that two thirds. So it's a good diet, right? So a good diet because you are what you eat, right? And so there's certain brain foods that we know is good for your mind, is good for your mind.

• 41:04Lewis Howes?

  Dr. Amen talked about that as well.

• 41:05Jim Kwik?

  A lot, a lot of that, you know, everything from from blueberries to walnuts and everything, right? So there's good diet. And number two, killing ants, killing the automatic negative thoughts, which is a big for a lot of people. Remember, your mind is always eavesdropping on your self-talk and it's a practice, right? So you want to be able to eliminate the negative talk. And you can't just eliminate something, you just you have to replace it with something else.

• 41:25Lewis Howes?

  Be positive, right?

• 41:25Jim Kwik?

  Exactly, you can't just stop smoking, you have to start doing something else. So so my memory, because here's the thing that you want to avoid. A lot of people start taking pride in how bad certain things are in their life.

• 41:36Lewis Howes?

  Get some significance.

• 41:37Jim Kwik?

  Very much so. You nailed it. People start getting pride because they're they're my memory is so bad. If I don't write my grocery list in triplicates, I won't remember it. And like, oh, you think you're forgetful? This is how forgetful I am, or this is how bad. And people also have this with busyness. It is so bad nowadays. Everybody has to be busy because that makes them, oh, that person must be so important, right? And so that we got to get off that cult of being busy.

• 42:00Lewis Howes?

  Congratulations for being the most busy person.

• 42:02Jim Kwik?

  Right, exactly, like that everybody has things to do. Exactly. But if people are starting to gain pride, they start designing their life around being busy. And they wonder why they're all stressed out all the time. So automatic negative thoughts, kill those ants. Number three, that's good that you have to do daily is exercise, right? Because, you know, your body and your brain, it's connected. And there's actually certain exercises you could do to build your brain power. So for example, juggling, extremely good for your brain, it's been shown. In Oxford last year, there was a study saying that jugglers actually have bigger brains. You could actually build more white matter. It's also a great tip for speed reading because as you're juggling three balls, your eyes, you only have two of them. You can't focus on all three, so you have to soften your gaze and take in more like peripheral vision. It trains you that way, so you actually take in more words as you're reading. But it actually builds more white matter as you're doing it.

• 42:47Jim Kwik?

  There's certain exercises also, we teach people, this is a field called educational kinesiology, where certain body movements actually helps build your brain power, which is these cross laterals and these kind of fun things, even something simple like, you know, like we're always on the computer all the time, so it's really important to kind of keep your, your, your hands and your fingers kind of stretched. But you know, can you do one twice as fast, like, like literally like this? Oh, that's interesting. Something like that, you know, or something else, or yeah. Or sort of like you're pulling in energy like this, but what if you had to do one forward and one back? But there's been so many exercises for people, like eating with the opposite hand is actually good for your brain. Brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth with the opposite hand, very, very good exercise to actually build your brain power. So exercise is really good, but I mean, just being physically fit is good for your brain, right?

• 43:30Jim Kwik?

  For it's good for staving off a lot of brain challenges. Okay, fourth thing that people need to incorporate is brain nutrients. Because a lot of people, they're not getting it from their soil or maybe their food, so maybe a supplement in certain things, right? Number five, this is a big one, and I know you're, you're big on this, a positive peer group. Because you are what you eat, you know, and you are, but you are also who you spend time with. Of course. Right? So if you want a bigger brain, you want your mind to be active and everything, be around people that challenge you, that support you, that teach you things, that, that encourage you, that are positive. Because we are the average of the five people, as you know, that we spend the, the most time with. So positive peer group is good for your brain. Number six, that's good for your brain is clean environment. They find that, and you know this, like when people start cleaning their desk, that their external world starts reflecting their internal world and vice versa, right?

• 44:15Jim Kwik?

  So a clean environment helps you be more organized inside also as well. Number seven, that's good for your brain in terms of lifestyle, what I do every single day is things like sleep. Sleep is so important, people, that's where you're rebuilding, you're rejuvenating, restoring. But we live, there's this whole epidemic of sleeplessness and people aren't getting enough sleep. And Raj, I'm going through this list, people should go through, and this is common sense. But not common practice.

• 44:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:38Jim Kwik?

  That's the difference, right? People's like, like, there's, there's some zones here that people like, I'm not spending time with the right people. Or maybe, you know, I'm really not getting that much sleep, or maybe my diet, or my negative self thought. There's one or two things that if you fix it and you, you put energy there, it'll just, your, your, your, your business could double.

• 44:55Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:56Jim Kwik?

  Because you're, you're doubling. That's number seven. Number eight is brain protection. So important to protect your brain because, you know, people who are accident prone, or they're doing like a lot of extreme sports, you know, they're active. Want to make sure you wear helmets and just, you know, make, because your brain is, is resilient, but it's, you know, it's, it's, this controls everything.

• 45:13Lewis Howes?

  Smash it, you're done. My, my father 10 years ago got in a car accident and he's still recovering. He's not the same person. He, he can't work anymore, you know, he's, he forgets a lot. It's, it's a challenge.

• 45:25Jim Kwik?

  And see, that, that, that's why I do what I do, because I never want people to suffer the way that I was struggling every single day for like 15 years straight.

• 45:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 45:35Jim Kwik?

  You know, and just because it reflects on, you know, when I was in that hospital bed, going through all that. And then it's so funny, like, not, not funny as in haha funny, but when this, when this young lady who read the 30 books in 30 days and saved her mother's life. She gave me one of those books and inside the book was this photograph and it was, she was using it as a bookmark and it was her mother in the hospital. And it remind me when I was in the hospital. And so, yeah, take care of your brain.

• 45:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 45:59Jim Kwik?

  Number nine is, uh, new learnings. Learn something new every single day. Never let your head hit that pillow being the same as it was when I woke up, ever.

• 46:08Lewis Howes?

  So, listen to podcasts.

• 46:10Jim Kwik?

  Listen to podcasts, read, read. Exactly. Watch your TED Talks, you know.

• 46:14Lewis Howes?

  Take a, all my course or.

• 46:16Jim Kwik?

  Anything new learnings, because here's the thing, we've learned more about your brain in the past 20 years than the previous 2,000 years. And, you know, according to science, neurogenesis, that your brain can create new brain cells even as it grows older. And neuroplasticity is saying you can make new, your, your brain's like plastic, it's so malleable, but just having a new thought creates more connections. And so Einstein's brain wasn't any bigger than anybody else's, but he had more connections than people, than most people in certain areas. And those connections come from new learnings. And that's all learning is, is connecting something you don't know to something you know and making new. Connections like that, so always new learnings and always challenge yourself. And that's probably the most out of it. And then finally, number 10, what I try to practice every single day is stress management. You know, if you want to know what the biggest obstacle is for people's brains is is stress.

• 47:01Jim Kwik?

  Stress creates cortisol, adrenaline in your body, and it's really good for fight or flight. It's not really good if you need to take a test. It's not really good if you need to study. It's not really have to read reports and journals and learn something brand new or learn a language.

• 47:13Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 47:14Jim Kwik?

  Because that'll that'll shut down parts of your brain.

• 47:16Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 47:16Jim Kwik?

  So those are the 10 things that I focus on every single day. That's what's going to move the needle more than anything.

• 47:21Lewis Howes?

  That's really powerful information. Thanks for that. We've got two questions left, but I want to ask you before those final two questions. Tell me about the whole X-Men experience you had. Were you were you coaching the whole X-Men group or?

• 47:33Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, so so we have that photograph that's that's there with me and the cast. And the backstory for that in terms of like like a school of greatness, speaking of school of greatness, is this is um. Um, one of one of last year, one of I had the privilege to go in and train the chairman of 20th Century Fox. And his senior staff, about 20 people. And and when going down the hallway, I was lit up because I would see all these movie posters. You know, because I I became a kid again, you know, I you know, Titanic and Star Wars and Aliens and Avatar. I'm just like, and I go in and I I'm really great. Like, I'm I like, I I like to be like humble, but but it was it was amazing.

• 48:14Jim Kwik?

  Like, I mean, I got like everyone, they doubled their reading speed and they're focused and all the amazing, amazing stuff. As a thank you, the chairman took me around the studio. It's a closed lot, but show me all the movie sets and television sets. And I was lit up like a kid because I'm still that kid. And I think I was really great in that moment. Because I was like a child. I was playful and it was fun. I think that's the state you want to learn in. Anyway. When we were walking to studio, I saw this movie poster of the upcoming Wolverine movie with Hugh Jackman. And I'm a huge Hugh Jackman fan. And he was like, I was like, I can't wait to see that movie. And he picked up, because it was coming out for a few weeks, he picked up the phone. And five minutes later, I'm in the Fox theater with 3D glasses and popcorn. Watching Hugh Jackman take on all these super ninjas. And it was awesome. And I'm the only one. And I'm just thinking, this is incredible.

• 48:59Jim Kwik?

  I have the control panel here and everything. I'm just thinking. And then afterwards, we're done, he picks me up, he's like, how is the movie? You know, do some like market research. I was like, this was amazing. And because I'm still like a seven year old, I go back and I tell him, you know, you don't know this, but I grew up with these learning challenges that I'll tell a lot of people. And I couldn't read for two years, but I learned how to read by reading comic books. Wow. Because something about the pictures and the stories really made sense to me. And my favorite comic book growing up was the X-Men. Like which Wolverine is an X-Men. And I was like, because the X-Men weren't necessarily the most powerful, but they, they didn't fit in. They were mutants, they were different. And I felt like in school, I didn't fit in. And, and, and the highlight, I'm telling the, the CEO and the chairman, was when I was reading this comic book, I found out they had a school of all these X-Men.

• 49:43Jim Kwik?

  And it was in Westchester, New York. And that's where they all trained, you know, the school of greatness, if you will. Sure. And, and I grew up in Westchester, New York. Wow. So I told him this, and this is a true story. When I was seven and eight years old, on the weekends, I would ride my little bike around my neighborhood, trying to find that school. Because I wanted to run away, leave my school, which I didn't like. Enjoy the X-Men. Because I wanted, because they're different and I'm different. And I want to learn my superpowers. And what's my superpowers, right? And what's other people's superpowers? And I tell him this, like I'm a little kid, like I'm eight years old. And he's like, Jim, I didn't know you liked superheroes. Do you want to go to Comic Con? And I'm like, oh, Comic Con's the biggest conference in the country, right? And I'm like, oh, when is it? He's like, it's going on now, this weekend. And I was like, all of a sudden, I go from eighty eight, I go from eight year old to an eighty eight year old. I'm thinking, oh, I have all these meetings, how am I going to get there?

• 50:28Jim Kwik?

  I don't have clothes, I have to wait on lines, there's going to be traffic to get to San Diego from LA. And I just make all these excuses, which is, that's what I think adults do. We become critics and we become, you know, like squelchers of our own dreams sometime. And he looks at me, he's like, Jim, do you want to go or not? I'm going tomorrow. I was like, oh, the chairman of Fox Studios is going, I want to go with you. Yeah, yeah. So he picks me up the next morning, Saturday, eight o'clock. And we don't drive down, we get on the Fox plane. And um

• 50:53Lewis Howes?

  Sweet.

• 50:53Jim Kwik?

  Yeah, and I get on the plane.

• 50:55Lewis Howes?

  You're flying like a superhero.

• 50:56Jim Kwik?

  Literally. And when I got on the plane, Louis, there's the entire, I kid you not, cast of X-Men on that plane. And like Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman.

• 51:05Lewis Howes?

  Did he tell you that they were gonna be on there?

• 51:07Jim Kwik?

  No. And I'm sitting in between Halle Berry and Jennifer Lawrence, right? And, and uh, you know, and I, I, you know, I wanna put these pictures on Instagram, right? Like, cause like, half my pictures are like, pictures of like superheroes and stuff. But it's like, and I'm, I can't even believe it. And we go there, spend the entire day with the cast at Comic Con. We come back to LA that night on the plane. And, and he was like, "How was your day?" I was like, "This is the best day ever." I was like, "Oh my goodness, this is incredible." He was like, "Well, I have something else for you." I'm like, "Uh, no. What can I do for you? I don't need anything else. You're not gonna top this." He was like, "Well, the cast really loved you. How would you like to go on set?" I was like, "What do you mean?" He was like, "We have another month of filming X, the new X-Men movie." And I was like, "Oh yeah, I totally wanna do that." And he was like, well, I was like, "What can I do for you?" I was like, "Oh, just, just share these tips. Teach them how to speed read scripts and memorize their lines and be focused on." I was like, "Oh yeah, I could do that."

• 51:52Jim Kwik?

  So the next morning, we're on the Fox, they call it the X-Jet. And I'm doing, I'm answering the questions on brain and then brain performance and focus and memory and reading. And I get to spend an entire week with them on set. 12 hours a day, eating with them, working out with them.

• 52:06Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 52:06Jim Kwik?

  And watching my childhood heroes come to life.

• 52:10Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 52:11Jim Kwik?

  And it was just like, I, I can't even describe it. Cause I was like a seven-year-old the entire time. Like, I'd be sitting here and Bryan Singer, the director, was here the entire time. I was just like, here. And when I get home, and this is, what a class act. I get home and there's a packet waiting for me, about the, like the plasma TV. And I open it and it's this photograph of me and the entire cast of the X-Men.

• 52:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I saw it over there. We're gonna, we'll link that up in the show notes.

• 52:35Jim Kwik?

  And it's like, I, I, I won't take it off my Facebook cover picture. But, but here's the thing, even better than that was the note from the chairman. And the note said this verbatim. It said, "Jim, thank you so much for sharing your superpowers with us." It said, "I know you've been looking for your school. Here's your class photo."

• 52:53Lewis Howes?

  Oh my goodness, that's amazing.

• 52:56Jim Kwik?

  I just, I just wanna cry.

• 52:57Lewis Howes?

  That's so cool.

• 52:58Jim Kwik?

  Just, so I just, it just, that's, that's the story there. But, but the lesson there is, is, is twofold. I would say this. It came from being um... For tapping, I think there's this childlike learner genius inside all of us. And because I was that authentic, I kind of like let that out. It kind of led to to that. So in what areas of our life can be we be more playful and be more authentically us? Especially when we're, you know, because I don't think, I think age really is not chronological age. It's more an age of, you know, our mind and our heart. You know, like I'm friends with Stanley and he's like for me, living Disney. Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Avengers. And one chance I had an opportunity to introduce him and another one of my heroes, Richard Branson, for dinner.

• 53:40Jim Kwik?

  And I pick him up here just down the street and a 10 minute ride takes an hour. And I'm in the backseat with Stanley and and I'm asking him like, who's your favorite superhero? And he's like, you know, it's Iron Man. I'm like, oh, I love Iron Man. And he was like, who's your favorite? I was like, I was like Spider-Man. And I say Spider-Man, he says, with great power comes great responsibility. Like, you know, I was like, you know, the opposite is also true, Stan. With great responsibility comes great power. You know, when we take responsibility, we have the power to really change things. But Stan has two passions. He's 92, turns, he's 92 years old and he still goes to work here, right down the street. Nine to five, Monday through Friday. He loves telling stories. And the other passion is his wife who's a year older. And that's what a role model.

• 54:24Jim Kwik?

  And he learns, he's one of the youngest, oldest people I know at 92. And that's what I mean by a state of mind.

• 54:32Lewis Howes?

  So I want to finalize this interview with two final questions. And the first one is, what are you most grateful for recently?

• 54:39Jim Kwik?

  What am I most grateful for?

• 54:41Lewis Howes?

  In your life, just what are you most grateful for?

• 54:42Jim Kwik?

  My life, my friends, my family. There's nothing more important to me. My my values are love, growth, contribution and adventure. I think the people you spend time with is what makes life worth living. And then I think the secret to life is growing and giving. Growing, because I used to be just giving and giving and you and I share some some of the same same pursuits in terms of how we give. But I find that if we're not growing, then we don't have as much to give. And, you know, a lot of people are out there, they they kind of martyr themselves and they're always there for everyone. You know, they're there for their friends and their family and their clients and their business, but they're not taking care of themselves. So I think that's important. So, yeah, my friends and family are everything.

• 55:20Lewis Howes?

  Awesome, awesome. So the last question is what I ask all of my guests and it's what's your definition of greatness?

• 55:27Jim Kwik?

  That's a great question. I would define greatness as people who become the superhero that they were meant to be. I call it the superhero you. And a superhero has two things. They've developed and discovered their own strengths and everybody has a unique power, you know, a unique talent, a unique gift that no one else has. But they don't just have a superpower. They use their power for some kind of purpose. They use it to be able to save the world, to be able to add value to their community. So I would say be that superhero. Be that superhero you. Very cool. Jim Quick, thanks for coming on. Thanks for us. Appreciate it.

• 56:08Lewis Howes?

  And there you have it, guys. Do you remember anything from this episode? Hopefully you remember all of it after the things that Jim talks about on the ways that you can remember things. And if you want to get more, make sure to check out lewishouse.com/115. Again, there's going to be some additional videos on there, great links, resources. Make sure to check it out. Share this episode with your friends on Twitter, on Facebook, on Google Plus, wherever you want to share it. But I think your friends are going to really enjoy the videos, the audio, so make sure to share it out. And if you haven't yet, if you love this show, I had someone come up to me in LA recently, Amira, and big shout out to Amira, thank you for coming to say hi. She came up to me and said, "I love your podcast. Thank you so much. You've been really inspiring to me."

• 56:53Lewis Howes?

  And if you haven't yet, make sure to leave a review over on iTunes.com/SchoolOfGreatness. Those reviews really help get the word out there to more people. So if you liked this episode, if you liked these interviews, then please write a review and share it with your friends so we can spread this message of greatness to the world. And again, if you guys see me anywhere when I'm traveling around the world, or you're seeing me when I'm in LA right now, make sure to come up, say hi to me. I definitely want to give you a hug and appreciate you for listening to the show because it means the world to me. So, thank you guys so much. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Share it with your friends. Leave a review over at iTunes.com/SchoolOfGreatness. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.