← The Mello Millionaire with Tommy Mello
The Mello Millionaire with Tommy Mello
The Genius Shortcut: How to Hack Focus, Memory, and Brainpower with Jim Kwik
00:21:45
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- [00:01]
A
Nobody's paid like it was thousands of years ago where our value in society was our brute strength. You know, today is our brain strength to teach people how to learn faster, which I think is the number one skill for entrepreneurs. Your ability to learn and focus, read, understand, remember and think. What can you apply that to anything in business?
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B
Brilliant. Curious. Limitless. Our guest today is a world renowned brain coach who empowers people to rewire their minds and redefine what's possible.
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A
Our mission is to build better, brighter brains. No brain left behind.
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B
Jim Kwik is the founder of Kwik Learning, a program which has helped millions of people around the globe to upgrade their memory, focus and mental performance.
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A
How many of you would like to have a better brain? Raise your hand.
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B
He's worked with top performers including CEOs, athletes and Hollywood actors. And his client list spans companies like Virgin SpaceX and Marvel.
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A
Quick, Jim Quick, Jim Kwik, Jim Kwik, Jim Quick.
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B
His best selling book, Limitless is a global phenomenon offering science backed techniques to break free from perceived limitations. Jim is also the host of the Quick Brain podcast which ranks among the top education shows worldwide. Through his powerful techniques and dynamic energy, he's proving that intelligence isn't fixed, it's trained, strengthen and expanded. Get ready. This conversation will elevate the way you think, learn and live. All right guys, welcome back to the Mellow Millionaire. Today I got Jim Kwik, who is the world's leading expert in accelerated learning and memory improvement and is the co founder of Quick Learning, a global leader in optimal brain performance. You devoted your life to creating strategies to enhance mental performance. Some of your clients include the top CEOs and celebrities as well as organizations like Virgin Zappos and Harvard University. Can you just tell us a little bit more? Help the audience get to know you a little bit in your mission statement?
- [01:53]
A
Yeah, absolutely. Tommy, thanks for having me and thank you. Everyone's tuning into this brainy conversation. I know we're going to talk about how to improve your memory, how to focus better, just how to be more effective with your brain. And the reason why I know it's possible is because I grew up with some severe learning disabilities. I had a traumatic brain injury when I was five years old. I was rushed to the emergency room. I mean there was short of it was I would have these processing issues, you know, because my last name really is Quick. I would be teased all the time. I'd be called Slow, which is kind of ironic. Teachers would have to repeat themselves over and over again. It took me three and a Half years just to learn how to read. I remember when I was nine years old, I remember like it was yesterday. I even get choked up thinking about it. I was slowing down the class and I was being teased pretty harshly by the other kids. And a teacher came to my defense. She pointed to me in front of the whole class and said, leave that kid alone. That's the boy with the broken brain. And that became my, my moniker in school. Everyone called me the boy with the broken brain. That label became my limit and that became my, my belief. I mean, and you can imagine where my level of self esteem was, my level of self confidence, my self worth. I mean, I struggled every single day until I was about 18 years old and I found a mentor which is one of the fastest ways to upgrade your learning and your life. Really wanted to understand how does my brain work. So I could work my brain and I started studying brain science, adult learning theory, mindset, ancient memory, mnemonics, speed reading, and about 60 days light switch flipped on and I just started to crush it in school. The other thing I learned at that time was my mission in life, you know, as the boy with a broken brain. I want to build better, brighter brains to teach people how to learn faster. Which I think is the number one skill for entrepreneurs. Your ability to learn and focus, read, understand, remember and think. What can you apply that to anything in business? You can apply that to machine learning, to marketing, to management, to money. We've all heard about personalized medicine based on a test like a DNA test or personalized nutrition based on, let's say a nutrient profile or microbiome test. We created a four minute assessment to discover your dominant brain type. And we use a, a code based on animals. You either have a cheetah brain, an owl brain, a dolphin brain or an elephant brain. And based on your dominant brain type, we prescribe as a gift for your listeners how to read faster, how to remember more, how to sell better based on brain types. So for example, a che data is quick to action. That's their dominant trait. An owl is very logical, right? So they need the data D dolphin. Their dominant trait is creativity. And the E in code is your elephant, which is their dominant trait is empathy. So it's interesting. So for example, if you were selling now in your reading, cheetahs would skim scan, right? Dolphins would visualize what they read. You know, owls would go for the facts and everything. And we'll gift them, you know, strategies when they take the assessment, how to do these things, how to focus, you know, and if you think about like a sitcom, like Friends, Joey would be your cheetah. Fast act, not think right. Ross was the professor. Scientist is your owl. All logic, you know, Phoebe was the musician, artist, she's your dolphin. Monica would always host everything. She was your elephant. I always wanted to bring the community together. So you'll see this in Star wars, you see this in Harry Potter, you'll see this and you know, in Star Trek, you know, it's just, it's just these are the common ones. So people can take that assessment. @my brainanimal.com I love this.
- [05:50]
B
Very powerful. I, you know, I find myself sometimes where it's kind of hard to remember something like a name. And I've always said I'm just not good at names.
- [06:02]
A
I believe everybody listening has genius inside of them and they need to study genius in the area. What's called meta learning. So meta learning is the art and science of learning how to learn. It is the most important skill, bar none. Because everything after that you could apply towards sales, towards public speaking, towards your health, towards everything. And so the through line with some of the most amazing individuals that I get to work with, they're always learning and they always want to get 1% better every single day. So I would say in terms of habits, learn how to learn. I've been doing this for 34 years. And so we have a top podcast on it, close to 100 million downloads. And we put it on YouTube. I write books on the subject. Limitless is the number one book on brain optimization, accelerated learning in the world. You know, a couple million copies sold. We donate all the proceeds to charities. We built schools in Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya. You know, nowadays most of your listeners, whether they're entrepreneurs or in business development or, you know, whatever their profession happens to be, nobody's paid. Like it was thousands of years ago where our value in society was our brute strength, you know, today is our brain strength. It's not just our muscle power. Today is our mind power. And the faster you learn, the faster you earn. People will update their technology. They'll get the latest iPhone, they'll update their apps, they'll get a new computer. But when's the last time we took time to upgrade the most important technology, which is that three pound matter between our ears, you know, called our brain. And so, you know, it's fascinating what it can do.
- [07:48]
B
And so let's give us a crash course on memory.
- [07:53]
A
Let's do it. It's not true that you can't remember names. Your brain has 86 billion brain cells. Right. And neurons. And each one has upwards of 10,000 synapses. So if you extrapolate that, that's more connections than there are stars in the known universe. Right. We can remember a name. Let's say you're bad at names, but Tommy has a suitcase for you filled with cash for you or your favorite charity. Let's say it's a million dollars, tax free if you just remember the name of the next stranger you meet today. Who's going to remember that person's name for a million dollars?
- [08:32]
B
Everyone.
- [08:32]
A
Everyone. Right. Why do you want to remember this person's name? Maybe to get a referral, maybe to make a sale, maybe to practice. These things I learned on Tommy's podcast, Reasons reap results. It has to go from your head to your heart to your hands. So very simple thing in a dozen different ways strategically on how to remember names. It could be something simple like the word suave. And I, again, I'm using acronyms because some people might be driving, they can't take notes. So it's the easy way to remember it. S. Say the name, you meet somebody, you repeat the name right away. And it also helps because it means you heard it. Right. You don't want to have a 20 minute conversation with Ted and say goodbye, Ed. Right. Just because you didn't hear the name correctly. The U in swab, you use the name, use it three or four times in the context of the conversation. And I think I do this just naturally. You know, I've addressed you by name, you know, a handful of times, but yeah, so you say the name, the U and swab, you use the name. Don't abuse it. Right? You don't. Tommy, thank you so much for having me on your show. I've been really looking forward to this. Tommy, Tommy, what do you want to talk about? Tommy, what do you have question you have that would be an abuse, Right. But you want to use it three or four times in the context of the conversation. The A in suave. The A is ask is a great quick tip to remember names you haven't heard before, like unusual names. Hafsa Riddicker. So what can you ask about a person's name? What are some of the things that we could ask? You know, things like how do you spell it? What does it mean? You know, the who are you named after? And so A is ask. And then finally the V and the E. So you have say it, use it, ask about it. The V, visualize. And I bet a lot of your listeners are better with faces than they are with names. If you go to someone, say, hey, you know, I remember your face, but I forgot your name. You never go to someone and say the opposite. So you meet somebody and their name is Carol. Just for a split second, imagine them singing Christmas carols. Then finally, the Ian Suave and I always, always, always end a conversation saying goodbye using their name. Because imagine this. You walk into a room, you meet 15, 20 strangers and you leave, saying goodbye to every single one of them by name. Who are they all going to remember? They're going to remember you, right? And that's a standout skill. Unfortunately, it's a standout skill.
- [10:59]
B
You know, I. I got a question. I remember 2007, my CPA, he wasn't my CPA, he only worked with 10 clients. And they were like, I guess 2007, I'm 23, 24 years old. And he said, look, Tommy, I'll tell you what. I like you, but you gotta prove to me one thing. He hands me this book, it's called the E. Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber. And he says, I want you to take this home and read it. He goes, actually, what's the last book you read? And I said, it was either To Kill a Mockingbird or Lord of the Flies, and it was 11th grade. So he said, so you haven't read since then? I said, I've read. I just not read a book. And he said, I think you'll like this book. So I devoured this book. A day later, he hands me the Ultimate Sales machine by Chet Holmes. Day later, I come back, he hands me the richest man of Babylon. And after that, I was done. I was done. I'm like, boom. Then I was like, just give me a list now. Don't hand me anymore. And then I read, you know, Robert. Well, you know, Robert Chaidini was just in my office, Influence. And I started reading books like Robert Kiyosaki. But so many people, they haven't found a love for knowledge and a thirst for knowledge or enjoy reading. So how do you build the thirst that my buddy helped me so many years ago?
- [12:22]
A
Number one, read until you find something you love. Love, right? You read something you love until you love. Read reading this. The second thing I would say is like, I really think we have. All of us should be reading 30 minutes a day. I honestly would rather go a day without food than a day without reading something that will better some area of my life. Say, you want to read 30 minutes a day, you have purpose. You know how it's going to add your income and help you create your dream life. Whatever. This, like maybe reading is too big, intimidating. Opening up the book is a small, simple step. Reading one line is a small, simple step because nobody's going to stop at one line. This is the magic question. I ask myself this anytime I feel stalled. What is the tiniest action I could take right now that will give me progress towards this goal where I can't fail?
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B
Now, I would love to know to you, what's the difference between motivation and discipline?
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A
So for me, I think one of the most important things, if I can install something into my younger self, I feel like the through line is our ability to commit, to follow through on our commitments. I believe that that's what integrity is like. Integrity. I saw this recently, so I can't take credit. I don't know who to attribute it to, but I saw this quote saying integrity is measured by the distance between your lips and your life. Integrity is message between the distance between your lips and your life. And I believe for me, discipline is doing the things you know you should do, right? You take your, as Tony Robbins talks about, you take your shoulds, you turn them into musts, you know, those are your standards. And keeping our commitment to ourself. When we say we're going to do something like we're gonna work out and we stick to it, I feel like that's how we build self worth, a level of self esteem. Because there's, I don't know, anything more important than keeping your commitments to yourself, that you trust yourself, that you follow through. Change can be scary, growth can be hard. But nothing is as scary and hard as being stuck somewhere you don't belong, right? Being broke is hard. And going out there and building a business is hard, right? And we heard this. It's, it's like so in the zeitgeist that we sometimes just, you know, we know we're deaf to it, but, you know, we choose our heart, right? Wake up is hard.
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B
Choose your heart.
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A
Yeah.
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B
It's hard to be single. It's hard to be married. Choose your heart.
- [14:59]
A
Yeah. It's hard to be sick. And it's hard, you know, to be able to work out and eat right and be disciplined like that. But we choose our heart, you know, every single day.
- [15:08]
B
I'll tell you what I believe is the most important thing in life is that sleep. Because if you're not sleeping, you're not fully aware your brain's not working. Correct. It's weird that I said that, but it's Been an obsession of mine these last couple years.
- [15:21]
A
So good for your brain, right? When you, I mean, just think about it. When you get one bad night's sleep, how's your focus the next day? How's your ability to study? What's your mental fortitude like? Your ability to make good decisions, your ability to remember things when you sleep? A couple few things happen for your brain. Number one, you consolidate short to long term memory. And so if you have long term memory issues, check your sleep. And I'm going to tell you, like, people think the brain shuts off at night. It doesn't. In some ways, your brain is more active when you sleep and it's doing those things, cleaning it out. It's, you know, forming long term memories, but it's also coming up with ideas and solutions for what you focused on that day. You know, even I do a ritual before I go to sleep and I do this installation, I think about like, you know, set the intention of what I want to dream about. Did you know, like Mary Shelley came up with Frankenstein in her dream. Paul McCartney came up with the song Yesterday in his dream. A chemist created the periodic table in his dream. Elias Howe created the sewing machine in his dream. Right. There's all these examples. If you want to watch an interesting video, you can search my name. Jim Kwik. Kwik. How to remember dreams. Because a lot of people forget their dreams, but what are you dreaming about at night? That could be a solution to what you're focusing on all day, but that requires though that you sleep.
- [16:41]
B
Oh my gosh, I love this podcast. So tell me about some of your projects.
- [16:48]
A
All I do angel invest. You know, I do it in projects and passions that are aligned with what, what we do. That if I feel like it's not dependent on me, but I can move the needle either with our content, our capital, our connections, or, you know, we can amplify and magnify. Um, but I would put it back into. We get greater returns investing in our business than anything else. So the book Limitless came out in 2020. It was my first book. People think I have like 12 books right on. I got into a car accident in 2018 and I almost died. And maybe I should have, but it gave me some perspective. And the next day I signed the book deal that was sitting on my desk for 10 years because, like, I want to help people tell me, but I don't. I'm kind of very introverted. Maybe just kind of growing up with a brain injury and just kind of being just kind of Alone. But I want to help people, so I. But I need to be known for it. But I realized that when I was in this car accident and almost died, I was thinking about what I leave behind, and it made me think about, you know, legacy, which is kind of an overused word, but. Or I signed the book deal next day. And, you know, I really feel that passion for everyone listening. For me, functionally, it's what lights you up. Teaching people how to learn lights them up. So that's. That's my purpose. So I just. Very cognizant in terms of, yeah, I would put every. Everything back into the mission.
- [18:25]
B
Mr. Jim Kwik, this is phenomenal. I'm going to listen to this one over and over again. I always tell people, if you look at your inner circle and you don't get motivated, it's a cage. And I do believe getting into the right rooms has kind of been my superpower is for some reason, somebody asked me earlier, they said, how do you do it? How do you get in the right rooms? I said, you show respect. You study the person. When they tell you to do something, you do it before you go back to them. You know, if they're going to teach you something to take the time. They like to work with people that pay it forward, too, that recognize them on a stage and say, this person brought me this. And that's one of the things I pride myself on, is I like to be. It's not hard for me to be the dumbest guy in the room, by the way. But I love to get in new rooms because I like to go to the base camp of that mountain and say, how do you get to the top the quickest? And then they tell me, and like, with you, I'm sure I'm going to be reaching out to you shortly because this is the first time in my life I have more books on my shelf than I've read. And it's kind of embarrassing, but people send me books. I just ordered 14 books yesterday. So now I've got to, like, I got to dive in and go hardcore again. So this has been amazing.
- [19:35]
A
Very simple things people could do. Even if people go to my Instagram and the profile, the link, there's a masterclass for free that people get to a one hour and everyone will double their reading speed with better comprehension just going through it and they can find it, you know, on the link in my. In my bio.
- [19:55]
B
Yeah.
- [19:56]
A
But I'm telling you, I want to thank you for the. For the good work. You know, I know We've met in the past and I'm looking forward to being at an event and being in the, you know, because if I'm at an event with you, I know I'll be in the bright room.
- [20:08]
B
Well, Jim, I'm going to go take that masterclass today and applying it right away. So I appreciate your time today.
- [20:14]
A
Thank you. Also for everyone who's listening still because if you are, you self selected that you're, you're part of that group that follows through and, and I want to remind you that there's a version of yourself and your business that's patiently waiting and the goal is we show up every single day until October introduced. So it's great to be on this journey with all of you.
- [20:35]
B
Thanks, brother. Appreciate you. All right, guys, thanks so much for listening to this episode. Like always. We're going to close it out with the Tommy Truth, which is a little slice of wisdom from me to you that can help guide you in whatever you're striving towards right now. You don't need a million dollar idea, you just need a million dollar habit. I've been around a lot of people with 500 million to over a billion dollars of net worth, people with six packs, people that are spiritual, people that have the best relationships with their wife and kids. They all have million dollar habits. What's a million dollar habit? It's studying, it's being curious, it's implementing quickly. So focus on habits that'll make you money over time, that'll make you better husband or wife. It'll make you a better father or mother. Focus on things that's great for you, that'll make you healthier, that'll make you happier. The best one to start with is a sleeping habit. I thought I was amazing. I was getting five hours of sleep and I was saying, man, big mistake. I get eight hours of sleep now I'm happier. I make better decisions, I can work out harder, I eat better. I'm just a better person for everybody around me. Build these small little habits, let them compound and watch what happens in your life. And that's it, guys. We'll talk to you next week.