>> Hi, I'm Lewis Howes, New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur, and welcome to "The School of Greatness," where we interview the most influential minds and leaders in the world to inspire you to live your best life today.

And in this episode, we sit down with Jim Kwik, who has worked as a brain coach for over 25 years, working with famous actors, athletes, C.E.O.s, and high achievers in all walks of life.

And today he teaches us how to improve our memory, increase our decision-making skills, and tap into our brain's full potential.

I'm so glad you're here today, so let's dive in and let the class begin.

♪ ♪ >> I think if there's one skill to master in the 21st century, it's our ability to learn faster.

>> Mm.

>> Because if you can learn how to learn, the world is yours, especially today 'cause nobody who's listening and watching gets paid for their brute strength.

It's their brain strength.

It's not your muscle power.

It's completely your mind power.

And the challenge is your brain doesn't come with an owner's manual.

It's not user-friendly.

It's not how smart you are or how smart your kids are, how smart your business partner is.

It's how are they smarter or how are you smarter.

>> What's the difference?

>> It's like -- Have you ever been interested -- just like you were saying -- You're interested in a topic but you're not getting it.

Because sometimes in school, it's like the top 10% get A's, another 10% get B's, and then 80% were like you and I.

It's like we're failing school as opposed to the way school maybe is failing us, because school teaches you what to learn, what to focus on, what to think, what to remember, but now how to learn and how to think and how to focus.

>> Well, it teaches you how to think and learn in one way.

>> Exactly.

Children right now, they're finding that their reasoning abilities, their ability to analyze, critical thinking, is not as sharp as where it should be because of technology, because technology is doing the thinking for us.

And our mind -- I'm going to say this repeatedly -- is like a muscle.

It's use it or lose it.

You want your mental muscles to be stronger, more energized, more pliable, more flexible.

>> Yeah, of course.

>> Because I think we're in the millennium of the mind, and it's really about mental fitness, our ability to adapt, our ability to think, our ability to solve problems.

And my passion is learning, right?

I love learning now because it wasn't when I was growing up.

I loved to learn, but my purpose, you know -- again, your passion is what lights you up.

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

My passion is teaching other people how to learn.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And that's really my mission because I grew up with a broken brain.

I want to build better, brighter brains.

And everybody has this genius inside of them, regardless their age, their background, their career, gender.

None of that matters.

What matters is choice.

>> I really believe that habits allow us to make better choices automatically as opposed to "Should I make this choice today?

Yes or no?

Should I make that choice?"

You know, every day we have the opportunity to make different decisions, and habits keep us on the right path to making better decisions and choices every day.

The mind-set will keep you on the right path.

The skills -- For whatever reason, skills I think is one of the most important things, more than habits in a sense because when you acquire a new skill, you become bulletproof, limitless to any economic downturn to any breakup in a relationship, to any career change.

You become limitless when you have a tool belt of skills at your disposal.

>> And if there's one skill to master, it's our ability to learn.

It's called meta learning.

So let's deconstruct how to do that confidently.

This is the limitless model, and I want everybody to think about a subject or some area of your life where you're feeling held back.

It can be your relationship.

It can be you're not making progress in your career.

It can be maybe in your physical performance or wellness.

Think about one area where you're stuck in a box.

Alright?

Now, a box is like a cage, 3-D box, and 3-D is three dimensions.

What keeps you in the box?

Three forces, and these are the three M's.

And I want everyone to draw a circle, and in that circle, we're going to draw a Venn diagram.

You know what a Venn diagram -- It's three intersecting circles.

And the first circle is your mind-set.

Three M's.

And I always alliterate everything because it helps you to be able to remember it better.

First one is your mind-set.

Now, your mind-set are your assumptions and your attitudes about something.

Now let's break that down.

For me functionally, what your mind-set is about this subject -- and I want people to make this very personal.

Think about something, an area you're held back.

This is what you believe is possible, is your mind-set.

It is what you believe you are capable of.

It is what you believe you deserve as part of your mind-set because that's a big thing.

Like, I can teach someone the method of how to remember names, but their mind-set is "I'm stupid."

>> "I don't deserve to remember names" or "I'm not capable of it."

>> Exactly, or -- Exactly, or "I'm too old" or whatever it is.

That's their mind-set.

>> "My brain doesn't work that way."

>> Exactly.

Then the method won't take hold.

>> It won't matter.

>> Exactly.

So "unlimiting" is an active word where it's you're redrawing the boundaries and borders of your life.

Limitless is not about being perfect.

Limitless is about advancing and progressing beyond what is possible.

Now, I apply that towards accelerated learning so you can learn your languages and, you know, give speeches without notes and all that stuff.

But, really, it's a process of liberating yourself out of that box.

So one of the dimensions that you keep you in that box is your mind-set.

>> Yep.

>> Now, the second M -- you can have the greatest mind-set and believe everything is possible, you're capable, you deserve it, but if you don't have the second M, which is motivation, you're not getting out of that box.

Right?

In your career.

>> "I believe I can do it, but I'm gonna sit here and eat chips on the couch."

>> Exactly.

And so your motivation, for me, is your drive, it's your purpose, it's the vitality that you bring to something.

Now, most people think motivation, they'll say, "Motivation is a lie," and in some respects it is because the way a lot of people perceive motivation is just "rah-rah, get excited, get hyped up," and next day, nothing changes.

So my evidence, the evidence of motivation is something is happening.

There's an action.

There's a new action taking place.

And if you're not doing that action, you're not motivated, no matter what you say.

If you're not doing it, it's better well done than well said.

The key to sustainable motivation, how to overcome procrastination, if you're putting things off, this is the key.

P times E times S3.

So, the P stands for "purpose."

Tap into your reasons.

And it can't be intellectual.

You know you have to feel it.

>> Of course.

>> Right?

And you could even feel the pain.

Like, who's counting on you to do this activity?

You know, who's watching you?

Who's role-modeling you, right?

Who's counting on you to show up today?

You know, it could be painful too, but if it gets you to move, that's what's important.

Have that reason, the purpose.

If somebody just has a reason, are they always motivated?

Are there any cases where they're not motivated?

And I said yes, if they're lacking the E, energy.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> So somebody could have a reason to work out or they could have a reason to read, you know, or learn Spanish, but if they're trying to do it late at night and they didn't sleep well the night before or they had a big, processed meal -- >> It's hard to have the motivation.

>> Exactly.

In their food coma, they can't be motivated because they lack energy.

Now, you have energy to do it.

I ask myself, "Okay, you have a purpose for something, to work out or whatever."

>> You have the energy.

>> Or to start this business.

You have the energy.

In what case, if you're, like, doing this critical thinking, in what case won't you be motivated?

Like, starting a business, like, where do you even start?

Or getting that perfect relationship or having perfect health.

That's way, way too big.

So what do you do?

S3 -- small, simple steps.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> They could have the reasons and purpose.

They could have the energy, unlimited energy.

But they don't know where to start because they make it too big in their mind, and a confused mind doesn't do anything.

>> Yeah.

>> A confused mind doesn't do anything.

So clarity is power.

>> I like that.

>> So small, simple step.

All you have to do is ask a magic question.

"What is the smallest action I could take where I can't fail?"

It allows me -- gives me some progress, but I can't fail.

What's the smallest step?

And I cite the work in here of the habit experts that you and I have interviewed -- you know, Dr. B.J.

Foggs or the James Clears, "Atomic Habits."

And, really, my take on how to make sustainable habits, because what you do repeatedly becomes that habit, but it starts with a small, simple step.

What's an example of that?

I want people to read a book a week.

It will change your life.

I think if there's one thing that would change their life immediately, long term, it's just read every day.

Reading is to your mind what exercise is to your body even more than audio.

My podcast -- and I do everything on audio -- I still encourage people to read because it activates a different part of your brain.

Also, and I listen to audios when I drive, when I work out.

But when people are tested in terms of what they read, in terms of comprehension, what they listen to, reading, the actual -- >> Remember more.

>> Remember more and they'll understand more.

You know why?

Is not only does it activate a different part of your brain 'cause it's active, because listening can be passive.

Like, watching a movie or anything could be very passive.

You don't have to get involved, but reading forces you to get involved.

But the second reason why is because usually when someone's listening to something, they're doing something and they're trying to multitask.

They're cleaning their house, they're working out, they're driving.

So their attention is not fully on what they're listening to.

So that's why comprehension is down.

But reading every single day is a great activity.

But I don't tell people, you know, "Read an hour a day."

A small, simple step to get someone reading is read one sentence.

>> Mm.

>> That's a small, simple step.

Open up the book.

That's a small, simple step that you can't fail.

Right?

And nobody's going to stop at one sentence, right?

So how do you break it down?

And, really, motivation is energy management.

It's really about energy management, meaning when you have clarity and purpose, it gives you energy, right?

When you have energy, like if you eat the right foods and everything else, you have energy.

And small, simple steps requires very little energy, requires very little effort output.

And there's something in memory called the Zeigarnik effect.

It's by a psychologist, a woman who, in Europe, noticed that the café she frequents, that the waitstaff would remember all the orders until they were delivered.

And once they were delivered, they would forget it.

And the Zeigarnik effect, which is her last name, means that the mind doesn't like open loops.

So, like, and all of the series that you binge-watch knows this 'cause at the end, they open up a loop, and you're like, "One more."

Who does that?

Like, one more and you end up watching until like 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m. because it doesn't like the open loops.

Well, starting something, like an order, remembering someone's order, and then it delivered closes the loop.

Well, when you start something anywhere, your mind still keeps an open loop about it, so it's more likely to finish, and that's another way to overcome procrastination -- break it down into small, simple steps where you can't fail.

That's the three-step formula.

And then, finally, you could have the mind-set and motivation and still be stuck in that box because, again, let's say you believe everything is possible, and that's your mind-set and you're capable and you deserve it, and you're motivated, but if you don't have the last M, which are the methods, then you're stuck in that box.

>> Okay.

>> You could believe that you deserve this income.

>> Work hard all day long.

>> But if you're doing the wrong things, then you're not going to get the result.

If you're doing the wrong marketing tactics or if you're doing the wrong things in a relationship, right?

If you're using bad advice.

Because we learned very poor, antiquated methods of learning in school.

It was rote repetition.

To learn something, repeat it 100 times in your mind.

And the problem is it just takes a lot of time and it's not the optimal way the brain learns.

The human brain doesn't learn through consumption.

It learns through creation, right?

The human brain does not learn by consuming.

It learns by creating.

And so we also learned a bad habit, a method of reading, which was subvocalization.

Subvocalization is -- Have you ever noticed when you're reading something, you hear that inner voice inside your head reading along with you?

Hopefully it's your own voice, not like somebody else's voice.

The reason why it keeps you reading slow is if you have to say all the words in this book, you can only read as fast as you could speak.

That means your reading speed is limited to your talking speed, not your thinking speed.

>> How do you limit the conversation in your mind?

>> It's interesting, right?

Because the question becomes -- Everybody reads about 200, 250 words per minute because that's how the average person talks.

>> Wow.

>> But do you have to say -- The question becomes, do -- Analyze it, common sense.

Do you need to say all the words in order to understand what those words mean?

>> No.

>> The truth is no.

Like, when you see a stop sign, you don't say to yourself, "Stop."

But do you comprehend what that means?

>> Of course.

It's a symbol.

>> Exactly.

And just like symbols in the book -- periods, punctuation marks -- you don't say "question mark" when you read or "comma" when you read.

You know?

So "the," "and," "there," "because, "of," all those are sight words and you don't have to pronounce them by sound.

You do them by sight, and the fastest readers actually only subvocalize the more difficult words.

And so I'm not saying you -- >> Really?

So you just kind of skip through and go through -- >> You read all the words.

No, you read all the words, but you don't have to say all the words.

And so that subvocalization is my example of an old method, an antiquated method that will keep you in that box of learning slow.

Four supervillains that are holding you and your team back, your children back, your team back, your employees back, your spouse back.

Number one -- And they're all driven by technology.

Digital deluge.

Digital deluge is this information overwhelm.

It's like -- Do you feel nowadays like you can't keep up?

It's like taking a sip of water out of a fire hose.

>> Yeah.

>> And here's the thing.

People buy a book but they don't read the book, right?

It just sits on their shelf.

>> That's me.

>> It becomes shelf-help, not self-help, right?

>> [ Laughs ] That's good.

>> And here's the thing.

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

>> I'm really good at buying books.

I'm not that good at reading the -- I can buy books all day long.

>> Exactly, but reading is a different skill set, but digital deluge is a real medical condition.

They call it information fatigue syndrome.

Higher blood pressure, compression of leisure time, more sleeplessness.

And this is happening -- If you own a business or you manage a team, that -- Four or five hours a day on estimate are we spending processing information.

Just think about your team, how much they have to process.

>> A lot.

>> Right?

That means half of their salary is being paid to process and learn and read.

So if someone's being paid $80,000, $40,000 is just to read something.

>> Oh, my gosh.

>> So if I could double their reading speed, that's like -- that's a huge amount of time.

Like, if it normally takes four hours to read something and you read it in half the time, two hours, what's two hours over the course of a year?

>> A lot.

>> And we can't even do the math because that's another one of the digital challenges.

But that's two -- Even if you save one hour a day, 365 hours a year.

>> Right.

>> 40-hour work weeks.

How many 40-hour work weeks?

Nine.

Two months of productivity we get back just saving one hour a day on something ubiquitous like reading.

Number two, digital distraction.

>> Mm.

>> With every ring and ping and ding, every app notification, social-media alert, it's training our distraction muscles.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And we are so good at being distracted.

That's why so much of my morning routine that people do, like something simple like brushing your teeth with the opposite hand, right, because it engages the opposite side of your brain, which is good for making new connections, neuroplasticity, but it's also good for making you present.

>> You have to focus.

>> Right.

It forces you to be in the moment.

So it's something you do every day that, little things where -- a novelty where it forces you to be here as opposed to about everything else, right?

And how do you anything is how you do everything.

So if you wake up first thing in the morning and touch your phone, I think if you should a to-do list, I think your not-to-do list -- >> Don't touch your phone.

>> Yeah, don't touch your phone first hour of the day.

It rewires your brain to be distracted, and also it rewires your brain to be reactive.

I can't stress this enough.

When you pick up the phone the first hour a day -- and a lot of people talk about this and we have videos -- don't touch your phone because it rewires your brain to be distracted and reactive because you're fighting fires.

You're on the defense.

Like, why are you going to check your e-mail and voicemail and it takes you off tangent and you're not even focusing on what's most important, like, in terms of your win?

Our friend Brendon Burchard says this exactly.

Your inbox is nothing but a convenient organizational system for other people's agenda for your life.

>> Boom!

>> Wow, Brendon Burchard.

Your inbox is nothing but a convenient organizational system for other people's agenda for your life.

So don't go on the defense, so don't pick up your phone 'cause when you wake up, you're in this relaxed state of awareness.

You're very suggestible, so it's training your distraction and your reaction.

You have to be proactive.

Third supervillain that's driven by technology that's potentially holding you back -- digital dementia.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Digital dementia is where our phones become an external storage device.

It keeps our to-dos, right?

How many phone numbers did you know growing up?

>> A lot growing up, yeah.

>> How many do you know now?

>> One?

My own.

Two maybe.

>> Is there somebody you text and call all the time?

>> I know my mom's 'cause I've had to write it down as an emergency contact.

>> Exactly.

But if you don't have your phone with you or your phone's battery is dead, you -- Now, here's the thing.

Nobody wants to memorize 200 phone numbers.

>> No.

>> I don't want to do that.

But isn't it concerning that we've lost the ability to remember one or a pass code or a conversation we just had?

I believe two of the most costly words in life -- >> Or a name.

>> Yeah.

In life or business, "I forgot."

Every time you say the words "I forgot," you lose credibility, you lose trust, you lose -- you don't show you care about the person.

You can lose a sale.

I can't tell you how many clients come to me, saying, "Look, I called this person by the wrong name, and he was so offended that he didn't do the deal with me.

I lost a million-dollar commission," like those kind of things, right?

>> Okay.

>> So digital dementia is where -- it's a real source.

Dr. Daniel Amen has talked about it.

Other people have talked about don't be over-reliant on technology to do everything.

Memory is a muscle, and it's use it or lose it.

That's why I'm such an advocate for mental fitness, so get people mentally fit, digital dementia.

And finally, the last one, digital deduction, right?

I always iterate DDD, so digital deduction is where our phones and our smart devices are doing the thinking for us.

>> Mm.

>> Because it just literally -- Because it's just spoon-feeding you.

And I'm not just talking about fake news.

I'm talking about algorithms that just give you everything.

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

They're seeing kids -- they have lower ability to critical think, critical-thinking abilities, analysis ability, reasoning ability because of phones.

>> I don't know if I asked you this the last time, so I'll ask you now.

It's called the Three Truths.

Imagine you've written every book you want to write in the world.

You've put out millions of pieces of content.

You lived till a thousand years old, but eventually the brain's got to shut off and you got to go into the next world, whatever happens next.

But you get to leave behind three things you know to be true from all the lessons you've learned that you would share with us, and this is all we would have to remember you by are these Three Truths.

What would you say you would want to share with the world?

>> Okay.

I would start with responsibility.

I tell the story of when I took Stan Lee to meet Richard Branson for dinner, and we're in the car, and they wanted to meet each other, and I like to connect people and I asked Stan, I was like, "You know, you've created some of the most amazing superheroes, my heroes.

Who's your favorite?"

So his was Iron Man.

And when he asked me who mine was, I said Spider-Man.

And when I said Spider-Man, he said, "With great power comes..." >> Great responsibility.

>> Yeah.

And I -- You know, I had three brain injuries, and, you know, I reverse things a lot.

I was like, "You're right.

With great power comes great responsibility," and the opposite is also true.

With great responsibility comes great power.

When we take responsibility for something, we have great power to make things better.

>> Mm.

>> And a lot of people think responsibility is something that jails them, but if you don't take responsibility for something, then you can't fix anything.

So when you take responsibility for your finances or the state of your relationship and you don't blame -- When I talk about mistakes, forget about the concerns of others.

Make your mistakes because here's the thing when you make a mistake.

Just you are not your mistakes.

And mistakes don't make you.

The three keys for making a mistake -- make them old.

O, own that mistake.

Don't blame other people.

Right?

You know, apologize if you've hurt someone.

You own it.

Fix it if you can, right?

You own it.

You take responsibility.

And then the L in "old mistakes," learn from that mistake.

Right?

You want to make sure you learn from it 'cause that's the point of making mistakes.

There's no failure.

There's only feedback.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And feedback is the breakfast of superheroes, right?

And if failure is not an option, then neither is success.

Seth Godin said that.

>> [ Laughs ] >> If failure is not an option, neither is success.

And finally the D in "old," don't repeat it.

Right?

A lot of people, if they learn it, they'll repeat it and they start doing the same mistakes over and over again.

So I would say take responsibility so you can change things, don't be afraid of making mistakes, don't fear other people's opinions because they don't matter at the end, as we talked about.

When we're taking our final breaths, it's gonna be how you lived, loved, lived, learned.

That's what matters.

And then the third thing I would say -- commit yourself to lifelong learning and learn how to learn.

The number-one superpower I believe on the planet is uncovering, unlocking the human brain.

It is the most powerful tool that you have to fix your life and move forward and study meta learning, and so I would say those three things.

>> Love it, man.

I'm really grateful for you because you've helped so many people just accelerate their life and learn things that are very challenging and hard for them.

You've helped a lot of people just overcome the fear and anxiety around the struggles of their life, and I think the challenges you faced in your life have given you a superpower to do that for people.

And the ability to ask your own self a certain question, right, of "How can I make things better?

How can I do these things?"

I appreciate your heart because you really come from a powerful place of love as well.

And I want to acknowledge you for your heart because I think you've talked about the brain a lot, you talk about the mind, you talk about learning, memory, but you have a powerful heart, and that's a superpower for you as well.

And yeah, I acknowledge you for your heart, man.

You've got a great heart, and your heart is more powerful than your brain, in my opinion, and that's saying a lot.

So I'll ask you the final question, which is what your definition of greatness?

>> Four G's to greatness.

>> There you go.

>> I've learned a lot from you.

>> [ Laughs ] >> Four G's.

Growth, you know.

If you don't grow, you're dying.

That's the meaning of life.

You got to give.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And I call them grow givers.

Put those two together.

You grow so you have more to give because if you're just, you know, not go-getting, we're just taking, but you're just giving, but then you don't have enough to give, you martyr but you grow so you can give a grow giver.

>> Yeah, that's good.

>> Next one I would say is grit, you know?

We go through hard times.

And difficult times that we're going through right now, especially, difficult times, they can define us.

They can diminish us, or they could develop us.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> We decide.

We're in a cocoon right now, like a butterfly, and while the beauty is in the butterfly, the growth happens in the cocoon, and it's in this cocooning time when we can level up our skills, our competencies, our studies, our discipline and really, really create, and it's harder in there, but grit gives you perseverance, you know, gives you our ability to handle difficulty, that adversity.

Like we talked about, my adversity was learning, you know, sleeping, public speaking, and they become my advantages.

The things I was most ashamed of, Lewis, like, you know, coming to this country or being born of immigrants or not speak the language or, you know, not be able to learn.

Those things I'm most proud of right now.

>> Yeah.

>> So it's interesting that our struggles could be our strengths.

And if anyone's struggling right now, my heart is with you, and I would say that people are watching.

You know, you inspire people with your grit and grace.

And then finally, the last G besides growth and giving and grit -- gratitude.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And you talk about this in every episode practically.

I would say that gratitude rewires your brain for positivity, peace of mind, and performance.

Gratitude, this thought experiment -- try this.

What if the only things you had in your life tomorrow were the things you expressed gratitude for today?

What if the only things you had in your life tomorrow... >> Wow!

>> ...were the things you express gratitude for today?

That if you truly want to feel wealthy, even in dark times, just make a list of all the things you have in your life that money can't buy.

Think about all the people, think about your senses, any part of your health.

You know, if you want to feel wealthy, that's what you focus on because gratitude, you know, that's greatness for me.

Greatness is, like, I use the analogy of an egg.

If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends.

But if it's broken by an inside force... >> It begins.

>> ...it begins.

Greatness begins from the inside.

>> Wow!

>> And you have greatness inside of you if you're listening to this right now.

You have genius inside of you.

And now is the time to make that choice to let it out.

>> Boom!

My man.

Appreciate you, brother.

Thanks, Jim.

We hope you enjoyed this episode and found it valuable for your life.

Make sure to stay tuned for more from "The School of Greatness" coming soon on public television.

Again, I'm Lewis Howes, and if no one has told you lately, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.

And now it's time to go out there and do something great.

If you'd like to continue on the journey of greatness with me, please check out my website, lewishowes.com, where you'll find over 1,000 episodes of "The School of Greatness" show, as well as tools and resources to support you in living your best life.

>> The online course "Find Your Greatness" is available for $19.

Drawn from the lessons Lewis Howes shares in "The School of Greatness," this interactive course will guide you through a step-by-step process to discover your strengths, connect to your passion and purpose, and help create your own blueprint for greatness.

To order, go to lewishowes.com/tv.

♪ ♪ ♪