The Mel Robbins Podcast - Super Brain: 10 Things to Eat, Think, & Do to Improve Your Memory and Learn Faster

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Want to boost your reading speed by 30%–50%?Want to learn faster?What if you never forgot where you put your keys again?Mel sits down with world-renowned brain coach Jim Kwik to help you boost your brainpower with his science-backed tools, tips, and strategies. In this episode, they discuss:How your brain is more powerful than you thinkThe best ways to retain informationHow to read 50% faster with ONE simple tool3 tricks to always remember where you put your keysHow to remember someone’s nameJim’s proven 3M framework 10 simple steps for a better brainThe best foods for increased brain powerHow to be MORE productive but work LESS How exercise impacts brain functionHow to crush any job interview How to memorize a speech in one dayWhy you need to always be a student You can get Jim’s book, ‘Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life’, here: https://a.co/d/8fmevBP Follow Jim Kwik: Instagram: instagram.com/jimkwikWebpage: jimkwik.com Watch the episodes on YouTube: https://bit.ly/45OWCNrCheck out my book, The High 5 Habit: https://a.co/d/g1DQ8Pt Follow Mel:Instagram: https://bit.ly/3QfG8bbThe Mel Robbins Podcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/49bg4GPLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/46Mh0QBTikTok: https://bit.ly/46Kpw2v Sign up for my newsletter: https://bit.ly/46PVnPs Want more resources? Go to my podcast page at www.melrobbins.com/podcasts/episode-128 Disclaimer

Hey, it's your friend Mel and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast. Have you ever worried about your memory? You know, like you put your keys down and then you can't find them and you're like, I know they were right there. And then you start to wonder, am I freaking losing my mind or something? Or this happens to me all the time. Do you ever walk into the kitchen and you get to the kitchen and they're like, wait a minute, why did I come into the kitchen? And then you walk out of the kitchen because you get to the kitchen and they're like, wait a minute, why did I come into

the kitchen? And then you walk out of the kitchen because you can't remember why you walked into the kitchen. And I have had this happen so often recently that I'm starting to wonder, is this early onset dementia? Now look, I'm not trying to make a joke about a serious topic, but I will be honest with you. Here is a thought that crosses my mind at least once a week. There's something wrong with my brain. Like I can't remember people's names. I just feel overloaded all the time.

I'm forgetting things, and I don't know about you. I can't stay on top of it all. And I've got a million excuses for why? Oh, it's menopause. Oh, it's busy. Oh, it's the three kids and a husband and a full-time job. about you, I can't stay on top of it all. And I've got a million excuses for why, oh, it's menopause, oh, it's busy. Oh, it's the three kids and a husband and a full-time job and two dogs and a cat that's on medication for UTI.

And I need to give it to him twice a day and I keep forgetting and that makes me a bad pet owner. But the bottom line is, I can't remember anything. It's like information is just dripping through the holes in my brain. I don't even know if your brain has holes, but I know you feel what I feel, right? Between the information overload, way too much going on at work or school or at home, you're overloaded too. Well, guess what? You and I are in luck because I have brought in today the most respected brain coach on the planet to help you and me.

He says that we have super brains. We just don't know how to tap into it. In fact, you want to know why I believe him because I first met Jim Quick. That's his name. I'll tell you more about his credentials in a minute, but let me tell you how I met Jim. So Jim and I were both hired to come in and give a presentation at one of the largest management consulting firms in the world. And so he's on stage and he's teaching all of these skills and amazing things that you're about to learn

to increase your memory, to help you read faster, to tap into the superpower of your brain. And all of a sudden he does this thing, where he says, all right, everybody who's wearing red raise your hand. And we're talking an audience of several thousand people. And I'd say a couple hundred people raise their hand. And he asked them all to stand up.

And then he did this insane trick in front of all of our eyes. He had the person in the back left hand corner of the room start. And he had everybody standing. Say their name. I'm talking a couple hundred people. And without skipping a beat, as soon as they were done, he said their names and he did it in reverse. Now I was standing backstage because I was going on after him and I'm very skeptical

of this kind of stuff. So I had my like super eagle eyes on him and he was not wearing anything in his ears. He was not writing anything down. This was his memory. You want to talk about a super brain and here's what Jim Quick says. Jim Quick says that he can teach you and me how to do it. In fact, he's going to reveal the secret of how he remembered 200 names in reverse later in our conversation today.

But the bottom line is, one third of your brain is predetermined by genetics and biology. Jim Quick is here to teach you that two thirds of your brain is within your control and you have way more influence over your brain and how it works than you think. By the end of the conversation today, you will know a simple technique

that will help you read up to 50% faster and retain it all. You're gonna know his technique for remembering people's names. And personally, I need this one. A super interesting thing you can do to never lose your keys again. How cool is that? For the past 30 years, Jim has worked with elite athletes, actors, and executives. He's taught what you're about to learn to people at Harvard, Google, Nike, Zappos, and even the United Nations. And his New York Times bestselling book, which is

the handbook on how to create limitless capacity in your brain now has a new expanded edition, and he's here to teach you absolutely all the tricks and tools that you need to know. If you've ever wondered like I've wondered how the heck does a Broadway actor remember two hours of a script? Well, Jim is a memory coach that has worked with some of the most famous actors in Hollywood and on Broadway. That's how you are simply not going to believe what he's about to teach you in less than an hour. This is a skills packed, brainiac, amazing episode that is going to help you and me tap into the two thirds of our brain and create what Jim calls a super brain.

And make sure you stick around all the way to the very end because at the end of this conversation you're about to hear, he's going to teach you in real time, 10 things to remember to create a super brain so you never forget it. This is so cool. I can't wait for you to drop into this conversation without further ado. Meet your brain coach, Jim Quick. Mel, thank you so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this and thank you everybody who's joining this conversation.

Jim, you're a world-renowned brain coach who has worked with athletes, actors, and executives. In addition to that, you've been running a brain institute for the past 30 years. Do you really believe absolutely anyone can improve their brain? I mean, come on. Nobody's walked through the doors of your institute that you're like, oh boy, couldn't help this person. It's been my experience coaching people every single day for the past 32 years that, regardless of your age, your background,

your career, your diet, your education level, your financial situation, your gender, your history, IQ, that we all can improve. It's about progressing beyond what you're currently demonstrating or what you believe is possible. So, you're saying it's not about being born smart. You're saying that we all have the ability to be a super learner, no matter what your IQ is. We know that about one-third of your brain's performance, like its memory, is predetermined by genetics and biology. But that means two-thirds is in your direct control. We have more influence than we think. Jim, how did you become a brain coach? I mean, do you got a school for something like that? So my inspiration, you could say was my desperation. I, one day in kindergarten class, some five years old, this would have

been in 1978. There was this commotion outside, sirens and honking and all the kids obviously want to see what's going on outside, but we're five years old. We can't see outside the window sill. And so we all have this idea to grab our chairs and problem by the window and stand on them. I lost my balance and I went head first into one of the radiators and it was rushed to the emergency room. It really affected me in school. I had poor focus, poor memory. I had processing issues where a teacher

would repeat themselves like three or four or five times and I still wouldn't understand. I would compress my body all the time because I didn't want to be called on because I never knew the answer. So I would sit behind a tall kid or I'd make myself so sick before an exam. I remember I was nine years old, God, this bring back this kind of, it's funny how feelings work, right? I was being teased more than usual because I was slowing down in the class. I was in understanding lessons and a teacher pointed to me to come to my defense. She said, leave that kid alone.

That's the boy with the broken brain. And all I took out of it was that I was broken. Adults have to be very careful of their external words because they often become a child's internal words. Because every single time I did badly in school, which was weekly, every time I was in pick-first sports, I was always the last one, I would always say to myself, oh, it's because I have the broken brain. And that became my inner talk.

And I think our minds always eat drop on that inner talk, right? And it wasn't just something that I dealt with for a year or two. It was elementary school, it was middle school, junior high, and all through high school. And so our struggles can become strengths. I love our struggles can become our strengths. But did you always have that mindset? But did you always have that mindset? For me, I wanted to make my parents proud. My parents immigrated to the United States. We live in the back of a laundry mat that my mom worked at.

And they had a lot of jobs. So through school, it was a challenge. I was lucky enough to get into a local state university. And I thought freshman meant I can make a fresh start. I wanted to make my family proud. I wish the world show myself that I could do this. But I took all these classes and I did worse. Oh, I wasn't equipped. And so I was ready to quit school because I'm the oldest of three kids. And I wanted to be a good role model for my younger brother and sister. And yet also, I don't have the I wanted to be a good role model for my younger brother and sister,

and yet also, I don't have the money even to be in school, and it's better that they have it. I'm not smart enough. This is like my belief system. And a friend said, hey, I'm going home this weekend. Why don't you come with?

I mean, saying you're in a quit school to your family is a big deal. Why don't you get some perspective? And I notice, Mel, that when we change place, are we change people we're spending time with? It gives us a different point of view. Yes. So I do agree to go.

And the family is pretty well off, have a beautiful home on the water. And the father walks me around his property before dinner and asks me a very innocent question. He says, Jim, how's school? Right? And I am introverted and I'm very shy at the time. I start bawling like crazy, crying like crazy in front of this complete stranger that I just met like 30 minutes before. What did he do? Yeah, I mean, he was freaked out because he didn't know my situation, but I gave him the

full download. I told him, my brain injury, labeled broken, how I have to quit school. It's just not smart enough. It's just not who I am. Yeah. I don't know how to tell my parents because they're going to be hard broken because they work so hard. Oh, he asked me a question, and it's interesting,

not only does perspective change our point of view, but so do the questions that we ask. He says, hey, Jim, well, why are you in school? And I didn't have an answer other than, this is what you do, right? You go to school. That's what my parents expected of me. So he dug deeper and said, well, why are you in school?

He said, what do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want to have? What do you want to create or contribute? And Mel, I didn't have an answer for any of those things because nobody's ever asked me those questions before. Right? And so you ask a new question and we get new answers. I didn't know what I wanted

to be or do or contribute, but he forced me to stay in that space to not escape it and change the subject. And I start to just kind of fantasize, he asked me to just imagine you could do anything, or it'd be anything, or have anything. And then he takes out a like a little like internal or notebook in his back pocket and takes out a little internal or notebook in his back pocket and gives me a couple of sheets and he has me to write them down. It's the first step in taking something that's invisible. That's in your mind.

And also it's visible outside of yourself. And I fill up two pages and I start folding up the paper to put in my pocket, thinking this exercise is done. We could eat. Let's go. Yeah. And then as I fold this sheet to paper to put in my pocket, thinking this exercise is done. We could eat. Let's go. Yeah. And then, as I fold this sheet to paper to put in my pocket, he has the audacity to reach out and grab them out of my hands.

And now, he's reading to himself all of my dreams and goals. And I don't know how much time goes by, because I don't want to be judged based on this. And when he's done, this is what he does. He takes his fingers and if people just listen to the audio, I'm spreading my index fingers like a foot apart. And he says, Jim, you are this close to everything on that list. And it's like out of a movie, right? And I'm thinking this my honest conversation, my mind, if I'm real and raw, it was like, there's no way. And this is what I'm selling. I'm like, there's no way. I mean, not heard my story, right? I have

broken brain, you know, horrible in school. And give me 10 lifetimes. I'm not going to crack this list. And he takes his fingers that are spread afoot apart. And he puts them this side of my head, meaning what's inside my brain is like the key. And he takes me into a room that just honestly freaked me out. It was wall to wall sealing the floor, covered in books. I've never read a book. It's like being in a room full of snakes, because I'm very intimidated by books. Right. But what makes it worse, Mel, is he starts going to the shelves employing snakes off

the shelf and handing them to me. And he says, Jim, you need to read to succeed, promise me, you'll read one of these books a week and then you could have them because it'll allow you to achieve the what you want on this list. And, but I can't. And he, very smart man, he reaches into his pocket, mel, and pulls out my dream list. Oh. And he has the audacity to read my goals out loud. I can't even imagine what you were feeling in that moment.

So what did you do next? It's funny how memories work, right? At a metal level because it just, it just comes back even the feelings of like how my throat was constricting. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't, I was perspiring, my heart's beating like, I thought like this is it, you know, it's just, I just like metaphorically, I'm just throwing away my potential or my dreams or maybe I could fix my brain, maybe I could learn how to learn better. And I was like, okay, how do I do it? And my brain went school. That's how you learn anything. And I look at classes for next semester. And I'm looking at reading hundreds of classes on what to learn, but not how to learn. Right? Classes on

math and history and science and Spanish, but there are no classes on how to learn those subjects. And I start studying this initial stack of books that my mentor provided me with. And then it started opening new ideas to the power of the mind. And I wanted to find out how does my brain work so I could work my brain. And I started studying it because I had a reason. I had a real problem. I needed to solve.

I've been struggling with my whole life. And I started getting answers and getting a little bit of momentum and a little bit more confidence. And it was like 60 days, two months into it. A light switch just flipped on. And I started to understand things for the very first time I felt. It gave me a lot of hope. And I was really upset, first of all, that there were simple things that I could have done.

That would have made my life a whole lot easier. My whole childhood was just trying to just work really hard without getting results. And then the other thing was I felt a purpose because I wanna share this with others. Like almost as an evangelist, because I was just like, how does everyone not know these things? Learning is our superpower.

And it's a superpower we all have. You know, we just aren't really shown how to unlock it and unleash it. But the other thing I realized was my mission, my purpose, no brain left behind. And you have now gone on to build an institute and work with the world's leading brands

and teach everybody things from reading faster to better memory. It is incredible because when I hear your story and I then think about how much you've accomplished and how many lives you've changed, I go, well, a gym and with his broke brain can do it. I can certainly improve my brain. If he can understand how to leverage the capacity of his brain to help him achieve his goals, then I bet I can.

I truly believe that an individual's ability to adapt, to learn, to unlearn, to relearn is one of the most important things that people could invest in. Because if there was a genie, could grant you anyone wish, but only one wish, everyone would wish for limitless wishes, right? If there was a learning genie that could help you become an expert in any one subject or any one skill, what would the equivalent be of asking for limitless wishes?

Maybe learning how to learn, because if you can learn how to learn, focus, think, read, retain, you could apply that towards everything. Medicine, marketing, money, motivation, martial arts, and anything, that's easier, right? Because it's a lead domino. It's the one thing you hit and you sharpen that saw, which is your mind. So I really think that this technology, we always hear everyone got the new iPhone and upgraded their apps and get the new devices, but when the last time we got, took time to upgrade. So, Jim, I want to just take a second and talk to the person listening. And as you're listening to Jim, I want you to now make this really personal.

Let's put what Jim's telling us to the test, okay? And I'm going to go first because here's what I'm thinking on behalf of both you and me. Jim, how the heck can I and the person listening upgrade the brain? Can you give us simple tricks because here's the thing, I'm already overwhelmed. Between the ADHD, the menopause, the three kids, all the stuff that I'm forgetting all the time, I mean, how am I going to also add upgrading my brain to the list? And look, I don't have a story that I have a broken brain and for you listening, I don't know what your story is, but I can see that I have a belief about my brain that is limiting. And I believe that I'm always just going to be forgetful. I believe that I have a hard time remembering names. I believe,

oh, here's a good one. I believe that it is impossible for me to learn a foreign language because I'm dyslexic. I believe that I'm overwhelmed and I'm just going to be overwhelmed, that my thoughts are going to spin. And now that I'm saying all this, Jim, I realize that I have a lot of limiting beliefs. And as you're listening, I do want you to stop and think about what is your limiting belief. Do you think you're not smart?

Are you like me? And you're like, I can't learn a language or I'm not good with math? Here's another limiting belief of mine. I have menopause and Everything that I'm learning is that your brain fog is something that comes with menopause So am I still going to be able to upgrade my brain with menopause and all this stuff that I'm telling myself? Seriously like an iPhone gym. Yes. Well, that's encouraging. So we have students in our online academy in 194 countries. We get a lot of feedback and we have a lot of data. Okay.

I've had the honor of sharing stage with you many times. I'll do these demonstrations where I'll have the pass around a microphone in an audience and introduce themselves and I'll memorize like 50 or 100 people's names, right? Or they'll challenge me to remember 100 numbers or words and I'll do it forwards and backwards. But I always tell people, I don't do this in press you. I do this to express to you as possible because the truth is we could all do that. We just weren't taught, right? It's a skill.

If you go to somebody like your kids and you say, focus. You memorize this, study. That's the equivalent of going to somebody saying, play the ukulele, who's never taken a class on how to play the ukulele before, but we didn't have a class called focus, right? Oh, I just had a huge breakthrough. Oh my God, I think I got it. The Eucolaylee example is exactly,

that just cracked the code for me, Jim. All of the education that we have had has been for the purpose of absorbing something to spit it back out and then moving on to the next thing that you're going to absorb and spit back out. And what you're basically saying is that you became an expert at figuring out the skill of learning and of memory retention. That's probably my daughter calling me. You know, this is a good sign, Jim. It's always a great episode when one of my kids phase times me in the middle of it. So

that's what you're teaching us. You're not born with the ability to read. We were taught how to read, but when's the last time we took a class called reading? We were like six or seven. Even if we learned a skill, we haven't updated that skill. And the difficult thing to man of our reading is increased exponentially, but how we read is the same. So that growing gap creates a lot of stress, information, anxiety. So skill acquisition is important. I do believe that genius is not so much born. Genius really is more built.

I love the idea that Genius is built. I mean, it makes me feel like I got a chance, you know, in this race, if you've ever told yourself this story that you're not smart or that it's not gonna work out for you, I love what you're telling us, Jim. Genius is built. And Jim, I would imagine that the way that you build a better brain and the way that you build Genius is through the skills that you've been talking about

and that you practice them. And so when we come back, here's what I wanna do. I wanna go straight into skills. Because Jim has specific skills that you can learn that will help you read 50% faster, simple skills that will help you remember names. And a very surprising technique so that you always remember

where you put your keys or your purse or your wallet. And of course, do not forget to come back after this short word from our sponsors because he also is going to share that surprising secret trick to how we remember 200 names. Stay with us. Welcome back. It's your friend, Mel. And I'm so glad you're still here because you're getting a private session with one of the world's leading brain coaches. And I want you to get ready because in Jim's book, Limitless, he gives a ton of tips on reading faster, many of which I'd never heard before. So Jim, what are they? Here are a couple of tips that could really help listeners not only read faster, but improve

their focus and their retention and understanding of the information. Because if you have a read a page and a book and just forgot what you just read and you had to reread it and then you still forgot what you just read, this could really help. So the first thing is, we all have books on our shelf, we haven't read yet, right? And the goal is, when you pick up the book, if you use a visual pacer, when you read, you'll read it faster. And now what's a visual pacer?

It could be your finger, it could be a pen, it could be a highlighter, it could be a mouse on a computer. And what you're doing is you're not touching the page or the screen, you're just going right above it and just underlining what you're reading. Now I want you to not just believe everything I'm saying, you could test it out also. When we're done with this episode, pick up a book that you're reading, put a mark in the margin where you're left off, and what I want you to do is set your timer to go off in 60 seconds.

So we're going to read for 60 seconds. And I want you to read how you would normally read, not using your finger, but just how you would normally read for comprehension. And then at the end of 60 seconds, I want you to put a mark in the margin where you left off, and then count the number of lines that you just read. And that's the lines per minute. Now, set the timer again for another 60 seconds and then pick up where you left off,

but this time just underline the words. And you're just underlining the words as you would read. And then at the end of 60 seconds, put a mark in the margin and then count the number of lines you just read. For the majority of the listeners, they'll find that second number will be 25 to almost 50 percent greater. And you don't have to work any harder. So it's not about working harder, it's about what working more intelligently, right? And so the reason why it works is number one, one of the challenges we have when we read is we backskip.

Backskip? What is backskip? What does that even mean, Jim? We reread words. Oh. And this keeps you from doing that. Some people reread whole lines, right? On the other side of it, your eyes are attracted to motion. So if something ran across your room, you would look at me, you would look at what moves. Because as a hunter gatherer, your eyes are trained to look at movement. Because if you're in a bush and you're hunting lunch, let's say it's a rabbit or a carrot, depending on your diet, if the bush next to you moves, you have to look. Because number

one, it can be lunch or number two, you could be lunch. So when your finger is going across the page, it draws your attention through as opposed to your attention being outside of you. And then the final reason, use your finger while you're read, it's kind of interesting. Kids use their finger while they read naturally until you organically, until we tell them not to. And you do also, because when I ask people to count the number of lines, maybe they use their finger when they're initially read, because when I ask people to count the number of lines, maybe they use a finger when they're initially read, but if I ask you to count the number of lines, what do you do? Use your finger as a visual aid to help you to focus. But the final reason

is your senses work very closely together. For example, have you ever, like, had a great tasting fruit right from the farmer's market? But you're not actually tasting a peach, you're smelling the peach, but your sense of smell and taste are so closely linked, your mind can't tell the difference. It can tell the difference when you're sick, when you can't breathe out of your nose, what is food taste like?

It tastes more bland, right? And so just as your sense of smell and taste or closely linked, so is your sense of sight and your sense of touch, that when you use your finger while you're reading, people will say they literally feel more in touch with their reading. Seriously? This one tool, just using a visual cue or paste

or whatever you call it can increase your reading speed by 50%. Is that really true? Absolutely. 25, 50% some of the listeners doing this exercise will actually double their reading speed. And think about it, the value of that. The average person spends about four hours a day processing information. You think about social media and emails and books and reports and research, whatever you have to go through in the newspaper.

If you could just cut that in half, you double your reading speed, so you save two hours a day. What's two hours a day over the course of a year? In fact, what's just one hour saved over a course a year? 365 hours. How many 40 hour work weeks is that? Over nine. Over nine weeks of productivity, you gain back.

You reclaim. Two months of productivity, you gain back, you reclaim. Two months of productivity is back of yours, saving into something ubiquitous like reading. You don't really love about this, Jim, is that you don't have to try harder. What you just taught us is a skill that will help us read 50% faster just by using the tip of a pen and leveraging the super wiring of how our eyes are wired to track to movement. That's incredible. So let's jump into the next skill, which is what is your technique for always remembering

people's names? Yeah. So, a name is very important. I would say remember mom. This is just a couple dozen examples in the book on techniques, but remember names, a name as they say is the sweetest sound to persons ears. It's probably the number one networking business etiquette skill, because how are you going to show somebody your care for the future, their health, their family, whatever you have to

offer if you don't care enough, just remember them. Right? My angel always say, people forget what you say, that forget what you did, but they'll always remember how you made them feel. Yes. M-O-M, of course, it's an acronym, because I'm doing the short form and podcast form. The first M is just motivation.

A lot of people won't remember names because they haven't touched the reason. So if you ask yourself simple thing you could do, before you meet somebody, ask yourself, why do I want to remember this person's name? Just get in the habit of doing that. Maybe just throw the person some respect. Maybe it's to make a connection.

Maybe it's making a new friend or get a referral, make a sale. If you don't have a reason, you won't get the result. So for example, most people say, I'm horrible at remembering names, but I challenge people on their BS, right? They're belief systems. If there was a suitcase,

and Mel and I had a suitcase of a million dollars cash, tax-free, if you just remember the name and the next stranger you meet, who's gonna remember that name? Everybody. Right? Everybody will. So as the exchange, who's gonna remember that name? Everybody. Everybody will. So as a coach, I'm gonna call people on their BS, their belief systems, and nothing to do with your capabilities.

You can remember names. Are you motivated to remember that name? And one of the ways to do it is ask a question and tune in to why. Okay, so to remember names, you have to remember mom, and the M stands for motivation, got that. Why are you have to remember mom and the M stands for motivation got that. Why are you motivated to remember their name? That makes sense.

What is the O stand for? The O in mom, this is big, is observation. A lot of people aren't forgetting the name. They're just not paying attention. The art of memory is the art of attention. Like, I remember years ago, I got to go to this fundraiser and it was 2000 people. We're staying at the table. I'm the first one there.

And after that, force Whitaker, the Oscar winner sits right next to me. And then Richard Branson sits right next to him. And then Ashton Kutcher and Ashton Kutcher's twin brother, who I didn't know he had a twin brother, sits there. And then President Clinton sits right next to me. Now I had met him a few years before very briefly and he called me by name. He said hello by name. And I was like, wow, that's pretty impressive because I'm sure he means a lot of people. And then I was like, okay, people in T knew who he was sitting with,

right? Obviously. And then I swear he picks up on the conversation that we had three years before. And nobody was privy to that. And I was like, you know, I'm a memory guy, right? I need to know how you're doing this. And he tells me the story of his grandfather in Arkansas and the living room and he would tell stories. But afterwards to the kids, he would quiz each of the kids to see if they were paying attention. Now when he's explaining this to me, I also noticed at a meta level, I was like, wow, I feel like I'm the only one in this room because the way he's communicating with me,

it's like there are a lot more important people in that room, especially at that table. And yet I feel like he's not looking over my shoulder or seeing who else is important. And I realized politics aside, people would say he's a great communicator, great connector, great charisma, and he's got incredible memory and his powerful presence. And I think Mel, his incredible memory and his powerful presence comes from being powerfully present. That is incredible memory and his powerful presence

with people comes from being powerfully present with people, right? Because most people, they're not forgetting the name, they're just not even hearing the name why, because they're looking around or they're thinking about how to respond. They're waiting for their turn to speak. And so an easy way to remember names, listen. And even if you want to do a brain exercise, think about the word listen, and scrambleramble the letters and it spells another word perfectly. It spells the word silent. And so just be there, listen. I love that because being truly present when you're with someone will help you make them feel like they're the only one in the room and you just taught us that incredible memory comes from being powerfully present. And so when you're sitting

there and you're present and you're silent and you're taking in what the heck they're saying, you're also going to remember what they're saying. That's so cool. So what is the last am in mom? The last am are the methods, right? And here's the quick method, Swav. Next time you're at an event and you want to, you would say, I'm going to remember names, some more conscious of it because I listened that episode. Right, look at yourself, say, I'm going to be Swav. The S, say the name right away.

When somebody gives you their name, greet them back using their name because it means you get through it twice. And also, it means you don't want to have a 20-minute conversation with somebody, like say, there's a lot of background noise, 20-minute conversation with Ted and say goodbye, Ed, right? You wanna be corrected up front.

I like the fact that you say the name immediately because even if you say it wrong, they'll correct you and they're not gonna be offended because if you say it immediately, it's just that you heard it wrong. It's not that you didn't remember it. And also, if you notice, so keep going. So you, yeah, no, absolutely.

You say the name. That's gonna help your attention. Do you, you use the name, but you don't abuse the name. Mel, thank you so much for having me on a show. Mel, what do you want to talk about? Mel will be abused, right? It'll be like a sign felt episode. So you say the name, then you use it three or four times

in the conversation. And then the A in, and then A, and in Swav, ask. This works really well for people who have unusual names, or names you haven't heard before. What can you ask about a person's name? How do you say your name? How do you say your name? How do you spell your name? Where is it from?

Who were you named after? Does it mean something in another language, right? So everyone's favorite topic is their name. Actually, when you're talking about the particular activating system, which is years you're focused by asking questions, because our brain is mostly deleting information. The name is up on top. Because think of it as probably one of the first words you heard, probably one of the first words you learned how to write. And I think about it, the encouragement, the emotion, it's like, wow, so it's one of the reasons why it's a sweetest sound, but ask about a person's name that we flattered, especially unusual names. Okay, I just want to make sure that as you're listening to Jim, you picked up on the fact that he has this acronym SWAV. And SWAV is what

we're using as the tool to help us remember someone's name. You said a kind of fast gym, so I'm just kind of slowing it down for those of us who may not be as quick in the super brain as you are. The S is for say it. Got that? Makes sense. Say it as soon as they say their name. U is for use it, which also makes sense, because the more you use it in a sentence without being creepy, the more you're likely to remember it. A, ask about it. What is the V in Swav stand for?

The V in Swav is visualize. And this is how I do it in front of audiences. If there's time on stage, I'll have 30, 40, 50 people stand up, pass around a microphone and I'll memorize, you know, words of 100 names depending on which time we have. But how I do it is I would just visualize the person's name, meaning most people listening are better with faces than the Arabic names, right? You go to someone say, I remember your face, but I'm sorry, I forgot your name.

You never go to someone say, I remember the opposite. I remember your name, but I forgot your face, right? That doesn't happen. But your visual cortex is, it takes up more real estate. And so we tend to remember what we see. And so we tend to remember what we see. And if we tend to remember what we see, try seeing what we want to remember. You meet someone for the first time

and their name is Mary. Imagine for a split second that she's carrying two lambs underneath her arms. Mary had a little lamb, right? You meet someone named David. Just hit him in the nose with a slingshot. Just get David and Goliath, right? And people say that's so childish.

That helps you to remember it. Because if you could see it, feel it, and hear it, you're not gonna forget it. Got it, okay. You're hearing it, you're visualizing it, and you're making it kind of funny or ludicrous, and then you're not gonna forget it. So person's name is Mike.

Imagine they jump on a table and sing on a microphone. And when you say goodbye to them, you're gonna remember, oh, that was the guy that did that. What's his name? Mike, right? So, a person named John, you could, well, picture whatever you picture, right? And then finally, the E and Swav stands for End and the conversation saying goodbye using their name.

Because if you could walk into a room of strangers and leave like 20 people and leave saying goodbye to every single one of them. Who are they all going to remember? You, right? And that's an absolute standout skill. Jim, I hate to say this. We got to take one last break. And the reason why I hate to say it is, I don't know about you listening, but I'm starting to feel like my brain feeling a little bit more super. Aren't you feeling a little bit more super in your brain? Like I've got some mad skills that I didn't know about.

And guess what? Jim Quick, he's not done. Because he's got this super crazy cool trick. So you will never forget where you put your wallet or your keys or anything for that matter. And that's not all. Jim is also gonna cover the 10 things that you need to eat, think, and do

in order to have a super brain and he's going to reveal. Finally, that secret to how the heck he can remember 200 names forward and backwards. And he's going to do it for you in real time. Coming next. Stay with us. Welcome back. It's your friend Mel. I am thrilled that you are here because we're about to dive in to the 10 things that you need to eat, think, and do in order to have a super brain.

But first, I almost forgot the thing I really want to learn, which is how do I remember where I put my keys? Yeah, yeah. So it's always the key to that. There are three keys to remember your keys, right? For all memory is you encode, you store, and you retrieve, right? The hard part is the retrieval because if you didn't encode it well or restore it somewhere, it's going to be hard to get it back out and recall it. So encoding you do by seeing it and feeling it, the more senses you use, the more likely you're going to remember it. Taking a split second, and it only takes a split second to make something ordinary, turn

and extraordinary, that's what makes it memorable. Definitely. Right. So you don't have to repeat it over. You don't have to say, my car keys are here 15 times. What I would do is you need the locus of attention. You need to fine tune your concentration. So let's say you put your keys somewhere,

you have to be mindful of it or you're not going to remember it. Right? That's true. So it takes a little bit of effort. The good news doesn't take much. It takes a split second. So if you took your keys and then just through it on the desk, just for a split second, imagine the desk explodes.

Oh, yeah. And then it's like, boom, like, that's like, you can't forget that. Make it extraordinary. It's for the things you want to remember. Like the pure octable is pretty ordinary, right? We teach kids like eight-year-olds to be able to memorize the whole pure octable

in like minutes. It's insane when you can see it, feel it, and hear it. Even languages, you know, if I did something with counting to ten in Japanese for everybody here and you don't have to do this on video, but let's say people want to learn that language like do do this, Mel just just scratch your knee and say itching knee. Itching that's one and two. Itching one. Itching is two. Sun is sun. Like, sun, so point to this to the light up above. Sun.

Sun. So it's not sun, but sun. And then she's a point to a female in the room. She. Right? So it's chini, sun, she, that's one, two, three, four. It's chini, sun, she. Holy cow.

Yeah, and then five is go. So if you just pretend and say go, three, four. Itching knee, sun, she. Holy cow. Yeah, and then five is go. So if you just pretend and say go, go. Go, you're like your walk on video. I'm moving my hands on my feet, go. That's five. And then six is roku. So imagine you're rowing your canoe.

Oh, roku. Like a canoe, yeah, roku. Yeah, roku. So that's six. That's pretty cool, dude. Like you're literally like making my brain better. Like as we're talking. My point with this whole thing is

somebody of us shrink what's possible to fit our minds when we could expand our minds to fit all that's possible. So regardless of who's listening to this, their age and their background, age or stage of life, everybody can improve. It's just, you just need their correct lessons and a coach. And our brains, I want people to know their brains,

no more about their brains. I want them to trust their brains. I want them to love their brains and I want people to use their brains because it's the greatest gift that we have. Great things begin on the inside. And people who are listening right now, they've self-selected, they have greatness inside of them and they have genius inside of them. And now is the perfect time to let it out.

Wow. Well, I feel like I should go, roku, sweet, sun Miich, like that. I just kind of fought for her. Do you want back words? I did. So, and you just taught me how. Learning doesn't have to be this, like, sequirely by yourselves and just study and repeat things. Like, who'd wants to do that? Not me.

What was the time to do it? Or the inclination to do that again? Well, it goes cut, Jim. Now that we have you as our brain coach, we don't have to because you have all the methods to help us be limitless in our lives, in our thinking and in the way that we learn. And so when I asked our online audience

and our listeners of this podcast, what are you struggling with? 95% of people said distraction, memory loss, information overload, the anxiety about all the things I need to do, my inability to remember things. Jim, this is so universal. Can you just explain the simple way that you approach us, the way that you teach people in your institute to tap into the capacity of their brains. Let's start with that bigger context,

and then we're gonna get into this 10 specific things that will help us create a super brain. Yeah, so for me, it's three things, framework, and then we could go into the tactics and tools. Let's do it. It's three M's, your mindset. framework, and then we should go into the tactics and tools. Let's do it. It's three M's. Okay.

Your mindset. I define mindset as a set of assumptions or attitudes you have about something. Okay. Your attitude is assumptions about money. Your attitude is assumptions about relationships, maybe about yourself, even. Okay. So the mindset for me, at events where I do these demonstrations, you people like, oh, I'm so glad you're here. I have a horrible memory. I'm not smart enough. And I would say stop because all behavior is belief driven.

You say stop when somebody says I have a horrible memory because when somebody says I have a horrible memory, that is a mindset. And that mindset, I have a horrible memory, I'm not smart or I've never been able to learn a language or I'm a slow reader, all of those statements is the mindset that is limiting the capacity of your brain. So step one is to identify what your mindset is when it comes to your brain. So the first one is your mindset. If people say they feel like they're not smart enough or they're too old, I say stop, because your brain is like this incredible supercomputer

and your self-talk is a program it will run. So if you tell yourself, I'm not good at remembering names. You won't remember the name of the next person you meet because you program your supercomputer not to. That makes sense. Your mind is always eavesdropping on yourself talk, audit yourself. I don't have a great memory yet. It just opens up the possibility and it just feels different. Okay, so I like to just stop and put a highlighter on what Jim is telling you. later on what Jim is telling you. And I have a story that I'm dyslexic and I took six years

of French in high school and I went to college and took an exam to place into, you know, the French requirement. Dude, I placed into French 101 for people who have never taken it. And yet, I have this desire to be able to speak conversational Spanish. But Jim's point here is that if I'm not willing to stop telling myself that foreign languages are hard for me, I will never, ever, ever utilize the methods effectively because I will always be arguing against them. And so that's step one. And then let's move on to the second one. Motivation.

When we talk about motivation, I ask myself this question like 10 times a day. Verbate them. What is a tiniest action I could take right now that will give me progress towards this goal where I can't fail? That's a big question. Now see, here's part of my problem, Jim. I can't remember the question. Okay, here we go. What is the tiniest action I could take right

now, operative word now, doing little things out up to big things? Yeah. Because consistency compounds, little by little, little becomes a lot. That makes perfect sense. And what I realize now, Jim, you're a complete genius. You've been walking us through and weaving through the mindset aspect of this, of believing that you are capable of more and the motivation and desire for why and now we are so ready to receive the methods. And so let's talk about them.

What are the 10 things that we need to eat, think and do in order to have a super brain, Jim Okay, so I'm going to teach everyone a memory technique that I train Hollywood actors to be able to memorize a speech. Okay. We're going to memorize 10 keys for a limitless brain. Okay. There are 10 levers for a better brain. Okay.

I'll make a difference in your focus, your memory, your overall brain energy and health. How many share them? And then I'll teach you how to memorize these 10 things forward. Oh my God, I love this. Okay, let's go. Yeah. Okay, so the first one is a good brain diet. What you eat matters, especially for your gray matter.

A whole area of science called neuro-nutrition. That your brain is part of your body, but for your grain matter. A whole area of science is called neuro-nutrition. That your brain is part of your body, but it requires different nutrients, some different nutrients than the rest of your body. Avocados, the monon, such or that, it's good. Blueberries, I like to call them brain berries. Broccoli is good for the brain. Vitamine, olive oil, you know, Mediterranean diet, it's good for your brain. If your diet allows eggs, the colon in eggs

is a precursor to acetylcholine, and neurotransmitters are really important for cognitive health. Green leafy vegetables, a kale spinach. Fatty fishes, because your brain is mostly fat, it's the omega-3, specifically, a DHA. So salmon, sardines, it's good for your brain. It's turmeric. It has the curcumin, which helps the lower inflammation

stemically. Walnuts and almonds, they even walnuts look like a brain. High in vitamin E, which is neuroprotective. Probably my favorite is dark chocolate. So everyone can remember that very well. So these are some of my favorite brain foods. Number two, the second key for a limitless brain killing negative thoughts. Number three is exercise. As your body moves your brain groups. Number four, brain nutrients. If you're not getting the fish, then omega fatty acids supplementing with DHAs.

But then there's all kinds of neutropics like alcyanine, buccopa, rodeola, creatine, which is often associated with exercise, huge benefit for mitochondria energy for your brain. Number five, positive peer group. Who you spend time with is who you become. You spend time with nine broke people, you're in me number 10.

We have these mirror neurons. And mirror neurons help to drive our empathy and imitate people around us. We imitate their words. Whether somebody smokes has less to do with our biological networks or their neurological networks has more to do with their social networks.

Because if you're a friend, smoke, and more likely to take that action, we start modeling the integrity, the moral fabric of the people we spend time with, but what's acceptable, right? And imitating the habits of the people around us. So we spend time with people who are working out all the time, you're probably more likely to work out, right?

If you haven't found that person yet, be that person. We could love our family and friends, but they don't have to be our peer group. Right. That's five, six, clean environment, clean your desk or making your bed, then you feel just kind of a clarity of thought. You know why?

You're not using mental energy to keep track of everything. Your external world is often a reflection of your internal world. And then number seven, big one, sleep. Mm-hmm. Number eight, protect your brain, brain protection. You know, wear a helmet, protect your brain. It's very resilient, And it's very fragile.

Okay. Number nine, new learnings, meaning there's a study done with nuns on longevity. They lived 80, 90 above. And because it's a set community, similar diet and day play, they found that half of it was because of their faith and their emotional gratitude. The other half, key factor for longevity, they were lifelong learners. They're reading every day, they're having spirited debates, conversations, and because of it, add years to their life and life to their years.

My favorite learning reading is to remind what exercise your body. And then finally, number 10, stress management. Chronic stress has been shown to shrink the human brain. It also puts you in fight or flight. You're held hostage in your survival brain. You know what I'm thinking right now, Jim? I'm thinking, thank God we recorded this because I want to remember all 10 of those tricks

to developing a super brain. And yet, I'm like, I can't even remember where I put my keys. I'm gonna try the blow up the countertop trick, but for crying out loud, Jim, how the heck are we gonna remember all 10 of these things, not to mention, remember to put them into our day-to-day life. I'm gonna walk you through a 2,500-year-old memory technique that will blow your mind,

and I want everyone to do this. Can't even remember all 10. All right, I want you to imagine you're coming to my office, it's in the suburbs, and if you can close your eyes just to help you to focus, if it's safe to do so as you're listening,

and it's a glass building. Let's say you're coming to take a speed reading class with us. I'm gonna name 10 places along this journey to get to that classroom. And what we're gonna do is take the 10 keys for a limitless brain, and we're to imagine those each of those keys in each of those places. Okay. I'm going to ask everyone to say out loud as you're listening this. The first place that you get out of is the parking lot. So what's

the first place? Say it out loud. Parking lot. Parking lot. And that's their verbal memory. How would you see it? And then we're going to feel it and and get it in our body. So the parking lot, when you get out of the parking lot, it's going to be reminded. You need a good brain diet. And how you do that, pretend you're eight years old and use your imagination. If you can't imagine it, imagine you can imagine it. And imagine there's a big buffet of your favorite brain foods.

And so you see the blueberries, the avocados, the dark chocolate. And even if you can't imagine, again, imagine you can imagine it, see it, feel it, taste it. So from there, there's a waterfall, it creates like a mode around the building. And so you have to cross a bridge.

So the second place is the bridge. So what's the second place? Bridge. Bridge. That's your verbal memory. You go across the bridge and you're killing ants. So remind you the second tip, quick tip, for a limitless brain, you need to kill automatic negative thoughts. So you're stepping on those ants. It takes

more time to say it than actually do this again. And as you step in on it, you go into the building, the third place, you get into the elevator. What's the third place? Elevator. Elevator. Great. And then third brain tip, exercise. So your personal trainer is there and whatever your personal

exercise is, Pilates, CrossFit, whatever, yoga, you're doing it in the elevator. So see and feed yourself doing that. You get out of the elevator and the fourth place is the hallway. So what's the fourth place? Hallway. Hallway, and these are brain nutrients, all the neutropics, right? So don't you imagine you're tripping and falling on bottles of ginkgo, of creed teen, of turkument,

of lion's mane mushroom, right? And you're just tripping on it. You're like Donkey Kong or Laura Croft, you're jumping over these, maybe make the bottles really big, right? And they're vitamins everywhere. You open the door to my office immediately to the left is the fifth place, which is the closet.

So what's the fifth place? Closet. Closet. And inside you wanna remember your positive peer group. So all of your happy friends are in the closet. They're celebrating, they're cheering, big surprise party, happy friends, positive peer group. Maybe we're doing a mastermind. You get out and it's the sixth place is the receptionist.

Receptionist, what's the sixth place? Receptionist. And what the receptionist is doing is the sixth brain tip, which is clean environment. The receptionist is cleaning the environment. Waxing, vacuuming, dusting, everything is clean. Behind the receptionist is the seventh place, which is the fish tank. What's the seventh place? Fish tank. Fish tank, everyone say fish tank, and then the seventh tip, sleep.

So imagine Nemo Dory in their pajamas, and they're in their bunk beds. One of them is snoring, right? And you're sleeping with the fishes. So that's what's going on in the fish. And just see it, you won't ever forget it. You don't have to repeat it a hundred times, you see it once, you can't forget it. All right, we're almost there. You go to the classroom, but the door is locked for the for the speed reading class and the door, the classroom door is locked for the speed reading class. And the classroom door is the eighth place. What's the eighth place? Classroom door. Perfect.

And there's a helmet on a hook there. So you put the helmet on and you head butt the door open. It splinters everywhere, right? But the helmet reminds you of the brain tip, brain protection, protect your brain. Great. And we're almost done. The front of the room is the ninth place.

And it's a white board with markers, right? Whiteboards. What's the ninth place? Whiteboard. Great. And I'm there as your instructor, and I'm writing two words on the whiteboard in your favorite color. Mel, what's your favorite color? Red. Red. In red, I'm writing new learnings. New learnings. So see those two words, new learnings to remind you about always be learning. And then finally, on the side of this particular classroom are these Japanese plants, these bonsai trees. What's the 10th place?

Bonsai trees. And you wanna remember stress management. So whatever relaxes you, do it on the bonsai trees. Take a moment, you're doing meditation there, you're getting a massage there, you're having your relaxing drink, but you're doing it on the bonsai trees. Got it.

Perfect. Now, you are on stage. Okay. You need to be able to share these 10 things. Okay. You go to the first place of the parking lot and that reminds you of what, everybody? Blueberries and Brain Food. Yes, your Brain Food's perfect. And then you cross the bridge You go to the but the first place of the parking lot and that reminds you of what everybody blue berries and brain food

Yes, your brain food's perfect and then you cross the bridge and what are you stepping on ants? Yes, kill those automatic negative thoughts you get into the building you get into the elevator exercise Exercise and then once you get out of the elevator you see the the hallway and it's covered in Oh bottles bottles like ginkgo and stuff that I'm the lion's mane and the the lion's mane all the all the the the brain nutrients you open up the door to the classroom and immediately to the left is a closet our friends are in there yeah all the happy friends your positive peer group then you go to the

receptionist and what's the activity they're doing the receptionist is cleaning cleaning the activity they're doing? The receptionist is cleaning. Cleaning, clean your environment. And behind the receptionist is a fish tank. And what are the fish doing? They're sleeping, Jim. They are sleeping, Jim. Oh my God, I could tell you what they are. We're gonna put on a helmet and bust through the door.

And on the whiteboard is gonna be the words new learning. And then there's a bonsai tree where I'm relaxing. Perfect. And you gotta 10 out of 10. And so, and you can't even probably do it backwards, Mel. From the bonsai tree relaxing to the new learning, to the helmet, to the cleaning, to the closet where my friends are, to the bottles that I tripped over to the elevator where there was some exercise to do, to the ants that we stepped on to the bloop.

That is amazing. My message to everybody is when you understand how your brain works, you could work your brain. When you understand how your memory works, you could work your memory. It starts to change your mindset about what's possible because when you do something you never thought you could do, then you say like, what else? Maybe I could read two or three times faster and enjoy it and get more out of it. Or I could learn Spanish.

I absolutely love, love, love. Everything that you just taught us, and I love the fact that where it left us was you just proved to all of us that we have capability in our brain that once we know how to unlock it, there's so much more that's possible. That is so cool, Jim. I truly believe, Mel, that to the listeners, that there's a version of yourself that's patiently waiting,

and the goal is we show up every single day until we get to be introduced. Jim, I just wanna take a minute and thank you. I want to thank you for not just showing up here and telling us what you know, but teaching us in real time what we can do. And in the way that you taught us, you know what else you did? You proved to me into the personal listening that yes, in fact, there is more capacity in our brain, that yes, in fact, we can build a super brain. And that our brains can do more than we know. In fact, more than we knew it could do just 45 minutes ago.

So thank you, thank you, thank you for empowering us and giving us specific skills that we can put to use and already have put to use to help us create a better life. You are literally the best. I'm grateful for our friendship. And for everyone who made it and listened to this conversation, it means the world. Well, thank you, Jim. Thank you.

And to you, I hope you take what you learn today. And you remember your keys, and you start reading 50% faster, and you stop telling yourself, dumb, limiting beliefs about your brain, because now you know you have a super brain and that you start taking care of that brain and remembering more names. And in case nobody else tells you,

I was not gonna forget this. It'll let me be the one to say that I love you, I believe in you and I believe in your ability to create a better life. Remember that and I'll see you in a few days. Remember that, and I'll see you in a few days. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ We looking good, people. Yes, do you have a record?

No, it was a record. Get that guy right here. Mm. Okay. Sorry, I was just so sorry. She's like, that was great. Okay, go ahead. Don't interrupt me.

I'm in my hole. What the, oh. That was special. Don't let don't interrupt me. I'm in the hole. What the oh? That was special Well, it's funny because I did not drink last night and I did not fall asleep to like 3.30. I don't know what it was And you know what I've also figured out Snoring is literally like Chris Lang, they're going, see I'm enjoying D.Flying while I'm kind. Okay, here we go.

You're showing off. I have a question for you. Hold on a second. There it is. Okay, hold on a second. Hold on a second. Okay, got it. And then you're like, am I losing my mind?

Oh my gosh, sorry. I'm starting to like, trip over my my mind? Oh my gosh, sorry. I'm starting to like trip over my own lips. I don't know why. Now look, I'm not trying to be, what was the other word we used here? Oh, I have it right here, sorry. Oh wait, I got a start over

because I'm all over the place with the video I just realized. Okay, this is just feeling long and chunky, do you think? All right, let me start from the top again, because it just felt like I agree with you, Amy. Okay, you ready? Here we go. Sorry, who wants to? We're recording. Oh, yeah, we're going.

Like, oh, yeah, I'm asking. I was like, he's like, I didn't know that we were going to go here. Okay. Oh, and one more thing. And no, this is not a blooper. This is the legal language. You know what the lawyer's right and what I need to read to you.

This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. I'm just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professionals. Got it? Good. I'll see you in the next episode.

Stitcher. Stitcher.