Upgrade Your Brain’s Capacity To Learn And Succeed with Jim Kwik

Coming up on this week's episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy.

So it's not how smart you are, it's how are you smart? It's not how smart your kids are.

It'S how are they smart? Hey everyone, it's Dr. Mark. If you're a functional medicine practitioner like me, I wanted to share a secret for practicing at the absolute top of your license. And that secret is Rupa Health. I'm willing to bet you didn't go through years of medical training just to spend hours upon hours ordering lab tests, logging into different portals to track results, and then figuring out how to get those results into your electronic health record. Whether you run a telemedicine practice or you see patients in person, Rupa Health is the absolute best way to order, manage and track results from over 30 different lab tests like Dutch, DSL, Mosaic and lots more. If you're ready to level up your practice and save yourself hours of work managing labs, then you can sign up for a completely free practitioner account at rupahealth.com that's R-U-P-A-Health.com Getting enough protein in your diet is a key to longevity. Unfortunately, most of the meat and seafood available at your local grocery store leaves a lot to be desired because it's conventionally raised. and that means it has higher levels of antibiotics and hormones, which means it's just a lower quality product, not to mention a much less healthy version than what you would have gotten a hundred years ago. And that's why I love Butcher Box. They make it super easy to get humanely raised meat that you can trust by delivering it right to your doorstep. Butcher Box has everything you could want, like 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef and shipping is always free. But your box is committed to humanely raised animals that are never given antibiotics or added hormones, and since they take out the middleman, you get the extra savings. There is a major stipulation I always tell my patients about when it comes to animal protein. Quality needs to be a priority. And with ButcherBox, you can feel good knowing you're getting the highest quality meat and seafood that will help you thrive. Right now, ButcherBox has a special offer. New members can get New York strip steaks for a year plus $20 off your first order. Just go to butcherbox.com forward slash pharmacy and use the code pharmacy. That's F-A-R-M-A-C-Y. That's butcherbox.com forward slash pharmacy and the code is pharmacy. And now let's get back to this week's episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy. Welcome to the Doctor's Pharmacy. I'm Dr. Mark Hyman and this is a place for conversations that matter. And today I'm delighted to be talking to Jim Quick, who's a global expert and the go-to guy when it comes to up leveling your cognitive function. if you're interested in unlocking your greatest potential and moving past limitations through upgrading your brain and learning anything and everything faster, you're going to want to listen in. Now, Jim Quick is an internationally acclaimed authority in the realm of brain optimization and memory improvement and accelerated learning. He's had over 30 years of experience, and in that Jim has dedicated his life to helping people tap into their brains full potential. After overcoming learning challenges after a childhood brain injury, Jim embarked on a journey with the mission to leave no brain behind. Through his teachings, Jim inspires others to unlock their inner genius, empowering them to live a life of greater power, productivity, and purpose. From students to tech mavens to CEOs and Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes, Jim's teachings resonate with a diverse audience. Industry giants like Google, Virgin, Nike, SpaceX, and 20th Century Fox, along with institutions like Harvard and the United Nations, have embraced his methodologies. his collaborations with entities such as the US Air Force and Cleveland Clinic further highlight the extensive scope of his influence. Now, we're taught all sorts of things in school, yet we're really not taught how we can learn best and why mastering the art of learning is so valuable. And so today in our podcast, we kick off our conversation diving into why developing our ability to learn enables us to become the best versions of ourselves. And why learning how to learn makes us healthier, wealthier, wiser, and happier, as Jim says. He shares super practical tips for up leveling our ability to learn through things like harnessing the power of writing by hand and using our calendars to schedule intentional time to learn. We also deep dive into what Jim calls the four super villains that stand in our way of learning and how we can conquer them. We're also facing an onslaught of information all day long, and our relationships to our phones and our devices can greatly harm our memory. and our ability to focus throughout the day. Jim shares a simple two minute exercise he does first thing in the morning to keep from falling victim to his technology. He also shares why when we understand our brain, it can work better. We don't all learn the same way, so Jim shares about a tool he created to help identify how you learn, process and excel at different things. I used it and I found out I'm a cheetah, so learn what that is, you'll hear it coming up. We also talk about my results and how they can be applied also to you. We spend a lot of time managing working to cross off things on our to-do list. But Jim shares his own what not to do list and talks about why we should each make one. I like that idea. I have a to not list or a to don't list instead of a to-do list. And of course, we can't talk about brain health and cognitive performance without discussing the role of food. Jim talks not only about what to eat to support your brain, but why things like when you eat, the order in which we eat and who you eat with and why you're eating at all are important as well. And now let's dive into my conversation with Jim Quick. Welcome back to the Doctors Pharmacy Podcast, Jim. It's great to have you back.

So good to be here, my friend. Thanks everyone who's tuning in.

So Jim and I have gone back a long time. In fact, the first time I met Jim was just after I'd written my book, the Ultramind Solution, which was about how to fix your broken brain. and Jim was all about the brain. And I was like, who's this guy? And we had this great conversation. And, and we've been friends ever since. And I've learned so much from Jim about how to optimize our brain health and how to actually use our brains better. And we're going to talk about Jim's new book today, which is called Limitless. And this is an incredible book, which was previously released, but this is an updated edition that has all sorts of things we're going to talk about, whether it's AI and learning, nootropics, how to know your brain type and lots more. The title is Limitless, Expanded Edition, upgrade your brain, learn anything faster, and unlock your exceptional life. Well, who doesn't want to have an exceptional life? I certainly do. So, Jim, what inspired you to actually update this book? Because I thought it was a great book to start with. And I think there's some real interesting things in there that you bring in that I think are going to make a difference for people. So what are those sort of highlights from the book that are quite new and innovative?

So when the book came out a few years ago, you know, I know you know this because you wrote the forward for it. It did, came out in April 2020.

Which was a good time to release a book, right?

Yeah, I finished the book. So we're really proud of the book. We donated the proceeds to Alzheimer's Research for Women. Women are twice as likely to experience Alzheimer's than, than men in memory of my grandmother. Also, we built schools. I had learning challenges in school from a traumatic brain injury, and so we built schools in Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, and We updated the book though, just because the world has changed a lot over the past few years. So it's meant for a post pandemic AI world and it has all the original strategies on how to read faster, improve your memory, brain optimization, focus, flow, changing your habits, but then also really focuses on the new material on creating momentum in your life, which is what we talk about three M's in the original book, mastering your mindset, your motivation and the methods for brain optimization and learning faster. and this is really about gaining momentum. So AI to enhance your HI, your human intelligence, that will give you greater momentum, understanding your brain cognitive type. I think there's a lot of self-awareness as a superpower allows you to lean into your strengths and your traits to help you create momentum velocity for the first time in over 30 years. I talk about publicly about brain supplements, human studies on nootropics, and so it's vast. It's got 120 new, new pages. So very, very excited about that. And also my not only the external world has changed, my world has changed. I mean, I entered my 50s, we had our first child, and it really made me want to double down on my conviction and our commitment to helping build better, brighter brains, especially for the new generation.

Well, it's so important. I don't think we put enough emphasis on learning because learning is the key to everything. If you can learn something, you can do something, whether it's your, I mean, I was just in Africa with the Hadza tribe, which are hunter-gatherers. I mean, if you don't learn how to build a fire from a stick and and a little kinley, if you don't learn how to shoot a bird or an animal out of the tree with an arrow, you're gonna starve. So learning is really key. And I think it's across all the spectrum of life. And one of the things that, you know, you talk about is just how important learning is and how we actually don't focus on it as a skill. We think, oh, we should just be able to learn, just read, just do your thing, just study. But it's not like that. And there's an old Chinese proverb that says, learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. And what we learn becomes part of ourself and the tools that we get from learning are things that we can access any time to actually optimize our life. And I think, you know, whether it's wanting to optimize your health or optimize your relationships or optimize your financial life or optimize any aspect of your world, you have to be able to learn. And that learning is not a given skill. And it's not something we learn how to do. We don't learn how to learn. In a sense, your work is so much about learning how to learn as a tool. to help us live our best lives. And I think that's really the key to what you're doing. And what's really different about your work from my perspective is that you have really studied the art of learning, the sort of skill of learning, the tools of learning in a way that most people haven't. And then you're able to translate those into practical things. We know, for example, if you wanna build muscle, well you need to go to the gym and lift weights. If you wanna get your cardio up, you go for a run. But what the heck do you do to optimize your brain and to deal with the skills that we need to actually function at a high level. And I think one of the challenges today, and I know this is true for me, it's just the enormous flood of information, the constant stream of information flooding our senses from social media, from the news, from the internet. It's just almost unmanageable for most of us. And we get overwhelmed. And I do, too. And I got like, I got like 40 tabs open on my browser because I want to read all these articles. And then I'm like, oh, God, well, what am I going to do this? I don't want to look at my screen at night. And so I think, you know, you, you say, you say that, you know, there are no limitations. The only thing required to unlock our potential is one fundamental tool, how to learn. So what do, what are we, where do we start? What are your top tips for learning how to learn?

Well, you're absolutely right. I mean, the faster we can learn, the faster we could earn.

Right?

Because knowledge today is not only power, knowledge is profit. And I don't mean just financial profit, that's kind of obvious, but also all the treasures of our life. When we can learn how to learn, we could get healthier, you know, we could get wealthier, wiser, happier also, also as well. I think there's not only this gap between those who have and those who don't have, there's this gap between those who know things and those who don't know yet. Yeah, so there's a quote in, and.

Those are related, I think, right?

Very much so. Yeah. I love that you say that learning is really the key to greater success because if you want your business to grow, you have to grow. And I really think our true wealth lies between our ears. This three-pound gray matter is our number one wealth-building asset that we have, yet it's not user-friendly. It doesn't come with an owner's manual. No. And in school, you're right. They teach you what to learn, subject like math and history, science, Spanish, but there are zero classes on how to learn. you know, going to somebody, a teammate, you know, family member saying, study this or focus, remember this. That's like going to somebody saying like, play the didgeridoo or play the ukulele who's never had any kind of training on how to do that. And so we wanted to fill in those, those gaps. So, so knowing that learning is so important because every, every creature has their superpower, right? Some, some are, some are super fast, some creatures breathe underwater, some could fly, some could, you know, are super strong. We're not any of those things, but because we the ability to learn and translate that learning in action, we can fly and we can go underwater and we can go super fast because this technology is so very important. So we take two approaches, right? The software on how to read faster kind of strategies on how to remember names, how to learn a language, how to focus, but then also you have to take care of the hardware also, which is the brain itself. And so, you know, optimizing that with managing stress, getting the proper nutrition, getting proper sleep and so on. I think one of the fastest ways people could learn as they're listening to this is just remember when you learn something, learn it with the intention of teaching somebody else. Even when you're listening.

I'm laughing because in medicine we have this thing and we go to the hospital and we learn how to do a procedure or something and we have this phrase called see one, do one, teach one. So that is you see how to do it, you do it. And then you teach the next one in line, the medical student, the resident, how to do it.

So it's so very important. You take advantage of something called the explanation effect when you learn, even when people are listening to this conversation right now, we're gonna go over some, you know, practical, pragmatic strategies, proven strategies to help people optimize their brain, learn faster, and create momentum, especially, you know, in the new year. And, you know, one of the, one of the things is if you learn with the intention of teaching somebody else, then you're gonna learn it better, you're gonna focus better, you're gonna, you know, ask better questions or take better notes, certainly.

I mean, it just occurred to me, Jim, that, you know, I've written 19 books, actually, 12, but one was a kind of a ghost writing. But I realized that a lot of the reason I do it is I want to learn more about a topic, and it forces me to actually ingest enormous amounts of information, learn a lot, and then synthesize it, digest it, and provide it in a clear way for people to understand and then to take action from. So it's actually how I've kind of learned what I've learned. it was like, okay, I want to focus more on longevity. I know the basics, but I want to, you know, study this more. So I pull every paper, or I want to know about food nutrition. So, yeah, I kind of know the fundamental framework pretty well. But what is, what does all the data say? And how do I translate that into, into actually meaningful things? Whether it's understanding whether you should be vegan or high fat or whether you should eat red meat or not, or, like, there's so many questions, and, and, you know, these are not things you can just answer by by kind of a light-hearted approach. You have to actually learn and study and then just and then synthesize and teach. And I think that's what's why I love teaching because it forces me to learn.

Yeah. And it makes you active too because the other part of learning is learning is not a passive endeavor if you were. Learning is not a spectator sport. So many of us were conditioned through school. We were being lectured to and it was just the human brain doesn't learn best through consumption. It learns better through exactly what you're saying, through creation and co-creation and organization application. And so I feel like when we take an active role and responsibility in our own learning, that it's not that a teacher or somebody who is an expert you're listening to does it to you. It's something that we have full responsibility that we could take that information and make it personalized for us. We could take, we talk about optimizing, you know, how to take notes, how to retain what you learned, because there's a learning curve, but there's also, a forgetting curve. They say when somebody listens to something on a podcast or reads it in a book, hears it in a conversation, they're only exposed to the information once within 48 hours, 80% of it is forgotten. And that's not really good use of our time and our energy or attention. And so I think some of the fundamentals, learning to teach it, being active in your learning, we teach a whole brain note-taking technique and limitless expanded. One of them is put a line down. We find that people who can write notes do better on comprehension and retention. exams and universities. Yeah, digital is great for storage, for sharing. But one of the reasons I would imagine, I mean, I think there's something very powerful about handwriting something, right? When you take an idea and you put it on paper, it's the first step in taking something invisible in your mind and make it visible outside of yourself in your external world, from your internal world. But I also feel like, you know, most people listening could type pretty fast. And one of the worst ways of taking notes actually is full transcription. And they find the best way is capturing key ideas and key words. But the other thing is somebody could type as fast as someone could talk, but you can't possibly write as fast as someone could speak.

No, so you have to synthesize it, right?

Right, so it forces you to actively listen and filter and really focus on what's most important also as well. But if you're going to handwrite notes, a simple way you could, people could do, even try it right now if not working out or driving, commuting, just put a line right down the page and on the left side you capture on the right side create meaning on the left side, you're gonna take notes, left brain logic, how to remember names, how to read faster, what are those, you know, some of the best nootropics or how to use AI to improve your HR, your human intelligence. That'll be on the left side. And then on the right side, if your, if your imagination, your right brain is gonna distract you, I'd rather distract people on the right side of the page and they could write their impressions, like, how am I gonna use this? How does this relate to what I already know? What questions do I have? When am I gonna apply it? And I think those are key ideas that For every hour we spend learning something, I would challenge people to spend an equal hour applying and implementing it. Because the challenge is a lot of people get hooked on the actual act of learning, but their life doesn't change. And we know that knowledge by itself is in power. It has the potential to be a lot of power, but only goes power when we implement it. And so one of the ways of implementing it is just scheduling time. I think one of the most powerful productivity performance tools we all have is our calendar. But we'll schedule PTA meetings or investor meetings or sales meetings, team meetings, whatever, doctor's appointments. But we don't schedule our application of what we're learning on the regular. And so many people buy books and they sit on their shelf and it becomes shelf help, not real self-help.

I have a lot of those books, shelf help. My shelf is very healthy.

Right. And, and I want to remind everybody that you know, the ability or the capability, the skill of buying a book is very different than the skill of reading and understanding and remembering that book also. And I think a lot of people don't read because they're not very good at it. When's the last time people took a class called reading? I mean, like six years old, seven years old. And I grew up with, when I had my TBI when I was five, I had sensory issues, I had balance issues, I had migraines almost every day. I would think it was like normal, but that were really showed up was these processing issues. Teachers would repeat themselves over and over again. It took me three years longer to learn how to read. And one of the teachers said, Hey, leave that kid alone when I was being teased. That's the boy with the broken brain. And that was kind of like that label became my limit. But I really do believe that we have students, we have the largest academy online of accelerated learning, students in every country in the world, and we have a lot of feedback. And then I have to say, regardless of someone's age or background, that they can improve. you know, these areas, it's not fixed. Your memory or focus, it's not fixed like your shoe size through neuroplasticity, our brain's ability to be malleable and make new connections even as we get older. It's so very exciting. So that's what I mean about limitless. It's not about being perfect. It's just about advancing and progressing beyond what we believe is possible.

Yeah, essentially, it reminded me like when I was, you know, in medical school, I mean, there was no computers. I mean, they were, but they weren't there were no PCs anyway. And I had to take all my notes by hand. I was very diligent about keeping my notes. And I think it did really land in my brain by actually the sort of slowing down to that axle. I think it's a really interesting kind of frame for thinking about the sort of how to learn is write and take notes. But nobody wants to do that on paper anymore because it's such a mess. You know, I guess now they have these iPads where you can kind of like do it and then it'll translate to text because I can't even read my writing anymore. It was bad enough before medical school, but after medical school, it's like I can't even read my writing. So, you know, one of the things you talk about is the supervillains, the four supervillains that stand in our way of learning. What are those?

How do we conquer those things? So, I think everyone could relate to these. I alliterated them so it makes them more memorable. So they all start with the letter D and they're driven by technology. and technology didn't create them, but it certainly has amplified it really quickly. The first one is digital distraction. How do you maintain your focus and your concentration in a world filled rings and pings and dings and app notifications, social media alerts, like shares, comments, you name it, right? And that's why we have a whole chapter dedicated to how to focus. The other one is digital deluge, which is this overwhelm you're talking about. They say, I mean, we did program long time, you know, for years we do we train at Google. And I remember the chairman there has a quote. He was chairman at the time, Eric, and he said, the amount of information that's been created since the dawn of humanity, since humans walked the planet to the year 2003, just a few decades, two decades ago, that amount of information is now created every two days online.

Yeah, it's insane.

Yeah. So the amount of information, Moore's Law, it's doubling at dizzying speed. The half-life is getting shorter. It's getting, you know, information is getting outdated. So you have to, you know, our ability to learn, to unlearn, to relearn is an incredible competitive advantage. I think it's the most, you know, most powerful hedge that we could get in our life and school and in our careers also as well. But that digital deluge creates challenges like information anxiety, right? Higher blood pressure, compression of leisure time, more sleeplessness, more rumination. And so that's why we teach people how to learn faster or read faster. It's so important. Third one is digital dementia, which is a digital dementia. Yeah, it's where we're at. The idea that we're outsourcing our memories to our these external hard drives, like our phone. I mean, think about it, Mark, how many phone numbers did you know growing up?

A lot, a lot. Now I know my own, I can barely remember my fiance's phone number.

Right, exactly. And so we can be texting or calling every single day to a number of if we don't check our phone, we don't really know what it is. And not that, let me back up. So not that we want to memorize 500 phone numbers, but it should be very concerning that we've lost the ability to remember one phone number or a pin number or a passcode or something we just read. I believe two of the most costly words in life sometimes are, I forgot. You know, I forgot to do it. I forgot that conversation. I forgot what I was going to say. I forgot what I read. I forgot that person's name. I mean, just goes, Now, I forgot to go to that meaning. Every single time we have those thoughts, we lose time, we lose trust, we can hurt a relationship. On the other side, I think memory is an incredible magnifier when you can easily remember client information, product information, give speeches without notes, remember important things about the people that you love, your clients, your customers. I mean, life gets a whole lot easier. So that's why the largest chapter in the book is on memory improvement. And then finally, the fourth one outside of digital distraction, digital deluge, digital dementia, is a term I coined called digital deduction. And this is, I was reading research on saying that the new generation, the younger generation is the first time that they've had, they tested worse than previous generations when it comes to logic and critical thinking. And they were correlating that to technology doing the thinking for us. I mean, you think about algorithms, even something simple like GPS. We don't have to build the visual spatial awareness and that intelligence, you know, that part of our brain. because there's technology doing it for us. And with algorithms, it's always telling you what to think all the time, you know, based on what you're engaging with.

And so it's true. It's like hard to imagine a world without Google Maps, right? I mean, like, we all used to.

Have to drive and remember where we're going and learn how to get there. Yeah. And they would have these tests like at, you know, London cabbies that we talk about. We do a lot of research, you know, where they have to, in order for them to get their license, they have to go through years of studying. And they actually shown that the part of the brain, hippocampus, it's more highly developed, more dense because they're neurons, what's the term? Neurons that fire together, they wire together, right? So that's how you do it. It's use it or lose it. It's similar to technology like if you have to go to the bank and it's eight blocks away and you choose to take your car, that's great, but you don't, that was an opportunity to get your steps in, right? Or if you have your apartment on the fourth floor, your office on the fourth floor and you choose to take a lift or an elevator, and you don't take the stairs. I mean, again, it's convenient. Technology is very convenient. But I think there has to be a balance with also keeping our minds mentally fit. And, you know, our brains are an organ, obviously, but they act more like a muscle. It's, it's use it or lose it. And I want people to have their strongest mental muscles, their sharpest memory, you.

Know, lots of energy, stronger, stronger memory and, and so on. And so in, in a sense, you, you identify these, these things that stand in the way of our learning or the digital distraction, the deluge, the dementia, the deduction. Then I'm sure you give people a roadmap on how to think about that.

That's why we have chapters for everyone. So the superpowers that we talk about, they're all the chapters. It's really a guidebook on meta-learning, what we should have learned in school, learning how to learn in fun, enjoyable, easy, simple ways. So, you know, the memory chapter is to combat digital dementia. there's a whole thinking chapter on problem solving and how to think more clearly to help overcome the digital deduction and focus and concentration and flow to get over digital distraction and so on. So it's one of those things again, technology like fire, fire is technology, early form of technology, but it's how it's applied. Technology could cook your food or it could also burn down your home. It's just how it's utilized.

Yeah, it's so interesting. It sort of reminds me when you're talking about a Marvel series, right? It's like the super villains and the super powers. I think it's a nice way of framing it. And I think it's true. We have to be vigilant about the things that interrupt our ability to actually live a life that's fulfilled, engaged, that allows us to do what we want, to build relationships, to build our well-being and our health, to build financial security. I mean, these are the basic skills in life we don't learn as we grow up. And most of us have to come back to that. Hey everyone, it's Dr. Mark here. Did you know that your body naturally loses electrolytes throughout the day? For instance, you can actually lose up to seven grams of sodium per day just through sweating. When those lost electrolytes are not replaced, it's common to experience symptoms like muscle cramps and fatigue. My friends at Element know this, which is why they created their tasty electrolyte drink to help keep your levels where they need to be. Element contains a science-backed ratio of sodium, potassium, and magnesium, and unlike lots of other drinks on the market, there's no sugar, food coloring, artificial ingredients, gluten, or fillers. I love Element because not only does it help prevent and eliminate headaches, muscle cramps, and fatigue and other symptoms of electrolyte deficiency, but it's also formulated to be keto, low-carb, and paleo-friendly. right now, element is offering my listeners a free sample pack with any purchase. That's eight single serving packs free with any element order. It's a great way to try all the eight flavors and share element with a friend. So get yours at drink element.com forward slash hymen today. That's drink l m n t.com forward slash hymen. Did you know that cooking from scratch is the healthiest way to eat? Plus, if you're like me, it's a ton of fun too. Now, you might think using any cooking oil is fine as long as you're the one doing the cooking. But unfortunately, most oils have been linked to all kinds of health or environmental oil issues. Zero Acre Farms has a solution. Zero Acre Oil is an all-purpose cooking oil with more healthy monounsaturated fat and significantly less inflammatory omega-6 fat than even avocado and olive oil. And while other oils have had their issues with adulteration and rancidity, every bottle of Zero Acre comes with a QR code that you can scan to validate purity. It also works with any recipe because it's clean and neutral tastes, makes it undetectable, and it's got a high smoke point. I love that it brings out the taste of my other ingredients. Even something simple like an omelet has more flavor. So head over to zeroacre.com for an exclusive offer. Go to zeroacre.com/mark and use the code MARK at checkout to claim this deal. That's Z-E-R-O-A-C-R-E.com/mark. And now let's get back to this week's episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy. You know, I want to get into some of the specifics of how do you actually do these things because it sounds like you've got a roadmap and you've learned this for yourself after your own challenges. And then you've applied this to, you know, thousands of people. You work with, you know, celebrities, you work with, you know, Fortune 500 companies. You, you know, you do a lot of work in this space. And you're the go-to guy if people want to optimize their cognitive function. So what, what are the things that you guide people to? How do the, what are the things that we can take home and the listeners can actually get and understand and try some things at home?

So one of the things is understanding your brain type is something that's in the new expanded version. It's a model that I used for coaching for years. and this is the first time we've kind of released it to the public. And what I mean by that is I realized that after three decades as a coach, every single day working with individuals, it's, I think the future belongs to personalized learning, meaning that everybody learns a little bit different, just like not every food is for everybody or exercise is for everybody. And we've identified four different brain types. And for this model, I pulled on from things like personality types like Myers Briggs to introvert extrovert, multiple intelligence theory, visual auditory kinesthetic processing, left brain, right brain dominance. And we created a simple quiz that's in the book.

And there's- I did it. I did it.

Maybe we can use me as a practice case.

Perfect, perfect. I don't know what that means, but I just was from Africa and I.

Didn'T get to see a cheetah, which was very disappointing. I saw leopards and lions, but no cheetahs. One of my favorite places. What I would say is, so We created just like a simple assessment people take like what Harry Potter school are you or what Game of Thrones character are you or friend's character. So we found that there are four buckets. And so it's not how smart you are, it's how are you smart. It's not how smart your kids are, it's how are they smart. And we realized that, you know, tests like IQ tests or standardized tests like SATs only kind of measures like verbal and mathematical and there's so many different forms of intelligence. And once you understand how you learn your best, it's kind of like your dominant hand. Doesn't mean you don't use your other hand, but it's just what's more effective and efficient and easier for you. Sometimes when we're trying to learn something, though, your brain type is different than a teacher's brain type. And so those Styles, it's like your two ships in the night. And if you're ever been struggling to learn something you're actually interested in, sometimes it's like two ships passing each other in the dark, and you don't make that connection. it's like love languages. So it's, you know, maybe you might be expressing your love through words of affirmation, but that person receiving it looks for, like, acts of service and kindness. And so it's just like you're not meeting their values and also you're not communicating. And so, yeah, for. For brain animals, you could remember code. C-O-D-E. I'll go some really rapidly. People could also take the test at my brain. mybrainanimal.com mybrainanimal.com so do you know how there's, there's like personalized learn, there's personalized medicine based on like our genetics or DNA. There's personalized based on assessment, right? And like there's personalized nutrition based on assessments like a nutrient profile or microbiome test. This is the test for your personalized learning. So what happens is you take the quiz, it takes about four minutes, it's free, nothing to buy, and then we give you prescriptions on how you could read faster, improve your memory, access flows based on your animal type. And so very quickly, code, I use an acronym for everything just as a shortcut so everyone can remember it. C-O-D-E. So the C is the animal is the cheetah.

That's me.

Their dominant trait is action. I mean, these are people who have strong intuition. They thrive in fast-paced environments. They adapt very quickly. They're action-oriented mindset. They've been, and they can benefit immensely from from structured time-bound challenges, give them a target, and they will sprint towards it.

Yeah, like if I have to write.

A book, I get it done, right? Exactly. Exactly. The cheaters are the ones that make things happen, right? The O, R, and code are your owls. And again, we are a mixture of these animals, but one is more dominant. There's usually a primary and a secondary. An owl, if action is the dominant trait of a cheetah, because they're the fastest animals on the planet, owls, their dominant trait is logic. They're very analytical, very methodical. They thrive when given the space to dissect and ponder and analyze. There are always these individuals who benefit from deep work sessions away from distractions. The D, and now just even thinking about it, cheetah makes decisions differently than an owl would, and they would read differently. Or maybe a cheetah reading would sprint through the data and research, and owl we would have to go through, you know, more, more and more details. The D are your dolphins and your dolphins, their dominant trait is creativity. These are your visionary thinkers. It's all about the future, Innovation, possibilities, entrepreneurs, creatives, the dreamers. They could build, you know, they have a vision for themselves that maybe other people can't yet see. They're very good at pattern recognition. And finally, the E on code are your elephants and your elephants dominant trait are is actually empathy. They're very empathetic. They're collaborative souls. They're the glue that holds a team together. They leverage their strengths by encouraging collaboration, open communication, feedback loops. Now, when you go, when you understand these models, like all these people, they, they read different, where a dolphin would visualize more what they read, or an elephant would try to see it from the author's point of view or different perspectives. We had our team, for example, to take this quiz and 100% of our customer service team are elephants because why? They're very naturally, we didn't sort for that up front.

Interesting. Someone's gonna like do this as a job interview.

Now, now it's now it's part of so many different companies. They put this on the front end to kind of filter through because the thing about it, empathy is elephants, right? They're community builders. They want to serve. They want people to feel seen and heard and valued. Our CFO, our financial officer, is an owl. and you want that person to be an owl, very logical, numbers driven. My business partner, our CEO, she's a dolphin. She has this vision of the future. So it's interesting when you're on a brain type. And even if you take jobs, people find jobs and careers. Your owls will be your data analyst because you're going to fall into your strengths and what Sir Ken Robinson called your element. They'll be your engineers, your accountants, your research scientists, your cheetahs would be your entrepreneurs. They would be potentially EMTs. They would be professional athletes.

Emergency room doctors.

Yeah, very much so.

I love working in the emergency room.

Yeah, very fast pace. You have to adapt very quickly. Go with your instincts. Dolphins would gravitate towards graphic design or maybe they're writing fiction or they're film directors and elephants would be maybe in HR or social workers or PR or project managers, teachers. Right. And then, you know, you can think about famous people that just give you a, when you're carving out the world, I want people to start seeing it. It's, it's not that it's, you know, the menu is not the meal.

Right.

The, the map is not the territory, but it's to give you distinctions like, you know, your owls are going to be your Einsteins, your Marie Curie's, your, your Cheetos are gonna be your Richard Branson's, your, your Steve Jobs, your Serena Williams, your Dolphins. would be your Leonardo da Vinci's, your JK Rawlings, your Walt Disney's, your elephants would be your, your Mahatma Gandhi's, your, your Martin Luther King Jr's, Mother Teresa's. And so it's, it's interesting. Like, even if you look at friends, like a popular television show, you would say Joey would be the cheetah, just fast acting, right? Going, you know, adapting, going with his intuition. You would say Ross was a scientist, Professor, researcher would be the owl. Monica always hosted everything, would always be the elephant, bringing people together. Phoebe was the song with her song, creativity would be a dolphin, right? So, we could see this in pop culture also as well. But, the point in bringing this up is once you understand your brain type, you could apply it and be within your strengths to lead, to learn, even for hiring.

So, for me, just selfishly, like, okay, I'm a cheetah. What would you share with me as a coach that would help optimize my, my health, right?

Yeah.

So, my learning style.

So, cheetahs are interesting even from their communication style. Like when you look at communication styles, so cheetahs would be very direct, they're more decisive, more straight to the point, their speech is concise, they focus on action, they use action-oriented word, they dislike beating around the bush, they trust their gut instinct. And while they could collaborate, they prefer clear, directives, you know, autonomy and decision making, and they're great problem solvers. Like an owl in their communication style, and I'll go through strategies, would prefer details. You know, they could communicate in logical sequences. They would present facts and figures and data. And even as you and I, as teachers, we could present in a way that appeals to the four brain animal types also, also as well. So people feel like we're talking to them in their language. Right. Dolphins would be, is these are the Visionaries who speak in the bigger pictures, future plans, innovative ideas. They would be very enthusiastic and passionate. Elephants would have a keen understanding of validating other people's feelings, their perspectives. They would use inclusive language instead of things like an elephant when you use I or me, they would use more words like we and us emphasizing group unity. I feel like even exercise, I feel like even It, then again, it doesn't map out perfectly, but cheetahs would, would high intensity, fast-paced, you know, physical activities.

Align with their energetic goals. Oh my God, I love that. I love that.

I like, I want to go for like a long bike ride or exactly, exactly. Play tennis, pull out or exactly. Just like that. And owls might prefer physical, the physicality would be more, you know, more precision, more yoga, pilates, right? Activities that require strategic thinking. so the physicality would be more related to their analytical, methodical, you know, movements, more precise. Dolphins, though, you know, would maybe prefer, since they're more creative activities, more like dance or social sports or swimming aerobics, right? Classes. Elephants would certainly, they want anything that's team-oriented, group fitness classes, hiking with friends, right? They would be one, allow an opportunity to connect. But even understanding, you know, not only can you learn better once you understand the way that you learn, you could sell better also. Even if you want to influence and persuade a cheetah, if they're in business development or they're an entrepreneur, they want to influence somebody to invest or to buy, they would adapt.

Or to get healthy.

Yeah, or to get healthy. If you're coaching somebody, you're naturally agile as a cheetah. You would swiftly adapt to the pace of the client. You should harness this by providing quick solutions. You close deals without letting them drag. If you're selling to someone like you, to another cheetah. They appreciate directness, value efficiencies. You know, you could skip the small talk and present the key benefits and demonstrate how your product or service can create immediate results.

Yeah, but in all honesty, I definitely like get to the point. I mean, what do you do?

Right, exactly. Exactly. And that that's what a cheetah would.

Feel and it's embarrassing to be so.

Like stereotyped, but I guess I guess here's the thing. And we're not limited, you know, over time, sometimes based on life conditions or values, could change. And because of neuroplasticity, we could, you know, even when you're taking the quiz, you probably oscillated between like two answers. It could be this or it could be this, but Acheeta is just gonna kind of pick, you know, pick the one, right? But, yeah, even if you look at like owls, they're more analytical. So as a, to influence and persuade or to teach, they would be more detail oriented, right? They could really understand their product or their service and foresee clients needs, present them tailored solutions. Now, if you were selling to an owl, let's say, or you're coaching an owl, they would respect evidence, right? They would appreciate well-researched presentations, statistics, research, case studies. They would be prepared to, with an owl, be prepared to answer in-depth questions and give them time to ponder their decisions. A dolphin, as the salesperson or as a coach or the teacher, use their strengths of building a vivid picture of that person's future, right? In terms of their path forward, they should leverage their natural charisma and their passion to evoke emotions and create a compelling future for what's possible with their product or service or their idea, their diet, whatever. And if you're selling to a dolphin, this person, you speak to their vision of themselves, show how your offering can fit into their larger picture of how or how it could pave the way for future creativity or innovation. Engage them with possibility, engage them with big ideas. And then finally, an elephant, if that's the person that's the coach or the salesperson, the entrepreneur, the elephant, it's all about relationships for them. That's the model. They should focus on creating trust, understanding clients' needs at a profound level, positioning themselves as more of a partner rather than a vendor. And if you're selling to an elephant, you want to influence an elephant or coach an elephant on a new idea, they value the facts are great and speed is great, but it's the relationships. They want to feel like, you know, there's, there's trust there.

So kind of knowing your strengths and weaknesses, right?

And where you spend time understanding, make them feel seen and heard and all of that. But it's, it, you can see this model in parenting. You know, it's something that I'm, I'm looking at where, you know, there's certain strengths and, and challenges that each animal would have in parenting or learning or anything else, but The main idea behind this, Mark, is that when people understand their brain, they can work their brain better. And it takes away the judgment that you have that you have to be good at everything, right? And it also allows you to create a team around you of people that could be supportive and represent different perspectives and points of views.

Fascinating. So this is super helpful. So creating a framework of why we get into trouble, all the distractions and the the dementia, the deductions and so forth. And you talk about these types, brain types, which help understand our learning style and our way of actually engaging with the world that can help us sort of maximize those strengths. But I think in terms of the take homes, I'm curious about what you've learned over the decades of doing this that is so effective in helping to boost our productivity, our focus, our learning, and, you know, how do we manage the things? Because, you know, it's, now we understand there's digital distraction. Nobody kind of has a problem understanding that they're all sort of victims of it, and they all have trouble concentrating. I mean, I think add has become almost like not a clinical diagnosis for everybody, but certainly we all feel like we have add because they're just pulled in a million directions. So how do, how do we sort of focus in? And I think, you know, what I found in my life, and I'm sure you found this, too, and probably people listening, when you are in a deep connected zone learning and focus, it's actually when you're most happy. It's like when you actually, when you, when you're able to actually be and in an experience fully present and, and learn, whether it's being, you know, enraptured in a book or it can be a movie or any, anything that's engaging to you, it actually takes you out of the world that we normally live in, which is all this brain chatter and distraction. And, and what I think you're offering people is a pathway, a roadmap for how to navigate this part of their brain that tends to be all over the place and to, to give them specific tools. So can you talk about what those tips are for a productivity Focus, how we manage this digital distraction and improve our focusing concentration? Yeah.

I mean, what can, what can we do if we could focus? And when we don't, when we can't, when we, when we flex our distraction muscles, it's really hard to get things done. You know, I'll walk in the book. We talk about morning routines and new routines. I'll give you a little bit of a piece of that because I think first you create your habits, then your habits create you. But I think a lot of people, how you, if you want to win the day, you have to win that first hour of the day. And most people, they lean into distraction and then they wonder why they can't focus and get things done later in the day. It's a simple example, right? We've all heard that you shouldn't touch your phone to maybe the first 30 minutes of the day. Right. The whole idea here is that when you wake up, you're very relaxed, you're very suggestible. And if the first thing you do is pick up your, your, your Doom device, your scrolling device, then you're re, you wire your brain for two things that hurt your focus and your productivity. Number one, you wire your brain for distraction. Every, like, share, comment, cat video, that dopamine, you know, flood, it's, it's driving you to distraction. And whatever, how you do anything is how you do everything. You wonder why you can't focus later in the day? Because the first thing you started your day with is with distraction. But the other thing you wire your brain for is not only distraction, that hurts your productivity and your peace of mind, but also reaction, meaning that you get one message in the morning, you know, on a social media or voicemail, text message, WhatsApp, whatever, email. It could hijack your whole mood for hours. And it, what it does is puts you in a reactive state, a defensive state where you're fighting fires first thing as opposed to being proactive. And actually, like, for example, instead of touching my phone, I'll do this simple two-minute exercise before I get a bed and I will thought experiment. I'll say, okay, I will lie in bed with my eyes closed and I'll fast forward to the end of the day. And just, just everyone can imagine doing this, you know, the next morning and just say, hey, when I come back and I finish the day and I'm going back into this same bed and maybe, you know, my wife asked me, how was your day? And I say, wow, today was amazing. You know, we crushed it today. Today was just such a, it was such an amazing day. Then I ask what had to happen in order for me to, to feel that way, to say those words. And I come up with three things personally and three things professionally. And I did that this morning. And one of the things that was on my list was having this conversation with you. Right. And what it does is it's not just about time management for productivity. It's about mind management. It's about priority management. the most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing, right? And so the idea here is I have three things I need to thrive personally and then professionally, and they don't have to be really big things. Like even personally was doing my cold plunge this morning. It's just something I did for three minutes. It didn't take up a lot of time and it was just like that would put me in a great state, right? And then three things professionally, and those are six things because nobody's going to get through a 200, you know, thing, a to-do list, right? And so that's the opposite of being distracted. It's being proactive, setting up your champagne moments, like in sports, you know, when it's time to celebrate, right? This is a, I got this from my friend Clay Bear. And he's like, you know, in sports, you break open the champagne because you can see the scoreboard, but we don't create that scoreboard on a daily for ourselves. Like, what's a win look like? And then work backwards. from that. So it's minimizing technology. And I think one of the best ways is just keeping your phone in another room personally, because when it comes to your habits, and we have a whole chapter on habit design, is master your environment. Like you want to make the things that are not good for you hard. Like why have all those snacks and that bread at the table and all that stuff, and you have to say no 50 times during a meal as opposed to saying no once up front, right? Or, you know, not having the sweets or even, and you want to make the things that are good for you easy to do, right? Have that, if journaling is good for you, then have that journal by your nightstand or like I have a kettlebell right by my office, you know, doorway. So I just, I use it more because it's convenient and it's a constant reminder. But little things like that, remember, you don't have focus, you do it. There's a process for focusing. A big part of limitless is a core principle is taking the nouns in our life and turning them into verbs. what I mean by that is sometimes we hypnotize ourselves into submission by saying, oh, I hope I have motivation to, to write today, or I have creativity to write my book today. You don't have creativity. You don't have motivation. You do it. There's a process for motive. It's a verb rather than a noun. And when you take those verbs, what does it do? It gives you agency back. It gives you your power back, because you don't have to hope to wake up and say, I hope I have energy and creativity to write. there's a process for energizing yourself and there's a process for being creative. Right. And then you have power. Right. And so I would focus on when it comes to focus, you don't have to just hope you focus. There's a process for focusing. Simple thing like directing the questions you have. Like a simple thing is your brain is mostly a deletion device. There's a billion stimuli we could focus on, but what we let in are the things that are important to us.

Right.

Because we let everything in, we would. insane. And so this gatekeeper, this reticular activating system is kind of like a spotlight that you shine on the, on things. And what captures that really are the things we're interested in that are driven by the questions we have. So even a better way of, like, harnessing our Focus is to ask a question, like, what's the best use of this moment? Or how can I finish this and enjoy the process? Or what is the tiniest action I could take right now? that will give me progress towards this goal where I can't fail.

Right?

These are questions that will direct your RAS, your particular activating system, that spotlight on the things that are important and constantly that that would be like our reality more.

That's great. So the other thing that you talked about is this sort of not to do list. And I sort of was always joking is like when I was just overwhelmed, I thought, I'm gonna create a to don't list. list, not a to-do list, a to-don't list. And there's a lot of things that I might to don't, which is actually growing as I begin to realize that my most precious commodity is time. My most precious value is time because, you know, money is expand or contract, you know, but time is the same for all of us. And so where I pay my attention to what I focus on, the relationships I build, what I learn, all really matter and are more consequential and we think. And I think we kind of flitter away or fritter away time. Flitter isn't a word. I think flitter is a word, but it's not, I'm not talking about fritter away time. And we don't think about it. And as I've gotten older, I just realized, wow, like this is very precious. And we should think about, you know, what we're choosing. And I think I'm imagining that your not to-do list is really about that. And I love to hear what your not to-do list is too.

Yeah, let's do it. Okay, so if you look at it this logically, So there's a quote in Limitless that says, Life is the letter C between B and D. Life is C between letters B and D, where B is birth, D is death, life C is choice. So our lives are the sum total of all the choices. And there's only, if you want to make something better, there's only four choices we can make. It's either you start something, you stop something, you do more of something, or you do less of something. Those are the literally the only four choices. The other, the fifth choice is not to do anything. And that's, you know, Insanity, right? Expecting different results and doing the same thing. So we either start something, our lives change when we start something new. We stop something we're doing, we do more of something. And so, you know, so I'm always looking for those four things. Like, what can you start? What can you stop? What can you do more of? What can you do less of? And so for me, on my to stop list or to do less of, it's like checking my phone first thing in the morning.

Don't keep it in your bedroom. How about That. Yes.

And even better, right? Because that would, that would stop that, that would stop that right up front. That would be a lead domino. And I'm always focused on, you know, everybody has, that's the, you're true, right? That's the one thing that we can't get back is our time. And we all have, that's the one thing that's equal. Not everybody has equal income or education or a Rolodex, but everybody has the same 24 hours in a day. And it's how we're utilizing that time. And so I would say is on my, on my not to-do just, let's go. I would say let's first not touch our phone first thing in the morning and then late at night. That's kind of a simple, not necessarily easy, but a simple one. For me, the device also just creates so much stress. So it's not that I'm so enlightened or have such amazing willpower and discipline. It's just something that I've just associated. It's wonderful to use it to connect and to learn, but it's also, you know, can really hurt your peace of mind.

And peace of mind is high currency. It's true. I remember recently I forgot my phone and I like, went out for that evening and I was like, wow, I feel so free. And like, I actually had a flashback to what it was like before there were cell phones. Or even, even, even having, not having.

The phone at, at, at tables. Like, we've done a, we have our own podcast and you've been on a number of times and just, we know that the stress that's caused anxiety, the impetus, having the phone on the dinner table makes you want to check it.

Right.

And it's just, it, it starts like every, every x amount of seconds, you have that impulse to do it, even if you don't touch your phone. And so I feel like especially because, you know, dinners and meals with family members or friends is kind of a lost, yeah, very precious. And then, you know, it's kind of a lost time that we're spending less and less time doing that. I think, you know, it allows us for higher quality of life and enjoyment, help us live longer also. Cause it's not just what we eat, it's who we're eating with and how we're eating and when we're eating, right. And why we're eating that stuff to begin with. So many people eat in a stress state, they're like still working or something and they never again that parasympathetic rest and digest. So even things on my not to-do list is when I'm eating something, I don't, I don't work, right? I just, it's an, meditation is not limited. And to be mindful is not to limit your meditation time. It, you could take mindfulness into brushing your teeth, right? Into, into eating a meal and really tasting what you're, what you're eating and connecting, using that opportunity to connect with other people.

So, yeah.

So I don't, I don't work. Like, for example, my not to-dos I don't work in bed something. simple because we also, part of our learning journey is when we're, we associate unconsciously the environment to the state that we're in. And if, if you tend to work in sitting in your bed or on your phone, then that's the place where you should be like, you know, doing only a couple activities, right? And one of them is sleep. And, you know, you don't want to, it's hard sometimes for people to turn it off if they're conditioned every single time, even having a device, let's say they binge watch. They use their device, their laptop for work. But if they're also using it to binge watch Netflix, you're training your nervous system like, hey, these are two different activities, two different states that you're anchoring to it. So I would think that not working in bed or not working when you're eating is it could be very important. And even things like that.

So it sounds like very Zen when you eat, eat, when you sleep, sleep, when you walk, walk, when you breathe, It's so profound. But basically the Buddha taught this a long time ago.

Yeah, I take absolutely no credit for this. Definitely didn't initiate this. But it's something, sometimes also a coach reminds you of what you're doing when you're doing it well. And sometimes it's hard because we're addicted to, you know, to work or addicted to social media or something like that. I would also say even simple, simple things like just not, I would say on the top of the list also is not complaining. I mean, it sounds sounds, you know, like, if I was to say a not to-do list, okay, here's what would be on the list. It would be not caring what other people think. And I know it's easier said than done, but if you fill your life with the opinions of those around you, both positive and negative, you're going to run out of gas, right? Nobody has a right to define who you are. The only opinion that matters about you and your dream is yours. And we do ourselves a disservice when we let the noise of other people's opinions distort, you know, our reality and subvert our own thoughts and values. use. I think also on our list not to do, and this is again easier said than done because so many people are addicted to it and I know I've been in these places is complaining. We're talking about mental health.

That's a good one.

Mental health, you can't make excuses. You can make excuses or you can make progress, right? But you can't make both. And complaining wastes valuable time, energy, and achieves nothing.

Right.

And so I would say you can't be upset by the results you didn't get from the work you didn't do. So I would just say that nothing happens great. I would also say- After complaining, you mean? Yeah, after complaining, no complaining. No overthinking also, because I think thinking is good, but overthinking and wanting everything to be perfect can end things before they even have a chance to develop.

Well, it's true. I think we can go through the world with looking at what's right or looking at what's wrong. And I think some of what's wrong with the world now is we're over focused on looking at what's wrong instead of what's right. And there's so much beauty and magic. I just came back from Africa, like I mentioned, and I went to the most horrific slum. It was the biggest slum in Africa, you know, children living literally next to six foot piles of garbage and sewage outside their little tin shack door, no sanitation, no running water or, you know, living on $3 a day. And, you know, easy to kind of look what's wrong with that. And then in that there was this beautiful light of this this little school that was formed by a friend of mine called Little Lions and how he really helped these kids emerge from the slums and become something and, and give them food and nutrition and how he, he cut these guys who were, you know, basically criminals in the neighborhood and got them cleaning up the garbage and paying them and, and getting rid of all the, and now they're like, it's really quite amazing. So there's like, there's so much to look at what's right. And, and I had a business coach once who was talking to me about an employee of mine who was always complaining about everything. And he said, you know, some people are just make wrong machines. And I was like, wow, that is a great phrase, you know? And I think I really pay attention to my own inner narrative about looking at what's right or wrong, and it can really color your whole life. And the good news from a scientific perspective as a doctor and some who are now focused on longevity is that optimists live longer, even if they're wrong. So, yeah.

Very true. I think they enjoy the process a little bit more also. And, and we're willing to take risks where a pessimist is gonna be right more often because they're not gonna do much because they're out of that. And I, I think in that, the other thing to stop besides complaining and overthinking and caring what other people think is judgment, especially for ourselves, self judgment. Like people think that if they're hard on themselves cuz they didn't, I don't know, exercise that day or eat properly that day, that they're more likely to follow through. But studies done on self-compassion show that when you're actually kind to yourself, you say, hey, I'm human. I had a long, I had a kind of a, you know, hard day. You're more likely to follow through. So I think self-judgment meaning we should lighten up a little bit. It's not about being perfect. It's about personal progress. So we can release self-judgment I'm not saying again, it's easy, but those moments when you start criticizing yourself, you could take a pause and a breath and.

Just observe yourself instead. Right. It's hard to tame. interact. Yeah, but it's possible. It's definitely possible. Yeah. Because the, the, the former leads to.

Self-Doubt but the latter leads to self-awareness and self-improvement so, you know, we could be so, you know, more. And I would say, I say this busy because I think that's something else we should stop being. But we should, we should be so busy growing ourself, you know, that we have no time for that self-judgment that in those moments we start judging ourselves, we just get curious and we replace judgment with curiosity. So overthinking, comparison, yeah, compare, stop comparing ourselves because another, if you're not at a fifth digital like horse villain, like I would say it's digital depression, right? Don't compare yourself to anyone but your best self. It's not about being perfect. It's about the consistent action every day that leads to small incremental improvements that little by little, a little becomes a lot. But when we compare ourselves to the highlight trailer of everybody on social media, you know, can make us feel like we're not enough. And there's a lot of artificial turf. Like, it's greener where we. The grass is greener where we. Where we water it. Right. But it tends to look greener online because of the filter people use. There's a lot of artificial turf online. So I would say, yeah. And then if people are going through a hard time right now, I just want to remind people that there are some things we can only learn in a storm. Right. And we have to just control the controllables. We focus on what we could do and we know that the clouds will eventually part and the sun will shine. And then not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some storms come to clear a path, right? And some people create their own storms and they get upset when it starts to rain. So lots of times, you know, we have to, you know, recognize how we contribute to the, so that those are some of the things I might not to do.

That's so great. That's great. It's a great list. A great list to start. I encourage everybody to think about what.

Is there to don't list.

It's hard to write that whole list. Next, before we close, I want to talk about two topics and, and they're things that obviously, some of which I've written about, like nutrition and the other is this whole emerging field of what we call new trophics. So food in the brain is clearly an emerging field. this quite exciting to me as a physician to understand more and more about how food is affecting our cognitive function, our memory, our mood, our behavior, learning, memory, attention, all of it. And secondly, this whole field of nootropics, which is this basic category of compounds, both natural and pharmaceutical, that can optimize your brain function and help with focus, attention, and memory learning. So, can you start with your view of nutrition in the brain and then dive into this field of nootropics and give us some guide about what that is and the framework for thinking about it.

Yeah, absolutely. And I would always suggest, you know, talk to someone like, like Mark Hyman, talk to a functional medicine doctor. This is my disclaimer that attempted to diagnose or treat any, anything. And, and also, again, everybody's bio individual and, and find out what nutrients you could be lacking. So you could do full spectrum in the nutrient profile. I would always for my, my, so we have, we have a whole chapter in the book on neuro nutrition that your brain is only 2% of your body mass, but it requires 20% of the nutrients. And some of those nutrients are more important than the rest of the obviously your brain's part of your body. And, I would say for my personal preference, I've always wanted to get as much from whole foods as possible, like whole organic natural local foods as possible. And, if I can't get that, then I'll consider supplementation. For example, choline is a nutrient found in foods like eggs or soybeans and it plays a vital role in brain health and it's a critical component of acetylcholine. which, you know, neurotransmitter supports memory and cognitive function. That's what goes down to Alzheimer's, right?

Yeah.

But if you're not getting that from your eggs or your other foods, then you might, that might look into supplementation. I mean, probably one of the most important are your omega-3 fatty acids.

Right.

Particularly DHA, critical for brain health. And, but if they're not getting that from their sardines or fatty fishes or flag, then supplementation. Right. So again, I would rather get it from Foods, like even, even things like like we talk about brain foods and I talk about to turmeric, but it's the curcumin that's the active ingredient that can be, you know, very beneficial. It's anti-inflammatory has antioxidant, neuroprotective. It could potentially cross the blood-brain barrier and been shown to Curry. I mean, Curry, right? Yeah, exactly. And with, with foods and, you know, can help improve cognitive function, particularly in patients with, without, with Alzheimer's. And, you know, so that's one of the things that you can get with your foods. So, you know, but obviously you want to have your vitamin D levels checked. Your B vitamins, especially B6, B12, they're vital for brain health. Magnesium, I mean, these are, we're talking about supplements, not nootropics yet. But magnesium is vital for brain health, promotes learning and memory and mood. Magnesium L3, like for sleep.

Yeah, I just did a podcast on magnesium actually just a solo podcast because it's such a big problem and it's so underdiagnosed. Yeah. And, I'm feeling really good about my breakfast Jim because I I had, I had pasture-raised Omega-3 eggs with locks and onions, which are my favorite childhood breakfasts. I used to go to the diner and the Jewish deli and eggs, locks and onions.

And, yeah, eggs are like Nature's multivitamin. I mean, they're, they're, they're incredibly dense with nutrients.

Yeah.

And then for the nootropic, I mean, I don't know.

Like, again, it, it varies. But, but let me just back up for this. I mean, in terms of diet, what do you think in of, you know, versus being a vegan versus keto versus paleo versus, you know, do you have any sense of what, what works best for the brain from your perspective? Or, you know, leave me answer that question.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you could, you, you, you, you could answer this question.

I'm curious about your perspective. Yeah.

I mean, for me, I've, I've tried all the diets. I was, I wasn't even vegan for many, many years. I was a raw vegan for, for a full year. It didn't work for me. um, like I really did it and I feel like I did it as well as I could, but I had a lot of, a lot of health issues, because of it. So it's not just, I also, again, what you eat, it's also when you eat, for, for, for me, I, I happen to still intermittent fast, not, not because of it. It says I never grew up eating a lot of breakfast, so it was in like a big change for me. It's, and I also don't desire it so much. Um, so I, I do do that and I feel a mental lift for me personally. Um, But for me also, it's not just what you eat, it's the order you eat in where if I do have my carbs, I'll do it last, right? And I'll do my steamed vegetables, my salads first, and then I'll do my proteins and then my fats, and then if I have some sweet potato or something else, you know, it's my thing also when it comes to it, it's not just what you eat, it's how you eat, it's when you eat, it's who you're eating with, it's why you're eating in the first place because some people are so stressed about what's eating you. Yeah, it's not what you're eating. I literally feel like it negates a lot of the potential benefits that come from what they're eating because of that eating that stress state and they're not even properly digesting and absorbing it just because they're in that kind of sympathetic kind of state. Yeah, but food could also be nutritious and it could be delicious though. We know that from your work and, you know, cookbooks and just so much out there.

So, let's dive into nootropics because that's a topic most people probably never heard about, don't know about, but it's actually an emerging field that I find very fascinating, which is how do we, you know, for example, if we want to be a weightlifter and bodybuild, we know we need to take branched-chain amino acids or creatine or whey protein. We have kind of tricks, but if we want to get our brain to be more fit and strong and perform better, you know, what are the things that are out there? And, and can you kind of go over that research for us?

For me, what's in, what's in my, as my resource. And we, we have a few dozen here. I put my latest stuff that, that I'm recommending at the, in terms of the human studies and people could get it. This is like the chapter of the book at brainnutrition.com. but it's so I could kind of keep that current. But like you mentioned, working out, creatine is, is an incredible substance naturally produced predominant in meat and fish. And it plays a crucial role in energy metabolism, especially cognitive function. And so that's something that I do five grams per day and I use it for my workouts, but I also I notice mentally when I don't do it, there's been shown that even when you have bad night's sleep, it could help you recover and compensate for that also as well. Lion's Mane, it's unique nootropic, it has neuroprotective effects. Research has shown that it helps stimulate the synthesis of nerve growth factor, which is enhanced cognitive function by reducing inflammation, promoting overall brain health.

That's a mushroom that looks like a brain.

It's kind of weird. Very, very, very much so. So, there's a little mnemonic device to help you remember it. Caffeine is interesting because while it's a stimulant, I get very sensitive with caffeine. But if I pair it with l-theanine, maybe as a green tea, I get the benefits without the jitters. But that's me because I tend to, I don't do caffeine past usually 12 o'clock just for my sleep. But I find that combination leads for me to a calm alertness. It improves a reaction time, memory, mental endurance. Ginkgo biloba has been around for ages, right? Chinese medicine helps to treat various ailments, especially cognitive decline, helps promote good blood flow circulation. And, the name of the game when it comes to your brain is really getting up blood flow and oxygen. Even for my recovery from my head injuries, which I've had a few and have various scans, hyperbaric oxygen has been very, very helpful with my personal recovery. I know it's outside of the realm of nootropics, but not lion's mane, l-theanine, Ginkgo, creatine. If we're going into this bacopa. Bacopa is an herb, an Ayurvedic herb.

Ayurvedic, yeah. Ayurvedic medicine.

Yeah, it's been shown to improve cognitive function and memory, rhodiola also as well as a Scandinavian herb. And that potentially can be beneficial in reducing mental self-fatigue for those who struggle with it and improving cognitive functions.

The astronauts used when they went on.

The Russian cosmonauts used when they went on space. Yeah. It's amazing. There's even this whole coffee fruit extract that's a whole fruit that from the coffee plant, it's usually a byproduct that's discarded, but it's been shown to be a strong antioxidant and have positive effects on cognitive function. One of my favorites is phosphatidylserine, which is a phospholipid, which is an integral part of your brain cell membranes. It's been shown to improve memory, learning, cognitive function also as well. So, we put like three dozen brain supplements and nootropics in the book. We reference all the human studies that are there. Obviously, again, talk to your health practitioner and do it intelligently. I say this not just to protect us, but also protect the person who's listening also as well. Be intelligent, you know, with this. Don't just down or don't go to a store and just buy everything and just take it.

Yeah, you know, yeah, I know, it's true. These are, and these are very common things like, you know, whether it's green tea or creatine, very safe, you know, Bacopa, Rhodiola, choline, theanine. These are things that we can actually incorporate. And I actually, I realize I take most of these things every day. But there's another category of nootropics that are pharmaceutical. And I don't know if you can speak of that, but the racetams and also the prescription ones that are related to narcolepsy like modafinil or Provigil or individual. Did you have a chance to sort of have any perspective on those or using those?

I've read about a number of them. I don't personally, it's not part of my protocol, but I've seen some pretty amazing things with clients and coaches. We're working with people. Have you also as well?

Yeah, for sure. I mean, in the right person, it can be really a game changer. So, I think there's a whole army of tools out there from foods to nutrients to herbs to even prescription drugs that can help you if your brain's not working. But often the key, and I think that we talked, Jim and I chatted about this before we started the podcast, is the reason I wrote the book, Ultramind Solution, which is how we first bonded actually.

That was in 2010.

Yeah, probably. yeah, a little while ago. And, and it's really that, that, you know, there, there are all these tools for learning and enhancement and so forth. And Jim's book is chock full of them. And I encourage you to get a copy and, and have a look because I think it's really practical. We just touched on the surface of a few of these things. But what's, what's really important to understand is also you have to deal with the biology of your brain because, you know, your brain is an organ just like every other organ. And if you're, you know, drinking alcohol and you got a fatty liver, your not going to work right. Or if you're eating the wrong food, you're going to get black in your arteries. Your heart's not going to work right. Well, your brain is very similar. And so the body has huge influence over the brain. We have to fix, I always say we have to fix our broken brains by fixing our body first. And then we see what's left over. Right. Because if you're, if your thyroid's not working, you can do all the memory tricks you want, but you're probably not going to do very well. Or if you're mercury poisoned or if you're beach ball deficient or if your vitamin D is super low or if if your microbiome is off, your brain's not going to work right. So all these things are really important to consider. It's not one or the other, but it's both in. And I think Jim's book is really takes the work that I do around optimizing your brain from a biological perspective and takes it into then, okay, now we've got the machine working. What do we do to optimize it? And I think your work is just, is so important, Jim. And, you know, you've been really acclaimed all over the world. You've done some amazing work. I've watched you grow and evolve over the last 13, 14 years. It's been such a joy. You're very humble and you also are so giving of your skills and knowledge in ways that help enhance people's lives. So I really appreciate you as a friend, as a mentor, and I learned a lot from you. So you're the best, Jeff. Everybody's got to go get a copy right now of Jim's new book. It's an incredible book. I wrote the foreword to it if I do say so myself. But that's not always an incredible book. It's called Limitless. this expanded edition, upgrade your brain, learn anything faster, and unlock your exceptional life.

And I think, yeah, can I challenge everyone, Mark, to do something really quick? Yeah, sure. Go ahead. I feel like that the most important thing people could do after they listen to something is to take one simple, small step just to kind of create some momentum. And so whether it's, you know, getting the book, that's great, or, you know, teaching something that they just learned here, but I would love for people to maybe post their big takeaway and then both Mark and myself so we get to see it and I'll repost some of my favorites. Or maybe you went to mybrainanimal.com and you could post the animal and you'll get a detailed report on how to read faster, improve your memory, focus flow based on your animal type or something else. But tag us so we get to see it. I'll repost some of my favorites because I'll get to see it because you tagged us. And we'll gift out a few copies of Limitless Expanded just randomly to people.

It just says thank you for listening to this podcast. okay. All right. Thanks, Jim. Thanks for listening today. If you love this podcast, please share it with your friends and family. Leave a comment on your own best practices on how you upgrade your health and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and follow me on all social media channels at Dr. Mark Hyman. And we'll see you next time on the doctor's Pharmacy. Hey, everybody, it's Dr. Hyman. Thanks for tuning into the doctor's Pharmacy. I hope you're loving this podcast. It's one of my favorite things to do and introduce to you all the experts that I know and I love and that I've learned so much from. And I want to tell you about something else I'm doing, which is called Mark's Picks. It's my weekly newsletter. And in it, I share my favorite stuff, from foods to supplements to gadgets to tools to enhance your health. It's all the cool stuff that I use and that my team uses to optimize and enhance our health. And I'd love you to sign up for the weekly newsletter. Only send it to you once a week on Fridays, nothing else, I promise. And all you have to do is go to DrHyman.com/picks to sign up. That's DrHyman.com/picks, P-I-C-K-S, and sign up for the newsletter and I'll share with you my favorite stuff that I use to enhance my health and get healthier and better and live younger longer. This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the Ultra Wellness Center, my work at Cleveland Clinic and Function Health, where I'm the chief medical officer. This podcast represents my opinions and my guest opinions. Neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only. It's not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. If you're looking for help in journey, seek out a qualified medical practitioner now. If you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, you can visit ifm.org and search their find a practitioner database. It's important that you have someone in your corner who is trained, who's a licensed healthcare practitioner, and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health. Keeping this podcast free is part of my mission to bring practical ways of improving health to the general public. And in keeping with that theme, I'd like to express gratitude to those sponsors that made today's podcast possible. Don't forget, there's a way to listen completely ad-free. With Hyman Plus on Apple Podcasts, you can enjoy every episode without any breaks. Just open Apple Podcasts and tap Try Free to start your seven-day free trial.