5 Steps to Reset your Brain | Jim Kwik

I want to welcome you to a live podcast. I'm your brain coach, Jim Kwik of Kwik Learning, and I'm here as always to help you to learn quickly. My goal and my mission in life is to build better, brighter brains so you can have your brightest future. And we're celebrating our 200th podcast episode. So we're doing this live on Facebook. Again, I want to thank you if you are one of the listeners to the tens of millions of downloads that we've had on our show. 3,500+ 5-star reviews on iTunes. Today I'm going to rift, and one of the questions that we get a lot this majority of this year is, Jim, with everything that's going on in the world, how can I refresh this? I want a fresh start. I really had high hopes for 2020. 2020 is the, you know, 2020 vision. It's about the year of visioning and creating and imagining these big lofty goals, and I could really use a mental reset. I could really use a reboot. And while we can't go backwards, we can reset here and refresh. So do me a favor. I'm going to give you my five keys, really quick keys. They're all going to be common sense, and hopefully you'll turn them into common practice. That the five steps that I'm taking people through right now to reset your brain. Here's the thing: when we experience stress, our brains prepare for fight. Flight or freeze. It's, it's not the place you want to study in. It's not the place where you're going to get the best out of yourself. It's not the place where you're going to ponder possibilities and perform. And so our cognitive abilities are limited when our mind feels overwhelmed. When there's lots to process— work, family, health, the world, life in general— the connection between an overstressed brain and the rest of your body can have some serious impact, right, on your productivity and your peace of mind. And I've noticed that one of the biggest problems people are facing right now is uncertainty because you don't feel safe. And we know that stress triggers, you know, when we lose a sense of control, we, we feel stressed, we feel anxiety. You, you feel like you don't have control in the present. You can't predict the future because you don't know what tomorrow's gonna look like. And you're glued on the social media and the news because if it bleeds, it leads, and you're, Your amygdala gets hijacked by the news. What's threatening, what's dark, you know, what's scary. And your brain has an algorithm, as we've talked about, just like Instagram and Facebook here, because whatever you engage with the most, you get more of. You watch cat posts, videos, share, like them, then the social media gives you more cats. Well, your brain is the same way, so stand guard to your brain, right? And because if you're just focusing on what's dark and threatening, you're gonna see more of that, and that doesn't leave you bandwidth to focus on possibility, on what you'd be grateful for, on opportunity. We go down a wild rabbit hole of— it's endless what-ifs. What if this? What if this? What if this? So how do you reboot your brain when you want to reset your brain? The goal in this, you don't want to necessarily start out by painting a picture of a positive future. You can do that certainly because your imagination is very powerful. Where I would start is doing little tiny small simple steps To make you feel safe in the moment, because when we don't feel safe, we go into fight, we go into flight, we go into freeze. We're not going to get the best out of us, so we need to feel safe. So I put together an acronym. So reset is the acronym I'm going to use: R E S E T. So what does the R stand for? If you want to feel safe, I would start by. Routine. Really look into your routines. I believe the treasure you seek is hidden in your daily routine. And so what kind of routines would I be thinking about? All the things we've talked about in previous episodes. In fact, I would encourage you to start— if you are, if you're new to our community, I would start by listening to episode number 1. I would focus on especially routines around your sleep, most important. Your devotion to motion. What's your routine for moving? My other routines besides sleep, devotion to motion, eating routines, is around journaling. I feel like that taking your thoughts and putting them on paper, how many of you journal on a regular basis? And that's a wonderful way to reduce anxiety. It's a wonderful way to help you process what you're going through, to give yourself an emotional release. And going to emotional release, that's the E, okay? So we're just talking about the 5 keys to resetting your brain, resetting your 2020. The R is stick to your routines, your sleep routines, and design those routines little by little. A little becomes a lot because consistency compounds. The E stands for emotions. Now, what do I mean by emotions? First of all, I would say honor them. Honor them. Don't resist them. Don't feel bad because you're going to go through this year. How many of you went through a spectrum of emotions this year? I mean, like the full spectrum of emotions. And so don't resist because what you resist persists. If you try not to do it, you're going to do it more. But, you know, journaling is a great way of processing them. Talk therapy is a wonderful way of processing them. Having connection with people is a wonderful way of processing them, meaning that you could be physically distant, but you don't have to be socially distant. We're connecting here. You don't have to be mentally distant. So the R is routine, right? The E is what?

Emotion.

Good. The S in RESET stands for sever. What does it mean to sever? Sever means to disconnect, to separate, right? To enjoy some genuine time offline. And that's kind of ironic, right? Because we are online right now. But when sometimes when we're on screens all the time, it gets difficult because it becomes addictive. How many of you saw Social Dilemma on Netflix? Anyone see Social Dilemma on Netflix and how the billions of dollars are being spent and some of the top minds, you know, psychologists, like, to keep you engaging in a platform, right? And here's the thing. Technology is not good or bad. Fire is not good or bad. Fire can cook your food or it can burn down your home. It's how you utilize it. So, you know, again, technology I love. It allows us to connect, allows us to, you know, to instruct, allows us to inspire. But technology is using you. Technology is a tool for you to use, but technology is using you. Then who becomes the tool? Then you become the tool. Life is the C between B and D. What's B?

Birth.

D is death. C is what? C is choice. C is the choice that these difficult times can define you, these difficult times can diminish you, or these difficult times can develop you. Ultimately, you decide with the choices you make every single day, and we always have a choice. A choice on what to focus on, a choice of what things mean. So S stands for sever, because self-love— remember self-love? First of all, self-love and self-care is not selfish, but self-love is like falling in love with the person in the mirror who's been through so much, but you're still standing. Do you get that? I get a little choked up thinking about it because I get a lot of messages from a lot of you, and I can't possibly return all those messages. That's why I do these lives for you. But you're still standing. That the only time really to look back is to really honor how far you've come, right? 'Cause do you remember that time when you didn't think you could survive? Do you remember that? Well, you did if you're watching this, right? And you will again because your life is like an egg. That if an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. But if it's broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things begin where? On the inside. And you have greatness inside of you. And what's inside of you is so much stronger and more powerful than what lies In front of you. Now the E stands for explore. Explore. Now I love this one because I think curiosity is one of the most important emotions to cultivate along with gratitude. When you're curious, you don't feel as much fear, just like when you are grateful. When you're curious to like, you know, you know, it's interesting, you know, when somebody is upset at you, getting curious instead of angry, right? It's been suggested that exploration You know, things like creativity, widening our social circles. This level of engagement is one of the reasons that positive emotions exist. So what can you explore, right? We're talking about resetting yourself. Part of it is getting curious, and maybe you want to find a new playlist. Maybe you want to try a new workout. Maybe you want to try a new food, just like the food we're going to talk about, the food that helps reduce anxiety when we talk about reset. And when we're talking about this, when we're talking about exploration, find the things that light you up. You know, I just did this, this interview today talking about passion and purpose. You know, passion— you read it in Limitless. If you, if you read it, passion for me is what lights you up, and purpose is how you use that to light other people. My, my passion is learning. My purpose is teaching other people how to learn. How many of you feel exhausted? Maybe you're not burnt out because you're doing too much. Maybe you're burnt out because you're doing too little of the things that make you come alive, the things that you really value. So having solitude is a wonderful time for self-reflection and asking yourself this question: What's most important to me in life? What's most important to me in my family? What's most important to me in my career, in my job, in my contribution, in my impact? And then lean into that, explore that, see where your passions— even with your kids too, see where their passions go. See where they're— give them enough stimulus and novelty to build your brain mental muscles. Same thing as your physical muscles. You give it novelty and give it nutrition. You give it stimulus, you work it out, and then you feed it with nutrition. Same thing with your brain. Your brain thrives on novelty. So get curious again. Get curious about your situation. What can I learn from this? And then finally, the T in reset. My 5th tip for you to be able to think about when you want to reset your brain, reset your mind, get a mental reboot, reboot your year if you will, is to really think. And when I say think, I mean dream again, hope again. You know, 2020, still, there's still time to have vision. And you've listened to this episode because this is our 200th podcast episode. Listen to the one I do about not goal setting, but goal getting. Right? Everyone knows their SMART goals. S stands for specific, M is measurable, A is what? Action-oriented. The R is what? What's what? What do you remember? The R in and the T in SMART. Just put it in the chat here also as well. So what is it? R is realistic, T is time-bound. But I also think you should need HEART goals. H-E-A-R-T. H are healthy. You need things that like a vision for your life and your family that's healthy. That is not— that's within the ecology, that supports the ecology of your life, right? And harmony in your life. The E, a goal that's enduring, that's going to get you through the hard times, the difficult situations. The A is alluring, something that pulls you towards that, right? And the R is relevant. Relevant to— it solves a problem in your life. It's not just somebody else's, it's yours, right? Relevant. It's solving a problem. It's aligned with a value that you hold dear. The T in heart stands for your truth, right? It's not your— a lot of people, they pursued a career because of their parents, right? They didn't date somebody because, you know, they're afraid of what other people would think. But it's what's your truth? Because that's the whole thing when it talks about regret. A lot of people, they have unfulfilled paths, and you don't want that to be you. If you're watching this, it's certainly not you. But now, when is now a great time to change that? Right? There's that proverb, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time? Today.

Right now.

I'm talking to you. Now is the time to do it. And so dream again. Imagine. Take a moment right now. Take a breath. And I know I talk rather quickly because I have a lot to share with you, but imagine. And your time is valuable. And I know your time and your attention is something that, that I don't take for granted. That's why I always want to give you 100%. But take a moment and imagine what you want most. Just dream again. Do not shrink your dreams to meet this current situation. Upgrade your mindset, your motivation, your methods to be able to meet your biggest dreams, your destiny. But imagine what you want most. See it, feel it, believe in it, and then work daily for it. Then work daily for it. Then roll up your sleeves and do it, right? And that's reset, everybody. 5 things you could do to reset your brain, to reboot your year. Routine. R is routine. E is what?

Emotions.

S is what?

Is sever.

E is what? You want to engage and you want to what? Explore. And finally, the T is what? You want to think. You want to think because the thinking is you want to think big. Don't think smaller. Do not Do not, do not shrink what's possible to fit your mind. Expand your mind to fit what's possible. And it's not always about pushing and persevering. You know, I, I like to hustle, certainly hustle kindness most of all, but it's not just always about forcing. It's about flow. It's not about pushing and persevering. It's about agility. It's about accepting. It's about being adaptive. And I know I tend to alliterate All these letters: pushing, persevering, agile, accepting, adaptive. But you want to— you don't want to necessarily force all the time, but you want to flow. And sometimes there's times to push and to stretch, and there's times to stabilize and to be safe. And we all know, we all know that when something doesn't work, you reset it, right? A reboot often fixes it. The piece of technology, your phone, sometimes a webcam doesn't work, I have to reboot my computer. Try rebooting your brain. You know, choose one or more of these activities. You don't have to do all 5, and then see if you feel as though your reset has allowed space for peace, allowed space for performance, allowed space for an upgrade. And I would encourage all of you to subscribe, to listen, to watch previous episodes, subscribe to our YouTube channel where I think we're at half a million subscribers there. And remember this, just in closing, that inner peace is the new success. Connection is a new currency. Happiness is the new rich. And keep at it. There is a version of you that you haven't met yet. I promise you. I promise you there's a version of you that you have not met yet. Keep showing up until you are introduced. To this amazing person. I'm your brain coach, Jim Kwik. I want to thank you for joining me for the 200th episode of Kwik Brain. If you're new to our community, go to kwikbrain.com and get my 3 videos on how to uplevel your memory and your mind. And I want to thank you for being part of my community here as well. You know, this is my 29th year of teaching this, and it's been quite a year to launch a book, my first book, Limitless, during this 2020. But I couldn't be happier because I feel like like attracts like, that there's no coincidence here, that the reason you're watching this, it's because you're one of the few who do versus the many who complain. You know, excuses and complaining is useless. We need to get out of the habit of complaining. We need to be able to express our joy because then we'll get more of that. Remember, what you appreciate in life appreciates and it grows. There are no limits. Limits are learned. And If I could be anything for you, remember this: the life you live are the lessons you teach. The life you live are lessons you teach. So live it well. Thank you, everybody. Hi, Quick Brain!

It's your brain coach. I want to thank you so much for watching this video. Three things to do: number one, make sure you share this because when you teach something, you get to learn it twice. Update your learning so you can update other people's learning as well. Number two, make sure you subscribe. Subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a thing, because if you miss a video, you miss a lot. And finally, make sure you hit that bell so you're notified and you find out when we put out the latest and the greatest. One extra thing, if you want really close attention, then text me. Here is my phone number: 310-299-9362. Did you remember that number? 310-299-9362. Shoot me a text and we'll stay in touch. Ask me your burning question, and I wish your days be full of lots of life, lots of love, lots of laughter, and always lots of learning. I'll see you in our next video.