Habits & Routines for Limitless MEMORY | Jim Kwik

Hi, it's your memory coach, Jim Kwik. And in this session, I want to share with you some habits and routines for a limitless memory. Habits and routine to unlock your incredible memory. Now, as I've talked about before, that there's no such thing as a good or bad memory, that you don't have a memory. Memory actually is a set of habits. And first you create your habits, Then guess what? Your habits create you. So what are the routines or the habits that you could cultivate daily for yourself, for your family, for your team, your friends, to unlock this incredible memory? So I'm going to talk about some of my routines, and I'm going to start not with the morning, but I'm going to start the night before. Okay? Because one of the things that will help you to grow your memory is review. Review. And yet sometimes we don't remember what we had for breakfast. We don't remember what we had for lunch. We don't remember the people that we talked to throughout the day. Somebody at the end of the day might ask you how your day was, and you're like, you know, I don't really remember what I did today. It just all blurred together or blended together. So it's called your episodic memory. Your episodic memory are the episodes of your life. And one of the things I do as I get ready for bed is when I'm in bed, I go through a quick 2 or 3 minute exercise where I review my day. You know, I believe that if your life is worth living, it's worth remembering. If your life is worth living, it's worth remembering. And you can increase your episodic memory by reviewing what you did that day. So take 2 or 3 minutes with your eyes closed and just walk yourself through the day. Just fast forward. When you woke up, what did you do? Who did you talk to? What did you eat? Go through the activities of your day. Because remember, there is no such thing as a good or a bad memory. There's a trained memory and an untrained memory. And I want you to develop the habit of reviewing your day so the days don't blend together. From there, what I do is I'm in bed, I think of the things that I did that day, and I pull out 1, 2, or 3 things, and they can be small things that I'm grateful for. You know, gratitude is the memory of your heart. Gratitude is the memory of your spirit. And by going through your day, reviewing it, pull out— they don't have to be big things, 1, 2, or 3, even small things. Little things that you cherish, that you could appreciate, because what you appreciate appreciates, right? And you don't have to wait for a greater life to feel grateful. Feel grateful and you're gonna have a greater life. And what I want you to do is after you go through reviewing your day and remembering, you're building your episodic memory, pull out 1, 2, or 3 things that you really cherish. Good things, things that you feel grateful for, because what this does Gratitude rewires your nervous system for peace. It rewires your nervous system for performance, even prosperity, because what you appreciate appreciates. Like, for example, what if the only things you had in your life the next day were the things you express gratitude for today? If you want to feel truly wealthy, do this exercise. Start making a list of all the things you have in your life that money can't buy. And what gratitude does, this exercise, it puts you into a parasympathetic state. Now, what is that? A parasympathetic state is the rest and digest. And that's what you want to be doing while you're sleeping. You don't want to be in your executive mind and thinking about all the stuff about work and decisions you need to make. You want to feel it in your heart, inside of your body, so you can get in that parasympathetic state to rest and digest, because what's most important for good memory is sleep. And we're going to talk about sleep in this quick recall program, but getting to sleep at the right time and putting yourself in that peaceful place where you feel gratitude will help you to fall asleep faster. Now, the reason why you want to prioritize sleep when we're talking about habits and routines for a better memory is because when you sleep, you consolidate short-term memory. to long-term memory. If you have long-term memory challenges, check your sleep. And some people feel they're getting sleep, but maybe they're not, and they should get a sleep study. So you could contact your physician, your doctor, if you have trouble sleeping and get a sleep study, because you want to get that diagnosis so you can know how to treat it. Because when you sleep, it's imperative to be able to consolidate short to long-term memory. Because if you have long-term memory issues, check your sleep. And this is another reason why it's not just It's not the habits you develop, it's the habits you don't develop. For example, a lot of what we're doing in this program is unlearning bad habits. And for those of you who pulled all-nighters in school, that's a very bad habit. I used to do it because I had my learning challenges and I had to compensate. In my mind, I thought I had to compensate by working and pulling all these all-nighters and not sleeping, but it actually yielded worse results because you need that sleep. Just like you don't build your muscles by working out, You build your muscles by working out and resting. It's during the rest that your muscles grow and repair and recover. Same thing with your mental muscles. The other reason why you want to sleep and make that part of your routine is because when you sleep, the sewage system in your brain kicks in. That's where you clean out plaque that could lead to brain aging challenges like Alzheimer's, dementia. And this is something I'm very passionate about because I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's. And so that's why we're so passionate about, and we donate to causes for Alzheimer's research, especially for women, because women are twice as likely to experience Alzheimer's than men. And so you need to sleep to turn on that sewage system that cleans out the beta amyloid plaque, these tangles that could lead to brain aging challenges. Another fun reason to sleep is where you dream, and that's where you come up with a lot of treasures. Your mind doesn't shut off at night. It doesn't. In some ways is actually more active. And it's coming, not only consolidating short to long-term memory, cleaning out your brain, but it also comes up with ideas. Whatever you're studying and learning and working on, it comes up with ideas. And that's why it's so important to remember your dreams. And so we were going to talk about that in this program. Now you wake up in the morning, you feel refreshed. The first thing that I do for a better memory, the first thing I do is I take a moment and I remember my dreams. And I have an actual process for remembering my dreams, 6-step process. One of those things that you could do easily is have a journal, like a dream journal, right on your nightstand and just write them down. As you reflect on your dreams and you write them down, you're more likely to remember them because the more you do it, the better you get at it. And we're going to talk about how to remember your dreams In this program. Now, after that, the first thing I do is I make my bed. Now, why is that important for your brain and your memory? Because I believe how you do anything is how you do everything. Write that down. How you do anything is how you do everything. And when you make your bed with excellence, you just take 1 or 2 minutes, make it great. You're going to take that level of excellence into other activities. Be conscious of it. Because when we're talking about habits, Excellence is a habit, right? And so the more you do it, the better you get. So make that bed. Plus, your brain loves a clean environment. How great does it feel to come back at the end of a day to a well-made bed? From there, to improve your memory, the first thing I do when I get out of bed and make my bed, I have a glass of water. Because your brain is mostly water, at least 3/4 water, and just staying hydrated can boost your reaction time, your thinking Speed upwards of 15, upwards of maybe even 30%. But did you know you can lose up to a pound of water when you sleep through respiration, through perspiration? So you need to rehydrate. That's also where I take my, my probiotics. You know, your gut is your second brain, and we're going to talk about that in this program. From there, what's really good for your memory is to get some exercise, and it doesn't have to be your full exercise routine. There was a study done at Appalachian State University saying, when's the best time to exercise for weight management and also deeper sleep, which we know is going to be good for your memory? And they tested people in the morning, afternoon, and evening. In the morning at 7:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 7:00 PM. And they found that the group who exercised at 7:00 AM actually had upwards of 75% Deeper sleep. What an incredible benefit that is. And it doesn't have to be your full exercise routine. It could be as little as 3 minutes. So when you wake up, you hydrate and just do some burpees or some jumping jacks, do some, some pushups or some, some core work, right? As your body moves, your brain grooves, which is great for your memory. From there, in no specific order, you could do it in the order that you like to do, is brush your teeth. And you're like, Jim, you know, everyone brushes their teeth. I hope you do. It's good oral hygiene. And what I want to challenge you to do is brush your teeth with your opposite hand. Now, I've been talking about this for over 20 years, 25+ years, because when you use a different part of your body that you're not used to, it challenges a different part of your brain. But the other reason you do this, and I want to encourage and challenge you to try to do this, is it forces you to be present. It forces you to observe. It forces you to really pay attention. Remember I said how you do anything is how you do everything? The art of memory is the art of attention. And when you're forced to do something a little bit more difficult, like brush your teeth with the opposite hand, it forces you to pay attention. And so first thing in the morning, you're flexing your attention muscles, your concentration muscles, and your muscles for being present as opposed to being distracted on your devices. 'Cause every ring and ping and ding and app notification notification, social media alert is driving you to distraction. You wonder why you can't remember what you just read or a name that you just heard. So practice being present. And then finally, a couple other things you could do to wind out your morning is take a shower. And I challenge you to take a cold shower. And even if it's not all cold, switch off 10 seconds cold, 10 seconds or maybe 30 seconds warm. But the reason you do this— I'll give you 2 reasons. Number one, it helps to reduce inflammation in your body, and your brain is part of your body, right? Inflammation is a contributing factor for a lot of challenges, health challenges and diseases. And you know, when you bang your knee on a coffee table, what do you do? You put ice on it because it reduces the swelling, it lowers inflammation. Well, we create inflammation, you know, through stress, emotional stress, financial stress, right? Not getting a good night's sleep. Right? Tearing down our body. So a cold shower will allow you to kind of reset your nervous system. You don't have to take a complete ice bath or a 5-minute cold shower, but just test yourself. You know, get a little bit uncomfortable because that's the other reason you want to do it is because not only is it a great reset for your nervous system, for me, it's even better than coffee. It also challenges you to do difficult things because part of success in anything, memory and otherwise, is developing grit. Right. Developing some kind of resilience. And how do you do that? You get yourself to do difficult things. And something like taking a cold shower, for most people— I don't like the cold, so it's very— it can be very difficult. But if you do the difficult things in life, life gets easier. Because if you just do the easy things in life, life gets very difficult, right? But it's a paradox. If you do the difficult things, you challenge yourself, life gets easier. And then you develop some kind of grit, some resilience, and you take that grit into your life. So when you have to have something that's uncomfortable, like an uncomfortable conversation, or maybe you have to give a toast at a wedding, something that gets you out of your comfort zone, you're going to do it better because you train yourself to be uncomfortable. Does that make sense? And then from there, what I'll do is I'll journal a little bit, which is good for my memory, but I'll think about What would make today successful? Not the 300 things on my to-do list, but I'll fast forward and say, okay, I'm coming back and in the evening somebody asked me how my day was and I said, it was amazing, today was incredible. Then I say, what had to happen in order for me to feel that way? And I say, what 3 things personally? What 3 things professionally? And I keep it to that. And they don't have to be huge, big things, but if these 6 things were accomplished and they're different each day, Wow. What— how would I feel? What would make me feel amazing? And I began with the end in mind, right? And I write those things down. And usually when I'm doing that, I'll have a beverage. I'll use— I make this little brain powder. I'll put it with some hot water and it just activates my brain. It has some fun things like ashwagandha and ginkgo and lion's mane and some other special ingredients in there, but it really helps me to focus and really makes me want to tackle the day. Right? So I take that brain powder or I mix it in my smoothie or make a little tea out of it, and it helps me to be able to focus. And while I'm doing that, I'll really think about what I want to accomplish that day, and I'll review my day, my schedule. Maybe I'll do a little light reading. But the big thing here is whatever your routine is, ask yourself, is this good for my brain or is this bad for my brain? Because first you create your habits. Then your habits are going to create you back. Now notice that these activities that I shared with you do not take a lot of time, meaning that some people could spend 45 minutes on their phone and wonder where all that time went. For these, it doesn't take time. It actually helps you to make time. How much time does it take to just review your day? 2 or 3 minutes, I said, right? How many— how long does it take to review and feel grateful for something? Maybe 60 seconds. You know, to wake up and remember your dreams and just jot them down. For maybe 1 or 2 minutes, making your bed, 1 or 2 minutes, right? Drinking a glass of water doesn't take a whole lot of time at all. Doing 3 minutes of exercise, right? Brushing your teeth with the opposite hand, nothing. And here's the thing, you can do this if you have kids, do that with them. Ask them what they— what happened in their day and have them talk for 2 or 3 minutes. What are they grateful for that happened that day? What are the things that, you know, what did they dream about in the morning? Show them how to make their bed. Get them to make their bed. Turn it into a game. Do 3 minutes of exercise with them, right? Show them how to brush their teeth with the opposite hand. Taking a cold shower is gonna save you time. You're probably not gonna wanna be in that shower for too long. So little by little, a little becomes a lot. And you could play with this. You could gamify it, right? You could do it with your family members also as well. So it doesn't have to take time. It could actually make time in your performance. Because if you do this, if you want to win the day, you have to really win that first 45 minutes of that first hour of the day. And how it's going to pay off in dividends in terms of the treasure you receive back in your ability to focus and your ability to think and your ability to remember, it's priceless. All right. So what I want you to do is in the comments, I want you to share some of your non-negotiables. What are some of the things that you do, or you're going to choose to do and try out, that's going to help build your better memory, build your brighter brain? Put that down below because this is your positive peer group. You're not in it alone anymore. We have each other, and together everyone achieves magic. That's what TEAM stands for— Together Everyone Achieves More. We achieve miracles. We achieve magic. And you are the greatest project you're ever going to get to work on. Right. Take time, make time, create magic. I'll see you in our next video.