How to REMEMBER Everything You Learn FAST 🧠

There are 4 keys to learning faster, and just remember the acronym FAST, F-A-S-T. And the F stands for forget, which is so weird as a memory coach, but I feel like sometimes we don't learn 'cause we think we know a subject. You know, if you think you know sales 'cause you've been doing sales for 30 years and you go to a training, maybe your mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open. Right. So I just want to remind you that sometimes, like, especially when I first started in my early 20s, I would be in a corporation and people there would be twice or 3 times my age. And, you know, the challenges is, you know, to be able to teach. And I feel like when I'm speaking for a company, there's usually 3 types of people. There's either people that are the vacationers, and I call them that because they're just in— they're there just so they don't have to work, right? Then there are people there that are the know-it-alls, you know, and you could tell because their arms are crossed and they know everything about everything, right? And then you have your learners, the people that are really a privilege to be able to work with. They have an open mind. And so I would say F in FAST, forget what you know about a subject so you can learn something new temporarily. And so forget about distractions. Like even when you're here, I hope that you're here, you're not trying to multitask and do, checking emails, do all those things because we can't do it very well. The brain doesn't multitask very well. It's just like texting and driving. You're going to make more mistakes. Even, by the way, when we talk about reading, some people say— somebody posted in the questions about audiobooks. How many of you like listening to books, audiobooks? Now, when people are tested from reading and audiobooks for the things that matter, comprehension and retention, understanding and remembering what you listen to, which one tests better? Reading. People that read or people that listen? So, it's actually reading. And, one of the reasons why— and, I love audiobooks. Our audiobook is me and my business partner of almost 20 years, Alexis, and we talk at the end of every chapter. So, it's kind of like we talk about the chapter. So, it's a lot hours of more content there. I love audiobooks and obviously, We're approaching 400 episodes for our podcast. We're across 100 million downloads this year. We've never done one sponsor or ad, so you could listen to it. It's all 20 minutes or less. You could join our YouTube where we have 1.6 million subscribers there to further your education in this. But reading actually performs better for comprehension and retention. And it's— I'll tell you one of the reasons why is because when someone's listening to an audiobook, You're usually doing something else. You know what I mean? You're usually driving or you're working out or you're cleaning the house or you're doing something. And so that multitasking, because your focus is split, you're not understanding or retaining. And the art of memory is the art of attention. All right, so that's the, the F. Forget about what you know temporarily so you can learn something new, and forget about distractions temporarily so you could really just focus. Instead of multitasking, monotask like you're doing right now. The A in FAST is active. I want to remind you that learning is not a spectator sport. All right? The human brain doesn't learn best through consumption. You can't push information in as well as you can pull it in or create. So it's not so much consumption as it is creation. The responsibility is not always the teacher to push information in. It's as a limitless learner, it's having agency. So when I introduced Richard Branson and Stan Lee, we're in the car and I asked Stan, I was like, you created all these amazing superheroes, who's your favorite? And he says, Jim, it's Iron Man. And he asked me back, he said, Jim, who's your favorite superhero? And he had this, if you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, whatever, I posted a picture and he has a Spider-Man tie. So I said, Spider-Man. And without a pause, in Stan's iconic voice, he goes, With great power comes great Responsibility. Responsibility, right? And I'm gonna get a little real with you. Like, sometimes when I read or I hear something, I reverse it, maybe because of my head injuries, but I heard something different, and I was like, Stan, you're right. With great power comes great responsibility, and the opposite is also true. With great responsibility comes great power. When we take responsibility for something, we have great power to make things better. Right? Because the opposite is complaining and making excuses, and all those could be valid. It could be very true, but then nothing changes, right? So, and we can't be upset by the results we didn't get from the work we didn't do. You can't be upset by the results you didn't get from the work you didn't do. And I think sometimes we give up our power agency like a thermometer, and we just react as opposed to— I take responsibility. And I think one of the most important things to be responsible for is the S in FAST, which is state. All learning is state-dependent. Now, when I say state, what do I mean? Yeah, how you feel, your emotions. All learning is state-dependent. That the key to a long-term memory is information combined with emotion becomes a long-term memory. You know, a little bit about brain anatomy. Shake out a hand and just make a fist, and then take your other hand and put it on top. So, this is your triune brain where your wrist is like the brainstem, the cap is your neocortex, your new brain, neo, new. And, that's what's left and right brain. When we say left and right brain, that's your neocortex. The middle brain, your fist, is there's a number of parts to your brain there. One of it looks like a seahorse. And the primary function is called your hippocampus. The primary function is what? Memory. Attached to it is like an almond-shaped part of your brain, and that's your amygdala. And how many of you heard of amygdala? So it's kind of like a switching station for emotions. But isn't it interesting that your hippocampus memory is connected to your amygdala emotions, right? Because how many people hear there's a song If it's playing, it could take you back to when you were a teenager, right? Just a few notes, or maybe a food or fragrance could take you back to when you were a child, because the information by itself is forgettable, but information tied with an emotion becomes unforgettable. But what was the primary emotion you felt as a learner in school? You're sitting in class. What is the primary emotion you felt sitting in school? Kelly, stress, boredom. Get me out of here. Frustration. So, if it's boredom, like half of people are confused, the other half is bored. Boredom on a scale of 0 to 10 of emotion is what? 0. And, if it's information times emotion is a long-term memory, if it's boredom or 0, what's anything times 0? 0. And, you wonder why you forgot the periodic table. Right? And so, the idea here, the S in FAST stands for state. So, going back to Stan's advice, with responsibility comes greater power. I think one of the most important things to be responsible for is how you feel. Like, how many of you have a to-do list? I really think it's important to have a to-feel list. Like, what are 3 emotions? Because remember, you don't have focus, you do it. You don't have a memory, you do it. You don't have motivation, you do it. You don't have energy, you do it. Same thing also when it comes to feelings. You don't have feelings, you do it. And, there are muscles. And, wherever you're spending the most time in your feelings, that's what you're flexing on a regular basis. And so, I would say for state, the most important thing to be responsible for is how you feel. So, have a to-feel list. What are 3 emotions? And, I know certain emotions will just accelerate learning, emotions like playfulness and fun and emotions like confidence. Right? And in psychology, there's this competence-confidence loop that the more competent you get, the more confident you get. So most people don't read 'cause they're not competent readers. How many of you, when you read, your mind wanders or you don't understand what you're reading or you fall asleep, right? And like, I'm not a great golfer, so I don't golf very much, right? 'Cause I'm not good at it. But if you're good at it, the more competent you get, the more confident you get. And because you're confident, you're gonna do it more, right? And same thing with reading, and same thing with memory, same thing with focus. So S is state. Like, even when you're facing a difficulty or a demand, how many of you have a difficulty in your life or a dilemma, right? You're human, we all have these. Instead of asking, what do I need to do? I would challenge you, instead of asking yourself, what do I need to do or say or whatever? Like, let's say you're in a spirited debate with a family member. What do I need to say? What do I need to do? Instead, take a step back and ask yourself, who do I need to be? You know, how would I wanna feel at this moment? 'Cause if you wanna be compassionate, the doing takes care of itself. Does that make sense? And so you have a to-do list, but we're not human, you know, like Wayne Dyer says, we're not, you know, human doings, we're human beings. What's your to-be list that day? And cultivate that identity. And I think a great identity to adopt is that of a limitless learner, right? And you start looking for evidence that you could, wow, you memorized 10 words. 10 keys to a better brain. You memorized 10 brain foods forwards and backwards in literally a couple minutes. It took more time for me to explain it than it would actually would for you to do it, right? So, S is state. Control your state. And, how do you control your state? You could smile. Show everyone your billion-dollar smile, right? It just changes how you feel and you're going to encode the information different. And finally, the last T in FAST is teach. Teach. When I want to learn something better and deeper, I learn it with the intention of teaching somebody else. Even when I'm reading a book or listening to a presentation, I ask, how would I teach this? And, I think about someone very specific. So again, it's the explanation effect. The explanation effect in science says when you learn something with the intention of teaching somebody else, you're going to learn it better, you're going to focus better, you're going to take better notes, you're going to ask more questions, you're going to personalize this information. So, Forget what you know, forget about distractions. A, be more active, take notes, ask questions, do the exercises, stand up, do these things. I— silly exercise I do. S is state. Control your state, probably one of the most important things, because learning, like life, is all state-dependent. And the T is teach. Learn with the intention of teaching somebody else, and you'll learn it so much better.