Kwik Brain: Improve Your Memory Now (Episode 2) | Jim Kwik

Welcome to Kwik Brain, bite-sized brain hacks for busy people who want to learn faster and achieve more. I'm your coach, Jim Kwik. Free your mind. Let's imagine if we could access 100% of our brain's capacity. I wasn't high, wasn't wired, just clear. I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. I know kung fu. Show me. Welcome back, Kwik Brain. Let's do this. Here's the question I get all the time. How do I have quick recall? How do you have a better memory? So if you feel absent-minded, like senior moments are coming a little bit early, and you want to fix your forgetfulness, that's what this episode is all about. So make sure you take notes, and we are going to cover note-taking, effective note-taking, in a future episode. One of the most amazing ways to be able to take notes so it boosts your retention. But right now, even if you can't, let's get into this. This session is all about supercharging your memory. So if you feel a little bit absent-minded, like senior moments are coming a little bit early, maybe you walk into a room and forget why you're there, or you go to the grocery store to pick up one specific thing and you come back with 2 bags of groceries with everything except for that one thing that you needed to get. If you've ever read a page in a book and got to the end and just forgot what you just read, and you go back and you reread what you read and you still don't remember what you read, and we'll cover that in a speed reading episode. If this is you, then this is the session you want to pay very close attention to this because I believe 2 of the most costly words in business and in life are I forgot. I forgot. I forgot to bring it. I forgot to do it. I forgot where I put it. I forgot that conversation. I forgot that meeting. I forgot that person's name, right? We're going to talk about, hey, How to confidently remember names and faces in a future episode. But that's like one of the most important business etiquette networking skills and capabilities there is, because it's really hard to show somebody that you're gonna care for their future or their family or their finances or anything that you are selling them if you don't just care enough to remember their name. So in this episode, I'm gonna give you 3 keys for a supercharged memory to how to have quick, what I call quick recall. And so we're gonna activate your quick brain to be able to do that. Now, when I do a presentation on stage, I'll routinely remember a room full of people's names, or I'll have them give me 100 words or 100 numbers to memorize forwards and backwards. And if you've seen me on stage or on YouTube do this, I always tell people, I don't do this to impress you. I don't. I do this more to express to you what's really possible, because the truth is you could do it too, regardless of your age or your background, your career, your level of education, your financial situation, your gender, your personal history. You could do it too. You just were not taught. You weren't taught. If anything, you were taught a lie, a lie that somehow that your learning or your intelligence or your memory is somehow fixed like your shoe size. And it's absolutely not true. We've discovered more about the human brain in the past 20 years than the previous 2,000 years. And what we've learned is that we grossly underestimating its own capabilities. And so that's really what this show is really all about. Me here as part, as your memory coach, to be able to show you this thing and what this The thing is, is that there's no such thing as a good or bad memory. There's no such thing as a good or bad memory. There's just a trained memory and an untrained memory. And what I mean by that is school is a great place to learn what to learn, right? They taught you math and history and science and Spanish. They're all great things on what to learn, but there are very few classes on how to learn, right? How to think differently, how to be able to solve problems, how to be creative, how to focus, concentrate, read faster, how to remember things. And that's really what this podcast is really all about. It's all about giving you the tools to be able to be a strong meta-learner. Meta-learning is learning how to learn. I think that's the most important skill to master in the 21st century. And how we're going to do it is by unleashing what I call your Kwik Brain. So let's get to it. This is a very personal subject to me because, as many of you know, I grew up with learning challenges. At the age of 5, I had a head injury. Which left me learning disabled in lots of different ways. I had no focus. I had no memory to speak of. It actually took me an extra few years to learn how to read. And it put me on this quest to be able to solve this riddle. I want to understand how my brain works so I can work my brain. I want to understand how my memory works so I can work my memory. So here's the thing you want to remember. Research says that about 1/3 of your memory is predetermined by genetics and biology. About 1/3. That leaves 2/3 in your control. And I'm going to, in a future episode, tell you the 10 keys for unlocking Right now, what we're going to focus on is your memory. And I'm going to give you 3 keys to be able to unleash what I call your quick recall. So you can learn things faster and not only learn it, but retain it. You don't want to learn something, listen to a podcast, go to a seminar or a conference, or read a book and not retain it, right? And so there are 3 things you want to remember for better memory. And I want you to remember MOM. M-O-M. M-O-M, remember MOM. And the first M is this, and I'm gonna ask you a question before I tell you what that M is. Let's apply this towards something like remembering names. 'Cause if somebody asks me, they come to me and say, Jim, I have a horrible memory and can you improve my memory? It's kind of like me listening to someone say, oh, Jim, can you improve my sports? It's like, what sport specifically would you like to improve? Would you like to learn languages? Would you like to learn, be able to remember numbers and PIN numbers and passcodes, vocabulary words, give speeches without without notes, be able to remember what you read. And these are all the things that we're gonna be covering in this series. So let's apply it towards one specific thing. Let's apply it towards remembering names. All right, so you have some context and some relevance for this. And so let's say most people, how are you with names? Have you ever met somebody, they give you their name and then seconds later their name just disappears out of your head? Of course it happens. It happens to the best of us, right? The handshake breaks and all of a sudden the name just disappears. And my goal is to be able to help you overcome what I call the success 6-second syndrome. 6-second syndrome is like you have to do something with that name in 6 seconds, otherwise what happens? It just disappears, right? So let's say you have trouble remembering someone's name, but let's say that there's a suitcase of $100,000 cash for you or your favorite charity if you just remember the name of the next stranger you meet. Are you gonna remember that person's name? Of course you are, right? It's because you are motivated, right? The M in MOM stands for motivation. It's like you have trouble remembering names before, and all of a sudden you're incentivized, and now you're a memory expert. And I do believe you are a memory expert, that you have a memory expert, that we all have a memory expert inside of us. And so notice that the M stands for motivation. It had nothing to do with your capabilities or your potential. It had everything to do with whether or not you were motivated to remember. And so I want to state this up front, is this: as your coach, I want to hold you to a high standard. I want to challenge you on this, is that it had nothing to do with whether or not you could remember It had everything to do with whether or not you want to remember someone's name. So how do you improve your level of motivation? It's very simple. Ask yourself why. Ask yourself why. I want you to tune into everyone's favorite radio station. It's called WIIFM. WIIFM. Get it in New York, get it in Sydney, you get it in London, you get it in Hong Kong, you get it in Los Angeles. It's what's in it for me. What's in it for me? What's in it for me? And I would ask yourself when you're meeting someone for the first time or you need to improve your memory in any area, why do you want to remember this? Why do you want to remember this? Why do you remember this language? Why do you want to remember this speech? Why do you remember this PIN number? Because if you can't come up with a reason, you won't remember. Because here's the tweetable, reasons reap results. Reasons reap results. So a simple thing you could do to tap into more of your motivation is ask yourself, Why do I want to remember this? Right? One of my favorite books is a book called Start with Why. Start with Why by Simon Sinek. He had a very popular TED Talk. I believe there's a success formula that goes from your head to your heart to your hands. But you could visualize things in your head all day, affirm things in your head, think thoughts in your head. But if you're not acting with your hands, usually what's missing is that second H, which is your heart. It's the storehouse of emotion, the energy emotion. So always check in with yourself when you want to learn something brand new. Check what your motive is because motive matters. Now the O in MOM stands for observation. Observation. A lot of people come to me and they say, Jim, I have such a horrible memory, and they're fighting for like all the reasons why, because their age or this runs in their family or they didn't get the education. And here's the thing, when you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them. When you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them. So you want to mitigate the negative self-talk. Dr. Daniel Amen calls them ANTs, automatic negative talk. And so you want to eliminate that, reduce that. But the other thing is a lot of people, when they're complaining about their memory, they blame their retention. And it's not your retention, it's your attention. Let me say it again. It's not your retention, it's your attention. We're going to talk about leadership a lot in this series, specifically so you could be a leader in your field, whatever your business happens to be. Your passions in life. And I always tell people that leaders are readers, right? Leaders are learners all the time. And we're gonna be talking about speed reading in a number of episodes on how to read technical reading and how to boost your reading focus and reading speed and all that. But I always tell people also that leaders have a great memory. Leaders have a wonderful memory because it shows that they care. For example, I've had the opportunity to meet President Bill Clinton on a number of occasions, and I remember the second time I got to meet him, he remembered my name, and I was very I was very flattered. And I remember asking him, how do you do it? You know, what memory techniques do you use to be able to remember people's names? And he remembered the last conversation we had. And I was really impressed. And President Clinton tells me, he says, I don't use a memory technique. And he tells me these stories. And one of them was about his grandfather in Arkansas with the kids. And he would tell stories. And afterwards, he would see— not just tell the stories, he would actually at the end ask questions to see if they were paying attention. I thought that was really interesting. And I noticed that when we were talking, there were a lot of important people in the room, and yet I had his undivided attention and observation. That he wasn't— sometimes when people go to events, you'll sense that the person, or maybe this is you, looking over their shoulders and looking to see who else is important in the room. But I got no sense of that. Or people distract themselves, if not visually, externally, internally. They'll talk to themselves. And I honestly feel like a lot of people, what they call listening is not really listening. Waiting for their turn to reply. They're waiting for their turn to speak, right? And so they're thinking about how they are going to respond, and that's not paying attention. So if you want to boost your memory, not only is motivation important, but observation is very important. Most people would agree that President Clinton is a powerful communicator. He's got incredible charisma and he's got incredible memory. But I think his powerful presence comes from being powerfully present with people. Does that make sense? And that's something that we could do also. When next time you're out there and you want to improve your memory and impress people with your ability to care and remember them, is just be present with them. And even if you write down the word listen and just scramble the letters, what other word does it spell? It spells the word silent. It spells the word silent. It does. And so just be silent and just listen. You can remember one word, one person's name, Very easy to be able to do. You have this supercomputer, what we call your quick brain, between your ears, and it's just one or two words. Just be present and silent, and you'll remember the name. And then finally, the final M in MOM is the mechanics. The mechanics. And I don't mean the person that fixes your car. I mean the tools, the techniques, the recipes, the strategy, the step-by-step system on how to be able to boost your vocabulary, how to remember PIN numbers and passcodes, how to give a speech without notes, how to learn a second or third language. And that's And that's really what this podcast is all about. Every episode giving you the mechanics, the step-by-step strategies on how to improve your focus, improve your concentration, improve your creativity, improve your ability to think. Because I think learning how to learn is the most impressive and powerful skill. It's the biggest needle mover for your learning and also for your life. And so you can look forward to that in future episodes. So just remember this, there is no such thing as a good or bad memory. There's just a trained memory and an untrained memory. All you have to do is remember MOM: motivation, observation, and the mechanics. Having a trained memory will accelerate your achievements in every single area of your life. You want to use what you learned in this session, and you will enjoy your Kwik Brain. Want to double your brain speed and memory power? If you'd like to learn rapidly and get ahead faster, I'd like to give you my brand new Kwik Brain Accelerator program. You will discover exactly what I teach my clients to learn, read, and remember anything in half the time. There is no charge. It's my gift to you for being one of our subscribers. That's kwikbrain.com. Or simply text the word podcast to 916-822-7246. And we'll send you a direct link. That's 916-82-BRAIN. Growing up struggling with learning challenges from a childhood brain injury, it's been my life's mission to help you have your very best brain so you can win more every single day. Now, want more quick brain? Here are 4 ways to fast-track your results and lock in what you just learned into your long-term memory. Remember FAST. F-A-S-T. The F stands for Facebook. You're not alone on this journey. I invite you to join our free private online group. There you can connect with me, your fellow brain lovers, links to resources, and even submit your questions for me to answer in future episodes. Go to kwikbrain.com. That's kwikbrain.com. The A stands for apply. Act on what you learned today. Remember, knowledge is not power, it's potential power. It only becomes power when you use it. So use what you just learned. The S stands for subscribe. Don't miss the next episode and other free brain training. And finally, the T stands for teach. You want to learn faster now? The key is to lock it in right away by teaching it to someone else. When you teach something, you get to learn it twice. Here's a simple way to do that. Leave a review on iTunes. Leave a review with your biggest takeaway from this episode. You could also post and share this podcast on your social media. It helps us spread our mission of building better, brighter brains. And of course, tag us so our team can properly thank you. #KwikBrain, K-W-I-K Brain. Mine is @JimKwik, K-W-I-K, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. So what does FAST stand for? Facebook, apply, subscribe, teach. I'll see you in our next episode of Kwik Brain. Until then, remember, you are faster and smarter than you think.