Use These Brain Hacks To Master Productivity | Jim Kwik EP 770

0:00Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.

0:08I think if there's one skill to master in the 21st century, it's our ability to learn faster. Because if you can learn how to learn, the world is yours. Especially today, because nobody who's listening and watching gets paid for their brute strength. It's their brain strength. It's not your muscle power. It's completely your mind power. But the Limitless Model is an explanatory schema, a framework for learning anything faster. And not only that, but really for accessing our human potential. Because I think if there's one infinite, limitless resource on planet Earth, it's human capability. There's no limit on our determination.

0:44There's no limit to our imagination. There's no limit to our creativity. And yet, we're not shown how to be able to access that. The human brain doesn't learn through consumption. It learns through creation and creativity and getting involved in things. I know a lot of us learn faster when we actually roll up our sleeves and do it. This is the thing, it's not how smart you are. It's not literally not how, like how smart you are, it's how are you smart. You are smart through experiential learning and it's always context dependent. But really when it comes to accelerated learning, it's not again how smart you are, it's how are you smart.

1:22And that honors us and it takes the judgment out. Because school teaches you what to learn, what to focus on, what to think, what to remember, but not how to learn. Many people refer to me as a brain coach because what I do is I train your brain because I think we're in the millennium of the mind and it's really about mental fitness. Our ability to adapt, our ability to think, our ability to solve problems and this really is everything. There are seven lies that hold you back to learning and one of them is knowledge is power. We hear that all the time. I've even said it also as well. But when we think about it, is it really true?

2:01Is knowledge just knowing something give you power? No, not unless you act on it, not unless you apply it. So knowledge times action equals power. Meta-learning is learning how to learn. And that's a meta skill. And it helps you to learn salsa or Spanish or anything else better. How come you want to learn Spanish or something else and you put it off or it takes longer than you should because method is only one of the three parts it is what you believe you deserve is your part of your mindset because that's a big thing that's your thermostat right if somebody has a mindset of like i could teach someone the method of how to remember names but their mindset is i'm stupid i don't deserve to remember names right i'm not capable of it exactly or exactly or i'm too old or whatever it is that's our mind brain doesn't work that way exactly then the method won't have won't take hold won't matter exactly unlimiting it's a word that I coined years ago unlimiting is different than unlimited unlimited is like the process of removing limits limited beliefs exactly more behaviors or our habits right so unlimiting is an active word where it's you're redrawing the boundaries and borders of your life.

3:15Limitless is not about being perfect. Limitless is about advancing and progressing beyond what you believe is possible. Now, I apply that towards accelerated learning, so you can learn your languages and give speeches without notes and all that stuff. But really, it's a process of liberating yourself out of that box. So one of the dimensions that keep you in that box is your mindset. And we can go deep into how to change negative beliefs and everything. I talk about the seven lies. Lies for me, again, is an acronym. Lie is a limited idea entertained because it's not true. It's not true that you don't deserve it.

3:52It's not necessarily true that you're stupid, but it's an idea we're giving energy to. We're entertaining that idea in that moment. I show people how to unravel it in the three-step process, but that's the mindset. All right. Now the second M, you can have the greatest mindset and believe everything is possible. You're capable. You deserve it. But if you don't have the second M, which is motivation, you're not getting out of that box, right? Not in your career. I believe I can do it, but I'm going to sit here and eat chips on the couch. Exactly. So your motivation for me is your drive, it's your purpose, it's the vitality that you bring to something.

4:24Now, most people think motivation, they'll say motivation is a lie. And in some respects it is because the way a lot of people perceive motivation is just rah, rah, get excited, get hyped up, and next day, nothing changes. So my evidence, the evidence of motivation is something is happening. There's an action. There's a new action taking place. And if you're not doing that action, you're not motivated. No matter what you say, if you're not doing it, it's better well done than well said. Even like a lot of people on social media, they promise things, but prove it, right? Don't say it, show it, right?

4:55You take it to action because knowledge is not power. It's potential power. Applying, it makes it powerful. So motivation for me is a three-step formula. The key to sustainable motivation, how to overcome procrastination. If you're putting things off, This is the key P times E times S3. Now this is a formula for sustainable, not just a surge in motivation, because I've lived on no sleep for over a decade. My sleep has gotten much better since of recent, you know, just some breakthroughs in medicine and everything else like that. But, you know, I had sustainable motivation. I was still doing all the conferences, still doing my podcast every week, still speaking and traveling and doing all this stuff because I had these three things.

5:39Number one, P stands for purpose. Now, some people are very motivated to sit on the couch and binge watch Netflix. They're highly motivated to do that, right? But if you're lacking motivation to work out consistently, here's another lie. Limited idea entertained is that you have to enjoy the activity. P in the formula is purpose. Reasons reap results. If I'm not seeing my sleep, I have a purpose. I have a reason to help people every single day I want every single person that comes in contact with me whether it's on my podcast or a video or a book Their brain is better off because yeah, you know, and so that's my reason so P is purpose tap into your reasons And it can't be intellectual.

6:20You know, you have to feel it Of course right and even you could even feel the pain like who's counting on you to do this activity? You know who's watching you who's role modeling you right? Who's counting on you to show up today? It can be painful too, but if it gets you to move, that's what's important. Have that reason, the purpose. My mind does this thought experiment, scientific experimentations. If somebody just has a reason, are they always motivated? Are there any cases where they're not motivated? And I said, yes, if they're lacking the E, energy. So somebody could have a reason to work out or they could have a reason to read or learn Spanish, but if they're trying to do it late at night and they didn't sleep the night before or they had a big processed meal.

7:08It's hard to have the motivation. Exactly. And their food coma, they can't be motivated because they lack energy. Because how's your thought process if you don't sleep? How's your focus? How's your memory? How are you making good decisions? right i i heard that that was the advice you know presidents give other presidents it's like get it don't make a big decision if you didn't get a good night's sleep right so i talk about sleep if you're like doing this critical thinking in what case won't you be motivated let's say you want to start a business whatever you're you're just procrastinating on starting that business number one you have the motivation you really need it and you know why you have the energy because you're eating the right foods, you're maximizing your sleep, you're with not energy vampires.

7:51Yes, there is. S3. The problem is, is you're making it too big in your mind. That will keep you from being motivated. Starting a business, like where do you even start? Or getting that perfect relationship or having perfect health, that's way, way too big. So what do you do? Small, simple steps. That will keep people unmotivated. They could have the reasons and purpose they could have the energy unlimited energy but they don't know where to start and because they make it too big in their mind or and a confused mind doesn't do anything confused mind doesn't do anything so clarity is power i like that so small simple step all you have to do is ask a magic question what is the smallest action i could take where i can't fail It allows me to give me some progress, but I can't fail.

8:39What's the smallest step? A small, simple step to get someone reading is read one sentence. That's a small, simple step. Open up the book. That's a small, simple step that you can't fail. And nobody's going to stop at one sentence. The example Dr. BJ Fogg talks about with tiny habits is, hey, we know flossing is good for your longevity. Just a one tooth. One tooth. And who's going to stop at one tooth? So how do you break it down? And really motivation is energy management. It's really about energy management, meaning when you have clarity and purpose, it gives you energy, right? When you have energy, like if you activate, you eat the right foods and everything else, you have energy.

9:17And small, simple steps requires very little energy. It requires very little effort, output. And there's something in memory called the Zygarnik effect. It's by a psychologist, a woman who in Europe noticed that at the cafe she frequents, that the wait staff would remember all the orders until they were delivered. And once they were delivered, they would forget it. And the Zygarnik effect, which is her last name, means that the mind doesn't like open loops. And all of the series that you binge watch knows this because at the end, they open up a loop. And you're like, one more. Who does that? Like, one more.

9:55And you end up watching until like 2 a.m., 3 a.m. because it doesn't like the open loops. Well, starting something like an order, remembering someone's order, and then it delivered, it closes the loop. Well, when you start something anywhere, your mind still keeps an open loop about it, so it's more likely to finish. And that's another way to overcome procrastination, break it down into small, simple steps where you can't fail. That's the three-step formula.

10:26I am so excited for you to finish the rest of your day strong. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description and it'll take you to the full episode of my other show, The School of Greatness. Make sure to come back tomorrow for another episode of The Daily Motivation Show.