Jim Kwik: Is AI Destroying Your Brain Health? What Entrepreneurs Must Know | Mental Health | E385

24:32How's your sleep in general? To be honest, my sleep is usually pretty good. I really care about my sleep. For example, before interviews, I'm so serious about, I have to get good sleep because I know the number one way that I'll do terrible on an interview is this for some reason I get bad sleep. I could not study enough or be stressed or whatever and be fine. It's like when I don't have sleep, I just can't think. So to me, it's the most important factor. Yeah, so even when people think about their schooling, if they pull all-nighters, it's not good for your learning also as well. Even taking naps after you learn something, it's been shown to enhance your recall of that information.

25:12So you can use naps or sleep or meditation very strategically. Also as well, my favorite thing with sleep, because I work with a lot of athletes and certainly a lot of CEOs and even world leaders talk about the importance of sleep. Never make an important decision on a bad night's sleep because you're just going to make more mistakes when you're sleep deprived. So I would say direct sunlight first thing in the morning, 10 minutes is non-negotiable for me. Your eyes are the only part of your brain that's outside your skull, so it resets your circadian rhythm. So when you get early sunlight, you're going to sleep better at night overall.

25:47Not through windows, because it could filter out a certain spectrum of light, but just going outside, even if it's hazy or foggy, you'll still get the benefit. Number two, watch your caffeine intake if you're sensitive. I'm very sensitive to caffeine, so I can't do caffeine past noon, because it could stay in your body, opens at 10 hours. Number three, I would say, you have an alarm clock to wake up. I would challenge everybody. Just one little thing, have an alarm clock to go to bed. Your brain loves a schedule, even on weekends. And no one's perfect about this. I certainly am not. I went to the Wicked premiere last night in New York City, and I didn't get back until 2 a.m.

26:24So they're off days. But in general, to the degree you could go to bed at the same time, wake up at the same time, you'll have better overall sleep long-term. And then finally, two big ones. You know it'd be time to sleep because the environment would tell you thousands of years ago. It would get darker and it would get cooler. And so sleeping in a cooler environment will help you sleep better. Now where it's so cold, you're shivering because that'll wake you up. But even if you take a nice warm bath or a warm shower or a sauna, you get out, your core body temperature drops and that's a signal for your nervous system for you to create melatonin, which is the hormone that tells you it's time to relax.

27:02And then dark, as dark as you can make it. And one of the culprits there again is our screens, right? When you're on your phones, the blue light could fool your mind and think it's still daylight and you won't create that melatonin. So sleep is a non-negotiable for anyone who wants to perform better. Now let's talk about how our brain is actually performing in modern day life. So you were just talking about blue light that impacts our sleep. And I think I heard from you in the past that our brain is really operating at 40 % capacity usually. Talk to us about why that is. There's a myth out there that says we only use 10 % of our brain.

27:38We actually use all of our brain. Just like if you're going for a hike, pretty much all your muscles are engaged. It's just some people are more physically fit and they have some techniques. And what would crush somebody else won't challenge another person because they have physical fitness and health. Same thing with having greater brain fitness and brain health. It's just not a challenge as much. They could go longer. They could retain more. they can perform better. So I would say if we don't utilize as much of its potential on a regular basis, it's because we weren't shown how. Even like I think number one reason we have brains besides controlling our movement is to be able to think, to be able to learn, to be able to adapt.

28:20But when did we learn how to do any of those things? School taught us what to learn, math, history, science, but there are no classes or courses on how to learn, how to think. They teach you what to think or what to learn, but not how. And so I would say I focus on, you know, just like the CEO of DeepMind, Google's DeepMind AI program saying learning how to learn. I would say your ability to learn, to unlearn, to relearn is the ultimate advantage. Because then if you learn rapidly, everything else is easy. You can apply it towards money, music, martial arts, marketing, Mandarin, whatever. Everything gets easy.

28:52And so I wrote Limitless, we do our podcast to give people an owner's manual for your brain. But I think it starts with awareness, like any change is know thyself. And a lot of people, you know, it's hard sometimes to go in or and kind of look in the mirror and see the things that we need to get better at to make a better life. I would also say part of it besides awareness is a commitment. I mean, if we're going to get really raw, change is scary because it's the unknown. Your nervous system's not designed for growth. It's designed for safety, right? And when there was to preserve your survival, it's scary.

29:28going up to that person to start a business or get an investor or working out or studying something brand new. That's scary because it's unknown. And our amygdala fires off like it's a threat because the unknown is threatening, right? And we act like it's a saber-tooth tire even though it's not. And we're in our survival brain, which is like fight or flight. But it holds us hostage from the executive functioning, our ability to make decisions, our ability to adapt, our ability to innovate, solve problems, all the things that make us better entrepreneurs. Safety is important. But I would say life is hard and growth is hard.

30:02Change is scary. Growth is hard. But nothing is as scary and hard as being stuck somewhere you don't belong. And I feel like if you're going to go, especially on the entrepreneurial path, either aspiring or maybe you're more established, it's been the biggest growth experience of my life. While I read every day and I always level up and I have mentors and coaches running a business, wow. and it's just like your intimate relationship but it's like a mirror pushes you in ways that you need to develop, right? And it's not necessarily getting that goal, it's who you have to become that worthy to be able to create that goal.

30:38But yeah, I would say being stuck somewhere you don't belong is hard, right? But life is hard for one of two reasons though. Either you leave your comfort zone, you start that business to market, you get your brand out there, whatever, or life is difficult because you stay in your comfort zone, right? And while the comfort zone is a nice place to visit, nothing grows there. And so we adapt through change. And so I think one of the most important skills to develop for all of us is a level of cognitive flexibility and cognitive anti-fragility. And I don't talk a lot about these concepts, but I think there are two things that you're going to hear more and more about.

31:15Cognitive anti-fragility is we all hear about resilience, right? You want to be more resilient. Resilience is in the form of challenge or struggle, you bounce back. You're resilient, right? You take a hit and you bounce back to baseline. Cognitive antifragility is not just bouncing back, it's bouncing forward. It's a law in nature and biology. For example, hormesis or hormetic response. Like a lot of biohackers talk about this, like temperature, cold therapy, or heat adaption. That's a hormetic response. We're getting stronger because we're challenging ourselves. A child's immune system. We know that children at an early age that are exposed to more bacteria, different forms, their immune system is stronger.

32:01So that's anti-fragility, right? They're not just resilient, they're actually stronger because that challenge led to change. But are we doing hard things? And we don't necessarily have to seek hard things because a lot of life can be hard also as well. but you want to be you don't want things to break you where you're so rigid that's where cognitive flexibility comes in because if you're rigid you break but if you're like morally bamboo you bend right and then you grow so cognitive flexibility which i think is extremely important nowadays is like mental parkour you ever see those people on like youtube or whatever social media tiktok that can just like jump from here to there and do all this amazing things with their body i feel like mental cognitive rigidity, you'll pay a price in business, right?

32:50I mean, the classic examples are things like Kodak. They had the most amazing engineers. They created the basis of the digital photography, but they're gone. And, you know, Instagram, everything else is there. The technology lives on because they were cognitively rigid. They weren't cognitively flexible. You could do the same thing for Blockbuster, you know, or Netflix, you know, in terms of how things evolve. So I feel like as human beings, if we're too cognitively rigid, we're not open. our minds are like a parachute, only works when they're open, then we're in trouble. And so cognitive flexibility, how can you be more cognitively flexible?

33:22How can you see things from other people's opinion? How can you change your beliefs based on new data? Because it's hard. Sometimes our egos are attached to it, our identity is attached to a certain way, or we have some fallacy where we've invested so much in this certain thing, a way of learning or a way of studying, and then something else comes new that might be brighter and better but we're stuck because we've invested something. And what are we saying about ourselves? You know, if we just spent years learning something or being a certain way, and take this in anything from micro to macro politics or whatever.

34:01So I think cognitive flexibility and how do you build, again, cognitive anti-fragility? You challenge yourself on a regular basis. You expose yourself to new ideas. You get out of the echo chamber that we often are, driven by algorithms. You had a great interview I listened to with Mo. And with the algorithms, there's an algorithm to social media. Whatever you engage with the most, the algorithm learns and gives you more of that information. But you're never getting the other side of it. And you just feel like that's your news feed and that's your life. But your mind also has a similar algorithm.

34:31Whatever you engage with on a regular basis, your reticular activating system is being trained to look for that stuff. And so if you just look at everything that's dark and doom scrolling, whatever, you start seeing that everywhere throughout your day. and you feel like that's what life is or that's what possibility is or that's what the economy is or that's what the opportunity is. So I think we have to stand guard to our mind, you know, just as we are with our body. You know, the water that we drink or the food that we eat, we have to stand guard to what's going, because food is just information, but learning is also information also as well.

35:02So we have to be very discerning. And also even like if you're debating somebody, maybe it's a family member or friends, you know, during holidays or whatever, it takes a lot of courage to just have empathy, not saying that person is right, but like an exercise would be like, if I had five minutes, how can I argue for that person in their favor, right? And be able to take on and try a new point of view. And I just feel like it's a certain level of mental maturity and strength to be able to entertain different ideas and then make decisions based on your current understanding of things. So cognitive flexibility can be enhanced by going outside your domain.

35:42And that's where a lot of innovation comes from from an entrepreneur. There's a book called The Structure of Scientific Revolution, and I think it's kind of boring, but what I got out of it is most innovation comes from people outside your industry because it takes somebody else from the outside to look in with a different point of view that doesn't have the same learned helplessness or this is the way you do something. Like Elon Musk looking at the car industry saying, hey, if we're going to make automobiles today with today's technology from zero thinking, how would we do it? that's amazing.

36:11So listen to podcasts that you wouldn't normally listen to or follow other people that you wouldn't normally listen to. Just kind of keep cognitively flexible. And then in terms of resilience, how do you do difficult things? Now, let's start small. I've talked for 30 years about, hey, when you wake up, try brushing your teeth with the opposite hand because it can stimulate a different part of your brain. But then what it's doing is it's getting you to do something difficult. It forces you to focus. So you're exercising your focus muscles because you to it without focus, but also it becomes a great, like an entry habit.

36:42Because you're like, wow, I could try it. Now it's a habit after a week or two of doing it. What other habits can I stack onto it? And so seeking difficulty in ways that's also not going to create any kind of permanent damage or hurting anybody, I think there's benefit. Because if you just do the easy things in life, put things off, procrastinate, then life gets hard. We tend to do the hard things and have that difficult conversation and things tend to be easier. So I feel like those are two things that are never ever talked about, cognitive fragility and cognitive flexibility. Meta-learning, the idea of learning how to learn, meta-thinking, which is the science of thinking about your own thinking, because most people just think these are just how things are.

37:26And a belief is nothing but a thought that you've had thousands of times that you're reinforced. But I think 40 % of what we do how we think is habitual, right? It's on autopilot. And I feel like those are the programs we want to upgrade because it's shaping everything. Such good advice for entrepreneurs. So thank you for sharing that. And entrepreneurs also, aside from just challenging themselves, they need to focus, right? Especially there's things that we need to do as entrepreneurs that we don't necessarily want to do. We don't enjoy doing, but we have to do them and we have to get it done.

38:01So can you help us understand some of the things that prevent us from focusing these days and how we can avoid things like multitasking and context switching. So multitasking, we know, is a myth. You're really test switching. And the thing you think you're gaining, you're actually losing, which is time. When you go from one thing to another, I'm talking about cognitive things. We call walk and listen to a podcast, right? Because the walking is physical. But when we're trying to do two mental things at once, it doesn't happen very well. Because when we switch back and forth, it could take five or ten minutes to regain your focus.

38:35So you actually lose time. The second thing it does is you make more mistakes. We work with a lot of doctors worldwide. We know surgeons that try to multitask during operations will make more errors, surgical errors. I mean, think about driving, which is mental, and texting, which is mental. There are going to be more accidents, right? So switch from multitasking to monotasking. The third thing people don't think about is it wastes a lot of energy. So when you're focused on a task, like your writing or check-up slack and you switch to something else, then you have to shut this down, turn this on, use a lot of mental energy, use a lot of blood glucose.

39:11So people struggle with mental fog or mental fatigue, that might be why you're trying to have too many tabs open. And even if they're minimized, they're still using energy to be able to keep it up. So single tasking, I'm a big fan of. Screen-free mornings, and I have a video with me and Simon Sinek. I just saw it on my Facebook memories. It came out nine years old. that's like 40 million views. And it's just me saying, don't touch your screen, your phone the first 30 minutes a day and the last 30 minutes a day. But just, we talked about that. And I think a dopamine fast, there's all kinds of studies saying that your brain can reset after a few days off of some technology.

39:47I'm a big believer that focus is not something you have, it's something you do. We hypnotize ourself by saying, I don't have focus, I don't have motivation, I don't have energy, I don't have a great memory. These are not things you have, they're things you do. And I think entrepreneurs need to embrace and get in the habit of taking the nouns in their life. I don't have energy. I don't have focus and turn them into verbs. You do focus. You generate energy. And then once you turn into a verb, then there's a process and it gives you your agency back. And entrepreneurship is all about personal responsibility, right?

40:18You're not putting it off to somebody else. You're not blaming. You're not complaining. It just wastes a lot of time and nobody really cares. And I would let's say, personal responsibility is so very important. And focus is also muscle, but it's used or used or used, just like our memory. If you're not working your memory, you're not going to remember things. But the more you train it, you're like, I don't even have to think about remembering people's names just because I've done it for so long because that muscle is built just like driving a car, you know, mental muscles. But I think deep work blocks is very important.

40:47Setting a timer and saying for the next 25 minutes for a Pomodoro technique, I'm just going to focus on this one thing. Or you could expand it. You could do a whole ultranian cycle for 90 minutes. Cal Newport talks a lot about deep work, but that's a way of developing your focus muscles. But if the first thing you do is pick up your phone, like, share, comment, cat video, whatever, is just driving this dopamine distraction, then you wonder why you can't focus in a meeting, right? Or in a sales call or with a client. And I would go back to focus exercise as meditation because I don't meditate at all to become enlightened.

41:24I meditate because invariably my thoughts will go somewhere else. And when I pull it back to my breath or a mantra or a candle, whatever your technique is, then I'm training my focus muscles, right? I built a pathway back to being present. And so when I'm distracted later on with our kids, with a client, whatever, I can pull my focus back faster than normally. And then the last thing I would say about distraction and focus is you have to master your environment. The most underrated hack there is, is managing your environment, period. Just like when it's sleep, if you built out a sleep sanctuary where it's very conducive, when you go in that environment, you get into that relaxed state.

42:10But if you're working in your bed or you're doom scrolling, what are you telling your brain and your nervous system to anchor to that activity. But also your work environment, that is a big deal. And I would also say that environmental design for focus is things like on our podcast, we had a conversation about clean environment, like clean air. You could go three weeks without food. You go three days without water, but you go three minutes without air. And most people drink when it comes to water, two liters of water a day, but we will breathe 17 ,000 liters of air. And you have no idea what mold, with neurotoxins coming from perfumes or candles or the off-gassing on furniture, besides what's out in the city environment, the effect it has on our nervous system.

43:01So I would say environmental design for focus. So are you controlling your environment as best you can to completely focus? Because your external world is a reflection of your internal world. And if you have a lot of mess around, it takes unconscious energy to be able to keep track of all these different things. And that's wasted focus, right? It's diffused, not directed. So attention is a skill, but it's not just a skill, it's a training protocol. So like for your environment, are you reducing visual clutter? So it's not stressing out that. Are you removing digital noise? You set focus windows of a certain amount of time that you're going to work.

43:39How do you hide your phone in another room? I think one of the most important functions in your phone is airplane mode. And are you working with intention, right? Not inertia. Your environment is either a cage for your potential or it's a catalyst, right? Where you go into that mode and when I focus, I just... It's like explaining to somebody what a flower smells like who's never smelled a flower or what a rainbow looks like for someone who's never seen a rainbow. I feel the same way about learning, about memory, about creativity, flow, states, focus. It's hard to explain. But when you experience it, it's like you just can't go back.

44:17It's just like certain foods, right? And I love, you know, a certain dessert, whatever. But nothing tastes as good as just feeling alive and vibrant and how that feels. Such good guidance. I personally love using the Pomodoro technique. I do either 25 minutes, 45 minutes, or 90 minutes. And my favorite thing to do is I have an iPhone. I'll be like, put 25 minutes on the clock. And then Siri will be like, 25 minutes counting down. And that clicks on my brain, like you can't do anything else. But this task for 25 minutes, and in those 25 minutes or 45 minutes or 90 minutes, whatever it is, I can't go get a snack.

44:53I can't go walk around. I can't go pee. I have to just sit there, do my work. And then once that's over, I reward myself with a snack, with a drink, whatever I was wanting in those minutes. Because what I find is if I go get up and have a snack or whatever, I pick up my phone and then it's, you know, you lost that time. So for me, that Pomodoro technique really helps me just get the most important things I need to get done in the day. Yeah, if people are watching this on the video, I have a Pomodoro, it just means tomato. I just have a simple analog. I don't even use my phone. I have this tomato timer used for cooking and I just put it on my 30 minutes.

45:29And I go in a state because you've done the reps and it's just like you do it and it's just like you don't have to use willpower. It's important. Whatever we do repeatedly, we just get better at, even with our thoughts. You know, so that's why it's so important to control our thoughts and our feelings and our behaviors.

45:49Yeah, fam. 2026 is the year I'm fully focused on growing my personal brand. I'm taking it to the next level. For years, I was focused on my company. Now I'm focused on building my brand. I'm launching a book and I'm upgrading and updating my website. My website has not been top of mind for years and it drastically needs an upgrade. And when I was talking to my team about what we're going to do, they strongly recommended that we switch our platform to Framer, which they said is a modern way to build websites in 2026. That's why so many companies from leading startups like mine to Fortune 500 brands are turning to Framer.

46:24Framer is a powerful website builder and design tool that helps businesses create better websites faster. With Framer, you can design and publish beautiful, high-performing websites without ever touching code. It's a visual drag-and-drop builder with smart AI tools that help you create responsive layouts quickly. And these websites are beautiful and look super custom. Nobody would ever know that you used a drag-and-drop tool. Everything you need is built into Framer, including SEO support, analytics, and collaboration. so you're never duct taping multiple tools together. It's one of the easiest ways to launch a high-performing website or landing page that looks custom, polished, and professional on any device.

47:02Learn how you can get more from your.com from a Framer specialist or get started building for free today at framer.com slash profiting for 30 % off a Framer Pro annual plan. That's framer.com slash profiting for 30 % off. Framer.com slash profiting. Rules and restrictions apply.

47:23Young Improfeters, this year, I'm all about not missing opportunities. And for me, that starts with not missing any calls. Because a missed call is money walking out the door. Quo, spelled Q-U-O, is a business phone system that helps you and your team handle calls and texts from one shared number. Think of it as an email inbox, but for your phone. Everything stays in one place, so no conversation gets lost and no customer gets ignored. I've seen how much calmer things feel when everybody in your company can see the full thread. All the calls, texts, voicemails, all together in one place, replies are faster, customers feel heard and taken care of, and the team stays aligned.

48:04Quo even uses AI to log calls, summarize conversations, and flag next steps, which takes a lot off your team's mental load. It works right from your phone or computer, lets you keep your existing numbers, and grows with your business. That kind of setup makes a real difference. Make this a year where no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try Quo for free, plus get 20 % off your first six months when you go to quo.com slash profiting. That's Q-U-O dot com slash profiting. Quo. No missed calls. No missed customers.

48:40What's up, Yap gang? When you start a business, nobody really tells you how many hats you're about to wear. One minute you're the creator, the next you're the marketer, then you're the finance team and customer support. Before you know it, it can feel like way too much on your shoulders. But that's why I love Shopify and what it does for entrepreneurs. Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform that helps you sell online. It's been a real business partner for me as I've grown Yap Media and launched products like my LinkedIn Secrets Masterclass and my LinkedIn Mastermind. Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide and 10 % of all e-commerce in the US.

49:18Whether you're a household name or just getting started, Shopify has got you covered. What I appreciate most is how everything lives in one place on Shopify. You can design your store, market your products, and track performance without juggling a dozen tools. And you definitely do not need to be tech savvy. Shopify is so easy to use. And if you ever do hit a wall, Shopify's award-winning 24-7 support is there to help you think things through. You don't have to do this alone. You can do it with Shopify. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify, and start hearing.

49:53Sign up for your$1 per month trial today at shopify.com slash holla. That's H-A-L-A. Go to shopify.com slash holla, all lowercase. Again, that's shopify.com slash holla. One thing that I want to go over with you before we go, I want to understand our different brain types. Because I know in the new edition of Limitless, which we didn't go over in the first episode, you talk about four different brain types and not all of us really think or act the same way. And then I was wondering if you could try to guess my brain type. Yeah, absolutely. So I realized that when people go through our trainings, whether it's speed reading, memory, focus, whatever, the techniques and tools help.

50:33But some people resonate with certain strategies and techniques better than others, like there's a greater reward or impact. I realized that after 34 years as a brain coach that it's not how smart you are, it's how are you smart. It's not how smart your partner is, it's how are they smart. And we all have genius in certain strengths in different areas. And I put it into four different categories. And so people go to mybrainanimal.com and it's just four minutes, multiple choice, and just pick the first thing that kind of resonates with you. All right, so once you understand your dominant brain type, it changes everything in terms of how you learn, perform.

51:12It can also affect how you relate to your family, your loved ones, how you hire, how you manage, how you sell even based on brain types. So just the really quick of it, just think about the word code. And I'm sure a lot of people are taking notes, C-O-D-E. So these are the four animals. The C stands for cheetahs. and cheetahs, their dominant trait is action. So if you know somebody who's just quick to act, that's their dominant trait, they're probably a cheetah. They're fast, they're instinctual, they are quick thinkers, they prefer to move swiftly from one task, then go to another, they thrive on speed, energy.

51:51And just even how it equates to learning, cheetahs learn best by doing. They favor hands-on experience, quick decision-making, the dislike overthinking or overanalyzing paralysis analysis, right? Because they don't want to stop. And then you can think about the environment. They thrive in fast-paced environments where it's, you know, they have to problem solve and execute. The challenges, you know, they can struggle with is long-term projects that require patience, study, deep analysis, and everything. The O in code are your owls, and their dominant trait is logic. They're analytical, They're detail-oriented.

52:26Owls are your thinkers. They love solving problems, complex problems. They like diving deep into the data. And they learn differently also. They learn well in structure environments where they can gather information, they can analyze, they can plan. They value precision so much. But then they can also suffer their challenges, analysis, paralysis, and so many different things. The D are your dolphins. And your dolphins' dominant trait is creativity, imagination. They're very innovative. They tend to visualize, like they have a vision for things that have passion behind the vision, or maybe some people can't yet see it.

53:05It's kind of like a Walt Disney or a Steve Jobs you could think about. And their learning style tends to be more open and flexible, where they could explore and create, they could brainstorm, right? It would kind of make sense or create a problem solving. And then finally, the E, actually I have them here, this This is your AI generated if you're watching the video. This is your cheetah, your owl. The D is your dolphin. And the E are your elephants. And the E are their dominant trait is empathy. They are very inclusive. They're emotionally intelligent. They're strong EQ. They're very community focused.

53:39They thrive on collaboration, teamwork. Their learning style is more a group setting, right? Discussions, collaborations. They love work environments that really foster connection, emotional engagement. So even when you just think about these animals, like I had our team take this assessment and 100 % of our customer service team, which animal do you think they are? The elephant. There are elephants, 100%. And we didn't hire them based on that assessment, but we go to our strengths, right? These are our community builders. They want our community and customer service, they want people to feel seen, feel heard.

54:22And my business partner of 18 years, she's our CEO. She's our dolphin. She has this vision for our mission. One billion brains. He has a lot of passion behind it. She's a great pattern recognizer. Our CFO is an owl. And we didn't hire again, but the CFO needs to see the numbers all the time, like data every day. And it also plays out in entertainment. You'll always see these archetypes. Take one of the most popular sitcoms, Friends. You would have Joey as a cheetah. Doesn't think, just acts, right? You have someone like Ross, who's the scientist professor, who's your owl. You have Phoebe, who's music and artist.

55:01Then you see your dolphin. And then you have, you know, individuals like Monica, who wants to bring everyone together. She always wants to host all the parties, you know, the community, and so on. So you see that in Star Wars, Harry Potter, I could just go on and on. We could do some business, right? We can analyze various icons like Richard Branson and Warren Buffett being the owl and so on. And so you'll see these all the time. But once you understand your brain type, it shows you like your kids, what their brain types are or what your team is. And then you could hire, you can manage different and you could sell.

55:31Like if you're selling to an owl, you're going to use a lot of logic and evidence and data. But if you're selling to a dolphin, you want to talk about how your product or service fits into their vision, right? If you're talking to an elephant, you have to give them data all day long or even talk about vision. What they care about is the actual connection with you. The trust, the bond, the relationship takes priority. So everyone's different. But yeah, I feel like it's a game changer for individuals. And that being said, everybody is not just one thing. I was going to say, after those descriptions, I'm a cheetah dolphin.

56:05That's what I feel like I am. That would make sense for what you've created. because you have this vision that you've built and you also have the action to create it too. Some people could stay in ideation and just be creative all day and not do anything. Or other people could be just a cheetah and just act and not think about this weird thing. So you have a primary, you have a secondary and others. But it changes how you interact with yourself and it changes how you interact with other people. And if you want to get more out of yourself and more out of the people around you, it all starts with knowing yourself.

56:37Even my favorite, one of my favorite movies, The Matrix, where Neo is going to visit the oracle, right, the all-knowing wise oracle in her kitchen. She's baking cookies. Most people don't see this, but when he walks in, in the kitchen, you know, the sign above the door says, know thyself. And I think entrepreneurs, they need the curiosity to know yourself. That's why people journal or meditate or go to therapy or whatever the process is to get their values and what they believe, what they stand for. But then also the other part is once you have the curiosity to know yourself, you need the courage to be yourself.

57:08As also a lot of people, entrepreneurs included, were so concerned about looking bad or making mistakes or what other people expect of us, parents, whatever, right? But having the courage to be that person that you know you are takes a certain level of courage also as well. Yeah, and figure out what business partners you need. Like if you need an analytical mind in your business, you hire for that or a visionary or whatever it is that you feel like you lack. And not any one is better than the other, right? It just makes it more complete. Once you understand your brain type, it explains a lot of your behavior and your results.

57:43And where can you surround yourself with other people who are in their elements also as well? So basically, yeah, cheetahs, action first. Owls, information first. Dolphins, imagination first. Elephants, feelings first. And when you're studying, you want to learn something, That's a great starting point. Because if you study against your type, you struggle. You know, when you study with your type, you get really sore. So I'll find that quiz. I'll put it in the show notes so that everybody can take it, find out what their type is. All right. So as we close out this interview, Jim, I want to be respectful of your time.

58:22I always ask my guests two questions to close out the show. So we'll start with the first one. What is one actionable thing our young and profiters can do today to become more profitable? tomorrow? I would say to be more profitable, you have to start before you're ready. Thinking is good, but overthinking and wanting things to be perfect could just stall progress before it even happens. And the key for momentum is that start. And I would say the most important thing to start is to do the hard thing because the treasure you seek in life is hidden in the work you're avoiding, the ones that you're putting off, that you're afraid to face.

59:00And if that's so intimidating for you, I would ask yourself, what is the tiniest action I could take right now that will give me progress towards this goal where I can't fail? But I'm a big believer in doing those hard things because you know what it does? It's like you tell your partner like, oh, I'm going to bring out the trash or cut the lawn or whatever and you don't do it. They have to remind you the next day you don't do it. Then you're breaking trust with that person. They're not going to believe anything you say. Well, when we break the trust that we have for ourselves, that's even more powerful, then we don't believe anything we say.

59:32The goals we say we're going to do or the book we're going to write or the podcast that we're going to start or anything else like that. So I think one of the hardest things to do if the treasures that we seek is hidden, the work we're avoiding, is if you feel the call for an entrepreneur or whatever your goal is, is to create evidence that you are the person that you say you are. The life you live are the lessons you teach. And don't work for likes, work for leverage. That will get us further than anything and doing that work in the silence, entrepreneurship, and I've always been an entrepreneur.

1:00:02I've never gotten a paycheck in my life since I was 11 years old. So maybe I have a different skewed view, but I just always value my freedom. I'm going to do what I want when I want for what I want when I want. It's never been an easy path, right? But I would say, you know, in terms of the growth that I've had is doing the most difficult things that I never thought I could do. And then I have evidence that I am the person that I say that I am, right? because this formula is you be, do, have, share. Most people want to jump to the have park, which is why lotteries and everything else is so popular, they want to jump to have, but then they lose it within a matter of years because they were never being a millionaire.

1:00:41So they weren't doing the things that millionaires do to have this kind of success they want. And so I would say do the hard thing that you're avoiding because that's where the treasure is. And if it's too intimidating, then break it down into small, simple steps and you keep your word to yourself. Like I have certain things I have to do every day. And I got in from this Wicked premiere that came in really late, but I didn't read that day. You know, it was like 2 a.m., but I still read. I probably didn't get much out of it because I was exhausted, but I still did it because I showed up for myself and I kept my word.

1:01:16And that's not to say you miss one workout or whatever. Your life is ruined anymore than eating a donut or ruin, but it's the consistency. Like I won't miss two days in a row. That's my standard. So if I commit to doing something, maybe life happens, emergency, whatever, I miss it, but I won't miss two in a row because that's the standard that we hold. And I feel like all entrepreneurs, you need to be a thermostat. You can't afford to be a thermometer where a thermometer just reacts to the environment. In human beings, we react to the weather, the economy, to politics, how people treat us, fine.

1:01:45But the happiest and certainly most successful people, they don't react, right? You know, they're a thermostat. They set a standard and the environment reacts to you. It gauges. It still knows. That thermostat knows what the temperature is. So we should know what's going on in our market and our client, whatever. But then it sets a new temperature and then the environment reacts to us. And I feel like we impose our will that all entrepreneurship is taking the invisible in your mind and making it visible out here. And in the beginning, this is not for everybody, but for most people, because we work with a lot of entrepreneurs.

1:02:20In the beginning, you're underpaid, but you have to feed your business until it feeds you, right? You have to feed your brand until it feeds you back. And in the beginning, I just feel like we're underpaid. But then if you're consistent and you show up for yourself and show up for others and you're smart, you're learning, you're adapting, then eventually you're just overpaid because you have scale and you have leverage, right? And that's the ultimate goals to amplify not only your income, but your impact. I love that answer. That might've been my favorite answer all year for that question, to be honest.

1:02:51It was a really good answer. So let's talk about what your secret is to profiting in life. And this can be all aspects of life. I mean, everybody will share this differently. My values are very clear. Everyone's values are different. Me, it's love, growth, contribution, adventure. And now that I know, because it's not just speed. You know, my last name is Quick and we teach people how to learn quick and think quicker and read quicker and remember things a fraction of time. But it's also direction. A lot of people we're going nowhere fast because they don't have that direction. So I feel like beginning with the end in mind, I do this thought experiment.

1:03:26I always think about my future self and I'm just thinking like, what would my future self want me to do right now in this moment? So it really presents what's most important, where I put my time and my attention and the choices that I make on a daily because I want to make that person proud. Whereas a lot of people, and I'm guilty of this and have been guilty in the past of this, they burden their future self. I'll do this tomorrow or I'll deal with this tomorrow. And then they're just like, oh, I do my tag. Then your future self hates you because you put them in a certain situation. But I think for everybody, double down in learning how to learn.

1:03:59All the experts talk about it. Technology is going to adapt. You have to adapt in order to be able to catch up, keep up and get ahead, right? And there are resources and the ones we do, obviously our courses, podcasts, books, whatever. Meta learning, number one. But number two, you know, I'm also at this stage, I have a toddler and an infant in my 50s. So like, if anything, it's doubled down my conviction and my commitment to doing what I do. I want to build better, brighter brains because I had my traumatic brain injury. I lost my grandma to Alzheimer's. You know, we immigrated here. My dad was 13.

1:04:30We live in the back of the laundromat that my mom worked at. Didn't speak the language. You know, this whole thing, right? This whole story. But I think we could rewrite our stories. And part of it is getting mentors. You know, and if people see me with Elon or Bill Gates or Oprah, people always want to know how we bonded. We bonded over books. In the beginning, I didn't have the education. I had a dollar to my name, didn't have the connections or whatever. I went to a library and read books. And it sounds so archaic, who goes to the library right now? But they were like my friends in my mind.

1:04:59And I feel like you just kind of invest into those things and it just shapes your perspective on the world. And so learn how to learn, know your values in terms of what's most important to you so you can focus on those things. Begin with the end in mind and think about your future self as a thought exercise. I do this whole thing called future episodic remembering. You have a goal, you imagine, but it's so real. Imagine like your most amazing like dream life or situation, but imagine you can remember it. Like, I mean, you could think about it and it's as crystal clear as a memory you had yesterday.

1:05:34You know, and that's the power of what our minds could do. You know, I feel like we discover more about the human mind than, you know, the past 10 years and the previous thousand years combined. And we find it's a grossly underestimating our own capabilities, our own potential, that we could redraw the borders and boundaries of what's possible, that we're on this journey to reveal and realize this amazing potential and purpose. But sometimes we downgrade our dreams to fit our current situation, our current mindset, when we could expand our mind to fit all that's really possible. So when I talk about that future self, I think everyone, and if you've listened to this far, that there's a version of yourself and your business and your brand and your bank account that's patiently waiting for you.

1:06:13And the goal is we show up every single day until we're introduced. I came from parents of immigrants with a lot of means. I had a traumatic brain injury. I was labeled learning disabled, called the boy with a broken brain. I was always made fun of for being slow since my last name was quick. I'd be teased and all this stuff. I could never write a book all through school. I never read one book. And my teachers would have been surprised if I read a book, much less wrote books. And my two biggest challenge was learning. And because learning, my biggest fear in life was public speaking. Because I never knew the answers forever.

1:06:52I would always shrink down in class. I never want to be called on. I didn't want to take up space so I wouldn't be bullied. And I didn't want the spotlight. But public speaking and learning, and life has a sense of humor, because what do I do for a living? I travel the world. I've been three continents in one week in in front of 300 ,000 people a year live. All I do is public speak on this thing called learning. But it's a reminder that through struggles, we get strength. Through challenge, there's change. I don't know one strong person that had an easy life. I just don't. Somebody who was just gifted and given everything, you know, I just don't know.

1:07:24And also, our self-esteem, I found personally, I can't speak for others, comes from doing difficult things. Because as we get a sense of more pride, not in a bad way, but you did difficult things and then you stuck with it and you kept your word as much as possible. And that drives me. Going from all great stories, I had the opportunity to meet George Lucas last night. Star Wars was a big influence on me and the hero's journey and let me list it based on the hero. So Campbell's heard the hero's journey. The thing that lights me up is seeing people overcome limitation and that's all great stories.

1:07:59You take any epic story, it's about going from limitation to liberation and it's freeing. But I feel like it's an inner game. I feel like entrepreneurs especially embrace it because they're out there creating jobs and creating values and solving people's problems and owning it. So it's just, yeah, owning it is a big deal to me because I feel like it's easy to complain and whatever, but it's not positive. It's the truth. We can't be upset by the results we didn't get from the work we didn't do. Knowledge by itself is not power. It has that best as potential power. You even listening to this right now and not doing anything, your life is no better than somebody who didn't listen to this.

1:08:42You going out and spending a few hours reading a book and not implementing one thing, your life is no different than somebody who's illiterate who couldn't read the book in the first place. So what I would say is to do the hard thing. The hard thing in life is practicing what you post. People could talk about it, but it's better well done than well said. So I would say, don't say it, show it, don't post it, prove it. And the life you live are the lessons you teach and you'll inspire other people to do the same. So good, Jim. Thank you so much for all your wisdom today. I feel like we just scratched the surface in terms of learning.

1:09:19I feel like next episode we have together, we just can go through all different types of learning scenarios and meta learning and all that kind of stuff. Thank you so much for your time today. You did such a great job and just appreciate you. Thank you. Can I challenge everyone to do one thing? Of course. Let me take a screenshot of this wherever you're consuming it. Tag us both on whatever platform they do it and follow us both. And then what I would say is if you do happen to share it, tag us so I can see it and I'll repost it and I'll give it out a couple of signed copies randomly of Limitless.

1:09:50But share one thing you're going to do because you learn to earn to return. That's the sequence there. And I would say by you sharing it with your fans, your followers, your friends, your family will see it. We never know the ripple effect of that thing. And I know you always have so many things going on. Where do you want to send people to? QuickBrain. Everything is at kwikbrain.com. So I would say that. Limitless, if you support that, we donate all the proceeds to charity. And we built schools in Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Alzheimer's research that we funded for women. Women are twice as I experience Alzheimer's than men.

1:10:26I remember my grandmother. So I would say any of those places, because YouTube, we have a couple million people subscribing there. We're not hard to find. Yeah, you're not hard to find. We'll stick all those links in the show notes too to make it just super easy for everyone. I just wanted to know if there was something specific you wanted to share. But Jim, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for the great work that you do. And I really enjoy the show.

1:10:50Well, there you have it, Yap Fam. Another epic episode in the books. Jim Quick always brings the heat. And today's conversation was a true masterclass on what it takes to keep your mind sharp, adaptable, and resilient in an AI-driven world. He reminded us that while technology is accelerating at lightning speed, a real competitive edge comes from upgrading our own mental performance, our human intelligence. One of my biggest takeaways from Jim is the importance of cognitive flexibility. He explained that in a world of constant change, rigid thinking is a liability. When we expose ourselves to new ideas, step outside our echo chambers, and challenge long-held beliefs, we strengthen the mental adaptability entrepreneurs need.

1:11:32Jim made it clear that it's not enough to bounce back from challenges. We actually need to bounce forward. Jim also gave us a powerful reality on focus. Multitasking is nothing more than a rapid task switching that drains energy and destroys your productivity. Instead, Jim encourages monotasking, deep work blocks, and designing environments that reduce your digital noise. Whether it's a screen-free morning, hiding your phone, or using the Pomodoro timers, Protecting your attention is one of the most effective ways to amplify your output. And of course, Jim's MEDS, Meditation, Exercise, Diet, and Sleep framework, is a lifelong toolkit for peak brain performance.

1:12:10Meditation strengthens your ability to redirect your attention. Exercise boosts BDNF and primes your brain for learning. Diet fuels your cognitive energy. Sleep consolidates memory, sharpens decision-making, and directly impacts your long-term brain health. These aren't just trends. They're fundamentals that keep your mind operating at its highest potential. Jim tied all this together with his reminder that human intelligence is still your ultimate advantage. Creativity, intuition, cross-domain thinking, these are all things AI cannot replicate. When we know our dominant brain type and lean into our natural strengths, we work smarter, learn faster, and collaborate more effectively.

1:12:48All right, gang, thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Young and Profiting Podcast. If you listened, learned, and profited from this conversation with Jim Quick, then please spread the word and help others listen, learn, and profit as well. If you wanna thank us, the number one way to do that is dropping us a five-star written review on Apple, Spotify, CastBox, wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you guys prefer to watch your podcast, you can find us on YouTube or Spotify video by searching up Young and Profiting. You guys can also find me on Instagram at Yap with Hala or LinkedIn by searching my name, it's Hala Taha.

1:13:21And finally, I wanna give a huge shout out to my Young and Profiting team. We are nearing the end of the year and we're entering our sales season. I have a podcast network where I represent over 40 other business shows and our sales team has absolutely crushed it this year. We had our best year ever. So shout out to my senior sales leads, Ebi and Kriti, and congratulations to Eamon for joining our sales team. You guys are all doing such a wonderful job. Thank you for all that you do at YAP. Until next time, this is your host, Halataha, aka the Podcast Princess, signing off.

1:13:54Bye.