The Genius Shortcut: How to Hack Focus, Memory, and Brainpower with Jim Kwik

What this episode is about

Jim Kwik, a renowned brain coach and founder of Quick Learning, specializes in techniques to enhance focus, memory, and mental performance, making accelerated learning accessible to everyone. His work, which has benefited top performers and organizations like Virgin and SpaceX, emphasizes that intelligence can be trained and expanded, empowering individuals to surpass their perceived limitations.

Key takeaways

• In the age of intellect, the real currency is learning speed—entrepreneurs must master mental agility.
• Jim Quick's rise from the 'boy with a broken brain' teaches us: labels don't define potential.
• Forget brute strength; modern success hinges on emotional intelligence—our brain's empathy is just as vital.
• Tailored learning techniques, like Quick's animal brain types, show not all minds thrive on the same diet.
• The most valuable asset today? An adaptable brain that thrives on knowledge—it's a limitless asset!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Tommy Mello (Host) · 9 min speaking
• Jim Kwik (Guest) · 13 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Limitless, Harvard University, Zappos
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Limitless
3. 10:00 – 15:00: The e- Myth Revisited, The Richest Man in Babylon, The Ultimate Sales Machine
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Limitless

Notable quotes from "The Genius Shortcut: How to Hack Focus, Memory, and Brainpower with Jim Kwik"

• Jim, Quick., His, best-selling, book, Limitless, is a global phenomenon offering sciencebacked techniques to break free from perceived limitations.

  about Limitless · at 0:54

• Look, Tommy, I'll tell you what, I like you, but you got to prove to me one thing. He hands me this book. It's called The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber. And he says, I want…

  about The e- Myth Revisited · at 11:15

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

Books & papers

• Limitless — Book · Primary recommendation · 4 mentions · first at 0:19
  Jim Quick's best-selling book on brain optimization and accelerated learning techniques.
• The e- Myth Revisited — Book · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at 11:21
  A book recommended to the host, Tommy, which sparked his love for reading and learning.
• The Ultimate Sales Machine — Book · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at 11:43
  A book recommended to Tommy, contributing to his personal development journey.
  I said I've read. I just not read a book. And he said, I think you'll like this book. So I devoured this book. A day later, he hands me The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chad…
• The Richest Man in Babylon — Book · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at 11:47
  A book recommended to Tommy, part of his transformative reading list.
  This book. So I devoured this book. A day later, he hands me The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chad Holmes. A day later, I come back, he hands me The Richest Man in Babylon. And after that I was done. I was done. I'm boom.

Companies & orgs

• Harvard University — Company · Case study · 1 mention · first at 1:44
  One of the organizations Jim Quick has worked with, indicating his academic connections.
  Optimal brain performance. You devoted your life to creating strategies to enhance mental performance. Some of your clients include the top cos and celebrities, as well as organizations like Virgin, Zappos, and Harvard University.
• Zappos — Company · Case study · 1 mention · first at 1:44
  One of the organizations Jim Quick has worked with, showing his diverse client base.
  Optimal brain performance. You devoted your life to creating strategies to enhance mental performance. Some of your clients include the top cos and celebrities, as well as organizations like Virgin, Zappos, and Harvard University.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Nobody's paid like it was thousands of years ago where our value in society was our brute strength you know today is our brain strengths to teach people how to learn faster which I think is the number one skill for entrepreneurs your ability to learn and focus and read understand and think what can you apply that to anything in business

0:19 brilliant, curious, limitless, our, guest today is a worldrenowned brain coach who empowers people to rewire their minds and redefine what's possible

0:29 our, mission, is, to, build, better,, brighter brains. No brain left behind. Jim, Quick, is, the, founder, of, Quick Learning, a program which has helped millions of people around the globe to upgrade their memory, focus, and mental performance.

0:41 How, many, of, you, would, like, to, have, a better brain? Raise your hand. He's, worked, with, top, performers, including CEOs, athletes, and Hollywood actors. And his client list spans companies like Virgin, SpaceX, and Marvel.

0:52 Quick., Jim, Quick., Jim, Quick., Jim, Quick. Jim, Quick., His, best-selling, book, Limitless, is a global phenomenon offering sciencebacked techniques to break free from perceived limitations. Jim is also the host of the QuickBrain podcast, which ranks among the top education shows worldwide through his powerful techniques and dynamic energy. He's proving that intelligence isn't fixed. It's trained, strengthened, and expanded. Get ready. This conversation will elevate the way you think, learn and live. All right, guys. Welcome back to the Mellow Millionaire. Today, I got Jim Quick, who is the world's leading expert in accelerated learning and memory improvement, and is the co-founder of Quick Learning, a global leader in optimal brain performance. You devoted your life to creating strategies to enhance mental performance. Some of your clients include the top cos and celebrities, as well as organizations

1:44 like Virgin, Zappos, and Harvard University. uh can you just tell us a little bit more, help the audience get to know you a little bit in your mission statement?

1:53 Yeah,, absolutely,, Tommy., Uh, thanks, for having me and thank you everyone that's tuning into this uh Brady conversation. I know we're going to talk about how to improve your memory, how to focus better, just how to be more effective with your brain. Um and the reason why I know it's possible is because I I grew up with some severe learning uh disabilities. I had a traumatic brain injury when I was 5 years old. I was rushed to the emergency room. Um, I mean, the short of it was I would have these processing issues, you know because my last name really is quick. I would be teased all the time. I would be called slow. Uh, which is kind of ironic. Uh, teachers would have to repeat themselves over and over again.

2:32 It took me three and a half years just to learn how to read. I remember when I was 9 years old, I remember like it was yesterday. I even get choked up thinking about it. I was slowing down the class and I was being teased pretty harshly by the other kids and a teacher came to my defense. She pointed to me in front of the whole class and said, "Leave that kid alone. That's the boy with the broken brain." And that became my uh my moniker in school. Everyone called me the boy with the broken brain. That label became my limit. And that became my my belief. I mean, and you can imagine where my level of self-esteem was, my level of self-confidence, my self-worth. I mean, I struggled every single day until I was about 18 years old. And I found a mentor, which is one of the fastest ways to upgrade your learning and your life. Really wanted to understand how does my brain work so I could work my brain. And I started

3:25 studying brain science, adult learning theory, mindset, ancient memory, uh pneumonics, uh, speed reading and about 60 days, light switch flipped on, and I just started to crush it in school. The other thing I learned at that time was my my mission in life. You know, as the boy with a broken brain, I want to build better, brighter brains to teach people how to learn faster, which I think is the number one skill for entrepreneurs. your ability to learn and focus, read understand, remember and think. What can you apply that to? Anything in business.

3:58 You can apply that to machine learning to marketing, to management, to money. We've all heard about personalized medicine based on a test like uh a DNA test or personalized nutrition based on let's say, a nutrient profile or microbiome test. We created a 4-minute assessment to discover your dominant brain type. And we use a code based on animals. You either have a cheetah brain, an owl brain, a dolphin brain, or an elephant brain. And based on your dominant brain type, we prescribe as a gift for your listeners how to read faster, how to remember more, how to sell better based on brain types. So for example, a cheetah is quick to action.

4:39 That's their dominant trait. An owl is very logical, right? So they need the data. Dolphin, their dominant trait is creativity. And the E in code is your elephant which is their dot trace empathy. So it's interesting. So for example, if you were selling now in your reading, cheetahs would skim scan right? Dolphins would visualize what they read. You know, owls would go for the facts and everything. And we'll gift them, you know, strategies when they take the assessment how to do these things, how to focus, you know. Right?

5:11 If you think about like a sitcom like friends, Joey would be your cheetah fast act, nothing, right? Ross was the professor, scientist is your owl. All logic, you know, Phoebe was the musician, artist, she's your dolphin. Monica would always host everything. She was your elephant. Always wanted to bring the community together. So you'll see this in Star Wars, you'll see this in Harry Potter, you'll see this in, you know, in Star Trek, you know, it's just it's just these are the common ones. So people could take that assessment at uh mybrain animal.com.

5:48 I, love, this., Very, powerful., I, um, you know, I find myself sometimes where it's kind of hard to remember something like a name and and I've always said I'm just not good at names. I believe everybody listening has genius inside of them and they need to study genius in the area what what's called metalarning. So metalarning is the art and science of learning how to learn. It is the most important skill bar none because everything after that you could apply towards sales towards public speaking towards your health towards everything.

6:27 And so the through line with some of the most amazing individuals that I get to work with, they're always learning and they always want to get 1% better every single day. So I I would say in terms of habits, learn how to learn. Been doing this for 34 years. And so we have we have a you know top podcast on it. Uh close to 100 million downloads and we put it on YouTube. We we we write books on the subject. Limitless is is the number one book on brain optimization of accelerated learning in the world. You know, a couple million copies sold. We donate all the proceeds to charities. Uh we built schools in Ghana, Guatemala Kenya. You know, nowadays, most of your listeners, whether they're entrepreneurs or in business development or you know whatever their profession happens to be.

7:17 Nobody's paid like it was thousands of years ago where our value in society was our brute strengths. You know, today is our brain strengths. is is not just our muscle power. Today is our mind power. And the faster you learn, the faster you earn. Like people will update their technology. They'll get the latest iPhone. They'll update their apps. They'll get a new computer. But when's the last time we took time to upgrade the most important technology, which is that three lb matter between our ears you know, called called our brain. And so, you know, it's it's fascinating what it can do.

7:48 And, so,, let's, give, us, a, crash, course, on memory. Let's, do, it., It's, not, true, that, you can't remember names. Your brain has 86 billion brain cells, right? And neurons. And each one has a upwards of 10,000 synapses. So if you extrapolate that that's more connections than there are stars in the known universe, right? We could remember a name. Let's say um you're bad at names, but Tommy has a a suitcase for you uh filled with cash for you or your favorite charity. Let's say it's a million dollars uh taxfree. If you just remember the name of the next stranger you meet today, who's going to remember that person's name for a million dollars?

8:31 Everyone. Everyone,, right?, Why, do, you, want, to remember this person's name? Maybe to get a referral, maybe to make a sale maybe to practice these things I learned on Tommy's podcast. Reasons reap results. It has to go from your head to your heart, your hands. So very simple thing you know dozen different ways strategically on how to remember names. It could be something simple like the word suave and I again I'm using acronyms cuz some people might be driving you can't take notes so it's the easy way to remember it. S say the name.

9:02 You meet somebody you repeat the name right away. And it also helps because it means you heard it right. You don't want to have a 20-minute conversation with Ted and say goodbye Ed, right? Just cuz you didn't hear the name correctly. the U in swab, you use a name. Use it three or four times in the context of the conversation. And I think I do this just naturally. You know, I've addressed you by name, you know, a handful of times. But um yeah, so you say the name, you and Suab, you use the name. Don't abuse it, right? You don't Tommy, thank you so much for having me on your show. I've been really looking for this. Tommy Tommy, what do you want to talk about?

9:38 Tommy, what do you question? That would be an abuse, right? But you want to use it three or four times in the context of the conversation. The A in suave, the A is ask. This is a great quick tip to uh remember names you haven't heard before like unusual names Riger. So, what can you ask about a person's, name?, What, are, some, of the things that we could ask? You know things like how do you spell it? What does it mean? You know, who are you named after? And so, A is ask. And then finally, the V and the E. So, you have say it, use it, ask about it. The B visualize.

10:14 And I bet a lot of your listeners are better with faces than they are with names. If you go to someone and say, "Hey, you know, I remember your face, but I forgot your name." You never go to someone and say the opposite. So you meet somebody and their name is Carol. Just for a split second, imagine them singing Christmas carols. Then finally, the Ian Suave end. I always always end a conversation saying goodbye using their name. Cuz imagine this, you walk into a room, you meet 15, 20 strangers, and you leave saying goodbye to every single one of them by name. Who are they all going to remember? They're going to remember you, right? And that's a standout skill.

10:57 Unfortunately, it's a standout skill. You, know,, I, I, got, a, question., Um,, I remember 2007, my CPA he wasn't my CPA. He only worked with 10 clients and they were like, I guess 2007, I'm 23, 24 years old. And he said "Look, Tommy, I'll tell you what, I like you, but you got to prove to me one thing." He hands me this book. It's called The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber. And he says, I want you to take this home and read it. He goes "Actually, what's the last book you read?" And I said, "It was either To Kill a Mockingbird or Lord of the Flies." And it was 11th grade. So he said, "So you haven't read since then?"

11:38 I said "I've read. I just not read a book." And he said, "I think you'll like this book." So I devoured this book. A day later, he hands me The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chad Holmes. A day later, I come back, he hands me uh The Richest Man in Babylon. And after that I was done. I was done. I'm like, boom. Then I was like just give me a list now. Don't hand me anymore. And then I read you know Robert well you know Robert Chadiniti was just in my office influence and I started reading books like Robert Kiasaki. Uh but so many people they haven't found a love for knowledge and a thirst for knowledge or enjoy reading. So how do you build the thirst that that my buddy helped me so many years ago? Number one read until you find something you love right? You read something you love until you love read reading. Uh this the second thing I would say is like I really think we have all of us should be

12:37 reading 30 minutes a day. I honestly would rather go a day without food than a day without reading something that that will better some area of my life. Let's say you want to read 30 minutes a day., You, have, purpose., you, know how, it's going to add your income and help you create your dream life, whatever. This like maybe reading is too big and intimidating. Opening up the book is a small simple step. Reading one line is a small simple step because nobody's going to stop at one line. This is the magic question I ask myself this anytime I feel stalled. Um what is the tiniest action I could take right now that will give me progress towards this goal where I can't fail? Now I would love to know to you what's the difference between motivation and discipline.

13:22 So, for, me, I, think, one, of the, most important things if I can install something into my younger self I feel like the through line is our ability to commit to to follow through on our commitments. Um I believe that that's what integrity is like. Integrity I saw this recently so I can't take credit. I don't know who to attribute it to, but I saw this quote saying integrity is measured by the distance between your lips and your life. Integrity is measured between the distance between your lips and your life. And I believe for me, discipline is doing the things you know you should do, right? You take your, as Tony Robbins talks about, you take your shoulds, you turn them into must, and you know, those are your your standards.

14:08 and keeping our commitment to oursel when we say we're going to do something like we're going to work out and we stick to it. I feel like that's how we build self-worth, a level of self-esteem because there's I don't know anything more important than keeping your commitments to yourself that you trust yourself that you follow through. Change can be scary. Growth can be hard but nothing is as scary and hard as being stuck somewhere you don't belong. Right? Being broke is hard and going out there and building a business is hard. Right?

14:42 And you heard this. It's it's like so in the zeitgeist that we sometimes just you know, we don't we're deaf to it, but you know, we choose our heart

14:52 right?, Uh, breakup, is, hard. Choose, your, heart. Yeah. It's, hard, to, be, single., It's, hard, to, be married. Choose your heart.

14:59 Yeah., And, it's, hard, to, be, sick, and, it's hard, you know, to be able to work out and eat, right, and be disciplined like that. But we choose our heart, you know every single day.

15:08 I'll, tell, you, what, I, believe, is, the, most important thing in life is that sleep. Because if you're not sleeping, you you're not fully aware. Your brain's not working correct. It's it's weird that I said that, but it's been an obsession of mine these last couple years.

15:20 So, good, for, your, brain,, right?, When, you I mean, just think about it. When you get one bad night's sleep, how's your focus the next day? How's your ability to study? What's your mental fortitude like? Your ability to make good decisions? Your ability to remember things? When when you sleep, a couple few things happen for your brain. Number one, you consolidate short to long-term memory. And so if you have long-term memory issues, check your sleep. And I'll tell you, like people think your brain shuts off at night. It doesn't. In some ways, your brain is more active when you sleep. And it's doing those things, cleaning it out. It's, you know forming uh long-term memories, but it's also coming up with ideas and solutions for what you focused on that day. You know, even I do a ritual before I go to sleep and I do this installation. I think about like, you know, set the intention of what I want to dream about.

16:08 Did you know like Mary Shelley came up with Frankenstein in her dream? Paul McCartney came up with the song Yesterday in his dream. A chemist created the periodic table in his dream. Elias How created the sewing machine in his dream. Right? There's all these examples. Um, if you want to watch an interesting video, you can search my name, uh, Jim Quick, KW IK, how to remember dreams, because a lot of people forget their dreams. Um, but what are you dreaming about at night? That could be a solution to what you're focusing on all day. Um, but that requires though that you sleep.

16:41 Oh, my, gosh,, I, love, this, podcast., Um,, so tell me about some of your projects.

16:47 Well,, I, do, Angel,, you, know., Um,, I, do, it in projects and passions that are aligned with what what we do that if I feel like it's not dependent on me, but I can move the needle either with our content, our capital, our connections or you know we can amplify and magnify. Um but I would put it back into we get greater returns investing in our business than anything else. So the book Limitless came out in 2020. It was my first book. People think I have like 12 books, right? Um I got into a car accident in uh, 2018 and and I almost died and maybe I should have. Um but it gave me some perspective and the next day I signed the book deal that was sitting on my desk for 10 years. Um because like I want to help people Tommy, but I don't I'm kind of very introverted. Maybe just kind of growing up with a brain injury and just kind of being just kind of alone. Um, but I want to help people. So I but I need to be

17:52 known for it. But I realized that when I was in this car accident and almost died, I was thinking about what I leave behind. And it made me think about, you know, legacy, which is kind of an overused word, but I I signed the book deal the next day. And, you know, I I really feel that passion for everyone listening, for me functionally, it's what lights you up. Teaching people how to learn lights them up. So that's that's my purpose. Um, so I just very cognizant in terms of yeah, I would put every everything back into the mission.

18:25 Mr. Jim Quick, this is phenomenal. And I'm going to listen to this one over and over again. I always tell people if you look at your inner circle and you don't get motivated, it's a cage. And I do believe getting into the right rooms is kind of been my superpower is for some reason somebody asked me earlier, they said, "How do you do it? How do you get in the right rooms?" And I said, "You show respect. You study the person. When they tell you to do something, you do it before you go back to them. You, you know, if they're going to teach you something and take the time, they like to work with people that pay it forward too. That recognize them on a stage and say, "This person brought me this." And um that's one of the things I pride myself on is I I like to be It's not hard for me to be the dumbest guy in the room, by the way. But um but I love to get in new rooms because I like to go to

19:10 the base camp of that mountain and say "How do you get to the top the quickest?" And then they tell me and like with you, I'm sure I'm gonna be reaching out to you shortly because this is this is the first time in my life I have more books on my shelf than I've read. And it's kind of embarrassing, but people send me books. I just ordered 14 books yesterday. So now I've got to like I got to dive in and go hardcore again. So this has been amazing. very simple things people could do even if people go to my Instagram um on the profile the link there's a master class for free uh that people get to a one hour and everyone will double their reading speed with better comprehension just going through it and uh they can find it uh you know on the link in my uh in my bio yeah but um and Tom I want to thank you for the for the good work you know I know we've met in the past and I'm looking forward to being at an event and

20:02 being a you cuz if I'm at event with you, I know I'll be in the break room. Well,, Jim,, I'm, going, to, go, take, that master class today and applying it right away. So, I appreciate your time today.

20:14 Thank, you, also, for, everyone, who's listening still cuz if you are you self- selected, that you're you're is part of that group that follows through. And I want to remind you that there's a version of yourself and your business that's patiently waiting. And the goal is we show up every single day until October introduced. So, it's great to be on this journey with all of you.

20:34 Thanks,, brother., Appreciate, you., All right, guys. Thanks so much for listening to this episode. Like always we're going to close it out with the Tommy truth, which is a little slice of wisdom from me to you that can help guide you in whatever you're striving towards right now. You don't need a million- dollar idea. You just need a million-dollar habit. I've been around a lot of people with 500 million to over a billion dollars of net worth. People with six-packs, people that are spiritual, people that have the best relationships with their wife and kids.

21:00 They all have million-dollar habits. What's a million dollar habit? It's studying. It's being curious. It's implementing quickly. So, focus on habits that'll make you money over time. That'll make you a better husband or wife. That'll make you a better father or mother. Focus on things that's great for you. That'll make you healthier. That'll make you happier. The best one to start with is a sleeping habit. I thought I was amazing. I was getting 5 hours of sleep. And I was saying, man big mistake. I get 8 hours of sleep now.

21:22 I'm happier. I make better decisions. I can work out harder. I eat better. I'm just a better person for everybody around me. Build these small little habits. Let them compound. and watch what happens in your life. And that's it, guys. We'll talk to you next week.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "The Genius Shortcut: How to Hack Focus, Memory, and Brainpower with Jim Kwik"?

Tommy Mello (Host), Jim Kwik (Guest).

What is "The Genius Shortcut: How to Hack Focus, Memory, and Brainpower with Jim Kwik" about?

Jim Kwik, a renowned brain coach and founder of Quick Learning, specializes in techniques to enhance focus, memory, and mental performance, making accelerated learning accessible to everyone. His work, which has benefited top performers and organizations like Virgin and SpaceX, emphasizes that intelligence can be trained and expanded, empowering individuals to surpass their perceived limitations.

What is mentioned in this Tommy Mello episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Limitless, The e- Myth Revisited, The Ultimate Sales Machine, The Richest Man in Babylon, Harvard University, Zappos. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Genius Shortcut: How to Hack Focus, Memory, and Brainpower with Jim Kwik"?

The episode runs 22 min; the transcript is about 4,148 words in 41 timestamped sections.

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