SHAWN STEVENSON: There are a few things in our lives that we would accept artificial versions of. We don't want artificial ingredients. We don't want artificial relationships. We don't want artificial levels of success, but there is something artificial that has integrated itself into our worlds so quickly, and we've been so quick to accept.

I'm thinking that we might wanna put up just a little bit of a yellow light with all of this, and I'm talking about, of course, artificial intelligence. Now, here's the rub. We see some phenomenal benefits and applications with AI. Absolutely. Absolutely. There's really limitless possibilities, but it's simply asking the questions, are we dealing with a potential Jarvis or a potential Ultron?

To reference a Marvel superhero l- outlook of this whole situation. Today's episode is incredibly important and incredibly powerful because with the rise of artificial intelligence being integrated into our lives, we're seeing some very, very prominent red flags, and again, at the same time, we're seeing some very, very powerful opportunities.

And so being aware of those red flags are incredibly important when it comes specifically to your brain. What's happening right now, and we have strong data affirming this already, is that we are unknowingly outsourcing our cognitive capacity. And so we're experiencing something known as cognitive surrender with our growing use of artificial intelligence.

And this is placed on top of a society that is already, for lack of a better term, been dumbed down due to our relationships with technology, namely, things like social media and this kind of scrolling paradigm where our attention spans and our cognitive capacities have been robbed due to these interactions as well, and we're seeing this especially with children.

Now, this again is not to negate the value potential with artificial intelligence, but we need to do this with intelligence. And so we have the most incredible expert to help us to understand this, and today you're gonna learn about this cognitive surrender and its real impacts, but also how AI used in a specific way that he's going to share with you can actually increase your ability to learn and to learn quickly.

But again, it's doing things in a certain way. You're also going to discover the mind-blowing ways that what you do first thing in the morning in what's known as your sleep inertia phase impacts your entire day. So there's this, again, this is a scientifically validated window of cognitive change, this cognitive cascade, where what you do in this time impacts the rest of your day, how you respond to things, your creativity, the list goes on and on.

You wanna leverage this for your success. And also, speaking of success, you're gonna learn how you can train your brain daily 365, 366 days on a leap year, every single day to train your brain for greater success. And I'm already doing this. I'm already taking part in what he's going to share with you today, and it's been amazing.

It changed my life today. It changed my life today and what I'm going to be doing even this evening before I go to bed. Truly powerful stuff, and there are very few people on the planet that can deliver it like this, and we've got the legend Jim Kwik here for you today. Now, when Jim came in, as we always do, we had a special little gift bag for Jim that my wife often helps to put together.

And recently, I did an interview on Jim's show, and I talked about this experience that I had with a praying mantis and what a praying mantis symbolizes and how it just was in alignment and affirmation for me in my life at that time, which I share with him again. This was a while ago. But I go to my mailbox, and I end up getting this beautiful...

It looked like it was like hand-painted mug with this praying mantis, and it was such a thoughtful gift. But inspired by that, we got Jim this very, very beautiful mug and something very beautiful to put into the mug, which was Sun Goddess Matcha Tea. And when he looked into the bag, he's like, "Oh my God, I actually have this all the time.

This is incredible." He's like, "I didn't bring it with me. I usually even travel with my matcha," and he didn't have it with him, and it was just like this was meant to be. And I was so grateful. I just had a feeling about the matcha being of resonance for him because he's so about the brain and cognitive performance.

And if you didn't know already, matcha has one of the densest sources of L-theanine of anything ever discovered, and L-theanine is affirmed, and this was published in the journal Brain Topography, that it actually increases our alpha brainwaves These alpha waves indicate reduced stress, enhanced focus, and even increased creativity.

Again, we need more of that today than ever before. So I could see why he loves it. But the key is the quality. There's all kinds of matcha out here on the streets, but the very best matcha is Sun Goddess Matcha Green Tea from Pique Life. Go to piquelife.com/model and you're going to get up to 20% off, plus a free starter kit that can include things like a frother.

All right. We've got our brother from Pique right here in my studio as well. It's one of my favorite things for making beverages. And again, that's piquelife.com/model to take advantage. That's P-I-Q-U-E-L-I-F-E.com/model to take advantage. Their Sun Goddess is shaded 35% longer for extra L-theanine. It's crafted by a Japanese tea master, and it's the first matcha that's quadruple toxin screened for purity.

Again, the very best matcha that you're going to find. Head over to piquelife.com/model to take advantage. And now let's get to our special guest and topic of the day. Jim Kwik is an internationally acclaimed authority in the realm of brain optimization, memory improvement, and accelerated learning. With over 30 years of experience, Jim has dedicated his life to helping people to tap into their brain's full potential.

From students and tech mavens to CEOs, Hollywood celebrities, and professional athletes, Jim's teachings resonate with a diverse audience. Industry giants like Google, Nike, SpaceX, along with institutions like Harvard and the United Nations have embraced his methodologies. His collaborations with these entities such as the US Air Force and the Cleveland Clinic further highlight the extensive scope of his influence.

And he's here today to help you to avoid cognitive surrender and to create a truly limitless brain. Let's dive in this conversation with the amazing Jim Kwik.

As I mentioned, we should have put rose petals for your pathway as you came into the studio today. My friend, the legend Jim Kwik, it's so good to see you, man.

JIM KWIK: Shawn Stevenson, it's good to be back.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Of course. Of course. Listen, when I'm concerned about stuff, especially when it has to do with human potential and the brain, I seek you out and I seek out your counsel. We're in the age of AI. It's our, it's kicked off in a big way very quickly. Mm-hmm. And I have some concerns, and I think that would be crazy not to.

And we're seeing some trends already in cognition, especially for kids With the influence of AI and kind of devolving some of our capacities. But with that said, there's so much value potential there as well, coupled or partnering, partnering with AI.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So I wanna ask you about your experience, your insights when it has to do with this concept that you talk about called cognitive surrender.

Yeah. So what is that? Tell us about it.

JIM KWIK: Yeah, so we're hearing a lot about the term cognitive offloading You know, and we've been doing it for a while, right? We use calculators, right? We use GPS, we use a calendar, the digital calendar. We're offloading, which is makes our life a little bit more convenient.

Cognitive surrendering is a challenge because, we, you and I have talked about this, your brain's an or-an organ, but it acts like a muscle. It's use it or lose it. And, y-we-- our brains grow through, through e-effort, right? Just like our muscles.

But I feel like with AI, it's removing a lot of the friction, and that's a challenge. It's meant in order for us to grow, to-- we have to do those reps because ultimately, I think a human being, our superpower is our ability to adapt. But if we're not giving it some kind of stress or if we're not doing the effort, it's like going to the gym and asking your friends to lift the weights for you, right?

I mean, how much benefit are we gonna get out of that situation? And so, yeah, I mean, there's the MIT study that people talked about where they had groups of students, A, B, and C, and they had to write essays. And group A used ChatGPT, group B used Google. I'm simplifying this. Group C used neither.

And then they scanned their brains to see how active they were, cognitively. And obviously group A didn't use a lot of effort, so they weren't as engaged. But where it really showed up was the test, the assessment afterwards, how much they actually remembered. And group A had very little recall because they didn't do the work, as opposed to group C, who had the most cognitive engagement, the most retention because they did the work, right?

I mean, it's equivalent of we were talking about superheroes before this. I-imagine we're watching our next Marvel, DC, and there's some exoskeleton that costs multi-millions of dollars, and it, just, super, super strong, like the Hulkbuster or something. But then, Dr. Banner, let's say he's in it, he doesn't have to build his muscles because, technology's doing the lifting for you.

I think that's the challenge. I mean, imagine if there's this men- cognitively surrendering, and then we're not exercising our critical thinking, our judgment, our ability to make, s- good decisions. I think it's actually worse than people think. I think at scale, imagine a society that doesn't know how to think anymore.

How easy it would be able to manipulate. They weren't-- people who can't critically think, who just accept information from authority, people who have agendas, marketing, media, because we have no ability. And then even also if we-- even if we're, even forget the manipulation potentially where we're more, more su- susceptible for-- to that.

It's also the, I think, if everyone's thinking the same way, then everything even people use for AI is gonna be derivative. It's gonna be so generic because it's like AI can amplify and it can scale something, but it can only scale and amplify what humans bring to it, right? If somebody is chaotic or unclear, it's gonna, or confused, it's gonna amplify and magnify that.

But if someone's competent, they have clarity, it'll amplify that. But it's ultimately the human being, right? Somebody could use AI 'cause AI is no longer a, a competitive advantage 'cause everybody has access to it. It's like information. It's not a competitive advantage because everybody has, access to it.

But I think that the challenge is AI can compute a lot of information faster than humans, but then ultimately human beings have to decide what's important what things mean, what to do with all this information also as well. And so, I always say you have to build-- You wanna build your intelligence before you borrow Right?

And before you have to do the... Just like technology, we've talked about this before, when I was talking about Limitless and the four horsemen of the mentalpocalypse, digital deluge, which is the overload, digital distraction with, digital dementia, right? Right. Technology remembering your to-dos, your calendars, your grocery list, your phone numbers.

I t- I coined something in Limitless in 2020 called digital deduction, which is exactly what we're experiencing now, the high reliance on technology to think for us so we don't have to think for ourselves. And, if you put your arm in a cast for a year, it wouldn't grow stronger, wouldn't stay the same.

It would do an atrophy. And that, that's the big concern is we don't want AI, we don't want our natural intelligence to be ar- artificial.

You know what I mean?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Man, I have so much to say already. Just thinking about, and I didn't really until you just said it, the potential here with AI creating a culture to where we're unthinking in the same way-

JIM KWIK: Yeah

SHAWN STEVENSON: and we start to be more like factory-made humans, basically, and losing out on that diversity that makes us so human.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: That's kinda scary.

JIM KWIK: And then that's why, and then my optimistic view I really hope this, and I'll put it out there 'cause I'm on a mission for this. I think human intelligence is more important than artificial intelligence.

I feel that, it's one of those things where in order to be valuable in the workplace, then we're gonna have to lean more into what makes us human. I th- I think one of the most important conversations of our time is how do we remain deeply human in a world, in an age of AI, and then also there's an identity issue, right?

There, there's this barbell economy where on one side you have, where AI's not gonna affect it so much. There's more weight there. There, there's HVAC, there's massage therapists, there's hairstylists. There are people doing labor that maybe AI is not capable of doing right now.

And on the other side you have a certain level of leadership. But in the middle a, a coder, a radiologist the human eye, I mean, it's almost, I think, almost clear to perfect what a real, what AI could do. What A- what a human eye can't pick up. It's like a thousandfold.

What happens to, we, you and I were talking about writing, right? Or Hollywood or, or legal, or law. I mean, graphic artists. I mean, what happens when you spent all these years studying and mastering your craft and your career, and all of a sudden a piece of technology could do that job in s- some ways faster and better than...

As, as an identity crisis who are you? 'Cause so many people identify with I am my profession. So I think there's gonna be some real challenges there from a mental health kind of standpoint.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah, and you've already said it, it's leaning into being more human than we've ever been before.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And, I, again, all of this stuff it's not even to come.

It's already happening.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And, something really interesting about this is this phenomenon when we talk about, for example, the writing process.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right? There's a lot and there's- it's a derogatory term. No disrespect to the AIs out there, but they, the AI slop

JIM KWIK: They are listening The

SHAWN STEVENSON: AI slop, of course.

No disrespect from my end, but AI slop and just like creating books and things like that- Yeah ... and just like flooding the marketplace with these things that are just, some prompts.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: But real, even with medicine it's a science and an art as well. Yeah. And the same thing when it comes to- Mm-hmm

the writing process. And for us as authors, and people who aspire to create from our c- from our imagination and from our experience, it's not simply because we can use prompts and create something in my voice, right?

JIM KWIK: Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: But it's who I become in the process.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And that's what I really got from one of the strongest things that I just picked up from you is, it's these skills.

Like we're not just, again, the factory settings don't come with like I'm exceptional communicator. Right. Like these are skills that we develop. So it's who I become in the process of writing that book that makes it so special and makes it so sticky.

JIM KWIK: Special for yourself because it's, as a writer it d- it's way of shaping your thoughts.

Like writing, and throughout just, I just wanna commentate on this, like throughout history technology has affected how we think, right? From, I don't know, as early back as 300,000 BC to 3000 BC. From there, people would, there, there were words and, we would tell stories, and then there we started to write and that changed things, right?

And people, even at the time when writing came out, there's always friction, right? It's something that's, you're taking your thoughts and putting them outside of you for the first time, and then the printing press where you could share that, those ideas more on scales, and the building of libraries, all the way to the internet or, the GPS, but, if you're t- using a device to tell you when and where to turn, then you never have to develop your visual spatial intelligence. I mean, think about a hunter gatherer knowing where everything is, and so that, you don't want that to atrophy also as well. I also think that, y- as you're writing, part of that's experience for you in terms of who you become, as you mentioned, but it's also a different experience for the readers because they're identifying with your personal, your mistakes, your lessons, your experiences, your reflections, 'cause that's where wisdom comes from.

In- information is cheap, right? It's everywhere. But it's the integration and the reflection on that information that builds wisdom, and I feel like artificial intelligence, just like you were talking about doctors, like there's a science and an art to it, right? There's, AI doesn't have a bedside manner. It could feign empathy, but AI doesn't know what it's like to con- console a, a grieving child.

It doesn't know what it is like to need to ask for forgiveness. It doesn't know what heartbreak feels like. It could feign it, synthetically, artificially, and and it-- and some people relate to it and, it's scary how many people are actually building, quote-unquote, relationships or friendships with AI 'cause they feel like the first time they feel seen or understood.

But also, this is where critical thinking is very important- Right ... because you know a lot of AI, when you put it in there it's placating. It's almost a sycophant giving you what you want to hear also as well. So there are other ways of using AI more, even more whole to, to sh-show your cognitive biases to stress test your ideas, to be able to see your blind spots, to challenge you in a way as opposed to just give you what you want to hear, which could be a challenge also as well.

But yeah, human beings, I feel like I-- in order to be valuable in society, we're gonna have to lean into becoming more human. Our curiosity, our playfulness, our resilience, through difficult times our antifragility, our cognitive flexibility, our ability to adapt our own creativity, our own imagination, our own purpose, our own finding a sense of meaning in things.

'Cause again, AI could put out information, but it doesn't know what things mean, right? It hasn't had a human... It hasn't had an experience, of what we go through in, in, in our lives.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. So with this, again, this is a big takeaway from today is this cognitive surrender.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And this...

It's not a concept, it's a reality. And to be very wary and very cautious about surrendering our capacity to learn and to really develop our brains because what I'm seeing and what I'm really hearing and affirmed talking to you today is we are experiencing c- a culture right now where we can send a prompt to AI to generate whatever it is that we want If we wanna do this in a more efficacious way, we don't just merely want to prompt AI.

Right. We want the AI to prompt us as well and make it more of a co-learning-

JIM KWIK: Yeah ...

SHAWN STEVENSON: situation, right? So it's not just feeding prompts, it's like getting those prompts and then us doing the work-

JIM KWIK: Yeah ...

SHAWN STEVENSON: and taking action to really imbibe these things that we could just be outsourcing, but really developing these mental muscles.

JIM KWIK: I think, still think, taking the stairs is valuable even though we have technology like an elevator to take us up to the 11th floor, right? It's very convenient if your apartment or office is on the 11th floor. The, the elevator is a form of technology like AI is, but then we don't take the stairs, right?

You drive 10 blocks to, to run an errand when you could've walked it. You don't get your steps in. So there's always a, there's always some kind of trade-off, right? It's like that movie WALL-E, right? I don't know if you saw it recently, but it's like in the future where all the humans are just, they're overweight, they're very unhealthy, they're in their little pods that move them around like this.

There's incidents where one of them falls off, and they had to have five robots pick them up to put them back into there, and they had their screens right in front of them and their big sodas right here, and the marketing everywhere. I mean, that, that's a scary, that, that's a scary dystopian future, where people are just, they're offloading to technology physically, and so we make that choice all the time. But just how, when we talk about fitness, like you wanna go through life, you have to earn it, right? That's the whole thing. You want f- you want strength? You have to use your strength. You want energy? You have to use your energy.

You want focus? You have to use your focus and exercise. You want a greater memory? You have to use your memory on a regular basis, but without challenge, there's no change, and that's really the, the key is just like those, those mental muscles, getting those reps in. So for me, like before I go to AI and I use AI every day, right?

And my, our team does also as well, our clients. I always t- I me- I said this phrase, "Build before you borrow intelligence, build your own." So I of course have an acronym for this that I use. I don't, it's not in the book, in the new book, but it's something that I always use before, and I do this because it's Well, let's go through a BUILD.

The B is, let's say I'm in a situation right now, and I'm, I want you-- Let's-- Actually, if you're watching this right now, and you're listening, and you-- for the next thing you go to AI to answer an easy, question where you don't have to do any lifting, you just have to copy and paste, I would challenge you to do this instead.

The B in, in, in BUILD your intelligence is is brainstorm. Brainstorm yourself. Have your own s- your own original thoughts, right? And think about what you f- think and feel about your assumptions and your attitudes about this situation. The U is I would understand what the problem really is, because it's...

it was-- It's a, it's attributed to Einstein. Who knows, what's-- if it's true or not. But they said, if he had one hour to solve a problem, he would spend most of that hour really defining what that problem is, right? 'Cause often the problem is not the problem. A problem is, like, how we look at the problem, right?

So really understand, have meaning and ask why things. The, the I in BUILD is let's use our imagination, right? Einstein also said imagination is more powerful than knowledge, and this is a wonderful I- opportunity to do thought experiments. Before you go to outside technology, use your own technology, this three-pound matter between our ears, and ask questions like, "How would a five-year-old look at this problem?"

Right? 'Cause they-- children will often see in a creativity test, will come up with m-many more solutions than adults 'cause they don't have the same limitations. How would somebody 10 times smarter than me approach this problem, right? And then all of a sudden you ask a new question and you get new answers.

Or how would Da Vinci look at this problem? Or what would my future self want me to do in this situation, right? So you could use your imagination. And then the L in build, then leverage AI. But don't use-- don't just put in a prompt as a question. And you ask a bad question, you're gonna get a bad answer for sure.

Just like the internal prompts like we talked about in a previous episode about limit- in Limitless about your dominant question. If you're prompting your brain, your technology, your human intelligence, "Oh, why can't I ever lose weight?" Oh, here are all the reasons why. Da. Or, "Why am I not enough?"

Or, "Why can't I be loved?" Or, "Why can't I ever make any money?" Da da. And so those are not valuable prompts. So I feel like we've been prompting our whole life, right? I mean, the most important conversation we're ever gonna have is the longest conversation we've ever had, which is to ourself.

Before you talk to your spouse or your kids, your clients, your employees, whatever, like you've been talking to yourself, and I feel like we're always asking ourselves these questions. So I think that awareness is so very important. So before you leverage AI, I would be asking questions. I mean, y- me-- as you're leveraging AI, I would say, like the questions I mentioned before "What am I not seeing here?

What could go wrong?" So it's not, so it's not just a sycophant and placating, giving, making you, "Oh, wow, you're so smart, Jim," and making you feel good about it, because some of this might be misinformation, right? And that's the chal- one of the challenges of AI too, if we're not using our critical thinking.

So it's like, hey, stress test us this idea. How can we make it better? So I like what you said about co-learning because for me, it's not artificial intelligence, it's augmented intelligence. It's a partner. It could be a creative partner. It could say "Hey, this is, these are my ideas."

Let's say you and I have podcasts and let's say you're interviewing somebody, brand new. It-- and maybe you didn't get the book in time. It could summarize a book or give you some key points. You could ask it. But before going there, I would be like brainstorming your own questions, right?

One of the most important things in memory training is retrieval practice. Like instead of rereading something, like rereading something again, right, something twice and just recognizing things, this is pulling out what you got out the first time to see if it's really there. Because remember, like It's just like your muscles, it's use it or lose it.

The reason why there's a forgetting curve, meaning you lose 80% of something you hear or read or go to a lecture before, is part of it is 'cause we're not using that material, meaning you know your brain it's always deleting, it's distorting, it's pruning whatever's not important to it. And so if you hear it once but you're not using it, must not be important, and then it's gone, right?

And that's a lot, with with AI where we don't have to build those muscles. We're not doing the retrieval. We're not doing the thinking. So, let's say you have this guest, you could brainstorm your own things. You could ask the meaning of what truly would make a great episode here, right?

And come up with your own ideas. Use your imagination. Come up with cr- creative questions. Then you go to AI and say "Hey, what are some questions that my audience would be interested in that I haven't thought of yet," right? And then you could use it. And you won't have to use them verbatim, but it gives you some kind of baseline and a little creative partner.

And then finally, the D in build, is the, is then you decide what to do, right? Again, 'cause AI will put out all this information, but again, y- humans have to use their human intelligence to decide what, what's meaningful here, what's important here, what should I do with this, all this information?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. So good, man. Thank you. That's a great I think we should have a course. Yeah. Some kind of guidance before you even start to dib- dibble dabble, because it's so seductive- Yeah ... to start to outsource all these capacities.

JIM KWIK: And I think that whole thing I just even said, even if it's five or five or seven minutes of just before you go to AI, just use your own intelligence and just warm it up, right?

Don't let it, don't let it atrophy and go to waste, because over, over time I think there's a big consequence of not being able to do these things. To l- You lose your sense of judgment, you lose your, your sense of y- your better thinking and everything else.

And that would be sad. So I feel like we only, we could ... And also I think we appreciate what we work for, besides all the benefits. Yeah. So just as you are physically active, my goal is for people to be mentally fit also. Exactly. And don't let AI lift the weights for you.

And 'cause that's the thing, just having a weight doesn't, in your home doesn't make you stronger, right? You have to lift it. And if somebody else is doing the lifting, then you get no, no reward. Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: I love this, man. I s- I said this already that right now, more than ever, these daily practices- Yeah

of training our brains to, yes to maintain and even build these capacities, but AI is not going anywhere. It's integrating into our lives- rapidly, and it's not slowing down anytime soon. No. And that's, it is what it is, that's okay. It's our job to, again, be more human than we've ever been, and you coming at this exact moment with the framework that you're coming with is not an accident.

Sure. I believe that life finds a way, and if we take advantage of this truly, like ... So your massive New York Times bestseller, Limitless- ... made a huge impact, right? It's hard to go places and not find this book or i- people who've been influenced by it. The rub is it can be a one-time thing.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: What about that daily practice? What about the daily- Yeah ... flossing our teeth or y- but the mental floss. Yeah. What about that daily activity, not for our bodies, but for our brains?

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And now we have Limitless Daily.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So talk about the inspiration behind Limitless Daily and also why daily?

JIM KWIK: So I wrote Limitless, and it's complete for me. It's like an owner's manual for your brain, for your own technology, 'cause your brain is your number one wealth-building asset. In photos, I'm always pointing to the brain or wearing shirts with my, with a brain on it to, because what you see, you take care of, 'cause it's your inner awareness, right?

But we don't take care of what takes care of us, and so we need to love our brain more for sure. The, one of the challenges is you're right, things-- you don't have success or certainly long-term success and fulfillment by just these occasional bursts of effort. You don't floss your teeth for three hours and then you're good for the next decade, right?

You don't need you don't have one great conversation with somebody, and then you have a stellar relationship, forever. You don't go to the gym for two days for a whole weekend, eight hours a day, and then you're fit for the whole year, right? That's not how things work.

It's the consistency that compounds, and I think people underestimate. I think honestly they overestimate sometimes what they can do in a day, but they underestimate what could happen over a course of a year, right? In Atomic Habits when we had James Clear on when Atomic Habits first came out on our podcast, he was saying that if you just improve 1% a day over the course of a year, how much better are you at something, right?

And some people say, "Well, maybe you're 1% twice as good, five times as good, ten times as good." It's 30 times, 30 times, 37 times, 37x, better, just 1%. So consistency compounds. The challenge is that we don't have a daily practice for doing these things. We have a, hopefully we have a practice where we're, like, where we're eating and where we're exercising, but a mental practice to upgrade that operating system.

We upgrade our phones. We upgrade the apps. We upgrade to the latest AI, you know, platform, always the newest version. But we don't always-- We don't take care of time to upgrade this technology. And so Limitless Daily was meant to answer the questions like people saying, "Limitless, wow, 400 pages.

This is focus and flow and speed-reading and memory enhancement, learn languages and, sleep and mem-memory, all this stuff. But how can I live this every day," and so I wrote this book, and it's actually, it wasn't intended to be a book. My I write every morning. I think in the beginning of the, the morning you want, you wanna...

It's always, for me, it's always been mind before media, right? Set your intention before interruption. Set your direction of your day before distraction, and everything else that's going on in life. So I write every morning and, for as long as I can remember. I'll write gratitude. I write my goals today.

I'll write things that I was dreaming about or thinking about. Well, I'm 53. Leo also. Leo, the cusp. That's right. Leo. And I have a, a one and a half and a three and a half year old son and one and a half-year-old daughter, as and when my daughter was born I was, She came a little bit early, and I was just really concerned, as, as a father would be.

And when I was looking at my wife that morning holding my daughter and then also my two-year-old son at the time, I started writing like I always do in the morning. And but instead of writing instead of writing like what I would normally write, I started writing to them, to my daughter.

'Cause I'm an older father. God willing, I'm gonna be here 20 years from now, but if I'm not, if she's an adult, my kids are adults, what would they need to hear from me if they woke up and had a, they knew they were gonna have a tough day, and I wasn't there to help guide them?

And I started writing to them about the things that I struggled with in the past or was currently or clients and students, and I started writing about things like fear of failure, and then the next day, I kept on writing about negative thoughts, and then the next day I started writing about distraction.

The next day I started writing about burnout. Then the next day I started writing about imposter syndrome. So I was like fear of success or procrastination. I just kept on writing about the things that hold us back, that create friction in our life. And then months go by and a, a friend of mine, very close friend who hosted our Limitless Live virtual has he's public about this has been diagnosed with stage four cancer.

And I gave him, the, my notes to help... 'Cause he, so much of healing and bouncing back and forward is mind, is you're getting your mind right, especially when you first wake up, right? And he gave me feedback on the book that, like, when he s- when he read that passage, it was exactly what he needed to hear that day, right?

And so I went back, wanting to reconcile how do you take Limitless and make it a daily practice, and it, and that doesn't take a lot of time, like five minutes or less, with some kind of new, you know, implementation. And I went back and I put research to science after, for every single idea.

So every single page has a date. So you go there and let's say it's August 14th, you go there, there's one new idea written in an inspiring way. And so it's the Limitless model, mindset, motivation, methods. When the... And when you integrate them, there's three Is. There's ideation inspiration, and implementation.

So every entry has a new idea

It's written in an inspiring way, has a science to back up this idea, and where Daily Stoic, which is a great book, pulls on stoicism, it's a daily book this pulls on the science of-- a science. It pulls on the science of the mind, which is psychology, or the science of the brain, which is neuroscience. And so I back it up.

Then I give them one implementation strategy called a quick start they can do in two minutes, so there's no friction. They get a nice dopamine hit there because we talked about this in a previous episode, right? You don't wait for motivation, then you act. You take a small step, then you earn your dopamine, which is a molecule of motivation, and then you're gonna follow through with the next action, and you build some momentum.

And then it has an identity statement, so it has ideation, inspiration, implementation, and a new identity, that you could adopt. 'Cause ultimately, I really think under stressful times, we don't rise to the level of our goals or aspirations. Under pressure, we fall to the level of our systems, our stories, our state, and our self-image, and it's really hard to outperform your self-image, right?

And by reading each morning, you also build this new identity where you are a reader. There, there was this Atlantic article that was everywhere about reading, right? And you and I know the power of reading, right? To, to your cognitive performance and health and how critical it is, for as a discipline of focus, of, gaining wisdom from other people who have gone through things, developing empathy, especially if you're reading fiction storytelling, all these great things, right?

Reading is to your mind what exercise is to your body. But this article stated that cross-gender, age, and ethnicity, that there are about s- only sixteen percent of people are reading daily. Not social media and emails, but just reading a book or a magazine, right? Fifty-one percent of individuals don't read one book a year, and I think that's tragic.

So with this, my secondary agenda for this is to get people reading first thing in the morning. And the reason why I say first thing in the morning, and here's a big takeaway from this conversation, whether people, get Limitless Daily or not when you first wake up. There's this transition phase called sleep inertia from when this you're in a sleep state to a waking state.

So everyone can imagine, when you woke up this morning, you're transitioning and certain things come online. Your awareness comes online, your cogni- conscious awareness, your alertness comes online, your attention comes online. Your-- we know your working memory, if you use an analogy, like a cup is empty 'cause you haven't filled it with all of the day's things.

And so it's not that you're more suggestible during this window. Sleep inertia is about fifteen to forty-five minutes. It depends on your circadian rhythm. It depends on the quality of your REM and your deep sleep. It depends on a number of different factors, right? But in that window, the mental inputs that you have during that timeframe when you first wake up has a disproportionate effect on the rest of your day, specifically in three areas, your focus.

So it's called attentional priming. So in the first thing in the morning, the first things are highly gonna influence what you see later that day, right? So it's gonna ef- it disproportionately affect your focus. It's gonna affect your mood or your feelings Right? We know that if in that first window, if you got some bad news because you picked up your phone and it from whatever client, it could put you in a mood, your feelings for hours, right?

Because think about when you wake up, it's like it's all white snow. All right? And there's no-- But later on, everybody has their tracks their tires, their footprints everywhere on this white snow. There's yellow snow. Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Somebody might have pissed in it.

JIM KWIK: Yeah. Or it's like a whiteboard.

So before everybody gets to put all their agendas and all their conversations and all their social media posts on your white, clear, clean whiteboard, this is an idea of directing your mind before you-- media. Nobody would invite in that window two hundred strangers to come into your bedroom first thing when you wake up to talk about whatever they happen to want to talk about that day.

That would be ludicrous, right? That's kind of what we do when we pick up our vi- our device. So, we've all-- we all know that we shouldn't be touching our devices first thing in the morning or late at night, right? But this is one of the reasons why. Now, n- so it affects your focus disproportionately, what you mentally input in that, during that sleep inertia time because you're intentionally priming and emotionally priming the feelings, but you're also the framing of the day, meaning you will frame conversations and conflict or situations differently based on what you primed your mind first thing in the morning.

Right? And if it's you're scrolling, then you're-- what do you gonna frame things on? Comparison. You're gonna be comparing yourself the rest of the day. Conflict or whatever you happen to be feeding your mind in that time. Now, what's a useful be- you know, like I-- so I ask people if they can read Limitless daily during that sleep inertia and intentionally prime around the direction of their day.

But some people could use it also very positively. They use prayer during that, their first moment. They talk to their loved one, during that time because then they're gonna f-focus more on that later on the day. They will do gratitude exercise first thing, in that, that window.

They will focus on their big goal that they want to achieve that day, and so, it's not just what I wanted to give people. Yes, this is like a five-minute coaching from Jim first thing in the morning, and it's about, talking with yourself and getting your mind right so you can win the rest of the day, right?

And so-- And it's a little upgrade every single day, like a one percent upgrade every single day that requires only five minutes. So my suggestion if people want to do this is to move your phone into your bathroom and replace it, because you can't just stop something at this-- you start something, you stop it.

And then you put the book there and the book stands out. It's purple. So there, there's li- like reasons why we made it purple, not for branding, for, but for becoming. There's yeah, so, it's interesting. I have 5,000 books on my shelves, and there's like no purple books.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Wow.

JIM KWIK: Yeah. So true ... but it's not meant to be a book that, see, you sit down, you read a book for a few days, and then put it back on the shelf.

That could be good, but this is a daily practice and a discipline every single day. And what I think people are gonna do is they're gonna get it, and then start talking and have conversations, over, over meals with their family about it, or their friends, 'cause everybody's gonna be reading the same passage every day, and I feel like we're ... My goal is after a year y- that you become unrecognizable, right? I think there's a person that you desire and deserve to be at, at the end of a year that's patiently waiting, and we show up every single day for five minutes, until we're introduced. So, but yeah.

And then it, for me, it feels different because I wrote it for my kids. I, this is as if I wasn't gonna be there. I want it to be like that authentic and that powerful because, because I love them more than, anything. So it's just, And then it has the science and some stories and everything in it.

And I feel like it's a great way to kinda get your mind right before everybody else tells you what to think and tells you what to do and everything else.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Man, it, the come from with this book is pretty apparent. And, as of this recording, so I got... I know the guy- Yeah. ... so I got early access to the book, and I've been going through each day.

Yeah. And today was really special because some of the stuff that you're saying started happening without me realizing it, which was a conversation. I ended up talking to Anne about the exercises that I did today based on- ... the prompting- Yeah ... that I got from you August 14th. I turned to the page, and today's mandate was move to motivate.

And you're pointing to this w- again, especially with social media, we see this and we get disoriented or, kinda disenchanted by, "Oh, these people are so motivated. I n- let me get some of this motivation."

And you're pointing to the fact that m- these successful people, the vast majority of the time, they're not waking up motivated.

JIM KWIK: No.

SHAWN STEVENSON: You're pointing to the fact that... And by the way, the word motivation you share in the book is from a Latin root word meaning to move, and that's the secret. If you want motivation, you start moving. Action creates dopamine, rewarding you for having acted and motivating you to do it again. And I actually use my journal based on this, which was not necessarily the intent- of this chapter, but I'm gonna share this with everybody. So you say that you can use the power of your mind and ability to imagine what's at stake to start that movement, whether it's reading, studying, or practicing a skill. Vividly imagine the benefits and consequences of doing or not doing something.

If you want to read every night, ask, and now you have these questions- ... to prompt yourself and ask. And funny enough, this was one of the things that I've been struggling with. I read to close out my day, to bookend my day for years.

Years and years. But the last couple of years have been a bit messy, yeah. And just finding and experimenting, trying out different things. And this is that one kind of lingering piece which is I'll occasionally read in the evening. And I want I deeply want that because of what I read today. And so the questions are, all right, so what will I gain from reading? And so I asked myself the question and I wrote it out.

I wrote it in my journal.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And some of those things would be, adding inputs to build my creativity and my intelligence. Also some of the... I'm gonna just wr- rattle off these questions. How will, what will I gain from reading? How will I feel after finishing? I'll feel accomplished. Yeah.

I feel like I really did something incredible for my brain and for my intelligence. How will this affect my relationships, wellbeing, career, health? Obviously, that bleeds over into all those things- ... and how I communicate. But also Oh, and another question, what new possibilities might this unlock for me?

Getting off of your screens or your television, your phone, and actually reading a physical book- Yeah ... is gonna help me to go into that parasympathetic. It's gonna help to improve my sleep quality. Yeah. It's just like stacking these conditions. And so writing it out like this was really helpful. But then you have the reverse.

The reverse is, what's the pain that's gonna come from not reading? What are the potential consequences from not following through? And so I was just getting really honest with myself. I'm robbing myself of these inputs to help to build my creativity or to express a different way. Mm-hmm. Or even the things that I'm gonna be dreaming about, or improving my sleep quality- Yeah

because of doing this versus the alternative. And so You share these questions, which is not every chapter's like this, but you give a quick step in every ch- not chapter, every day-

JIM KWIK: Yeah ...

SHAWN STEVENSON: every one of these days, which I'm gonna ask you about this in just a second. And so there's a quick step, and then there's an affirmation, and the affirmation for today was, "I don't want to wait for motivation.

I create my motivation. I am limitless."

And I wrote that in my journal as well. That was my affirmation. And so powerful.

JIM KWIK: Dude, this is the first by the way, this is the first... We just got these galleys, recent. The, this is the first time I've heard you should narrate our, the audiobook.

Yeah. You have that iconic voice. So yeah, anyone who wants to hear that you can vote for it on social media, but we haven't gone in studio to do an audiobook because I really want people to physically read- Yeah ... the book because there's something magic about not being on a device and there's something different than reading than it is listening.

I'm I listen to audiobooks also but yeah I feel like I'm re- I've been rereading it the past year and and it lands. It's nice to know first thing in the morning you're doing something good for yourself, especially first thing in the morning, 'cause people would know in that first few windows if they fed their mind.

It's just like we're... When people are going on their devices, and even some of the AI slop, you and I were talking about that, right? And the brain rot that comes along with a lot of the scrolling that people are doing. A lot of people just like when it comes to food they're overfed and undernourished because there are a lot of empty calories in the digital world, and I feel like if people woke up and they ate 12 cupcakes every morning, they know it would disproportionately affect their focus, their feelings, how they're framing the world, right? Based on their physical diet. But their mental diet, I don't think people are as rigorous about, in terms- Of course

of what they're letting in, especially in that prime time. Yeah. It's I and I don't wanna oversimplify it, but I often feel like, some- I often feel like it's the unsexy things, it's the simple things that we often just kinda put aside and we say, "Oh, I kinda know that," but we don't do it 'cause it's so simple- 'cause it could be that, that easy, right?

SHAWN STEVENSON: I also got a chance to ask you, because you have a real live, person who is like a, a beta test-

JIM KWIK: Yeah ...

SHAWN STEVENSON: of this. And so I went through the introduction, and I was so inspired. I just wanted to kinda keep going.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And so I got the- you start the book off with January 1st instead of day one, right?

And so I'm just like, "I wanna read January 1st." No, yeah. But I'm just like, "Okay, I'm just gonna go to the day that I'm starting," which was maybe, we'll say August 11th- Yeah ... or whatever the case might be. And there was a reason that you did that. Yeah. And I was so surprised to hear this, but why do you want, when people get the book, to go to the specific day?

JIM KWIK: Yeah. So I think number one, like my... I have a mission to build better, brighter brains daily. That's always been the m- the mission, right? To improve our human intelligence in a world of AI. And and I- so it's kinda like a movement and a mission that happens to have a book, right? And I feel like, Some-- One of the ways people feel like they're connected in a community is that everyone's literally on the same page, right?

Everyone is going through and getting the same download, the same time. It's kinda how they update the new Tesla, right? Right? So it's just automatic, and I-- or the new apps or your new phones, you do an iOS, and everyone gets the upgrade on the same day. And I feel like that there is this universal mind, this group mind, if you will, that if everyone's on the same page focusing on something that could really hold them back, 'cause Limitless is not about being perfect. It's about advancing. It's about progressing beyond what either we've demonstrated in the past or s- what we believe we deserve or what we believe is possible. But imagine a world where, millions of people are, focusing on one thing, like that's-- like something that's s- something like self-sabotage, you know, or distraction or something that that, that pulls from their flow and their joy and their fulfillment of the day, right?

And there's so, so there's so many entries there that are so-- that I didn't want to be clever, but I want them to be impactful, where people are seeing their progress every day, and then they can do it with friends and family. We have a community of 160,000 people on Facebook . People are already talking to each other, ready to kinda prime and share their thoughts and their reflections because the reflections are what's important.

That's where wisdom comes from, right? Wisdom comes not just from information. It's the reflection and the personalization, the integration of that information to ourself, and so-- And then even the purple, it's not just so it stands out on shelves. Yes, I-- it's very distinctive. Purple, my-- Some part of my morning routine is getting sunlight first thing in the morning.

Now I do it with my son, who's three and a half, and we-- he's an early riser like I am, and we go out and watch the sun come up, and the sky is this shade of purple, right? It's the transition from night to day. And also purple is one of the-- it-- for thousands of years, it was the most valued color because it was the rarest.

Like in Babylonian ti-- like the i- in the Mediterranean, they would have for, thousands of years ago, they would extract the, the-- this from snail shells. It was a very tedious process. And then that's why royalty, it was the, the robe purple because, it was very rare.

And I feel our uniqueness is rare. That's why, we are unique, our own human potential. People actually doing something is rare, every single day. And if you look up color psychology on purple the two words which you'll see paramount are sovereignty and wisdom.

And I wanna remind people sovereignty of their own agency. That it's not the marketing or it's not the media. It's not anything outside of you, other people's opinions and expectations. It's that we have agency and we have sovereignty and we don't have to give up that power 'cause I wanna remind people when they wake up that they are the author of their life, right?

Every single day you can write a new, a new page. The other part of it, wisdom, is that's what I wanted to reflect on people. And maybe an idea that is familiar to them but they need to be reminded in a different way and get them to integrate it to a new identity. And so, the, it was very designed this way.

Even the sun on the cover there, if you're watching this on YouTube or on social media, it has the rays, right? The spokes there. There are exactly 52 of them and are told that on, online. Mm-hmm. But is it like, but it's for- Got the Easter eggs ... for the 52 weeks in the year, and instead of dedicating like a lot of daily- what the dailies will do is every month is like a focus, like on a theme.

Let's say January is on focus or f- February is on motivation and such. But I didn't, it didn't resonate with me to spend their 30-some odd d- days on just one topic, so we broke it down into seasons. So just ... 'Cause we have seasons, winter, spring, summer, fall of our health or of our finances, of our business, of our relationships and so the entries are themed around those seasons.

And so everyone gets to go through a similar experience, but it's a global experience and then I'll be doing readings online and then we have a free companion that comes where we prompt people with a question for them to reflect throughout the day. But imagine tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or even millions of people creating that movement, it's ... I feel you change your brain, you change your life, you, but you change your, you change your mind, you could change your whole world.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Amazing. First of all, thank you so much for structuring things in this way to where we can all participate and literally be on the same page.

Yeah. So whether people are starting, this is day one of their process- Sure ... you're gonna be on the same page as me literally- Mm-hmm ... because we'll all be on, we'll say, September 2nd together or- Yeah ... December 10th together. We'll all be on the same page literally, thinking about the same things, really doing this work together around the world.

Yeah. So it's so powerful because, again, most books we're doing it day one through whatever the case might be, which there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah. But it's just so insightful to do it in this format, so it's really special, so thank you for that. And also, if people are wondering, how can I get a copy?

How do we direct people to picking up their copy?

JIM KWIK: Yeah, real simple. They just go to limitlessdaily.com and, to celebrate the book launch, this one-year journey we all take together is we have some amazing bonus gifts that are included a- as, as, as my gift to everybody as a thank you for supporting this book.

I really think, people ask "How do you become limitless in a often limited world?" I think the answer that I'm most happy with that's most accurate is we do it together. So everybody's on the same page moving, in the same direction, and we all move forward, and we all rise together.

And I feel the sun is also a metaphor for like- How sometimes we don't shine, right? We close down because we don't want our brightness to, be in somebody else's eyes. But I think now we need to step into more of that because especially in a dim, often dim world- Yes

that we, the life we live are the lessons we teach, and that we can be a shining example for the people around us. Yes. But it doesn't require hur- I don't think a Herculean effort as much as it is just a little bit each day. 'Cause little by little, a little becomes a lot, and so, very low amount of time to get so much return, 'cause it's all leverage, right? That's how you become limitless, right? It's 'cause the only thing we have is that's the same, not everybody has the same education or the same connections or same income, but we all have 24 hours in the day, and e- and even reading 30 minutes a day, which I hope people start reading this and then they read more because they become a reader. 'Cause this is an identity change. I think the most important habit, 'cause this is a habit, right? To get you beyond, to get the populace more than the 16% that's reading every day, get that up to a much higher number, 'cause I know there'll be just a, a huge global benefit from it from people reading is is the habit of showing up for yourself, to doing what you say you're gonna do.

Like, how do we build their self-esteem? We do those deliberate, difficult things. And maybe in the beginning it's difficult to not look at your phone, and then it's m- difficult to maybe opening up a book, a new book. But I think there's a huge ripple effect and force multiplier when we, that the treasure we seek is often hidden in the thing that we're avoiding.

And I feel like that's where the treasure is. So yeah, a little bit each day and then, I'll go live on social media and everything and read passages with everybody and answer questions on that day's lessons. And so we get to go on this, this year-long journey together.

And a lot of people with dailies, daily devotionals, religious dailies and everything, and they, those continue. And that's great that they don't have to just put the book back on the shelf, which is, they get the benefit. But they get to practice. They get to use it every single day like a book, could be used.

So it doesn't let- it's not so many people when they ... 'Cause I teach speed reading, right? S- they wanna get through a book. This book is to get through you. I want this book to get through us, right? And give people distinctions, things that will get them through a hard day, and yes, there's some memory and some learning and some focus and, all the other things that I teach in there, but they're bite size.

And yeah. And I think it's gonna be it's gonna be a fun journey for a lot of people.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. And just being a part of your community, I've gotten Over the years, I've had the opportunity to, to work with you guys, to speak to your community- Oh, yeah ... speak at events, and, all the online stuff as well, your mastermind groups.

Yeah. And, your community is out of this world amazing. So many amazing people. You would- You know this, man. You attract amazing people. You're not trying to, you just are. You're like an am- Dude ... you're a magnet for amazing people. Dude. And many of the people in my life, like even my literary agent, I met him because of you, it's just- ... it's so special, man. I'm so grateful. And what's the URL again?

JIM KWIK: Yeah. It's limitlessdaily.com. And I challenge people to they can take a screenshot wherever they're consuming this, this episode, and post it and tag both of us so we get to see it, and share one thing you're gonna do daily.

Just one thing. Even if you don't get the book, just one, one thing. I feel like, like, when you share that idea with your fans, your followers, your family, your friends, then we get to, to elevate everybody, right? This is different. If I give you a dollar, you give me a dollar, nothing changes.

But if someone listening to this gives, a new idea to somebody and they get a new idea from us, then all of a sudden there's two brand-new ideas, and when more, you can do more. When you know better, you could do and be better.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yes. That part. So limitlessdaily.com.

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And whether you are pre-ordering the book and getting bonuses- Mm-hmm ... or launch week or after- Yeah ... maybe this is- It'll be there ... a year later that you're listening to this episode, you can still take advantage and get some bonuses from Jim, which are going to be fruitful. They're going to be valuable because that's just, you ooze it.

With everything that you do, man, and I appreciate you so much. I talk good about you behind your back all the time. Likewise. You know you're one of my favorite human beings.

JIM KWIK: Likewise.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And I'm so grateful to be able to do this together. We're all gonna be on the same page. Yes. We need this right now.

Limitless Daily, pick up your copy ASAP. My brother, I appreciate you.

JIM KWIK: Shawn, I appreciate you. Yeah. You're one of the greatest, spe- most special people that I know. You and I have been... We've known each other a long time, and I feel what a blessing it is to be able to wake up and be able to go out there.

And, I ... Just everything that you've done I'm learning all the time, and I just maybe I could hire you to narrate my audiobook- ...

SHAWN STEVENSON: for Limitless Daily. Hey, man, if you want this to be like a super sexy limitless, you know what I mean?

JIM KWIK: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Well, I appreciate you so much, man, and looking forward to, again, everybody being on the same page together.

Limitlessdaily.com. Get your copy. Get the bonuses. The one and only Jim Kwik, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today. I hope that you got a lot of value out of this. If you did, you already know what to do. Share this with somebody that you care about. Let's keep this conversation going.

Share it on social media. Jim is a beast on Instagram. He's got millions of followers over there, but he's very active in checking out the shares. He's really fueled by his students. So take a screenshot of this episode, tag Jim, tag me as well. I'm @ShawnModel on Instagram. Share the love. You can of course send this directly from the podcast app that you're listening on to somebody that you care about, and it's a very powerful thing for us to do this together, to be on the same page as Jim talked about.

So I hope you enjoyed this, and we've got some epic masterclasses and world-leading experts coming your way very soon, so make sure to stay tuned. Take care, have an amazing day, and I'll talk with you soon.