Shawn Stevenson: Welcome to the Model Health Show. This is fitness and nutrition expert, Shawn Stevenson, and I'm so grateful for you tuning in with me today. I'm so pumped about this episode because we're going to be addressing some real solutions for one of the biggest epidemics that's facing our world right now. Now, there's a deadly disease that's spreading like wildfire, and it's not the one that's on your mind, most likely. What I'm talking about is something else that's gone viral, and that's fear. Fear is absolutely deadly. In fact, the CDC's most recent report, they did a compilation, an analysis of over 800 US hospitals and over 540,000 US citizens who contracted COVID-19 and analyzed their data, and they found that the number one risk factor for death from COVID-19 is obesity. This is well established, but the second leading risk factor for death from COVID-19, that is widely looked over, is anxiety and fear-related disorders. It's the second leading risk factor for death in the CDC's own report. Now, has anyone from the CDC or any of our health officials that everybody is looking to for guidance, addressed this rampant issue of fear and the impacts that it has on our biology in relationship to infectious diseases? And you already know the answer to that.

It's not getting any attention. And why is that? Well, one of the biggest reasons is that it's not a superficial treatment. We're talking about the most dynamic, powerful thing in our universe. We're talking about the human mind and how powerful that is. And where science is today, we know a tremendous amount about psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinology, and how our mind... How our thoughts affect our biochemistry, instantaneously, influencing the function of our immune system, for example. This is already well established, but as far as the application of these things in conventional education and in conventional education for the public, these things are not talked about, but it's showing up in the data. When all of this stuff kicked off over a year ago, I was raising the flag, putting up a red flag, talking about, "Hey, listen, we're getting inundated with fear right now, and what that's going to do based on the data, it's going to lead to worse health outcomes for our citizens. Shouldn't we pump the breaks on all of the fear? Shouldn't we take a more intelligent approach to informing our citizens without inundating our communities with fear? Provide them information with context and not creating these blanket assessments of terror."

And our public health officials and our media, our government at large, has been complicit in this propagation of fear. And again, we don't really have to look far to see the results of what's taking place. But here's the good news, and that's what today's episode is all about. We're not just going to talk about the negative results that we've seen. We're going to talk about what we can actually do about it because that's really... At the end of the day, that's what the Model Health Show is all about. Of course, we can look at the things behind the scenes and look at the biochemistry. We can look at how this is affecting our hormones, this cortisol-driven fear response. We've broken all this stuff down. Now, we're really going to dive into what we can do to make a shift in the fear. And I have for you today, somebody who's one of the leading experts in the world on the functioning of our brain and how to use it to its greatest capacity. I've really never seen anybody like him. He's been a friend of mine for about 12 years now. And I'm continuously blown away with what he's been able to achieve and create and to teach about this amazing brain that we all have, this amazing mind and our capacity, our infinite, or as he would say, "Limitless capacity," that we all have. So really, really excited about that.

Now, we can't talk about the brain without talking about the very thing that runs the human brain, what makes up the human brain, what allows it to actually communicate, all those amazing neurons that you have. There's something called signal transduction, and it's an electrical potential, electrical currency that our brain cells are running on. And so, what do we need? We need to provide the raw materials, the base nutrients that allow signal transduction, that carry an electrical potential. And if we're missing these things, if we're deficient in these base nutrients, our brain cells simply cannot perform at an optimal level. What am I talking about? I'm talking about, it has this electrical potential in the name, they're called electrolytes. Electrolytes.

Take sodium, for example, not only does this electrolyte, this critical, essential electrolyte help to maintain proper fluid balance, proper water balance in that amazing brain of yours. Your brain is mostly made of water, 75% to 80% water. It's incredibly important, but to maintain that fluid balance, to maintain the hydration of your brain, electrolytes are required. But sodium is responsible for not just that, but also researchers at McGill University found that sodium literally functions as an "On-off switch in the brain for specific neurotransmitters that support optimal function and protect the brain against numerous diseases." So, sodium, another critical electrolyte, is featured in the journal, Neuron, and they uncovered that magnesium is able to restore critical brain plasticity and improve cognitive function. And neuroplasticity is our brain's ability to adapt and to evolve, so magnesium is critical in that.

Sodium, magnesium, potassium, these are critical electrolytes for cognitive performance, and really the performance of every single cell in our body, if we're talking about that sodium-potassium pump that's a driving force behind even your mitochondria being able to function, these energy power plants of our cells. So, if we're talking about energy, the building blocks are electrolytes. Now, the problem is that the majority of our citizens are dramatically deficient in these key electrolytes, and this is why I'm such a huge proponent of L-M-N-T, LMNT. They have, by far, the best electrolyte supplement ever put together. The ratios are right on the money, and they're sourcing things the right way with no added sugars or anything nefarious, no binders, no fillers, just the electrolytes that our bodies can thrive on. Go to drinklmnt.com/model, and you get to try LMNT for free. Just pay a little bit in shipping and they're going to send you a free sample pack of this incredible electrolyte. Again, go to drinklmnt.com/model to give your brain what it needs to truly thrive. And now, let's get to the Apple Podcast review of the week.

iTunes Review: Another five-star review titled “Best Vibrations on the Airwaves” by ApronsByCapri. “This podcast is hands-down the best health podcast I've ever listened to. I appreciate Shawn's willingness to continue to search for the scientific truth, his positive vibrations that spiral you up as you listen to truth, his peacefulness in tone and manner. I could go on and on. Just listen to the show! “

Shawn Stevenson: Thank you so much for leaving me that review over on Apple Podcast. I truly, truly appreciate that. And on that note, let's get to our special guest and topic of the day. Our guest today is the author of the number-one New York Times best-selling book, Limitless. For almost three decades, Jim Kwik has been teaching students worldwide, including Fortune 500 CEOs, Hollywood celebrities, and everyday folks wanting to take their brain's performance to another level, to improve their memory, read faster... Reading faster, wow, such a superpower to be able to read faster, and to study more efficiently and effectively. And on this episode, we're going to dive into a new dimension of Jim Kwik's analysis and his tools and strategies, because we're going to look at some strategies for addressing the rampant fear that people are being exposed to that is literally pulling away our intelligence, pulling away our cognitive ability to think rationally, to feel empowered, and for many people, having us in this victim state, which we cannot create something better, something new, something greater, if we're operating from this victim state. We have a tremendous amount of opportunity right now to create an even better reality, but we've got to step into our power to do it. So very grateful to have on the amazing Jim Kwik, so let's jump into this powerful and important conversation.

Obviously, we're living at a complicated time, and I like to reach out to my real superhero friends at times like these, and one of the biggest issues that's being overlooked right now has to do with the impact that fear has on our biology, and the latest CDC's report, they analyzed 540,000 plus COVID patients from over 800 US hospitals, and they determined that the number one risk factor for death from COVID is obesity. This is a fact, but are we doing anything about it? Of course not. But the number two, and this is what was most shocking... The number two risk factor for death from COVID is anxiety and fear-related disorders, anxiety, and fear. Now, that might get brushed under the table, but this is our mission is to bring this out and ask questions. Why is that? How can fear and anxiety lead to worse health outcomes from infectious diseases and really all manner of diseases? And the truth is, and you know Dr. Bruce Lipton, for example, that our thoughts dramatically shift our biology and our immune system, and I know that you're very much aware of psychoneuroimmunology and topics like this, and so I wanted to have you on to really talk about what are some strategies... Because we know that this is the issue, we know that fear is a big problem, but what can we actually do about it? And that's why I'm so grateful to have you here, man.

Jim Kwik: It's good to be here, man, live and... Thank you for the work that you do. Our team is... We're always listening to your podcast all the time, always sharing it in Slack and everything, and comparing notes, so appreciate you and your team.

Shawn Stevenson: Such an honor. Such an honor. So, you've got... Obviously, you've worked with some of the most successful people walking around on planet Earth and helping a lot of everyday folks as well, really transforming their mindset, their ability to read faster, their ability to think faster and more clearly, and the list goes on and on. But you also have a lot of experience with helping people to address their fear, and so let's dive into that. What are... So, we know that this is the current circumstances we're dealing with, so what are some of the things people can actually do to help to abate fear and press forward.

Jim Kwik: When we're in our survival brain, it, kind of... We're held hostage from our rational brain, our ability to make good decisions, our ability to see things clearly. And people know that the media knows that politicians, they know that. And we're not going to make very solid choices in our life when we're in that survival place when we're in fear, everything's going for just be able to live. And so, we get irrational, we start hoarding toilet paper, we start doing things that are just... Start seeing people through a different lens, which could be a big challenge. And even outside of just the current world events, when people have fear... In Limitless, I talk about how limits are learned. And fear is a limit, it's a constraint, there's a board or some kind of boundary that we're bumping up against. And it could be anxiety around taking a test, it could be fear of public speaking, it could be a fear of starting a business or getting into a committed relationship, where fear holds us back. And so, in Limitless, I have a quote from a French philosopher, and he says, "Life is the C between B and D."

And people are thinking I'm speaking in code, but B stands for birth, D stands for death, life, C, stands for choice. I really do believe that these difficult times, they could define us, these difficult times can diminish us, or these difficult times, they could develop us. We decide. So, some choices that we're working with clients, like little choices that they could make to be able to get over fear, to mitigate fear so they're not in that fight or flight where like you just mentioned, psychoneuroimmunology, where they're more susceptible to colds, to flu, to viruses. Because if you're... Chronic stress, we talk about how it shrinks the human brain, and then there's different things that people could do to manage and cope with stress. Chronic fear is a big challenge. And so how do we manage it?

And so, some choices... First of all, I use... I have this global... I think symbols are very powerful in the human psyche, I think metaphors are a wonderful way to learn. Metaphors are kind of a shortcut, when you're comparing something, you don't know to something that you do know, all of a sudden you make a connection that wasn't there before. So, the metaphor I'm using is one of big transformation, is that of a butterfly, right? Very simple. And a lot of... And while the beauty is in the butterfly, the growth happens in the cocoon. And a lot of people feel like they're in a cocoon the past couple of years, they might be physically distancing themselves, and they might be alone, they might be alone with their thoughts, they might be working at home or living at work, they don't know, or their kids are in and out of school, they're alone with their doubts, they might be feeling alone, and mental health challenges are on the rise. And so, while you're in this cocoon, how do you come out of it? 'Cause while the beauty is, in the butterfly, the growth happens in the cocoon. And so, it's a struggle to be able to get out, that you develop strength and commitment, character and the things that... Capabilities, and so... To be able to soar to new heights.

So here are five or six things that people could... Choices that they can make going back to decisions, and we can rift on this with your listeners on what they could do to just empower themselves, so they could have their sense of agency back, where they're not giving away this kind of... Or they feel like they're a victim and this is happening to them, where they could... As you talk about, control the controllable. So, I'll make them easy, I'll make them all Cs. So, you during this time is a wonderful time, first, to get clarity. Clarity is power, and because it's really hard to stop somebody who knows where they're going and why they're going there, you know what I mean? A lot of people, we're living... There are forces out there that try to confuse you with their messages, with manipulation of data, and a confused mind doesn't do anything, so you're immobilized, just like where fear could lead to freezing or fleeing. And so, clarity. And so, clarifying questions, I believe questions are the answer, and they're an amazing tool that we could use.

One question is something simple like, what's most... Just start basic. Solitude is a wonderful time for self-reflection. And so maybe it's asking yourself, "What's most important to me in life? What's most important to me in my health? What's most important to me in my career?" Zero-based thinking, "If I was to start over, what's really important to me in my security, in my personal freedoms, in the things that matter to me most?" And I always tell people, it's not just time management, it's priority management. That the most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing, right? And so, what is most important to you? Maybe it is your freedom, maybe it is growth, maybe it is love and family, maybe it is contribution, maybe it is safety, maybe it is an adventure. So that's your north star. 'Cause sometimes when we're going 100 miles, and as many people do, we're just burning, driving that car, going really fast. We don't ask ourselves, "Hey, am I still going in the right direction?" 'Cause, we just do it every single day. And we know through studies that upwards of 40% or more of our behaviors are just habitual, they're unconscious, we're on autopilot. But like Dr. Stephen Covey who wrote Seven Habits of Highly Effective People says, you don't want to climb the ladder of success really efficiently and get to the top and realize the ladder's leaning on the wrong wall.

So, the second question I would ask besides what's most important to you in these areas, what's most important to you where you're going to live? What's most important to your kid's education? Are my actions aligned with those values? That's the congruency and the integrity that most fulfilled people and the happiest people, cultivating those emotions to be able to dilute the fear that's out there, they're on purpose. And so, a lot of people feel burnt out because of fear, because they're burning on all cylinders, and their hormones are all out of whack, they're staying up late at night because they're on social media scrolling through all the crazies that's going on. And I would say that sometimes we don't feel burnt out 'cause we're doing too much, sometimes we feel exhausted and burnt out because we're doing too little of the things that really matter, the things that light us up, the things that make us come alive. And so, I would really hone in on those four or five things that are most important to us, then take some time to pause and just ask yourself, and then have this conversation with your kids, have this conversation with your significant other, find out what their values are also as well. Are we doing things every single day to meet those things?

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah, I love that so much, and thank you for pointing out to have these conversations with our kids as well. Kids are some of the people who are unfortunately struggling the most right now with this time. It's kind of a massive, big social experiment. And so, finding out what is their biggest value, what's most important for them, what's their priority, and asking these clarifying questions, What's most important to their health? What's most important to their happiness? The same thing with our significant other. And there's something healing, of course, just having these conversations, period. And the thing about you, man, you help to bring out what's kind of rattling around in our minds to the surface so we can get a good look at it. And so, and I want to reiterate this point.

Shawn Stevenson: That clarity... So, we've got our clarity questions. So it might be, what's most important to me in life? And for you, it might be your family. But are your actions actually demonstrating that that is your biggest priority? And if not, wouldn't this be a good time to adjust to make that the reality? And same thing with our health. And when we seem like... When it may seem like the world has taken something away, for example, like your priority with your health is working out, going to the gym, but the gyms are closed down. The parks have got the caution tape up around, and you're just... They're taking away my ability to exercise and to be healthy. But this is an opportunity for us to find a way, get creative. Because chances are, this isn't the first time that something abnormal is going to happen in life. And so, I think it also develops that skillset of resilience.

Jim Kwik: Very much.

Shawn Stevenson: This is so good, man. So, clarity is number one.

Jim Kwik: That's the first thing. Yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: It's amazing. This is so, so important.

Jim Kwik: Yeah. So, again, we're talking about the choices. Life is a C between B and D. These are small choices. And you don't have to spend hours on this, but that's... I think part of success is just getting to know yourself as you're evolving through this life, whatever cycle that you happen to be in. And part of that, it could be journaling, it could be meditation, it could be talk therapy. Self-awareness really is a superpower. The second C, I would say, in no specific order, is care. Again, something your show is all about, that self-care is not selfish. And all the things that we talk about. And it's not just eating the best foods and optimizing your sleep or going to... You know, getting bodywork done. It also is caring... Part of self-care is realizing when you say yes to somebody or something, you're not saying no to yourself, right? And a lot of people, they're burnt out because they have too many tabs open, and it's still taking up a lot of space, it's requiring a lot of energy, people are over-committing all the time to things that they can't fulfill on. And so, there's a kind of a breach with your own commitments and your own trust with yourself.

I would also say that part of self-care is making the choice when you say yes to something like, all the craziness that's out there. It's interesting, a lot of us are on social media, right? And there is an algorithm to social media, clearly. And one of the algorithms is, whatever you engage with, you get more of. So, if you just happen to be really into, we mentioned this before, but cat videos or whatever, that you just engage, like, share, comment, watch all the cat videos, then they're going to show you a lot more cat videos. And that's going to be your perception, that's going to be your News Feed. Well, your mind has a similar algorithm. Whatever you're consistently engaging with, they're going to show you more of. And media marketing knows this. If it bleeds, it leads. If something is threatening your... Part of your brain, let's say, the amygdala gets hijacked and you have to pay attention, 'cause that's your survival. So, you have to pay attention to what's dark, threatening, and scary.

And the challenge is, if that's what you're engaging with, just like the cat videos, they're going to show you more of it. Your mind is going to see literally in your observation, in your perception, more of that darkness, scariness, the threatening things, because that's what you're engaging with. You're training your nervous system, saying, this is important. And the challenge, though, is that leaves you very little bandwidth for hope. It leaves you very little bandwidth for opportunity. It leaves you very small bandwidth for solutions, for the things... Leaves you less bandwidth for gratitude, the things you can be grateful for. And so, just reminding... With care, part of it is just... It's like self-love. It's falling in love with that person in the mirror that's been through so much but is still standing and making self-care a priority for you, your family, your team also, as well. And that's why we're always feeding our minds with great podcasts like yourselves, with books and with great conversations, and then people, so... And again, it could be 10 minutes, just like the other ones, it could be just only for a 10-minute walk with your dog that day, something that... 'Cause little by little, a little becomes a lot.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah, yeah.

Jim Kwik: Yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: This is... For me, obviously, this is like the center point. So, I want to connect these together with fear. This becomes like a force field, in a sense, because your... You have the opportunity to train your brain to basically tune into what you care about, right? So, if you're telling your brain that I care about cats and Beyonce, which is my wife's explorer page on Instagram, then that's what you're going to see more of, you know?

Jim Kwik: Right.

Shawn Stevenson: But this is happening in the "real world," whether we realize this or not. What are you tuned into? You get to demonstrate or tune your brain into like... Basically, instruct your brain on what you care about. So that's very powerful, in that self-care and feeding our brains intentionally the things that provide that resilience and that self-care, that force field of positivity is something that's within our power as well to kind of defend us against fear.

Jim Kwik: Exactly. 'Cause a lot... There's a huge cognitive load that's spent when we're scared or fearful, right? It burns... Stress, fear burns a lot of energy, right? A lot of brain glucose. So, insulate yourself with the best force field ever. So that's the second C. The third one I would say... Again, we're talking about little choices that you can make to help kind of rewire your life, your nervous system for confidence, for courage, for peace of mind. I would say the third one is contribution. Fear is something that we all experience, and just like when we talk about in Limitless that limits are learned, a lot of fears are learned, right? They say... Somebody told me that, and I don't know if this is true, but the two things, the two natural born fears that we have is fear of falling and fear of loud noises. I don't know if that's accurate, but pretty much we can all accept that most of the other fears are learned. The fear of public speaking, it's not something we're born with, right? It's something that we learned. And for me, that was a big... That was one of my big fears, which is ironic because that's all I do for a living.

And so, what I would say is contribution, how even with me, if I have a fear of public speaking, what I think about is that one person in the audience that I want to contribute to. And that takes my focus and my awareness off of my own anxiety or butterflies, and I put my attention on service, contribution. And where your focus goes, that's where your energy is going. And once I do that... Literally, Shawn, I'm pretty introverted, kind of pseudo-really shy because of my learning disabilities growing up and my traumatic brain injury that's very self-conscious, my superpower was hiding growing up. That was really good we're talking about, Shawn...

Shawn Stevenson: Hide and seek, where the hell is Jim?

Jim Kwik: Yeah, exactly. I would sit behind the tall kid in class, I would always shrink down, I'd be invisible boy, right? Like, I'd be able to... 'Cause I never had any answers, and I didn't understand what people were talking about in school. I didn't want to be picked for sports 'cause I don't want to... Out of fear of just messing up and making mistakes and letting people down, and fears that we take on into adulthood. And so, I would say that when it comes to contribution, it focuses your energy on service. I think we learn so we could earn, so we could return. Like, we donated 100% of the proceeds to Limitless to charity, hundreds of thousands of dollars to build schools for children in need in Kenya, Guatemala, Ghana, to Alzheimer's research for women. We know that women are twice as likely to experience Alzheimer's than men, in memory of my grandmother who I lost when I was going through my learning difficulties.

But going back to contribution, I feel like that's why we're here. Everything in nature, it has to grow, but it also has to give, right? And otherwise, it's eliminated. And I think that's important. And you don't give to get, you give because it's who you are. And I think contribution is one of the antidotes to fear. And it doesn't have to be huge. It could be making food for frontline workers, it could be contacting a neighbor that might be alone, and just little things like that make a difference.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah. Man, I love this. That's so powerful because I don't know why I didn't even think of this, that you would bring this one up, because fear has this tendency to make us withdraw, and if we intentionally put forth contribution...

Jim Kwik: Right.

Shawn Stevenson: It's literally... It is an antidote; it's the opposite of what fear drives us to do. That's really remarkable, Jim.

Jim Kwik: So, the question here would be like, how can you take some of your time, your talent, your treasure to make a difference? I think when we're making a difference, it's something that gives us fulfillment, it gives us joy, and again, these are emotions that could drown out the fear and the negative self-talk and all those sensations where we feel immobilized, gives us our power back again. A lot of this conversation is about getting your agency back, 'cause when we're in fear, we feel like we're at the effect, we feel like we're a thermometer. A thermometer just reacts to the environment. And as human beings, sometimes we react to the environment. We react to politics, we react to what's going on in the world, the economy, how people treat us, but in actuality, the strongest, most successful, happiest, fulfilled people, the ones that have joy, identify more with the thermostat. Thermostat doesn't react to the environment, it gauges.

So, be a thermostat, gauge, know what's going on in the world, right? But then, you set a temperature and the environment reacts to you. And you set a goal, you set a vision for what you want to do, a mission, how you want to disrupt things and make things better, and then make it the way you see it. So that's what I would say is contribution. And then, a couple more, and I'll make them Cs 'cause I'm kind of OCD about that. The fourth one I would say is, how about creativity? This is a nice time to be able to be... I believe the future belongs to the creators; you know. Even before what's going on, a lot of jobs they were going to outsource to other countries, they were going to machines, they're going to auto... They're being automated, they're going to artificial intelligence, and you know, like, I believe the things that aren't going to be outsourced to a machine or things that are truly limitless. There is no limit to our creativity, our ability to solve problems. There's no limit to our ability to imagine and envision a better future for ourselves and our families and future generations. There's no limit to our ability to even come together as a community.

It's interesting, like, you look through time, some of the most amazing inventions and works of art came through difficult times, it was created during the... Like, did you know it was during the great plague that William Shakespeare created Macbeth? He created Anthony and Cleopatra during the great plague. It was during when they shut down London and everyone had to physically distance themself. Isaac Newton couldn't go to the university, so he went home, and the story goes, he was sitting underneath a tree in his yard and an apple fell on his head and he created the theories of motion, he created the theories of gravity. And I'm not saying we have to create at that level, you know, everybody, but what's on your... You have a to-do list, what's on your to-create list? Maybe you want to create something, a social media campaign, maybe you want to create a new business, maybe you want to create... You know, come up with a solution to a problem that we're facing in ourselves, and maybe create music, maybe you want to write a book, right? But this is a wonderful time, and again, you don't spend hours on this, just like, 10 minutes of writing that day, or something that you want to create that really lights you up.

Shawn Stevenson: What if somebody tells you that they're not creative?

Jim Kwik: That's a good question. I just spoke at an event yesterday, and people come to me during the break just like, "You know Jim, I have a horrible memory," or "Jim, I'm just not creative," or "Jim, I'm just too old," and I always say, "Stop. If you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them." I think part of the nature of our work together, and so many people who are joining us for this conversation is about transcending. That's one of the things we want to do together in the world, we want to transcend, we want to end the trance, end this mass hypnosis through marketing, through media, that we're helpless, that we're not enough, that we're broken, that we need to be saved, you know what I mean? And so, this whole mindset... Or if it's not coming, if it's not hypnosis from the outside, it's self-hypnosis. It's like you said, someone, saying, "Oh, I'm just not creative," and, "I don't have creativity." And here's the thing, our words matter, they affect our brain, the languaging that we use.

And you know, going back to this, your brain is like a supercomputer and your self-talk is a program that'll run. So, if you tell yourself, "I'm not creative." You will not be creative that day, because you programmed your supercomputer not to. Same thing if you say, "Oh, I'm not good with names." You are not going to remember the name of the next person you meet, 'cause you're programming your computer not to do that. And so, I would say, one of the things to that person who says that they're not creative is, take your nouns and turn them into verbs. You do not have creativity. You do creativity. You do not have focus. You do focus. You do not have motivation. You do motivation. Even when it comes to fear, you do not have fear. There is a process that's going on that's making you fearful. You know what I mean? And when you can take it and turn it into a method, then you have real magic, you have real magic superpowers. Meaning, you don't have confidence, you're like, "Jim, that's a problem, I don't have any confidence." No, you do confidence, right?

And when you... There's no magic pill to get out of fear, but there is a magic process. And that's really what it's about. So, I would say first, monitor language that you don't have creativity, there's a creative process. And then we've talked about in previous episodes on your show about different ways of getting to these brain wave states like theta and doing this imaginary... And using questions to be more creative and such. So, I would say that to everybody, that limits are learned just like fear. You do not have fear. We are going through the process of creating fear inside and then outside. And then finally, I would say, besides clarity, besides care, besides contribution and creativity, which is, again, this is a wonderful time to create, I would say the last one is, let's say capabilities.

Let's talk about that. There's that quote where it said, "You're not rising to the level of other people's expectations. What you're doing is falling to the level of your training." Capabilities are the knowledge, the skills, abilities. And this is the thing, like, I really think that fear, it's like a signpost, like all emotions. When you feel love, you can't just let it end at an emotion, right? Those emotions lead to behaviors and lead to some kind of action. And I feel like, that if you ever feel fear, it's a signpost or a signal that you need to do something. Maybe it's to prepare, right? Or it's to be able to do some of the things we talked about earlier about self-care and clarity and everything. So, let's say you... Somebody has a fear of public speaking. The only reason I bring this up is because a lot of people say it's the number one fear in this country. Number two is widely reported to be fire. Number three, death, which is the old joke, right? That if you're at a funeral, most people would rather be in the coffin than the one giving the eulogy, right? 'Cause, there's such a big fear of public speaking.

But if you have a fear of public speaking, maybe it's a signal to act, to improve some capabilities, to take some... Go to Toastmasters, to read a book on public speaking, to be able to practice. For me, when I was first learning to public speak, I would... It's not the thousand, 10,000, 30,000 people that I'm speaking to now, it used to be like, these bunch of the eight-year-olds. There are like, 10, eight-year-olds in the audience, and I would get so scared to talk to that class. But you know, courage is also a muscle, just like fear. And if we always indulge in fear, that muscle gets stronger. Just like if we always indulge in distraction, we're always flexing our distraction muscles at the cost of our own focus. Well, little things that you could do.

So, capabilities. What I would say is, if you feel fear, there's something in psychology called the confidence-competence loop, which a lot of us are familiar with. Confidence-competence loop, that the more competent you get at something, the more confidence it gives you. If you don't know how to play golf and you take some golf lessons, you have some more competence, it gives you a level of confidence, and then you're going to play more, and you're probably going to get better, so you get more confidence, and it's self-replicating. So, I would say everybody needs to have not only a to-do list and a to-feel list and to-create list, but also, a to-learn list, you know? And so, if you feel fear, what do you need to do to feel like that you're prepared? And I think that skills, those knowledge, those abilities will give me more courage.

Shawn Stevenson: Awesome, awesome.

Jim Kwik: Yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: I love that question because this is using this innate ability of the mind to answer any question we pose it, to just take a moment to just grab the reins of our mind just a little bit, grab the wheel, and ask, what is this fear trying to teach me? What is this fear instructing me about?

Jim Kwik: Yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: And we... Even from that place, we can start to break down. Oftentimes, it becomes an irrational thing...

Jim Kwik: Right.

Shawn Stevenson: That we can break down and identify what it really is that might be bothering us. But oftentimes, it's also creating the opportunity to develop a certain capability, right?

Jim Kwik: Very much so.

Shawn Stevenson: So, it could be a capability or capacity of resilience, of creativity, or of being able to perspective-take, to see things from different dimensions, whatever the case might be. So, these are all very powerful.

Jim Kwik: Yeah. So, if people have a fear of money, maybe they... That that's a signpost to say, "Hey, I need to get some financial literacy." You know? If people have a fear of numbers, they could take something. If they have fear of forgetting things, they could take a memory course. You know what I mean? Like, there's things that the people could do. If you have a fear of starting a relationship because they have had trauma in the past or they're dealing with some self-esteem issues, maybe it's taking a course or reading something, and then that knowledge and those skills and abilities help us to level up. I would actually add just in the spirit of this conversation, I would add a sixth one. So, I want to be really abundant here in a time of fear, potentially. What's that fear of like... What's the acronym? False evidence appearing real, right? Community. You want to get out of fear? Be part of something. And that's like a hunter-gatherer, right? You have a village, and it takes a village, but you know people have your back, right?

Like you and your community. And it's one of those things where it's just, those are the people that would survive. It wasn't the lone hunter, right? And so, everything kind of comes back to that. And again, fear is... Could be a good thing. Now, if you have a fear, it could save your life, right? Being fearful of falling... Falling off of a cliff or be able to wear your seat belt, you do certain things, but the challenge is irrational fear, which is happening a lot, where people know that fear is one of the most powerful ways and powerful and proven ways to manipulate people to do things they wouldn't normally do unless their survival brain was on alert. So, community, people ask that African proverb, "If you want to go faster, you go alone. If you want to go further, go together." How do you become limitless in a limited world? We do it together, and that's the only way.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah. Got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back. Few people know that regularly drinking coffee has been shown to help prevent cognitive decline and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. This attribute referenced in the journal Practical Neurology is yet another reason why intelligent coffee consumption makes the list of best neuro-nutritious beverages. Another study featured in the journal Psychopharmacology uncovered that drinking coffee has some remarkable benefits on mental performance. The research has found that intelligent coffee intake leads to improvements in alertness, improved reaction times, and enhanced performance on cognitive vigilance tasks and tasks that involve deep concentration. Now, why am I stressing intelligent coffee intake? This means acknowledging the true U-shaped curve of benefits and not going ham on caffeine. The data clearly shows that some coffee, a cup or two a day, and the accompanied caffeine is a great adjunct for improved mental performance. But going too far starts to lead to diminishing returns, so we want to make sure that we're getting an optimal intake of coffee, and again, not going overboard. But also, coffee is best when it's not coming along with pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, fungicides. These chemical elements are clinically proven to destroy our microbiome terrain, so destroying the very microbiome that helps to regulate our metabolism, regulate our immune system.

The list goes on and on. Obviously, we want to make sure that those things are not coming along with the high-quality coffee that we're trying to get these benefits from. And also, what if we can up-level the longevity and neurological benefits of the coffee by combining it with another clinically proven nutrient source? Well, that's what I do every day when I have the organic coffee combined with the dual extracted medicinal mushrooms from Four Sigmatic, and if we're talking about optimal cognitive performance and the health of our brain, the protection of our brain, there are few nutrient sources like Lion's Mane medicinal mushroom that pack these kinds of benefits. Researchers at the University of Malaya found that Lion's Mane has neuroprotective effects, literally being able to help to defend the brain against even traumatic brain injuries. It just makes the brain more healthy and robust. So again, this combination of medicinal mushrooms plus organic, high-quality coffee is a match made in nutrient heaven. Go to foursigmatic.com/model. That's F-O-U-R-S-I-G M-A-T-I-C.com/model to get 10% off their incredible mushroom elixirs, mushroom hot cocoas, and mushroom coffees. Again, that's foursigmatic.com/model and now, back to the show.

So, I want to dive a little bit deeper into community because I think that this is an under-utilized superpower, especially when you're facing a larger-than-life villain. You get a Thanos situation, it's SARS COV Thanos showing up. You get the Avengers together for a situation like this. You don't try and do it yourself. So, what can folks look to if they're feeling like, and I know a lot of folks who are feeling this way, that they're cut adrift? A lot of folks are having issues with their family, with their co-workers, where the case might be based on their sense of sovereignty and their own personal choices and freedoms whatever the case might be, or maybe they're participating in the change that's going on the mandates, but they just feel like, hey, I believe that everybody should be able to make their own decisions, whatever the case might be, but even going a little bit outside of the dictator type narrative, people are feeling like they're at odds with other people. So, what can folks do to galvanize and get together with the community of like-minded people who are not here to necessarily fight against something because ultimately, and I got to share this, I don't think that we're fighting against each other? I think that's the framing of the media making us hate each other.

Jim Kwik: Divisiveness for sure. Wonderful idea.

Shawn Stevenson: We're really fighting together against idiocy I think, that's one of the things that we're fighting against. But ultimately, we're fighting for the spirit and the souls of people, that intangible, universal, timeless thing about us, and understanding our place in all this. Right now, I think we're very short-sighted, and I think that that's what we're really fighting for. We're fighting for freedom of thought. We're fighting for human potential. So, I just want to share that little nugget, but what can folks do right now to cultivate and get themselves plugged into a community when they might feel like they're a little bit cut adrift and alone?

Jim Kwik: Yeah, I think this is a very important conversation that if somebody's listening to this right now and they're feeling alone, if they feel isolated, if they somehow feel marginalized, you're not, first of all, that person's not alone, because there are so many people who are feeling the same way without a doubt, and sometimes it could be tough when we're going through trauma or depression or an anxiety, and we all go through different stages.

I think everybody is fighting a battle that no one knows about. That's why I think now more than ever, kindness is important, that kindness is a real super-power. I was saying before, it's important to if you haven't found that community or that person to be able to back you or support you, or just be there, is to be that person for somebody else. And so, I think we always should be giving the thing that we sometimes need the most. I think also part of it has to do with acknowledging that it's okay to feel this way. And then 'cause I think self-awareness is the starting point for anything, you need to be consciously aware that something is going on. And then you need to sometimes take a little bit of courage. I saw this movie recently, I didn't really watch it 'cause I heard it in the background, it's with Matt Damon, it was "We Bought a Zoo", you've seen his movie?

But there's this quote, this line that just kind of struck me when I was listening to it, something like, "All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something, something amazing and profound will come from it." And so sometimes knowing that asking for help is not a sign of weakness that certainly, it's certainly a sign of courage and is a sign of strength now. And so I would say acknowledge that you're in this place, and then try to make a decision going back to choice, saying that I want to be able to serve somebody else and by through service you could connect, and that's how a lot even, I met a lot of other people, growing up, immigrant parents and everything else like that, we didn't have connections and everything, but I would serve, I would act the parts in charities and fundraisers and allowed me to connect and get out of my own mind and my own heart and my own fears when I was going through my challenges, like everybody has.

So, I would say seek community, that there are people out there that you fit in with, for me, I was looking for my X-Men or for people that were just kind of weird and different in little mutants like myself. But a lot of people are feeling like this is the end game. And I'm not saying we have to be the Hulk and Iron Man, and then this Scarlet Witch... But I would say, make a decision to connect with people. And it's that simple, but it's that difficult sometimes too, so I'll acknowledge that also as well. It's tough, especially when it's family and friends, 'cause they are doing... They're acting a certain way, and sometimes their intent is positive, but they can be sincerely wrong with how they're approaching things, and so it's a big challenge right now, and I think now more than ever we... It's about creating your own team, T-E-A-M, together, everyone achieves more, right? Together, everyone achieves miracles. And not to over... Thinking is good, but overthinking and wanting to be perfect is not good, so my thought always, when it comes to these things or what are small little things, we could do just little by little, a little can become a lot.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah. These are all, again, these six C's that you took us through...

Jim Kwik: Yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: These are all really powerful strategies for rising above fear. Fear is going to happen, that's a natural part where our systems are wired up to engage with it, but we don't live in a time of a lot of rational fear, a lot of our creature comforts are met, and there's a lot of time for us to think about things, endless, limitless. And the way that we think about things is going to really create the definition of our view of life or our experience of life. So, man, this is so valuable and really quickly, I want to point back to this first one, clarity. If you can take it upon yourself right now to really identify what matters most to you and use that as your north star, even during times of fear, if there's fear swirling around, even if you experience fear, that's going to guide you to be able to traverse through fear, to supersede it, to rise above it, just getting clarity on what matters to you, what is most important to you in your life.

Jim Kwik: Yeah...

Shawn Stevenson: So...

Jim Kwik: What are you going to fight for? Who are you going to stand with? And people haven't found those things, maybe it's also feeling like we can't always identify the things you want most. Think about the things that you want, that you hate, and it's usually the opposite of that also as well. And who's counting on you to be able to show up? 'Cause, that purpose will give you strength. In limitless, we talked about in the previous episode on your show, the limitless model, and I want to re-introduce that in the conversation. There are three elements that limit us, and also these are the same three forces that will un-limit us, but I wanted to go through the model really quickly 'cause it's a framework that could be used at lens to look at fear, but it's also a way, a framework of looking at liberating yourself out of fear and going into confidence or courage, and so... And I want to talk to you about it because I'm going to have some questions for you and I know you've been on my show a number of times, we've talked about sleep, we've talked about energy, we've talked about food and different exercise. All of the different... To upgrade your brain, right?

What I want to ask you is... So, I want everyone doing that little exercise here, I want everyone to think about area of your life where you feel fear, or you feel stuck. 'Cause, that's what fear does. It immobilizes you, right? You're in flee or you're in freeze mode, right? And limitless is not about being perfect, it's about advancing and progressing, and that's what we want to do, right? That's why we want our freedom to be able to be, do, have, share, do the things that are important to us. And so, think about an area everyone, in your life, where you feel like you're not advancing, maybe fear is holding you back in that area, where you feel like you're in a box and because where we become more limitless is playing and practicing at the edge of those limits, right? But going back to this, where do you feel like you're not making progress? Where you feel like you're in a box? Maybe it's in your career, maybe it's in your education, maybe it's in your impact, maybe it's in your emotional happiness, maybe you feel like you're a little stuck, you're not progressing there, or your spirituality, your income, or wherever your health.

Now, that box by definition, is three-dimensional, right? So, three forces keep you in that box, these are the same three forces that will liberate you out of that box. So, if it's safe to do so, you're not driving or working out, take a piece of paper everyone, and if you don't, just imagine in your head. I want everyone to draw a Venn diagram. A Venn diagram is just three intersecting circles like Mickey Mouse's ears that are overlapping and a face. And I'm going to just give this as a two-minute review and then I'm going to turn this into a kind of like a framework for getting out of fear. So, three intersecting circles. Now, these are the three M's that represent the three forces and that dimensions that hold that box together, that keep you stuck. So where do you feel like you're stuck? I did a podcast episode on getting unstuck recently, and I opened up with this anecdote where a driver is not paying, a truck driver is not paying attention, and all of a sudden, because in life when we don't pay attention.

He goes underneath a bridge and doesn't realize the bridge is hanging too low and the truck gets stuck. And then, what do you do when you get stuck? You work harder. So, he pushes on the gas, and the more he pushes on the gas, the more stuck he gets. Then he realizes that, so he goes in reverse, and by that time, he's really, really stuck and can't get out. And so over time, you can imagine all this traffic building behind him, because he's blocking them in the entrance there. And then crowds start gathering, emergency vehicles start getting there, and first, they start pushing the truck in, nothing happens. They try pulling it out, nothing happens. And they've concluded in their mind, the only way to get out of this emergency, this state of emergency, is to blow the truck up and then take the pieces out because they have to, they have no choice. That's what adults think. They have a certain paradigm of blowing stuff up, going to war with it. But there's a child in the crowd, and the child's looking at this like... And the child shouts out, this seven-year-old boy, "Why don't you just deflate the tires?" And all of a sudden, they do, and then what happens, it all comes down, they're able to pull the truck out.

And in my mind, that's kind of interesting because that child doesn't have the same fears or misunderstandings of something that's presented. It's kind of like the elusive obvious. Even a part of that, going through and just doubling down on the things in nature that can make you healthy and resilient. And it's so amazing for your immune system and things like that. So going back to here, the three circles. I'm going to give you the three Ms. That's kind of like the elusive obvious. These are three areas that we are limited in, and it creates fear, and it could also unlock huge amounts of confidence and certainty. The last M, I'm going to give you on the bottom, Mickey Mouse's face is the method. And these could be methods for health. Methods for getting super fit. Methods for investing, methods for crypto, methods for speed reading, methods for remembering names. So, there are a lot of methods out there. They're very abundant. We live in an age where we have unfettered access to the world's information on podcasts, on YouTube, and it's all free. So, a lot of people know the methods, but they're still stuck in that box.

So, what keeps them stuck in that box? And people could say fear, but let's break it down into categories. The first circle is your mindset. So, the first circle is your mindset, and I'm going to define mindset as your set of assumptions and attitudes you have about something. Your attitudes and assumptions about something. In the book Limitless, it's broken down into three sections, with mindset, the second one, and then methods. Mindset is... I talk about lies, and this is kind of interesting because we use this model for a lot of things. These are the lies to learning and a lie for me, limited idea entertained. So that's what lie stands for. Everything's an acronym. So limited idea entertained. So, one of the lies is that criticism matters, other people's opinions, and expectations matter. And the truth is that's not true. It's just an idea we're entertaining. It's a limited idea that we're entertaining. The truth is, if you live your life fueled by other people's expectations and their opinions, that we're going to run out of gas. And that's the truth. In there, we talk about a lie that genius is born, when I believe genius is built. But if you believe genius is born, you either have a good memory or you don't have a good memory, and you can learn a great method on how to remember names. You're still stuck in that box because your mindset says you can't remember this stuff.

Well, there's a mindset around a lot of things around health, around wellness. There's beliefs, because all behaviors are belief-driven around what's possible, and your attitudes around things matter. And that could create fear, and so fear is a formula of mindset. And then the second M, and then the methods that allow you to do it. And so, my thing is like if you zone in on these circles, then you know where you could actually liberate yourself. So as an example, what would you say are some fundamental beliefs about health and wellness? This area that you think... Some of the principles to The Model Health Show. To the nature of your work. Maybe some beliefs that for you is kind of the elusive obvious, like that child deflating the thing, but to most of the population it's just, they haven't accepted that, and if they did, it would change their, totally give a 180 on their health or their perception on fear. So, what were some of those ideas or thoughts or beliefs, attitudes?

Shawn Stevenson: Sure. That health isn't just one thing. Me being a nutritionist and taking the nutritional science classes when I'm in college, I believe that this is really, you are what you eat. So, there's this foundational tenet, and if you get the food right, you can get everything right. And obviously, it's a big, big pillar. But it's just one part of the equation of what constitutes health. So that's what we strive to do here with this show is to provide models of all the different pillars that constitute health. So, one of those is food, another one is movement, another one is sleep. Obviously, you know how important this is. And another one of these is community... Incredibly important. I don't think that there's anything more influential over your success in life, your health...

Jim Kwik: Your longevity.

Shawn Stevenson: Your longevity, than your relationships. I just don't see it in the physical world. And then the other part of that is your mindset. Everything going on upstairs. It is the master controller because it influences everything else. So, if you are missing out on one of these pillars, your stability is going to be very shaky, especially this ultimate pillar, this is really the kickstand. If you're going to set things down and even pause for a moment, if your mind isn't right, you're not going to be right.

Jim Kwik: And I'm listening to you speak and it's interesting because when you talk about sleep and you talk about exercise, and you talk about community underlining, there's a meta-belief above that, that says that you have influence on your health, right? You believe it otherwise, so you can control certain things of what you're feeding your body, how you're moving your body, how you're interacting with other bodies.

And I don't think that's a widely held belief, with some people who might be experiencing that, they have a belief like, "I don't have control over my health." Then they can learn methods from listening to a podcast in a book, and they're going to still think, "Oh, I'm either born healthy or it's genetics." You know what I mean? And so, going deep into that mindset, your attitudes, assumptions about pandemics, your attitudes and assumptions, and beliefs about treatments, your attitudes, assumptions about fear, and everything. And so, the nature of the conversations has spawned new questions to people listening, just saying like, "When you hear these things, is that really true? Or is it BS?" Belief systems, and so, to evaluate those belief systems because we don't have to believe everything we think, and the challenge is a lot of those thoughts, they say, what do we have? 50,000-70,000 thoughts a day, 95% of those thoughts or the same thoughts we had yesterday. So how do we have a new healing, or a new level of transformation, or a spontaneous... If we're the same thoughts, 'cause the same thoughts mean the same behaviors, which lead the same experiences, with leaves the same feelings, and those feelings be those thoughts again.

And so, we're going back to life is a C between B and D. Choice... You have choices on what to think, you have choices from there on how to act, you have choices from there, what the experience means, if anyone's ever read, Man's Search for Meaning. Right now, people could say, "This is the worst time ever." And that's their experience of it, or they could say, "Hey, this is an opportunity for us to all step up as a nature... As a nation, as a world." And we also have choice on how to feel, that we don't have to feel a certain way just because it's expected of us, and so that's mindset. And then the last M, your mindset of methods that I would say that limits us, that could keep us in fear is motivation and motivation, I talk about that if... As somebody suffers from procrastination, and they're not taking action, or if we need to motivate somebody else because they're procrastinating, there's three elements that I feel are the game, and the formula for limitless motivation is P x E x S3. And I want everyone to meditate on this, this is the formula for limitless motivation, P x E x S3. And this has just been my experience of field testing this for 30 years, as a brain coach and seeing a lot of people know what to do. They know the methods, but common sense is not common practice, and they're not doing it. And people know they should be prioritizing their sleep.

People know they should be eating well, people know they should be moving more, feeding their mind, and reading books, but a few people do it because their mindset or their motivation. So, motivation very quickly, let's say we want to motivate somebody to do something that they're fearful for, so maybe they're even fearful to go to work... To exercise, because of what that'll mean, that that's keeping them from progressing. And I feel like the fears that we don't address become the limits of our life. And so, the P stands for purpose, alright? Purpose, a sense of purpose will get you out of fear, as we talked about, who's counting on us. I remember I saw somebody recently that I knew... I've known for a long time, not a friend, but like an acquaintance, and I didn't recognize them because as context, this person, this man was very unhealthy, extremely unhealthy, and family and friends, we'd all give him advice, just to say, "Hey, you know, you might want to stop doing this, maybe start doing a little this." And very, very stubborn, and took pride in being... In doing his thing. Anyway, I see him on the street... He ends up having...

I'm sorry, he ends up having a heart attack, almost dying, and he still goes back to his old lifestyle. So that's how... In his identity, he has his mindset. Anyway, I see him on the street years later, and I didn't even recognize him. 'Cause this guy was like, looked so much younger, he was like picture-perfect, like a really healthy guy, and I was like, "Is that you?" He was like, "Yeah." And I was like, "What happened? You look amazing." He's like, "Oh, I started doing this and this, I stopped doing this." I'm like, "Hey, we've been telling you for years to get on this program." And I was like, "What happened?" He's like, "I came back one day from a business trip, and my daughter, my pride and enjoy was hysterical. I mean, she just would not stop crying, and I found out that she had a nightmare, that I died, and I wasn't there for her." And then, immediately he found purpose. And here's the thing with purpose, the P, in motivation, it's non-intellectual. A lot of people know they should be doing something, but they're not doing it. It has to go from your head to your heart, then it'll go to your hands.

That's the formula, you could have a goal in your head, but if you're not acting with your hands, check in with the second H, which is your heart. So, you need to feel purpose, so just like if you had to work out, what are the rewards that will come from it? And also, maybe that doesn't motivate you, what's going to happen if you don't? So that's the purpose. The E and you're the master at this is energy. It's just energy because you know what? Some people are not motivated because they lack energy. If you haven't slept in three nights because you're so scared of what's going on in the world and everything else... You're watching social media at 1 o'clock, and you're just addicted to that process, then you're not going to... I think it was General Patton that said, "Fatigue will make a coward of us all." When we're tired, we're not going to have the courage to talk to the person we want to talk to or to give that speech or give that toast at a wedding or do the things that would really advance our life. And so, everything you talk about from foods to stress management, to exercise, to sleep.

To get rid of those energy vampires in our life. I talk all about brain energy in Limitless, how get over mental fatigue and fog, but you need to increase the energy, so leaders are readers right? If you're not reading each day and you know you should be doing that, then maybe it's 'cause you ate a big, processed meal and you're in a food coma and you're not motivated, and energy is a big deal because fear suppresses our energy. It takes a huge amount of energy in your nervous system to be scared and terrified. And when you're going to fight or flight, think about it, all the energy goes to your ability to run or to fight, your heart rate goes up, your breathing goes up, you're sending energy into your extremities, it's going away from your digestion, it's going away from your immune system because that's not really important right there at the moment, but over time, chronic fear, what's that cost to your immune system, what's that cost to your digestive system also as well? So going back to energy, optimize that energy, and then finally the S3, you could have limitless purpose for something, you could have limitless energy and still be... Not take action, because the ultimate evidence that somebody has courage or motivation is that they do something.

And I would say it's S3. S3 for me stands for small simple steps, and just a reminder that sometimes this thing is so intimidating in life, like the things that we're facing, or the goals that we set, and a confused mind doesn't do anything... I don't know, some people with all the misinformation that's out there and everything, some people are so confused, and they are immobilized. And then I love it because, in your conversation, you're offering people small, simple steps. And how do you find small, simple steps? Really easy... Question. Questions are always the answer.

What is the tiniest action I could take right now that will give me progress towards this goal where I cannot fail? And that's so neat because it's like, Okay, I have to take a test and I feel fearful of the test or give that talk to my team or have that difficult conversation, how can you break it down into something that's manageable, that's bite-size, that's digestible because it's not intimidating. You're not fearful of it, it's maybe working out and doing your workouts, and I like following all your family's workouts. Which are amazing and inspiring, but since people see that maybe that's too big in their minds. So maybe a small, simple step is... Let's put on our running shoes, let's do something small, maybe reading, my case, maybe reading a book a week, maybe 45 minutes a day for the average reader is too intimidating for someone who's not done it, maybe opening up the book is the most simple step or reading one line in the book... 'Cause nobody's going to stop there.

If you want to motivate somebody else and not just yourself, with your kids, maybe it's clean the room, they can't do that, putting... Maybe putting one sock in the hamper, and then maybe they don't floss their teeth, maybe they floss one tooth, right? Inch by inch, it's a cinch. Yard by yard it's way too hard. And these little things add up to big things. And it's just important to acknowledge that everyone that looks like... That's a champion, they started, they were once an amateur, every pro was once... Every expert was once a beginner also as well, consistency compounds, so break it down into small, simple steps, so those are the three keys to becoming limitless in any area of your life. We need to look in and have the self-awareness to look at our mindset, our motivation, and the methods we're using. Some people could have all the... The great mindset, everything is possible, they deserve it, they're capable of it, they can have limitless motivation, but they can be using old methods for health, or old methods for starting a business today, or old methods for reading and studying and memorizing, you have to upgrade your method.

So, my main thing with everybody listening, when we're talking about fear is do not downgrade your dreams, people are shrinking, that's not what we need to be doing, do not downgrade your dreams to meet this current situation, upgrade your mindset, upgrade the motivation, upgrade the methods you're using to be able to meet those big dreams.

Shawn Stevenson: Jim, you just... Of the six Cs, that contribution today, you just absolutely over-delivered. Thank you so much, man. This is, I'm just teeming with ideas and inspiration, and I hope that everybody really got a lot of value out of this, and I hope that they took notes, and by the way, we've known each other, I think maybe like 12 years now...

Jim Kwik: Yeah, it's a long time.

Shawn Stevenson: Its bananas. And to have somebody like you in my life, and also, we're going to put your past episodes in the show notes for everybody, if this is... If they happen and just be tuning in for the first time, he's shared so much on improving your memory on speed reading, on just being able to think faster and more effectively, and what could be better and more useful at a time like that. So definitely dive into the archives with Jim Kwik.

Jim Kwik: We did one episode on thinking styles and how to make good decisions, and I think everyone should... 'Cause that's the other thing with all the digital deluge and on digital deduction where everyone... Don't outsource the thinking to media and marketing and everything else, we have to be able to embrace our ability to critically think, to use logic, use basic math... Again, sometimes fear would take a lot of our energy, so people feel tired, and they don't want to do those things, but I think now more than ever... But dude I appreciate you, I remember when you started this podcast, you were one of the people, that inspired us to do our podcast also as well, and... Yeah, I would challenge... Can I challenge everyone to do something?

Shawn Stevenson: Absolutely.

Jim Kwik: And I think everyone should take a screenshot wherever they're watching this or listening to this, and whatever platform it is, and tag Shawn. Tag myself @jimkwik, K-W-I-K, and maybe just share one thing. I think everything has to lead to action like you want to act like a person of thought, but you also want to think like a person of action all the time, So what's one thing you can do after listening to this, that could help put more courage into the system, put more energy, more purpose, maybe one little thing, because here's the thing I believe the treasure we seek is hidden in the things we're avoiding... The things that we're scared of. So, what's one little small, simple step that we could go and kind of expand and get out of that box so we could come out of that cocoon as that beautiful butterfly, and soar to new heights. But it's a real privilege to be back on this show. So, I want to thank you and the team for the work you do, you're a real inspiring force of nature. You're an unstoppable force for good, buddy. So...

Shawn Stevenson: Thank you, man. I feel the same about you. And take Jim up on his challenge. Take a screenshot of this episode. You're watching on YouTube, take a shot of your screen and take him up on his challenge. Tag me, I'm @shawnmodel. Tag Jim @jimkwik. Real Name, K-W-I-K. Even my son Braden, who's met you before, he's like, "Why is his name Jim Kwik?" I'm just like, "B, first of all, this is his real name." And it's one of those things where it's like, it's destined, your name has a destiny in it. You teach people, literally, how to traverse things faster, and it's just such a gift, so grateful to have you in my life. And everybody, again, takes him up on his challenge and Jim, please let everybody know where they can connect with you more. Tell them about your podcast and your book.

Jim Kwik: Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you like podcasts, our podcasts are only 15, 20 minutes long. How to remember names, how to read faster, how to give a speech without notes, how to memorize your brain foods. We've had Shawn on a number of times, probably one of the most on our show. And all the links actually are right in my Instagram profile. We have all the free stuff. I have a video there where I could actually take people for free. I take them out of the audience, I put them on stage, where you have to remember their names if you have a fear of meeting new people and remembering their names. We have a speed-reading master class on that link, where it's absolutely free, just bring a book, I'll show you how to double your reading speed. But yeah, basically, because I grew up with the challenges with the brain, I want to build better, brighter brains. No brain left behind. You know, I've said this before on your show, but I believe we're all on this path to realize and reveal our fullest potential, and I think the goal is, we keep showing up for each other and for ourselves until we're introduced, so thank you.

Shawn Stevenson: Thank you, man. One of the Avengers right here in the studio today. The one and only, Jim Kwik. Thank you so much for tuning into the show today. I hope you got a lot of value out of this. It's such an important time for us to really take control of our minds. The real battle is being waged; it's really happening within our own minds. And again, we're not fighting against others, that's not really the mission right now. It's fighting against ignorance, it's fighting for sovereignty, it's fighting for human rights. And really, again, this battle is being waged within our own minds, because our perception of reality is our reality. We want to be in an empowered reality, right now. We want to feel and operate from an empowered place, so having access to someone like Jim Kwik and to be able to imbibe that knowledge, is an incredibly powerful gift. And there's something incredibly powerful about you, for everything to line up for you to be here right now in this moment, to be tuned into something like this at this moment. I don't take that lightly, and I hope that you don't either, because truly, as Jim mentioned today, you are not alone, you are far from being alone. Despite the circumstances, despite appearances, there are millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of individuals who are operating in the same way that you are.

Who are thinking the same things that you're thinking? They're thinking about, hey, isn't this time for us to truly focus on getting our citizens healthier, getting our families healthier in a real sustainable way? Not based on superficial things, but on things that are real. And I want to remind you to use these tools because these are practical psychological tools. You have everything that you need within you already. And Jim talked about these six Cs of one being clarity, two being care, fostering and cultivating care, three being contribution, four being creativity, five being your capabilities, and six being communities. And I believe that he saved one of the best for last, one of the most powerful, one of the most high leverage things for last, because when we come together when we come together and nothing can stop us. And I want to remind you just a few days from now, we're doing a live meet-up. It's going to be me and the CEO of the Institute of Transformational Nutrition, and we're going to be talking about our opportunity right now to redefine what success looks like and to create the life that you truly want, doing work that you truly love, because that is possible.

Go to themodelhealthshow.com/take-control. Again, it's just a few days away. All right, themodelhealthshow.com/take-control. And I also want to remind you, first things first, as soon as this is over, take Jim up on that challenge, take a screenshot and tag us both on Instagram. We've got some more powerful epic episodes coming your way very soon, some critical masterclasses, and amazing guests, so make sure to stay tuned. Take care, have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon. And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes, you could find transcriptions, videos for each episode, and if you've got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that this show is awesome, and I appreciate that so much. And take care, I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.