Unleash Your Super Brain To Learn Faster | Jim Kwik

Summary

This motivational speech emphasizes the power of attention and active participation in learning. The speaker shares personal anecdotes and strategies for enhancing memory, focus, and learning efficiency, advocating for a state of constant curiosity and engagement. By invoking examples of children's learning capabilities and the importance of belief in one's own abilities, the narrative stresses the significance of showing up, playing full out, and the potential to learn and remember more effectively. Through exercises and interactive segments, the audience is encouraged to adopt a proactive approach to learning, emphasizing that all learning is state-dependent and highlighting the transformative power of teaching and sharing knowledge.

Takeaways

• 👏 The art of learning is essentially the art of paying attention, emphasizing the importance of observation and presence in the learning process.
• 📚 To learn any subject or skill faster, employing effective strategies and being in the right state of mind are crucial.
• 💪 Showing up and playing full out are fundamental to success in any field, highlighting the importance of participation and effort.
• 😃 Children are the fastest learners because they are curious, have no fear of making mistakes, and are not burdened by the limitations adults often face.
• 💡 Emotions and states play a significant role in learning, where information combined with emotion can become a long-term memory.
• 📝 All learning is state-dependent, suggesting that the emotional state during learning significantly influences the retention and understanding of information.
• 🙋‍♂️ The concept of 'digital dementia' illustrates how over-reliance on technology can impair cognitive functions, such as memory and attention.
• 💁‍♂️ Teaching what you learn to others can solidify your own understanding and retention of the material.
• 🔥 Belief systems strongly influence our ability to learn and perform; changing limiting beliefs can unlock potential and improve learning outcomes.
• 💧 Physical exercise is not only good for the body but also enhances brain function, supporting better learning and memory.

Q & A

What is the key to learning any subject or skill according to the speaker?

The key to learning any subject or skill is the art of attention, emphasizing the importance of observation and presence.

What formula does the speaker believe is crucial for success?

The speaker believes the success formula consists of two parts: showing up, which accounts for 50% of success, and playing full out or actively engaging.

Who are considered the fastest learners by the speaker, and why?

Children are considered the fastest learners because they are curious, have time, lack learned helplessness, and are not preoccupied with adult concerns, enabling them to focus and learn quickly.

How does the speaker describe the process of creating long-term memory?

The speaker mentions that information combined with emotion becomes a long-term memory, highlighting the role of emotional engagement in learning.

What is the primary reason many people don't remember what they learned in school?

Many people don't remember what they learned in school primarily because of the emotional state associated with learning; boredom leads to disengagement, making it hard to retain information.

What does the speaker suggest is a critical mindset for learning?

The speaker suggests that all learning is state-dependent, emphasizing the importance of the emotional state in which learning occurs.

What comparison does the speaker make to explain the importance of learning how to learn?

The speaker compares learning how to learn to sharpening a saw before cutting wood, suggesting that learning effectively is a prerequisite for success in other areas.

What does the speaker identify as modern day super villains in the context of learning?

The speaker identifies digital overload, digital distraction, and digital dementia as modern day super villains, highlighting how they negatively impact our ability to focus, remember, and learn.

What is the speaker's own learning challenge, and how did he overcome it?

The speaker had learning challenges due to a brain injury and overcame them by developing strategies to improve his learning and memory, eventually becoming an expert in teaching others how to learn quickly.

How does the speaker link belief to the ability to learn?

The speaker states that all behavior is belief-driven, indicating that believing in one's ability to learn or memorize is crucial for actually being able to do so effectively.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Enhancing Learning and Memory

The speaker begins by emphasizing the importance of attention and presence in learning any subject or skill faster. He shares his favorite strategies for learning and acknowledges the audience for showing up, highlighting that success in learning requires not just showing up but also actively participating and being fully engaged. The speaker then stresses the significance of being in the right state of mind for learning, using an interactive example to illustrate how attention and presence can significantly impact our ability to learn and remember information.

05:00

🏫 Reflecting on Learning Environments

This section delves into the emotional state associated with learning, particularly during school times. The speaker points out how boredom and confusion can negatively affect learning outcomes, emphasizing that engaging and experiential learning helps in better retention and understanding. Through interactive exercises, he illustrates how adopting a playful and curious approach, similar to that of children, can enhance our learning capabilities and make the process more effective and enjoyable.

10:00

🎓 Adopting a Learner's Mindset

The speaker encourages adopting a mindset of curiosity and openness to new experiences, drawing parallels between children's learning capabilities and adults' potential to learn. He discusses the importance of being in the right state for learning, such as the theta state, which is conducive to creativity and idea generation. The speaker also shares personal anecdotes to illustrate how overcoming challenges and embracing a learner's mindset can lead to significant improvements in memory and learning abilities.

15:01

📈 Strategies for Effective Learning

Focusing on practical strategies for learning, the speaker introduces the concept of 'BE FAST' as a mnemonic to enhance learning efficiency. He explains how beliefs about one's ability to learn impact outcomes, the role of physical exercise in brain health, the importance of forgetting preconceptions to learn effectively, and the need to be active and engaged in the learning process. Additionally, he touches on the significance of learning in a positive state and teaching others as a way to reinforce one's own learning.

20:02

🧩 Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

The speaker elaborates on the power of belief in shaping our learning experiences and outcomes. Through engaging activities and examples, he demonstrates how self-imposed limitations can hinder our ability to learn and remember. He challenges the audience to reevaluate their beliefs about their own learning capabilities and encourages adopting a growth mindset to overcome these barriers and unlock their full potential.

25:04

🚀 Leveraging Technology for Learning

Addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by digital technology, the speaker discusses the concepts of 'digital overload,' 'digital distraction,' and 'digital dementia.' He highlights the importance of being mindful of our dependence on technology for memory and learning tasks and advocates for a balanced approach that leverages technology to enhance, rather than impair, our cognitive abilities.

30:04

🔍 Reflecting on Personal Growth and Learning

In a heartfelt conclusion, the speaker shares a personal story of transformation and discovery through learning. He reflects on the journey from viewing himself as having a 'broken brain' to recognizing his abilities and strengths through persistence and a change in mindset. The narrative culminates in an inspiring message about finding one's 'superpowers' and the realization that true learning and growth come from within.

Keywords

💡Art of Attention

The 'Art of Attention' refers to the crucial skill of focusing one's mind fully on the task or information at hand. In the context of the video, it emphasizes the importance of being present and observant to facilitate learning and memory retention. For example, the speaker uses the chin-fist exercise to illustrate how easily one's attention can be misdirected and highlights that learning effectively begins with directing attention correctly.

💡Memory

Memory is a core concept discussed, depicted as both a skill to be improved and a critical component of the learning process. The speaker suggests that the ability to remember and recall information can be enhanced through specific strategies and states of mind, such as associating information with emotions to create long-term memories. This connection is exemplified when the audience is asked to recall personal experiences triggered by a song or a fragrance.

💡Learning Strategies

Learning Strategies encompass the various techniques and approaches shared by the speaker to learn any subject or skill faster. These strategies are not only about acquiring knowledge but also about optimizing the process of learning through attention, memory enhancement, and active engagement. The speaker's promise to share favorite strategies underscores the video's focus on practical methods to enhance learning efficiency.

💡Showing Up

The concept of 'Showing Up' is presented as the foundational step towards success, emphasizing the significance of physical and mental presence in any learning or developmental endeavor. The speaker underscores this by acknowledging the audience's effort to attend the seminar, highlighting that being present is the first step towards achieving any form of improvement or success.

💡Play Full Out

The phrase 'Play Full Out' is used to encourage complete and enthusiastic participation in learning activities. It conveys the idea that to maximize learning and growth, one must engage fully, with energy and commitment, rather than passively observing. This concept is tied to the belief that active involvement enhances the learning experience and facilitates better retention of knowledge.

💡State Dependent Learning

State Dependent Learning refers to the idea that information is more easily recalled when the learner is in the same state of mind or emotional condition as when the information was first learned. The speaker emphasizes that the emotional state during the learning process can significantly impact one's ability to retain and recall information, illustrating the importance of managing one's state for effective learning.

💡Digital Overload

Digital Overload is highlighted as a modern challenge to learning and memory, referring to the overwhelming flood of information made accessible through digital technology. The speaker points out that while the availability of information has increased, our capacity to process and remember it has not proportionately grown, leading to stress and reduced efficiency in learning.

💡Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is discussed in the context of learning and brain development, referring to the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. This concept is crucial to the video's theme, as it underpins the possibility of improving learning and memory abilities through exercises and mental practices that stimulate brain growth and adaptation.

💡Curiosity

Curiosity is presented as a vital component of the learning process, characterized by a desire to explore and understand. The speaker suggests that, like children, adults can enhance their learning capabilities by fostering a sense of curiosity and openness, which drives engagement and discovery in any learning activity.

💡Emotional Engagement

Emotional Engagement is identified as a key factor in creating long-term memories. The speaker illustrates how emotions tied to information can significantly enhance memory retention, advocating for learning methods that connect emotionally with the learner. This is exemplified by the discussion on how songs or fragrances can trigger vivid recollections of past experiences.

Highlights

Introduction to learning strategies and states for faster subject or skill acquisition.

The importance of attention and presence in learning.

Acknowledgment of the audience's effort to show up as a part of the success formula.

Playing full out and the role of engagement in learning.

Children as the fastest learners due to curiosity, time, and the absence of self-imposed limits.

The concept of trading cleverness for bewilderment to enhance learning.

The combination of information and emotion in creating long-term memory.

The negative impact of boredom on learning and memory retention.

Introduction to experiential learning activities.

The importance of play and curiosity in adult learning.

Discussion on the states of mind, including bewilderment and curiosity, as catalysts for learning.

The biological basis of learning and the role of biological states in memory and learning.

Strategies for reading faster, remembering more, and learning languages.

The significance of state and strategy in learning and memory.

The concept that all learning is state-dependent and the emotional state at the time of learning anchors to the memory.

Transcripts

i'm going to be sharing with you some of

my favorite strategies

and states to be able to learn any

subject or skill faster

[Music]

how's everyone feeling today

so when i when i ask you a question if

it feels right to you i want you to say

super how's everyone feeling today

super and i want to honor you for being

here because i've been going to seminars

and events my whole life how is it so

far for everybody

that was a test right

a lot of people think it's your

retention when people forget something

let's do this for example take a right

hand shake it out

how many people here want to learn

faster

how many people want to remember more

yeah watch this make a fist

now put it to your chin

where's your chin everybody

so the number one rule the art of memory

the art of learning is the art of

attention

the art of learning is the art of

attention and really that's where

observation that's where presence comes

in and so i'm going to be sharing with

you some of my favorite strategies

and states to be able to learn any

subject or skill faster how many people

like that idea

now in order to be able to do this let

me

first start by acknowledging you for

being here because i believe there's a

success formula and it takes two parts

it takes first showing up

fifty percent of success is just showing

up and i appreciate your ability to show

up here today because most people aren't

here true or true

right i mean i'll ask also ask questions

that we know the answers to true or true

right and so we show up here and most

people don't show up and i think in life

you want to show up show up for your

health show up for your relationships

show up for your career show up for your

service

but

just showing up is that just going to

get the job done

no you have to what

yeah you play full out right you have to

play full out how many people here like

to play

by the way who are the fastest learners

on the planet

who

i did this uh to a group of 10 000

people from 60 countries and a whole

table yelled out pygmies

and if anybody knows why pygmies are

such great learners please tell me but

children right children how fast can a

child learn a musical instrument

compared to an adult

how fast can they learn a second or

third language

they learn fast right because they why

do children learn quickly

because why

they they don't know good what else

they're curious they have attention what

else

they have time

certainly

no limits they don't have the learned

helplessness very good

they're not thinking about the mortgage

payment focus right i mean they're

curious and they play a lot remember as

a kid you went to your friends and you

were like you want to come out and play

do you want to play but later on it was

we got rid of the word play and we

started saying

it's hang out right and then all of a

sudden there's a difference right and

the curiosity is important also there's

a there's a roomy quote from the poet

said

trade your cleverness for bewilderment

is that a great word bewilderment when's

the last time you're in that state we're

talking about genius states and

superhero states when's the last time

you're in that state of bewilderment

i mean so who's in control of your state

by the way who's in control

of how you feel what's this when we

defining a state how would you define a

state

what does it mean

it's like your mood what else

this is where the active part comes in

here

it's your emotions like a snapshot of

your mind and your body how you feel

here's the key do this information

do this which hands out information

combined with emotion

becomes a long-term memory

long-term memory how many people know

this how many people you hear a song and

they'll take you back to when you're a

child raise your hand

how many people it's not a song but

maybe it's a fragrance or a food that

will take you back decades

because information combined with

emotion became a long-term memory right

because we're not logical we're what we

don't do things logically all the time

we do things what

emotionally right because we're not

logical we're biological

we're not logical we're biological and

so what i want to talk about is how to

unlock what we call your super brain i'm

going to talk about the states these

emotional states where the best of you

shows up automatically where you don't

have those limits now in my breakout i'm

going to talk about the strategies how

to read faster how to remember names

step-by-step how to learn another

language those are the strategies but

you always start with state everyone

wants to write this down all learning is

state dependent

all learning is state dependent

that the emotional state that you feel

when you're learning something gets

anchored to the learning does that make

sense

by the way what was the state that you

felt back in school

primarily how did you mostly feel in

class

board and the other class the other half

of the class is like confused right now

on a scale of zero to ten what's boredom

a scale of zero to ten

zero anything times zero becomes what

zero and that's why a lot of people

don't remember what they learned it's

the emotional state does that make sense

let's test this out stand up real quick

stand up

i have no slides for you i'm just gonna

i'm gonna take you through exercises how

many people like experiential learning

so it gets in your body right

so what we're going to do here is we're

going to play some games we already said

that children are the fastest learners

right

children are the fastest learners how

many people here

feel like you want to learn more in less

time raise your hand

raise your hand if you have books on

your shelf you haven't read

more than one

and it becomes like lisa nichols talked

about she becomes shelf help not

self-help right

how many people here

get more than 10 emails a day

how many people came here today like to

have a better memory

how many people forgot why you came here

today

have you ever done that walk into a room

of your own home

and just forgot why you're there

anyone feel like senior moments are

coming a little bit early

like you're in the you're in the shower

and you can't remember if you shampooed

your hair

and you end up doing it twice right

or you misplace things how many people

here know somebody maybe personally who

misplaces things all the time the remote

control the i the the apple remote their

phone have you ever found yourself

calling your own phone hoping you kept

it on

or maybe you lose something like your

car keys

or not something larger like your car

you ever see the people out in the malls

and they're using their like car alarm

trying to figure out where they where

they parked their car

and so and what about names how many

people here honestly you have trouble

remembering people's names

how many people forgot the name of

somebody in this room

right and so let's start with my name

hopefully you remember it my name is jim

quick with quick learning and i help

people to learn quickly the question i

always get is about my last name my last

name really is quick i didn't change it

to do what i do

with the name like quick you could say

my life and my destiny was pretty much

planned out i had to be i'd be a runner

back in school

which is a lot of pressure when it says

quick right on your shirt

i have to be very careful when i'm

driving because the worst name to have

on your driver's license when you get

pulled over for speeding is the name

quick right because you're not going to

talk your way out of that speeding

ticket and i get to do my mission my

dharma which is helping people to learn

faster i think if there's any skill to

be able to master in the 21st century

something that's going to give you a

real tangible advantage it's your

ability to learn quickly

and

only because it's a sign of the times

because digital overload digital

distraction i mean so many things vying

for our attention how do you get things

done but when i talk about speed i don't

talk about just fran i'm not talking

about frantic speed

like you could actually learn faster and

actually have an ease

a confidence

a piece of mind how many people would

like to have that be able to succeed but

also have this level of harmony inside

of yourself this clarity of thought and

it's the idea how many people here read

seven habits of highly effective people

by dr stephen covey what's the seventh

habit

sharpen the saw very good sharpen the

saw the metaphor here is if you have all

this wood to cut and you have a saw with

a dull blade when do you want to sharpen

it

before you start cutting the wood right

because a lot of people are going to

work hard is going to work a lot harder

if you have a dull blade and they have

to sweat and perspire and work three or

four times harder when they could have

sharpened their saw and so learning how

to learn like vision was talking about

that's you sharpening the saw because

anything that comes afterwards is going

to be easier right and so if that

person's not working harder they're

working what

smarter and one of the best ways to work

smarter is accessing your genius states

so i'm going to test this out we said

that children are the fastest learners

right that they have this curiosity and

they play all the time let's see how

many people here raise your hand if

you're willing to play

now it's been shown in science the

research by doing by playing more

actually creates neurogenesis and

neuroplasticity what's neurogenesis

new growth new brain cells how many

people like the idea of creating new

more new brain cells

what about neuroplasticity what does

that mean

more connections

so intelligence in a way is not

necessarily like einstein didn't have a

bigger brain than anyone here probably

it was actually less he had a smaller

brain but in certain areas of his brain

he had highly connectedness he did these

thought experiments where he would put

himself in these brain wave states

specifically theta state the status the

theta state of creativity that's the

state that you're in when you shower

how many people notice when you're

showering you come up with all these

wonderful ideas it's always when you

can't write something down

right and so

that's the theta state that's a relaxed

state of creativity you're inspired you

come up with new ideas new things come

out of you right and i actually took six

showers this morning just to prepare for

this presentation

so you take it put you in creative state

and so he had more connections in

certain areas and so you could promote

that by playing more and so what i'm

going to ask you to do right now is i'm

going to ask you to find two people in

the room you do not know pair up in

threes go

find two people you do not know pair up

in threes

so we're going to go through a quick

exercise

and

basically what i want to do we're going

to talk about superheroes a lot i i grew

up with learning challenges some of you

know i had a brain injury when i was

five years old a head injury that left

me with certain disabilities teachers

would have to repeat themselves three

four five six times and then eventually

i would just pretend i understood but i

didn't mostly most of the time did not

understand i had very bad focus issues i

had very bad memory it took me an extra

three and a half years just to learn how

to read and i learned how to read by

reading comic books actually late at

night something about how any comic book

fans here or superhero fans geeks i

something about looking at the the

superheroes and good versus evil and the

illustrations that the idea that one

person can make a difference how many

people believe one person can make a

difference right that they provide hope

and they provide real help and when i

look here i look at a room full of

superheroes because i said in the

beginning i said you know it's just

showing up and then playing full out and

so what does a superhero do they have

what's the defining characteristics of a

superhero they have super powers right

and does how many people hire have found

their unique ability their superpower

you're discovering it right your unique

talent your unique strength something

that's unique to you but then just

having a superpower does that make you a

superhero

you have to use that power for what

for good for some kind of purpose on top

of that right and so

i love

sharing space and time

with modern day superheroes but there

are also some modern day super villains

right these these ideas of uh these

phenomena like digital overload how many

people feel like

when you're learning something feels

like you're taking a sip of water out of

a fire hose raise your hand

right and and not that just that it's it

has an effect on our health also right

they call it information fatigue

syndrome

information fatigue syndrome because

everything is a syndrome right so higher

blood pressure compression of leisure

time more sleeplessness or even if you

have a little bit of free time you can't

even enjoy because your mind's still

multitasking and also not just the

supervillain of digital overload but

digital distraction how many people feel

like your mind is so distracted and you

can't focus on just one thing anymore

raise your hand and this is a challenge

that takes away from your ability to be

present your ability to be able to get

things done your ability to be able to

be profitable and i don't just mean

financially profitable that's obvious

right we live in an age where it's not

your muscle power it's more your mind

power it's not your brute strength it's

your it's your brain strength right and

so the faster you can learn certainly

the faster you could earn but not just

financially in all the areas of your

life all the treasures of your life your

health relationships your career so what

we're going to do is this exercise of

play and then we're going to start with

this state this childhood state of

curiosity and wonder and you're going to

meet these your individuals the people

that your new friends and i want you to

decide right now who's batman who's

superman and who's wonder woman go

so who's batman who's super okay batman

raise your hand

all the batman's raise your hand very

good

what about superman raise your hand

and where are wonder women

there you go

remember information combined with

emotion becomes a long-term memory right

and by the way who's in charge of your

emotional states

i am who's in charge of control you are

right i remember recently i got to

introduce to my modern day superheroes

it was richard branson and stan lee

like who's not stanley but stan lee

who's stan lee

yeah the co-creator of spider-man and

x-men and avengers and fantastic four

and we're going to dinner i remember

asking stan i was like i have to know

you you've created all these incredible

superheroes who's your favorite and he

looks at me without a blanket he's like

iron man i'm like that's awesome and

then he's like jim who's your favorite

superhero and he had this spider-man tie

so i was like spider-man and without a

pause he says with great power comes

and how do we all know that right it's

like in our dna right so we're going on

this superheroes journey together here

at a-fest and i'm thinking about it i'm

like and i grew up with these challenges

and i have you know dyslexia and i have

i flip things around in my mind and part

of my issues growing up and i flipped it

in my mind i was like you know with

great power comes great responsibility

when you're in a position of power you

have great responsibility to wield that

power

well

and the opposite is also true with great

responsibility comes great power

right when you take responsibility for

something you have great power to what

to change things it transforms things to

make things better and a lot of times

how many how many entrepreneurs are in

the room raise your hand wow 80 of the

room a lot of times based on your values

entrepreneurs value things like freedom

they want to be able to do what they

want when they want whenever they want

wherever they want raise your hand if

that's you

and sometimes it's hard sometimes as

entrepreneurs to get yourself to do the

things that you need to do how many

people also resonate with that did you

procrastinate like why would you put

things

down why would you delay things that are

important that will reach help you to

reach your goals and you wonder why that

is i would introduce to you going back

to state and strategy that those two

components is probably 80 of it because

most people who procrastinate are in a

state of procrastination that's the

feeling right or they have a poor

strategy for executing getting things

done and you're like jim where's this

exercise why am i standing the whole

time does your physiology affect your

psychology yes or yes

because one of the best ways of changing

your state is by moving your body right

because as your body moves your brain

grooves as your body moves your brain

groups you create more neurogenesis

neuroplasticity actually you know what

supports it novelty what helps you make

more of these connections

is novelty and nutrition just like your

body right you want to build a physical

muscle you give it what

you work it out you give it exercise you

give it stimulus novelty and then you

feed that muscle with nutrition same

thing with your mental muscles and so

what i want to introduce you is ways of

getting into these states and then

strategies in the breakout that help you

to specifically build these mental

muscles so you have more you have more

mental strength just like physically you

want to be stronger you'll be faster

you'll be more agile you could be there

mentally also straw stronger more agile

more focused also so what we're going to

do here is talking about states what are

the highest level of highest level

states

peace very good what else

love what else

gratitude what else

joy compassion so what i want to let's

pick one of them remember we said that

when it comes to learning things and

getting it into your nervous system

information is not enough because we all

know what to do common sense right we

all know for both most part how many

people know what they should do to make

things better but there's

in

discrepancy but like in terms of not

getting things done right and so what

i'd like to offer you is this is common

sense is not often common practice

right so how do we get aligned with this

so let's talk about joy and introducing

more joy in the room and throughout the

entire event

how do you spread joy if you wanted to

spread joy right now in this room what

would your strategy be what's one thing

you could do

be joyful what else

okay massage somebody what else hugs

hugs good

kisses right high fives right good so

what i want you to do now

is i want wonder woman to be in charge

okay wonder woman raise your hand wonder

woman

you are the ceo of the group you are the

ceo of the group

and what we're gonna do is you're gonna

tell and you delegate

to superman and batman how to spread joy

around the room and they're gonna do it

for 30 seconds all right we're gonna put

a countdown timer on here

ready go

information combined with emotion

becomes a long-term memory right the

state that you learn something and the

mood and the feelings that you learn

something in gets attached to what you

want to learn

also it's going to motivate you to use

it more often if you learn because

here's the thing

learning is not a spectator sport

learning is not a spectator sport i'm

going to give you six keys to learn

anything faster you can write these down

i want you to remember be fast

be fast

six keys to learn any subject or skill

faster now i want you to think about

if you can learn any subject or skill

faster what would it be outside of

learning how to learn because that's

kind of the that's

that's what after learning how to learn

what subject what are you interested in

say it out loud

languages very good what else

computer science good what else

good i mean so whether it's whether it's

martial arts or it's mandarin whether

it's music or marketing there's subjects

that we're interested in right and we

live in this expert economy and we want

to be knowledgeable about things because

knowledge is not only power knowledge is

profit right and so

how do you access those things so i want

you to remember be fast and just six

quick tips on how to just sensitize you

now every single one of these things

you're going to understand because

you're studied and me as your as your

super brain coach if you will i want to

be a personal trainer for your brain for

your mind i want to make it faster

sharper and not everything i'm going to

say is going to be something that's

brand new but if i maybe say it in a

different way and you control your state

because going back to stan when i said

responsibility you know with great

responsibility comes great power

the most important thing to be

responsible for is how you feel does

that make sense and who controls how you

feel how many people are feeling pretty

good right now

yeah and notice that these kind of

things it's you know why

metaphorically i look at you more like a

thermostat than a thermometer

is there a difference between a

thermometer and thermostat

yes or yes

a thermometer does what what does the

thermometer do what's the function

yeah it takes the time it reflects and

it reacts to the environment is that

true

it just reacts the environment and we

are sometimes

you know we're thermometers we react to

the weather if we're honest the economy

to politics we react to how people treat

us sometimes but is there a gap between

how

something someone stimulates us and how

we respond

do we have choice yes or yes

the difference between a thermometer and

a thermostat though is a thermometer

thermometer reacts the environment

what's the thermostat do though

yeah it regulates right it helps manage

it sets a standard or a vision or a goal

and then what happens the environment

it raises to be able to do that is there

a difference yes or yes

and so that's where we're going back to

responsibility when we're talking about

being responsible the ability to be able

to respond is how you feel about things

and also how you focus on things so the

be in

be fast stands for believe

because if you believe you can or

believe you can either way what

you're right who said that

henry ford said that right if you

believe you can or believe you can't

either way you're right let me let me

show you what a belief is stan stand up

real quick stand up you're like oh

you're one of those teachers

i'm telling you

it's it's in your body you have so much

intelligence in your body right now i'll

prove it to you jump up and down a

little bit

and make a little fate make a little

space for the person next to you if you

can so if you went like this you're

ideally not going to take anyone's eye

out or anything like that

okay now

stop stop bouncing

i love the energy though notice where

your feet are i want to keep your feet

stationary the entire time

and what i want you to do is with your

right hand just point forward with your

right hand

your other right hand sir

sorry

i know

all right forward with your right hand

and what i want you to do without moving

it without moving your feet just turn to

your right clockwise

as far as you can go and notice where

you're pointing

as you take your neighbor's eye out

notice how far you go notice where

you're pointing

notice the exact spot come back center

now put your arms down now i'm going to

take you through a really quick

visualization exercise so take a deep

breath

exhale

and close your eyes put your arms by

your side out of your pockets by your

side

and breathe normally

and with your eyes closed we're gonna

play a game i want you just to imagine

just imagine that you're raising your

arm again

but this time imagine you're turning

twice as far

two times as

far

like you're getting a good stretch it's

pleasant

feel that in your body

and if you can't imagine it just imagine

that you're imagining it

and then again raise your arm point

forward

and this time no no with your eyes

closed imagine just imagine

just imagine just in your mind see and

feel yourself turning three times as far

just feel it in your body with your arms

by your side just imagine turning around

three times

and then one more time with a smile on

your face thinking what does this have

to do with learning faster see and feel

yourself turning four times around in

your body see and feel yourself turning

four times around like your gumby like

you're made out of rubber

great great stretch

all right open your eyes

now raise your arm again point forward

with your right hand

now turn to your right now

as far as far as you can now go

wow

raise your hand or make some noise if

you want further second time

have a seat have a seat

now some of you went

further some of you went 25 percent

further some of you went 50 percent

further

yes raise your hand if you went further

a second time

now here's the magic question right that

you know i'm going to ask you even

before i ask it were you physically

capable

of turning that far the first time

like nobody took a yoga class and my

eyes were closed right

you're physically capable of it where

was the block or the limitation if there

was one where was it

in your mind right in your mind

and you're like jim i didn't have a

belief on how far i could turn

how many beliefs do you think we have

millions and zillions of beliefs right

because here's what you want to write

down all behavior is belief driven

all behavior is belief what

some of you went 25 50 further

with no anything remember vision was

talking about how it's not just it's not

working hard but it's you when you're in

a certain state a mind you could just go

further and it's effortless how many

people

have experienced this state of flow

before

that's data flow where you lose track of

time where your attention is

right there and you're in the moment

and it's the your stu the level of

challenge is really matching your level

of capabilities and you're stretching

yourself and you're in that zone right

like that athletes talk about that

stephen toddler talks about in the rise

of superman and stealing fire and so on

how many people are familiar with

steve's work by the way i'm just curious

this context okay so how do you get into

those states one of the ways is just

believing that you can

because if you believe you can or

believe you can't either way you're

right because all behavior is belief

driven some of you went 25 50 or more

what if you could go 25 50 more in your

business that effortless what if you

could go 25 50

even more in your body

or in your relationship did you work

harder the second time

when you turned the second time yes or

no

no because it's a state right so

behavior so belief let me give an

example

i'm going to play this game with you

we're going to do this together

collectively i need some mic runners

here please there's a couple mac runners

how many people here talking about

memory because memory forgetting is a

state

when it comes to learning let me give

you a distinction here

a lot of people say oh i have a bad

memory right they always like i have

memory or i have focus or i don't have

focus or i have creativity i don't have

creativity i want you to scrap that

creativity is not something you have

it's something you do

focus is not something you have focus is

something you do

energy is not something you have or

don't have it's something you do

memory is not something you have

it's something you do and what's the

benefit of turning it into a do as

opposed to something you have what's the

benefit

you have control over it because you

could put it into a process it becomes a

strategy because there's a strategy for

reading faster there's a strategy for

remembering names there's a strategy for

having focus

and it's a verb not a noun

right and so the goal here when we're

talking about this memory for example a

lot of people believe

here let me shake this up a little bit

there's no such thing as a good or bad

memory

there is no such thing as a good or bad

memory there's just a trained memory and

an untrained memory

does that make sense

now here's the thing i grew up with

these learning challenges i had all

these difficulties all through school

all through elementary middle school

junior high high school i had all these

challenges at the age of nine i remember

a teacher looking at me thinking i

wasn't either smart enough to l to

understand what she was saying or wasn't

paying attention she was talking to

another adult and she said that's the

boy with a broken brain

and i was like at nine years old right

and so those kind of identity issues

those beliefs does that make a

difference

yes right and a lot of people believe

that they can't do certain things they

could just never remember names so i

could teach them a strategy but if the

belief is not changed what happens

it's not because it becomes

self-fulfilling i remember running a

marathon

and i preparing for it i read a chapter

of one of the books and it was on the

psychology of running a marathon right

the mental part and it said this

verbatim word for word

because i'm a memory expert it said

your brain is like a super computer and

your self-talk is a program it will run

so if you tell yourself you're not good

at remembering names you will not

remember the name of the next person you

meet because you programmed your super

computer not to

isn't that interesting

what i always tell people is this you

have to monitor your self-talk

monitor your self-talk if you go around

people tell people oh i have a horrible

memory i'm not smart enough i'm getting

too old fill in the blank first of all

if you fight for your limitations you

get to keep them

does that make sense a lot of people

like oh i'm so forgetful i'm so busy

which that whole busyness really bothers

me like where people so you how are you

doing i'm just so crazy so stressed so

busy it becomes like a badge of honor

that people wear all the time and then

what do you start reinforcing being busy

right but here going back to this

your self-talk is the program that will

run so you want to be mindful right and

stand guard to your mind because your

mind is always eavesdropping on your

self-talk

your mind is always eavesdropping on

your self-talk

and so going back to this i want to play

this little game because how many people

here

you your memory is not quite as good as

it used to be raise your hand honestly

now how many people here let's take

numbers

how many phone numbers did you used to

know growing up how many phone numbers

shout it out

how many phone numbers when you're

younger

all of them right pretty much

how many phone numbers do you know right

now

one one two right and so is there how

many people here have a number you call

all the time but honestly if you don't

have your phone on or with you or

battery said you honestly do not know

that number you call it every single day

almost or text it or whatever and so the

challenge here is this the two super

villains that we're talking about it's

digital overload too much information

too little time the amount information

is doubling at dizzying speed but how we

learn it how we remember it has that

changed at all

if anything there's been a decline the

amount information is doubling like this

your learning abilities in terms of your

reading memory every flatline that gap

creates the stress that you feel on an

ongoing basis right how do you catch up

how do you keep up how do you get ahead

you know underneath that velocity right

and that acceleration the other thing

that i talk about supervillains not just

digital overload because we're going to

talk about that in the breakout is

digital

distraction

digital distraction right how many

people i'll tell you the worst habit

because i'm going to talk about this

later the worst habit

and you're gonna you're gonna hate me

for saying this

the first hour of the day

is touching your phone the worst thing

you could do the absolute worst how many

people are guilty of doing this though

right because you have that addiction to

it and i'll tell you there's a reason

why you don't want to do it i'll give

you two reasons because i don't want to

talk strategy too much i'm going to talk

about it more tomorrow the strategy the

reason why you don't do it is when you

wake up talking about brain wave states

we're talking about superhero states

your brain cycles through different

brain waves beta is when you're most

awake this is you're in beta most of you

right now delta is when you're asleep

hopefully nobody's in delta right now

theta is right above

delta that's the state of creativity we

talked about like when you're in when

you're in the shower right you're so

relaxed almost in and out of sleep

you're you know and then information

you're so creative right you're very

inspired

in between

theta and beta when you're most awake is

this state called alpha how many people

are familiar with alpha states all right

it's a state you go in when you meditate

states you go into when you do deep

breathe breathing state you're also in

when you watch television

how many people have ever seen somebody

watching television you're trying to

talk to them but they're watching their

favorite show their sports or whatever

it is or maybe you're guilty of it or

two and honestly that person is not

hearing you

you know that you're talking to them but

they're so in trance right television

programming it's programming them

they're in such trance they're in an

alpha state and the alpha state is where

your conscious mind is set aside and

you're not filtering it's information is

coming in alpha state is a great state

to learn in though

great state to learn facts

great state to be able to learn foreign

languages also great states to learn uh

information like giving presentations

and scripts one of the ways we work with

actors putting into an alpha state so

they're in this relaxed state of

awareness where their conscious mind set

aside and information is just flowing in

like television and you could control

those states because you have a

responsibility once you learn the

strategies behind it and so when we're

coming back to to memory i want to play

this quick game you you

actually i'll give you a third villain

well he's talking about the first

villain super villain we're talking

about superheroes you're a superhero the

super villains that are taking away from

your joy your productivity or peace of

mind digital overwhelm

digital distraction i'll add a third one

i wasn't going to say digital dementia

digital dimension this is a real medical

term right now this is the idea that

we're outsourcing our brains to our

smart devices we're so reliant on our

smartphones that our smartphones are

making us stupid

does that make sense

that i mean it's convenient i don't want

to i i don't want to memorize 500 phone

numbers right nobody wants to do that

but we've lost the ability to memorize

one

like if i give you a seven digit number

now how difficult would it be you find

that kind of difficult to memorize like

a phone number that you used to do years

ago yes or yes

because we've our if i take my arm i put

into a sling for six months does it stay

the same

would even grow stronger it would what

it would atrophy and grow weaker same

thing with your mental muscles if you're

relying on your phone to keep your

schedules your to-do's do simple i went

out to dinner with 10 people uh recently

there was a 10 of us and three people at

the end pulled out their phones to

divide the check the bill by 10.

right and we've lost that ability to use

our men

we've lost the ability to be able to do

certain things and so what that's what

digital dementia is um

i was talking to dr daniel amen who

wrote change your brain change your life

right raise 40 million dollars on public

broadcast he was saying yeah digital

dementia hey i got something for you jim

he's like gps relying on gps a

third-party piece of technology to tell

you when and where to turn when you

normally know that or not know it is

actually getting people aren't going to

the doctors get checked out when they

would have memory lapses if they didn't

see that well now gps like they didn't

have the gps they would have memory

lapses and we'd go get checked out and

we're not getting that early detection

on it just because of that so how do you

keep your brain active so

smart devices could be extremely

convenient but they could be crippling

also so it could be a balance yes or yes

all right so we lost the ability to

memorize a number but i want to try to

memorize a group number together today

let's try to do it let's try to

re-awaken that memory and everything i

talk about everyone asks like oh you

know i have such a horrible memory can

you improve my memory when somebody says

i want a better memory can you help me

with my memory for me it's equivalent as

a memory coach

somebody's saying oh i just wish i was

better at sports

right i want to know what sport

specifically so like apply it because

there's different memory techniques for

remembering names or languages or giving

speeches without notes or facts figures

numbers but let's talk about numbers

because this be a great mental exercise

let's go around and just raise your hand

and let's give a group number one number

we create together as a group for all of

us to try to memorize and notice what i

want you to do

is i believe one of the most important

things to be able to get good at is

self-awareness

i ultimately think the expert is not the

person on stage who's the expert

you are right you are the expert on you

and what i think is in terms of i think

self-coaching and self-knowledge is

really most of it you know and so

i think you could learn i know you could

learn better by

looking at yourself and seeing what

works for you does that make sense and

so let's see how we go about remembering

things now let's raise our hand and just

let's come up with let's let's try to

remember a string of numbers maybe 10 or

20 numbers and we'll do the best we can

you can write them down

and then let's see if we can memorize

them together right so raise your hand

let's do it two at a time so instead of

saying one seven just say 17 and then

just two digit number

88 88 so everyone writes 88 right all

right we got the game here we're going

to keep on going until we get to a

threshold and we see if we can memorize

these numbers

yes 54 54. i'll repeat it so so you guys

you guys hear it also as well 54

35

35 very good 35

21

20 21 21

if we're having trouble coming up with

numbers i have to take this in a totally

different direction 99

what's that 99 99 bingo

99

how many by the way how many have we had

so far single digits just this can be

given 10. does everybody have 10 i want

to make sure we're all on the same page

here all right

um something over here 66

11.

okay 11

66

66 11 and 66.

23.

raise your hand so 23 23 number 23.

okay

quick

i'm sorry

13

13.

how many it's a lot of numbers right 77.

hold on hold on one second so it's 13

let's count 13 after that also as well

what's that 77 77 how many numbers is

that by the way

20.

we're doing pretty good how how many do

you remember so far do you think

let's do a few more let's do a few more

for the heck of it go ahead

i'm sorry

30 38 or 39

let's go with 39 39 and before that was

77 is that true

very good we're on the same page 39.

let's do a couple more yeah here 42 42

good 42.

let's do three let's do

like three three more

zero six

zero six

okay two more quick 13. 13. did we do 13

already that's okay let's do it again

let's do it again 13 is great and then

last one

42 again 42.

very creative okay

now i want you to do this close your

eyes and just write down as many as you

remember right now last one was 42 right

i mean no one close your eyes

close your paper and then just write

down as many as you remember

in order yes definitely in order it's

the only way it kind of works

all right let me let me try to do it

okay let me let me try to do it with you

and you guys you guys could check right

and i'll look here so you know nothing

is being broadcast here all right i'm

gonna do single digits all right

i need some energy here

okay

eight

eight

five

four how we doing so far

three

five

two

one

yes

nine nine one one six six two three one

three seven seven how am i doing

good

three nine four two zero

is that good so far

one three

four two

now

i don't do this to impress you

i i do this more to express to you

what's possible because like this

exercise that we did when we turned like

this um let me give you an example

um

what did what did roger bannister do in

1954

the four minute mile throughout human

history nobody could run a mile in less

than four minutes

why

they didn't believe that they could in

fact what was the belief back then

it was impossible

you would die your heart would ex the

human heart was not capable of running a

sub form in a mile it would explode in

your chest

now that was the belief would that keep

you from running a form at a mile like

i'm a runner that'll keep me from

running period right

and so it's interesting how he actually

was able to do it is he actually

visualized himself crossing the finish

line and seeing it says 359

because he knows what you know

as superheroes and he's doing these

thought experiments that success is an

inside out game right that in order to

take the invisible and make it visible

just like a thermostat right you

visualize things here and then you make

it out here he knew it had to happen

here first because all behavior is

belief driven now that wasn't the

interesting to me thing to me just like

when you did the turning exercise that's

what he did the equivalent

the interesting thing is what happened

the next couple years nobody could do it

for thousands of years one person does

it what happens

yeah dozens of people started breaking

the formula mile now in that year was

there big advancements in shoe

technology and nutrition and training

methodology

no what was the change

a change in belief like i remember when

i was a child i was in a at a restaurant

and we had a waiter go around and take

everybody's order 20 people busy night

halfway through he was taking my order i

noticed something funny he wasn't

writing it down have you ever had a

waiter a waitress like that and i was

like there's just no way i was very

skeptical i'm gonna send stuff back

doesn't mean this is gonna be a disaster

but when he came back he got every

single thing perfect the salad dressings

the beverages how we wanted the meal

cooked i mean the desserts everything

perfect now is that a standout skill or

is that a standout skill yes yes

yes he was like my roger bannister

he did something i never thought was

possible and opened up possibility

inside my mind perceived limits right

you don't know how far you could turn

just like we talked about what vision

was talking about and just like with

this i do this demonstration not to

impress you to express upon you what's

really possible i grew up with learning

challenges you know with difficulties

how about how about this how many people

want to see me memorize this backwards

recall it backwards

yeah

that's how much energy i'm getting here

let me try to get most of this list

backwards all right

now i'm just using here

actually let me try this

two

four

are we are we good also make sure

everything's in the right and the right

thing three one six

zero two

four is that good

nine three seven seven three one three

two six six one one

nine nine one two how are we doing

um

five

three

four five

eight eight

so what if you could get in these kind

of states and have strategies to be able

to do things that you need how much more

productive could you be as a coach as an

expert as a speaker as an entrepreneur

as a parent as a student by having these

kind of strategies what really

upset me is when i struggled my whole

life with like my whole childhood life

until i was 18 where i hit a wall i

literally when i became a freshman in

college i was lucky to get into i was

like i want to make a fresh start and i

was like i want to make i'm going to

show my family i want to make them proud

i want to show the world myself that i

was good enough and smart i could really

do this so i worked really hard and i

did worse and i was ready to quit school

and i was living in the library i wasn't

eating i wasn't you know sleeping i

wasn't doing anything that that was good

for me nothing in wildfit all the things

i should be doing to be to you know to

build my superhero strength end up

passing out in the

in the library late night and i fell

down a flight of stairs i hit my head

again and i woke up in the hospital two

days later and at this point i was way i

weighed about 117 pounds i was wasted

away like i thought i died maybe part of

me wished that i had and also when i got

out i was like there has to be something

better for me here like what do i do and

the nurse came in

at that exact moment and brought a mug

of tea and on the t was a picture of a

genius a true genius the opposite of

what i felt i was at the time it was

albert einstein and it said this quote

that you've all heard in some iteration

the same level of thinking that's

created the problem won't solve the

problem the same level of thinking

that's created the problem won't solve

the problem i was thinking what's my

problem i'm a really slow learner how do

i think differently maybe i can learn

how to learn right and i was this like i

picked up a course bulletin to look at

classes and they're all classes at

school on what to learn

math history science spanish right all

important subjects but what to learn how

many classes were on how to learn

no classes i mean classes on where's

your class on creativity and problem

solving and thinking right where's your

classes on reading faster and having

better focus and concentration or

improving your memory i always thought

it should be in the fourth r in school

they teach you three r's reading writing

what

arithmetic what about remembering what

about recall what about retention

because their socrates says there is no

learning without remembering there is no

learning without remembering so be is

believe believe you can't believe you

can't now the e

i'm gonna go through these really fast

is exercise exercise

and what i mean by this is i mean

physical exercise because your brain

primarily the primary function of your

brain is to control your movement as

your body moves your brain grows stand

up real quick stand up

quick quick quick

watch this i want you to do this i want

you to take your your right elbow and

just put it your left ear

left what knee good and then your left

elbow to your right knee and vice versa

or if you can't reach that far just tap

these are cross laterals right

i want you to do this take your left

hand and just massage your right ear

lobe

and then your right hand and massage

your left ear lobe and squat down

inhale exhale come up

go down inhale exhale come up

one more time inhale

exhale come up shake out your body all

right have a seat they call that super

brain yoga right how many people are

familiar with educational kinesiology

brain gym super brain yoga so as your

body moves your brain grooves that's

exercise so if you want to change your

state exercise and movement is key i'm

going to go through the rest really fast

the f a s t if you want to learn any

subject or skill faster the f is to

forget

forget

and what do i mean by that

a lot of people don't learn faster

because they feel like they know it

already i'm going back to chronological

age it's not chronological age it's

really the age of your mind and your

heart a lot of people don't learn

because they haven't empty their cup

does that make sense that you hear all

these cliches but there's there's truth

in every cliche that your mind is like a

parachute it only works when it's what

it's open so this is the beginner's mind

right so you want to forget about

anything else than what you're learning

here temporarily the a in fast

so that's the curiosity state right um

the a in fast stands for active active

and the reason why have you get up and

shout out and do all these things it's

not for me

trust me i like i know the answers to

most of the questions and everything is

the active part is learning is not a

spectator sport

learning is not a spectator sport you

the human brain and the mind doesn't

learn consuming information it learns

through creating and from creating it

your mind doesn't learn based on

consumption it learns through creation

or co-creation this in this state does

that make sense so you have to be active

you take notes you ask questions you do

you participate in it how many people

believe what you put in is what you get

out

right so you're active

the s in fast stands for state so this

is emphasizing the state

that all learning is state dependent

all learning is state dependent i never

want to

learn in a board state

right most people like when they read

they're in a board state how many people

you read a page in a book get to the end

just forget what you just read

and you go back and you reread it and

you still don't know what you just read

because you're in that board state how

many people use reading as a sedative

like you have this token book that's

been inside your bed for an

embarrassingly long period of time but

if your state that you have associated

to this activity called reading is

falling asleep or a zero anything times

zero is what

zero and people wonder why they don't

remember what they read so control your

state finally the t in fast and be fast

stands for teach

teach

i recommend that throughout this entire

gathering and beyond you learn with the

intention of teaching it to somebody

else does that make sense if you had to

re if you had to teach this to somebody

when you got back home your team your

family your friends would you learn it

differently yes or yes

would your focus be better yes yes would

you ask better questions would you take

better notes right so you learn with the

intention of teaching to somebody else

all right so the b stands for what let's

do this fast be fast b stanford believe

believe you can't believe you can't

you're right the e stands for what

exercise as your body moves your brain

grooves the f stands for what

forget beginner's mind your mind's like

a parachute only works when it's open

the a stands for what

active is learning is not a spectator

sport the s stands for what

state all learning is state dependent

finally t is what

teach because when you teach something

you get to learn it twice let me close

with this

this is how i use this once and so i

think children going back to childhood

this is you're the fastest learners

right and you could access that at any

time because you have an inner what

child you do have an inner child how

many people believe they have an inner

child a child inside there that is a

genius that can learn that maybe needs

to hear some words from you every so

often right and so

a few years ago i'll close with this

a few years ago i because i remembered

someone name someone's name it led to

business that how many people believe

remembering names is important

because if you forget someone's name

what's the communication you're sending

them that they're not what important how

are you going to show somebody you care

for their business their future their

finances their health if you don't care

and just remember them right and so i

remember someone's name it lit this

business for 20th century fox and it was

for the chairman and i was training him

in his executive team on a friday and i

go there and because i was in state

because i saw all this avatar like

like memorabilia and i saw this movie

poster with star wars i was like a kid

right so i gave my best training ever

and afterwards they really felt it he

was like gave me a tour of the whole

place and everything and i saw this

movie poster of wolverine

i don't this for me is a big deal a move

ring coming out i was like wow i can't

wait for that film to come out and he

picks up the chairman picks up the phone

and five minutes later i'm in the fox

studios with 3d glasses watching hugh

jackman fight all these super ninjas

right and i'm in my bliss on a friday

afterwards he comes to me and says jim

how was the movie i was like it's great

thank you so much i tell my story how i

grew up with learning disabilities i

taught myself how to read by reading

comic books my favorite comic book were

the x-men wolverine and the x-men and

not because they were strongest is

because they didn't fit in because i

felt like i didn't fit in growing up as

a kid does that make sense with this

disability and the boy with a broken

brain and the highlight of the comic

books for me was

when i read that the school for the

gifted for the superheroes was in for

the x-men was in westchester new york

and that it's a suburb of new york city

and that's where i grew up so when i was

nine years old i used to ride my bicycle

all around the neighborhood trying to

find this school

because i wanted

i wanted to run away i wanted to find my

my superpower something that i was good

at um and i want to find my super

friends because when you're the boy with

a broken brain you don't

you don't connect with a lot of people

because you don't feel like you have a

lot to offer right so i used to do that

i'm telling him this story the chairman

he's like jim i know you're like

superheroes do you want to go to

comic-con now what do how many people

are familiar with comic-con

right tens of thousands of people

getting together san diego dress up like

like you know superheroes i was like

when is it he's like today friday

saturday sunday now notice my mind i go

from a nine-year-old to a 99 year old

because i'm like i'm in l.a i'm gonna

get to san diego on a friday right

there's many lines there'll be traffic i

have nothing to wear i have all these

meetings in la and notice like the

critic that comes in right because

sometimes we have to get out of our own

way and mentally i just became an old

person in my mind

and then i was like he's like jim you

want to go i'm going tomorrow and he was

like oh i was like oh you're going

tomorrow i'm going to go with you so he

picks me up saturday morning and instead

of driving down there we get on his

plane and i swear to you on that plane

is the entire cast of x-men and they're

going to surprise comic-con right with

their presence for the new movie that's

coming out and i spend the entire like i

go on there and i'm i don't i see

wolverine and and patrick's like you

know professor x i'm seeing between

jennifer lawrence and holly berry going

to comic-con right and we spent the

entire day amazing we come back here's

here's here's the lesson we come back

and chairman was like how was it i was

like the best day ever thank you so much

he was like he's like am i something

else for you i like i don't want

anything else what can i do for you

he was like they really loved you how

would you like uh to go to montreal they

were filming the last 30 days of the new

movie i'm like oh wow i've never been on

film so i would love to do that but what

can i do for you and he says jim just do

what you did with us just share teach

them how to speed read scripts memorize

their lines faster be present and focus

on set and i was like i could totally do

that

sunday morning we're on what they call

the x-jet and we're going to montreal

and i'm brain training these amazing

individuals that inspired me like

growing up right and i got to see like

on set it was actually taking place at

the school

and i got to see my real-life heroes

come to life in front of me as a

nine-year-old boy

now when i got home

there was a package waiting for me open

up i don't know if you could put this

last the slide on please i open it up

and there's this photograph

um on the screen

there's a photograph of me and the

entire cast of x-men

and

even better than

halle berry and jennifer lawrence

everything that's on there was the note

from the chairman it said this jim thank

you so much for sharing your super

powers with all of us i know you've been

looking for your superhero school since

you were a kid

here's your class photo

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

the the

the lesson that that everyone gets

different lessons out of this for me is

is me being that childhood

vulnerable state that allowed something

like that to happen and the what i would

leave for you is this homework if you is

it okay if i give you some homework

is this movie what's called days of

future past it takes place in the future

and it's there's armageddon i mean it's

the most dreaded future you could ever

imagine and professor x

sends wolverine because wolverine has

healing abilities with his mind sends

him back in time

as like the communicator to talk to his

younger self so professor x sends

wolverine back in time to talk to the

younger version of professor x to tell

them something so that way the future

gets changed does that make sense so my

question for you is this

if you could go back

to that child inside of you that younger

self

and right now tell them something that

they need to hear

what would that be

if you could go back

and pass on a message

to your younger self

what would it be

and

if you were to go in the future one year

two years five years ten years ahead in

the future i believe you have wisdom

inside of you i believe you have

greatness inside of you and genius that

you're not even even tapped in those

states if you were to project 10 years

ahead of time and look back on this day

right now

what does your current self need to hear

from your future self

i have a quote that i get quoted on more

than anything else it talks about an egg

and stress

that your egg is like your life that if

an egg is broken by an outside force

life ends

but if it's broken by an inside force

life begins

and all great things begin on the inside

thank you very much

[Applause]

you