I'm gonna share with you the 10 keys to unlock what I call your quick brain, right?
These are the 10 things scientifically proven to help you be faster smarter better to optimize your brain health and your fitness
And now every single thing I'm going to say nobody's gonna debate right? They're gonna say yes, of course, but common sense
It's not common practice. So I'm going to ask people who are watching
this is to rate yourself 0 to 10 how well am I doing this one area like in terms of how I'm eating or
Exercising or something and then you'll notice everyone wants to know what the magic pill is. There's no magic memory pill
There's their magic memory processes
right
If you everyone wants to know the one silver bullet
You have to do all of these things because that's what falls within the focal point
meaning that the 8020 rule the 20% that gives you 80% of the
Results and the rewards so really fast the 10 keys for unlocking your quick brain
People know how to write it down because I'll teach them how to memorize them cool, right?
So and we can do it together. Number one is good brain food
Alright good brain food because you are what you eat what you eat matters, especially to your gray matter what you eat matters?
Especially a gray matter
So we did a whole episode on my favorite top 10 favorite brain foods
And I show people how to memorize it in two minutes
I mean it's a while but there's certain foods that are really good for your brain and you probably eat most these foods as you
Are extendo you're ready blueberry?
Yeah
All like blueberries is like I called brain berries and avocados and good fats and and I know all of them
So there's 10 of them that I recommend and so they're really they're real. They're really excellent. They're very neuroprotective and such
Including dark chocolate. It's a dark chocolate is uh, it's good. What's good for your mood is generally good for your mind
But so a good brain diet is number one. So just to break yourself on a scale of zero to ten
How good is your diet? Alright number two is killing ants
Automatic negative thoughts your self-talk and so I would recommend people zero to ten. How does that feel? How hot while are you doing?
and not only that but you know
Maybe going on it on a little faster cleanse like we cleanse though the food we even things we put in our body
but what about the thoughts that we're putting in our
30 days, there's no negative thoughts. I mean, yeah, they are not complaining or something like that plan
You know because it's just again, you know people and people get so addicted to these things like, you know
Complaining and whatever you're rehearsing. You're just easily rewind your brain to get more of that. It's not Law of Attraction
There's a law of action that's going on
You know that makes it because all behaviors believe driven and so you're wiring your brains to be a lira lira Herzing those things
That's why they say that
that the fearful person like a like a
Fearful person dies a thousand times like a coward dies a thousand times in their mind
you know and and not like a brave person dies just once because every time you're rehearsing oh
I'm scared of public speaking you do it over and over again
not only do you get the fear of it every single time because your
Imagination your mind doesn't know the difference between something vividly imagine and something that's real
literally if you were if you were to put on a brain sensing device the same parts are brain that would light up if a
dog walked in yours
You see what parts your brain lights up
And if you imagine that dog walking in the same exact part your brain will light up so the mind doesn't know the difference
It's the most powerful tool. You have your imagination
I mean, it's crazy like saying that Don Miguel Ruiz wrote The Four Agreements was there I called him on stage
He's like what's your superpower? And he was like Jim my superpowers like everyone's superpower here. It's the super power of imagination
right because knowledge is what is but imagination is really what could be and there's this crazy study called the
counterclockwise study by Ellen Langer out of Harvard and
This is valuable for people in 1979. She was in nursing home
And she was like, this is really depressing why this is the worst environment to spend the rest of the remaining years
She took eight of them out and put him into a monastery but was different she made it
So it was in 1979 in there. She decorated like it was 1959
So the Time magazine cover was from 1959 black-and-white television show. Whatever's there she took out all the mirrors
some people couldn't see themselves and these eight men walked in with canes and they did testing with them and they tested their
Their focus their senses their memory their physical strength
and
pictures of them and all that and then they took a control group put him in, you know
8pp eight guys in a room that they didn't even touch. She didn't decorate it
She said reminisce silicone was 20 years ago, and that was the difference
One week later. Just one week later. They come back
they the guys come out and
These guys didn't even look like the same guys many of them didn't even walk out with her canes when they tested them empirically
Their sense of sight was better theirs a hearing was better. They had stronger muscular strength, right and
On top of it all that they took a picture of them before and after just seven days
I took a focus group
People had known anything on the study and they shown the two photos side by side and they said which one is the younger one?
Right and a hundred percent of the focus group chose the latter one after just seven days
That's what I'm saying the power of imagination
We don't know the effect that our thoughts have, you know in terms of things and such and that's it's pretty amazing
But going back to the power of killing ants, you know, our thoughts are things and it's improve, you know
activating our imagination so
You know don't do it to rehearse your fears and the things that are negative right only have thoughts of things that you want to
Come it, really happen. So the third thing exercise people really we know number four
brain nutrients and this is a subject that comes up because you know
a lot of people travel they have fast-food lifestyles and you know
But maybe they're lacking a certain supplements. And what I would say is, you know, I'm not a nutritionist
I'm not anything that ends on an East but go to a doctor good functional medicine doctor
You have a blood test and I say I say the same thing for diet when people say what was the best
You know to do food sensitivity tests, see what your blood says, you know, red. Yellow green
You know red stay away from yellow, you know
sparingly green and see how you flourish on it afterwards right and then tested but same thing with nutrient profile you can see what you're
Deficient on if you're low on B vitamins if you're low on DHA, then you're gonna have cognitive issues, right?
so supplement number five is I was low in b12 when I was training for the
The Iron Men and whatever glad just if you never yeah vegan, yeah
That was it it I think I was low before but once I had the supplement everything changed including my motivation exactly
That's a huge huge beaker for cognition fifth aught fifth thing that you want to optimize your brain. It's positive peer group
we know who you spend time with is who you become because and it's not just a
You know a positive thinking, you know affirmation quote
literally you have mirror neurons and you're mirror neurons in your nervous system is when you could watch a sport or watch a movie you
Could feel what they feel. It's what
Or you have empathy for other people. We're always imitating people, right?
And so who you spend time with us who you become because you're imitating their habits their behaviors their thought patterns and everything
So that's why they say you're the average of the five people
You spend the most time with right if you're around nine broke people
You're gonna be the tenth right like you hear these things all the time
But there's a it's not just your biological networks or your neurological networks. Analyze your social networks, right?
Cuz whether or not you smoke has less to do with your neurological
Networks and more to do whether or not your friends friends smoke
Okay, it's gonna have more of an influence six thing for your brain a clean environment
We know a clean environment is good for your brain at a anecdotal level
You know when you clean your desk or you clean your laptop off, you know, you have clarity of thought right?
But I don't just mean that I mean clean air clean water because there's a lot of pollutants that's you know
That's not good for your cognition right number. So from there, we at number seven sleep
This is a big one for so many people Brian. I don't know how your sleep is, but it's getting better, you know
Yeah, I mean, I've always tried to hack it and work on it
Yeah on the screen thing in the blue light, but look it can be better
Yeah
Cuz I mean sleep is so important for your brain for three reasons number ones. Where you consolidate short to long-term memory
Everyone who pulled an all-nighter back in the university that hurt you because you need that sleep number two
it's where you clean out the plaque that could lead to brain aging challenges and
that that's what the latest research is saying in terms of leading to I often see dementia and such and then the third reason is
Because we need dream and here's the thing. You're like, what does that have to do with anything Jim?
It's like you don't know how many amazing
Ideas and invention literature works of art came in dream states, like did you know like I mentioned Mary Shelley?
You know here in London Frankenstein came to her in a dream, you know, Paul McCartney came up with yesterday in his dream
You know like a chemist came up with a periodic table in his dream Elias Howe created the sewing machine in this dream
Right, like what are you dreaming about late at night?
Because when you are working all day and you're learning all day, your brain doesn't show up at night at night
It's more active people don't realize that you think it's just not happening. It's actually more active and it's coming up with solutions
It's integrating stuff in the form of dreams
But you when you wake up
Most people forget their dreams you write your dreams down when you wake I do I have six things
I do my in my morning routine episode where I talk about
The very first thing I do is the six steps on how to remember my dreams
because there's gems in there every
All day their insights and inventions and things that my unconscious is just and that's how you get like all that extra
top him back
You know through dad and we didn't up so no lucid dreaming how to be aware and awake to still get rest
But so all this important sleep number eight is brain protection meaning that you know
Like I I I work with a lot of athletes high performer athletes concussions are a big deal
Yeah, right and you know and I've had a number of TB is you know traumatic brain injuries, but not just that you know
I did a whole episode on
electromagnetic fields, like people don't realize that the
Like our smart devices like you like our brains didn't really have ought to have like these the oldest electricity like right by our brains
You know, and I read recently that ninety percent of kids sleep with their phones underneath their pillows
I mean who knows the effect that's
better avoid protect your brain wear a helmet and then finally nine and 10 ninth key to keeping your brain alive is a
new learnings right the neurogenesis in neuro plasticity means neurogenesis
You could create new brain cells to the day. You die science never thought that neuroplasticity is saying you could create new connections
Meaning that Einstein's brain wasn't bigger than any of ours
In fact, it was it was smaller but parts of his brain were very highly connected because he would do these theta state brain
thought experiments and
Every single time you have a new thought you may create new connections, right? And so the way to improve neurogenesis neuroplasticity two things
novelty and nutrition
Okay, just like when you're an athlete just like training your body you give a novelty or stimulus and then you feed it with nutrition
Right. And so that's how you build your mental muscles to finally number 10 stress management stress management
Meaning people don't realize it because it's invisible, but it's like you don't realize how much stress you're under until you're on vacation
Are you getting a massage?
You know realize cuz it's all there all the times like the fish that they don't see the water because it's there all the time
So what are we doing to cope film, you know meditation relaxation massage yoga, whatever it is get so stressed
So there's the ten keys
So I'm gonna teach people right now how to memorize all ten in a few minutes literally a few minutes
so
This is a great technique to use when you need to give a talk
Like if you need to give a presentation and you don't want to rely on notes
This is a great way of having keypoints
This is different than me teaching like the actors how to memorize things for Batum because they need to remember bored for work
Okay, like poetry but this is like 10 keys right because you do public speaking
We met at public speaking events and such. So if you're on stage
The problem is is you want to remember what you need to know
But if you have to answer a question you come back you're like, oh man, where was I?
Yeah, this will tell you exactly where it is
And this is a twenty five hundred year old twenty five hundred year old Greek technique
ancient Greece a Greek order named saman
it is basically he was giving a poetry reading and when he left something really bad happened the building collapsed and killed everyone there and
He was the lone survivor
So is his responsibility?
to help the family members identify their loved ones and he was able to because he remember where they were all sitting and we do
The same thing can't you remember like recently if you had a dinner party who was sitting to your left?
Who is your right because as hunter-gatherers we didn't need to memorize numbers and words we needed to remember where things were
Where's the clean water? Where's the fertile soil? Where's the food all mores enemy tribe. That was our survival
So we store things in places. Okay, so this technically is variable very much
So because so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna walk everybody through my office
I'm gonna
designate one place to place three place ten places and then I'm gonna put each of the brain tips on each of the places and
That's gonna utilize
Visualization and place and tell people to remember it because those are two huge
principles in memory now
by the way
In the first place this in the second place that if you ever found yourself saying that that's where it came from
This that languaging if you've ever found yourself saying in the first place in the same place
It came from this twenty five hundred old memory technique. We don't use that anymore now
We're bringing it back as one of our the techniques, but it's in our language
It's been there before we had could write things down and everything else like that. We were to remember these ways doing this so
everyone could take a deep breath and if it's safe take
Close your eyes. Just help you focus. I want you to imagine you're on a plane
You're going we have an office in Westchester, New York
Which is a suburb of New York City and I want you to imagine it lands in Westchester Airport car picks you up
and even if you can't imagine it just
Imagine you can imagine it and just a car picked you up here in the backseat
You're going to my office get to the office. The first place is the parking lot so we could just repeat out loud everyone
What's the first place?
Parking the parking lot and when you get out of the parking lot, I want you to imagine the first brain tip
Here's a good brain diet waiting for you in a big brain buffet. I mean just like
Blueberries and avocados and green leafy vegetables walnuts are really good for the brain
They actually look like brains dark chocolate, right?
tumeric very lowers inflammation in your body
And so you're there and you're having a big food fight brain super brain soup in the parking lot. Okay, and we'd never happened
You're like Jim. This is so childish. But who are the fastest learners children right music on cements, you know languages be playful here
number two you walk over there's a
There's a like a waterfall creates a moat around the building to cross a bridge. The second place is the bridge
What's number two second place is what say it out loud the bridge the bridge and when you're crossing the bridge you're killing ants
Automatic you're stepping on ants automatic negative thoughts big ones the size of rat
Exactly use your imagination as that's like Dom McGrew really says that's your power right your superpower
Stepping on the ants great from there. You go into the building the third place you get into the third place
The elevator was the third place
Hello elevator and everyone who's with us right now. Say say it out loud also so that you get your auditory memory
There's the elevator you walk into the elevator and you start exercising. That's the third brain tip exercising
So whatever exercise is for you, give your personal trainer in there. Maybe you're doing your yoga
Whatever it is your burpees, whatever you got do it in there, but seeing him feel it
You can't just hear it you get out of the elevator you get to the fourth place
Which is the hallway you walk into the hallway. What's the fourth place?
Hallway, and you're walking the hallway and all these brain vitamins are there on the floor being bottles of brain vitamins?
Maybe you're tripping on the brain vitamins
You see the Omega threes
DHA s the gingko biloba is your vitamin B or b12 s all your brain vitamins and you're like
Indiana Jones Laura Crawford jumping over the brain vitamins. I'm in the hallway over the movie the shiny and like the kid with perfect
I'm in that heart
That's number four you open up the door to the office and Amelie to the left is the fifth place
It's the closet closet and so what's the fifth place at ello closet?
He opened up the closet and inside is your fifth brain tip. Is your positive peer group
I want to see all your happy friends in the closet in the closet
All your happy friends are having their a cheery and amazing time
High-fiving each other happy friends in the closet. They're encouraging you. They're challenging you you're cheering you on great
You're halfway there from there you go to the sixth place, which is the receptionist. What's the sixth place?
Recep receptionist
And the receptionist is cleaning the environments cleaning the air changing the air filters
Vacuuming mopping and they're there everything is obsessively cleaned or a clean environment
From that behind the receptionist is the seven places the fishtank
So what's the seventh place fish tank beautiful tropical fish tank and in there you'll remember sleep
So just see Nemo and Dory sleeping, but don't just make it regular sleep think they're in their pajamas
They're snoring
They are in their bunk beds see and feel what that would feel and Majan that if it makes you laugh
Remember information alone is not memorable information combined with emotion becomes a long-term memory
so they're sleeping now from there you walk to the classroom because you're gonna take you know,
Our speed reading class the door to the classroom is the eighth place the door with eighth place the door door
And it's locked. So how do you open it?
You just put on your helmet which reminds you of protect your brain and you headbutt the door open another
That's very good for your brain, but it shatters everywhere. But the helmet is what you want to remember protect your brain
Okay from there immediately up front is a whiteboard. That's a ninth place. What's the ninth place white boy bored and I'm there
I'm there, and I'm drawing on there teaching you and what am I teaching you I'm writing these two words new
Learnings new learnings and I want you to think about the marker think about what your favorite color is. What's your what's your favorite color?
Red red and it's red and I'm drawing that in red new learnings because new learnings makes neurogenesis neuroplasticity
There's a study on the cover of Time magazine
These nuns living to 80 90 and above
They found out half of their longevity had to do with their faith and their emotional gratitude
But the other half there were lifelong learners because of it at a year's her life in life to their years
I just talked about this in Sardinia here while I was here
which is one of the Blue Zones from there on the side of the classroom are all these bonsai trees these
Japanese plants and what you need to picture is?
stress management so imagine
Meditating or getting a massage, but you have to do it on the bonsai tree. So it's a little prickly. All right bonsai trees
I sit up there and meditate. Yes. I'll stress management on the bonsai trees
Maybe you're meditating. Whatever gets you out of stress. Maybe you're having a glass of red wine, but sitting on the bonsai trees, right?
Okay, perfect. Now open up your eyes. That was fun. Yeah
Yeah
Is it self and that's the thing that man it's a great exercise and focus creativity and imagination
And it's a great strategy in practice and strategy. And the reason I'm bringing this up and a meta-level
I never talked about this but all the jobs in the 21st century are going other places
Right and everyone to know like what makes us human
We have AI coming and everything's gonna be automated and everything's gonna be outsourced, right?
So where is the potential for growth in our careers and as an entrepreneur or something someone who's progressive?
Three areas that computers aren't going to be able to duplicate anytime soon. That makes us more human that I would double down on
Number one whereas everything's being automated or sent to Asia or you know in there to be able to outsource or artificial intelligence
Three things that'd be really hard to outsource creativity right creativity imagination. Yeah, and
Strategy, so these exercises that we did aren't just for helping boost your your mental intelligence to help you
Learn what I just wanted to teach you
it's a great exercise in mental Fitness help you be more creative help you be acting create your size your creativity muscles your
Imagination muscles and using real step-by-step strategies, you know in terms of three steps, you know
You imagine it you link it and you put it in place. So from here now, you're giving your TED talk, right?
you got to get what you've done before but let's say you have your 18 minutes and you want to
Talk about the 10 keys for unlocking your quick brain, right and your psych-k
The research says one-third of it is predetermined by genetics biology two-thirds in your control
These are the two-thirds number one and just walk around my office and you get triggered
So everyone can say this out loud because we want to make it interactive
Number one is not the places the parking lot. But what are you doing there? It's brain food. Yeah fabulous. Eat your brain food
Perfect. You go over to the second place. The second place is the what the braid the bridge and what with the brain tip
I'm squashing the hand. Yeah squash those ants automatic negative thoughts. And then from there you go into the building you get into the what?
Hell of an elevator and what are you doing? The elevator? I'm
Exercise exercising control sizing burpees great for the brain
It gets a heart rate going really good for the brain
Especially the first thing in the morning and then from the elevator you get out and you're immediately right in the fourth place
Which is the what hallway hallway and what's all over the floor all of this?
Supplements, right? Oh my
My nutrition brain you ya brain nutrition
That's then that's number four and then you go into the room
On my office meal eat to the left is the fifth place
You open up the what Klaus Lawson who's in the closet my peer group, they're all you know, they're stuck to each other
Yeah, they're all getting along with each other
Yeah, having fun, they're positive and they're positive good friends are good good for your brain from there
You get out of the closet you talk to the who reception receptionist and what what are they doing?
They're keeping everything clean. We in air clean them on the water's only in the environment environment
It's good for the clean internal environment for your brain
And then from there behind the receptionist is the fish to fish tank and what are they doing? They're sleeping. They're just looking fine
Just any sleep the goods. They're getting the deep sleep. It's good for your brain
And then from there you're going to the class you
open up the I thought I lost this but I got it the door a door with my head and I make sure I mean
Careful with my brain. Nobody injuries. Yeah, no brain injuries because you're wearing that helmet and then immediately up front of the classroom
I'm drawing on the what?
The big whiteboard or and it says in big red letters
New learning new learnings new learning is good for the brain and finally number 10. What's on the side?
All those Japanese plants bonsai trees and what does that remind you of minds? We stress men. It's been I'm meditating on the bottom
Yeah, it's your stress because fight-or-flight
You know stress is good for fight-or-flight physical
But not if you need to take a test not if you need to give a presentation at work, you know
Those are the ten keys for locking your quick brain
And the thing is when I go through that notice you could do all that but not sleep
You're not in good shape writer wants to know the one thing you do all that be deficient in b12
You can be in challenging you be with all that and be with energy vampires and you know
It's gonna it's gonna suck the mental energy out of you here
I wonder why you're just mental fog brain fog and your every single thing is important and so my goal is
Genius leaves clues that it's not a mystery. We just have to do it
Just like going back to this that you know first you create your habits and then your habits create you
