covers the story of how Jim Kwik taught himself to learn again after he hit his head and suffered a brain injury. Following in his classmates’ footsteps, 5-year-old Kwik had stood on a chair to get a better view of fire engines that were parked outside his school when someone began pulling on his chair. This caused him to fall and land head-first on a radiator. After this injury, he found it hard to memorize basic facts. It took him three years longer to learn to read than his peers. But today, Kwik can recall the names of fifty or more people in an audience that he’s just met. He can also recite a string of one hundred random numbers, forward and back, while onstage. Kwik has gone from never reading a book before the age of 16 to reading a book every week for the last thirty years. At the heart of Kwik’s mental transformation is a simple truth: We all can mold our brains and continuously improve our mental abilities. If you’re struggling to learn, it’s not due to an innate brain limitation. Your struggles with learning are due to either a limited mindset, limited motivation, or a lousy learning method. 

StoryShot #1: The Fundamentals

Jim Kwik starts Limitless by providing fundamental skills. He also encourages readers to use these techniques while reading his book. The method is called the FASTER method. 

• F- Forget – The key to focusing on a task is to remove or forget the potential distractions surrounding you.
• A- Act – Traditional education has taught most people that it is okay for learning to be passive. That said, your brain does not learn as much by consumption as it does by creation.

The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal you must count down 5-4-3-2-1 and physically move or your brain will stop you.

• Using the Rule is simple. Whenever you feel an instinct fire up to act on a goal or a commitment, or the moment you feel that yourself hesitate on doing something and you know you should do, use the Rule.
• Start by counting backward to yourself: 5-4-3-2-1. The counting will help you focus on the goal or commitment and distract you from the worries, thoughts, and fears in your mind. As soon as you reach “1,” move. That’s it.
• The Rule will work every time you use it. But you have to use it. It is a tool. If you stop using it, fear and uncertainty will creep back in and take control of your decisions. If that happens, just start using the Rule again.
• Physical movement is the most important part of my Rule, too, because when you move your physiology changes and your mind follows.

The Rule is a simple, research-backed metacognition tool that creates immediate and lasting behavior change.

Metacognition, by the way, is just a fancy word for any technique that allows you to beat your brain in order to accomplish your greater goals.

As you use the Rule over time, you’ll experience a shift inside yourself that is much deeper, a transformation that impacts confidence and inner strength.

You will come face to face with the excuses, habits, feelings, insecurities, and fears that have haunted you for years.

Application Ideas

• Speaking in a meeting
• Staying positive
• Making a decision
• Finding time for yourself
• Asking for feedback
• Raising your hand
• Asking for a raise
• Ending self-doubt
• Working on your résumé
• Sticking to your plan
• Leaving the house
• Volunteering to go first
• Talking to someone you find attractive
• Stepping on a dance floor
• Publishing your work
• Getting to the gym
• Eating in moderation
• Saying “no”
• Asking for help
• Letting your guard down
• Admitting you are wrong
• Listening