Jim Kwik is a well-known speaker and author who hangs out with the likes of Tony Robbins and other life coaches. His latest book, “Limitless,” is another great contribution to the self-help genre. It is almost three-hundred pages long.
Even though this is a great contribution, I expected more. Maybe it is because I have taken other speed reading and memory improvement courses so I was looking for something I did not already know. The older I get the more I run into this.
Motivation
One of the additions Kwik made to this book is contained in the title. The idea that we can become limitless like the popular movie with Bradley Cooper from 2011. Who’d doesn’t want to be limitless? I like what he says at the beginning of the book, “If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If broken by an inside force life begins. Great things always begin from the inside.”
Later in his chapter on motivation, Kwik breaks down the “Why” into three areas, Mindset, Motivation, and Methods. The chapter is called Limitless Motivation. He discusses the importance of purpose, but first gives us a formula: Motivation = Purpose x Energy x S (to the 3rd – cubed). The S-cubed stands for small simple steps.” Good formula.
I like his discussion about goals and how he adds HEART goals to SMART goals. “Heart” stands for H- healthy, E – enduring, A- Alluring, R – Relevant, and T-Truth.
He doesn’t leave out discussing belief systems either. Anyone that Tony Robbin’s influences are going to discuss limiting beliefs and how to overcome them.
He also brings up “Primary Questions,” which are a trademark of Tony Robbins, but Jim Kwik calls them ”Dominant Questions.” A primary question or “dominant” question is the question we ask ourselves over and over across contexts. For example, “How can I survive,?” could be a Primary Question. Then you take yourself through the process of finding a better Primary Question.
Reading Fast
Kwik has a lot to say about how to read faster. It is one of his staples. So here is a recommendation: Use your finger to scan the lines. That by itself will increase your reading speed. It makes me nervous and I read to relax so it doesn’t work for me although it does work.
Another tip is how to reduce subvocalization by counting while you are reading.
He quotes Mark Twain at the beginning of this chapter and I love this quote: “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”
Remembering
You remember better if you test yourself on the material by asking questions to force you to recall and related study. Spaced review increases learning. Reviewing is key. If you do not review material you will eventually forget it.
Of course, Kwik and other memory experts all use the Memory Castle approach to memorizing phone numbers or names or lists of any kind. It was initially discovered in Roman times. You have many “castles” in your life. They are “locations” where you have spent time. Your living room, bedroom, the grocery store you frequent. You begin in one corner of a room and pick out objects in the “castle” or room like a bookcase, advancing in one direction around the room. Then you use your imagination to tie something you want to remember to that location. Simple! Not necessarily easy. You need to develop your imagination. Kwik discusses this in detail.
There is so much more in this book so please get it and read it! It is a great bookish weapon.