Limitless - Jim Kwik Page 0,102

to be the boring guy reading his speech from a piece of paper. If this has ever described you in any way, now that you’ve come to the end of this book, I hope you’re ready to wave good-bye to that person.

Instead, let’s meet the new limitless you.

The limitless you has a limitless mindset. You no longer believe that there are all sorts of things you can’t be, or do. There might be all sorts of things you haven’t done yet, and there might be all sorts of things that you’ve had trouble doing in the past, but the limitless you knows your past doesn’t equal your future. The limitless you understands that your brain is a much more powerful tool than you might have previously imagined and that, by setting your mind to learning whatever you want to learn, you can conquer just about any skill.

The limitless you also has limitless motivation. In the past, maybe you could conceive of a more ambitious life, but you couldn’t actually get yourself to take action. Now, though, you know how to align your habits with your ambitions; you’re capable of making a commitment to lifelong learning and lifelong improvement and it’s as natural to you as getting dressed in the morning.

You also know how to fuel your brain with food and sleep and exercise so that you start your day in the best place, and you’re always ready to take on new and demanding challenges. And you know how to tap into the flow so that, once you start a task, you can dive into it completely. And, perhaps most significantly, the limitless you has unlocked the methods of learning how to learn. By discovering this, you have become exponentially more powerful than you were before. Beyond a few physical limitations, if you can learn it, you can do it. And the tools you now have at your disposal allow you to learn anything faster. When you couple that with the skills you’ve gained in unlimiting your focus, your memory, your thinking, and your reading, you’re in possession of the ultimate superhero toolkit.

A superhero is not just someone who has discovered and developed their superpowers. Every superhero must eventually return to their world and serve. They must bring with them the lessons and wisdom they won through their journey. They must not only integrate their powers into their lives, but they must learn to use their powers to help others. At the end of The Matrix, Neo has won the battle and broken free of limits. In his last phone call to the Matrix, Neo says: “I’m going to hang up this phone, and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules or controls, borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible.” He’s returning to the ordinary world, but with a mission to help inspire others, to free their minds.

My hope for you is that you not only take what you’ve learned in this book and make your life better with it, but that you make the lives of those around you better, too. The formula is: Learn. Earn. Return. No hero’s journey is exclusively for the benefit of the hero. With your newfound knowledge, help those around you to learn better and faster and unlimit themselves.

In the film Lucy, an American student played by Scarlett Johansson develops superhuman powers after the full potential of her brain is unleashed. Professor Norman, played by Morgan Freeman, is a neurologist who helps Lucy cope with the startling changes taking place in her mind and body. When asked by Lucy what to do with her new gifts, Professor Norman replied in Morgan Freeman’s unique voice:

You know . . . If you think about the very nature of life—I mean, in the very beginning, the development of the first cell divided into two cells—the sole purpose of life has been to pass on what was learned. There was no higher purpose. So if you’re asking me what to do with all this knowledge you’re accumulating, I say . . Pass it on.

So, now the question becomes this: What are you going to do with what you’ve learned? Solve a challenging problem at work so you and your colleagues have an impact on your industry, and maybe your world? Start a book club? Make a dent in that huge stack of periodicals on your coffee table,