Limitless - Jim Kwik Page 0,33

your mind, which in turn allows you to build new skills and resources that can provide value in other areas of your life.

The theory, together with the research reviewed here, suggests that positive emotions: (i) broaden people’s attention and thinking; (ii) undo lingering negative emotional arousal; (iii) fuel psychological resilience; (iv) build consequential personal resources; (v) trigger upward spirals towards greater well-being in the future; and (vi) seed human flourishing. The theory also carries an important prescriptive message. People should cultivate positive emotions in their own lives and in the lives of those around them, not just because doing so makes them feel good in the moment, but also because doing so transforms people for the better and sets them on paths toward flourishing and healthy longevity.9

The new mindset that comes from silencing your inner critic presents you with a world of possibility. When you’re surging with positive emotions, you’re seeing—and seizing on—opportunities you might never have noticed before. And with a high sense of motivation (and, really, how could you not be motivated by this?) and the right methods, you’re well on the road to becoming virtually limitless.

BEFORE WE MOVE ON

To learn faster, we must transcend the narrow definition of what we believe is possible for ourselves. In the following pages, you’ll learn about the seven learning lies that are the most common limiting beliefs that hold people back. I’ve seen students and clients cling to these beliefs throughout my decades of teaching people how to learn. These restrictions are the only real barrier you face. After all, people can’t learn to read faster if they believe it isn’t possible. They can’t learn to memorize things more efficiently if they keep telling themselves they have a bad memory. Everything else falls into place once you snap out of the trance of these so-called “limitations.” By tackling these lies, you’ll be tackling the core blocks that keep you from being limitless. Here are a few things to try before going on to the next chapter.

Think of a time when you saw someone accomplish something that truly impressed you. Now think about what personal inspiration you can draw from that.

Reimagine your inner critic. Change the attributes of this voice in your head so you begin to give it less credence.

Face down one limiting belief right now. What do you regularly tell yourself you can’t do? Find the evidence that shows you that this belief isn’t true.

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THE 7 LIES OF LEARNING

What are the most limiting myths you tell yourself?

How can you overcome the debilitating effect of these myths?

How can you turn these limiting beliefs into positive ones?

You’re being lied to. Constantly. Sometimes by yourself. We are all subject to an endless stream of misinformation about our constraints to our capabilities, and we receive this information so often that most of us have no other choice than to believe it. The problem is that these messages directly oppose your quest to become limitless. These limited ideas entertained (LIEs) in our mind can stall us or steer us in a direction we don’t want. So, let’s bring seven to light, examine them for what they are, and replace them with something better.

LIE NO. 1: INTELLIGENCE IS FIXED

On the surface, it looked like Rae was a pretty positive person—she ran her own business, she had a thriving social network, and she loved being around people with big ideas who could imagine possibilities that most of us wouldn’t dream of.

When Rae had a daughter, she realized that perhaps she wasn’t as positive as she thought she was. A different kind of mindset started to show up in very subtle ways, as these things do. First it was in the way she reacted to some of the things her little girl did. Rae tended to think that “that’s just the way she is,” instead of believing that she could have an effect on the way her daughter behaved. When her partner tried to teach their daughter new things, Rae noticed she felt a subtle discomfort, as if she wanted to protect her daughter from disappointment if she wasn’t able to learn what she was being taught. She became aware of the constant thought that her daughter was “too young to learn that.”

One day, her partner looked at her and said, “Do you think she can’t learn, that she’s never going to improve from where she is?” The answer was of course not—she loved her daughter, and the little girl was bright and curious and learning something new