5 Things I’m Doing During COVID-19

TRANSFORMATION

• Try asking yourself: what’s one virtue you want more of? You can learn more at myintent.org. For today we are going to focus on transformation and transcendence.
• Ending the trance — the mass hypnosis of fear; how you can upgrade yourself to better deal with threats on the outside.
• How to be productive at home and maintain your flow.
• Your mind has an algorithm. Whatever you engage with on a regular basis (like cat videos!), your brain will show to you on a regular basis.
• Right now there is a physical pandemic, but there is also a virus of the mind.
• If we always look at what is fearful and indulge in that, we will become fearful. This media knows this: “if it bleeds, it leads”.
• It’s important to know what’s going on, but it’s also important to have self-control and not indulge in it. If you’re always focusing on the fear, if you’re always looking at the dark, you’re missing out on the blessings, gratitude, and opportunities in your life.

EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE

• In this challenging period, think of yourself as being in a cocoon—one day you can emerge as the butterfly, which has become a profound symbol for change and self-transformation.
• With challenge comes change, and through struggle comes strength.
• While we are staying at home, we might ruminate, and experience fears, doubts, regrets, and loneliness. Some of these thoughts will not serve you: remember that the same level of thinking that has gotten you to where you are is not going to get you where you need to go.
• Limited Ideas Entertained (LIE): an idea that is not necessarily true, but still you give energy to it.
• What is familiar might be what is comfortable, but clinging to where we are and how we like to see the world, we won’t be able to progress.
• Your comfort zone is a nice place to visit, but not much grows there.
• You can’t control the external environment, but you can control your internal environment.
• Our lives are the sum total of all the choices we’ve made throughout our life.
• We can always control our mindset, our motivation, and our methods.
• My book, Limitless, is a framework for progressing beyond what you currently think is possible. You can check it out here!
• More people upgrade their phones than the most important technology that controls everything: their minds.

THE FIVE C’S WHILE YOU ARE COCOONING1. CLARITY

• You can use this time to build your self-awareness and clarity of thinking.
• We have around 50-70,000 thoughts a day, but most of these are questions.
• Our brains are deletion devices that filter out most of the information our brains receive. What gets in are the things we have questions about.
• What’s most important to me in my life? Are my actions aligned with those values?
• How do you want to be remembered? What will they say in your obituary?
• “Begin with the end in mind.” Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• “The most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing.”

2. CARE

• Self-care is not selfish.
• Mental hygiene is just as important as physical hygiene at this time.
• Chronic stress and anxiety shrinks your brain and weakens your immune system, which is important in fighting off illnesses.
• If you want to win the day you have to win the first hour of the day.
• For tips on the best ways to start your day, check out my podcast episode on my morning routine: Episode 16: My Morning Routine (How To Jumpstart Your Day)
• Try to practice more self-love: fall in love with the person in the mirror who has been through so much, but is still standing.

3. CONTRIBUTION

• The antidote to fear is service and focusing on helping others.
• My memory demonstrations on stage are not meant to impress you, but are designed to express to you what is possible—because many of us were not taught.
• I get through any butterflies I have on stage by focusing on service to others.
• Ask yourself: how can you contribute right now?

Some ideas:

• Check in with the people around you. Does your neighbor need help?
• Take care of the caregivers in your life.
• Donate your skills, time and treasures to causes in need.
• Be careful with the language you choose to use when talking about the pandemic. Try not to use phrases that could stigmatize or have negative meanings for others.
• Teach! You can use technology to learn, teach and assist others—it is an exciting time to be alive.
• “School taught us what to learn, but not how to learn.”
• To sign up for notifications about my free remote learning program for kids, go to kwikbrain.com or jimkwik.com

4. CREATE

• Entire industries have been disrupted, but you can recession-proof the number one wealth-building asset you have: your brain.
• In this era, you will be rewarded based on your brainpower, and you can boost your brainpower in order to learn new industries and jobs.
• What makes us human? The only unlimited resource is human capital. There is no limit to your imagination, creativity, determination, and persistence.
• To feel wealthy, count all the things in your life that money can’t buy. Write a list!
• Check out my earlier episode on gratitude: Episode 47: How Gratitude Rewires Your Brain
• What you appreciate, appreciates.
• What are you creating during this time? Will you be better for it? Or will you put your time into binge-watching television?
• Hopefully, you will be able to look back on today and see it as a time of wonder, where you had time to brainstorm, experiment, create. This could be the most productive period of your life.
• What can you write? What videos can you make? What is the best use of this moment right now?

5. CAPABILITIES

• Do not downgrade your dreams and goals, and avoid using what is happening in the world right now to limit your brain. Instead, try focusing on skill acquisition. What do you want to learn? How do you want to upgrade your learning? What is on your to-learn list?
• The most important skill to master in the 21st century is the ability to learn how to learn. This can make anything we want or dream possible. We can apply it to whatever we want, whether that’s new marketing techniques, languages, or martial arts.
• What are you reading? Leaders are readers. Through books, we can download decades-worth of information into days. This will give you more precious time to keep striving to upgrade your skills and brain.

LIMITLESS

• My book is available at limitlessbook.com
• Many people buy a book and it becomes shelf help, not self-help. Don’t let this be you!
• You can access my 10-day Kwik Start program for free with every book purchase! Find more information here.
• I’ll be hosting a Limitless book club on Zoom for 4 weeks to take you through each section of the book.
• Knowledge is not power, knowledge is only potential power.
• I’m also giving out two bonus chapters: one on how businesses can become limitless, and another on how to use limitless practices with your children.
• Help me make Limitless the most-finished book of 2020!

TAKEAWAY THOUGHTS

• Small events can have impacts worldwide. The choices that you’re making today can have an impact on the whole world.
• Limitless is about redefining and redrawing the boundaries on our life—in terms of what we’re worth, and what is possible.
• The life you live is the lesson you are teaching other people.
• When you emerge from this cocoon, you’re going to emerge smarter and stronger.
• One step in another direction can completely change your direction and your destiny.
• Have your to-do list, have your to-learn list, but also have a to-be list. What are the three things you are going to be today for your children? For your team? For yourself?
• Be yourself, trust yourself, love yourself.
• Kindness ripples forever. Kindness is free, so sprinkle that stuff everywhere.
• Great things begin on the inside. You have greatness inside of you, and you have genius inside of you.
• Most of our limits are learned, so the good news is they can be unlearned.

SHARE WITH US

• Take a screenshot of this episode, tag me on social media (@jimkwik) and share your greatest “aha!” moment from this episode with us!
• Check out my book at limitlessbook.com