Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life

by Jim Kwik

H is for Halt: In all likelihood, as you’re listening to someone else speak, there will be other things going on in the same space. Maybe there are people milling about. Maybe your phone is chirping, telling you that you’ve just received a text. Maybe there’s music playing in the room or a television in the background. Meanwhile, you’re thinking about your to-do list, your next meeting, or what you’re going to have for dinner that night. Do everything you can to tune all of this out and to be completely present with whomever you’re listening to. Remember that listening involves more than just the words a person is saying; vocal inflection, body language, facial expressions, and more create additional context and provide additional information. You can absorb all of this only if you halt everything else. E is for Empathy: If you can imagine yourself in the speaker’s shoes, you’re likely to learn more from this listening experience than if you do it dispassionately. Trying to understand where the speaker is coming from and why brings additional substance to what they might be saying and allows you to feel it from their perspective. A is for Anticipate: Engage in the experience with a sense of anticipation. Remember that learning is state-dependent and that what you can learn from this speaker will become a long-term memory if you attach emotion to it. Your enthusiasm for what you’re hearing will greatly increase your potential of truly hearing it. R is for Review: If you hav...