This year at our PTTOW! 2023 Summit, we celebrated Kintsugi - the Japanese art of repairing shattered pottery with gold. It is an ancient practice that treats the broken history of an object as something to be showcased with pride and serves as a metaphor for embracing our imperfections and past traumas as part of what makes us who we are.
Our first keynote speaker was none other than the legendary Jim Kwik, one of the nation's pre-eminent brain coaches. Check out the video below to hear Jim share how his own personal past trauma turned him into the superstar memory coach that he is today - and learn some practical tips to strengthen your own mind and spirit in the process!
Jim Kwik is the founder of Kwik Learning and a widely recognized world expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, brain performance, and accelerated learning. For over two decades, he has served as the brain coach to students, seniors, entrepreneurs, educators, and advisor to many of the world's leading CEOs and celebrities. His podcast "Kwik Brain" is consistently the top #1 training show on iTunes while KwikLearning.com's online courses are used by students in over 150 countries.
**See below for an abridged transcript of the video**
The Broken Pieces - A Personal Journey
Do you remember a time when you felt truly broken, where your heart or mind felt shattered? For me, it was in 1978 when I was just five years old, attending kindergarten. On that fateful day, the blaring sirens of fire trucks caught our attention, and as curious kids, we rushed to the window, all huddled together on our tiny chairs.
In a tragic accident, I went headfirst into an iron grate radiator, causing a lot of blood and an urgent trip to the emergency room. While I don't recall much from that incident, my parents said I was never the same afterward. The playful, creative, and curious child I once was seemed to vanish. School became a place where I shut down, struggling with poor focus, memory, and processing issues.
Teachers would repeat themselves multiple times, and I learned to feign understanding just to get by, even though I truly didn't comprehend. One day, when I was nine years old, a compassionate teacher came to my defense as I faced harsh teasing. She addressed the entire class and said, "Leave that kid alone. He's the boy with the broken brain."
These labels often become our self-imposed limits, and although people may mean well, they can also be sincerely wrong. The feeling of brokenness was all too familiar to me, and for the next 13 years, I grappled with learning difficulties. I put in more effort than anyone else, yet achieved very little in return.
Kintsugi - Mending with Gold
That was extremely frustrating. What we're discussing here is interesting; when it comes to physical pain or injury, we often perceive it as more dramatic than mental or emotional pain. It's easier to say, "I hurt my knee" than to admit, "My spirit is broken" or "My mind feels shattered." Having experienced such challenges, I now understand the theme of "Kintsugi" – how a challenge can bring change.
Through struggle, you gain strength, and that adversity can be an advantage. It's true; many strong people have not had an easy life. While we hear a lot about post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic growth is seldom talked about.
How many of you have faced adversity, something you wouldn't wish upon anyone, but found strength, a new skill, or a sense of purpose from that experience? It's intriguing how life presents us with challenges uniquely suited to our growth. My biggest two challenges were learning and public speaking, as I never had the answer at hand. Life has a sense of humor, as my career now revolves around public speaking on the topic of learning.
I'd like to share a few things I learned on this journey, and part of it involves giving yourself the opportunity to heal by providing your mind and body with the right "medicine" – your meds. Your brain controls everything, and it's essential to take care of it.
M.E.D.S. - Healing and Strengthening
I firmly believe that if knowledge is power, learning becomes your superpower. Now, let's talk about "MEDS." The "M" stands for meditation, an excellent practice for healing your brain. "E" in MEDS, represents exercise. Remember, as your body moves, your brain grooves. The "D" in MEDS is for diet. Have any of you learned about my favorite brain foods? Think of avocados and blueberries. These foods are beneficial for your brain, and you can even memorize the list. Next, we have the "S" for sleep. Ensuring you get adequate rest is vital for healing yourself, and the best part is, it's free!
It's interesting to note that if you follow MEDS and then add an "R," which stands for relationships, you can become limitless in a limited world. Together, we can achieve greatness.
Embracing Limitlessness
Our life is like an egg. If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. But if an egg is broken by the inside force, life begins. And you have greatness inside of you. What's inside of you is so much stronger than what's on the outside.
