Did you ever fantasize about dropping out of high school?

I sure did.

So much so that I wound up taking the leap into the unknown.

Stupid as it was, I dropped out and left Canada’s free education system without a high school diploma.

(Don’t get distracted now …

… but for the full story, right-click and open a new tab to read What To Do If You Or Someone You Love Wants To Drop Out Of High School.)

The question is …

Given all the amazing information I found myself learning on my own without interference of schools, boring teachers and their rules …

 

Why On Earth Go Back To School?

 

It’s a simple story, really.

I went back to graduate with my friends … even though I wasn’t graduating.

Actually, as cool as all my friends in high school were …

There was a girl named Kelly. I had a huge crush on her!

I don’t remember all the circumstances, but somehow I wound up taking her to a prom to celebrate a graduation I wasn’t completing!

Everyone but Kelly thought it was awkward and weird.

I mean … just imagine:

One of the most popular girls in school was going to attend high school graduation with a dropout.

 

It Was A Year Of Living Dangerously!

 

In reality, I was the obvious choice. After all, I’d gone through an entire encyclopedia during my time off and listened to educational radio programming every morning.

Whereas most others had sat in desks and tapped their pencils against textbooks they found exhausting, I’d left disgusted by what I saw as an epic waste of time.

But as smart as that move may have been, I was still a Heavy Metal Moron with barely two nuts rolling around in my head. No one in their right mind drops out of high school.

Even so, I’m glad I did. And because I did, I could make my return as a Heavy Metal Renaissance Man armored in everything but the Magnetic Memory Method.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Oh, my … Kelly … I remember her so well.

Kelly wore a tight blue dress.

 

The Kind Of Dress That Should Be Illegal …

 

Then again, it’s the illegal character of her dress that made it so memorable!

For my part, I dressed like James Bond.

My white Tuxedo jacket made me stick out like a sore thumb, but it was fun.

Different.

Totally my style.

Together, Kelly and I looked like we were trying to be undercover spies in a high school espionage movie.

 

Only Sheep Need A Leader

 

But at some point during the evening, Kelly squirmed away from my protective grip and I found myself hanging out with Sophie.

Background: Sophie and I became fast friends in Grade 10 and worked on a Western Civilization project together. It was called Only Sheep Need A Leader and involved an alternative history of Ancient Egypt.

I won’t get into it the entire assignment, but just imagine Moses battling aliens after discovering that the pyramids were actually interstellar space ships.

Somehow we got an A on that project, even if we completely rejected factual history in our reports.

Whatever. We had weird teachers …

The thing is this:

I wound up spending a lot of time with Sophie and often went with her on trips to her mom’s place near Vancouver.

Her mom was a professor and made a HUGE impression on me.

After all, she was an author of a book you actually came across in bookstores in Canada and always seemed to be writing or traveling somewhere to give a speech.

But that kind of future as an author and professor was beyond my imagination …

 

Especially As A High School Dropout!

 

That’s why it must have been an act of fate when Sophie’s mom found out on graduation night that I was attending only to celebrate, not walk away with a Dogwood like everyone else (Dogwood = fancy talk for “high school diploma” out in B.C.).

I wasn’t using memory techniques back then, so can’t rattle the exact discussion off the top of my head.

But it started with dismay …

Then shifted to refusal …

And ended with persuasion.

Persuasion so strong I did exactly what Sophie’s mom told me!

You must finish your high school degree, Sophie’s mom told me. You’re exactly the kind of guy who should become a professor.

 

Stay In School Until You’ve Reached The Very Top!

 

That was her ultimate message.

Get every degree you can until they won't reward you any more.Click To Tweet

Even though it wasn’t easy …

Even though I wound up experiencing a long series of mysterious twists and turns …

And even though I don’t teach at a traditional university outside of the Magnetic Memory Method Online University these days …

 

Memory Techniques Helped Me Get Every Degree You Can Get
(And They Will Help You Too!)

 

And don’t think for a second that it wasn’t painful. I had to go back and sit with a group of kids younger than myself for an entire semester to get that Dogwood.

But here’s the thing:

Even though I was embarrassed and felt totally out of place when I went back to high school …

I was never bored. Not anymore.

You see, Sophie’s mom had installed within me a picture of hope and triumph during an uncertain time.

A time during which, no matter how smart a kid I may have been, without a degree I probably would have wound up cleaning toilets or flipping burgers.

Having done both … I know just what a nasty fate that can be.

 

That’s Not The Fate I Want For You!

 

Wherever you are, whatever your current state of education, no matter how you feel about your memory …

Each of us needs someone who believes in us. Someone who can see exactly what we need.Click To Tweet

My feeling is that people need memory training on an ongoing basis. Someone to help them along on a monthly basis

Even though I’m quite good with memory techniques, I still continue studying and practicing on a daily basis.

I don’t have to. I could just continue talking about memory. Lots of people on the Internet talk and talk about memory techniques without actually using them.

You, like me, can instantly see through them.

But here’s the thing:

Even with all the ruffians, lurkers, haters and trolls …

Memory Improvement Never Ends

 

But back when Sophie’s mom challenged me to return to school … it was a difficult choice to make.

Not just because of the shame involved in going back to high school.

But because school wasn’t that much fun.

Far from it!

And it was a long time yet to go before I would find the memory techniques that made it a blast.

Learned them to the bone.

Fashioned them into something I could own.

Used them every day.

Set up elaborate online teaching systems so I can offer them to the world.

For you:

No need to take such a long journey through educational hell.

School never has to be tough for anyone again.

Never.

Just learn and use memory techniques. You’ll be more than fine.

You and your memory will be Magnetic.

The post What To Go Back To School For And Why (Even If You Don’t Use Memory Techniques) appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Picture this:

You’re a bright student well on your way to completing your high school diploma, but also …

You’re a child of chaos. 

Yes, you love your parents, but …

It’s been a rocky road. You live an all too interesting life.

And most days, school is the last thing on your mind.

Plus … when you do go …

 


School Is Utterly Boring!

 

At least, that was almost always the case for me.

I mean … seriously?

What the heck is a high school diploma to a guy who just wants to play bass, write lyrics and hang out with his friends?

And the teachers?

Not exactly friendship material. And yet …

 

Why You Should Never Forget Any Of Your Teachers

 

Sure, I had some real characters for teachers.

For example, there was the guy who had a fishing boat on his truck. We always saw him leaning against it and smoking a pipe before wandering off to his classroom during the breaks.

Another teacher was a champion curler. He could make the trash bin stop on a dime right beside the desk of anyone chewing gum.

And then there was the math teacher who always used beer in his examples because it was the only thing he could do to get anyone’s attention.

And you know what? Even though I forget 99.99% of everything they taught me …

They still teach me because I use them as Bridging Figures in my Memory Palaces.

Milk Those Teachers For All They’re Worth!

 

Advanced memory improvement tip:

Go through your life history and write down the name and a description of every teacher you've ever had.Click To Tweet

If you remember their names, all the better.

But more importantly, focus on their classrooms. What they looked like. How they moved.

Then keep these details in mind for the next time you need to remember something. If you’ve got the Magnetic Memory Method under your belt, those teachers will serve you very well as mnemonic tools for the rest of your life.

You just have to finesse them a little by doing the simple memory exercise of “excavating” them from your past.

Anyhow …

… As amusing as those teachers were … I still thought grinding out the hours toward this abstract thing called a “high school diploma” was …

 

A Complete Waste Of Time!

 

It really felt that way.

Besides, almost every teacher I spent time with obviously had other things they would rather have been doing with their time.

Fishing …

Curling …

Drinking beer …

No Wonder I Became A High School Dropout!

 

But here’s the thing …

Just because I dropped out of high school doesn’t mean I stopped learning.

Far from it!

When I took my leave from the hallowed halls of high school education …

I did it in a very sneaky way. (Hi Mom, if you’re reading this!)

Every morning, I’d head out to the bus like usual. But instead of standing and waiting for that rusted bucket along with the other kids …

I’d leave for school a little bit earlier.

No one ever saw me.

This was rural Canada, after all.

Frosty mornings …

Turkey farms …

Lots and lots of trees.

 

The True Story Of My Real High School Diploma

 

And back then, I carried one of razzmatazz yellow Walkman cassette-radio players.

You know the kind:

Chunky plastic that you bolted down.

Grey plastic nozzles to protect the headphone jacks from getting wet.

(Oh yes, multiple headphone jacks. You just never knew when there was going to be need for a spontenous listening share. We didn’t have Facebook for sharing music videos on YouTube, after all …)

But instead of my fave Metallica and Megadeth or Slayer cassettes those frosty schoolday mornings …

I would listen to CBC Radio.

Peter Gzowski’s Morningside, to be exact. I could get lost in his voice so easily.

Oh! and he always had great guests.

Amazing guests …

People who taught the listeners about themselves …

About the world …

And how to think about it from a myriad of exciting angles.

To hell with school!

I Learned Everything I Needed To Know About My Country And Science And Literature And World Political History During Those 6 Months Just By Walking Up Into The Hills With My Walkman!

 

To this day, I can’t quite understand why they even bothered having schools!

Seriously?

Why bother back when Gzowksi was so good at asking important authors, musicians and politicians the right questions. And my-oh-my, the stories they would tell!

Anyhow, about 10 minutes along the road, there was a path up into the mountains.

Like some kind of solace-seeking samurai of the mind, I would enter the forest.

And yes, it was dangerous. More than once I nearly got my head kicked off by a startled deer. I can only thank my Magnetic stars that I never encountered a bear.

 

Not Even That Tank Of A Walkman Could Have Defended Me …

 

Listening away, I would begin my hike.

Up, up, up.

And once I’d climbed to one of my favorite crests …

I would stand stoic over Silver Creek and watch the road.

I could monitor my mom’s place from that vantage point and even see a Lego-sized version of her scraping ice from the windshield of her car.

Then she’d unplug the engine from the wall, wrap up the orange cable and then motor her way up to the road.

I would half-chuckle, half recoil in horror as I watched her car wind its way towards town. I was getting away with educational-murder, after all, and couldn’t help but question when it was all going to catch up with me.

And here’s the thing:

 

Dropping Out Of School Always Catches Up With You!

 

So I would stand there awhile. A good long while.

And listen and listen and listen.

And remember some of the books that were mentioned on Morningside.

And then walk back down the mountain.

Once home, most kids probably would have switched on the TV and Nintendo.

I did neither.

None Of That Brain-Rotting Material Would Do!

 

Instead, I opened up the encyclopedia.

The same encyclopedia my mother had purchased for me piece by piece when I was a kid. (I’m so grateful for them – they’ve help me know how to live an interesting life!)

I remember her clipping coupons and all the excitement around getting a new edition month after month. I was too young to appreciate it at the time, but I understand now that she was investing in my future.

And if I hadn’t dropped out of high school …

 

The Opportunity To Soak Up All That
Knowledge Would Have Been Lost!



 

Back then, I hadn’t heard of memory techniques.

But in my own way (just as you should develop your own way), I was still using them.

Like a sponge …

Connecting data …

Linking pieces of an ever-expanding puzzle …

Referring backward and forwards.

Long before “hypertext,” I was making the volumes and pages of the encyclopedia connect.

 

No Tap. No Click. No Swipe.

 

For example, when an encyclopedia entry on an author like James Joyce would say “See Modernism,” I would obey.

I would have to down Collier’s Encyclopedia Book of J and haul out the Collier’s Encylopedia Book of M.

And those books I remembered from Morningside?

A lot of them were available at the public library!

And the odd time I would hitch a ride into town on the bus and go hang out there so I could read them.

I would even hang out in Bookingham Palace (where I would later work) to check out some of the books I heard mentioned.

And what exactly what I was doing in all this?

Exactly what we should all do in life.

 

Don’t Rely On Schools! Make Your Own Textbooks!

 

I don’t know exactly how I knew to do this. I was just following my instincts, I guess.

And my technique for reading encyclopedias and books would evolve into something I call Magnetic Bibliomancy. It’s not too different than what my good friend Jonathan Levi calls “Brute Force Learning.”

And it is delightful. You should learn it. Jonathan has a free trial just for Magnetic Memory Method fans and students so grab it now.

Looking back … there’s only one thing I would change.

I’d hop into a time machine and teach myself memory techniques so that my present self could …

 

Remember More Of Everything!

 

With mnemonics, that would have been more than possible.

It would be insanely possible.

In fact, if I’d only known what I know now …

I could have set a number (as I do now with learning projects) and simply reached it.

Anything is possible when you have a combined memory and learning strategy.Click To Tweet

 


Not Just How To Memorize, But What To Memorize

 

This ability is important, and it’s what the Magnetic Memory Method is all about.

But as a young person, you mostly likely have a distinct advantage:

The time and energy to pursue your interests.

Mine was learning. And I didn’t let school get in my way.

And so if you’re a parent listening to this and you have any opportunity to give your son or daughter a “sabbatical” from school so they can pursue a passion or interest …

 

Just Do It!

 

I’ll bet your most precious family member has more self-direction than you imagine …

… if you just let them find their way to it.

Anyhow, that’s all I did during my months as a high school dropout.

Learning. Learning. And more learning.

Audio. Text.

Want to know what dragged me back into those hallowed halls so that I finally finished my high school diploma?

Make sure you’re subscribed and tune in for next week’s episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and full text version on the only memory improvement website devoted to making school easy, fun and downright Magnetic.

Till soon!

Sincerely,

Anthony

The post What To Do If You Or Someone You Love Wants To Drop Out Of High School appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

It’s annoying when the memory improvement exercises on your smartphone don’t help, isn’t it?

Your smartphone is supposed to be smart after all.

But instead, it’s packed full of junk you never use or apps you never get results from.

And if you’re like most people, you’ve downloaded a few brain trainers, some of which included memory improvement exercises.

Don’t worry. I’ve been there. And the good news is …

Memory Improvement Exercises Make Everything Better

It’s true. It’s not just about improving your memory. It’s also about bringing a higher level of fitness to your mind.

But the truth is that the science just doesn’t stand in favor of apps for exercising your memory.

Far from it.

Worse, companies have even been punished for some of the claims they make about the memory improvement an app can make possible.

Stop wasting your time on memory improvement apps.

Mind you …

I have discovered one that I think is worth your time and I’ll be talking about it later this year after I gather some more experience with it.

But for now – and even if you take up the app I’m using now in the future – you never need memory improvement apps in order to complete the best memory improvement exercises in the world.

Let’s dive in to my Top 5 faves.

5. The Gary Small Memory Improvement Exercise

It’s been awhile since I interviewed Dr. Gary Small, author of  the excellent book, 2 Weeks To A Younger Brain.

My favorite exercise from the book involves a simple exercise that will amaze you. You not only feel your memory improving over time, but you get a clarity boost too.

All you have to do is pay attention to people in the world.

Pick one of them.

Notice four details.

Then, later in the day, recall that person and the four details you noticed.

For example, the other day I chose a man I saw on the way to the gym. He wore a red scarf, black jacket, held his key in his hands and had scuffed brown shoes.

Don’t Try To Memorize!

This is important: I didn’t try to memorize these details.

Instead, I just noticed them and asked my brain to pay attention.

Then, on my way home from the gym and once again later in the day, I recalled those four details.

It’s such a simple exercise. Better than all the memory improvement vitamins in the world.

And it feels so good.

I’ve played a lot of memory improvement games and not a single one of them created nearly as much pleasure.

Best part:

You don’t have to stop with just one person. You can do this memory exercise all day long and really stretch yourself.

For example, when I got to the gym, I made it a point to notice four things about the woman at the desk who took my card and gave me my wristband.

I noticed the grooming of her eyebrows and the colors of her sweater, jogging pants and shoes.

And that made me more present.

Something we all need to be practicing. We know that meditation is good for the brain, and this exercise, although not a form of meditation, relates to the practice because of how it keeps you aware of your surroundings. Instead of being lost in thought, you’re actively paying attention to the world and the things you encounter in it.

4. Memorize Information From A Book

But not just any information.

Information that matters. Information that enhances the experience or even helps you make the world a better place.

For example, some of us are sloppy readers. Because character names are repeated so often, we never bother to memorize them. That, or the authors focus our attention on the meaning of names in order to ensure that we instantly remember them.

But what if we made it our goal to actively practice our memory by making some memory improvement exercises from the characters?

For example, you can modify the Gary Small memory improvement game. Even if the author doesn’t provide visual details for you to practice remembering …

You Can Simply Make Them Up!

I do this all the time when reading. For example, the novel I’m reading now has a character named Stone Luckman. For obvious reasons, that name is instantly memorizable, especially since you can see the character getting stones thrown at him.

(Congrats to the novelist Matt Eaton of Blank for building an amazing mnemonic into this character’s name!)

But I add details. Like that he’s bald, has a scar on his cheek, wears a vest and knee-high military boots.

Disrespectful to the author?

Perhaps, but as Stephen King points out in On Writing, he tends to scrimp on physical details in his writing because he knows readers go ahead and paint their own portraits of the characters anyway.

The only question is …

Do Readers Remember Those Details?

Probably most don’t. But you most certainly can.

To let this exercise show you how to improve concentration and memory, give yourself a simple test with the next character you encounter in the novel you’re reading.

You are reading a novel, aren’t you? If not, no worries – the same exercise applies to non-fiction as well.

For example, I just finished reading No Limit: The Rise And Fall Of Bob Stupak And Las Vegas’ Stratosphere by John L. Smith. (Nothing like a book about buildings that can be used as Memory Palaces, right? )

In this case, I looked up pictures of the people mentioned in the book and commanded my mind to remember details about them. Then, I ask my mind later in the day to recall those details.

This is one of those memory improvement exercises that simply can’t be beat.

And You Can Do It Too!

You improve your imagination and knowledge of the world through reading and by adding one simple feature, improve your memory too.

Oh, and discipline helps too. Here’s how to get some:

If you want to take things to the next level, you can also check out How To Memorize A Textbook. Go ahead and download that episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and the infographic. I know you want to!

3. Create More Than One Memory Palace On A Single Day

If you’ve been following the Magnetic Memory Method for any length of time now, you now the phrase:

“One is the most dangerous number in memory improvement.”

People want just one book.

Just one memory technique.

Just one memory improvement guru.

Just one Memory Palace.

And no fantasies, like the belief that binaural beats can improve your memory.

Sure, some people can get away with that. Memory competition history holds some legendary tales about people who scanned through a single book and went on to win in a short period of time.

But Those Cases Are Rare!

And the truth is that one is never enough, especially when it comes to the power and the glory of the Memory Palace.

If you have only created and used one Memory Palace, that’s like enjoying pizza at just one restaurant.

Sure, you’ve had pizza. But do you really know what pizza’s all about?

Didn’t think so.

The reality is that the full experience of pizza is always yet to come. You can always learn more about what defines a truly great pizza by eating another one.

(Pizza’s a really bad example, by the way, but like the Memory Palace, it has stronger originary ties in Ancient Greece – and even then, that’s still not the beginning of the story. Eat these foods that improve memory instead.)

Creating a Memory Palace the right way is really simple. Make sure you have the Magnetic Memory Method Worksheets and free video series so that you’re good to go.

And then make it one of your favorite memory improvement exercises to simply sit down and create at least one new Memory Palace each week. It’s easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.

2. Use A Memory Palace Every Day

You knew this one was coming, right?

Well, the truth is that I’ve gotten a lot of people to make Memory Palaces. I’ve got folders on my computer full of pics and scans from people all around the world.

And making them is great memory exercise. It’s great memory activity for kids and one of the most powerful memory exercises for seniors.

But there’s a difference between creating a Memory Palace and using one.

And you can certainly benefit by creating Memory Palaces and not using them. I do this all the time.

But the real magic and the real way to blast far and beyond what the memory improvement apps can do for you is to actually use them.

What Are Memory Palaces Good For?

They’re good for encoding and decoding information you want to memorize. That’s a fancy way of saying that we use a Memory Palace to place information into long term memory so you can remember it any time you want.

Information like:

• The Vocabulary Of Any Language
• Professional Terminology From Any Field
• Poetry, jokes, quotes, long speeches
  Any string of numbers or equations
• The most important information from textbooks
• Names and faces
• Concepts
• Oaths
• Computer commands
• Streets on a map
• Facts from history, geography, science and all disciplines
• Important points from lectures
• Things said during conversations
• … and much, much more, all with near or total accuracy!

I suggest that you pick whichever of these categories interest you the most and get good at just that area. You can learn more on the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass product page if this training might suit you the best.

Then add another.

Before you know it, you’ll have skills that enable you to use a Memory Palace to learn and remember anything you want!

The point is that we should always use memory improvement exercises that involve Memory Palaces to remember information that improves our lives.

Which leads to …

1. Remember And Recall Information
About The Ones You Love

 

You wanna know why families fall apart?

The following is a bit of speculation on my part, but I honestly think it’s true.

And I’ll bet a recent experience proves it.

Let me set the scene:

I got married recently. It was awesome. April and I went all over the map on our honeymoon.

And yes, I can tell you the name of the judge who married us.

 

How Memory Improvement Exercises
Can Create The True Ties That Bind

I don’t say that to brag, but I see stuff like that as a kind of cement that binds two people together.

And when April and I finally got our butts to Beijing for the family party …

I went out of my way to ask for and memorize the name of every single person I met.

Why?

Because the old cliche is true (and I don’t care if people send hate mail after reading this):

A happy wife = a happy life.

And what could make a person happier than a spouse who cares?

A spouse who can talk about different family members by name?

Heck, a spouse who can actually look someone in the eye while shaking their hand and say, “Hey, Steve, thanks for coming. We appreciate it.”

And then do that again and again and again.

Now in my case, there really was a Steve at my wedding party. And because he’s Chinese, I had to do double-duty in some cases.

In others, I just went with one name.

The Curious Reason Memory Improvement Exercises
Are The Most Powerful Investment You’ll Ever Make

But the point is that I was not just practicing my memory.

I was investing in my wife.

And my challenge to you is that you learn to be a good partner to your loved one too.

Even if you’re single, equip yourself with this skill.

I’m not just saying this because Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.

I’m saying it because it’s true:

Love = Happiness

At least … most of the time.

And one of the best ways to express love is to actually care about the names of the people in your family.

And what about your partner’s friends?

Their childhood pets?

And all the other names we all throw around in our day to day lives?

Why let that information pass you by when you can capture it all, pop it into a simple-to-create Memory Palace and remember it forever? Use it to help improve your episodic memory?

I’ll tell you why.

I’ll tell you the major objection.

Stop Leaving Your Success In Life To Chance

It’s because people leave their lives to chance.

They prefer it that way.

Rather than lifting a finger to make life awesome now and prepare for a great future, they open themselves up for that divorce request that comes out of the blue a years down the road.

Except that request ain’t out of the blue.

It was set into the wall of the life you’re building right now.

Because whether you like it or not, you are building your life.

And if you want to know what real love is all about, you’re going to want to make sure that memory improvement exercises are a part of your life.

It Really Is That Simple

So what do you say?

Are you ready to get out there and do some simple memory improvement exercises?

If the answer is yes, then you already have more than you need to get started here on the Magnetic Memory Method blog and podcast.

Have fun!

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