We all make mistakes.

In fact, life mistakes are inevitable.

Heck, in many cases, they’re even desirable.

After all, we learn from our mistakes when picking up a language – including our native mother tongues.

But some life mistakes are probably avoidable.

Like the 4.1 I’m going to discuss in this post.

They are in no particular order of importance.

But I’ve stuck the one with a tutorial at the end. I believe if you pay that final point the most attention…

… and put its mini-lesson into action…

You will avoid SO much pain and suffering.

I wish I had known about that unique set of strategies anyone can use at least 21 years sooner!

So whether you’re 41 or any other age, let’s dive in with these mistakes life has burned into my memory and that I could have done without.

 

1. You Cannot Fulfill Anyone Else’s Dreams
(No Matter How Hard You Try)

 

Maybe it’s all the Romantic poetry I read.

Or maybe it’s just in my genes.

Whatever the reason, I have somehow wound up with a tendency to try and make others happy.

But it’s a trap!

Every time.

First off, “happy” is mostly meaningless.

There are too many possible definitions. Most of them are far from impressive, let alone correct.

I prefer the Greek term eudaimonia.

Some people translate it as happiness, but it actually refers to “flourishing.”

Already, that sounds better.

Concrete.

Something you can feel, see, embrace.

But even then, you cannot give flourishing to another human being.

The best you can do is reach out and try to connect.

Share with them some of what you know and the story of how you came to understand it.

Yes, there is “hard teaching.”

There is the do-this, do-that of the Memory Palace. Anyone can repeat the process, even if they’re a skeptic at first. (Especially if they’re skeptical.)

Likewise with brain exercises.

But getting people to complete the exercises?

That’s entirely on them.

The best you can do is offer inspiration and encouragement.

And if you love them, let them be.

Our siblings on this long-suffering earth can only do the things they are going to do.

And those of us who have traveled to a particular destination, can only show the way – the way we took, amongst many possible paths.

Though to reach some destinations, there really are only singular and definitive ways to reach the end.

Either way, if student and teacher are lucky enough to meet somewhere on the road, they can break bread.

Maybe sing a song or two together.

Or just hang out on a YouTube Live like this one we did for my birthday:

(If you’re not subscribed to my YouTube channel, you can take care of that here.)

But sooner or later, both will be off again on their individual journeys into the unknown.

And that’s a beautiful thing.

But when you try to tether ships together…

All too often, the ship bows start to knock.

And no two sails interpret the wind quite the same.

How could they?

Same wind.

Different sails.

If something you’ve taught them about sailing helps them correct course to wherever it is they’re trying to navigate, that’s great.

But they ultimately accomplished the task of navigation. From the deck of their own ship.

And there are lots of possible destinations.

We can’t all wind up on the same islands together.

Nor should we.

Anyhow, I’ve wasted a lot of time and energy trying to redirect some of the wind filling my sails to help others.

It never works.

 

Here’s What Guides You To Success Better

 

What does work is this:

Sharing the miracle of what one has learned about harnessing the wind’s power.

And respecting what the wind can do.

It sometimes makes sense to help a friend patch up one of their moth-bitten sails.

But you’ve got to make sure you don’t get stranded on their ship. Especially during a storm.

Keep yourself tied to your own mast.

That way you’ll always have a way back to your own ship.

And you reduce the danger that you may be the reason why the ship of your friend has started to go down.

Because the cruel reality is that help can be a hindrance.

Keep your awareness high of that potential problem and you’ll be better off and help save yourself and others from drowning under the weight of wisdom they may neither want nor need.

Is all that too abstract?

Perhaps.

But rest assured that the stories lurking behind these images are memories I could do without.

And I think that even without concrete examples, they could help you avoid many disasters too.

 

2. You Always Have All The Resources You Need
(Even If You Sometimes Fall For The Scarcity Illusion)

 

Actually, I don’t have any unusual nightmares lurking behind this life principle.

But I’ve seen many people not take action because they believed in scarcity, rather than abundance.

They didn’t have enough money.

They didn’t have enough energy.

They didn’t have enough time.

In every case, I could easily spot why these claims weren’t valid.

And when I opened my mouth about why I thought so… well… see point one above.

It’s very hard to make abundance visible to people convinced that they don’t have enough.

In fact, it may be impossible.

It seems like a universal rule that they have to figure it out for themselves.

I hate cliches – especially when they’re right – but I too have been the horse you could not force to drink.

Not often, but I get it.

I’ve just been blessed not to be duped by the lie of scarcity all that often in my short life.

But I’m aware of its potential for evil.

And the scarcity-mindset truly is evil.

 

The “Else” Exercise That Erases Scarcity From Your Brain

 

If you suffer from it, here’s a simple tip Jonathan and I talk about in Branding You Academy:

“Else.”

When you’re asking any of the famous “W” questions (What, Where, When, Who, Why) always add an “else.”

Like this:

What else?

Where else?

When else?

Who else?

Why else?

And of course:

How else?

Get out a big fat sheet of paper and let it all out.

Brain dump.

Mindmap.

C.R.E.A.T.E. the way I talk about in this YouTube Live:

Do whatever it takes to squeeze out every possible option.

Whatever it is you want to accomplish, you can find a way.

At the very least, you can find a way to get started.

And there will be magic in the movement.

Action is a special energy.

Without the woo-woo of “the Secret” or “the Law of Attraction,” I can explain why you will start to attract all the resources you will need if you just start moving – and keep moving:

It’s simple:

Because movement reveals hidden resources!

And it gives you what Gary Halbert calls a Fighter Pilot Attitude.

 

The Amazing Self-Help Secret Buried In A Fragment From Kafka

 

I also think of that story from Kafka.

You know the one (I’ll add a bit of my own flair, if you don’t mind):

The man who always takes the train to the next town for work misses his train.

So he borrows a bike.

When he gets to the next town, he asks an old man to watch over the bike as he goes to work.

Before he leaves, he tells the old man:

“I can’t believe how many more things I noticed about the landscape while riding the bike.”

The old man replies: “Just think how much more you’ll notice if you walk.”

Exactly the same thing will happen to you if you take action.

Instead of sitting on a speeding train of inactivity with your eyes blind to all your options, take another route.

And take that route another way.

You’ll start to notice a whole new world of detail – and possible avenues of action.

And you’ll talk to people you never noticed before.

People who will open you to even more perspectives.

Before you know it, you’ll be walking everywhere – the world will seem too abundant not to take your time and bask in everything it offers.

 

3. There Is No Such Thing As Free

 

The Internet is pretty cool. But I’ve been burned by it many times.

It’s like jacking the Gutenberg press directly into a vein.

The only problem is…

No one can consume all that content.

And even if any of us could…

They’d never be able to take action on even a small percentage of that knowledge.

And that’s a real problem.

Thanks to our genetic heritage, we are hunter-gatherers.

And the Internet triggers that ancient need to hunt and gather things that seem valuable to us.

We stock ‘em up and store them for the great famine.

Works great with berries and meat – if you know how to preserve them.

But with knowledge?

It’s horrible.

We’ve got a world full of people with all the knowledge they’ll ever need at their fingertips.

There’s NOTHING you cannot hoard into your coffers on the Internet for free.

And that’s a real problem for reasons that go far beyond file-sharing and lost revenue for content creators.

It’s a problem for all of humanity because discipline is slipping.

Completion rates are plummeting.

And those who escape the grip of Digital Amnesia and don’t fall prey to the attention span myth are getting fewer and fewer.

The consequence appears to be a growing elite of action-takers.

This elite wins more and more as an ever-increasing majority of people fall into the munching gears of the machines and algorithms that have turned human attention into a commodity.

People struggle to pay attention on digital devices.

And they’re not processing information the same way.

For this reason, information now costs far more than ever before.

Learning costs you more time and mental energy.

Why?

Because it takes longer to consume content when you’re endlessly flipping between 100 tabs and interrupted by dozens of notifications per minute.

And then you have to go over it again because the information is far too quickly – and easily – forgotten.

We’re still learning the lessons we need to learn, but the solution won’t change:

Invest in offline education at least as much as online education.

 

How To Complete The Quest For Balance Between
Online And Offline Knowledge

 

Find a balance between the two.

Get and read at least as many print books as digital books.

Attend at least as many live training events as the video courses you complete (assuming you can finish them in a world of digital distractions).

Invest in others by being with others.

That will help you invest in the future.

Sure, it’s grassroots.

Not always as International as the Internet seduces us into wanting.

But we know from basic brain chemistry that we need the chemicals that only being around others create.

And so much of the confidence and self-esteem issues, not to mention the vapid tribalism that seems to be getting worse and worse, is quite obviously tied to how much time we’re spending in online tribes instead of local ones.

That said…

 

4. There Is No Such Thing As Failure

 

The truth about failure is a hard and contradictory lesson to learn.

Especially when living at the top of your game technically requires you to fail a fair amount.

Or at least…

That’s the way it’s usually framed.

Here’s the truth, however:

No one likes failure and they’re right to try and avoid it.

Failure is painful!

And the typical way people advise us to “hack” failure is, to be frank, totally obnoxious:

“Fail fast. Fail often.”

 

Uhmmmmmm… No. And A Thousand Times No

 

I say this with certainty because the best antidote to failure is simple:

It’s success!

Now, I realize that I waxed messianic at the beginning of this post about the serious role mistakes play in our success. I have not forgotten that little speech.

But mistakes aren’t failures.

They’re sign posts that something needs to be changed. Like you sometimes need to change the ways you approach learning faster and remembering more.

Dive in because taking action leaves clues regarding what to change and often reveal precisely how to change things.lan

Especially if you use the “else” exercise I shared above.

But there’s also something else that leaves clues and shows us how to correct things that have gone wrong.

Again, it’s success.

So instead of failing and failing often, how about succeeding and succeeding often for a change.

And to do that, maybe you do have to put yourself in situations where you will “fail” from time to time.

But often enough, with just a bit of research and self-understanding, you can put yourself in contexts bound to give you more “quick victories” more often.

For example, if you know about your sensory preferences and the personal learning hierarchy I teach you how to discover in The Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass, you can “engineer” learning situations in which you’d actually have to try hard to fail.

In brief, we all have at least 6+1 Magnetic Modes. The main 6 look like this:

The 7th is space itself.

The 7th is the Magnetic Mode we use to create and use Memory Palaces.

 

Do You Know Your Learning Hierarchy?

 

You Learning Hierarchy is based on knowing whether you are more visual, auditory or kinesthetic concerning a particular topic.

Oh yes, your Learning Hierarchy can change! (It’s sneaky that way!)

But self-understanding is the way you stack the chips in your favor.

Sadly, most people are stacking those chips against themselves.

I’ve done it to myself far too many times.

But here’s the cool thing about getting older and having been fortunate enough to stumble into the art and craft of self-observation:

I feel I’ve managed to get out of the major life ruts we humans tend to fall into…

… just in time to set the stage for a much more enjoyable passage into the next stage of life.

Speaking of self-observation, here’s what I really wish I’d discovered sooner:

 

4.1 Not Learning To Meditate Sooner Created
Years Of Unnecessary Suffering

 

Frankly, every minute spent in meditation is the best investment of time and energy in the world.

And I wish I’d taken it more seriously sooner.

I first learned about it in Grade 12 English.

Our teacher took us through a guided meditation out of the blue.

I’m not sure why he didn’t do it at the beginning of every class.

But it made sense to me then and although it would be many years yet before I got into it seriously, the practice made a mark.

However, I’m a skeptic at heart. And I need science that makes sense before I take action on certain things.

And I just didn’t know that a lot of science supports a number of the meditative practices I had dismissed. Like these reports on how to improve concentration and memory Buddha-style.

To be fair, a significant amount of the science I needed to discover wasn’t out there yet.

And the Internet, as dangerous as it can be for taking action, wasn’t around to make it discoverable.

Plus, I was in that deadly hunter-gatherer mode that leads us to “save data for later” in the form of books marks and other dangerous tools of forgetting.

 

Why There Truly Is Happiness Beyond Thought

 

And it wasn’t until a friend told me about Happiness Beyond Thought by Gary Weber that I ordered a print copy of the book and gobbled it down in a way that never happens online.

(Thanks to Ben at Project Monkey Mind for the wind I needed in my sails!)

At least for me, it was important to get the physical copy.

Reading it would never have happened online because it’s just too twitchy a space for me to get any reading done.

Anyhow, Weber gave some solid science.

And he explained how research reveals certain yoga moves are more likely to help men for some reason.

Yet, oddly enough, a number of those moves tend to be practiced more often by women.

Meanwhile, men lock themselves into poor results because they tend to be more attracted to the cerebral brain exercise-type meditation.

Lo and behold, I gave some of these more movement based meditations a try.

And before you know it, I was enjoying PNSEs like there’s no tomorrow (Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience).

At first, these experiences scared me.

 

How I Escaped My “Dark Night Of The Soul”

 

I guess you could say I had what some people call a “Dark Night Of The Soul.”

It lasted for almost a year.

Across this period of time, I mainly experienced the oneness that the non-dualist Advaita Vedanta-types talk about.

And frankly… I didn’t like it.

For awhile, I couldn’t even understand the point of being alive at all given the conclusions this experience raised in me.

But then…

With consistent, persistent practice…

The warm soft glow Gary Weber talks about started to emerge.

It wasn’t like other stories where it just suddenly happens.

It was a soft glowing ember.

I have to keep blowing on it.

But it gets warmer and warmer.

And the more I explore the techniques and add kindling to the ember, the warmer this glow grows.

I almost can’t believe how amazing it all is…

I never want it to end.

And I want the whole world to have this feeling.

So to conclude this long 41st birthday blog post, here’s basically what I’ve been doing to grow this ember.

I have a feeling it will work for you too, even if it takes a while.

 

How You Can Meditate For Focus, Concentration, Memory & An Incredible Sense Of Well-Being In Just 15 Minutes A Day

 

1. I start the day with some simple stretching and movement.

I learned a lot of these moves years ago from Scott Sonnen and later in Systema.

2. I do some journaling.

Often I use The Freedom Journal. But I also use a number of different journals at the same time. It helps keep thoughts organized.

The point is to reserve some of your journaling for gratitude and another part for describing what I call the “Perfect Present.”

Basically, you just write out the way you want things to be.

And test your description for honesty by doing it multiple times.

3. I do three kinds of stretches I discovered in Happiness Beyond Thought.

The first just involves touching your toes.

The second is a kind of cow-tow thingy.

The third is like a sun dog yoga stretch

4. Breathing routines

I usually start by breathing in for a count of five, holding for a count of five and then exhaling for a count of five.

I do this until I feel centered.

Then I do this:

Next, I do breath withholding.

This involves breathing in for a count of 5, holding for a count of 16 (or four rounds of Sa Ta Na Ma), then breathing out for a count of eight.

I usually do this twice.

Finally, I will do the same count as before, but this time hold for sixteen with the lungs empty.

Weird, I know, but it helps to step all kinds of problems, including self punishment.

5. Number-Skipping with breathing

Next, I practice number-skipping.

I will inhale to the count of one, then breath in but suppress the thought of two, followed by counting the third breath.

This practice amounts in some ways to the “don’t think of a red cat” game. The very question practically forces you to think of a red cat.

And yet… strangely enough, it is possible to “skip” counting numbers by replacing them with the awareness that you are deliberately not counting the number.

So the number is there and it isn’t there.

This exercise is excellent for developing focus, concentrate and presence.

6. Language learning and memory training

We know that language learning helps develop white and grey matter in the brain. There’s even scientific proof for why bilingualism makes for a healthier brain.

That’s not the reason I do it, but I believe that spending at least a little bit of time every on language learning using memory techniques is part of the sense of well-being I experience.

It’s effortless to do. I talk a lot about it in this live discussion of using The Freedom Journal in combination with the Magnetic Memory Method:

7. Juggling

I don’t practice juggling every day, but I find the benefits incredible for developing focus and a feeling of well-being.

And check back here soon. I’m collecting footage for a little documentary about learning to juggle and recite the alphabet backwards. It’s kind of like juggling balls and thoughts at the same time.

And anyone can do it.

 

Anyone Can Experience Bliss

 

Well, that’s basically what I’ve done each and every day of my fortieth year.

It’s basically what I plan to do each and every day of my forty-first year too.

I wish I’d been doing it all along.

And I’m not going to fall prey to all of that “no regrets” nonsense.

No, I don’t really regret it…

But by the same token, I really do.

The past really could have been a lot better had I known to do these things sooner.

And if any of these suggestions make sense to you, I suggest taking action on them.

The sooner the better so that you can see what works and dismiss what doesn’t.

Failure to take action and try things is not to know.

Ignorance is most certainly not bliss.

Avoid it like the devil.

The post 4.1 Painful Life Mistakes Burned Into My Memory And How To Avoid Them appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

The Freedom Journal… sounds ambitious right?

Well, what if I told you that I’ve discovered profound memory benefits from journaling for language learning, including boosts in physical and emotional wellbeing?

Benefits that definitely deserve the word “freedom.”

That’s what I am going to tell you about.

And it’s all happening right now in this step-by-step guide. This page will show you how to use The Freedom Journal to experience multiple levels of mental freedom while using it to learn a language with consistency and confidence.

The best part?

You don’t have to journal blindly.

You don’t have to start from scratch or wonder exactly how you’re going to chart your path towards improved fluency.

You just have to:

1. Click play on the podcast above. John Lee Dumas himself is on this episode of the MMM Podcast to help explain how this amazing tool came into existence.
2. Grab yourself your very own Freedom Journal (ideally in print for the fullest brain benefits).

Then, have the language you want to learn…

A couple of Memory Palaces…

5-10 minutes in the morning, another 5-10 in the evening…

And you’re ready to experience brain benefits and fluency like never before.

Ready?

Let’s go!

 

A (Very) Brief History Of Journaling

 

You know what journaling is, right?

Your words. About you. On paper.

Or written inside a digital document. Take your pick.

More carefully defined:

A journal (or diary) is a place you store entries on a daily or near-daily basis.

It is voluntary, helps you put problems to rest and keep yourself moving forward.

You can journal to maintain flow, learn more about yourself and use the Magnetic Memory Method better as you go.

Or, like the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote in Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν (To Myself), you can journal purely to capture your thoughts.

These days, “To Myself’ is known as Meditations. Aurelius wrote it in the second half of the 2nd century AD and, even though this book started as his journal, it is still a bestseller today.

Here’s the important point:

Journaling is powerful and the practice has stood the test of time.

 

Therapeutic Journaling And How
It Can Help You Learn A Language

 

Did you know that in the 1980s, James Pennabaker’s expressive writing paradigm opened scientists onto a whole new world of understanding what makes journaling so good for your health?

He started by looking at journaling as a tool for helping people deal with trauma.

But soon after that, dozens and soon hundreds of studies started to appear showing similar effects.

A lot of them are gathered up and synthesized in one of my favorite books of all time, 59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute.

Sounds like hype, right?

It isn’t.

Wiseman is one of the best science writers of our era and if you want the hard data on why journaling, ideally by hand on paper, works so much magic, you’ll want to read 59 Seconds.

Here’s why all this matters:

 

Journaling Makes You Feel Better And Remember More

 

Feeling better literally helps you remember more because the absence of pain is an incredible way to increase your focus and concentration.

And that is a huge help when you’re learning a language.

That said, if you don’t feel frustrated or discouraged, then maybe you don’t need journaling.

But before you decide, check out these…

 

3 Warning Signs That Scream You Need Journaling To Succeed With Language Learning

 

We’ve talked before about these 15 Reasons Why Learning A Foreign Language Is Good For Your Brain.

And the reason you need at least bilingualism in your life is simple:

Learning a language is excellent for the resilience of the white and grey matter in your brain.

The ongoing use of other languages creates has been shown to fend off Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

(So long as you’re not reducing your results with Digital Amnesia and self-deception about your attention-span.)

But often, scientific proof isn’t enough to create significant motivation for language learning.

In fact, you might be experiencing one of these 3 warning signs that you need journaling for Language Learning.

 

1. You’re Not Consistent

 

There’s no doubt about it:

Learning a language takes time plus consistency.

Consistency is a skill, and for many of us (including me), not always one that shows up on autopilot.

Journaling can help.

 

2. You Struggle With Organizing Your Time

 

Let’s be honest:

Time is a slippery fish.

Yes, yes, we all know the old line:

“Everybody gets the same 24 hours a day.”

But you know what’s so maddening about that cliche?

Even if it’s true…

Not everyone has your life situation, nor your obligations!

Journaling (with the right journal) can help you find a tailor made solution.

 

3. You Forget Where You Left Off
(And Even Why You’re On The Journey)

 

Do you know why artists use sketchbooks?

Yeah, they’re convenient. Duh.

But they’re also a time machine.

They reveal the ongoing progress and serve as reminders of where things need to go.

And just as an artist needs to see the development of their strokes and abilities with shading…

So too do they need clues about what to work on next.

It’s exactly the same with language learning.

With a journal, you can look both forward and back into the past with ease.

 

How To Stop Gambling With Your Language Learning Success

 

Gambling?

C’mon, Dr. Memory. Isn’t that a rather theatrical way to put it?

Not if you value your time.

After all, every minute you spend learning a language only to forget what you’ve learned…

Frustrates you.

Demotivates you.

Chips away at your resilience and makes it harder and harder to succeed.

 

Enter John Lee Dumas And The Freedom Journal

 

All of a sudden one of the most impressive Kickstarter campaigns I have ever seen was everywhere.

Great videos and images were talking about how to gauge your pace by setting proper goals and breaking them up into sprints.

I’d already been journaling for years.

I’d already seen variations on the “regimented journal” many times before.

But The Freedom Journal was different.

I instantly saw how it could help language learners.

And, quite frankly, I was pretty sure it could help me too.

Because if there’s one thing I hate above all things…

It’s gambling with my time!

 

My First Experiment (And MASSIVE Success)
With The Freedom Journal

 

Learning a language is a big project.

And I had just started with Chinese at the time.

But I had another project I knew I had to get off my shoulders.

The Zeigarnick Effect it was giving me had gotten far too strong.

The course is called Genre Frameworks and I’m delighted that it’s finally done.

But before I sought help from The Freedom Journal, this incomplete project was interfering with my mental space for Chinese and a few other things.

So I decided to see if I could bolt the two things things together:

1) Finally get one of my old Film Studies lecture courses into video format and…

2) Learn enough Chinese to ask April’s dad for his blessing to get married. After a bit of small talk, of course.

All while still showing up for my day job, which involves:

• Blogging
• Vlogging
• Podcasting
• Developing Branding You Academy
• Plus…

…wearing the 9000 other hats stubborn entrepreneurs with a massive vision for improving lives around the world gladly heap onto their heads.

No matter what your calling, perhaps you can relate to be being busy in your own life too?

At any stage of your career, or in any life situation, you really can get multiple things done if you have a plan and follow a structure.

So to pull of these two projects while still keeping the Magnetic Memory Method ship rolling along without skipping a beat, here’s what I did:

 

How The Freedom Journal Helps You
Take Charge Of Your Time & Memory

 

The Freedom Journal starts off by helping you define a goal that you:

a) Want to achieve

b) Can achieve within 100 days

It walks you through a simple process for “fact checking” yourself so that you’re not stacking the chips against you and your project.

Remember, no one likes to gamble with time.

When you do, you always lose.

With the Magnetic Memory Method on my side, and all the things I’ve learned from Olly Richards about how to consistently get quick victories with language learning courses, I hopped on a call with my Chinese tutor.

I booked every single session with my tutor in advance, another little trick I learned from Olly to “brute force” your way into showing up consistently.

Using the Magnetic Memory Method Vocabulary Builder in combination with The Freedom Journal, we charted out a course for the next 100 days with 2-3 speaking sessions per week.

Using the Freedom Journal, I broke the 100 day mission into 10-day sprints.

For language learning, that process looks like this:

 

1. The Rule of Ten Magnetic Memory Palaces

 

Create 10 Memory Palaces with no less than 10 Magnetic Stations (ideally a bit more than 10 to give yourself some breathing room and fend off Memory Palace Scarcity).

Then keep creating Memory Palaces for the spatial memory benefits.

 

2. The Rule of Ten Words Per Memory Palace

 

In each of these Memory Palaces, memorize 10 words per day.

If you’re more advanced, you can immediately add phrases to each word.

If you’re not yet skilled enough with memory techniques, do this instead:

Focus on individual words for the first 2-3 sprints. By the time you hit your stride in 2-3 weeks, you’ll easily be able to memorize both core vocabulary and entire phrases.

 

3. The Rule of Journaling Every Day

 

The Freedom Journal is so valuable because on a time budget of just two pages a day, you get all the emotional benefits and psychological benefits discussed in the scientific research that supports the benefits of journaling.

You also get the art sketchbook effect where you can see your progress over time and comfortably predict the future.

And by the end of the 100 days, you’ll have 100 words and anywhere from 50-80 phrases in long term memory.

 

A Detailed Anatomy Of The Freedom Journal
For Language Learning

 

Part One: Conquer the Morning, Conquer the Day

Step-by-step, here’s how a typical morning using The Freedom Journal works:

1. A Powerful and Inspiring Quote

First, you get what I’ve come to think of as a “Mindset Adjuster.”

It’s a great way of thinking positively and remembering the things that really matter. Many of them are worth committing to memory too.

 2. Quick Reflection

Next, you reflect on what makes you grateful.

Now, you might be wondering…

Does gratitude actually work?

The answer is “absolutely.”

Again, 59 Seconds is great reading for the proof, but you can also check out Dr. Erin Olivo.

The way she describes journaling really resonates with me:

Journaling has been demonstrated beyond doubt to create greater levels of happiness. Thus, happiness is a choice.

Bonus tip: Over deliver on gratitude by pushing for as much as you can. When you realize how lucky you are to have things like food and water, it’s gets pretty difficult to focus on the wee bit of effort learning a language takes.

After all, you could be wandering through the desert under the weight of two barely functioning buckets instead of reading this post on a mobile phone on the bus or in a Starbucks, right?

3. Break The Steps Down

Yes, The Freedom Journal asks you to do this every day.

For really long projects like the one I completed, I’ll be honest with you…

It got a little tedious.

But I practice what I preach, so I’m going to put my Nikes on before I climb the soap box:

Just. Do. It.

The cumulative effects of reminding yourself of what needs to be done are powerful.

4. Action Plan

 

On the day you see pictured here, I’d already done most of my language learning activities. You likely won’t fill it out at the exact same time every day either.

But that’s the beauty of it all:

By checking in with The Freedom Journal daily, you develop the habit of translating your journaling into action. So keep journaling and filling these parts out even after they become second nature to reinforce them.

And if you’re wondering about exactly what I did with my language learning ritual, check out Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets.

Basically, it works like this:

Come already prepared with the vocabulary and/or phrases you want to memorize ready to go with your Memory Palace for the day already drawn in The Freedom Journal. See Part Two for more.

5. Morning Mind Relief

We know from many creativity studies that a quick switch to something else helps keep you sharp.

And so part of the genius of The Freedom Journal is that it gives you something else to think about for your creative projects by suggesting a resource each and every day.

Even if you already use the tool under recommendation, it triggers ideas. And that’s good for your brain.

 

Part Two: Conquer the Evening, Conquer the Morning

6. Record Your Wins & Your Memory Palaces

At the end of the day, I love listing two quick wins as structured by The Freedom Journal.

And by luck, fate or some other level of synchronicity, there’s just enough room in the corner to sketch out most Memory Palaces.

But any time I needed more space, no problem. I would just use one of my Memory Journals or Mind Mapping journals, like the kind you see in this video:

 

7. Acknowledge Any Struggles

We all have blind spots.

And that means we keep bumping into obstacles.

Or maybe it’s physical pain, like I was struggling with at the time.

But reflecting on what we might not be seeing can be huge for opening up even the most bruised and blackened eyes.

And as they sometimes say, in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

Or in the case of chronic pain, acknowledging it and owning it is the best way to get over it and move forward.

I certainly wasn’t going to let my psoriatic arthritis symptoms get in the way.

So if you want to finally rule over your obstacles and issues, this part of The Freedom Journal will help.

8. Prime The Future For Success

If it’s true that conquering the morning will help you conquer the day, then this is also true:

Conquer the morning before you hit the sheets.

The Mastery Journal, which is the “sequel” to The Freedom Journal has additional tools for making every tomorrow successful.

But if you’ve been thinking Freedom Journal vs Mastery Journal, my suggestion is to start with The Freedom Journal and graduate upwards from there.

Seriously, even just this little “tomorrow priming” section can make a huge difference. You can use it to pump yourself up or even make a quick action plan for the following day.

9. More Musing

Please don’t dismiss this step:

There’s tons of science that demonstrates just how good mind wandering really is for the human brain.

You can literally allow yourself to just write anything.

For more of the evidence supporting musing and mind wandering as a deliberate practice, check out Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang.

10. The Freedom Journal’s Hidden Asset For Magnetic Language Learners

No, it’s not a huge amount of space.

But I knew it would be just enough the instant I saw it.

And it’s just right for 10 words.

Plus, if you do the math, 10 words over 100 days is 1000 words.

 

1000 Words Memorized In 100 Days? 
Totally Doable!

 

Well chosen (perhaps using the MMM Vocabulary Builder), developed into phrases and used in combination with The Big Five Of Language Learning…

… even just 500 words based on a 50% accuracy rate will represent an enormous boost in fluency.

Most people who really get into memory techniques, however, will have a 85-90% retention rate, which is massive compared to rote learning studies.

And even if the best can still get around 40% retention from rote learning using either index cards and Spaced Repetition Softwares, these approaches:

1) Cannot scale the way a solid Memory Palace practice quickly compounds over time

2) Take way too long and way too much discipline for the effects to settle in (for most people)

3) Bore the tears out of the majority of learners

Again, some people get on just fine with rote learning. There’s even a science to it that many polyglots have mastered.

But even polyglots use memory techniques, especially for what they call the Stubborn Quintile.

 

Your First 10 Days With The Freedom Journal For Language Study

 

Most people don’t want to be polyglots, however. They’d be happy to get traction in just one language and grow from there.

To that end, here’s a quick suggestion for your first 10 days using The Freedom Journal:

Start with the pronouns. Like this (noting that some languages may not have each of these in play):

Day One:

I
You
She
He
We
They
Me
Him
Us
Them

 

Day Two:

My
Your
His
Her
Ours
Their
Mine
Yours
Theirs
Myself

 

Day Three:

Yourself
Himself
Herself
Ourselves
Themselves
No one
Anyone
Someone
Everyone
Everything

 

Day Four:

Anything
Something
Nothing
These
Those
This

 

Days Five-Ten: 

Go back and add phrases to each of these core vocabulary words.

 

Still Skeptical?… Good!

 

If you’re still skeptical that mnemonics can work for you, well… skepticism is good and will help you improve your memory.

And if you need extra discipline, then The Freedom Journal in combination with the process you’ve just learned is a way to get it.

Seriously.

Just dive in. The map is definitely not the territory here. But The Freedom Journal is excellent for helping you create the map as you navigate the territory. One day a time.

Plus…

 

The Freedom Journal Gives You A Pat On
The Back From The People Who Matter Most

 

Can you guess who the first person is?

That’s right:

It’s you.

You’re the one gets to enjoy a massive boost in fluency.

You’re the one who gets to relax into better conversations and reading experiences.

Not to mention going to the movies and listening to music in the language you’re studying.

And you can do it all while completing more than one project.

The other people are your family.

Your friends.

Your tribe.

The ones who notice and appreciate your success.

Because the pat on the back I needed?

Well, I’ve always like that phrase, “too cool for school.”

And even though it still breaks my heart a little that I don’t have a traditional university to call home…

Using The Freedom Journal, I not only reached my goal with Chinese and set the foundation for speaking the language with my new family…

 

The Most Portable Language Learning Tool In The World

 

I also got that dang video course off my back. (Without breaking my back either.)

And with that massive project finally done, I now have the means to grow a completely new tribe with whom I get to talk about things other than memory.

And in 100 days, I completely edited each and every lecture, which included getting the book version manuscript nearly print-ready. (It’s called Genre Frameworks: How To Understand The Structure, Story And Symbolism In Any Movie)

In that same 100 days, April helped me shoot each and every video for the online course version.

And we still managed to take a trip around Europe too, The Freedom Journal forever close at hand:

In sum:

The Magnetic Memory Method snaps together very nicely with The Freedom Journal.

You can get The Freedom Journal and then click the graphic below to get my free Memory Improvement Kit to learn how to create and use Memory Palaces:

So what do you say?

Do you think that The Freedom Journal could help you learn a language?

I’m confident it will and can’t wait to hear your success story.

And you still have doubts, here’s a replay of a live version of this post to show you how I use The Freedom Journal in practice and answer any questions you may have:

And now you know how to use The Freedom Journal, let me ask you this:

If you’re struggling to learn a language, wouldn’t even one word a day feel incredible?

No matter where you’re at now, this incredible journaling tool can help. Dive in and grab your own Freedom Journal here now!

The post The Freedom Journal For Language Learning: The Ultimate 10-Step Guide appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Does your episodic memory help you remember your first prom?

You wore a lovely turquoise gown, your mom couldn’t stop smiling, and your dad was delighted to meet your date. It was a fantastic evening, right?

Well…

Let’s just say, that’s how you remember it.

If you ask your mom, on the other hand, she would say:

“It was a frantic evening. You couldn’t decide what to wear and were almost in tears when the hair-rollers wouldn’t set in. More annoyingly, your dad was upset about your date and was being difficult”.

Each person remembers a specific event in his or her unique way – this is called your episodic memory.

By definition, episodic memory involves the recollection of specific events, situations, and experiences.

Episodic Memory Examples Are Easy To Find

 

Examples of episodic memory would include your memory of your first day of school or your first kiss. Apart from your overall recall of the event itself, episodic memories also involve your memory of the location and time that the event occurred.

For another powerful episodic memory example, please watch this video. It includes some powerful exercises that will help you improve your episodic memory too:

Someone else’s recollection of that same event or experience would be different (maybe not as dramatically different as your prom night, but different nevertheless).

If you want to remember past events in its full technicolor details, you must strengthen your episodic memory.

Keen on storing everyday information in an easily retrievable place? Here’s a quick demo of how to use Memory Palace to store information that matters to you:

 

 

Are Episodic Memories And Autobiographical Memories The Same?

 

Not exactly!

Autobiographical and episodic memories are personal memories from the past.

However, autobiographical memory is more general, for example, when you recall the street name of a house growing up.

On the other hand, episodic memory is more specific to time. 

It’s like remembering your 13th birthday party that took place on a particular street. (Electromagnetic Differences in the Brain during Memory Retrieval, Warren Scott Merrifield, 2007)

In effect, although autobiographical memory involves episodic memory, it also relies on semantic memory. For instance, you can remember the city you were born in and the date, but you wouldn’t have any specific memories of being born.

 

Here’s A Fascinating Fact:

 

Research into links between memory and handedness suggest that ambidextrous people (who can perform some tasks with one hand and some with the other) tend to show better autobiographical memory than people who perform almost all tasks with either one hand or the other.

In contrast to autobiographical and episodic memories, semantic memory refers to the understanding of factual knowledge that is not connected to any specific time and place. For example, the knowledge that the sky is blue. Semantic memory is similar to looking an item up in the dictionary.

Often an individual has no specific recollection, or thoughts of re-experiencing, the event in which the semantic information was acquired; therefore, semantic memories are thought to be “known” rather than “remembered” (McKoon, Ratcliff, & Dell, 1986).

Episodic Memory + Semantic Memory = Declarative Memory

 

Episodic memory and semantic memory together makeup part of your long-term memory and are known as declarative memory.

But before a memory is cemented into long-term memory as episodic memory, it must pass through the semantic memory, noted Endel Tulving of the University of Toronto in his book, Elements of Episodic Memory.

Tulving and colleagues (Habib, Nyberg, & Tulving, 2003) reviewed a large body of neuroimaging research to develop the Hemispheric Encoding and Retrieval Model (HERA).

According to HERA, the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) is more involved than right PFC in episodic memory encoding while the right PFC is more involved than left PFC in episodic memory retrieval.

As the left hemisphere is related to semantic processing, encoding of the episodic information appears to involve the semantic network. (Intensive Semantic Memory Training: A Comparison to Traditional Episodic Memory Therapy in TBI, Elisabeth C. D’Angelo, 2016)

 

Lost & Found:
The Incredible Sense Of Episodic Memory

 

In the 1913 novel In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust describes an interesting scene.

The protagonist of the novel, upon tasting a Madeleine cake for the first time in many years, is overcome with a sudden change in his thoughts, emotions, and overall internal mental state.

Initially, he struggles to define the change that has occurred. Soon, and with conscious mental effort, he is able to identify what change has overcome him: he has retrieved an episodic memory.

The memory was of his youth when his Aunt used to serve him the small cake at her kitchen table. (Spatiotemporal Dynamics Of Neural Activity During Human Episodic Memory Encoding and Retrieval, John F. Burke, 2014)

And it’s a memory that involves all the senses, just like we talk about with the Magnetic Modes:

 

How Are Episodic Memories Formed?

 

Forming episodic memories is not an easy recipe. Several individual steps are involved, each of which requires activating distinct regions of the brain.

The first step is called encoding, a process that your brain follows each time you form a new episodic memory.

The next step is consolidation, where the information moves from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. This enables the memory to become strongly ingrained so that it is not lost even if the brain suffers any impairment.

The final process involves the recall. Under this process, information about a specific incident is retrieved. Sometimes recollection from long-term memory is effortless, while other times it may need a trigger – such as a word, an image or even a smell.

 

Why You Need To Improve Your Episodic Memory

 

In everyday life, episodic memories come to our rescue all the time. They are essential to recall the name of someone you have previously met, remember the current date, or remember to go to your dentist’s appointment.

Episodic memories also enable you to recall and reminisce personal experiences that are an important part of your life with other people who were part of those events. Such memories create a sense of personal history as well as a shared history with other individuals in your life.

More importantly, episodic memories allow you to “travel back in time” (Tulving, 2002) and be consciously aware of a re-experience of important life experiences.

 

Is There An Episodic Memory Advantage For People With ADHD? 

 

Recent research by Jeffrey S. Skowronek revealed that children with ADHD showed deficits in working memory but showed equal or enhanced performance on long-term episodic tasks.

“When discussing a special-event in their life, children with ADHD provided lengthier and more descriptive narratives. This ability to recall very specific details results in a successful and impressive account of the event, rich both in event-specific details as well as semantically related knowledge”. (Long-term Episodic Memory in Children With Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Jeffrey S. Skowronek, 2005)

Then there’s Jonathan Levi’s frank discussion of ADD, which I’m confident you will find a compelling listen when it comes to how he uses his episodic memory to deal with this issue.

 

Why Is This So Important?

 

Put it this way:

If you could strengthen your episodic memory, you would be able to remember better details about past experiences and events.

A stronger episodic memory would also result in improved long-term memory in students – enabling them to do better in studies.

More importantly, strengthening your episodic memory would also enable you to perform better in all aspects of your life starting today.

However, episodic memory function is extremely susceptible to cerebral aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

Just check out Jennie Gorman’s memory loss story:

Think about this, though:

The older you get, the more events you witness and the more experiences you acquire. If you could retain and recall all those memories in detail, imagine how rich a repertoire of knowledge and experience you would have to pass on to the next generation.

You may not be able to control aging, but there are ways to ensure your brain stays young and healthy even as the years pile on. And of course you can learn memory techniques any time to help improve your memory for studying.

How To Improve Episodic Memory

 

Exercise your brain. Regularly.

Period.

That is the most effective strategy to improve memory and retention.

But here’s the catch:

To get tangible results, your brain exercises must be targeted towards specific goals.

Playing brain exercise games on your “smartphone” is not necessarily brain exercise. Nor will doing crossword puzzles keep your brain young and active.

Instead of improving your brain in its entirety, playing crossword puzzles or brain games on a handset will only improve your abilities for those games.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Just check out all the people on this live call who agreed:

What’s the solution?

Watch movies.

No, I am serious! Hear me out as I explain in detail How to Increase Memory By Watching Movies & Series.

The next time you watch a movie, give it your entire attention with the intent to remember more.

That’s the first step.

According to Harry Lorayne, (who always tells great stories)memory ability begins and ends with our attention.

If you do an activity like watching a TV series or a movie with the intention of remembering more details, you’ll have already given yourself a memory boost.

 

4 Step-By-Step Strategies To Improve Memory
And Retention Using Movies

 

1. Watch the movie and try to remember the beginning, middle, and end of the plot with some details about the characters: names, clothes, objects they handled, houses they lived in, street names, maybe even dialogues.

If you’re interested in learning more about memorizing plot points, check out this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on memorizing plot points.

2. Next, retell the entire story to a friend or your partner. (Just make sure it’s not a movie they have been waiting to watch themselves. It can be extremely hazardous to reveal plot spoilers!)

3. For added benefits, verbally recount the movie and then write down a description. This will exercise more parts of your memory and deeply improve recall.

4. Another related method is to listen to your friend retell the latest episode of your favorite show. Commit to memory at least three major pieces of information from that story as your friend tells it to you.

 

This Memory Strategy Works Amazing For Adults

 

Next time you meet someone, memorize four details about that person – like what they are wearing or how they order their coffee.

I learned about this when I discussed Memory Improvement Tips With Dr. Gary Small.

This simple method of observation with intent and then detailed recall will strengthen your episodic memory and enable you to become a better observer of the world around you.

 

Add A Memory Palace

 

There’s more:

If you want a guaranteed method that will improve your episodic and semantic memory as well as autobiographical memory, build Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way.

Unlike mind mapping, which unlocks multiple intelligences, a Magnetic Memory Method Memory Palace approach does that and more.

This incredible combination of intelligence and memory strengthening is very powerful because, combined with Recall Rehearsal, the holistic process lets you move information from short-term memory into long-term memory faster.

All you have to do is add the details from movies, or from people you meet in the streets to your Memory Palace.

Even better:

While you can use all other memory techniques inside of Memory Palaces, it never happens the other way around. For instance, you can’t use Memory Palaces inside of the Major Method the way you can use the Major Method inside of Memory Palaces.

If you choose this memory training technique…

Click the link below to get started:

 

Be Mindful Of Your Surroundings  

No, not this kind of mindful (though meditation for memory and focus will certainly help):

Just be mindful of the things around you and repeat the stories that surround them to exercise your episodic memory.

Being mindful and paying attention to everyday events is essential to creating complete memories and useful recall of information.

The more mindful you are throughout the day, the more attention you’ll pay. The more attention you pay, the more naturally and effortlessly you’ll store events and facts you experience into your episodic memory.

And remember, it all happens in time, with a beginning, middle and an end.

And when you combine mindfulness with the magic of Memory Palaces you can move information into long-term memory faster and with predictable and reliable permanence.

Sounds good, right?

Now if only you could remember what you got Uncle Alan for his last birthday, you can save yourself the embarrassment of sending him the ‘crazy uncle’ mug for the fifth time!

The post Episodic Memory And How To Improve It: A Step-By-Step Training Guide appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Is coconut oil good for memory?

Well, many people think that a diet rich in coconut oil is essential to prevent brain fog, memory loss, dementia and even Alzheimer’s disease.

But…

Here’s the thing:

For years, coconut oil has been been a staple in ketogenic diets for its high fat levels and low carbohydrate content.

Interestingly, a 2016 study by Klaus W.Lange and his team revealed that “both the direct administration of ketone bodies and the use of high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets have been shown to be efficacious in animal models of AD (Alzheimer’s disease) and clinical trials with AD patients.”

But there’s a catch…

The study stated that “the mechanism underlying the efficacy of ketogenic diets remains unclear, but some evidence points to the normalization of aberrant energy metabolism. At present there is only limited evidence of the usefulness of ketogenic diets in AD.”

Don’t get deterred through…

There are other foods that improve memory well worth checking out too.

And yes, I like to cook with it myself, such as when making my Memory Friendly Chocolate Pancakes With Cacao Powder:

But despite being a wonderful ingredient in memory recipes like ours at the Magnetic Memory Method Headquarters in Brisbane, one question remains…

How vital is coconut oil in boosting your brain?

Let’s find out. Starting with:

 

The History Of Coconut Oil And Its Link With A Healthy Brain

 

Settlers in tropical countries used all parts of the coconut tree.

The leaves were weaved into baskets and mats, the sap of the flowers used to create syrups and the meat of the coconut served as food. Gradually, the settlers pressed coconut meat to produce coconut oil.

For at least 2000 years, coconut oil has been an integral part of Ayurvedic medicine. It has been used to heal wounds, treat hair fall, as a skin moisturiser and sunscreen, taken as a health tonic and even considered beneficial for the heart.

You could say coconut oil was the ‘swiss army knife of medicine’.

But there’s the kicker…

Despite its rich history, coconut oil is not used as extensively as it used to be.

Why?

In the 1950s physiologist Ancel Keys discovered that hydrogenated oils had saturated fat which was responsible for heart disease.

Remember, hydrogenated coconut vegetable oil was used extensively for cooking at that time.

In response, the vegetable oil industry blamed saturated fats in processed coconut oil and gave it a bad name.

The tactic worked and throughout the 1950s and 60s coconut oil was replaced by polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

 

New Discovery Brings Coconut Oil To The Forefront Again

 

Half a century after Dr. Keys discovery, scientists found that Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT) which are present in coconut oil can improve memory for Alzheimer patients.

That again changed public perception of this humble oil.

In a 2004 study, elderly subjects were fed either MCT oil or a placebo at random. Subjects who had symptoms of Alzheimer’s showed an immediate improvement on the paragraph recall memory test after consuming the MCT solution.

Then in 2008, Dr. Mary Newport – who was researching possible treatments for her husband diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease – came across the patent application for Ketasyn (which contains MCT), which stated that the oil was derived from coconut oil or palm kernel oil.

Here’s where it gets interesting:

Dr. Newport fed her husband around 35 grams of coconut oil each day.

In her popular article “WHAT IF THERE WAS A CURE FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND NO ONE KNEW?”, she described rapid change in her husband’s behavior two months after the treatment.

From the case study by Dr. Newport:

“He walks into the kitchen every morning alert and happy, talkative, making jokes. He is able to concentrate on things that he wants to do around the house and in the yard and stay on task, whereas before coconut oil he was easily distractible and rarely accomplished anything unless I supervised him directly.”

So the question is:

Will guzzling gallons of coconut oil result in improved mental alertness?

Before we answer that let’s understand the connection between coconut oil and ketones.

 

The Ketones Story: How to Power Your Brain

 

Our body uses glucose to power brain cells under normal circumstances. If there is no glucose available, our body burns fats to produce ketones which are then transported to the brain.

However in case of Alzheimer’s and dementia, your brain cells tend to resist glucose, and won’t function effectively.

PET scans have shown that areas of the brain which resist glucose, use ketones as an alternative source of energy.

Why does this matter?

Coconut oils consists 60% of MCTs which contains Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFAs) that release ketones when burnt.

The Popularity Of Coconut Oil:
Is It All Just A Marketing Gimmick?

 

It seems a lot of popularity of using coconut oil for memory loss is based on Dr Newport’s research.

On September 27, 2011, Dr. Mary Newport published Alzheimer’s Disease: What If There Was A Cure?

The book detailed her husband’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and how regularly consuming coconut oil drastically improved her his condition.

Notice the spike in coconut oil searches on March 2012, a few months after the release.

Coincidence? Maybe not.

It’s quite possible that her positive experiences with coconut oil treatment was a ray of hope for families with Alzheimer patients.

In their bleak situation, it’s understandable that families would try anything for the wellbeing of their loved ones.

 

Just How Bleak Is Alzheimer’s Really?

 

Trust me, it’s bleak.

Worse:

Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia and one of the earliest and most distinctive aspects of Alzheimer’s is its effect on memory.

And so far…

There’s no cure for Alzheimer’s.

We do have these 3 Things To Remember About Alzheimer’s, however.

Plus, there are a few treatments and medications to help manage the disease.

But here’s the problem:

The costs of these treatments can be an additional burden on families. On the other hand, being so inexpensive, coconut oil treatment seems like an attractive option.

 

Coconut Oil… A Miracle Cure?

 

And under such circumstances, it is understandable that families wanting a miracle cure will grasp anything that even remotely suggests a cure.

No wonder, Dr. Newport’s studies were treated as the gospel truth. Soon after, hundreds of families reported that coconut oil improved their family member’s symptoms.

Their claims were not as dramatic as Steve Newport’s progress, but any development was hailed as positive. Especially improvements to episodic memory because we use this to share the stories of our lives.

This is a common psychological phenomenon…

We tend to see or believe what we want to see.

The Newport’s story was so remarkable that it was even featured on CBN.

Soon after this report appeared, the coconut oil fad reached its peak.

 

Is Coconut Oil A Superfood?

 

Some sure like to say so.

Coconut oil is marketed as a superfood. A few health bloggers claim that coconut oil can improve mental performance, support the immune system and improve digestion.

Companies even sell coconut oil pills.

Will popping an oil pill make you smarter, boost your memory and keep that brain fog away?

The truth is harder to swallow..

Dr. Newport states that a person needs to take fourteen 1 g pills to receive the same effect as 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.

That is a lot of pills even for the most ardent pill popper!

Before we go further, take a quick peek at the truth about the best supplement for memory and concentration:

 

Coconut Oil And Memory: No Real Connection?

 

Should you take coconut oil to improve memory?

Dr. David Morgan, CEO of BYRD Alzheimer’s Institute states: “There is only anecdotal information that shows it can be beneficial, but there is not enough research on the matter.”

And I think he is right.

Although there are studies prove MCTs might benefit brain health such as improving brain cells and learning in older dogs and rats , there exists no clinical data that MCTs promote long-term brain health.

Another study shows that MCT supplements have shown to increase in memory and motor skills in a few Alzheimer patients.

But here comes the sad part…

The effects are only short term.

 

What Does MCT Have To Do With Improving Memory?

 

As it turns out, nothing much!

Under normal conditions, brain cells require glucose. Only after your body runs out of glucose, ketones supply energy to your brain cells. So an additional source of MCT in your diet just produces additional ketones which may not be even used by your brain.

There are some embarrassing side effects to this treatment too.

Patients who took MCT supplements reported cases of diarrhea, flatulence, and dyspepsia.

That’s not all…

You also need to be vary of the dark side of coconut oil.

According to a recent paper on Dietary Fatty Acids Directly Impact Central Nervous System Autoimmunity via the Small Intestine:

“Lauric acid (LA), which usually makes up 50% or more of coconut oil, tips the balance of T-cells (immune cells that actively participate in the immune response) towards the production of inflammation, and also, in mouse models, exacerbates multiple sclerosis (MS), in which your immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body.”

 

A More Nourishing Way to Build Your Memory Cells

 

No known supplement or oils can help your memory.

There is an easier and far less complex way to help you improve your memory: build Memory Palaces, using the Magnetic Memory Method way.

Memory Palaces work even in the most broken brain. But they work REALLY well in healthy brains.

Memory training through daily exercise that keeps your mind active, in tune, and fully under your control is a great way to noticeably improve your brain.

Just look at Nelson Dellis and Climb for Memory charity. Nelson is a firm believer that “exercising” the brain daily can keep the mind sharp and delay, or even prevent, Alzheimer’s disease.

It gets better:

The Memory Palace is the best memory technique because it allows you to develop and use spatial memory in a way.

Spatial memory, the basis of the Memory Palace technique, unlocks the power of multiple levels of memory, including:

• Autobiographical memory
• Episodic memory
• Semantic memory
• Procedural memory
• And more…

So that you can move information into long term memory faster and with predictable and reliable permanence.

This incredible combination of intelligence and memory strengthening is very powerful. Combined with Recall Rehearsal, the holistic process lets you move information from short term memory into long term memory faster.

If you choose this memory training technique…

Click on the link below to get started:

 

Build Your Memory With Vitamin M

 

Vitamin M comes from creating Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way.

This is by far the coolest and easiest way to boost your brain function and make it easy to learn and remember anything. Far better than duping yourself or letting yourself fall prey to other realms of hypnosis and memory improvement.

So in sum…

Vitamin supplements or coconut oils are not the best “nutrients” for gaining improvement in memory or recall. You could try using coconut oil for hair loss, though. I’ve been thinking of doing that myself.

In the meantime, here’s what is likely going to work best:

A balanced diet, meditation, sleep, and an effective, dedicated memory strategy (like the Magnetic Memory Method) are the real ingredients to enhance your memory, concentration and focus.

Bilingualism can also make for a healthier brain.

Ready to improve not just your memory, but your entire life?

Let’s get cooking!

The post Coconut Oil and Memory: Can It Boost Your Brain? [Advanced Study] appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.