The Magnetic Memory Method Podcast (Podcast)

Dark and Magical Places details Christopher Kemp's research into why he has no sense of direction. This interview reveals even more.


Direct download: 5_Memory_Palace_Examples_To_Improve_Your_Memory_Training_Practice.mp3
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How to Improve Memory For Studying Magnetic Memory Method Blog image with a frustrated studentDo you want to know how to improve your memory for studying?

Who doesn’t?

After all, it’s the 21st century and there’s so much to learn!

Seriously:

There’s too much to study in too little time – especially before an exam.

But it’s not just a time issue.

It’s not just an issue of volume when it comes to so many books and videos to consume.

The core of the problem isn’t any of those things.

The core of the problem is memory…

The things that your brain just can’t memorize no matter how many times you repeat them.

Why?

Because you don’t have a strategy for managing your learning and memory.

But don’t worry!

In this article, I will show you seven powerful techniques to help you remember anything you have to study. You’ll learn everything far more easily – facts, dates, formulae, equations, whatever.

These techniques will make it far easier for you to ace your next exam.

Let’s dive in.

1. The Memory Palace (The Top Recommendation)

 

Want just one simple method that helps improve memory for studying?

Look no further than the Memory Palace.

Memory champions and experts all agree that it’s the most effective method to remember anything at all. In fact, one expert used the technique to memorize the value of Pi till nearly 112,000 digits.

This memory technique was developed in Ancient Greece. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘Method of Loci’ or ‘Cicero Method.’ You might also hear it called the ‘Roman Room’ or the ‘Journey Method’.

Although there are many variations, here’s the core of how it all works.

With the Memory Palace technique, you associate each piece of information you want to memorize with parts of a location that you are very familiar with – such as your house or your school campus.

 

Why “Method of Loci” Memory Technique Is Too Vague…

 

In the Magnetic Memory Method, we don’t use the term “loci.” It’s too vague.

Instead, we work with Magnetic Stations. On these stations we place our Magnetic Imagery.

For instance, if you wanted to remember a number of important dates about the Second World War, you could ‘file them’ in your medicine cabinet.

Or, better said, “Magnetize” them in place. Associating each bit of information with a physical object within a familiar space helps the brain store the information.

More than just store it, your brain stores the study material systematically and retrieves it easily when needed.

Just make sure to draw your Memory Palace first for the best results. Like this:

Memory Palace by Anthony Metivier

Seriously go ahead and draw your Memory Palaces. Once you know the strategy behind why Magnetic Memory Palaces serve better than the rest, each one should take 2-5 minutes (or less).

The best part?

You can use this memory retention technique to remember complex terminology, numbers, formulae – anything at all.

If you are not a ‘visual’ person, you can still use the technique.

You can also associate pieces of information with sounds, smells, touch – various sensory elements within the location. You do this by using the full range of the Magnetic Modes taught right here in this special infographic:

Magnetic Memory Method Magnetic Modes And Magnetic Imagery Infographic For Powerful Memory Palace creation

 

Probably the biggest strength of the Memory Palace technique is that you can combine it with other mnemonic methods to improve your long-term memory. I will show you a few examples of how to do this in the following sections.

To learn about the Memory Palace and what the Magnetic Memory Method brings to the game in more detail, check out this article.

2. Acronyms to Improve Memory for Studying

 

Acronyms are the most commonly used memory technique and are great for remembering short lists or sequences.

You have probably learned ‘PEMDAS’ in school – a sequence for solving equations. It stands for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction.

Another common acronym to help you remember a geographical list of names is HOMES, which is used to remember the Great Lakes – Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

Here’s a simple tip to create your own acronyms for remembering things better.

According to the Cambridge dictionary, acronyms are constructed with the first letter of each constituent word and they actually sound like words. That’s what makes them easy to remember.

We also use acronyms in the Magnetic Memory Method training, such us:

D.O.C.

Doing is the Origin of Consistency

Doing is the Origin of Creativity


Doing is the Origin of Courage

Doing is the Origin of Clarity

Doing is the Origin of Control

To get into the “doing” of memory techniques that ultimately leads to control over your memory, all you have to do is S.I.P.:

Study memory techniques

Implement memory techniques

Practice memory techniques with information that improves your life

And as you saw in the infographic above, COG KAV helps us remember all the Magnetic Modes:

  • Conceptual
  • Olfactory
  • Gustatory
  • Kinesthetic
  • Auditory
  • Visual

And let’s not forget the Magnetic Mode of space. That’s the Memory Palace itself.

But moving from these examples of acronyms, let’s get back to the technique of using them.

You might be wondering…

What do you do if the first letters don’t form a ‘word,’ because of a lack of vowels in the middle or any other reason?

Forget the definition and get creative.

Try changing the word sequence or using the second or the last letter instead of the first. If there is no vowel, pick up a second letter from a word. A common example is AWOL (Absent Without Leave.)

If you like acronyms, try combining them with the Memory Palace technique. Since each acronym is a word, it’s easy to associate them with a specific object or location in your house. That will make it even easier to remember.

3. Spaced Repetition for Memory Improvement

 

Here’s a well-known fact about memory – the more you reinforce something, the easier it becomes for your brain to recall it.

However, to improve memory for studying, when you reinforce something is far more important than how often you reinforce it. Sisti, Glass and Shors called this phenomenon the ‘spacing effect.’

In the spaced repetition method, you practice remembering at the right time. The simplest way to apply this memory method is to use flashcards when you study.

While going through your flashcards, divide them into three bundles. If you remember something clearly, those cards go into the ‘Easy’ pile. You don’t have to study those flashcards again for a week or two.

If you moderately remember something, keep it in the ‘Medium’ pile and revisit it after a few hours or a day. And if you cannot remember something at all, place it in ‘Hard’ and study  it again within the next 10 minutes.

Simple, and yet effective! At least… lot more effective than spaced-repetition software.

And if you’re in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass, you’ll know how to combine the cards with the Memory Palace.

In brief: Anytime you have words that are ‘Medium’ or ‘Hard’, include them in a Memory Palace.

Then, use all of the Magnetic Modes to create Magnetic Imagery that helps you remember the target information. That will make the information on your cards far easier to recall.

4. The Major Method for Memory Improvement

 

Want an effortless way to remember numbers for studying –  in history, maths, physics, etc.?

Use the Major Method, also called the Major System or Harry Lorayne’s Number Mnemonics. Geeks also call it the phonetic mnemonic system and digit-consonant system.

Quite a mouthful! So, let’s just stick with the ‘ Major Method’! ☺

Here’s how it works.

In the Major Method, you associate each number with a sound, typically, a consonant. Here’s the system most people follow:

0 = soft c, s or z

1 = d, t

Major System on the Magnetic Memory Method

2 = n

3 = m

4 = r

5 = l

6 = ch, j or sh

7 = k

8 = f or v

9 = b or p

Magnetic Memory Method Image of a Nun for the Major System (or Major Method)

The first step is to memorize these associations between numbers and letters. Then use these associations to form words from numbers.

For instance, 22 could be “nun” (n+n)

 

54 could be “liar” (l+r). Personally, I think of Jim Carrey in the movie “Liar Liar” with a lyre to help make it even more memorable.

To remember longer sequences of numbers, you need to combine the sounds you have made. If you want to remember the number 2254, you could visualize a nun punching Jim Carrey for lying!

Make the image as animated and ridiculous as possible, and it will stick in your mind!

If you can, create a fixed image for every number from 0 to 99. That will make it easier to combine them to remember longer sequences of numbers used in mathematics, physics, chemistry or engineering.

If that sounds like a lot to you, just associate a fixed object for each number from 0-9.

If you want to take the Major Method further, check out this article about how to combine it with the Memory Palace Technique.

5. Improve Your Focus to Improve your Memory

 

How often do you get interrupted when you study?

Texts, app notifications, YouTube, Netflix or just a noisy room – students face dozens of distractions and interruptions every single hour.

These factors make it close to impossible for you to reach a high level of concentration – which is terrible news if you are trying to improve memory for studying.

Researchers from MIT have found that it’s  easier to form a long-term memory when your mind pays close attention to a task. You will have to minimize distractions from devices or people around you if you wish to remember things better.

Here are a few ways:

  1. Mute all notifications when you study. If you have an iPhone, just activating the ‘Do not disturb’ mode will do the trick.
  2. Try to isolate yourself from people you know while studying. Go to a library or a café where you won’t be disturbed.
  3. Practice meditation for just a few minutes a day. Research (Maclean et al. 2010) has indicated that just basic meditation helps us focus far better. You can learn to meditate in only a few minutes from this article.
  4. Use app blockers like Freedom.to to block YouTube and other distracting sites while studying.
  5. Work on one topic at a time and avoid multitasking and switching tasks.

6. Lifestyle Changes to Improve Memory for Studying

 

Your lifestyle – your food, sleep and activity levels have a significant impact on your memory.

Sleep

Most students try to gain more time to study by skipping out on adequate sleep. It just makes things worse because lack of sleep affects memory as well as several other cognitive  abilities.

Several studies by Diekelmann and Born have shown that sleep helps in procedural memory formation, learning and creativity. In fact, sleep deprivation can even make you remember things incorrectly.

Eight hours is ideal, but at least make sure you get seven hours of sleep every night.

And don’t fall for the idea that binaural beats will help you improve your memory while sleeping. Chances are that will just make you tired and forgetful.

Memory Destroying Foods - and What To Eat Instead

Video course and Ebook in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass

Food

Foods abundant in saturated fats and trans fats such as red meat, butter, etc. are quite damaging to learning and memory. Students also tend to eat a lot of junk food (especially during exam time) which are worse for your brain.

Numerous studies have shown that these foods can even lead to Alzheimer’s disease in the long-term and other conditions that damage brain health and cause memory loss.

 Instead, to improve your memory power for learning, try to have more of fish, olive oil, whole grains, walnuts, blueberries. There are also other foods that fall in the ‘Mediterranean diet’ that are excellent for your brain.

Exercise

Exercise is well known to improve cognitive performance in several ways such as improved mood, better concentration, more alertness, etc.

So, it’s naturally very effective for improving memory. Exercise also causes the release of a protein called cathepsin B in the brain. This stimulates the growth of neurons (brain cells) and forms additional connections in the hippocampus – an area of the brain vital to learning and long-term memory.

7. Recall Before Writing

 

Teachers encourage us to write things down to remember things better. Adding a couple of steps to this process can make a vast difference to your ability to learn and memorize things quickly – especially before an exam.

First, recall and mentally repeat what you have to write down rather than just copy it mechanically. You can even use movies and TV series as I discuss in how to improve memory using these tools

This process isn’t difficult to do because the information will stay in your short-term memory for around 10-20 seconds if you have paid attention. And mentally recalling it right then it an excellent way of transferring it from your working memory (short-term memory) to your long-term memory.

Next, take a few seconds to store that piece of information in your Memory Palace. That will consolidate that memory even further.

 

Are You Inspired To Try These Memory Techniques?

 

Out of all these techniques, the Memory Palace happens to be the most effective and versatile method. You can easily combine it with other techniques to build an excellent memory. To learn the Magnetic Memory Method at no charge, get started by enrolling for my Memory Palace Mastery in 8 Steps Course:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

And let me know in the comments below:

Which of these ways to improve memory for studying are you going to try today?

The post How to Improve Memory for Studying (7 Powerful Tips) appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:46pm EDT

Binaural Beats and Memory Improvement Magnetic Memory Method PodcastIt’s a popular perception among many people that listening to binaural beats has a special effect on the brain.

They think binaural beats can help you follow a diet or stop smoking.

Or they think these sounds can amp you up for a competition or calm you down, or even improve memory recall, focus and concentration.

The question is…

Doesn’t listening to any type of relaxing music have a similar effect?

Possibly.

In this post, we’ll find out if listening to specific frequencies can have a better impact on your mental prowess than listening to Mozart for Pink Floyd!

What Are Binaural Beats?

 

The word binaural means “having or relating to two ears.”

The process works by sending a slightly different sound frequency to each ear. This has to be done simultaneously and through earphones or headphones.

When two different pure tones are presented separately but simultaneously to each ear of a listener, the listener hears the illusion of a third tone.

This third does “appears” in addition to the two pure-tones presented to each ear. And it is this third tone that is called a binaural beat.

Let’s break this down:

When you play a 350 Hertz (Hz) tone in the left ear and a 360 Hertz tone in the right, it yields a beat with a frequency of 10 Hertz. This third beat is the binaural beat.

The brain then uses a process known as ‘frequency following response’ to follow along at the new frequency (10 Hz). This process produces brainwaves at that rate of Hertz.  

However, this outcome (apparently) occurs only if the the difference matches the alpha frequency range that lies between 7-11 Hz.

Music or white noise embedded with binaural beats is very often used along with different meditation techniques and positive affirmations to gain varying results.

In the memory training and memory improvement world, some claim you will experience results ranging from improvement in recall, concentration, focus, creativity and alertness.

There is more:

Listening to these beats is also said to provide relaxation, stress reduction, pain management, and improved sleep quality.

 

Who Heard Them First?
A Brief History of Binaural Beats

 

Binaural beats were first described in 1839 by Prussian scientist H.W. Dove.

However, it was Gerald Oster’s article in Scientific American in 1973 that brought this process to modern attention.

According to Oster, the tones needed to produce binaural beats had to be relatively low-frequency and the beats themselves were in the range of one to 30 hertz. This is the range the human brainwave frequencies fall in.

What to know the real story?

Humans have the ability to “hear” binaural beats as a result of evolutionary adaptation.

“Many evolved species can detect binaural beats because of their brain structure. The frequencies at which binaural beats can be detected change depending upon the size of the species’ cranium. In the human, binaural beats can be detected when carrier waves are below approximately 1000 Hz.” (Oster, 1973)

 

The Binaural Process In Real Music

 

Of course, binaural beats in terms of therapy is quite different than the binaural process found in music. This process was apparently invented by Manfred Shunke who used models of the human head created with the help of computer design software.

As music historian Rob Bowman wrote in the notes for Lou Reed’s Between Thought and Expression:

“The detail was as precise as possible down to the size, shape, and bone structure of the ear and ear canal. Microphones were then designed to fit each ear so, theoretically, what they recorded would be exactly what a human sitting in the position the head was placed would actually hear.”

Binaural Beats To Manage Pain:
Why The Truth Matters For Your Memory

 

Chronic pain impacts between 10-50% of the adult population, while costing U.S. businesses over $61 billion annually.  

The neuromatrix theory suggests that the brain’s inability to return to a state of equilibrium is at the crux of chronic pain (Melzack, 2001; Melzack, 2005).

Binaural beats has been effective in synchronizing brain waves, also known as entrainment, with an external stimulus (Kennel, Taylor Lyon, & Bourguignon, 2010), and has been associated with a number of positive psychological outcomes (David, Katz, & Naftali, 2010; Lane, Kasian, Owens, & Marsh, 1998).

Research shows that an external audio protocol of theta-binaural beats is effective at reducing perceived change in pain severity.

How does this affect your memory?

The answer is simple:

Pain free people pay better attention to their surroundings.

Freedom from pain means that your levels of focus and concentration are automatically better than when impacted by ongoing or recurrent pain.

Being pain free is especially important for learning, something that requires high levels of concentration.

Kind of like crossword puzzles require high levels of concentration (not that there is much evidence they will improve your memory).

Speaking of which:

Do Gamma Brain Waves Improve Memory & Concentration?

 

The highest frequency brain waves are apparently called gamma waves. These waves can have a frequency of anywhere between 25 and 100 Hz.

People whose brains produce more gamma waves are said to have greater ability to concentrate, focus and experience higher levels of cognition.

A recent study by Jirakittayakorn and Wongsawat tried to find whether “modulation of the brain activity can lead to manipulation of cognitive functions. The stimulus used in this study was 40-Hz binaural beat because binaural beat induces frequency following response.”

According to the study, listening to 40-Hz binaural beat for 20 minutes enhanced working memory function evaluated by word list recall task.

Does that mean we can change our brainwave patterns by listening to specific sounds?

Maybe…

But also maybe not!

A research project by Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist, found that the brainwaves of trained monks who regularly engaged in meditation produced powerful Gamma waves. Whereas the control group – with non-meditating volunteers – had little to no gamma brain waves.

What does this fact imply?

One way to improve concentration is to go Buddha style and practice long-term or short-term meditation.

Within a week of consistent meditation, you can start to experience improved concentration. So long as you’re not letting binaural beats combined with smartphone addiction get in the way.

Meditation can be used to remember something because better concentration has a direct link to improved memory.

But Can Binaural Beats Help Memory?

 

Not in theory or practice according to a research article by David Siever in 2009 called Entraining Tones and Binaural Beats.

But before we go any further, the actual claims are important to look at.

So let’s take a step back and try understand how binaural beats work.

The proponents of binaural beats claim that it induces brainwave “entrainment.”

This entrainment supposedly influences and drives brainwave activity to a more desired mental state.

More specifically, entrainment is a “synchronization of two or more rhythmic cycles” and the process of brainwave entrainment relies on the natural phenomena of synchronization.  

Think of it like this:

When you strike a tuning fork and then place another one next to it, the second tuning fork automatically starts to vibrate at the same frequency.

This is a natural synchronization. Pendulum clocks, metronomes, fireflies are few other examples of natural synchronization.

However, Siever states that entrainment occurs only when a constant and repetitive sound of sufficient strength to “excite” the thalamus is present.

Siever also noted that binaural beats are not very noticeable because the modulation depth (the difference between loud and quiet) is very small at just 3db, a 2 to 1 ratio.

Here’s a longer quote:

“This means that binaural beats are unlikely to produce any significant entrainment because they don’t activate the thalamus. But they do have some hypnotic and relaxing effect by way of dissociation (as does white noise and music).

This outcome may be, in part, due to the Ganzfeld effect. The Ganzfeld effect is the process where the mind quietens as a result of having a monotonous sensory input.

A natural example of the Ganzfeld effect may be experienced while sitting in a large field in the country while staring into the wide, blue sky.  While sitting there, imagine listening to the white noise from the fluttering of leaves on the trees – away from the noise and other stimulation of urban life.

In other words, thanks to the Ganzfeld effect, binaural beats, through passive means, may help a person relax.

If, in theory binaural beats do not produce entrainment, do they produce entrainment and drive brainwaves in reality? The simple answer is NO!”

It’s not just Siever!

In another study, Gerald Oster used an EEG oscilloscope to conclude that binaural beats produce very small evoked potentials within the auditory cortex of the brain.

What does this?

It means that binaural beats are of little benefit in producing AE or auditory entrainment. (Oster, G. (1973). Auditory beats in the brain. Scientific American)

Researcher Dale S. Foster also found that binaural beats in the alpha frequency produced no more alpha brainwaves than listening to a surf sound.

Here’s Foster’s conclusion:

“The analysis of variance of the data revealed that there were no significant differences in alpha production either within sessions across conditions or across sessions.

Although alpha production was observed to increase in the binaural-beats condition early in some sessions, a tendency was observed for the subjects to move through alpha into desynchronized theta, indicating light sleep.

Subjective reports of “dozing off” corroborated these observations. These periods of light sleep — almost devoid of alpha — affected the average alpha ratios.”

 

A More Effective Way To Gain Mental Prowess

 

The beauty of the human brains is that it needs a goal to improve.

Your memory improvement training should always be linked to memorizing information that will immediately improve your life. 4x Australian memory champion Tansel Ali agrees.

Moreover, the memory improvement activities should always be measurable since tracking your outcomes leads to rapid improvement.

This is where the secret method of building Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way comes into play.

Using this Method, you not only get to remember the information faster, but also get predictable and reliable permanence that grows in strength each time.

Even better:

All other memory techniques including listening to binaural beats can be used inside of Memory Palaces.

But this never takes place the other way around (For example, 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 are looking for a complete brain workout try this brain fitness method…

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

You can also see more Unconventional Techniques Guaranteed To Help You Conjure Your Best-Ever Ideas.

The Ultimate Memory Improvement Beats?
Listen to Music That Inspires!

 

Use sound beats or music as a means of relaxation, rejuvenation or inspiration.

When you feel relaxed and inspired you can create effective Magnetic Imagery that will enable you to build better Memory Palaces to improve recall, retention and memory.

Now is that music to your ears, or what?

The post Binaural Beats And Memory: Can This Crazy Music Make You Smarter? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 5:36am EDT

Bilingualism Magnetic Memory Method PodcastAre you a polyglot?

No, I don’t mean a ghost that walks around the attic making loud noises and moving objects. That’s a poltergeist!

A polyglot, on the other hand, is a more tame individual who is fluent in several languages.

Then there are the hyperpolyglots – those who actively learn and master six or more languages, like Emil Krebs, a 19th-century German diplomat who had mastered around 65 languages by the time of his death.

While only 1 percent of people are polyglots; more than half of the world’s population is bilingual (those who speak fluently in two languages).

Being bilingual (or multilingual) is said to enhance your better problem-solving abilities, and improve your concentration and focus.

These are valuable resources in everyone’s life! And reason enough to start learning a new language.

If you are geared to pick up a new language or just want to get better in your mother tongue, use these five amazing hacks:

And while you practice your German or French, ask yourself this:

 

Will Being Bilingual Help You Get a Healthier Brain?

 

Seriously:

There is a ton of research backing claims that being fluent in more than one language is good for your brain.

More importantly:

Unlike other areas of science and memory, few articles evoke grave doubts on the advantages of being bilingual.

That said…

A 2015 article in the New Yorker by Maria Konnikova “Is Bilingualism Really an Advantage?” makes an interesting point:

Konnikova says the bilingual advantage seems to have more of a protective effect on the aging brain than it does anything to enhance executive-control functions of healthy individuals.

While the Konnikova’s arguments are persuasive, I am sure of one thing:

When you learn a new language and use new words and grammar rules, multiple areas of your brain work together. This is a great long-term workout for your brain.

And since your brain is a muscle, it needs regular workouts to remain strong, supple and stable!

 

The Inside Story:
Why Bilingualism Is Not Just About
Speaking Two (Or More) Languages

 

Contrary to general perception, bilingualism is not just about the ability to speak two languages fluently.

There are a lot of little nitty-gritty aspects involved.

For instance:

You could be a “simultaneous bilingual” who learns two languages from birth.

Or, you could be an “early sequential bilingual.”

What the heck do those terms mean?

“Early sequential bilingual” is a fancy term for those kids who speak one language at home but learn to speak the community language at school. There is also the “late sequential bilingual” – someone who grew up with one language and then moved to a country that speaks another.

Why are these terms important?

The differences in how and when you learned your second language often leads to different levels of proficiency and fluency. This, in turn, affects your level of being bilingual.

For instance, if you were fluent in French (along with English) in high school but have been using only English ever since, your bilingualism and its related advantages may have deteriorated.

In fact, according to a study, simultaneous bilinguals and early sequential bilinguals show different levels of behavioral performance in a lexical representation task that measures how quickly you can classify a stimulus as words or nonwords. (Sebastián-Gallés, Echeverría & Bosch, 2005)

Remember this:

The more articulate you are in a language, and the more fluently you use both your languages in your daily life, the more bilingual you will be.

“You have to use both languages all the time. You won’t get the bilingual benefit from occasional use.” This quote is by the cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok who has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind.

A recent study by Yeh-Zu Tzou shows how working memory is important but language proficiency in the native language (L1)  and second language (L2) assumes a more critical role in a person’s ability to process and store information simultaneously.

Another study shows bilingualism is not a categorical variable (that is you are either bilingual or not) but rather the “bilingual experience is composed of multiple related dimensions that will need to be considered in assessments of the consequences of bilingualism.”

 

The Trouble With Knowing Two Languages:
Each Fight For Supreme Control

 

As a bilingual, when you use one language, the other is also active at the same time.

This creates a persistent linguistic competition which can result in language difficulties.

For instance, bilinguals are known to be prone to the tip-of-the-tongue syndrome where you can remember specific details about a word but cannot conjure the word fully.

Some mnemonists and memory champions also term it as “ghosting.” I refer to it as “Magnetic fossilization.”

Either way, if you have ever been in a position where someone’s name is right on the tip of your tongue but you can’t get your brain to say it out loud, remember that the word is competition with some other information or similar sounding words in your brain.

But there is good news:

The bilingual brain relies on control mechanisms such as attention and inhibition, every time she or he speaks or listens to maintain the balance between the competing languages. Due to this constant practice, these control mechanisms are strengthened with changes occurring in the associated brain regions.

Could there be other benefits to this constant brain workout?

 

Bilingualism And Its Connection With a Better Brain

 

As I said earlier, being bilingual is a constant brain exercise.

Regularly juggling two languages gives the brain better abilities to filter out unnecessary information which helps in improved focus and attention.

Since bilinguals are used to switching between two languages, they are also excellent at switching between tasks, even if these tasks have nothing to do with language.

A study by Dr. Viorica Marian and her team proved that bilinguals are better at filtering out unnecessary words than people who speak only one language.

In the study, participants were asked to perform language comprehension tasks where they had to hear a word and then recognize its corresponding photo.

For example, volunteers would hear the word “candy” and then they would see four pictures, including a picture of candy and a picture of a similar-sounding word, such as “candle.” The experiment aimed to see how well the participants were able to recognize the correct word and ignore the similar-sounding competing word.

The results showed that bilinguals performed better than their monolingual counterparts at ignoring the competing words. This is because people who speak more than one language are already used to controlling two languages and suppressing irrelevant words they don’t need.

The ability to tune out irrelevant information is a strong indicator of mental abilities and can help bilingual individuals concentrate better by blocking outside noise in a busy classroom or office space.

Another advantage of speaking two languages – you have more efficient monitoring systems.

According to this 2009 study, when conditions required high monitoring demands, bilinguals were faster than monolinguals.

The most persistent advantage to being bilingual comes at a later stage though.

It seems that the aging brain of a bilingual person can resist the effects of dementia far better than those who speak only one language.

Research has also shown that multilingual people have a higher density of grey matter in their brains, and older people who speak more than one language tend to have better-maintained white matter.

But the big question remains:

 

Does Bilingualism Make A Healthy Brain Smarter?

 

The answer I am afraid is no!

No research (that I can find) proves bilingualism enhances executive intelligence, emotional intelligence or intelligence quotient.

 

A Simple Method For Maintaining a Superior Brain
(And Mastering Another Language)

 

The truth is …

Improving brain function and memory does connect with mastering a new language.

But the real gains come from eating a balanced diet, getting lots of hydration, maintaining an active lifestyle and sleeping for 7 hours every night.

Add consistent memory training to that healthy mix and you’re golden.

But if you leave aside the health benefits, the simple act of learning a new language in itself is a fun proposition.

It enables you to interact with interesting people and exposes you to new cultures and practices.

Any new challenge and novelty help to keep the brain active and vibrant. Like doing crosswords, for instance, stimulates the brain and makes for a fun workout…

So long as you don’t let them frustrate you!

 

 

And of course, being multilingual can be extremely useful when trying to impress a date.

But the coolest, most fun way to quickly master a new language while maintaining a superior brain is to build Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way.

One important reason why Memory Palace is effective and attractive to many users is that it reduces cognitive overwhelm or overload.

There’s more…

Creating Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way unlocks the power of your multiple intelligences plus autobiographical memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory and other kinds of memory.

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.

If you are keen on this memory training technique…

Click on the image below to get started:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

 

When Words Don’t (And Won’t) Boost Your Brain…

 

Knowing many languages has the power to help you express yourself fluently. And language learning is tremendously useful when you are trying to improve memory, clarity, and focus.

With the Magnetic Memory Method, you gain the ability to not only remember information faster but also get predictable and reliable permanence. This grows in strength each time you create Memory Palaces using this method.

Ready to add this memory improvement method to the lexicon of your life? Let me know in the comments below or feel free to post your questions.

The post Why Bilingualism Makes For a Healthier Brain appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Why_Bilingualism_Makes_For_a_Healthier_Brain.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 5:56am EDT

Can stress cause memory loss and confusion?

Not if you’ve got a gun in your face.

Like Ben Thomas.

Ben was walking through an L.A. neighborhood when he was robbed at gunpoint.

Next day, when the detective asked him to identify the perpetrator, Ben was able to do it very easily.

Over time, however, the author who experienced this violent incident, reported that he “remembered fewer images and more facts: the colors of the thief’s hoodie and pants, the words he’d said, even the exact time displayed on my iPod (12:36) at the moment I’d handed it over to him”.

Why would Ben remember more facts than images?

It’s because some memories formed under highly stressful situations get so strongly encoded in our brains that we never forget them.

But does that mean you should put yourself under stress to memorize your sales presentation?

 

The Answer Is A Big NO!

 

Because, in general, stress impairs memory, makes you forget things or even remember things differently.

Ben, for instance, could recall the thief’s face vividly for a day or two but after a few weeks, he couldn’t picture the guy’s face at all.

And keep in mind that Ben’s no dummy.

He’s not only an author, but also someone who happens to be an independent researcher who studies consciousness and the brain.

High IQ or not…

When we’re stressed, some memories stick like super glue while others get warped or lost.

For that reason, please understand this:

It’s never a good idea to induce stress when trying to memorize a book, your lessons or your campaign presentation.

You never know what essential information your brain will skip remembering!

Instead, increase focus and concentration from the ground up using a WRAP technique:

 

When Are You Under Stress? A Scientific Definition  

 

This quote is worth reading twice:

“When an organism faces emotional distress or is physically challenged the autonomic nervous system, a subdivision of the sympathetic nervous system, is automatically activated. Once activated, a cascade of physiological changes occurs that better enables an organism to confront (i.e. fight, freeze) or escape (i.e. flee) danger. The term “stress” applies to the condition under which the autonomic nervous system is activated and stress hormones are released.” (Impairing and Enhancing Effects of Psychosocial Stress on Episodic Memory and Eyewitness Report, Siobhan Marie Hoscheidt, 2011)

And guess what?

When you’re frozen, or busy running away, learning gets really tough.

Worse, there’s a part of the brain that controls stress that can really wreak havoc on your focus and concentration.

When you undergo a stressful event, the amygdala – a part of the brain that enables emotional processing – sends a distress call to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is like a command center that communicates with the rest of your body through the nervous system so that you have the energy to fight or flee.

 

Stress Can Make You Forget Things…
Even If You’re a Memory Champion

 

Want in on a little secret?

Stress doesn’t discriminate between the regular Joe, a presidential candidate or a memory champ.

It does and will mess with your brain.

Like it did for world memory champion Jonas Von Essen.

When Jonas was called to recite the closing credits of Newsnight from memory, he struggled to remember the presenter Jeremy Paxman’s surname as well as some other names.

If that doesn’t put the spotlights on just how bad stress can be for even the best memory athlete, I don’t know what does.

Even as a memory expert, Jonas felt on the spot and stress was part of his embarrassing flub on TV.

But is it really a fail?

The answer is a bit more complex, so let’s have a look.

 

How Does Stress Affect Your Memory: The Inside Story

 

When under stress, brain freeze like what Jonas encountered happens mostly because your thinking is preoccupied with the stress-inducing stimuli – am I looking cool on TV – blocking out other thoughts.

But that’s not the complete picture.

While low levels of anxiety can affect your ability to recall information; high-stress situations, like being robbed at gunpoint, increases your brain’s ability to encode and recall traumatic events.

A study by Marloes J. A. G. Henckens and team demonstrated how “acute stress is accompanied by a shift into a hypervigilant mode of sensory processing in combination with increased allocation of neural resources to noise reduction. This reduction of task-irrelevant ambient noise, in combination with a stress-hormone-induced optimal state for neural plasticity, may explain why stressful events attain a privileged position in memory”.

 

What Does This Stress Memory Loss
Chemical Connection Mean?

 

In simple words, when you are anxious, your brain will put you on red alert and increase your focus and concentration on that stressful event by eliminating any other distracting information. This can aid in encoding some information into your long-term memory better.

However, there’s more to this story.

Chronic stress, like constant worry about losing your job, can have devastating effects on memory.

Here’s another one of those quotes worth reading twice:

“The effects of stress on memory are not always facilitatory. Several studies have demonstrated that while memory for emotional information is enhanced when encoded under stress, memory for neutral information can be impaired (Payne et al., 2006; 2007).” (Impairing and Enhancing Effects of Psychosocial Stress on Episodic Memory and Eyewitness Report, Siobhan Marie Hoscheidt, 2011)

Here’s another:

“Schilling et al. examined the effect of varying levels cortisol (a common measure of stress) on recall performance. The results provide evidence that stress and memory performance have an inverted U-shaped relationship, where too much stress has a deleterious effect on memory performance.” (Psychosocial Stress Increases Activity-but not Event-Based Prospective Memory, Mollie McGuire, 2016)

What does all this mean?

Simple:

When under stress, your body activates a part of the adrenal gland that dumps cortisol – also known as the stress hormone – into the bloodstream.

 

The Truth About Memory, Stress And Cortisol

 

In the short term, cortisol may be beneficial (basically because it mobilizes white blood cells and enhances the immune system).

However, cortisol binds to cells in that area of the brain that converts new experiences into memory. This binding disrupts the memory-forming process, ultimately making memory impairment permanent.

Researchers at the University of Iowa also found a connection between cortisol and short-term memory loss in older rats.

Another study by Cheryl D.Conrad found that chronic stress reduces spatial memory: the memory that helps you recall locations and relate objects. “Chronic stress clearly impacts nearly every brain region.”

Precisely the reason you sometimes forget where you kept your car keys when you are about to rush to the office for an important (read stressful) meeting.

High stress also activates the release of adrenaline into the bloodstream. Adrenaline increases your attentiveness which is important to support your defense mechanism of “fight or flight” when put in a stressful situation.

However, adrenaline and memory do not mix well.

While the increased attentiveness may have a fleeting beneficial effect on memory; the anxiety and distress – that causes adrenaline production – is likely to lead to brain fog and forgetfulness.

 

A Non-Stressful, No Brainer Memory Booster

 

It’s actually counterproductive if you worry about not remembering important details.

The more you worry about losing your mind, the more your brain gets stressed and the more you forget!

In reality, your ability to remember is related to the level of concentration and focus you used when trying to memorize facts than anything else.

Focus and concentration are key to memory recall. They are necessary for creating complete memories without any added stress.

One way to improve your concentration and focus is through meditation.

This mental exercise which involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing, and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present is also beneficial in calming the mind and reducing effects of stress and anxiety.

Another thing to remember is that a ton of stress comes from poor diet. Specific types of food can have beneficial –  or detrimental – effects on memory. Moreover, it is possible to change your diet to maintain, and achieve better levels of memory.

But if you want just one thing that is not only the ultimate stress reducer, but also an effective memory enhancer, build Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way.

This powerful memorization method was even adored by the ancient Greeks. I’ve added lots of additional tools, including relaxation techniques that enable you to get more from your memory – without the hassle of stress.

 

Why Use A Memory Palace?

Good question.

It boils down to this:

The Memory Palace is the best memory technique because as a foundational learning technique, it allows you to develop and use spatial memory in a way that unlocks the power of autobiographical memory, episodic memory, semantic memory and more.

This enables you to move information into long-term memory faster and with reliable permanence.

Building a Memory Palace is a simple technique. You start by associating information with specific areas of a familiar location.

Then you walk through that location (in your mind) and place pieces of information that you wish to memorize in specific areas. When you want to recall that information, you go through that mental path and access that information easily.

If you are interested in this memory method, click on the image below:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

You can use more than just visual imagery to remember information through association!

Truly magnetic imagery involves a combination of these six Magnetic Modes:

Conceptual (Ideas)

Olfactory (Smell)

Gustatory (Taste)

Kinaesthetic (Touch)

Auditory (Sound)

Visual (Sight)

A quick memory tip:

If you are struggling to remember these Magnetic Modes, rearrange them to make the acronym COG KAV. Next, create the image of a giant machine in a cave. Simple? Now, you will never forget your Magnetic Modes. Here’s an infographic to help make this strategy clearer:

Magnetic Memory Method Magnetic Modes And Magnetic Imagery Infographic For Powerful Memory Palace creation

 

Lead A Balanced Life

 

Dealing with constant stress and worry is not a great way to lead your life. Neither is it a reliable memory enhancement strategy.

The good news is that leading a balanced life is simple.

It involves a good night’s sleep, nourishing diet, meditation, and an effective, dedicated memory strategy (like the Magnetic Memory Method).

Combined, these simple activities will enable you to create strong memories that you can enjoy without worry.

Now how does that sound?

 

The post Can Stress Cause Memory Loss And Confusion? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Can_Stress_Cause_Memory_Loss_And_Confusion_.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 5:17am EDT

Christopher Huff Magnetic Memory Method PodcastStoic philosophy has helped thousands of people live better lives.

But can it help you use memory techniques to learn a language better?

Turns out…

The answer is a resounding Yes!

And to show you exactly how, Christopher Huff joins us on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

Click play and you’ll learn:

* The secrets of rhythm you can use to help you remember words.

* How Christopher used the American presidents to better remember Chinese tones. (This approach is kind of like a hyper-focused PAO without a Major System supporting it.)

* How to memorize the prepositions in English in alphabetical order using a simple song.

* The powerful lesson Christopher learned from his first interaction with mnemonics.

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* Why Christopher places a cap on how many Magnetic Images he creates when using Anki.

* The biggest mistake Epicurus says you can make – and how it applies to memory techniques and language learning.

* The matter of jokes and telling lies in Toki Pona.

Regarding that cool language, make sure to subscribe to Christopher’s Language Fan YouTube channel and check out his language learning videos.

* Christopher also has an amazing video about the Goldlist Method, and in this interview he mentions the super-fascinating Leitner system.

* Christopher’s powerful definition of fluency, and how you can legitimately feel fluent even with a small pool of words and phrases.

* Why Christopher compares the use of mnemonics for language learning to skitching.

* The ultimate tool for developing fluency – something that we all have access to and yet too few people use!

* … and many more memory strategies of the world’s best language learners.

For more cool things from Christopher, please check out his Instagram – he draws cool comics and is constantly traveling all over the place.

And if you have questions or comments, please leave them below so we can get back to you.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already grabbed my FREE Memory Improvement Kit, here’s where to get it:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

The post Stoic Secrets For Using Memory Techniques With Language Learning appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Stoic_Secrets_For_Using_Memory_Techniques_With_Language_Learning.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 10:47pm EDT

Aphantasia Image Streaming Magnetic Memory Method PodcastAphantasia.

Sounds like a magic word a magician would say before conjuring a rabbit from his hat, doesn’t it?

But let me ask you this as you click play and listen to the audio version of this page:

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Can you visualize the magician pulling out the rabbit by his ears?

For most of us, it will be easy to recall images inside our head, using our mind’s eye.

However, if you could NOT see any image in your mind’s eye – no colors, no sounds, no smells, no textures, no flavors, nothing at all – you may have a condition called aphantasia or a blind mental eye.

Don’t freak out, though. Many people have aphantasia, even magicians.

Familiar with Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller fame)?

He is a famous magician and entertainer, and he is an aphantasic(!).

By his own admission, Penn says he cannot conjure a mental image of a person or a place to save his life.

 

What Exactly is Aphantasia? A Detailed Definition

The term ‘aphantasia’ comes from the Greek words a, meaning “without”, and phantasia, meaning “a capacity to form mental images”.

The phenomenon was first described by the controversial psychologist Francis Galton – one of the pioneers of eugenics – in 1880.

Francis Galton Aphantasia Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

The interest in the phenomenon was renewed after the publication of a study conducted by a team led by Dr. Adam Zeman, a professor of cognitive and behavioral neurology, at the University of Exeter.

Adam Zeman Aphantasia Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

Zeman’s team published a paper in 2015 on what they termed “congenital aphantasia”, now known simply as aphantasia.

For Firefox co-creator Blake Ross it was a surprise revelation that other people could visualize things in the mind’s eye while he couldn’t. “I can’t ‘see’ my father’s face or a bouncing blue ball, my childhood bedroom or the run I went on ten minutes ago,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

According to Craig Venter, the biologist who created the first synthetic organism: “It’s like having a computer store the information, but you don’t have a screen attached to the computer.”

 

Is Aphantasia a Common Phenomena?

 

While research on the subject is still in its nascent stages, neurologists believe approximately one in 50 people or 2-5% of the population are non-visual-imagers.

Sounds like a big number?

Don’t be surprised. Being an aphantasic is nearly as common as having a food allergy.

Neuroimaging has shown that mental imagery, although strongly associated with the left temporal lobe, requires the use of large networks of brain pathways. This means that aphantasia could potentially occur in different ways in different individuals.

 

The Two Likely Causes Of Aphantasia

 

However, the exact cause of aphantasia is still unknown. According to Dr. Zeman heredity and environment both are likely to be relevant causes.

Interestingly, an aphantasic may have a visual memory which means they may be able to describe in detail about how things looked – the cat had blue eyes, the umbrella was pink and matched the skirt – even though they cannot see these very images in their mind’s eye.

Moreover, many people who cannot visualize in mental images can think in sounds, while others can remember physical sensations.

Penn says, when he dreams, he’s not sure if he sees images but has the sensation of knowing that “ideas wash over me”.

 

Want to Take The Aphantasia Test?

 

It is not possible to “see” what someone else is picturing inside their head unless they describe it to you.

So how do we check what your mind’s eye is seeing?

You can answer the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, which is what psychologists use to rate different mental images of an individual, to test the strength of his mind’s eye.

Although you don’t get any results, you’re helping a good cause by completing the survey and the questions themselves will tell you a lot about your imaginary visual style.

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How Aphantasia Affects Memory

 

Our brain stores information in two different ways – verbally and visually.

Both these types of storage are independent of one another, and each can be used alone.

Therefore, even people with aphantasia can complete the “tests of visual imagery” without too much difficulty.

Here’s a quick test:

Count the number of windows in your house.

Quick #memory improvement exercise: Mentally count all the windows in your home.Click To Tweet

Even if you can’t see a “mental” image of your house and locate each window in that image, you would have an awareness of being there and recall from factual information the number of windows in your house.

While aphantasics can remember things from their past, they experience these memories in a different way than someone with strong imagery. They often describe memories as a conceptual list of things that occurred rather than a video playing in their mind.

As Ross says, he can ruminate on the “concept” of a beach, but cannot flash to beaches he has visited.

“I know there’s sand. I know there’s water. I know there’s a sun, maybe a lifeguard. I know facts about beaches. I know a beach when I see it, and I can do verbal gymnastics with the word itself…But I have no visual, audio, emotional or otherwise sensory experience.”

The brain has many unique ways of storing visual information than just as a picture.

 

Multiple Ways To Create Visual Imagery In Your Mind

 

Neuroscientists believe that the brain constructs visual imagery in more than one way. There are separate circuits for things like shape, size, color and spatial relationships, and when these are accessed together, we form an image of a memory.

They think that aphantasics piggyback on neurons involved in controlling physical movements rather than using the visual brain circuitry to “visualize” or recall information.

For instance, you can trace the letter B of the alphabet in your brain to know it has curves or you can use your mind’s eye to see its image.

 

Are There Any Aphantasia Benefits?

 

While the research is still out on this one, Penn says that because he thinks verbally and not visually, when he gets an idea, he can describe it instantly.

While aphantasics’ use of spatial memory is stronger in the absence of visual memory.

It gets better!

People with aphantasia have been seen to perform on par with people who can visualize images in many tasks involving visual information.

Moreover, a 2003 study stated the benefit of mental imagery is surprisingly small when it came to creative thinking.

Does Aphantasia Hamper The Memory Techniques
That Call For “Visualization”?

 

Not in the least.

Tansel Ali and I talked about your multiple options in a recent interview.

In sum:

Memory techniques involve more tools than just visualization. You have many options.

Memory techniques involve more tools than just visualization. You have many #mnemonic options.Click To Tweet

When you use a memory technique like the Memory Palace use all the Magnetic Modes, you can memorize a very large amount of information relatively quickly without necessarily seeing the Memory Palace in your mind.

Here’s an infographic that tells you all about the different ways that your brain perceives information:

Magnetic Memory Method Magnetic Modes And Magnetic Imagery Infographic For Powerful Memory Palace creation

Personally, I don’t have aphantasia.

However, I am low on the visual threshold.

Most of what I do involves thinking about strange combinations of images in words and sounds, not high-definition imagery. I would call this being audio-conceptual.

So, if you are worried that the inability to see images in your mind will stop you from using the Memory Palace technique.

Don’t be.

Over the years, I’ve invested in myself so that I can “see” something like visuals in my mind. But even to this day, the best results I get from memory techniques don’t require constant streaming of high-definition images in my head.

Here’s my discussion on this issue:

In any case, if you want to visualize bright, vivid pictures in your mind’s eye, you can try image streaming.

 

Image Streaming Vs. Aphantasia?

 

Image streaming is a simple process that enables you to open up your mind’s eye to visuals.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Close your eyes and describe what you see.
  2. If you don’t see anything (which would exactly be the case if you have aphantasia) help your brain start seeing images.
  3. Start by gently rubbing your closed eyes like a sleepy child. Then describe the bright sparkly light that you see behind your closed retina.
  4. Or look at a bright light like a candle for a half minute, or a window which has strong light/dark contrast. Then when you close your eyes, you should be able to see after-images, like a blob of light or color, at back of the eye. Describe that blob of light.
  5. You can also describe a memory that you cannot “see” but remember from the past.
  6. The important thing is to describe using all your sensory details – meaning use all your five senses of sight (vision), hearing (audition), taste (gustation), smell (olfaction), and touch (somatosensation) to describe your bob of light or memory.
  7. While you are examining and describing your after-images or memory events, keep a look out for experiencing some other kinds of image. It could be a momentary face, landscape, or whatever. Notice when this happens, and switch to describing that new image.
  8. Remember to describe all images to an external  focus – quickly and loudly. The external focus can be a friend or a dictaphone (voice recorder), anything or anyone you can talk to.
  9. Practice image streaming for only 10-20 minutes a day to enable your mind’s eye to see pictures.

How to Use A Memory Palace With A Blind Mind’s Eye?

 

Associating pieces of information with a location you are familiar with, like your house, is the basic idea behind the Memory Palace Technique.

And it does not need you to visualize your house. You can “know” factually which room is where in your home or where is the window or door or the attic located.

Keeping the full range of your Magnetic Modes in mind, you can use any home or location with which you are familiar.

The effectiveness of the Memory Palace technique is based on the scientific fact that your brain and spatial memory perceive space as a kind of image.

Check out this lecture for more information about how that works:

If you’re interested in this “Magnetic” technique, click on the image below:

Free Memory Palace Training Magnetic Memory Method

 

Memory Is More Than A Mental Picture Book

 

Memory is many things. It includes facts, figures and figments of information stored in various regions of your brain.

But more than that, memory is the ability to communicate these kinds of information to others and recognize them when they are being communicated to you.

When it comes to how you get information to play with in the first place, there are many ways. Some are faster than others.

Using an effective, dedicated memory strategy system like Magnetic Memory Method you can easily retrieve those memories faster and with predictable and reliable permanence.

Add to it a balanced diet, meditation, and sleep and you will be able to enhance your memory, concentration and focus in a way that improves your entire life.

Doesn’t that make a pretty picture?

The post Aphantasia: Develop Your Memory Even If You Cannot See Mental Images appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Aphantasia__Develop_Your_Memory_Even_If_You_Cannot_See_Mental_Images.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:15pm EDT

Smartphone addiction Magnetic Memory MethodCan smartphone addiction fry your brain cells?

Not literally, but that twitchy connection to your phone?

It definitely affects your abilities to concentrate and think deeply.

And that means device addiction harms your ability to remember.

Worse:

Smartphone addiction not only turns you into a social pariah…

 

It Can Also Be Fatal!

 

In 2015, distracted driving (due to texting or talking on the cellphone) killed 3,477 people and injured another 391,000.

And there’s more bad news…

According to the National Safety Council, using cell phones while driving can make you more accident prone than even drunk driving…

No wonder people are concerned over how cell phones are affecting their lives!

In January this year, two of Apple’s biggest shareholders wrote an open letter to the company requesting it to provide “more choices and tools” so that parents could restrict their children’s smartphone usage time.

The letter added that researchers have found this shocking statistic:

“U.S. teenagers who spend 3 hours a day or more on electronic devices are 35 percent more likely, and those who spend 5 hours or more are 71 percent more likely, to have a risk factor for suicide than those who spend less than 1 hour.”

Smartphone addiction is a serious issue and may need some creative problem solving using the C.R.E.A.T.E. formula:

But here’s the real question:

What about YOU?

Are you displaying cell phone addiction symptoms?

Let’s find out:

 

Are You A Nomophobic?

 

I know you will never admit it, but when you are unable to find your phone for even 30 seconds, it causes a minor anxiety attack.

How do I know this?

Because it happens to people every single second of the day.

Look at this poor fellow:

So, is he a nomophobic?

Absolutely!

Nomophobia or ‘NO MObile PHOne phoBIA’ is the fear of not being able to use your cell phone or have access to your device.

Want to know if you’re truly addicted? Take this online quiz to find out.

Nomophobia is real, but the medical community is not ready to declare overuse of cell phones as a clinical addiction.

 

Ignoring The Data?

 

They neglect to do so in the face of some shocking data.

As the Joker suggests (I misquote), “whatever doesn’t kill us, only makes us stranger”…

Nearly one in ten people admitted to using their smartphones during sex, in the shower, on a movie date, in church or other place of worship, as per the 2013 Mobile Consumer Habits.

What’s more, nearly three-quarters of the respondents said that they were always within five feet of their smartphones.

Although doctors do agree that if you can’t stop using your phone, even when it’s harming your life, you may be “addicted.”

Smartphone Addiction Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

“Only a small percentage of people qualify as addicted. But many people overuse their smartphones.”

This quote comes from Dr. David Greenfield, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction.

Smartphone addiction is not listed as an official mental disorder listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, psychologists are debating about whether that should change.

Some researchers also say that the development of smartphone addiction is similar to that of a gambling disorder (or gambling addiction), which is included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

How does addiction work?

With gambling, the reward of winning once in a while is what hooks people to the habit.

Smartphone addiction works on a similar principle. Most of the time, a phone notification will be insignificant.

However, every once in a while…

 

Something Meaningful Happens!

 

Like a phone call from an old friend, or a Facebook notification that someone has tagged you in a photo. Researchers say this type of messages are irresistible and can lead to overuse or addiction to your device.

There’s more…

Device addiction can extend far beyond just the smartphone.

Recently, the World Health Organization announced that video game addiction will now be classified as an official mental health condition in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases.

According to the WHO, gaming disorder is “characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior  manifested by: 1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); 2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and 3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

“The behavior pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning,” WHO adds.

Whether it is to play video games or check your Facebook notifications, here’s the truth:

Spending too much time with your smartphone will slowly but surely harm your mind.

 

How Smartphone Addiction Damages Your Memory

 

For starters, the presence of smartphone alerts is disrupting our already weak ability to focus on the task at hand.

Moreover, excessive use of cell phones also causes headaches, impaired concentration and memory, and fatigue.

If you are constantly using your mobile phone to surf the internet it affects the brain’s frontal lobe and brainstem functions, resulting in decreased ability to speak, reason and comprehend social cues.

Researchers also found that smartphone addiction can lead to an imbalance in brain chemistry that triggers depression and anxiety.

Ultimately, smartphone addiction can impair your ability to interact in the real world to the detriment of your personal and professional relationships.

 

It’s Not Just Brain Damage

 

Smartphone addiction does more than alter your brain chemicals. Your posture also gets affected when you use your phone all the time.

And according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, posture affects mood, behavior and memory.

Therefore, frequent slouching to look at your device screen can make you depressed.

What’s more, Researchers at the University of Michigan state that the tucking your chin (or chins) and hanging your head to look at the smartphone is also causing empathy levels to fall and narcissism to rise among individuals.

 

A Reliable, Easy & Fun Way To Learn Things
(Without Googling It On Your Smartphone)

 

We have all done it:

Reached for our smartphones the instant we want to verify a fact, learn a new bit of information, watch a video or read an ebook.

But there are other approaches.

One simple way to undo the damage done by mobile phone overuse is to switch off the phone and go back to a real book for information or entertainment.

Need more incentive?

Re-read of a book from the past. This way you’ll not only defeat Digital Amnesia, you’ll also enhance your attention as you give your brain the opportunity to revisit information from the past offline.

You can also Mind Map, and I’ve recently shared one of my own to demonstrate just how powerful this approach can be for memory, focus and concentration:

 

Digital Fasting…
The Cure For Smartphone Slavery?

 

But the ultimate technique is called “Digital Fasting.”

It’s easy:

Just leave your smartphone at home or sit in a cafe with no WiFi so that you are not distracted by your device and can dedicate mental space to the book at hand.

And if boredom strikes and you feel the need to sneak out your smartphone, use these 3 ridiculously boring ways to add focus and excitement to your life.

But no memory improvement training will work to the highest possible degree if its not linked to memorizing information that will immediately improve your life.

And to do that, you learning projects need to involve Memory Palaces (ideally by creating them the Magnetic Memory Method way).

 

Why On Earth Is That?

 

Because when you create Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method it lets you measure your memory improvement activities.

And tracking your outcomes leads to rapid improvement in the way information gets stored in your long term memory.

Even better:

All other memory techniques including playing crossword puzzles can be used inside of Memory Palaces.

But this never takes place the other way around (For example, you can’t use Memory Palaces inside of the Major Method the way you can use the Major Method inside of Memory Palaces.)

Building Memory Palaces is also great for dealing with a diminishing attention span.

Use the tips in this video about how to break through your attention span myths and limitation to help you craft the attention span you deserve.

If you are looking for a complete brain rehab try this method…

Click on the link below to get started:Free Memory Palace Training Magnetic Memory Method

Get  More Out Of Your Existence

 

You want to live a full, vibrant, exciting life?

You don’t want a zombie-like existence where a handheld device controls your emotions, moods, experiences and even what information your brain can or should store?

If “hell yeah” is your response then we are on the right track!

But don’t worry if you don’t have it all mapped out when trying to get rid of the smartphone addiction habit. You don’t have to.

You can create your own hacks for building better habits.

Better still, use the magic of Memory Palaces to unlock your brain’s true potential and lead the magnetic life you deserve.

Come on, say it loud (just not into your smartphone) – hell yeah! 🙂

The post 3 Shocking Ways Smartphone Addiction Erodes Your Brain And Memory appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Tansel Ali Magnetic Memory Method PodcastTansel Ali is possibly the most positive memory champion on the planet.

Turns out there’s a solid reason why.

A few reasons, actually.

And in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, I speak with 4x Australian Memory Champion Tansel Ali talks about memory improvement and positive thinking.

This may well be the most valuable hour you spend listening to a podcast about memory improvement.

Why?

For starters…

In addition to discussing the role of gratitude in coming up with effective visualizations when using mnemonics, Tansel discusses the importance of reading, memorizing cards with music on and focusing on the right things to maximize performance in your memory and life.

Plus, when you scroll up and click play above, you’ll soon discover…

* Why Tansel was originally skeptical about memory improvement and thought all TV memory trainers were fake.

* The factors responsible for making people suspicious of memory techniques because they seem like magic “tricks.”

* How Tansel wound up at his first memory competition and took second place.

* The other rewards memory improvement brings you, including mindset, job performance and fun.

* Tansel’s transition from memory competition to enhancing his own life and the lives of others through teaching memory.

* Why you need to continue challenging your memory almost like the physical training of the body to keep the mind in top shape.

* Exactly how participating in memory competitions help you develop preparation and developing positive self-talk.

* Why Tansel sometimes FORCES himself NOT to use memory techniques in order to challenge his brain.

* Tansel’s definition of consistency and the development of successful habits that you can use to challenge yourself.

* Why you should go without fear of making mistakes for the health of your brain and the development of effective discipline.

Tansel Ali Anthony Metivier Mind Exercises Around the World Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

Tansel Ali book signing of The Yellow Elephant on Kindle for me in person.

* Tansel’s personal training regime and how he makes it count.

* How Tansel thinks about visualization as a kind of muscle and how he trains it for competition.

* A quick comparison of Alex Mullen’s training regime and Tansel’s focus on efficiency to improve the right skills and maximize performance.

* A discussion of aphantasia and why you don’t actually have to see pictures in your mind to use memory techniques.

* How Tansel uses feelings and thinking in words to create mnemonic imagery – and why feeling creates more impact.

* How to give the mnemonic imagery you create greater value through personalization.

* Practical reasons you should memorize cards. For one thing, they set you up to make creative decisions that goes beyond just remembering information. And here are 13 more reasons you should have a system for remembering cards.

* Tansel’s thoughts on music and memory and how he memorizes cards with music playing.

* The benefits of training your memory and where to start (also discussed in this video):

* The importance of making memory training fun and interesting, rather than a chore.

* Tansel’s history with apps for memory training and meditation and how to reduce stress.

* How Tansel changed from wallowing in negativity to living in positivity.

* Why you don’t have to use bizarre or violent imagery to remember information and positive options you can explore for creating and using mnemonics.

* Why we both approach shows like Breaking Bad with caution in order to maintain a positive mindset. Not that Breaking Bad can’t be useful for memory improvement, as you can see here:

* The role of gratitude in increasing the value of your imagination by focusing on specifics.

* Why “the law of attraction” is useless without taking action – and how you can use mindset to create the excitement needed to make sure you achieve your goals.

* Why Tansel wishes he had read more as a young person.

* Some of Tansel’s favorite memory books and why they changed his life, including books by Tony Buzan and Dominic O’Brien.

* Tansel’s take on Digital Amnesia and why he chooses to see the positive side of the debate about the so-called Google Effect.

* How Turkish is helping Tansel learn Japanese even without using Kevin Richardson’s Learn Japanese App (a.k.a. Memory Palace).

I want to thank Tansel for being on the show and thank you for listening. Please be sure to grab his books, visit his site and get connected on his various online platforms using the links below.

Further Resources

Yellow Elephant: Improve Your Memory And Learn More, Faster, Better by Tansel Ali

How to Learn Almost Anything in 48 Hours: Shortcuts And Brain Hacks For Learning New Skills Fast by Tansel Ali

Subscribe to Tansel Ali’s YouTube channel

Visit Tansel Ali’s website

Tansel Ali on Twitter

Tansel’s World Memory Stats 

The post Tansel Ali On How Gratitude Can Help You Remember Almost Anything appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Picture of Anthony Metivier pondering life mistakes and how to avoid themWe 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.”

Image to illustrate flourishing as better than happiness

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?

Image to illustrate the benefits of walking meditation for memory improvement

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:

Magnetic Memory Method Magnetic Modes And Magnetic Imagery Infographic For Powerful Memory Palace creation

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 Freedom Journal image

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.

ThinkBuzan juggling balls from Tony Buzan

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.

Direct download: 4.1_Painful_Life_Mistakes_Burned_Into_My_Memory_And_How_To_Avoid_Them.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:03pm EDT

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.

Episodic Memory Short Term or Long term

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:

…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.

The Freedom Journal for Language Learning Magnetic Memory Method Full

 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

The Freedom Journal for Language Learning Magnetic Memory Method Image Four

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.

Direct download: The_Freedom_Journal_For_Language_Learning__The_Ultimate_10-Step_Guide.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 6:05pm EDT

Image of young woman at a graduation to illustrate a concept in episodic memoryDoes 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. 

Image to illustrate how time is related to episodic memory

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.

Endel Tulving 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.

Proust in Search of Lost Time

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:

Magnetic Memory Method Magnetic Modes And Magnetic Imagery Infographic For Powerful Memory Palace creation

 

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.

Image to illustrate improving Episodic Memory for Short Term or Long term memory

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.

Harry Lorayne Episodic Memory Magnetic Memory Method

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:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

 

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.

Direct download: Episodic_Memory_And_How_To_Improve_It__A_Step-By-Step_Training_Guide.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:03pm EDT

Coconut Oil and Memory Can It Boost Your Brain Magnetic Memory MethodIs 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.

Alzheimer's Disease What If There Was A Cure Magnetic Memory Method Coconut Oil

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.

Image showing traffic stats on the keyword Coconut Oil after the idea it helps with Alzheimer's went viral

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.”

Dr. David Morgan, CEO of BYRD Alzheimer’s Institute

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.

Image of coconut beside a bottle of olive oil

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.Image of Nelson Dellis preparing to memorize decks of cards

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:

Free Memory Improvement Course Memory Palace Training Kit

 

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.

Direct download: Coconut_Oil_and_Memory__Can_It_Boost_Your_Brain__Advanced_Study.mp3
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Can you write legibly with both your left and right hands?

Midway through a gig, can you swing the guitar to your left arm and continue strumming the ballad?

If you can, you are part of that 1% of the population who do not have a dominant hand and experience ambidextrousness.

And as you’re about to discover, ambidextrousness truly is an experience!

If you are ambidextrous, you’re in good company too. Or at least, interesting company.

Other members of this ‘exclusive’ group include Benjamin Franklin,  Kobe Bryant, and even Nikola Tesla, just one of many reasons I featured him on the cover of The Memory Connection:

Nikola Tesla ambidextrousness

Many people believe training oneself to use both your hands equally unleashes hidden creativity and even improves memory.

The idea that becoming ambidextrous boosts brain function has existed for over a century.

Moreover, it is also claimed that if you harness this ‘power’ you can improve your academic performance, decision making skills and grasp difficult concepts quickly.

Can ‘learning’ to become ambidextrous really have all these advantages?

Let’s find out:

Ambidextrousness: A Dual Handed Benefit?

 

There is a bit of confusion regarding the actual definition of ambidextrousness.

You are ambidextrous, if  you can perform any task equally with either hand, for instance, write legibly using either of your hands.

However, if you do some tasks with your right hand and others with your left, experts will term it as being mixed-handed.

Jimi Hendrix is a good example of mixed-handedness. He used his left hand to throw and comb his hair, but he wrote, ate and held the telephone with his right hand.

 

How To Become Ambidextrous?
(Because Few Are Born This Way)

 

In the 1800s Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke discovered that different hemispheres of the brain handled different functions such as speech, language and even motor functions.

But it was only in 2009 that scientists researched around 25,000 families and found certain genes were responsible for ambidextrousness in people.

Then in 2015, researchers found that brain function within the cerebellum is responsible for creativity.

This certainly proves why many ambidextrous people have unconventional problem solving abilities.

Creative Geniuses, Or:
The Celebrities Of Ambidextrousness

 

Nearly 60 years after his death, neurosurgeons studying Einstein’s brain discovered that his brain hemispheres were extremely well-connected. The ability to use the right hemispheres creativity and the left hemispheres logic gave the Father of Relativity a significant advantage from his peers.

Despite a lack of evidence proving Einstein’s ambidextrousness, the study confirmed Einstein’s non right-handedness.

Another historical figure who belonged to the ambidextrous club was Leonardo Da Vinci. The famous artist (and scientist of art) could easily write with both hands.

When Da Vinci wrote an ordinary letter, he used his right hand.

However, he wrote his secret diaries in mirror writing using his left hand which made it difficult for others to read.

Are All Ambidextrous Individuals Creative Geniuses?

 

Not really!

Left-handed tennis player Evgenia Kulikovskaya can switch her racket hand mid game to keep hitting forehands when her left hand gets tired. She doesn’t have a backhand!

Take a look at this video:

 

 

The Controversial History Of Ambidextrous Training:
John Jackson

 

Though many modern studies link ambidextrousness with increased brain function in both hemispheres of the brain, this idea was not well received at first.

In 1905, English educational reformer, John Jackson established the Ambidextral Culture Society. He believed that a two handed, two brained society encouraged superior learning as it engaged the entire brain.

He also expected a lot from his disciples. Whether it was playing the piano with one hand or writing a letter with the other, he required his disciples to execute them flawlessly.

Was he successful in his mission?

Not quite.

His society was a laughing stock of the scientific community at the time.

Leading British neurologist, James Crichton-Browne criticized the society and even warned Jackson against going the evolutionary process.

John Jackson’s movement died out in the 1920s.

However, his ideas did not. They continued to fuel misconceptions regarding the power of ambidextrousness.

Can Being Ambidextrous Make You More Creative?
A Few Myths Busted

 

Jackson’s theories were not random ideas. They were derived from Paul Broca’s studies of brain lateralization that states that some cognitive brain activity is dominant in one hemisphere, and that each hemisphere was linked to the opposite hand.

No wonder people believed that using your less dominant hand would help activate both hemispheres of the brain leading to higher mental abilities.

That’s just the beginning…

Ambidextrousness and The Power of the Other Hand

In her book, The Power of Your Other Hand, Lucia Capacchione claims that writing and drawing with the non-dominant hand gives greater access to the right hemispheric functions like feeling, intuition, creativity and even spiritual wisdom.

These claims are based on the fact that the function of the right hemisphere is responsible for creativity.

Is there any truth to these claims?

“Although there are recurrent claims of increased creativity in left-handers, there is very little to support the idea in the scientific literature.”

This from renowned psychologist Chris McManus in his book Right Hand, Left Hand – The Origins of Asymmetry in Brains, Bodies, Atoms and Cultures.

 

The Truth About Learning To Be Ambidextrous
And Getting A Sharper Brain

 

While there is no hard data to prove that training your non-dominant hand can improve your mental prowess, there is now evidence to state that if you are born ambidextrous, you may have some mental health issues.

After 8 years of research, German psychologist, JB Sattler discovered that children who switched from their dominant left hand to a non-dominant right or the reverse did not see “a change in cerebral dominance but rather a multifaceted cerebral disturbance or damage”.

The psychologist noted that ambidextrous children even had decreased memory for all three areas of information processing – encoding, store and recall.

Sattler said: “Ambidexterity is therefore neither a goal to aspire to nor is it a gift from God. Instead, it is first and foremost the mark of brain damage.”

 

It May Sound Crazy, But It’s True!

 

A study published in the 1998 edition of Neuropsychologia confirms Dr. Sattler’s research.

In this study around 12,770 children were tested for their verbal, non-verbal, and mathematical ability and reading comprehension skills. They found that ambidextrous children had lower test scores as compared to those who were left-handed or right-handed.

Need more proof?

Another independent study led by Alina Rodriguez from Imperial College London showed that ambidextrous children exhibit higher symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Ambidextrousness may also have a lasting effect on adults as well.

In the creatively titled paper “Handedness and intellectual achievement: an even-handed look”, Michael Corballis reveals that ambidextrous adults perform more poorly on IQ tests (arithmetic, memory, and reasoning).

Ambidextrousness May Actually Harm Your Brain

 

Here’s why:

For right-handed or left handed people most of their brain activity is localized in the opposite part of the brain. So your brain can easily access information through the majority of one hemisphere.

For ambidextrous people information has to flow back and forth between both hemispheres of the brain through the Corpus Callosum.

This can be a big problem.

This rapid transfer may lead to mental dysfunction in some cases.

 

Are There Any Possible Benefits to Ambidextrous Training?

 

Yes, though they are not as dramatic as advertised.

Mr. Corballis writes that it’s possible to train your non dominant hand for artistic purposes – like playing the piano for example.

Other than that, there are no studies to prove that becoming ambidextrous can improve brain function.

But what about improved memory?

Ambidextrousness and Memory: A Genetic Connection

 

Ambidextrous tendencies has been associated with improved memory.

But here’s the catch:

To reap even the slightest memory benefits of ambidextrousness, you would be need to have at least an ambidextrous parent or sibling.

A 2001 study shows that families with one-left handed member may have better episodic memory rather than semantic memory.

Which means they have a better time recalling the context of the story rather than the facts present in the story.

The Only Trick You Need To Know To Make
Both Sides of Your Brain Work

 

There is one guaranteed method to improve both your episodic and semantic memory as well as autobiographical memory, spatial memory and procedural memory.

One more thing..

This method won’t be painful and labour intensive as using your non dominant hand.

Okay here it is:

Creating Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way.

Magnetic Memory Method Podcast Memory Palace

 

Memory Palaces have the unique characteristic that all other memory techniques can be used inside of them (not the other way around).

So if you need to store a massive amount of information, Memory Palaces engage both hemispheres of the brain.

How do they do this?

Memory Palaces require a great deal of creative visualization, therefore it helps to activate your right hemisphere associated with creativity.

You need more than one Memory Palace and as many as possible. That way you can revisit the technique to recall tons of information.

If you want to know more – here’s some vital information about Memory Palace Science.

If you want a complete brain workout try this brain fitness method…

Click on the link below to get started:

A Direct method To Improve Your Memory

 

Learning to use your non-dominant hand to improve your memory can be a bit wasteful. You would have to spend days and weeks practicing to write with your other hand instead of focusing on what you need to learn.

While this may be fun, it’s not useful.

Memory improvement training should always be linked to memorizing information that will immediately improve your life.

Using the Magnetic Memory Method is great because, once you’re rolling, good memory abilities get you more time.

More time means you can practice memory enhancing techniques more often.

And that means experiencing better memory, better focus, clarity and concentration.

Ambidextrousness might be fun to develop if you take caution.

But, as we’ve seen, developing your memory is far more valuable!

So, what are you waiting for?

Please make sure you’ve claimed my free Memory Improvement Kit and use it to start experiencing better memory now.

The post Ambidextrousness And Memory: Can Dual Handedness Boost Your Brain? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Ambidextrousness_And_Memory__Can_Dual_Handedness_Boost_Your_Brain_.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 9:57pm EDT

7 More Mental Exercises For The Brain From Around The WorldDo you have enough mental exercises to genuinely help you experience real and lasting memory improvement?

Whether it’s for learning a language, or even just remembering directions while traveling the world.

Be honest about your answer.

No one here is to judge.

Quite the opposite.

This blog post (and the podcast – hit play above!) is about about helping you better understand how to judge your memory as it is now and take the right steps toward improving it.

To that end, last week we covered 3 Powerful Memory Training Techniques From Around The World.

And I just hopped on a live video session to demonstrate just how powerful memory techniques can be in everyday life for memorizing the information in life that matters:

This week, we’ve got 7 more mental exercises you can use to experience true memory improvement.

Are memory techniques for everyone?

Yes and no. But you can’t decide for yourself without the fullest possible range of perspectives.

And let’s make this point as clear as possible:

Memory techniques give you the best mental exercise on the planet. Study them well, everywhere they appear around the glob.

With that point in mind, let’s get rolling with…

 

1. USA: Moonwalking With Einstein
(And Elaborative Encoding) For Total Recall

 

US memory champion Joshua Foer’s book Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything talks about the importance of memorizing events and stories in human history.

Brain Exercises Around The World Joshua Foer Magnetic Memory Method Podcast Moonwalking with Einstein

Sadly, Foer also documents the decline of mental exercises for memorizing in modern life.

By the same token, with partial thanks to his book and the internet, the techniques that people need to adopt to restore the art of remembering have never been more popular.

The memory trick that Foer explains in his book involves a process known as “elaborative encoding.”  This involves converting information, such as your grocery list, into a series of “engrossing visual images.”

For instance, if you want to remember a list of objects like gherkins, cottage cheese, etc. all you need to do is visualise them in an unforgettable manner.

Memory expert Ed Cooke – who helped Foer develop his techniques – suggests remembering an item on a shopping list by imagining something like “Claudia Schiffer swimming in [a] tub of cottage cheese.”

Of course, why someone would waste time on memorizing shopping lists in the best memory improvement books is beyond me.

But feel free to memorize anything you like. Whatever works. So long as it really works to give you the memory improvement outcomes you seek!Nelson Dellis Preparing to Memorize Decks of Cards

To ensure that, be sure to deposit these images you’ve created using elaborative encoding in a specific order in your Memory Palace. With practice, a mnemonist can trace a certain path around these memory rooms to recover thousands of images – and with them, thousands of memories.

 

Nelson Dellis, repeat champion of the USA Memory competition, also uses a combination of vivid imagery linked with placing those images in your Memory Palace to remember a list of words.

 

2. Germany: Memorizing Names Through Association

 

German memory champion Simon Reinhard is one of the top memory athletes in the world. He holds two records for memorizing a 52-card pack of playing cards in just over 21 seconds.

Reinhard uses the “association” method to memorize names and faces.

And it makes for great mental exercise.

How does memorizing names work?

When he hears a name for the first time, Reinhard imagines someone else (a familiar figure) with the same name and then try to find similarities between the two or associate it with a feeling.

“Sometimes the names fit perfectly, for example a bald headed white Thomas could be the middle age monk Thomas von Aquinas. But if that doesn’t work and I don’t find an immediate connection, I try to search a bit more thoroughly what this name could tell me.

For example the name reminds me of a feeling of anger and then I either try finding some angry expression in the face or the exact opposite, if the person is laughing. It is kind of a multi-faceted approach that doesn’t work automatically but comes easily when I look at the name with an open mind. This is my basic, natural approach.”

This quote comes from an interview that Reinhard gave to Memory-Sports.com.

Reinhard also uses memory palace method or the method of loci to remember decks of cards and digits.

 

3. Japan: Kioku-Jutsu Or The
Ninja Mnemonic Method

 

Ninja’s were highly trained Japanese spies who were expected to gather and remember crucial information without having to resort to any written text.

In order to sharpen their memory skills, Ninja’s used the method of “association” to remember complex numbers.

They would associate numbers with body parts or food – something that you will definitely recall.

They used another extreme method.

 

Please Do Not Try This Mental Exercise At Home!

 

If the information was extremely crucial, Ninja’s would cut a body part – the arm or leg – when trying to memorize that information – this helped them associate that memory with a scar or the pain of injury, making it unforgettable.

Mental Exercises Ninja Memory Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

These methods of “association” are similar to the Peg System. It is also based on the principles of the Memory Palace technique – where you visualising a room and then associate each object in the room to each piece of information you want to memorize.

Memory expert Tony Buzan equates the Ninja Kioku-Jutsu technique to hanging a coat on a hook. You can always remember where to find your coat (which is a new information) if you hang it on an immovable hook (a number or a word you can remember easily).

4. Australia: Can You Ever Forget
The Obvious Elephant In The Room?

 

Tansel Ali is a 4 x Australian Memory Champion, most famously known for memorizing two Yellow Pages phone books in only 24 days. He is also the author of The Yellow Elephant and How To Learn Almost Anything In 48 Hours, and a celebrity memory coach.

Tansel Ali Anthony Metivier Mind Exercises Around the World Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

Ali advocates using the Major System along with the Memory Palace (which he terms as the Journey System) to memorize playing cards.

I also recommend checking out Florian Dellé’s Major System recommendations. He will take your ideas on what you can do using this wonderful memory tool to the next level.

 

5. UK: A Person-Action System To Call Numbers To Mind

 

British mnemonist Dominic O’Brien is the eight time World Memory Champion.

Accomplishments like these are no small feat!

A master of memory, O’Brien is a major innovator in the field of memory techniques. His Dominic mnemonic system  is a brilliant memory training system that he invented to remember long strings of digits.

Dominic O'BrienIt is somewhat similar to the mnemonic major system and is widely used by brain athletes in memory competitions.

While the Major System associates sounds with numbers, the Dominic System is designed as a person-action system where the letters comprise the initials of someone’s name.

“Like the mnemonic major system, the Dominic system can be combined with a memory palace, thereby creating the Hotel Dominic.” (Ron Hale-Evans, Mind Performance Hacks: Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain)

Another of O’Brien’s big contributions to the world of memory is his Rule of Five. It states that we should recall information strategically by using the following pattern:

First review: Immediately

Second review: 24 hours later

Third review: One week later

Fourth review: One month later

Fifth review: Three months later

Also notable from the British world of mnemonics is Mark Channon. Mark brings great insights from the worlds of acting and setting highly effective goals. He also gave a wonderful presentation at Magnetic Memory Live in London in 2015.

 

6. India: The Katapayadi Shankya To Remember Numbers

 

Ancient Indians used various mnemonic techniques to remember complex texts and numbers, the most talked about being the Vedic Memory Method.

More on that later.

First, let’s look into the ancient Indian numerical notation – Katapayadi system – that assigns letters to numbers so that the numbers may be easily remembered as meaningful words or verses.

Under this system, several letters can be assigned the same number, however every letter is not allotted a number.

Have a look at this chart:

Ka Ta Pa Yadi Memory Mnemonic System for Magnetic Memory Method Mental Exercises Blog Post

Ancient Indians used this system to encrypt mathematical formulas into their devotional hymns to Lord Krishna and also recorded historical data in the codified lyrics.

Take for instance, this verse written in praise of Lord Krishna:

Gopibhagya madhuvrata srngisodadhisandhiga|

Khalajivitakhatava galahalarasandhara||

When translated it means:

Oh Krishna, the fortune of the Gopis, the destroyer of the demon Madhu,

Protector of cattle, the one who ventured the ocean-depths, destroyer of evildoers, one with plough on the shoulder and the bearer of nectar, may (you) protect (us)!

Have a listen:

How is the mental exercises involved in memorizing this text relevant?

The answer might astonish you:

Using the Katapayadi system when you replace the letters of the verse with its corresponding numbers, like this – ‘go’ by 3, ‘pi’ by 1,  ‘bha’ by 4, ‘ya by 1’ and so on, you get the following result:

31415926535897932384626433832792

Why is this number important?

This is the decimal representation of pi up to 32 decimal places.

Look like memorizing a long digit like that requires magic?

Far from it.

All it takes is a dedicated mnemonic technique! If you like,  listen to Brad Zupp talk about how he memorized way more of Pi than you see here. Brad also shares his thoughts on using your memory in place of a passwords manager.

 

Vedic Memory Techniques:
Ancient Science Or Just A Fad?

 

Vedic memory techniques were systems put in place to memorize ancient texts known as the Vedas, which were composed and handed down orally over a period of about 10 centuries, from about the 15th to the 5th century bce.

There are four Vedas, the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva with over 100,000 plus verses.

So how did the ancient Indians ensure no errors crept into the original texts?

“The oral tradition of vedic learning has preserved the entire vedic texts by purely human memory for several generations…This has been made possible by a diligently devised systematic scheme of chanting the vedic corpus.”

This quote is from Krishna Prasad Miyapuram in Divide and Link: Robust Memory Techniques from Vedic Learning.

That’s not all…

They developed highly complex techniques of recitation that had mathematical precision to ensure that the Vedas remained unchanged in content, intonation, and inflection.

“The first (technique) is Samhita, the simplest form of recitation that approaches the mantra as it is, for example, ‘the sky is blue’ (abcd). Next is Padha, where each word is broken down, as in, ‘the/sky/is/blue’ (a/b/c/d). Krama, the third technique, adds the first real level of difficulty into the recitation through a pattern of ‘the sky/sky is/is blue’ (ab/bc/cd). Jatapatha, the first of the more challenging, alternates between a repetitious interposing and transposing of words to create a pattern of ‘the sky sky the the sky/sky is is sky sky is/is blue blue is is blue’ (abbaab/bccbbc/cddccd).

“Between Jatapata and the last technique are six other techniques (called Mala, Shikha, Rekha, Dvaja, Danda and Ratha) that again are built-in combinations and permutations that have ensured that the order and words of the Vedas remain unchanged. The ultimate and most complex technique is called Ghanam. It’s mind-boggling backwards and forwards pattern is, ‘the sky sky the the sky is is sky the the sky is/sky is is sky sky is blue blue is sky is blue’ (abbaabccbaabc/bccbbcddcbbcd).”

This quote is from Suhag A. Shukla, Esq in Peeling Back the Layers of Sanskrit and Vedic Chanting.

The Vedic way of dissemination of knowledge was mainly through Shruti or the oral tradition of seers and knowledge used to flow through the teacher-student lineage.

Moreover, all these memory techniques were not operated in isolation. Learning was considered a lifelong process and a way of life during the Vedic times.

What does all this mean?

It means Vedic memory science was based on memory training systems or mnemonics. There was no learning by rote or memorising through concentration involved.

Retaining information accurately is an essential part of any good memory training system and that has been demonstrated very clearly in the vedic memory science.

You might be wondering…

 

If The Vedic Memory Technique Was So Awesome…

 

… why did it disappear?

One simple reason is that since the techniques were closely linked to a particular way of life. Students would live in an Ashram (sort of a boarding school without summer breaks) to get education.

But once that way of living changed, we lost this ancient science of super memory training. It might also be due to the rise of people who lack a mind’s eye. But don’t worry if you have that condition. Here’s Aphantasia: Develop Your Memory Even If You Cannot See Mental Images.

As you can see,  all is not lost. Far from it!

And if you are skeptical about whether memory techniques work at all, you might be in for a treat!

This is because…

Skeptics Succeed With Memory Techniques Better Than Anyone Else

7. Global Mental Exercises For Better Memory:
Tony Buzan And The World Memory Championships

 

Tony Buzan – the inventor of mind maps – is a true master of memory as his mind mapping techniques have the potential to unlock multiple intelligences.

As the co-founder of the World Memory Championships, Buzan actively promotes memory skills along with mind mapping in a wide range of books and software programs.

Even Michael Jackson once sought him out in order to gain deeper insights into his creativity and mental abilities.

So what is a Mind Map?

Word Mind Map Day Mind Map By Phil Chambers

It is a powerful graphic technique that harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – to unlock the potential of the brain.

You can use a Mind Map in every aspect of your life to improve your learning ability or induce clearer thinking.

The question is…

Can You Bring Mind Mapping And The Memory Palace Together?

 

But of course!

Reigning World Mind Mapping champion Phil Chambers can help you with that question in this podcast where he talks about Mind Mapping and how to bring this creativity, memory and learning tool together with a Memory Palace.

Anthony Metivier with Tony Buzan and Phil Chambers

So, now that you know about so many memory athlete techniques, you might be wondering…

What’s the best memory training course?

 

One Sure Way To Coach Your Brain To Remember Everything

 

If you read through this post carefully, you would have noticed how many of the world’s top memory athletes used some form of Memory Palace Method to sharpen their brain power.

How can you use a Memory Palace yourself?

By building Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Way. Here’s how to take my free course to learn all the details so you can get the benefits of this mental exercise:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

Creating Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method allows you to develop and use spatial memory.

What’s so cool about that?

For one thing, this particular approach to the Memory Palace technique unlocks the power of your multiple intelligences. It also combines your autobiographical memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory and other kinds of memory.

We talked a lot about how to do that in part one of this two-part series about memory techniques around the world, so please be sure to link back to the first one for more information about the Magnetic Modes.

 

But That’s Not All…

 

When you build Memory Palaces with the Magnetic Memory Method, you learn to measure your memory improvement activities.

Here’s why that makes everything better:

Tracking your outcomes leads to rapid improvement which means you could be playing with the big guns at the next memory competition!

Hiragana Memory Palace by Anthony Metivier

Or if you’re not into competing, you can simply enjoy using the memory techniques to help you learn a language, pass an exam, or get better at your job so that everything becomes easier and more fun.

If you choose this memory training technique…

 

You Will Unlock The Most Powerful Aspects Of Your Brain!

 

Think about it:

Being able to recall 1000 of names, phone numbers, decks of cards or flight information is a super power!

And as we’ve seen, anyone can train themselves using the techniques that memory champions do to improve recall and retention.

The only question is how fast will a method start showing results.

With the Magnetic Memory Method, you can move information from short term memory into long term memory faster. When combined with Recall Rehearsal you will be able to retrieve that information at the snap of a finger.

Memory Championships aside…

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could remember every word to every song you ever loved?

Plan to woo your date with a ballad? And succeed?

Use the right memory techniques for the job and you got this!

The post 7 More Mental Exercises For The Brain From Around The World (Part 2) appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 7_More_Mental_Exercises_For_The_Brain_From_Around_The_World_Part_2.mp3
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Memory Training Techniques from Matteo RicciMemory training techniques involve more than just training. The use of mnemonics is an ancient art, craft and science practiced around the world.

And it’s not new. People have been training their memory for thousands of years.

The best part?

They’ve left many wonderful tips we can use to learn, memorize and recall more information in ways that are fast, easy and fun.

Whether we’re talking about Matteo Ricci’s recipe to overcome forgetfulness or French scholar Aimé Paris’ Mnemonic Major System, strengthening the cerebral muscles of memory has mattered to people across time and around the world.

In fact, there are numerous techniques used worldwide by memory champions as well as amateurs to train their brain.

 

The Most Common Question About Memory Training Techniques In The World

 

The question is:

Is Ricci’s method better than Paris’ or would you be more interested in Alex Mullen’s PAO system that helps him memorize a deck of cards in less than 17 seconds?

These are good questions and I believe everyone should expose themselves to as many memory experts as possible.

But here’s the deal…

Like honing any other skill or strengthening your body’s core muscles, hacking your brain to remember anything takes time and practice.

It is not difficult to build a better brain, but you must be sure which memory workouts will train it better to help you achieve particular learning outcomes.

Before you start reading and executing different memory training techniques practiced around the world, take a quick look at this video. It will introduce you to some powerful prehistoric memory techniques you can use now that Lynne Kelly put together for us in her book, The Memory Code.

 

Why Anyone Can Be A Memory Champ, Even If They Have Never Had Formal Memory Training    

 

According to a study published in March 2017, anyone can reshape their brain’s networks by using the same tricks as the world’s top memory champions.

To understand how memory athletes remember huge strings of information, researchers recruited 23 of the world’s top-ranked memory champions.  They compared the brain scans of these memory champions with those of people who had never practiced memory techniques at all.

The scans revealed that memory athletes’ brains were not built differently from yours or mine. Far from it.

But…

These scientists did find something distinctive.

The champions’ brain showed unique patterns activity in regions that involved memory and cognition.

The researchers then put some of the rookies through a memory training program and observed how their brains changed with exercise.

The more the newcomers practiced the memory training techniques, the more their brain activity started to resemble the brains of memory athletes.

 

Six Weeks Or Less To A Measurable Increase In Brain Power?

 

You bet. In fact:

It took only six weeks for the rookies who had never used memory techniques before to show an increase in brain power.

“These really incredible memory feats … are not some form of inborn talent. It’s really just training”. This is from Martin Dresler, a neuroscientist at Radboud University in the Netherlands and the lead author of the study.

And what these findings mean is that anything these people can accomplish in terms of brain fitness, you can do too.

 

Travel Back In Time:
Important People In the History of
The Major Memory Method

 

Let’s start with some history.

Remember Monsieur Paris?

He’s the French scholar we talked about earlier.

(If you had to scroll up to check out what we had said about Paris, maybe you need a quick boost of these vitamins for memory improvement.)

Paris was the first person to publish a version of the mnemonic Major Method in its modern form that is used by memory experts.

However, French mathematician and astronomer Pierre Hérigone is said to have devised the earliest known version of the major system. Herigone apparently used both consonants and vowels in Latin and French.

What’s the real story?

Watch this video for more and a free memory improvement exercise:

As complex as the history of memory techniques may be, here’s something about which most memory historians agree:

The Major Method for memorizing numbers has its roots in the ancient Greek memory tradition. This is a tradition that combined strategic, systematic thinking with strong guidance from the larger guiding principles of memory.

And using the Major Method, numbers are converted into consonant sounds and then developed into Magnetic words by adding vowels.

Oh, you can make any kind of words if you wish, but it’s attention to involving as many of the Magnetic Modes as possible that will make these words impossible to forget.

 

What Are The Magnetic Modes Of Memory?

 

The Magnetic Modes come into play whenever you combine a dedicated Memory Palace with associative, Magnetic Imagery. You use both of these tools to create links between information you already know, with new information you’d like to remember.

Your Magnetic Modes are based in brain science, and easily tapped when the Magnetic Images you create in your Memory Palaces are:

  • Bright
  • Vibrant
  • Dynamic
  • Big
  • Colorful
  • Crazy
  • Strange
  • Emotional
  • Physical
  • Animated
  • Forceful
  • Loud
  • Rhyming
  • Punning

For more information on how all this works, please take my free course:

 

Why The Major Method Is The Most Popular Memory Technique

 

The answer is simple:

This memory training system, once you’ve practiced it, will help you remember short sequences of digits like telephone numbers or historic dates.

You can also use it to remember long sequences of numbers like Pi, or to help you memorize a deck of cards as an alternative memory improvement exercises based on annoying apps.

Plus, the Major Method is just plain easy.

Why?

Because, like most memory techniques, the Major Method works on the principle that the human brain remembers images far more easily than plain numerals.

So now that you know the most popular memory athlete technique, let’s start our two part series on different memory techniques used around the world and the people who use them.

 

Memory Techniques Around The World (Part 1)

 

Different countries hold different kinds of memory championships.

Sure, they might use different rules and offer different prizes. But at the end of the day, these are the competitive meetings where mind athletes of every stripe compete with each other to prove the superiority of their cognitive prowess.

Now:

While there are no memory athlete techniques unique to any given country, several mnemonists from various regions have modified ancient mnemonic techniques to perfect memory training exercises for professionals and amateurs alike.

Ready to take a look?

Let’s go!

1. China: Ming Mnemonics To Memorize
Reams Of Classical Poetry  

 

In the 16th Century an Italian Jesuit priest became the first westerner to pass China’s highest civil service exams.

Why is this relevant?

The exam involved memorizing reams of classical poetry – a task that only 1% of people who took the test were able to perform successfully.

Yet, Ricci passed these exams after only 10 years, despite not having spoken any Chinese before.

How did he do that?

Ricci did it with the help of the Memory Palace technique.

But more than just use the techniques personally, get this:

As Jonathan D. Spence writes in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci:

“…Ricci taught the Chinese how to build a Memory Palace”.

 

Why The Memory Palace Is Better Than Rote Learning

 

During that time, the Chinese had their own diligent study methods that used repetition and recitation as memory aides. This was coupled with mnemonic poems and rhyming jingles that were part of the traditional Chinese memory practice.

“To everything that we wish to remember, we should give an image; and to every one of these images we should assign a position where it can repose peacefully until we are ready to reclaim it by an act of memory,” wrote Ricci in his Treatise on Mnemonic Arts.

Ricci suggested 3 locations for these “mental” buildings – they could be based on real buildings one has seen, they could be imaginary locations or a mix of both.

Ricci’s memory training techniques helps with memorizing entire books and large volumes of vocabulary.

What’s more?

He also developed a means for memorizing how to write in Chinese.

Memory champions who participate in China’s popular reality and talent show – The Brain – have used Memory Palaces (probably evolved versions of Ricci’s system) to memorize decks of cards or information about airline flights.

In each episode, seven contestants must perform mental challenges like memorizing the names and birthdays of over 900 infants or solving a series of Rubik’s Cube completely blindfolded in under five minutes.

For more, check out this video of the first episode of Season 1 of The Brain:

How To Memorize A Deck Of Cards Chinese Style – Fast!

 

Want to know what system Chinese mnemonist Wang Feng uses to memorize a deck of cards?

Feng, who is two-time winner of the World Memory Championships, uses a technique similar to Ricci’s to exploit the brain’s natural ability to memorize images and locations.

To memorize the order of a deck of cards, Feng first gives each card a two digit number. Next he turns that number into an image and then puts that image in familiar location – from where he can retrieve it easily when needed.

Notice the similarity with Ricci’s Memory Palace system?

Now that you know it, you toocan modify Ricci’s system to build your own memory training course (like making a gym in your own mind for mental fitness). Or you can create Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way.

Ultimately, I believe the Magnetic Memory Method approach is better for most learners.

Why? Because it not only helps you remember the information faster, but also helps you get predictable and reliable permanence that grows in strength with practice.

But more about that later. Let’s turn now to:

 

2. Mongolia: The Genghis Khan Way To Brain Strength

 

The founder of the Mongol Empire – Genghis Khan – would probably be delighted to know that in some of the most recent world memory statistics, ten of the top 50 people are his descendants!

Mongolia – home to one of the world’s last nomadic cultures – wants to be a titan in the obscure world of mental athletics and is using mental athletics as a nation building exercise.

At the Mongolian Intellectual Academy, students are taught to flawlessly remember the Periodic Table of Elements and other brain feats by using the same principles that govern the Memory Palace technique – linking unfamiliar words and numbers to familiar mental images or stories that can be ingrained in a person’s long-term memory.

Memory training techniques in Mongolia Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

The teacher points to the periodic table and moves through the first column turning letters and numbers into vivid and outrageous images. The visuals are accompanied by an engaging story that offers a way to remember the name of the element, its atomic number and its atomic mass.

When asked to recall the period table memorized using this mnemonic technique, there are virtually no errors!

Impressive accuracy aside, the Mongolian team still faced tough competition in the 2015 Extreme Memory Tournament.

The opponents were:

Simon Reinhard, the world’s fastest card memorizer and the reigning XMT Champion; and Alex Mullen, the 2015 World Memory Champion.

Despite the steep competition, using memory palace training exercises paid off for 17-year-old first-time competitor Enhkjin Tumur, who set a tournament record by recalling 30 images in 14.4 seconds.

3. Canada: A Hunter-Gatherer Memory Technique

 

Two time Guinness World Record holder for being able to memorize 59 decks of cards in order, Dave Farrow, is a Canadian who has either invented or improved some memory training techniques to remember information and recall them with ease.

One method that Farrow uses is the Peg System –  where you memorize a list of information by linking or pegging them with words or numbers you already know.

You literally hang information on a number.

This is what Farrow says about his memory technique:

“Memory techniques work by taking advantage of a natural mechanism in the brain that we all have that allows us to memorize information without any repetition. It’s a hunter-gatherer fight or flight mechanism—if you needed repetition to remember where you saw that predator, you would not be alive anymore. What I do and what I teach people how to do is trick the brain into triggering that mechanism at will.”

Dave Farrow using memory training techniques

 

How To Use Colors To Remember Numbers

 

Another method I’ve heard Farrow talk about is sometimes called the Alpha Numeric Spectrum system.  This approach uses numerical and phonetic codes to memorize numbers and recall them with ease. It uses an arrangement like this (you can create your own version):

1 = red

2 = orange

3 = yellow

4 = green

5 = blue

6 = purple

7 = brown

8 = silver

9 = gold

0 = black

 

Why Are There So Many Memory Training Techniques? 

 

As we come to the end of this first part of a two part series on memory training techniques around the world, you might be wondering…

How on earth did so many memory techniques proliferate.

Well, the truth is that there really aren’t that many differences between how memory techniques have been used around the world.

Rather, there exists a limited set of varied approaches that different people use according to their learning styles.

Remember when we talked about the Magnetic Modes above?

Well, it turns out that the precise approach a person using memory training techniques chooses has a lot to do with how the Magnetic Modes match up with their learning style.

But if one important aspect binds them all together, it is the use of spatial memory to create Memory Palaces.

So come back next week for the second part to see how memory training techniques work in Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA. There are more tips and surprises that you can use to help guide your practice.

Stay tuned!

The post 3 Powerful Memory Training Techniques From Around The World (Part 1) appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 3_Powerful_Memory_Training_Techniques_From_Around_The_World_Part_1.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:04am EDT

Have you been looking for the perfect learn Japanese app…

Or maybe just wondering how to learn Japanese on your own with memory techniques?

Are you still at the level where you’re searching Google with “learn Japanese alphabet,” unaware of its unique character sets?

Or how about that wish to know how to speak Japanese fast?

Well, in today’s guest post and featured podcast guest host, Kevin Richardson share his experiences using the best app to learn to speak Japanese in the world:

The Memory Palace.

But not just any Memory Palace.

A Magnetic Memory Palace.

Scroll up and click play to hear my interview with Kevin and read his separate assessment below. Take it away Kevin!

The Man Who Almost Gave Up On Learning Japanese

 

Without Magnetic Memory, I would have packed up my bags and given up on ever learning the readings of Japanese kanji.

Now, I have no doubts that I’m going to complete my mission. I want to be fully literate in Japanese … and I want to be able to handwrite kanji too.

In for a penny, in for a pound!

This is actually my second attempt at using the Magnetic Memory Method.

I won’t lie to you, the first time I tried making a Memory Palace wasn’t a great success.

So take heart, don’t give up if you don’t get everything right the first time. Treat it as a learning experience. I promise you, you’ll get better quickly.

I’m still only a fledgling Memory Palace maker, yet now I’m able to remember up to thirty kanji readings in a single day!

Best of all – I know they’re there forever!

 

 

Before employing the Magnetic Memory technique, I’d used Heisig’s “Remembering the Kanji” volume 1 to memorize over two thousand kanji meanings in six months.

I wasn’t setting the world on fire, but for someone who can’t even remember why I’ve gone to the convenience store, I was still pretty pleased with myself.

 

Maybe The Memory Palace Stuff Wasn’t For Me…

 

In hindsight, I wish I’d known more about Memory Palaces when I set about using Heisig’s method, but my first attempt wasn’t very successful and I resigned myself to thinking maybe this Memory Palace stuff wasn’t for me.

It was then that I listened to Olly Richard’s podcast with Anthony Metivier talking about learning hiragana with the Magnetic Memory Method.

By happy coincidence, I was just starting to think about the daunting task of learning thousands of readings for the kanji characters. I knew that if I could get the hang of it, this would be make or break.

After all, Japanese people take about ten years to accomplish the same task; so for me, any technique that’s going to supercharge my memory was worth a punt.

 

 

My first Memory Palace was a modest affair. I drew a sketch map of my apartment in Japan, numbered my memory stations in a logical route from bed to genkan (the place you leave your shoes).

The first kanji vocabulary word I added to the bottom of my bed – 主に (omoni – ‘mainly’). The story, “oh money is mainly found at the bottom of my bed”. Next, 大気 (taiki – ‘atmosphere’) …

That utter tyke, Russ Abbot singing “Oh what atmosphere, I love a party with an atmosphere” in the cupboard next to my bed. And as the tour went around my apartment, the story developed into a bizarre journey that I couldn’t forget.

Do you remember the Hana Barbera cartoon of Godzilla? I always hated the baby Godzilla, “Godzuki”, yet when I came to the bathroom, I have to think about that dinosaur, Gojira (as the Japanese say) … I’m a big fan of Godzilla …  (dai no gojira zuki desu).

 

My Mind Couldn’t Help But Fill In The Gaps

 

I took Anthony’s advice and walked through my Memory Palace ten times that first day. That made a big difference; I think by walking through the same linear path through my apartment, visualizing the story ten times, the story in my mind became like a sequence of video clips.

My mind couldn’t help but fill in the gaps, so I’d see myself mainly getting my omoni from the bottom of my bed, so that I could throw some spare yen at Russ Abbot busking “atmosphere” in my cupboard etc etc.

The next day, I walked through it in my mind a couple more times during breaks at work. I loved the fact that I didn’t need any technology, no batteries and could simply walk through my Memory Palace whenever I had some downtime.

I decided that I’d start making one Memory Palace a week from that moment onwards. I’m now on my fifth Memory Palace and have gone from making twelve Magnetic Stations to now making over thirty Magnetic Stations in each Memory Palace.

(* Note: During the making of this Memory Palace, a mosquito collided violently with my notebook … to honor it’s death, I shall always remember “Yuu HAVE made a mess here”)

I’m not rushing anything. Like I say, I’m still a fledgling at this technique, but in the course of a month, my Memory Palaces are becoming richer, stranger, surreal and most importantly … unforgettable.

I now draw my map and number my Magnetic Stations. Then I think of a mnemonic to connect the kanji with it’s reading.

Then I write the whole story out as a walkthrough. Read it to myself and my mind can’t help but connect one station to another.

My favorite on this page has to be Hulk Hogan speaking in his “hougen dialect”!)

Now, I remember Olly and Anthony talking about the effort of making Memory Palaces being “top loaded.”

Certainly seems to be true for me at the moment – I spend far more time constructing my Memory Palace and creating a walkthrough story.

 

The Time I Save

 

BUT … it works … and if it means I don’t forget anything, that’s time I save in the long run.

In time, I can see myself not needing to write out my walkthrough story … and in time, I’ll eventually be able to take forty or fifty kanji readings, plot them out in my head, walkthrough the Memory Palace without having to write everything down.

I can see how that will give me the ability to remember hundreds of readings a week … but small steps grasshopper … I’m happy enough that I’ve gone from having a sketchy memory of maybe six readings a week, to now remembering fifty or so kanji readings a week.

That’s already a massive improvement … it’s certainly given me a huge boost in confidence that this heady goal of remembering thousands of kanji readings is much more achievable than I’d ever thought possible.

The post The Perfect Learn Japanese App With Kevin Richardson appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: The_Perfect_Learn_Japanese_App_With_Kevin_Richardson.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:27am EDT

 

Ticket to illustrate Free Memory competition event hosted by Dave FarrowWould you like free tickets to participate in or watch the upcoming Memory Games in Las Vegas?

If so, hit play on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

This is a tremendous opportunity for Magnetic Memory Method fans in the Las Vegas area.

Of course, even if you’re not in the area, you can help spread the word about memory techniques by sharing this page.

If you know anyone who would like some free memory training and an opportunity to practice them, please pass this information along to them as well.

You can also watch for all the details about getting free tickets in this video:

 

Hosted by Dave Farrow, these Memory Games present a great opportunity to learn new memory skills, practice the ones you already know and challenge yourself to a friendly and fun competition amongst fellow memory training enthusiasts!

This competition will teach you the memory techniques used in the games in a low stress environment. You’ll develop courage and confidence with your memory while making new friends.

This event is a precursor to the annual Pan American Memory Games in Florida and the annual US Memory Tournament held at eBay in San Jose, so if you’d like to be informed, make sure to get in touch with Dave so you can be notified.

 

Is This Memory Games Event Just For Adults?

 

Not at all.

Of course, memory games for kids help young people develop skills that will be useful throughout life and this is a great entry-level opportunity for all ages and skill levels.

Also, tune in to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast to learn about:

* A forthcoming book with contributions from Alex Mullen and myself.

* The major reasons entrepreneurs and professionals need memory skills more than ever before.

* Why memory games are a great way to learn these techniques.

* Why the spelling bee competitions may be slowly disappearing and why competition might be one of the best memory activities for students.

* Options you have for using memory techniques, even if you’re not visual or experience aphantasia.

* And much, much more!

If you’d prefer to pay for tickets, please grab your Memory Games in Las Vegas now. More information about the event, including time and location are on that page.

To contact Dave Farrow directly, please email him using the link provided in the video and podcast or go directly to the contact page on Farrow PR.

 

About The Host Of The Las Vegas Memory Games

 

Dave Farrow earned his second Guinness World Record for memory by recalling the exact order of 59 decks of shuffled playing cards.

He created ‘The Farrow Method’ to help combat his severe dyslexia and ADHD and this is now a certifiable memory system backed by a double-blind neuroscience study at McGill University.

Dave has been a featured guest on Dr. Oz, Steve Harvey, The Today Show, Discovery Channel and many others.

Most recently, Dave won the grand prize on episode 5 of the hit FOX TV show, SuperHuman.

 

For More On Brain Games And Brain Exercises…

 

Brain Games: The Truth You Need To Know For Memory Improvement

Crossword Puzzles For Brain Fitness: Fact or Fiction?

5 Brain Exercises That Ensure Memory Improvement

Brain Training: 3 Unconventional Techniques Guaranteed To Help You Conjure Your Best-Ever Ideas

3 Memory Games You Can Play With Your Childhood

Tansel Ali on How Gratitude Can Help You Remember Almost Anything

Thank you for attending this event if you can make it.

If you can’t, we deeply appreciate you helping spread the word about the 2017 Memory Games in Las Vegas. Your involvement in keeping this tradition alive is as central as learning and using the techniques themselves.

Let us know in the comments below how you found the games or were otherwise able to participate!

The post Want Free Tickets To The 2017 Memory Games In Las Vegas? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Want_Free_Tickets_To_The_2017_Memory_Games_In_Las_Vegas_.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:06pm EDT

What is Bitcoin and cryptocurrency? And why should memory improvement fans memorize a long list of virtual currencies?

To help answer the question, Jonathan Levi joins me on this episode Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

And to help us understand why the topic is so challenging for even the smartest learners, we discuss:

* The most important definition of Bitcoin (and probably all new digital currencies to come) and the software involved that you need to understand.

* The truth about fiat currencies and the BIG problems with fractional reserve banking.

* How Jonathan discovered Bitcoin and found cryptocurrency compelling enough to use his SuperLearner skills to learn how to buy Bitcoin stock in an easy and secure way.

* The most popular crypto currencies and why so much terminology is needed to discuss how to buy bitcoins and store them in different kinds of wallets.

* How Jonathan answered the central question: Is Bitcoin mining worth it?

* Why even people in underprivileged countries can buy Bitcoins with a debit card and participate in a democratized currency that will allow them to buy valuable online education programs (like for learning a language).

* The history of money and why everyone interested in this emerging form of currency needs to use their memory to help them learn about it.

* Why bitcoin is a revolution in both commerce and technology the provides a strong alternative to a fiat currency and the current culture of debt.

* Some of the history of money that “rots” as described by Lewis Hyde in The Gift and its relationship to the BlockChain.

* Blockchain technology explained clearly for those who need a “blockchain for dummies” guide to understanding the irreversible functions of mathematics that updates the ledger across the word.

* The special relationship between Internet money like Zcash and intellectual property that can never be copied.

* How Filecoin and other services help transfer shares properly and establish proper ownership in the hugest paradigm shift since the introduction of the Internet itself.

* A clear description of the problems being solved by bitcoin miners on the bitcoin market and how this creates tangible value.

* Why mining transactions and rewards take place every ten minutes and yet involve trillions of difficult transactions designed to keep out bad actors.

* Why the brilliant decisions of Satoshi Nakamoto helped make Bitcoin fraud very difficult, if not outright impossible.

* Why credit card charges are so expensive and make Bitcoin value projections climb higher and higher.

* Why every cellphone has the ability to function as its own bank without the need for a third person or elaborate trust structures.

* The future of credit card bonuses, air miles, incentive points, interest and transaction fees in this new era of Internet money.

* Why Bitcoin value is directly linked to a true understanding of democracy.

* The ultimate answer to the question: Is bitcoin mining worth it?

* Omisego and how serving the unbanked will prove revolutionary for learners around the world.

* Why Copay is the best and most secure wallet to use when learning how to buy Bitcoin.

* The role of transparency in a changing world of privacy and security and the role of anonymity when using these new forms of currency.

* The role of a passwords manager when using Bitcoin and other issues of online security.

* The ultimate question of whether these cryptocurrency solutions are making the world simpler or more complex.

* The number one opportunity with Bitcoin, the number one strength you’ll need and the number one fear each person should have – and how to avoid the need to fear getting involved in the cryptocurrency of your choice.

If you’re interested in learning more, click the image below to take a free intro course that will teach you even more:

 

 

Jonathan Levi is the host of the wildly popular SuperLearner Academy and host of the Becoming A Superhuman Podcast.

Together, we teach Branding You™: How to Build Your Multimedia Internet Empire. Stay tuned for the 2.0 version of this course coming very soon!

In the meantime, please be sure to educate yourself about Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and let the topic serve so you don’t get left behind.

If nothing else, this topic serves as great brain exercise, no matter your age or general interest.

What about you? Excited about the future of money and this interesting learning and memory challenge?

The post Mastering The Memory Demands Of Bitcoin And Cryptocurrency With Jonathan Levi appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Do you reserve your Saturday afternoons for the brain fitness promised by crossword puzzles?

If not, congratulations. That could be a wise decision.

But for over 50 million people, crossword puzzles are a part of their daily lives.

And they think it’s helping them.

In fact, there’s a pernicious myth out there.

One that is generally assumed by far too many people who hope, wish and pray that doing word puzzles regularly can help keep your brain young and active.

Many people also believe that the health benefits of crossword puzzles can even keep Alzheimer’s or dementia at bay.

The question is…

Why Do People Believe These Crazy Things About Crossword Puzzles?

 

Here’s one reason:

Many consider crossword puzzles to be the pastime of the intelligent and knowledgeable people – a connection that we are only too happy to have.

More importantly?

Playing word games may legitimately improve your vocabulary.

Then again, so will developing your own mind as the perfect vocabulary builder (our focus on this YouTube playlist):

So, ultimately…

The idea that crossword puzzles will develop your memory is true enough.

For some people, at least.

 

Here’s Who Really Benefits From The Memory And
Brain Fitness Benefits Of Crossword Puzzles 

 

Can you guess who gets the most bang for their buck in the crossword universe?

The answer is simple:

The people who design crossword puzzles –  the cruciverbalists – experience the ultimate benefits.

As dedicated logophiles, crossword puzzle designers love using obscure words whenever and wherever they can.

And because they’re the architects of these games, they’re the ones most likely to remember the words they’ve enjoyed building into them.

To give a parallel example, it’s kind of like how songwriters find it easier than anyone else to remember the lyrics they’ve penned.

 

When Did We First Get Hooked on Crosswords:
A Fascinating History

 

The crossword – a standard feature in newspapers across the globe – celebrated its hundredth birthday on December 21, 2013.

And it’s still going strong!

However, when journalist Arthur Wynne invented and printed the first ever “word-cross” puzzle in the New York World newspaper on December 21, 1913, it was hardly met with much fanfare.

 

 

An editorial in The New York Times published on November 17, 1924 called crossword puzzles “a primitive sort of mental exercise” and a “sinful waste” of time.

The craze of word puzzles spread after publishing firm of Simon & Schuster launched its career in 1924 with a book of puzzles. This was the same year when the World published its first daily crossword puzzle.

Years later, the puzzle’s success surprised Wynne:

“… all I did was take an old idea as old as language and modernize it by the introduction of black squares,” he said in 1925. “I’m glad to have had a hand in it, and no one is more surprised at its amazing popularity” (Lynn J. Feigenbaum, Crosswords at a Crossroad, The Puzzle Turns 100. What is the clue to its Survival?).

Wynne was inspired by ancient word squares – where words read the same across and down.

Wynne also took inspiration from another puzzle, the acrostic – in which sets of letters (such as the initial or final letters of the lines) taken in order form a word or phrase or a regular sequence of letters of the alphabet.

Ultimately, the current format with its compact square diagram of white spaces and black bars, with connected across and down words, and numbered clues became popular.

The Addiction Theory Of Why We Love Crossword Puzzles

 

Word puzzles are not only fun, but immensely satisfying as every crossword problem has that one perfect solution – the feeling of perfection we miss in our everyday lives and seek through art, literature and now the Internet.

There’s also an almost addictive pleasure to finally finishing a puzzle.

Why is that?

Recall that ‘aha’ moment when you finally get that elusive word or phrase solution. Moments like those confirm, even if it’s only to yourself, how knowledgeable, smart and well-informed you are.

 

That’s A Heady Feeling!

 

Yet, therein lies part of the problem:

Isn’t it really the case that solving crosswords is the opposite of quest for knowledge?

When you think about it, crossword puzzles are kind of like a quest for confirmation. A journey to confirm that you are knowledgeable in a way that gives your brain that addictive high of accomplishment.

There’s more:

Some people have even called the crossword a sort of geometric Rorschach test, a kind of psychological experience that reflects the human need to solve a mystery.

 

Want to Know The Real Story?

 

In reality, crosswords encourage you to give up on things you don’t immediately know. For instance, if you don’t know a particular word linked to a clue …

You don’t know it!

And here’s the kicker…

Even if you did research to find the answer, would you remember it over the long term?

Worse:

The amount of time the average person spends actually challenging their mind is questionable.

Why?

Because we usually know when we don’t know something.

As a result, we stop right there.

The instant our lack of knowledge becomes clear…

We’re gone!

Worse:

If the original motive to complete a crossword was to develop your brain, stopping the instant you feel challenged is as good as cheating.

Why Is Crossword Cheating Bad For The Brain?

Simple:

When it comes to playing word games, we find an imbalance between frustration and challenge.

The frustration is often too strong. It overrides the fun of challenges that propel you forward throughout the puzzle without creating barriers that make you want to quit.

Or worse, cheat and look up the answer without submitting yourself to much of a challenge in the first place.

The Stimulating Benefits Of Working With Crosswords

 

All’s not lost though…

While the research results in this area are mixed, some studies have found doing crosswords can actually stimulate the brain.

A study of 488 elderly people by researchers at Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego found that solving crossword puzzles delayed the onset of accelerated memory decline by 2.54 years.

It was not all good news, however. Check this out:

Once mental decline sets in, the deterioration is usually rapid. However, some findings suggest that word puzzles did help delay the onset of dementia.

For example, researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School and Kings College London analysed data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over. They found that the more regularly people did crosswords, the better their brain functioned in later life.

According to their results, people who engage in word puzzles have brain function equivalent to ten years younger than their age, on tests of grammatical reasoning speed and short term memory accuracy.

 

But There’s A Catch…
And It’s A BIG One…

 

“It is essential that we find out what lifestyle factors really make a difference to helping people maintain healthy brains to stop the soaring rise of the disease (dementia). We can’t yet say that crosswords give you a sharper brain — the next step is to assess whether encouraging people to start playing word games regularly could actually improve their brain function.”

This quote is from Clive Ballard, Professor of Age-Related Diseases at the University of Exeter Medical School.

Basically what he’s saying is that the results don’t really demonstrate that crossword puzzles help. There are too many competing factors to tell.

To make things even more confusing, check this out:

According to Dr Doug Brown, Director of Research of Alzheimer’s Society:

“This new research does reveal a link between word puzzles, like crosswords, and memory and thinking skills, but we can’t say definitively that regular ‘puzzling’ improves these skills.”

He recommends “keeping physically active, avoiding smoking and eating a healthy balanced diet” to reduce the risk of developing dementia.

 

What Are We Supposed To Conclude From These Confusing Contradictions?

 

Well, for one thing, these researchers are trying to have their cake and eat it too. They are saying that “yes, solving puzzles helps” on the one hand, “but it probably really doesn’t” on the other.

Which is it?

The truth:

It’s Not all Fun and Games When it Comes to Helping Your Brain
(And It Doesn’t Need To Be)

 

If only games could help you gain brain power!

While crosswords can be fun and satisfying, after the first dozen or so puzzles, the activity doesn’t offer enough variety or difficulty to engage your whole brain.

And as suggested, the temptation to skip over the challenging parts or cheat is so high that the actual amount of exercise you’re receiving is highly questionable.

And because of this high capacity for cheating and giving up that crossword puzzles invite, many people are actually not experiencing the ingredient that matters.

 

The Key Rule:
What Matters Most for a Healthy Brain

 

The key to a vibrant, healthy brain includes challenge and novelty. Doing only crosswords will help you get really good at solving crossword puzzles but nothing more.

This is because brain games can primarily improve the specific function that it is being trained for.

A 1999 study found that being more experienced in doing crossword puzzles didn’t offset the effects of aging when it came to mental tests of vocabulary and reasoning.

Moreover, the study revealed that success in solving crossword puzzles largely appeared to be a function of the amount of knowledge the individual already had, with little or no contribution of reasoning ability.

An independent panel set up by the National Institutes of Health also concluded that there is “no evidence of even moderate scientific quality” that exercise, drugs, dietary supplements or increased social engagement, reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

I can’t emphasize this enough.

Research also states that any positive effects of being proficient in crossword solving does not elevate frontal lobe brain functions like decision-making, planning and judgment – functions that allow us to carry out our daily lives.

Moreover, just like physical exercise, when you stop doing the mental workouts, your brain loses the immediate gains.

How Crossword Puzzles Work For Kids Vs Adults 

 

Surprisingly, solving crossword puzzles can build confidence and poise in school kids. This was the result found during a project presented to the Faculty of the School of Education, The University of Southern California.

The project also found that solving puzzles can also help young people learn to concentrate, develop systematic work habits and build the ability to recognize and deal with various problems.

Moreover, according to the report, puzzles with their natural inference to games, can stimulate children’s interest. (Robert Louis Ramsdell, Educational Use of Crossword Puzzles for Elementary Schools)

A Better Way to Improve Your Brain and Get Smarter

 

Now:

One quick and easy way to make you smarter is to address people by name every time you see them and dialing frequently from memory rather than using speed dial.

If you are looking for a complete brain workout try this brain fitness method…

Click on the link below to get started:

Memory improvement training should always be linked to memorizing information that will immediately improve your life.

And that’s at the core of Magnetic Memory Method.

When you build Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way it lets you measure your memory improvement activities.

 

Why Is This Important?

 

Because tracking your outcomes leads to rapid improvement.

You not only get to remember the information faster, but also get predictable and reliable permanence that grows in strength each time you use the Magnetic Memory Method.

Even better:

All other memory techniques including playing crossword puzzles can be used inside of Memory Palaces.

But this never takes place the other way around (For example, you can’t use Memory Palaces inside of the Major Method the way you can use the Major Method inside of Memory Palaces.)

 

The Real Value Of The Crossword Puzzle

 

Crossword puzzles do have a value – but these ultimately amount to being little more than recreational in nature.

At the most, if you can solve a puzzle, you know your brain is still pretty much intact. But whether your brain is getting stronger and sharper, the more puzzles you solve, is a matter of opinion.

The undebatable fact remains that using Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way can help you see some real improvement in your brain’s problem solving faculties.

It not only stimulates your brain, it also helps move information into long term memory faster and with predictable and reliable permanence.

So, let’s get started playing the games that truly help. (Hint: It’s using the Memory Palace to learn and remember anything forever!)

Are you in?

The post Crossword Puzzles for Brain Fitness: Fact or Fiction? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Crossword_Puzzles_for_Brain_Fitness__Fact_or_Fiction_.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 10:22pm EDT

Do you pop vitamins for memory improvement?

For many people around the world, dumping hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per year on the hope that pills in a pretty package will lead to a boost in memory is a common habit.

Sadly, many seniors believe that it is essential to take nutritional supplements to combat against age related memory loss, brain fog, everyday forgetfulness or to deter the onset of Alzheimer’s or dementia.

But falling for that ruse isn’t just for the older generations.

Even for the young and healthy amongst us, it is not uncommon to take vitamin pills in an attempt to improve retention or recall of information, learn a new language or excel in studies.

The question is…

How vital are memory enhancing pills?

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

It has long been argued that regularly eating foods rich in vitamins and daily exercise is the best way to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Can vitamin supplement pills that help with memory be an easier option to provide the same nutrients to your body and mind?

Let’s find out.

 

What The Heck Are ‘Vitamins’ Anyway? An Astonishing History

 

Vitamins are a group of organic compounds – different from fats, carbohydrates and proteins – that nourish our body and are essential for our growth and functioning. We usually get them through the food we eat.

More importantly, research shows that vitamins are important to maintain brain health.

Check this out:

“In particular, research over the past 5 years has provided exciting evidence for the influence of dietary factors on specific molecular systems and mechanisms that maintain mental function.” That’s from Dr. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a leading authority on nutrition and the brain at the University of California, Los Angeles in his research paper, Brain Foods: The Effects of Nutrients on Brain Function.

Here’s Something Even More Important:

 

While we need vitamins only in small quantities, if any vitamin is absent from our diet, a deficiency disease may occur –  a fact first noted by William Fletcher in 1905.

In 1912, the Polish-born biochemist Casimir Funk discovered a mysterious compound that he termed ‘vital amine,’ which later came to be known as ‘vitamin’.

A year later, in 1913 that a biochemist named Frederick Gowland Hopkins discovered Vitamin A  – the first vitamin to be discovered.

By early 20th century researchers had identified the 13 compounds or vitamins crucial to maintaining a healthy life.

They had also found that the underlying trigger for obscure illnesses such as scurvy, beriberi and pellagra was vitamin deficiency.

That’s not all…

It was around the same time that deficiency in certain vitamins was linked to loss of memory, focus and concentration.

Today, dietary supplements like B vitamins (folic acid, B6, and B12), antioxidants (vitamins C and E), herbal supplements (ginkgo biloba), and nutraceuticals (fish oil, coconut oil) are very much in-demand as pills that help with memory.

 

The Most Important Fact About Vitamins
For Memory In The World

 

Remember this:

Deficiency in Vitamin B12 can cause memory loss. This means that Vitamin B12  probably presents the most critical case in which supplements can help improve your brain’s ability to remember things.

But here’s the kicker:

If you are already getting adequate B vitamins though your diet, getting extra through supplemental pills will not give you a memory boost.

There are other foods that improve memory well worth checking out for that Magnetic outcome.

 

Exposed: The Billion Dollar Business of Vitamins

 

In the century since their discovery, vitamins or rather vitamin supplements have become big business.

In the United States alone, annual sales of all multivitamin and mineral containing supplements totalled $14.3 billion in 2014.

Since the 1940s, Americans have been taking multivitamin and mineral supplements.

But get this:

To date, there has been no concrete study to substantiate that popping vitamin supplements has improved people’s health or their memory more than what can be achieved by a healthy diet and exercise.

For more on how this ruse is taking place, you might want to check out The Darkside and the Brightside of How Marketers Manipulate Your Memory Every Single Day.

Interestingly, although more than one-third of all Americans take these supplements, they have no standard scientific, regulatory, or marketplace definitions.

Why does this matter?

Manufacturers decide the types and levels of vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients in their supplements based on factors that are not always guided by science or in your best interest.

 

The Demons In Your Daily Diet

 

Now let’s get down to the core of the problem:

Processed or refined food is routinely fortified with added vitamins to increase its price as well as appeal among consumers.

So when you are taking supplements, on top of vitamins added to your foods,  you really don’t know whether you are ingesting more than your daily requirement.

This is a potentially deadly fact that matters above all:

Consuming more vitamins than your daily dietary requirements can be as detrimental to your health as being vitamin deficient.

Research by McGill University geneticist Rima Rozen and her colleagues reveal that taking 10 times the recommended daily intake of folic acid – often the dose recommended by doctors for pregnant women – causes liver damage in mice.

Research has also found that Vitamin E at doses of 400 international units (IU) or more per day is risky for people with heart disease. Such dosage may also raise the risk of prostate cancer.

Moreover, other studies show that Vitamin E, ginkgo biloba, and fish oil supplements can slightly inhibit blood clotting. When combined with an anticoagulant drug, such supplements can actually make you bleed or bruise more easily.

 

Messing Around With Memory Vitamins Is No Joking Matter

 

So you see…

Taking vitamins in the form of pills is not to be taken lightly.

You can’t just grab any bottle off the shelf and expect to get the outcome you seek – certainly not increased mental focus. That requires memory and concentration training.

And keep this in mind:

Any vitamin supplement has to be taken in context of your diet and how your body absorbs nutrients. This is one of those occasions where it’s okay for things to really be all about you.

Let’s face it:

Our bodies are constantly undergoing change due to social, psychological, physical and medical factors which in turn affect our intake, digestion, absorption and excretion of nutrients.

Consuming highly processed food or not cooking your vegetables properly can also cause inadequate vitamin intake.

These factors need to be taken into consideration when selecting your memory pills.

In any case, you should always consult with your doctor before taking any supplements to rule out overdosing on any particular vitamin.

 

Rooting Out Flaws In The Plan

 

While many vitamin supplements, fish oil and herbs like ginkgo biloba are touted to improve memory, there is hardly any evidence to back up the claims.

A 2013 study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found no evidence that drugs, herbal products or vitamin supplements (including vitamin B6 and omega-3 fatty acids – products thought to help brain function) helps prevent memory loss in healthy people.

In fact, the study revealed that certain treatments actually seemed to contribute to cognitive problems.

That’s completely the opposite of the goal!

Worse:

Healthy women who were given estrogen hormone treatment to improve memory actually suffered from higher memory loss over time, compared to subjects who were given a placebo.

 

The Ugly Ginkgo Lie About Alzheimer’s and Dementia

 

A study showed that ginkgo herb did not decrease the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, ginkgo is one of the top 10 natural products used by Americans as the best supplement for memory and concentration.

The issue is even bigger than that:

Since dietary supplements are not regulated the same way as prescription or over-the-counter drugs, manufacturers don’t have to pass the rigorous Food and Drug Administration process to ensure they are safe and effective before selling their products.

So, manufacturers can claim that the supplements “support” or “help” memory without needing any strong medical evidence supporting those claims.

Dietary supplements – that include vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, and other ‘natural’ substances – also pose a big risk for consumers.

Not only that, but get this:

Between 2008 and 2011, the FDA received 6,307 reports of health problems from dietary supplements, says a 2013 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

That’s a lot of problems!

 

The Truth About How To Improve Brain Function and Memory

 

When it comes to brain vitamins for studying or memory enhancing drugs, nothing works better than a balanced diet, lots of hydration, an active lifestyle and 7 hours of sleep every night.

Easy isn’t it?

Well, hang on there, because it gets even better…

Foods like walnuts, green tea, blueberries, salmon are all super foods when it comes to protecting you from brain fog and memory loss.

The best part?

An easy-to-follow Mediterranean-style diet can have lasting benefits for brain health, confirmed a 2017 study. It showed that participants who closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet were less likely to lose brain volume as they aged, compared with those who didn’t follow such a diet.

Another study published in the journal Neurology suggests that a Mediterranean diet – rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, potatoes, nuts, olive oil and fish – may help make your brain about five years younger.

Processed foods, fried and fast foods, snack foods, red meat, poultry and whole-fat dairy foods are usually eaten less under this diet plan.

Drinking water also helps to improve memory and focused attention. A new study revealed that if you are even slightly dehydrated, it can impair your attention and memory.

 

D.O.C. & Vitamin M:
The Best Scientifically Proven Vitamins For Your Memory

 

Apart from good food, if you want a real memory booster you’ll need to exercise your brain.

Your brain is a muscle and like all muscles it must workout to retain and grow its strength.

In other words, you must use your mind. Regularly!

How do you do that?

Use D.O.C.

It’s a special compound anyone can muck together at any time and dose themselves with.

Broken down, the compound tells us that doing is the origin of confidence.

Memory confidence, that is. Also general mental competence.

Why is confidence so important?

Because confidence is a powerful “substance” that nourishes everything in your brain. It leads to accomplishment.

And working your mental muscles in a way that creates accomplishing-by-doing is one of the best brain supplements in the world.

The other vitamin that can really help improve memory is 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.

That’s not all…

D.O.C. comes almost free because getting started involves nothing more than a simple drawing that follows some simple principles.

 

Why Is The Memory Palace The Best Memory Vitamin?

 

The answer is simple:

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

Creating Memory Palaces the Magnetic Memory Method way allows you to develop and use spatial memory in a way that unlocks the power of your multiple intelligences plus autobiographical memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory and other kinds of memory.

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.

Even better:

You not only get to remember the information faster, but also get predictable and reliable permanence that grows in strength each time you use the Magnetic Memory Method.

Memory Palaces also have another unique characteristic:

All other memory techniques can be used inside of Memory Palaces. But this never takes place the other way around (For example, 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 on the link below to get started:

Vitamins For Memory Are Not At All About The Fruit

 

Now…

It is super-simple to use a Memory Palaces, but you’ve got to create time for it.

And a great way to make sure you get time for your daily dose of ‘memory’ pills is through P.E.A.C.H.

What the heck is P.E.A.C.H.?

Practice Encoding At Calm Hours

This is such a powerful principle because the question is not how to practice memory techniques (just take the free course to learn how).

The real question is: when?

If you take the time to practice building Memory Palaces and exercising your brain through other means during times when you are uninterrupted, it leads to better implantation of that information in your long term memory.

When you P.E.A.C.H you also get the time to create effective Magnetic Imagery and perform effective Recall Rehearsal – both essential to building effective Memory Palaces.

Using the Magnetic Memory Method is great because, once you’re rolling, good memory abilities get you more time.

More time means you can practice memory enhancing techniques more often.

And that means experiencing better memory, better focus, clarity and concentration.

It’s a win-win!

 

0.2% Advantage?

 

No magic pill or supplement can help improve your memory or lift brain fog. In fact, vitamin supplements can at best give you a .02% verbal memory advantage (whatever that means).

It’s only through a balanced diet, meditation, sleep, and an effective, dedicated memory strategy (like the Magnetic Memory Method) that you will be able to enhance your memory, concentration and focus in a way that improves your entire life.

So, what are you waiting for?

Let’s build your brain powers today!

The post How Vital Are Vitamins For Memory Improvement? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: How_Vital_Are_Vitamins_For_Memory_Improvement_.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 6:04am EDT

Are you sick of taking language learning courses and falling flat on your face?

Let’s face it:

Language learning is a multi-million dollar industry, ranging from online video courses to books to slips of paper you can flip in your hands.

And not all of them are designed to help you succeed.

In fact, there’s a delicate balance between general language learning skills and the tangible results you get from second language acquisition with the help of a skilled teacher.

The questions you might have are numerous. They might include…

Are any languages easier or harder than others? And which language learning courses truly and authentically help, regardless of real or imagined difficulty and your current level?

These are all great questions, and in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Olly Richards joins me to discuss how he’s using story and experience to make language learning courses more immersive.

Not only that, but Olly’s devoted to creating multiple quick victories that create motivation, remove obstacles and keep you moving even when they arise.

For a taste of how Olly’s courses works, checkout what I’ve found to be the best free Spanish language learning video series out there:

I suggest you click the image above now and register for Olly’s new course even if you’re not learning Spanish. You’ll learn great principles that apply to any language you might be studying, online or off.

Once you’ve registered, click play on this episode as Olly shares:

* Exactly when shared characteristics between languages gives you “short cuts” and when they create obstacles.

* The ultimate answer to “what is language acquisition?” (By understanding how the similarities between language acquisition and language learning can help your journey towards fluency, you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches!)

* Why quick victories help you compound your activities and keep your energy high during the language learning process.

* The truth about “cognate rules” and why Olly never introduces them into his language teaching.

* Why you need to spend time with the language you’re learning.

* Why not having time is rarely the real problem for most language learners, certainly not in the way they think.

* Why the struggles most people experience with language learning have nothing to do with the language.

* The different kinds of “emotional turmoil” Olly has experienced and how to understand them when – not if – they happen to you.

* How do to deal with the consequences of learning hurdles people face so you don’t have to give up.

* How to find and enjoy language learning experiences that don’t force you into panic mode.

* The real reasons why the Michel Thomas recordings may work for some people, but don’t for others.

* The importance of listening and reading in ways that allow you to listen and observe naturally without the need for rules.

* Why story is the root of all human communication and learning.

* How story can connect you to all elements of the culture of your target language.

* How to structure your week so that you have time every day for learning with a language course online.

* How to model yourself after a great linguist to learn any language.

* Why taking long breaks does not help in learning a language.

* Why “conquer the morning, conquer the day” is not true for all people and how to find other times of day for consistently showing up to accomplish your learning goals.

* How Digital Amnesia plays into the language learning experience and how Olly thrives by keeping a healthy majority of his learning offline.

* The only two apps Olly uses in his language learning and why they’re useful.

* The true path to “deep focus” with simple study tools that immerse you in the task.

* The truth about the scientific evidence for how and when language learning takes place.

 

Further Resources From Olly Richards

 

Make Words Stick by Olly RichardsOlly Richards on Crazy Language Learning Goals & Mastering Motivation

Olly Richards Talks About Language Tech & Real Communication

Olly’s Fluent Spanish Academy Channel on YouTube

How about you? What’s your experience with online language learning courses? How have you balanced them with offline materials and avoided some of the “Digital Amnesia” issues we’ve discussed in this episode?

The post How To Consistently Get Quick Victories With Language Learning Courses appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: How_To_Consistently_Get_Quick_Victories_With_Language_Learning_Courses.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:36am EDT

There are three causes of forgetting that memory science strangely never mentions.

Oh sure, the scientists talk about short term memory and long term memory.

Retrieval failure and ineffective coding.

Motivated forgetting and memory loss due to brain trauma, not unlike the kind we learned about in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast (and how to bounce back from it):

All important stuff.

But let me ask you this:

What About The Real Causes Of Forgetting?

 

To find out, you’ve got to be a bit of detective.

I’m going to suggest three of the biggest causes, but at the end of the day, you also need to seek out the causes in your own life.

Like a detective.

But the following three are widely unknown, and the best time to start ousting them from your life is now.

The first is simple:

It’s general mental and memory fitness.

But the majority of people?

They’re doing nothing about it.

And get this:

 

Not Exercising Your Memory Is A HUGE Mistake

 

Why?

Well, let me ask you something:

You know all those little slips all memory experts make from time to time?

They’re nothing.

N-o-t-h-i-n-g.

Certainly nothing like the Garden of Oblivion featured on this Wiki page about forgetting some people make it out to seem:

Garten des Vergessens.jpg

Definitely not a problem compared to the mountains a person with decent memory skills can move when push comes to shove.

But if you’re not keeping your mind fit with organic memory exercise – not “apps” – you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’.

The solution?

Develop some organic memory fitness instead. To help, here are 5 Memory Improvement Exercises That Don’t Require Another Annoying App.

 

The Big Fat Memory Lie People Love To Tell

 

A lot of people out their aren’t telling the truth.

They’ll tell anyone who’ll listen about having a weak or bad memory.

Look:

It’s bad enough if you lie to yourself.

But lying to others?

That’s a big problem.

Why?

Because those to whom you lie might actually hold you accountable to the things you tell them about your memory.

Never Ever (Ever!) Insult Your Memory

 

Look, I know it seems innocent enough, but telling people you have a bad memory is far from in.

In fact, it’s a crime.

Why?

Because your thoughts matter and you should NEVER insult your memory.

 

How To Stop Lying About Your Memory

 

Instead of saying, “I can’t remember” and things like that, try something else.

When memory “fails,” try saying things like, “I’m sorry. I’m always exercising my memory. It’ll come back to me.”

I promise.

By doing this, you’ll create an entirely new and more powerful relationship with your memory.

This new relationship will make you very happy and bring you immense success.

 

How To Chill Out And Remember More

 

Do you want to know why memory improvement seems like such a drag when others teach it?

Because they put so much pressure on making it happen.

No. Oh no. Please no.

We’re not in a competition here, not in the Magnetic Memory Method universe.

Sure, the Magnetic Memory Method can help you win competitions. I’m happy to announce that my memory training has contributed to such triumphs not once, but twice:

That’s a happy side effect, and one I’m proud of.

By my core focus falls on getting you to relax your memory so you can slide important info into long term memory.

Info you want to stay for awhile.

Not Bland, Boring And Mind-Butchering Info You’ll Never Use!

 

In some cases (like when you’re learning a language or skill), you want that info to stay forever.

The blunt, cold hard truth:

If you’re as rigid as a rock, it never will. Information will bounce off your brain faster than you can blink.

So here’s what I suggest:

Learn how to concentrate and improve memory Buddha-style.

Then leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

Are you making any of the 3 memory mistakes that cause so much forgetting?

And let me know:

What do you need to help you remove these mistakes?

If it’s a memory improvement video course, just click on the image below to get started:

But please promise me one thing:

Promise that you’ll stay away from memory supplement pills.

Trust me.

Not only does taking them put a burden on your memory (you have to remember to take them, after all).

But they don’t get at the root causes of why we forget and all the core factors that influence forgetting.

Look forward to hearing from you in the comments and talk soon! 🙂

Sincerely,

Anthony

P.S. Do you have this book?

 

The post 3 Causes Of Forgetting Science Never Mentions And How To Stop Them appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 3_Causes_Of_Forgetting_Science_Never_Mentions_And_How_To_Stop_Them.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:43am EDT

Human anatomy isn’t exactly linear, is it?

I mean, we love using the term “from head to toe,” but…

When it comes to everything that happens between these two parts…

There aren’t a whole lot of straight lines.

That’s why we need a dedicated Memory Palace strategy when it comes to memorizing human anatomy.

And even if the human body is ultimately a whole unit, it is built from multiple systems.

That’s great because the Magnetic Memory Method operates from the basis of multiple Memory Palaces.

(I prefer to think of these Memory Palace systems as “networks” because of how one Memory Palace strengthens the other.)

Here’s the raw truth:

If you’re using just one Memory Palace, you’re not even close to the awesome power of multiple locations optimized for memorizing information like human anatomy.

But first things first:

 

Why Use A Memory Palace For Human Anatomy?

 

When you look at the alternatives, the most direct and honest answer is this:

Because Memory Palace systems and mnemonics are quite simply more fun.

More fun than software.

More fun than flash cards.

More fun than the stress and strain of forgetting the words again and again (especially if you have medical exams looming).

But the reality is this:

 

Not All People Love Using A Memory Palace
For Human Anatomy!

 

And you know?

As shocking as we mnemonists find this to be, it’s totally normal.

You don’t have to enjoy the process to get results.

But it certainly helps.

And you’ll probably find that the reason you don’t like using memory techniques for human anatomy is simply that you find it a boring topic.

If that’s the case, then it’s not the mnemonics to blame. And it’s probably time to start thinking about how to live a life worth remembering.

 

What Is A Memory Palace?

 

Assuming you’re on board to use memory techniques for human anatomy whether you love mnemonics or not, it’s useful to know exactly what we’re talking about.

Unfortunately, the term “Memory Palace” is poorly misunderstood. This leads to a lot of questions, for which “yes” is usually the answer.

Yes, you can reuse Memory Palaces (just watch out for the Ugly Sister Effect).

Yes, a Memory Palace is something that you create in your mind.

Yes, it is ideally based on a place that you’ve seen before.

Yes, you can make virtual Memory Palaces (or even Memory Palaces based on movies and TV series).

But at their core, Memory Palaces are really just points in space. You are turning spatial coordinates already known to you (thanks to a free resource called spatial memory) into mnemonic devices, one Magnetic Station at a time.

The Goal With Proper Memory Palace Creation Is Simple:

 

You use your spatial memory to help create efficient Memory Palaces that REDUCE cognitive overwhelm.

This point is significant because most people create Memory Palaces in ways that INCREASE cognitive overwhelm.

That’s because they’re trying to imagine the Memory Palaces at the same time as the Magnetic Imagery used in Memory Palaces.

And that, Magnetic friend, is a huge no-no.

(More on avoiding that huge no-no in a bit.)

 

How To Create A Memory Palace For Human Anatomy

 

The topic is best learned with some Memory Palaces up on the screen and a “homework” assignment. Just click here to get started:

Once you’ve taken the free course and submitted your assignment, the only thing left to do is create multiple Memory Palaces and use them.

 

How To Know How Many Memory Palaces You Need

 

To create your Memory Palace networks in the best possible way, it’s good to decide how many Memory Palaces you need in advance. Here’s a YouTube Live discussion we help that will help you understand the concept:

To put this part of the art of memory into the context of human anatomy, let’s say you’re going to become an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist.

I’m not a specialist myself, but even without invoking Digital Amnesia by using Google to hunt down some info, it’s safe to guess that I’ll want to memorize the anatomy and systems related to the:

  • Inner Ear
  • Middle Ear
  • Outer Ear
  • Nose
  • Throat
  • Mouth
  • Skull

So, keeping it simple for the sake of creating an example, that’s at least seven Memory Palaces.

Or is it?

I ask because it looks like the entire ear could be covered by a single Memory Palace.

Myself, I would start with the outer ear and focus on the three most important parts on most ear diagrams I’ve seen:

  • Auricle
  • Auditory canal
  • Tympanic membrane

All three could fit in a single room based on three Magnetic Stations (or less).

In the next room, I would have the middle ear, but probably divide this into two rooms because the ossicles have parts of their own: malleus, incus, stapes.

And the ossicle bones don’t stop with just 3 names! They are also called the hammer, anvil and stirrup. For that, I would probably use the Pillar Technique.

Ultimately, the exact management comes down to your experience using these techniques.

 

Using The Power Of Pre-Organized Structures

 

If you’re using the Magnetic Memory Method, you could alphabetize your Memory Palace network. In this case, it probably will not make sense alphabetize the information inside of each Memory Palace, but it is an option depending on your Mnemonic Style.

The reason the alphabet is such a powerful tool is this:

Just as you know the buildings from which you create Memory Palaces by heart, you also know the alphabet by heart.

This simple fact means that when you’re practicing Recall Rehearsal, you can easily progress through the Memory Palaces in an order.

You can also create a mnemonic hook built into the network that tells you which Memory Palace needs to be renewed next.

Again, everything begins with knowing how much you need to know so that you can get your Memory Palaces created and tethered to the information you need to learn.

From there, you can proceed based on the robust foundation of pre-organized structures in the world such as the alphabet.

 

How To Use A Memory Palace For Human Anatomy

 

The next step involves creating Magnetic Imagery.

What is Magnetic Imagery?

It’s incredibly easy.

Let’s say you want to memorize the three parts of the ossicle (all six names).

You would next create a Magnetic Image while mentally considering a point in space in a Memory Palace.

You don’t have to literally “see” these things in your mind. And yes, you can get results from this technique even if you have aphantasia:

All that matters is that you can tap into your Magnetic Modes and start to create Magnetic Imagery that is:

  • Bright
  • Vibrant
  • Dynamic
  • Big
  • Colorful
  • Crazy
  • Strange
  • Emotional
  • Physical
  • Animated
  • Forceful
  • Loud
  • Rhyming
  • Punning

And beginning to play with these terms now…

I am thinking of my own Ear, Nose and Throat specialist from when I was a kid…

In one corner of his examination room, I begin to imagine Malcolm McDowell wrestling with an eel…

Now he’s smashing the Toys R Us logo into the eel using a plastic toy “hammer”…

Like this:

Malcolm + eel + hammer + Toys R Us logo = Malleus and hammer.

Sure, that’s a picture, but I’m not really “seeing” it in my mind. I’m feeling it, hearing it, sensing it, playing with it as a concept.

Put all of these sensory elements together with your spatial memory in a Memory Palace and you will be able to encode and decode any information in a way that enters long term memory fast. In fact, there techniques are …

 

So Simple, Even A Child Can Do It!

 

Really, there’s no reason to struggle with using memory techniques for human anatomy.

You’ve just got to get your strategy sorted out.

And I know that a lot of people think it takes too much time…

Looking at the amount to be learned…

Making some projections and equations…

Creating the Memory Palaces for anatomy…

They think it’s going to be too much work.

But here’s the thing:

 

If It Feels Like Work… You’re Doing It Wrong!

 

I make no apology for this declaration. It just simply is the case that mnemonics for any subject are never hard. And they’re certainly NEVER work.

You’re at play in the fields of your mind!

You just need to understand something Tony Buzan once suggested:

 

The Rules Set You Free

 

And speaking of rules, there’s just one more set you need to understand.

Once you’ve got your Memory Palaces up and running…

Once you’re filling them up with memorable Magnetic Imagery so that you can learn and encode all the human anatomy words that you need linked with the areas of the body to which they correspond…

You need only get those words into long-term memory.

It’s really easy.

 

The Memory Magic Of Recall Rehearsal

 

Just revisit the Magnetic Imagery you created in your Memory Palaces.

As with how you will develop your own mnemonic style over time, you’ll also develop your own style of Recall Rehearsal.

You’ll learn exactly how many times you need to revisit the information in order for it to stick.

And you always have ways to speed up the process using the Big Five Of Learning that I teach throughout the Magnetic Memory Method trainings.

Follow these principles using your Memory Palace network and you will never forget human anatomy again.

On the other hand, fail to follow these principles, and you can hope for the best with the flash cards, spaced-repetition software and other techniques that you hate because they keep letting you down.

These tools can be good, but we must admit one thing: They are built for use in environments that create digital amnesia.

But understand this:

 

A Good Memory Palace And Mnemonics Practice
Will Never Let You Down!

 

Not if you’re using them well.

And using them well means that you’re making your memory more and more Magnetic each and every time you sit down to study.

It’s really that easy.

Again, if you need help understanding Memory Palace creation, please take the free course. Or if you prefer ongoing support, consider subscribing to the Magnetic Memory Method Print Newsletter.

Enjoy your new ability to use a Memory Palace to memorize human anatomy and talk soon!

The post How to Create A Memory Palace For Memorizing Human Anatomy appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: How_to_Create_A_Memory_Palace_For_Memorizing_Human_Anatomy.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:29am EDT

Nothing is more valuable than the benefit of hindsight from someone with experience, especially if you want to become a mnemonics dictionary.

I know because I’ve been there. I used to struggle.

Big time.

But then something changed.

And these days, many people marvel at how rapidly I toss out powerful mnemonic examples on demand.

The truth:

I trained myself to do it.

And I’ve trained thousands of others since then to unlock this simple power.

The only problem is…

A lot of people never reach their goal of being about to pop out reliable Magnetic Imagery (a.k.a. mnemonic imagery) because they get the impression that creating mnemonics is too hard.

(That’s too bad, because the truth is, you don’t even have to have a dictionary full of images in your mind in order to mnemonics to work.)

People also worry that creating effective mnemonics takes too much time, even though all the evidence in the world shows that if you’ll just learn the skill, it gets faster and faster.

 

Here’s What Most Unsuccessful People Do… 

 

They go running all over the Internet looking for a mnemonic generator or mnemonics dictionary, never understanding that true skill with memory techniques comes from honing your “mnemonics psychology,” a.k.a memory improvement mindset.

And let’s not even try to dodge one basic truth:

Becoming a person who can create useful mnemonics on the fly (even faster than they can create an impromptu Memory Palace) requires some personal power.

After all, you’re summoning up the best powers of your imagination, after all. And that takes…

 

A Magnetic Fountain Of Mental Energy!

 

The truth is that getting started can feel like effort.

And some beginners with mnemonics need more energy than others.

But here’s the thing:

The effort needed when using memory techniques like a Memory Palace all amount to a special kind of effort.

A kind of effort that is not only easy and fun to employ, but one that gets easier over time as you transform into a mnemonics dictionary.

 

What Is A Mnemonics Dictionary?

 

 

Basically, most mnemonics dictionaries serve as a crutch.

Some mnemonics dictionaries show you pictures that will help you remember words. They could be for medical terminology or help remembering vocabulary while learning a language.

For Chinese, Chineasy essentially serves that function. I’ve made my own version for MandarinHQ’s Real Spoken Chinese Vault with special video walkthroughs.

But the difference between Chineasy and the kind of mnemonics dictionaries I create is this:

Whereas others tend to throw you piles of mnemonic examples on end without helping you understand your mnemonic style, I teach you the skill behind creating the mnemonics.

Not only so you can develop your own mnemonics dictionary for a language you’re studying or a particular body of expertise.

But so that you actually understand how your memory and imagination work and can ultimately teach these simple skills to others.

That leads to pure happiness. Seriously, just look at these smiles:

Best part?

When you learn how to fish instead of letting someone fish for you, the reduction in effort happens fast.

And you come to understand one fundamental truth most people don’t know:

You’re Using Mnemonics All The Time Anyway!

 

You just don’t realize it.

And you probably don’t have a positive outlook on what “effort” really means.

 

The Truth About “Effort” Everyone Who Wants
To Be A Mnemonics Dictionary Needs To Know

 

The effort involved in using mnemonics is like kissing or eating chocolate. Once you understand this simple point, you become the world’s best mnemonic generator.

And because you’ll remember all the mnemonics you’ll create, you’ll also become the world’s greatest mnemonics dictionary.

It’s Really Simple To Understand
That Math, Isn’t It? 

Whether it’s kissing or eating chocolate, in both cases, you’re using the muscles of your mouth.

And in both cases, your mouth requires energy.

But even though effort is involved, you hardly notice the effort because the experience of kissing and tasting the chocolate feels so good.

Whipping Out Magnetic Imagery Like A Human Mnemonics Dictionary Feels Even Better! 

 

Seriously. Get this simple point and you will quickly become a walking, talking mnemonics dictionary.

And the wonderful after effects linger for a long time too.

But I still have my regrets. I experienced painful learning curves. I sometimes got frustrated.

Here’s the thing:

 

Becoming A Mnemonics Dictionary Is
A Journey, Not A Destination

 

It doesn’t have to take long to get rolling (2-5 hours with the Magnetic Memory Method). But it is a skill that you grow with over time.

More than a decade in, I’m still growing myself.

And trust me:

If you’re still a beginner, you can’t even imagine all the things memory techniques will do for you when you’re just at the beginning.

Best part:

When you stay on the path with mnemonics, you have so many things to look forward to. More than you could ever imagine.

But if you’re still sitting on the fence about becoming a mnemonics dictionary, these 5 things I wish I knew before starting with mnemonics will help you.

As always, everything starts with the foundations of the Memory Palace.

1. No One Cares About The Size Of Your Memory Palace

 

When people start out with mnemonics, they usually start working on one MASSIVE Memory Palace.

I made this mistake myself once in awhile at the beginning, and have at times have created mega-sized Memory Palaces.

But almost every time…

The bigger the Memory Palace, the harder it was to use. They were effectively useless.

Small is almost always better, like this one from a Magnetic Memory Method student:

How to Memorize Things In Record Time Using These Time Management Tips

What I’ve learned is that a Memory Palace is usually most effective when it is:

* Small in size
* Based on corners and larger fixtures
* Used for memorizing tactically chosen information
* Used for drilling immediately useful information into long-term memory

But that shopping mall? Grand Central Station? Tiergarten?

No – they’re all far too massive for the beginner mind to conceive.

And that means you have less time and attention to focus on what matters. Instead, work on developing…

 

The Skill Set Of A Mnemonics Dictionary Master!

 

For the mind of a memory skills master, massive Memory Palaces are indeed interesting, but not nearly as useful as smaller Memory Palaces for the same reason.

The focus should always be on the Magnetic Imagery, not on the Memory Palace.

Because even if the Memory Palace technique is the ultimate foundation, here’s the truth:

Memory Palaces Are Just One Tool
In The Toolbox Of Mnemonics

 

And without mastering them and moving past this skill, you never quite get to the part that matters:

Using Magnetic Imagery so that you can have a mnemonics dictionary in your head.

Frankly, your Memory Palace should be like a constellation. You should create it with enough simplicity that you can see and feel it in the same way you see the Big Dipper.

In other words, you know it’s the Big Dipper at a glance, WITHOUT having to impose a spoon on the constellation.

Where does my biggest Memory Palace cap out?

50 Magnetic Stations appears to be my general sweet spot.

(Yes, I have a magnificent Memory Palace with 58 Magnetic Stations, but 5 rooms with 10 Stations in each is a solid number when you can get it.)

And as luck would have it, you usually have no problem putting that together in an apartment or home.

 

The Mnemonic Magic Of Drilling Down

 

But here’s the thing:

I’ve recently been enjoying great benefits from thinking of individual rooms as a Memory Palace.

Whereas in the past, I would have considered my entire apartment a Memory Palace, I now think of the studio, bathroom, kitchen, etc. as their own independent Memory Palaces.

My current apartment is still held for the exclusive purpose of learning Chinese, but I’ve found that shifting from “apartment as Memory Palace” to “room as Memory Palace” has made Recall Rehearsal much more fruitful.

 

2. The Map Is Not The Territory

 

Over the years, I’ve made many Memory Palaces that have never been used.

This is a good thing!

Why?

Because Memory Palace creation is a mnemonic skill until itself. Memory Palace creation exercises your spatial memory and keeps you thinking about the most important mnemonic strategy we’ve got: location-based mnemonics.

Using a Memory Palace, on the other hand, is also an art unto itself. It’s in using the Memory Palace that the real memory magic happens because the other tools of mnemonics come into play:

Magnetic Association and Recall Rehearsal.

So the irony is that you really can improve as a Memory Palace architect merely by blueprinting. But the only true growth and depth if insight takes place when you dive in and spend some time inside your mnemonic creation.

 

3. The Memory Palace Must Be Drawn

 

I spent a long time creating Memory Palaces based on what I read in books. But never once did anyone suggest drawing out a Memory Palace.

Looking back, this strikes me as insane. Every advantage I’ve experienced and principle I’ve discovered for creating well-formed Memory Palaces comes from getting pen and pencil in hand.

And in nearly every case, the drawn Memory Palace works far better than one that is merely imagined on its own.

Since teaching this important principle, I’ve received hundreds upon hundreds of Memory Palace drawings from people. They don’t always follow the key principles of identifying certain core Magnetic Stations.

But because they’ve drawn the Memory Palace, it’s easy for us to look together and better strategize the mnemonic journey they’ll be using to learn and remember their topic.

 

4. Small Sets Of Info Enter Long-Term Memory
With Greater Ease Than Monster Lists

 

Although any mnemonist can Magnetically encode and memorize large amounts of information, there’s a difference between short term and long term recall.

And if you want the amount of info in your mind that only a mnemonics dictionary can provide…

Long-term retention is always the goal.

Think about it in business terms:

Maximizing the return on time and energy invested is the key factor.

But because not all information is created equal, no reasonable person can expect a fast and solid guideline that applies across the board.

The amount of Recall Rehearsal needed for some words may be more than others. You might encode one mathematical formula once and hold it in memory forever and require more exposure to another, even if it’s technically easier.

That said, Recall Rehearsal, based on Dominic O’Brien’s Rule of Five, is a go-to starting point.

Modify from there based on your needs and work with small sets of information for each recall session so you maintain focus over the long haul. You’ll get more information into long-term memory by working with small sets over the course of a month than you will by cramming.

 

5. Never Cave Into Self-Critical Perfectionism And Judgment

 

Judging the appropriateness of my Magnetic Imagery plagued me for far too long.

No, I’ve never been a prude. But I was raised to be a gentleman and had suffered some abuses to my imagination from a religious upbringing that caused me concern as I developed my memory skills.

Don’t fall prey to internal or external judgment.

Memory techniques work best when you eliminate the stress of judgment. Although the associations you make might seem extreme, they’re just in your mind. Chances are you’ll even forget them anyhow, holding only the target information in mind.

Likewise, don’t let perfection get in the way. The Magnetic Memory Method shows you the best ways to proceed, but again, the map is not the territory. You’ve got to dive in, take action and even make the odd mistake. Without taking action, you cannot learn.

Knowing what I know now and having experienced the absolute power a superb memory brings, I wish I’d known these five things in advance. They are game changers when you have large learning projects.

And as we all know, time is so short in this life.

I hope this set of 5 hindsights help you avoid some of the problems I faced so you can race straight to getting results with the mnemonics dictionary you’re building in your mind.

So, what are you waiting for?…

Ready, set, memorize!

The post Want To Become A Mnemonics Dictionary? 5 Powerful Secrets Revealed! appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Want_To_Become_A_Mnemonics_Dictionary__5_Powerful_Secrets_Revealed.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:11pm EDT

Stop self punishment using better memory skills and the Magnetic Memory MethodIt happens. We all have verbal diarrhea from time to time.

Sometimes we say something we think is funny. Other times we’re just being rude.

Heck, sometimes we don’t even know why we get the feeling we’ve said something wrong or offensive.

For whatever reason, often within seconds…

Ours words suddenly rub us the wrong way.

Worse:

The bad feeling that won’t go away starts to itch…

It may even burn, sometimes leading us to say even more ludicrous things that make us feel even worse.

Once those words are out there … they’re out there.

The worst thing of all:

 

This Problem Chews Up Your Mental Space And
Memory Resources!

 

Make no mistake:

The things we say can be damaging.

Very damaging, especially regarding how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves.

But it’s probably our self-perception that takes the hardest hit, especially if we have OCD tendencies and repeat words and phrases in our minds.

(That happens to me a lot, along with earworms.)

 

The “Childish” Reasons People Self-Punish

 

Ultimately, no one knows why we self-punish.

It could be that our bodies and minds are trying to build up energy to deal with the pain. But we do it in a childish way.

Ludwig Wittgenstein has been credited with originating the story of the child who made his way into a cocktail party.

While there, the child banged his knee on a table and started crying loudly.

“There, there” said all the adults when they saw his bloodied knee.

And the adults continued cooing at the child to comfort him as they applied rubbing alcohol and a bandaid to the wound.

Now imagine the same cocktail party.

This time, instead of a child, a grown man bangs his knee.

He feels the exact same pain and his wound produces the same amount of blood.

But the difference is that the man does not bawl in public.

Instead, the grownup observes silently that he has banged his knee and excuses himself to the washroom.

There, he finds the rubbing alcohol on his own and administers a bandaid.

 

Do You Scream In Silence?

 

Why does the man do all of this in silence instead of crying his heart out?

Simple:

Social conditioning over the years has not changed the nature of the pain or the work needed to care for the wound.

But social conditioning has changed the nature of what makes for an appropriate response to the pain.

According to some self-punishment theories, even the maturest of adults have minds that still need conditioning so that they respond in mature ways to mental pain.

 

Exactly How To Mature Your Mind And
Stop Mentally Punishing Yourself

 

I don’t know about you, but in my past, I’ve called myself an idiot for the verbal mistakes I’ve made at least a thousand times.

In fact…

I’ve said many things worse than that to myself. And no, I’m not going to repeat them.

But I’ve come to understand that they were just the signs and symptoms of an untrained mind. There was nothing wrong with that mind. It just hadn’t been matured.

And although this self-punishment still happens once in awhile, I’ve learned to settle the self-abuse down.

The cure mostly comes down to a combination of relaxation, mindset and huge respect for memory and the practice of memory improvement and maintenance over many years.

Here are four ways I’ve dealt with the self-punishment so that it no longer chews up memory power, no longer bashes self-esteem and no longer has the power to reduce life satisfaction:

 

Tip #1:
Learn The Scary Truth About Social Inattention

 

Here’s a power reality:

A HUGE percentage of the things we say to others tend to be forgotten.

In fact, thanks to something called inattentional blindness, most people barely perceive what you’re saying at all.

Why?

Because the people you’re talking to are barely paying attention.

Even if they were, human memory is flawed in your favor.

If the minds of other people are barely tracking a tenth of what you’re saying, they are encoding far less than that into memory.

 

The Ultimate Proof That Few People
Remember What You Say

 

Want proof?

Go ahead and study yourself when listening to others and I think you’ll find that it’s true.

You’re not focused like a laser on what they’re saying.

You’re not enjoying photographic memory, nor recording everything like a video camera.

Quite the opposite.

The truth?

 

Your Mind Is All Over The Place!

 

More than half the time, you’re thinking about what you’re going to say next. You’re probably even obsessively repeating what you want to say in your mind so you won’t forget.

The rest of your conscious mind is either thinking about the past, the future or fantasizing about some alternate present.

This significant amount of brain activity means that you’ll miss entire details completely.

All this happens despite the fact that you’ll be experiencing reality as an unbroken continuity.

Scary, but true.

What this all means is that when you say inappropriate things, you shouldn’t get too worried about it and start flagellating yourself.

You also shouldn’t start self-punishing yourself for having the attention span of a goldfish (you don’t).

But if you get all hot and bothered about something you said, the best trick I know is to confront the feeling head-on.

Just ask the person point blank:

“Did what I said about x a little earlier offend you? Because I apologize if it did.”

Chances are you’re the only one bothered by what you said, and it’s probably already been forgotten – assuming it was registered in the first place.

If you punish yourself at all for things you’ve said, please take up this practice of publicly confronting this feeling.

You will feel tremendous relief when you do.

 

Tip #2:
Take Responsibility For Your Verbal Oil Spills

 

As I’ve just suggested, one great solution to managing your anxiety about verbal diarrhea is to confront it directly. If you’ve said something that bothers you, don’t be afraid to draw attention to it.

And go in prepared to do so.

Decide to be a conscientious conversationalist and own up to every faux pas you make.

In other words:

If you say something that either is insulting or you feel could be interpreted as insulting, be the one to call yourself out on it.

What’s the worst that can happen?

The answer is simple:

The worst that can happen is that people think you’re weird…

Not such a bad thing, is it?

In all likelihood, they’ll probably appreciate you more and admire you.

Why?

Because you take ownership over your mouth – even if they never noticed the thing you said in the first place.

 

Tip #3:
Always Be Cool

 

I can’t always pull it off the Always Be Cool rule due to food sensitivities and psoriasis arthritis.

Unfortunately, even with the strict dietary controls I place on my diet, it’s impossible to know the location of every farm and every nibble eaten by every chicken.

So yes, some things send me into a conniption that can last far too long. But overall, I’m generally a calm and cool guy.

I owe that stability to a few things.

The first is regular meditation. I practice multiple kinds, mostly structured around the sit-just-to-sit variety I learned from an Alan Watts recording.

I’ll also practice Savasana, breath-withholding and walking meditations that incorporate a bit of both. (Yes, you can lay down in parks during walks.)

Use Memory Techniques Everyday For Mental Relief

 

Second, I use memory techniques everyday. For reasons that go beyond learning.

Make no mistake:

A lot of people use memory techniques as a means to an end, which is great.

That’s what memory techniques are there for.

Learning a new language, remembering numbers, remembering names, and more.

Why Memory Techniques Are
Better Than Psychoanalysis

 

But there’s also tremendous therapy to be had from memory techniques. They make you feel confident, composed and relaxed.

These outcomes are especially important when you’re a guy like myself who is always fighting for stability and hoping to stay off medication to do it.

If you want the background to that story, here’s a video from quite some time ago when I declared I was going on the psychopharmaceutical sauce for good:

As brave as I sound in that video, it was actually one of the scariest things I’ve done in my life.

But everything worked out.

Why?

The answer is simple:

 

Memory Techniques + Meditation =
The Perfect Time Machine

 

When you practice meditation and memory, you’re always more in the moment.

In other words, you’ve got a “time machine” that keeps you focused on the present.

Why is being present so cool?

Because true presence means that you’re paying attention to what you’re saying BEFORE you say it.

And that’s the ultimate solution to self-punishment:

Pre-awareness that prevents you from making the kinds of errors you punish yourself for in the first place.

 

Tip #4:
Learn To Listen To Yourself And Others

 

This one is going to require a bit of self-analysis and the study of others. It might also be considered half-lunacy, as Freud himself noted in his General Introduction to Psychoanalysis lectures.

Beyond that, the premise is that we all unconsciously encode messages in the things we say that seek to communicate what we’re really thinking.

We typically tend to send these messages in the form of the stories we tell or off-handed remarks. They can be attempts at manipulation, retaliation or simply telling truths too dangerous for our conscious mind to handle.

I learned to spot the tendency to encode information unconsciously in myself and others from Robert Langs.

Langs was a controversial figure with whom I underwent Communicative Psychotherapy in New York. His style of therapy is based almost entirely on dream interpretation in a situation in which death anxiety is deliberately invoked by the therapist.

Langs died recently and I’m still stunned by his passing.

He seemed like one of those timeless figures who would always be around, particularly because his ideas were so impactful and larger than life.

Although I only spent six months in weekly sessions with him, in addition to reading his books, my time with Langs completely changed my way of living and communicating.

How To Get The Best Psychotherapy
In The World At Very Little Cost

 

The best way to learn how to spot your unconscious communications without the help of a therapist is to journal your dreams. You’re not going to try and interpret them as such, but just get a feeling for the kinds of narratives that come up.

In a session with Langs, he would ask you to narrate one or more dreams. He would then have you free associate to it and recite whatever came to your mind.

This task always brought up a lot of irrational resistance in me. There was never any reason not to tell Langs the things that came to my mind, but yet it would often seem threatening to do so. Sometimes the resistance would bring the session to a complete shutdown.

Gradually I learned to open up and reveal the connections that would come up in my mind. I couldn’t always do it, but Langs would always ask what the dream and how I related it had to do with him.

It was always a perplexing question, but I’ll never forget the day I finally drummed up the courage to start answering it.

Because the truth is that when we tell stories to others, there does always seem to be some comment we’re making on the present situation and the person to whom we’re speaking.

So if you can find someone to whom you can tell your dreams and who can hear what you’re REALLY saying, this is a great way to practice the awareness of what you’re saying in any conversation.

And you can learn to listen to others better too. That doesn’t mean judging them or necessarily telling them what you’ve perceived. But it will help you form better ideas about the real messages you’re receiving and shape how you respond in more sensitive ways.

 

Ready To Stop The Self-Punishment?

 

Although it won’t necessarily happen overnight and may still recur from time to time, you can get a handle on punishing yourself for saying stupid things.

Just use the tips above and you’ll start to see a difference immediately.

And if you’re interested in learning more about how self-directed dream therapy can help, I recommend getting my video course with its bonuses, How To Remember Your Dreams.

In this course, you’ll learn more about hearing your true voice by unlocking an aspect of memory improvement that you’ve likely never considered before.

Use Coupon Code “DREAM” and take $50 off your tuition in this exclusive memory improvement course. Alternatively, you can get How to Remember Your Dreams as part of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

You might want to take my free course on creating Memory Palaces first.

The choice is up to you and we’d love to hear you in the conversation below. What are your thoughts on defeating self-punishment for the stupid things we sometimes say and do?

The post How To Stop Punishing Yourself When You Say Stupid Things appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Walking Meditation and Memory Improvement TipsHate flying? I sure do, but with a solid walking meditation, all aspects of the flights I take go much smoother.

Same thing with going to the dentist or making your way to the surgical table. Having a go-to walking meditation method takes the edge off.

Oh, and walking meditation helps create everyday stability too.

And since most of us walk at least a little every day, why not use that time to experience memory improvement?

The question is…

What is walking meditation?

It’s a means of practicing mindfulness and presence.

And how mindfulness and presence help your memory is about to be revealed…

 

3 Reasons You Should You Develop
A Walking Meditation Practice

 

1. Meditation reduces stress and causes your brain to release healing chemicals.

2. Meditation has also been shown to improve concentration and memory, likely because of how the practice makes you more attentive throughout each day.

And since you can’t remember what you haven’t registered, anything that increases your present-moment awareness is worth every second you spend developing it.

3. Meditation is a form of rest. In my own experience, a solid meditation of just 9-15 minutes can feel just as restful as a good night’s sleep.

Yes, meditation is that powerful.

 

Why Walking Meditation Is Bliss On Wheels

 

And the fact that you can meditate on the way to the grocery store makes everything about the practice even better.

Instead of frittering away the time on useless thoughts and worries, you can focus on your physical being in the present moment. You’ll enjoy life more and experience increased health.

Both of which can lead to more time in which to enjoy your improved awareness.

To help you out, here are three relatively unheard of ways to kickstart one of the best habits you’ll ever develop.

 

1. Breath Counting Meditation

 

One of the easiest ways to start a walking meditation practice involves nothing more than tracking and counting your breathing.

Every time you breathe in, give the breath a number. Likewise, give each exhale a number.

I like to count each number twice, i.e.:

In 1
Out 1 …

In 2
Out 2 …

In 3
Out 3 …

You can count to as high a number as you wish.

Take note of anything that distracts you or causes you to lose count.

Then gently bring yourself back and start over at ‘1’ anytime you wish.

Free Memory Palace training

 

Leave Judgment At The Door

 

No matter what happens along the journey, it’s important not to judge yourself or cast evil spells against your memory if you lose count while practicing.

Simply allow yourself to practice.

If you choose to see it as a challenge, always do so in good spirits. If you set meditation of any kind up as a game, you will find it frustrating because if it’s a game, random thoughts will always win.

But meditation is not a game. If it were, the only way to lose is by not practicing it at all.

 

2. Syncing Counting With Steps And Breathing

 

Another way to count your breath as you practice walking meditation is to sync each breath with a step. You can create a number of patterns starting with a one-to-one correspondence.

To begin, inhale and step and then exhale and step.

Next, take two steps per breath. As you inhale, take two steps and then exhale as you take two steps.

Increase the number of steps you take per breath up until 10 steps per breath or until it feels uncomfortable.

The goal is to maintain focus on the practice, not pass out, so take care that you increase your steps slowly.

Follow your instincts and enjoy the process. Pay attention to everything happening to you, including heart rate changes and thoughts that arise.

3. Sensory Style Walking Meditation

 

You can practice the next approach on its own or in combination with breathing. The goal is to focus intensely on your physical body and its connection to the surrounding world.

Beginning with your feet, notice each area and how it contacts the ground.

Notice how your feet handle your weight and explore placing different levels of emphasis on various parts of your feet as you move. (You can also practice meditatively studying the way your feet contact the world while standing.)

From your feet, scan your entire body. Notice the sensations of your clothing on your skin.

Then, narrow your attention on the feel and temperature of the air.

Instead of hearing environmental sounds, practice experiencing them as physical sensations in your ears. (You can practice sound as a physical sensation with music too.)

The more immersed in physical sensation you become, the less random thoughts control your mind. You’ll find the world unbelievably peaceful when you take it as a physical reality without thinking about it or making judgments.

 

Take It To The Next Level With
Impromptu Memory Palaces

 

Once you’ve had some experience with walking meditation, try using the same immersive and breathing principles while reading, eating and even conversing with other people. You’ll be more involved with your life in the present moment.

You can also use the technique to help you create impromptu Memory Palaces:

It’s a super-simple technique and one you can use any time you wish in just about any location.

The Ultimate Walking Meditation Benefit

 

In a word?

Presence.

Presence is the most precious thing in the world.

Why?

Because it helps you encode more information into memory.

But please note that meditation works best with regular practice. Many experts agree that a minimum of 4 sessions per week are required to experience substantial benefits.

I would suggest going in with an abundance mentality and meditating daily. The trick is to take it small at the beginning and enjoy the ride. Meditation is best learned by doing and walking meditation requires doing above all.

Like when you’re walking to your next flight and feeling anxious…

Or taking a trip down to surgery…

Don’t overthink the process. Don’t give in to analysis paralysis.

Instead, take action.

I’ve shared these three practices as a guide for exploration so you don’t have to do anything but implement the techniques.

And after you’ve taken action, then let analysis have a cameo.

Analyze what happens after you perform a walking meditation.

That way, you can improve your practice over time.

And do feel free to report your results. I’d love to hear what happens!

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:55pm EDT

How to Memorize Zodiac And Horoscope Info Magnetic Memory MethodEven if astrology is complete nonsense, it’s a neat memory exercise to know the Zodiac inside and out.

Plus, committing the star signs to memory lays the groundwork for memorizing the months of the year in any language – fast!

The memory skills needed to memorize Zodiac and horoscope info all begin with accepting one fundamental truth:

If you can imagine something, you can remember it.

 

The Undeniable Truth About Your Imagination

 

A lot of people attracted to memory techniques get hung up on the idea that mnemonics involve visualization.

Not true!

Memory techniques involve imagination, and…

If you’re reading and understanding these words now, you definitely have one.

Each letter and every word is an image…

Your brain is rapidly transforming these micro and macro images into sounds and meanings…

And delivering these meanings to the Understanding Nations in your brain.

 

Introducing VACKSOG…
The United Nations Of Your Brain

 

That’s right:

Your brain is a United Nations of Understanding.

Together, your internal “UN” understands a variety of images:

Visual
Auditory
Conceptual
Kinesthetic
Spatial
Olfactory
Gustatory

When we put all of these together, we make your memory “Magnetic.”

What does this idea of “Magnetic Memory” mean?

Simple.

It means that the information you want to stay in the Understanding Nations of your brain remains.

Anything that distracts or detracts is “Magnetically” repelled away.

All you need are…

13 Simple Mental Images To Magnetize
The Star Signs Into Your Mind

 

Hold up now…

13?!?

Aren’t there only… 12 star signs?

That’s right. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.

We need one Magnetic Image to guide them into our long term memory.

It’s called a Memory Palace.

This technique draws upon the spatial memory and spatial imagination of your brain.

Don’t know how to make a Memory Palace?

No problem. Just claim this free, complimentary Memory Palace training kit:

 

Memory Palace Memory Improvement Free Training Kit

 

Once you have a Memory Palace with 12 Magnetic Stations, it’s time to start associating each month with a simple Magnetic Image.

 

Annoying Janet Smashes The Jam Jar

 

Ever see Rocky Horror Picture Show?

If so, then it’s going to be easy to associate the abstract idea of January as a period of time with Janet from that movie.

This Janet could serve as a one off image before you move to February, or she could be the Bridging Figure you follow throughout your Memory Palace for the Zodiac and other horoscope related information.

Don’t know Rocky Horror Picture show?

 

No problem! Any Other Janet Or G.I. Jane Will Do!

 

Perhaps even a close match like Jane Fonda. Or Janie from that Aerosmith song…

The important point is to associate the Janet you pick with an object and an action.

Smashing a jar of jam on the ground works well. Especially if you can make the jam specific.

(Note: Some people in the memory training world call such a chain of associations PAO, and this is a rare case where I would use a small PAO set for a limited purpose. Here’s why I normally do not use a PAO system, however.)

Like the raspberry jam your babysitter used to make.

Or the BOB jam in Sweden you remember from camping near Östhammar back in 2013.

(Oh no, wait. That was me. Enjoyed BOB a lot that first while in Sweden. But the point remains the same: Specificity matters to your United Nations of Understanding.)

Mnemonic Example Image of BOB Swedish Jam Magnetic Memory Method

 

The Gangster Unicorn Pops A Cap

 

Let’s review:

At this point, you’ve got a Memory Palace.

You’ve got someone named Janet in mind.

She’s smashing some particular jam that means something to you on the ground.

Now you need to imagine something in your mind that you can associate with the weird-sounding word, “Capricorn.”

Like how about a gangster unicorn?

You know the kind, right?

They all wear a dark gangster hats, have a gold-capped teeth and swear they’re gonna pop a cap in yo’ you know what.

Oh, and that ain’t just any kind of gun he’s toting.

It’s a gun that shoots corn. These are the unicorn’s bullet caps.

How to Memorize Zodiac And Horoscope Info Magnetic Memory Method

At the first Magnetic Station, associate Jane smashing a jam jar on the ground with the gangster unicorn furious enough in response to start shooting his corn gun.

 

Rinse And Repeat A Bundle Of Associations

 

Once you’ve completed this step, move on to the next Magnetic Station in your Memory Palace.

Give each month a Magnetic Image and associate it with the star sign.

Use the Memory Palace to help you practice recalling each association you create until each is in long term memory. The Rule of Five should get you there.

 

Hold On There, Star Cowboy!
What About The Specific Date Crossovers?

 

Oh, right.

In this strange and silly system, Capricorn becomes Aquarius on January 20th.

No problem. I just see a giant nose sneeze so loudly it blows both Janet and the gangster unicorn out into space.

Why a giant nose?

Because I use the Major Method for numbers. That also happens to be my image for the 10 of Spades.

If you don’t have a way to memorize a deck of cards, here are 13 reasons you should have a system for remembering cards.

Since all transitions across the Zodiac star signs occur between the 19th and 23rd, each transition point is covered by a playing card if you use the Magnetic Memory Method approach to card memory.

Super-cool, or what?

 

The D.O.C. C.U.R.E. For Memorizing The Zodiac

 

Even though I’ve given only one example here, you can easily come up with your own for the rest of the year. And if you want, this precise same process will let you memorize the months of the year in any language.

With a bit of imagination, you can come up with dozens of applications for the simple memory technique you’ve just learned.

It all makes for great brain exercise, and you can give compelling cold readings if you’re a mentalist or magician. (Just be honest about the fact that your psychic powers are not real. Ian Rowland’s Full Facts Book of Cold Reading is highly recommended.)

If you need more help with creating mnemonic examples, join the Masterclass. You’ll be invited to an upcoming Implementation Bootcamp where we can practice creating the images you need together.

The point?

D.O.C.

Doing is the Origin of Confidence

Doing is the Origin of Creativity

Doing is the origin of Consistency

And together that amounts to the C.U.R.E. for forgetfulness.

Create a Memory Palace for a targeted purpose

Use your Memory Palace

Review what you placed in your Memory Palace using Recall Rehearsal

Explain what you remembered and enjoy

That’s all there is to it, and when you need more help (or just want to join the fun), the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass remains the world’s premier resource for all things Memory Palace and beyond!

The post How to Memorize Zodiac And Horoscope Info (For Entertainment Purposes Only) appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Would you like to eliminate the ‘busy-work’ from your language learning activities?

You know the ones I mean:

Scouring the Internet for vocabulary and phrases – the kind that will actually move you towards meaningful fluency…

Hunting for images to open up the visual centers of your brain and memory…

Driving yourself mad looking for audio clips that match the words and phrases you want to link together on your SRS device.

 

Meet The ‘Tesla’ Of Language Learning Who Is Working To Engineer A Completely New Kind of Language Learning App

 

As a polyglot, bestselling author and all-around nice guy, Gabriel Wyner is the man behind a completely new kind of language learning app and the book Fluent Forever: How To Learn Any Language Fast And Never Forget It.

He also runs the incredible Fluent Forever blog where you can learn things like How To Use Flash Cards While Driving.

And on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, scroll up, press play and you’ll learn:

  • Why pronunciation is one of the first barriers language learners face and why lack of familiarity with sounds frustrates most people.
  • Why Gabriel talked about memory scientist Hermann Ebbinghaus as a masochist, and how he’s helping eliminate masochism from the language learning process.
  • The role of learning a language without translations to cause your brain to make associations you wouldn’t discover any other way.
  • How to create useful language connections using Google images and create fill-in-the-blank-sentences.
  • Why Gabriel is working so hard to replace one of the most commonly used SRS software for language learning.
  • Why you need to make your own flash cards and the decisions you can make to take a more active role in your language education experience.
  • What makes SRS and search-based websites such a huge burden and Gabriel’s hard won experiences learning to use them with “two-handed mouse and keyboard maneuvers.”
  • The difference between “busy-work” related to language learning and actually learning the language.
  • The role of choice in language learning and why it pays off big time in language study.
  • Why you need differentiation when looking at variation sentences for your memory to benefit from the Von Restorff Effect and related memory effects.
  • The value of looking at words both in context and out of context.
  • How engineering influenced Gabriel’s quest to create a language-focused SRS app better than any other in existence.
  • How Gabriel has tested and optimized the user experience in order to create an easier learning process with real people.
  • The hidden connection between desperation, motivation and the unexplainable sources of inspiration that lead to the “joy-fueled” energy that propels learners towards fluency.
  • Why you don’t need to know your “why” to learn a language.
  • Fascinating ideas on how to use recordings to help you remember gendered nouns – an incredible idea that you’re not going to want to miss!

Oh, and Gabriel’s a great singer too. Check this out:

So, what do you say? Are you excited?

I know I am, so make sure to check out Gabriel’s Language Blog on the Fluent Forever website so you can learn more about his upcoming app and how to get involved.

Additional Resources for Gabriel Wyner
And Fluent Forever

 

Great Derek Sivers review of Fluent Forever

Gabriel Wyner on  the Art of Charm Podcast

How to Teach Old Ears New Tricks on Scientific American by Gabriel Wyner

MyQuest For Your Memory Improvement with Edan Kertis

The post The Fluent Forever App: Eliminating The Busy Work From Language Learning With Gabriel Wyner appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


attention span magnetic memory methodDon’t you hate it when people spew nonsense about YOUR attention span?

I sure do. Especially when it comes to games of comparison that don’t hold water.

Like the terrible story people keep repeating about your attention span being shorter than that of a goldfish.

 

Oh, Is It Now…
Really?

 

Who on earth comes up with these ideas?

Certainly not people with short attention spans.

In fact, it must have taken a good deal of consideration to come up with the attention span calculation of this long suffering species of fish.

In fact, the Great Gold Fish Attention Span Myth has quite a long history.

And what, dear Memorizer, should we suppose goldfish have in life so worthy of attention?

After all…

 

Goldfish Float Around In Glass Bowls!
Of Course They Have A Short Attention Span!

 

You, on the other, live in a world filled with all kinds of vibrating and exciting things to which you can direct your attention.

Extend your attention span with the Magnetic Memory Method

And you do.

  • Novels…
  • Movies…
  • Books…
  • Video games…
  • Singing a song…
  • Concerts…
  • Sports…
  • Looking at your pay stubs…
  • Gazing into someone’s eyes…
  • Pillow fights…
  • Making coffee…
  • Talking about yourself…
  • Eating chocolate…

My point?

When you’re interested in something…

 

You Have An Abundance Of Attention!

 

Not only that, but when you’re interested and motivated or the stakes are high, your attention span is tremendously elastic.

The trouble is…

People are gullible.

They hear that their attention span is shrinking and start repeating it.

To themselves.

To others.

In fact, so many of us are willing to spread nonsense as far and wide as possible that…

The B.S. Quickly Becomes A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

 

Well, I’m here to tell you that this false story needs correcting.

And I’m not alone. As this article on the goldfish attention span with demonstrates, there’s simply no good reason to believe this myth.

And since it’s B.S. that harms the human race, we need to correct and eliminate the myth.

Fast.

Here are three reasons why:

1. Your Attention Span Is Defined
By One Person And One Person Only

 

You.

Seriously.

It’s your brain.

Your eyes.

Your lips.

Your lungs.

Your tongue.

And you can train your brain to focus and concentrate on having the most profound and bulletproof attention span on the planet.

All you have to do is train it. Stop giving in to Digital Amnesia (check out that link and start practicing Digital Fasting today).

Own it.

Cultivate it.

Craft the attention span that you want to have.

If you can’t practice with your own sunrise, try mine:

No matter how you practice extending your attention span…

Here’s the truth of the matter:

You’re the only one who can do it.

And if at the start, you find that you can’t focus or concentrate…

A simple meditation practice with a bit of memory training will help.

Don’t take my word for it.

All the science supporting meditation is here on my post about How to Improve Concentration and Memory Buddha Style.

2. Unlike A Goldfish…
You Can Observe Your Attention Span

 

Okay, to be fair, we really don’t know if goldfish are capable of self-observation or not.

But chances are the last thing they’re doing while floating around their little bowls has anything to do with self-reflection.

As a human, you’re unique.

You can observe yourself.

You can measure your assets.

What you can measure, you can improve.

Example:

Let’s say that you’re in lecture and struggling to pay attention. In addition to learning the Magnetic Memory Method approach to note taking

You can also keep an Attention Span Journal.

You can journal about lectures you’ve attended, or books you’ve read. Like how about one of these?

As you fill out your Attention Span Journal, think about what’s triggering the problem.

Is it your REALLY your attention span?

Or is it the fact that your smart phone is on and you’re either being interrupted by notifications…

Or on the alert for notifications?

 

Be Honest About It

 

You’ll probably find that there’s nothing wrong with your attention span.

Quite the opposite. Your attention span is fine, but it’s primed to pay attention to the wrong things.

 

3. You Have A Trillion Interesting
And Exciting Things To Learn

 

Yes, we sometimes have to learn topics that bore us. But there are strategies for coping with the boredom. Here are five ways to deal with boring topics you might have to study.

Even better than the self-hypnosis I teach for dealing with boring information:

You can feed your brain with topics that DO interest you.

If you’re so bored with the information you’re consuming that it can’t hold your attention for longer than six seconds…

Simply switch it off and study something else instead!

The cold, hard truth is that many people seek careers that will never fulfill them.

They’re after financial security.

They’re trying to please their families.

They’re Playing Not To Lose Instead Of Playing To Win

 

That’s no good.

It goes against your normal and natural human impulse to do the things you really want to do.

And here, right now, in the 21st century, you can create systems that will let you live the life you want to lead.

Yes, you have to play to win.

And that means taking on some risk.

But what would you rather have at the end of the day?

The attention span of a goldfish because you’re bored senseless by the life you’ve chosen to lead…

Or A Razor-Sharp Attention Span
That Cuts Through All The Clutter?

 

I hope you’re ready to choose yourself and the path to personal power.

Why?

Because when it comes to the Magnetic Memory Method, oh sure… memory techniques will help you.

It’s actually impossible for them not to help you, even if you’re a skeptic of memory techniques.

But the reality is this:

They’ll help you even better if you align them with authentic goals. That dream life whispering or screaming at you from deep inside.

Many people have silenced that voice…

Others can’t shut it up, and suffer deeply as a result…

Yet others have channeled that beautiful energy into amazing careers.

You Too Can Fulfill All Your Dreams
Using The Simple Power Of Your Memory

 

Here’s a simple exercise demonstrated live:

Start exercising your autobiographical memory.

As I go through my early memories, I’m unpacking so much creativity, so much energy, so much joy.

In your past, you’ll discover so much about yourself.

You’ll discover so many people you’ve known. So many places you’ve been.

Even better, you’ll realize that you always have all the assets you need to accomplish any goal or need.

Right now.

But if you don’t mine your past for the gold…

 

You’ll Be Stuck Swimming With The Fishes
Of Your Own Invention

 

Frankly, I find that outcome unacceptable.

It goes completely against all ethics, morality and the Paradise of Multiple Intelligences we learned about from Tony Buzan brimming inside each and every person in the world.

What must you have to do to unpack your glorious multiple intelligences?

The answer is easy:

Use them!

Often!

Proudly!

 

The Number One Reason People
Stay In The Goldfish Bowl

 

You know the answer, don’t you?

It’s confidence.

People lack confidence for a number of reasons.

Maybe they had poor childhood experiences…

Maybe some disease crippled their bodies…

Maybe they have a speech impediment…

Whatever.

None of those issues have stopped the best of the best from succeeding.

And yet when you accept a limiting story about your attention span, you’re the most crippled person on the planet.

 

How To Gain Confidence In Anything
Faster Than The Speed Of Light

 

Two steps:

1. Understand D.O.C.

D.O.C. is an acronym.

It stands for:

Doing is the Origin of Confidence

It really is that simple.

If you want to gain confidence in an activity, all you have to do is get started.

Most of us are spooked by unfamiliar territory.

Me too, quite frankly.

But if there’s one thing that distinguishes those who playing to win from those playing not to lose is this:

They enter the darkness.

And simply being in the darkness sheds more light on the unknown than you’ll ever need.

Then comes the next trick I’ve got for you:

 

2. Don’t Give Up At The First Sign Of Trouble

 

You know why it’s so lonely at the top?

Because 99.9% of people who enter a field of mastery give up at the first sign of trouble.

Why? Barbara Oakley cites evidence in Mindshift that it has a lot to do with the insular cortex.

That scientific fact creates one illuminating and elucidating power:

The pain you feel when something feels hard or doesn’t go right the first time?

Completely Normal!

 

And all you have to do to get accustomed to it is simply try again.

What you’re looking for is something quite simple.

It’s called a “quick victory.”

Sometimes you get them straight up. Other times, the quick victory doesn’t come so quick.

To be fair, there may be times when the quick victory isn’t coming at all.

 

When To Cut Your Losses Without
The Shame Of Giving Up

 

Look:

I’m not preaching that you should bang your head against the wall.

There’s no use in doing that. Ever.

But as you give things several good tries and observe yourself in the process, you’ll know that it’s time to back out based on one simple metric:

 

The Magnetic Memory Method P.I.
(No, Not ‘Private Investigator’)

 

Basically, you have to learn a bit more about what gives you pleasure, and the different kinds of pleasure available to you and your brain.

For example, there is the satisfaction of a hard day’s work.

Or there is the feeling of being in “the zone.”

It could also be the feeling of progressing towards a goal by knocking off milestones, one at a time.

And as you knock off those milestones, you’re documenting the process like an artist in a sketchbook so you can see your progress.

(One reason I highly recommend The Freedom Journal.)

Whatever you do, you need to create a Pleasure Index. Know what turns you on. What rattles your cage. Discover the signs and symptoms of growth and celebrate each and every one.

 

This Is How Attention Span Grows And Grows

 

Nietzsche pointed out that the human species will always need myths.

But we don’t need to blindly accept them.

Rather, we can choose the myths we use to guide our progress through life.

In place of the goldfish attention span myth, why not pick something more empowering?

Be like an arrow flying toward a goal.

Or be like the hawk, observant of every movement in the field, hunting only those objects that sustain self and family.

Otherwise, we all risk living a disempowered life.

And the moments that filter past while we’re spinning circles in the fishbowl?

They’re never coming back.

I’d rather be up in the sky, soaring over the world and basking in the fullest possible attention span the human brain can achieve.

It’s so quiet up here where the better myths of human psychology fly free.

Join us.

The post 3 Reasons We Must Destroy The Human Goldfish Attention Span Myth appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 3_Reasons_We_Must_Destroy_The_Human_Goldfish_Attention_Span_Myth.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 7:55am EDT

Don’t you hate that feeling of linguistic deskilling?

You know the kind I mean…

The feeling that you’re losing command over your language.

It could be a language you’ve learned…

Or even your mother tongue that starts to slip.

I’ve experienced both kinds of linguistic deskilling.

In fact, when I listen to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast episodes during the Berlin years vs. those recorded in Brisbane…

The difference is shocking, because:

 

You Really Can Lose Command Of Your Mother Tongue!

 

Seriously.

It can happen to anyone, including memory experts skilled in conference interpreting.

In fact, it’s even happened to me.

Near the end of my time in Berlin, I spoke English so infrequently, I was gradually losing my mother tongue.

Worse, when I did speak English, it was usually over Skype.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Wrong.

Telecommunication is great, but it starves the brain of so many non-verbal cues.

Sure, the pros outweigh the cons, but…

All The Pros In The World
Can’t Defeat The Force Of Linguistic Deskilling!

 

I first realized I had this problem when I read about linguistic deskilling in Mindshift by Barbara Oakley.

At the time, I had no particular means of combatting the problem.

After all, the people in Berlin with whom I spoke English tended not to be native speakers.

That meant I would pick up their habits with English.

Even crazier, my English often took on the characteristics of German grammar.

And that was especially bad when I found myself speaking English with my wife and making all kinds of mistakes she would then incorporate into how she used English.

Even more alarming, I was about to embark on an adventure in Beijing, completely unaware of how long we’d be spending in the city.

Of course, the excursion was great for my Chinese!

Neither of my in-laws speak English and only a handful of April’s relatives know it well enough to string along a conversation. I was forced to listen like a hawk and speak Chinese a lot.

 

All Of It Chipped Away At My English

 

I don’t mean to exaggerate the problem. But more and more I felt as though I was reaching for words in English that normally would have leapt to mind. The Ugly Sister Effect also seemed more prevalent than ever.

But within a few weeks of settling in Brisbane, I noticed that the lumps in my English pipes seemed to clear.

Then something great happened:

The bumbling around that had become so characteristic on the podcast seemed to completely disappear!

It was like the difference between day and night. Until…

 

Language Learning Tragedy Strikes!

 

The problem with winning back English and narrowing my focus on Chinese?

I began experiencing the deskilling of my German.

I knew it was coming, which is why I was careful to enact the Dieter Dictum.

 

The Language-Preserving Power Of The Dieter Dictum

 

Dieter is my former father-in-law.

Odd how divorce and re-marriage shifts these people around, but I’ll always think of Dieter as a father-in-law no matter what. And there’s no reason not to, what with the ex and I remaining such good friends.

Anyhow, Dieter moved around a lot in his career and apparently he once told my ex-wife something I’ve never forgotten:

Responsibility for keeping in touch falls on the shoulders of the one who left. That’s why, even with its lack of verbal cues, I make sure to spend time with friends on Skype at least 2-3 times a month.

Put in the context of linguistic deskilling…

 

1. It’s Your Responsibility To Maintain Ties
With The Languages You Want To Preserve

 

And you need to do it in multiple ways, ideally ones that harness all of The Big Five Of Language Learning:

When it comes to maintaining and even flourishing an attainment of fluency, you’ll need at least three of these 4 Cs:

  • Community
  • Culture
  • Concepts
  • Clapping (i.e. Recognition and reward in the form of encouraging applause that you meaningfully deserve)

To be honest, I haven’t quite cracked the code on how to get this for German in Brisbane. That’s because…

2. Effective Learning Experiences
Should Align With Your Values

 

I was so excited when I discovered the Brisbane German Book Club.

And after discovering its existence, I had just time enough to prepare by reading Im Krebsgang by Günter Grass.

Just that one book alone would easily satisfy all of the Four Cs. With a short book review written auf Deutsch, I would have easily covered all of the Big Five of Language Learning too.

The problem…?

Culture be damned, I’m sick of reading depressing stories about war, terrorism and broken families.

Burning Torches Of Negativity Sucks In All Languages

 

And it turns out that the next few months feature similarly downer texts at a time I’m craving light-hearted literature – or at least darker stuff from a more Romantic era.

 

There Are Always Solutions

 

Turns out there is a Saturday German school for beginning students just up the street. I might be able to preserve my skills by pitching in and offering to help.

And then there is always the option of language learning online, despite its many deficits.

The important point is that, there’s little to be gained from frustrating or boring language maintenance materials.

Instead…

 

3. Align Language Learning Materials With Your Interests

 

As I continue searching for German-speaking community in Brisbane, it’s important to keep exposure to the language high.

And since I’ll need to await for some alignment with the local German bookclub, I performed a simple inventory of what I’m currently interested in.

Turns out that my current fave topic, Advaita Vedanta, is also loved by Germans. So much so that there is an abundance of books and videos on the topic.

The best part?

German speakers discuss topics in ways that English speakers do not.

Sure, the differences aren’t that huge, but listening to discussions on this topic in German still opens perspectives that I doubt ever would have come alive in a thousand years of English study.

(Often German Wikipedia entries, such as the one on vedanta are either more detailed, better prepared and or peppered with richer/alternative hyperlinks not featured on the English pages.)

Why Does This Exposure Matter?

 

Because when you can study a topic in a different language, you’re getting perspectives from people who have read dozens, if not hundreds of books in their native tongue that have never been translated into yours. Chances are they never will be.

And if you fail to keep up with that language you learned and let linguistic dskilling have its way…

You risk missing out on more than just the joys of communicating in that language.

Worse, you risk losing the myriad of worlds each language contains.

The solution?

Memory of course. Here’s how to get it on your side:

The post 3 Language And Memory-Preserving Ways To Combat Linguistic Deskilling appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 3_Language_And_Memory-Preserving_Ways_To_Combat_Linguistic_Deskilling.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 5:35pm EDT

Let’s face it. Everyone has fantasized about having a memory implant.

You know the kind:

A small, unobtrusive thing, patched directly into your brain …

… capable of letting you learn and remember at miraculous speeds.

Heck, maybe this neural implant or brain prosthesis (whatever you want to call it), doesn’t even need to break the skin.

It may even be possible that your memory could be manipulated by radio waves or some other external signal.

But until that time, unless you’ve already decided you’re going to be the first in line …

Here are 7 reasons why memory implants are probably going to suck.

 

#1. Memory Implants Won’t Eliminate Practice

 

I conduct a lot of surveys here at the Magnetic Memory Method headquarters.

And that scene from The Matrix …

… comes up a lot.

The problem is:

People don’t watch the movie for what it’s really saying and the true metaphor about the value of training and journeying we can extract from the tale:

 

Downloading IS NOT Learning!

 

Not only does Neo have to get into the dojo and spar with Morpheus as a form of “accelerated practice” …

… Morpheus next cajoles Neo into jumping off a building, part of a chain of events that causes the “real” Neo to bleed.

Morpheus then tricks Neo with the woman in the red dress, proving again that downloading isn’t enough.

 

Far From It!

 

The mind still needs to be trained.

The mind still needs practice.

And let me ask you something:

What is Neo’s ultimate showdown with Agent Smith other than another training exercise? An exercise that actually requires Neo to die before he experiences an awakening …

… That leads to two sequels where he needs to practice being Neo even more until he can surrender his life to the war between humans and machines and finally die.

And even then, some people reckon that Neo’s not really the one:

The point is this:

When people fantasize that a memory chip implanted in their brains is going to give them knowledge …

They’re just plain wrong about the definition of knowledge.

Knowledge may well involve things you can store and retrieve …

But at its core …

 

Knowledge Is The Ongoing Practice Of Knowledge

 

And that knowledge/practice coupling should ideally become better practice over time. But it can only be earned through consistent acts of practice, consistently applied.

The level of learning most people want will never be instant. It will always require practice over time. And it will always involve an interesting combination of weaving and navigation as you create the paths you travel.

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. - Bruce LeeClick To Tweet

Understanding takes time. Even understanding must be practiced through consistent contemplation.

 

Yes, Yes, But I Still Want To Know …
Is There A Shortcut?

 

As a matter of fact, yes there is. A short cut even better than the shortcut many people seek.

The only (and best) shortcut to contemplation is memory techniques. Learn them a.s.a.p.!

Why? So you can STOP dithering around with the consumption process and get on with processing information.

No computer can do that for you. Ever. That’s entirely on you.

 

#2:  If You Think Advertising Is Bad Now …

 

A lot of people whine and complain about advertising. Sadly, this kvetching often comes from the same people who sacrifice hours of their time to social media and mindless television.

To tell you the truth, it kind of makes me miss the PBS days …

What people who complain about advertising don’t realize is that this big media platforms are chewing up your attention span by selling ads …

… and THEN telling content creators how to make their content in ways that serve ads better and more frequently.

Serve ads better – not necessarily you.

And you had better believe that the first thing they’re going to do if implants succeed is erect billboards in your head.

At least now we can fend off Digital Amnesia by digital fasting.

But once the branded devices are fused with your brain, you’ll be the walking receptacle of advertising you can’t switch off.

 

#3. The Nightmares Of Hardware Maintenance …
In The Flesh! 

 

Taking care of our human bodies is hard enough. People do a better job with their pets and vehicles a lot of the time.

And since we know the implant market will follow the trends of manufacturing processes, there will be an ongoing attempt to make the hardware as cheap as possible to maximize profits …

Think about that.

Do you really want a brain prosthesis built in a sweatshop constantly breaking down and rotting in your head?

When you could simply learn memory techniques and have way more than you ever need?

Plus, bad people will be constantly trying to hack into your implant.

And the first place they’ll go is your passwords manager, while also working to put your entire brain on the fritz.

 

#4. Medical Maintenance Monstrosities

 

And that’s just the tech side of the equation.

Imagine a hacker being able to cause electrical shocks or worse, simply by writing a line of code and “email thinking” it at you? Someone writing a “Brain Aneurysm” virus is almost a certainty.

And it would be so medically disgusting. Or disgustingly erotic, as David Cronenberg envisioned the human-computer interface in eXistenZ:

 

#5: It Could Become Very Expensive
(Even Deadly) NOT To Have A Memory Implant

 

Don’t have an implant?

Too bad, kemosabe. You’ll have to go live in the camps.

Assuming the scientist can solve all the biotech problems I’ve just predicted, I foresee even worse problems.

For example, what will it matter if you have all the currency in the world, if you don’t have the brain implant by which it is traded?

Just as we are all now forced to have email accounts to do just about anything, social trends may wind up forcing a majority to adopt a thoroughly unhealthy implant just to keep up with the joneses.

 

This Problem May Lead To All
Kinds Of Terrifying New Governance

 

We already see how slowly sovereign powers around the world have risen to deal with the Internet.

And we see more and more control over this precious tool that will lead to greater control over the inside of our minds and memory if we allow wired neuralinking and the government lurking behind it to penetrate our skulls.


Pause:

In case you missed it, we were jamming on related topics with reference to everything from Jacques Ellul to the Unabomber to Videodrome on this Magnetic Memory Method YouTube Live. Feel free to enjoy the replay:


 

#6: Memories Are Generated, Not Recorded

 

Okay, enough Sci-fi …

Another big reason brain prosthetics will suck is that our brains don’t record memories. They encode them, breaking them apart for reconstruction later.

It’s a chemical process that can be guided by thought (itself produced out of the chemical brain).

But if an implant “records” a memory for you, then it is not encoded.

This will atrophy those beautiful parts of your brain, mind and willpower that need the fitness.

Those parts of your brain need fitness as badly as the muscles in your arms and legs need pushups and squats.

Just walk around: Couldn’t more people use more physical fitness?

Just talk to people: Aren’t most conversations a series of statements like, “I’ll have to look that up and send it to you”?

Well, having an implant in your brain might make it possible to perform a quick search and send a thought email …

… And heck, why not thought-Tweet it to everyone in the world at the same time? …

 

That Will Only Create More Noise

 

Worse, we’ll suffer even fewer instances of meaningful information consumption.

More twitchy people who are less and less interesting to talk to.

Because now instead of constantly monitoring their phones in the middle of conversations, they’re zoning out from inside their heads.

 

#7: Non-Wired People Already Struggle
With The Failure To Disconnect

 

What will they do when it becomes impossible to unplug?

Download and scan Orwell through their minds, and in a Neo-esque moment of triumph, proclaim, “I know 1984?”

Not likely.

 

Is There An Upshot?

 

Sure.

Through neural implanting, blind people have been able to experience sight. Valuable triumphs like these have been going on for a very long time.

Perhaps there is even hope for brain lesions, curing Alzheimer’s and other problems that plague humanity.

memory implant magnetic memory method

But as science discovers more ways of fusing technology with the brain through neuralinking, neural implants and the like, let’s understand this:

The brain is not now and never will be technology. Even if a strong enough neuralink is established, people who fantasize that machines will learn on their behalf completely misunderstand what memory and learning mean and how practical, everyday life will define it.

And nothing will ever replace the amazing feeling of being accomplished in several areas of interest, skill and aspects of human and scientific knowledge.

 

Don’t Want Those Things? No Problem.
(Or Is It The Biggest Problem In The World?)

 

Keep playing with your apps and fantasizing that spaced repetition software is the path to a truly powerful memory.

Go ahead and be the first in line when the chopshops open up to perform neural implant surgery. Let the surveillance parameters of both computer hacker criminals and government and the marketers they barely control have at it.

I’ll point out in conclusion that humans are very poor at predicting the future, including me.

But whatever direction this project of neural implanting takes us, just don’t call it memory. The great tradition of memory techniques and the current Mnemonics Renaissance only holds meaning through our own acts of preservation through practice and practice as preservation.

The post 7 Reasons Having A Memory Implant Would Really Suck appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 7_Reasons_Having_A_Memory_Implant_Would_Actually_Suck.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:09am EDT

Tired of note taking techniques during lectures that sound like they’ll be effective …

…but ultimately fail to help you remember information?

You know the kind:

The ideas look good, but … not exactly something you would ever do.

And every time you try some new note taking technique …

No matter what, all of them seem to lead to one place:

You … writing down loooooong strings of notes verbatim.

It’s usually boring, and (stand by for truth pill) …

 

Boring Note Taking Rarely Works!

 

It gets worse:

These boring note taking styles mean that you’re always struggling to keep up. You often wind up missing huge sections of the lecture and struggle to reconstruct what was said from the notes.

And if you’re anything like me, you don’t want to struggle with your memory!

 


Pause for a second.

Do you have time for a quick question?

Do you like live discussions? Here’s one about note taking that I think you’ll enjoy:

 

We had some great questions and contributions on the call and some really interesting books and resources were mentioned. Click play and see if this kind of learning experience suits you! 🙂


 

Back to our regular scheduled blog post:

If you’re tired of struggling with your memory after note taking, then you’re in the right place. I’m going to give you some counter-intuitive note taking techniques to try.

Some of them even tap into episodic memory and how to improve it (check out that post and Magnetic Memory Method Podcast episode for 4 super-powerful episodic memory exercises).

But please understand the following …

This is The Brutal Truth About
Note Taking Techniques

 

You can read all the articles on note taking in the world, but it’s never the note taking techniques that should take the blame when you fail to remember information.

There are other factors at play and they all meet in one central place:

You.

So if you’re taking lecture notes verbatim, that’s the first thing that should change. This practice is taking you out of the presence of the information at a moment when your focus should be on its source.

To help you increase your focus and memory, get ready for techniques that I’ve used myself to remember more and develop tremendous confidence in any subject area.

 

The 6 Guiding Principles That Govern
Magnetic Note Taking

 

But before diving into my Magnetic Note Taking Techniques, let’s take a step back and look at a few other factors.

We need to be aware of them for one simple reason:

All the best note taking techniques in the world won’t help you for even a second if you haven’t got the following aspects handed. After all, your note taking can only ever be as good as the state in which the notes were taken.

1. Be well rested

 

Seriously. I’m on YouTube Live every once in awhile, and always astounded by how late some learners in the world stay up.

 

I don’t care what note taking techniques you use. They all suffer if you’re tired.Click To Tweet

 

And exhaustion means this:

No note taking efforts in the world can help the information enter your mind at the highest possible level. We can’t properly pay attention to what we’re learning when we’re tired and often wind up taking notes about unimportant details.

But when you’re well-rested, you pay closer attention to the information that matters. This raised level of awareness already makes every note taking technique you try instantly better.

To help you get a better rest and benefit from the improved memory abilities sleep creates, check out this Magnetic Memory Method Podcast episode on sleep and memory improvement.

 

2. Nutrition and Hydration

 

Foods that improve memory aren’t hard to find. Luckily, many of us don’t have a hard time finding water either.

We don’t need to dwell on this topic for long, but please understand that your brain shrinks when it’s not properly hydrated. Many foods deplete your hydration. By making a few simple dietary changes and drinking more water, your note taking abilities will go way up automatically.

 

3. Fitness and Meditation

 

Your brain is a physical entity. The more you exercise it, the greater focus you’ll experience.

Likewise, meditation primes your brain to pay attention and remember more. Meditation improves concentration and memory too.

 

4. Knowledge of how memory works

 

Note taking skills work better if you know about the Primacy Effect and Recency Effect. You’re much more likely to remember the beginning and end of a lecture, for example.

But even if these general rules don’t fall in your favor, the forgetting curve will take its toll unless you do something about it.

The science of memory, particularly as it stands in support of a Memory Palace approach, should be covered immediately. It will add a great deal to how you think of note taking from a meta level.

Never forget: practical tips are great, but understanding why the tips work is golden. Using tips based on understanding makes you and your memory Magnetic.

 

5. Be Prepared

 

We’ll talk in a moment about pre-reading, but as a global point, too many learners show up to lectures unprepared.

As a student myself, I can’t tell you the amount of times I heard people asking, “what’s this week’s lecture about?”

That should never be the question on your lips. You should know the syllabus or plan inside and out so that your brain is primed and prepared to lock-in on the most salient points.

Seriously:

If you want to help yourself remember more, stack the chips in your favor by reading as much as possible in advance.

Heck, you can even email the speaker and ask what you should read to be better prepared if it isn’t already clear to you.

I’d even suggest pushing for more suggestions. Even if you only have time to skim over the suggested material, you’re feeding your brain with velcro hooks. And the more hooks you have before you show up, the more material will stick.

 

6. Know Your Learning Preferences

 

Finally, a huge shortcoming to all note taking is that many people aren’t aware of their learning preferences. They don’t know if they’re primarily visual, auditory, kinesthetic or conceptual.

And when you lack that knowledge, you can’t determine your MMM Learning Hierarchy. I’ll be talking a lot about how to do this in a new book I’m releasing. For now, just understand that you probably have a sensory preference of which you’re unaware.

The following techniques on offer here reflect some of mine. Regardless of how I learn, the most important thing is this:

Experiment with different note taking techniques based on your MMM Learning Hierarchy. You’ll quickly find yourself remembering more when you honor the way your brain prefers to learn by matching your note taking approach to these preferences.

Heck, you might even find yourself focusing and concentrating on your studies like a Zen Master.

 

WARNING!

 

You’re about to discover some of my most prized – and totally counterintuitive – techniques for taking notes at lectures.

These are significantly different from how I would take notes from a book. You can explore that approach here on my podcast and infographic about How to Memorize a Textbook. Everything in that teaching applies here as well, provided that you take your notes on index cards or move them over to index cards.

None of the techniques you are about to discover are mutually exclusive. You can use some of them at the same time. You can even use all of them to varying degrees in the same lecture.

But what you should never do is experiment with new note taking techniques when the stakes are high. Like gambling, only try something new when you can afford to lose.

With that caveat in place, here are …

 

My Favorite And Most Magnetic Note Taking
Techniques For Lectures

 

1. Release Yourself From Note Taking

 

To be honest, I often prefer not to take notes at all if I can avoid it.

At least … not the first time around.

How is avoiding note taking possible?

How is it even responsible? Desirable?

Especially when you’re someone dumping thousands of dollars into a university education, a certification course or other live educational event.

Easy.

Just press record.

Many speakers will allow you to record their talks. And when you can record, you can simply release yourself to absorb the information without distracting yourself with the need to capture any of it.

I know this is counter intuitive, but it’s well worth practicing. I suggest that you go to a few public lectures where you don’t need to remember anything and then use the room as a Memory Palace as you listen.

Don’t know how to create a Memory Palace? No problem. Just grab my:

Once you have the Memory Palace tool working in your favor, cool things can start to happen.

When you remove the consequences of forgetting and then think back to the lecture and allow yourself to remember, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what comes back.

It’s almost as if you’ve said to your memory, “Go ahead and forget everything. It will be fine.”

Of course, you’re not actually saying that, and this “reverse psychology” could backfire. But by releasing the outcome, you’ll likely focus more on the proceedings and remember more by default.

Pros:

You can practice being more present in the room and using a Memory Palace.

Allowing yourself to recall information without notes provides you with profoundly powerful memory exercise.

Cons:

Things can go wrong with recording devices. But if you have a solid network of friends, they can supply you with their notes and commentary.

 

2. Take Notes From The Recording

 

Recordings are powerful assets. You can listen to them anytime you want in the future, as many times as you want.

And you can take notes at your leisure with one powerful asset:

You’re encountering the information for the second time, not the first.

You’ve already got the broad overview, and you’ve primed your memory with reverse psychology. And you’re also in a position to listen more strategically.

Plus, when you take notes from the recording, you’re able to do it in a preferred environment free from the distractions of other people in the room. You’re even free from the visual distractions created by many speakers themselves.

Pros:

You can review recordings as often as you wish.

If you like 2x-ing your content, you can listen to it faster on the second review.

You can also pause the recording so that you’re taking notes without missing out on any of the information yet to come.

Cons:

Speakers often don’t prepare lectures for the purpose of creating recordings. Their lack of intention to perform for your posterity can make the recording slow, punctuated by “dead air” and filled with the sounds of people and paper shuffling.

 

3. Minimize Notes, Maximize Creativity

 

Although I do like to attend lectures and take no notes at all, I still always have a notebook.

And in that notebook, I like to doodle. I’ve doodled in lecture halls around the world. And it’s also a great activity while watching or listening to recorded lectures.

The longer the lecture and the more attention they require, the more I find doodling beneficial.

Why?

Because long content can make me fidgety. No matter how enthralling it is, I like to be moving.

The best part?

Drawing doesn’t exclude note taking. Rather, it shapes and informs it.

As I draw, I write down keywords and notes that seem interesting to me and useful for further exploration.

In a way, doodling while paying attention to information is like mindmapping, but without creating a deliberate mindmap. It also helps me focus on the information as it flows in real time without being distracted by writing down things said seconds or minutes ago while new information is accumulating.

 

Wow – Cool!
Two Kinds Of Drawing

 

There are also different kinds of drawing that are useful. I would divide these between doodling abstract shapes and forms and drawing characters.

For many years, I drew abstractions almost entirely. Then I started drawing figures. Doctor Fuse Less is one figure in particular who came up in my notebooks again and again.

In either case, I found that by drawing the same things repetitively while focusing on lectures helped me focus even more on the material. It’s being creative and giving the body something to do without creating anything from scratch.

This lowers the cognitive drain of the doodling and maximizes how it can focus your attention like a laser on what you’re learning.

After that, the keywords you write down on the page are triggers or catalysts for remembering what was discussed.

Pros:

You increase your focus on the content.

You give your memory exercise by letting it decode keywords you’ve made, rather than having to read through hastily written notes later.

Cons:

You might struggle to decode the keywords you noted down.

You also might get better at drawing, but you can’t expect to get an A+ on an exam if you cover it with doodles.

4. Be A Note Taking Maximalist (If You’re Prepared To Follow-Up)

 

Sometimes I like to take massive amounts of notes. To do this, I just go hog wild.

There is no particular strategy. It’s just to write down as much as I can in a linear fashion.

Is this effective?

Yes and no.

But in order to make sure that it is effective as possible, I tend to type these kinds of notes later into a document or a summary.

I talked about the power of writing summaries last week when we discussed instant gratification, and that raises an interesting point.

Writing down as much as you possibly can during a lecture is essentially succumbing to scarcity. You’re acting out of the fear that you’re going to miss something.

We need to be really careful about this fear.

Why?

Because chances are, fear will cause you to write down a bunch of useless information and actually miss the most important points.

Why does this happen? Because you’ll be note taking while the more relevant information is streaming past you, outside of your awareness.

And you can’t write summaries of information you missed.

So if you’re going to use the maximalist technique, back it up with a recording so you can review the lecture later.

Pros:

Your wrists and arms get lots of exercise. You feel like you’ve accomplished a lot.

Cons:

Most times you won’t have accomplished much. Instead, it was a bunch of activity that crowded your attention when you needed to be focused elsewhere.

 

5. Have a note taking strategy and style planned in advance

 

Now that you have some more approaches in your note taking arsenal, you can start practicing them.

But I find that one of the most important aspects of note taking is simply being strategic about what you write down.

For example, I’ve had a lot of students who write down all the book titles I mention … but they’re not the type of students who ever go and read those books.

As a result, they miss out on what I’m actually saying about those books while writing the titles down.

But if you notice that you have the habit of writing down a bunch of information you never follow up on, you stand to gain a lot by writing down only so much information as you can and will follow up on during the post reading phase.

On the other hand, maybe you don’t have to attend the lecture at all. You can skip a whole lot of lectures entirely by simply reading an article written by the speaker and then reading all the books and articles mentioned in the bibliography. I have done this many times and feel confident that I gained as a result and never lost.

Or, you can combine reading material by the lecturer and attend the lecture. Pre-reading is a great strategy and one that will maximize the value of every lecture you attend.

Pros:

You’ll be prepared and have maximum flexibility.

Cons:

None. Unless you’re the type of person who gets so caught up in preparation that you suffer analysis paralysis.

 

Magnetic Tips For Beyond The Lecture

 

Speaking of pre-reading and post-reading, one of the best things you can do regardless of how you take notes is read beyond the lecture.

And understand that you get more bang for your buck if you also speak with others about what you’ve encountered in lectures.

Some of my favorite memories of university involve the discussion groups I attended with my fellow students.

In English 1300, for example, a small cluster of us all walked away with the top grades.

Why?

Because after many of the lectures and tutorials, we met to discuss the material further.

I’ll never forget sitting up in the 7th-floor Grad Lounge of the Ross Building.

I don’t think we were aware of it at the time, but think of the unconscious message we were giving ourselves.

A first-year course and we chose the grad lounge as our meeting room for discussion. We treated this first-year course as if it was graduate-level material and that gave all of us a cutting edge.

Later, in grad school, I recall other student groups with different dynamics.

In one of my favorites, we would each voluntarily read an article to present to the group. In this way, each of us was exposed to additional reading material for which we had no time. Yet, we could still take notes about the key points, remember these and enjoy the effect of priming our memory for future encounters with that text or references to it.

 

Effective Note Taking Is A Process That Develops Over Time

 

Effective note taking skills are everywhere. There are scientific studies well worth your attention too, such as this Scientific American article about not taking notes with a laptop.

Whatever you do, I suggest that you approach note taking as an art and a science. Make sure that you experiment with multiple styles and track your results.

As you pay attention to what’s happening more consciously, you’ll learn more about what works for you and lean towards your preferences with greater understanding.

But at all times, choose flexibility. Make sure you have on hand what you need whenever you attend a lecture or recording of one so that all your bases are covered.

And above all, remove all stress. So many learners bring so much worry about the game of education that they forget to play it.

But learning really is a game. It’s one you can win too, provided you put your memory first.

And to help with that, I’m confident these note taking techniques – if you give them a try in combination with the bigger picture of your rest, relaxation, health and a Magnetic Memory Palace Network – will force you to remember more without so much as breaking a sweat.

Bonus:

Matthew Clark was one of my favorite profs in grad school. Through the magic of the Internet, I now have the chance to take some notes from one of his lectures.

Wanna trade?

The post 5 Note Taking Techniques That Force You To Remember More appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 5_Note_Taking_Techniques_That_Force_You_To_Remember_More.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 9:45pm EDT

The experience of memory loss creates the kind of story you normally only see in the movies.

Yet, for Jennie Gorman, the experience of memory loss was all too real.

Although we all experience the occasional mild loss of memory, it’s difficult to imagine what it must be like dealing with a disorienting and painful experience like this:

 

Luckily, Jennie found incredible resources within herself that drove her to find a solution.

And that solution could well help you too.

If not now, possibly in the future.

So buckle in, click play above, and discover the root cause of Jennie’s memory loss and how she solved it.

 

The Nasty Substances Creating Your Current
Or Eventual
Memory Loss Story

 

We all put things into our body that don’t serve us.

For some of us, it’s a bad habit like smoking (here’s the Magnetic Memory Method way to stop smoking if you need help).

For other people, it’s the absence of foods that improve memory.

Not everyone can get away from medication, but as Jennie points out in this podcast and video …

… the substance rotting your memory ability might not be booze, tobacco or a medication.

That means, you’ve got to dig deep to find the problem.

Like Kasper Bormans is trying to do:

 

The Truth About Memory Loss And The Dark Of Night

 

The quantity and quality of your sleep influence your memory in many ways.

That means you can get a ton of sleep, but if it isn’t good sleep, you’ll still suffer memory problems.

Likewise, you can get quality sleep, but still not enough of it to make an impact.

In all cases, sleep deprivation is a memory killer. Avoid it at all costs.

 

Protect Your Brain

 

That brain of yours is like an egg in a shell. Brain trauma can happen anytime, so please exert caution when riding your bike, driving or engaging in sports.

The sad thing about injuries to your head is that the symptoms and problems might not show up for decades. That’s why we must all exercise maximum vigilance at all times.

 

Entrepreneurial Memory Secrets

 

One of the most intriguing elements of Jennie’s story involves her success as an entrepreneur.

As the incredible leader of Connexions Unlimited, Jennie is a master networker. The ability to recall names and faces is very important when you’re in business and her memory loss threatened this skill in an immediate way.

Luckily, Jennie recovered her memory, which is also a key part of her work with Business Mastermind Groups in Brisbane, Australia.

The level of care she brings to helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses extends far beyond their names. It involves helping them manage their business vision, mission and a number of goals and milestones.

Apart from memory techniques … what’s the secret to keeping your memory fresh and alive when you’re in business?

Plenty of networking and Masterminding, of course!

Seriously. Keeping social and avoiding isolation helps your brain coat itself in healthy chemicals that will preserve your memory.

Unfortunately, far too many entrepreneurs lock themselves away. But that too can create brain trauma of an even more pernicious kind …

 

The Pen Is Mightier Than Memory Loss

 

But if you’re going to isolate yourself, a great way to fend off memory loss is regular writing.

As the author of Awesome Authenticity: Mastering Business Relationships, Jennie continues writing new books and on her blog and social media pages.

Writing is an unknown memory preserver because of how it stimulates your brain.

It doesn’t really matter if you write or type, but you do want to consider the advantages of handwriting for your memory, especially if you’re a student. Here’s more information about the memory advantage of handwriting based on some killer science:

 

Even if you’re not going to write books and articles, just 5-10 minutes of daily journaling can give your brain and memory huge benefits.

Give it a try!

 

What’s Your Memory Loss Story?

 

Have you had an experience with memory loss?

What are your thoughts on the difference between memory loss and forgetfulness?

Let us know in the comment area below. 🙂

In the meantime, for more about Jennie, the help she offers entrepreneurs and to connect, check out these links:

Jennie Gorman’s The People Connector page on Facebook

Jennie Gorman’s An On Purpose Life

Jennie Gorman on LinkedIn

Jennie Gorman on YouTube

The post Memory Loss Story And Memory Recovery Tips With Jennie Gorman appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Memory_Loss_Story_And_Memory_Recovery_Tips_With_Jennie_Goreman.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 10:46pm EDT

You know that instant gratification is the real reason you struggle to learn and remember information, don’t you?

Good news:

If you’d like the cure, let me instantly gratify you and jump right in. Here are three:

 

1. Understand the Sickness of Instant Gratification For What It Is

 

That’s right:

Instant gratification is a disease.

Think about it …

What building gets to scrape the sky overnight?

What skill worth having leaps into existence in a flash?

None do.

And if any ever penetrate this instant gratification psychology … it’s really only a very few.

If there are examples of instant gratification, well …

One exception is the Magnetic Memory Method, a rare memory skill you can learn fast and experience quick victories with …

But these happen so fast only because the Magnetic Memory Method harnesses the power of information you ALREADY know.

And even then, let’s face it: You’ll still need to practice a bit before you really hit your stride.

So settle in and make sure you’re trained up:

 

 

Go ahead and click that big blue image and take my free course. I’m confident you won’t regret spending the time.

 

2. Practice Long Form Learning

 

Now that you’ve admitted that you’ve got the instant gratification sickness, it’s time to combat it.

How?

First, know your MMM Learning Hierarchy. You’ll discover what this is in a new book I’m releasing soon. For notification, please keep your eyes open for an announcement soon.

Once you’ve got that covered, learn how to memorize a textbook properly and read books in a traditional manner for good measure.

Watch long videos and take notes. Listen to podcasts and audiobooks without 2x-ing the content. Stop training your brain to consume everything faster.

 

3. Balance Input With Output

 

Consuming information is important. It’s how we learn.

The problem is …

Few people balance their consumption with production.

As a result, they never really learn anything.

If you want to learn … REALLY learn …

Then you’ll need to process that information through multiple channels.

 

The Professors Who Forced Me To
Balance Input With Output

 

Back during my M.A. and Ph.D. years, I completed a lot of directed reading courses instead of taking seminars.

These directed readings were a great alternative to attending class and watching the other students pretend they read the books and articles.

Plus, I got to have the professors I studied under for some precious one-on-one discussion of learning topics at levels deeper than seminars allow.

The catch?

Two of my directed reading professors DEMANDED summaries of everything on the reading lists.

And not just one or two fruity little paragraphs …

They wanted two to three pages!

Well, let me tell you …

 

It Was The Most Worthy Work In The World!

 

By keeping good notes and processing the information through writing summaries …

… Followed by verbal discussions in meetings …

I remember so much more from those books than any other.

And because I used the textbook memorization technique I linked you to above for some of these books …

I had a ton of Magnetic fun too.

 

The Shocking Truth About Instant Gratification

 

Here’s the truth:

When you stop letting instant gratification corrode your ability to learn and remember …

You’ll find that all learning becomes much more gratifying.

Having a plan for building and enjoying discipline in your life helps too:

Once you have discipline on your side …

The gratification you need comes …

Instantly!

So the true path to instant gratification requires just a simple shift in perspective.

Just like when you Mindshift your perspective about memory techniques and the use of a Memory Palace.

The shift in perspective creates an instant victory that makes all learning thereafter much more gratifying.

It truly is that simple.

And if you’d like to experience true instant gratification that lasts forever, make sure you’re subscribed to this website so I can show you just how gratifying using your memory can be.

Next time … something different.

 

The post 3 Powerful Ways To Destroy The Cancer Of Instant Gratification appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 3_Powerful_Ways_To_Destroy_The_Cancer_Of_Instant_Gratification.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:46am EDT

Have you ever wondered why on earth anyone would focus on memorizing individual words?

A lot of people not only wonder about this, but some are utterly convinced that focusing on vocabulary instead of complete phrases is …

 

The Worst Thing You Can Do

 

The problem is …

It’s simply not true. And …

Frankly, it’s time to settle this argument once and for all.

The verdict:

If you want to learn a language you do need to memorize BOTH words AND phrases.

But here’s the problem, one that this commenter on the Magnetic Memory Method YouTube channel makes oh so obvious to point out:

 

Do you see what’s happening here? Can you guess why I might have hesitated to approve the ironic snark lurking in this comment?

The problem is this:

Macovei assumes that … because he learns a particular way … everyone else should learn that way too.

That’s poor logic.

Worse, Macovei seems to think that …

 

Because He Hasn’t Found A Faster Way …

 

A faster way …

… couldn’t possibly exist.

Here’s the ugly truth:

These two logical errors amount to crimes against humanity.

And thanks to the Primacy Effect and Recency Effect, people get pushed into limiting corners of negative belief thanks to logically fallacious comments like these.

Sadly, there are enormous mountains of them floating around.

Like evil … hypnotic spells.

Don’t let them catch you!

 

Evil Spell #1:
The Lie That Sentences Shouldn’t Be
Broken Down Into Pieces

 

A lot of critics say that you should just go ahead and learn entire phrases.

Yeah, go on. Spend a couple hundred hours stuffing your spaced-repetition software with long strings of words …

BEFORE you’ve developed the ability to use memory techniques to remember even one single word.

Sorry, Macovei, but there really is an alternative.

One that teaches you how to memorize individual words. One that appeals to enough learners that it’s worth all that I do just to help them.

The skill is easy, fast, elegant and fun.

The best part:

It’s a skill you can extend to entire phrases very soon. But you’re much more likely to get there faster if you start with memorizing one word at a time first.

 

The Memory Palace Alternative

 

For example, imagine you get really good at learning how to use a Memory Palace. (Hint: It takes only about 2-5 hours. After that, you stand a chance at becoming a memory champion if you wish).

Make a Memory Palace.

Don’t worry if you’re skeptical. Making and using Memory Palaces is 100% scientific. Here’s the proof.

In it, memorize ten words.

Yes, just ten.

Make them cornerstone words. Really know them inside and out.

And then (and only then), go back to the first word. Add a phrase to it.

Then add a phrase to the second word.

The third.

And so on.

 

 

By starting with individual words, you really can scale much more quickly.

What makes the difference is the NATURE, QUALITY and UTILITY of the words you choose.

And let’s be frank:

 

How To Make The Right Choices Isn’t Always Easy!

 

But on this Live Call, the Magnetic Memory Method Global Family and I buckled down to the truth:

 

 

To sum up that Magnetic Memory Method YouTube Live for you, here’s what we concluded:

You find the right vocabulary and phrases along the way by …

Cultivating curiosity …

Mental independence …

And generating your own curriculum as a language learner.

 

How To Deal With Conflicting Language Learning Advice

 

You’ll come across a lot of different opinions.

Ignore the bulk of it. Especially when the come from the kind of self-proclaimed language learning gurus like I take to task in this video:

 

A lot of people give in to negative self-hypnosis and pass it on to others in an attempt to hold the rest of the world down. They don’t want to be lonely down in the bottom of the crab bucket, after all.

 

 

Their attempt to hold you down isn’t necessarily evil or even malicious.

But it is infectious. Negative messages draw the attention of the eye and take hold in the brain.

The good news?

Simply by knowing this fact about them, you can weaken their power.

You can also release yourself from their hold by learning memory techniques and buckling down to the truth that you need both skills:

Vocabulary memorization AND phrase memorization. Unlike those crabs pulling each down into the bucket, when it comes to memorizing vocab and phrases …

 

One Helps The Other!

 

But here’s the problem:

Many (but not all) human brains get overwhelmed by entire phrases. That’s why I free them to the power and glory of finally making some headway into learning a language. One word at a time.

Just as I did when I used the Magnetic Memory Method for German (full story with tips). Richard Gilzean did much the same, but with his own Magnetic twist.

Not to mention what Amanda Shaw accomplished when using the Magnetic Memory Method to help her learn Arrernte.

Want results like that?

Don’t take my word for it. Just follow the evidence. Repeat the experiments. Enjoy the results.

If it’s not for you … well, like Wittgenstein once said:

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.

(Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.)

 

Evil Spell #2:

The Memory Palace Is Hard, Slow and Boring

 

Check out this interesting exchange from last week’s The Only 4 Memory Improvement Systems You Need:

 

 

What’s going on here?

A person who provides evidence of having memorized one word is using the Magnetic Memory Method discussion area to call Memory Palace use for language learning slow.

As far as I can tell, this person hasn’t even tried the technique.

And if that’s the case …

 

How On Earth Can You Cast Judgment On
Something You Haven’t Tried?

 

I’m not a psychologist, but when I read flat out dismissals like these, I see, hear and feel … pain.

Exhaustion.

Fear.

At some level, I think these people are like muscleheads at the gym who are afraid to be seen lifting smaller weights …

… Even though the body has many muscles you can develop if you’re willing to put your ego aside and master a few simple moves with lighter weights first.

That’s how I’ve developed a lot of muscle at the gym and it’s how I’ve won the war against overwhelm in language learning on a daily basis.

The Big Five of Language Learning helps too.

 

 

And you can just go ahead and wind up the clock and time yourself if you don’t believe how fast it can go.

Just like Noel van Vliet did in his Judgment Day report on the Magnetic Memory Method.

I could be wrong about all this …

But what else other than ego-based fear could be driving the certainty behind such convictions and hypnotic spell casting?

Truly? What else?

And in case you’re thinking …

 

Hold On There, Magnetic Cowboy!

 

What’s driving YOUR certainty, Dr. Metivier? Could it also be some kind of fear and pain?

Nice. Try.

But I have no certainty. None.

And that’s the point. This is the art and science of memory. There’s nothing to fear so long as you’re true to the craft and the evidence.

And like most of the best in the memory training game, as both a lifelong student of memory techniques and teacher, I too started as a skeptic.

The reality is that skepticism is a power – but only if you’re testing it.

And you need to begin with the only skepticism you can test – YOUR skepticism.

My suggestion:

In the time it takes to graffiti the Internet with yet another argument against something you haven’t even tried …

You could have memorized BOTH a new word AND a new phrase.

And anyone who has spent any time learning a new language knows that you have to do both.

 

You Should EMBRACE Both

 

And you should understand that memory techniques for language learning lovingly encourages both.

That’s true for other realms of vocabulary memorization too, such as anatomy.

But my core message that all your struggles end when you put your ego at the door and learn to develop your memory … one word at a time …

That message shall remain.

Why?

Because it works for those who struggle to find any other way.

And it works for the mega-polyglots too, even if they save the Memory Palace just for the Stubborn Quintile or other words worth remembering, like the ones covered in my How to Improve Vocabulary With Mnemonic Examples Playlist:

You don’t have to make the Memory Palace the cornerstone of your practice, after all.

But since the technique is useful for so many other things in life you might want to commit to memory …

Assuming you’re making your Memory Palaces properly Magnetic …

You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

In sum:

 

Be Wary Of All Spell Casters Who Speak
Without Experience

 

Ignore the fearful critics who speak without experience. Follow your interest and bliss instead.

But please, spare the world your time and energy whenever you feel the need to wax messianic about why things you’ve never tried can’t and won’t work.

We’re busy freeing people from The Matrix of lies and illusions here, not holding them in prison with you.

Free your mind.

 

The post Two Truly Evil Spells People Cast Against Memorizing Vocabulary With A Memory Palace appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


What would you give if you could have the world’s best mentor accessible at any time?

I’m talking about catering to your every need …

So you can accomplish a specific goal

… and in a way that fits that mentor inside your pocket?

To be honest with you, at first I didn’t believe it was possible.

But guess what?

I’ve got …

 

Good News For Students & Educators!

 

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, let me introduce you to the incredible thought leader and digital innovator, Edan Kertis.

But first … here’s a limited time opportunity:

If you’d like to shape the creation of the first Magnetic Memory Method memory coaching app (it will be in the form of a MyQuest!), please fill out this MMM App Survey (the link will open in a new tab).

Edan and I thank you for taking the time to letting us know how we can help you and your memory further by guiding the creation of this memory improvement app.

Now then, you might be asking yourself …

 

Hold up, there! What is a “MyQuest?”

 

 

As the co-founder and CEO of MyQuest, Edan is helping educators create “Quests” for learners.

That means no more boring video courses that forget about you after you register.

No more books that don’t even know you exist.

No more teachers who can’t provide you the accountability you need to succeed.

When it comes to MyQuest’s powerful platform, Edan and his team have made it possible for mentors to create educational journeys that help students learn through gamified, step-by-step missions and levels.

The best part?

MyQuest allows educators to lead a community towards a common goal while still addressing the needs of the individual learner.

 

How On Earth Is This Possible?

 

As a software engineer, Edan has helped surgeons plan surgeries better. It’s clear how his experiences with Brainlab have paved the way for even bigger accomplishments when it comes to learning how to learn.

And in this exclusive interview (scroll up and hit ‘play’ to listen), you’ll learn all about how Edan came up with the idea for MyQuest, including:

⇒ Edan’s personal “Quest for Enlightenment” to expand his mind and experience self-development.

⇒ The “butterfly effect” and how small actions can influence others all around the world.

⇒ Why happiness is really all about what you remember.

⇒ Why everything with MyQuest is action-based with missions instead of lessons

⇒ Why you need to manage the level of challenge so that you’re always stretching, but never overextended so far that frustration holds you back.

⇒ Why how we frame our educational experiences with story and metaphor matters.

⇒ Why you need to spend time enjoying random thoughts and “doing nothing” in order to increase your productivity.

⇒ The power of “digital fasting” for completing any learning goal.

⇒ The importance of reporting on your progress with peers for accountability.

⇒ The dual role of push notifications in order to ensure your teachers don’t forget about you and you don’t forget about them.

⇒ How you can easily create your own app as a mentor and help thousands of people achieve their goals.

⇒ Why traveling is like meditation.

⇒ How to find what feels right inside – despite anything society might be telling you about what counts as “normal.”

… and much, much more! 🙂

 

What’s Your Quest? 

 

As a Magnetic Memory Method Podcast listener, please let me know what you’d like to learn the most. What skill would make the biggest difference in your life? What habits do you think you’ll need to master in order to achieve the outcomes you seek?

Let’s face it:

Like is like a game. And the best way to play the game is to play the kind of games that you want to be invited to play again.

 

But There Will Be Obstacles! 

 

What would a game be if there weren’t obstacles to overcome and puzzles to solve?

I’m excited that Edan and MyQuest are doing so much to create learning innovations that help educators create structured, yet responsive learning experiences that help learners accomplish their goals.

Let’s all help MyQuest accomplish their quest by sharing this post and engaging in the discussion. Look forward to hearing from you!

For more information about MyQuest, creating your own app using their educational technology and Edan Kertis, please visit: 

MyQuest.co

Edan Kertis on LinkedIn

MyQuest on Twitter

MyQuest on Facebook

The post MyQuest For YOUR Memory Improvement With Edan Kertis appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: MyQuest_For_Your_Memory_Improvement_With_Edan_Kertis.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:36am EDT

What if I told you that turning your brain into a passwords manager is the easiest thing on the planet?

Yes, even massively complex and (seemingly) meaningless passwords like …

HHTDFY66^&dd766g^^%7*d

… can be memorized without breaking a sweat.

And you’ll even have some fun!

To get this done …

So that you can easily learn and remember so much garbled and meaningless data quickly …

1) All you need is a strategy.

2) You need a bit of practice with the strategy.

3) You need a solid reason why.

 

 

Why Memorizing Your Passwords Is
The Ultimate Only Path To Cyber-Security

 

To discuss the reasons why you need to learn, memorize and develop the ability to recall your passwords without storing them anywhere other than your memory, I’m delighted to be joined by memory expert, record setter and incredible memory educator, Brad Zupp.

If you haven’t already, scroll up and click the “play” button to listen in on our discussion.

In it, you’ll learn:

* The shocking truth behind why Brad decided it was time to create a system for memorizing his passwords and the horrifying realities behind why he’s sharing that system with the world.

* Brad’s method of dividing Memory Palaces so they’re easy to review and use to memorize and organize thousands of rooms and thousands of digits.

* Why Brad uses Memory Palaces based on real locations and varies between rooms and outdoor memory journeys.

* How to understand the differences in your mind and the mind of other mnemonists so that you can get better results faster.

* How Brad deals with renovations to Memory Palaces.

* Brad’s incredible experiences with face memory and how it factors in with remembering names.

* Brad’s take on what to do if you have aphantasia or otherwise are in need of developing your mind’s eye.

 

Would You Like The Ability To Make Your Memory
A Passwords Manager That Works Safer Than Any Computer? 

 

Let me recommend Brad’s brand new book, The Hack-Proof Password System. (Note: The link will take you to the Amazon store nearest you. 🙂 )

 

I’ve read this book cover-to-cover and highly recommend you do the same. You’ll learn everything you need to know about protecting yourself online by developing an amazing memory skill.

It’s easy, fast, effective and fun.

And the best part is that making your memory the ultimate passwords manager is great brain exercise too.

 

For More Of Brad Zupp’s World Class Memory Expertise …

 

You may recall my “book report” of Brad’s excellent book, Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grades 5 To 8 How To Remember Better And Make School Easier.

If not, you can read all about it and listen to the podcast review here:

How To Help Middle School Students Remember More

Another fine resource for you is the first Magnetic Memory Method Podcast interview with Brad:

Brad Zupp On Memory Techniques And Memory Improvement For All Ages

 

But nothing could be more important to your Cyber Security than Brad’s new book, so please be sure to add it to your memory improvement library.

 

But That’s Not All! 

 

For Brad’s free bonus material to go with The Hack-Proof Password System, claim his free workbook and companion ebook now.

While you’re at it, check out Brad’s main website.

For information on Brad’s presentations for students, visit Brad’s Exceptional Assemblies page.

Twitter: @BradZupp

Brad Zupp on Facebook

Brad Zupp on LinkedIn

And if that wasn’t enough, if you want to pop your questions, experiences and comments in the discussion area below, I’ll make sure Brad sees your contributions to the Mnemonics Renaissance a.s.a.p.

In the meantime …

Thanks as ever for helping us help you and talk soon! 🙂

The post Mental Passwords Manager? Memory And Cyber Security With Brad Zupp appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Mental_Passwords_Manager__Memory_And_Cyber_Security_With_Brad_Zupp.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:15pm EDT

Have you ever sat down to learn something and thrown your hands up in the air?

Not to catch a balloon or give a salute.

But because you were furious and frustrated?

And have you felt that a learning task was so hard that you just wanted to give up?

I hear you!

After all, I’ve put some of the toughest learning challenges in front of myself all the time.

Languages like Biblical Hebrew, German, Chinese.

Musical instruments like sitar and bass.

Hands-on mechanical tasks like figuring out how to spread the good news about memory techniques with a videos, blogs and podcasts.

And in all cases, it takes grit.

It takes tenacity.

It takes these…

 

4 Secret Ways To Make It So Easy
You Can Run Circles Around Everyone Else!

 

If you’re interested, I’d like to share these 4 secrets with you, plus another 4 in this video:

All I ask is that you read them carefully and give at least ONE of them a serious try (minus the last one in the video above).

But let’s be clear:

Trying just one would be good. But …

50% would be great.

100%? …

Why that would be downright Magnetic!

1. The Most Powerful Question Any Learner Can Ask

 

One of the reasons some people find learning so painful is that they don’t ask a simple question.

It’s a question that, when applied often, can unlock the nuclear power needed to drive you through some of the hardest missions in life.

It’s a question almost no learner asks.

Probably because it’s a bit tough for most people to wrap their heads around.

It sounds kind of selfish, after all.

The question is:

“What’s in it for me?”

But even if it has a selfish angle to it, this question is so important.

Why?

 

Because So Many Learners Are Trying To
Accomplish Outcomes For Everyone But Themselves!

 

Think about it:

You go to school and learn things to please the machine …

You get a medical degree to appease your family …

You study a language because it’s part of a degree …

Nothing wrong with any of that, unless …

 

None Of It Has To Do With What
You Authentically Want In Life!

 

And so it’s little wonder learning feels hard. If you’re the last person who gets a kick-back for all that effort, it’s always going to feel like you’re trying to chew through a brick wall.

Make it easier on yourself by learning things that have a definite payoff for the number one person that matters: You.

Because here’s the plain truth:

You’re a good person.

You want to serve others.

And you can change the world.

But it will never happen if you secretly hate the learning process because it just doesn’t serve your needs first.

Want a fast and easy way live authentically? Practice gratitude:

 

2. Why Comatose Zombies Can
Outlearn The Flash Any Day

 

Okay, that sub-headline might be a bit misleading.

What I mean to say is that you need to relax to learn.

Because here’s a fundamental truth:

Information flees from tension. But it’s Magnetically attracted to relaxation.

Let me say that again:

Information flees from tension. But it’s Magnetically attracted to relaxation.Click To Tweet

And the more you know how to relax your brain, the more information will want to stick around. You’ll be able to slosh it around the mouth of your mind like fine wine and actually enjoy it for a change.

And what you enjoy … ?

 

Pleasure Is Instantly Easier To Remember!

 

The trick you need to understand when it comes to relaxing your mind is this:

Your mind is produced by your brain.

Your brain is a physical entity.

And that’s what makes the Memory Palace technique so powerful:

It’s something physical out in the world being used physically inside your material brain.

Don’t know how to make a Memory Palace? No problem. Register for this:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

And to get the most of the training, relax your mind each time before you use your memory.

That said, never try to relax your mind without relaxing your body first.

In fact, it’s very likely that the only way to truly relax your mind is by relaxing the body first.

So the next time you sit down to study, stretch a little first.

Meditate.

Focus for awhile on your breathing.

Attention paid to breathing will lower most of your resistances to learning and make everything easier.

 

3. Understand That The Map Is Never The Territory –
But Maps Sure Do Help!

 

When I created this Infographic and Podcast episode teaching you how to realistically memorize a textbook, I had no idea people would find it so practical and useful.

 

 

After all, everybody asks me for “tips and tricks” that will let them memorize entire books.

But the truth is that this feat is rarely necessary. In fact, it’s probably never necessary.

But if you use the techniques I teach in that podcast to get a global overview of the book you need to read, you’ll have a map. This map will set the stage for your experience of the territory.

And that will give you laser-targeted tools for remembering the parts that matter. Proof:

 


When you can do that, you do better than just learn and remember. You also create knowledge.

And when you create knowledge, the speed at which you can learn grows exponentially. It feels good, creates energy and encouragement and keeps you on the path of continual growth.

Nothing difficult or painful about that.

 

4. The Magnetic Magnifying Glass Method

 

Have you ever heard the phrase, “you don’t know what you don’t know”? Tony Buzan mentioned it during our conversation some time ago on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

If you want to make learning faster and easier, make sure to get yourself in orbit with that concept.

Why?

Because when you hold a magnifying glass to your own ignorance, you get real clear on what it is you need to learn. Without that clarity, it’s nearly impossible to make progress!

In other words, learning truly is hard and slow when you’re stumbling around blind in a cloud of unknowing. But when you ask questions about what you know and don’t know about a topic, suddenly a lot of that fog is whisked away.

Want a simple exercise you can use for each and every learning project you ever undertake?

It’s easy, fun and speeds up everything.

 

It’s called:

Writing summaries.

Every time you take a class, attend a lecture, read a chapter, watch a video or even use an app, take a quick second to jot down everything you can remember.

Then beneath that, start asking questions about what it is you think was covered … but mysteriously can’t remember.

Then make two plans:

One plan for how you’re going to continue to remember what you remembered.

Another plan for what you’re going to do to fill in the gaps so that you can remember the information you think flew over your head.

Simple. Elegant. Easy and effective.

 

Why Most People Prefer A Life Based On Excuses

 

A lot of people will go through a post like this, nod yes to each and every point and then carry on with their lives of learning desperation.

The reason why this happens is simple:

It’s all contained in point number one.

If you missed it and care about the life of your memory and your mind, go over it again.

And if you feel like you’re resistant to any of the wisdom contained in this post, review the second point I’ve made. If anything on the planet raises your hackles, a few simple exercises that take just a few minutes of your time could be a game changer for you.

And if you’d like a realistic way to remember everything of importance in any book or posts like these you encounter in the world, there’s a link there just waiting to help you out.

For the true Magnetic Knight, point four will be the most precious of all. There’s a little comment section below where you can complete this part of the exercise. I’ll be around to help you fill in any gaps I may have missed.

I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, keep learning and keep yourself Magnetic! 🙂

The post 4 Easy Ways To Learn Faster And Remember More appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 4_Easy_Ways_To_Learn_Faster_And_Remember_More.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 9:24pm EDT

Don’t you love a teacher who can tell a good joke?

You know the kind:

Each class begins on a funny note.

You hang on every word, no matter how difficult.

In fact … it pains you when the lectures end.

You can hardly believe it, but as tough as the information flowing from your teacher might get, you simply cannot get enough.

When that happens …

Don’t Despair!

 

And understand this:

According to Barbara Oakley in her new book, Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles And Discover Your Hidden Potential, successful teachers have a strange ability …

… the ability to wrap candy around the crusted salt of difficult ideas.

In other words, great teachers make challenging concepts easier for your brain to absorb and remember.

 

How On Earth Do They Accomplish That?

 

To accomplish this difficult feat, many great teachers use humor.

Humor? Is that all it takes?

Well …

In many cases, yes.

 

 

Humor, it turns out, (which can be verbal or situational as Zizek makes clear in the video above) is a core ingredient in the magic spells these soothing muses of hardcore information use to slide information into your mind without you noticing.

That’s right. You really can learn almost on autopilot.

 

An Aspirin For The Aches And Pains Of Education?

 

Humor, and those humorous teachers who deploy it, use their special talent with jokes to manipulate your brain’s “opioid reward system.”

Rest assured:

This painkiller for information is super-important for the future of humanity.

Why am I being so dramatic?

I’m glad you asked.

As Oakley explains, merely thinking about learning something difficult activates one of the pain centers in your brain.

Nothing like Christian Bök’s pleasant flurry of “motorized razors” (another professor who uses humor to great effect):

 

 

But you get the idea.

Your brain anticipates the pain and tries to run away shrieking.

That part of the brain so opposed to learning?

It’s called the insular cortex. Even this biological term itself sounds scary, doesn’t it?

Well …

 

This Term Should Sound Scary!

 

But here’s the thing:

Oakley has good news for you and your insular cortex on every page of Mindshift. And the best part is that you don’t need every teacher to be a comic to learn even the most difficult topics without fear and suffering.

Mindshift is designed to help you figure out what you want to learn and how to get yourself take the steps needed to succeed. Using stories, activities and factual data about how your brain works, you’ll walk away from reading Mindshift equipped to anticipate and remove all obstacles you could possibly face on your way.

All you need to do is understand a few key “time travel” secrets …

 

Time Travel Secret #1: 
Your Past Is A Treasure Trove Of Transformation

 

One of the most exciting aspects of Mindshift is the lesson that nothing in your past is a waste.

In fact, much of your potential for future success as a learner and eventual leader in a field of your choosing lies in what you’ve already done. You need only know how to tap into it.

As Oakley demonstrates throughout the book, traditional ideas about expertise are outmoded. But here’s the beautiful news:

We are all unusually equipped for the requirements of the 21st century where several areas of “deep knowledge” separate the cream from the crop.

And if you’re a scholar, a lot of what you know can help you escape the Ivory Tower and have an impacting career beyond the university. Here’s Barbara helping you make that mindshift:

 

You Can Be The Cream Floating Gracefully Up To The Top

 

The trick in getting there lies in understanding your passions and being able to identify your current skills (more on “current” affairs in your time traveling in a second).

But this is important:

Don’t get caught up on this word “skills.”

It has a lot of meanings and if you’re reading this page, you’ve got a done of them. Without a doubt, you’re already beaming brightly from within the paradise of your multiple intelligences.

 

But There’s A Catch!

 

If you haven’t sat down with some paper to make your skills and mental assets visible to yourself, so many vibrant resources in your life could be entirely lost to you like some kind of undetected natural gas resource waiting to be tapped.

And that means you might find yourself living a life lost to digital amnesia.

In addition to making your past resources discoverable, Mindshift shows you how to install the needed desire for lifelong learning if you haven’t already got it.

 

Time Travel Secret#2:
The Power Of Now For Your Learning

 

That’s right. You really can “time travel” the present moment.

As one learner interviewed in Mindshift puts it, you accomplish this feat by shifting your thinking about where you are now. Instead of worrying about having a safety net, use everything you’ve got and your circumstances as a springboard. You need only learn how to see the opportunities.

Two of the most useful concepts from Mindshift are also the most understated. The first is balancing modesty vs. hubris and the power of solving other people’s problems.

Just as we have brain chemicals that send out pain signals into our consciousness when learning something hard appears before us, we also have the hard truth that learning makes us better people.

And that means having more power.

 

The Comic Book Reality Of Life Long Learning

 

Of course, life is rarely as simple as a comic book, but the old line couldn’t be truer when it comes to learning:

 

 

Great power demands responsibility for you as much as it does for Spider-Man!

Sadly, not everyone uses their power wisely or accepts the responsibility power brings.

In so many of the stories in Mindshift …

… we read about abuses of power from teachers and other community leaders.

These are people who should have known better.

Yet, as lacking in fun and humor as this genre of story in Mindshift is, the lesson and the reasons why the author includes them is clear:

Each “Mindshifter” in Dr. Oakley’s case studies clearly wanted to learn in a way that de-toxified earlier educational experiences and ensured they never happened again.

Now if that isn’t taking control over the present moment and accepting responsibility for the power that action itself brings, I don’t know what is.

 

Time Travel Secret #3:
The Best Tense For Directing Your Focus

 

Not just in any wild direction, mind you.

The key seems to be focusing outward.

Kind of like how Benny Lewis teaches how you need to speak the new language from day one. Out into the world, and out into the future.

 

So it’s never the question, “What do I want to learn?” that puts such extraordinary wind into the sails of the successful learners featured in Mindshift.

It’s the question of “What am I going to do with what I learn?” Having at least an initial answer to that question in a way that directs energy towards the future seems to make the hugest difference.

After all, it’s by asking and answering questions – high quality questions – that we can best shape the future we want to experience.

And in almost every case, those who take the beloved MOOCs that Oakley describes in perhaps the funniest portrait I’ve yet to read, future planning for the application of the knowledge you discover is a huge driver of success.

(Note: If you don’t know about Dr. Oakley’s own ultra-popular MOOC, Learning How to Learn, click that link three words back for an interview she gave the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast with her diving deep into everything about it and how it can help you.)

 

The Power Of Personal Change Relies On
Chronologies You Control

 

Whether you’re a learner with no aspirations to teach or a teacher looking to expand, Mindshift is the book for you.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Listen to what the author has to say for herself in this engaging discussion:

 

Above all, Mindshift is one of those rarest things all learners love to find:

A vessel that takes you on a journey and comes packed with the tools for maintenance and repair as you travel. You also get the resources for adding an entire fleet of ships to bay of your learning life as you go. With stories, interactive exercises, science and inspiration offered in Mindshift, you’ll know what to do and how to do it as you learn your way into the unknown.

And that’s no joke.

As Oakley promises, things are just getting started for students and instructors alike as video technology gets easier to use, metrics reveal more about what works and online classroom experiences get “stickier, funnier, and overall ‘learnier.'”

Learnier? Okay, now you can laugh. All the way to whatever future you’ve always wanted after you read Mindshift.

The post Mindshift: 3 “Time Travel” Secrets From People Learning How To Learn appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Mindshift__3_Time_Travel_Secrets_From_People_Learning_How_To_Learn.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:58pm EDT

Would you like to pick the mind of the greatest living Major System masters?

If so, click play above and dive into the incredible mnemonic talent of Florian Dellé.

In this exclusive interview with Florian on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, you’ll discover:

Strangely counter-beneficial aspects of memory - and how to avoid them! Click To Tweet

Plus, keep listening and you’ll learn:

♣ The key factors that make memory competition more exciting to participate in and watch as a spectator …

♥ The number one need every student of memory techniques must fulfill to experience their true capabilities …

♠ The connection between using your memory and motivation. Master this and you’ll create a state of excitement that helps you overcome all kinds of learning obstacles and barriers!

♦ Why you shouldn’t waste any more time on boring and frustrating learning techniques …

♣ Why everything we do with memory techniques always builds on the work of others …

♥ How to use forms and shapes to help you memorize keywords and the names of cells, golf statistics or anything you want to memorize …

♠ How to use chain stories, image clusters and other ideas locked up in Esel’s Welt

♦ How to create a second or even third Major Method/Major System list to create multiple memory advantages and more variety in your mnemonic tool box …

♣ The “annoying” truth about reusing your mnemonic images and Memory Palaces …

♥ Why these techniques are never just about having a “code system”

♠ Florian’s PAO 1000 people and 1000 objects system and how specifically he works with them in sets of 100 in order to generate a workable memory system. Understand the thinking behind his strategy and you’ll be well-equipped to evolving your own approach for achieving any learning goal.

♦ Florian’s amazing Pyramid Memory System

♣ How to open your image sets for any purpose without getting bogged down by dogmatic rules.

♥ The limits of the Major System and why Florian decided to expand and create his own.

♠ Why some people FEAR the Major System and how to overcome this hurdle so that you can feel the fun while experiencing its many benefits …

♦ Why Florian likes movement and even abstract images, as opposed to stationary objects like street lamps in his memory practice …

♣ Why boredom should be avoided at all costs when learning to use memory techniques …

♥ Why Florian created ThinkKniht and developed an alternative to the Major System …

♠ How to find your “feeling” for the Major System associations so that you’re happy with it and using it to maximum effect from the beginning …

♦ The difference between a “native society” and a “civilized society” and the role of apps for the future of your memory …

♣ The difference between learning, training and coaching software yet to come. Understanding how all these softwares can be relevant for your learning will blow your mind with all the possibilities …

♥ Why trial and error might eventually be eliminated from the learning process. The only question is … will that be a good thing or bad?

♠ Why you should never be intimidated by the lingo and “systems” of memory techniques and how to quickly get yourself into the practice of using your memory  … even if you initially doubt the efficiency of the initial training period …

♦ … and much, much more!

(Note for puzzle-fans: Can you see the special mnemonic I’ve hidden in the special-characters?)

I’m grateful for this discussion with Florian and look forward to hearing your response. Be sure to follow Florian on Twitter and support his mission in bringing mnemonics and the real magic of memory to everyone around the world.

Resources Mentioned In The Podcast &
Other Great Links To Explore

Esels Welt by Ulrich Voigt

The Wardrobe Method

Breakdown of the “classic” Major System and Florian’s Visual Major System Code

Alex Mullen Interviews Florian Dellé

Florian’s World Memory Championship stats – impressive!

The post Major System Secrets And The Future Of Your Memory With Florian Dellé appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Major_System_Secrets_And_The_Future_Of_Your_Memory_With_Florian_Delle.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:23am EDT

Have you ever said out loud or in your mind, “I can’t learn a language!”

Well … guess what?

You’re fooling yourself!

And it’s the worse kind of lie.

Why?

Because every minute you’re not fluent in at least one other language, you’re keeping yourself locked in a monolingual prison …

The same prison that deeply dissatisfies billions of people around the world!

And instead of doing something to improve their lot in life and memory, they simper and whimper in the unnecessary depression and suffering that the following lies, illusions and problems created by people perfectly capable of success.

Avoid the following traps and you will grasp success and suckle from its nourishment for life – guaranteed!

 

#1: The Lie That You’re Too Busy To Learn A Language

 

That’s how most people see themselves:

Busy.

REALLY busy.

In some cases, this is true.

But for most of us, being “time poor” has a core root. And that root is rotten.

These days its lots and lots of time WASTED on social media.

Don’t blame yourself, though. As I talked about last time when I gave you my Ultimate Concentration Exercise Combo, a lot of the problem isn’t your fault.

But you can do something about the problem. And to ignore it means just three things:

1. A lack of discipline.

2. An unwillingness to learn and practice focus.

3. A complete and utter lack of prioritization.

The good news is you can change this sorry state.

 

And You should!

 

You want discipline.

You want results.

And you know that learning a language is good for your brain.

The secret?

 

Stop Splitting Your Attention

 

As I shared in my post about morning rituals for language learning, you can use Magnetic Habit-Chaining to get more results in 15-30 minutes per day than most language learners will accomplish in a month.

It’s fun, easy to do and you’ll like yourself better.

Why?

Because you’re moving towards your language goal, not cheating yourself out of it by wasting time on unnecessary social media.

Whatever you do, stop running around as if your hair's on fire.Click To Tweet

It isn’t. And you’ve got languages to learn.

Bonus: How to maintain quality in your daily language learning ritual:

Have a space in your home dedicated to language learning. For tips on how, check out these 15 memory care home solutions.

 

2. The Lie That You Don’t Have
The Adequate Language Learning Tools

 

A vital component to learning a language is knowing what to use and how to use it.

Here’s a Magnetic-sized tip:

Use just one book, just one audio program and just one video course at a time. No more than that, though always with the option of using less.

Use this “rule of three” in combination with The Big Five Of Language Learning to structure your learning sessions:

Memory
Reading
Writing
Speaking
Listening

Here’s my three and a quick summary of how I’m using them:

That’s my beloved Chinese character book. It’s presenting the material in German, which is great because it helps me maintain that language.

It also has a special feature in the back that bolts Magnetically to the Magnetic Memory Method – stay tuned for news about that.

I’m currently memorizing phrases from Pimsleur, more or less as discussed in this video:

It’s a golden technique.

But nothing is better than the Real Spoken Chinese Vault. Here’s one example of how I’m using it:

What a blessing this course has been! If you’re studying Chinese, you’ve simply got to check it out and grab my MMM bonuses.

In each case, I’m using Memory Palaces in combination with The Big Five of Language Learning.

This multi-step process is important because it moves the language through multiple representation centers of the brain: audio, visual and kinesthetic.

And if you get in some language learning practice in restaurants that feature the language you’re studying, you can squeeze in your gustatory and olfactory rep centers too.

 

What Matters Is Consistency

 

And you're much more likely to master consistency if you limit your tools. Don't forget the rule of three!Click To Tweet

 

3. The Lie That You Must Learn Lackluster Vocabulary
& Phrases So Boring You Wanna Tear Your Hair Out

 

Although you occasionally do have to buckle down and learn some boring words like he, she, if, then, but and … AND …

… most language learners struggle because they stick too closely to the boring stuff.

Let’s face it:

We need a textbook, audio and video program.

But we also need more. We need to learn vocabulary and phrases that connect with our interests.

For me, it’s movies.

And books.

And the topic of memory.

Knowing what I like makes the pursuit of vocabulary and phrases easier. Knowing what you like will make it easier for you too.

Plus, regularly meeting with native speakers who share similar interests means those interesting and exciting terms will keep popping up.

Case in point: I’m still sad about leaving Berlin, but delighted that there’s a German book club here in Brisbane.

And so that means I get to hang with literature enthusiasts who use really cool words and phrases – all while reading and discussing books that include amazing vocab and linguistic flair that excited me page after page.

Bonus: Focusing on words and phrases connected to your interests creates energy.

As language learners, we need all we can get for the long haul, so make sure you’re feeding yourself plenty of relevant things to say and understand. That’s how you create a powerfully consistent engine that builds and fuels itself for a lifetime of voyages on the highways of fluency.

 

4. The Lie That Language Learners Don’t Need
A Positive Mindset &  Welcoming Attitude

 

I’ve learned a lot over the years about why some people learning languages don’t have much success.

A lot comes down to the fact that they don’t make new words and phrases feel welcome. They don’t make their mood and memory like a warm living room. They don’t come out with freshly baked cookies and they certainly don’t serve milk.

And that’s sad.

Look at it this way:

New vocabulary and phrases are the backbone of your language learning progress. Without acquiring them, you’re left bored, frustrated and alone in a boat without a paddle. Those delightful islands of fluency become less and less reachable without a constant flow of the new entering and remaining in your brain.

But so many people prefer negative attitudes and the conviction that their language is the most difficult in the world.

How about a different tact? How about a positive and welcoming attitude that says:

My language is the best and easiest language in the world!

I love it and I’m going to do everything in my power to welcome its parts in so that they want to stay forever.

My language is the best and easiest language in the world!Click To Tweet

Sounds more inviting, doesn’t it?

Well, of course it does, but you’ve got to do more than just think welcoming thoughts. You need to prepare your mind to actually be welcoming.

And that’s as simple as creating and using Memory Palaces. It’s no more difficult than dreaming up pictures you associate with sounds so you can place them strategically in your Memory Palaces for recall later.

What you’re doing is so much simpler than people who insist on calling memory techniques for language learning difficult fail to understand:

You’re simply having a conversation with sound and meaning in your mind. But if your mind is an unwelcoming dungeon filled with torturous tools of negativity …

… Of course all the vocabulary and phrases you want to remember runs away fearful and screaming!

Instead, show the language you want to learn love and appreciation. Create an environment it actually wants to stick around and enjoy living in.

Bonus: One of the best ways to make new words and phrases feel welcome in your mind is to use them promptly.

Seriously. A huge secret of memory success is just to get the words and phrases you use into operation immediately.

Oh, and drink water. Dehydrated brains shrink. The smaller your brain, the less room for vocabulary and phrases.

 

5. The Lie That Leads To Lack Of Gratitude

 

This next point might sound a bit crazy, but I believe it to be 100% true:

People privileged enough to even think about learning a language are rarely thankful about the privileges they have.

Seriously.

All the whining and crying out there about the difficulties of learning a language makes me want to puke. Most of us should be on our hands and knees thanking our lucky stars that we even have the opportunity to learn anything.

And please do not waste any time feeling offended if you think I’m pointing my finger at you. Believe me, I sometimes get whiny myself about the difficulties in life. We all do.

But the difference between those who make progress and those who get stuck in a rut comes down to the simple ability to recognize when you’re feeling sorry for yourself.

And then pick up your chin and move on.

But the question remains:

How so you show that you’re grateful for learning a language?

One way is to write about it every day in your gratitude journal.

That’s what I do.

Every morning, I acknowledge at least 10 things I’m grateful for, sometimes more. And everyday, I acknowledge that I’m grateful for my progress with Chinese and the maintenance of my German.

When I get a chance to speak any other language I’ve learned something from – or even just remember a language learning experience – I jot that down too.

Showing gratitude is simple, easy and fast. And if you don’t think it will make a difference …

Go ahead and try to prove me wrong. I admire your skepticism and can’t wait to hear what happens when you apply sincere gratitude practice to your language learning activities.

Bonus: You can easily complete your daily gratitude exercise when you use The Freedom Journal for language learning. It’s an exceptional tool for breaking everything down into 10-day sprints, so make sure you’ve got one on your side in support of your language learning goals.

 

Magnetic Conclusion

 

Be bold and outrageous when learning a language. So many failures come down to the simple fact that people bore themselves to death.

Worse, they hypnotize themselves with negative messages and don’t prepare their minds for success.

Sadly, that’s the status quo. That’s what passes as “normal.”

But this sad portrait of normalcy and language learning destitution doesn’t have to be you!

Instead of being busy, make time …

Instead of feeling helpless and piling on more useless tools, recognize that you already have more than you need …

Instead of choosing lackluster phrases and vocabulary …

 

Sex Things Up!

 

Instead of forcing the language into a hostile jungle of negativity, welcome the language into a well-rested and well-cared for brain …

Instead of griping and moaning about how tough everything is,be grateful that you have the opportunity to learn in the first place.

And above all, recognize that you’re on a journey. You’re playing the long game. You’re in it to experience amazing returns on your investments and wonderful adventures.

But nothing’s going to happen if you let these 5 barriers hold you back.

So what do you say? Are you ready to drop the dark chains holding you down and release the language learning force within you?

I hope so, because time sure is ticking. And none of us know how much we’ve got left, so it’s important to seek the fulfillment of fluency with all engines blazing.

Are you with me?

The post 5 Lies You Use To Hypnotize Yourself That You Can’t Learn A Language appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 5_Lies_You_Use_To_Hypnotize_Yourself_That_You_Cant_Learn_A_Language.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 6:55pm EDT

Image of hands raising to illustrate a point about focus and concentrationDo you ever go hunting for music you can use to increase your focus and concentration?

I sure have. But over the years, I’ve experienced diminishing returns.

That got me wondering about what benefits it ever had in the first place.

So here’s an idea that might help you stop wasting time and energy on the hunt for external cures that promise to increase your focus.

Start by watching this video:

Now then … Why is all this business about concentration so important?

Here’s a wake-up call:

The problem with finding music and apps and other gadgets to help improve your focus and concentration is this:

Those efforts will always fail.

Why?

Because they never address the core problem.

And the reason you can’t focus and concentrate is simple:

Your Concentration Muscles Are Weak And Pathetic!

 

Trust me. I’ve been there. I’ve felt both sides of the coin while learning how to improve focus and concentration.

I’ve gone through periods where my concentration was so poor I couldn’t finish a single sentence in a book.

And this lack of concentration and the ongoing need to improve focus caused me a lot of pain.

For one thing, I almost dropped out of my Ph.D. program.

Imagine that!

Spending all those years of your life and thousands upon thousands in tuition …

… only to find yourself in a concentration rut.

Well, there’s a way out.

And the first step on that journey to freedom from poor concentration starts with saying Yes! to the alternative. And that involves nothing more than getting your ego out of the picture.

 

Laser Sharp Concentration Begins With A Little Death

 

Do I have your attention yet?

I hope so, because death is no laughing matter.

But here’s the thing:

If you’re willing to sit and meditate, you’ll be engaging in the most profound activity invented by humanity (next to memory techniques):

 

You’ll Be Murdering Your Ego!

 

And that, my Magnetic friend, is a wonderful thing.

Because every goal and desire you haven’t achieved is likely being held hostage by your ego.

It sounds crazy, but true.

So much of the focus and concentration we need to get things done flees from us due to simple biology.

You see, your brain conserves energy as much as possible.

Sure, some people are lazy and unmotivated.

But most of us struggle to focus and get things done because we have a brain telling us that it’s okay to be lazy and slothful.

And the worse thing is …

 

Your Lazy Brain Isn’t Necessarily Wrong!

 

Because here’s the thing:

Way back when we lived on the savanna, our brains learned to conserve energy. At least, that’s one historical interpretation of the anthropological data.

Seriously.

Whereas some people prefer to fantasize about early humans as big bulky caveman conquering the world …

… it’s more likely that we were weaklings hiding in the shade of trees most of the time.

What were we doing there?

Two things:

1) Conserving energy

2) Waiting for better predators to kill animals and leave their carcasses behind so we could scavenge the remains.

Sounds like a bleak interpretation of history, doesn’t it?

 

Not If You Let This Simple Fact Of Nature Empower You!

 

When you realize that it’s very likely humans evolved to conserve energy. That means to also limit spending it. And when you realize this, all that laziness suddenly makes sense.

When things make sense, you can start to engineer change on the basis of some solid understanding.

That’s important because for many of us, we simply can’t learn without knowing why we are the way we are and having some context around it.

So there you have it: You’re forgiven for being lazy. It’s in your genes.

 

No Ego, No Enemy

 

But what does all this have to do with the ego?

This is important:

As human psychology developed, language and stories arrived on the scene.

And that meant chatter.

A lot of which takes place in your mind.

Self-talk about the past, mostly inaccurate descriptions and alternative versions of the present, memories of the past …

It just goes on and on.

And it’s the constant talk that makes focus and concentration difficult to achieve.

Because now instead of conserving energy …

 

You’re Spending The Lifeblood Of Your Brain On Nothing!

 

But when you meditate, you create an escape hatch.

And you can make it bigger and bigger in a relatively short period of time.

Not only that, but you can approach higher levels of “awakening.” These are really cool because you understand …

Oh Wow! I’m Free From All That Floating Junk!

 

And that leads to something extraordinary:

You realize that you’re concentrating at a higher level.

Your focus is sharper.
You’re on fire for the present moment and letting it burn you up in all its glory.

 

How An Unusual Way Of Counting From 1 – 10
Will Increase Your Focus 100x … Or More!

 

Listen:

You don’t have to take my word for the bold claims I’m making. There is so much scientific research backing this up that you could build a new planet from it.

But like a lot of science, all the evidence in the world sometimes fails to make people budge in the right direction. Take the struggle to stop smoking, for example.

In any case, when you meditate at least 4 days a week as recommended here (daily is better), you’ll find that your memory improves automatically. And it’s directly correlated with improvements in your focus and concentration.

Then try this:

As you sit and meditate, count from one to ten.

But instead of doing a straight-up count from one to ten …

Skip the even numbers. Repress them in your mind.

 

The Incontestable Truth About Red Cats

 

Have you ever heard of that question they teach new hypnotists?

It goes like this:

Don’t think of a red cat.

And, of course, it’s nearly impossible to hear that phrase without negating the word “don’t” and thinking of the thing you’re not supposed to think about.

Well, that’s what’s so odd about meditating and counting from one to ten but repressing the even numbers.

You’ll find at first that it’s very difficult to complete this simple exercise.

And that’s because it’s not so simple.

Just as it’s difficult not to think of a red cat when someone commands you not to do so, it’s really hard not to think of the numbers two, four, six and eight when you’re counting to ten.

This simple exercise, when practiced over time into the double and even triple digits, will improve your concentration significantly.

Why?

Cross-Fit Training For Your Mind Never Felt So Good

 

Because you’re basically giving your brain a few kinds of exercise at the same time.

First, you’re focusing on the present activity in a state of stillness. You’re practicing the concentration of governing the body.

Then, in counting, you’re practicing concentrating on tracking a behavior and accurately completing a task.

Finally, in doing all these things, you’re also monitoring your ability to repress things that you don’t want to think about.

And so you’re developing the ability to shut distractions out of your mind.

Best part:

 

You Can Use Your Newfound Focus And
Concentration To Use Memory Techniques Better

 

Seriously.

We’re living in an age where people are so worried about the future.

Unemployment runs rampant and an entire generation raised solely on the Internet is running around with brains destroyed by Digital Amnesia.

The solution?

Sit just to sit.

Count from one to ten.

Learn memory techniques.

Apply them to learning a new language.

Do things that are good for your brain so that you can eliminate any and all fear you may have about the future.

No, the things you need will never come pouring out of the sky.

But the power to manifest everything you dream of rests firmly in your mind.

If only you could concentrate.

Now you know how to make your concentration muscles super-strong.

And it hardly requires any heavy lifting.

Now isn’t that cool? 🙂

The post The Ultimate Concentration Combo For Memory Improvement appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: The_Ultimate_Concentration_Exercise_Combo_For_Memory_Improvement.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:49am EDT

Anthony Metivier using his re-reading strategy in DenmarkHave you ever heard the phrase, “writing is re-writing”?

It’s an important principle for people learning to write.

Why?

Because there’s a destructive fantasy going around:

The fantasy that the first draft is good enough.

The truth:

 

The First Draft Usually Stinks!

 

It needs revision. Often lots of it.

Believe it or not, it’s the same thing with reading books.

Yes, you can use the Magnetic Memory Method to memorize a textbook. It’s an incredible skill to have.

But often enough … one read just doesn’t cut it.

And there are reasons why. Here are 11 of them.

 

#1: Context Is King

 

Get this:

Once upon a time, I could only afford to take one course at university. I had to work three jobs just to afford the tuition!

Looked at ironically, I was lucky I could afford to take just one course.

Why?

Because all those jobs left me with time enough to complete the reading requirements of only the one course!

All joking aside, I read Plato’s Republic that year while walking up and down the hill to the university. It was all the time I had.

But it was fitting because many of the dialogues that make up The Republic take place outdoors. And although it’s Aristotle who belongs more closely to the Peripatetic School of philosophy, walking around is … walking around.

And because I’m a diligent reader who enjoys the slower process of MMM Bibliomancy as taught in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterplan or briefly here, I let the books I need to read absorb me based on the context of reading.

The second time I read The Republic was as a professor living in Saarbrücken, Germany. This time I read The Republic as an audiobook, also while walking up and down a hill.

Book cover of The Republic by Plato

But even though the mechanical operation of walking from place to place was the same, I was reading The Republic this time as an educator, not a student.

And instead of reading The Republic in the context of other philosophers (like St. Augustine and Hobbes), I was re-reading it during a period when I was dialed deep into Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dyer.

Context changes everything and that means the same book was actually very different.

The result?

Context unlocked thoughts about its contents and “unhid” more interesting details to remember.

Alethia for unhiding is a fancy ancient Greek word you’re going to want to add to your collection, by the way. Keep it and context in mind as your go-to rereading strategy. You’ll be delighted by what happens!

 

#2: The Organic Source Of New Ideas Re-generates Itself

 

You know that many of your cells regenerate, right?

Not all of them, but enough that you can make the claim that we have a chronological age and a cellular age.

And if you wait long enough to re-read a book, you’re technically not the same the person as the first time you read the book. Sure, your heart, brain and bones are pretty much the same, but the rest?

A whole new you.

And that means completely new arms, hands and eyes that deliver the book to your brain.

Isn’t that exciting to think about?

 

#3: Why Something Most People Dread
Is Really The Icing On The Cake

 

Most people regret getting older.

I’ve never understood why, but I guess it’s because they don’t value the power of re-reading books.

Think about it:

As you age, you collect more Memory Palaces to help you remember information.

Plus, your pool of imagery and associations to use within a Memory Palace gets larger year after year.

And as you work with your memory, you discover so many resources set in stone that you never discover unless you’re re-reading books.

Put simply, age is a currency. It is traded on the strength of connections. The older you are, the more connections you make on autopilot and can engineer deliberately.

Better be doing some brain exercises, though. You’re always in danger of losing what you’re not using, after all …

#4: How Location, Location, Location
Will Save The Life Of Your Memory

 

Think about this:

When you re-read a book, you can enter a multi-dimensional time-zone portal.

For example, I’m about the re-read The Republic for the third time.

This upcoming re-read is inspired by a conversation I had on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast with Brad Zupp. We got deep into the weeds on matters of memory and philosophy in that one!

And as I re-read it, I can use Memory Palaces related to the university where I studied when I read The Republic for the first time.

Likewise, I can use Memory Palaces related to the university where I taught when I read it the second time with this rereading strategy. That will save me a ton of memory loss from stress.

And oh yes, you’d better believe I’ll be using Memory Palaces right here on the campus of QUT in Brisbane where I live to lock and load details I want to remember from my third read.

But without re-reading this monumental book from my past, all that Location, Location, Location juice goes untapped.

That would be tragic, sad and a complete waste of the constantly renewing cellular matter throughout my body.

What are you doing with your past, present and future untapped Memory Palace potential?

 

#5: Why You’re A Rookie If You Don’t Have Reason
Itself Working In Your Favor

 

I’m talking not just the force of reason as used by skeptics of memory, but also multiple reasons. Clearly defined reasons.

Back when I first read The Republic, the reason was simple:

I’d ponied up for a course in Political Science. In order to pass the course, I needed to read the book.

More than that, I wanted a degree. And I wanted knowledge and all the power and accomplishment it brings.

The second time around, I wanted a few more things.

First, I wanted the initial buzz of pleasure back.

I also needed confirmation that the book said the things I remembered it saying.

Plus, I had placed The Matrix on the syllabus of one of my Film Studies courses. I needed to at least re-read The Allegory of the Cave … so why not check in with the whole book?

And now, I want to revisit that earlier conversation with Brad Zupp and think more deeply about how The Republic relates to memory. After all my research and teaching in the field, I’m excited to see the book from a whole new perspective.

Plus, there’s the whole notion of Virtual Memory Palaces and making Memory Palaces based on movie locations and series. And it occurs to me that the Allegory of the Cave might be one of the best fantasy Memory Palaces one could borrow.

So I’ve got my reasons for re-reading intact. As I teach in the Masterplan, strategy is everything when it comes to improving your memory.

What could you re-read that revives old reasons and harnesses the power of new ones?

#7: What Wikipedia Can’t Tell You About Sequels,
Second Editions And New Translations

 

Yes, yes, I know you can blitz your way through books you’ve read before by checking out the summaries on Wikipedia.

And you know what?

There’s a place for that. I do it too and it’s a great enhancement of information.

In fact, I’ve already make my own little Wiki-adventure through and around a lot of The Republic and its many topics to set the stage for my re-reading.

But Wikipedia is not the territory. It’s not reading a new translations with a new introduction by a scholar with a different perspective.

And it’s not re-reading the book with all the benefits of new context, a new body and new reasons.

Only re-reading the book itself counts as re-reading the book. Until you dive in, you’ll never know the value. And if you’re satisfied with skimming … well, you’ll just have to see if you enjoy paying the price of not re-reading important books. Only time can tell.

 

#8: Old Books Often Have Better Answers Than The New

 

James Clear made the point a good while ago in his newsletter that new books don’t have the benefit of hindsight. Worse:

We simply don’t know which of those books hitting the shelves this week will stand the test of time.

Sadly though … we can make some solid predictions that most will be forgotten within a fortnight or sooner.

That’s why it’s worth not only reading the classics, but also re-reading them. There are reasons why some books just won’t go away and one read often isn’t enough to squeeze out all the value.

Plus, without romanticizing the past, we can say with certainty that life throughout history often offered challenges far harder than what most of us face.

Can we learn about how to better thrive in the face of our “First World Problems” by looking at how people dealt with war, plague and famine in the past?

You bet.

And a lot of those survivors were great literary stylists too. Many are worth re-reading just to dip back into the soul of their wit.

 

#9: How To Experience A Gold Rush Of
OMG! Moments Every Day Using A Rereading Strategy

 

You are studying a new language, right? Because you know how good it is for your health, don’t you? If not, here are 15 Reasons Why Learning A Language Is Good For Your Brain.

Well, re-reading books that you’re familiar with in the language you’re studying is a brilliant experience.

First, re-reading a book you already know in a foreign language helps reduce some cognitive load. You can settle back a bit more because you know in advance where things are going.

Second, you can zero in on features like dialog, descriptions and whatever area of the language you’d like to improve. And you can do it with some feeling of familiarity to guide how you focus your lens.

Finally, you get to “spy” on the thinking of that culture. Ezra Pound called this feature of a language its logopoeia. It’s the logical element of processing the world that is different than sound and imagery.

And in re-reading you get to experience the logopoeia of your mother tongue and the language you’re studying at the same time.

What an incredible treat to give your exercise-starved brain!

#10: Defeat The Shocking Ways That
Digital Amnesia Is Destroying Your Brain

 

A lot of people just accept it. Google and the other Kings and Queens of the Internet are slowly eroding your brain.

It’s called Digital Amnesia.

Sounds scary, right?

Don’t worry. There’s a simple way to defeat it.

It’s called a book.

A real book.

Paper. Ink. You and your body somewhere offline.

And if you make that book a re-read of a book from the past, you’re defeating Digital Amnesia because you’re giving your brain the opportunity to revisit information from the past offline.

And if you’ve read a book on your Kindle device or some other digital reader and feel like you forgot more than you’d like, then re-reading a physical copy is the perfect cure for that problem.

 

#11: How Simple Memory Improvement
Helps You Invent The Perfect Future

 

The last reason that re-reading books is so good for you is simple:

Since you first stumbled across this blog and the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, your memory is already better.

As a result, every book you re-read enters your head blessed with greater potential for being remembered.

All you have to do is use the techniques.

Good thing they’re so fun and easy.

And because you know how to connect information with locations and things you’re already familiar with, each and every day of life has the potential to improve your memory even more.

And re-reading books fuels the engine of memory by accessing the familiar in a new way and from a new angle.

You get to actively direct the future by harnessing the power of the past.

Best part:

It’s never too late to get started re-reading books that you enjoyed in the past!

So Let Me Ask You Something Personal …

 

What book are you most excited about re-reading next?

The post 11 Reasons You Should Reread At Least One Book Every Month appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 11_Reasons_You_Should_Reread_At_Least_One_Book_Every_Month.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 6:22am EDT

Go ahead and admit it.

You’re skeptical that memory techniques will work for you.

You might even be skeptical that memory techniques work at all.

I mean … those memory champions could be using mirrors or some kind of technology, right?

They’re absolutely not, but … who hasn’t given it a thought when you hear the incredible results of memory improvement training.

Hundreds of words!

Thousands of digits!

Countless decks of playing cards!

All under the pressure of time, cameras and competition.

Here’s the thing:

As scientifically proven as the memory techniques are …

 

Your Skepticism Is Good!

 

In fact …

It turns out that the more skeptical you are about memory techniques, the better they work!

And over the years, I’ve discovered 3 reasons why skeptics succeed with memory techniques better than anyone else.

Buckle in because if you’ve been sitting on the fence when it comes to using memory techniques …

… or if you’ve been suffering less than stellar results every time you give them a try …

The problem could be that you’re just not skeptical enough.

 

#1 Skeptics Are Ethical

 

Kind of a weird place to start, right?

But it’s true.

Because skeptics tend to follow, in one way or another, the laws of a universal rule:

The responsibility for demonstrating the validity of a claim falls on the person making the claim.

In other words:

If YOU say something outlandish like, “Memory techniques won’t work for me” …

AND you’re an ethical person …

YOU Will Do Something To Prove That You’re Right!

 

And that’s where the fun begins.

Why?

Because it’s almost impossible NOT to succeed with memory techniques if you’re ethical. And you have to be seriously getting in your own way to make failure even a remote possibility.

 

#2 Skepticism Comes Packed With Determination

 

People anxious to prove that they can’t use memory techniques bring truckloads of determination.

So much so that they’re able to quickly overcome the objections that people with only a passing interest in training their memory allow to disrupt them.

What are these objections?

  • I’m not creative …
  • I’m not visual …
  • I don’t have the energy …
  • It’s too hard …

… and a slew of other negative self-talkisms that no true skeptic would ever let stand in their way.

No, skeptics want badly to get at the truth. So they tackle the training with all the due diligence it deserves.

Aren’t you starting to wish that you were a skeptic too? 😉

 

#3 Skepticism Creates Multiple Levels Of Energy

 

Think about it this way:

The fact that the skeptic motors in with all guns blazing to prove that they can’t do it is one level of energy.

But then when they begin to see that they’re absolutely wrong …

A new energy appears.

The energy of total surprise and excitement from getting results! Because lo and behold, these skeptics discover … the memory techniques do perform with ease after all!

And when that second level of energy doubles back to the memory of their skepticism … it grows even bigger!

Why?

Because they’ve returned to their ethical core and accomplished something profound.

They didn’t sit around whining and crying about their doubt.

They went out and investigated.

They picked the purportedly miraculous skill apart and learned it in the process.

And, of course, to really learn memory techniques, you’ve got to also use them.

And when that happens …

 

You’re Hooked For Life!

 

Isn’t that exciting?

You bet it is.

Just like it was for Tom, who attended one of the live Magnetic Memory Method trainings I give around the world.

On this particular occasion … Guilin, China.

At the end of the second session, Tom came to me and exclaimed, “You changed my life!”

To be honest, that bold claim made me a bit skeptical!

So we chatted a bit and I understood he was sincere.

But it wasn’t until the third day that he told me just how skeptical he’d been.

Listening to me talk …

… even before he took action …

… the clarity that the Magnetic Memory Method brings to authentic memory improvement wasn’t opening his mind or melting his heart …

It was creating a plan of attack!

And even in the planning, Tom could see that …

 

He Would Fail To Prove That Memory Techniques Don’t Work!

 

Although … here’s the ugly truth.

It’s easy to repeat the good news that “memory techniques work.”

But that’s semantics.

The truth is that memory techniques don’t work.

Oh no.

Not at all.

It’s YOU who work the techniques. Never the other way around.

You don’t ask a skipping rope to fly in circles in the air, do you?

No! You pick it up and twirl it around your body as you jump up and down.

It’s not magic – it’s exercise!

And the benefits of doing so?

Immense!

But for some reason, many people expect to buy a memory improvement book or course and have some kind of otherworldly, spellbinding transformation.

Well … that’s not so far off the mark. If you work the memory techniques, you absolutely can experience an entrancing metamorphosis of memory ability most people only dream of!

But you’ve got to understand that all memory improvement begins and ends with picking up the tool and using it.

 

And That’s Why Tom Couldn’t Prove That Memory Techniques Don’t Work!

 

He was too determined to pick up the tool and use it to prove that the memory techniques don’t work.

But to do that …

He had to work the techniques!

And so the third day he returned to me and said again, “You changed my life!”

But this time it wasn’t just with the claim that I’d changed his life.

It was with a Magnetic Memory Method Memory Journal in tow.

All the instructions followed to the letter.

And let me tell you …

His first Memory Palace Looked Beautiful!

And on the page beside it, two columns of Chinese idioms.

Not simple vocabulary, but small, complex phrases.

 

And What Happened Next Didn’t Surprise Me In The Least!

 

You see, I’ve encountered many times before.

Not that it doesn’t give me a thrill each and every time.

Quite the opposite. As I listened to Tom recite 20 Chinese idioms off the top of his head, my heart exploded with pride, excitement and the absolute edification that comes with seeing yet another skeptic move over to the Magnetic side of the Force.

I’ve felt the same edification when using the Magnetic Memory Method to memorize Chinese poems.

But oh how Tom doubted!

And oh how he let his skepticism be his prime motivator.

Which leaves us now with possibly …

 

The Most Important Memory Improvement
Question In The Known And Unknown Universe!

 

If you’re not already a skeptic, but you’d like to have the energy of a skeptic so that you can finally get some results, how do you bring the power of positive skepticism into your life?

I’m so glad you asked because I’m unusually equipped to help you answer the question.

After all, back during my professor days, I taught a fourth year course in Critical Thinking for a couple semesters.

And now you can enjoy the broad strokes of that course in just a few minutes.

But be cautious:

 

What You’re About To Learn
Will Improve Your Entire Life

 

Skepticism begins simply.

It begins by inspecting information more closely than before.

Instead of glossing over everything all the time, peer between the lines.

Ask questions.

And think.

And ask you think and ask questions …

Ask more questions.

And go in with a particular attitude when you do:

Expect Specific Answers That Make Sense And Must Be True

 

So in the case of memory improvement, if a claim doesn’t seem quite right (which is often the case in information about memory supplements), go to the source and ask pointed questions.

Expect real answers and don’t be satisfied until you get them.

But please understand that when it comes to memory improvement training, it’s something you learn by doing. So you need to know the difference between inbound questions and outbound questions.

And it’s usually more appropriate in this case questions like:

  • Have I learned to create a well-formed Memory Palace?
  • Have I used a Memory Palace that I created according to the best guidance I can find?
  • Have I used information that will make my life instantly better (like 20 Chinese idioms) instead of practicing with a useless shopping list?

Questions like these cut to the core of the matter and what you’ll find is that the most powerful skepticism for our purposes today are skepticism not of the techniques. We’re talking about skepticism of what you’re doing with the techniques.

And when you get to this point, test the facts against your own experience.

Frequently.

And keep track of the results.

A Memory Journal is one of the best ways to do this and you will deserve massive congratulations.

Why?

Not merely because you’re now using memory techniques.

But because you’ve finally accomplished something truly special.

You’re now living a science-based life.

Because here’s what a skeptic really is (courtesy one of my favorite blogs, Science Based Life):

A skeptic is a person who withholds judgment on beliefs, claims, and topics, until the relevant evidence is examined, regardless of previous beliefs etc. Only under a verification of said evidence will a claim etc. be considered valid.

And notice that it is “withholding” judgment, not refusing to examine evidence.

And in this case, all the evidence you need is in the scientific journals.

It’s in the anecdotal descriptions and historical records going back thousands of years.

It’s in the annals of the World Memory Championships which recently celebrated 25 years. And there are many, many more competitions out there who also verify incredible feats under test conditions and track everything.

But there’s no place you need evidence more than inside your own head.

And the only way to get it there is to simple create a Memory Palace and use it.

You’ll need nothing more.

Except more skepticism.

Because every hurdle …

Every learning challenge you’ll ever face …

Benefits from the force and energy of skepticism.

And so all you need to do is ask the right questions and take responsibility for creating the evidence that will answer those questions.

 

So Now Let Me Ask You A Question:

 

Are you ready to start being a skeptic?

For the sake of your memory and the improvement of mental literacy around the world, I certainly hope so.

And if you’re not ready, let me know how I can help!

The post 3 Reasons Why Skeptics Succeed With Memory Techniques Better Than Anyone Else appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Hey, it happens.

We’ve all forgotten a name.

Where we left our keys.

Whether or not we locked the front door.

But there’s a difference between mild forgetfulness and more serious memory problems like memory loss.

And mild forgetfulness is particularly vicious because it can creep up on you. In fact, it could be biting up parts of your brain as we speak.

But it’s not the same as memory loss, which is what we really need to focus on curing.

And to help you out, here are five signs of serious memory loss problems you need to take seriously:

 

1. Asking The Same Questions Over And Over Again

 

This is a big warning sign that you have memory loss problems. You might even be suffering from one of the big memory loss diseases like Alzheimer’s or Dementia.

It’s not just that you’ve forgotten the answers to the questions.

You’ve even forgotten that you asked the question before.

If this happens to you or someone points out that you’ve been asking the same question multiple times, please get it checked out.

No shame in having the problem. Just something that needs attention.

 

2. Getting Lost In Well-Known Places

 

This problem can occur at any age. It’s not necessarily a sign of Alzheimer’s or dementia, either. It could be a sign of fatigue, dietary problems or thyroid issues.

But if you find yourself getting lost in places you’ve been in many times before (including your home), you know that it’s more than well-warranted to get yourself to the doctor.

 

3. Inability To Follow Directions

 

No, I’m not talking about rebellion.

I’m talking about literally not being able to understand and execute.

We all have this from time to time. Sometimes, the instructions are to blame.

But other times, it’s a sign of serious memory loss.

 

4. Experiencing Confusion About Time

 

It’s normal to forget the day of the week every once in awhile.

But if it becomes a common occurrence, you need to do something about it.

Not only that, but you can use a Memory Palace to help ensure that you always know what day of the week it is. Here’s how:

Look at the wall nearest your bed.

Imagine it has seven quadrants.

In each quadrant, place an image. For example:

Monday = the moon

Tuesday = a can of Tuna

Wednesday = a weathervane

Etc …

Having a mnemonic calendar like this will make the days of the week more memorable for you as such. But to know for sure, you can imagine crossing out a huge X over the can of tuna before going to bed on a Tuesday.

Or you can do something even more imaginative, like seeing it smashed by the weathervane that represents Wednesday.

In this way, when you wake up, you can think of what happened before you went to sleep on your mnemonic calendar. That will instantly remind you of the current day. And this works just as well for young people as it does for people coping with age related memory loss.

Having a mnemonic calendar is also one of many great brain exercises that will help you keep sharp.

 

5. Not Taking Care Of Yourself

 

Seriously. Some people forget to eat, bathe and otherwise take care of themselves.

I know this problem well from the periods when depression has crushed my memory so heavily my hygiene went down the drain.

It sucks and if it happens to you, get it checked out.

 

8 Simple Cures For Memory Loss And Forgetfulness

 

The good news is that people are winning the battle against memory loss and forgetfulness. Here are 8 things you can do starting today that will give you the upper edge in the battle against these critical memory problems.

 

1. Learn A New Skill

 

Seriously.

Juggling, piano, simple sketching. Anything you can find will help. I’m currently learning more about video production and photography while learning Chinese. The improvements to my memory are noticeable on a daily basis.

 

2. Volunteer

 

It could be at a school, community service office or church. It really doesn’t matter what, so long as it’s with other people and you genuinely feel happy about helping others. These kinds of experiences create powerful new memories that will last a lifetime while exercising your brain.

 

3. Spend More Time With Friends & Family

 

Be honest. You’re not getting enough face time with the people that matter. And it’s killing your memory.

Get out your calendar and cell phone now. Make the call. Book a time. Your memory will thank you for it.

 

4. Put Your Wallet, Keys & Glasses
In The Same Place Every Time

 

Look, I can teach you how to remember where you put objects in the house. But sometimes it’s good to give your memory some relief.

That’s why instead of imagining explosions every time you set your keys down, you can take the pressure off your memory by dedicating a spot for these easily lost items.

 

5. Get More Sleep

 

Easier said than done, to be sure, except …

It is easy if you set a computer curfew.

Seriously:

Shut the machine down at the same time every day. Read a book. Play a game. Get in bed. Rest your #memory.Click To Tweet

I like to spend about 5 minutes wandering a Memory Palace and sometimes exposing myself to something new before turning out the lights.

However, I read a study recently that older people get less memory consolidation than younger people during sleep. Nonetheless, the additional exposure to information can’t hurt – AND those studies are still relatively new.

Point being:

Get off the computer and get more sleep. It’s good for your brain and memory.

 

6. Exercise, Hydrate & Eat Well

 

There’s nothing that helps improve memory better than having a healthy brain sitting in a healthy body. There’s no doubt that walking, pushups and other forms of fitness provide great memory benefits.

And it’s a no-brainer that eating foods that improve memory like salmon, blueberries and walnuts are far better for your memory than pizza, chocolate bars and foods bursting with bizarre preservatives. Get rid of the junk and enjoy memory friendly foods.

Drink tons of water too. Studies show that just a touch of dehydration shrinks your brain and harms your memory.

Who wants that?

7. Ditch The Booze

 

I haven’t touched alcohol for over a year now (except for a bit that touched my tongue by accident at a party).

I used to drink a fair amount, but in the last year, the benefits for my memory are really just the beginning.

Not drinking has contributed to losing a lot of weight and feeling better all around.

 

8. Get Help If You Feel Depressed

 

Not a lot of people know this, but even a mild depression can cause memory problems.

For that reason, don’t be shy or embarrassed to reach out for some help.

In fact, doing all of the above almost guarantees that you’ll never get depressed.

But wait! There are more cures for memory loss and forgetfulness. Introducing …

 

Why Do Memory Loss Problems Take Place To Begin With

 

Now, before we get started, you might be asking yourself …

Why do these memory loss problems take place in the first place?

Lots of reasons. It could be that you’re reacting to a new medicine – or an old one that has started compounding elements in your body.

Seasonal or contextual depression might be in play.

You might be lacking certain vitamins and minerals in your diet.

Perhaps you’ve had too much alcohol.

Blood clots or tumors might be growing in your brain from a health issue or injury.

Or other parts of your body might be affected.

 

The Ultimate Cure For Memory Loss & Forgetfulness

 

For most of us, we’re fit enough that we don’t have to worry that our health is affecting our memory.

We don’t suffer from Alzheimer’s.

There are no vascular issues causing dementia.

We’re not boozing or vitamin deficient.

So why then do we struggle with our memory abilities?

 

The Answer Is Simple

Lack of memory exercise.

Yes, it is a must to see a doctor if you have any of the memory problems I’ve listed above.

But if it’s just general lack of memory ability we’re talking about, then I’ve got just what the doctor ordered.

The Magnetic Memory Method doctor, that is.

I do hold a Ph.D., after all. Although I am making no medical recommendations of any kind, I can tell you this:

Nothing has boosted my mood more than using memory techniques and experiencing the raw power of recall.

Seriously.

This morning my wife woke me up with a simple request:

To sing a Chinese poem she’d taught me.

Which one? I asked.

Yes, I’ve memorized more than one.

Quickly.

Efficiently.

In ways that make me happy. Boost my confidence. Are ridiculously fun.

In fact …

It’s Impossible To Be Depressed When Using Your Memory!

 

So if you’d like to experience the cure for memory loss and forgetfulness yourself, I urge you to scroll up and enroll in my free memory improvement course.

You’ll learn the best way to use create and use a Memory Palace. Having one of these easy to make memory tools will let you learn, remember and recall anything.

And it’s the ultimate memory improvement exercise, especially since I teach you exactly how to make sure that you’re memorizing the information that matters in your life.

Then again, you probably already know exactly what would make a huge difference if you could remember it now, don’t you?

Either way, giddy up and sign up for my FREE memory improvement course now.

Enjoy and until we speak again …

Keep yourself Magnetic! 🙂

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier

The post The Most Important Difference Between Memory Loss And Forgetfulness In The World appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Ever hear that crazy phrase, “knowledge is power”?

Sounds kind of cool, right? But have you ever asked yourself …

 

What The Heck Does That Silly Cliche Mean?

 

Well, “power,” it turns out, is an interesting concept. Especially when it comes to memory and memory improvement.

To begin, understand this:

People have defined it thousands of different ways throughout history.

Ever since I discovered it in university, I’ve always liked Michel Foucault’s definition. He’s a philosopher who you should check out sometime.

Don’t worry if you think philosophy is boring. Foucault didn’t dally around. He gets right down to defining it in many books. For Foucault, power amounts to “the ability to conduct the conduct of others.”

Now, let’s be honest:

 

Who In Their Right Mind Wouldn’t Want A Taste Of That?

 

And let’s be clear:

When it comes to memory improvement and using memory techniques as a way of life, that’s what we going for:

Power. Exactly as Michel Foucault defined.

Why?

Because if you’re using memory techniques to help you learn a language, guess what?

Speaking a language “controls” what others think. Just like my words are controlling what you think now.

Controlling what you’re thinking, feeling, deciding to do next.

And more than that …

 

Power Is Productive

 

It produces the next action in line.

When it comes to the power that using memory techniques creates, think of it this way:

If you’re using memory techniques for numbers so that you can quote SKU numbers at work or cite aspects of the law, you’re instantly better at controlling how your colleagues work with you.

Pretty neat, huh?

Well, hold on now, because it gets even better.

Because there are a lot of things about memory you probably don’t know.

And all of them will give you more power.

Which equals more control.

Particularly over the most important person in your life you need better control over.

You.

So with all that in mind, let’s get started:

1. Memory Loss Starts At A Much
Younger Age Than Most People Think

 

Sad, but true.

We have this image that memory loss starts when you’re forty or older. Worse, we project the idea that struggles with memory belong to the elderly or people with Alzheimer’s.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Long before the age of digital amnesia, scientists knew that memory struggles begin already in our mid-20s, if not earlier.

And the more people relegate their memory activities to smartphones and computers, the more younger people start experiencing memory problems.

Don’t Blame The Machines For Everything!

 

Of course, we can’t just blame the machines or the questionable fact that they don’t teach learning and memory techniques in schools. (They do.)

This is what’s more important:

We’re exposing young people to information they don’t care about.

Want to help the young person in your life learn how to discover exactly what they care about to help guide their studies? Make sure you listen to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast for the link to the listener only audiobook, The Ultimate Memory Improvement Secret.

I promise. That book will help.

And then giddy up on improving your memory. No matter how young and spry you think you are now, memory loss is always around the corner.

 

2. You Change Your Memories Every Time You Remember Them

 

I love that scene from Lost Highway.

For two reasons:

A) It exposes a fundamental truth about human behavior.

B) The whole movie is about how memories change merely by recalling them.

And it’s true.

Every time you remember something, you’re engaging in an exchange of chemicals.

You know this, right? Your mind is produced by your brain: soft, squishy material made up of all kinds of nutrients and acids.

The kind of stuff that aliens probably love to eat. 😉

And in that pool of chemical substances, sit your memories. Your memories are part of that stuff, not different from it.

Every time you access one of them, it’s like putting bread into a toaster.

Chemical change.

And, as you know, bread that has been toasted ain’t never going back to being bread again. It’s different now, and different it shall remain.

 

3. Your Memory Is More Like A Neighborhood Than A Computer

 

Not only are your memories made of physical material, they are also dispersed like multiple spheres in a pinball machine.

Think of it the way Gary Small suggested when I interviewed him on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

He explains that the computer metaphor for the human brain and memory is false.

Instead, your brain is like a series of neighborhoods, bigger and more complex than the biggest cities of the world.

And every time new information enters your “memory city,” it doesn’t book a room in a hotel someplace and wait patiently to be called for a business meeting when you need it.

Instead, the information is broken up and sent into many different homes in many different neighborhoods.

 

The Businessmen Your Memory Slices And Dices Everyday

 

Think of it like this:

Say that you learn a German phrase like, “Ich möchte mir etwas kaufen, aber ich weiß nicht was.” (I want to buy myself something, but I don’t know what.)

If that phrase was a businessman, your memory wouldn’t store him altogether in the same place.

Instead, it would take his hat and put it in one home in one neighborhood of your memory.

Then, in an entirely different neighborhood, your memory would deposit his briefcase. And that neighborhood might be just around the bend, or it might be hundreds of thousands of miles away.

And the division keeps going, taking each arm of the businessman to a unique location. It might even be the case that each individual toe goes to its own home in a variety of different neighborhoods.

 

Sounds Complex, Doesn’t It?

 

Well, that’s the miracle and challenge of memory. Next time you struggle to recall something because you’re missing a part (like a last name when you have the first name), understand that this is why:

Your memory stored the first and last name, just not necessarily in the same neighborhood of your “memory city.”

And this is why memory techniques are so fantastic, especially for remembering a lot of names at events:

When you use a Memory Palace, and particularly the Magnetic Memory Method, you’re rigging the game in your favor.

You are literally requesting that your mind store the information in a more compact way. You are creating connections that put you in control of information storage in ways that no computer can beat.

 

4. You Cash In On Your Memories Overnight

 

I know, I know, you’re tired of hearing about how important SLEEP DEFICIT page is for your memory.

I’m sorry. Get used to it. Nothing could be more important for your memory.

I’ve experienced a lot of sleep deficit over the past few years due to traveling the world in search of new Memory Palaces. I can tell you one thing:

Nothing hurts your memory more than exhaustion.

Why?

Because even with the most powerful memory techniques in the world, memory “consolidates” during sleep.

It seems to be related to the same way that we experience muscle growth during sleep. Work out all you want in the gym, but if you’re not putting in the snooze time, you’ll never see anything like the results you want.

 

Does Memory Consolidation Work If You’re Old?

 

Recent research shows that sleep consolidation might not be nearly as important for memory as an adult as it is for a younger person.

But in my own experiences as someone now in his forties, I can tell you that I still feel a huge difference. I’ve also done experiments with changing when I memorize Chinese vocabulary, and I do seem to have much stronger recall when I use the Magnetic Memory Method at night, rather than the morning.

Here’s the real kicker, though:

Practicing your memory first thing and before you go to bed.

WINNING!

5. Technology Can Augment Human Memory, But Also Harm It

 

Some of my friends think I’m a Luddite.

After all, I didn’t update my iPhone 4s until 2017. And even then I never used it as a phone anyway. It’s a computer for reading and writing.

All things told, all my devices are good for memory in certain contexts and I appreciate having them.

But we’re killing our memory abilities in so many ways. I talk about this a lot on my post about digital amnesia, so I’ll step off my soapbox for now.

Just please understand that we need balance in our life and that’s why vinyl records are so popular, not to mention physical journals (I recommend The Freedom Journal).

 

6. Repetition Can Be Fun

 

Most people don’t know this, but rote learning does have a fun button written into its code.

No, that’s a lie. Rote learning is always a crime against humanity.

If you have to repeat anything a zillion times or you’re bombing through flash cards without at least the assistance of some mnemonics, you’re doing it wrong.

No exposure to information should be without excitement. And every memory activity you engage in should CREATE energy, not CONSUME it.

Think of that the next time you repeat something mindlessly with the hope and the wish and the prayer that it will stick in your memory.

Remember: power is productive.

If rote learning and spaced-repetition software give you your jollies, rock on.

But if you’re sick of hammering your brain with same information and having it drain you of enthusiasm, get out into the real world and use a Memory Palace and the rest of the Magnetic Memory Method instead.

7. Human Memory (Probably) Has No Limits

 

People often think that their memory is like a sponge. If they bring in new information, they ask, won’t it squeeze the old stuff out?

The answer is no.

Memory is nothing like a sponge and there is no metaphor of “storage” or “absorption” that fits the bill.

It’s also important to understand that when we use the word “memory” we are mushing together all kinds of different memory?

There’s no way we can use them all up. And if you have a good Memory Palace technique by your side, here’s the thing:

You can ALWAYS find a building you’ve never been in before.

Get out your Memory Journal, make a quick sketch. Chart out your Magnetic Stations. And then use them to memorize some information.

Bang Presto.

It’s easy, fun and you don’t have to be a world traveler to do it. I’ll bet there are at least ten cafes and restaurants you haven’t been to in your city or town that would make glorious Memory Palaces.

You don’t even have to spend money in them to create your Memory Palaces. You could just go during off hours and tell them what you’re doing. Most will be okay with that.

If Not, Just Move On …

 

And if you don’t like restaurants or cafes, go to movie theaters. Go to libraries. Museums. Churches. Even well-structured parks can serve if you’re into outdoor Memory Palaces.

The point is to not trick yourself into thinking that you’re running out of Memory Palaces.

That can’t and won’t happen.

That’s called “Memory Palace Scarcity, ” and sadly it stops many people cold in their tracks.

Don’t let it happen to you.

 

8. You Probably Remember Less From
Ebooks Than Physical Books

 

I’ll bet you love Ebooks.

I know I sure do.

The problem is …

You’re much less likely to remember information you read digitally than from physical books.

Why is this? Well, you can check out the research for yourself, but I have a pet theory.

And the theory is more than the obvious points that information is “located” inside of books in a way that it cannot be inside a computer.

In other words, it is probably useful to your memory that you know on a conscious or subconscious level that a piece of information was 1/4 or 3/4 of the way into a book. The location of the information within the physical space of the book is a kind of memory hook.

You don’t get that feeling in an Ebook, even though devices like Kindle will show you a percentage to give you a sense of progress.

I also don’t think it’s just about the physical differences between holding a book and holding a digital reader. Those elements are important too, but far more critical it seems to me is this:

 

Your Brain Is Chemical

 

Your brain is chemical. Books are chemical. And computers are chemical too …

And yet somehow … I don’t know how to explain it. And I’m happy to be dead wrong, but I just think we are at a strange remove from “digital ink” that doesn’t exist when you’ve got a book in your hand.

It may have to do with presence. The best way I can think of to explain it is to relate books to vinyl records. Check out this cool video from Vinyl Eyezz to expand your thinking on the matter. Then go buy something physical.

 

 

9. Memories Can Be Manufactured

 

Just as each memory transforms ever time you recall it, you can be compelled to create memories that never happened.

There are a lot of angles to this problem, some of which fall under the title of false memory syndrome.

But I think it’s more complex than that – and quite possibly sinister. For example, look at this seemingly innocent manufacturing of memory regarding a hot air balloon experience:

Then imagine that the cops have accused you of committing a murder.

Scary stuff, right?

Well, now that you know about this problem, you can fend off any threats that might emerge around it in your life.

And the best thing for it is to train your memory so that you’re starting off strong in the first place if trouble ever arises.

10. The First Memory Palace Probably
Comes From The Buddha, Not Ancient Greece

 

I love the story of Simonides of Ceos. It not only demonstrates just how easy it is to remember stories, but the story itself contains all the traits of what makes a story memorable.

But here’s the thing:

The idea of “location-based mnemonics,” (the sexier, but more accurate term for the Memory Palace technique) predates Simonides by a long time.

For example, many yogic and Buddhist rituals involved using parts of temples to recall passages of rituals. You might imagine a bridge in one corner of the temple, for example, and a black dog in another.

Then, during your meditation, you would mentally “visit” these Magnetic stations in the temple Memory Palace and decode them as part of completing the meditation.

Sure, they didn’t call it a Memory Palace and probably didn’t think of it as a memory technique.

But that’s what’s going on beyond a doubt. And the best part is that when you understand this relationship between space and memory, the role of churches of all stripes throughout history becomes much clearer.

Stations of the Cross, anyone?

 

11. Stories Filled With Emotion Are
The Easiest Information To Remember

 

Yesterday I ate a sandwich. It was good.

… not very memorable, is it?

Of course not.

But what if I told you that yesterday at 11:49 p.m., I was so ravenously hungry that a furious rage overtook me.

I hopped into a tank I stole from the local military and drove it through the wall of the nearest McDonald’s.

Then, with a wave of my magic wand, I made my mouth so big that I could fit all the food in the restaurant into my mouth.

I’m talking EVERYTHING. I vacuumed it in like I was the Hoover Vacuum King of Fast Food.

Then I burped a strawberry vanilla-scented wind that put the police in a relaxed state so that they turned around and went to the nearest Buddhist temple to meditate about bridges and dogs.

Stupid story, I know, but it’s a heck of a lot more memorable.

Why? Because it’s got emotions in it:

The NEED of hunger.

The ANGER of irrational aggression.

The EXCITEMENT of magic.

The WEIRDNESS of dream logic.

And all those elements mixed together make bland information much more memorable.

Go ahead and try it.

Pump a reminder into your phone for later today: What was Anthony’s story at the end of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast?

Take a moment to jot it down.

Then come back and compare notes.

I’ll bet your 85-99% accurate in your recall.

Here’s What’s Even Better:

 

You can apply that same, emotion-based zaniness to even the most deadly boring information in the world.

And so long as you know how to create a Memory Palace and use Magnetic Imagery to encode and decode the information through the Recall Rehearsal process …

Power! Sheer power!

And power in the positive senses we’ve been talking about.

So listen …

There’s no need to struggle with bad memory anymore. In fact, no one has a bad memory. People who suffer from forgetfulness just don’t know enough about the miracle of memory.

But now you do and the future is wide open and bright for more discovery about your memory and your mind.

Get out there and have fun and until next time … Keep yourself Magnetic! 🙂

The post 11 Empowering Things About Memory You Probably Do Not Know appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 11_Empowering_Things_About_Memory_You_Probably_Do_Not_Know.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 6:38pm EDT

Guest post and podcast narration by Lukas Van Vyve.

Have you ever wished you had the ability to memorize information in real time?

Believe it or not, you can. Interpreters do it all the time. They listen, understand, memorize, translate and speak – all at the same time.

Impressive, right?

Conference interpreting is certainly not for the faint-hearted.

In fact, research shows that conference interpreting is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. One study put the stress levels experienced during interpreting on about the same level as those of an air traffic controller! Go figure.

 

How To Succeed In Conference Interpreting
Without All The Stress

 

However, people who wind up with great conference interpreting jobs were not born with these skills: they developed their abilities by learning and practicing specific techniques. If you’d like to do the same, pay attention because I’m about to show you exactly how it works.

 

1. How One Simple Test Will Strengthen
Your Memory And Boost Your Fluency

 

Here’s the single most important thing you can learn from conference interpreters:

They focus a lot on flexibility.

You see, no matter how good your memory is or how many words you know, sometimes you’re going to forget something or wind up stuck looking for words. It even happens in your mother tongue!

Interpreters know that if you want to boost your fluency, you need the flexibility to retrieve at least something to say from your memory in every situation.

The good news: this ability to remember is something that can be trained! Even better, if you’re already a conference interpreter, you can continue learning and potential boost your conference interpreting salary!

 

How To Hear The Future As A
Conference Interpreter Before It Happens

 

One way interpreters go about this is by making it a habit to guess what a speaker is going to say next. That buys them time to think of a good translation. Now you know why your interpreter friends are always finishing your sentences!

As annoying as that habit might be, exercises in which you anticipate words might be the key to increasing your flexibility.

The most important exercise used by interpreters to train this skill is the cloze test. This exercise is fantastic, and I use it all the time.

How To Close In On The Cloze Test
For Maximum Memory Results 

 

So how does the cloze test work? You get a sentence with certain words blanked out. It’s your job to fill in the blanks with an appropriate word (or word group). That word can be anything, as long as the sentence makes sense and is grammatically correct. An example:

David wants to ____ a table for 5 tonight.

Answers:

David wants to book a table for 5 tonight.

David wants to reserve a table for 5 tonight.

David wants to make a reservation for a table for 5 tonight.

David wants to make a call to the restaurant for a table for 5 tonight.

David wants to ask if you’ve booked a table for 5 tonight.

… and so on …

You get the point.

Try to come up with as many appropriate answers as possible. The more you can find, the more flexible you are in speaking a language!

 

The Truth About What Really Improves Your Fluency

 

Here’s another reason I really like this exercise:

It builds flexibility by teaching you how to take advantage of context. In this regard, it relies a lot on your association powers. The better certain language patterns and structures are ingrained in your brain, the easier words to fill in will come to mind. That translates to improved fluency.

However, there’s more. What really makes the cloze test stand out for me is that it shows how context can be a mnemonic for learning words or expressions!

 

Context: The Ultimate Conference Interpreting Equipment
That Sits In Your Awareness (Priceless!)

 

To give you a basic example: whenever someone says “Thank you” to me, I’ll immediately, without even thinking about it, respond “You’re welcome!” Just hearing these words triggers my memory and gives me the appropriate response.

The association between those two phrases became so strong that they act as a mnemonic for each other.

If you’d like to take advantage of the cloze test to memorize vocabulary and use context as a mnemonic, I found that the easiest way to do that is by making flashcards (physically, or use an app like Anki (link)). Here are the steps:

1. Make a flashcard with sentences in the language you’re learning.
2. Blank out the words you want to memorize and add them at the back of the flashcard.
3. Review your flashcards and try to guess which word would fit in the sentence. Try to experience the situation described in the sentence as vividly as possible! Read it out loud, visualize it, feel it.
4. Every time you review the flashcard, the connection between the context and the word you’re learning will become stronger!

My experience is that learning vocabulary this way works wonders. Incorporate this in your language learning routine, and you’ll start seeing the benefits in no time.

2. Flexibility 2.0:
How These 4 Improvisation Techniques
Help Conference Interpreters Remember Translations

 

Ever started a sentence in a language you’re learning and gotten completely stuck because you couldn’t think of a certain word? You go blank, start stuttering. Maybe you even decide it’d be better to just shut up until you become more fluent.

Interpreters feel your pain. They’ll often hear words in a speech that they understand, but for which they don’t have a translation readily available. Shutting up because of a cognitive overload is no option, though: your audience is counting on you for an accurate translation!

Experienced interpreters have learned how to work around this and always remember a suitable translation. How? You guessed it: by working on their flexibility.

In this case, to increase flexibility, interpreters rely on improvisation. Let’s go through some of the tricks they use, that might come in handy for you as well!

• First of all, if you don’t know a word, just try to find a description with words you do know. For example, a ‘civil servant’ could be described as ‘someone who works for a state’s administration’.

• Second, you could also just use something opposite. Instead of a ‘civil servant’, you could say ‘someone who doesn’t work in the private sector’. Most of the time people will understand what you mean soon enough.

• Third, use a more general or more specific word. For example, if you can’t think of the word ‘car’ you could say ‘means of transport’ or ‘vehicle’. Or you could go more specific and say the brand of the car (‘Ferrari’).

• If nothing else works, assess how important the word really is to your story. If you want to say: ‘Yesterday, I went to the cinema by car. It was a great movie’, is ‘by car’ really important? If not, leave it out so you can continue the conversation.

There you go: 4 techniques to make sure you always remember an appropriate translation. Use them to never get stuck while speaking a foreign language!

 

Interpreter Memory Booster Bonus:

 

These techniques are extremely useful while learning vocabulary as well. Whenever you see a word, apply the techniques mentioned above. You’ll instantly make associations with synonyms, opposite words and examples which will make the words stick so much faster!

3. How Interpreters Use Their Memory to
Understand Words They’ve Never Even Heard Of Before

 

The previous point showed you how you could use improvisation if you understand the meaning a word but can’t remember the translation. Sometimes, though, you won’t even understand the word and have absolutely no clue about what it could mean.

So how do you react when you don’t understand a word during a conversation in a foreign language? Do you panic? Do you start looking so hard for the right translation that the rest of the conversation becomes background noise?

This isn’t an option when you’re interpreting. Your audience expects you to understand everything, and make them understand as well!

So what do you do? A good interpreter will stay calm, keep listening and try to make sense of the word. How? By using two things: context, and their memory.

But wait, that doesn’t make sense, right? How can your memory help you understand a word you’ve never even heard before?

It’s possible, if you’ve already built a strong memory connection in your mother tongue between the meaning of this word and some other words in the sentence.

 

Tap The Mind Of A Panic-Free Conference Interpreter

 

Let me explain by telling a story.

I once had to interpret a German speech that dealt with the salt concentration in the Adriatic Sea. The speaker kept talking about the cycle of ‘kondensieren’ and ‘verdunsten’. Now, kondensieren (condensate) is self-explanatory, but I’d never heard from ‘verdunsten’ before. The pressure was high: after a few minutes I had to interpret the speech and I had never heard from one of the keywords of the speech!

However, I stayed calm and relied on the memory connections I’d already made with the word ‘condensation’. In high school, I’d learned (in my mother tongue) about the cycle of condensation and … evaporation, of course! That was indeed the meaning of the word verdunsten. I was saved!

What’s the moral of the story here? Your brain is smart and capable of making connections, if you don’t panic, keep listening and try to understand the context.

Rely on the memory connections you’ve already made in your mother tongue. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t understand every single word in a speech or conversation. Just dive in and try to understand the bigger picture. More often than not, the meaning of that one word you don’t understand will become clear automatically!

 

4. Why Conference Interpreters Memorize Everything
They Read or Hear, And How That Makes Them More Fluent

 

First of all, a word of warning: students of interpretation are usually rather skeptical about this in the beginning. I was, and you might be too.

Please hear me out! It’s more logical than you think!

Ask any professor of interpretation what makes a good interpreter, and most of them will give you the same answer. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not amazing memory skills!

It’s not even perfect fluency in a foreign language.

The Most Important Thing About
Conference Interpreting In The World

 

There’s something more important: a broad general knowledge.

A good interpreter needs to be an excellent public speaker, in his mother tongue. Granted, he or she needs to understand a foreign language, but most of all he has to be able to explain things in his mother tongue in a coherent way, without making mistakes. For that, you need to have general knowledge and know a lot of words.

There are hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, and you can’t know them all. You don’t need to, either. Yet, working on your mother tongue and on your general knowledge will bring you so many benefits, not in the least when learning foreign languages.

We’re coming back to context here: the more knowledge of the world you have, the more you’ll understand in other languages as well. If you know a thing or two about a topic, you’ll only need to understand a couple of words from a conversation in a foreign language to know what it’s about.

I’ll give you an example: I’m in Italy right now and the country has just held a referendum on a constitutional change. It’s quite a big thing: everyone seems to be talking about it. I’m not a lawyer, but I read some articles on the referendum (in my mother tongue; my Italian isn’t that good yet) and memorized the basic facts.

Now, every time I hear an Italian say the word ‘referendum,’ I know what he’s talking about. There will be many words I don’t understand, but everything will make much more sense because I can rely on the information I’ve memorized before.

Interpreters are masters at this. They need to be versatile and ‘know a little about a lot’ because you’ll never know what the people you’re interpreting for will talk about. That’s why interpreters always keep learning to improve comprehension in any language. You should do so, too.

Oh, and if you feel like your general knowledge is lacking and you can’t remember basic facts, I’m sure Anthony has a cure for that 😉

5. How Conference Interpreters Mimic Others to
Improve Their Memory And Get An Amazing Accent

 

Interpretation puts enormous stress on the brain’s working capacity. After all, you’re listening to what a speaker has to say in a foreign language, trying to understand, translating and speaking in your mother tongue – all at the same time. Most new interpreting students – and most people in general – are not trained to do so many things simultaneously. The obvious result is a cognitive overload, and, quite often, miserable failure.

So how do you cope with that? Interpreters use a technique to learn how to listen and speak at the same time. If you’re into geeky language learning techniques, you might have heard of it already. It’s called shadowing.

What’s this all about? You listen to someone speaking and you immediately – with a couple of seconds of delay, that is – repeat what’s been said in the same language.

Doesn’t seem too difficult, does it? Well, give it a try: it’ll surprise you how even such an easy task can confuse you. Once you get the hang of it, though, you can start reaping the benefits.

How To Use Shadowing To Become
A Better Conference Interpreter

 

First of all, you’re improving your memory and focus. Shadowing will train you to listen and speak at the same time, and it will improve your short-term memory. That’s some excellent brain training you’re doing there.

Second, you can also use shadowing to familiarize yourself with a foreign language. In fact, this is the first exercise I use myself when I start learning a language. It gives me a huge advantage when it comes to pronunciation and listening skills.

If you want to try this exercise yourself, here are the steps:

1. Find a speech, podcast or other media in the language you’re learning. Take a slow one if you’re not that proficient yet! You could also slow down the video a bit with an app like Audacity.

2. Use headphones, but only in one ear: you want to hear yourself talk!

3. Play the audio and repeat immediately what’s being said. If you want to focus on pronunciation, stay as close to the speaker as possible. If you want to train your memory, you increase the delay to a couple of seconds.

4. That’s it! You’re listening and speaking at the same time. Now marvel at your brain’s capacities and see your memory and pronunciation improve.

Start with slow conversations or speeches (find language learning podcasts for example, or Youtube videos), and slowly work up your way toward materials at normal speed.

Then amaze native speakers with your flawless accent and listening comprehension.

One last piece of advice: do the exercise with audio only, so without reading a transcript at the same time. Using a transcript might be temping, but you really want to focus on memory and sounds only.

 

6. How Interpreters Use Memory Palaces
And Mnemonics to Memorize Speeches on The Spot

 

Nowadays, conferences mainly use simultaneous interpretation (with the interpreters sitting in a booth and instantly translating), and even consecutive interpretation (with the interpreter standing next to the speaker, translating after the speaker has finished) is usually only done in 5-10 minute chunks.

Back in the early days of the profession, though, the world’s best interpreters were interpreting speeches of 30-60 minutes long in one go.

Yes! Conference interpreters memorised speeches of more than 30 minutes, in one listening. Now those are some impressive memory skills!

Of course, these geniuses were no stranger to nifty memory techniques, including our beloved Memory Palace.

One of the founding fathers of conference interpreting, Kaminker, reportedly said the following about his memorization strategies:

Kaminker assigned each speech to a district of Antwerp that he could recall, in his mind’s eye, in all its topographical detail. He assigned each idea of the speech to a shop and thus by walking down the streets of his childhood he was able to recreate the speech. Check out the book ‘Naissance d’une profession’ for more info.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The famous polyglot Luca Lampariello, who studied translation and interpretation, talked about this at length during an interview on the Magnetic Memory Podcast as well (among other topics people interested in conference interpreting will want to discover.

Using Memory Palaces to learn a speech by heart is nothing new, of course. Even the famous Roman orator Cicero did it. Anthony and many others have talked about it as well.

Still, for, me, how interpreters do it is an inspiring showcase of the power of the Memory Palace. Mind you, these interpreters heard a speech only once, and that was enough to place it firmly in a Memory Palace and reproduce the full speech in another language immediately.

 

What About The Crazy Names Of People
And Conference Interpreting?

 

The same goes for remembering names, numbers and dates. If you struggle with those, imagine how much worse it would be in a foreign language, when instead of a John Johnson, a German name like Gerhard Düsediekerbäumer might show up. Or you interpret for a speaker that mentions a date in every other sentence.

Impossible? Of course not. Interpreters usually try to jot names, numbers and dates down during a speech, but you don’t always have the time. Moreover, many interpreter students seem to have difficulties with writing down figures, dates or percentages. And it’s not only forgetting: I even noticed that, even though I remembered the figures, I often remembered (and even wrote down) wrong ones!

One of the ways interpreters deal with this is just leaving out unimportant numbers. But hey, that’s not really professional, is it? A much better way to deal with this is using some basic memory techniques. After I started using mnemonics and the Major Method, I noticed a dramatic improvement in how well I remembered dates and figures.

I’ve connected each number to an image, and whenever I hear a number or date I just instantly connect the images. That way, when I’m interpreting after the speech, I will have the images in mind and will always remember the correct numbers!

The same goes for names: by using imagery (read and listen to Anthony’s teaching on remembering names at events here). it became much easier to remember difficult names.

 

7. How Interpreters Achieve Laser-Like Focus
& Instant Memorization by Listening The Right Way

 

I’ve saved this one for last, as it’s a bit more abstract than the other tips. Let me explain.

In the previous points, I’ve shown you how interpreters take advantage of improvisation, context, shadowing techniques, Memory Palaces and mnemnoicsThese skills will improve your concentration, but to achieve laser-like focus, you need more.

I, for one, often have difficulties paying full attention when someone speaks for longer than 5 minutes. I’m sure I’m not alone. When I’m interpreting, though, something changes. I think athletes would call it being ‘in the zone’. The beautiful thing? It’s actually possible to achieve this state, just by changing the way you listen.

 

The Core Secrets Of Analytic Listening For
Raw Conference Interpreting Power

 

First of all, you’ll need to learn to listen for ideas and for structure. In every sentence or paragraph, grasp the main idea (sometimes just one word) and you’ll be fine. Then go after the structure.

One of the first things you learn as an interpreter is to pay extreme attention to conjunctions (like AND, BUT, ALTHOUGH, HOWEVER,…). These mark events and twists in a text and are important for structure and for following the story.

Interpreters call this ‘analytic listening’. Write these structure words down along with one keyword per idea, and you’ll be amazed how much you remember after listening.

The Secrets Of Using Strong Imagery To
Make Even The Dullest Information Impossible To Forget

 

Second, you must make an extreme effort to imagine the speech you hear as vividly as possible. For me that includes mainly visualisation, others swear by auditory experiences or feelings. The more senses you use the better.

Anthony and other memory experts have been saying it for years:

To make ideas more memorable, exaggerate them to make them so absurd that you just can’t un-see them anymore.

Now, for interpreting, I find this a bit dangerous. After all, no matter the improvisation tricks you used to translate everything, you still need to convey the right message as the original speaker. When you start exaggerating or changing things in your mind, chances are you’re going to screw up and say things that are just wrong.

There’s another way, though. When I’m going to interpret a speech, I try to wonder all the time what’s going to happen, and I try to be genuinely surprised by the important facts. Yes, also if they’re super boring. Belgium’s GDP has increased by 0.2% last year?

Incredible! There was a local chess tournament yesterday, with 6 participants? What, chess, and 6 participants? I can’t believe it!

This works because you’re artificially adding emotion to what you’re hearing.

Good stories often use suspense and surprise to suck you in, right? And because you were so curious about what was going to happen next, you’re super focused and your brain absorbs everything you hear.

That’s why almost everyone can recount a fairytale like little red riding hood after hearing it only once.

This emotional connection is what you’re trying to emulate here. Getting in this state of curiosity makes your mind much more receptive and completely sucks you into a speech. When you’re in this state, you’ll get laser-like focus and memory so even the most boring facts will stick.

And emotions and story help with motivation when learning a language too.

 

Back To Basics?

 

So there you have it. 7 techniques that will give you conference interpreter superpowers and are all very applicable in everyday situations. Just try to incorporate some of the tips while learning languages, memorizing a speech or whenever you hear something you want to remember. You’ll never want to go back to a forgetful life again. Good luck, and let me know in the comments if these techniques were helpful to you!

Oh, and no matter where you’re at with your language learning journey, grab my Back to Basics guide now and learn how to set up or improve your language learning routine. You’ll also discover how to track your progress based on a clear overview of your goal language learning goals.

The post 7 Killer Memory Improvement Tips From The World Of Conference Interpreting appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


No question about learning and memory enters my inbox more often than than “why aren’t these memory techniques taught in schools?”

The question reeks of conspiracy.

It creates pictures of entire nations hoping to keep their children in ignorance so they will become mindless slaves working for the state.

But worse than all of that paranoia …

The question is …

 

Completely Irrelevant!

First off, memory techniques are taught in schools.

I recognize this simple fact even if once upon a time I dropped out without a high school degree (part one of this three-part series) and mercifully figured out what to go back to school for (part two).

How are memory techniques already used in schools?

How about the song we teach children to help them remember the alphabet? Its melody is a memory technique, loud and clear.

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge for music is a memory technique.

We have simple mnemonics for astronomy, art, math, biology, geography and chemistry.

Heck, just search Wikipedia for “list of mnemonics” and you’ll find more than you can shake a stick at.

But Are Simple Mnemonics Enough?

That’s the real question at hand.

Because the problem is that a lot of the images and word play you’ll find on that Wikipedia page are useless.

Worse than useless, they create a ton of overwhelm.

Why?

Because they don’t come with any understanding. They’re not loaded with strategy …

They Have No Method …

And that’s why the Magnetic Memory Method is such a roaring success.

No, not for everyone. Not everyone wants to learn how to think about memory. Many people want formulas, gimmicks and “systems.”

I’m sorry, but that’s not reality.

And it’s not what we do in the Magnetic Memory Method Family.

Far from it. Instead of pretending that there’s some kind of fix all system that will magically improve your memory for all things forever and ever amen …

We Break Memory Techniques Down To The Basics

 

And once that’s done, we understand the how, the why and the what.

So that it doesn’t hurt so much to learn. Here’s why you feel pain with learning, by the way (thanks to Miklós in the SuperLearner community for bringing it to our attention):

It’s even easier to stop the pain than the video suggests.

How so?

By making sure that you understand how to really get results from the techniques by aligning them with your real reasons for learning, remembering and recalling information.

It’s often not what it seems.

Because here’s the deal …

At the Magnetic Memory Method Headquarters, I strive to achieve just one thing:

Mastery.

Mastery over your memory.

Mastery over your concentration.

Mastery over the rate at which you learn.

Mastery over the pain of forgetfulness.

So That You Never Have To Feel That Pain Again!

But it’s not going to happen without study.

It’s not going to happen without effort.

It’s not going to happen without creating and using Memory Palaces.

Above all, it’s not going to happen without consistency of effort.

And that’s what’s so cool about the Magnetic Memory Method.

If you’ve been following the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, you’ve heard the stories of success. Just one for today:

These success stories with learning and memory techniques all boil down to one thing:

Learning the techniques.

Using the techniques.

Analyzing your results and then improving your abilities using them.

The best part?

I’ve had the chance to teach the Magnetic Memory Method to some of the finest students on the planet.

And guess what?

Success Leaves Clues

All of the most successful students share one thing in common.

They don’t wait around waiting for success to happen!

They invest in themselves.

They study the material they’ve invested in.

They take action.

They experiment, explore and when they’re done, they experiment and explore some more!

Having The Humility To Learn Is A Skill

What I’ve learned from all of the Magnetic Memory Method success stories is that everything begins with a decision.

It’s a decision to set aside time to learn.

To really learn.

I’ve done it myself. After years of success with my own memory and as a memory trainer, I went to learn from one of the best on the planet.

Not just to collect data and “spy” on the competition.

To Truly Learn

As a result, I’m better for it. In fact, I still buy books and courses from people. Some are from authors who help only a fraction of the audience the Magnetic Memory Method has gathered. Some are from towering figures who practically rule the memory world.

I’m talking about taking some courses that cost 4x the amount of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass and Mastermind combined.

Yes! Memory improvement courses that expensive really do exist!

The Best Always Invest In Themselves

Here’s the thing:

Even when you get to the top – which is incredibly rare – you still have to keep learning. And let’s not beat around the bush:

The ones who sail past the obstacles in life are the ones who are in motion to begin with.

Wouldn’t you like to be in motion?

Of course you would. You just need to get started with learning and memory techniques.

And the best part about them is that learning can be fun.

Seriously.

Learning how to learn doesn’t have to be the horrid and depressing playground of the school system where everyone winds up asking, “Why don’t they teach the most important skills in the world in school?”

Again, that isn’t the real question.

Let’s Ask The Really Important Questions
About Learning And Memory

The really important questions have to do with the quality of the memory techniques you study and the quality of the action YOU take.

And let’s face it:

The quality of your action comes down to the quality of the philosophy behind the education.

And my philosophy of learning and memory is that you need someone to teach you how to fish, not someone to do the fishing for you.

Are you in?

The post Why They Don’t Teach Learning And Memory Techniques In Schools appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Why_They_Dont_Teach_Learning_And_Memory_Techniques_In_Schools.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 10:54pm EDT

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

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Image of man frustrated by apps that don't provide good memory exerciseIt’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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Annoying, isn’t it?

You’re an attentive person and you care about people.

But no matter what, the names you encounter completely slip your mind.

And it happens in a flash. In one ear and out the other. Zap!

It’s not just the names of people either.

We’re talking about the names of:

  • Pets
  • People
  • Places
  • Months
  • Days
  • Holidays
  • Historical periods
  • Wars
  • Books
  • Vehicles
  • Events
  • Institutions

… and even adjectives derived from proper names.

 

The List Goes On And On!

 

The question is …

Why is information like this so darned difficult to remember?

Well, you’re in luck. Although some of the reasons may shock you, today you’re going to learn everything you need to know about exactly why proper names of all kinds of thing challenge your memory.

And as we go along, we’ll solve the problem so that names become much easier for you to remember.

 

Why The Meaning Of Names Fuels The Fire In Your Brain

 

At the most basic level, some names are easier to remember simply because they mean something as opposed to meaning nothing.

For example, The Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall are less challenging to remember than Ostkreuz and Shun Yi for most people because the names themselves come soaked in meaning.

But if you hit a name cold with no base line of familiarity … It slides out of your grip like sand.

Certain names also enter your memory at a younger age than others. Bugs Bunny, Marvin the Martian and Donald Duck all hold special favor in my memory because I’ve been encountering them for years.

But in the John Grisham novel I’m reading right now, I needed to deliberately go out of my way to remember the names of the characters. Names like Troy and Nate are so bland, there’s little for the mind to grab onto. Mnemonics to the rescue.

 

How Authors Trick Your Brain
Into Remembering Characters

 

Other novelists are good at making remember character names easy, however. I’m also reading Blank at the moment.

Author Matt Eaton uses names like Luckman. This naming strategy deliberately attaches meaning to the hero by reducing abstraction to a concrete signal that says this man has a relationship to luck. It tells your brain to look out for signs that confirm or disprove this, making the name instantly more memorable.

On the other hand, the meaning of names spikes in value when Maxine is subtly shifted to Max. This technique asks the reader to think about her name as an object and wonder if she abbreviates it because she’s fun and funky or to give her a masculine edge.

 

The Name-Letter Effect And Your
Brain’s Endless Name Meaning Search

 

The truth is that names usually have no meaning. And in the real world, there is no author in the sky using literary tricks to help you remember names or find meaning in them.

But that doesn’t stop your brain from seeking the meaning of names when you encounter them.

For example, Jozef Nuttin has demonstrated your brain finds the alphabet letters in your name more attractive than others. Now called the Name-Letter Effect, Nuttin’s discovery sheds light on why some people do better in school, gravitate towards certain cities and remember some names better than others.

In the main study, Nuttin presented students ranging from elementary school to university with letter pairs. Some were given random letters. Other subjects were given lists that more closely matched the letters in their names.

In either case, when asked to select the letters they preferred, all subjects showed a preference for letters that were in their own names. Although memory studies don’t all agree, it is possible that the Name-Letter Effect also explains why we remember some names better than others.

 

And It Seems To Appear In Just About Any Language!

 

Note that this effect does not appear to be language-specific. It has been tested in Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Other experimenters have tried it with other alphabets like cyrillic and done experiments to see if the effect persists into adulthood when people learn a foreign language that uses a different alphabet or character-set.

Also note that the Name Letter Effect might apply to numbers as well. Although I use the Major Method, I tend to find 2 and 7 easier than other numbers, and that advantage may reflect the fact that my birthday is overloaded with both of them.

 

Sound Has Its Own Sex And Success Appeal

 

There’s no doubt about it. Some names sound nicer than others.

And that appears to have a psychological effect. For example, if your name “sounds” like it belongs to a successful person, you may be motivated to fulfill the prophecy.

So one cool trick for remembering names a lot better you can explore is to always associate new information with successful people. This is why the Magnetic Memory Method teaches you to create lists of celebrities.

When you do this, you’re not just equipped with a “crib” of associations ready to go. You also have the success effect working in your favor.

 

How To Cut Through The Noise
And Remember Names Properly

 

One huge barrier to remembering names is noise. Sound can be crippling when it comes to remembering names. If you can’t hear it, you can’t guess how it’s spelled or properly pronounce it. And that means your brain can’t create proper pathways in the brain for remembering it.

In order to hear names better, you need to practice listening. You also need to monitor yourself for laziness and shyness.

For example, I have often made the fatal mistake of remembering names I didn’t hear correctly and then using memory techniques.

In combination with the Recency Effect, the Magnetic Memory Method is so powerful that the mistake can be impossible to shake. You wind up calling that person by the wrong name for the rest of the night.

The solution?

Ask people if you’ve got the pronunciation right. And then use your correct pronunciation to remember the name.

There’s no shame in asking and it buys you time to overcome some of the other things that make remembering names difficult.

But the ultimate barrier we all face is the lack of inherent meaning in most names.

 

Why Your Brain Always Drops The Ball Like A Bad Juggler

 

When you meet a new person, you’re not just meeting a name. You have the room around you, a face and all kinds body language and unconscious communication.

Plus, names rarely tell you what a person does. Someone being named “Baker,” for example, does not mean that they work as a baker. And if someone says they are named “Glirkzifal Mershkevork” and work as an architect, your brain is going to seize upon what it understands and skip over the information it has never encountered before.

Plus, your brain needs to store the name in a different area than it does the information about the Glirkzifal being an architect. The filtering happens due to something called “plausible phonology.” Even though you likely have never heard the name Mershkevork, your brain accomodates the idea that such a name exists.

(On the other hand, if someone says that they’re a mershkeverker, your brain will do a backflip trying to figure out if such an occupation exists.)

Given the split-processes and the fact that most names have no meaning, you’re in trouble. Unless you’re using memory techniques, you’re bound to drop the ball on the harder to remember information.

 

3 Language Features That Make
Names Easier To Remember

 

Luckily, there are some features and conventions of names and naming that make the meaning of names irrelevant. Understanding these will make a huge difference for your success.

1. Names are both acoustic and physiological.

In almost all cases, you have the opportunity to experience names both in your ears and using the muscles of your mouth. You can also see many names represented in writing on paper.

By simply taking time to notice the different perceptions you go through when encountering names, you’ll improve how you remember them.

2. Some names have “logogens.”

For example, I might say the name Jon.

As a listener of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, you might immediately think that I’m talking about Jonathan Levi. (His SuperLearner Academy free trial is still running, if you’re interested.)

The reason his name would come to mind is because Jon is a logogen within a context you understand.

But I could have said “John” and meant “John Wayne.”

The point is that most names have some kind of logogen in them. To take our friend “Glirkzifal Mershkevork” again, “ifal” and “kevork” are deliberately implanted logogens for real names like Percival and Kevorkian.

No matter what names you encounter, and no matter how difficult they may seem, you can always look for the logogens within them to help you make memorable associations.

3. Phonetic Symbolism.

The meaning of names is often found in sound. For example, approximately half of words that begin with “gl” words are visual in nature: glance, glitter, gleam, glow, glower, glimpse.

Likewise, many “fl” words are associated with light, such as flash, flare and flicker.

In fact, a 1929 study by Edward Sapir showed that there is some relationship between vowels and the meaning of words related to size, speed, brightness, pleasantness and disgust.

For example, listen to how the vowel /u/ helps convey meaning in these words: dull, blunder, clumsy, mucky, muddled, bunged up and bungled.

Many authors have noted the relationship between meaning and sound in naming characters, particularly Charles Dickens and the marketing departments of many companies. And, of course, any time you meet a person, you can use memory techniques to inject your own meaning into any sound. You just need to pay attention to how names sound in the first place.

 

Never Be Satisfied With Your Memory

 

The takeaways from all this doom and gloom about your memory?

You have options, even if the meaning of names is never apparent to you.

One of the biggest option is to simply start paying more attention to language, both sound and physiology. Take time to expose yourself to interesting names and words.

Be disciplined about this practice and extend it to looking at visual representations of names. There are entire branches of art devoted to representing words. For example, check out the Visual Poetry section at Ubu. You’ll find amazing pieces like this by b.p. nichol:

But It’s Always Okay To Make Mistakes

 

Even though we should never be satisfied with our memory, it’s important to understand that you never make errors with your memory. You only learn lessons about how it works and how to make it better.

But you need to take risks. And when you forget things, simply explain to people that you’re working on your memory. And tell them that’s it’s not just about your memory.

It’s about the health of your brain.

And that means it’s also about the quality of your life.

You do want a good life, don’t you?

The post The Real Meaning Of Names And Your Memory: Why You Find It Hard To Remember Proper Names appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Entrepreneurs need a ton of skills to achieve their goals.

And let’s face it:

The amount of material entrepreneurs need to learn can be downright discouraging. Just to stand a chance of “making it” requires so much know-how that a lot of people give up.

Here’s the good news:

You don’t have to give up on your entrepreneurial dreams.

You can learn and remember everything you need to know.

And you can recall it all with ease.

But as they say in the entrepreneurial world, a lot of success comes from first knowing your “why.” That’s why in this post I’m going to talk about the 5 biggest reasons entrepreneurs need memory techniques.

 

Don’t Discount Any Of These!

 

Each is important, and you’ll find that the Magnetic Memory Method covers each.

If you haven’t already taken the free course I’ve got for you, grab the memory kit by subscribing above and get ready for an amazing memory boost that will impressive the pants off you and everyone you know.

 

1. Not Being Able To Remember Numbers
May Be Causing More Lost Revenue
Than You Can Imagine

 

Numbers overload the average life lived in business:

Conversion rates

Tax percentages

Statistical formulas

Phone numbers

Identification codes

Dates and times

… and many, many more.

A huge part of the success of any entrepreneurial enterprise links directly with how well you can manage numbers like these. You can’t wring more profit out of numbers you haven’t remembered, after all. And you can’t even begin to understand math concepts you haven’t committed to memory.

To get better at memorizing numbers, it’s important that you learn the Major Method (sometimes called The Major System).

 

What Is The Major Method?

 

It’s a way of quickly memorizing numbers by turning them into images.

There are different ways of using the Major Method, but to get started, associate each number from 0-9 with a sound. Here’s what I use based on a standard approach popular around the world:

0 = soft c, s, z
1 = d or t
2 = n
3 = m
4 = r
5 = l
6 = ch, j, sh
7 = g, k
8 = f, v
9 = b, p

But right now, you’re probably wondering …

 

How On Earth Am I Supposed
To Remember All Of That?!?

 

It’s pretty easy – if you’re willing to experiment. I won’t give you an example for each number, but to get you started:

For zero, you could see a giant snake hissing as it eats its own tail. The shape of a snake in a circle resembles the digit 0. The sound of hissing reminds you of the ’s’ and soft ‘c’ sound options.

For nine, look closely: From one perspective, it’s like a ‘b’ standing on its head. From another perspective, it’s a golf club facing the wrong direction and driven down into the ground.

Check out five. If you hold out your left hand and stick out your thumb, you’ll notice that you have five digits. The pointer finger and thumb make an L-shape.

 

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

 

Let’s put it all together.

If you wanted to remember a number like 905, the Major Method gives you several options with these letter-sounds. You’d just need to pop in a few vowels so you can make a word.

For example, 905 could be:

Basel (the herb) or Brazil (the country on a map or the Terry Gilliam movie).

509 could be an image of yourself speaking with a lisp.

590 could be Jennifer Lopez. Make her leaping to compound the 5 and 9 and it’ll be even easier to remember.

This Is Just The Beginning Of Remembering Numbers With Ease

Give this memory technique a try. You’ll find that it does wonders for your memory improvement.

And it’s fun to give your friends challenges, like Jonathan Levi and I have done. Even just a short run of numbers like the serial numbers on a dollar bill makes for great memory exercise in a restaurant.

Just make sure that you’re not totally exhausted – and even then the techniques can still work wonders. Here’s the full story:

I can’t stress how important the ability to remember numbers is for an entrepreneur so please get busy and let me know how you fare.

 

2. A Simple Way To Remember Names That Works
Even In The Noisiest Convention Halls And Business Meetings

 

As an entrepreneur, you meet a lot of people.

And there’s nothing worse than forgetting someone’s name.

It’s embarrassing. It’s crude. It’s unnecessary.

To learn how to remember names, check out this Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and the accompanying illustrations. You’ll find it useful.

In brief, all you need for getting started with remembering names is the ability to make associations. You can create your Magnetic associations in advance or on the fly.

Let’s look at both options. I will ultimately suggest that you learn both … you’ll need them!

 

The Magnetic Memory Method Name Crib 

 

Some people who use memory techniques create databanks of celebrities in their minds. That way, whenever they meet someone new, they can make instant associations.

For example, I have Tom Cruise as my instant go-to name when I meet a new person named Tom. When I meet someone named Lars, I whip out Lars Ulrich, the drummer from Metallica. New people I meet named Sarah are instantly paired with Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Connor in The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The great thing about having predetermined celebrities and fictional characters is that the associations require zero thought. You meet the new person and then – BAM! – you can instantly see your new pal Tom in a fistfight with Tom Cruise.

The Martial Art Of Remembering Names Method

 

But what happens when you meet someone with a name from another culture? It’s not that the name “Gangador Dianand” is unusual – it’s just not one you’d expect to come across every day.

Yet, it is a real name and if you’re serious about memory techniques, you’re going to want the ability to memorize it as quickly as you can memorize a name like Tom.

In this case, you need to be able to chop the name into pieces and use Magnetic Memory Method Word Division. This mnemonic tool helps with associating images to just the “gang” part of “Gangador” and another image with the “ador” part.

Also super-easy. All you need is to see something like a gang bursting through a door. If the gang “adores” the door they’re banging through, all the better. Just think about how you can make that “adoration” visual in your mind’s eye.

What about “Dianand”?

Also not a problem.

Remember Princess Diana? I sure do. And I also know what an ampersand is.

All that’s needed after that is a way of getting Diana and the ampersand interacting in a strange way.

And when you put it all together, you can make a little story:

A gang who adores a door bust through and catch Princess Diana smooching with an ampersand.

 

But Wait! I’m Not That Creative!

 

I hear this excuse often.

Here’s the thing:

You don’t have to be creative to get started.

As Benny Lewis points out in Fluent in 3 Months, using these techniques makes you more creative. And the more you practice creating associations, the easier and faster it gets.

Just give it a try. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how practicing memory techniques rewires your mind and memory for entrepreneurial success at many levels.

 

3. Join The Elite Crew Of Entrepreneurs
Who Can Quote The Facts Right Every Time

 

There’s nothing more impressive than an entrepreneur who has a handle on the facts.

Let’s face it. Consumers are more skeptical than ever. If you haven’t got your details in order and wind up stumbling all over the place to communicate your business knowledge, you have no reason to expect anyone will take you seriously.

The only question is … how do you remember facts?

You’ve got options, but the number one technique to learn is how to create and use a Memory Palace.

 

What’s A Memory Palace?

 

A Memory Palace is a mental construct based on a real building. It can also be an imaginary, “Virtual Memory Palace,” but for beginners, taking something simple like your childhood home works the best.

Remember how we were just talking about Jennifer Lopez and 590?

Well, the way a Memory Palace works is that you would place an image of her leaping all over the place on the desk in your study. Or you would have her leaping in the clothes washer.

You can place images like Jennifer Lopez anywhere you like, but it’s best to have a strategic way of creating your Memory Palace so that you’re not just placing her any old place and hoping and praying you’ll find your way back to her. Make sure you’ve taken my free course to ensure that you know the best ways to create a Memory Palace and avoid all problems.

Then, when you have some facts you want to memorize, create images that help trigger those facts back to you. For example, a few weeks back, I memorized some information about Canada’s second-ever Prime Minister.

You can model this approach for any facts that you’d like to memorize. It’s easy, fun and will rapidly increase your expertise.

 

4. The Ability To Remember Quotes That
Will Get Everyone Talking About You

 

If there’s one thing that binds entrepreneurs together, it’s the love of quotes.

You’ve probably heard this famous line from Zig Ziglar, to take one example:

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

As cool as Ziglar’s quote is, it really means nothing if you can’t remember and pull it out at the right time. Entrepreneurs equipped with memory techniques have no problems, however. They can simply use the tools of the Magnetic Memory Method and zip any motivational quote they want into memory and recall it with ease.

The Memory Palace is also the go-to technique in this case. Once you know how to use it, you just need to prepare and organize the quotes you want to memorize. When you hear a good one, you can also memorize it on the fly with ease so long as you have a solid understanding of how to use the ground beneath your feet as a Memory Palace.

 

Wisdom Is Just One Vertical (Or Horizontal) Pillar Away

 

When memorizing poetry using a Memory Palace, the temptation is to work horizontally.

Nothing wrong with that. It works gangbusters.

But for shorter pieces of information, like quotes, the entrepreneur can also try memorizing the words in vertical pillars.

I recommend starting from the top corner of a room and then working your way down.

For example, if you want to memorize the Ziglar quote, you can try seeing Pippi Longstocking in the ceiling corner attacking a jury with a vicious motive. “Pippi” basically sounds like “people” and her having a motive for the attack will help recall the notion of “motivation.”

Beneath that, you can see her bathing in a huge bathtub full of calendars. That will help you remember the core idea of bathing and the calendars will help you remembering that bathing, like motivation, is something entrepreneurs require daily.

Heck, everybody could use a dose of both daily hygiene and continually renewing impetus … don’t you think?

 

5. The Ability To Conceive Of And
See Large Systems Full Of Moving Parts

 

At the meta-level, perhaps the most powerful reason entrepreneurs would do well to use memory techniques is how they get you working with macroscopic and microscopic pieces of information at the same time.

Think about it:

If you’re going to be an entrepreneur, you’ve got to have a handle on multiple processes all at the same time. And you’ve got to be able to see them in your mind at a glance.

What better way to prepare the mind for this need than working with a system of Memory Palaces and information that will make you a better entrepreneur?

Memory techniques not only help you with the skill of seeing the big picture and the granular details at the same time. Having a strong memory distinguishes you as a professional.

If you aren’t already using memory techniques, I strongly encourage you to get on board with them. They will not only change your life, but help you do much bigger things for the people you serve in your business.

That’s the desire that drives you every day and the next level is right around the corner. All you need to get started is a bit of training. Subscribe for my free Magnetic Memory Method training using the “Start Here” registration form above.

The post The 5 Biggest Reasons Entrepreneurs Need Memory Techniques appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: The_5_Biggest_Reasons_Entrepreneurs_Need_Memory_Techniques.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:11am EDT

Was 2016 as amazing for you as it was for me?

If you did anything to experience memory improvement, I’ll bet it was great.

Maybe even … Magnetic.

My top highlight?

Getting interviewed on my own show by none other than SuperLearner Jonathan Levi.

So even there though’s a lot of groovy things to read on this page and year end links to explore …

Scroll up and hit that play button. Jonathan helps me dig deep into the Mind of a Memorizer.

And it’s all kind of fascinating, because when you think about it …

 

Who Knew You Could Still Improve
The Ancient Art Of Memory Improvement?

 

Hard to believe, but totally true.

And you can do it even if you were a “delinquent youth,” which is just one of the topics we touch upon in the interview.

We also talk about dealing with Manic Depression without medication …

The nature of truth and memory …

And my top book and movie recommendations, including:

Books

The Republic

The Nichomachean Ethics

Better Never To Have Been: The Harm Of Coming Into Existence

Movies

Lost Highway (best memory quote in cinema history)

eXistenZ

The Matrix

And while you’re jamming your way through those great movies, I have to say that my all time favorite video course from 2016 has been SuperLearner 2.0:

 

Thanks to my friendship with Jonathan, you can now take a free trial of the SuperLearner Academy. Thanks for that, Jonathan! 🙂

Speaking of friendship …

 

The Magnetic Memory Method
2017 Predictions For Your Memory

 

A lot of people are making 2017 predictions about a lot of things.

As far as I know, none of them involve the state of memory improvement.

Here are my top predictions for how things will go with some tips about how to make memory improvement part of your 2017 adventure.

 

Why Friendships Improve Your Memory

 

Friendship and memory, you ask?

You bet. And as more and more social groups form online, the more “real life” friendships will matter.

For example, a recent memory improvement book demonstrates that we just don’t remember a lot of what we experience online all that well.

Of course, you can develop techniques that help (check out Jonathan’s course!), but my bigger concern is that you get the memory benefits of spending time with real people.

In the world.

Some ways to make sure you get your memory-friendly time with people in the world include:

  • Daily walks with a friend
  • Weekly lunches or dinners
  • Meeting to memorize cards together
  • Shared language learning challenges
  • Just getting together to shoot the breeze

I know you heard me talk a lot about him in 2016, and that’s because the favorite new friend I made in 2016 is Tony Buzan.

I have a prediction that there will be even more amazing stuff coming out from him in 2016, and I’m going to suggest to him a quarterly feature on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast called Buzan².

He reads so fast … I wouldn’t be surprised if he already knows about it before I’ve had a chance to ask him. 😉

For now, my favorite pic of the year:

 

Why The Pen Will Remain
Mightier Than The Sword in 2017

 

Penmanship used to be a preoccupation of mine. I predict I’ll be returning to it in 2017.

Maybe I’m old school. Or maybe I just like Da Vinci.

Either way, there’s no arguing that there’s a thing called penmanship and developing it is good for your brain.

It’s tempting to say to hell with it. People type, tap and swipe now.

But in watching April wrangle pinyin and hanzi out of my iPad on the same day I watched some of the beautiful Chinese calligraphy in Devils on the Doorstep:

As I study Chinese calligraphy a bit myself, it seems clear to me that it’s not just the multiple intelligences and muscular activity we’re losing.

It’s a kind of art.

And I predict that individuals and nations that hang onto it will outpace those who do not.

 

Journaling Will Improve Your Memory
Even Better Than In The Victorian Era

 

John Lee Dumas is an entrepreneur on fire.

And The Freedom Journal is just one aspect of his genius.

I’m not ready to share yet how it helped me on a massive project in 2016, but I can tell you that the The Freedom Journal has streamlined my daily journaling down to the essentials.

Even better:

The Freedom Journal has given me the means of tying those essentials to making huge strides toward an ambitious goal I had left dangling.

Here I am using The Freedom Journal in Zürich. I carried it with me all around Europe while working on a project I predict I will tell you about in 2017.

My favorite part is that The Freedom Journal is also a memory tool. So I also predict that in 2017 you’ll hear me sharing more about this exciting tool in relation to memory techniques.

Oh, okay, one more prediction about this:

I predict that if you join me in being a Freedom Journal user, you’ll massively upgrade your life while contributing to a great cause.

 

Language Learning Will Increase In Importance

 

It doesn’t require any psychic powers to predict that knowing more than one language will be even more important in 2017 than it was in 2016.

The question is …

Will it be any easier in 2017?

The answer is easy, but …

The ease of that answer depends.

It depends on the decisions you make and the tools you use.

My 2016 recommendations won’t change:

1. Know and use The Big Five of Language Learning

  • Use your memory
  • Read
  • Write
  • Speak
  • Listen

Every day.

2. If you’re going to use apps, use them intelligently.

Olly Richards is definitely your man for figuring out how to do that. Make Words Stick gives you some cool insights and I predict there will be many more interesting language learning and memory insights coming from Olly in 2017.

 

 

3. Speak with native speakers.

My biggest recommendations for finding great speaking partners boil down to italki and Skill Silo. I’m expecting great things from both, but liked Skill Silo the best in 2016 thanks to a streamlined process that puts only one core language learning text on the screen with your teacher.

But you still need to teach your teacher. Olly again has lots of ideas to help you get the most from that.

 

N=1 Experiments And Competition

 

Alex Mullen continues proving that human memory moves at least as fast as the human hand and eye.

I’ve spoken with him and his results clearly come from the same processes all memory athletes and experts use.

The real difference is in how you apply the techniques to your memory improvement goals.

It could be winning the World Memory Championships.

Or it could be learning a massive topic related to science, computing, philosophy or some interesting combination you make in a course of study of your own.

 

How To Design A Learning Project That Works In 2017

 

To get the most out of any learning project, four elements will be key:

1. Use Magnetic Memory Method Memory Palaces.

This is kind of a no-brainer, but if your Memory Palace strategy isn’t bulletproof, you risk wasting time and energy.

2. Dive in and go all the way.

The map is never the territory, so action is key. (Note: Getting yourself into the picture can and most likely will involve making changes to the map as you go along.)

3. Track your results.

Stay tuned for some more information about tracking your results in 2017, particularly in combination with The Freedom Journal.

4. Refine Your Approach

Once you have data on what’s working and what isn’t, I predict that all people serious about using memory techniques will be capable of learning faster, remembering more and having an amazing 2017.

 

2017 Will Be The Year Of
Memory And Sleep Research

 

My biggest memory improvement surprises in 2016 came from experiencing great memory wins despite way too much sleep deprivation.

As the author of The Ultimate Sleep Remedy, I still stand behind everything I taught in that book.

However, I also wrote the book during a period of time when I took lamictal every day. I had also done a huge course of research in sleeping 12 hour days and dream recall.

But since becoming an entrepreneur and giving up the pretty pink pills as part of “Project Wolverine” …

Things Have Been Different!

 

I don’t think the pretty pink pill ever helped me sleep any better. But I think it did give my like a machinic quality.

And that consistency has been replaced with something more akin to the classic and cliche Bipolar Rollercoaster described in psychology textbooks.

To combat the suffering that comes from Manic Depression, I’ve been experimenting with raw cacao and coffee, sometimes Bulletproof Coffee. There is no doubt in my mind that the swapping of these substances in for lamictal has changed the nature of my sleep.

But overall, despite tons of exhaustion, my mnemonic memory has never been better. I find this amazing, especially since recent research has shown that the older you get, the less likely you are to get memory consolidation during sleep.

 

My Mnemonic Calendar Will Come Back Into Use

 

That said, the tasks to which I direct my mnemonic memory need refinement. I have a mnemonic calendar, for example, but need to use it more often so that I don’t forget appointments.

Or even better, remember when appointments have been cancelled. Sometimes the ghost impression of an appointment made can override the attempt to remember that it has been canceled. This is The Ugly Sister Effect in full force as too much competes for your attention.

There is also the pressure of absentmindedness on memory. For this reason, it is important to place as many things on autopilot as possible so that remembering is unnecessary.

Funny, right?

But it’s important to note that a great way to improve your memory is to remove things from it that stress it out.

 

HumanCharger Light Therapy And Memory?

 

Light is an increasingly important topic to me.

In fact, light exposure has become a way of life. Since February of 2016, I’ve been using a unique light-therapy device to explore the topic.

The benefits of using the HumanCharger have been clear, measurable and amazing.

Basically, the device addresses a simple reality:

The human brain is sensitive and receptive to light.

There’s a lot to that statement. Especially if you can find a way to let light reach more of your brain.

Of course, your eyes have a means of doing that.

But what if your ears were a pathway light could use to reach your brain too.

I predict that I’ll be part of spreading the good news about exactly how you can use the HumanCharger to bring light to your brain.

I’m also excited to explore the relationship between memory and light as well. My initial n=1 conclusions are that feeling more alert and in a brighter mood definitely adds to the arsenal when you’re living the art of memory improvement.

 

The Magnetic Memory Method
Will Be Enshrined As The Martial Art
Of Memory Improvement

 

I predict that I will continue extending my feeling that mnemonics are a kind of Martial Art.

I’ve long felt that my background with Systema has helped my memory. Apart from meditation techniques derived from Alan Watts and Eckart Tolle, Systema continues to provide the basis for how I connect relaxation to memory.

Ego-depletion will also remain important.

Yet, ego is so crucial to memory techniques because you draw on what you know based on what you know about yourself. You tap into what you like, what makes you emotional, sometimes even what makes you mad.

Case in point:

I was filming myself learning some Chinese in a bank when I got some attitude from a guy. He basically told me I shouldn’t get him on camera (a camera that was in no way pointing at him). But he did it so indirectly that I wasn’t sure if he worked for the bank, was representing the bank’s interest or … trying to audition for my YouTube channel …

Anyhow, I was trying to remember how to say, “I am lost” using memory techniques in real time.

But in the moment of conflict, I not only had to maintain calm to avoid getting into a fistfight. I needed calm to make sure I could create Magnetic Imagery to attach to the Magnetic Station I’d created on the fly in the impromptu Memory Palace.

My images were Mini-me from Austin Powers and Jennifer Lopez.

No, the phrase isn’t epic in length. No is it particularly difficult.

But neither is it extraordinary. And in a field of Chinese words and phrases, I needed to make it stand out. So while I’m managing my ego in the face of a potential attacker, running the camera and thinking about how I’ll edit it, AND memorizing this useful Chinese phrase so I can get it into long term memory …

It really does require Martial Arts-level memory to manage all of these elements and not forget the core information.

 

Physical Fitness And Memory Will
Remain Mutually Supportive

 

In 2016, I dropped a lot of weight and built a lot of muscle. My trainer, Lars at Ignite.Fit, taught me a lot about my body, discipline and the nature of life. We also became friends and talked a lot about education, technology, business and how all three intersect.

As I worked to heal my body in the gym, I started drafting “Project Wolverine.” I can’t say much about it now, but I predict that memory and physical fitness will remain important to me and all who care about the quality of their memory.

Brad Zupp agrees on the connection between health and memory in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. I can’t wait to speak with him again on the matter and predict that I will.

 

My Year Two Of Chinese Prediction

 

It’s one year since I started learning Chinese.

Fluent?

Hardly.

And I know for a fact that I’ve got a long way to go.

But it raises the question of how exactly I define fluency.

Context decides.

When I asked my father-in-law permission to marry his daughter, he understood my request. I was fluent.

When I sang her a Chinese love song I’d memorized on our wedding day, I was fluent.

When I got an email from one of her friends expressing his amazement with my Chinese and memory techniques, I was fluent.

But …

… When I went to make dumplings during the 冬至 Dongzhi Festival …

I was in the limbo every language learner knows so well.

It feels like you must have been studying all the wrong things. Although you recognize dozens of words … It’s still hard to penetrate even 10% of what’s going on around you.

But I am fluent in memory. I zone in on what I do recognize. I isolate what I want to memorize. Then, provided I follow the MMM to the letter …

I’m on the road to fluency, which is the present moment, the only place anything is to be found.

 

The Toughest 2017 Prediction To Uphold … 

 

Tough, but I still predict that I will maintain my love affair with German. It’s actually kind of easy.

All it will take is dedication to The Big Five of language learning to maintain my current level.

Yes, even as an upper-level student of German, maximum attention must be paid to reading, writing, speaking, hearing and continuing to memorize German.

I know, because I remember just how quickly it faded the last time I left Germany. I don’t want to feel the fade of disuse ever again.

 

What Are Your Predictions For Your
2017 State Of Memory Address?

 

So that’s my 2016 in a nutshell.

I’m grateful to everyone who contributed comments here, left reviews on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast or joined the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass. It’s been an honor and delight to improve the ability of people around the world to learn, remember and recall anything with greater ease, fun, passion and high levels of accuracy in their recall.

Like how about this amazing win from a Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass member:

Or this wonderful lesson from an action-taker with the Magnetic Memory Method:

And then there’s this short note from a great MMM Masterclasser:

 

I received hundreds of emails and messages just like these in 2016.

So when it comes to 2017 predictions and the state of your memory, tell me …

Are you in?

Have a great New Year and talk soon! 🙂

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

P.S. If you think you don’t have time for memory improvement in 2017, here’s how to memorize things fast from my friend Tor.

Have fun!

The post The 2016 MMM State Of Your Memory Address appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: The_2016_MMM_State_Of_Your_Memory_Address.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 5:05am EDT

Except for the threats, the sirens and the guys with guns … last night was amazing for my memory.

First, April got invited to make dumplings to celebrate the last day of Autumn and the first day of Winter on the Chinese calendar.

I love the Magnetic Memory Method because I was able to remember those words in Chinese …

秋天 qiūtiān (Autumn)

冬天 dōngtiān (Winter)

Crazy thing is … I’d only heard them once in my life and used an impromptu Memory Palace to memorize them.

Months later …

 

They Were All Still Intact!

 

As was this song that took really just a few minutes to memorize:

Sure, I had a bit of a pronunciation problem here and there, but that’s easily solved by developing muscle memory. It’s understandable that words you don’t use for months that you only heard once don’t exactly snap into place.

But what a GREAT feeling to be able to remember them! And all by doing something I really love:

Using my memory.

After that, we were shooting video and getting into more of the particulars about how all this works.

 

We Got Lost!

 

We wound up getting a bit lost and keeping warm inside the bank machine area of a building.

And that’s when the threats and guns appeared.

Turns out, that a guy didn’t like me having the camera on while April was teaching me how to say, “I’m lost” in Chinese.

Good thing the Magnetic Memory Method teaches relaxation as part of the memory technique …

You certainly need to be calm when a stranger starts telling you what you can and cannot do.

It’s hard managing your defensive instincts and memory at the same time.

(You’ll laugh when you see my reaction in the video and the guns that were there to keep us safe all along).

So yes, April and I survived.

 

Perfect Recall … Even Under Duress

 

And the coolest thing is that I was still able to memorize “I am lost” in Chinese.

I can still remember exactly how to say it this morning.

Not to mention a couple of other words and phrases.

Like, “Smells good!”

And “garbage can.”

 

Instantly Memorized!

 

No sweat.

No tears.

No index cards.

No software.

But as I was editing the video this morning … it occurred to me that not everyone learning Chinese has access to native speakers.

And in the video I was talking about some solutions. They’re all part of The Big Five of Language Learning.

But then I remembered something really special I’ve been following for awhile.

It’s a website called MandarinHQ.

And when they released a course on real spoken Chinese, I jumped at the chance yesterday to grab access to it.

It’s called The Real Spoken Chinese Vault.

Yes, I laid down some cash even though I have a Chinese native speaker in my family.

 

Why?

 

Partly because I like to support awesome people out on the Internet who do good work.

But also because I do memory research.

Lots of it.

And I also want to support  because what I’m about to tell you helps solve a huge problem for people learning Chinese.

It’s the “Can you please repeat that?” problem.

 

Chinese Native Speakers On Demand

 

Imagine having a video course where you get access to vocabulary and short phrases that lets you …

Instantly click a button …

… and then instantly hear that phrase again.

That would be cool, wouldn’t it?

Well, The Real Spoken Chinese Vault isn’t just about audio.

 

You Can Hear Them And See Them

 

The Real Spoken Chinese Vault also has video.

And you get strategically placed buttons so that you can see and hear 4-5 different native speakers repeat key phrases you’ll need to learn.

It’s the kind of button I wish I had in real life when learning a language.

 

For When You Can’t Put Life On Pause

 

Because, yes, I can memorize information in real time.

But sometimes it’s nice to be able to slow the world down and repeat things so I’m sure I’ve heard it right.

In fact, most of my memorization errors from real-time memory work come from now having heard it right.

What you’re about to learn about solves that problem.

Again, you get to SEE and HEAR native Chinese speakers.

 

A Lot In The Form Of Important
Questions And Answers

 

Just like you’ll need to know in every day speech.

But there’s more.

Not much more, but just enough more to make this powerful package a no-brainer:

Because the program really wants to help you learn Chinese without overwhelming you

Imagine a progression of exposure to the language in each lesson.

You start with seeing and hearing the speaker.

 

Progressive Exposure
Reduces Cognitive Overwhelm

 

You can repeat each one delivering the phrase as many times as you like.

Then, when you’re ready, you can see the pinyin.

Same principle applies.

Click that magic repeat button all that you like as you watch and listen.

And then move on to the next stage.

 

When You’re Ready …

 

Then, and only then will you see the Chinese characters on the screen.

Your magic repeat button is right there, ready for use.

This program truly is one of the only times I will support hard-repetition. It’s very smartly done.

It’s not boring.

It’s not painful.

And you learn in a way that doesn’t waste your language learning time.

I also like that each module ends in a quiz.

 

You Get To Test Yourself

 

So far, I’ve done really well and LOVE this program.

Here are some Basic Chinese examples with my own tailor-made (and Magnetic) Mandarin Mnemonics:

And you can get lifetime access now at a HUGE discount (time is running out, though!)

 

(Note: The following offer expired at 11:59 p.m., December 26th, 2016. To let me know that you’re interested in studying Chinese using memory techniques, please get in contact.)

 

Let me introduce you to my friend Angel to explain her “listening framework” in detail.

If you want to join me in the course, before the deadline …

I’m going to do you even one better:

I’m going to make you a short video course of what I’m doing to memorize the material I need from the course using the Magnetic Memory Method.

But here’s the thing:

This bonus is only for people who take Angel’s course and keep it.

She’s being VERY generous with this discount for early adopters on LIFETIME ACCESS.

And I only want to reward people who take it for 30-days along with me.

So that means I’ll be sending you your access to the MMM Chinese Vault Supplemental 30-days after you grab The Real Spoken Chinese Vault before the deadline.

Can’t wait to share more of my Chinese memory journey with you soon!

Sincerely,

Anthony

P.S. Remember: This amazing opportunity for LIFETIME access to Angel’s The Real Chinese Vault with its unique listening and viewing framework closes soon. You should at least look it over.

P.P.S. You’re right. One bonus from me isn’t enough.

I’m also going to throw in a video I’ve already made about how that I quickly memorize Chinese poetry.

The poems are usually only 4 lines long, but I only need to hear them once. Recall is so strong that I am delighted by the response of native Chinese speakers.

Just check out this email I received after dinner the other night:

“Dear Anthony,

It was definitely happy time having dinner with you.

Especially, I checked out your website, that’s amazing. Those techniques, please forgive me that I call them techniques, help people memorize things. Actually, I was shocked that day, with your Mandarin.

As you know, not even all of real Chinese people speak 100% correct mandarin. And the way you were trying to memorize the few Chinese poems is cool. When I was trying to memorize the same poem at very young age, I don’t know what those words/characters mean. I just repeat it again and again. Those are ancient/classical Chinese words and very different from nowadays.”

​If you’d like to get emails like that yourself from native Chinese speakers, don’t miss out on my bonus. Scroll and click that link for The Real Chinese Vault now.

P.P.P.S. Oh, okay, yes after 30-days in The Real Chinese Vault, you can also get access to my Secret Chinese Vocabulary Facebook Group.

Unlike some of the other FB groups I run, this one isn’t free and the fun for language learners who use memory techniques is only getting started …​​​​

Scroll up, click the link and check out The Real Spoken Chinese Vault now.

Bonus Update For Action-Takers:
How To Use The Real Spoken Chinese Vault With The Magnetic Memory Method

 

If you joined us for the Chinese Vault special offer, here is your first bonus video:

Your password will have been delivered to you via email, so please be sure to check your spam and/or promotion folder if you haven’t received it.

 

Tone Control

 

The Ultimate Language Learning Secret

 

Also, be sure to have requested access to the Secret Facebook group for access to the 30-day Chinese Vault MMM Challenge. Can’t wait to share my mnemonic images with you! 🙂

The post An Easy Way To Learn Chinese That Works For People Bored By Mindless Repetition appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


phil-chambers-on-mind-mapping-and-memory-palaces-magnetic-memory-method-podcastYou’ve heard about Mind Mapping and Memory Palaces, right?

Well, if you’re anything like the hundreds of people who have emailed me about it, you’ve probably wondered …

“Can I bring Mind Mapping and the Memory Palace together?”

To help me answer the question, I asked the reigning World Mind Mapping champion Phil Chambers to talk about Mind Mapping and how to bring this creativity, memory and learning tool together with a Memory Palace.

Turns out that we had a lot more than just that to talk about. Tune in to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and learn all about.

How To Combine Mind Mapping And
Memory Palaces With Phil Chambers

 The techniques Phil uses in his personal daily memory practice.

 How to capture and store ideas using memory techniques – even when you’re driving.

The number-rhyme technique to take action on to-do list items. (Not to be mistaken for the Major Method/Major System.)

 The perfect Mind Mapping definition and where to learn more about mind mapping techniques

 Why there are always new things to explore in the world of memory techniques. Once you start using them, you will never cap out on new angles to explore and increase your skills.

 The difference between semantic memory and episode memory and how using the journey method capitalizes on the power of both. This is the most “natural” way to use your memory.

phil-chambers-anthony-metivier-and-tony-buzan-mind-mapping-and-memory-palace-magnetic-memory-method-podcast

Hanging out with Phil Chambers and Tony Buzan

The reasons why memory competition skills translate directly into every day memory needs we all face.

Why the principles behind Mind Mapping never changes, but Mind Mapping software continues bring new enhancements to the art and craft of this thinking, learning and planning tool.

Details on how to bring Mind Mapping together with the Memory Palace technique.

Why and how Mind Mapping uses all of the classic memory techniques.

The major criticism about memory techniques as regurgitation of knowledge and not learning – and why it’s misguided.

Why Phil’s title as a World Mind Mapping champion is up for grabs and exactly how to take his title.

The exact criteria by which world class Mind Mapping is judged.

Why you should never worry about your artistic ability when creating Mind Maps.

Phil’s Mind Mapping examples of how to schedule your week and get more done.

How Mind Mapping your daily schedule gives you many more details than a to-do list. Not only that, but you’ll often be able to double your efforts in ways you wouldn’t have otherwise seen on a page with linear notes.

Further Resources

 

101 Top Tips For Better Mind Maps By Phil Chambers for Kindle

Phil Chamber’s website (where you can subscribe to his newsletter!)

Phil Chambers on Twitter

Phil Chambers on YouTube

Phil Chambers Talks About The Outer Limits Of Memory Skills

The post How To Combine Mind Mapping And Memory Palaces With Phil Chambers appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: How_To_Combine_Mindmapping_And_Memory_Palaces_With_Phil_Chambers.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:38pm EDT

joanna-jast-on-the-magnetic-memory-method-podcast-hack-your-habitsRemember Joanna Jast and all those tips she gave you on how to improve focus and concentration while you work on memory improvement?

Good news.

Joanna’s back with a new book called Hack Your Habits and in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, we’ve got her here to talk about it.

As always, I’ve got the interview transcript for you below and would love to hear your comments and questions in the discussion area below. Enjoy!

 

Why You Don’t Have To Have It All Mapped Out
To Get A Handle On Your Habits

 

Anthony: You go into your personal story in the introduction. Why do you think you faced so many challenges and what was the turning point?

Joanna Jast: It’s interesting you’re asking me this question. I actually thought about it the other day on my way to work. And – I don’t really have the answer. I suppose it’s the combination of many factors: my temperament – which is like emotional and behavioural building blocks for personality and to large extend is hardwired, inborn, so my temperament, my upbringing, the environment I grew up in, the challenges I faced in life and the solutions to those challenges I chose to follow etc.

I haven’t got it all ‘mapped out’, but I think the key reasons why I’ve faced so many difficulties is my low threshold for boredom, poor ability to delay gratification, my self-compassion, which drives many of my willpower failures with: ‘But you deserve it, Joanna… you’ve had such a bad day’.

The turning points? There have been quite a few. But if I was to choose the key turning points that led me to create my own system for building better habits, it would be the following three:

The first one the day when my study routine was born. It was actually accidental – I wrote about it in my book Laser-Sharp Focus. It was the moment when I decided to stop trying to study in the evening, sitting on the sofa or on the bed and start doing it in the morning, at my desk.

To cut a long story short, I suddenly realised not only how much more productive and effective my study sessions became, but also how much happier I became – with better grades, more energy and time to do other things in life.

Now, 20 years later, looking back at what happened, I realise that back then I created a study routine, which over the years became my productivity and now writing routine that has transformed my life. My study routine happened to be one on those keystone habits – habits that create a ripple effect throughout our life, creating space and energy for more healthy habits to emerge and grow stronger, ultimately transforming our lives.

 

How The Secrets Of Behavioral Economics
Can Improve Your Life

 

The second turning point was the day when I heard about Behavioural Economics for the first time. It was during a lecture on marketing. I went home, did more research, read books, articles, did a course and… fall in love with the approach. I thought this could be something that would work for me. So I started experimenting with various behavioural economics strategies. Initially, I applied them to sort out my finances – so paid off my debts and started saving money. Then, I started experimenting with my exercise routine and eating habits.

And the third pivotal point was, when I refined my exercise routine, my running routine to incorporate all the lessons I’d learnt about human nature and my own difficulties in forming habits, and particularly – my previous failures in establishing a reliable exercise routine. I used many of the behavioural economics strategies I’d learn about when doing it. And now I’ve got a running routine, where I run 3 times per week, whether I feel motivated or not (and at least once a week I don’t feel motivated at all), whether is raining, or 100% humidity, or my foot is sore. I just do it.

 

The Truth About Your Age And Your Habits

 

Anthony: Is the problem of habits age specific? Does it apply to all ages equally?

Joanna Jast: I don’t know, really. I think this is a problem of our times though – so this modern age. We become more aware of the role and the impact of habits, good and bad, on our health, happiness, success, on our lives, and also we realise that motivation and willpower have limits. And that’s why we think about our habits more, we become interested in strategies for improving them.

You can say that ‘habits are in fashion these days’. And it’s nothing negative – on the contrary. I’m very happy to see that many people are turning away from relying on unreliable motivational strategies towards using more practical approaches to transforming their lives.

So it’s not only scientists, or health and fitness fanatics who are exploring habits. Many people, of all ages, are seeking better understanding of habits, and their own habits in particular, to improve their health, happiness, wealth, relationships and many other aspects of their personal and professional lives.

Anthony: Talk about putting systems on autopilot. It sounds too good to be true. What does “autopilot” mean and how can a person get started?

Joanna Jast: Putting a system on autopilot is about creating a system that makes you perform certain behaviour, or a sequence of behaviours without thinking much about it, without putting much energy into it. It’s like getting up in the morning and washing your face or brushing your teeth.

Most of us do it automatically, without thinking: Oh, geeesh, first, I need to wash my face, then, I need to brush my teeth, and then – I comb my hair. These are things that most healthy adults would do automatically every morning. These are habitual behaviours – well engrained in our brains, within the neural pathways.

For me putting a system, say an exercise routine, on autopilot is about creating a system that kicks in as if with a push of a button, and makes you go out and run three times per week, rain or shine, whatever your motivation level, or the mood of the day.

 

How To Harvest The Power
Of Your Desired Outcome

 

Anthony: How can you get started?

Joanna Jast: I suggest you start with the end result in mind. Start with what you want to achieve. You need to understand what problem you are trying to solve, but more importantly, what you are trying to achieve.

I like the concept of Desired Outcome, which I’ve borrowed from user experience design field. Desired Outcome is what we really want. Not what we think we want. Not what other people are telling us we should want. But what we’re really really want.

In my new book, Hack Your Habits, I write about my own struggle to cut down on my carbohydrate intake. I’ve got a sweet tooth and sadly, also use sweets as a reward and a way to boost my ‘motivation’ or willpower to carry on with tasks I don’t really want to do, tasks that are too difficult, too complex, etc. There was a time I was eating a lot of sweets. I was going through a stressful time personally and professionally, and this was my way of dealing with stress. So I wanted to cut down on my carbs.

So initially, I thought about this task as a cutting on my carbs task, a diet-changing task. I was all motivated to do that, and all. But it didn’t work.

So I looked at the whole issue again and really wanted to zoom in on what I cared about. And don’t get me wrong, I do care about my health, but the instant gratification monkey that lives in my brain always tells me that I can start again tomorrow, and now – I can have that biscuit.

So I had to start with the Desired Outcome. Yes, I wanted to eat less carbs, but what I really wanted out of it was to be able to resist sweets and toast with jam.

So I reframed my goal, taking into consideration my personality, my temperament, my weaknesses and strengths. I’ve got a competitive streak, I’m an achievement junkie, and I get excited with new ideas and testing them. So this ended up as an exercise in self-control and I did really well.

 

2 Of The Most Powerful Questions You’ll Ever Ask Yourself

 

So the Desired Outcome is where you need to start. What do you want out of it? Do you really care about it? And it has to be something you really care about, you care about. If you don’t care about it truly and deeply, it won’t really happen.

Anthony: You talk about getting the diagnosis right when tackling a problem. What does this mean and how does one get started?

Joanna Jast: I really like this quote from Albert Einstein:

’If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute solving it’.

And I would do the same.

If you’re trying and trying and trying to solve a problem, say of your unhealthy diet, or an unproductive study routine, and you’re constantly failing, it may be that you’re using an ineffective strategy, but it may also be that you’re trying to solve the wrong problem.

In medicine, getting the diagnosis right is crucial to an effective treatment plan. And getting it wrong can really result in people dying. This is not as serious as that with habits, but in the end, if you don’t understand, if you don’t define your problem correctly, you can waste a lot of time, energy, and even money on trying to fix something that is not the reason for your struggles.

Let me reiterate it: the better you understand what’s wrong, what’s not working, the more targeted your solutions, your treatment will be.

How to go about diagnosing your problem? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as doing an X-ray or a blood test, but it is doable.

Start with self-reflection, and be honest with yourself.

For me there are two major components to understand any problem you have: you – how you operate, your personality, motivation, strengths and weaknesses and your context.

The context is the external environment, your internal environment and your social environment. And they all come with their own limitations – what’s possible and constraints – what’s appropriate.

 

Why It’s Never Mind Over Matter

 

And it’s important to include that context -your physical environment, and your social environment as well. The power of those external systems that force us into behaving in certain ways is really undermined by many people. We think it’s all mind over matter – but if your physical environment or social context, is not conducing to exercising, or a healthier diet – it makes the change much, much more difficult. So don’t underestimate that.

And once you’ve got a good understanding how you and your problem or your habits goals sit within you and your context, you are in a good position to start tackling it.

So self-reflection if used with a healthy dose of honesty, is a great tool for discovering, diagnosing your problem. You can ask other people for their opinion what they think is not working for you. But then, they will be biased and what’s more important – they may not have access to some of your hidden motivations, or aspects of your personality or life you don’t share with others.

 

How To Get Started Fixing Persistent Problems

 

To get a really good grip on what’s wrong when fixing persisting problems, I ask myself two questions:

The first question is: What is this for? What is this doing for me? What purpose does it serve? What need does it meet? And this works really well with habits, because every habit serves a purpose. And most bad habits, such as overeating, procrastination, or shouting at your kids usually either helps either deal with boredom or with stress.

And the other questions I ask myself is: why have I failed at addressing it so far?

And once you’ve got it figured out, it will fall into those categories I’ve just talked about – you and your context. It should give you a better understanding of what it is and why you’re struggling to address it. And from this point, finding the best solution is quite straightforward really.

 

Exactly When You Should Run From
S.M.A.R.T. Goals Kicking And Screaming

 

Anthony: Talk about SMART goals. What’s your major concern with this popular approach to goal setting?

Joanna Jast: The SMART goal setting framework is very popular, and it does work for most things, but in my opinion it does not work for habit goals, and for a number of reasons.

First of all, let’s look at the last letter of this acronym: T – time-bound. Setting a habit-based goal with a deadline for achieving it is not a good strategy. Why? Because habits take as much time as they take to develop. Some of it is in your control, but let’s not forget we’re talking about creating or rearranging neural pathways in your brain. That takes time to shift.

Studies shows that habit formation depends on many factors, and most importantly on the person working on it – their motivation, personality, their context, as well as on the complexity of the habit itself. A simple habit can take a few days to develop, a more complex one, such as exercise – up to several months.

So if you give yourself a deadline for your habit goal, you may be bitterly disappointed if you don’t achieve it before it. That’s just setting yourself up to fail. So when setting habit based goals, don’t give yourself a deadline, but rather create a schedule for your new routine.

Then, there is the matter of measurability , so the letter M- how do you measure your success in a achieving your habit. In my opinion, it’s important to look at it carefully and measure what you want to achieve. And my advice is to link it with your desired outcome.

So if you, like me, testing your ability to resist marshmallows, you measure your ability to resist marshmallows, not the side effect, the healthy eating side effect of it, or weight loss. When I’m building a new habit, I’m not interested in performance measures – I don’t care how far or how fast I run (I try not to at least), but I’m focused on getting it done every time I’m supposed to do it. So practice is more important than performance when working on developing a new habit, and we should measure accordingly.

 

Why You Need To Be Realistic With Your Habits

 

And there are two more aspects of the SMART framework I have an issue with it’s the A and R – achievable and realistic.

Call me cynical, call me a party pooper but I am not a big fan of being aspirational when setting your habit goals. It’s great to feel inspired and motivated to achieve greater things in life, but in the end the reality of my life is what It is, and no matter how hard I try to refrain from eating sweets by the sheer power of my willpower and my desire to be slim and beautiful, it’s going to collapse on day 3 or 4. That’s what the 30 years of my experience in doing it tells me.

So being realistic and setting habit goals that are achievable again refer to you and your context – your personality, your motivation, your inner world, your physical environment, your social environment and all these things that affect us with all their limitations and constraints.

Anthony: You mentioned two kinds of environment, internal and external. What are these and why is understanding the difference important?

Joanna Jast: The difference isn’t really that important. I just like having things organised in my head. I also like to make that distinction because it makes it easier to you look for solutions later on. And that’s how I look at difficulties in addressing habit problems. It’s again the same thing: the better you understand where your challenges come from, the easier it will be to find a solution to your problem. So we’re back to the importance of correctly diagnosing the problem.

Your external environment is what surrounds you – your physical environment, your house, workplace, the gym you go to, the supermarket where you shop; your financial situation, even the weather.

Your internal environment is the environment you create for yourself – your thoughts, your emotions, your motivation, your values, what happens with your body.

 

How To Use Cues To Hack Your Habits

 

Anthony: What are some of the “cues” you talk about? Which is the most important in your opinion?

Joanna Jast: Cues are very important. Cues remind us that we need to do something. They prompt us, trigger us to do what we’re suppose to do. They whole idea of a habit as a repetitive action in response to a cue, really relies on the cue being enough of a trigger.

So if you want to have an effective trigger, effective cue, find one that stands out in your environment. There is little point in putting your cue on a sticky note, and pinning it up on a corkboard full of similar sticky notes. You won’t see it.

I say: choose something that disrupts the fabric of your reality. Just like the sound of a notification ‘time to go for a run’ popping up on your screen. And it disrupts what you’re doing, right? But that may be not enough. If then instead of going for the run, you just snooze or close the notification, it’s just doesn’t work, does it?

So once again, it’s very important that the cue you choose stands out in your environment and is hard to ignore. The best cues are those that have a cost of ignoring involved.

 

The Cost Of Ignoring Your Cues

 

I’ll give you an example of what I mean by having the cost of ignoring the cue. So I run three times per week. And my cue is seeing my greasy hair in the mirror in the morning – I run on days when I need to wash my hair. This is how I know it’s my running day.

And the cost of ignoring this cue is that I’d have to go to work with my hair unwashed. That’s unacceptable. Or that I have to jump in the shower and wash my hair. I don’t like washing my hair in the morning. So if I wanted to back off and don’t go for a run – there is a cost involved. And it’s just so much easier to just go for a run.

Anthony: Talk about checklists. What’s the most important thing people need to know about them when building habits?

Joanna Jast: Checklists are fantastic tools. Checklists help saving lives, prevent infections and industrial accidents. Checklists are simple, effective, they lower your cognitive load, they have high reliability. Research shows that if you follow a checklist, you’re 75% less likely to miss any of the steps required – and reduce the likelihood of failure to carry out your desired behaviour from 23% to 6% .

I use checklists particularly early in the process of establishing new habit, when I’m still learning what to do, when, in what sequence. I can’t rely on my memory anymore and I don’t want to add any more cognitive load to it.

The best way of creating a checklist is to:

  • Focus on critical steps and use as few steps as possible (the more steps you have, the more intimidating the checklist looks and the less likely you are to follow the steps – that’s just human nature
  •  Ideally, you want it to fit on one page (my checklists need to fit on a standard size post-it note – no room for writing novels!)
  • Make sure the sequence of steps fits the flow of your behaviour (e.g. Don’t turn your fitness tracked on before you put your running shoes on)
  • Use simple sentences and basic language
  • Have it visible and ideally where you will be carrying out your new habit. So if you’re trying to create a productivity or a focus routine – have your checklist somewhere in your workspace; highly visible to you of course. If you have a checklist for working out – keep it either with your workout gear, on your phone if you use your phone for tracking your workouts, or maybe even in the pocket of your running jacket.

 

How To Make Your Habits Perpetuate Themselves

 

Anthony: What is a habit loop?

Habit loop is the secret formula for creating and remodelling habits. It’s a three-element self-perpetuating cycle that is behind any automatic behaviour. It consists of three key elements:

  • Cue (also called reminder or trigger) – which we’ve just talked about
  • Routine (sometimes called Behaviour, Action)
  • Reward

Every habit rests on these three pillars: Cue that prompts you to carry out the Behaviour, which is then reinforced by the Reward. The more of those habit cycles you go through, the more often the behaviour gets reinforced, the stronger the habit is ingrained in your brain, and the stronger the neural pathway that is created in your brain.

 

What To Do If You Fall Off The Wagon

 

Anthony: What should someone do if they miss a day on their habits? How about a week? A month? A year? Is there a difference when it comes to getting back on the wagon?

Joanna Jast: There are habit building strategies that rely on performing your action every day – for example ‘don’t break the chain’ but actually, research shows that missing on a day in your habit routine does not make a difference to our habit formation process, but psychologically it may.

I wouldn’t worry too much about missing a day. I do it sometimes, not very often and only for very good reasons. Because life does get in the way of best-laid plans, so I just accept that. Sometimes you will be just too busy or too tired, or maybe sick, or you may have something super-important to do. Don’t beat yourself up about not ‘turning up’ one day. But get back on track as soon as possible. Don’t let the not turning up become a pattern, because this is when it becomes a problem.

When it becomes a pattern? You may have your own individual ‘definition’ of pattern, for me it goes like that: once can happenstance, twice is a coincidence, three is a pattern.

The more days you miss, the harder it will be to return to your routine.

If you notice that you miss your routine are more and more often, you need to look at your system again. Because it means your system is not working as well as it could or should.

And for me, it’s going back to the beginning – maybe not necessarily to the desired outcome, but at least going over all those limitations and constraints that come from within me, or from my environment. Because it my system is not delivering as well as it used to, it means that something has changed.

And sometimes those changes are temporary. For example you are on holidays and working away and you’re struggling to keep your exercise routine up because your environment is different. And sometimes the change may be more permanent. For example if you just had a baby your productivity or sleep routine may be affected in a way you’ve never experienced before.

Things like that will happen, because that’s part of life. For me, it’s always about being mindful that your habit system will also be affected. So it is crucial that you recognise when it happens and adjust your system to cater for your changed needs, or changed life circumstances.

The key thing is to realise when a temporary change has become more permanent, and make appropriate adjustments in your system. Or redesign it completely.

 

Why Your Willpower Resources Are Limited

 

Anthony: You talk about how willpower needs to replenish itself. What’s this all about?

Joanna Jast: This is about the concept of willpower or ego depletion – the theory that the amount if willpower we have is limited. We have like a willpower tank, where only so much willpower can be stored. And every time you use some of that willpower from your tank, there is less left for later. The amount of willpower will not increase, until you are able to replenish it. And that goes back to the studies done by Roy Baumeister, who is a social psychologist and one of the key researches in the field of self-control and willpower.

However, newer research challenges this belief about willpower depletion, suggesting that we have as much willpower as we perceive it. So again, it’s all in the mind.

Personally, it’s not a scientific argument, I know, but personally I experience those willpower outages quite often, and I’m aware of typical situations that are likely to cause it.

I’m also very conscious that I don’t have much willpower and need to be careful in how I use it. I make sure that I’m able to recover safely before I make any silly decision when my willpower tank is on zero.

What helps with the process of replenishing willpower is rest, and sadly, something sugary, or at least of a sweet taste in your mouth.

 

How To Experience A Miracle Every Morning

 

Anthony: What is scribing?

Joanna Jast: Scribing is one of life SAVERs, as Hal Elrod calls them. One of the key elements of the morning routine he recommends in his bestselling book the Miracle Morning. (Silence, Affirmations, Visualisation, Scribing, reading, Exercise)

In a nutshell scribing is about taking a minute out of your time, in the morning, to write down what you’re grateful for, what you’re proud of, and the results you’re committed to creating for that day. Doing so, you put yourself in an empowered, inspired, and confident state of mind.

It’s scribing is journaling that encompasses gratitude – one of the key factors in creating the sense of happiness and fulfilment in life, positive affirmations, stock-taking, reminding yourself of your goals.

It’s an excellent to start your day.

 

One Of The Most Powerful Principles
You Can Ever Live By

 

Anthony: You have a bonus section in the book. What habits did you use to get in contact with all those high-profile authors and convince them to contribute to the book?

Joanna Jast: It’s not really about me or my habits. The people who contributed to my book, Steve SJ Scott, Hal Elrod, Stephen Guise and Martin Meadows – they are amazing people, who are very generous, humble, and have fantastic knowledge and experience to share and they desire to use it to help other people. And that’s really what it is about – collaborating in helping people become happier, live more fulfilling lives.

But from the practical point of view, what helped me in reaching out to them, it’s not a habit, but more a principle I live by – it’s about building relationships with people; it takes time and you need to invest upfront.

Anthony: What’s coming up next for you and where can people get in touch?

Joanna Jast: At the moment I’m very excited with the launch of my new book: Hack Your Habits. 9-steps to finally break bad habits and start thriving. I’ve been also getting a lot of emails and messages form people asking me to help them transform their habits, speed up the learning and adaptation curve. I’m not providing individual support at the moment, but I’ve been thinking about it. So watch this space.

Early next year, my previous book Laser-Sharp Focus will be published as an audiobook and I’m really excited about it, too. I’m also thinking about translating the into other languages, as people have been asking me about it.

For now, if you want to stay in touch – visit my website www.shapeshiftersclub.com and subscribe to my newsletter to keep up to date and get some insider tips on habit hacking, focus sharpening and faster learning. You can also try to catch me on Twitter and on Quora – which is the only site I allow myself to browse when procrastinating.

Further Resources

Joanna Jast on Quora

Not Another Motivation Book: A Pragmatist’s Guide to Nailing Your Motivation, Keeping It, and Effortlessly Achieving Your Goals

Joanna Jast on Twitter

 

 

The post Joanna Jast On How To Hack Your Habits appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Joanna_Jast_On_How_To_Hack_Your_Habits.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:59pm EDT

chinese-poems-magnetic-memory-methodChinese poems thrill poetry fans around the world. They’ve been translated into umpteen languages and create wonderful images in the mind.

Here’s something even cooler:

As a student of the Magnetic Memory Method, it’s easy to encounter a new Chinese poem just once and memorize it with a high level of recall.

We’re talking 92-95% accuracy after 24 hours, with 98-100% accuracy thereafter using MMM Recall Rehearsal.

And the best part is:

 

Each Poem Is Easier To Memorize Than The Last!

 

So by now you’re probably asking …

How does the Magnetic Memory Method work for memorizing Chinese poems? And how can I do it too?

I’m glad you asked because the steps are clear, crisp, clever and concise.

 

1. Get some Chinese poems (Duh!)

 

In this regard, I’m the luckiest man on the planet. I’m married to a woman who knows a bunch of Chinese poems by heart.

But even if you don’t have a Chinese speaker in your life, it’s easy to find someone using a learn languages online service.

The important thing is to choose poems that are short, sweet and simple. This helps reduce the cognitive overload at the beginning.

Songs work too. Like this one:

 

2. Have More Than One Memory Palace On Hand

 

It’s no secret that I teach the Memory Palace technique as a skill of multiples. One is the most dangerous number when it comes to memory, so make sure that:

1) You always have more than one Memory Palace ready to go.

2) You have the ability to create an impromptu Memory Palace on the fly.

With these two abilities, you can either use a pre-existing Memory Palace or just whip one up on the spot.

In this case, each of the Chinese poems I’ve learned are only four lines each. I used a new Memory Palace for each.

I created the first two Memory Palaces on the fly, one in a hotel room, the other in an AirBnB. The third was in my current kitchen, a Memory Palace I’ve been using and reusing for Chinese since I started learning the language.

 

3. Create Your Associative-Imagery
Word For Word, Line By Line

 

Nothing creates more fun than creating associations that let you recall information like the lines of Chinese poems.

I like to get a sense for the word and let my mind do the work without force. Daily meditation helps because I’m relaxed, but I also tell April to give me a second when she feeds me the lines. In that second, I’m breathing and accessing the deepest reservoirs of relaxation I’ve cultivated over the years.

I also do a quick body scan and squeeze all my major muscles. This calms and centers me. My ego gets out of the way and all forms of resistance slip away.

Please don’t laugh at the meditation and relaxation. They are key to the success of most memorizers and memory competitions incorporate a version of it into the events.

 

The “Buttock Squeeze” Memory Technique
You Should Not Dismiss

 

I’ll never forget the Amazon reviewer who dismissed one of my books because I talk about relaxation and memory – including squeezing your buttocks. It was a seriously strange review.

But here’s the thing:

If taking a second to clear the mind and body good enough for memory competitors who demonstrate intense memory feats like memorizing a deck of cards in under 20 seconds, it’s good enough for my simple goal of memorizing some Chinese poems.

Don’t discount the power of relaxation in your memory practice. It makes a huge difference.

And yes, squeezing each muscle in your body – including your rear end – helps. Try it before you knock it. 😉

4. Keep Your Mindset Intact

 

As April feeds me the lines, I see Han Solo, Dee Snider and Shania Twain interacting in uncouth ways with Horton from the Dr. Suess book. I see my friend Shayne strangling Jar Jar Binks and Bruce Lee fighting a Chia pet. And that’s just for starters.

Are all these images a lot to juggle?

Not really. I do it all the time, as you can see on my Basic Chinese Phrases and Mandarin Mnemonics playlist:

And the truth is … I don’t even really see the images. It’s somewhere between sight and sense using all the Magnetic Modes.

I made this infographic to help explain what I mean:

Magnetic Memory Method Magnetic Modes And Magnetic Imagery Infographic For Powerful Memory Palace creation

 

 

In such, the Magnetic Modes are entities of thought that have specific locations in a Memory Palace. Like Carl Jung dumping sand on my mom’s old friend Sandy. Where else could that be taking place except over the garbage can in the kitchen?

That where else question is one of the most powerful tools in mnemonics you’ll ever use.

But even if this jumble of characters and actions were challenging to keep moving in the air, it’s all a question of mindset.

Think of it this way: If the people who built rollercoasters said, “Woah, that’s WAY to much track to erect in the sky,” there would be no amusement parks.

Same thing with using a Memory Palace. If you tell yourself it’s too much to handle, it will be. But if you take it just one Memory Palace Station and one word at a time, you’ll have no problem memorizing Chinese poems.

 

5. Make Sure The Images Are Strong Enough

 

When memorizing Chinese poems in a hurry, it’s tempting to use the first images that come to mind. But that’s not always a good policy.

For example, in one line I saw a guy I used to know named Dan doing …

… something.

The reason I couldn’t see what that something was?

Because the image wasn’t strong enough. I had to crank up the volume on whatever forgettable image I’d seen before and see him stomping on a record from The Who with Roger Daltrey and crew screaming in protest.

Yes, screaming. It’s the exaggeration that makes it more memorable. Plus, Dan’s a big music fan, which makes the image incongruous. Because he would never actually destroy music, the image of him harming an album is that much more memorable.

 

6. Rehearse According To A Plan

 

Sometimes I can get away with just encoding the Chinese words and leaving it at that. But usually not and it’s stupid to take the risk.

Instead, I rehearse the words of the poems according to a plan. In the Magnetic Memory Method, it’s called Recall Rehearsal.

Recall Rehearsal is based on a few things:

1) The Primacy Effect

2) The Recency Effect

3) Von Restorff effect

4) Dominic O’Brien‘s Rule Of Five

5) My stubborn insistence on using internal repetition cues rather than SRS to learn.*

* The exception is that, in the spirit of Ebbinghaus, I sometimes complete n=1 experiments with various software as part of my memory research. So far, none compare to the power and the glory of memory techniques – at least not for me.

 

7. Speak And Write The Chinese Poems

 

Although I rehearse the Chinese poems quietly several times, nothing beats reciting them. Getting them out through the mouth creates muscle memory and helps with general pronunciation practice.

Likewise, writing puts the words into the muscles of the hands, arms and eyes as you see the words. Together, you are giving your memory the highest possible chance to succeed.

 

8. Memorize More

 

I also memorized Chinese phrases, individual words, some numbers and an English poem during the same period. This extra activity is not necessary, but I like to do it.

Why?

Because it’s like being a chef. Normally, I’m an expert with cooking eggs, but to get better at cooking eggs, I also need to make the occasional soup or steak or some other complimentary dish. Variety enriches and enlivens the core skills.

And that’s important for all of us as we live our lives using memory techniques. Memory improvement is the most critical activity in the world, especially now that we’re relegating so much of our memory needs to machines.

Be it math, Chinese poems or some other information that will make a difference in your life, following steps like the ones I outlined above will keep you in good stead.

Memory improvement is fun, easy and you can use it to recite Chinese poems – or anything you like – at any time.

Isn’t that exciting?

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:49pm EDT

prime-ministers-of-canada-magnetic-memory-methodLife is good, isn’t it? You bet it is.

But for some reason, when times get tough, without knowing a thing about the Prime Ministers of Canada, people around the world throw up their hands and say, “It’s time to head to the Great White North.”

Here’s the thing:

You’ll find some beautiful terrain and plenty of peace-loving citizens. But as a nation, we do not lack our own host of colorful characters.

So if you’re coming over for a permanent BBQ in response to US election results or some dictator who’s been giving you the squeeze, it’s time to learn how to memorize the Prime Ministers of Canada. It’s important to know what you’re getting into, after all. 😉

 

 

Beginner’s Guide To Memorizing Any List

 

The first thing to understand when memorizing the names of the Canadian Prime Ministers is that you’re dealing with a list. We’re talking about discrete units of information. Like, Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891).

The best way to rapidly memorize any list is to create a Memory Palace.

All Memory Palace creation takes is a simple drawing and a list of your Magnetic Stations charted out in a strategic way. Creating an effective Memory Palace reduces your cognitive load to a bare minimum. That reduction forms a huge part of the secret behind how memory techniques like a Memory Palace work:

You use a location you already know to place information you’ll Magnetically encode with imagery you already know onto a station so you can retrieve and decode what you want to know later.

Curious about correct Memory Palace creation? Here’s a Memory Palace walkthrough based on a Memory Palace submitted by a Magnetic Memory Method student:

 

A Small Set Of Super Important Information

 

In this case, we have just 23 names for the Prime Ministers of Canada. When it comes to memorizing them, you have options.

1. You can create one Memory Palace with 23 Magnetic Stations exclusively for remembering them.

2. You can create two Memory Palaces with 12 Magnetic Stations each.

In either case, you ‘ll ideally use Memory Palaces with more Magnetic Stations than you need so that you can use more than one station per name if needed.

Or, if you’re already experienced with memory techniques, you can experiment with the Magnetic Memory Method “passing the baton” technique, which allows you to memorize more than one name per station. That’s for advanced memorizers, however, and even then, it’s good once in awhile to stick with the basics.

And that’s ultimately what I recommend so that you can add the dates of the Prime Ministers later using the Magnetic Chaining memory technique.

 

The Art Of Embarrassing Politicians

 

Let’s assume you’ve got a Memory Palace with a bit more than 23 Magnetic Stations to give you wiggle room.

Next, you need your list of information. The Wikipedia Prime Ministers of Canada page is as good as any. Whip that little darling open and look at the first name.

The trick to memorizing anything is association, also called encoding. It’s easy, fun and with a bit of practice using special exercises I’ve created for you, unbelievably fast.

John A. Macdonald, for example, brings to mind a picture of my friend and fellow mnemonist, John McPhedrine to mind. You’ve heard him on the show talking about memorizing German and music before.

I see John at the first station of the Memory Palace I’ve created with a giant letter ‘A’ in his hands. He’s using this to smash my MACbook Pro, which is playing a video of Donald Trump singing “Old Macdonald Had A Farm.”

Plus, as an advanced memorizer, I’ve got Trump’s hair as the tail of a dog swatting at a bat.

Why?

Because that additional imagery helps me remember the dates of this Canadian Prime Minister.

How does that work? It sounds complex, but it’s actually simple:

Using a special memory technique for memorizing numbers, 15 is “tail” and 91 is “bat.” I’ve got an entire course in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass about all the ways you can remember numbers, or you can just check out this post on the Major Method. It’s a great way to instantly memorize any number, and not just short ones like historical dates.

The Prime Minister Who Built Walls
You Can Be Proud Of

 

Wikipedia tells this story about Alexander Mackenzie:

Once, while touring Fort Henry as prime minister, he asked the soldier accompanying him if he knew the thickness of the wall beside them. The embarrassed escort confessed that he didn’t and Mackenzie replied, “I do. It is five feet, ten inches. I know, because I built it myself!”

Little anecdotes like this can be fun to remember when memorizing a name. Plus, it’s interesting that Mackenzie was three times offered knighthood, but refused each time.

To encode all of this into memory, it’s a simple matter of seeing Alex from A Clockwork Orange taking … certain liberties with a former high school girlfriend of mine by the last name of Mackenzie against a section of the Berlin Wall now fixed on station two of my Prime Ministers of Canada Memory Palace. (Phew … that was a mouthful.)

But the Mackenzie I used to kiss so gently in high school fights back by trying to knight him with a giant camera that he beats away with a pamphlet printout of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

Why a camera and this bizarre retaliation with an ancient allegory? You’ve probably already guessed it by now. It’s our old friend the Major Method, which tells me that “cam” decodes to 73 and “cave” to 78, the same years Alexander Mackenzie served as one of the Prime Ministers of Canada.

 

Isn’t That Just Too Simple?

 

It really is, and that fun simplicity explains why so many people who get into memory techniques email and ask me …

Isn’t this … cheating?

Absolutely not. And here’s why:

It’s one thing to create the Memory Palaces and have fun dreaming up weird images and vignettes.

Long Term Memory Requires Recall Rehearsal

 

But you’ve also got to replay these stories and decode them in your mind over time. Skip this step and the information might still get into long term memory, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Luckily, setting up a Magnetic Memory Method Recall Rehearsal routine is easy. Just go over the information you’ve memorized about 5 times before the day is through. Make one of those times right before bed to help consolidation.

But here’s a warning:

Some recent research evidence suggests that older people don’t get the same memory consolidation benefits as younger people do. It’s good to keep that evidence in mind, but also be your own scientist. As you can see in this video on making boring information more interesting, I got away with a high recall rate after far fewer Recall Rehearsal sessions. But I would have done better if I’d repeated the poem more often.

 

The Rule Of Five

 

That’s what World Memory Champion Dominic O’Brien calls it and The Rule Of Five holds great power.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or wondering where you’re going to find the time, don’t stress it. The important thing is just to get started. Memory techniques are a skill you’ll want to use for life and the Prime Ministers of Canada is just the beginning.

I hope you’ve seen how you can not only memorize a long list of names, but also add historical dates and facts. When I look at station two of my Memory Palace of Canadian Prime Ministers, it’s easy to see a movie character and person from my past interacting with a few select symbols that help recall an interesting scenario and numbers.

 

Wrapping It All Up With
A Magnetic Little Bow

 

Here’s a summary of all you have to do to experience great success:

1. Create a Memory Palace for the Prime Ministers of Canada.

Remember to pad out your Memory Palace so that you have a few extra stations in case you need them.

2. Have the names prepared.

You can do it directly from a Wikipedia page, but you’re better off printing the list out and encoding the names to your Magnetic Stations somewhere you won’t be bothered by notifications.

Being tempted to skip around on your browser isn’t helpful either. Like I said last time about boring information … Instead of taking it in small doses, make it exciting for yourself. It’s not that hard!

3. Practice Recall Rehearsal diligently.

The Rule of Five is great, but take it on principle, not as dogma. Always test and never hope that five repetitions is enough. It might become more than necessary once you get good with mnemonics, but it will never be too much. Every time you enter a Memory Palace and practice the beautiful art of memory, you get better and better with the best asset you’ve got:

The ability to learn, remember and recall anything.

Now then … How about that Canadian anthem? 😉

The post Prime Ministers Of Canada: How To Memorize Them All appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Prime_Ministers_Of_Canada__How_To_Memorize_Them_All.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:52pm EDT

boring-topicsStudying about boring topics you don’t give a hoot about sucks, right?

Especially when you’re in a rush.

Especially when all you want is the grade, the certification, the knowledge.

Well, I can’t make any promises, but there might be a way to help make any topic much more interesting to you. At the very least, we can remove the sting of boredom. At best, we can make any topic we want 100% Magnetic.

1. Warning Signs That Your Mindset Is Off

 

I know, I know. You’re tired of hearing about mindset.

But let’s face it. We have minds. Every day we wake up with more or less the same world outside the window. Just like we have to make our beds so that the sheets won’t be sprawled all over the place, we have to set up our minds for success.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it?

Lots of people are happy to leave their beds messy all day long and then crawl into the unkempt mess at night. It’s cold because the mattress has been exposed and probably a bunch of insects have settled into the dune-like patterns. Sure, you might fall asleep okay, but there’s nothing like slipping into a made bed.

You know it’s true.

 

It’s The Same Thing With Your Mind!

 

Sure thing, you can get through life without setting up your mind for success, but it will be cold and exposed to the elements. The bugs will crawl in and lay their eggs, and you’ll never get the warmth you deserve.

But take just a few moments to tidy up and you’ll reduce the suffering that comes from studying things you don’t like.

Because that’s just the thing: A lack of mindset is probably the thing that got you into a position where you’re studying things you’re not passionate about in the first place. You’re probably studying material that produces no great excitement because you’re chasing after hopes and beliefs and dreams and wishes – not what you really want.

 

How To Set A Powerful Mindset For Learning

 

Whether you’re trapped or not, the process works the same. The best way to get your mindset in order is to set it each and every morning. As I talked about in the Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, having morning rituals is a killer way to conquer the day.

When it comes to creating a mindset for making the material you’re studying vibrant and exciting, all you have to do is write down in a journal how exciting it is to be studying and how grateful you are to have the opportunity.

And it’s true: Not everyone has the learning opportunities you do. A massive percentage of people in the world don’t have access to the Internet, schools, books or anything even remotely related to helping them develop their knowledge.

But you …

 

You’ve Got Everything You Need

 

So take a moment every day to recognize what an amazing opportunity you have. If that isn’t a recipe for injecting excitement into a boring topic … I don’t know what is.

If all else fails, here’s what to do if you or someone you love is considering not completing their high school diploma. They may have already left school, but it’s not too late to go back. I dropped out of high school myself for awhile, but I’m so glad I returned.

Best decision of my life.

 

2. Be An Info-Completionist

 

Okay, so now that you’re plump with self-hypnosis induced excitement for the privilege of study, you still have to sit down and learn the stuff.

The question is … How?

A lot of people ask me how I manage to read so much, and the answer is simple:

Get a book. Find a place to sit. Read the book. Repeat until you’re done.

I don’t say that to be flippant, but it’s the truth. If you’re trying to read in a place filled with distractions or on a device that encourages you to skip from tab to tab and answer notifications …

 

Stop Trying To Read Like That!

 

Seriously. It’s not a recipe for success.

Plus, you want to read in a way that helps you isolate the information you want to memorize. I have two posts with podcasts and videos that show you how to realistically memorize a textbook. Just check out the video for now:

If you want more information, listen to How to Memorize A Textbook and study the infographic.

True, my approach to realistically memorizing textbooks involves a bit of setup, but people who give it a try usually find that the process makes reading and remembering the key points of even the most difficult books much easier.

The best part:

By having a dedicated strategy for reading books, you make it a lot more fun. Like having a mindset, having a process you can follow without having to think about it makes everything more fun and interesting. Having operating principles and guidelines reduces cognitive load, and like Tony Buzan said when I studied with him, the rules set you free.

 

3. Look For The Parts That Do Interest You

 

One thing that you’ll learn from my training on (reasonable) textbook memorization is how to skip the parts that don’t interest you.

No, you can’t always do this. There are times when you have to slog through boring stuff you don’t care about.

But here’s the thing: by knowing what you do care about, you get more interested in things that connect with it. It happens automatically.

And when interest doesn’t spontaneously erupt, you at least get a clearer picture of why those other elements are necessary. The more you know about a topic changes the nature of what you don’t know. It makes it more attractive, more Magnetic.

And that which becomes more Magnetic is easier to attach to memory because you’re simply more interested in it.

4. Invite Information Into Your Memory

In other words, use memory techniques.

You knew this was coming, didn’t you?

Let’s face it: The best way to make dry and boring information more interesting is to make it part of your memory improvement lifestyle. That means organizing the information so that you can rapidly absorb it into a Memory Palace.

To do that, you get to invite the information into a place you’ve created in your mind. I don’t want to sound woo-woo, but there’s something ritualistic about this. It’s like anointing information, blessing it or touching its shoulder with the edge of your sword as if you were knighting it.

Once anointed, you start looking at the information through mnemonic eyes. You’re looking for how you can attach it to associative-imagery and place these images on your Memory Palace stations. You’re already getting excited about revisiting your Magnetic Stations and decoding the imagery to ease it into long term memory.

And before you know it … The information isn’t boring any more.

Far from it! That information has become …

 

The Most Interesting Information In The World!

 

This is without a doubt the finest thing you can do for the life of your memory and overall intelligence. When you privilege information and stop demonizing it by framing it in negative ways, it will want to enter your mind.

Even better: If you’ve invited the information in just the right way, it will want to stay.

 

5. Bore Others To Death With Your Boring Topic

 

Just kidding.

By the time you’ve made the information interesting to yourself, you’ll be excited to talk about it and to do that, you should have something already in place:

Community.

Remember how I told you should be grateful for having the opportunity to learn in the first place? And how you can use your gratitude as a tool for generating excitement in even the most boring topic?

Well, you also have the Internet and thousands of groups people have created for discussing topics that they either find really exciting, challenging or want to kvetch about. You can find these groups meeting on forums, on Facebook, G+ or just shooting the breeze in YouTube comments. Maybe there will be some interesting discussion on this video I put together to accompany this post, for example:

Let’s say you’re studying cognitive therapy, something I’ve recently gotten interested in studying.

The first thing is to show some gratitude for having the time and opportunity even to do so. Write that down in your daily gratitude journal.

Then, hop on to Facebook and search for groups that are already discussing this topic. Ask to join. For example, you can ask to join my Learn German Memory Hacks group, or even the Magnetic Memory Method Private Facebook Group. Have fun once you’re inside!

But Proceed With Caution!

 

Don’t overwhelm yourself with this. Just pick one or two that looks like it has enough members for finding a decent amount of discussion in process.

Introduce yourself once you’ve been admitted. Tell them a bit about who you are and why you’re interested in the topic. Make friends with the group admins and shoot them a note to thank them for taking time to put the group together. Probably no one else is doing that so you’ll be on their radar and recognize your name later.

Why would that matter?

Easy. Because when you get bored or stuck somewhere in your reading, you have a place to go and post where at least a few people are going to know your name.

Knowing that you have a place to go and share ideas in advance is a great way of making sure a topic never becomes boring to you.

Of course, the dark side of this technique is that you’ll get swept away doing a thousand other things online, but we all need to learn how to balance these things. I’m writing this post now in a library where getting online is too much of a pain – deliberately so that I have no distractions.

Because here’s the core of the matter:

 

If You Really Want To Get Ahead, You Will Find A Way

 

And with that monster of a headline, we’ve circled back to mindset, something you can get started crafting or refining right now.

Exciting, isn’t it?

Now get out there and tackle some uninteresting information you using these tools. I dare you to be bored!

Oh, and if you’re still skeptical, check out these 3 Reasons Why Skeptics Succeed With Memory Techniques Better Than Anyone Else.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:58am EDT

art-galleries-memoryWant to improve your ability to use memory techniques almost overnight? I promise it’s super-easy. All you need is the willingness to support your nearest art gallery and your awareness of the following 17 reasons going to an art gallery is good for your memory.

 

1. Art Inspires Your Visual Imagination

 

When you’re using memory techniques, you draw upon visual imagination. Even if you’re only using words in your mind when developing mnemonics, you’re using visual words.

The more visual iconography you’ve seen in your life, the more potency the visual words you use will hold. Exposure equals experience. Experience leads to substance. When you use the words “run,” “hit” or any other verb, the more art you’ve seen, the great depth of meaning these words will have.

 

2. Art Depicts Words Used In Visual Ways

 

If you’ve been to an art gallery lately, you’ve undoubtedly seen how modern artists use words. Pop artists use comic strips. Futurists made a big deal out of typefaces. You don’t even have to enter an art gallery to see words used in graffiti on nearly every street in your city.

Looking at art and paying attention to how artists use words is especially great for inspiring how you can use your visual imagination to memorize foreign language vocabulary and phrases. Next time you’re in an art gallery, pay particular attention to how words appear in the exhibits.

3. Art Helps You Make Mental Connections
Between Space And Material Objects

 

Looking at art is never just about “looking.” As your eyes meet the graphic displays, ideas emerge. In fact, “art” happens the moment that you start thinking about what you’re looking at or noticing your emotional responses.

You can become conscious of what you’re thinking and feeling and use your awareness to become more visual. Reflect on how the visual experience has triggered your thoughts and responses.

Also, journal what you’ve thought while at the gallery. By writing down your responses, you access your memory. Accessing your memory exercises your mind, which helps keep it fit.

4. Visiting Art Galleries Makes
You Aware Of World Geography

 

It’s not just that art often depicts different parts of the world. Art galleries also exhibit art by international artists.

Pay attention to the international names and locations of where the art originates. This will exercise your geographical imagination and give you more facts to remember. It’s also great memory exercise to remember the names of the artists you see and include their home countries.

For bonus points, you can also use the Major Method to add the dates of their lives and when they created the pieces you’re admiring. The more experienced you become with memory techniques, the more information you can memorize at a single go.

Plus, the location of the art itself within the gallery amounts to a Memory Palace station. Using the location gives you great practice at using your spatial memory in addition to all the other tools mnemonics draw upon, such as association, semantic memory, episodic memory and the like.

 

5. Art Galleries Are Depositories Of History

 

Yes, you can memorize the raw data of dates when going to an art gallery. But you also expose your memory to information about historical periods.

Artists love to reference other eras and historical events. Some artists have even made careers out of referencing history. Fluency in art equals fluency in history, which is always good for your memory.

 

6. Art Galleries Exercise Your Ability To Create Meaning

 

Let’s face it: A lot of art doesn’t make much sense.

At least, that’s until you give it some thought and learn about how to interpret art. Believe me. Interpretation matters.

After all, a huge part of art interpretation is creating meaning. To have created meaning, you have to remember the meaning you created. Ergo, going to art galleries and interpreting what you see is good for your memory.

And if you’re practicing memory techniques, handling abstract ideas your mind is perfect for practicing the art of remembering challenging and abstract ideas. Art history is loaded with them.

 

7. Art Galleries Give You The Experience Of Puzzlement

 

Being puzzled by something is different than having to create meaning. To be puzzled, after all, you must have already understood something. Two (or more) things are separated and you know they go together …

You just have to figure out how. Visiting art galleries gives you that experience and to fit the pieces together, you need to hold them in memory.

The benefits of being puzzled are massive because it always exercises your memory as you work things out. Even if you give up before you’re satisfied, your memory abilities will have grown.

 

8. Art Galleries Create Enigmas
That Carry On Throughout Life

 

Looking at art not only forces you to create meaning and solve puzzles. It also creates unsolvable mysteries that you will carry throughout your life.

Take “The Persistence of Meaning” by Salvador Dali. What exactly does it mean? No matter how many times you see this painting, it still mystifies. The enigma of surrealism persists precisely because it resists meaning.

And yet, we can continuously connect to the enigma and try puzzling out new meanings even if we know we’ll never come to a conclusion. In Critical Theory, this is called “indeterminacy” and it is a powerful tool in art, cinema, theatre and literature.

 

Try This Simple Memory Exercise

 

For a cool memory exercise, take a painting like “The Persistence of Meaning” and try to remember the first time you saw it.

Even if you’re wrong, right down your earliest memory. For me, my earliest memory is in Collier’s Encyclopedia. I believe it was in black and white.

My next memory is seeing it in a book in high school. After that, I remember buying an art book, cutting it out and hanging it on my wall.

Although I surely saw it countless times after that, my next memory is seeing the painting itself in Manhattan.

My most recent memory is in seeing watch sculptures in Zürich-based on the melting timepiece in the painting. And that triggers my memory of hearing Alejandro Jodorowsky tell me about the time he met Dali as a boy and the story of finding a watch in the desert.

You don’t have to use “The Persistence of Time” when you do the exercise, but give it a try. List as many exposures to the artwork as you can and then free associate. You’ll find that your memory expands the more you use it, and all the more so as you engage in memory games of this sort.

 

9. Looking At Art In Galleries
Creates Conflicting Opinions

 

Even if you go to art galleries alone, you’ll often find yourself in disagreement. Many artists go out of the way to polarize audiences, and using tools like “indeterminacy,” they often pull your heartstrings in opposing directions.

Conflicts like these are perfect for memory because you’ll remember how you felt looking at the painting at a deeper level. You’ll have more interesting inner dialogs which also encodes longer term memories.

If you want to help yourself remember more, keep a journal of the conflicting opinions you experience while looking at art just before you sleep after visiting a gallery. The reason to do this before you go to sleep is that memories consolidate during the night. Some studies have shown that the closer to sleep that you review information, the more likely your brain is to consolidate it into long term memory.

 

10. Art Gallery Gift Shops Have Memory-Inducing Books

 

After you’ve looked at the art in the gallery, you wind up seeing a lot of it over again in the bookstore.

Don’t get annoyed at the upselling. It’s good for your memory.

Plus, there are often cool books you can buy and read to learn more about the art you’ve encountered. Interview books with the artists themselves appeal because you find out more about their personal stories, theories and opinions at the same time. It’s a very cool way to make sometimes difficult information more concrete.

One of the reasons interviews with artists makes the ideas easier to remember is because you get stories and examples, but also the questions of the interviewers. Interviewers bring particular perspectives. If you pay attention to them and absorb their character, their attitudes instantly make the ideas under discussion more memorable.

 

11. Art Galleries Make You Look At
The Outside World Differently

 

Often artists use everyday objects within the art gallery to change our perspective of the outside world. But when you deliberately remember more of what you’ve seen inside the gallery, you will find that you also see the outside world differently.

For example, I just saw “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” by Jeff Koons for the first time in Oslo. You often read about the effect that it has in art criticism, but it’s not until you’ve seen it with your own eyes that the kitschy art in stories takes on the intended effect.

 

12. Visiting Art Galleries Inspires New Ideas

 

Art galleries are idea-generating machines. After all, every piece of art started with an idea – even if it was just the idea to throw paint at the wall.

The more ideas you encounter and the more you play with those ideas in your mind, the more likely you are to come up with ideas of your own.

Plus, you might walk away with the idea of actually creating some art. If you do follow through, that might be the best idea of all. No matter what happens to the art you create, you learn so much just by taking action.

 

13. Visiting Art Galleries Gives You More To Talk About

 

Be honest: You wish you were a more interesting person.

I know I do, and the secret is in always feeding yourself new and exciting things to discuss.

“Hey, did you see the new exhibit at our local gallery?” is a powerful conversation starter, for example. Plus, you’ll be supporting art in your community by inspiring others to see art and helping them experience a better memory in the process.

 

14. You Can Make A Memory Palace
From Each Art Gallery You Visit

 

Art galleries don’t always make the best Memory Palaces, but you can still use them for the exercise.

Plus, as I mentioned, each piece of art automatically provides its own station.

As with historical sites you encounter while on vacation, I recommend that you make your art gallery Memory Palaces as simple as possible. Use the entrance, one or two simple rooms and the exit only.

You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with multiple floors, stairways and those weird nooks and crannies. Unless they’re crucial to your success, skip the complicated parts of art galleries and focus on the parts that are dead simple to remember.

 

15. You Can Take A Guided Tour
And Develop Your Concentration

 

All of us struggle with not having enough FOCUS. So if the art gallery you visit offers a guided tour – take it.

One of the best ways to extend your concentration is to focus on lectures filled with data. I like to repeat the information I’m hearing in my own voice to help extend my focus.

It’s perfectly fine if your attention wanders. Just gently bring it back and enjoy how with practice you can extend the amount of time you hold focus during the tours you take.

For another kind of memory exercise, you can record the audio presentation and later use the How To Memorize A Textbook training to get the key points rapidly into long-term memory.

You might even want to give tours or your own by taking friends to see the art gallery later. You can practice your memory in a substantial way by telling others what you’ve learned and sharing your conflicting opinions.

Listening to their responses is another great way of practicing focus and developing your memory. You cannot lose by taking and giving art gallery tours.

 

16. You Might Even Meet Artists

 

During a recent art gallery visit in Helsinki, I met an interesting landscape artist. She gave me a personal tour of her works in the gallery, explaining her thoughts about color and telling me where exactly she was when creating the art.

Not only did this make the visit to the gallery more memorable to me, but I had the chance to ask her about her own memory. She said that she can paint from memory, but prefers to compose in the environment so that she can respond to the present moment.

Fascinating ideas like these make living a life devoted to memory even more interesting.

 

17. You Can Experience Fear
In Art Galleries And Still Be Safe

 

At the Astrup Fearnley Museum in Oslo, I almost crapped my pants when I saw Zhou Tao’s “”Chicken speak to duck, pig speak to dog.”

It’s a video installation with a weird dude yelling and squealing while up in a tree.

I had a hard time figuring out what it was all about until I read the title and description, but the combination of emotion, enigma and solving the riddle by reading the information consolidated the experience in memory.

Even better, I’m practicing what I preach right now by writing about the experience as my last job before going to bed, all of which will help consolidate the memory of this experience.

 

For Memory’s Sake, Visit An Art Gallery Soon

 

There are loads more reasons why going to art galleries can improve your memory. You see so much art in so many different mediums that it gives you an incredible amount of exposure to vibrant information that you’ll want to remember.

Are some of the pieces you’ll see meaningless fluff?

Perhaps.

But it’s all part of experiencing the world of art and expanding as a visual person.

And the more visual you become, the easier it is to use memory techniques.

Give yourself the gift of visual exposure and plan to visit an art gallery today.

Seriously. In most cities, it doesn’t have to cost a dime. Usually, art galleries open their doors once a week for free.

Plus, your city might have local galleries featuring independent artists. Restaurants often feature works by local artists. You can even arrange viewings of private collections in the homes of collectors with a simple Google search.

Trust me. It’s worth it and will make your life more memorable.

The post 17 Reasons Going To Art Galleries Will Improve Your Memory appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 17_Reasons_Going_To_Art_Galleries_Can_Improve_Your_Memory.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:58am EDT

system-for-remembering-cards-magnetic-memory-methodMemory techniques work by dressing up information in costumes. Sound weird or confusing? No worries: One of the best ways to understand this concept is by having a system for remembering cards.

 

Consider the following when it comes to using memory techniques in your quest for total memory improvement:

Dressing information in costumes is at least 90% of what’s going on when you develop a system for remembering cards (or any information).

Often, this practice is called “association” or “encoding.” Tim Ferriss has used the term “converting” for memorizing a deck of cards, and many other terms abound.

Don’t get caught up in the terminology, however. That risks missing the math, because …

The other 10% of memory success belongs to the Memory Palace and how you use it to store and practice recalling information. Since you need a means that will help you get good at remembering numbers, check out this video:

Since it’s in the storage and recollection practice that helps you guide the information on playing cards into long-term memory, you’ll want to know how to memorize numbers with letters to make the process fast and easy.

When you know how to “hack” your memory, you know that it’s actually in that 10% of the process where most of the memory magic happens. It’s in the process that you’re harnessing the power of the primacy effect and the recency affect. But the memory magic happens only …

 

If You’ve Got The Skills Needed
For The 90% Under Control

 

And if you want to get that 90% humming along for yourself in record time, then there is one crazy memory exercise you can do that will completely train your brain so that your memory operates at a shockingly high level.

 

Sounds Stupid, But Memorizing Playing
Cards Is Still The Best Memory Exercise Ever

 

I know, I know. Unless you’re a magician or memory athlete, memorizing a deck of cards does sound like a meaningless skill.

Yet, I can tell you with absolute certainty that all of my success with memory comes from, is maintained and continually improved by this seemingly stupid stunt.

And 90% of it involves little more than dressing up each card in a costume using the Major Method.

And to convince you that you should have a system for remembering cards, I’m going to show, you 13 reasons why you should memorize playing cards as part of your memory practice.

 

1. You Experience Overall Memory Improvement

 

Obviously, memorizing playing cards improves your overall memory. How could such intense memory practice not improve your memory abilities?

After all, the best way to improve your memory is to use it. I normally say that you should always practice your memory by using it to remember information you can use to improve your life in a substantial way, but card memorization is the one exception.

And since there is ALWAYS an exception to every rule, this one is worth your close attention.

The rest of the points I’m about to share explain in detail why card memory is so powerful even if it amounts to memorizing information you cannot and will not use in any immediately practical situation (outside of card magic).

2. Having A System For Remembering Cards
Improves Your Memory For Numbers

 

Not only that, but you wind up with a neat way of remembering a lot of different kinds of numbers. So long as you don’t let yourself get overwhelmed with excitement by your super memory powers (like I sometimes do), you’ll have the ability to memorize any number after picking up this simple memory technique.

 

3. You’ll Get Good At Memorizing Long Lists

 

After all, what is a deck of cards other than a list of job positions in a unique order? Learn to remember the order of 52 cards and you’ll instantly know how to memorize 52 of anything.

And with a few simple expansions and some practice, you can repeat the process or hundreds if not thousands of lists. It’s easy and fun.

 

4. You’ll Develop Killer Abilities With Memorizing
And Managing Abstractions

 

People find memorizing concepts amongst the most difficult information types in the world. The symbols on playing cards are downright abstract themselves, so this skill will lighten the load on other abstractions and arbitrary associations you encounter.

One trick is to simply stop convincing yourself that concepts are different than any other kind of information. Training with card memory will teach you how to stop making that mistake because it levels the playing field. Just like a rose is a rose is a rose, so does all information share certain core tendencies.

When we focus on the differences between information and levels of difficulty, we trick ourselves out. When we zone in on the similarities and refuse to privilege information by placing it in hierarchies of difficulty, we win.

5. Remembering Cards Improves Your Imagination

 

Just about everyone wishes they could be more imaginative. With the ability to memorize a deck of cards, your imagination can grow on a daily basis simply by carrying a deck of cards in your pocket. Or, if you don’t want your memorize a deck of cards mnemonics linked to a physical deck of cards, you can use a memorize a deck of cards app.

 

6. Memorizing Cards Helps With Language Learning

 

To be honest, I’ve only used the card memory application to language learning with the tones of Chinese Mandarin.

But darn if this approach to memorizing Chinese tones with the Major Method isn’t a humdinger! Anytime you can put a number or image on how words should be pronounced in any language, you’ll almost certainly find assistance from this skill.

Plus, I’m convinced that regular card practice has developed my speed and agility with coming up with mnemonics for memorizing vocabulary in any language.

 

7. Card Memorization Improves Your Critical Thinking

 

Imagine being able to see more angles to different arguments and manipulate information in your mind. It might sound unrelated to card memorization, but I’m confident you’ll find yourself more capable of manipulating ideas once you have this simple skill.

Why?

You experience boosts in critical thinking from using memory techniques in general because you’re combining spatial memory with the manipulation of perspectives and scenarios. When you’re using Bridging Figures, for example, you spend time considering what it’s like to act and react from different perspectives.

Plus, you’re continually diving deep into your imagination which makes it easier to penetrate other topics imaginatively. You should find that you start thinking at a more engaged level by default.

 

8. Memorizing Cards Is A Cool Party Stunt

 

This reason isn’t as lame as it sounds. After all, when those other dudes are winning bets by balancing quarters on the edges of their beer mugs, you’ll be demonstrating real miracles.

Seriously. People will start looking for mirrors. They’ll look at the back of the cards to check if they’re marked or gimmicked. Recalling a deck of shuffled cards in perfect order is such a stunning feat to watch that it’s hard to believe what’s happening, even if it’s the hundreth or thousandth time you’ve seen it.

If you’re not doing card memorization as a memory stunt, you can also learn to false shuffle cards and perform magic tricks that play like miracles. Provided that you can pull off false cuts and shuffles (it’s not that hard), tricks that use a memorized decks are probably the most powerful you can ever learn.

 

9. Card memory is a legitimate sport.

 

If you aren’t a physical athlete, but have always felt that lust to compete in some area of human performance, card memory is a great option. The memorize a deck of cards world record list is stunning, inspiring and … frustrating. It’s hard to not want to beat it.

And if you ever give it a try, at either a local, national or international level, you’ll meet a lot of cool and interesting people. And if you attend events like the World Memory Championships, you’ll meet absolute masters of the art. Just listen to Tony Buzan talk about that on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

 

10. Having A System For Remembering
Cards Is A Transferable Skill

 

I’ve already got this point covered, but it deserves its own category. You really can use this technique to remember a large assortment of numbers and experience powerful applications in language learning and more.

Having a set of mnemonics for memorizing a deck of cards gives you improved abilities in all areas of memory. And even if you’re already good at memorizing cards, you can always get better. Alex Mullen may currently hold the world record for memorized cards, but someone will eventually take this title. It could be you and the transferable skills you’ll build along the way will be invaluable.

11. You’ll Experience Untold Waves Of
Accomplishment From Card Memorization

 

When was the last time you felt proud of yourself?

I mean, really proud?

Be honest and don’t worry if it’s been awhile.

With card memory skills, you can feel proud each and every day of your life.

I know self-pride strikes some people as fickle, but it’s not. The normal need for self-confidence is what extraordinary people use to keep their memory sharp and help fend off “digital dementia.” I’m in no way claiming that mental exercise medically prevents brain disease, but it’s positively logical to assume there are physical benefits at work.

 

12. You Become More Mentally Agile
When You Practice Card Memory

 

Not only do you experience physical brain benefits, but you strengthen your memory skills across the board. It’s like getting better at skipping rope can make you better in the boxing ring.

Think about your memory in terms of space. You have warm and cozy places of familiarity and outer regions of cold and darkness you rarely visit.

By taking on a simple new skill, you bring heat to more parts of your memory. That means new civilizations of information can move in, giving you the chance to practice managing diverse data as part of your personal and professional growth. Just imagine being able to juggle facts in your mind, knowing each one in crisp and sharp detail thanks to the well-lit fires in your mind.

In fact, you’ll be like the expert juggler, each piece of information like a burning torch you can expertly spin through the air and effortlessly catch in a display of memory mastery.

Plus, the ability to memorize a deck of cards teaches you to create a system for remembering cards based on classic memory methods. You can the practice you’ll get creating and using the system you create to help you create other memory systems.

It’s in this ability to create memory systems out of an understanding of universal principles of memory and methods that you develop amazing powers of mental agility.

 

13. You Can Excel At Card Games Like
Bridge, Poker And Blackjack

 

Imagine being able to remember every single visible card in play during a card game. Do you think that would give you a competitive edge?

It certainly would, even though most experts agree that it would only amount to a 2% advantage.

ONLY.

If you know your numbers, then you know that a 2% advantage in any game is huge. And if that game involves bets with money, be it pennies or dollars, your earnings could be huge.

I myself don’t gamble, but I can tell you that the pleasure I take in playing no-stakes games using memory to my advantage is a lot of fun. And it’s always amazing exercise as one of the most powerful brain games you’ll ever play.

Of course, you don’t have to use memory techniques for gambling games. The “memorize a deck of cards game” world is full of non-competitive “find ’em” variations that have no stakes involved whatsoever. You just lay out card pairs and practice remembering locations so you can match and remove them during game play.

 

Should You Use An App For Memorizing Playing Cards?

 

A lot of people ask me to recommend my favorite memorize a deck of cards app.

I always tell them to simply carry a deck of cards with them. It’s the best deck of cards app on the planet in my view because it gets the muscles of your hands, arms and eyes involved in card memorization at a much deeper level.

No, I don’t have any direct research to make claims that you get a memory advantage when using a real deck of cards. In fact, using a memorize a deck of cards app, provided it includes such functionality, has the advantage of tracking your results on autopilot.

By the same token, you get equally great results by tracking your results by hand, including developing the discipline of monitoring results based on a tracking system of your own creation. Ultimately, if you take the art of creating a system for remembering cards seriously, you’ll eventually create your own tracking methods anyway.

If you come to rely on a memorize a deck of cards app, you won’t be able to modify its tracking modifications to your needs. But you’ll likely have become habituated to using it, which means you may be less likely to evolve. Or maybe you’ll be more likely to evolve … it could go either way.

One of the memorize a deck of cards app you can try that can give you tracking options if you’re a premium member is the Memrise deck of cards course.

What I like about the course is that you get some good ideas for images for each card. However, you aren’t getting training in the universal principles of memory, nor are you creating your own system. The relationships are not arbitrary, which is good, but they’re also not based on the Major Method, which means that you don’t have functionality beyond the card memorization for numbers.

But as far as a kind of deck of cards memory game, the Memrise deck of cards course is worth taking a look at. It gives you something different to try. However, taking this course risks creating some confusion if you have an existing set of memorize a deck of cards mnemonics in mind. It will also not give you a system for remembering cards in the true sense of a “system” you get when basing your card approach on the Major Method.

By the same token, it can be a great memory challenge to have more than one system for remembering cards in mind. Juggling multiple memory methods and the systems you create from them is for advanced stages of the game, however. It’s best to master one memory skill first and then move on to the next.

Should You Develop A System
For Remembering Cards?

 

Absolutely.

Again, I know it sounds like remembering cards is a useless skill on the surface. However, if you’re serious about memory improvement, you’ll be glad I twisted your arm into learning it.

Once you’ve recalled even just 1/4 of a deck of cards, you’ll be convinced of how much potential your memory holds. This simple feat of memory accomplishment will create energy and inspiration that keeps you moving forward. Once you’ve accurately recalled just a few cards you’ll know just how easy it is to learn, remember and recall anything.

It’s a life changing experience and I can’t wait to hear your story of success with developing your own system for remembering cards!

The post System For Remembering Cards? 13 Reasons You Should Have One appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: System_For_Remembering_Cards__13_Reasons_You_Should_Have_One.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:33pm EDT

impromptu-memory-palaceWouldn’t it be awesome if you could create an impromptu Memory Palace on the go? I’m talking about a responsive memory tool that would let you hear a word or phrase and instantly learn, remember and then recall it forever just by thinking of that place.

Here’s the good news:

Creating an impromptu Memory Palace is fun and easy to do. You just need to know the principles of the Magnetic Memory Method, and you’re good to go.

You can create an impromptu Memory Palace in a restaurant as discussed in this video:

Or you can create your first impromptu Memory Palace in a park as I talked about last week with Barbara Oakley.

Since park Memory Palaces are a bit more challenging here are the basics using 秋天 qiūtiān (Mandarin Chinese for “autumn”) as an example. Although I struggled with the pronunciation at the beginning (and even experienced a few rare seconds of frustration), the techniques set the stage for success using the rest of The Big Five Of Language Learning.

Scan The Scene For A Suitable Location

 

If you’re familiar with the method of loci, then you know that impromptu Memory Palace elements are everywhere. But you also know that not all Memory Palace stations are created equal.

For example, stations in obscure and hard to measure places really don’t serve as well as stations with fixed features.

Corners, for example, serve as bulletproof stations because they’re fixed. You can instantly zoom to them in your mind. Think of the corner of a park, for example, and BANG, your mind Magnetically zooms there.

The weak memorizer, however, chooses loosey-goosey stations, like “halfway between those clumps of trees,” or places even less certain.

 

Focus On Solid And Certain Stations For Total Success

 

Walking through a park with April discussing German phrases she’s learning, 秋天 came up. My eyes instantly searched for a place to create and secure a mnemonic image.

At that point, I had no idea what image I would create. But I let a sense of relaxation overcome me and trusted the process to do its work.

And, of course, the Magnetic Memory Method delivered (it always does).

 

Combine Your Impromptu Memory Palace
Stations With No-Brainer Associations

 

Of course, you’ve got to be willing to make mistakes, which is exactly what I did.

Why?

Because to memorize the sound and meaning of 秋天 qiūtiān, I saw a giant 9 and yo-yo because 九 jiǔ (nine) sounds similar to my ear.

However, the similarity is a fantasy in my mind that led to one of my classic pronunciation errors. Nonetheless, by associating the tones of 秋天 with the Major Method and using the word as often as possible in sentences, the work of getting it right every time is underway.

Notice too that by writing this post, making the video and the podcast episode, I’m practicing The Big Five Of Language Learning.

Should you go through all these motions online just to learn a word and practice it?

Not necessarily. But you should do it at a personal level to utilize all your representational systems and learn to speak your language.

 

Finish The Impromptu Memory Palace Later

 

The cool thing about a small impromptu Memory Palace like for 秋天 qiūtiān is that there are 3 more terms needed to complete my knowledge of the words for the seasons in Chinese.

冬天 dōngtiān for Winter

春天 chūntiān for Spring

夏天 xiàtiān for Summer

In this case, I used four trees in the park. Each tree served as the station for one of the seasons.

冬天 dōngtiān. I won’t tell you what’s going on with this image, but let’s just say I’m not using a ding dong in combination with a snowy tree.

春天 chūntiān. For this I see Chewbacca chewing on a twenty dollar bill before spitting it out as rusty springs into the tea cup with burning yen.

夏天 xiàtiān. The t-sah-ya sound makes it hard to get a clear image in play, but I have the band Twisted Sister playing Yahtzee with miniature, but blazing hot suns and that works great.

In each case, the goal is to use the mnemonic imagery to bring back the sound and meaning of the words in the same stroke. The point of the impromptu Memory Palace location is to have a mental place to go for recalling the meaning and for playing around with the words in sentences.

For example, “I like autumn” can be changed to, “It is now autumn” and “Tomorrow it will be autumn.” There are countless variations and it’s important to run through as many as you possibly can to help the key vocabulary words stick in place in the context of a sentence.

After that, it’s just a matter of repeating the process with new words and new Memory Palaces.

 

Impromptu Memory Palaces Are Not For Everything

 

At the end of the day, you need to pick your battles. Impromptu Memory Palaces serve small sets of information like the seasons or days of the week well. But for anything larger than ten pieces of information, you might struggle.

Why?

Because the problem with Impromptu Memory Palaces is that you have to recreate them in your mind at the same time you’re recreating the images. But if you use Memory Palaces based on real locations, you reduce the mental load. If you’re really good with Memory Palaces, you eliminate the load altogether.

If you don’t already know how to create the perfect Memory Palace, please consider completing this free Memory Kit. It will help you get the most out of the process.

But here’s the thing:

Nothing happens unless you take action, so please be sure to give this technique a try. Post any questions you have below, and understand that the best questions come from experience and struggling a little bit with the process. Please do not overthink mnemonics. The answers come from taking action and using the techniques

Always.

Further Resources

You can use an impromptu Memory Palace at an event to remember names.

Or you can make an impromptu Memory Palace in a restaurant and then practice what you’ve memorized out in the rain. Just make sure to also perform proper Recall Rehearsal.

Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics and Morning Memory Secrets.

The post How to Create an Impromptu Memory Palace With Ease appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: How_to_Create_an_Impromptu_Memory_Palace_With_Ease.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:06am EDT

learning how to learn with barbara oakleyAre you interested in learning how to learn at a higher level? I’m talking about mastering math, sailing through high-pressure exams and making the most of your study time. Every time you sit down to learn.

If knowing how to do that sparks your interest, in this special interview, bestselling author and world famous video professor Barbara Oakley shares her best study and memory tips.

Plus, as the author of some interesting works on human nature, you’ll discover some of Barbara’s most powerful insights about altruism and memory that you won’t soon forget.

Here is the transcript of the interview as a PDF for printing and future reference and you can read the text in full below. Plus, please be sure register for the next free session of Barbara’s popular course, Learning How To Learn and make sure to follow her on Amazon for the latest news about her incredible books.

 

How A Former Math Flunky Changed Her Brain
And Created A Mind For Numbers

 

Anthony: Barbara, thank you so much for being on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. One of the things that I wanted to begin with was your first memory of being interested in learning as a topic, as a subject, even at a meta level where you’re aware of this as being a concern, an issue, and something that you can optimize.

Barbara: Oh, it’s funny because I think there are two kinds of people who are teachers. There are people who are teachers because they really love teaching. There are people who are teachers who really hate teaching. They’re very shy about getting in front of a bunch of people, and they only do it because they feel it’s so important to communicate what they’re trying to communicate.

I fall more or less into the latter category. I never envisioned myself becoming a teacher or learning about learning or anything of that nature at all. It wasn’t until I was probably, well, about five years ago, four years ago, something like that, one of my students asked me. He found out that I had been a formal math flunky. I had flunked my way through elementary, middle and high school math and science. Which is really kind of ironic since I’m now a professor of engineering.

He asked me, “How did you do it? How did you change your brain?” I wrote him a little a page of information about how I had been a linguist in the Army. I’ve always loved languages and that’s all I thought I could ever do. How did I gradually shift? Well, not so gradually but with a lot of work, to being able to assimilate and master math and science. I wrote him this email, and then I thought well, you know, how did I really do that? That’s a very good question.

I started looking more deeply into it.  A Mind for Numbers grew out of that. I thought, oh you know that’s a very straightforward thing, I’ll just kind of put together some of the good insightful research and talk a little bit about that. Of course, it was far more intensive than I ever might have dreamed.

 

The Biggest And Best Permission
You Can Give Yourself As A Learner

 

I think it was just such an interesting experience to realize that I’d never really thought about learning even though I remember when I was growing up. I was like man, you know, isn’t there an easier way to learn these things because I do these stupid things like reread a page over and over and over again. Then finally I would flip the page and there the answer would be. If I had just turned the page earlier, I would have kind of figured it out.

Anyway, I backed into it I think. But, I do notice that when I’m in front of my classes. I think because I’m very empathetic, I’m always looking at them and going you know they didn’t get that. I know they didn’t get that even though I explained it very clearly. A lot of learning is just growing out of wondering about how other people learn.

Anthony: That’s very interesting. I think so many people they wind up getting into teaching as an art itself by having that experience of being asked how did you learn that and coming from a space where they weren’t masters of something first, or that not even close to mastery, but actually flunking in that area.

I wonder what lessons you might give to someone in sort of number one thing you have to realize if you’re failing right now in something like math, that someone struggling with could see that turn around perhaps in the future.

Barbara: Probably the biggest thing that if I had known back in the day when I was trying to retool my brain and actually learn math and science, and even before when I was just plain flunking it, the biggest thing that I could have done was to realize that it is quite all right to not understand something the first time you see it. I always thought I must be an idiot because these other people are all understanding what’s going on and clearly I’m not. I’m just really slow.

It is quite all right to not understand something the first time you see it.Click To Tweet

If anything, the only reason I persevered was I would just kind of say well I don’t care even if I’m really slow and it takes me more time than everybody else, I’ll just try to hide that and I’ll still learn it anyway. Of course, to other people it just looked like I was really doing well. But behind it was a lot of work because I’m not one of those naturally gifted, really bright learners.

But in the same sense I think because of the that, when I learn something I really learn it at a very deep level. I think it’s that way for many people. They think they are not very bright, but actually the way they have to learn it because their brains may not be like swift moving, that they can actually learn it much more deeply.

 

The Magic Of Concentrated Effort For Creating Impetus

 

Anthony: I read somewhere someone made a mathematical proposition that something like 98 percent of people just give up after the first resistance that they come across. I wonder how did you develop in yourself this stamina or what would you call it this ability to give yourself that permission to have it okay that you didn’t get it the first time.

Barbara: I think what worked for me is to be successful in something that did require some learning, some concentrated effort in other words. Whether that something is learning how to play a musical instrument, or learning to sing, or learning to play soccer, or learning any number of different kinds of things, if you learn one thing so you are successful at it, then that gives you the impetus to think you know maybe if I just stick with this next thing I can be more successful.

I think that’s probably the thing. For me, I joined the Army and learned Russian. I just learned step by step how do you practice and really learn a language well. In doing that it sort of taught me meta skills about learning and that has served me in good stead in math and science.

 

The Special Meta Skill That Links Math And Language

 

Anthony: As a linguist, do you see a relationship between math and language?

Barbara: Oh, very much so. There’s a sort of an expert on experts. His name is Anders Ericsson, who works out of Florida and just wrote a great book called Peak on becoming an expert in virtually any topic. Often what you’re doing when you’re learning a language is you’re not just memorizing a bunch of vocabulary words although that actually is an important part of learning a language. You are learning to think in a different way and to be able to process that information in a very different way so you cannot just spew out a bunch of vocabulary words, but you can bring out the grammatical structure and do it quickly.

a-mind-for-numbers

That is a big part of what’s going on in math and science. You’re bringing out a new numerical structure, and you have to be able to do it fluently. If you haven’t practiced enough, you have nothing, no patterns to pull into your working memory to make things easier. You’re just doing everything de novo in your working memory and it’s too hard to do.

I think there are great similarities and I think part of the reason may be, in this country, many engineers are from other countries besides the U.S. Part of that is that there is a big need for engineers and there’s not enough engineers in this country. I think part of it too is that those coming from outside the U.S. they know how do we learn because they’ve often had to learn English. That has, I think, been a meta skill that has transferred to their ability to also do well in math and science and engineering sorts of topics.

Anthony: That’s a fascinating point. I think one thing that I observed when I was studying German is that the Russian learners, particularly the Russian learners, seemed to get German articles a lot easier.

That seemed to have something to do with the fact, this is just my conjecture, but it seemed to have something to do with the fact that they didn’t have to deal with articles. When they came across articles, they got them the first time because it was just the sort of new sort of thing.

For an English speaker, where we do have articles just not of the gendered kind, the brain wants to get lazy and sort of ignore that. We’re not really thinking of it in quite the same way as people who don’t have articles. If that if that makes sense as a kind of observation of how learning another language can then give you a skill that can transfer over to it to something else like math.

 

How To Learn A Language – Even If
You Have Limited Working Memory

(Hint: Almost All Of Us Do)

 

Barbara: I think that’s a very interesting point. Well, let’s say you learn –I’m studying Spanish now. I am a slow learner, but I’m going to be using your techniques to help speed things up.

When you’re learning those kinds of things, you’re working away at it and cognitively I have a very limited working memory. What that means is that things fall out of my working memory very easily. But because some things fall out, other things come in and that is correlated with perhaps why I might be considered more creative.

When people say, “Oh man, I have to work so hard to keep these things in mind. What’s going on?” They often think, “Oh I must be so kind of dumb because I don’t have a steel trap mind like some people.” They are often more creative people and so it’s actually a talent that they have. I try to remind myself of that when I’m when I don’t have a steel trap mind in memorizing vocabulary and so forth.

 

 Barbara’s Take On The Ancient Art Of Memory

 

Anthony: What you say is your number one technique that you go to when you really need to remember something?

Barbara: Trying to equate something with something extremely off color. If something happens to come to mind that is either just really wacky or else something that’s not repeatable in the public forum, it will stick. I mean whether I like it or not it’ll probably stick very well.

Indeed, the old memory experts from ancient Greece often said the same thing that if you use unrepeatable sorts of things to help you remember things that can be helpful. But just wacky images sometimes.

My challenge, and if I can turn the question around to you, my challenge is I’m really slow. Let’s say I’m trying to remember a Spanish phrase. How can I put that in my mind other than repeat it a whole bunch of times and hear it? It is hard for me to come up with some kind of wacky sort of mnemonic that would help me more easily place it in my memory.

Anthony: Well there’s a lot of ways to skin that cat. Phrases are an interesting thing because I always try to work from a word and then add a phrase to a word. If you had a key there like token, for example, and you had a Memory Palace a location where that were token was, and then you already knew conjunctions for nosotros, then you could encode an entire phrase around that mnemonic for token.

You could think of a number of ones and use that Memory Palace where you had that word to make a number of phrases with the word token for example or we and token. There’s that option. I like to bulk things up so it’s never just about like one phrase but multiple phrases for a single word. If that makes sense.

 

The Energizing Way To Learn Pronunciation
Using Memory Techniques

 

That’s kind of related to the theory of substitution in language learning. Right now, I’m learning Chinese and my biggest problem with Chinese is not memorizing vocabulary but actually reciting the tones. I learned, let’s see if i can get this right, and people will listen to this and correct me I’m sure if i didn’t. Winter, and now i feel on the spot so I am going to try and get this, but I member it is, oh how did this go.

There’s a tree with a number nine and a yoyo that is smashing a teacup with yen that’s burning inside of it. That’s not winter that’s fall. Sorry, winter is a different, that’s autumn right but I’m getting that mixed up because right beside that is another tree that represents winter. Then I have spring and summer. They all end with 天 tiān.

Now, I have to remember that almost all of these are words that have the first tone. One of them has the fourth tone and the first tone. Now, I have a frog there because I’m using the major method to remember the tones. I have the number nine because number nine is 九 jiǔ or something pronounced like that. It’s like a lot of confusing stuff. This is my challenge as a teacher which is one reason why it’s very interesting to speak with you because I’m always trying to think of how can I teach this stuff better.

Because mnemonics are insane. You are saying well there’s a frog and then there’s a teacup with yen burning inside of it to remind me of 天 tiān. I don’t know the best way to teach these crazy images to people in a way that really makes sense, when it makes sense to me. I have a basis now to recall that again and again without any flashcards.

I just have to remember that it’s something like 天 tiān. Then, when it comes to substitution, I would say to my speaking partner 我喜欢秋天 which means, “I like autumn.” Then I want to be able to say, tomorrow I will also like autumn, or next week it will be winter and I will like winter. Start changing the phrase so that it is today I like autumn. Tomorrow I will like autumn. Next week I will still like autumn, or I will like winter, or it will be autumn after winter. This is sort of like the substitution thing.

If you just have that one word, then you can play with the phrases around it. I have a park that has the four seasons. It’s just a matter of practicing those pronunciations. I go in my mind. I see the tree. I see the images. I know some basics of phrases, and I just start drilling different phrases around that.

 

How To Deal With Learning In Little Snippets

 

Barbara: That makes a lot of sense. I’m going to incorporate that into my Spanish practice. It also relates in a way to the concept of interleaving. This is something that is frequently spoken of in the context of math and science learning.

I teach statistics and probability. I have my textbook and it goes through chapters one by one of the various aspects and it kind of builds up. Often what is in chapter four is rather unrelated to chapter six and unrelated to chapter eight. You learn everything in these little snippets.

You learn chapter four and you can do the techniques of chapter four. Then chapter eight and you learn those techniques and so forth. But the only time you ever see them all at one time is during the final examination. People sometimes say ‘oh I just don’t know how to do this stuff’ because they haven’t learned how to pick out one thing as a one technique as opposed to a different technique because they’re taught in different chapters.

What you’re doing is you are using a commonality, a word or a concept, but then you’re saying oh but you can use it this way. Then there’s another way to use it. You are kind of interleaving at the same time that you’re bringing everything together with a single word. I think that’s really cool. It’s a great approach to learning.

Anthony: I certainly have a lot of fun with it and one of the questions that I’d prepared to ask you relates to this. You talk about index cards, how to optimize the index cards process and how that revisiting information absolutely is critical. I’m the kind of student, and I always have been, with language study in particular, I’m not the kind of person who’s going to ever use them. I’m not going to use spaced repetition software.

I think that is what has appealed to people about my books. They are often attractive to people who are also not ever going to use that. But knowing that they are effective and knowing that spaced repetition that is assisted by software is also effective for creating a long-term memory, I wonder what other alternatives you might suggest to people who also aren’t going to go that route but do need to be revisiting information.

 

The Power of Learning In Spare Moments

 

Because the example that I just gave you, the reason why that I can remember it today, noting that my pronunciation isn’t perfect yet, is because I’ve repeated it in my mind several times. I just haven’t done it with index cards in front of me.

Barbara: There’s several different ways that you can approach it. Maybe a good way is to just use those spare moments to recall what you can of whatever you’re trying to work on. That effort to recall will actually do a good job. Whatever you can recall, that’s going to imprint that ever more deeply on your mind.

We do want to let our minds wander some. We don’t want to use every spare second. “Oh, I’m going to the bathroom now. I’ll conjugate my verbs.” There are lots of spare moments. When I go for a walk, sometimes I’ll practice to become more fluid at certain phrases. I’ll be walking along, and of course my husband is like what are you doing. I’ll just be doing something perhaps in my mind or saying it out loud.

 

The Great Thing About Sticky Notes
And The Annoying Thing About Flashcards

 

Using those kinds of moments. If it’s really important, it can’t hurt to take a sticky note and stick it on your mirror with whatever that phrase or whatever is going on. I often will tell my students in my face-to-face classes, see this point right here, see this equation. This is such an important equation that you should put it on a sticky note on your mirror and memorize it.

It can't hurt to take a sticky note and stick it on your mirror with whatever that phrase or whatever is going on. Click To Tweet

Whenever you go in front of that mirror, see if you can remember it and then check and make sure you got it right. That’s a good technique. What I find annoying about flashcards is you get it in your mind faster than you can flip the flashcards. It’s like is this sticking? It’s like you know where you are going already and you just want to go right through them.

Of course, it would be quicker to have something like Anki or something like that. A lot of the time I don’t want to take the time to type it all in manually. I will do some by handwriting. I often like to have sheets of paper where I just write on one side. I’ll write the words that I’m trying to remember in English and on the other side in Spanish or Russian or what have you. When I kind of get familiar with the page, I’ll put the page aside. I have a big collection of pages. That makes it really quick to go through.

Often the kinds of things that you’re trying to remember are related to one another and you want to see the patterns for how they change. It’s hard to do that with flashcards. If you write them on pages, you can see the relationships between different tenses say or that kind of thing.

It doesn’t seem to me to matter so much that I’m able to mix them up with flashcards, that’s the one advantage of flashcards, but they’re so much faster to quickly review something. Even the act of writing it out, of course, is helpful.

 

The Amazing Genesis Of Learning How To Learn

 

Anthony: Thank you for those great thoughts on memory that’s very useful. I wanted to talk as well about a great course that you have on Coursera called Learning How to Learn. This is something people can find on Coursera and it’s a free course. I just wonder, what’s the evolution of that course? How did it come into being? What does it mean to learn how to learn?

Barbara: I sort of backed into doing the course. It’s kind of funny, my husband and I were down in the basement filming the course. We were just kind of going, gosh, is anybody ever even going to watch this? Why are we doing this?

It was like we have to do this. We just have to do this because it has a lot of helpful information and we feel it’s really important. Now it’s the most popular course in the world. It’s about 1.6 million enrolled students so far. People just really love the course. They find a lot of value. It’s people from all walks of life.

Five percent of the learners have their Ph.D.’s. I got an email from a fifth grader about 12 years old who says oh I took a course with my mother. You know I never realized that professors could be so witty.

I was like well if you knew how long I worked to try to be witty. Then our older daughter was at that time in med school. She was sitting in her class in med school and being taught by a preeminent specialist in southeast Michigan. He suddenly, there’s seventy medical school students, and he suddenly stops the class, points right at her and says you. You’re the girl in the MOOC, the massive open online course.

Here’s this preeminent specialist taking this course of on learning so that he can be a better specialist at what he’s doing. But I think what can happen just willy-nilly in any discipline is that it grows this the sort of structure that is sort of haphazard. It’s a cruise through history.

 

What You Really Need To Learn
When Learning How To Learn

 

For example, people now will say, oh man anybody who did a course on learning that’s what a no brainer it’s going to be the most popular course in the world. But I would beg to differ. I would venture to guess that if let’s say that you happen to go to a school of education and you said you know I want you to do a course on learning. They would have immediately said great. You know teachers really need a course like that. Then you no, no, no, that’s not what I want. I want a course on learning for people in general.

What you would have gotten was an online course that would have had two or three weeks on the history of education. Two or three more weeks on educational theories and then how babies learn and then maybe a little bit on the end about how people might learn a little effectively with maybe a lecture or two on neuroscience. But that’s it because it’s really tough and we can’t go there.

If you can see that kind of structure, which is a very natural structure, it would have grown because there are all sorts of different groups in education. They all have their approaches and their desires. I teach the history of education. You have to cover my material in your MOOC and so forth.

My co-instructor in the course Learning How to Learn is Terry Sejnowski. He’s the Francis Crick Professor at the Salk Institute. He’s one of only ten living human beings who is simultaneously a member of all three national academies.

The approach that we took was just to upend everything. To say now wait a minute. Let’s start from what do we really need to know about how our brain works, I mean truly from a neuroscientific perspective in order to leverage that to learn more effectively.

We don’t have to start with here’s a neuron. Here’s how a neuron works. We can take the fundamental key ideas and bring those forth and explain them using metaphor so that people can easily grasp some key approaches about how their brain works. The we can use that to build on all sorts of different aspects of what cognitive psychology and neuroscience are revealing about how you learn effectively not just in the humanities and social sciences.

As important as those are, but also in the sciences which I think a lot of those who teach about how to learn don’t have a solid high caliber professional expertise in a mathematical or engineering or technical type of discipline. It is sort of like what they’re teaching actually doesn’t really apply to how you learn effectively and learn science, technology, engineering and math.

The way we’re teaching is in a way that is meant to be encompassing of all disciplines. Of not just more of the soft sciences side of things, but everything. I think when you look at meta learning in that fashion you can really enhance people’s understanding of their brains and their limitations and how those limitations can also simultaneously be strengths.

Anthony: Is there a sense that by learning something, at least on the surface seems more difficult, like engineering and science than a liberal arts topic, is there a sense that greater rigor makes it easier to learn in the humanities if you have learning experience and meta learning understanding from something like engineering to transfer over? The reason why I ask that is because I have a liberal arts background and I can juggle continental philosophy quite well.

 

The Truth About Learning As A Transferable Skill

 

But when I look at something like engineering, and I’m now actively learning math with the help of your book, because I’ve been one of those people who sucked it algebra. But I still look at all that stuff, and I don’t feel like I have those tools. I talk to a lot of engineering and mathematical people and they’re like oh that’s easy. They just sort of get it but that stuff that I had to be trained to get. You know what I’m sort of saying? Is there a transferable skill from the technical sciences to liberal arts that isn’t transferable the other way?

Barbara: I believe so, but I also believe that there is important and, in fact, vital value to the social sciences and humanities they can be lost if you use solely focus on a technically mathematical. There are many things that can be grasped more easily if you do have an engineering or science kind of background, a mathematical background.

But at the same time, you have to be really careful because you don’t want to say well yeah, I can do anything because I’ve got this great science background. No, you can’t! You also want to be keeping your feet in both worlds I believe.

I learned math and science. I started learning it when I was 26. Because I started learning it at an older age, I feel as if I speak it with a bit of an accent. I’m not as fluent as somebody who was a whiz when they were kids and they always studied it and so they became a professor of engineering. They are just naturally good at the numbers and so forth.

I can be very good at them, but it’s not like it flows quite so easily. By the same token, I think that I often think more creatively about things because I am much more aware of the structure because I had to learn it as an adult. I guess the best thing I could say is yes I do think math and science gives you a transferable skill that can make some things in the humanities and social sciences easier to learn. But, you can get those transferable skills in math and science at any age.

 

Why You Need To Learn An
Entirely New Way Of Thinking

 

It’s just that it is kind of like learning a language in that you’re not just memorizing vocabulary. You’re learning a new way of thinking and it’s that new way of thinking that is what provides for some of the transferable skills.

Anthony: I think of it in particular because I was trying to go back to school and I wanted to go into an M.A. program, and I have a Ph.D., M.A. in science here in Berlin and they said oh no you’ll have to go back and get a B.A. in science. But, looking into it you know it is I just don’t have that grounding even though I have some understanding of the concepts and so forth. But they simply won’t let me in without having done that groundwork first which makes sense given what you’re saying.

Barbara: I can add a sort of a side point. There are some programs where you can take tests and test into master’s programs without having to have the bachelor’s degrees and some people are using MOOCs, massive open online courses to train themselves, and then they’re taking these tests and going directly. They are getting that undergraduate degree equivalence without having to pay enormous sums of money, and, also giving up big parts of their life. Then just leaping right into the master’s programs.

 

The Darkside Of Altruism And
Its Connection To Your Memory

 

Anthony: I want to shift gears a little bit, because one of the things that I get to do in my job as in interviewer people about learning and memory is also talk about some of their other interests that connect maybe in a different way to memory and a shared interest that we have is altruism. As I shared with you, I did my Ph.D. in humanities, and I wrote about friendship and had something related to something you’ve talked about in a book called Cold Blooded Kindness. You edited a collection that is called Pathological Altruism.

 

I have since had some similar ideas about how that altruism has a dark edge to it. I wanted to ask you a few questions about that especially in the age of online education and so forth where there seem to be so many people doing things altruistically. First of all, what is altruism and then we’ll go from there.

Barbara: Well, that’s an open-ended question. I wrote a book many years ago with the intentionally ironic title of Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend. It was about why do nasty people do what they do. It got great critical acclaim. I was really surprised. It did very well. Steven Pinker wrote a really nice blurb for it.

What came out of that was I begin to realize certain people will come up to me and they’d say well Hitler, he may have been evil, but all Germans weren’t evil. How come they all climbed on board with him. I mean that was a very good question.

I thought a lot about that and began to realize that the best way to get people on board with things is to claim you’re doing something to help others. That’s really how Hitler came to power was he’d say it’s when I appeal to their best traits, that’s when I’ve got them.

Whatever political persuasion you might have, you’re immediately thinking no it’s that other one. That’s the one. They’re doing that. They’re appealing to people. But each side is actually saying the same thing.

I think it’s important as critical thinkers to also step back and look at both sides, be able to do that and not look at the other side through the lens of the things that people on your side say about them.

Because she was like I know all about them. I heard it. I read these articles. But they are articles framed by people on your side. Critical thinking means you actually go in and look at it from other people’s perspectives, from the perspective of the people of that side.

 

The Counterintuitive Reasons
Why Altruism Can Be So Dangerous

 

You could look at all the definitions of altruism, but when I really begin studying altruism, what I finally discovered is altruism is whatever you want it to be. It varies by culture. It varies by what your intentions are. It varies. If you’re a rather narcissistic individual, you will believe that whatever you’re doing is altruistic. It’s by definition. If it’s good for you, it’s good for everybody even if it kills millions.

Altruism is the most dangerous – it’s the best trait and also the worst trait of humanity because it can be so easily used to seduce us into doing really bad things. Look at all the terrorism going on now. It comes out of people who are, at least superficially and I think in large part, actually very much willing to give their lives, because they think that they’re helping some in group of theirs.

Altruism is a very dangerous thing and it’s a touchy thing to talk about because among many deeply well intentioned people it’s practically a religion. You never question altruism. It’s like it’s like questioning the most fundamental tenet of your sacred approach to life. People really get upset about that kind of thing.

I’m always just a bit wary in talking about pathological altruism because the most pathologically altruistic of people are the ones who get really touchy about you ever questioning their altruism.

Anthony: I think people are touchy. I mean I wrote about friendship as being potentially pathological. I just called it hypothetical consent which was I actually got the term from a philosopher, David Benatar. It’s not in my dissertation. If people ever look that up and they’re searching for hypothetical consent it is not there, but it’s what I came to call after my dissertation was written.

It’s the idea that in friendships we assume hypothetically that we can do certain things because that person is our friend. Because they are our friend we can do certain things. There’s like a tautology there. That’s one of the things that got me very fascinated about what you were talking about with pathological altruism. A little bit different, but it is sort of this kind of thing that as you said a person will tend to think that whatever they’re doing is altruistic because they see themselves as altruistic. They assume hypothetically the consent to act in particular ways.

I wanted to ask you if you see a connection there to memory. Because I see a connection to memory that is a bit vague, but it seems to me that so many people become memorable to us because of the altruistic things that they do. That seems to be a way that we encode ourselves on other people’s minds.

I just wonder if you have any thoughts about that in response how that your idea of pathological altruism touches memory, just memory as such as a cultural phenomenon, a biological phenomenon, a thing that happens to us and that we can do to ourselves and have done to us by others.

The Fascinating Truth About
Bill Clinton’s Memory And Altruism

 

Barbara: You bring up so many interesting ideas with that. People will often say Bill Clinton is just an extraordinary person. He’s such a people person. You immediately get this feel that he cares about you as an individual when you meet him.

I’ve known a number of people who have met or have known him. One of the things he does that’s quite remarkable is that he remembers you. For example, I met a friend at the Clinton library who five years before had met Bill Clinton, and her husband had been sick that day, he wasn’t able to come, but she’d met him.

Just recently, right before I met her, she had met him again. He remembered her by name, remembered her husband had been sick, asked if he was doing better. I mean there’s this utter charm when you can remember someone’s name that it breaks through everything.

People are charmed, I think, by Bill Clinton. Part of it is, he’ll walk into a room and he hasn’t seen people for a year, and he’ll go around and greet each person by name and shake their hand and so forth. There is this sort of wow. If you look at great leaders through history, part of a common thread is that they had extraordinary memories.

They could remember. People like Hitler had an amazing memory. He could remember all the armaments, all the names from different divisions and so forth. Franklin Delano Roosevelt same thing. Jimmy Carter same thing. Ronald Reagan same thing.

 

Why People Like It When You Remember Their Name

 

Having a powerful memory is a great tool to help you get to leadership positions. In part, because people, I think, they really like it when you can remember their names. Of course, it has many other added values sorts of things as well.

Having a powerful memory is a great tool to help you get to leadership positions.Click To Tweet

I do think even though the simple act of remembering a person’s name is a like a kindness. I think for Bill Clinton, it’s easy. There’s some research on memory and some people just plain have incredible memories. I think Bill Clinton is one of them. I don’t think he has to use any kinds of things more ordinary people like me often use.

It’s kind of an amazing thing how memory can be such a powerful tool, but part of it is people like you because of that. But also, I do think that’s the kindness of remembering their names. But like when I’m teaching a class, I take great care to memorize all my students’ names. Very quickly the class becomes like a family. I think it’s because I took the care to memorize the names.

That’s an act of kindness, but I think other acts of kindness can also help people stick in your memory in a good way. Is that pathologically altruistic? I guess it could be. It sort of depends on what your intentions are.

 

Altruism And Education In The 21st Century

 

Anthony: Another angle that I wanted to go through quickly with the pathological altruism is online education especially outside of the traditional university relies so much on giving away something for free, building an audience, and then essentially pitching somebody on a product. That seems to be a working model that works very well.

But I wonder are our educators in the twenty first century online being in any way pathological in their altruism as you have gone through it in your studies and other authors that you’ve read on it. Is there a problem in online education that you see emerging as an online educator yourself? Is it more or less a safe sort of thing to do? Do people need to be worried about navigating online education in the future because of this way that altruism can have a pathological aspect to it?

Barbara: The reality is that online education – well let’s put it this way. In the 1950s people started playing basketball better. I mean they just did. They start playing basketball. Why did people suddenly start playing basketball better? It’s because there was television.

Suddenly people could see for themselves what the moves were that some of the top basketball teams were making. If you’re some kid at home, you can try it out. If you are a basketball coach at a high school, you can encourage your students to try it out. Television actually provided this new way of learning about a sport that really improved the sport altogether.

I think that online learning is going to do the same thing. What it does is it showcases a lot of different people. Some of whom do it for free. Some of whom do it because they get they get might get some remuneration. Some because their arms are twisted by their universities to make this course because otherwise you won’t get tenure or something like that.

There’s all sorts of reasons people do it. Basically, what that is doing is getting out into people’s eyes all sorts of different ways about how you can teach effectively. I mean nobody’s going to watch a television show, or not a lot of people are going to watch a television show about in-depth physics, or how to do electronic circuits, or something like. There’s just not a big enough market to make big television shows.

 

What Makes A MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Succeed

 

They are kind of like not the same as a classroom. But a MOOC, a massive open online course, it shows a teacher. It gives active learning sorts of exercises similar to that in the classroom. You can watch some of the world’s greatest teachers, not all of them. It’s sort of a little bit of a random funnel. Just because you might be at Princeton or Harvard or Yale teaching doesn’t mean you’re the best teacher for that topic.

But even so you get all these great courses. The really good ones sort of stand out. They get great reviews. What that means is for us as teachers, we can go and look at these courses. We can improve our own teaching as a result.

I think online teaching is whether or not sometimes it might be just somebody doing it because they just feel an urge to do it. I mean that’s why I did the course in the first place, Learning How to Learn, I just thought I just have to do this. I didn’t think there ever be any royalties or anything. I thought it was all just all for free.

Later on, I found out there are there are small royalties that do accrue for certificates. At the same time though, anybody who wants to you can take the complete course for free. Only if you’d like to get a certificate for the course, is it paid. You can take everything for free.

It’s the best of all possible worlds. I can give this material completely for free to anybody who wants it. Some people because it is kind of on the collect the certificates. I know because I collect some of the certificates. It’s like yes, I learned that subject.

If I’m reading something really dry at night, I will fall asleep. if I’m watching a MOOC, it somehow it’s like a got a teacher. They are making it more exciting. It’s really more cool. I really like it. Taking MOOCs is a lot of fun.

How To Find The Perfect Learning Environment

 

Anthony: Speaking of your own way of taking courses, and it’s exciting to hear that you also take MOOCs which is interesting, one of the things I was curious about is where do you learn best? Both when you’re taking an online course and when you are learning in a more paper, book-bound way or for your Spanish learning or when you learned Russian, what were some of the environments that you learned best in? What characterizes them that people might be able to reproduce so they also can learn better?

Barbara: This actually relates to my next book, which is going to be coming out in spring. It’s going to be one of the lead titles on Penguin Random House. It’s called Mindshift. I’m really excited about it. They even asked me to do the audiobook. I’m going to read the audiobook. I told him I said you need to get somebody really good. They said we are going to. They didn’t tell me it was me.

One thing that people often don’t understand is when you’re when you’re memorizing, it’s often very good to have a very quiet environment. I mean like if you’re really doing something totally need focus for, then a very quiet environment can be helpful. Although, if you want to have a little music, it kind of depends on you. Whatever you want. If you like having music, you can find research that says music is beneficial. If you don’t like music you can find research that says it’s not.

If you’re learning how to learn something that involves concepts, say you’re trying to learn how the structure of how the heart works, how it pumps and all the different motions and movements that are going on with the heart, that’s not something you can just memorize. You actually have to think about how the parts all connect.

 

Why Memory Techniques Don’t
Apply Equally To All Topics

 

It’s interesting. Sometimes people in med school, they are like ace memorizers. They can wait until a few days before the exam, a day before the exam, memorize all these anatomical terms, and boom they do great. These same students do terribly when it comes time for the cardiology exam.

It’s because the same techniques just don’t apply. You can’t just sit there and memorize parts of the heart and answer questions about how the heart actually functions. To do that kind of learning, it can often be helpful to go to an environment like a coffee shop or something where there’s like a little bit of disruption here and there. Because that little bit of sound disruption actually puts you into a different mode of thinking momentarily.

It forces you just step out and step back, use more default mode momentarily. That puts you into broader connections neurologically speaking. That can help you see the bigger picture of what you’re working on. You’re going back and forth between a past positive focus mode work and then then stepping back into more diffuse networks and alternating between that can help you when you’re learning kind of difficult and more abstract kinds of learning.

Anthony: That’s fascinating to think that one could have permission to study in a slightly distracting environment and still be able to learn effectively. That’s a good tip. Now here’s a test of my memory. I wanted to ask you what’s coming up next for you and I believe you said the upcoming title of your new book is Mindshift.

Barbara: Yes.

The Global Scope Of Learning How To Learn And
Experiencing Your Own Powerful Mindshift

 

Anthony: My working memory is intact and that’s very exciting. Is there a release date that people can look forward to?

Barbara: Actually, you can go to Amazon and you can preorder it, which my publisher always likes. The actual publication date is April 18, 2017. It’s doing really well. It is going to be translated into simplified Chinese. It’s already going into translation.

Because of Learning How to Learn, I was able to travel all around the world, talk to learners and kind of get insights from many different perspectives about the best aspects of learning in different parts of the world and kind of bring them together. Even at the same time that I’m talking about the science of learning and things like going to a coffee shop for certain types of learning, it was just marvelous fun to work on the book. In some sense it’s sort of a sequel to A Mind for Numbers and Learning How to Learn.

I’m thinking that that if it goes much bigger in scope. It’s worldwide in scope. I think it’s not very often you find a sort of a combination of travel log with science book with just insights about the human psyche. I am hoping that people might find it of interest in their own lives.

Anthony: I’m glad it’s already available for preorder. I will definitely go and check that out. Just a tip for people, you can go on an Amazon authors page and be notified when new books from them come out. I just learned this myself the other day. That’s something people should definitely do is go and find Barbara Oakley on Amazon and make sure you click that so you know when new books are coming out and check out Mindshift. Add it to your collection so it just gets zipped into your Kindle device when it’s available. I’m going to go over after this interview to do that myself.

Barbara: I have to laugh, because I just followed you on Amazon.

Anthony: Excellent. That’s how I found out about it. Someone else said that they had followed me and so a new thing that I just sort of put out on a whim there. I also want people to check out your other books about Pathological Altruism and the material that you have there. I personally find it super fascinating. Like I said, I sort of had an ulterior motive because I’ve written in my dissertation on a similar topic. I hope one day to turn that dissertation into a book as well. I wanted to get a chance to speak with someone who has been in similar territory. I didn’t mean to cut that short but also get back to the subject of learning. I think I could talk certainly more about that at a different occasion and hopefully have you again maybe some months after Mindshift is available and people have read it to do an interview specifically about that book after I have had a chance to read it.

Barbara: I’d be absolutely delighted. In the meantime, I can hardly wait. I’m going to be ordering a lot of your books. What a treat to meet.

Thanks for reading and listening!

Are You Ready To Take Your Memory To The Next Level?

If so, click here to download my free memory-improvement kit and get access to a 4-part memory-boosting video series designed to take your memory to the next level.

Further Resources

Barbara Oakley’s personal website

Learning How To Learn On Twitter

How To Improve Focus And Concentration With Joanna Jast

Jonathan Levi On Reducing Your Resistance To Learning

15 Reasons Why Learning A Language Is Good For Your Brain

The post Learning How To Learn: On Altruism and Memory With Barbara Oakley appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Learning_How_To_Learn__On_Altruism_and_Memory_With_Barbara_Oakley.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:15am EDT

3-ways-to-live-a-life-worth-remembering-magnetic-memory-method-anthony-metivierIt sucks to think about death, doesn’t it? You’re busy enjoying life, after all.

Or are you?

Admit it. It’s not always fun and games. Sometimes life really gets you down.

That’s where thinking about death can be strangely uplifting.

In fact, there are powerfully positive and empowering things that can happen when you put time into the notion that one day, you’re not going to be here anymore.

For example, by putting your affairs into order, you can live better now because you’re free from worrying about what will happen after you die. Not enough people put time into this, leaving chaos after their demise that tears families apart. And that can make the memory of your life a bitter pill to swallow for years to come.

But that’s not the direction I want to take us in. Rather, these three simple activities will make your life more memorable starting now. All you have to do is give them a try and you’ll be amazed by how they help.

 

1. Imagine Your Funeral

 

Sounds grim, I know. But once you get into it, seeing and hearing your friends, family and colleagues acknowledge your passing creates perspective and insight that can improve your happiness.

This brain game is best played with pen and paper. Make a list of two friends, two family members and two colleagues (or fellow students if you’re still in school).

Next, write down in their voices one positive memory each person will share about you at your funeral. It could be a story or just a description of an attribute.

Focus on the positive. Don’t invite haters to your funeral. Really feel the positive sentiments and enjoy the warmth they create.

I read this weird little exercise in Richard Wiseman’s 59 Seconds. It’s highly recommended if you’d like some of the scientific background behind this positivity technique.

 

2. All Life’s Profoundest Pleasures Are Found Here

 

You probably already know The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 

There’s Mathematical Truth To Frost’s Claim:

You’re much more likely to live a more interesting life simply by taking alternative paths.

And the sooner the better. As we age, many of us grow more conservative. Not because getting old switches on some kind of political gene. It’s because the more assets we gather, the more protective we become of them.

And the biological need to protect the status quo can be irrationally strong. So strong that people have refused to flee volcanic danger zones driven by conservative inertia (this problem relates to social inertia, which is well worth learning about).

 

Live Life Like It’s A Gameshow

 

The Road Not Taken principle relates to something called The Monty Hall Problem. It refers to situations of choice in which it is counterintuitively beneficial to change your mind.

The core issue isn’t the math, however. The real point of interest is that most people will stick with their original decision despite the benefits of traveling the road not taken. I’ve seen this play out hundreds of times as a magician with a simple question that leads over 90% of people to stick with their original decision.

Merely by asking people if they’d like to change their mind and even offering them handsome sums of money if they do, I create the illusion of complete and utter free will because I know that the vast majority will stick with their original decision.

 

 

When The Sane Choices In Life Are Actually Insane …

 

I’ve seen The Monty Hall principle play out in my personal life too. During a difficult time when I couldn’t find a university teaching gig, I applied to get high school teaching certification and did the necessary voluntary teaching in schools to qualify.

As a former university professor, this is not what I wanted to do in life, but I felt driven to teach. And it was taking action, which was far better than sitting around and biting my fingernails.

Then, out of the blue came the invitation to rejoin The Outside, record an album and go on tour. At that point in my career, doing something like that was insane. Nearly every person I talked with about the option agreed, and yet I knew the Monty Hall Problem and let it guide me.

And the reality is that the traditional path was truly the insane one. Plus …

 

The Sane Choice Would Have Been
Totally, 100% Forgettable!

 

Think about it:

Had I gone the traditional route, I would have taken on student debt and locked myself for years in classrooms with students unprepared for the kinds of thoughts I think. It would have been bad for everyone, and that’s not to mention all the teacher’s strikes and worries about a pension I’d go through.

But conservative forces in society were so strong that I almost went for the traditional career. Because I changed my mind, however, I’ve wound up still getting to teach, but in multiples I never would have imagined possible. I’ve been around the world and have over a million free downloads, a dozen bestselling books and tens of thousands of people studying and using the Magnetic Memory Method every single day.

I don’t say that to brag. It’s just the consequence of making a counterintuitive choice that was mathematically bound to create a better outcome. And I’m facing another in the near future that involves living in yet another country. This time I may decide for the conservative choice, but … Probably not.

 

3: This Simple Exercise Will Stop Your
Life From Being Boring

 

One way to instantly make your life more memorable is to document it. You can use writing, podcasting, video or various combinations of media. The point is to get it down. Even if it’s boring.

And quite frankly, it might just be boring at the start. If you’ve never done it before, talking about yourself might seem excruciating.

But the reality is that by going through the exercise on a consistent basis, you’ll develop a talent for spotting the memorable. And there are many things happening every day worth your attention.

For example, two days ago April and I heard a cellist playing Bach in an art gallery. The next day I noticed a store I’d never seen before. Just a few hours ago I observed a heavily tattooed man, including much of his face, playing with his kid in the park.

I wrote all of these things down. And the act of writing the observations down spawns more observation which in turn creates more things to write about.

All wealth comes from writing, so please be sure to take up this practice. Along with envisioning your funeral and taking the roads not taken, observing and writing will help you live a more memorable life.

The best part is that you can also journal with your friends. Jonathan Levi and I have done that recently in Israel just to talk about our memory improvement projects and memorize together in real time:

But whether you journal on paper or video, with other people or alone, put all of the exercises you’ve just learned together and you truly will have an amazing life.

One worth remembering.

The post 3 Simple Exercises That Make Your Life Worth Remembering appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 3_Simple_Exercises_That_Make_Your_Life_Worth_Remembering.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 7:17am EDT

9 Signs You Need Memory Training Magnetic Memory Method PodcastA lack of memory training plagues every nation. It’s true.

And as far as I know, no country on the planet includes dedicated memory training in its educational programming.

The result?

We have all experienced unnecessary pain and frustration thanks to forgetting precious information.

 

But That’s Not The Biggest Problem!

 

The biggest problem is that we don’t always know the signs related to our memory problems. Without that critical insight, we can’t make proper decisions about taking memory training. (Worse, you might wind up wasting time on memory training software that you really don’t need if you have a solid understanding of mnemonics and other memory techniques.)

Here’s the good news: I know the signs that you need memory training. And I have the solutions, none of which involve wasting time on tedious memory training games or the fraud of photographic memory training.

Interested?

Let’s go through each of the 9 signs you need memory training in detail so you have a better grip and know exactly what to do. You’ll find a tip included with each sign that will help ease each problem. Work on improving just one issue per month and well within a year, you will be the owner of a superior memory you’re proud to call home.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #1:
You Can’t Remember Names

 

You know the scene:

Two seconds after hearing someone’s name and shaking hands, you’re looking into the eyes of a stranger. And now instead of paying attention to the conversation, you’re paddling around the pond of your mind …

“Was his name Ross … or Roger … or Tom?”

The feeling is tiring and exasperating. Most of us have grown so accustomed to it that we laugh off our forgetfulness instead of getting memory training to take care of the problem.

Optimized-photo

The fix is simple: Learn and practice the simple art of association. When you meet someone named Lars, instantly see Lars Ulrich from Metallica drumming on the top of their head with drumsticks made of “lar”d. If you meet a Betty, see Betty Crocker pouring flour into her ear while midgets “bet” on how Betty is going to react.

The associations don’t have to be celebrities. One John you already know can help you remember the name of another.

Associations are just the beginning of memory training for how to remember names, a quick tip that will serve you well. There are other memory techniques in this department of the art of memory you can use to memorize names for which you have no immediate association.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #2:
Your Mind Goes Blank During Exams

 

Stress and pressure cause havoc on memory. The higher the stakes, the more we quake in our boots, especially after weeks of diligent study during which we’ve dreamed of a great post-exam future.

In addition to taking basic memory training based on the principle of association, you can add relaxation to your memory exercise. A lot of people skip this step in memory training (assuming it was included at all), but relaxation is one of the most critical tools in remembering.

Meditation before studying, including progressive muscle relaxation, can be repeated before sitting for your exam. Reproducing the same calm physical state will help your memory in exams a great deal because you will have reduced fight-or-flight syndrome.

In some cases, you can also get access to the examination room and study in it. That way you’ll be entering a familiar environment. And as Scott Gosnell talks about in this interview about mnemonist Giordano Bruno and memory techniques, you can even use that room as a Memory Palace.

Put relaxation and a Memory Palace together as part of your memory training profile and you’ll never need to sweat through an exam again. And here’s more info on avoiding 17 other student fails related to your memory. I got you covered.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #3:
Your Memory Gets You In Trouble At Work

 

There’s nothing worse than having your boss mad at you because you still can’t remember simple data points or you need your password reset for the umpteenth time.

But countless are the ways having reliable memory skills at work can keep your boss off your back. A good memory based on solid memory training can make you the boss.

Your work undoubtedly involves a lot of numbers, so you’ll want to learn the Major Method. It lets you quickly associate images with numbers so that they’re easy to recall. With a bit of practice, you’ll be rattling off not only budgetary figures but also the complex formulas used to manage them in no time.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #4:
You Struggle With Dates, Appointments,

Birthdays & Anniversaries

 

When you think about it, putting together the day, month, year and hour of the day is a lot of information. Sometimes we get it all together right away, but usually … not.

You now have a link to the Major Method, but you’ll also benefit from having a mnemonic calendar in your mind. To get started with this aspect of memory training, associate an image with each day of the week. For example, for Friday, see a giant frying pan, an opera-singing satellite for Saturday and a massive Ice Cream Sundae for Sunday.

Once you know the Major Method, you can interact any combination of hours and minutes with any day of the week. You just need to create vignettes or stories using your imagery.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #5:
You Start And Give Up On Language Learning

Goals Due To Poor Memory

 

People around the world dream of learning a second language, but so few ever do. There are a lot of moving parts involved in language learning, and that means multiple bumps on the road.

But the biggest barrier to entry is memory. You can’t practice a new language without a growing profile of information stored in memory and available for access. And contrary to popular belief, repetition a.k.a. rote learning is not enough on its own.

Rather, you need a dedicated means of creating memories and actively helping your brain access those memories. To do that, this memory training video about The Big 5 Of Language Learning is highly recommended viewing:


Sign You Need Memory Training #6:
You Find It Hard To Concentrate

 

Concentration might not immediately seem like a memory training issue. But in reality, it’s the crux of memory because remembering and recalling information requires focus.

The beautiful thing is that developing your memory automatically increases concentration and focus. Plus, the better you get at one, the better you get at the other.

One great and very light concentration exercise was suggested by Dr. Gary Small. He talks about noticing four aspects of a person you see on the street and then recalling those details a few hours later.

That’s great as a memory training exercise, but as a concentration exercise, practice noticing four details of EVERYONE you see. You’ll find it difficult at first, but soon you’ll find that you’re much more observant of the world around you.

Even better, this increased concentration will spill over into other areas of your life, including paying attention to the details of conversations.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #7:
You Suffer From “Senior Moments”

 

There’s nothing worse than walking into a room and then forgetting why you went in there.

The reason this happens seems to involve an overwhelm of new stimulation. When you move from one room to the next, for example, you’re suddenly bombarded by new:

* air quality
* light levels
* sounds
* textures

… and potentially people and a whole host of other variables that hold zero connection to the reason you entered the room in the first place.

To combat senior moments like these, try closing one fist tightly while repeating the reason you’re leaving the room. Do this with emphasis as you cross the threshold of the door when you’re first facing a rush of new information.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how quickly senior moments disappear from your life once you start using this unique memory training technique.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #8:
You’re Constantly Afraid Of

Alzheimer’s & Dementia

 

You have every reason to be worried about brain diseases that rob you of your memory. Alzheimer’s is one of the biggest threats besides brain trauma and no one in their right mind wants either.

Although there’s no hard and fast proof that memory training prevents such conditions, it’s a worthy investment because you live in the here and now. Plus, it’s more likely that people serious about their overall brain health will also eat foods that improve memory. That’s an even surer path to protecting your brain as you age.

Once you’ve felt the power of memory improvement, you’ll be inspired to play higher order brain games and do all kinds of things that not only ward off Alzheimer’s and Dementia. The memory training activities help you experience an incredible life so that even if you do face those conditions in the future, you’ll have enjoyed an amazing mental life until that time.

Always remember this: Memory is the now. Always, and yours can be the greatest.

 

Sign You Need Memory Training #9:
You Kick Yourself For Not Doing The Exercises

In That Memory Training You Bought

 

You know you need memory help when you’ve started taking memory training, but never follow through.

However, you have indeed started investing in memory training and that’s a great sign that you can pull through. You just need to create a plan of action based on those memory training books and courses.

Then, commit to reading the entire book from cover to cover or watching all the videos. A lot of people want interactivity and learning by doing is super-important when it comes to memory training exercises.

By the same token, it helps many others to have a global overview. The art of memory has some technical aspects and it really helps to go through everything before getting started.

Either way, complete the exercises.

 

All. Of. Them.

 

The reason memory training resources come with exercises is so that you can see the techniques in action and get results. But if you don’t do them, you won’t fully understand the techniques and your skill set can’t build.

It’s as simple as that. So crack open that memory training book on your shelf. Read it from cover to cover and then do everything it says. Yes, it requires a bit of sacrifice, but it will be the best time, energy and money you’ll ever spend.

Heck, this doesn’t even have to cost you a dime. Libraries still exist, you’ve got my Free Memory Improvement Kit and the Internet is filled with information.

No excuses. Take action and you’ll be rewarded.

 

We All Need Memory Training

 

Believe it or not, even the most accomplished memory champions need help with their memory. Even of the most impressive winners are no better than anyone else without memory training.

And we all need to make memory training, memory exercises, memory techniques and mnemonics an ongoing part of our lives. And just as with any aspect of physical fitness, we need to maintain our gains.

Luckily, just like going to the gym, memory training is fun. It makes you feel great and you can experience a rush of accomplishment whenever you want simply by using the tools your memory training has given you.

If you’re ready to give memory training a try, or if you’re already on the road, take a second to leave a discussion post and let’s get busy remembering everything and anything we want.

The post 9 Signs You Need Memory Training, Memory Techniques And Mnemonics appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 9_Signs_You_Need_Memory_Training_Memory_Techniques_And_Mnemonics.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 7:26am EDT

Sunil Giving Speech Using A Magnetic Memory Method Memory PalaceWould you like to be able to give a speech directly from memory?

It’s an amazing skill, after all, and something many people in business need to be able to do in more than one language.

Since ancient times people have been using Memory Palaces to give their speeches. In fact, as Jim Samuels has talked about, we get the convention of saying “in the first place” in a speech from the Roman orators who were using Memory Palaces.

Well, let me ask you this:

What If You Don’t Have To Give A Speech From A Memory Palace On Its Own For Your Speech To Benefit From Using Memory Techniques? 

 

Sunil Khatri raised this question in my mind when he wrote to me after giving this speech:

 

I was so impressed by Sunil’s explanation of how he used the Magnetic Memory Method and Memory Palaces to help him with the speech, that I asked if he would record an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

He agreed! As you’ll learn, you can get great benefits from memorizing a speech in advance, even if you still recite it from the page.

The same thing is true of reading from a teleprompter, which the best directors and producers always advise people giving speeches to do: Know where you’re going, but don’t appear like you’re recalling during delivery. It looks weird.

I’m super-excited by Sunil’s results and look forward to hearing your stories of triumph when you use the Magnetic Memory Method to help prepare for your next big speech.

Episode Transcript

Anthony, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to talk about some of the things I’ve been doing with the Magnetic Memory Method. I just also wanted to also say thank you very much for the support that you’ve given me directly through email interaction has been really, really useful and amazing.

I started learning Korean maybe a little over a year ago I would say and mostly for work purposes. I’ve been traveling back and forth to Korea, and it is a really tough language in my opinion. When I started studying, I would read things like verb conjugations. There could be up to 500 verb conjugations based on the level you are at in society, in your office, your age group, all of these different things come into play in the written language and speech. It was pretty tough.

I started learning and for the 6 months it was through rote memorization, flashcards, and things like that. Then I was trying to figure out is there a better way. Because I had spent the better part of 6 to 7 years learning Japanese and it was all through rote memorialization and talking to people and so forth.

I came across your website and from one link to another to another and it ended up being at your site. I took your intro classes and so forth and it was actually pretty good. Then I started reading up on Memory Palaces more and things like that.

“Korean Words Just Sort Of Magically Appeared In My Brain As I Was Talking … I No Longer Use Flashcards” 

 

What happened was about 6 to 7 months ago, I think that was the first time we communicated, I basically started building a small Memory Palace and expanding that. Korean words just sort of magically appeared in my brain as I was talking, as I was remembering to the point where I gave up using flash cards. I no longer use flash cards.

I put everything into an Excel spreadsheet and categorize them based on my Memory Palace. I come up with a mnemonic picture, crazy picture, whatever it is and associate the word to that crazy picture and there it is. I go through my Excel spreadsheet once a day to put it into long-term memory and it’s been amazing.

 

“Even My Teachers Are Freaking Out.”

 

Even my teachers are freaking out. How am I learning all this stuff so fast? But that was vocabulary. Then I started looking at grammar and things like that. Really in about 6 months I achieved over 500 words through the Memory Palace techniques. It was amazing.

Then I was handed a request to do a speech for my office to a bunch of our clients. Essentially what happened was I said, okay and this was about a week and a half prior to me giving the speech. They said, okay you can do it in English. We’ll have a translator and everything for you. I said well, that’s great thank you. Then I thought about it. I said, wait a minute let me try this in Korean and see what I can do.

 

“Actually A Lot Of This Was Beyond My Vocabulary”

 

The speech was about 3.5 to 4 minutes, 5 minutes long. Rather than say, “Oh my god, I don’t know any of these words,” because actually a lot of this was beyond my vocabulary. It really focused on a lot of different types of grammars that you would use in a very formal setting. I didn’t know that. I didn’t know any of these structures or things. Some of the words were quite new.

What I basically said was, I said all right I am going to think about doing this in Korean. Let me try and see if I can break this down. I guess when I said I think I’m going to do it, it really meant I’m going to do it and there was no looking back for me.

I took the words, basically got the meanings of what the speech was in English and then took the Korean statements and broke it down into an Excel spreadsheet. So rather than reading everything as you would normally do, I took small phrases and put them in a cell in the Excel spreadsheet and then I created the mnemonics associated with that. Those wordings and so forth.

 

“It Was Pretty Daunting”

 

It turned out to be several hundred cells in the Excel spreadsheet with phrases and so forth. Then I started memorizing, and I did this in about a week. I got about 70 percent of the way through it, and then started working with a person on my team to kind of walk me through how to say the phrases. Where are the emotions, where are the intonations and so forth.

Then from there I kind of build up what I say, how I say it, where I would put the stresses and so forth in a natural language type of view. It really was quite amazing. Then I just went through the Excel spreadsheet and started practicing over and over and over again to get that into memory. The remaining 30 percent was sort of rote because I just didn’t have time to do the mnemonics. Because it was only in about 5 days I put all this stuff together.

The day of the speech came, and I got in front of couple hundred people, all Korean. I started talking and I used the notes. Because it was pretty daunting. Standing in front of a crowd and just trying to remember all these things and the stresses of speaking. Speaking in front of a crowd is difficult anyways.

I had my notes but what my notes were the Excel spreadsheets. It was basically two pages just printed out, and I started just working through it. It was incredible. The crowd reaction was great. Everything was good. I just had a great time because all of this stuff was right there. The way that you pronounce things, even though I was referring to my notes. It was really amazing.

 

How To Experience Boosts In Confidence From Your Memory

 

It just gave me a huge new level and boost in confidence. I’m nowhere near fluent but I can guarantee you that this is all I’m doing now. I don’t use flashcards. I don’t do anything. All my learnings, not just in Korean but even beyond Korean, are based now on how I use Memory Palaces and your teachings and so forth. Really, really amazing.

I’m continuing to focus on Korean but I’m also looking at other languages later. I really want to look at Mandarin Chinese as you’re doing. This is, again, I feel only after about 6 months of working with the Memory Palace techniques.

It took me years to get to be able to speak in Japanese in front of people and even now I’m hesitant. But I’m going to back and apply these techniques to that too. Really amazing stuff. Thank you for the opportunity and I will continue to converse with you and get your advice on all the problems that I know I’m going to continue to have. Thank you so much.

============

Anthony, just one more thing I wanted to add if it is possible to edit it in or do something.

I had mentioned about 70 percent of the speech I had done using a Memory Palace and 30 percent because I just did not have the time. I just sort of started reading the end of it.

There was actually a noticeable difference in that 70 percent versus the 30 percent that people were telling me. They said, “Oh, the 70 percent that you did, the first part of the speech sounded so good, rhythmic, everything was there. The 30 percent sort of trailed off a little bit.”

I owe that to the fact that I didn’t go through the mnemonics for that last bit. Even though I was able to continue doing it, reading it and kind of working through and people were still excited that I was being able to do this whole thing in Korean.

So the application to Memory Palaces and so forth is really critical, I think, from a grammar perspective as well as from a comfort level. Because once you ingrain those things in your head, whether it’s subconsciously or whatever, when you’re reading it, those emotions and that structure come out.

I just wanted to add that statement. But once again, thank you so much. Take care.

Sunil’s Speech In Korean

안녕하세요.  AKL HQ의 IT를 총괄하는 순일 상무 입니다.

여러분들의 뜨거운 열정과 도전으로 한국 암웨이가 25주년을 맞이 하였습니다.
한국 암웨이와 함께 걸어온 25주년을 축하하고자, 대구경북 ABO 리더님들을 모시고
암웨이 프라자에서 ‘A Happy Birthday Festival’ 행사를 개최하게 되었습니다.

많은 ABO 리더님들께서 이렇게 말씀하십니다.
“ 암웨이 사업은 분위기를 타는 사업이다. 요즘은 그 어느 때 보다도 사업하기 좋은 분위기이다 “
실제로 한국 암웨이는 25년 전 오픈 당시에 비해서, 제품 수는 5개 에서 500 여개로,
매출액은 50억원 대에서 1조가 넘는 마켓의 독보적인 리더로서 지속 안정적으로 성장하고 있습니다.

아마도 이렇게 지속 안정적으로 성장 할 수 있는 원동력은
여기 참석하신 ABO 리더님들의 열정과 도전 정신을 기반으로, AKL과 함께 일구어낸 소통과 화합이
있었기에 가능하다고 생각합니다.
이번 25주년 기념 행사가 또 하나의 소통과 화합의 장이라 생각합니다.

암웨이 프라자에서 일주일간 진행되는 다양하고 신나는 이벤트에 많이 참여하시고,
마음 껏 즐겨 주시기 바랍니다.

내가 먼저 우리 함께 !!!   신나는 암웨이!!!    감사합니다.

 

What About You?

 

Do you have a story of using a Memory Palace to give a speech?

Or how about your struggles with speeches in public? How would better memory skills help you in this area? Take a moment to leave a comment below and get the discussion started.

As Sunil’s experience demonstrates, memorizing even a speech you intend to read from the page improves your delivery beyond belief. Keep that in mind the next time you need to give a speech either in public or on the screen.

The post Speech Success Story Using A Magnetic Memory Palace appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: How_A_Memory_Palace_Can_Help_You_Give_A_Speech_In_A_Foreign_Language.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:12am EDT

Brad-Zupp-with-TeamUSA-Trpo

Can You Improve Your Memory At Any Age?

 

The answer is a resounding “Yes!” and Brad Zupp’s story proves it!

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Brad Zupp joins us to talk about everything from language learning and memory techniques to the philosophy of education.

Brad Zupp is a wealth of information about memory, so after downloading the MP3 and reading or downloading the transcript, be sure to check out the fascinating memory improvement articles on his blog. One of the things that makes Brad so unique in the memory field is his candid revelations about using memory techniques as he ages.

As you start opening multiple tabs and start absorbing all of this memory-boosting information, you can also follow Brad Zupp on Twitter and follow his author page on Amazon to be notified when the new books he mentioned on this interview appear. I’m all hooked up and as a serious student of memory improvement, you should be too.

Enjoy this episode with the stellar memory athlete and educator Brad Zupp and be sure to say hello in the comments below! 🙂

 

Will Unlocking Your Memory Begin With Names? 

 

Anthony: Brad, thank you so much for being on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. As you know, I was really enthusiastic about your book, which is incredible. It is called Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grade 5 to 8 How To Remember Better And Make School Easier. I reviewed it. You were kind enough to follow up on that with this interview. So thank you for being here.

Brad: Thank you. It’s my pleasure. I really appreciate both the chance to talk about memory improvement and the kind review of my book.

Anthony: For people who aren’t familiar with Unlock Your Amazing Memory yet, tell us a little bit about your story. Maybe, what’s your first memory about being interested in memory?

Brad: The first memory about being interested in memory was when I was myself in about the fourth or fifth grade I was horrible at numbers and names. Names were not helped in that we moved a lot. My dad was an executive in a company. He was he was a fixer. He was someone that they’d say well that division or that office branch is having trouble. We need someone to go fix it, so my dad would get tapped for that. So we moved a lot.

I remember third grade I guess was the first time it really came to me that memory is important. It was the end of the school year, and I gone to that school for the first time in the fall. The third grade, it was at the end of the school year though the teacher asked me to hand out papers on Friday. We must have written some type of paper or book report or something.

 

The One Memory Problem That “Freezes” Just About Everyone

 

She said, “Okay, Brad, you can hand out papers this week.” I just froze because I knew I didn’t know everybody’s names in class. Now as adults, we introduce each other to each other or introduce ourselves to each other. Kids don’t do that. Kids will come up and say, “Hi, my name is Sally.” So part of it was I had never met people.

But I had a horrible memory with names and with numbers. I was up at the front of the class and I had the papers. I was going, “Oh, Sally you got a B. Way to go.” You know, kind of looking up with my eyes to see who of the girls in the class was going, “Oh, I got a B,” Because that’s how I knew it was Sally. I didn’t know people’s names.

That continued all my life. Numbers, I was always bad at math in large part because I couldn’t remember numbers. I could do the calculations. But if it any of it involved storing a number in my head to add it or anything, I couldn’t retain that number long enough to do the second step of the calculation. If I could write the first part down or use my fingers, I was fine. The calculations weren’t the problem. It was remembering numbers was the problem.

There was no solution for me back then. That’s in part one of the reasons I wrote the book I did first instead of writing a book for adults first is that there’s a lot of kids like that. They can’t remember something. Maybe they’re good with math, but they can’t remember the spelling of their vocabulary words, or they’re great with spelling but they, for whatever reason, cannot remember numbers like me. That’s why I wrote the book. That’s my first memory.

 

How Do Kids Deal With Memory Problems? 

 

Anthony: This is fascinating. I wonder how do you think that kids enunciate their frustration with their memory, because you know you were aware of it and that’s quite an early memory, but to what extent do you observe that young kids are aware of that as being a memory problem and how do they express it?

Brad: Back when I was experiencing that, there wasn’t really a way to express it. I mean I didn’t go home to my parents and say, “I can’t remember names. Let’s get a book and help me or let’s look on the Internet.” We didn’t have any of that back then. I think it was kind of suffer in silence. It wasn’t something that traumatized me, but I remember it very clearly to this day being up in front of class and the embarrassment of the end of the school year not knowing my classmates names. That was just horrible.

These days, kids with the Internet, more libraries, more books available on Amazon and other online availability of books, kids know that they can find solutions online. One of the things I do when I go into schools for presentations, I say something like, who thinks they have a bad memory? Who has studied for a test, been very confident, then you sit down in your classroom, the teacher hands out the test, you look at the first couple questions and go what? Am I in the right class? Am I in the right school? Because you cannot for the life of you remember these things.

Kids as young as seven, eight, nine years old are experiencing that. They’re confident, they’ve worked hard and then they blank out. So they know, I think kids these days are more aware about things like money. They’re more aware of this is it working for me, and I can get help with this.

So I think kids these days are willing to tell their parents, teachers or a visiting presenter like me, “Yeah, that’s me. I have that problem. Fix it! I want to get better grades.” That’s one of the joys I have is going into schools and helping kids realize the memory, as you tell people, young and old, memory isn’t something we’re stuck with. We can improve it.

 

Why Memory Improvement Is Easy And Fun To Do

 

It can be easy and fun to do. It doesn’t have to be boring, because I think that’s where a lot of the kids, as they get a little bit older, is that they catch on remembering, or they give up they say remembering is hard, studying is hard. I hate school. This is boring. The teacher says, “Oh, you can’t remember it? That’s okay, just read it again.”

If you don’t read well, or you don’t enjoy what you’re reading, which is pretty common I think across the ages, anybody going to school, there’s always a few subjects you like why am I learning this. If the teacher says well read it again, you read it the second time you’re even more bored than you were the first time, and the teacher says you still don’t have it. Read it a couple more times. At some point, you just go no. I’m just not good at this. I’m just going to give up. It’s great that people like you and me and a lot of other people are out there saying there’s a different way.

Anthony: Right and I think that’s one of the things I admire so much as you’re out there and you’re bringing this message. That leads me to a question that I think everybody who works in memory education encounters all the time. I certainly get it at least once a week, which is why aren’t they teaching these techniques in school? You are actively actually going out and teaching it in schools. How did you get into proactively making sure that memory techniques are taught in schools?

Brad: I was a financial planner for a while. I got really tired of sitting in an office and not being able to use my creative side. Sometimes I struggled as a financial planner with memory, with remembering some of my clients’ names. I remembered my top several clients’ names. But, if someone just did something with me once, it was sometimes hard to remember their name. So I was already struggling with that. Of course, the number problem continued to haunt me, which is pretty important for a financial planner. But I also just hated it in the office.

Optimized-Brad Zupp On Memory Techniques And Memory Improvement For All Ages Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

One day I told my wife I should get out of this, and I should go back to doing something fun. I had been a professional juggler for a number of years before getting into real estate and then finance. I told my wife I should go back to doing something fun like juggling, but I wanted to do something important. So maybe I should combine them and do a fun show about money for kids. I said it just kind of as a joke to make her laugh, but she paused and said that’s a really good idea.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a good idea. I eventually found other financial planners for my clients. I gave my notice. I sat down and wrote a school assembly show about personal finance. I did that successfully for a few years. Then I was thinking, what’s another show? Money is so important for kids.

But what’s something else that’s so important for kids? If I were back in third, fourth, fifth grade, and I could have any type of presenter come, whom would I have come? I wish I could say my first thought was yeah, someone to explain money, which is what I was already doing. But it wasn’t. It was someone to help me remember better –math, science and names.

I thought if I had that problem, maybe other kids are having that problem. I did some market research by calling a bunch of my friends that had kids anywhere from seven to seventeen years old. I said, “Do your kids have this problem?” The universal response was, “Oh my gosh, yes. They can’t remember anything from schoolwork to bringing home the parent signature that they have to have the paper signed for their field trip, to pick up their clothes. I tell them hey we’re going to do this on Saturday. Then an hour later, they’ll come back and say, hey what are we doing Saturday because they were completely forgotten.”

So I thought well I might have something here. I just sketched out a few of the things that wanted to do with the show. I realized the way to present this is to make it fun. I can’t just go in and lecture kids, because kids don’t want to be lectured. I’ve got to make it fun.

 

Why The Fun Is In The Pudding (With The Proof)

 

To make it fun, I really have to demonstrate that I know what I’m doing. I have to be able to do kind of some phenomenal feats of memory. That means that I need to improve my memory, because I don’t like just to preach. I want to walk the talk.

How Brad Zupp Went From Bad To Great In Record Time

 

I said, “I need to make sure this works.” It coincided with me turning forty, and my already bad memory in some areas getting worse. I thought okay this is great. I’ve got this idea for a school show. My memory is getting horrible as I turn forty. I still can’t remember numbers. I still can’t remember. Let me make sure this works.

I don’t want to be going into schools and telling kids yeah do this and then have a horrible memory. I want to have an outstanding memory. I want to go from bad to great and say it worked for me. Here’s how I did it. It can work for you.

So I threw myself into memory training. Shortly after I kind of started with this stuff, I remembered reading an article about a memory competition. So I on a lark signed up for that, went and did relatively well for someone with no training. That kind of started my love affair with memory competitions as well, which we can talk about if you want.

Eventually, I got good enough at the memory feats where I felt I could present it in a school, impress the kids and show them that I’m not just some guy talking. I’m some guy who knows what he’s talking about and can do it.

I continued writing the show. I started practicing the show in little bits and pieces. I started memorizing the names of students when I would go into schools for my personal finance show. Gradually over a couple years got better at it and good enough at it where I could actually do the show. It took off from there.

Anthony: So a large part of this was learning to teach.

 

Secret Memory Improvement Ingredient:
Be Driven By The Passion To Help Others

 

Brad: Yes, I mean, as you’ve shown, we have to be able to do this. There are a lot of memory people out there. I would say almost all of them, maybe a few aren’t keeping up with it, but almost all are really passionate about not just helping others, but also making sure their minds stay sharp as they get older.

Finding the deficiencies where were they struggle and saying, “Well I’m a memory guy. I should be able to fix this. What would I do if I had a coaching client that said I’m having trouble with this? Well, I’d tell them to do this. I’m going to do that. Look, it’s fixed. It does work.” The next time we have a coaching client, or someone asks us for advice, we can say yeah that happened to me and I fixed it. Here’s how you can to.

Anthony: Right and I think that’s a great way of going about it. I would say that’s almost a scientific way of going about it. You are analyzing the issue, trying something out, checking the results and then improving from there or just going with what works. Would that be sort of a fair assessment?

 

You Don’t Have To Be A Scientist To Benefit From
Performing Memory Experiments On Yourself

 

Brad: I think so. I don’t usually think of myself as a scientist, but I certainly experimented on myself through this whole process. Because for me, it’s not enough to read the scientists say this, or the scientists say that, or another memory guy I once read said this or said that, I really have to prove it for myself.

If someone says well this works, well I’ll try it. The things I’ve continue to show others are the things that have worked for me. I do keep in the back of my mind, as I think you’ve said with a couple things in your podcast, this this may not work for you. This is how it works for me, but here are some other ways that don’t work for me that might work for you. It’s important whether it’s a yoga class or a dance class or whatever to say, okay if you’re having trouble with this part, do it this way. Oh yeah, that works for me.

It’s important to know what works for other people as well. But for me, it really has to work for me or I can see how it could work for me if my situation were little bit different before I’m on to share it with someone else.

Anthony: I think we’re having a great shift in education due to the Internet. So we’ve had an authoritative education system where people really needed someone to say this is how you do it, these are the steps and now follow them one, two, three. Where we’re now online and we’re getting a much more demonstrative education system or education networks that are people really living out what they want to learn and then just showing their journey and opening doors into many possible avenues.

That seems to me to have a lot of pros but it also has the cons of no real authoritative guidance. As someone who teaches young people, what do you think is, if there is, the ultimate point of entry to memory techniques? Specifically, for young people and if it’s universal to everybody, what would that be or what would be a better point of entry for adults to memory techniques?

How To Understand Need Versus Desire
When Seeking Memory Improvement

 

Brad:  Well that’s a good question. For me, in my life with anything there has always been both a need and desire. So I might desire to learn to speak French because I’m going to go to Paris for a week’s vacation. But if I don’t really need to learn how to speak French, well I always have my phone, I can I was type something in the phone, it will give me a translation and they’ll speak English anyway, then there’s no learning.

If I have a need, like I really need to learn some minutiae about computer programming or something, but I don’t really want to, I could probably hire someone to do it instead. Yeah, I’m going to do that. If there’s a need but no real desire, I don’t learn either.

So for me it’s need and desire. I think it’s a typical bell curve. Usually, at least in my experience at schools, there’s a group that knows they need it because their grades are suffering, and they want to have better grades. So they’re receptive.

Then there’s a bunch that their grades are suffering and they don’t really care. Maybe their home life isn’t supportive of getting better grades or they just don’t see the benefit of it. They’re really not motivated to learn.

There’s another group that they already get good grades. They’ve somehow stumbled upon either our techniques or a way that they have done it themselves and it just works. They don’t think about how to remember they just read a couple times and for some reason they got lucky and it sticks. So they don’t really see a need.

So I think need and desire when they combine. If someone is out of shape physically and their doctor tells them well you know you should probably lose ten or fifteen pounds is that often enough. Not usually in my experience, but when the doctor says that and you know the kids say that and they have a heart attack scare, then it’s usually time to make a change in our lives.

 

Does a Healthy Body = A Healthy Memory?

 

So I equate a lot with the same question about physical health improvement. What’s the point of entry for that? Because we see are we see our bodies in the mirror every day, and for the last sixty years or so, fifty, sixty years since the mid-sixties, early seventies we’ve been told eat better, exercise, do this, do that, floss, brush your teeth, see the doctor, all these things. There are still people who don’t take care of themselves physically.

I think it’s an even harder uphill battle to say let’s take care of ourselves mentally, because we can get away with faking it, outsourcing our memories to our phones and going oh yeah I remember your face better forgotten your name. Oh, I have a horrible memory and everybody goes along with that. We do that for years until all the sudden we’re much too early being faced with memory being a real problem.

At that point, it’s even harder to kind of pick up the pieces and start learning these techniques. They still work. It’s just at that point, it’s kind of like instead of being twenty pounds overweight, it’s being two hundred pounds overweight and now it’s time to start exercising. It’s just a lot harder to get there.

 

Memory Techniques 101 With Brad Zupp

 

Anthony: There’s so much in what you just said that I want to unpack, but the thing I really want to leap on first is that you use the phrase “our memory techniques,” which to me is a beautiful way of phrasing that. But how would you describe our memory techniques more specifically.

Brad: I think to me the techniques come down to what many of us talk about and what you talk about, and then we all put our specific spin on them. Basically, converting the information into a picture, associating it with something you already know so you can then reclaim it easily and reviewing it on occasion to it to tell your mind basically hey this this part’s important let’s transfer this into long term-memory. Then we put our particular spin on it.

My little spin is making sure people identify where they’re going wrong first, because back to the physical. If you want to look like more physically fit with your upper body, it’s important to do a full body workout but do you really want to be doing squats for hours on end if you want to have larger biceps. No. You want to do arm exercises if you want to have larger biceps. You may do squats occasionally to stay kind of whole body healthy.

 

The Need For Specific Memory Training Arises When …

 

But if you want something specific, you need to do a specific type of training. So if you’re having trouble, you think you have a bad memory, you need to identify the problem. Is my problem getting the information? Am I not focusing well enough? Am I multitasking? Am I not pay attention to what my kids say and that’s why I can’t remember what they told me yesterday?

Am I getting the information? I pay really close attention but my mind is so disorganized that it goes in there and there’s really no system for holding onto that. It’s just kind of just everything gets piled up in there. It’s kind of like piling everything up in a closet.

Yeah, you can get it out of there, but if you need to get something quickly and you don’t know if that the top of the pile or the bottle pile or the middle pile you’re throwing things around trying to find it, you’re not going to get it. If your problem is that, you really need to focus on finding a method to organize your mind and your storage.

You’re concentrating well. You’re getting the information. You’ve stored it well, but when you’re put on the spot, you blank out and you can’t recall the information. But soon as the person walks away, you go, “Oh, his name is Anthony!” and it’s too late. If that’s your problem, you need to work on that.

 

Find Out Where You’re Going Wrong

 

My particular take on it is identifying where things are going wrong, helping people figure that out and directing them toward that. But I think our memory techniques pretty much go back thousands of years to placing interesting, crazy, memorable pictures in a certain order or location using Memory Palace technique, linking them together or just associating the question with the answer. You know going back to students. I know you work a lot with students and vocabulary words for foreign languages.

You know you don’t necessarily need a Memory Palace for that, though that can work in certain circumstances, but if you can just associate the English word with the German word. If you can picture the two them together and create an outlandish image, you’ll have that. You will have that bridge to long-term memory.

Anthony: This raises an interesting question because for me the number Memory Palace is essential to memorizing vocabulary. Just as a quick example. I was in Tel Aviv and recently got back. Just as you mentioned that, I just thought of phrase that I learned there which is “Where’s the washroom?”

When I learned that, I used the spot that I was in right there as a Memory Palace. I placed that image right there which gives me an additional chance to find that image in my mind. That’s one of the major powers of the Memory Palace and why I advocate and use it so much myself. Because now it’s almost ten days since that I first learnt that and I can still recall it just by having revisited a few times.

 

Brad Zupp’s Harry Loryane/Japanese Connection

 

I raise the point or I jump on the point also because I want to go out on a limb. In additional research that I was doing with you, and not having taken any notes, if I remember correctly you have some history with Japanese.

Brad: Yes.

Anthony: Something was connected with Harry Lorayne there.

Brad: Yes, that’s true.

Anthony: I would love if you would tell that story a little bit and talk about any language learning experience that you have with memory techniques and if you tried a Memory Palace and how you would see building out a vocabulary memorization approach on master phrases or what’s your language learning story with mnemonics?

Brad: My language-learning story with mnemonics is exactly what you correctly recalled, very well done. After my struggles as a student, really the next time I delved into memory improvement was when I was working in Japan. I was there seven different times over the course of five and a half years, seven different trips for a total of about three years living there. The first trip was ten days or so. Then a month or two went by and I was going back. I was going back for six months.

I’m a big proponent of if you’re going somewhere we should make the effort at least to learn some of the language, as much as we can. That was daunting at the time. I said, well I need help with this. It was Japanese. Everybody perceives as a very hard language to learn.

 

“It’s Just Pure Memorization” …

 

I went to the college bookstore and I got a book, a basic how to speak Japanese book and learn Japanese. I also found a book at a bookstore by Harry Lorayne about memory improvement in general. It really piqued my interest because there was a there’s a whole chapter on memorizing foreign languages. I’m like that’s great.

I don’t have time to do this now, but I’m going to be there for six months. When I get there, I’ll have lots of spare time. I will take these two books and I will learn as much as I can. A week or so into it I got out both the books. Reading just the Japanese book here’s how you say this and here’s how you say this. It was a pronunciation guide with some simple vocabulary. This is just like any language, there’s really no sense, especially if it’s not a Roman type language, there’s really no sense to it.

It’s like why does that equal that. It doesn’t sound alike. It doesn’t start with the right letter. There’s no rhyme or reason. This is just pure memorization. Well thank goodness I brought this book. I read Harry Lorayne’s book.

It said you want to do this, if you want to learn this, do this. So I started basically picturing a word in English and then finding that word in Japanese, translating it as you suggest a lot in your training, and we have that in common. I think you take it to a better level of breaking the word down into things that I can picture, syllable by syllable if necessary.

It’s better if I can do a bigger chunk, but if I have to picture more that’s fine. If I have to take it two letters at a time, whatever, I can make a picture out of that. So I started picturing and connecting them together. I think it was kind of bad. I don’t even think I read the rest of the Harry Lorayne book. I just read that section.

 

Hold The Presses:
You Might Not Even Need A Memory Palace!

 

I didn’t learn about Memory Palaces. It wasn’t even in my vocabulary at the time. I just said I’m going to picture this word in English. I am going to picture of these syllables in Japanese. I am going to create a funny picture together and go.

I have these cute little things in Japan. I don’t know if you have seen them. You will see them in your travels. They are like a little key ring and a tiny little flash card not even the size of like half of my finger. You write down on one side the one word, on the other side the other word and it’s a little key ring you get like fifty or a hundred of these at a time.

I just got a bunch of them and I started filling one of these up a day. In between writing out the Japanese word and the English word, picturing the crazy combination, and then reviewing them and testing myself at the end of the day, I was learning fifty to a hundred vocabulary words a day. Language experts I’ve read often say that to be conversationally fluent you need about two thousand words. If you learn a hundred words a day, it doesn’t take that long to get conversationally fluent.

People were spellbound, the Japanese people I was working for, and the English-speaking people I was working with. At the end of the first week when I had four or five hundred vocabulary words, they are going how are you learning to speak Japanese. How are you doing that?

Why Memory Techniques Are Easy – Even For Japanese

 

They were saying you’re a genius. I’m like no, I’m not a genius, trust me. I’m like here. Let me let me show you. See with this word I pictured this, and then I pictured this. They were like oh, that’s pretty easy. I would teach them five or ten words and they learn them.

That’s where it comes back to earlier discussion about the need and desire. They didn’t really have the need because we had interpreters, nor did they really have the desire. The technique was there, the concept was there, but they never bothered to pursue it because it wasn’t important to them.

But for me, I am a vegetarian. I’ve been a vegetarian since shortly before I went to Japan. This was essential. I needed to know how to say fish, how to say meat. How to say I can’t eat this. I can’t eat this. Does this have fish broth in it? Is this pork? I needed to know all that stuff as quickly as possible. The translators and interpreters didn’t go out for dinner with us. I needed to be able to say please bring me this type of thing.

So there was a real need and a desire there. That’s how I picked it up. After the first month or so, I was answering the phone in our office room in Japanese. The Japanese people that were calling would say, “Is so and so there?” I was like no she left. Okay, will you give her the message when she comes back? Here’s the message and thinking I was a Japanese person.

I’d take down the message and the Japanese person would come back in. I would say so and so called (all in Japanese) and this is what they said to tell you. The first time that happened, she picked up the phone and called. It was one of our higher-level bosses and he was confused. He said well whom did I talk to? She said well you talked to Brad.

He said, she related it to me later, she said Brad the American, well not the American, the foreigner. She said yeah. She said no you’re wrong. I spoke to a Japanese person. No, you spoke with Brad. Really! They were just amazed. Especially, back at that time in the late 1990s, that an American, a foreigner could learn to speak their language that well that quickly.

I’m not a genius. I totally attribute it to Harry Lorayne’s teaching and the Japanese textbook I got and just needing and desire to get it done.

 

The True Definition Of Genius

 

Anthony: I think there is genius in actually taking action and following through. Just to share a little bit of my own story. I’ve never been mistaken for being a Chinese speaker, but in two and a half months, I went to China. I was able to say to my future father-in-law that I liked his daughter very much and asked his permission to marry her in Chinese. He knew what I was saying. It’s just desire, as you’re saying, and action. But I think the genius is in actually following through, taking action and then having techniques that get you the result you want. I myself would call you a genius for doing that.

Brad: For that part, but not for the other parts. You could ask my wife if I’m a genius. But see, you get into a good point there. We were talking about the educational system earlier. That’s the really tricky part, because here in America we have common core, and the last, even before common core the last several years if not the last decade or two there’s been a real discussion about whether memorizing is important. When I went to school, we had to memorize certain speeches. We had to memorize poems.

I go to some schools still to this day where they make memorizing an important part. Where in fifth grade usually in the early spring, March or April, they have to do – in in higher education we call it thesis – but it’s not that in depth but basically, an in depth book report about a topic. Then they have to get up in front of their class, just their class, not the whole school, just their class of twenty to thirty other students, and talk for five to ten minutes about their topic and what they’ve learned. Not just off the cuff, but they have to give a speech.

 

The Two Things That Terrify People Most About Giving Speeches

 

That terrifies people because they can’t remember their speech, (a) because of the pressure, and (b) because they don’t memorize. A lot of students and from what I hear, the parents push back and say memorization isn’t important. We have computers. We have our phones. We can Google anything we want. Facts aren’t essential. This is stupid. We don’t need to teach kids to do memorization.

That’s kind of something I get once in a while when someone will call about my school show. They will say well I really want it because my kid struggles with remembering, but you got to help me sell this to the other parents in the parent teacher organization or to the principal because we don’t ask kids to memorize things anymore.

Memorizing facts, memorizing formulas isn’t important. Knowing how to use the formula is important, but we don’t say memorize this formula and use it on the test. We say here’s the formula. Do you understand the math concept behind it enough to get the correct answer? Show us your work.

I think both are valid, but for me the essential part is that while we may not need to memorize facts the way we used. Well any fact, because it’s relatively easy, my phone I can just enter “what’s the population of Denmark?” How many whatever is in whatever? I don’t need to know that. So there’s an argument to be made for that.

 

Why Memory Is About So Much More Than Facts

 

But memory is about so much more than facts. I know I’m preaching to the choir here with you because as you know this as well. But for others who may have considered that, memory is the feel of the air as summer turns to fall, remembering that. Remembering to look not just in the rearview mirror as you change lanes, but to turn your head and look as well. It’s the smile of a friend or a loved one. It’s the directions on how to get home if your phone battery dies.

We use our GPS on our phone to get to where we’re going. What if the battery dies or the connection is gone. Can we find our way back? It’s not just here’s a bunch of facts. Memorize this. Oh, those memory technique techniques might be important. We can use a Memory Palace or visualizing something we need to remember, not just with facts but also with anything in life.

I think all of life is a comedy. I do to some comedy in my act, and I like to consider myself somewhat funny when I’m not talking very seriously. The basis of comedy is being able to associate things and come up with a twist. You take thing A and you take thing B because in your mind, you’ve connected them and it’s a funny connection. Then you share that and you get a laugh because people have not connected A and B.

 

The Most Important Part Of Memory Training

 

So you have to be able to have both A and B somewhere in your memory to then bring your sense of humor to bear and make that connection and share it. If you can’t keep things in your mind, you can’t make those connections. I think that’s the essential part of any memory training.

Yeah, we can learn foreign languages. We can learn all these things, but just being able to keep things in mind whatever they are, whether they are facts that you that you can easily look up on Google or whether there are things that you need to keep in mind just because they’re valuable to you. The exercising of the mind is the important part.

Anthony: Absolutely. And again, there’s so much in what you just said, and I want to pre-book you for the next interview because there’s just so much to cover if you’re willing.

Brad: Definitely, this is my passion. I love talking about it. To people my age, I think were of a certain age, once you’re over forty, and I get people coming up to me going oh I could never do what you do. That’s amazing. My memory is horrible. As you and I have proven individually and with the many, many thousands of people we’ve helped, as well as other memory coaches have helped, it’s totally possible. This can be done. We don’t have to accept the natural decline as we get older.

 

The Ultimate Decision Is In Your Hands

 

But it does take effort. I’m not even sure it takes all that much effort. I think it mostly takes just a decision to try.

Anthony: I think the most exciting thing for me in helping people is that they’re memorizing stuff anyway no matter what. It’s just how are you going to do it. How are you going to pay attention to how you’re already doing it and then make some slight modifications and shifts based on an education about how you’re remembering things already anyway?

Brad: Definitely, but I do see, maybe this is getting a little bit off track, but I know you like to think about these things as well. I do see a lot of people leaning away from wanting to learn anything in general. I stumbled upon a group, and I’ve gotten really connected with a group of late twenty somethings, early thirty somethings.

How many of them, they are five to ten years out of college, brag about thank goodness I’m out of school. I never have to read another book, which to me is alarming.

Okay, say you don’t want to read a nonfiction book. Really? You don’t want to read a fiction book? But especially the number of people I talk to who are passionate about reading, you say, oh no, I only read science fiction, or I only read romance, or I only read thrillers. I can’t wait for the next Tom Clancy or the John Grisham book. But no, I don’t want to read nonfiction. Why would I want to do that? I’m not in school anymore.

 

The True Path To An Educated Life

 

To me just the idea of underlying the memory, taking it back a step further is the willingness to experience more of the world, and one aspect of that are books. Another is travel. I know you are a big traveler. I live in upstate New York. I live about three and a half to four hours outside of New York City. It’s a semi-rural area. There are probably a million people surrounding Albany, which is the state capital of New York. But out here, I’m about an hour outside of Albany itself.

I can’t tell you the number of people who when I tell him oh I’m going here for a memory competition or I’m going to go down to New York City for this or that. Oh really, I’ve never been. Oh where? You’ve never been to China. Oh no, New York City. Well you’re three and a half hours away and you’ve never been to New York City? Oh no. Well where were you been? Well nowhere really.

I think for some people that is fine. But I think that disturbs me in many ways because I don’t think that person is going to be open and receptive to expanding their mind with memory techniques of any sort. Whether it’s the simplest here’s how you pay more attention so your natural memory takes over, to maybe the next step up of here create a few simple Memory Palaces.

When you’re driving down the road you hear a new song and you want to remember the artist, you know picture the name of the artist in the passenger seat of your car and when you get home you can you know look her up because you will remember her name. I think people who are closed off about things like travel or reading, I think that excuse is going to extend to being closed off with learning simple, very simple techniques that can help them remember better.

 

The Unkown Future Of Memory

 

Anthony: I’m actually really glad that you went in that direction, because as unanticipated as it was it connects with some things that are in the air that I’d love quickly to tell you about.

Brad: Yes please.

Anthony: The first is that I interviewed Tony Buzan last week. He was talking about similar things of this nature. So people listening to this they will have had the chance to hear that about a week or two weeks before that they hear this interview they’re hearing now. I think you personally are going to be fascinated with what he has to say. It’s near the end of the interview we get into some kind of dark territory. I was quite surprised but with a big hopeful bang at the end, no hopeful whimpering but just amazing Tony Buzan sized bang.

The other thing is when I was in Tel Aviv with Jonathan Levi, which is where I interviewed Buzan from although he was in the UK, I was sitting with some friends and we were talking about you know the coming explosion of singularity and all of this jazz. They were saying you know machines are going to create our art for us, and the machines are going to do this and that for us.

I said, “Yeah and are they going to gamble for us too?” I was kind of being sarcastic in that moment. But for me, the reason that I work so hard at teaching these memory techniques is because I think that we are moving into a place where the human mind is going to become so soft. Those of us who have trained our brains and our minds are going to be the ones who have at least that last hold on owning the machines that may or may not create the art for us.

Because we’re going to be the ones who not only can still create our own art, but we’re going to own something, and we’re going to be influential on the things that are influential on us rather than just being a consumer. I was just wondering in a loose jazzy kind of way, what you think about all that connecting with what you’ve been saying.

Brad: I agree. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Wall-E?

Anthony: Yes.

Brad: In the movie Wall-E, it’s a great movie, humanity has escaped earth, which has suffered and is uninhabitable. They’re in a starship and everything is done for them by machines. So they have nice comfy chairs they recline in. A machine brings them or a robot brings them their soda drink, their food, their entertainment and they’re glued to their screens, which is not that far from current reality.

Obviously, they are pictured being physically soft. What’s not as well pictured in that movie is the mental softness. I fear us going there. I fear us getting to the place where we don’t really need to put that much effort into thinking. We have in America, we probably don’t need to get into, but we have a lot of people talk about having a warrior class because there are many wonderful people dedicated to defending our country.

Some of them have expressed to me that they feel under-appreciated because the rest of society moves on and the small group of people who are dedicated to serving their country have become their own their own caste. It is often passed down from generation to generation where father is in the military, the daughter goes into the military and then her daughter goes in the military. That’s kind of a distinct area now where those people are very dedicated to that. I’m grateful for them.

 

Will You Belong To The Intellectual Caste? 

 

It just got me thinking along the lines of are we getting to an intellectual caste where there’s a small but very dedicated group of people who are really focused on thinking basically and learning, and absolving the rest of us from having to do too much of that. Kind of like there’s, I think less so, but even an athletic caste where there’s a lot of people who are really truly dedicated to physical fitness like the Olympics.

How many of us watch the Olympics, which are wonderful, and use it for inspiration to get out in the next couple days and go do something physical ourselves? How many of us watch the Olympics and sit for four, five, six, seven hours at night and never use that as a motivational tool to do something ourselves.

So I think these are philosophical questions more so than memory questions, but they’re interesting to think about, and I like thinking about this. I like reading for a variety of different approaches and topics and viewpoints. I don’t think there’s one right answer but it’s certainly something to keep in mind and decide individually. Who do I want to be?

I, in particular, don’t need to be the smartest person. I could probably do more nonfiction reading, but I try to lead read at least one nonfiction book a month and think. I like to listen to books on tape, especially nonfiction books on tape when I’m driving to and from my presentations. That’s not for everybody and more power to them.

 

The Power Of Focus

 

But I think it really shows what we’ve put our focus on grows. If we’re very focused on physical fitness, our physical fitness gets better. If we’re focused on creating art, our artwork tends to get better. If we are focused on creating more connection amongst other people, deeper relationships, bringing people together that grows. So I think that maybe being a little bit of all things is better than being just a memory person or just a physical person.

Anthony: All amazing thoughts and you remind me of my idea that I really need to get back and read Republic again. I don’t know if you’ve read it, Plato’s Republic.

Brad: I have not.

Anthony: It touches on these ideas of caste like the bronze people and the silver people and the gold people, and there’s a lot in there about who is going to rule and why, and the Philosopher King idea. If I recall it correctly, it’s been since 2001 or even earlier, maybe 1999, since I read it.

The Republic has a lot to do with the difference between being able to juggle information in your mind because you’ve memorized poetry and you understand poetry. You’ve learned poetry or philosophical texts because they want to get rid of the poets in the Republic. It’s kind of a mixed bag that book, because it’s not even clear what they’re saying about whether poets should be allowed to write or not.

But nonetheless there is something in there that if you have internalized poetry and the lessons in poetry or literature and so forth, then you are much more suited to being one of the ruling class people, or the gold people. I am really exposing my memory loss on that book. But it’s in that direction and I want to reread it. Maybe that’s something fun we could do is to book a time to both read it, and then have a discussion about it through the lens of memory because it’s well worth your time to read the Republic.

 

Why Memory Techniques Are A Means To An End

 

 Brad: Definitely, I really like how you said that. It brought to mind is the connections. With me, the memory techniques are not necessarily an end to themselves. They are a means to an end. The end is having a very active mind both now and in the future, as I get older. In staying physically fit, which I work on in a variety of ways, but also mentally fit.

The same way we have kids hopefully getting recess, gym or physical fitness class as they get into the later grades. That gets less time devoted to it. Here in America we have a lot of TV ads that encourage kids to get out and exercise or play physically for an hour a day at least. We’re encouraging that because we all know the benefits that come into a physically healthy body.

I think reading and just thinking about these things and going oh, Plato didn’t know what he was talking about, that’s complete bunk, hated the book. But in reading it, whether we love the book or hate it, just you know putting something else in our brain to think about creates more connections.

We go okay that kind of reminded me of what my friend in high school said. Then, you know that reminds me of what my boss mentioned the other day. I don’t know how this relates but oh you know they’re kind of somehow makes me think of this. We get all these connections. We have a physically active mind that’s thinking and it’s not doing the Wall-E movie where we’re just kicking back in our chair not thinking.

Because I notice, as I get older, that it’s harder to want to focus on things. It’s harder to want to exercise my mind. I mean it’s my job. I really need to do this and even for me for the last year or so as I get closer to fifty, I see that I’m less inclined really to want to buckle down and focus.

 

How It Feels To Have An Aged Memory

 

Talking with my in-laws who are both in their late eighties, they’ve told me about as they’ve aged what their minds have been like. So it’s been wonderful to kind of ask them, well how do you feel? How do you think now? What are you thinking? What are you remembering?

They are very much interested in big picture, and they do have their passions, gardening and some politics and they will learn some detail. But overall, they are kind of big picture people and they need don’t drill down, buckle down and truly focus.

I think it’s really interesting how that happens. I’m cognizant of what’s going on in my own mind and willing to look at that and see what’s going on.

Anthony: That’s one thing that I have certainly loved about what you do and in interviews that I’ve heard with you elsewhere talking about your inner process, your inner experience. That forms part of how you get it out or why that you get out into competitions and I do want to get into that. But I think we should save that for another interview.

But to sort of bridge, what I would love to ask to kind of round off a lot of the things that we’ve been talking about, particularly the issue you raised about the pedagogical concern between is memorizing learning? Part of competition is memorizing a deck of cards. I have competed once myself. I surprised myself by both how well and poorly I did.

But there was something that happened when I did it that made me understand what it is to memorize a deck of cards. So I would like to know, given what we have mentioned about this pedagogical concern of is memorizing information, understanding and is it learning, I would like to wrap this particular interview up as a bridge to talking about competition in at the beginning of our next to our chat. What have you understood by memorizing cards?

 

The Truth About Memorizing A Deck Of Cards

 

Brad: I take cards and the other disciplines that I’ve worked on, as basically, to go back to the physical analogy, they are weights. They are barbells. They are dumbbells. They are Nautilus and other brand machines.

Memorizing a deck cards is similar to bench pressing. It’s a way for me to increase my ability to remember other things that are actually important to me. Again, whether it’s something my wife said that oh, there’s a new song out she loves. Okay, you know I am want to listen to that. I am going to go online. I’m going to find the video and I’m going to listen to that and see the video or hear it because if it’s important to her it’s important to me.

I am not the best competitor in the world because I don’t see it as the end. It’s, again, another means to the end of being able to exercise my mind. So is memorizing learning? I think it can be, but I think just because I know the steps to do something because I’ve memorized them, doesn’t mean I understand it well or could even do it. So I think memorizing is learning and memorizing is not learning.

I think memorizing can help us and certainly knowing more allows us to do more of the connections in our minds. Like I have mentioned before, you can’t you can’t on Friday talk to a child about the realities of World War II if on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday they don’t remember who you told them fought in World War II. So there has to be the foundation before the higher-level discussions.

I think having a base of knowledge of reading books and meeting people and remembering how the sun changes over the course of the year because you’re outside a lot. Oh yeah, it’s grayer and darker in the winter. I remember that, having that base that allows us to form higher-level thoughts and have higher-level discussions. Without that base, it’s not as much fun.

I mean talk to a child or a young person who hasn’t traveled or hasn’t learned. It’s not as much fun as having a conversation with someone who’s traveled the world at whatever age and learned a lot of stuff, because it creates a depth of mind, a depth of thought that is for me personally a lot more fun to talk about and talk to.

 

Brad Zupp Leaves Us With The Feeling That With
Memory Improvement Anything Is Possible!

 

Anthony: Absolutely, and to bring this full circle you do have a foundation for people who are dealing with younger students and that’s Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grades 5 To 8 How To Remember Better And Make School Easier. I want to encourage everybody to pick that up. I have a full review of this book by Brad Zupp on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast if you have any doubts about rushing to Amazon or your favorite book dealer to grab that.

Brad: It’s much less deep than what we’ve gotten into today. It’s a very lighthearted, fun, simple book without a lot of jargon or technical things. It just very clearly and simply states how memory works and how we can improve it especially for the young people. I get a lot of people that I present to who are adults who claim they bought it for their child or their grandkid, but I read it first and I loved it. I had to get another copy for them because I’m keeping mine.

We got into a lot of really deep stuff today and just to assure any listeners there’s very little philosophy or anything like that. It’s just a really fun helpful book.

Anthony: Absolutely. As Tim Ferriss often says on his podcast when he gets into these conversations, he says we got deep into the weeds. That is perfectly fine and wonderful, but what’s coming up next for you. I understand that there are some books for a more adult audience. Is there going to be jargon in that or is it also going to be clear and easy to understand for us adults?

Brad: I pride myself on being jargon free. I’m not a scientist. There are neuroscientists who have written some many wonderful books about how the brain actually does things. What I’m good at is saying this is how my brain did it, and how when I helped other people what happened with them and what seems to work best. Give it a shot. If that doesn’t work, try this. If that doesn’t work, try this because one of these things is really going to help you improve your memory.

So there are two books coming out. I won’t get too into them, but one is going to be for a specific career, type of career, and another one is going to be a more general type of book. That will not be too jargon filled. In fact, it will be a fun book similar to my kids’ book but fun for adults.

I have a memory competition coming up in November. I’m going to be doing some teaching at a university in September as a as a guest lecturer, I guess at the end of September or October. In September, depending on when people are listening to this, I’m going to be attempting a world record, which I don’t want to say more about now. But hopefully by the time your listeners hear this, or September comes along, I’ll have set a new world record on memory.

Anthony: Well I want to catch up on that then in November or December and hear everything about it. Just on a personal note to you, I really admire your writing style. I loved Unlock Your Amazing Memory. It helped me in several ways just because every book that I read on memory techniques, particularly the well done ones, I always pick up something new. But in your case in particular, because you write so well, so clearly and with such great direction, it inspired me to pick up my own game.

I’m always working to be a better writer, because in reality I’m not a particularly good one especially when it comes to explaining difficult things. So it is inspired me to pick up my game as a writer. I really appreciate it on that account as well because there’s obviously a lot of care and craft in how that you present these ideas. I know, as a writer, it is not easy to be jargon free. The clarity that you bring is incredible. Again, Unlock Your Amazing Memory is great.

I can’t wait to hear more about the record that you’re going to break and the new books and catch up on everything that we’ve talked about. I have a list of questions that we haven’t even looked at because we just hit the ground running. I know people are going to love this.

So we both, I think, agree that we encourage you to read. So that will be there for you to check out. I really want to thank you for being on the show. Any last words of wisdom from your perspective for people who are suffering with forgetfulness and want to get that out of their life.

Brad:Whether it’s my book, your course, Anthony, or anybody else’s, I just encourage people to look around and take advantage of Anthony’s free videos. Check out my book or anything, even just a Google search on the Internet, because as both you and I Anthony have discovered, shown and taught, memory can be improved and it can be easy and even fun to do so.

Anthony: Absolutely. Those are excellent words. Thank you again, and I look forward to speaking next time.

Brad: Thank you so much Anthony.

The post Brad Zupp On Memory Techniques And Memory Improvement For All Ages appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Tony Buzan Mind Map And World Memory Championships CreatorIf You Don’t Know Tony Buzan And His Mind Map Technique, Here’s How To Learn Faster and Remember Everything!

Actually, it’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of Tony Buzan before.

But even if you’ve never heard of Tony Buzan, this is almost certainly true:

Your life has been touched by someone whose creativity and intelligence was revived by the ideas, processes and incredible inspiration found only in the Buzan troposphere, stratosphere and infinite universe of imagination and inventiveness beyond.

Either way, today’s your lucky day, because you’re about to learn:

  • How Tony Buzan transformed himself from thinking he was stupid to knowing he is extraordinary. (You’ll be modeling this simple tactic before you know it.)
  • How to create an imagination so valuable that you would never sell it – not even for a trillion dollars!
  • How to use your mind to deal with the dark times. No matter how deep the valleys go, with Tony Buzan’s approach, they still can be fascinating and even fun.
  • … and much, much more.

In this interview, Tony Buzan also reveals one of his personal heroes and gives clues on how to maximize the power of your own. We talk about threats to the future and exactly how you are already equipped to deal with anything and everything that could ever come your way.

Make sure to download the MP3 to your desktop and revisit this episode often.  You can also download a PDF of the transcript and go over it using the same speed reading skills you’ve learned from the master himself. I recommend that you print out a copy and share it with your friends.

And as you do, be sure to visit Tony Buzan on Twitter, Amazon and check out the World Memory Championships homepage for details of this years event and all of the incredible records over the past 25 years.

Plus, don’t forget World Mind Mapping Day. Here’s a beautiful and amazing mind map about it created by Phil Chambers:

Tony Buzan World Mind Map Day By Phil Chambers


Tony Buzan On The Paradise Of Multiple Intelligences

Anthony: Tony, thank you so much for being on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. It’s been in the making for a while. I’m really excited, actually, that we have done it after I had a chance to meet you and attend one of your trainings, which was so pivotal for me even after some time in the world of memory training. It was just a delight and an honor to learn from you directly. So thank you for being here.

Tony: Well, thank you for being on my course, and thank you for having read so many of my books. Thank you for being such a good beacon really for other people who need to follow the development of their own mental literacy and the empowerment of their memories, their mind mapping skills, their reading, speed reading, their study skills, and their mind-body coordination. You are a lovely example.

Anthony: Well thank you very saying that. It kind of circles back to you, because I remember in high school first just being fascinated by your name and the covers of your book, and they’re really adventures to get into once you’re in there. They are so unique because of that. I know that there are ideas behind how you even design your books to make them feel that way. It’s just amazing how the world works and how fate puts you in certain places.

 

“I trained myself very cleverly to become stupid, and
I was very successful.” 

 

Tony: It does doesn’t it. It’s almost odd that when I was in school I didn’t like schoolwork. I didn’t like homework. I didn’t like taking notes. I didn’t like studying. So you would think that the person who has written books on studying and thinking would have loved it, but he didn’t. That is actually the beginning of my journey, because I had begun to realize that the way that I was being taught in my school, like in many other hundreds of thousands of schools, I was being taught in a way that turned me off my brain, tuned my brain out. I tuned it out very well. I trained myself very cleverly to become stupid, and I was very successful.

Anthony: Talk about that. What do you define as stupid and how did that feel?

Tony: I think probably stupid, which is a word that ideally should not need to be used anywhere, means being unable to use the natural skills and intelligences with which the brain is gifted. We are, i.e., we humans are astonishingly brilliant, beautifully multiply intelligent.

When the brain is given misinformation, because it learns so fast and when it believes people who tell it what it is, when they are told things that are wrong and they believe them, then they train themselves to become less intelligent. I did that brilliantly.

 

The Only Stupid Thought Tony Buzan Has Ever Had

 

It was aggravating because I had dreamt of being bright. I had dreamt of being successful. I wanted to be. Yet I would do poorly on certain exams. I couldn’t remember the dates in history. I couldn’t remember the formulas in chemistry and physics. I began to think I was stupid. That perhaps was the only stupid thought I had.

We are all basically naturally brilliant and it started me on the journey. When I began slowly to realize I am actually brighter than I think I am, that my studying methodology was not only not helpful, it was the opposite of being successful. It helped me get worse and worse.

Anthony: What was the tipping point that enabled you to have a change of mind and set you on the path to thinking more positively and starting to learn in a more optimal way and then design optimal learning strategies?

Tony: There were a number of tipping points. One was my best friend. We were seven years old and my best friend and I only loved nature. That was our main hobby. My best friend could identify the flight patterns of any butterflies or birds. He could identify them with machine gun like accuracy. That’s a sparrow. That’s a cabbage white butterfly.

But, in school, he was called stupid because he was illiterate, he was innumerate, he was dyslexic. But I didn’t know those terms existed. He was just my brilliant friend. I began to think, hold on. How can they possibly be calling this best friend of mine stupid, and sometimes calling me quite bright when I knew that he knew more than I knew about nature? So that was turning point one.

 

Where Not To Look For Your Brain’s Operating Manual

 

Another major tipping point was the fact that when I was at university I went into the library, because I was panicking about exams. I thought I’d go find out how to use my brain. I walked in the library, and I said to the librarian, “I need a book on how to use my brain.” She pointed to the medical section and said the medical section is over there. I thought what? I don’t want to take my brain out. I don’t want to operate on it. I want to know how to operate it. She said there are no books on that. That made me think … what?

Whatever I buy, whether it’s a pack of aspirins, or a little radio, or a washing machine, or a car, what am going to get? I am going to get an operations manual. But for this delightful extraordinary gift of a brain, I get no operations manual. That’s when I began to write.

Thank you for your kind words about the covers on the books, because once I wrote one book, people were asking for another book. My first book, Use Your Head, which really was the operations manual, was really written for my brother, my friends and me. It included chapters on memory, chapters on creativity, on reading, on speedreading, on studying, on note taking, and on the origination of mind maps.

 

How One Book Become
One Hundred And Forty-Two Others

 

Another tipping point:

People said Tony don’t write that book because as soon as you’ve written it, everybody will copy it, will learn from it and you won’t have any more books to write. It was exactly the opposite. I wrote that book, Use Your Head, and as soon as people and publishers had read it, they would point to me and say, “You’ve got a chapter here on memory. Why don’t you do a full book on memory?” I’d say yeah, okay.

Sure enough within a few months people were saying, that chapter in Use Your Head on mind maps, why don’t you have a book on mind maps? So I thought, yeah, okay. Then when I’d written the mind map book, which was the child of Use Your Head, people read the mind map book and said have you done a book for children on mind maps?

I said no, you know some of it is in the book. They said no, no, a full book just for kids. So I said okay. Publisher came up and said could you do three mind map books for kids. One on mind maps the introduction. One on mind maps memory. One on mind maps for studying. Every book gave birth to more books.

As you and I are speaking right now, I am now on book No. 142. I’m sitting in my garden, and for this afternoon I’ve been working on two books, and in the next hour I’m going to be meeting with a designer, co-designer and co-editor this evening to work on another book.

Anthony: Wow, this is incredible and it reminds me and connects me to some other things that I wanted to ask you. You’ve written about multiple intelligences. You were a huge figure in developing that field. I think that not enough people really recognize how, or at least in the material I’ve read, how that you actually are a demonstration of all these multiple intelligences, because it’s not just about books, right?

You have written books but you’ve been responsive to the audience that wanted more books. But not just through books, you’ve gone into various parts of media such as television, and then you’ve produced software for people and are using the Internet in creative ways, and the mind map itself, the things you’ve done is art and you’ve also been a proponent of art itself.

 

How To Find Your First Multiple Intelligence

 

You brought beautiful art to the training that I attended. It’s just incredible. Then you turn people into artists. Just how do you explain your interest in all of this and the energy that keeps you going and enables you to do it? I know it is multiple intelligences and I know that it comes down to things that you’ve classified – creativity, personality, the social, the spiritual, the physical and so forth. But a lot of people just see this from a person like yourself and they’re like, where’s the alpha here? Where do we begin?

Tony Buzan with Anthony Metivier Butterfly

Tony:  That’s a lovely question because it is a question worth me thinking about. Because when I was a 7‑year-old, 10‑year-old, 12‑year-old boy, I was a kind of good above-average kid, but I was poor in sports. I was virtually hope less with art. Socially I was fairly good but not fully aware of how to get on with other people.

I gradually began to realize, for example with my first intelligence, I began to become very attracted to young girls. The spark in my eyes started when I was about 5. But I didn’t know anything about that.

By the time I was 12, most of my other male friends became interested in girls and so did I. I began to think well I want to get a good girlfriend so I better get strong. So I then went into the gym and I learned how to run. I learned how to swim. I learned how to build my muscles because I wanted to be a good guy on the beach that girls would find attractive because of my good built-up body, my biceps and my six-pack.

 

The Real Secret Of Verbal Intelligence

 

I was at a party and I developed my verbal intelligence. So I was pretty good at that stage of talking, fairly good at writing and I was getting strong. So I thought the girls would immediately gravitate towards me.

I noticed that some kids who were not doing well in school, not doing well in sports, but they were funny. They were telling good jokes. They were making people laugh and girls would go more for them than they went for me. And I thought how can they be possibly more interested in an unfit kid doing badly in school when I’m doing now well in school and I’m strong.

It quickly dawned on me that being humorous having a sense of humor was a massive creative and social intelligence. I thought well I better build up the package. I better learn how to tell some jokes, learn how to be funny, learn how to make a fool of myself. Not try to be so clever, so good and so always top.

Over the years, and it was years, I began to realize about multiple intelligences. Then my hero in my early teens, throughout the teens and the rest of my life was Leonardo Da Vinci. Who would I really like to be? Sometimes people teach us in saying who would you like to be. I was thinking who would I like to be.

 

When and Why Being A Copycat Is Good For You

 

Would I like to be a fabulous artist? Yes, I would. Would I like to be a physically fit man? Yes, I would. Would I like to be an architect? Yes, I would. Would I like to be an astronomer? Yes, I would. Would I like to be a sculptor? Yes, I would. Would I like to be a top scientist? Yes, I would. Of course, they were all wrapped into Leonardo Da Vinci. So he became my hero and I began to study him. As any kid does, try to copy my hero.

So that was part of my journey into multiple intelligences and some of the tipping points in my life that led me to where I am. I now know, it’s not even just think, I know that nearly every kid on the planet can develop into this multiply intelligent wonderful human being.

Anthony: It seems like there is a bit of a code that can be extracted from what you’ve said which is essentially becoming an observer of your desires, observing the observation and then figuring out a way to take action. Would that be fair to say?

Tony: That would be a good beginning summary. In fact, Leonardo said something dead on that. He said, I’ll put this into different words, but basically what Leonard was saying was, look guys, don’t keep calling me an artist. I’m not just an artist. I am more than that. The word artist means a surface level somebody with paintbrushes who paints.

He said but I am a student of nature, and what I do is I notice that people don’t look and don’t see. We need to look and see. So he said I am simply a student of nature. I, Leonardo, am a student of nature and I observe her. When I observe her, I study her, I analyze her, I remember her, I copy her and then I add to whatever she’s given me and that is action. That’s what he did.

He would go into the woods, into the fields and he would observe flowers or animals, and he would observe them. He would then study them. He would analyze them and then he’d measure them. He would then copy them. When he had copied them that helped him remember them, and when he copied and copied say this kind of flower or this kind of face, then he would begin to change it in his own mind’s way. Those were his actions, a total genius. If anybody wants to learn to draw, copy Leonardo because he said copy nature. So go out there and learn how to copy. It’s wonderful.

 

How To Be A Real Teacher
And Touch The Lives Of Millions

 

Anthony: I think a common idea that we come up with, and it certainly is in the air already, is something about the way that we are put into schools interrupts this process that you were just talking about which is so elegant and simply has certainly helped you lead an incredible life that has changed so many lives.

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Sometimes one wants to point the finger at the Victorian sort of nature of the school education system that has somehow made it’s made its way into the 21st century, but where do you see things now. What do we do to help people regardless of why? If it is the school, or they are not eating properly, or however things are playing in their lives, how do we help people participate in this procedure that you described so beautifully, into what you have called, actually to quote you, a mentally literate planet? At the core of things, how do we get this to more people?

Tony: Good question and an immediate answer is what you are doing now. You’ve got a podcast. You are contacting tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands to millions of people. You are spreading global mental literacy. That’s one wonderful way to do it. Another is to be a teacher, but a real teacher, a teacher who is a beacon to a child. A teacher who is someone who launches the child on the exploration of their internal universe. A teacher is a harvester of questions so being a teacher is a wonderful most important profession. Mind mapping is another way.

Let me give you the hot off the presses two bits of information. We are now approaching the beginning of August. August 19 is the day. It’s a global mental literacy day and on that day, two things are going to happen.

No. 1, I have just been nominated and going to be given the Toastmaster Award. The Toastmaster organization has 15,000 members in 135 countries. Their simple goal for each individual Toastmaster is to learn how to present and to learn how to become confident. As soon as someone learns how to speak publicly, and obviously mind maps are a wonderful way to do that, and as soon as they do that, they then become more confident. When they get to that stage, all they have to do is to help another person do the same. So it’s like a wonderful positive brush fire, a positive viral.

The Toastmasters are going to give me the Golden Gavel Award in Washington, D.C. on August 19 this year. I will be speaking to 2,000 people from 135 countries and all of them know about mind mapping. They are anointing me as like a new leader for them to help the planet learn how to communicate and how to give birth to more leaders. Because people who can communicate, are confident and know how to think can help the world.

So on that day, the 19th, I’m going to be given that award and will be connected to 15,000 people who believe in human beings and believe in helping them to help each other, how to communicate, how to learn and how to become a leader that’s an ultimate global goal. So, please come to Washington and be with me there.

Announcing The First Ever World Mind Map Day!

 

On that same day, that day is now also going to be announced as the World Mind Map Day because there are global days for football and global days for golf and global days for politics or whatever. But this is the World Mind Map Day on August 19, 2016. On that day, the goal is for every mind mapper on this planet and there are already well over 300 million mind mappers, the goal is to have every mind mapper get as many mind maps out in as many ways as possible.

For example, if you’re an individual who mind maps, you don’t do an enormous number of big things, but you could get mind maps on your Skype, on your Twitter, on your Facebook, you could put mind maps on your car, when you go into a restaurant you could give them a fabulous mind map to stick on the window. You could put mind maps on billboards. You could give them to schools, give them copies, and/or send them virtually.

If you’ve got a little database of a thousand or ten thousand people, send mind maps to every one of them saying welcome to the World Mind Map Day. On my Twitter, my Twitter home page is @tony_buzan. The World Mind Map mind map is there so you can retweet that.

It is going to be like a super nova. It is going to explode mental literacy around the world, and I am really happy with that because in this modern age, despite the fact that the information age has given us a lot of information overload, it can do wondrous things. One of the things it can do is to spread good news to every brain, igniting every brain to become a flame with a beauty, the magnificence of the human mind.

Anthony: This is absolutely true and I’m glad that you raised the topic of people just getting their own podcast or getting out there and Tweeting at whatever level that they can to help spread the good news about these techniques and about the people who are really expert at explaining them.

 

The Power Of Lineage In The World Of Memory,
Multiple Intelligence And Creativity

 

Tony: The power of podcasts is a good phrase. You could use that, the power of podcasts because it’s very powerful. You know, if you, for example, Anthony influence one person on one interview you have, and that person transforms the world, it might have been a little Thomas Edison, it might have been a little Maria Montessori, it might have been a little Mandela, it could have been any child who you influenced and ignited. Then one podcast with one person changed and evolving it would be wonderful.

Anthony: I just wanted to tell you, to make a concrete example for people and I should really give a shout out to someone special. I’m here in Tel Aviv, and I have this podcast and maybe we came into connection because you were in British Columbia where I grew up. So maybe there was something in the air about that. Having grown up with your influence and then learning all this time and I’m in Tel Aviv.

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I just let people know on my podcast and through my email that I’m here and a guy named Eldon Clem emails me.

He’s in Jerusalem and we haven’t managed to connect yet, but I really want to meet him because he’s taken my training that he found out because that I spread the word about these things, and I’m almost choking up here because he emailed and he said that what I’ve done has changed how he teaches Semitic languages.

I’ve talked to him over a year ago and he told me that he memorized a thousand words in six weeks of ancient Ethiopic and this is a very difficult language where the words have three letters. He said it was no problem even without an online language learning course. I just went on to read a thousand words and then I just started incorporating your stuff into my classes and now I heard that he’s even using the Memory Palace as a technique to give quizzes.

So this is how the lineage works. From me seeing your books as a kid in British Columbia to ultimately getting to meet you and already having had the podcast in action and then somebody gets involved in my stuff and then they start passing it on to students. He said they are getting great success because it enables them in the testing period. So I just want to take this opportunity to give a concrete example that’s happening right now and I hope to meet him and let him know that I spoke with you. It’s amazing what can happen.

Why You Should Come To The
2016 World Memory Championships

 

Tony: Wonderful. I mean your story links in with the World Memory Championships, because that was just an idea that I had many decades ago. Why are there tidily winks championships? Why are there chess championships? High jumping championships, long jumping championships, weight lifting championships, you name it there’s a championship and nothing on memory. I thought we’ve got to have a World Memory Championship. I discussed that and people said Buzan you must be crazy. What’s the point of having a memory competition? Nobody will be interested in that.

This year is the 25th World Memory Championships. It is the Jubilee year, No. 25, and there are tens of thousands of competitors and there are multiple grand masters of memory spreading around the world. All the people in the World Memory Championships, like you Anthony, are busting all the barriers that are placed around the human brain.

It’s like balustrades, pickets that are staked around the human brain and it is fenced in like a trapped animal, when in fact when the brain knows how to think, knows how to remember, knows how to learn, knows how to be intelligent, it will break all those barriers. I’m sure you’re going to be at the World Memory Championships this year, which are now going to be in Singapore this year December 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18, World Memory Championships. Please, both you and me, invite everybody from your podcast group, team to come to Singapore.

Anthony: Let’s do it! Maybe you can help make it concrete for people. What is the No. 1, or by all means add more than one if it comes to mind, but what would you say is the top benefit of participating in the World Memory Championships for someone who is already feeling that sense of resistance? Like I could never go what’s the tipping point for them to get in there and just give it a try.

Tony: One of the great events in your life, when you compete you will naturally meet all the greatest memorizers in the world. You’ll meet every Grandmaster. You’ll meet Dominic O’Brien, eight-time World Memory Champion who as a kid in school who was told you will never succeed. You can’t remember. You can’t concentrate. You are useless. Get out of this school. He became the eight-time World Memory Champion because he suddenly realized, oh, they say I’m stupid but I’m not.

If you went to the World Memory Championships, you would meet all the people. You would meet me because I will be there. You would meet Anthony Metivier. I mean what a wonderful opportunity. You would be meeting people who would charge something like £1,000.00 or £2,000.00 an hour for their time and you would be meeting them as new friends.

It would be like going into the United Nations where all the presidents of the countries were coming together and you’d just be with them. Same in the memory championships and as soon as you competed, you would learn that your memory, no matter how poor, weak and bad you think it is, it’s powerful and all you need is the correct formulas for unlocking the doors of your genius.

 

How To Create A Trillion Dollar Brain

 

I’ve asked people sometimes how much would I have to pay you to promise that you’d obliterate your memory of the World Memory Championships. You just wipe out your memory of it. If you met all the world champions, the national champions, all the best memorizers and they taught you how to remember.

If you met all the top competitors in the world, you met Tony Buzan, Anthony Metivier, Grandmaster Raymond Keene, the ultimate chess, mind sports, Times journalist and writer, how much would I have to pay you if you promised to forget all of it?

People said, no matter how much you pay me I would choose to remember it all. It’s changed my life. It would destroy me if I forgot all that I now know about memory and my new friend Dominic O’Brien. People have said if you offer my £100,000.00, I would still say no. It’s priceless. That’s how important it is.

Anthony: I feel the same way about having attended your training. You couldn’t pay its way out of my memory. It’s just too valuable.

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Tony: Thank you for saying that, because if you and all the people on the podcast here said listen Buzan we’ll give you a trillion pounds if you promise that you’ll never use a mind map again, you will never use anything in your books, you wouldn’t use your speed reading, you won’t use your studying skills, you won’t use your creativity, you won’t use your multiple intelligences, but we’ll give you a trillion pounds. I would say you must be mad! What’s the point of wiping my brain out for a trillion pounds? My brain is infinitely valuable and that’s how important it is.

Anthony: Absolutely. One of the things that I want to point out is that I went to the training that I went to as someone who already used the techniques, and I’m just so devoted to learning as much as I possibly can. I was blown away not only by how little that I know but how little that I knew about what I know. Let me put it that way.

Tony: There is that kind of a common saying in most cultures including the Arabic culture, Japanese, Chinese, European cultures. The common saying is the more you know the less you know.

 

The Truth About What You Know About What You Know
About What You Know About …

 

That is a complete misinterpretation of what actually everybody meant. The real saying is, the more you know the more you know, and the more you know the more you know that there is even more to know than you thought you would have to know.

Anthony: That is a much more empowering and profound and useful way of using that phrase.

Tony: So I now know that I know a lot more than I ever knew before, and I know that now that I know all that, I know now know there that there are an infinite number of infinite number of infinite number of other things I don’t yet know and would love to know.

Many people are saying about old age, people are saying I don’t want to be old. I don’t want to be over 80. It would be terrible. My brain would rot and I don’t want to learn anymore. My brain is stuffed which is sadly tragic. Because the fact is, the human brain can learn an infinite number of things.

 

Why Tony Buzan Wants To Live Forever

 

Therefore I want to live forever because would like to be a concert level violinist? Yes, I would. Would I like to be a concert level pianist? Of course, I would. Would I like to be a brilliant gymnast? Of course, I would. Would I like to be an Olympic level swimmer? Of course, I would.

Would I like to be a bestselling novelist of detective stories like Sherlock Holmes? Of course, I would. Would I like to be a top children’s author with 100 books? Of course, I would. Would I like to go to every country? Of course, I would. Would I like to spend years in each country, in different cities?

Would I like to spend 10 years in Paris learning French, learning French cuisine, learning French philosophy, French poetry, French literature, and French music? Of course, I would. How many years is that going take me? Trillions of years. I would love to live forever.

Every day of my life is wonderful even when I’m in pain or sad or depressed or melancholic, or contemplating suicidal thoughts, I’d far rather be alive than not.

 

How To Deal With The Darkness
Without Pills Or Psychiatrists

 

Anthony: Let’s go in this direction a little bit. How do you deal with those challenges that you’ve just mentioned, the dark times? We give this impression always these super incredible intellects they just have it all and live in paradise. But, it’s not the case. So what do you do? How do you use your multiple intelligences to deal with the down sides?

Tony: When I’m down, I explore the bad. You know for example, if I give you a simple example about having nightmares, and let’s say things are going pretty awfully and friends are dying, personal situations are difficult, sickness or illness causes nightmares, and people wake up screaming in the middle of the night with monsters howling or whatever.

Rather than waking up screaming and trying to block out the nightmares, I now think, because I used to try to stop them, but then I began to think hold on a minute, among the most popular movies on the planet are horror movies. Horror movies and how much do they cost to make? It costs $250 million to make one horror movie.

What is my nightmare like? It’s a lot better than that one $250 million movie. It’s fabulous. It’s got monsters in it that I’ve never even imagined before. It has unbelievable pain. It has all the horrors. So I now think, wow, what a great story that is, wat a great poem that will be. You know like the American author Edgar Allen Poe. His horror stories, he got those from his nightmares. Wonderful.

I recently had a big molar wisdom tooth taken out, which was infected, broken, so it was literally a bloody mess. I was asked to take paracetamol or any other painkiller to prevent the pain because for two days it would be really painful after the numbness disappeared from the eight needles I had to have.

I said no, I’m not going to take any painkiller because pain is information. It’s a friend of mine. My mouth is telling my brain I’m in agony. I am bleeding. I am ripped apart. I am in asunder. I am still bleeding and I’m trying to tell you Tony, please look after me. You know rinse me, listen to me, hear me, and so I had all night conversations with pain.

What was fascinating was that the pain in my mouth was a giant pulse – roomph, roomph, roomph. Why? Because the blood was pumping and it was all open and damaged, and it was roomph, roomph. The more I got into it the more it was like a wonderful music, roomph, roomph, and sure enough after five hours of listening to that, I went to sleep. I was sent to sleep by my pain.

 

The Magic Of Rowing 

 

When I went sculling, you know, rowing sculling in the morning, I was told do not do any big exercise for two days because it will break open all the sealing. But on the third day, I went sculling and every time I put my oars in the water, where I took all the strain, roomph. Every time I took a stroke my mouth, my crater went roomph, roomph, roomph. So it was telling me exactly the moment that I put all my effort into rowing. Stroke, stroke, row, row, and it was in my mouth. I mean it was phenomenal.

Anthony: Rowing has been a fascination of yours and something you’ve been deeply involved in for a long time. Where did that begin and how has it been that it fascinated you so deeply that you still do it to this day? You did it even the morning before you came into the training that I attended.

Tony: I fell in love with it because I saw a superb male athlete sculling in a single boat. In your life, you suddenly see things, and it’s pretty well the same for everybody. Everybody sees something and wow, I want to be like that. I just saw this athlete sculling and it was the most beautiful sport I have ever seen.

I just thought I want to do that. I want to be able to skim across the water like one of those fabulous insects that skims across the water. I wanted to do that with all my gymnastic muscles rippling but not going solid but more flowing. It was wonderful. I did it this morning. This morning I rowed 4,000 meters on the River Thames.

Anthony: I remember you telling us that your doctor said you were definitely in prime territory to keep going for a long, long, long time to come.

Tony: I would invite all the podcast people. Put in your diaries guys June 2, 2042. Second of June, 2042, that’s my 100th birthday. Make sure you come.

Anthony: Absolutely, I can’t wait for the 100th birthday of Tony Buzan!

Tony: What I would love to do is do another podcast with you.

 

The Greatest Challenges To Planet Earth And Humanity

 

Anthony: I would love that as well, and the time has gone so fast and I really appreciate that you’ve been able to be here. If I could ask one last question before we go, what in your future do you feel is your biggest challenge and as a person with so many tools to tackle them, what is your No. 1 tool for tackling that challenge?

Tony: That’s another book of a question. The greatest challenge to this planet is the destruction of intelligence. It can be destroyed in a number of ways. It can be destroyed in schools where like I taught myself to be stupid and I was very successful. Children have to be taught to learn how to learn and then they will think intelligently and they will deal with all the future problems and they will find solutions. That’s one.

Another threat is technology used in the wrong way. So for example, when technology is used, consumes all the hours of a day that has people become couch potatoes, diabetic, fat, nonathletic, that’s the negative side of technology. Technology when used well, like you can use mind maps with technology to your advantage. That’s another wonderful threat and opportunity.

We must learn how to use technology intelligently. So we have to use information intelligently. We have to use agriculture intelligently. We have to use knowledge intelligently, and we have to use intelligence intelligently because the threat is that if we don’t use intelligence intelligently, we lose intelligence. If we lose intelligence, we die. It’s as simple as that. Think intelligently or die.

Anthony: Absolutely.

 

How To Eliminate The Manipulation Of Thinking

 

Tony: Another big threat is the manipulation of thinking. So for example, in politics all the arguments are spun. Truth is manipulated. When truth is distorted, being destroyed, intelligence becomes destroyed.

So in politics for example, if there is some wonderful evidence that when people eat a lot of junk food, all the statistics show that the brains in the wombs of pregnant women, the brain in the embryo get destroyed or damaged. There are masses of incontrovertible information, studies done on hundreds of thousands of pregnant moms, and we know that if someone keeps on stuffing themselves with dangerous food, the body bloats and basically explodes.

There are many people when they are given information like that, they say yeah, yeah, yeah that’s what those statistics say, but statistics always lie. I know and I believe that eating all the food that I eat is good for me. I know it. I believe in it. You’ve got to believe in it. I mean I am still alive. I may weigh 400 pounds, but so what? I enjoy that food and those statistics must be wrong. I believe in what I believe.

That is intelligence hypnotized, mesmerized and destroyed and it goes blind. So blinding intelligence is another hyper-dangerous threat. All we have to do is ignite the intelligence and get it working, the intelligence working well and the world will be fine. We have to work hard to do that.

 

The Path To Becoming A Warrior Of The Mind
Begins With This …

 

What we’re doing today, what you’ve been doing, more and more tens of thousands people, millions of people are beginning to think about thinking intelligently which is wonderful. What I’ve just said wouldn’t be true if you did not have a thousand podcast people because people wouldn’t be interested. But I’ve never met anybody who isn’t interested in intelligence as long as it is explained properly.

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Anthony: I do hope that you will write a book on the topic and since you called me a Warrior Of The Mind, I’ve been thinking that that would be an amazing title for a book. So, I don’t know if that will trigger anything, but I think it’s certainly in line with the solution is for people to become a warrior of the mind. I am going to do everything that I can to get the people listening now and the people that will find my website in the future also linked up with what you do.

Tony: Wonderful.

Anthony: I’m so delighted that you gave me the opportunity to do it with an interview between the two of us, a discussion, and that you have already proposed the next one. So let’s definitely get together to talk about that and what more we can do together.

Tony: Let’s do that after the Mind Map Day.

Anthony: Great.

Tony: By then we can talk about the results and the Mind Map Day, the World Mind Map Day will extend into the Mind Map Week, the Mind Map Month and the Mind Map Year.

Anthony: Excellent.

Tony: It’s going to go on until the end of December.

Anthony: Just to let you know, and the listeners know, since I was there, you guys were teaching memory. I was watching you use mind maps and you talked about mind map as well as a bonus. Since then I’ve created at least nineteen and designed more outlines for books than I have time to write over the next ten years, but just the exercise of being able to use that to plan out ideas and books and so forth is just so empowering and I really want as many people as possible to have this skill.

Tony: Welcome to my world Anthony.

Anthony: It’s a wonderful place to be, and you asked if I could hear birds at the beginning and that moment I couldn’t but throughout the interview, birds have been audible and they are going to be in the interview. I hope everybody enjoys that as well. We talked about nightmares and I said it’s not always paradise but quite frankly, it sounds like it is always paradise where you are.

Tony: We do live in paradise.

The post Tony Buzan On The Paradise Of Multiple Intelligences appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:38am EDT

concentration and creativity inspirational creativesDo you struggle with concentration and memory?

Maybe even because you’ve been labeled with manic depression or A.D.D.?

I hope you don’t have those conditions, but either way, there’s hope for clearing up any and all brain fog from messing up your memory. And it’s great honor that Rob Lawrence, host of Inspirational Creatives Podcast has allowed me to share his interview with me.

In it, we talk about creativity, concentration, musicianship and how all of it ties into living a life of superior memory.

Note: Quite a few things have changed since recording this interview. Olly Richards helped me fix a Spanish pronunciation problem created by the power of mnemonics and there have been a number of Magnetic Memory Method podcast episodes on Music Mnemonics For Guitar And Piano that have shown development and huge promise since recording this talk with Rob.

With all that said, here’s the transcript for this interview to go with the audio. Enjoy and be sure to read more about Rob Lawrence and get subscribed to the Inspirational Creatives Podcast on iTunes!

 

Psychic Brain Surgery

 

Rob: So do I call you Dr. Metivier or Anthony?

Anthony:  Well that’s always a very interesting issue. I really don’t know. I mean get a kick out of being called doctor, and it certainly circulates around but it’s not necessary. My dad gets a kick out of it too. Actually, it’s funny that you mention brain surgery. Because for years and years he didn’t really quite understand what I did in my Ph.D., so he used to call me a brain surgeon, which there are some elements of that involved in what I do. It’s just psychic brain surgery.

Rob: Yeah, there’s some technical accuracy in that. Have you always been interested in memory and imagination?

Anthony: In a roundabout way. I basically wrote my first story that I remember, when I was in grade four. By story, I mean something that had a solid beginning, middle and an end. I had an ability to remember stories, as we all do, and loved to retell stories, tell jokes and retained stories in my mind. I’d often watch a movie and then try to rewrite it from memory. Yeah, I’ve always had this interest from a very young age.

Rob: Stories are a fascinating concept, something that we tell our children and seem to be something that we’ve done since the beginning of time. Do you think we’ve lost our ability to remember in the way that we used to?

 

Why You Have Not “Lost” Your Ability To Remember

 

Anthony: I don’t believe at all that we’ve lost it. But the extent to which we use it has certainly changed.

There is a kind of running myth that back in the day in Ancient Greece and in Matteo Ricci‘s era everybody used these memory techniques that I teach. They all memorized thousands of books and this kind of thing, which isn’t true. I would say that the ratio of people who use memory techniques then and in comparison with now is relatively the same per capita let’s say. It’s really just a growing thing.

We’re in a renaissance of memory techniques right now. It seems to be happening at the precise moment that technology appears to be taking over or our memory needs, which I find deeply fascinating that this renaissance is taking place now at that technological moment. There are reasons to believe that actually technology is expanding our memory abilities rather than diminishing it. That’s a topic to be explored. It’s very conceptual, and I don’t have any hard data behind it but it’s something that I feel is being enabled by technology rather than the common statement that our memories are being eroded by technology.

Rob: That’s fascinating, an absolutely fascinating thought there. So what are the key factors necessary to be able to succeed in improving your memory and using these Magnetic Memory Techniques that you teach?

Anthony: Well there are a number of factors, but it all begins with the desire actually to improve your memory because without that there is nothing to ground it upon.

Lacan, the French psychoanalyst, always said that the fantasy is better than the reality. That’s not exactly true in this case because you use fantasy in order to create reality, but nonetheless, there is an effort involved. A lot of people don’t have the necessary drive in order to get into it.

One of my jobs is to give them that drive. So that’s a key factor there. In many ways, that is what my job is. It is simply to open the door for people, give points of access and points of entry.

Beyond that, there’s the willingness to experiment, which is a key factor, the pleasure in imagination is a key factor and also a kind of wish or desire to have this information and to use it. Because if you’re not going to use it, you can have memorize all the things in the world and it won’t do anything for you.

Memory champions, for example, can memorize thousands of digits that they forget half an hour later, but they have that particular use value in the competition in of itself. It’s always got to have some sort of use and some sort of pay off. The more you can identify with that use and that payoff is, then the more you have that necessary key factor to succeed.

 

Don’t Miss The Motivation Train!

 

Rob: You’re talking about motivation there, and you’re also talking about trying to find ways to get started exploring these techniques.

Anthony: It’s not particular to the field of memory training. All areas need points of access and entry points. With music for example, people who would be perfectly capable of becoming very good musicians don’t get the point access that enables them to enter the kingdom. It could be that they didn’t get the right teacher or they didn’t get enough sleep or enough Cheerios or whatever the case may be.

They just missed that train which is very sad because we all have musical capacities. That really is, I think, one of the key factors of all education is helping people find that entry point, as many as possible, because it’s really sad. We all have the ability to do anything really. We just need the prophets and the leaders who are able to show the way.

Rob: I’d love to come back to that point about music because I’ve heard you’re a musician. Before I do, with your work, what are some of the key access points that you help people with in terms of being out to get a footing on these Magnetic Memory Techniques?

Anthony: Well for me the big thing is the Memory Palace. The reason why I focus on it so specifically and teach so much about it is because it’s not only the fundamental memory technique, but it is the memory technique that you can use all of their memory techniques inside of. If you can get going with that, then you have enabled yourself really to have a success with every other memory technique.

One of the other reasons that I focus on Memory Palace is because everybody knows where their toilet is. Everybody knows where their bed is. Everybody knows where their kitchen is. Because of that innate ability to recall locations with great detail, just conceptually knowing the distance between different areas and where they’re located in space in your home or in your workplace, you can then leverage that power and place information by the sofa or on the desk and recall it at ease by simply mentally going to that location.

That is a major point of entry if you can learn how to use that technique correctly, instantly use it for something that is interesting to you and makes a significant difference to your life. Because so many people encounter memory techniques and they say well memorize your grocery list. Nothing in the world could be more boring than memorizing a grocery list, which is another reason why people don’t find a point of entry.

But when you say memorize the lyrics of your favorite song that somehow evade you are using a path from your sofa to your office desk to your dinner table, well then that’s interesting because you get a great deal of pleasure out of it. Now you can sing along with that song. Now you can annoy your spouse or your friends by singing it over and over again or whatever the case may be. That makes a difference in your life. Those are two points of access, the very specific technique and then how you’re going to use that technique to get a victory, that make you feel good. You see the possibilities for what else you could memorize.

 

Two Kinds Of Memory Palaces … Take Your Pick! 

 

Rob: That’s fascinating. So there is this concept here of Memory Palaces and are they real places or these places that we make up in our minds?

Anthony: You can make them up in your minds or people use video games. There are all kinds of possibilities in what I call virtual Memory Palaces.

I typically do not recommend that people use them at least not at the beginning stage. Yes, you want to ground your Memory Palaces on real locations, places that you’re familiar with and generally places that you have a positive association with. I have worked with people over the years who suffered abuse in a home, and they just keep coming up against those memories when they’re trying to use it as a Memory Palace.

You could use a Memory Palace technique to help cleanse those bad memories, but until that that has taken place it’s really best just to use places with positive associations or at least neutral associations, which is another technique that you can use to have a clinical approach to things so that positive and negative memories don’t really play. For example, high schools have both positive and negative memories. If you can get a neutral approach or a clinical approach, then they’re pretty safe to use and very detailed so that you can get a lot of action out of them.

 

Familiarity Is The Key

 

Rob: Is there an advantage to using places that you already know you know?

Anthony: What you are going to do is actually create a journey through a home, or a school, or a church, or a movie theater or whatever the case may be. You’re going to follow that journey the same way every time.

It’s not exactly like following a movie through your mind, but it’s more like following a play through your mind because you restage it every time. It’s going to be slightly different. But nonetheless, a movie or play, you’re going to move on that journey in the same way.

I mean there’s later techniques were you leap frog around in order to overcome what’s called the forgetting curve but in general you follow that same path just as you would basically follow of the same path from your door to your driveway. I mean you could walk around in circles around your car, but normally you just go from the door to the driveway to the door of your car. Because that is so ubiquitous, so every day and so commonplace, there’s nothing to remember or forget about it.

You just know that intuitively and intentionally because it’s what you would do in real life anyway. Instead of just walking passively alongside the rosebush, now you have a giant clown who is eating your slippers to remind you that they need to go buy new shoes, or to help stimulate a line of poetry, or a foreign language word, or whatever the case may be, you’re actively using that location instead of passively. It’s just something that you pass by every day anyway.

Rob: It sounds to me like something we intuitively do as children when we’re younger and we recount stories. That thought is inspired by something you just said there which is the clown eating the slippers. It’s part of the technique to exaggerate and create these kind of images in our minds.

 

How To Experience Cartoons In Your Mind

 

Anthony: That’s a fundamental part of it. So on top of the journey through a Memory Palace, every place that you want to memorize a target piece of information you create an image in order to encode it. Then when you go along that journey again in your mind you, decode it.

The way that you remember the coding is by making it big, large, bright, vibrant and colorful, and on top of that, including some kind of zany crazy bizarre action. The more that you can focus on doing that, which in the beginning can be a bit of a challenge for some people, but gets very easy very quickly with some exercises and just practice, you can shock yourself into remembering anything.

The more that you have cartoon-like silly engaging actions between characters, like an action with a reaction the way you would have in Wile E. Coyote cartoons with the Road Runner, or Pinky and The Brain or whatever these cartoon characters are. They are actually quite rigorous with one another. One would even say violent, but in a cartoon way, then they’re going to capture the interest of your mind’s eye in the way that a car wreck on the highway causes the rubberneck effect and you have to see it. Then you decode it and you get your target information back. If you do it a sufficient number of times, then you don’t need the image anymore. You have affectively learned and memorized the information and it’s yours.

 

How To Harness The Memory Power Of Emotions

 

Rob: Wow! That’s pretty fascinating. So it sounds to me like these techniques are more objective than they are subjective. What I mean by that is you were talking earlier about positive and negative emotions. I guess one of the assumptions I made automatically before I spoke with you today is that you use some kind of emotional power to help you remember certain things. Would that be an accurate reflection or is it a bit more complicated than that?

Anthony: Technically you’re using an objective process to create subjective experience that relates to an object memory or some piece of information that is a kind of object. It’s a living breathing object. Yes, emotions are involved. I mean if you see your spouse smashing something with a hammer, there’s going to be an emotion involved.

That emotion can be anger. Some of the images involve kissing which can involve romantic elements. You do want an emotional element to it, but you want it objective in the sense that there is a strategy involved. So in the same way that Hugh Grant might not be in love with Drew Barrymore and yet they’re kissing and projecting that emotion, you’re going objectively to create an emotion through deliberately rigging images in your mind.

 

The Real Reasons Why Anyone Can Improve Their Memory

 

Rob: Got it. So is this something that anybody can develop in your experience?

Anthony: Everybody can experience memory improvement. They’re already doing it at some level anyway. So it’s just a matter of understanding how that your imagination works, which is pretty simple and easy to do, then leveraging it and then developing it in certain directions. But even if you don’t develop it, you still have the ability to do this at an intermediate level.

There’s no elementary level to it whatsoever. You can go from intermediate to an advanced level. Anybody can do it. I mean I have podcast interviews on my podcasts with 10‑year-olds, 8‑year-olds who are using these techniques. I have personally trained 88‑year-old individuals and people in their 80s, 70s, 60s and 50s. There’s even very interesting research going on right now by someone in Kasper Bormans who is using the Memory Palace technique to help people with Alzheimer’s remember the names of their family members and getting results with this which is absolutely incredible.

So there are curative properties for people who have brain damage. They’re also using Memory Palace techniques for what’s called chemobrain when cancer patients have to take a lot of chemotherapy and they lose their memory, and they lose general cognitive abilities. So they are getting results with this kind of memory exercise as well. So anybody can do it.

Rob: Wow! That’s pretty incredible and something I was going to ask you about. But it is pretty inspiring to hear that these techniques can be used, or similar techniques to this, can be used to help improve the memory of people that have health conditions, which are affecting their memory. That’s pretty inspirational. What are the common applications that your students tend to use? You’re talking about very young people there and very old people. In your experience, what do people tend to use these Magnetic Memory Methods for?

 

The Most Common Applications Of Memory Techniques

 

Anthony: The biggest application in my personal experience as someone offering these is with foreign language vocabulary and to a certain extent grammar principles. This has been tremendously successful because it’s one of the hugest pain points in the world. People want to learn new languages. They want to improve their own language, but words just don’t stick without either massive amounts of repetition or some kind of technique. There are all kinds of techniques in the world for using your memory to help you better recall words. But there is no specific strategy that was developed just for word retention and recall. So I developed it. I developed it out of my own personal need, shared it and it just became wildly successful because so many other people have that pain point. That’s really the largest part of my training is specifically for the purpose of learning languages.

Rob: So I’m guessing you speak different languages?

Anthony: I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise because I just don’t have any kind of natural ability the way some people do. But of course, some people don’t have a natural ability. They are just using certain techniques in their minds that relate to what I teach, but without a kind of actual apparatus. I never it was very successful despite a deep interest in languages throughout my life.

But being able to build a number of Memory Palaces and put large amounts of vocabulary with a basic understanding of grammar, vocabulary being like a kind of petrol or gas that you put into an engine, and grammar being a kind of engine, then you can get very far very quickly. You just need to add speaking, reading, writing and listening to the mix. Things happen very quickly.

Rob: So can you give me an example of perhaps one of the languages that you’ve begun teach yourself, and can you talk me through how you’ve perhaps memorized the phrase or something like that with these Memory Palaces in mind?

Anthony: One thing that I’ve been developing for some time now but that I really love is Spanish. So imagine you came across the word abuela. Abuela means grandmother, and you wanted to memorize that. There are really not any cognates with English. There’s no relationship grandmother and abuela. So you’ve got to find a point of access.

One thing that you can do is split the words in different pieces. So there’s ab-u-ela. One thing that I like to do is use famous people. So ab reminds me of Abraham Lincoln and ela reminds me of Ella Fitzgerald. I imagine that Abraham Lincoln encounters Ella Fitzgerald dressed as his grandmother and she is saying boo like a ghost.

So now, you have ab-u-ela. You can add abuelo for grandfather just by having some Jell-O or whatever the case may be. Now you’ve got that word and that is on the bed in a Memory Palace that I have. Then just move to the next one, the next one and the next one so that you’re collecting words.

Just imagine that there are a number of words in Spanish that start with “ab.” Abraham Lincoln moves from place to place to place interacting with different other people. You can pick up a lot of words really quickly. Then again, using them in speaking, reading, writing and listening, you’ll encounter them, you’ll hear them, and you’ll use them. Everything is just absolutely fantastic. You might even call it Magnetic.

 

How To Memorize Grammar Concepts Fast

 

Rob: How does it work with grammar without getting into too much detail because I imagine that’s a slightly different ballgame.

Anthony: It is and it isn’t. A lot of grammar has to do with conjugations.

I mean grammar is a big world. One of the things is verb conjugations, which are very difficult for people. So imagine that you create a Memory Palace for say the “to be” verbs. Spanish has two, so let’s just deal with one. You would have ser. For me, I used Hamlet serving desert because ser is in desert.

It’s not a one-to-one correspondence but it works for me. You’re rarely going to find one-to-one correspondences. There are a number of conjugations of “to be” like you are, I am, they are. You have a sufficient number of stops or stations in a Memory Palace and you just see Hamlet helping you remember all of those different conjugations. So ser is to be. Yo soy is I am. Tu eres is you are and so forth.

So yo soy, Hamlet is injecting the cake into a bathtub of soy. Tu eres is this giant statute of Aries and he is throwing the cake at that statue’s face and so on. So that’s one way for verb conjugations. You pick any verb that you and you conjugate them. But you also generally pick up the way that the regular and irregular verb contributions work. So after a while you really don’t need to do that for every verb. You just need the verb.

 

How To Develop Unconscious Competence

 

Rob: I’m guessing that over time through practice that you become unconscious competent at this. I guess the language just starts to come naturally does it?

Anthony: Yeah, especially if you do a kind of alphabetization that I was suggesting because, not in all languages but in many languages, you get a feel for how the structure works. So in German, for example, there are a lot of words that start with ent.

That generally, but almost always, suggests something about the next part of the word. Also with words that start with ber. Whatever follows that generally has something to do with what that ber characterizes about the language. That works in English as well with endings and with some beginnings.

You get a feel for it. You get to a point where you can guess with some accuracy what a word means. Of course all language learning is experimentation, testing. Do you get a result from the use of a word or is it making sense when you read. Of course, words have multiple senses. But language learning, like memory itself, is not a fixed piece of glass. It’s something that is wet and movable. You just go with the flow, and you use memory as a kind of surfboard to navigate through torrid waters.

Mnemonics for Music Memory Hacks In Development

 

Rob: Got it. I’d like to turn our conversation towards creativity, and come back to this point about music and appreciate that you’re a musician. How long have you been a musician? Have you been a musician your whole life?

Anthony: I played guitar in my dad’s lap. It is one of those classic images where the father is helping you press down your fingers on the guitar.

After that, it’s kind of a long story, but when I got to band class in grade six they didn’t want to let me into band class because I didn’t pass the proper tests. I persisted anyway even though I was tone deaf or whatever those tests were that they had. I persisted. I wanted to play bass guitar and they said you can’t. We’re not going to buy an amplifier for the class just so you can play bass guitar.

I said well what’s the next closest thing and they said trombone. I went with it. Then I played trombone until I got grade nine, and I was able to finally able to get a bass. Then I just started in bands and went from there. I ultimately wound up playing in a band in Germany and going on tour and having lots and lots of fun as a result. Bass has always been my thing, but I’ve also played sitar, flute, banjo, a bit of piano and a little flute that I got in Prague once upon a time.

Rob: I read, I think it was on Amazon actually, that you were memorizing Bach’s compositions on cello. Can you describe to me a bit about how your methods apply to creative endeavors, for example, playing or more writing music?

Anthony: I’m learning the Bach cello pieces on bass guitar for performance on bass guitar. One of the things that really help is if you are able to create an image for each string.

So E is for Ernie. A is for out Al Pacino and so forth.

Then you can have each fret have a sound attached to it or an image. There’s something called the Major Method where each number is a sound. So 0 is “sa,” 1 is “ta” or “da,” 2 is “na,” and so forth up until 9. Then you can create combinations. So if something where at the twelfth fret, for instance, that would be tan because 1 is “T” or “D”, and 2 is “N”. You don’t even have to be as specific as the string if you don’t want to.

But if you know something’s on the twelve fret, and it’s on the E string, then that is Ernie getting a tan. Or it’s Al Pacino getting a tan. It’s just a quick thing where you can look at a piece of sheet music and you can navigate quite quickly and establish not needing to look at the sheet music and not really needing as much dedicated practice looking back and forth, closing your eyes, playing, and looking back and forth.

It really helps. But you need the basis first. If you are trying to do this while you’re learning the memory techniques, then it probably would be more of a barrier than anything, or if you were trying to use it while you’re learning music it would probably be more of the barrier than anything. But if you have both of those things in combination, then it’s a beautiful thing.

 

The Real Secret Of A Solid Memory Is Sleep

 

Rob:  So get some music theory first, learn the memory techniques, then try and put the two together.

Anthony: Basically, but I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from trying to do both at the same time. My feeling is that having learned music myself and having learned to do dedicated practice playing with that rote learning style, I can see that they would jar with each other.

Rob:  Yeah and how reliable have you found these techniques in terms of your music and being able to memorize such compositions?

Anthony: Well I’d say that it’s basically an 88 to 98 percent success rate. A lot has to do with how tired one is, how well fed one is, how much the bodily needs are taken care of so they can use your attention, which is going to be true one way or the other. Also, it has to do with motivation and intensity. When I was playing, I just came back to Germany from Canada and I needed to be prepared to go on the road with The Outside.

Rob: The band.

Anthony: There wasn’t a whole lot of time for me to think F, G sharp and all that stuff, and try and get it. I just needed to know that those were the notes and as quickly as possible. So it really helped in that in that case rather than feeling around. Plus we were tuned in C#, and that doesn’t really go with my ears that well. I really needed to know what the notes were, I couldn’t hear them as well, and as I mentioned, I sort of have had historically a difficult time with learning by ear. It’s really helped me out to pick up things fast that way. It also helps build concentration.

 

The Bare Minimum Time Investment In
Memory Techniques You Need To Make

 

Rob: So for somebody very new to these techniques, how long would it take you to start learning and to start implementing them and getting results?

Anthony: Well you really could be pretty well master level by the end of the day if you want to.

Rob:Wow!

Anthony: This is this is well known. There have been all kinds of people. In the UK there is Mark Channon who used to have a TV show. He would have regular people learn these techniques, perhaps not in a day, but over a week, and then they would go on his show.

They would compete against taxi drivers with the knowledge. They would do better than taxi drivers who have been on the streets for twenty years reciting routes from their minds after a week’s training or so. It’s really not rocket science.

It’s just actually wanting to learn the memory techniques, wanting to use them and having a good instructional basis upon which you can learn them. That’s really ultimately the problem. Because people just don’t find the right teacher, and there’s all kinds of people who are the right teacher. You just kind of need to read multiple books sometimes, or take multiple trainings in order to get it, but you can get it. Once you’ve gotten it, it happens real fast. Most of my people are ready to go within two to five hours and get great results.

 

How To Overcome Memory Challenges

 

Rob: Amazing! What are the common challenges that people new to these memory techniques face in your experience?

Anthony: One of the challenges with respect to how I teach them is with getting enough Memory Palaces. People feel that they don’t have enough because one just won’t do it.

You really need at least two dozen Memory Palaces for the kind of language acquisition method that I teach. But unfortunately, people feel a kind of Memory Palace scarcity. I try my best to remind them that everybody has been to more than one school, or at least most of us have been. There are shopping malls all over the place. There are stores all over the place, restaurants, cafes, etc. You just need to go out in the world and you’ll find more than enough Memory Palaces.

To this day there are Memory Palaces on my street that I haven’t had a need of, but if I ever am I’m running on street screaming because aliens are attacking, and I need some special formula to create a death ray gun for them, there’s a bakery that I’ve never been in, and I’m going to go use it.

To me it’s a non-issue but people do struggle with that. Then the other thing has everything to do with are they relaxed. That’s one of the hugest barriers to creativity. I always include a module on using relaxation techniques. Because the mind wants to create barriers, it wants to say this doesn’t work. It wants to say I’m not creative. It wants to say that I don’t have an imagination. It’s wants to say I’m not visual. The ego comes up again and again and again. Relaxation is a very key tool for just overcoming the voice that says this is impossible. That has helped a lot of people.

 

Why Relaxation Solves All Struggles With Mnemonics

 

Rob: That’s really interesting you say that because about the relaxation techniques there, and the mind creating barriers. I think there is a whole conversation in itself that we could have there. You mentioned earlier health and well-being. How do these methods help to improve concentration and creativity?

Anthony: Well they are fantastic. I mean they saved my life because I was in grad school and I couldn’t concentrate.

I still have concentration issues because of a medical condition, which is bipolar disorder. I had to take a lot of lithium at that time. It was just unbelievable the cement that was in my head. I was responsible for very technical French philosophy and literary theory. It just wasn’t getting in.

That’s when I really discovered these systematic memory techniques and started to use them. What I found is that it was irrelevant how good or bad a day I was having, because they were grounded on that relationship between where my coach was and where my cupboard with cookies was.

It just didn’t matter what my mood was. It didn’t matter how sick I was. It didn’t matter how healthy I was. I could just recall the information because I could lean upon the simple architecture of my house.

This new level of focus and concentration happens for all kinds of people. They find that this is reliable regardless of how they feel. Because you learn to concentrate differently, and like I said, you lean upon leverage what you what you already know.

That’s the basis of all memory techniques because you’re using where you are already know. It helps improve concentration simply by using what you are already concentrating on, and then just amping that up a little bit.

Rob: How did you discover these Magnetic Memory Methods?

Anthony: I’m not aware that I was aware of them before that I needed them. I don’t have any distinct memory of knowing about memory championships or memory techniques.

What had happened, as I mentioned, I was in this really deep clinical depression, having to take these medicines I was unfamiliar with, and completely thrown into a storm because of it, not only from the condition that required the pills, but the pills that address the condition.

I was avoiding life basically. I was going back to an older love of mine, which are card tricks. I found that, as many people do, I could concentrate just fine on something that pleased me. You don’t get far in advanced card tricks before you encounter the holy grail of memorizing a deck of cards.

There are two types in magic. There is the kind where you make it appear like you have memorized a deck of cards. Then there is the kind where you actually have memorized the deck of cards. There’s a third kind where you have memorized a stack, which is a preordered arrangement. It also makes it appear that you have memorized the whole deck but you have actually memorized just a portion of it.

Now I got fascinated with the idea of memorizing the whole deck because I really like to do advanced magic tricks. As it turned out, what I thought was impossible was incredibly easy.

I learned card memorization and from there I never really looked back at it again as a form of study. I just started using it. I saw instantly how I could apply that to my graduate studies. Then years later, I saw instantly how that I could apply it to learning a language.

I also used it to learn Biblical Hebrew, which was part of my graduate studies and needing to show proficiency in another language.

But it wasn’t really something you could become fluent in, Biblical Hebrew. So it was some time later when I was in Germany. I thought wow if only I could find a way to use these techniques to get a lot of speed going for myself with German because I love this language and I want to be able to speak it.

One day it came to me, I was sitting on the porch (a favorite place for concentration), and I thought what if I had a Memory Palace for every single letter of the alphabet. That’s where it all began. That was where my first book began. Sometime after that, when I was teaching some students how to do this, and they said oh you have to write this down for us. So I did and then that became the first book. That’s basically the journey. It’s just been incredible. But it all came from deep, deep need. It really did save my life. It turned things around in a big way.

 

Why Memory Techniques Improve Everything In Life

 

Rob: Yeah and how’s it improved your life in terms of you were talking earlier about your bipolar. How has this improved your life in that aspect?

Anthony: Well it’s a confidence thing in many ways. It’s reported often the frustration with feeling better, and probably better said feeling like a normal person, because you can feel pretty good when you bipolar disorder.

But feeling better in terms of being able to contribute to society and maintain a normal life from lithium, but the cost is a certain zombie effect and certain straight-line nothingness.

Also, this poor concentration and sludge in the mind, and also some of the antidepressants that go along with that, or the antipsychotic medications that go along with that also do devastating things to your personality. I managed to get onto a different medication altogether called Lamictal or lamotrigine that is for people with epilepsy but it also helps maintain mood.

That has limited those side effects, but they’re still there from the condition itself. These techniques are amazing in terms of the confidence. Because I know no matter what mood I’m in, I can walk into a place and if I need to, I can not only recite some poetry, but I can tell you what page it’s on.

That’s an incredibly empowering thing. It’s not necessarily as fast as I would like it sometimes because I still have to access these images and so forth, but it is there. As long as I’m relaxed, I am 100 percent confident that I can do it. Spring is a really bad time, but I’m going to be presenting at the polyglot conference in May in Berlin, and I’m going to do it basically from memory. They require that I have a PowerPoint presentation, which is a bit sad.

Nonetheless, I know that no matter how turbulent the spring is for me, I’m going to be able to go there and do that speech. That’s incredibly empowering. There are other things. I mean just being able to memorize a Buddhist meditation ritual, which incidentally ancient Buddhist rituals seem to have used something like a Memory Palace technique in and of themselves.

That’s great. It was a path for me into meditation. I’m not really spiritual in the sense of beliefs or anything like that, but spiritual in the sense of taking care of myself and connecting with nature and meditating and all of these things. That came from memory and developing approaches where there is a clear enough state of mind to use them at their highest possible abilities. I’m really grateful for memory and to memory for introducing me to all those different areas.

Rob: How different is your life now compared to before you knew about these men techniques and developing these memory techniques?

Anthony: I’m a lot less stressed out, and I’m much more creative. I was always creative, but the creative capacities have increased incredibly. Some of that is due to the fact that I write. I’ve written several novels. You just simply can’t get help but get more creative when you continuously write.

Often when you have these burned out periods where you feel like you’re not being creative at all and everything is off, and when you look back, they are the most creative periods of all.

But memory has really helped with that because one cool thing that happens is that I can remember what I’ve written a lot better, which I never used to be able to do. I used to have to go and look back. What was that character’s name? What were they wearing? What town were they in and so forth?

But with improved concentration, I’m able to manage my own stories a lot better, which is really great, the metaphors and turns of phrase that characters use. It doesn’t have to be fiction writing either. You can memorize copywriting headlines, for example. You can have a cheat sheet, a crib file, or a swipe file in your head, and that really helps with writing headlines or writing sales letters. It’s just fantastic. That’s one very practical application.

 

The Future Of Memory Techniques For
Concentration And Creativity 

 

Rob: Fantastic. I’m losing track of time actually talking with you here. What’s the most exciting aspect of your work for you right now?

Anthony:Well, really, it is when people who have joined the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass or read one of my books email me and they say I was really skeptical about this. I didn’t think it was going to work. Now I’ve got two hundred words in my head.

People have reported much more than that. They use very specific figures like 70 percent more fluency. Some guy wrote me a couple weeks ago and it said thanks for the donuts in the subject line. He had added another notch to his belt because he bet his coworkers that he could memorize some extraordinarily dry codes that have to do with hookup parts for RVs or something like this in the United States, and he bet them donuts that he could.

I don’t think that’s good for his health, but nonetheless, it’s an absolute demonstration of what’s possible. I love, not just the actual accomplishments, what it has done for the people and their confidence. What it has done in their ability to take that now and apply it to any goal that they want to achieve.

You just hear it when I speak to them over Skype. You can see it in their emails with the exclamation marks and the all caps and just the phrasing and the excitement in how that they write about it. You know that they have been transformed and that is the most exciting thing is transformation. Also, knowing that it’s not short term is that if they want to continue using these techniques it just gets better and better and better from here and there really no ceiling to it. That’s really the best thing of all.

Rob: Yeah, that’s pretty inspirational actually. Just hearing how it transforms people’s lives in that way and how it can help them with their work. I can think of multiple ways it could just make your life more efficient and more enjoyable in the sense. What has inspired you most recently?

Anthony: One of the things that has really inspired me, even though I have left the band that I was playing in, is just watching the development of how that they are constantly getting gigs, constantly out on the road and promoting the new album and making videos. Also, bass players and guitarists have a special connection.

Sergio Klein is the guitarist at The Outside, and just watching him develop as a teacher and what he does with respect to creative problem solving.

He’s moving into the online field where he’s making videos and putting a course together about arpeggios. Just watching him also learn marketing and some of the packaging that you need to together in order to offer trainings to the world is just really inspiring because he’s taken to it in an extraordinary way. I know that he is such an amazing teacher. He’s such an amazing guitarist as well.

He recently joined Criminal, which is a great South American medal band. He’s just accomplishing his dream. He told me something so extraordinary. He went played with them in a festival in Spain. He said that for the first time in a long time he came home with money, which you know is just awesome. He was in London also recording with them. He doesn’t have to pay to go there. It’s just a real testament and an acknowledgment of his skills as a guitarist. I really see a great future for him.

 

Where Preparation Meets Opportunity, There Is No Ceiling

 

Rob: They say success is preparation plus opportunity. You mentioned developing marketing online products, which is something I know you do. How has that aspect of the journey been for you?

Anthony: It’s been great. I mean that’s what I do. I don’t have a job or anything like that. I had to learn it and have to experiment. Every day is an experimentation and in one way or the other. Being able to have multiple levels of trainings available for people has been great because there are so many different learning styles. I have audio books, Kindle books, paper books and video courses. The video courses contain audio. Basically, being able to serve a wide spectrum of learning styles is really incredible and helps spread that reach much farther than it would go if it were just a book. That’s really great.

Rob: What’s next for you? What are you working on right now?

Anthony: Well I’m putting together some new video courses. One of the things that I’ve experimented with that I didn’t think was going to be as successful as it was, is to go and make video courses about older books on memory that are in the public domain.

I started with Aristotle. I thought, oh this is just for me it’s not going to be something that is anything for anybody else but I want to do it anyway because I love Aristotle’s essay on memory. So I’ll make a video course about it and see what happens. It was a wild success. I had never launched a course that did more business than any of my others on the first week. It was just unbelievable.

I’m going to continue making these little mini courses about some of the ancient writings on memory and keep doing that because that’s obviously of interest to people. Of course, I’m able when working with Aristotle’s essay on memory I’m able also to talk about Plato on memory and different aspects of the philosophy that go along with that.

So in other words, I have never been able to use my Ph.D. much. As a professor, I did have a couple gigs here and there and a teaching research grant. But I sort of got off that track. Now through video teaching I can use a memory as the basis for teaching philosophy in the things that I trained for.

That’s what’s coming up next, more of that and more memory training. I have endless amounts of work that I can do. I have a mastermind group where I’m starting to do monthly webinars just for the people who belong to that and go really deep into many of these areas that aren’t in any memory training books and extend out into other areas where memory touches our lives which just about everything. So I got my life’s work now. It’s just a matter of what am I going to do next.

Rob: Fascinating. That’s fantastic. You mentioned Aristotle. Have you read Brian Clark’s post about Aristotle and writing?

Anthony: No, but I’ve got to look it up!

Rob: I read it last night and I thought it was quite good.

Anthony: Yeah, I’m looking it up. Aristotle’s Top Three Tips For Blogging?

Rob: That’s it. Yeah, Top Three Tips For Blogging. That’s was the one. For anyone that’s interested, where’s the best place for them to be able to find out more about you and your work?

Anthony:  Well the best thing is go to the special video course I have for you.

Rob:  Great. Well thank you so much for your time today Anthony. It’s been absolutely fascinating to speak with you.

Anthony: Thank you very much for having me. Let me know if you ever need help with your memory.

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serotonin magnetic memory method podcastYou’ve heard people throw the word serotonin around, right?

But do you know what serotonin is and how it connects with the quality of your memory?

Well, if you want to experience a better life, it’s time to pay attention.

Serotonin is not only essential to having healthy memory abilities. It also helps you feel good, sleep better and works magic on your mood when you’re feeling down.

In fact, as a neurotransmitter derived from tryptophan …

 

Serotonin May Be The Most Important
Anti-Depressant In The World!

 

Actually, there’s a lot of controversy about whether or not serotonin levels create depression. It’s only known that many people with depression show low levels of this chemical.

But here’s the real question:

How can you actually use the information you’re about to read?

Easy: If you can get your serotonin in order, you’ll not only feel better, but you might not need SSRIs and whatever other pills you’ve been taking to regulate your mood. I’ve taken a lot of those pills myself, and although none of what you’ll read in this post should be taken as medical advice …

I can’t emphasize this enough:

 

Healthy Serotonin Levels = Better Learning And Memory

 

Why?

Because there are seven distinct receptors with different densities. When things get messed up with your serotonin, you’re much more likely to experience the aging of your memory and fall into risk for Alzheimer’s and other issues.

In order to understand exactly how serotonin is connected with memory, we need to look at how it interacts with other neurotransmitters. These include:

  • Acetylcholine
  • Dopamine
  • Glutamate
  • y-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

Basically, all of these elements hang together and require precious balancing in order for you to be able to learn and remember.

When it comes to serotonin, scientists have found that by using serotonin reuptake inhibitors like alaproclate and oxotremorine, they can improve memory retrieval. Moreover, its believed that with more research, they’ll be able to use related chemicals to suppress the retrieval of addiction-primed memories.

 

Sounds Like A Mouthful, Right? 

 

It’s actually easy to understand:

When it becomes possible to treat addiction-associated memories, that drug addicts might experience decreased cravings. That means fewer destructive behaviors to themselves and others in society.

The reason serotonin plays such a huge role in this area of memory is that its connection to different receptors involve reward-based learning, something that can be helpful, so long as negative drugs like tobacco aren’t involved. (By the way, stop smoking.)

But it’s not just all about addiction memory. Serotonin is also involved in:

 

Boosting Spatial Memory 

 

If you’re serotonin levels are in check, you have much better chances of remembering locations and the relative distance between objects. This means that you can use a new place you visit as a Memory Palace with greater ease.

 

Mastering Emotional Memory

 

It’s well known that we tend to remember things with greater accuracy and vividness when emotions are involved. But if you’re low on serotonin, you might not be experiencing emotions properly.

Lower emotional capacity also means that you may not be paying attention properly. You cannot encode information into memory that you haven’t registered either in part or whole.

This explains why depression and other mental illnesses are so devastating for memory, especially since emotions are often so short-lived.

Luckily, however, we can generate emotions at will. By using mnemonics, we can supercharge every piece of information we meet so that it is more memorable. But it sure helps if we have healthy serotonin levels.

 

You Can Forget About Fearful Memory

 

Fear can either create new memories or inhibit their formation. Either way, if your serotonin is out of whack, your brain can’t properly manage fear to any advantage. Having your serotonin out of balance leads to memory errors and contributes to the fearful part of depression. With certain mental illness, for example, you can learn to be afraid when there’s nothing fearful in the environment. Proper serotonin levels can correct this problem, however.

 

But … What Exactly Does Serotonin Do?

 

Research shows that serotonin influences memory by increasing the ability of different neurons to get excited by various kinds of stimulation. Too little response to stumili and you’re depressed. Too much and you might go manic.

Either way, without the maintenance of serotonin, it’s difficult to pay attention, form new memories and learn. Poor serotonin levels messes with memory consolidation. Not being able to consolidate memories can lead to forgetting names, new information you’ve struggled to learn and even entire years of your life.

 

What Interferes With Your Serotonin Levels?

 

Unfortunately, scientists and doctors don’t always know. It can be that brain lesions create issues, along with some of the mysteries that create Alzheimer’s Disease.

What is known with relative certainty is that serotonin levels are linked to the quality of your sleep, diet and fitness.

The problem with the hypothesis that serotonin levels are connected to diet is that serotonin isn’t found in foods.

It is, however, synthesized from tryptophan. This is an amino acid found in many foods, some of which help create a healthy brain and memory.

Salmon is a big one, and it’s hard to go wrong with eating this fish.

Other ways to get more serotonin include exercise, sunlight and creating positivity in your life. Memory friendly activities such as meditation have been shown to help.

Although there is no clear cut route to boosting serotonin, the important thing is to try without the use of pharmaceuticals.

One reason is that taking drugs to feel better might have this positive effect, but it can also make you fee worse. After all, you now need a crutch to function, something that can crush your self-esteem. It shouldn’t, but the stigmatism has harmed me in the past. Plus, now that I’m living free from lamotrigine, I feel better and going solo has prompted me to live a healthier lifestyle overall.

When it comes to light exposure, it’s no secret that I’ve been using the Human Charger. Steeped in controversy though it may be, I’ve noticed a positive effect. I’ve also been switching on the lights I use to make my videos in order to get more light exposure.

You can also get more light when you …

 

Spend More Time Outdoors

 

People used to spend 30-40 hours outside a week. Nowadays, that’s the number of hours people spend inside at work.

Quite frankly, that’s insane and the health of our culture shows it.

Frankly, I believe that becoming an entrepreneur with a strong brand is one of the ways to escape the fate of sitting in an office and helping make someone else rich. As I talk about it in the Self-Improvement Supercharger, I like to walk from cafe to cafe to do my writing, which gives me not only more light, but more air, more exposure to people and much more fitness than I would get sitting at my desk.

I believe it’s the combination that matters: For example, just walking around and getting more light and fitness is helpful. But I don’t think it would be nearly as good without going up to people and asking them for help with German phrases I’m learning. I also go to my friend Max Breckbill’s co-working groups as often as I can to get more exposure to other people for the brain chemical benefits it creates.

And heck, some of them even wind up using memory techniques too after I talk about them.

In sum, people have put a lot of time, money and energy into researching serotonin. Although the link serotonin shares with tryptophan can make it difficult to study, countless experiments have shown that mice and humans alike cope better in life with regulated serotonin levels. They experience less stress, recover from depression with greater speed and remember more with greater accuracy.

Of course, further research is necessary, but my belief is that you are the ultimate scientist. If you’d like to experience better memory, organic brain games might be just what you need.

And when you use Mnemonics And The 7 Eternal Laws Of Memory Improvement, you have the basis for tracking your results.

You don’t have to have your DNA extracted in scientific experiments or undergo the horrors of serotonin depletion in order to experience better memory.

Get more exercise, eat properly, sleep well and use memory techniques. Track your results using some of the tools linked to in this post and you’ll notice an impact. And if you’re sitting on the fence about training your memory, here are 9 Signs You Need Memory Training, Memory Techniques And Mnemonics that will convince you of the truth.

Bottom line:

Your serotonin levels are important and almost guaranteed to go up if you’ll just take care of these few areas. That means more memory and a better life.

Sounds good to me. How about you?

The post Serotonin: The Truth You Need For Memory Improvement appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:20am EDT

 

jonathan_levi_anthony_metivierDo You Know Your Learning Duties And Obligations?

 

Put some thought into that question. It could well change our entire life.

Because, yes. YOU are obliged to learn.

And even though learning takes time, energy and can even cost a bundle of bones you’ll never see again …

 

You Cannot Lose When You Learn The Right Ways

Download the MP3 of this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and have a blast reading the transcript below. And if you’ve got something to say, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Anthony: This is Anthony Metivier. You’re listening to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, coming to you live from Tel Aviv with my good friend Jonathan Levi. Jonathan has been on the show many, many times before. You know him from SuperLearner.

This is a universe where you can learn how to learn faster with greater comprehension, greater memory of what it is that you want to learn. Every time that we speak, he’s been on the Magnetic Memory Podcast so many times, it’s just absolutely incredible what I learn. It is incredible what you can learn from Jonathan Levi. We’re going to freewheel it a little bit. We’ve got some background noise and so on.

But it would be a lost opportunity if we didn’t just jump on the fact that we’re together hanging out in Tel Aviv and have a talk about how you can learn and memorize more information, do so in a way that feels great, is a load of fun, reduces stress from your life and just makes everything better so that you can make the world better, which is what this is all about really. What would you say to that?

Jonathan: Yeah, I would say that I really like – I was actually editing a video today from the last time that you were in Tel Aviv and it resonated. You said something that I often say, and I think a lot of people in our very fortunate position to help people and educate people for a living often say.

I think Tony Robbins says it a lot as well. He says you have a unique gift and it is your duty and obligation (we say it in Branding You), it is your duty and obligation to figure out what that gift is a soon as possible and then arm yourself with the tools that allow you to deliver that gift. I think the sooner you do that the more quickly you realize your potential in life then you realize your purpose. I mean it ties all the way back to Viktor Frankl. Like all you need in life to be happy is a purpose, a worthwhile purpose, and then that just sets your trajectory in life of what you’re going to do, skills you’re going to acquire, the things are going to learn about, the people you’re going to be with, it all comes from that purpose.

Anthony: So then riddle me this, if I can quote the old Batman movie. Why is it that some of us know our purpose and some don’t? For those of us that do, what’s like an example from your own life that got you to know your purpose, and how did you take that knowledge of knowing your purpose and turn it essentially into a self-sustaining engine that just drives you towards doing what you’ve accomplished? It’s the fire that burns itself, or you know the burning bush. We’re here in the land the burning bush.

Jonathan: We are in the land of the burning bush.

Anthony: How does that work?

Why You Need To Seek If You Want To Find

 

Jonathan: That’s a tough question. Why do some people know and some people not know? I think the first question is why do some people seek and some people do not seek? I think a lot of people go through their lives not seeking more. I call it the prefix approach when what you really want is the a la carte approach to life.

I think in order to really be seeking and searching for your purpose, your mission in life, you have to take the approach that my life is a la carte in the sense that I can pick and choose from certain things. I can pick and choose if I want to have kids. I can pick and choose if I want to work in an office. I can pick and choose and so on. I think that’s a big component of why people struggle to find their purpose.

 

Why The Cost Of Stability May Be Killing You

 

But I think the other thing is we somehow along the way through the industrial era have kind of all settled on this stability over excitement mentality. A lot of parents raise their kids go get an education, get a good stable job, and that’s wonderful. Stability is great especially if you’re raising a family, but I think we need to get over this mentality that stability comes at the expense of excitement. You can have both. I know a lot of people who have super stable jobs, who are working at a very stable corporate job, and they’re doing their life’s purpose. They’re really excited about what they’re doing. So I reject the idea that you have to give up on a purpose and just go to a 9:00 to 5:00 that you hate.

Anthony: Right. Now let’s make this even more localized to a particular memory subject because a lot of people that say they want to learn a new language right. They think well I work from 9:00 to 5:00. I am with my kids until whatever time late night, I have six hours to sleep, then I get up, and then I go to shave and shower and go to get in the car, and so on and so forth. They have endless reasons why that they can’t not only just spend time learning language, but use the memory techniques that I teach and that you teach in order to be able to get the components of language into memory. Like where do they just begin, given what you said? Like where’s the entry point to getting started and then keeping going so that you have a different mindset for it and actually execution of learning given the situation they’re in?

Jonathan: Learning anything, well learning kind of in the direction of your purpose you mean?

Anthony: Yeah I mean if your purpose is to say you know you need to learn a language in order to fulfill a particular purpose.

The Best Way To Know When
Something Isn’t Right For You

 

 

Jonathan: Sure. So a few different thoughts there. One is I find when you work on things, when you find that right thing, the resistance goes away right. Like you can drag your feet on projects for years, and you and I know we’ve dragged our feet individually on projects. That’s a pretty good indication if you have to like force yourself to do something, it’s a pretty good indication that’s not you’re calling and not your purpose. I think you need to listen and be true to yourself and ask yourself what your motives are to do certain things. With that said, I mean there are pragmatic considerations and concerns around generating time which you know I talk about a lot in my productivity course.

 

Exactly How To Make More Time
Magically Appear In Your Life

 

How do you make time? I think for most people the psychological boundary of busyness and how much time they actually have is much more significant than the actual pragmatic realistic constraints on their time. How many of us waste that twenty minutes waiting for the bus? How many of us waste that time sitting on the bus? How many of us, while our kids are brushing their teeth for school, are sitting there like flipping through Facebook instead of reviewing whatever it is. In your case, memorizing a deck of cards because that’s part of your purpose is empowering people with memory. I think we need to be realistic actually about how busy we are and actually how well we’re using our time. I’m well known for tracking everything I do, and I can tell you on any given day how productive I am in percentages because I track how my time is being spent on my computer.

Once you start doing these things, you start looking at yourself and your life through an optimization mindset. What you discover is quite surprising. Like those five-minute breaks that you spend on Facebook amount to an hour and a half of time, and unless and until you track you have no insight into that. That would be my advice is like be honest with yourself. How busy are you really? The first thing where I was trying to get is like why is it that you’re not making time for these things, because that’s also a good indication. When I decided I want to learn piano, which is part of my mission, right. I want to inspire people to learn anything. I can’t do that if I don’t play musical instruments.

It’s amazing how much time I make Anthony. It’s amazing. Like I put off breakfast some mornings, because I’m just like you know, I’ll have like a quick breakfast and a smoothie, so that I can use my hands to like play piano while I wait for my first call in the morning because I love it, and I’m so passionate about it. And the first thing I wanted to talk to you when you came to Tel Aviv was like dude how are you memorizing this? How can I figure out these chord structures? The night you came, we talked for two and a half hours on the beach about mnemonic techniques for music. That’s a pretty good sign that that’s like serving my purpose and my mission even though I’m not a musician. I’m pretty damn excited about teaching other people and empowering other people to lean learn musical instruments, or whatever.

Anthony: All right, well let’s talk about that because I’d been talking about it on the podcast with John McPhedrine a few weeks ago who has just brilliant ideas about it of his own accord so forth, and I thought you know I am not done with these ideas. I haven’t fully gone through it and everything, but I’m going to get this off my chest because I’m so excited about it. I’m going to do it partially as like a tribute to you, a gift to you.

Jonathan: Thank you.

Anthony: And with deep acknowledgement to John for his contributions to music mnemonics, and also just to get something out that I’ve been thinking about working with and so forth. By the same token, you were yes I get it. You understand exactly where I’m coming from. But at the same time, you are deeply unsatisfied by it, and you said you know, I think it the there has to be a better way kind of thing. So take us through two things. First, you know what is it from a SuperLearner perspective that you’ve been doing, like the top two to three things that have gotten you where you are with music. I sat and watched you play which is amazing. Then what is it you know, either with specific or just general references to what I told you that night, that sort of deeply unsatisfied you, and what you found maybe interesting about it or whatever. I mean just jam on it.

Jonathan: So first, I have to say, I’ve spent so much time with you in the last few days in person, I haven’t listen to the podcast episode. But I feel like I got a pretty good idea based on what you explained to me. There were a few things that I thought were absolutely brilliant like using the major method for notes and stuff like that I think is really clever. Like on the fretboard, I think it’s really clever. It’s a lot of work but then memorizing all the notes on the fretboard is going to be a lot of work. I’ll first say my difficulty, and then I’ll say what I’m doing.

 

The Raw Truth About Methods Versus Systems

 

My difficulty is, and this is at the core of how you and I teach differently, I like systems because I’d rather be 80 percent to 100 percent of the people, and you like methods because you’d rather be 100 percent flexible to 80 percent of the people. I think I cater to an audience who wants to know precisely. Students ask me all the time how often should I pause in making markers or visual symbols, we call markers. How often should I pause? Every paragraph, every two paragraphs, they want exact specific numbers.

The truth is it depends. It depends on you. It depends on your working memory capacity. It depends on what you’re reading obviously. It depends on how long the paragraphs are. But my students seem to want systems, and they want things nailed down very, very specifically. I’m of the belief that you need to know the rules really well before you break them. Like for example, a non-native English speaker could never start a sentence with and, but for Gary Halbert and Anthony Metivier, who have a perfect command of copyrighting an English speaking can, and know how, even though that’s wrong technically.

It’s like you need to know the Magnetic Memory Method really well to break the rules. But I would believe that your approach is make your own rules. It’s a method, not a system. I think that was my difficulty. I mean you’ve seen how I run my business as well. Like everything is a system. We know exactly how many characters are allowed to go into this title, and we know exactly what settings to use on every single blog post we do. We have the exact processes that are never deviated from. I think that would drive some people crazy, but that’s kind of how I operate. It’s the German passport, what can I say.

Here’s what I’ve been doing to accelerate the learning of music. First things first, I needed to do was memorize each of the keys as in the physical keys on the piano. I needed to know what each one of them were. So I came up with a nice little mnemonic technique where each one looks like a certain thing. For example, the “D” is in between two other white keys, which face inward towards it. So that, to me, as someone who speaks Spanish, was dentro.

 Dentro: in between, and the one next to it to the right was “E” which for me is it’s facing backwards into the cluster, “espalda” which literally means back as in physical. You’re back, not backwards and so on and so forth. You know the “F” key is facing forward into a cluster. So that’s “F”, and that’s how I did that, and within you know two or three minutes I could look at any one and know exactly what it was. I mean that’s easy stuff.

I’m using essentially a very similar way that you are to memorize the songs essentially. I’ve been using that with guitar for some time. I’m still trying to figure out a lot of other stuff. I’m doing a lot of like brute force learning. Not just reading music, but also figuring it out on my own, and just understanding like what different intervals sound like. So one of the things we teach in our courses is this idea like brute force learning. A lot of people will just go to a piano tutor, and then just do the piano tutor’s homework. I’m like watching YouTube videos, memorizing songs that I would never be able to read in sheet music to get familiar with the finger movement. I’m writing out sheet music as I hear it. I’m doing all different kinds of multifaceted approaches so that it’s not just me, the book and the piano tutor. It’s a holistic approach to learning.

Anthony: Now how are you doing that systematically though?

Jonathan: That’s a big problem for me I haven’t really conquered. I’m doing it kind of as I feel, and really what I’m doing is I’m using it as a frustration avoidance mechanism. Like when I get really sick of playing Jingle Bells, which is something I can actually read because it’s very easy. Then I go to a really hard song that I know is going to take me about ten seconds to figure out each chord as it’s written, because I haven’t even started learning chords.

That kind of breaks my frustration and creates a new frustration. When I get tired of that, you know maybe in the next session what I’ll do is I’ll just sound something out, or I’ll watch a YouTube video, which just shows me which keys to press. Then later I’ll reverse engineer it by looking at the music. Ironically, it’s not a system. It’s a method, and my method is go until I get frustrated, but if I still want to keep playing, jump from thing to thing to thing to thing to thing so that I am still getting hours, because I get really frustrated super fast playing Jingle Bells a hundred times.

Anthony: Well, the reason why I asked that and it wasn’t meant to be to be a nasty thing to do. One of the things that I think makes us interesting people to follow and listen to is we’re one hundred percent transparent about the things that we do. We’re out there. We’ve got our heart on our sleeves, and one of the things that I always say, when I talk about it being a method and so forth, is I also always say one is the most dangerous number in the world. You need multiple teachers. You need multiple exposure to how people do things in multiple ways. You don’t teach how to learn music yet. But I’m really fascinated about how you think that you could turn what you’re doing, exploring, your mixing system with method and so forth, how you could turn that into a systematic approach that matches what you already teach systematically in SuperLearning.

Jonathan: Well I think the closest thing to a system that I’ve seen is your use of Major Method. Then I really like the idea, I know you’re not huge on PAO (person, action object), but I really like this idea of you know much music is either three fourths time or four fourths common time, so I like this idea of having PAO for three fourths time and PAAO (person, action adjective, object).

How To Make Metaphors Part Of Memorizing Music

 

For example, C D G E, I would have C as PAAO. So C could always be Charles Manson chewing on crunchy capers. If C is the first piece in that, then it would be a Charles Manson. Then the next one is D, which would be David Bowie diving into deep dragons or something like that. Then I would use the diving. Charles Manson diving so on and so forth. Then you just create a visual symbol, which I’m sure your audience knows all about and then you put it into Memory Palaces. Now here’s where you and I differ. Up until that point you and I somewhat agree. You believe that you should vary every single time the P, the A, the O. I say like let me just learn C, D, E, you know A through G, have one PAAO thing.

That’s a system versus a method. So for me it’s always Charles Manson chewing on crunchy capers. So there is your system, and then again, where you and I would differ is I would want to system that says the first verse is always in this corner, and then the chorus is always in a corner of the room, and so on and so forth. The choruses are always, the refrain is always in the bathroom. I’d want something like that, so that if I ever just want to jump in at a certain point in the song, I think that would drive you nuts if I’m not mistaken.

Anthony: Actually, I think that this is a good a good discussion point because I think people misunderstand what I mean by system versus method. Because the kinds of systematic things that you’re talking about, and you know PAO, and I don’t like PAO and all that sort of stuff. It’s not so much that I don’t like PAO, it’s just that like when you’re using major method, major method actually is not a system. It is a method right.

Jonathan: Fair, yes.

Anthony: So when you’re doing something like what you’re talking about, what I think is so exciting, and what my mind leaps on, and I would instantly adopt systematically, is you mentioned Charles Manson and David Bowie. Both of those guys have strong ties to the world of music. So what I would do in a systematic way is say to myself as I’m developing memorizing music, every character comes from the world of music.

Now that’s now you’re getting into semantics whether that’s methodological or systematic. But if you said that it must be someone from the world of music, then you are giving yourself an aid to recall because if you’re searching for something, you instantly already have a hook. It must be someone from the world of music. So who could it be? Well it’s there’s only so many notes in the scale. So there are a lot of systematic things in the Magnetic Memory Method. But why I insist on the methodological thing is because a lot of the training out there comes from people who develop the techniques for competition. The material that you memorize in competition lends itself to systematicity.

Jonathan: Right, it’s always the same competition, the same events and stuff like that.

Anthony: But foreign language learning does not lend itself to systematicity. Especially not when you learn languages online.

Jonathan: That’s fair.

Anthony: There are, as far as I know, no real substantial language learning competitions and that’s because the margin for cheating would be so high because one could pose as not knowing languages.

Jonathan: That and it’s so hard to test actual fluency. You know I mean. It’s hard to define fluency much less test it.

Anthony: I’m glad these things came up because I think that again it just sort of reinforces my pedagogical philosophy that one is the most dangerous number that you will ever know, and you need multiple teachers. That’s why I like to go and study from you, for example, and be around you and study you because you challenge my assumptions and my presuppositions. I grow and I think and I apply and I implement and so forth, and I’ve gotten faster at certain things that I do.

Also, you’ve broken down certain walls of stubbornness against all odds because I’m a cranky professor sometimes. I surprise myself. So I really encourage people who are listening to this you don’t know Jonathan or you know you have come across him, but haven’t dived in and just gotten into the SuperLearner way of doing things, to go and do that. My only caveat being that you implement. Because it doesn’t matter how many people that you study from, if you’re not taking action on what they’re teaching you, then it’s not going to go anywhere. Who is someone that you’ve recently learned something from where you went from this is a concept or an idea or a process and you leapt on it, and then you got a result. What comes to mind?

Jonathan: Wow!

Anthony: I mean maybe there are multiple things.

Jonathan: You put me on the spot there. Let’s think. Someone that I have immediately put something into practice and it is just worked. I am going to give a shout out to our head of marketing, Mr. Steven Pratley because I wrote out this whole webinar thing. I wanted to host a webinar or for my audience to educate them.

Basically, my goal is to reach a million people if your audience doesn’t know. I want to teach a million people how to learn more effectively. One of the best ways to do that and still be able to pay your bills is do a free one hour webinar which teaches them you know a lot of the basics and gets them up and running. I can get that in front of a million people and then at the end you offer them to join your premium training so I can also afford to advertise and send that out to a million people. I’d written like these slides. Steven was like look, this is good, but let me show you this webinar that, I think it was like Frank Kern did, one of the folks that you admire so much.

He sends me this thing, and I just read through it I’m like whoa. This goes through, you as a story consultant will love, the whole story. Why this works this way and how this works this way and it’s not you know that the hero’s journey. It’s brilliant. I put it in a place. The next day I just wrote out all the slides and boom, boom, boom, and I think we’re going to be delivering a similar version of that to your audience very shortly here. Boy, did it work. People were in the chat. They were going nuts and they really appreciated it so much more than they would have if it were just my boring presentation. Like here are the top three tips that you could – so it worked really well. We were very fortunate to have a few people join also our premium training and they’ve been enjoying it really well because they’ve had this nice primer to get into it. That I think would be the example.

How To Put A Knife In The Heart Of A Memory Expert

 

Anthony: I’m glad that you raise that because one thing that I’m always itching and burning to talk about, and it’s a very uncomfortable subject or at least it’s often received very poorly, and it can lead to something that I find so extraordinarily paradoxical that I can’t quite understand it. It’s this. We are rewarded handsomely for the work that we do. When we do promotions, we do our best to help people understand the value that we offer and to compel them to take action so that they can get the kind of results to lead the lives that they want to lead.

But to lead the lives that they want to lead, how that they want to learn at a higher level and be able to remember more, and do it in ways that are fun and so forth, the strangest things happen. I get multi-paragraph emails of people who say, “You know man, I was just so skeptical of your stuff and it’s there’s certain things about your marketing that just kind of you know rub the wrong way and so forth but I took a chance on this and it’s just unbelievable what happened. You know, in six weeks I memorized a thousand words. I just finally am able to learn in a way that’s fun, and I’m remembering stuff. It’s just changed my life.” On the other hand, emails come in from people, and I’m not going to quote this person, but you know someone swore at me. They basically said in a couple sentences that I’m completely out of my mind. That they hate me they wish that I would go to hell.

Jonathan: That’s pretty offensive language.

Anthony: I don’t want to give that person who may or may not be listening right now some feeling that they have power or whatever, but it puts a knife in my heart. The reason why is because that person obviously needs the same help that the person who succeeded needed. Why is it that some people that come to these webinars that we do, which have different levels of free training based on where you may be at, why is it that instead of turning the channel when it’s not for them, they feel that they have to throw a stone, be filled with hatred and try to destroy as opposed to just turning the channel? Or, taking action and giving something a try. We give these extraordinary guarantees. What’s going on here?

Jonathan: That’s interesting. You know what’s funny is, I often have to be given the advice that I give. I’m going to give you the advice that you give which is great, that’s awesome, because I think it’s Gary Halbert who says, and you introduced me to Gary Halbert, who says if you’re not pissing a couple people off then you’re not being provocative enough. I would love for everyone to love me. I would love to never get an email that says hey you kind of look like a sleaze bag in this video.

But the vast majority of people are getting impacted because it is out there, because I’m telling crazy outrageous stories and stuff like that. I mean also, you can learn so much from those folks I think because it just allows you to tighten up your game. Eventually, you take enough feedback, and the reason we have a master class is because I took enough feedback from people saying this is unclear, this was boring the way you recorded this and that’s constructive feedback I guess. More constructive than like you know you look like a blank and blank in a blank and you probably blank your blank. But you take enough of that feedback, and you become airtight which is pretty cool.

 

The Moral Obligation To Teach Memory Skills
Once You’ve Learned Them

 

 

Anthony: Another reason why I wanted to raise this topic is because I think, and I talk about it all the time, is that if you learn memory techniques and you use them you are morally obligated to teach them to other people.

Jonathan: Agreed.

Anthony: I think that a lot of people would like to be able actually to make a living out of a passion that they have. One thing that Dave Farrow pointed out when he was a guest on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, there are a lot of people out there who teach memory techniques who actually aren’t qualified to be teaching them because they haven’t gone out and actually accomplished anything from those memory techniques. I’m not a memory competitor, but I wonder if you would talk a little bit about what you’re feeling is about that. How do you get to a point where you are satisfied that you could teach something that you’ve learned? You should become a SuperLearner to the extent that now it’s time for you to become a super teacher.

Jonathan: Sure. I struggle with this myself because I don’t use a lot of the memory techniques that we teach. I mean I use them but I’m not going up to people and memorizing their credit card numbers and stuff like that, and I don’t even memorize, to be honest, my own credit card numbers because I change credit cards every time there’s like a new offer and it’s just proven to be useless to me. But at the same time, I do memorize. Someone sold me a lock at the store the other day, and he was joking with because he asked what I do. I was like I teach memory.

He’s like okay, I’m taking out of the package. I’m not giving you the manual with the code. He like just flashed it to me, and I still remember it. I’m not going to say it now in case someone steals my bike again. I still remember it because I just created a Major Method system for it. I use the techniques but not maybe as much as I’d like to. I think my approach to that is why not. I should start using them just for giggles to learn music. That’s why I’ve started piano.

To learn languages, I do actually use them quite extensively, but I don’t memorize cards. I think I should. I think I should because I talk about it and I don’t use PAO as much. I think I should because I talk about it. But to answer your question, just to finish on that a little bit actually, but I do speed read quite a bit. I do learn quite aggressively. I do take on learning projects. I’m learning three instruments and two languages right now as we speak. I struggle with the parts of the course that I needed to put in there to be complete. Do I use them enough really to proselytize them?

With that said, I believe in them. I know that they work, and when I do use them, they work extraordinarily well. So even though I don’t have a Memory Palace for every single book I read, I do use spaced repetition and I do highlight in a certain way, which is kind of a SuperLearner way of doing things. When are you good enough to teach these methods? I think actually, and this touches on the brute force learning thing, something taught is something twice learned. One of my best techniques, do you remember what I was reading when we were in Berlin together?

Anthony: I don’t even remember observing what you were reading.

Jonathan: We didn’t have much time for reading, but I was talking your ear off about this book, Sex At Dawn. Well, I’m not even talking someone else’s ear off, but whatever book I’m reading at the time, I’m usually talking people’s ear off about it. I was recently talking to you about Stephen Hawking and like how you mind blowing all this stuff was. I think the same is true of learning memory techniques. Like you not only have an obligation, but you’re highly incentivized to share everything you learn.

I try to talk with you as much as I can about different things that I’m learning. I try to talk with all my friends. We talked about mnemonics for music as I mentioned. The thing is you learn something, you go out that night and you happen to be chatting with friends, share that knowledge with them.

First off, it is way more interesting than talking about Donald Trump or political gossip or whatever. It is way more uplifting than talking about whatever godawful event happened you know across the world in some terrible attack. You’re spreading knowledge, you’re spreading wisdom and you’re reinforcing your own learning.

I would hope that anyone who’s taken my courses or your courses is going around and when people say, “Oh sorry. I forgot your name. I have a terrible memory,” they stop and say, “You don’t have a terrible memory. You don’t know these powerful things called mnemonic techniques.” Then explain because that’s a way more interesting first conversation with someone than what do you do, and where do you live and all that junk that we’re also tired of answering.

Anthony: I’ve certainly had many of those interesting conversations. Without going a long spiel, but give the people listening to this podcast your assessment of what you’ve seen as me being someone who does practice these techniques and an honest one, given you see me make mistakes, you see me correct myself.

Jonathan: Perfectly done. I will give you a glittering testimonial that you really do use this stuff.

Anthony: But I want you to do like also give a portrait of the reality of what you saw.

Jonathan: Yeah.

Anthony: With like the self-correction and how I actually –

Jonathan: Absolutely, you use the techniques. You use them in a different way than I would use them, which is you like to go back and correct and clean up because that provides – I mean there’s merit in doing it both ways. You have these kinds of memorable, almost like slightly awkward situations where mispronounce a vowel and stuff like that, and then after that was memorable right. Once you have this like red face moment, it’s memorable. With certain words, we’ve been like correcting the vowel pronunciations because we don’t have an “A” sound in Hebrew.

I think one thing that I’ve learned from you that’s really great is knowingly or unknowingly you take really good advantage of social pressure in the sense that people ask can you tell them what you do and then you encourage them to challenge you. Tim Ferriss talks about this all the time like setting good stakes. I should probably advertise more often, and I try not to it because I don’t like to be put on the spot too much.

Then you’re walking down the street and six months later you see someone who frankly just didn’t impress you that much or wasn’t that memorable to you, and oh you’re the memory guy. But with that said, maybe I should be taking more advantage of that and I should be because it pushes you to use the techniques and social pressure is kind of a social accountability are kind really powerful things that I could use to improve my practice of memory.

Anthony: I think you do have social pressure working in your favor and in other respects. My observation is, and it’s absolutely incredible to me how that you can with we’re talking about this or that subject, and the detail with which you go through the points that you want to make with names, dates, percentages. You have this laser-like accuracy in the things that you want to talk about, that I don’t have like a mobile Internet thing where I can like check your accuracy or whatever. But it’s so obvious to me that what you’re reciting comes from something not that you’ve just memorized, but you’ve learned it so deeply that you’ve made it part of your knowledge base and that you’re able to report on findings and inform other people from your mind unassisted. This is to me the demonstration that you l walk the walk and you talk that talk.

Jonathan: Thank you, sir. I appreciate that very much.

Anthony: I’m constantly impressed by it. Also just what you do in recorded settings on having your broadcast and so forth, because you refer to the people that you’ve interviewed on your podcast in ways that show me you’ve learned from what you’ve done using your own learning approach.

Jonathan: You know what the craziest thing about it is? I think you can probably testify to this as well or attest to this as well, after a while you become so confident in your memory and your mind becomes so interconnected, I often don’t need to use visual mnemonics anymore.

I often don’t even need to, because my brain is just like a hyper connected network and so like Ben Greenfield tells me something on the show, and I just connected it. I mean I guess maybe deep down intrinsically I do have a specific image that I remember from when he told me why he doesn’t use gyms and he likes to work out of doors. I do have an image for that, but it’s not like I’m sitting there and imagining it. I’m in conversations. I’m generating images as second nature and they’re all just interconnecting to everything that I know.

Ironically, we talked about this the last time we sat down with Jimmy and we recorded. I really want to figure out a way to get my brain tested because I have a theory that just everything has become so interconnected. Now one of the things that I want to talk about it that I want your audience to know is people are always like oh I well I learned Spanish and it pushed the Russian out of my mind. That is so not true. It’s actually the more you use it, the more you have. The more I learn, the more I’m able to learn because I just have so many more connection points. Especially when you’re learning about peripherally related things.

 

The Ultimate Secret Weapon According To Jonathan Levi

 

For example, when I started learning about hormonal balance, I knew more about weightlifting than I did about supplementation, but I was able to fill out clusters of neural networks because the more you learn the more you’re able to learn, and the more you have as a basis. I would attribute I read a ton, I read a proper ton. I talk to a lot of people and I have a lot of conversations. I learn from many different sources, and I think that’s like the secret weapon.

Anthony: Well I know a way to test your brain. I’m going to create a hypothetical, and I want you to answer a question that I know is on a lot of people’s minds. What do I do to get started on a particular thing? Like what’s the first step that I need to take to learning a subject. What I’m going to do in this hypothetical is there’s now something called the Magnetic Memory Method Memory Championships. That memory championship requires that you be able to memorize a deck of cards, and recall the order of that deck of cards that has been randomly shuffled in under twenty seconds. You have six months in order to develop the skill. The prize is $7 billion. I want to know what you’re going to do as the first step in order to enable yourself to win that prize, knowing that you have six months to do it.

Jonathan: Is the prize determined by speed or accuracy or what? Or it is just my ability to do it.

Anthony: Just to keep it simple, anybody who can come and memorize a deck of cards. Now, let me condition this though, because the way it typically works is that they count the time that you spent memorizing. But I want it to be that within twenty seconds you can memorize it and recall it. I know that’s totally hypothetical and totally impossible. Because it does take longer to do the active recall than it does to do the act of memorization, but just imagine that it is possible. That you could just go through a deck in ten seconds and then in another ten seconds you could say the order of what you saw. What is Hour 1 of what a SuperLearner is going to do to tackle this problem in order to win this prize?

Jonathan: I think most people, especially if they read like some of Tim Ferriss’ stuff would be like deconstruct the skill and understand. That would be probably in the first hour of work. The, first, first thing I would do is set goals. I need to know what my goal is, what do I need to be able to do. Then I would try to get in touch with my motivations, because adult learners as Malcolm Knowles taught us in 1955, there you go setting statistics, said that there are five adult learning requirements, and one of them is pressing need. One of them is a good learning environment.

One of them is connection to prior knowledge, but another one is an understanding of why they’re learning what they’re learning. So I would connect with this $7 billion prize and ask is that why I’m doing it, am I doing it for pride or my doing it for whatever. Then I also need to know what do I need to be able to do? What are my deliverables? I would set goals. I would break those goals down into steps. They would be S.M.A.R.T. goals, specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable, timely goals:

By this month, I’ll be doing it one minute. By this month, I’ll be doing it in thirty seconds, so and so forth. Then I get into all the accelerated learning stuff that people know me for. I would talk to you. I would talk to my buddy Nelson Dellis. I would read probably a couple hundred pages of different books on people who’ve done it. I’d read anything Ben Pridmore has come out with. I would not take this approach that many people do of like no, no I’m learning it this way not this way. I would learn it every possible way that I could, and then I would just build a training schedule around my a S.M.A.R.T. goals, and I would just get it done.

Anthony: What would be a compelling reason to do something like that?

Jonathan: For me? It comes down to like authenticity. The reason that I want to start playing around with memorizing cards is like I want to walk the walk to talk the talk. I speed read. So I’m cool teaching speedreading. I use memory techniques. So I’m cool teaching memory techniques, but I’ve taught PAO and I don’t really use it that much. So I want to start using it more, even though I think it’s important to give my audience like the full spectrum.

On my show, I host people who talk about nutritarian eating and not eating too many animal products, and I don’t really believe in that, but I think it’s important to share the spectrum, expose people and let them create their own learning journey. This is something else that that Knowles tells us. You need self-directed learning. It’s important. Kids will just do the homework because the teacher said, but adults will need to kind of feel that they have ownership and agency in the learning process. That’s what I said when I said like an ideal respectful learning environment, a learning environment that respects their autonomous process. I’m starting to melt here.

Anthony: We’re going to hot and we’re going to put this episode to rest, but I really appreciate everything that you’ve said. I think that it’s always empowering to hear your perspective on things. I really appreciate that we could cover so much in this talk. I really hope that you will put time into memorizing cards because I’d love to pow-wow with you on it. I think that if we can walk away on one thing is that the power of your friendships with people has a lot to do with shared terrain and territory. The more you know, the more you can know and that means more people you can know and more people you can connect with, and you are a great connector. I really hope that people will find ways to connect with you by taking up your training as a first point of entry for sure, and getting on your podcast and mailing list and all the things that you do so that they’re learning more and more from you. How can they do that?

Jonathan: We’ll put a link in the show notes, which you know Anthony is part of our ecosystem and stuff like that. If you guys want to support the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast then use his link, and you can check me out. My personal website is www.jle.vi. You can also check me out at Becoming A Superhuman if you want to download some free podcast episodes. Check out the show notes. I’m sure Anthony will have some resources for you guys.

Anthony: We’re going to have a transcript of this. I don’t know if it’s going to be available immediately upon publishing because we’re going to hopefully get this out this week so that is in sync with what I said at the beginning, but thank you for tolerating the background noise. One of the things that I would point out is that we have and enjoy the success that we do because we jump on opportunity and when preparation meets opportunity, there is no ceiling. So until the time that we speak again, keep that in mind, keep it in memory, and keep yourself Magnetic.

The post Jonathan Levi On Reducing Your Resistance To Learning appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Jonathan_Levi_On_Reducing_Your_Resistance_To_Learning.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 7:45am EDT

music mnemonics magnetic memory methodWouldn’t it be awesome if you could look at a piece of music once, instantly memorize the notes and then immediately start drilling it into muscle memory? The time you’d save using music mnemonics would be immense, and you’d experience much more pleasure learning music as a result.

Here’s the thing:

 

You Can Memorize Music!

 

But there’s a catch.

What I’m about to share is largely untested. I’ve completed some promising experiments, but haven’t completed the full Memory Palace for any single instrument. That means I haven’t used the approach I’ll describe for you to its fullest potential.

UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, I have made great strides. Here’s a run down of where things currently stand with how to memorize notes on a guitar:

Bottom line:

I will keep exploring every nook and cranny of using mnemonics to remember music.

And when I’m satisfied, I’ll make a course about how you can use the method too.

In the meantime, the concepts are far too exciting not to share. They’re also so logical, coherent and mnemonically beautiful. It will be impossible for you not to grow in memory and mind if you choose to tinker with them.

music mnemonics memorize music
And who knows? You might come up with a cool variation that winds up in the forthcoming book and video course!

 

Music Mnemonics: The Ground Rules

 

First off, we need to establish some ground rules and guiding principles for music mnemonics. When talking about memorizing music, we need to be specific about what kind of music and for what instrument.

Or, we need to focus on particular parts of music theory. To just throw around the term “music mnemonics” risks confusing everyone.

If we’re talking about musical terminology, that’s easy. Just treat the terms like you would any professional material, like you would using the second edition of How to Learn and Memorize Legal Terminology. Since numbers might be involved, go in prepared with the Major Method.

If you want to memorize notes on the staff, there are already well-established mnemonics for that. I don’t have much to add when it comes to Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge for the treble stave and FACE for the notes between the lines. You can find lots more mnemonics for music like these all over the net, but in truth …

 

You’re Always Better Coming Up
With Your Own Music Mnemonics

 

Why does this matter?

Because you’re on the Magnetic Memory Method website to master music mnemonics and other memory techniques. Not goof around with yet another crutch of limited, short-term value. You’re here to learn skills that will serve you for life and that means learning to make music mnemonics of your own.

Here’s how a thorough reading and re-reading of this material will help:

What I’m going to cover in this post is the memorization of the notes on the fretboard of stringed instruments like the guitar and the keys of a piano. This material is a demonstration of what is possible if you combine a number of Magnetic Memory Method elements and see your instrument as its own kind of Memory Palace.

To accomplish this, we need to know how to use instruments like guitars and pianos in terms of what note falls on which spatial position. I’ll make a few suggestions about chords, but beyond that, I cannot currently say much. There are a lot of aspects to music and what I’ve got for you is just a piece of the puzzle.

 

But Oh What A Piece!

 

Let’s look at guitar first. For some much earlier writing I put out on the topic, you might want to start with Memorize Bach On Bass. Or, just dive in.

The fretboard of the guitar is a field that can be expressed using coordinates. In this way, the fretboard shares characteristics with the chess board (something I believe this approach will also help with when it comes to memorizing chess moves).

For example, E appears several times in the fretboard.

A string, 7th fret

D string, 2nd fret

E string, 12th fret

There are several more appearances, including the open string noted and 12th fret positions on the E strings themselves. If we say that each open note is represented by 0, as it is in guitar tablature, then we can agree that each note has a numerically expressible geographical coordinates.

This May Be The Simplest Unused
Technique In All Of Music Learning

 

Next, let’s try and make each string more concrete.

For example, I play primarily 5-string bass, so my strings all have an associated character:

B = Bob (Played by Bill Murray in What About Bob?)

E = Ernie from Sesame Street

A = Al Pacino

D = Dracula (As played by Bela Lugosi)

G = Grover from Sesame Street

Coming up with these figures took approximately 2 minutes. Probably less, but I didn’t have a timer running. If you play any stringed instrument, be it a 4-stringed violin or a 21-string sitar, I recommend you name each string. It makes for great mental exercise.

Next, since you’re a clever fan of the Magnetic Memory Method, you already know the Major Method. You’re set to get started.

 

You’d Be Crazy Not To Have This Math
Memory Weapon In Your Arsenal

 

In case you don’t know the Major Method, here’s a simplified primer:

The idea is to link consonants with numbers. Like this:

0 = soft c or s
1 = d or t
2 = n
3 = m
4 = r
5 = l
6 = ch, g, j, sh
7 = k
8 = f or v
9 = b or p

From this point, you can make words when you pair two numbers together by inserting a vowel. The vowel you use is largely arbitrary, but the trick is to find a word that represents a concrete person or object that exists in the world.

For example, we know that E appears in the 7th fret of the A string. Since 7 is a solo number, let’s call it 07. That gives us “s” and “k” using the Major Method.

The first thing that came to mind for me is the word “sack.”

Since the A string itself is represented by Al Pacino, having him do something with a sack tells us instantly that our target information is located on the 7th fret of the A string.

All we need now is a sign to tell us that the note on that fret is E.

Since we’ve already established that open E is Ernie, we can use him in the image. Therefore, the image of Al Pacino placing a bag over Ernie’s head to strangle him let’s us instantly decode the following information:

The 7th fret in the A string is E.

To take another quick example, E on the 12th fret of the E string itself could have the image of Ernie getting a “tan” from a “ton” of “tuna.” It’s bizarre and makes no sense, but is easy to remember. I’m compounding 3 words that have “t” and “n” to create words that mean 12 in the Major Method.

E on the 2nd fret of the D string is 02, which lets us imagine Dracula pushing the “sun” into Ernie’s face, again using the corresponding number-sound associations from the Major Method to create this word.

In sum, where E appears on the fretboard, we can instantly know where it is by having a predetermined system that links:

A string Bridging Figure with a note Bridging Figure to a sound-number spatial co-ordinate.

If for some reason you needed to play E in these three positions and wanted to instantly remember that order, all you’d need to do is experience either visually or conceptually a story in your mind:

Al Pacino pops a sack over Ernie’s head, but he escaped to get tanned by a ton of tuna before Dracula shoves the sun in his face.

 

It’s A Mouthful To Explain …
But This Technique Sure Packs A Punch!

 

Just imagine:

If you had a character for each note, a character for each string and the Major Method, you could memorize the sequence of any riff, solo, scale or notes in a chord.

 

But There’s A Problem!

 

What if your instrument isn’t tuned in E or you change tunings often?

I’ll admit that I don’t have a solution for this, but I’m working on it. If you’re set in C, B, or any other note, then you can create this system using the core principles you’ve just learned.

When it comes to changing tunings ranging from a single string to placing them all in different tunings (in The Outside we played in C#), you at least have fixed relations to rely upon.

For example, if your E string is in C#, the first fret on that string will be D. You can name your string Bridging Figures and still use the Major Method and your objects or actions accordingly relative to the position of the notes in the tuning environment.

 

Column Theory

 

Another music mnemonics idea I’m developing involves the frets as columns.

For example, we’ve seen the 7th fret involve a sack, the 12th tanning and tuna by the ton, and the 2nd the sun.

What if these fret Bridging Figures represented those frets for each string? The 2nd fret A note on the G string also involves the sun (Grover pulling the sun out of Al Pacino’s nose.) The D on the 7th fret of the G also includes a sack (Grover putting a sack over Dracula’s head).

By operating in this way, you drastically cut down on the number of images and actions you would need to create music mnemonics for the entire fretboard. You also create a lot of repetition that could initially create confusion, however. You just need to dive in, experiment and see what works best for you.

 

How To Apply The Major Method To Memorizing Piano

 

In a similar vein, to get a similar spatial representation on the piano keyboard, you need only give each key a number. To make a word for each, simply assign a zero to each single digit, giving you nine words that start with s. Mine are:

01 = Sad tragedy face
02 = Sun
03 = Sammich (White trash pronunciation of “sandwich”)
04 = Sartre (the French existentialist philosopher)
05 = Sal (character from Dog Day Afternoon)
06 = Sash
07 = Sack
08 = Savi (friend from university)
09 = Saab car covered in Maple Syrup

I haven’t done all the keys on the piano keyboard, but assuming I owned an 88 hammer Grand Piano, the 88th key might be the singer of Voivod or a Volvo. In each case, there’s an extra consonant, but this would never lead to confusion because the piano I own would never have more than 88 keys.

The cool thing here is that you’ll always know not just where Middle C is, but also its number. And you’ll be able to create a story to memorize any chord, which can also be used to help remember scales and useful for many other applications.

 

The One Step With Music Mnemonics Nearly Everyone Forgets

 

The tools you’ve just learned are exciting and will be game-changing for any musician who wants to learn them. You just need to sit down and do the preparatory assigning of the notes and numbers.

However, in order to get the fullest possible benefit, you need to also rehearse the assignments you make in your mind with the instrument in hand. Then, when you look at sheet music and make up a story, you can quickly “translate” that story into practice.

Following these steps will get the notes into long-term memory the fastest. In fact, you should not expect to or even desire to play music from the Memory Palace you’ve made of your instrument.

The sole purpose of this music mnemonics technique?

It’s a tool. You can use it for drilling the scales, music theory material and song passages into long-term memory for performance.

It’s a tool for making any piece of music part of you in ways that go beyond just recall and music muscle memory.

This should be your goal for language learning too, which I mention because language learning and music learning share many similarities. That’s true even if you use something like Gabriel Wyner’s Fluent Forever App.

When it comes to spoken fluency, the number one mistake people make: is thinking that they need to go into their Memory Palaces to find imagery and decode words on the fly during conversations.

 

This is not the case at all!

 

Rather, you use the Magnetic Memory Method learning process for Recall Rehearsal.

Recall Rehearsal means mentally revisiting the information a sufficient number of times to get the information into long-term memory.

So whether it’s foreign language words in a sentence or notes and chords in a musical phrase, use the mnemonics to drill the sequences into the muscle memory of your tongue or fingers. Even speed card memory pros take a long time reading the sequences they’ve memorized in their mind, far longer than it took to memorize the cards themselves.

When it comes to music, you’ve got to play it in real-time according to an established construct of time. The tools you’ve just learned will help, but must be used in the service of placing the music so it ultimately comes from your body an soul with minimal involvement of your memory and your mind.

Moving forward, I’ve ordered Dean Vaughn’s Vaughn Cube for Music Theory.

I’m a fan of Vaughn’s book, How to Remember Anything: The Proven Total Memory Retention System. However, after using his fixed, 10-station Memory Palace approach a few dozen times, I don’t find it as clean or practical as his work suggests and continue to prefer the flexibility of the Magnetic Memory Method. It’s possible, however, that his approach to music mnemonics will give me insight into:

* Better incorporating sharps and flats in the current method I’m developing. At the moment, I don’t see this as a pressing need because I already know a sufficient amount about music. But it would be helpful for others to have music mnemonics and other strategies for memorizing which notes take sharps and flats and where they reside on the fret and keyboards.

* Memorizing relative and minor keys quickly and permanently.

* Recall triads in major, minor, diminished and augmented forms for any note at will.

* Handle chord permutations with ease.

* Complete mastery of all the scales in every key.

* And much, much more!
In the meantime, are you ready to give the current state of this exciting new branch of the Magnetic Memory Method a whirl?

If so – Awesome! I’m excited to hear what you think about this approach to music mnemonics and look forward to your feedback on this preliminary description.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier

P.S. Gracious acknowledgment is due to John McPhedrine with whom I’ve had many discussions about this approach to remembering different aspects of music using music mnemonics. This write-up is also dedicated to Jonathan Levi who has been pleasing the world with multiple instruments lately. Have fun!

The post Music Mnemonics For Guitar And Piano [Amazing Music Memory Method] appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Music_Mnemonics_For_Guitar_And_Piano_Promising_Approaches.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:51am EDT

mnemonics-7-lawsBe honest about your experience with mnemonics.

You’ve read a book or two, maybe even taken a video course. And yet …

 

You’re Still Scrambling To Recall Information!

 

If that sounds like you, then here’s the sad truth: 

You’re suffering from “memory improvement randomness.” That’s what happens when people read a book on mnemonics, take a stab at the techniques and then … give up … only to pick up another book by someone else and try all over again.

Fortunately, there’s a cure.

In fact, there are 7 of them.

 

Why Most People Are Allergic To Mnemonics

 

First off, let’s look at one big problem.

The word “mnemonics” isn’t all that sexy, is it? And it sounds an awful lot like “pneumonic,” in the singular “mnemonic” form, which makes it sound even more like this beautiful art relates to pneumonia.

“Mnemotechnics” is nicer, and definitely won’t make you sick. But the “technics” part makes the whole thing sound like hard work.

That’s no good.

Because the truth is that mnemonics are not only easy, but they’re the most exciting activity in the world.

And that’s the key to falling in love with this special field of personal improvement.

 

How To Find Excitement In The
World’s
Oldest Mental Art 

 

To locate and embrace the excitement of using mnemonics and memory techniques, you first need to get rid of the notion that any of this is “hard work.” 

It isn’t. Never has been. Never will be.

Unless you decide that it must be. That’s all mindset and this podcast on developing better mindset will help you with that.

Bookmark those resources for later as we dive into the 7 Eternal Laws Of Memory Improvement. 

Follow each of these laws of mnemonics and you will quickly find the fun in using memory techniques and never forget what a wild ride the art of memory can be.

 

1. You Have The Duty To Go Insane
With Your Mnemonics

 

The trick to remembering anything is association. You take a piece of information you don’t know and associate it with something you do.

For example, I had no idea the word 感到 (gǎn dào) meant to feel. But I do know of a character named Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. And in my imagination, I know how to hurt his feelings.

So that’s what I did. In the craziest way possible. Then, using the drawing skills I have, I got it down on paper to make the learning process even faster and easier.

Optimized-gandolf gan dao

Of course, the trouble with teaching mnemonics is that I can’t exactly show you exactly what the imagery looks like in my mind. I would need a Hollywood film crew and a Spielberg-sized budget for that.

But rest assured that what happens when Gandalf feeds the Tao Te Ching to that black horse isn’t pretty. But it helps me remember not only the sound and the meaning of the word, but also its tones in Mandarin.

If you’d like to get better at making crazy imagery in your imagination, check out the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast episode called Mindshock: How To Make Amazing Visual Imagery And Memorize More Stuff.

 

2. Every Building You’ve Ever Been In Is Infinitely Valuable

 

To get the most from mnemonics, you need to locate the crazy images you come up with in a Memory Palace.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think that Memory Palaces take too much work, and that’s probably my fault.

You see, I’ve used the phrase “build Memory Palaces” when talking about mnemonics thousands of times. What I really mean is “create” Memory Palaces – or whatever word you need that involves spending 2-5 minutes creating a fantastic tool you can use to organize and store your mnemonics.

If you don’t already know how to build create a Memory Palace, I suggest you register for my Free Memory Improvement Kit right away. If you’re already a pro when it comes to this realm of mnemonics, then kudos to you. Send me a scan or picture of one of your Memory Palaces by email. I’d love to see it.

The important point is that you have learned the Memory Palace skill. It is the ultimate form of mnemonics because it lets you use every other kind of memory technique inside its walls.

And since the most efficient Memory Palaces tend to be based on actual buildings you’ve visited, that means you can increase the real estate value of them all. Instead of just handing over your rent or paying down a mortgage so you can store your stuff while working, why not store your memories their too? It’s a great way to make every building you’ve ever known invaluable using mnemonics.

 

3. Always Begin With A Clear Picture Of The End In Mind

 

One thing that trips up just about every beginner with memory techniques is planning. Each memory project is unique, which means you need to take stock of the situation and work out a few things in advance.

For example, if you like to learn languages online as opposed to from a textbook, you’ll have different amounts and kinds of material to memorize.

When I work with a Chinese teacher, for example, I have different Memory Palaces than I do for Spanish. When I’m memorizing music, my use of mnemonics differs a great deal, and in that case, the Memory Palace is the instrument itself. See Memorize Bach on Bass for some preliminary music memory explorations and my discussion with John McPhedrine for his current music mnemonics ideas.

But no matter how you approach mnemonics (and even when you learn without mnemonics), you need a plan.

4. Know Your Passion Inside And Out

 

It breaks my heart when people struggle with learning.

The problem usually isn’t with them, however, and it’s never with the information.

It’s always THE COMBINATION of the two.

Let’s face it: some people just don’t like some of the things they wind up studying.

Yet, for various reasons, they feel stuck with a topic or simply have to fulfill a commitment.

For most of us, most of the time, we can skip the problem altogether by finding topics to learn that we’re truly in love with.

Because when times get tough – and they always do eventually – passion will pull you through.

 

 

5. Believe In The Natural Abilities Of
Your Imagination And Nurture Them

 

If there’s on thing that gets newbies and old pros with mnemonics in a rut fast, it’s a sudden drop in self-confidence.

It happens to the best of us. Even I avoided tackling Japanese and Chinese for a long time because I worried mnemonics wouldn’t help with these languages.

The solution for when confidence dries up?

Certainly not dinky software brain games to which some people run.

No, we want to nurture our mind with simple creativity exercises at which we cannot fail. For example, the Creativity Kickstarter is a great way to return to the basics by coloring while recalling some information you’ve already confidently memorized.

For example, when I go to the Creativity Kickstarter when I find a current Memory Palace and its mnemonics too challenging. This happened a lot with my Chinese C Memory Palace – probably because of the Memory Palace I chose for it.

To reduce my frustration, I got out the Creativity Kickstarter and while working with it, I practiced Recall Rehearsal by firing off the mnemonics in Chinese Memory Palace B. My success in that Memory Palace boosted my confidence back up to the top and the C Memory Palace no longer felt so challenging.

 

6. Close The Deal By Knowing Your Numbers

 

Can you remember the 3rd Eternal Law of Memory Improvement? If not, scroll back up and take a peek.

If you do remember it, good work! What mnemonics did you use to memorize it?

The point is this: A huge part of knowing where you’re going is determining how you’ll know if you got there.

For me, I currently have a goal of memorizing 3 new Chinese words every morning before I turn the computer on. 

Why only 3?

It’s because Chinese is different than other languages I’ve tinkered around with. Whereas a German word is just sound and meaning with spelling so intuitive it makes my Macbook Pro ashamed, Chinese vocabulary involves:

* Sound + correct tones

* Meaning

* Characters

In my mind, each word is actually 3 words and each requires 3 mnemonics. (Or more. At the moment I’m using the Major Method for the tones.)

How do I know if I’ve successfully memorized 3 words at the end of the day?

Easy. I test.

If I can recall them at the end of the day and the next morning and correctly use them in a sentence, then I’ve memorized them.

In other words, I don’t leave recalling what I’ve memorized to chance. I test as a matter of course to ensure that when the time comes to use the word or phrase in actual context, the mnemonics are there for me.

Skip this Eternal Law at your own risk.

 

7. You Must Keep Going

 

Unused talents die and turn to dust with alarming speed. Once you join us mnemonists who practice the art of memory and make mnemonics a way of life, you have to keep going. Like any skill you can hone, to keep it sharp, you’ve got to use it.

How? 

Easy. Make sure that you’re follow all 7 of the Eternal Laws of Memory Improvement. Each feeds the other, making a bullet proof shield that no sword of forgetfulness can penetrate. Not only will you be able to learn, memorize and recall anything, but you’ll accomplish goals that have evaded you and feel amazing.

Never forget that memory and confidence connect at the hip. The more confident you are in your memory, the more confident you’ll be in all areas of life. This leads to rich new experiences that give you more exciting memories.

And the more experiences you have to draw on in life, the more associations you can make when using mnemonics. Isn’t that exciting?

 

Quick Recap

 

7 Eternal Laws of Memory Improvement When Using Mnemonics

1. You must create insane associative-imagery that is impossible to forget.

2. You must locate that imagery in specific and easy to find Memory Palace locations.

3. You must have the end goal in mind. Knowing where you’re going will ensure you have as Memory Palaces as you need (or at least keep you creating them as you go along so you never run out).

4. You must be passionate about what you’re learning. If you don’t value the topic or the larger topic it belongs to … what on earth are you spending time on it for?

5. You must believe in the natural abilities of your imagination and nurture them.

6. You must test and track your results.

7. You must keep going.

The post Mnemonics And The 7 Eternal Laws Of Memory Improvement appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Mnemonics_And_The_7_EternalLaws_Of_Memory_Improvement.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:13am EDT

Optimized-1682865You’ve thought about getting fluent in at least one other language, right?

In fact, you’ve already imagined yourself speaking fluently with native speakers. You even feel a wave of pride wash over you. And you want to feel that wave of pride wash over you.

But you can’t travel at the moment and the idea of commuting to a class and sitting with strangers horrifies you.

The good news is that you know you can learn languages online. You’re just not sure how.

 

3 Rock Solid Reasons To Learn Languages Online

 

Before I tell you about how to use Skill Silo, let’s take a quick look at why learning language is a smart move.

1. Learning a language is the king of all brain games.

A lot of people look for mental exercise, but nothing pays off more than packing your mind full of foreign language vocabulary and phrases.

2. You make back your investment in droves.

Learning a language costs three things: time, money and energy. As you develop fluency, over time you get an amazing return on your investment. Memories that last forever. Greater chances at meaningful employment. Boosts of energy-creating confidence.

3. You make new friends.

People love it when you can speak their language. Not only that, but you can be a better friend. You can teach your monolingual friends cool words, phrases and elements of another culture.

You also get to introduce the friends you meet in your new language to aspects of your mother tongue and culture. It’s win-win and you get to be the hero.

And if you’re a parent searching for ways to learn languages online for kids, your children will not only make friends through language learning online programs. They’ll also find mentors who teach them how to learn. Plus, language learning is great memory exercise and you can use the language learning environment as an opportunity to teach your kids memory techniques.

There are many more reasons why you should learn a language. You’ll find another 15 Reasons Why Learning A Foreign Language Is Good For Your Brain here.

 

Why Most Online Language Platforms Are
Distressingly Bad

 

There are dozens of places you can learn languages online. Some are really awesome and I still use them. Italki.com, for example, has oodles of great features. With some sift-sort-and-screen skills under your belt, you can find really great teachers.

But a lot of places have confusing payment plans. It’s not clear why their teachers have the privilege of teaching online and there seems to be no standard. Plus, you get a wash of language learning materials that you always have to hunt for.

 

3 Things I Love About Skill Silo

 

learn languages online with skill silo

Skill Silo solves a lot of the problems I’ve just mentioned. I’m a big boy, for example, so I like when I see the cost of my language learning sessions clearly expressed in a real currency. I don’t have to translate money in my head so I know exactly what I’m paying.

This transparency helps me evaluate the value of the teacher I’m learning from as well because it feels like real cash I’m spending, not Monopoly money. On other platforms, I’ve felt like the payment structures are deliberately obscure so that I don’t really know how much I’m spending or how much I’m getting for my investment.

I also like that I can choose whether I want one hour or 30-minute sessions. On some other platforms, it’s up to the instructor what length of classes they offer. However, I like to vary the session lengths each time depending on my goals with different teachers. When I do “vocab-en-masse” blitzes, then an hour is great. But for theme-based lessons for developing skills with a verb and some nouns, 30-minutes is plenty to get the jist and do the homework myself.

Optimized-Screen Shot 2016-06-29 at 11.43.51

 

One Textbook In One Place

 

Skill Silo also has the advantage of providing you with a textbook. This feature has saved me a lot of time. Yes, I’m a memory expert, but I work sometimes with dozens of language teachers in the space of a year and when each one has their own worksheets and file-naming styles … It can be a real mess. I love that Skill Silo offers a central textbook.

When the teachers do offer supplementary worksheets, they are just that: supplements to a core textbook I can access anytime online through my Skill Silo account. Having access to the textbook in full also means I can pace ahead and think about what I would like to focus on during the next session.

This feature helps maximize the value of the time, energy and money invested because the best learners are self-directed learners. But on some other platforms I’ve used, it feels like the teachers use their learning materials like a gateway drug. It’s as if they imagine that if they dole it out once dose at a time, you’ll keep coming back for more. Not necessarily.

 

Mistakes To Avoid When You Learn Languages Online

 

At the end of the day, no matter what platform you use, the teacher can only be as good as the student. That means you need to come prepared to your lessons.

The question is … how do you do this?

It’s a bit of a puzzle to figure out because when you learn languages online, the answer involves having the right teacher. In order to find the right teacher, you’ve got to dive in and try a few out. In fact, it might be necessary to have more than one teacher. Both Olly Richards and I tend to meet with several teachers in rotation and you can hear Olly’s reasons why along with his crazy language learning goals and mastering motivation secrets.

Here are some general tips:

1. Don’t delay.

As this Guardian article points out, the question “Can I successfully learn a language online?” puzzles a lot of people.

Don’t let it.

Just pick a teacher who looks good and book a session. Far too many people hum and haw over this step. But that’s just an evasion tactic. You want to learn a language, so you need to dive in somewhere. And don’t let perfectionism stop you. Chances are you’ll need to try at least two teachers before you find a match.

2. Invest in screen recording software.

I use Screenflow, a software which lets me review each session if I wish. I’ve cut my voice out of the recordings and made audiobooks of lessons so I can listen through them quickly, make notes and use the Magnetic Memory Method to memorize the material.

Optimized-Screen Shot 2016-06-29 at 11.37.56

A lot of people don’t think to record their language learning sessions, but doing so is golden. If things get overwhelming or you zone out, it’s never a problem. You can go through the lesson again as many times as you like.

3. Come to the session prepared.

Always come with the material from last week ready so you can quickly review before diving into something new. Even if you haven’t memorized all of it, you should have your homework ready to share with the teacher so you can go over it.

4. Think ahead.

As you work on new material, consciously use what you already know from the previous week.

For example, if you learned about aunts and uncles last week and you’re doing fruit this week, talk about how your uncle likes strawberries. Your teacher might not think to make the connection, but you can.

And to succeed, you must. Ultimately, you’ll be the one out in the world speaking, so it’s great exercise to already have in mind what you want to speak about prepared for each lesson and make connections during the sessions. You’ll be doing that in real life too, so consider it training ground.

5. Mind your manners.

Always be on time, always say thank you and speak as little in your mother tongue as possible. It’s good to be able to ask questions in your mother tongue, but move to the language you’re studying as soon as possible.

6. Schedule multiple sessions in advance.

If you book sessions in bulk, you create milestones that help you organize your daily language learning activities. If you don’t have a daily learning ritual, check out these morning memory secrets.

7. Understand and use the power of motivation.

There’s a science to keeping your energy and enthusiasm high, so don’t feel like you have to slog through the process. Also, learn to balance the level of challenge. As James Clear discusses, The Goldilocks Rule is the key to success in life and it works in the business of language learning too.

8. Make a blog that documents your journey.

Have you ever noticed how often I talk about my language learning stories on this blog? Well, it’s not by accident. When you talk about what you’re learning, you process it through different representational channels in your brain. Writing about your language learning experiences sinks what you’ve learned into deeper channels.

I remember 办公室 (bàngōngshì) better than a lot of other words, for example, because I took the time to teach other people how I learned it. I’ve talked about it on the Magnetic Memory Method podcast, written about it and even shared a drawing of what I saw in my mind so that I could instantly memorize the sound, meaning and tones of the word:

Optimized-ban4 gong1 shi4

If blogging isn’t for you, simply tell other people what you’re learning and explain why you’re remembering it so easily thanks to the Magnetic Memory Method. As you’ve heard me say a zillion times before, when you teach others what you’ve learned, you learn it better yourself.

My poor roommate, friends and fiancé have to listen to endless explanations of the bizarre imagery I use to create mnemonics that work, but it’s part of getting the highest possible levels of success. Fast.

And that’s an important point. Even though you can learn languages online, you also want to speak what you’ve learned at every possible opportunity – even with people who aren’t studying your target language.

If you don’t have any friends, explain the mnemonics you’re using to your teacher. I’m sure they’ll be amused and enthused that you’re remembering the lessons and love knowing more about how you’re pulling it all off.

9. Never stop learning. 

Fluency is not a destination. It’s a way of life.

To this day I work on improving my best language, including memorizing German phrases. Just as you need to keep doing pushups to keep your muscles strong, you need to keep speaking with people in order for fluency levels to remain high. When you can learn languages online, there’s no reason not to keep up this practice for the rest of your life.

 

Free Online Language Courses
Are A Supplement To Speaking (Not An Alternative)

 

It’s tempting to think you can learn a language by playing around all day with language learning apps. There are many out there and they do help get words and phrases into your long term memory.

However, with some of them, you’re hearing the language spoken by a computer. They’re also often not giving you words and phrases that are even remotely useful to you. Finally, when it comes time to speak a language, you have a human in front of you. Not a mouse and keyboard.

You might also think you can get to fluency with a “learn languages online chat” mission. Chatting certainly can help, but the same principle applies. You need to speak and you need to speak often.

But if you are going to chat online, then with whom better than a dedicated language learning teacher? They’ll know a lot about your current situation, have spoken with you and if you’re using Skype, you’ll have an easily accessible track record of your discussions.

Just make sure that you actually speak about what you discussed during your online chat. Get the words and phrases into the muscle memory of your mouth, not just your fingers.

 

When Will You Make The Leap From Dreamer To Speaker?

 

Learning a language involves making a lot of mistakes. The sooner you get started the better.

The cool thing about how we can learn languages online in today’s world is that you can make those mistakes in the comfort of your own home. Only one other person has to know – and that person can be a trained professional.

Or you can be a bit more public and share words you’re learning on YouTube, like I do with playlist on how to improve vocabulary with mnemonic examples:

No matter how you proceed, now that you know why you should be learning a language and have some solid tips for getting started on solid footing, there’s really only one mistake you can make:

Not getting started.

But if you’re ready right now, Skill Silo offers lessons in:

  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • English
  • Farsi
  • French
  • German
  • Hebrew
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Russian
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish

Their teachers are professional, dedicated and the system is easy to use. If you’ve ever wanted a simple way to book instructors, a brain-dead simple means of accessing one core textbook so you’re not swamped with learning materials and sessions you can record and refer to again and again.

Why not schedule your first free session now? This is what you’ll see when you visit Skill Silo now to book your first session:

Optimized-Screen Shot 2016-06-29 at 11.46.14

If you’re ready to experience live sessions with language teachers in the comfort of your own home, then then I know you’re going to love learning your dream language with the help of Skill Silo. Just click the image above, select your desired language and you can easily get started right away.

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Direct download: Learn_Languages_Online_With_Skill_Silo_And_These_9_Fluency_Tips.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:01pm EDT

Image expressing a person's head loaded with brain games that are flooding his ability to focus, concentrate and rememberBefore you dump another moment of your life into searching for brain games that improve your memory, please realize one thing:

 

Your Brain Exercises Need To Be About Something …

 

Here’s the deal:

A lot of memory games and other brain-enhancing apps try to help improve your memory by giving you abstract or arbitrary memory tasks.

For example, you might be asked to remember the locations of a detective’s cap, magnifying glass and a detection kit behind a set of tiles.

The Sherlock Holmes theme is certainly clever, but exactly what kind of memory skills does this exercise train? The answer is easy:

General memory skills.

That’s it and nothing more. Or …

… maybe even less.

After all, general brain games help you get good at remembering the location of imaginary objects hidden behind squares on a tiny computer screen. And you have to ask yourself …

 

Does That Sound Like A Useful Skill To You?

Image of young child dressed as Sherlock Holmes to express the problem with using brain games

Is there anything wrong with this kind general of brain exercise?

Not necessarily. This Scientific American article finds no harm in playing them (few demonstrable benefits either).

But if you want to get better at remembering the information that matters …

 

Play Games With Information That Matters!

 

Seriously. If you want to harness the power of neuroplasticity, give your neurons toys that are congruent with your end goal.

Yes, a basketball player completes some training drills that don’t involve a basketball for general fitness.

But when it comes to developing skills and having the REAL fun basketball offers as a game, you need the ball itself in your hands. You need to practice navigating it around the court and sinking it through the hoop.

 

The Benefits Of Brain Games Do Not Last

 

First off, have you looked into any of the studies to which many of these software companies refer? Chances are you won’t even find any because they often don’t exist.  This was the finding of one major FTC case that led to a $2 million lawsuit again sellers of a popular brain training program.

Look:

No one is saying that these games don’t have some effect.

But exactly how they provide measurable benefits is far from clear. Nor can it be clear. The skills one develops in the games, apart from concentration, rarely, if ever, appear in real life.

This lack of necessity for the “skills” supposedly developed by brain games again brings us to one important fact. To get long lasting effects, we need more than games. We need to link the brain games we play with the information we want to get better at handling.

 

Which Of These Information Types
Do You Tend To Forget Most?

 

  • Foreign language vocabulary
  • Names and faces
  • Facts
  • Numbers
  • Equations
  • Lyrics
  • Dates
  • Recipes

If you want to get good in any of these areas, the best thing is to play brain games that involve these kinds of information. That way, you associate the information with fun while you get better at learning, memorizing and using it in practical situations.

If you’re finding you still struggle, please consider understanding the most important difference between memory loss and forgetfulness.

Plus, you’ll get long-lasting effects because the more you know about a particular topic, the more you can know.

For example, if you’re studying history, knowing that the important memory artist Giordano Bruno died in 1600 creates a hook upon which you can hang other pieces of information.

Would you like to know that Hamlet was (probably) written or being in written in 1600?

No problem. Just imagine Kenneth Branaugh or another actor you associate with the role of Hamlet strangling the Bruno statue in Rome.

Would you like to know that the Bruno statue in Rome is specifically located at Campo de’ Fiori?

Again, no problem:

Just add an image like a Ferrari digging ore from beneath the statue using a camping tent.

Giordano Bruno Mnemonist and Memory Palace Hero With Anthony Metivier

In this fascinating brain game, we’re compounding information by linking one thing with another. You can make a tower of knowledge using just that one location in Rome. There’s so much more you can add because knowing one thing enables you to know yet another.

 

Here’s How To Make Your Own Brain Games

 

I get it:

You look to software and apps so you can instantly download games to your device. You want to immediately start enjoying the benefits of memory improvement right away. You’re probably also looking to improve focus and concentration too.

But here’s the thing:

You’re just creating digital amnesia.

Worse:

If the brain games on the market only improve your memory on a general level (if at all), then you’re only going to get general results.

And if the game doesn’t involve information that’s even remotely interesting to you, finding hats and magnifying glasses behind rotating tiles is going to get boring fast.

To create your own games, ones that will make an impact on specific areas where you’re weak, you may have to create your own.

Let’s say you’re learning a language and keep forgetting words and phrases. To make a game that will help you improve, you need only a goal, some rules and an antagonistic force.

Good News: The Enemy In Your Brain Games Comes Built In

 

Time. Everybody has too little, so when time deadlines appear in games, it’s a metaphor for real life.

But in this case, the real antagonist is forgetfulness. And that’s the beast we’re going to beat.

Here’s a game you can try. All it requires is one Memory Palace. If you’d like to learn how to make and use one, there are a number of full memory improvement training options in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

Using a Memory Palace, take 5-10 words you want to memorize.

Put on a timer and start memorizing using the tools of associative-imagery. Again, you can register for my The MMM Memory Improvement Kit if you don’t know how to create associative-imagery.

Some of the basics were demonstrated in the example with Hamlet and Bruno given above.

Very briefly, using Magnetic Imagery is part of the art of memory that involves taking something you don’t know and attaching it to something you do.

For example, if you want to memorize German vocabulary like “abartig,” you could see an image of Abraham Lincoln tossing a piece of art like the Mona Lisa into the washing machine where Tigger is doing something … abnormal. (It’s up to you what that weird thing is!)

 

Already Sounds Fun, Doesn’t It?

 

Associating the “Ab” in Abraham lets you remember the beginning of this word and the painting reminds you of “art” and the “Tig” in “Tigger” helps you recall the end of the word.

Ab + art + Tig = Abartig.

Mnemonic examples of memorizing the German word Abartig with the Magnetic Memory Method

Remember, Tigger is doing something abnormal in the washing machine and that’s why you know when you put the pieces of the puzzle together and say “abartig,” the word means “abnormal.”

 

Make Sure You Have The Right Tools

 

To play this brain game, have your Memory Journal open so you can see your Memory Palace as you play and write out the associative-imagery you create.

Just like you did with the first word, go as fast as you can. Create one tight and vibrant image for each word to leave at each station on your Memory Palace.

At this point, don’t worry about anything other than coming up with images for each of the words you’ve selected. You just want to see how long it takes you to create associative-imagery for 5-10 words. Once you have your baseline time established, you can start challenging yourself to break the record for new sets of words.

 

The Magic Happens During The Testing Round

 

Once you’ve made a pass over the information, make a two minute pause and then test how much you can remember.

Do this by going to each station in your Memory Palace and “decoding” the associative-imagery you’ve created and placed there.

Image of a young person illustrating how information is encoded and decoded using memory techniques

Don’t worry about total accuracy or stress yourself out. It’s just a game and you’re only competing with yourself. You’re going to get better quickly and soon be breaking your own records. All while increasing your episodic memory.

And because the information you’re using is drawn from something you want to learn, you reach goals in addition to memory improvement. And when you share the rules of this brain game with others, you become a better human too.

 

Play This Game With Any Information … 
So Long As It’s Info That Counts

 

I’ve given German vocabulary in this example, but you could use anything. Song lyrics present a different kind of challenge, for example, because they involve full phrases. Song lyrics in a foreign language offer even more of a stretch. Either way, it feels so great when you walk away from playing games with your brain with the ability to create pleasure at any time by singing a song you’ve always wanted to learn.

You can play with information about geography, biology, literature, film studies and medical terminology. Or if you’ve always wanted to know the Kings of England and their historical dates, you can do that, along with the American Presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers. You can have fun learning, memorizing and recalling anything.

 

The Secret Sauce To Real Results
From Real Brain Games

 

As we’ve asked today, how does getting better at finding objects you’ve been shown behind tiles on a memory game help in real life?

Who knows? That’s hard to quantify.

But when you spend your time playing brain games with the information you need to succeed, everybody wins.

Here’s the real way to get massive results: Go for small and consistent improvements using information that matters. Make sure that you can measure what you’re doing so that you see the results in tangible ways.

To accomplish this, play your newly minted brain game on a schedule. Believe it or not, it’s in human nature to establish daily routines and we respond well to doing the same things at the same time on a training schedule. Write down the nature of your game and the results using a dedicated Memory Journal. Involve your hands and colored pens and pencils to bring in more creative parts of your body and brain for best results.

 

How To Make Playing Mind-Nourishing Games A Priority

 

As I detailed in Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets, the best way to get in regular learning and memory fitness is to spend time playing with information first thing before the computer goes on.

Seriously, why risk squeezing your memory improvement in when you can make it a cherished part of your day?

 

Works For Highly Committed Learners Too

 

Please don’t make the mistake that the game I’ve just shared with you is only for beginners or for those who struggle to fit regular learning and brain exercise into their schedules. People already dedicated to using memory techniques benefit from playing self-made games for the mind too. In fact, this kind of activity can really help you avoid getting into learning ruts, so you can also think of them as a preemptive measure.

 

The Real Problem With Downloadable Brain Games

 

If you’re as excited as I am about getting real results from the time you spend training your brain, I invite you to make a public declaration below. Talk about the game you’re going to create for yourself and feel free to pop back often with updates on your results. I respond to every post.

Image of a woman expressing the importance of taking time to reflect in nature away from brain games

But after you commit with your comment below, turn the machine off for awhile. The real problem we face in today’s world is the encouragement to be wired all the time. By taking a walk without your smartphone, you may already be giving your brain a massive advantage, even if you don’t play a memory game of the kind I’m suggesting.

Mental rest is just as important as mental training, so until we speak again, see if you can’t fit in less screen time, not more. You’ll feel Magnetic.

And if you have any questions about what puts the “Magnetic” in the mnemonic techniques taught here, here’s more about the Magnetic Memory Method.

Further Resources

I share an other brain game in this video “trailer” for the post you’ve just read:

Also check out:

3 Memory Games You Can Play With Your Childhood

3 Effective Brain Training Exercises For Mental Illness Sufferers

11 Empowering Things About Memory You Probably Do Not Know

The post Brain Games: The Truth You Need To Know For Memory Improvement appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Brain_Games__The_Truth_You_Need_To_Know_For_Memory_Improvement.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:43am EDT

Optimized-IMG_6557_lzn (1)

Tired Of Struggling To Learn Memory Techniques For Language Learning On Your Own?

Sometimes all it takes is a powwow with a good friend.

I know, I know …

Your friends think you’re weird when you talk about your favorite Memory Palace and the crazy images that you use to memorize information like German phrases or other parts of language learning.

That’s why I was so excited when John McPhedran and I started hanging out to talk about our shared passions:

Heavy Metal …

Movies …

… & Mnemonics!

 

You Don’t Have To Memorize Vocabulary And Phrases Alone!

 

At least two cool things happen when you share your adventures in memory:

1) You learn how to use the techniques better yourself.

2) You come up with completely new approaches.

Or you learn to use the Major System for memorizing notes:

All of those things happened when John and I started hanging out, and so I’m excited to share with you our wide-ranging conversation about memorizing German, music and even a bit of Mandarin. (It’s funny to listen back to this interview because since then, my approach to Chinese and how much Chinese I now know has thoroughly grown!)

Here’s the full transcript of our discussion. To make it concrete for you, I’ve extracted 16 principles from the discussion you can start using right away. We’re confident that you’ll learn a lot and urge you to find a person to chat about your memory projects with. For starters, you can join the Magnetic Memory Method Facebook Group after downloading and listening to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

 

Method Number One:
Invest In Memory Training

 

Anthony: This is Anthony Metivier. You’re listening to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and today we have a real special treat John McPhedran. Did I pronounce that right?

John: Yeah.

Anthony: It’s pronounced just the way it’s spelled which is awesome. Well John, how do we know each other?

John: It’s quite a funny story. About just over a year ago, I’ll tell the whole story.

Anthony: Yeah, tell it all from the beginning.

John:  Just over a year ago, I’m from New Zealand, and I have married a lovely German woman. I was in Germany last year, so this is my third time now, but I was here last year and I was about to fly home to New Zealand. Me and my wife, we were in a hotel in Prague, and I was just looking on my Kindle for stuff to buy on Amazon. I was always looking at German language books, things to learn German and better ways to do it, and I came across the Magnetic Memory Method mnemonics system for learning vocab.

I bought that and started reading. It just sounded really cool. It wasn’t something I dove into straight away. I knew that it would take a while before I got around to doing it because I had some other priorities, but I always kept it on the back of my mind. Six months after that, I came back to Germany to live, and I knew that I had to sharpen up my German skills, so I looked further into the Magnetic Memory Method and ended up buying the product on Udemy. Through the message system there, I just start typing Anthony just questions that I had.

From reading his books, I knew he lived in Berlin, which is where I’ve moved to, and I knew that he also was a heavy metal bass player. So I thought it would be cool if I just put it out there just to you know just poke the fire I guess you could say. Just to see if he was close to where I was and just make the first step into maybe meeting because he seemed like an interesting guy. We just started talking back and forth and I kind of dropped that I was a heavy metal guitarist. That kind of sparked Anthony’s interest. Basically, from there we just kind of messaged back and forth and ended up jamming together.

Then the real funny part of the story I guess was that we ended up living a fifteen minute walk apart from each other. So coming from the other end of the world, from New Zealand to Berlin, to actually live fifteen minutes apart from this dude that I was learning all this cool stuff from was you know pretty awesome. So we’ve kind of just been friends since and have been recording music together and just talking about memory stuff. I’ve kind of come out with some memory things that sparked Anthony’s interest. So it’s why I’m here today doing this.

Anthony: Yeah, and not any kind of memory stuff, but grammar and music which is, well, some very rich and detailed things to be memorizing. I’m really glad that you did email me and now you’re coming to my birthday party. So things are getting real serious.

John: Yeah, I’m looking forward to that.

Anthony: So that’s the end of the week. But in any case, one thing that I really admire is that you’re actually taking these approaches and doing what I have suggested, and we’re trading notes. We’ve both got Excel files open or documents, and we were looking at our process. It’s so exciting to see and hear what you’re doing, and how you explain your mnemonic images just put so many pictures in my mind, which I can tell why they’re so memorable for you. So maybe we start with German. Do you remember the first word that you actively memorized using mnemonics?

John: Well I first got into mnemonics and it wasn’t through using Memory Palaces. Like I knew the technique of using mnemonics. I learned quite a lot of vocab before coming to the Magnetic Memory system. The first word, I can’t remember the very first word, but maybe one of them that was within the set of words that I learned using mnemonics, not German in general, but mnemonics was der Balkon, which is balcony, and you know you don’t really need a mnemonic for that.

The first one that was really to help me learn something kind of hard was die Behandlung, which is like treatment. I imagine a woman with a big puffy hand because she’s being stung by a bee, just the bee and she needed treatment for a sting in the hand, Behandlung. I can’t remember where the lung came into it, but a lot of mnemonics are like that. Not every single detail is there.

It’s really just a thing to kind of instantly click your mind. That’s what it was. I mean I’m still like that with my mnemonics. I don’t even really necessarily go into all the details when I’m imagining them. I kind of create them, and I drill them for a bit, and then after while it is just something that really triggers your mind. Ah, that’s what it was and I’m able to know what the word is.

Anthony: Before we go further, you said now twice “the Magnetic Memory system.” Is it really a system to you? The reason I ask is because I’m always very clear about saying this is the method. You’ve got to adopt it for yourself. Systems are, I mean not to correct you, if you find it so systematic, but –

John: No, and I’ve heard you say that. No, well it’s a method if that’s how you describe it as a method. It really is. You have really got to try and make your own thing out it. It’s the only way it will really work. It all depends on how you process things.

I feel personally that I’m kind of lucky. In your book you said, you’ve got a decent imagination I guess or imagery in your mind if you can imagine water flowing. Do you remember writing that?

Anthony: Yeah.

John:  So I thought, yeah, I can actually imagine a river and water flowing. Cool, I might be able to do this. I mean the first questions that I asked you were about the crossing your path. Because I want to try to have everything perfect. I am quite a perfectionist like that. So I was asking you those kinds of questions because I didn’t really want to leave any stone unturned. Then just the way you replied to me, I was like yeah, I have just got to try to make this my own to see what works.

I find that, in particular, the crossing the path doesn’t really even matter to me necessarily because I can just be anywhere in my palace and you know I can look behind. You know what I mean, like my spacial, I don’t know, spacial recognition or I don’t know what that kind of word is. I should put it in a palace and learn it. But you know what I mean, I can kind of just instantly be in the center of a building and just imagine in my mind where all these places are around the things. The crossing my path doesn’t even really matter.

 

Method Number Two: 
Make The Memory Methods Your Own

 

I kind of felt that you know I’ll just make this my own. So it’s not a system if you describe a system being rigid because it definitely is not rigid. You’ve got to have a bit of creativity to it. It does take effort, as far as coming up with the mnemonics. The thing is it does take effort to come up with those things and you are using your creativity to try and create these scenarios that actually represent some kind of abstract information you’re trying to learn.

But, on the backend the amount of time you save not having to repeat over and over and over and forget stuff, you are saving all that time at the backend. That’s why I love it so much for that. You write these mnemonics and then you go back through the palace again, or what I like to do is just put them in Anki.

 

Method Number Three:
Ditch Boring Learning Methods

 

Like you, I hate using Anki to rote memorize stuff. It frustrates you. As you say, once you start getting frustrated, it makes it harder to learn and that’s when you’re just like, man, am I ever gonna be able to do this. To me, using Anki just for the testing, to actually just give you these words and instantly be able to go to my palace. It doesn’t always work that I instantly know it. Sometimes I’ll write a mnemonic that was from a couple of days before and I’ve never revisited it and I’ll get this word, but you kind of remember where it was supposed to be in the house, and it takes a little bit. Sometimes I do have to bring out my sheet again just to remember what I wrote down. But I mean, that’s about as much as I have to do. After that, you know the word.

Anthony: Just to clarify for people, you’re essentially doing the memory work first, then importing or creating Anki slides and using those, what do you call them? Slides or index?

John: Cards.

Anthony: Cards, digital index cards to look at the German word in German?

John: Yeah.

Anthony: And then you go into the Memory Palace to look at the imagery to help you decode the sound and meaning?

John: Yeah, I guess that’s what’s happening behind the scenes, but as I said, if it is something really new – like one word that I learned recently that kind of gave me a little bit of trouble was das Aufputschmittel like stimulant, and I could remember my bridging character for auf is Alf, and I had the little fluffy alien. I had him putting stuff in the middle of a plant stem and the stem represented STIMulant but that’s the only information for word stimulant. That’s quite often what I’ll do. It will just be some little bit of information that triggers the rest. I remembered the word Aufputschmittel but I couldn’t remember what the meaning was. That was one that when I got the word, I knew where it was in the palace but I couldn’t remember the word. So I had to go back and open my Excel file. But I only do it once.

If you forget it, which is five percent of the time, most of the time you don’t forget it and you do it and you drill it and you’ve got it. Then, honestly, after a few times doing it, two or three times of going through these cards – you don’t even have to decode the information. You know you get it. I actually think I read it in English. I don’t read them in German for this. I read them in English for this. The word and I translate the word from English to German.

Because I find when I’m trying to speak German if I don’t know a word, you search for the word you want in English first anyway, and then if you’re really stuck for words, if you don’t know a word to use, and you know English, you’ve got to try to find the word in English and then translate it from there.

Anthony: Right.

John: So yeah, I’ll do the English word first.

Anthony: I would challenge you though to start doing it with the German word first because you want to train your mind to not go to English first.

John: Yeah.

Anthony: So that’s why I always do the native language first. Because everything is so heavily linked on the sound of the word, using the mnemonic imagery to recall the sound and the meaning of the word in the same blow, then what I basically want to be able to do is have my mother tongue as a kind of ghost that is banished by the instant recall of the sound and the meaning of a word.

Of course, I don’t really use cards. So when I started with Chinese and 对 不 起 which is part of “Excuse me, may I ask” all I just see is in the Memory Palace is Mark Twain kneeing a Chi master in the face. I don’t even really have anything to indicate “Excuse me, may I ask” because that’s just so rude of him to do that in that context. I don’t know why I don’t need it. But if I were to have some sort of indicator of “Excuse me, may I ask,” that to me, that trips me up from going in my mind directly to the actual Chinese. Now that may not be your experience. So I’m not suggesting that you do anything other than as you please, but that’s my rationale for that.

John:  Yeah. Oh, it’s the same with me. If I’m not drilling with the cards, if I’m just going through the Memory Palace they are like a unit like that.

Anthony:  Okay, I see.

John: I don’t have an English word sitting there. It’s just an image that you just remember, oh that’s what it is. And then when I’m trying to talk German, like I’m definitely well aware that you don’t want to try and translate first. You do start getting better at just talking. We had a little conversation before, it was a basic conversation but I didn’t translate. Unless it gets hard and I can’t think of what I’m actually trying to say. If I can’t kind of go further than what I just know without thinking of English then I’ll have to resort to some kind of English word to actually think of the nest step. But it’s really just to kick start the next step. I’m really trying not to think in English when I’m talking.

Anthony:  Right. Well, let’s move this to grammar. You were telling me something really fascinating about working with the tenses.

John: Most of my German I learned the hard way. When I first started learning it was in 2012. I had moved to Erlangen, my wife was studying there and I lived there for a year, and I spoke nothing of German or any other language. I knew nein and scheiße which most people do, maybe ja, das ist Gut. That kind of stereotypical stuff.

My teacher was lovely. She was a real nice woman. I started learning quite good at the start. She was obviously a native German speaker and we started with the normal things. Like du, ich, sie, er, those kind of nominative cases of all the pronouns and basic conjugation of the verbs and it started quite good with those real basic sentences. Then within a little while, it just went from 0 to 100.

I never knew anything about English. I knew how to speak it or I know how to speak it. I knew what a verb was. I knew what a noun was. But I didn’t know what a subject was of a sentence. I didn’t know what the direct object or the indirect object was. It was only through learning German that I’ve actually learned all these things and they actually relate a lot to English.

So the teacher had started laying all this grammar on me and I got this big list of irregular verbs. She gave me this list and she goes you’ve got to remember this. And I’d only just come across the whole case system just a few weeks before which if you’re an English speaker just throws you out because you’ve only one way to say “the.” So I got all these lists of stuff to learn. I’m just like how do I learn this. It’s one thing to say I have to but how do I do it? She was like I don’t know. You just have to. I was like that’s not an answer.

It put me in a kind of bad mood with it. To be honest, it wasn’t a priority of mine. I never thought that I would actually come and live here. At the time, music and playing guitar was what I really wanted to do. I had all my music that I wanted to create and had these other things.

German was turning into just rote memorization. I remember my wife made this curriculum up for me for studying. It was just rote memorization of all these words that I just had to try to remember from scratch and just all these grammar concepts and I though how am I going to learn this? I didn’t have a good attitude. It wasn’t until after, when I got back to New Zealand after a year. I was just really disappointed in myself that I hadn’t gone harder at learning.

 

Method Number Four:
Learn How To Learn

 

That’s when I started on just how to learn. You know, how to learn German. That’s when I first came across mnemonics for the first time. I learned a lot of words. It worked really well but I was using other people’s mnemonics. One thing I’ve found is that it doesn’t work as well as your own. Because you remember your own creations a lot easier.

The things that tripped me up most in German other than not knowing the right words to use is prepositions because they don’t always translate directly as you would use them in English, and I find there is no real set rules to use them. That comes through just being exposed a lot. Like the word zu Fuß, to go by foot. In English it is “to foot.” The other thing was verb tenses. I used to try and talk to my wife when we would sit down and try and practice and I would try and say these things.

Because when you start you’re always in the indicative active present tense. Like ich gehe and that’s how you start. Then you’ll move on to the indicative active. In conversation you’re going to go to the present perfect tense. You get quite good at using those tenses. Then if you want to express something like “when I’m here I would have done this.”

Anthony: Right.

John: That’s when the tenses get quite complicated in German, because what I was explaining before, the verbs work differently. When you are using the passive voice like the future perfect Ich werde gehört worden sein. I will have been heard. I thought that was the thing I always got tripped up on. I was trying to say something or try and express these things and my girlfriend would say no. It’s expressed like this this. I realized that I just didn’t know enough. I don’t know if it is spacial. Just the whole timeframe of things like when you’re talking about future and past.

So that’s where I devised this one here. It’s exactly using the same system that you give. I have basically, its’ just an upstairs office block that has offices. Again, it depends on what people want to do to make it their own. I just found I knew this place that had three rooms down one side, three rooms down the other. Down the left-hand side is all the active voice tenses and moods. Down the other side was all the passive voices. The two offices up the front, they are opposite each other.

At No. 1 that was all the indicative mood. The next set of offices down which was two opposite each other. That was Subjunctive 1. Then the next ones down were Subjunctive 2.

So that covered all the moods and all the voices. Then within each of those palaces, there were little mini palaces inside one kind of hallway which is its own palace. In each of them I just have each tense. Some of them are really simple.

I’ve got in this office here, this is the indicative mood for the active voice. So the present tense. It’s my mom’s office. I have my mom unwrapping a present. The present just represents present tense. I didn’t need a mnemonic to tell me the conjugation of verbs in the present tense.

Anthony: Right.

John:  And the same, simple past is not as hard. I’ve got me, that was my desk sitting in old clothes. I just imagine like any old clothes you want. I kind of imagine like old blazers or something, old English kind of styles, sipping a cup of tea. Because the tea represents like ich spielte. Like “I played” and that’s what the tea represented there.

Then the storage room was the future tense –

Anthony:  But just for people. Why does the tea help you remember spielte?

John: Because you add a “T”.

Anthony: Ah, you add a “T”.

John: In the simple past you usually add the “T” to regular verbs.

Anthony: Ah, perfect.

John: But I didn’t need it. I already knew that. But I just wanted to be thorough and have something representing each kind of station here not really just miss anything.

 

Method Number Five:
Be Illicit In Your Imagination

 

Here we get probably a bit illicit. But in the future tense werden is the verb to represent something happening in the future. So I’ve got Leigh who was our receptionist. She is in space clothes. Space clothes all I mean it represents future to me. I just imagine just silver. So it’s not like astronaut suits. Just something silver and shiny because it just seems a bit futuristic to me. It’s easy. She passes a joint; weed represents werden to me.

When you you’re trying to come up with mnemonics, you go with the first thing that means something. That’s what came up with me. This is probably a bit illegal but she’s passing a joint to an infant. To me, an infant represents the infinitive verb. Ich werde spielen.

Then moving on. Once I get to the perfect tenses, you know present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, I imagine a prefect. I did a year in a boys’ school where prefects, they had the flash blazers and that. I just think of the prefect. A “prefect watches over Hamlet” represents sein. And Habibi. I was trying to think of a name that was like haben. Habibi represents haben. I imagine them playing with old game parts. The old game part, I just imagine a box of old chess pieces and I thought of parts = past participle, that’s where the parts comes in and the game, I put the game in there for ge, because unless it has a prefix that is inseparable, we have the ge. So that’s for that.

Then again with the future perfect, I have the same thing but because in future perfect you have werden again because you have got to represent the future in this. I’ve got a prefect wearing space clothes while smoking weed hands out old game parts to Hamlet and Habibi. Sort of like ich werde gespielt haben or ich werde gegangen sein.

Anthony: Oh yeah, because you’ve got to have it in “to be.”

John: When it’s a verb using sein. So that’s why I have Hamlet and Habibi. The helping verb will either be sein or haben. Then, obviously, the passive voices you only have sein.

 So the most complicated one, I’ll give an example of because they are all just repeating after that, they kind of have a similar concept. So this is the future perfect in the indicative passive voice. A prefect in space clothes and smoking weed. So “prefect” represents future perfect, “smoking weed” is the werden, old game parts to a traffic warden who then gives it an infant Hamlet. So it means that sein will be at the end. Ich werde gehört worden sein. I will have been heard.

Anthony: A lot of people ask me, don’t you get confused if you’re repeating stuff. So you’ve got Hamlet several times. You’ve a prefect several times. You’ve got an infant in different contexts. Do you find that this is difficult to manage or –

John: Yeah. If I just left it and didn’t come back to it, I would never remember it. This one was kind of quite hard in that respect, because sometimes you forget what’s happening at certain stations, but that’s just where the drilling comes in. Then after a while, once you get into especially the subjunctive, it just repeats themselves.

Anthony: How much time would you say that you spent on putting this together and then how much time in the actual review of the mnemonics before it gets into your long-term memory and what would you say is the payoff, the value of it compared to another approach.

 

Method Number Six:
Stop Fooling Yourself That You Don’t Have Time –
You Do!

 

John:  The time it took, when I do any of this stuff, I really don’t spend that much time on it. Like I can’t sit down and just come with heaps of mnemonics. I mean maybe if I forced myself to I could.

I come up with these goals. Here’s my spreadsheet. I know that if I have all these little things that I want to do, if I just plan them instead of thinking I’ve got one massive task. It’s that whole eat an elephant thing. I’ve got this one massive task. Instead of thinking I’m just going to sit down and do it, I kind of think well if I just do a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow and I plan out tiny little chunks, I know that by this time it’s going to be done. It’s not going to feel like too much effort.

To be honest, when it comes to writing these mnemonics, maybe ten minutes a day. So maybe it took me ten minutes to come up with this one indicative mood active voice, just that one station with all those tenses may have been ten minutes. Then I would have just put it away for the day. So you’re looking at six days, seven days.

Anthony: Right, and then in terms of actually reinforcing it using mnemonics.

John:  Well at the moment, I’m doing it now.

Anthony: So this is a work in progress.

John: Yeah, so I’ve got these mnemonics down. So now, basically, I have just phrases that I’ve got in my Anki that I just translate using the correct tense and knowing what mnemonic I’m using with.

Anthony: So you were saying before that these particular memory palaces, they just worked out perfectly. Did you seek them out or they were very convenient let’s say, did you seek them out intentionally to use for this purpose or they just came to mind.

John: Not for this purpose. It was just when I was doing the Magnetic Memory Method, coming up with a big list of like palaces. Where’s my vocab one? Again for those that are listening I’m just going through my sheet. So it was when I came up with all my A, B, C, D, I kind of had a stockpile of leftovers. I had some leftover that I didn’t use for any houses.

 

Method Number Seven:
Think And You Will Find The Solution

 

I don’t know why I used that one in particular. It just kind of made sense. It took thinking. I just thought of trying to think in my mind how am I gonna come up with some way, because I knew that with the tenses in particular, I knew that this was one block. I knew the indicative mood active voice was one block that had present, simple past, future, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect. I knew that that was one block and that was one block. So I was just thinking of the building in my mind and then the imperative at the end which you don’t really need a palace for that.

I was just kind of thinking for something in my mind that would be contained enough but have separate compartments in it that would separate these different things. Each building is right next to each other and across the hall. It was just really convenient for that.

Anthony:  Well, I’m really excited to be sitting here watching this because you’ve got it nailed. I mean you made your Memory Palace key which is a list of memory palaces organized alphabetically and so forth. I get lots and lots of email all the time and some people just say this is crazy. This is overwhelming. I look at some of the reviews of my books and there is one person who said this book came from the twilight zone. I recognize that it seems like it’s over the top and just a crazy amount of work to do this, but –

John: It doesn’t all happen in a day. I mean just listening to your podcasts and like throughout the course like people who have trouble coming up with places. Pine Hill is my Memory Palace for “F.” Forgive me for swearing but the reason I put it beside “F” was because that house was fucking cold. That’s why I associate it with “F.”

Anthony:   Right.

John: Prenzlauer, that’s my place I live in now. That’s Z, there’re not many streets with Z but Prenz has a Z in it so I put it Z. Here like Jacob, my cousin Jacob, he had a house in Hunter Crescent and just up the road there was a big empty lot of land that had this old car in it that we managed to play around in one day when we were young. It was a real funny day and the car represents that house to me. So that’s what C is. So the first name of your house doesn’t have to match up but just has to spark. It’s not until you start doing it that you remember what these houses are.

It’s not like you have to write this key out and then instantly commit to memory what all these houses are. You have the spreadsheet. You have the record. If it is recorded, you’re less likely to forget. It is through just returning to it that you remember that. Once you start putting the mnemonics in the houses, you don’t forget them then because the mnemonics, the words you’re learning, they start with the letter. So like when I’m doing A, I put the German word starting with A in the A house. I don’t put the English word starting with A. So it’s German orientated.

 

Method Number Eight:
Use Technology Intelligently

 

Anthony: Well it’s very cool. And you’re just using Excel file with multiple tabs?

John: Yeah. If you look here, I mean I have a vocab load sheet. Stations – so I have a separate sheet for stations. A is the A-framed house on Plantation Road, then I have 1, 2, 3 all the way to 17 at the moment because that’s the amount of words I have in there. I kind of went for the micro.

Anthony:Micro stations.

John: Yeah, kind of straight away. I started off with macro stations but then I just kind of felt that I had a good memory of these places and I felt that I could easily put multiple words in a room. Again, with the room, you don’t have to remember it exactly. My brother’s room in this house. I know where it is. I have a memory of it but I can’t remember what he had in there. So I’ve got like by the door, I’ve got a corner in the left. Then I just put a chest of drawers there. I don’t know if he had one there. I just put a chest of drawers there. And then the other corner. The corner and then a bed, corner and then by the door again. And for most times that’s all I have in a room. Unless it was my room, or unless I’m really intimate with all the little things in a room, most rooms are going to have a chest of drawers and a bed. Maybe a TV or something. It’s not hard to add that stuff in if you can do it.

Anthony: So you don’t have any trouble juggling say like a virtual element that you’ve just invented.

John:            No, because you drill it. Again, if you were to write these out and never come back to it, it’s not going to stick in your mind. You drill it, and then as you drill it you remember it.

One thing I did, I took a bunch of words out like the verbs that use dative, that take dative and the verbs that use sein like ‘ist gefahren’ that use sein instead of haben for the helping verb when using the past and the perfect tenses. So I ended up taking all those words out of my palaces and putting them in a separate one because I thought it would be more helpful just to have those particular categories of verbs in their own thing. Because when I was talking to Sina and she would always correct me that I used haben instead of sein or something like that. So I decided to put these verbs on their own. So when you’re talking and same with dative, like when you call someone dich when they should have been dir because the verb is dative.

Anthony: Right.

John: But other than that, I take these verbs out and then it’s not that hard. I just put another one in there and then with drilling you forget that other one was even there. The new ones are in there now.

 

Method Number Nine:
Just. Do. It.  

 

Anthony: Well, that’s amazing to hear. Because you are answering so many questions that I get all the time. People say well can I reuse Memory Palaces. What happens if I need to renovate something? It sounds for you pretty nontheatrical or nondramatic. You just do it.

John: Just do it and it really is just the drilling. I can’t emphasize that enough. You just walk through them. You have got to revisit them, walk through them and, if you want to, drill them on Anki. Because being able to do it like that, you get a word and you’ve got to instantly got to try, without tracing steps, to instantly know where something is sitting in a certain Memory Palace. It gets to the point you don’t need the mnemonic. It happens kind of quickly.

Anthony: That is one thing that people either criticize or don’t want to do. They say I’m going to set up all this stuff just to not even need it anymore. I wonder if you have thoughts on that. Do you feel like, okay now I’ve got it and I spent all that time just to get these words? Is there remorse or any kind of issue around that?

John: Remorse? Because I did it?

Anthony:  I’m just speaking the voice of what I’ve read from people and their feedback is they just think this is so much work to create mnemonics that they are ultimately not going to use.

John: But it’s not work. If you’ve tried to learn stuff by rote you are putting all that – I always think I’m a really lazy person. I don’t really feel like I’m a full of energy person that really wants to do heaps of stuff all the time. I’m probably disciplined more than anything.

So when it came to this, I watched your course, I went through it and it was effort to just have to sit down and start because it’s creative. You’ve got to think. I think when you’re drilling – you can get on Anki and you can get all other people’s flash cards and it probably seems easy because you’re not putting any work in to do this. This is sweet. But the amount of mental energy and the time it takes to learn the stuff by rote, and then just to forget it anyway – there’s a good chance. I mean it’s not always the case.

I learned quite a lot of words through rote memorization, but I hated it. I couldn’t stand it. It was boring and made me not want to do it. It wasn’t exciting.

So, yeah there is the work up front, but again it’s the eat an elephant. Maybe you would sit down and you would come up with all your houses. I think I might of come up with all my houses in a day. I didn’t really think that was too hard. It is effort. I kind of went above and beyond. I’ve categorized all my stuff. Especially in like the nouns and stuff. I put all the extra information like plural information and like if a verb is strong and uses sein or whatever. So I kind of went above what you talk about for my own personal thing.

 

Method Number Ten:
Know Where Your Time Is Really Saved 

 

To me it’s the amount of time you save on the backend. That’s where the time is saved. I’ve learned thousands of words using mnemonics and drilling with spaced repetition. Just to drill, not to learn, but honestly I think – is it a horse and cart metaphor or chicken and egg. What comes first? It is a bit of effort and coming up with mnemonics takes effort but it’s not that hard. Like ten minutes a day. If you want to learn thousands and thousands of words really quickly, then of course you’re not going to learn that through osmosis or through flash cards. You are going to have to put in a lot of effort to learn that anyway. Just do it every day. You have ten minutes. You have fifteen minutes. If you don’t have fifteen minutes, then something is wrong.

Anthony:Well I think so yeah. I mean I was just talking about my Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets because I’ve recorded it and I don’t know if it is going to come out before this one or after. I think it will come out this week about how for myself I make sure that I get this stuff done. If you go in my room right now, you’ll see that there’s a book on how to write Chinese characters. There’s all my little colored pens there and so forth. The computer doesn’t go on. The smart phone or stupid phone or whatever phone I have doesn’t get looked at until that book is in my hands and I write down, I practice writing eight characters, and I practice writing eight characters eight times each. Now this where I get into systematic thinking. It is eight characters eight times each and then I go and I do my memorialization stuff working with Pimsleur.

John:            That was in your email.

Anthony: Yeah and I just do an entire page. That’s just the rule and that’s a systematic sort of thing. What I’m trying to get at is that this is first thing in the morning and it’s a very small investment of time but it compounds so hugely.

John: Yeah. It compounds. Definitely, it builds up. I think that’s the problem with learning in society in this day and age. People want the magic pill and who doesn’t? Wouldn’t you like to be fluent in a language like that? You know it doesn’t work like that. I always thought anything worthwhile is gonna take effort. You can’t get around having to put in effort.

Maybe this isn’t for everyone. Maybe some people are real awesome at rote learning. Rote learning wasn’t my thing and I wanted a better way of doing it. First it was mnemonics and then once I coupled mnemonics with the palaces, it was just was like bang. Having mnemonics floating around in space, it was good, but I’ve forgotten a lot of them now too. Whereas having them in a palace, it is just boom, boom having them there. It is really awesome.

Anthony: Somewhere in my slush pile of research there is an article that I read that they did some studies with polyglots. And they said that in their research that polyglots are actually very, very good at rote learning because they spend sometimes decades doing it. But I think it is the discipline. It is the consistency of consistent effort applied. Even polyglots have what is often called in that world the stubborn quintile. That is the 20 percent or whatever number percent of words that no matter what they won’t stick. That’s when mnemonics are a go-to method because there is really no other way. There is another way, which is just to not learn them. It is really exciting. If we can switch gears.

John:   Well put it this way. If you want to learn heaps of vocabulary and you think you haven’t made a start at all on this and you think I’ve got up with all these houses and then I’ve got to come up with all these stations after that, then don’t think of it like that. I’m a big fan of writing my goals down. I put them into chunks and put them on a calendar and I know if I spend 20 minutes today doing that and it’s going to be done and I cross it off and go through all that.

But if you’re coming at this thinking this is a lot of work. Well yeah, it kind of is. You’re learning a language! It is a lot of work but don’t think that. Say today I’m going to write from A to J. I’m going to come out with those houses. It doesn’t take very long. Then you do the rest. Then you do the same with the stations. You just go through.

 

Method Number Eleven:
Ditch Overwhelm 

 

You even say don’t overwhelm yourself. Just go through and put your first ten stations in and then do that with all your things. Once you have the houses, the palaces and once you have a few stations, and you have it set up kind of like this, it is really quick. If you put it in perspective to learn one word, and not all words need mnemonics. I don’t need to put that in the palace. It is valuable real estate as well. When you’re putting these things in there. Some words you are just like I don’t need to put that in there. I can remember that, and if I forget it, I mean I’m going to come across it again. I’ll know what it is. To learn one word, to come up with a mnemonic shouldn’t take more than two minutes.

Anthony: I’m glad to hear you say that because I’m always trying to communicate exactly that.

John: They don’t have to be awesome. I think this probably where people trip up because it is creative. You’re using something inside yourself to create something. It’s just a tiny little piece of an image and that’s exercising parts of your brain that feels like work. It shouldn’t take more than two minutes.

Then to actually really drill that and to know it, it shouldn’t take more than going back to it. On a hard word, I don’t think more than five times. I think to go back to a word five times would be a really hard word. You are looking at learning one word maybe five minutes. Whereas to learn a word through rote memorization is it going to take longer than five minutes? Probably. If you keep forgetting it. When you break it down, I reckon maximum one word from start to being right in your memory would take five minutes from start to finish.

Anthony: People are going to think that I’m paying you to say this.

John: No.

Anthony: That’s basically what my experience is. I was talking with this girl on Skype, and she basically was I think making a kind of suggestion that I learn how to say husband and wife in Chinese if you know what I mean.

So I said all right teach what they are. It is 老公 lǎo gōng for husband and 老婆 lǎopó and my tones may not be correct there. I kind of hope that she was suggesting something there. I just said okay, you know how I’m going to do this. I’ll tell you Laozi who is like a famous figure in the history of philosophy and so forth. He is hitting a gong. He’s right here at this corner of this room and then he’s kissing a girl on the butt for 老婆 lǎopó. You may not know this yet, but “po” is German slang for butt. So he’s just kissing her on the “po – poa.” And know there’s a kangaroo there who is punching because that’s my mnemonic for the rising tone.

Then I just visited it a couple times. She said I’m going to ask you a month later if you still remember that. I’m just like no problem. I just memorize it a few times. I take every opportunity that I can to tell people what husband and wife is in Chinese to reinforce it. With my speaking partner I put it in sentences. She totally butchered me and it was like no that is not how you would say it in a sentence. Here is how you say it in a sentence.

The point being is that I have established that probably for the rest of my life those words are never going to go away because of visiting it maybe five or six times, I don’t remember, but then making an actual effort to go and say it and to try to put it in a sentence and make it part of your life and then you’ve got it.

John: To me, I’m finding the tenses harder because there’s more moving parts. You’re putting them in structural format. But again that’s just drilling. If you can take one word, like one verb and go through all those tenses with one verb, then you’re going to know that verb. To learn just words on their own, the lifespan of starting it to having it in your memory I reckon five minutes.

Anthony: Yeah, I agree. There are certainly some words that are a bit more challenging. What I find, and you’ve already touched upon it, is to limit the amount of time. Like when I’m going through Pimsleur, sometimes I’ll hit a point where they’re bridging from one set of words to another set of words. If I happen to hit that change over in the middle of a session, then it will get a bit overwhelming. Because now all of a sudden you are shifting gears and so the words for “let’s have dinner at your place” then you start going to the words for money and amounts, then you have to scale back and take the amounts and the numbers on a different day altogether. That, I find for me, can get a bit too much.

It is just amazing to me how much you can do in such a little period of time. Then you reinforce it with speaking.

How do you find it speaking in German? You’ve already touched upon it, but do people help you out, correct you?

 

Method Number Twelve:
Practice What You’ve Memorized
Out In The World

 

What I find is that there is no such thing as German. I’ll get in a taxi in this neighborhood and the guy will speak to me completely different than if I’m in a taxi that I get in in Schöneberg. You just start to develop a skill for decoding what that must mean. This new pronunciation and this new slang and this new keitzdeutsch and this new regional dialect whatever the case may be.

John:  I’m in no way real fluent in German. I start the integration course on Monday starting at B1. I’ll be doing five hours a day, five days a week.

Anthony:  Mine was four hours.

John:  Four hours a day, 1:00 to 5:00, four hours a day, five days a week for about three months. I’m really looking forward to pushing a bit more and really talking every day like that.

Going around and out and about asking for stuff, I usually do, especially in the East as well, because obviously back in the day people weren’t brought up learning English like they probably were in West Berlin. I find when I have to do things, like I had to get my driver’s license and the people don’t speak English, or I had to go to the hospital one day and you quite often find that people aren’t speaking English. They might know real basic English, but they won’t speak English to you. In that sense, I can get around. I have to ask them to speak to me slower. Mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut, können Sie mir langsam sprechen. They will speak slow and dumb it down a bit and I’m like yeah, yeah. I can understand. I can talk back.

As I said, busting into the middle of a real technical conversation, I’m not going to be doing that at all, but just getting around is sweet. The other thing as well is trying to decode what people are telling you. A prime example. I’ll always use German when I go out. I won’t resort to using English because I want to do it German because I’m in Germany. I asked if there was any pizzas or something like the frozen pizzas. Honestly what came back to me was just (incomprehensible) but I heard Vorne and Kasse. Those two words. I was like sweet.

Anthony: They’re up the front by the cash register.

John:  Yeah, that’s really how most of it works is that you pick up. When you’re learning, I guess when you start learning through a teacher and if you start reading, like when you’re reading books, you come across so much of the common vocabulary that once you build enough of that up, you can pick up those when people are talking to you. They are kind of like the anchor points of a sentence you know that when people say that you’re like yeah.

I’m definitely not at the stage where I can translate like boom and instantly narrow down to the fine point of what they’ve told me but I’ll hear enough words and be able to decode it quick enough to actually know what they’ve told me. Sometimes you know, I’ll walk in the wrong direction. And they’re like no, no.

Anthony:  I should say though, for people who don’t know the course system. You’re being a bit modest because starting at B1 is actually quite something. So that you’ve developed this on your own to start at B1. Because I didn’t get in that B1. I had to start at A1. So there’s A1 and A2 and then B1. I did half of B1 before my program was over. I got into it relatively quickly but nonetheless the fact that you’re starting at B1, and what I’ve heard when we’ve talked German it’s pretty impressive.

John:  Thanks.

Anthony: I just wanted to let people know because I don’t think that they use that in North America and the audience is primarily North American for this podcast. Just what B2 means as opposed to A1. Basically there is three levels, A, B and C and you’re just under halfway there. Once you’re done B1 you’re under half way there. That’s interesting and good and great. You are also a musician.

John:  Yes.

 

Method Number Thirteen:
Apply The Techniques To More
Than One Area Of Interest
(Like Music)

 

Anthony: And this to me is absolutely fascinating because today you told me something that I think cracks the code that I have been trying to figure out and so maybe say a little bit about that. Because we have talked about how you are a systemic thinker and you showed this chart that you made to help you be able to do rhythms.

John:  The sequencer.

Anthony: Later you had something also for notes that was a similar chart that had to do with scales.

John:  I just came up with those charts. That’s too hard to explain on this if you’re not a musician. Just from sequencing drums and using a sequencer. I’m a guitarist first and foremost. I don’t produce electronic music. I play heavy metal. In order to get drums because I pretty much haven’t got a band or anything, I’ve had to learn how to create drum beats from using a sequencer program and programing them.

I’m not someone who learned to read music. I wanted to come up with a way that I could write music without having a computer or without having my guitar with me. I came up with different charts. I’ve got one for like arrangements where I can write about what I’m feeling. Because a lot of it comes through like either a beat or some kind of feeling you’re wanting. Is it going to be fast and slamming or is it going to be a bit more subtle. Because it is tension and release. You can kind of write notes.

I’ve got a chart where I can write in English about certain aspects of the song. I’ve got a chart for writing drum beats. It’s just kick, snare, hi-hat where I can just like on a computer where I would put in a kick. I can just write it out with a marker and I will know the beat in my head. I can basically write out a beat and play it. There’s a song there. You can start writing a song.

Then the sequencer thing, I just went overboard. I had access to a laminator. I have them all so I can write on them with wipe off markers so I can keep reusing them. Instead of having a staff where you would write notes on, I thought well I’m more used to seeing a sequence window where you have the piano roll up the side. It’s keeping with the same divisions of the beat. Like the drum thing is that I showed you so I just basically wrote a grid where I can write melodies out using this. If I was to write it out I could go and then put it straight into the sequencer and hopefully it would sound like what I had in my head. I use the drumbeat thing quite a bit and try and come up with beats and then just play them on my hands and knees to try and get the feel. Other than that, that was just something I did and haven’t really touched back on that. When I start writing my next batch of songs I will probably go into doing that a bit more.

Anthony: About memorizing music, one of the things we had talked about is I was just telling you what I would consider a quick fix when I’m studying music which is just use the major method, and I think it’s relatively manageable for quick fixes and with four strings on the bass. I never have bothered doing this with the fifth string. I play five strings but in any case that approach was major method. Each fret has a number and then creating a word for each number. The E string is Ernie, A string is Al Pacino, D string is Dracula and the G string is Grover. If I needed to remember something on the 12th fret of the G string then it would be Grover getting a tan. Because in major method 1 is T or D, 2 is N so tan. It could be a ton of bricks was falling on his or whatever. Just so it has that TN sound. What you’ve done is going the distance as you’ve shown that you do. But explain that a little bit and you’re thinking behind it.

John: With the notes?

Anthony:  Yeah.

John: With the fretboard. I’m kind of going back I think memorizing music. I kind of sidestepped up there because this is kind of memorizing the notes on a fretboard. Not necessarily remembering music per se. I found when I first started playing guitar, the way I memorized, I’m definitely not a savant or those dudes who can imagine the music really clearly in their head. I can imagine certain things in my head but I definitely couldn’t write it down. I don’t have that real good ability to instantly play what I hear. But as far as like basic rhythms and things like that, I can imagine songs in my head.

When I first started, probably even before I even started playing the thing that really helped me was learning the lyrics to songs. This obviously only works with songs that have lyrics. It wasn’t something I thought about. I would listen to music when you used to buy CDs and then used to sit there and you’d listen to it and you would just read along and I’d just learn lyrics to songs that I really liked. What I’d do I would just run through my head. Smells Like Team Spirit was the big one. I’d already know the lyrics so I would sing these in my head and then instead of just doing bits and pieces and I would just try and do the whole song. Again, I’m only talking from my own experience. I don’t know how easy that is for other people or if it’s simple or if it’s really hard. This is something I did and used to do whenever I was bored.

 

Method Number Fourteen:
Practice The Art Of Concentration

 

One time we went on this school trip. We were camping when I was 15, and I was really tired and just trying to put my mind somewhere else and I imagined the whole Never Mind album from start to finish. From Smells Like Team Spirit to Something in the Way. I played the whole thing in my head because I knew all the lyrics. I guess it’s just concentration. I used to do it with Jimmy Hendrix. I remember like Purple Haze. It is how I used to put myself to sleep. I would imagine the songs in my head. Once the lyrics kick in you kind of just imagine singing them out. I found that real invaluable. I think that was a real good skill that helped me a lot with learning structures of songs and I just think that was a really valuable thing to do.

As far as what we’re doing here, the notes on the fretboard. There is so much stuff in music that is rote memorization especially once you start getting into theory and stuff like that. Again, I’ve just learned so much of it through rote memorization. One thing, and it’s probably a divided line between guitarists. You don’t need to know the notes on the fretboard but I’m sure the virtuoso players probably beg to differ. I want to be able to play really well. I’ve tried to learn the notes on the fretboard and it’s hard.

Just like rote drilling and even doing things like playing the scales and trying to learn them through playing scales and stuff. I thought there must be some way to learn music with mnemonics. Like this kind of stuff. Again, just after meeting you and talking about it, it kind of fires up those things and you start thinking. I thought well if I can at least understand the fretboard.

A little backstory. If you are a musician you might understand that, pianists learn to sight read and the reason it’s good for pianists is because there’s only one way to play a note on a piano. You might get like E at different times on a keyboard, but they are different pitches. They vibrate slower. On a guitar you can have that same E like three times, that exact same pitch three times on the fretboard. So it’s like a more three-dimensional instrument.

Because of this, guitarists seem to be very visual and a lot of time it comes from playing patterns of these things. But, you can’t escape it. The guitar is a visual thing. What happens is you end up with all these different scales. On a piano, a scale has a certain sequence of notes to it but it’s that same kind of sequence: tone, tone, semitone, tone if you are playing the major scale.

Whereas guitar can work like that if you’re playing along one string. But once you start going across the fretboard, across the strings, it’s still if you’re playing the scale one note after the other, it’s still that, but if you’re playing three notes per string, every three notes your breaking that pattern and you have to have it on the next string. I kind of started with that before I got onto learning the notes.

I thought everything is based from learning the notes. I thought if I could learn the notes of the fretboard using mnemonics, the next thing would be, and I’ve already started thinking about it, I haven’t put anything to paper yet, the next thing would be learning the scales, the different three note per string scale patterns. Once you know them, if you know what I’m talking about, it is kind of like you can go up, down and across. Once you learn them. They all kind of fit into each other really nicely. I’ve kind of started on an idea for using that.

Then on top of that, I thought well if you can go there, then you can start learning the triads. Which is the next set of kind of like shapes that would sit on top of all of that. I think if you can do those three things using mnemonics, you would have a very good visual representation of the fretboard that you can imagine really well in your head instead of just being arbitrary dots on a fretboard.

My first thing was well the foundation would be learning the notes. It is going to be hard to learn all these other things if you don’t actually have the map of the fretboard and at the very basic the map is the notes of the fretboard. It really is just an extension of the Magnetic Memory Method. I’ve used one whole building. From the nut of the guitar to the 11th fret, so it is twelve different stations in this one big building.

If you can’t think of a big building, I think you could probably cut it after the 5th fret. You could go from the nut to 5 and then 6 to 11 you could probably have two palaces that could take up those parts and then if you really can’t find buildings that’re big enough for that, you’d probably be able to do it into fours. Like from the nut to the 2rd fret. From the 3th fret to the 4th fret. Kind of that.

But I basically chose one big building because it was big enough and I had a good enough memory of it. It was an old tavern we used to own, my family. For anyone, that doesn’t know the guitar, once you get to the 12th fret, it’s just the same. It’s the same as from the nut to the 11th fret. So I don’t really worry about that. All I’ve done is I’ve basically created twelve different stations inside this one palace and they represent each fret on a guitar.

So at the nut, I’ll just read it out. It’s the bottle store that is downstairs in this tavern. I’ve got the corner window by the spirits. The beer chiller, the shop counter, the front office and the wine area. I’ve got some kind of mnemonics in here that probably aren’t real appropriate for a podcast.

Anthony: You already forced me to put the explicit sign on this one.

John:            I’ll try my best. This is at 5th fret. And my mnemonics are – this is the dining area next to the kitchen. I have the salad bar, the toilets, the window overlooking the car park, the table overlooking Caltex, and the cutlery station. What these are, at the salad bar that’s the bottom E string. So at the 5th fret at the bottom E string, at the toilets string five. The window looking at the car park is string four. The table is string three and the cutlery station is string two, and on a guitar the first string and the sixth string are the same. So I don’t bother putting a sixth micro station in there.

Anthony: Right.

John: By the salad bar I’ve Ace Ventura just dishing up some salad. So that’s A. By the toilets I’ve Donald Duck walking in. These are basic mnemonics because I’m not trying to remember any information in them. It’s just to represent a note. I’ve Ace Ventura. Then I’ve got Donald Duck. Then I’ve got Gandolf overlooking the car park. I’ve Captain America sitting at the table with his shield eating food. Then I’ve got Elvis Presley by the cutlery station getting some forks. So with that you’ve got A, D, G, C, E and then A again. So that’s all your notes at the 5th fret on the guitar.

Anthony: Just so it’s clear for people, Captain America is C because of Captain.

John: That’s pretty basic. The only thing with music is that you have what are called enharmonic notes. What that means is it’s like the alphabet you have A to G: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, but in between those notes you can go A, A sharp. However, A sharp can also be B flat. That one pitch can represent either an A sharp or a B flat, then C sharp/D flat, and then between E and F it just goes E, F. Then F sharp/G flat, G sharp/A flat, A sharp/B flat, B, C, C sharp/D flat.

For the enharmonic things, I have two people or two characters usually battling each other. One example is at the second string of the 2nd fret C sharp/D flat and my mnemonic there is I have Cat Woman for C but I don’t have the Penguin, I have Danny DeVito as the Penguin in Batman Returns, and it’s by a freezer. So it’s interacting with the freezer there. He’s basically taking fish out, slipped up on the fish and the Cat Woman is trying to scratch him so he’s D flat and she’s C sharp. She’s got the sharp claws. She is in the dominate position trying to scratch him who is the sub-dominate position. I don’t know. Because he’s going down.

I have others. Like for example I’ve got for A sharp/B flat I’ve got Axl Rose with a switchblade for A sharp trying to slash up Bret Michaels from Poison. So it’s A sharp/B flat.

Anthony:  Okay. So on A string you have C sharp/D flat like at the 4th fret if I’m correct.

John: Yeah.

Anthony: On the A string. Do you use the same characters on the E string where that appears?

John: No, every single note has its own character. Like at the 4th fret, I haven’t drilled this so like it takes me a little bit to fully remember. But if I remember right, C sharp/D flat I’ve got Dave Navarro going down on Carmen Electra.

Anthony: Now I’m never going to forget that.

John: C sharp, so C Carman Electra. Dave Navarro going down, D flat.

Anthony: Oh, so you even incorporate that.

John: Yeah.

Anthony: Nice, nice. Well, you know, it might be explicit but it’s not entirely unpleasant. Actually I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Dave Navarro what he thinks about that. Now let me see, Dave Navarro was the guy from Jane’s Addiction. I was just thinking about that. I was looking here at my roommate.

John: He was in Chili Peppers

Anthony: He was in Chili Peppers. But not that album. It was –

John: One Hot Minute.

Anthony: One Hot Minute. Man that was good. I really like his guitar playing. Anyway, I’m not going to forget that very soon. But that’s it. Right? What do you think about this whole topic of, because it’s one thing that scares a lot people off is that I don’t want my head filled with sex and violence.

John: You’re already thinking about it anyway. I mean the world is full of it man. You put on the news. This is not real violence. So what, Axl Rose is switch blading up Bret Michaels. It’s not that violent. They probably do it in real life.

Anthony: Well yeah, if you watch their You Tube videos where they are snipping at each other. They’re definitely not kind in real life at all.

John: No. It’s not real violence and it’s not stuff you wish upon people. But it does help you remember stuff.

Anthony: So take it into practice. Let’s say that you manage to use mnemonics to accomplish all these three levels that you talked about, how do you think that that’s going to translate into playing ability in the short and long term?

John: It’s hard to really know at the moment. I know it’s really important to understand. Like I don’t really use notes so much. I don’t sit there going this A. If I’m coming up with a solo or even trying to improvise on something you have your go to patterns. It is really pattern based. You try and use your ear as much as possible.

My forte really is writing music. I can improvise somewhat over like backing and stuff and kind of like jam over stuff. But there’s so many layers involved. It’s like mnemonics aren’t probably the be all or end all. I think the best things mnemonics would work for when trying to memorize music would be trying to memorize the theory. Like if you’re trying to memorize all the key signatures and stuff like that. Obviously trying the memorize the notes on the fretboard.

I’ve still got to drill that. I basically have just written this out and haven’t really come back to it. But knowing the scales. In particular I’m talking about three-note per string scales. There is already the cage system which if you’re a guitarist you might know what that is. Playing pentatonic scales like in those box positions I kind of find it all right but for the kind of stuff that I like to do, that metal kind of lead playing, I like three-note per string a lot better because you can go across the neck and then across the strings.

 

Method Number Fifteen:
Combine Acronyms With Imagery

 

It’s really hard to explain over just audio but they are like Lego pieces that really fit nicely together. I’ve already started thinking about mnemonics. With that stuff you’re just dealing with the diatonic system like you’re dealing with seven – well there’s six different patterns, two of them repeat. But you’re dealing with kind of like seven patterns that all lock together. For one pattern, people call them by the modes. They’ll call this one pattern maybe like the Phrygian mode where the one and the second note are like right next each other. You’ve got that flattend second while technically the context will define what mode it is, but as far as recognizing these patterns people will name them like Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian, Locrian.

There’s another thing I’ve made a mnemonic for IDPLMAL. That was my mnemonic for remembering the order of the modes. So basically the Phrygian shape, know Phrygian is context not necessarily the shape. It’s not a shape at all but it’s a musical context, but that particular shape with the one before it, to me I’m kind of thinking the Phrygian one kind of looks like a snake. So I already know there’s going to be a snake for that pattern and then the one before that kind of like to me I imagine kind of like Bruce Lee doing a big kick like that with a straight leg. That big kind of flying kick. I kind of imagine him kicking the snake. That’s the first one I’ve only ever really thought about it.

The visualization thing is really important. If you’re memorizing pieces of music, you don’t necessarily need to know the scales you can really just go over where your fingers go. But if you’re trying to improvise then you really need to know these patterns and being able to connect your ear to them is even better. Being able to know and anticipate what is coming up.

I think if you can lay these scale patterns out and have a really good mental visualization in your head, you’re going to be able to go to them a lot quicker. Sure there’s different elements. You’re going to have to have good technique which is a physical thing that you have to practice. Mnemonics aren’t going to help there. But to be able to just go to these patterns really well through mnemonics it will be a lot better I think being able to remember mnemonics than just shapes.

Then on top of that the triads. I’ve always thought all the different versions and inversions of triads, I always thought that would be a really important thing to be able to visualize really well and even Joe Satriani even says it himself. He says a lot of people learn arpeggio shapes all over the guitar. He says it’s probably better to learn where all the three-note triads are because the arpeggios are all based around those anyway.

Anthony: Right.

John: And so I think application wise if you can have a real instant grasp. If you can say you’ve got the scales and you’ve got the arpeggios down, you can just instantly in your head memorize and visualize where you’ve got to go and what shape you’re playing, that’s when knowing the notes will come in because that’s when you go I’ve got to play an A minor arpeggio in second inversion here. That’s when you’ll probably be able to holistically use all those three things together.

But I mean this is not tested or anything. As I said, I’ve only started with the notes and the next things will follow. I feel confident with it. I’ve always thought those three things together as far as good fretboard visualization to have a fully rounded visual comprehension of the guitar I’ve always thought those three things together would be very important. They are something that you can definitely do with and make it easier with mnemonics. You’ve just got to sit down and do it.

Anthony: Well that’s really what it comes down to. It is sitting down and doing it. I really want to thank you for all your insights and sharing your experience because it’s fantastic. Also for just leaping on the microphone with me to record an episode of the podcast.

John: Interrupting the drum session.

Anthony: Is it cool with you we’ll end this episode with one of your songs?

John: Yeah.

Anthony: The one that I was learning with you. Is that cool?

John: Yeah. Objective Decimation.

Anthony: It’s really great.

John: It’s brutal.

Anthony: It’s brutal. Actually it’s kind of funny we ended up doing a different project because I don’t want to have to memorize this song because it is so intense and detailed.

John: It’s a lot to learn.

Anthony: Not because I didn’t want to learn it. Actually what I wanted is for you to just tab it out for me.

John: I will once I finish recording the songs, I will tab my music out.

 

Method Number Sixteen:
Publicly Admit When You’re Just Being Lazy 😉

 

Anthony:  Yeah, that’s really what my laziness was. Also I’m a bit tone deaf. So when I have to try and learn by ear. If it’s in standard E I can do it okay. Are you in C sharp or B.

John: Well it’s a transposed instrument I guess because my guitar is tuned half a step down. So I’m a half step from standard tuning. But I’m playing in – so it would be A flat minor but it switches. This is where the modal stuff comes in. If you go a fifth up from A you get E. It switches between A minor and E Phrygian dominant which is basically the same scale. If you play the A harmonic minor where you hit the raised 7th, and E Phrygian dominate you’re using exactly the same notes. It’s exactly the same. It’s just instead of A being your home base E becomes your home base. When it cranks into the chorus that’s when it switches.

A minor becomes the key, the home base for the key then. So it sounds a bit different, but it’s really E flat and A flat because I’m tuned half a step down.

Anthony: Well any case, down tuned makes it more of a challenge for my ear to pick out the differences. I always had that problem with The Outside. I was like come on, just tab it for me.

John: I will tab them. Once I finish. All my songs are written and I’ve got to re-record the guitars and do some work on the bass and then do the final mixing and kind of mastering of it. And then I’ll have them for my website. I’ll probably sort out something final for that. I’m still contemplating whether to charge or not. If I do it won’t be much. It took a lot of effort to do them but I kind of want to cross-pollinate with the Fretfury Guitar Tuition thing. Kind of like niche myself in that whole guitar tuition thing. Kind of niched in that hard rock metal kind of genre and then the music is the credibility to get people in and then I can kind of do all the other teaching based around that and so I will tab the songs out because I want to be able to put them on You Tube; my video is teaching people how to play my stuff. Then who knows. If they want to learn more then there might be some kind of membership deal. The idea is that I’d give all those songs away. Not the fully finished recorded songs, but backing tracks and have all the tabs and have all the stuff there and then the videos on You Tube so people can actually learn how to play all those things. That is the ultimate goal. They will be tabbed.

Anthony: I’m really looking forward to that on multiple levels. What’s your website? I’ll link to it.

John: Yeah the one if people want to go listen to music is www.firstincharge.com.

Anthony: We’ll link to that.

John:  I’ve got another one. But there’s nothing really on it just yet.

Anthony: And you also have videos that walk people through some of your production techniques.

John: Yeah, First In Charge are some basic videos of just how I did the drums. How I did the bass. It’s all home recording and with technology these days you can get pretty good results from doing it. I just wanted to show that you can do it on a real tight budget. Everything is done on the cheap but at the moment I’m pretty happy with the results. I still have to re-record guitars but other than that, just very brief overviews. I don’t go in depth how to program drums because then you have got to learn how to play drums a little bit to understand the concept behind them. But just a walkthrough of the drums, bass guitars and vocals at the moment.

Anthony: Well it might be homemade but when I first heard it, it just sounds like totally in a studio so we’re gonna roll Objective Decimation. For everybody out there, and even you don’t like metal listen to it anyway because you’re about hear some super talented from John McPhedran and so thanks again for being on the show. Listen to this episode a couple times. Because this is just action packed with all kinds of stuff that you can get using no matter what language you’re listening to or what instrument you’re playing and tell us how that you did and until next time, keep magnetic.

Further Resources

Memorize Bach On Bass

The Story Of How To Learn And Memorize German Vocabulary

This video features music John and I recorded together in Berlin based on my song, “Goin’ Down.”

The post 16 Heavy Metal Memory Methods For German And Music appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 6_Heavy_Metal_Memory_Methods_For_German_And_Music.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:12am EDT

Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_98179819You know all about the dangers of smoking, right? Bronchitis, emphysema, vascular disease … Heck, the Demon Nicotine has even been linked to cancer.

But did you know that smoking also poses risks to your intelligence and memory? Some experts disagree, but common sense in combination with evidence tells us that …

 

Smoking Murders Your Memory!

 

Never fear. If this post doesn’t spook smokers out of lighting up ever again (it probably won’t), it’ll at least educate them. Plus, I’ll give you some ideas for how to quit with minimum suffering in record time. If you’re not a smoker yourself, you can at least pass the tactics on.

But if you’re one of those who prefer cocktails of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen cyanide, abandon this post right away because it’s basically a rant from a guy who cares for both you as a person AND for your mental abilities. So buckle up if you’re going to stick around, because here comes some tough love from your friendly neighborhood Warrior of the Mind.

 

A Brief History Of The World’s Stupidest And Stinkiest Habit

 

There may be earlier accounts, but history tells us that Columbus witnessed Native Americans huffing and puffing on rolled dried leaves starting in 1492. They “drank the smoke” as he put it.

Later, ships brought some of those Natives with them to Europe, leading to tobacco seeds being left at each and every port of call. The Dutch brought tobacco home from the Hottentots, the Portuguese introduced it to the Polynesians and people soon planted nicotine anywhere and everywhere it would grow.

 

Even Kings Failed To Stop The
Spread Of Smoking Across Their Kingdoms

 

We often think of royalty from the 1600s as slovenly pigs stuffing their faces with mutton and mead, but not King James. When he wasn’t busy developing the Bible, he was writing hate mail to smokers. Check out this rant in which he says smoking is …

“… A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and the black stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible stygian of the pit that is bottomless.”

King James wrote those words in 1604, but his rage was nothing compared to the Russian czar who banned smoking and said that “offenders will be sentenced to slitting of nostrils.”

Ouch!

Nonetheless, demand exceeded supply all over Europe, and tobacco prices soared. As a result, some people got mighty wealthy.

How Smoking Formed A
Global Superpower … Almost Overnight!

 

By the 17th Century, smokers had become aware of nicotine’s addictive powers. But it was already too late, and, much worse, tobacco had become central to the development of an emerging economic and political powerhouse.

For example, the tobacco industry bolstered the success of the Virginia Settlement. Farming the plant became the backbone of slavery and the southern plantation practices overall. The weed stood behind the Louisiana Purchase and is still considered America’s oldest industry (not to be mistaken with prostitution, which belongs to the entire world).

By the 1930s, smoking had entered the world of advertising. Printed images of sexy women and dapper men enticed people around the world, not to mention Hollywood movies, which were entering the era of sound. Now you could even hear the sounds of beloved celebrities puffing their way into early graves.

If You Think Trump Is An Idiot, Get A Load Of This

 

Some people admire Theodore Roosevelt and perhaps for good reason. But he’s the same dude who classified tobacco as an essential crop and had the stuff shipped overseas to America’s servicemen. Thanks to him, they could get their limbs blown off and memory-destroying pulmonary diseases too.

Not only that, but in 1945 alone over 267 BILLION cigarettes were sold domestically in the US. The military draft legislation was changed so that enough people could stay home to work on the tobacco farms to supply the domestic and overseas markets.

 

Science Fails To Come To The Rescue

 

Although people had long been aware of tobacco’s addictive properties, medical research didn’t pick up the issue in earnest until the 1940s. But it wouldn’t be until 1957 that a Public Health Service report called for sales restrictions, health warnings and advertising regulations.

Those not afraid to speak out against smoking gained some traction, but the tobacco industry retaliated by introducing filtered cigarettes to allay the fears of current and future smokers. Congress continued to favor the industry and to this day, celebrities romanticize the disgusting habit by either smoking themselves or pretending too. (Some actors even pick up the habit after playing the role of smokers!)

 

Smoking Destroys Your Body And Mind At The Same Time

 

Despite different conclusions, most studies link smoking to diseases that involve the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Tamper with these and your ability to concentrate and remember plummets.

Why? It’s because smoking:

  • Causes peripheral blood vessels to restrict
  • Reduces capillary flow
  • Deposits toxic fat in blood vessels
  • Prevents oxygen from reaching the heart and brain
  • Decreases lung capacity and elasticity
  • Lessens the amount of carbon dioxide your body needs to expel
  • Lowers the ability of your macrophage cells to kill invading microbes
  • … and much, much more!

And if all that wasn’t bad enough enough, these effects of smoking …

 

Utterly Smash Verbal Intelligence
And Intellectual Functioning!

 

Okay, I’m probably exaggerating, but a lot of evidence supports this claim. Sure, smoking tricks your adrenal medulla into blasting out a bit of dopamine and epinephrine, but for the average smoker who sucks in nearly half a cup of tar a year …

 

Smoking Is Suffocating Your
Cognitive Functioning To Death!

 

At this point, you might be asking …

So what? What’s so great about being intelligent and mentally capable anyway?

I’m glad you asked because intelligence and memory work together to form your entire personality. In short, you need memory and intelligence to:

  • Act with purpose
  • Think rationally
  • Deal effectively with your circumstances and environment

I think you have to agree that ruining your memory with smoking is complete madness.

The Biggest Lie Smokers Tell Themselves
About Concentration And Memory

 

Of course, smokers love to claim that smoking helps them in each of these areas. But in reality, even just a few hours without nicotine has been shown to severely damage verbal and visuospatial memory. This state is called withdrawal and many nicotine addicts may need nine weeks or more without smoking to sail beyond the torrid waters of depleted intelligence.

Of course, the extent to which any individual experiences these pains depends on a lot of factors, including baseline indicators of intelligence, including:

  • How much they educate themselves formally or informally
  • The amount of social and cultural experiences they pursue
  • Diet and other lifestyle choices
  • The amount smoked
  • The style of smoking (quick puffing, deep inhaling or not drawing smoke into the lungs at all)
  • Other factors such as genetics, gender and even how much a person engages in random acts of generosity

All this means that …

 

It Only Seems Like Smoking Helps Improve Your Memory

 

In reality, smoking stops withdrawal from messing with your concentration and memory, specifically working memory.

By working memory, I’m referring to Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch‘s model. They described memory as a Central Executive System with three structures:

1. Phonological loop

2. Visuospatial sketchpad

3. Episodic buffer

When nicotine withdrawal gets rolling, it interferes, it messes with each of these bigtime.

So even though some evidence shows that using mnemonics may combat the effects of withdrawal, you’re better off not smoking at all.

 

7 Super-Difficult Ways To Quit Smoking

 

I’m not going to sugar coat this or make elaborate promises. Getting off the Demon Nicotine ain’t easy. But as a former working hypnotists, I think these tips can help you if you want to quit.

1. Hypnosis

Hypnosis, as Kreskin once defined it, is nothing more than the acceptance of a suggestion. If you take this definition to heart, then you instantly realize that we are all hypnotizing ourselves and others all the time. The real question is …

How do you get yourself to accept the suggestion not to smoke.

The answer is:

 

You Don’t!

 

Instead, the hypnotist or self-hypnotist helps raise the ego to overcome the effects of withdrawal and resist the temptations of addiction. Hypnotists harness the power of the imagination to achieve this feat by eliciting the language of their clients, adopting their body language to create rapport and using relaxation inductions to increase trust and the acceptance of suggestions.

A hypnotist might hear that you hate spending money on cigarettes above all and then have you imagine setting stacks of cash on fire after feeling the weight of your hard-earned wealth in your hands. Or if you mention disliking wheezing and coughing, the hypnotist might help you exaggerate that suffering in your mind and then replace that experience with the bliss of physical reaction.

The hypnotists then compliments these states with ego boosting statements that help the client keep feeling empowered over the next 72 hours, which tend to be the hardest when a person quits.

2. Drink Tons Of Water And Devour Acres Of Fruit

It helps to detoxify during those first 72 hours, so many hypnotists will send you home with the instructions to keep hydrated and get your sugars from natural sources instead of candy and pastries.

You might gain a bit of weight from the fructose, but not as much as you would from refined sugars. And chocolate bars and other sweets will only make you antsy, impulsive and thereby more likely to pop a cigarette in your mouth and light up.

3. Rest

It might be hard sitting still, let alone getting to sleep, but with The Ultimate Sleep Remedy, you at least have a fighting chance. I can’t reproduce the entire book here, but one technique you can try is Shavasana. In its simplest form, this practice involves nothing more than laying on your back and practicing total stillness for as long as you can.

4. Fitness

Go for a walk. Do pushups. Even just working at a standing desk provides beneficial exercise. You can also hang out with non-smokers and visit smoke-free places like art galleries and museums.

These activities follow the powerful “don’t go where it’s slippery” principle. If you make it impossible to spark a cherry, you won’t wind up inhaling junk that ruins your body and mind. It’s that simple.

5. Breathing Exercises

Lately, I’ve been using the Wim Hof Method and a few other techniques. These exercises fall under physical fitness, but belong to their own category because they strengthen your lungs, improve oxygen circulation and develop your concentration while hopefully distracting your mind from nicotine cravings.

6. Meditation

Sit just to sit and also combine meditation with breathing exercises and even do both while walking.

7. Practice memory techniques

Although you might feel too fidgety to memorize playing cards or foreign language vocabulary (LINK 15 reasons), this technique pays off.

Why?

Because the more you experience success with mnemonics while distracted, the more successful you’ll be when using them post-addiction. That’s just a hypothesis of mine, but I think it’ll prove true. When I’ve practiced card memorization in noisy places, for example, I wind up getting crazy better results later when I do the same drills at home.

Are You Ready To Serve Your Memory By Quitting Smoking?

 

In sum, you can stop smoking. When you do, you’ll not only improve your physical health, but also the strength of your mind. Even better, you can use the art of memory and mnemonics to help you get through it in combination with self-hypnosis or with the guidance of a good hypnotist who doesn’t BS you about what’s really going on.

No matter how you quit, I know this general information and these tips will serve you and I look forward to hearing about your success.

In the meantime, stomp this habit out of your life and get busy using memory techniques to help keep the cravings at bay using my FREE Memory Improvement Kit starting right now.

Further Resources

The Surprising Truth About Hypnosis And Memory Improvement

Foods That Improve Memory You Can Pig Out On

The post Stop Smoking And Boost Memory With These Step-By-Step Addiction Breakers appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_49030689Remember when you were in middle school? How boring it was?

Wouldn’t it have been great if you had not only the ability to make it the most exciting time of your life, but also memorize everything you learned?

 

Here’s The VERY Good News About Helping Middle School Students Remember More

 

Even if it’s too late for you, it doesn’t have to be for your kids or any young person for whom you buy books in your family or social circles. US Memory Bronze Medal Champion Brad Zupp has an exciting training book just for youth.

The book is called Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grades 5 To 8 How To Remember Better And Make School Easier.

Unlock Your Amazing Memory is a great book and in this post, I’m going to try and sell you on buying and reading it. Heck, even if school is far behind you and your hair has gone gray, you’re going to learn a lot from Zupp’s book.

 

Not Being Able To Remember Does Not Make You Dumb

 

Unfortunately, schools tend to set things up so that we think intelligence is linked to performance on tests and exams. But this couldn’t be further from the truth and Zupp shows how any student can break the pattern of institutionally-forced failure.

Zupp’s book is easy to read for the advertised grade level, as well as anyone. This aspect of Unlock Your Amazing Memory really makes it shine because all too often, books on technical skills like mnemonics can also make you feel stupid. Zupp’s clear writing style and progressive organization of the basics makes it impossible to misunderstand the techniques.

 

The More You Practice Your Memory,
The Better It will Be

 

Learning memory techniques can take time, but the payoff later is incredible speed that MORE than pays off the initial investment. The best part is that it pays off for life.

To motivate readers, Zupp recommends visualizing yourself impressing friends. This is okay, but I would add visualizing just taking the first steps. For example, research has shown that people who visualize themselves putting on their running shoes get more fit in a six-month period than those who see themselves with an excellent physique.

When it comes to memory techniques, you can start by visualizing yourself creating a Memory Palace. To make that even simpler, picture yourself getting a memory journal and picking out a special pen or pencil that you will use exclusively for that journal.

Taking this small step is more likely to lead to actually creating a Memory Palace than visualizing yourself as a memory hero in front of your friends. Heck, just picturing yourself reading the book from beginning to end and then actually reading it will already make you a modern Hercules amongst your Internet-addled friends.

 

Remembering Involves 3 Steps So Simple You’ll
Wonder Why Schools
Don’t Save The Alphabet For Later

 

Zupp breaks his approach to memory techniques into three distinct movements.

The first seems obvious, but how many people actually do it? For Zupp, it’s called remembering to “get” the info, or what Harry Lorayne often calls “paying attention to it in the first place.”

 

You Can’t Remember What You Haven’t Learned

 

So if “paying attention” to the target information is the first key to “getting” it into memory, how do you accomplish this feat?

First up, Zupp says you’ve got to sit up straight. I remember this principle well from learning music. Slumping not only breaks the flow of oxygen. It also reduces concentration. You’re going to need focus if you want to learn well over the long haul.

Speaking of air, breathing is an incredible stimulant for memory. An oxygenated brain has more resources for creating the physical connections needed to form memories.

 

Guessing Games Make Memories Fast

 

Another of Zupp’s suggestions involves thinking ahead. For example, when you’re listening to a lecture, try figuring out where the lecturer is headed in advance of his current line of thought. By doing this, you increase the attention you’re paying to the speaker. The intensified focus makes the material more memorable almost by default, even if your assumptions are wrong.

In fact, the information becomes more memorable when you are wrong because your mind loops back to the part of the thread where you took your wayward turn.

The game of guessing “what’s next” reminds me of a meditation approach suggest by Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now. When meditating, Tolle suggests pretending you are a cat perched in front of a mouse hole. But instead of waiting for a mouse, you wonder instead, “What thought will I think of next?”

This activity keeps you focused both on the present moment and ready to capture new thoughts when they appear. In the case of meditation, the thoughts don’t distract you. Instead, they create even more focus because you’ve attuned yourself to their appearance.

The same applies to keeping your mind on what the professor might say next. You’ll be wide awake to the present moment and carefully attuned to whatever comes next.

Counting Uhms, Ahems And Other Human Hesitations

 

To increase focus, Zupp suggestions counting the uhms made by your teacher. But is this particular strategy reasonable? You might wind up juggling the wrong info in your mind. Answering “uhm” and “ah” won’t get you far on many exams – unless they involve demonstrating radical knowledge about contemporary sound poetry.

When I’m in need of concentration, I prefer repeating what people are saying in my mind, deleting the uhms. This practice creates laser-like focus and helps form memories. That said, Zupp’s method is worth trying.

 

When You Know How You’re Going To Memorize It,
All Information Gets Stickier

 

Another means of focusing and paying attention involves asking yourself how you’re going to remember the info. This activity offers a great deal of value because you can practice mnemonics directly in response to the question.

For example, in a class on literature when you’re asked to learn the definition of a simile, you can ask yourself how you’re going to remember it and start formulating an answer.  You could ask this simple question and say, “Eureka! I’ll see a simian ape tearing Lee jeans in half as he shouts ‘like!'”

 

Make Multitasking An Endangered Species
We’ll All Be Glad Left The Planet

 

Finally, Zupp urges us to avoid the multitasking myth. If you want to focus, limit yourself to one task at a time. When it comes to memory skills, for example, this is why I have created a deliberate three-day memory routine to maximize your results. So long as you can devote all of your attention to just the three recommended tasks on the three recommended days, you’ll get results beyond the extraordinary.

 

Don’t Forget To Press Save!

 

Another key takeaway from Zupp’s book is that you need to focus on storing the information. Imagery, especially exaggerated imagery, is the most powerful mnemonic tool we have for making information stick. In combination with a Memory Palace, it’s the closest thing in the brain to a “save” button.

One great feature of Zupp’s work is explaining how to deal with abstract information. In the Magnetic Memory Method, we call the process word division, which involves taking information with no concrete correlative and breaking it down into smaller units that can be paired with tangible imagery.

The only problem, as Zupp points out, is that too few people know how to make the needed imagery vibrant and exciting. The imagination literally needs a smack across the face to get your memory working and anything less makes the information boring. And and as we all know from many boring hours in school, that which makes you drool gets lost fast.

 

If You’re Looking For Mnemonic Examples, Here Be Dragons

 

Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t ask me to tailor them a series if images to help them memorize information.

I never do it. My books and video courses are light on mnemonic examples because I focus on the nuts, the bolts and the detailed mechanics. It’s what I do and I’m proud to be the only one in the field who concentrates this deeply on mastering the Memory Palace.

That said, some people benefit from seeing a lot of examples from the mind of a mnemonist. For that reason, Zupp’s book is becoming one of my go-to recommendations.

I’m leery about sending people off to example-land, however. I always have been and we’ve talked a lot about the dangers of mnemonic examples on previous episodes of the Magnetic Memory Podcast.

A recent experience makes me even more certain that making your own mnemonic examples based on our own understanding of the core mnemonic principles enforces my conviction.

 

Why You Must Learn To “Pack Your Own Parachute” As A Student

 

Out in the dunes of Gran Canaria, I found myself spending a delightful afternoon with Peter Sage. We were there shooting a variety of videos for some courses with Jimmy Naraine and Peter told an incredible story about getting an upper-level parachuting certification.

In order to earn it, the parachuter has to personally pack his or her parachute. Not only is the task detailed and requires great care. The stakes are also high.

Why?

Because you have to dive wearing the parachute you packed yourself.

And as Peter told the story, he said that the smoothest opening he ever experienced as a parachute popped out above him was from the bag he packed himself.

 

It’s Exactly The Same With Mnemonics!

 

Sure, a few examples help and no doubt we all need them. But if you want a smooth experience using memory techniques, you need to leave the mnemonic examples of others behind as quickly as possible.

The other problems with mnemonic models is that authors of memory improvement books often use information that readers could care less about. Sure, some people might like to have all the US presidents and state capitals in mind. But it’s the 21st century and globalization requires less Americancentric examples to appeal to the needs of much wider audiences.

In no way do I mean this brief soapbox lecture with its politically correct tone as a criticism of Zupp’s book. He explains his example images in solid language and includes a lot of fun illustrations. Nonetheless, over half the book contains these examples and I would have liked to see more detail on Memory Palace creation and the art of recall.

All the same, I highly recommend this book to anyone of any age. Complete the exercises, supplement Zupp’s work with other memory training books and programs and you will be delighted with the progress you make.

And listen, if you enjoy the book, leave a quick review for Brad on Amazon. Even the shortest sentence of support helps memory trainers continue helping you. Pitch in with some star ratings with your candid feedback and help make the world a better place. You can help spread the good news about memory techniques and Zupp’s audience of students in grades 5 to 8 are amongst those who can use his help the most.

Further Resources

Brad Zupp Interview on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

3 Memory Games You Can Play With Your Childhood

Brad’s World Memory Championships Records

https://youtu.be/l7W92IMhCJg

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Direct download: How_To_Help_Middle_School_Students_Remember_More.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:57am EDT

Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_53319526You’ve read about browser control software, right?

You know. The kind that blocks ads or logs you out after you’ve procrastinated too long.

All fine and dandy, but not the solution. Here are some low-tech things to try instead:

 

Get The Important Stuff Done
Before You Switch The DumbPhone On

 

“Yeah right,” I hear you say. “My computer IS the important stuff!”

Really? What about learning a language, or even just developing motivation for learning one? Believe it or not, people have learned languages for a long time without the aid of machines.

But even if you still need software, you can model what I’m doing for Mandarin Chinese. Technically, it still involves using a machine, but I use it like an ugly old Walkman.

Which leads us to:

 

Stop Carrying The Internet With You Everywhere

 

Sometimes I worry about becoming a Luddite. I do not have a single device that accesses the Internet unless I find wireless in a cafe. And even then, I’ve designed my life in a way that I rarely need it.

Friends and strangers alike ask me how I survive without it, a question that perplexes me. From ages four to twenty-four, I managed to meet people all over the world without having an email address or a cellphone.

Heck, I even used to arrange meetings by post.

The point being is that if you can’t figure out why you’re not achieving your goals, look to the roaming Internet first. And then consider the following life-changing activities:

* Use an app like Plain Text to write a book, blog post or article (like I’m doing right now) instead of scrolling through Facebook and clicking the Like button. That’s a fast path to nowhere.

But all wealth comes from writing, including social, intellectual and financial wealth. I guess the occasional “LOL” might add to the pool, but I’m certainly not counting on it.

* Create a mind map with (gasp!) pen and paper while using your spayed or neutered DumbPhone to listen to a podcast or lecture. You’ll remember more and come up with incredible ideas as you work.

* Meet a human being and have a conversation with no devices on or near the table. Switch it off so it doesn’t buzz, beep or otherwise bang its way into your attention from within a bag or pocket.

And above all, learn and love this phrase: “I’ll look it up later.” Then use your to-do list to create a Memory Palace that helps you do so.

Speaking of which:

 

If You Create Them, Use Them

 

Many people tell me they’ve created one or more Memory Palaces. They even send me excellent drawings that demonstrate substantial knowledge of the Magnetic Memory Method.

The only problem is … They never use them.

Regarding today’s topic, failing to use your inner mental technology opens you to more information pollution because you’re not spending time massaging the right stuff into your memory.

Stuff like:

* Facts that build general knowledge.

* Names and dates of historical figures and events that develop your understanding of how and why we got here.

* Critical Information from a textbook so that you can ace exams.

* Poems, quotes, plots and jokes so that you always have something interesting to say. Heck, if you’ve got good poems, stories or philosophical ideas memorized, you’ll always have something fascinating to think about even when you’re on your own.

* Passwords and credit card numbers so that you’re not pouring time down the drain looking stuff up.

 

Memorizing These Things Could Make The Difference
Between Being A Mouse Or A Millionaire

 

But if you’re tootling your time away consuming and creating blasts of info pollution, good luck making it to the top.

But … How? How do we avoid all this nonsense and the digital amnesia it brings?

 

Frame Your Day With Time Boundaries

 

It’s not just about doing the important stuff before you switch on the computer. It’s about spacing out time across the day.

Luckily, this is easy to do. It’s called “setting a timer.” How it works is this:

1. Decide how long you want to work on a high margin task. When it comes to your memory work, that might mean the design, memorization or recall parts, as described in this video:

2. Set the timer.

3. Work until it rings.

4. Take a computer-free break to avoid noise pollution. Do push ups, take a walk or, dip into a Memory Palace.

If you can’t develop the discipline needed to do this on your own, find a co-working team. My friend Max Breckbill hosts the most amazing group sessions and serves as the MC. He starts and ends each session and manages a spreadsheet that lists the activities of each attendee to help create accountability.

 

Set Activity Boundaries And Hold To Them

 

At the beginning of 2016, I performed a life assessment with the help of my friend Jonathan Levi. One of the huge gaps I found involved the withering of my music life. Somehow I just wasn’t playing bass often enough anymore. Same thing with my language learning and memory experiments.

So then I did a severe time analysis and found that I’d unconsciously slid away from my tried and true time-tracking technique. Once I got that back on track, I quickly spotted the culprit.

 

Here’s What Happens When You Look In The Mirror

 

You thought I was going to say Facebook, right?

Almost. The actual answer is “me on Facebook.”

Why?

Because blaming software, hardware and online platforms for siphoning our time amounts to technological determinism. The truth is that the machines don’t make us spend our time on them. We determine our own way onto them and into their forests of noise pollution all on our own.

And it’s tremendously exhausting both psychologically and physically. Those dopamine boosts feel good, but that’s just because there’s sugar on the blade. We’re oozing precious lifeblood each and every second we spend in states of media-induced excitement.

The solution?

 

Use The Simple Power Of Arithmetic
Rules To Set Yourself Free

 

At the ThinkBuzan memory training I attended, Tony Buzan said something very important that applies to many things in life: “Rules set you free.” When it comes to eliminating information pollution to your life, try setting these into action:

Starting tomorrow, count the number of times you find yourself on Facebook. If you use browsers exclusively, you could use the history function at the end of the day, but if the FB app doesn’t track it, you’ll have to do it manually.

Yes, yes, I know that there are apps that show you graphs of where you spend your time. But I don’t think graphical readouts spit out by the same machine you’re trying to avoid will create quite the same shock ad awe as the graph you create on your own.

Once you know your numbers, set a rule. For example, you can cut the number in half and use a Memory Palace and the Major Method to track the number of times you’ve popped in.

 

Everybody Knows That The Dice Are Loaded

 

Or roll dice and subtract that number.

Better yet, go for broke and determine to visit your favorite noise pollution sites once a day. Maximum.

That’s ultimately how I got mounds of time back into my life. At first, I didn’t know what to do with it all, even after reinserting bass practice and language learning. But I soon found ways, such as reviving my passion for reading novels and even created my own coloring book so I could dive into a form of guided creativity so many of us have lost since childhood.

To seal the deal …

 

Journal Your Progress And Tell Others
About Your Accomplishments

 

“Hell,” Sartre wrote, “is other people.” And when it comes to getting tied up in information pollution, this might be true. Especially when the excuse for multiple exposures comes down to not wanting to lose touch with friends.

Frankly, if you can’t keep up with friends by visiting Facebook just once a day and scanning their feeds, then you need to find a way to get paid for the labor of liking their posts.

Instead, use the power of mathematical rules to set yourself free and then report on the experience.

Encourage others to do the same.

 

Fight The Noise Pollution

 

Get your power back.

Learn, memorize and recall more.

Trust me, if you implement what you’ve read in this post, you’ll not only reduce the info pollution in your life. You’ll win back the time you spent reading it back in droves and become one of the smartest human beings on the planet.

Now go forth and Magnetize.

The post How To Stop Information Pollution From Poisoning Your Memory appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:03pm EDT

Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_11466711Did you know that your ability to be a moral person directly connects to the quality of your memory?

At least, that’s according to Albertus Magnus and I think he’s right.

Why?

A few reasons. First off, forgetfulness is an unnecessary evil. Let it run your life and you’re automatically living on the Dark Side.

Second, you learn, memorize and recall less than you’re capable of. That’s not only an act of self-cruelty. It’s a crime against humanity.

Finally, if you’re not on top of your ability to memorize the information you need to achieve maximum success in life, you’re not able to pass the skills on. It doesn’t get any more immoral than that.

 

Memory Is The Sensitive Part Of The Soul

 

Born sometime around 1200 in the Duchy of Bavaria, Albertus Magnus spent a fair shake of time writing about memory skills before dying in the year 1280. He was influenced by Aristotle, who also wrote about memory, and left his mark on Thomas Aquinas, who also filled a few pages on the art of memory.

For his part, Magnus was fixated on ethics and what exactly makes good things good.

For example, he nailed down four cardinal virtues:

  1. Fortitude
  2. Temperance
  3. Justice
  4. Prudence

Memory, or memoria, belongs to prudence for Magnus, along with intelligence and providence.

Magnus breaks prudence down even further by saying it has a rational part and an emotional part. We should be using memory to live useful lives based on both of these aspects. As he writes:

“Memory can be a moral habit when it is used to remember past things with a view to prudent conduct in the present looking forward to the future.”

Calling up positive things from the past to guide your behavior in the future is fine and dandy. But what about mnemonics?

Guess what?

 

Using Memory Techniques Is Also A Virtuous Habit

 

Magnus called mnemonics “artificial memory” after the conventions of the time. We know better now, however. Using the power of your imagination to make Memory Palaces is the most natural activity on earth, especially compared with spaced-repetition software. That’s the hammer of memory that deserves the term “artificial” more than anything else.

 

The 5 Magnus Rules For Creating
Top-Notch Memory Palaces

 

Plus, Magnus was a lot like me. He wasn’t into using virtual Memory Palaces. He advises using only real locations and especially recommends churches because of how they can move the soul.

It’s an interesting suggestion because often the more meaningful the building, the more powerful the Memory Palace will be. Keep that in mind when creating your next Memory Palace and avoid basing any on buildings that may suck your enthusiasm.

With this point established, Magnus offers five rules.

 

1. Use Quiet Locations

 

Makes sense, right?

Maybe.

I can understand wanting to base your Memory Palaces on locations prone to silence. It kind of makes sense for them to mimic the intense concentration needed for creating powerful associative-imagery inside the Memory Palace.

However, if you’re using a bustling cafe, you don’t need to do the memory work in the cafe. And when you are using the Memory Palace, you can be in a quiet space. In fact, no matter where in the world the building you’ve sourced for your MP happens to be, it’s always a good idea to learn, memorize and practice Recall Rehearsal in quiet places.

But if you want to use the stage and stadium of a memorable Kiss concert, do it. If for any reason your memories of the excitement do get in the way, simply move on to another place.

 

2. Your Memory Palaces Should Neither
Be Too Large Nor Too Small

 

Many beginners get excited by the possibilities of making massive Memory Palaces. They draw diagrams of shopping malls, airports and try to use each and every floor of New York skyscrapers.

There’s no doubt that with practice you can use enormous Memory Palace structures. But Mangnus is right. You want to find a comfortable size the works for you.

In my case, I max out at 50-60 stations per Memory Palace. In many cases, I stick with a mere 10, using proper Magnetic Memory Method form to get the into long term memory so any given Memory Palace can be put out of rotation for a while and then reused.

That said, it’s good to stretch once in awhile, so keep working progressively to extend your abilities. The trick is to make sure that you’re getting your desired outcome. Sure, creating a Memory Palace with 5000 stations would be cool – but can you get measurable results from it?

Probably not.

 

3. Avoid Using Overly Similar Memory Palaces

 

Here’s another rule where it really depends. But in principle, you sure can confuse the heck out of yourself if you can’t distinguish one Memory Palace from another.

In my experience, this isn’t such a big deal. Here’s why:

It’s the difference in information that matters.

For example, I like to use the Ross Building on the campus of York University. I start on the seventh floor where the Grad Pub used to be and work my way down.

The levels are nearly identical, as are the journeys through them. The key difference is how the information itself “tags” each floor.

For example, the seventh floor has been reserved for words that start with “se” spellings or sounds. Likewise, the sixth floor for “si” sounds. The rest of the similarities in the Memory Palace divisions don’t matter because the information itself marks the territory.

As ever, your personal experimentation will make the difference. If it’s too much for you, scale back. When you’re ready to expand, add gradual challenges that will help you grow your memory and memorization management skills.

 

4. Not Too Bright And Not Too Dark

 

I don’t know what was up with medieval dudes like Magnus. Even up to Giordano Bruno, mnemonists were bonkers about the level of light in their Memory Palaces.

The issue may stem from the lack of electric lighting. Just as they wanted to use quiet places to maximize concentration, they figured it might be useful to see the Memory Palaces.

Of course, we know now that you don’t really need to “see” anything in your mind. You need only a conceptual approximation.

I think another reason the light issue crops up throughout the history of mnemonics is that so many people built upon the Ad Herrenium. In Magnus’s case, Francis Yates figures he probably had a corrupt copy.

All the same, the dogma about light strikes me as just that. You really need to explore this issue for yourself and see what happens. I predict you’ll do just fine, even if you’re a bat.

In fact, probably especially if you’re a bat, since echolocation is a powerful metaphor for how you can navigate a Memory Palace efficiently without seeing a single thing in your mind.

 

5. Leave 30 Feet Between Stations

 

Now here’s a contradiction in terms if ever there was one. If your Memory Palaces aren’t supposed to be too big, how does one leave this much space between stops along the path?

Hansel and Gretal would have been in big trouble if they’d done that with their crumbs, and so, I reckon, would you. I know this has created issues for me. For example, in one of my Aristotle Memory Palaces for my dissertation on friendship, I had some waaaaaaay too far distances between stations.

The reason long distances creates problems is because your mind spends time and energy scanning the territory. Whether you see the Memory Palace or merely conceive it like stars in a constellation, you’re still using spatial memory.

To reduce drag, try keeping your stations as close together as possible without creating issues for yourself. Cramming is the inverse problem and without breathing room, your associative-imagery might not correctly consolidate.

As ever, it all comes down to your personal experimentation. In this case, you’ll need to work on a case to case basis since, with the rare exception of places like the Ross Building I just mentioned, there are no uniform Memory Palaces.

 

Memory Palaces Are As Physical As A Brick Wall

 

One of the coolest ideas Magnus brings to the table involves the notion that both the memorizer and the Memory Palaces are physical bodies. In fact, the entire world is physical and so anything you imprint on your mind essentially resembles tattooing.

Magnus’s concept here is complex, and I’m still pondering it, but he seems to be pre-envisioning the world we live in today. For example, you can think of information as ethereal stuff that has no physical form.

But that would be incorrect. Not only does all information require physical storage in order to be receivable, your brain either uses or creates new chemicals and structures to perceive it.

When you read a book, for example, the information has been physically stored using ink on paper. Read the same book on a computer and the information is stored both in the physical chips and wires, but also in the electricity itself.

This info then enters the physical bodies of your eyes before entering the gazillion roller coaster rails of your brain.

Anyhow, Magnus’s point appears to be that by focusing our concentration on the physical reality of both the locations and the information, we can create much more powerful sense impressions.

And if all of these points from Magnus don’t make your memory more poignant, perhaps a previous or future episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast will. Until that time, by moral by using your memory and always, always keep Magnetic.

Further Resources

The Memory Palace Of Matteo Ricci

The post 5 Simple Ways Albertus Magnus Can Improve Your Memory Palaces appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 5_Simple_Ways_Albertus_Magnus_Can_Improve_Your_Memory_Palaces.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:18am EDT

Optimized-Screen Shot 2016-04-14 at 08.38.44 (1)You probably think you can get all the memory training you need from books, right?

Maybe. Ben Pridmore certainly did (reportedly just one) and worked miracles at the World Memory Championships.

But Those Kind Of Results Don’t Happen To Everyone

 

The truth is that most of us (including me) need more than one memory training resource.

In fact, as I mentioned in The Story Of How To Learn And Memorize German Vocabulary, I studied dozens of memory improvement books, audio programs and video courses. The Magnetic Memory Method simply wouldn’t exist without years of relentless research, experimentation, documentation, reconfiguration and teaching.

 

The Art Of Memory Is A Way Of Life Defined
By Multiple (Super-Exciting!) Duties

 

To this day, I still study. To develop as a mnemonist, a journalist of memory and a lifelong devotee to teaching the art of memory, I consume all the wisdom about memory improvement I can.

That’s why I recently attended the ThinkBuzan Memory Training at the Henley Business School in Henley-On-Thames taught by Phil Chambers and Tony Buzan himself. To keep getting better and contributing to the solution.

Because there is a solution to forgetfulness and if you apply yourself …

 

You Never Have To Forget Information That Matters Ever Again!

 

Seriously. If you’ve read more than one book or taken more than one course and still aren’t getting results, there are probably only two reasons:

1) You’re not studying the right stuff.

2) You’re not taking the right actions.

And even if you’re already equipped and running memory circles around your friends, here are 13 reasons you still really ought to get trained at the Summit of Memory.

 

1. You Learn More About The History Of Memory

 

I’ve encountered the story of Simonides of Ceos countless times. However, never have I encountered it so thoroughly and elegantly expressed as when Phil Chambers took us through it.

The best part of the story is that it contains all the elements of good mnemonics: strange events and colorful characters. Massive, visual action. A Memory Palace in ruins that, albeit utterly destroyed, still stands in the minds of millions nearly two thousand years later.

 

2. You Learn About The Science Of Memory

 

There’s history behind memory research too, so getting both the past, present and future of memory science makes ThinkBuzan memory training a tremendous asset.

MIG, also known as The Most Important Graph In The World, shows you the most cutting edge elements of memory science. It is a Masterplan for engineering any information into your memory forever.

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You learn The Most Important Graph in the world effectively too. It’s presented in stages so that you understand each part. The ThinkBuzan teaching approach also uses the science underlying the graph to get it into your long term memory.

Speaking of which …

 

3. You Learn How To Teach Memory Skills Right Away

 

You’ve heard me talk about the importance of educating others about memory skills before. I always talk about how and why you must do it immediately in order to get the best results from what you’ve learned and memorized.

For example, in Language Learning For Introverts, I suggest that you explain to anyone who will listen the Memory Palace and mnemonic imagery you use to memorize new words and phrases. It’s partly self-serving for how it drills the information into your memory, but more importantly …

 

Teaching Others Creates Enthusiasm For
The REAL Magic Of Memory

 

Not only that, but by demonstrating what’s possible with your memory through teaching the core skills, you’re also getting better at using your memory. You’re practicing what you preach and getting better every time you do.

 

4. You Create A Group Memory Palace On The Spot

 

Nothing enthused me more about the ThinkBuzan memory than creating a Memory Palace together as a group. Phil Chambers had us memorize all the member countries of the European Union in alphabetical order.

But even better, Phil tricked us into doing it outside of our awareness. I won’t tell you exactly how, but it’s similar to how I teach people to memorize the alphabet backwards.

To really let you have your cake and eat it too, Phil then shows you how to compound the countries with the capitals of each. This quick exercise means memorizing 40 pieces of information inside of 20 minutes. Using The Most Important Graph In The World (and with a bit of stretching, maybe even without), this is information you can get into long-term memory for the rest of your life.

Again, you get all this amazing memorization in less than 20 minutes, plus sufficient review over a week or two. At most, that will total another 20 minutes, likely much less.

Plus, while you’re completing the live memory exercise …

 

5. You Create Lifelong Friendships With Other Memorizers

 

ThinkBuzan makes sure that you get to know your classmates from the moment their memory training starts. But the real time group Memory Palace exercise deepens the relationships beyond belief.

This bonding occurs not only because you share the amazement of instantly recalling the information learned throughout the exercise. It’s also because you travel together throughout the Memory Palace as you create it.

As the dating gurus often point out, if you want to create the feeling that someone knows you better, have them share time with you in multiple locations as quickly as possible. Do this while deliberately creating a Memory Palace together, and those locations become infinitely stronger.

And who knows? You might just develop a romance out of it or deepen a current one. A married couple took the training I was in and I saw them strengthen their bond before my very eyes.

And although my girlfriend wasn’t there, one part of that couple convinced me to finally propose, so the magic of taking a memory training really does go beyond the skills of recall. It touches and makes all areas of your life more exciting.

 

6. You Get To Challenge Yourself
And Confront Your Memory Fears

 

I did not go to this ThinkBuzan memory training as an initiate. I’ve been a mnemonist now for more than fourteen years.

However, there’s a massive divide between what I can do privately and publicly. Sure, I took a hard loss when I competed against Dave Farrow half on a whim and only then in support of my favored charity.

By the same token, I’m proud of my results given the circumstances (jet-lagged, suffering arthritic joint pain, unkempt, unrested and moronically hungover from the last time I ever touched alcohol).

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I’m also proud of my results given that I’d never memorized and recalled information with cameras in my face and a countdown clock running.

On top of that, as a renowned memory trainer – heck, there’s even a Wikipedia page about my work in memory and other arts of the mind – I had a reputation to uphold, and I think I did so given the circumstances. But …

Not so during the tests at the ThinkBuzan training. But here’s the thing:

 

7. Sometimes Falling Flat On Your Face
Is The Best Thing In The World

 

Why?

A few reasons.

First, I got a taste of embarrassment that I did so poorly. I should have scored 100%.

Second, I learned SO much about what happens to me when someone turns on the clock. I start thinking about what strategy I’m going to use and then switch them up mid-stride. By the time I’ve finally settled on my approach, the clock has run out.

Third, but far from least, I learned that …

 

8. Transparency About Your Memory
Produces Pearls Of Wisdom!

 

I could have avoided the issue and said nothing, or kept my internal reflections private. Instead, I swallowed my pride and the throat-constricting desire to bury my head in the suffocating sands of Phil’s official World Memory Championships digital hourglass.

That’s right, I sat in front of the entire group and Tony Buzan himself and fessed up.

Here’s what I learned in return for my honest revelation:

 

9. Discover The Surprising Reason Why
”Time Management” Is The Deadliest Circus Stunt In The World

 

We exhaust ourselves silly trying to control time. But this essence, this substance, this engine that has driven the world since, well … the beginning of time, needs no management and cannot be managed.

No, the clock isn’t a venomous snake. It’s not going to bark, bite or explode. The world’s not going to end when it rings.

Regardless, when there’s a deadline, the muscles in your mind cramp. The pace or your breathing collapses in on itself and your palms bleed sweat.

The problem? You’re trying to manage time.

Can’t be done. Casting Yoda a bit differently on the issue of time, there really is no try.

 

10. We Can Only Manage Ourselves And Our Memory Abilities In Time By Understanding And Using The Clock

 

As Tony describes time, our perception of its speed changes based on our psychological states. It can feel like it’s burning like a lit wick races to a bomb. Or it can move like a slow, placid wave when you’ve got nothing going on.

I’ve been practicing this approach to thinking about time ever since. I plan on going back for more training and fully expect I’ll get 100% next time if I can just settle on a strategy first and get my thinking about time unwarped and humming. After I’ve served at least once as an arbiter, I may even compete at the WMC myself.

That said, I also learned that …

 

11. Not Wanting To Compete In The
World Memory Championships Is Totally Okay

 

Maybe you’ve had this feeling too. You learn about mnemonics and soon discover memory competitions exist around the world. That makes you feel like no matter what you use the tools of recall for in your private life, it won’t amount to much if you cannot win a prize.

The truth, I learned, is that most competitors aren’t after the medals. They attend the World Memory Championships to compete against themselves. They’re stretching their abilities.

Plus, they’re making friends with other mnemonists and talking shop about the art of memory. They’re doing what we discussed before in an international setting: learning AND teaching in one fell swoop.

But if none of this interests you, no problemo. You can be a perfectly amazing memorizer and teacher without ever throwing down the gloves.

And if your results are nothing to brag about, that’s no problem either. We all know the coaching phenomena. People have led sports teams to glory without ever touching the ball themselves.

As a story consultant, like others in the movie plot improvement industry, I’ve improved screenplays and seen them made into films. To this day, I’ve never completed one myself, let alone had a movie from my imagination made. Maybe I never will.

When it comes to memory, I’ve memorized thousands of words and bits of ultra-valuable information. But more importantly I’ve helped thousands of people memorize many thousands more. Just check out this email I for the other day:

“Here I am seated below my arbiters after memorizing 29 and then 34 shuffled cards at five minutes each. The first try beat the existing provincial record; the second try bested that.

Would not have done it without your impetus. I am registered to compete in the Canadian Championships in Montreal, July 2.

Thanks, Anthony!”

And get this:

Tony Buzan, co-founder of the Wold Memory Championships has never himself competed in them. But he’s still helped millions of people get more from their memories and their minds overall.

And when you attend one of his trainings …

 

12. You Might Even Get To Meet The Man Himself

 

To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know Tony Buzan was going to be at the training. The ticket named Phil Chambers as the instructor and I went more than content with that.

But sometimes Tony does attend these memory trainings and I was so delighted that he did.

And I don’t know how to tell you this without stepping outside my usual Canadian-bred modesty, but I’m going to lay it out because it may inspire you and it doesn’t feel right to keep something so monumental a secret amongst only a few.

 

You Might Be Knighted A Warrior Of The Mind

 

Tony and I had shared some Tweets a few years ago. There was instant resonance, maybe because we’re both named Anthony, perhaps because we’ve both spent loads of time under the stars of Vancouver, British Columbia.

For whatever reason, the resonance continued, and when the event was over, I offered to help breakdown the classroom. I was asked to carry some paintings to the main building for safekeeping as Tony prepared to leave.

These were by Lorraine Gill, the woman who inspired to include images in Mind Maps in the first place. Once we had the paintings safely stowed away in a back office, we chatted a bit with the secretarial staff and …

 

Then IT Happened

 

Tony pulled me aside and said, “Anthony, you are a Warrior of the Mind.”

Tony buzan awards Anthony Metivier Warrior of the Mind

Next, THE Tony Buzan removed a pin from his lapel. Yes, THE famous pin Joshua Foer mentions in Moonwalking With Einstein.

Tony stepped forward and reached for my collar. The next thing I knew, I was wearing the beautifully executed rendering and holding back tears. Tony gives the pin, I learned, for Outstanding Contributions to Global Mental Literacy.

It is a tremendous honor to hold the title “Warrior of the Mind.” Above all, to own and proudly wear this symbol, given by the hand of a man I first read in high school from books that first truly taught me the boundless power of the human mind and how to release the floodgates on its potential.

Frankly, if I didn’t talk so much for a living, I’d be utterly speechless. 😉

 

13. Learn, Memorize And Recall Anything

 

In sum, if you want to continue your education in memory and feel the rapture of memory improvement as can only be offered by the best on the planet, booking your seat at the next training is a must.

In addition to all the magic I’ve been yappin’ about, you’ll learn how to efficiently and expertly memorize:

  • Names
  • Vocabulary
  • Passwords
  • Numbers
  • Facts
  • Addresses
  • … Anything else you want to remember!

Plus, even though the course isn’t about mind mapping as such, you’ll practice this revolutionary technique and get a massive preview of this powerful art or organizing your mind the way it works on the page.

And you know, people often ask me about how Memory Palaces and mind mapping could work in tandem. I’m not yet 100% equipped with an answer, but I’m now well on the way and I’ll be attending the ThinkBuzan mind mapping course as soon as possible.

How about you? You’re convinced by now, right?

Of course you are! So …

 

Here’s How To Get Royal Treatment
When You Take Any ThinkBuzan Training

 

Simply mention my name when registering for your seat at any training and you’ll get an incredible percentage of the tuition lopped off.

Listen, even if you forget to mention my name and claim this generous discount so you too can become a world class practitioner and teacher of memory techniques, you’ll never regret making this choice. Do it now and let me know all about what you learn.

Seriously. Teaching others what you’ve learned – including me – is the best way to learn. And the more you learn, the more you CAN learn. That’s my wish and hope and dream for you because we are nothing more than our memories and their quality shapes everything. Make the world a better place a.s.a.p. and you’ll see for yourself just how profound learning and memory can be.

Buckle up. It’s going to be a very Magnetic ThinkBuzan experience for you indeed.

The post 13 Reasons You Should Take ThinkBuzan Memory Training appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 13_Reasons_You_Should_Take_ThinkBuzan_Memory_Training.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 9:36pm EDT

Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_63593277It’s no secret that students want to succeed. They really do.

Even a former dropout like myself dreamed of getting all A’s during all those years goofing off took precedent over serious study. I just didn’t have the guidance and strategies talented young people need to get the most out of their education.

So pay attention, because whether you’re in high school, college, university or taking training for certification …

Every Student In The World Can Be
The BEST Student In The World!

 

But first, you need to overcome a few problems, such as …

The Failure To Make A Cozy Little Study Nest

 

Far too often, students all over the map. They try to read The Canterbury Tales in cafeterias, do math at the mall and even work on programming logo-rhythms in the loo.

With rare exceptions, none of these places support extended concentration (more on that topic in a bit). But even if you do study well in a variety of noisy places, having a dedicated and protected area can work miracles for your memory.

Why?

Humans are creatures of habit, and none of us are stronger than our habits. But when we consistently engage in powerful practices, they guide us to amazing places.

How To Find Your Comfort Zone

 

In truth, I don’t know. You’ll need to experiment. And you may need more than one,

For me, one of my best study places was Joanne’s closet. She was my main squeeze during my BA years, but for a long time, I was her best-kept secret.

One day I didn’t leave her place in time to miss the people who weren’t supposed to see me, however. The only solution in our intellectually intelligent but emotionally immature minds was to hide me in her closet.

And that’s where I stayed for a very long time after she threw in my backpack, a blanket and a few pillows. Later, she brought me a flashlight so at least I could read.

Over the course of the day, Joanne kept me fed and watered and facilitated the odd trip to the washroom. (Very unusual trips these were indeed!)

 

The Most Unusual Productivity Hack In The World

 

Anyhow, the whole ordeal turned out well because not only was I very comfortable, but I wound up reading a challenging book from cover to cover and getting key points down on index cards. I didn’t know how to memorize a textbook (infographic) back then, but getting that work done in a focused place was such a boon, I’ve been reading in and even writing in closets ever since.

Heck, when I was in Gran Canaria, I even recorded two episodes of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast in the closet of my hotel!

The point is, you can find a perfect place to snuggle in and get stuff done. If that means hiding from the family of your lover in a dark place, by all means do it. You’ll be pleased by the results that your regular homework, writing and study space brings.

Next, don’t fail to …

 

Rack Your Study Schedule Shotgun

 

I know. That’s a slightly violent image.

But the reality is that we as students and lifelong learners often fail to follow a planned schedule. And went that happens, it’s impossible to set ’em up and knock ’em down.

I’m talking about writing essays with enough time left over to edit them. I’m talking about giving yourself enough time to take a warm up exam before sitting for the one that counts. I’m talking about planning time for fun, relaxation and rest so your brain consolidates all you’re learning.

The problem is, so few know …

 

How To Create A Bulletproof Action Plan
And Consistently Implement

 

The best tip I know to help you with this one involves two simple sentences.

Conquer the Morning. Win the day.

Remember when I told you about my Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets?

Well, I didn’t invent that strategy just for studying Chinese. I’ve been using morning routines for years to get the most important tasks out of the way first.

 

But You’ve Got To Know What Your
Most Important Tasks Are!

 

To do that means identifying and setting priorities. If your teacher is any good, you’ll have these loud and clear.

For example, with the Magnetic Memory Method, it’s simple: organize the target info, create Memory Palaces or select existing Memory Palaces, encode the info and then use Recall Rehearsal to place it in long term memory.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

But not all teachers know how to help you understand your priorities, so you must make sure you …

Stop Failing To Communicate With Your Instructors

 

I know, I know. They’re the teachers and it’s their responsibility to guide you.

But in reality, that’s only 50% correct. Every top-notch student needs to meet their instructors halfway. You need to observe where they are failing you and get what you need.

 

Avoid This Student Plague … Like The Plague!

 

Have you ever sat in class with a burning question and yet … you didn’t raise your hand?

If so, you’re in the majority.

Don’t feel bad. It’s part of the human condition not to want to stand out, or feel stupid or be the first to say something. You might also be wrongly assuming that the teacher will get to what you want to know later anyway. Or maybe you fear that the teacher might be annoyed.

Maybe the teacher will show some agitation, but who cares? Their position obligates them to serve you and if you’re worried about the opinions of other students, stop. They’re worried about your opinion of them too. It’s a vicious circle and will get you nowhere.

If nothing else, talk to the teacher after class or by email. This low-profile tactic was my favorite and always served me well. It made sure that I never suffered …

The Failure To Ask For Special Treatment

 

It’s a little-known fact that you can influence the course of your education and tailor much of it to your needs.

For example, one of the most exciting third-year courses I ever took was also … dreadfully dull!

It was called Shakespeare’s Contemporaries and the professor taught with such passion, that I couldn’t wait to hear him speak about weirdo playwrights like John Webster and Thomas Kyd. I admired him so much that I asked him to serve on my doctoral defence committee many years later. To my honor, he did.

The only problem during that seminar course was … the other students. I’m sorry to say this, but many were duds. They showed up unprepared and didn’t interact with this most excellent professor. As a seminar course, there were no lectures as such and the purpose was to have student-driven discussion.

Anyhow, as much as I loved listening to the professor, it also pained me to see him wrestle with my unprepared peers. One day after class, I approached him with trembling hands and asked him one of the most important and powerful questions of my academic life:

 

May I Have Alternative Assignments?

 

Instead of showing up for class to get my participation grade, I wanted to write extra essays to make up for the missing marks. Otherwise, I would need either to skip class or drop the course altogether.

Well, the professor seemed to understand exactly my needs and I wound up completing most of that course on my own. I even passed with an A+.

I went on to ask that question of professors again and again, ultimately customizing my entire undergraduate and graduate programs entirely to suit my needs – such as spending hours of study time in dark closets. 😉

Speaking of talking with your instructors, you also need to avoid …

 

The Failure To Speak With Other
Students About Your Studies

 

Yes, I know. Most of the time, the last thing you want is more of the same after a long session in class.

But if you do it right, you can learn more by revisiting your topic with others in some pleasant and exciting ways.

For example, after I dropped out of high school and returned, I had my first study partner. We took the advanced literature course instead of normal English 12 and it had so much reading, we split it between us.

Leslie would read, for example, John Donne and unpack it for me. I would read the extract from Paradise Lost and lay out all the cool things Satan says when he first lands in the pit.

That way, when I finally got around to reading her half of the load and she to mine, we knew exactly what we were looking for. It was kind of like seeing a movie again for the first time after many years. Plus, we had notes from class to round out our studies and guide our discussions.

When it came time to take the tests and write the in-class essays, we were both in top form. We knew the material inside and out. In the years since, I have done this with study groups large and small and we teach each other the key points from books we read.

Heck, it even happens in a certain way through the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, such as when people tell me about the best parts of books they’ve read and I zip out my own study notes. You have heard The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci episode, right?

Without Study Groups, Students Fail To
Encourage And Motivate Each Other

 

Look, you don’t need to exaggerate it. But if you’re not meeting with other students outside of class, it’s impossible for you to notice when they’ve explained something really well in a relaxed environment. Of course, you can pat each other on the back for things said in class, but it’s not the same thing.

Plus, there’s power in generating ideas together. You also get to frame time by meeting on a predetermined schedule and using something like Roberts Rules to control the flow.

Study groups can also help you avoid …

The Failure To Be Clear And Realistic

 

Yes, it sucks cold beans, but when you’re a student, you’re being measured. And whether you pass or fail, the metrics make a mark and condition your confidence.

In this world, you need all the confidence you can get!

But by studying together, you’ll also be talking about deadlines and the conditions of the game. This process will keep your eye on the ball and guide you to the target. You just need to avoid …

 

The Failure Of Letting Worry And Stress Rule Your Mind

 

If you’ve been following along, you’re already way ahead on this one. You’ve got a cozy study place, the shotgun of your schedule racked, your teachers in the palm of your hand and a powerful study group.

These conditions themselves will reduce stress to a bare minimum. You probably won’t even feel it.

But why not take preemptive measures to make sure stress can’t rise up unnoticed? It’s easy if you’ll just meditate, sleep and eat a memory friendly diet.

Speaking of diets, to help you sleep, eat better and have way more time, don’t fall prey to the …

 

Failure To Hit The Kill Switch

 

Do you want to choose how to live your life? Or would you prefer to have it chosen for you?

Keep watching TV and farting around on social media and you’re giving up your right to be free.

I know that sounds harsh, but all appearances suggest that TV, social media and other digital delights like video games and instant messaging create dopamine spikes in the brain. Unfortunately, we get addicted to these, which can reduce concentration and create impulsivity that makes it difficult to get things done.

The best way around this?

 

Put Borders Around Your Mind Candy Binges

 

Here’s a simple trick:

Just as you should get all the most important activities finished before you switch on the computer and get tossed by the sea of email messages and social media, vow to stop all of it by a set hour.

My preference is 9 pm with 10 pm as the absolute maximum outer limit. Sure, I break this rule once in awhile of something needs to get done, but rarely by more than 30 minutes. The rule itself helps to contain any attempts at breaking it.

Plus, I watch programs with limits and check Facebook only once a day. Email gets a bit more attention, but even that I try to limit to three sessions per day.

Not only that, but my iPhone doesn’t receive calls, receive or send texts or have roaming Internet. It is simply for writing, reading and language study. It truly is a smartphone and I have a tiny old Motorola for handling the rest.

You may not want or need to be that extreme, but please, above all, avoid …

 

The Failure To Realize That Focus Is Your
Number One Asset As A Student And Lifelong Learner

 

More than that, focus is the future. As more and more things compete for our attention, those who can avoid all the failures discussed in this post will rule the world. Those who sink in the mire of unproductive lives and disorganized confusion will be their slaves.

That’s why the penultimate failure is so important to avoid.

 

The Failure To Be Mentored

 

Most students chase after tutors – or get forced into having them by well-meaning parents. Sorry to break it to you, bit most tutoring is a waste of time, money and energy.

Why?

Because most tutors look at your work and explain it to you. Or they babysit you while you complete tasks you should be able to do on your own.

A mentor, on the other hand, doesn’t bother with any of that. A mentor shows you how not to need a tutor at all by modeling effective study skills, lifestyle habits and teacher management. A mentor lives the way you want to be and will never be caught dead lapping up a pay check to tutor others. A mentor is too busy modeling others higher up the ladder and helping those a few rungs down.

How do you find a mentor? Well, that’s a topic all on its own, but I recommend taking (Jimmy’s course with Martin). That’ll put you in good stead, and if you execute, you will succeed beyond your wildest dreams with the help of a carefully identified individual who has the qualities and accomplishments to which you aspire.

All these things said, above all you need to avoid the most tragic failure of all:

The Failure To Develop Your Memory Abilities

 

The most shocking thing in the world is that the simple memory skills that help students the most are taught in schools the least.

One can go on and on about why, and perhaps it really is a capitalist conspiracy.

But at the end of the day, what matters is that memory improvement help exists. And you can get it right, right now and right here from this website with my FREE Memory Improvement Kit.

So what do you say? Are you ready to take action and stop failing as a student?

Of course you are. Start using the tips you’ve just learned and achieve the success you deserve. I’m rooting for you! 🙂

Further Resource

What If I Wanted To Memorize Entire Chapters From A Textbook

The post 17 Student Fails That Destroy Memory (And What To Do Instead) appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 17_Student_Fails_That_Destroy_Memory_Fixes_Included.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:38pm EDT

Optimized-108188-105946Alex Stone Shows You How Magic And Memory Can Heighten Your Sense Of Reality

 

Go on, admit it. The idea of being a magician has haunted you since childhood. Who hasn’t at some point wished they could perform miracles and win the admiration of the masses?

The truth is, anyone can, but not everyone has the time, energy or discipline.

But the good news is that in Fooling Houdini, magician and outstanding author Alex Stone takes you into the world of Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind. And the best part is that you learn about using your memory better too.

So tune in to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and enjoy the full transcript below. 🙂

Anthony: Alex thank you so much for being on the podcast today. It’s a real honor and exciting because I myself have a relationship to magic and the whole world. So I hope to touch on that a little bit. The book Fooling Houdini is an absolute marvel I think. Not just because of my interest in magic, but it’s about learning as such.

One of the themes, and you can correct me if I’m wrong about this, seems to be self-acceptance as being kind of the best thing we can do for ourselves, and that going through the process of self-acceptance is kind of like “fooling” around with yourself a little bit as if life is kind of a game. Would that be a fair assessment?

Alex: I think that’s a wonderfully nice way of saying it, yes.

Anthony: With all that said, what’s your first memory of being interested in magic?

Alex: It was definitely when I was 5 years old and my father went on a trip to New York for an academic conference of some sort. He was a professor and he bought me a magic kit at that famous store FAO Schwartz. It’s like a famous toy store, which closed, I believe, recently.

It was just like one of these little kids kits, but he brought me back, and I was 5 years old in just remember like being enchanted by it. I couldn’t stop playing with it, and I learned all the tricks and went around just showing them to everyone every time. We had guests over and to my friends.

Honestly from there on, I was interested in it and it became like a thing that my father and I kind of bonded over and did together. But that was very vivid memory. Gosh, come to think of it, it probably is up there with some of my earliest memories actually. Because I was only 5.

 

Can Kids Be Fooled?

 

Anthony: One group of people that tend to be very difficult to fool is young people because they don’t know the cues of Mr. Action so to speak. So it’s kind of a fascinating age. What experience do you have doing magic for kids?

Alex: You are absolutely right. I learned that at my first show when I was 6. It was my own birthday party. I performed for my friends and it was a disaster. They were trying to touch everything and yelling at me and heckling me. I remember crying and going to my room and being really upset.

But you know, it’s a fact that children are very difficult to perform for. I mean not just because, I mean obviously they have a hard time sitting still and they can be rambunctious. It’s hard to do anything with kids because of that, but they’re also, I talk about this a bit in the book, psychologically I think quite good at figuring out magic tricks. You know there could be a lot of reasons behind that, but I think part of it is that they don’t have quite so many assumptions going in.

They have a way of thinking about things where they’re kind of testing out new ideas, and on some level, they’re better at figuring out tricks than adults are. I’ve seen this time and again. If you talk to magicians, they’ll say the same thing that kids can be remarkably difficult to fool. They often figure out tricks that fool some of the smartest adults.

Anthony: It’s always interesting performing for kids. I wonder, you started at a young age with that interest. How did you manage to combine throughout your life and particularly once you got into university and so forth, physics and magic and journalism. Is there a common thread between all those three things that the more you see a connection or is it just happenstance?

Alex: Well the short answer is yes. I absolutely think there’s a nice connection. I was very fortunate because I had these three interests of writing, journalism, magic, which I’ve been into since I was 5, and physics and science, which I’d also been into for years and was studying. It was this wonderful moment of realization when I sort of saw that, well first of all as a writer, this world, these concepts and ideas hadn’t really been written about.

Secondly, that there were all these beautiful connections between magic and science. Especially psychology and neuroscience, but also mathematics and physics. To see that there was this science to the magic and that a lot of the literature in psychology were essentially applied to magic tricks and to see all these connections, that’s what really kept me fascinated and took me along this kind of quest, if you will, to understand magic.

That’s the basis of the book. It is exploring, not just this great world with amazing characters and amazing stories, which as a writer was you know just a wonderful gift to be able to share this world with other people that I’d already been immersed in. But then to also be able to incorporate my love of science, my interest in in scientific mysteries and to see all the overlap and to see all the magicians who are interested in science and all the scientists who are interested in magic, that to me was just this blessed confluence of all my geeky interests. It was just like a nerd trifecta.

Anthony:  I think one of the things that I also really loved about your book is that it, kind of for me, is the magician version of Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein, where he takes you deep into the world of memory competitions and memory techniques. You’re doing that with the magical community. I wonder, for people who aren’t familiar with magic and this world of circles, brotherhoods, personal mentorships and the lineages, how would you describe the magical community?

Alex: Well, first of all thanks for that comparison. A great book Moonwalking with Einstein and a wonderful story. I’ve always loved those kinds of books where it takes you and pulls aside the curtain and takes you behind the scenes.

Magic, I think like a lot of subcultures, is filled with brilliant obsessives. People that really are single-mindedly devoted to this craft. I think magic in particular because it’s so wrapped up in secrecy, by definition you’re not supposed to tell how it’s done, etc. It lends itself to an even more extreme version of this kind of hermetic community of people.

You have these societies with these initiation rituals and these codes of secrecy. You have a very curious form of information exchange. Whereas, like with the memory book Foer wrote, he went into this fascinating subculture, and I think it was probably easier to learn these techniques than it might be if you are a newcomer to the world of magic where not everyone wants to share. You have to become much more imbedded to then benefit from this exchange of ideas and information. So that’s part of it too.

 

Magic Is Weird …

 

Then I think it’s just a very weird place. Magic is weird. A lot of people who do magic are kind of nerdy and bizarre and wonderfully so. But it’s honestly like the kind of thing it is almost hard to believe that it’s real in some cases when you meet some of these people and some of these characters. Then the fact that magic also has all these sort of hubs, or whatever, that connect to the science, but also there are connections to crime and scams. Then you have branches mentalism which ties into psychics. You have all of these overlaps with other kind of allied groups and that is something pretty incredible.

In many ways it’s a fairly narrow thing because it’s just magic, but just in the way that I imagine that the memory community ties into mathematics and public speaking or whatever various other pursuits, so does magic and it’s intersections are fascinating. You are able to kind of go between these different worlds. It grants you access to all these other kind of worlds or communities. It is just incredibly rich and it’s filled with wonderfully interesting and often very brilliant people. Like nothing else I’ve ever encountered.

Anthony: Absolutely. There is a bridge with memory and magic as well on multiple levels I can think of such as memorizing tricks, like the actual routines, memorizing the scripts, memorizing the moves in performance and then remembering to execute certain moves while you’re performing. So I wonder if you have any thoughts on how those things are part of magic as you have had in performance, in studying with a mentor and in actually competing as part of your career as a magician.

Alex:  Yeah, I mean that’s a great question. So you’re absolutely right. There is quite a bit of overlap. In fact, there are magicians in the past who have used the mind power, the memory power as a kind of magic or as a kind of performance technique. More specifically, there are a lot of magic tricks that rely on memory techniques and memory and memorizing decks. I mean some of my favorite tricks, honestly, are tricks that require you to memorize an entire deck of cards.

 

If I can just make a little tangent. If I can just rewind for a second. Probably the most famous or one of the most famous magicians who was also kind of a memory expert was Harry Lorayne. He was a magician but he did these memory shows and these mind power shows. He was the kind of the embodiment of this this connection between magic and memory. He was a memory training specialist, he wrote books on it. He would perform on the Johnny Carson Show and do these remarkable mnemonic demonstrations. You know he’d go to parties and memorize everyone’s names. He was also a magician who pioneered some wonderful tricks and sleight of hand and whatnot. So that’s kind of the embodiment of this connection.

But more broadly, they intersect throughout magic, and just know, you’re not the first memory person I’ve talked to. Actually, through this book I’ve met a lot of people in this community. In terms of my own practice, I would say that some of the most beautiful tricks out there, card tricks especially rely on being able to memorize strings of cards and numbers. Juan Tamariz –

Anthony: Mnemonica, yeah.

The Most Important Book On Card Magic Published In Decades

 

Alex: Mnemonica is, I believe, probably the greatest, most important book on card magic published in in decades. It’s absolutely revolutionary. I mean my favorite tricks are from that book. Honestly, that stuff is incredibly powerful. You know, you combine memory techniques with a few other basic magic techniques like false shuffles, card controls, and double lifts, it’s almost like you can do anything.

I’ve also created another trick that relies on also memorizing a deck that’s organized in a very special sequence that is basically a binary code that allows you to determine what order of the cards, where you are in the deck based on the color configuration of like a group of six cards. It’s a little bit hard to explain. That also required me to memorize the entire deck. In particular for that one, because I had to learn to map a six-card configuration of red and black to a number that corresponded to the first card in that sequence, I had to use the Memory Palace, the method of loci – is it loci or loci?

Anthony:  I’ve just replaced it entirely with “station.” A station in a Memory Palace.

Alex: A station in a Memory Palace, that’s better. So anyway for this trick, which is one of my favorite tricks of all time, it was really first developed, the idea was first developed by Persi Diaconis, a guy at Stanford, for that I use the Memory Palace technique. Like Joshua Foer actually kind of explained to me. I also use that technique where you assign letters to numbers. What is it called again?

Anthony: The Major Method or Major System.

Alex:  The Major Method. That’s right the major system, right. So for this trick what I do is I have six people take cards. I figure out what the red black configuration is, that’s a binary number, which I can turn into a digit, a regular base ten number. I use the major system to turn that into a word, that word corresponds to a station, an image in my Memory Palace, which in turn corresponds to the first card in that sequence. Because I memorized the deck, I then just walk through my Memory Palace, and I see all the cards so I know where I am.

It sounds very complicated but using the memory techniques it was actually fairly easy because I was able to memorize the deck quickly and it’s so robust that it just sticks in your head for a long time. All you to do is revisit it once in a while and it’s there.

I was really shocked when I did this. I’d never done this kind of technique before and I was so impressed by how powerful it is. There’s not, when you’re kind of a grown up, there aren’t too many times when you continue to amaze yourself at what your mind is capable of. You have kind of seen it all at that point. This was one of those rare instances which I was like wow I didn’t know that I could do that. That’s pretty cool I think.

 

Memory Techniques Are Real Magic

 

Anthony: I think it’s one of those things that really borders on, if not entirely, is real magic. If I can put real beside magic, because there’s lots of things that are real magic, but this is almost alchemy in some sense in terms of creating knowledge and reliably so

Alex:  Yeah I agree. I think that’s why people like Harry Lorayne you know he used it in his shows because it really felt like, wow, this guy has superpowers.

Anthony: I’m really glad that you mentioned Lorayne and Juan Tamariz. There’s a Penguin Live lecture where Darwin Ortiz talks about how he worked for Harry Lorayne, teaching in one of Lorayne’s schools or programs that he had. I guess it would have been in New York.

Alex: I didn’t know that.

Anthony: I’m not sure if he’s done more than one Penguin lecture, but if he’s just done the one then that’s it where he talks about it. He talks about the importance of like memorizing the names of your participants that you use in routines. He tells quite an amusing story of working for the Harry Lorayne. Lorayne is not really well known as a magician, but he was a huge contributor in terms of literature. Publishing other magicians apparently giving them work has memory trainers. It is kind of fascinating. About Tamariz, did you ever try his suggestions for memorizing the deck?

Alex: Yeah, I did. In fact, when I memorized Mnemonica the first time around, I used the technique that he recommends in the book, which is to basically draw faces on the cards if I recall. At that time, I didn’t know the Memory Palace technique so I used his technique.

For the other trick since then, whenever I’ve had to memorize a deck, I’ve used the Memory Palace technique. I thought about going back and making the Mnemonica into a Memory Palace, but I have it now and I use it so often that I’ve got it. Also, his technique is nice because it’s really easy, it’s very bidirectional. It’s very easy to remember the card and then say oh that’s number fourteen, or if you hear fourteen oh that’s this card. Whereas the way I had memorized this other deck, I didn’t index it.

But yes, so I used his method up front, which was, again, I mean really based on the same concept right? Which is to turn it into an image to make it visual. Each card you draw some image of something fanciful and it links it to the number in an interesting way, in a visual way. So what you’re basically doing is you’re linking the card and the number in an image. I didn’t install it the Memory Palace at the time because I didn’t know that. But it seems to me like it’s kind of the same idea, right? It’s turning numerical or verbal memory into visual memory which we know is far more powerful.

Anthony: I think too, if you don’t mind me inserting this, for anyone who’s listening to this and they don’t know Tamariz, they should not just think of him necessarily as a guy who can teach you to memorize a deck of cards and do all kinds of routines with them, but he’s also a very good person to read for things you should be remembering about how to be a memorable performer. Five Points in Magic is one of his great books.

Alex: That’s a great book. He’s a wonderful mentor and also he’s talks about so much more than magic. How to become kind of a complete performer and a complete person. He’s got so much insight and wisdom.

Anthony: You have a really interesting discussion of shuffling which you sort of have mentioned just now. It’s one of the, I think, most fascinating parts of the book and you make the math very clear. But could you say a few words about the mysteries of shuffling, and what it means to shuffle a deck of cards from a mathematical sense?

Alex: Yeah sure. I mean shuffling stuff is pretty cool I have to say. There’s two basic ideas that I talk about. The first is the question of how much you have to shuffle a deck for it to become truly mixed. So what does it mean when you shuffle a deck? You basically, and I’m talking here about a riffle shuffle, you basically split the deck roughly in half, then you sort of riffle them together and the cards mix.

So there’s the question of how many times do you have to do that before the decks are truly random. Meaning you can’t really recognize the original order. The more formal definition, actually, would be – well let’s just leave it at that – to where they’re perfectly random.

So anyway this question was posed in a formal way by Dave Bayer and Persi Diaconis. Dave Bayer is a professor of mathematics at Columbia and Persi Diaconis is now at Stanford though at the time I believe he was at Harvard. Persi was also a magician who trained under Dai Vernon, the great master of sleight of hand. The man who fooled Houdini. Persi was interested because he’d read about a trick that would been published in a magazine or journal in an obscure place and suggested that someone could shuffle and then find a card even after it’s been shuffled.

Anyway, a long story short they did an analysis. They found it takes about seven shuffles to completely mix the deck, to fully randomize it. Which is surprising in a way because it’s a lot or it seems like a lot. More interesting was that it’s not a very linear process. It doesn’t really happen incrementally. You don’t really get much randomness out of the first four or five shuffles, and then right around six and seven is what you could call a phase change. So it very rapidly becomes random. Basically it’s an exponential decay, which is pretty cool.

So that’s an interesting result, and it had implications for casinos and whatnot stuff like that. It also means you could do some pretty cool tricks where you have someone pick a card and put it back in, shuffle and still you can find their card because there’s still patterns that are recognizable sequences.

Now that’s a shuffle that randomizes the deck. The reason why shuffling works is because it’s sloppy. When you shuffle you don’t cut the cards precisely in half. You riffle the cards together but it’s not one after another you know you get groups of two and three and four. That’s what introduces the randomness. It turns out that if you shuffle perfectly, and by perfectly I mean you cut the deck precisely in half and then you interleave the cards so they thought they mesh exactly one, one, one, one, one, that isn’t random at all and after eight of those shuffles, they’re called pharaoh shuffles, the deck returns to its original order.

What’s perhaps even cooler is that this is true for any number of cards. Only the number of shuffles required is different depending on how many you have. There’s a simple mathematical formula that tells you given N number of cards how many shuffles you need to do in order to get the deck to reset itself.

This is tied to something in mathematics known as group theory which is essentially is a language for symmetry. Group theory underlies the standard model of physics. Granted those are very different types of groups, but it’s a similar mathematical structure. To me that relationship, that connection is very beautiful. Something very beautiful and rich. Also, when applied, can create some of the coolest magic tricks you’ve ever seen.

Anthony: It’s quite incredible to think about, and, again, I highly recommend reading your book because of that entire passage. Actually, it’s more than a passage. It’s quite an adventure. It’s one of the show pieces of the book I would say, the discussion of shuffling. You mentioned practicing remembering names. Persi Diaconis was it?

Alex: Yeah that’s right.

Anthony: That he was a student of Dai Vernon. I have never know – sometimes it’s Dai and sometimes it Dai Vernon. I know he was a Canadian which, of course, gives me lots of pride being a Canadian myself. For people who don’t know the story, who is Dai Vernon and how did he fool Houdini.

Alex: Dai Vernon is widely considered one of the greatest sleight of hand magicians of all time. His influence is a towering influence on magic. He was a Canadian. That’s exactly right. Although he came to the states and cut his teeth in Chicago. He rose to become this master of close up magic and sleight of hand. He eventually became sort of the dean, sort of the patriarch of the Magic Castle, lived there for a long time and died in his ninety’s. He was this legendary figure who fooled Houdini.

The story behind that, it’s a true story. It’s kind of grown into almost mythology. But the gist of that was that he was – well Houdini had this very famous bet. He said no magician could fool him three times with the same trick. Because in magic you’re famously not supposed to repeat a trick. The saying is once it’s a trick, twice is a lesson. Because magic relies on surprise, right. If we’re watching it again you know you might notice certain things.

Anyway, apparently as the story goes Houdini his bet or his boast was out there for a while and no one had beat him. Finally, one night at a dinner, I believe it was in Chicago, in Houdini’s honor, it was at the Society of American Magicians dinner, which Houdini was president for a while, Dai Vernon does a version of the ambitious card, which is this classic trick where you put a card into the deck it rises to the top over and over again.

Vernon did a version of it for Houdini, and as the story goes, he did it seven or eight times and Houdini was totally stumped. As a side note, he was actually using a gimmick that was invented by Hofzinser, an Austrian magician. That sealed his fame as the man who fooled Houdini and the ambitious card, or this version of it, as the trick that fooled Houdini.

But even if it weren’t for that, Dai Vernon deserves his station because he was a great master who invented dozens and dozens and dozens of moves, and not only that, pioneered this philosophy of magic that emphasizes naturalness above showmanship. Dai Vernon grew up on reading Erdnase, and because of that, because of his connection to the gambling rooms and to the card tables, for him it was all about being understated and not revealing a great technique or flourishes, but really just being natural and making it look like nothing is being done. That magic is really just coming out of nowhere. So anyway, that’s the long winded version of the story.

Anthony: Well it’s a very good one. For anyone listening to you have got to check, if you’re interested in magic, check out Dai Vernon on YouTube. There’s some great footage of him performing that is exactly as you describe very natural, and he’s quite a character. Speaking of repeating things seven or eight times, one of the tragic comedies in your book is something that I’ve certainly experienced, which is going to lead into a question, which is why do girlfriends hate our magic so much after the first trick or two?

Alex:  Yeah, right. Well I think, that’s a good question. Man, I wish I had a good answer. That would have saved me a lot of heartache. I think the thing is this. Like anything if you’re obsessed with it, well let me say one thing. First of all the thing with magic is you can have to practice it on people. I mean you can practice a trick on your own a million times and you have to, but eventually the only way to practice magic is on someone else.

Unfortunately, those closest to us are the ones that are hit the hardest by that. So I think often, whether it’s your family or friends, in my case it was definitely my friends and my girlfriend, were at first you know this is great. Some magic tricks and then after a while it was like wow there’s a lot of magic tricks, and then eventually for the love of god no more magic tricks. I think it’s partly that.

I also think, you know let’s face it, magic is kind of geeky. I mean that in the greatest way possible. You know nerd power, but it is a little nerdy. Maybe if you’re not into that that, that could also maybe get old for some people. I think magicians are obsessive people often. Very much so in the way that anyone, whether it’s music or magic or whatever, standup comedy, you know you have to practice it. Doing the same thing over and over again and become very obsessive about it. That might not be the easiest thing to live with all the time.

Also once you figure out how it’s done, it’s not always this fun for ten more times. At this point my girlfriend knows pretty much how everything is done, and she now thinks like a magician. So it’s very hard to fool her. I really have to figure out something, because she knows all about horses and double – like she knows all the techniques. So even if I do a new trick and it’s based in techniques that she understands and she can figure it out, reverse engineer it. So I really have to try hard to fool her. That’s actually fun to do, but you know I think that might also be part of it.

Anthony: In my experience if I could fool a girlfriend that I’ve had for a year and a half, then I think I’m on to something.

Alex:  That’s right. No, it’s absolutely true. It’s kind of, in some ways, the best audience.

Anthony: One thing that I find really interesting is the nature of competition. I was watching an older lecture from Shawn Farquhar. He said that he’s met some of his best friends at magic competitions. I was just wondering what your experience has been like that when it comes to friendship and competition, and also in the context of mentorship because another big part of the book is your relationship with a mentor and how that develops.

Alex: Yeah that’s a good question. I mean I was amazed when I first discovered that there were all these magic competitions, national ones, local ones and then there’s international ones like FISM. The world championships also known as the Magic Olympics every three years, which Shawn Farquhar won. He’s probably one of the great living competitive magicians. He’s won at everything basically.

When you go to these competitions you definitely see the same faces over and over again. In terms of mentorship, a lot of the magicians who compete have mentors. In some cases, not so much in the in the US, but in like Korea, for instance, there are coaches really at magic schools. So the mentorship relationship there is very strong. But it’s true everywhere. In Spain too, there is a kind of a legacy of students and teachers. So that’s very big and competing for your country is very big in these places.

I mean the end of the day, magic is still a fairly small community. It’s not like musicians you know. It’s magicians. I mean it’s maybe bigger than you would expect and that it’s everywhere. It’s in every city, there are these magic societies and they have hundreds and hundreds of local assemblies, but it’s still the kind of place where after a while everybody kind of knows everybody. Which is one of the things that I think makes it so charming.

At these competitions you definitely see, I mean I probably have been to a dozen of them or so, the same people over and over again in the audience and also on the stage. I think it lends itself even to these very friendly rivalries were people know each other. They also worked in the same industry from a more business standpoint. Everybody knows the challenges of that. So I think there is this camaraderie in the business itself. Yeah, you definitely see people who are just lifelong friends in the art. I think that’s pretty cool

Anthony: I’m wondering given your interests in physics and journalism and in magic, I wonder, just as some rapid fire questions, what would you say is the most important thing to remember about each of those fields about journalism, about writing as such, about magic and about physics and math?

Alex: If I were going to try to make a generalized statement, and again, this is only as true as it is general. It’s only as true is that a very general statement can never be. That’s what I really meant to say. To me there’s this underlying mystery to it all.

What attracts me to all of them is this thrilling sense of mystery. What I mean by that is in physics you’re dealing with the most fundamental mysteries in science. Really you’re looking at the irreducible bits of matter. You’re looking at the nature of space and time, the origins of the universe, the end of the universe. These to me are, I’m not a religious person, but they are almost spiritual questions.

They’re so profound that I don’t know what’s deeper than those. It’s so mysterious when you start to study physics, and obviously when you get into quantum physics and relativity, when you realize how far from common sense and from what we’re used to nature behaves in this incredibly magical mysterious way. I think Einstein said the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it’s comprehensible. So I love the mystery of that. That just blew my mind from the moment I learned about it.

Obviously, magic is the same way. I’m not going to suggest that doing a card trick is this lofty is studying the big bang, but when you see a magic trick and you don’t know how it’s done there’s this wonderful beautiful sense of mystery. The kind of mysteries that you have experienced all the time when you were a kid, and you were seeing the world for the first time.

That is a pleasure to me. It’s something that the never gets old. Even when you know how it’s done, there is this mystery to how the mind works and why we’re able to be fooled by these things. That taps into the mysteries of the brain and these foibles that we succumb to that are really innate. The way our brain works and what makes us human and what makes us so adept. That’s beautiful so it gets into the mysteries of the mind.

Then writing too. Writing is a way to search for meaning and to find meaning and to essentially capture meaning and put it down on the page and to communicate. Writing is such a mysterious process because so much of the time you really don’t know where it’s going. It’s just digging and you’re really just feeling around in the dark. The creative source is just ineffable. You hope it’s going to come.

You work really hard at all of these things. It’s work, work, work, work, work. You sit down and you do the work. Then you hope that the mystery and the inspiration comes to you. But in the end there’s just this unknown. It’s just these very bizarre and mysterious things that underlie them. I guess that to me is what’s the most exciting. Maybe that a little cheesy but that’s sort of how I think of it.

Anthony: The book ends with you finally getting a bit of a smile from the from one of your assessors after you complete your journey and it’s a great ending to the book. But I wonder, outside of competition, is there one magician living today, maybe other than Penn and Teller, who you would be over the moon if you could fool that particular magician. Who would that be?

Alex: This is probably the cheesiest answer I could probably give. But I would love to fool David Blaine. I’m sorry. I know that’s terrible.

Anthony: I don’t think that’s cheesy at all. Say more.

Alex: I think we maybe could. I don’t know. I mean he knows a lot about magic. He does. Sometimes he gets a bad rap, but he’s actually an expert. He knows a ton. So I think fooling him would be tough but fun. His street magic, his earlier stuff was inspiring to a whole generation of magicians. I really appreciate that about him. So I think that’s cool. I guess if I had to pick another person it would probably be Tamariz just because I think of all the magicians in the world he’s the one I find to be the most inspiring. If I could fool him that would be like epic.

Anthony: That would be amazing. I’ve never understood the, whatever you want to call it, the Blaine bashing because I think he’s really quite a character and very good at what he does.

Alex: Yeah is he really is.

Anthony: Well so Fooling Houdini is an excellent book and thank you again for being on the show and for writing such a such a great exposé of your experience in that world and tying it together with math and all these other elements of the of the human psyche and your own personal journey.

Alex: Thanks, Anthony. I appreciate it. It was a pleasure.

Further Resources

The Amazing Doctor Who Wanted to Cure His Patients By Memorizing A Deck of Cards

How to Memorize Zodiac and Horoscope Info (For Entertainment Purposes Only)

The post Fooling Houdini And Memory Secrets With Magician Alex Stone appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Fooling_Houdini_And_Memory_Secrets_With_Magician_Alex_Stone.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:30pm EDT

Image expressing the act of learning a foreign languageYou’ve dreamed about it for years. Opening your mouth and fluently speaking a foreign language. You know just how deeply that ability would fill the wide open gap in your soul.

You may not be fully aware of why your monolingualism hurts so bad, but in this post you’ll discover 15 reasons to find out what you’re missing.

Let’s explore each of these and see how each can inspire you to get started learning a language today. There’ll be some powerful tips and action steps for you at the end so you can get started today.

 

Learning A Language Exercises Your Brain

 

Do you ever feel like your mind has gone a bit soft?

Chances are it does feel a little doughy. The good news is that learning a language is one of the best long-term workouts you can get. Working with new words and grammar rules gets multiple areas of the brain working together.

And because you get to think familiar thoughts from a completely new angle, your perspective stretches more profoundly than looking at an M.C Escher painting ever will.

 

Language Learning Develops Discipline

 

Languages are fun, but also require consistency of exposure and effort. Luckily, access to languages has never been easier thanks to the Internet.

However, you do have to click over to the right websites and invest your time optimally. Sites like Duolingo and Memrise offer some help, but you’ll also want to find resources that capture all of the “Big Five Musts” of language learning:

  • Memorizing
  • Reading
  • Listening
  • Speaking
  • Writing

The good news is that you can get each of these done in the first half hour of your day with an additional one hour or less in speaking practice with a tutor per week.

Covering The Big Five Of Language Learning is especially easy if you develop the discipline of consistently getting your language learning in before you even switch on the computer. There’s more information about making sure you get all of these done within the first 15-30 minutes of your day in my case study Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets.

After you’ve covered your daily language learning activities first thing in the morning, you’ll never never suffer the dreaded Zeigarnik Effect which creates intrusive thoughts when we’re not focusing on things we need to get done.

For the rest of your day, you can check in on your language periodically by stocking up on podcasts, watching some Youtube videos in your target language and by using the technique taught at the end of this article.

Finally, work on understanding motivation in the context of language learning. Master your motivation and you’ll make steady strides toward fluency in no time.

 

Language Study Deepens Your Appreciation
And Understanding Of Your Mother Tongue

 

You rarely ponder it and yet it’s in front of your eyes and on your mind all day long. It even dominates your dreams. Yes, your mother tongue is that prevalent.

But just imagine understanding the ins and outs of your mother tongue at a higher level. The benefits are wide reaching and knowledge of how and why we speak as we do will enrich many aspects of your life.

Your mother tongue is also downright amusing when you realize how many weird things we say. And as I suggest in this video…

You won’t get this level of silent education and amusement while walking down the street in any other way, so pay attention to the odd nature and quality of the phrases we speak. Ezra Pound called this element the logopoeia of language and it is profound.

 

New Languages Exercise The
Muscles Of Your Mouth And Ears

 

There are spots on your tongue that you didn’t know you have. Lots of them.

And that’s not to mention the backs of your teeth and the terrain of your palette. When learning  a new languages, these places suddenly become a vast world ready for exploration.

Your ears develop exciting new abilities too. You’ll automatically start picking up on variations in sound and your attentiveness to detail will improve. All languages are musical and syncing your ears with your mouth makes you both the player and the instrument. Prepare to bloom.

 

Your Cultural Knowledge And Understanding Expands

 

Want to know why some people tick as they do? Learn about their culture from the inside looking out instead of trying to peer in.

Whether it’s history, politics, cinema, literature, theater or music, the ability to study and experience these aspects of a culture from within its language is inspiring. Even sculpture and painting take on new dimensions when you can read the plaques in your target language.

The best part is that your interest in the culture will expand. When you start learning the language of a new culture you’re interested in, prepare for your curiosity to increase twelve-fold (or more).

 

Numbers And Math Concepts Will Grow Your
Logical And Conceptual Abilities

 

Learning to count and perform basic math operations in another language can feel a bit like learning to tie your shoelaces all over again.

Different languages express numbers and the time of day in unique ways that can be puzzling to the point of frustration. But push through and you’ll be delighted by your ability to think backward, sideways, upside down and in some cases completely opposite to your norms. Win in this department and you’ll enjoy one of the highest forms of mental triumph you can experience.

 

Learning Languages Boosts Self-Esteem And Confidence

 

The great thing about the long game of learning languages is that there are countless victories along the way.Click To Tweet

Small achievements build up you can feel proud of yourself again and again with greater intensity as your accomplishments grow.

And it’s not just about your self-esteem. Here’s how to teach your kids memory techniques.

 

New Languages Retrain Your Eyes

 

You’ve seen the word “baker” thousands of times. But how about “Bäcker”? You recognize it in principle, but it looks weird with that extra letter and the umlaut, right?

It sure does, though no more or less than “baker” looks to a German-speaker who can also probably figure out what the word means in English thanks to the similarity in spelling.

It’s a beautiful thing when you’re able to see connections between languages, but it takes training. And you’ll often do a Homer Simpson-forehead smack when you figure out similarities that should have been more obvious. That’s just part of growing.

Then there’s the matter of completely new character sets. Few languages will challenge your ability to recognize patterns and associate sounds with symbols than Japanese or Chinese.

Yet, once you’ve got your foot in the door, you’ll grow by leaps and bounds and get to explore yet another dimension of logical arrangements you previously could not understand.

 

One Or More Extra Languages Widens Your Job Prospects

 

Even if that job you’re dreaming of doesn’t require proficiency in another language, what boss or hiring committee won’t recognize your discipline and enhanced thinking abilities as an advantage?

You can position yourself better and even open a company up to new opportunities that were previously closed to them when they hire you.

If you’re a freelancer, your pool of possibilities is also broader, as is your potential for networking.

 

New Languages = New Friends
Lots Of Them

 

It’s not that people who speak only your mother tongue bore you. But you are a curious person with multiple interests and you don’t want to get tapped out or caught in the hamster wheel of friendships that cannot grow.

That’s why meeting new people you can speak to from within their culture can be so profound. You get the benefit of learning about their world and expressing details about yours. You can then bring new things back to your old friendship circles. This sharing breathes new life into everything and creates a perfect circle between the old and new.

Just make sure you don’t tell your friends any of these 5 Lies About Language Learning. They not true and only drag everyone down, especially you.

 

Location. Location. Location.

 

What better way to enjoy what you’ll learn from your new friends than to visit their homeland?

Not only that, but you’ll be able to hold conversations with the locals, order in restaurants with confidence and even complain in hotels about the water temperature if you wish.

 

Language Learning Slows You Down

 

This feature of learning language might sound like a minus, but in our sped-up world, nothing could be healthier than taking the time to learn deeply at a slower pace.

Just like you don’t want to abandon the training wheels on a bike too soon, learning a language requires you to master a number of fundamentals. Gain traction with these and you can tackle the next level (and the level after that) with consistency, clarity and the certainty that you’re getting it right.

 

Learning A Language Teaches You A Ton About How To Learn

 

Learning languages requires strategies that apply to learning anything. You can bring outside tactics to help you as you explore a new language, but more importantly, you’ll take a lot of new approaches away for other kinds of learning.

For example, you’ll learn how to assess what you don’t yet know how to say and find resources to fill in the gaps. You can transfer this ability to any communication-based activity. You’ll spot missing words and note the need for clarity when writing or editing, for example.

 

Learning Vocabulary And Phrases Exercises Your Memory

 

When learning a language, you are playing an extended game of memory.Click To Tweet

Retention and recall advance you through the levels, and even in your mother tongue, it’s impossible to plateau. There are always more words to learn and memorize.

 

How To Learn And Memorize Any Word
Or Phrase In Any Language Fast

 

The great thing about consciously using your memory while learning vocabulary and phrases is that you don’t have to rely on painful rote learning. Although index cards and spaced-repetition software certainly have their place, the ancient art of memory, or mnemonics, offers powerful techniques for boosting your vocabulary in record time.

The Memory Palace is one of the most effective memory techniques for language learning because you can group related words together.

For example, a Memory Palace is an imaginary replica of a place you know, ideally a building like your home, school or workplace.

If you can imagine the journey from your bedroom to the kitchen, then you’re already well on your way to creating your first Memory Palace. If you need more help, you can use the Magnetic Memory Method Masterplan.

To do it right, draw out a floor plan of your chosen building. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just recognizable enough for you to recognize a distinct route. Try to move from the inside out and avoid crossing your path.

 

How To Use The Magnetic Journey Method For
Learning Your Foreign Language

 

Then choose a number of “Magnetic Stations” along the route you’ve created. Attempt to have at least ten in your first Memory Palace, using spots like the corner of each room, tables, chairs and doorways.

Next, get together the vocabulary you want to memorize. It can be random words or a list based on themes like travel. You can also memorize lists of verbs, nouns, adjectives or all of the preposition.

Finally, you create a “Magnetic Bridging Figure.” Base your Magnetic Bridging Figure on a real person or an actor for best results.

Cartoon characters also work well. The easier it is for you to see this character interacting with different objects the better. And if you can associate the figure with the sounds of the words, you will be memorizing at the highest possible level.

For example, let’s say you’ve got a short list of German adjectives:

  • Bockig
  • Dunkel
  • Weich

To get started with memorizing German vocabulary, you could imagine James Bond in your bedroom. “Bockig” means “stubborn,” so you could see Bond stubbornly whipping a block of ice with licorice. If you take a few seconds to exaggerate this weird image, you’ll find that it’s hard to shake from your mind.

Plus, when you revisit the image in your bedroom later, it will remind you that the word you’re looking for starts with “bo” thanks to James Bond.

The “ck” sound in “block” will help you recall the “ck” sound in the target word and the liquorice in the image will help you recall the final “ish” sound. The more “stubborn” Bond looks in your image and the more exaggerated you make the action and colors, the better you’ll be able you recall the sound and meaning of the word.

The description you’ve just read may sound complicated, but that’s because you’re reading a mnemonic create by someone else. Once you start using this technique on your own, it will soon become second nature to you.

Here’s another example:

Let’s say that James Bond is now in your kitchen. You’ve got a basketball net in there and you see Bond slam “dunk” the letter “l” through the hoop. If you see the hoop as a dark black hole, then it will be simple to recall that dunk + l = dunkel, which means dark.

To give a final example, “weich” means soft in German. By the door leading out of your home, you could see James Bond squeezing a viper between the jaws a soft and furry vice. Make it exaggerated and funny so that the imagery leaps out at you and the details make it easy to decode both the sound and meaning of the word.

Again, these examples only demonstrate the guidelines of how mnemonics work. You’ll need to experiment and create your own images based on the words you want to learn and memorize.

In whatever language you’re using, avoid getting stalled by looking for one-to-one correspondences between the images and words. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how easily your mind brings it all together based on near-associations.

All that remains is to rehearse the Magnetic Journey Method in your mind a sufficient number of times until the words enter long-term memory.

You can speed up the memorization process further by writing sentences using the words and speaking those sentences in a conversation. Casually mentioning to people what you’ve memorized and how you did it using mnemonics is also a great way to solidify new vocabulary and phrases.

Finally, you can follow these steps for every letter of the alphabet. For example, here are some Hindi Alphabet Memory Palace secrets from a Magnetic Memory Method student.

 

There Are No Magic Bullets In Language Learning
(And That Is A Beautiful Thing)

 

It’s normal and natural to look for shortcuts. But when it comes to language learning, there aren’t any. In fact, shortcuts, like SMART goals, aren’t necessarily desirable.

Why? Because you benefit so much from the learning process. You develop patience, stamina and the ability to juggle many moving parts. In today’s age when computers are bearing so much cognitive load on our behalf, more than ever we need to have this kind of mental activity to keep our brains fit and our mental lives stimulating.

Above all, by not seeking shortcuts and just getting down to learning, you learn to deal with imperfect communication. This process teaches you to come at problems from different angles until you’ve made things clear.

And not seeking shortcuts is easy… So long as you’re in the G.A.P.:

In a world with over 7000 languages, getting in the language learning G.A.P. and staying there is a skill worth having. In every tongue.

The post 15 Reasons Why Learning A Foreign Language Is Good For Your Brain appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: 15_Reasons_Why_Learning_A_Foreign_Language_Is_Good_For_Your_Brain.mp3
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Could This Man Be The GODFATHER Of Memory Techniques Of The 20th & 21st Century? 

(Seriously. The dude has memory courses on vinyl.)

Although memory training has been around for millennia, it has seen a huge resurgence in modern times. There are now countless books and materials about memory improvement, not to mention video courses, audio programs and, yes, resources like the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

But if there is one name who stands behind the explosion of mnemonics in the 20th and 21st century, that name is Harry Lorayne. Through his voluminous work as an author and presenter, Lorayne spawned and popularized the modern industry of memory training. Correct me if I’m wrong, but in terms of sheer visibility and quality, I think it’s safe to say that Harry Lorayne is the Mnemonic Godfather of modern memory training.

 

How To Survive A Terrible Childhood And Create A Memorable Career

 

But the future didn’t always look so promising for Lorayne. Judging from his childhood conditions during the depression-era, it seemed that the odds were firmly stacked against him.

“I had an awful childhood. I’m a depression kid.” Lorayne shares in his 2012 interview with Michael Senoff. “I remember having a potato for dinner.”

He was also affected with dyslexia, which he only identified as such years later. This learning disability caused him to struggle and fail while in grade school.

But Harry Lorayne’s life took a different course when he discovered books on memory improvement. As he told me in the exclusive interview he gave for Masterclass members, he discovered memory techniques in a dramatic way and after learning these methods and drastically improving his grades, he started teaching his classmates on how they too could become memory masters.

From there, Harry Lorayne progressively became more and more successful. Lorayne has managed to emerge as one of the most famous and published magicians and memory experts of the century. Now in his late 80s, Lorayne is still at work teaching the world about memory, success and perseverance.

 

The Secret Ingredient That Made Harry Lorayne And His Memory Techniques Go Viral

 

Harry Lorayne was born of Jewish parents in 1926 in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, right near the East River. Having come to the world only 3 short years before the Great Depression, Lorayne’s childhood was spent in impoverished and difficult circumstances. Most everyone was poor, and Lorayne was amongst the poorest of the poor.

Poverty colored all aspects of Harry Lorayne’s childhood, including his play. He recalls how with his childhood friends he would play in a garbage dump near where he lived. Lorayne recounts: “The garbage became a petrified hill. They were long, petrified mountains of garbage, and that was our playgrounds. That’s what my friends and I played on when I was a little boy.”

School also proved to be difficult Lorayne. Due to his undiagnosed dyslexia, Lorayne received failing grades as a young boy. To make matters worse, his father had a heavy-handed way of dealing with his son’s school performance.

“I got the paper [test] home to my father to sign, and he would look at the failing grade, and he would punch me,” remembers Lorayne “I was scared. Not of getting failing grades, but of getting hit by my father.”

 

How Fear Created A Memory Solution That Would Help Millions Of People Improve Their Memory

Pushed to find a solution, a stroke of insight struck Lorayne one day on his walk to school. “I just realized that at that point in my life, all you had to do was remember the darn answers to the questions, and then you’ll get a passing grade. And then, more importantly, your father won’t punch you.”

In other words, Lorayne understood that school was more about a test of how well you could memorize than a test of ‘intelligence’. As he says repeatedly in many of his interviews “There is no learning without memory.”

Lorayne soon headed to the library where he asked the librarian to show him where the books on “how to memorize” were kept. There, he immersed himself for hours in how-to books on memorization. These included books from the 17th and 18th century, and works from modern memory trainers, such as David Roth.

Much of the material was not comprehensible for him at his young age. However, he understood enough to teach himself how to memorize things quickly and effectively using mnemonics techniques.

From that point on, he aced his tests at school, surprising his teachers and sparing him from his aggressive father. His classmates took notice, and started to ask Lorayne how he managed to have improved his memorization so drastically. That marked the start of his career teaching others on how to memorize effectively.

Later, Lorayne would even have other people teaching his techniques for him. For example, the magician Darwin Ortiz talks about teaching for Lorayne in his Penguin Magic Live Lecture.

But long before being a teacher and helping others become teachers of memory techniques, Lorayne became a dropout during his first year of high school. To make an income, Lorayne started performing memory tricks for small to medium sized audiences. He would impress crowds by memorizing magazine pages, decks of cards or large lists of names. His original intention in doing these shows was to attract students to hire him for memory training. He found little success in doing so, but his shows led him to be noticed by an agent.

The agent started Lorayne on a path of presenting to larger and larger audiences. By 1958, Lorayne was presenting on national television, including shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show and Good Morning America. Lorayne performed on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson no less than 24 times.

One of his most famous memory feats include memorizing each of the names of crowds of up to 1500 people. As much as 20 minutes later, he would be able to name each of the audience’s names when prompted. He is also known for having memorized an entire phone book.

But Lorayne didn’t make his name off of entertaining others with memory tricks alone. Instead, he became famous by teaching others how to use these techniques and improve their own memories.

This Memory Improvement Solution Could End
Your Memory Troubles Forever

 

Harry Lorayne has sold millions of copies of his many books teach people around the world on how to replicate his memorization ability. Many actors and other public figures have publicly acknowledged using Lorayne’s methods. These include New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg, Secretary of State Colin Powell and actor Alan Alda.

Harry Lorayne’s method is based on image associations. This is where the memorizer associates an image with the piece of information that they’d like to remember.

Lorayne’s methods are based on the idea that all memory can be broken down into associations of two entities. As Lorayne puts it “That’s what I teach, how to make one thing remind you of another.” Lorayne’s method also extends the technique to non-physical and non-visual concepts, such as numbers. His teachings guide students on how to visualize numbers physically so as to remember them.

He does this by teaching students to associate numbers 1 through 9 with specific letters (a technique known widely as either the Major Method or Major System). With this technique, any number can be connected with at least one word. By associating numbers with a physical word, numbers are given a physical quality. As compared to the abstract concepts that are numbers, physical qualities can more easily be used as mnemonics.

Lorayne also underlines the importance of paying attention. His method includes teachings on how to concentrate and focus on the information students are trying to memorize. “We are all born with the same capacity for memory,” he says. “It’s a question of having a trained memory, or an untrained memory”

One thing that many note about Lorayne’s work, however, is that his teaching seems not to cover the Memory Palace Method technique. No one is quite sure why, but my feeling is that in some integral manner, memorizing the names of each person in a large crowd must use location in one way or another. Unless the individuals change location, a mnemonist performing a feat like this most certainly taps into the power of a repeated location, if only unconsciously. There is a link between the where the information was memorized and where the mnemonist goes to recall it.

What Will Harry Lorayne’s Contribution To Helping You Create Instant Memories Will Bring To Your Future?

 

The answer is: Success.

In addition to his immense contribution to memorization training, Harry Lorayne has made significant contributions to the field of magic. For example, he’s written over 30 books on card tricks. As a world recognized magician, Lorayne has invented and refined techniques which are now widely used by current-day amateur and professional magicians.

Lorayne’s life and career shows us how even barriers which many would consider insurmountable can be overcome. His landmark contributions to memory training is an essential tomb in the library of memorization techniques. At 89, Harry Lorayne continues to work and give seminars to large corporate audiences. He has even recently completed an autobiography.

Harry Lorayne, living legend of memory mastery, proving what Winston Churchill said: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”

Further Resources

The Memory Book

Ageless Memory

Super Memory – Super Student: How To Raise Your Grades In 30 Days

Jonathan Levi On ADD, Education & His TEDTalk Memory Palace

The post Harry Lorayne Memory Improvement And The Magic Of Mnemonics appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:19am EDT

Image to express the question Do Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics Really Help?There’s No Way Of Learning Chinese With A Messy Mind!

Or …

Is there?

Actually, yes. There is.

No matter how manic, no matter how depressed, no matter how much I’ve got on my plate, ALMOST every day, I fit language learning into my schedule.

One of my best tricks is this:

Win The Morning, Win The Day

 

Anthony Metivier's study materials while using mnemonics for learning Mandarin Chinese

 

Do you reach for your cell phone first thing?

And are you making the mistake of using it as an alarm clock so that you have no choice but to check it first thing?

If you’re serious about learning a language, checking your messages and farting around on social media first thing in the morning is a big no-no. That’s true even if you want to learn languages online.

Think about it. How many times have you gotten caught up in the “Twilight Zone” of Facebook only to notice that 15 minutes … 30 minutes … even an entire hour has slipped past.

For nothing!

So don’t do it.

 

Here’s How To Get Language Learning In First Thing So You Feel On Top Of Your Progress All Day Long

 

I hate having that feeling throughout the day that I’m neglecting what I love: memory and language learning.

So in addition to winning back oodles of time by not looking at my “dumb phone” and not turning on the computer, here’s what’s going on right now:

On the floor beside my bed, I have Langenscheidt’s Chinesisch Schreibübungsbuch.

It’s a book written in German that teaches how to write the Chinese characters. Tucked inside the book is the notebook I’m using to draw the characters.

I don’t get out of bed until I’ve spent as long as it takes to practice drawing 8 characters 8 times.

Why 8?

No idea. That’s just the number that came to mind. It’s just part of what I’ve learned from Olly Richards:

 

You Must Have A Language Learning System!

 

Seriously. You must. Languages don’t get learned Helter Skelter. They get learned based on consistent efforts executed consistently.

That’s the first part of my system and a huge part of The Big Five Of Language Learning.

Next, I pop in my Human Charger and meditate. I do this for exactly 9 minutes.

Why 9 minutes?

Because that’s how long it takes for the Human Charger to shoot its light into my ears. You may have heard me talk about other, more relaxed meditation approaches in the past, but I’m experimenting with this one and it works really well.

Next, I knock off another of The Big Five language learning activities:

 

Spend Time Listening To Your Language Every Day

 

Listening to Pimsleur language learning programs (Pimsleur for Mandarin Chinese no less) used to bore the snot out of me. Sorry to be vulgar, but it’s true.

Think about it: You listen to this guy promoting you in English to say stuff in the language you’re studying again and again and …

… again.

 

It’s Like Pounding Nails Into Your Head!

 

But then I had an idea:

What if I “fuse” listening to Pimsleur recordings with the Magnetic Memory Method.

Oh ho ho, Magnetic friend. That’s when Pimsleur started to get really interesting.

This might sound complex, but it works.

Get a notebook. Reserve it for your MMM Pimsleur experiment. Then get out a pen and pop on your headphones.

Next, make a couple of columns:

English (or mother tongue)
Homophonic transliteration
Mnemonic Imagery
Words
Notes

Also, leave space to draw a Memory Palace on the page. Draw one out using all the principles of the Magnetic Memory Method you’ve learned from one of my books or video courses.

If you don’t know how to make a Memory Palace, get this:

Free Memory Palace Memory Improvement Course

It’s all very easy peasy and, yes, even lemon squeezy (as one MMM student once put it).

Now you’re set. Keep the pause button handy and then press play.

When the man introduces how to say: “Excuse me, may I ask?” pause the recording and write this down in your English column.

Then, after you hear the native speaker say it in your target language, write out what you hear in your own spelling. Say it out loud and spell it in whatever way seems best to you.

 

Don’t Make The Mistake Of Overthinking This For Mandarin Chinese
(Or Any Other Language)

Like Jesse Villalobos told us in his recent Magnetic Memory Method review, just do it.

And don’t worry about standardizing your homophonic transliterations. You’re just helping your mind understand the sound and meaning of the phrases using multiple senses and muscles.

Seriously. I can’t tell you the dozens of different ways I’ve spelled different phrases and it doesn’t matter. I can speak them in the target language, in this case, Chinese.

Next, think up some imagery that helps you memorize the words. Whatever comes to mind.

And if you’re following along, the brief meditation will have you calm, relaxed and juiced up with creativity.

Once you’ve got that whipped up, stick it on, at, beside or even under your first Memory Palace station.

Finally, press play again and carry on.

 

What Will Happen To You Next Is A Language Learning Miracle

 

Soon the Pimsleur guy will ask you to say that phrase for which you just created mnemonic imagery.

Press pause and then look into your imagination (not at the page!) and “decode” the image you placed on your Memory Palace station.

Got it?

 

Of Course You Get It!

 

Because the reality is that if you know mnemonics, there is never any problem with them.

Never.

Anyhow, I do this until I’ve filled out one page of my notebook.

 

Can You Guess How Much Time This Costs
Using Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics So Far?

 

Go on, have a guess.

Nope.

Still no …

Getting closer.

Oh, all right, I’ll tell you.

15-20 minutes, more or less.

All thanks to cutting out morning social media and 3 little systems:

8 x 8 characters
9 minutes meditation
1 page of MMM-ified Pimsleur

Do this for a month and you’re further along than most people will get in a lifetime of starting and stopping.

But Wait! There’s More About Memorizing Mandarin Chinese
I Want To Teach You!

 

So far we’ve covered 4.3 of The Big Five. We’ve got:

  • Writing
  • Reading
  • Listening
  • Memorization

… and a touch of solo speaking.

That’s where my Mandarin Chinese speaking partners come in.

 

You Can’t Expect To Learn A Language Without Actually Speaking It

 

Now, sometimes what I do with my Mandarin Chinese speaking partners is rather elaborate. More on that in a minute.

The important thing is that I speak with these people. Plain and simple.

Doesn’t have to be perfect. Doesn’t even have to be right. It just has to be time spent speaking.

I do this at least two times a week, ideally three.

I sing in Chinese too:

All fantastic. All following the principles of motivation for language learning based on memory techniques.

The only problem is …

 

This Approach To Learning Mandarin Chinese Is Almost 100% Introverted!

 

Yes, okay, talking with speaking partners online is technically communicating with other human beings.

Technically.

But it’s still too solitary.

This is why I propose that there’s a sixth component that needs to be added to the Big Five:

Socialization

Think about it.

Are you going to go through all the work of learning a language just to speak with people online?

Of course not.

You want to be able to strike up conversations with the locals when traveling. Order a memory-friendly drink in a restaurant, either in a local restaurant or abroad. Flirt with cute members of the opposite sex, maybe even find the partner of your dreams.

I know I do. So please stay tuned for more language learning for introverts and socialization secrets coming soon.

Further Resources

In the meantime, check out some of these previous Magnetic Memory Method podcast episodes with other great language learners for in-depth tips and training:

The Steps I Took To Memorize 3 Chinese Poems in 2.3 Weeks

Luca Lampariello On How To Master Any Language

Mindset, Memory And Motivation With Sam Gendreau

Noel van Vliet Talks About The “Back End” Of Language Learning

Chinese Vault From Mandarin HQ

Plus, here’s my Basic Chinese Phrases and Mandarin Mnemonics playlist on YouTube:

The post Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Mandarin_Chinese_Mnemonics_And_Morning_Memory_Secrets.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:49pm EDT

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Can This Incredible Memory Champion Teach You How To Memorize 52 Playing Cards In 17 Seconds, Ace Med School And Get The Upper Hand On Learning A Language? 

 

Have you ever wondered how the world’s top performers manage to pull off their tremendous feats?

I’ll bet you have. I’ll bet you’ve even felt jealous, and all the more so when it comes to memory champions.

But as Alex Mullen reveals in this exclusive Magnetic Memory Method interview, you can build your memory skills to epic levels with a shockingly small budget of time.

For an hour a day or less, Alex demonstrates that you can learn to memorize a deck of cards in 17 seconds.

You can win a Guinness World Record for memorizing the most digits in under an hour – Alex clocks in at 3029!

And the best part is that you use the powers of memory you develop to sail through your studies. As a John Hopkins University grad with degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Alex is living proof that you really can squeeze it all in and have an excellent memory too.

Currently a medical student at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Alex is not only a two-times World Memory Champion. He currently holds the record for scoring the most points since the competitions began 24 years ago.

So what are you waiting for? Tune into this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. Download the audio and transcript to your desktop and follow through on the suggestions in this action-packed session with one of the world’s greatest living mnemonists.

 

Episode Transcript

 

Anthony: Alex, it is really great to have you on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, and actually a real honor because you have achieved so much and really at a young age. Maybe tell people what age you are here in 2016 and a little bit about your first memory of being interested in memory.

 

Alex: Sure, well let me say first of all, I am happy to be here. It’s nice to be talking you. I got interested in memory back in March 2013. That was sort of the first time, at least that I can think of, that I was introduced to the techniques. At that point, I think I was either a sophomore or junior in college. Up to that point, I had done things like using acronyms and some basic mnemonic stuff, but I really didn’t know about Memory Palaces. I didn’t know about any visual mnemonic strategies, anything more advanced than that.

 

How To Get Your Foot In The Door With Mnemonics

 

My first exposure was this TED talk by Joshua Foer called Feats of Memory Anyone Can Do. It was a short TED talk but that just really got me hooked. I was blown away about what he talked about in that talk. I ended up reading his book. He had this TED talk and then he wrote this book, a pretty famous one called Moonwalking with Einstein where he goes into his journey as memory athlete, learning the techniques, competing at the USA Memory Championship. That was really what got me interested.

I tell you, in terms of what was going on in my own life, like I mentioned, I was a student at the time and I probably, and it’s hard to remember ironically, but I’m pretty sure I probably felt like I was struggling with my own memory in school. Not really feeling like I was learning in the most efficient way, forgetting things all the time. Seeing these techniques, obviously as many people do, it struck me as something that I could use to improve my academic life. That was really the original motivator for me using memory techniques. I didn’t really think about competitions. I didn’t really think about memorizing numbers and cards. I really just wanted to use it for school, and that was my initial sort of entry into the world.

 

Then, once I read his book I got interested, and I figured why not make a system for numbers, make a system for cards, and then at least even if I don’t compete, I can use those to practice techniques and get comfortable with them. That’s what I did. I ended up reading a few more books: Dominic O’Brien‘s Quantum Memory Power, Ron White‘s Memory in a Month. I got through those and just made my systems. I started making a PAO system for numbers, a PAO system for cards. Then I just kind of started practicing and doing the events at the competitions and then trained for about a year. My first competition was the 2014 USA Memory Championship.

 

The Minimalist Guide To the PAO (Person Action Object)
System And Beyond

 

Anthony:  There is so much to talk about with what you just said but maybe if we just jump into the bolts and the mechanics and so forth. When you’re talking about systems and PAO, what are you referring to? I think one thing that is supper important in what you’re saying is you’re talking about creating systems. A lot of people look for a system in someone else’s mnemonic strategy, but you’re talking about creating your own. Why is that important? What do you mean by system? What does it mean to create your own?

 

Alex:  Right, well, when I say I created a PAO system, I was just looking to, as most memory athletes do, create a system that translates numbers or cards into a predetermined image. PAO stands for “person, action, object,” and that means, for instance, for numbers you take every 2-digit number and associate it with a person, an action and an object. When you memorize numbers, you take like say 6 digits at a time, you look at the first 2 digits and you would say who is the person associated with those 2 digits. You move to the second 2 digits and you would say what is the action associated with those 2 digits. Then finally the object for the last 2 digits and then you would string them into this story of this person doing this action or an object. Then that would represent a 6-digit string.

 

That’s not something I invented. That’s a technique that was around since something like the 2000s or something like that of people the using in competitions. When I say I created my own system, I didn’t invent the system. What I did do is choose which people, which actions, which objects I was going to use in my systems. That’s something every memory athlete or person who wants to use systems to memorize numbers or cards or whatever has to make themselves, because they need those associations to be personal and strong for them.

 

Like I said, I didn’t I didn’t invent the system but I had to make these images, and I had to choose things that will be personally strong for me. Just talking about systems in general I think is a pretty interesting thing. One thing I do think that I’ve sort of learned, through memory sports, competitions, etc., is that systems can be somewhat complicated to begin with. Then, once you put enough work into them, they really sort of pay off in the end.

 

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I’ve since moved on from the PAO system. Now I use a 3-digit system to memorize numbers where every 3 digits becomes some sort of image. If you think about that, having to think of an image for every single 3-digit combination, that’s a thousand images, you know that sounds really complicated. I would not advise that many people to do that unless they want to compete, but it’s something that, with enough practice, works really, really well for me. I think it’s an interesting lesson that if you put in enough work up front, it can really sort of payoff down the line even if it seems complicated up front.

 

Anthony:  Yes, I think that’s an important distinction that there is a lot of self-creation even if you’re adopting preexisting models or whatnot. What I wonder is, I mean this is certainly the case for me, I have certain characters that are relatively fixed for cards, for example, but there are times when actually I need to switch between two symbols that I have for the same card. So I use major method for cards. In other words, the queen of clubs can be either a chain or it can be like the queen of clubs literally with a chain, or it can be Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies because of all his double chins, or it can be, you know there’s a couple other variations. Are you really fixed, or do you have some wiggle room in case it just doesn’t work a particular thing that you’ve created for three digits or cards or whatever the case may be?

 

How To Reduce Luke Skywalker To The Basics And Remember Anything

 

Alex: That’s a good question. I’d say it’s relatively fixed. I don’t think I personally really do anything that similar to what you said where you have kind of two separate actual things. I mean the furthest I would go I think is, let me think of an example, for me 570 is Luke Skywalker from Star Wars obviously. Like for him for instance, that pops up you know sometimes I might picture Luke Skywalker using his blue lightsaber and you know doing something with it. If it works better, occasionally I’ll just use the lightsaber itself, and he won’t even be part of it.

I do make sort of adjustments in the moment like that just depending on how it fits into the story, but it’s not quite what you’re talking about I think. That said though, when I am using memory techniques/Memory Palaces for learning things in school, I’m a medical student right now, and I will sort of have sometimes occasionally, I try not to do this too much, but I have two different images for certain things. Like sometimes, I am trying to think of an example, sometimes I’ll represent like a white blood cell, this is kind of a weird example, but a white blood cell could be Luke Skywalker actually, and then sometimes depending on just, I guess it’s sort of hard to explain, but sometimes if it’s a little better I’ll use Stephen Colbert, and he also would represent a white blood cell, but I do kind of use one or the other sometimes just depending on what which fits better to the story.

 

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Anthony: What interests you in medicine and what brought you to that particular field as opposed to any other course of study?

 

Alex:  I’ve been interested in medicine for a long time since high school really. Part of the reason was pretty simple. I just like science. I was kind of a science nerd. I like the kind of problem solving aspect of it. I didn’t like the fact that it was sort of more practical and you could sort of directly influence people rather than being like an inventor. How do people use what you invent but not really having that personal connection.

 

I mean, yeah, those main things were sort of what got me interested, and then when I was in college, you know I did some shadowing. I followed some doctors around. I did some other things too. I tried to do research, things like that and medicine was just sort of, you know, being a physician was sort of just what struck me as most interesting.

Why Memory Techniques Are Something Everyone Should Learn

 

Anthony: Intuitively we know there’s so many ways that memory techniques can help physicians. I wonder if in the future you think that there may be a possibility at some point that in a program like medicine, or any program in law school or whatever the case may be, there might be a place for mnemonics as a course of study or an elective that people could take while there while they’re studying a big subject like that?

 

Alex: Yes, I mean I think, obviously I’m a little biased here, but maybe we both are. You know I think that memory techniques is something that everybody should learn. You know medicine, medicine or not, but medicine especially just because there really is just so much information that you know you have to memorize. I mean obviously the best way I think most people would argue to learn information is to really understand what’s going on. If you have a really deep understanding, you will remember it.

 

I mean, unfortunately, that’s just not the case in medicine. There’s so much information that you can’t possibly try to find some sort of root understanding in everything. There’s just not enough time in a day. You have to memorize things, if that makes sense. I think memory techniques are something that really can make students learn more efficiently to be able to retain the information longer.

 

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Do You Make The Mistake Of Cramming?

 

You know just like cramming and forgetting is such a huge thing for the average med student’s life. They cram for tests. They forget it in two weeks, that kind of sucks you know. It’s not a very good model. I think that memory techniques can definitely help with that. I’m certainly trying my best to use them in my own career to do that, to learn, to keep things more long term. Yeah, I do think that medical students should learn about memory techniques.

 

Actually, there are already programs out there. There are web sites or courses for instance that incorporate mnemonics that a lot of medical students use that are actually already very popular. For instance, there’s this program called SketchyMicro [now called Sketchy Medical] that uses sketches. So like drawings of places and then they will images, you know mnemonic images into things to teach you about different bugs in microbiology. It is visual learning and it does incorporate pieces of Memory Palace ideas even though you aren’t really using your own personal Memory Palaces per se.

 

Those have already become quite popular in just a few years. You know I think it is starting to take a little bit of a foothold already. It’ll be very interesting to see where that goes.

 

Anthony: Cool. I wasn’t aware of that program but I’m always kind of amazed at the requests that people have for ready-made mnemonics as such. You know images that are created by someone else. I wonder what your genuine take on that is. Is that a is that a winning long-term strategy?

 

Alex: That’s a good question.

 

The Question That Plagues All Teachers Of Mnemonics (Solved)

 

Anthony:  Is it a point of entry that is legitimate someone could take so long as they develop the ability to create their own images or are you better off, you know, from your own pedagogical opinion, are you just better off just learning the nuts and bolts of making images right from the get go?

 

Alex: You know that’s a question that I really struggle with a lot. I’m not sure what the answer is. There have been many people that I’ve you know tried to teach memory techniques to for learning specifically, and you know it’s just sort of a fact that a lot of people will try it, probably hit a few road blocks and then just sort of give up. I mean, obviously, myself I’m a “memory athlete” and so it was a little easier for me to just be able to do it, and then also to kind of kick myself in the rear enough to keep trying it to make sure it works.

 

How To Memorize Medical Terminology Fast

 

In that sense, my point is that maybe it is better to give people these pre-made mnemonics. That’s what SketchyMicro [Sketchy Medical] does. That’s what these other programs like Picmonic do. People really seem to respond to those because they are very low barrier to entry type things.

 

You can still get a lot of benefits of mnemonics, maybe not all of them, but a lot of them without really doing much upfront work yourself. It doesn’t have to be a very active process. You just watch these videos and they sort of come to you.

 

That said, like you said, obviously there are benefits to making your own palaces. There are benefits to making your own images. The personal connections are stronger. You can use memories from your own life which make things more memorable.

 

Even myself, I sort of do a combination of both actually. I personally use SketchyMicro to learn microbiology. Then I use my own images and palaces for the other courses that I’m taking right now like pathology or pharmacology. Then I also do certain things to still take what is happening in the SketchyMicro world and incorporate into my own personal palaces. SketchyMicro has videos for all these different say bacteria or a video for this type of bacteria or this type of virus or whatever. Then I use my own Memory Palaces. I take the images from those videos and put them in like sort of an organizational palace.

 

I use my own palace and say okay here are all the gram-positive rod bacteria. Here are all of these. I can sort of see the whole structure using my own Memory Palace. I guess my point is that I’m sort of using a hybrid of my own images and their images. This is my roundabout way of saying that I think there are benefits to both. I think definitely it helps in a sense to get people through the door, so to speak, to give them premade images like SketchyMicro, because it is, in my experience at least, it can be difficult to get people to use the techniques because it is a very off the wall, sort of unintuitive – you know it’s intuitive when you’re using it, but it’s an off the wall thing and people struggle. People run into roadblocks. Hopefully that answers the question.

 

Anthony: Yeah, I mean it’s something I struggle with just how to teach it, how to actually make it palpable for people because so often it sounds like you’re giving the instructions for how to build a jet engine.

 

Alex:  Right.

 

Anthony:  But I think that you and I both know and other mnemonists know that it is so elegant once you know what you’re doing. There’s like an artistry to it, hence art of memory, but it’s kind of ballet. It is just sort of like a kid with a remote control who is up, down, left, right, right, whatever that was – A, B, B, A on the old Nintendo Select Start routine – and there’s just a kind of fluidity to it once that you get rolling and so I think that one of the hallmarks and one of the things that I admire about you is that you’re not just using these, you’re actually teaching them and you have videos now.

 

Alex:  I’m trying to yeah.

 

Anthony:  Well they are excellent and one video in particular, if it’s cool with you, to put it on the page for this interview.

 

 

Alex: Sure, yeah.

 

Can’t Keep Up With Language Learning?
Get Hold Of These Crazy Memory Secrets
(That Go Way Beyond A PAO System)…

 

Anthony:  You talk about one of the biggest things that people struggle with in memory in general, apart from medical school, which is foreign language vocabulary acquisition. You can watch that video, but what’s your key strategy there?

 

Alex: I just use sort of the same Memory Palace (a.k.a. Mind Palace) technique that I use for medicine or whatever. Generally, I should probably look into more of some of your stuff. I don’t think I have palaces organized quite the way you do. I just sort of do it haphazardly. What I do is I’ll start in a Memory Palace, choose one and then for vocabulary I’ll just choose locations along the way. I just sort of do the standard mnemonic thing. Create an image for the foreign language word. Create an image for the definition in English, and then have them interact in some way on that locus. That’s really it.

 

Personally I used mnemonics to learn Spanish and also to learn Chinese. Every language obviously presents with its own unique set of challenges. Chinese is obviously much different than Spanish. I do a couple of different tweaks and nuances to learn the Chinese things. It’s still all pretty much the general idea of palace images, same idea.

 

Anthony:  Are you doing Mandarin or Cantonese?

 

Alex: It’s Mandarin.

 

Anthony: All right, we can trade notes because I’m doing Mandarin now too. It’s really fascinating.

 

Alex:  It’s challenging.

 

Anthony: There is this absolute relationship between what you can do with Spanish and what you can do with Mandarin, but one thing, and maybe you can add your insight, that I find so fascinating, is I actually find Spanish harder with mnemonics than I do Mandarin because there’s so many cognates and I want to get lazy with the cognates and there’s an overwhelming amount of them.

 

Alex:  Yeah, that’s true.

 

Anthony:  And then there’s the 11 cognate rules and it’s just like, “Oh my goodness, do I really have to go through all this?” Whereas there is something so fresh about Mandarin and the tone challenges and so forth that just almost makes it like putting a knife through warm butter. It’s not as resistant because it’s so different.

 

Alex: Let me ask you this. So for Mandarin are you learning the characters also?

 

Anthony: Yes.

 

Alex:  Okay. I’m curious how you would do that. When you do the pronunciation and the character do you sort of have it all in a similar location?

 

How To Invent The Solutions To Your Language Learning Problems

Anthony:  Well I’m sort of “inventing” the process as I go along. One of the first things that I did, and I actually started this with Japanese and then I switched to Chinese, but I memorized the radicals in the Hanzi. That was four Memory Palaces to put together. I’ve got some repairs to do because it’s actually quite a challenge, but I didn’t do any sounds associated with any of them whatsoever, but this practice allows you to see the actual Hanzi characters in a very different way. There are sometimes often logical relationships. Like words that have to do with cooking that will have for example the fire radical in it, often you can even tell how that word is supposed to be pronounced, or you can make really educated guesses.

 

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Alex: I definitely found that to be the case with Chinese (learning the characters, building the radicals) a lot of it makes logical sense.

 

Anthony: It’s weird. It’s like learning how to see more than it is learning how to read in some way. So there’s different levels of procedure. So there’s that, and then I never thought I would do this, but for the characters in and of themselves it’s really useful, just hard rote with, with memorize. I haven’t quite figured out how to add a mnemonic component because I just ignore the mnemonics that other people use. I just really don’t connect with them.

 

I just sort of, partly as an experiment, I just resist using them to see what happens and the character recognition builds really nicely. Then for the actual mnemonic strategy, what I’m doing, and I don’t know why I never thought of this before, but I got Pimsleur for Mandarin Chinese 1, 2 and 3 (much better than Pimsleur Spanish), and so I went to a cafe and I started to write out by hand my own homophonic transliteration as I call it, which is just to spell it the way I want to spell it, and made lots of mistakes. I was saying like tway-bo-chi when it’s supposed to be more like dway sound with like a “D.” But who cares about that initial error. You can’t correct yourself if you don’t have it in memory. You need it to be in memory to even make proper mistakes.

 

So then I would just would write a Memory Palace beside that in an Excel file. I’ve got columns. I’ve got a column for the English. I’ve got a column for my homophonic translation. I don’t bother writing down the meaning and then I make a little Memory Palace. I draw the Memory Palace. One case it was the city library here in Berlin or the Stabi as it’s called, the Staatsbibliothek and just go from there.

 

Then, listening to those repeitions in the dialog from Pimsleur is not using rote learning to pound stuff into your brain. It’s atually, like I press pause after each sentence, I produce the information from the imagery, I decode the imagery, so I’m actually practicing the art of memory as opposed to using it for rote learning. I’ve memorized now 11 dialogs and it’s really fast and it’s cool.

 

Alex:   That’s great.

 

Anthony:  It’s Pimsleur-speak but it’s something. I know this is your interview, but just sharing with you.

 

Alex: That’s okay I’m thrilled.

 

Anthony:  The next thing that I do is I have two different speaking partners and I record the calls and they write the characters. One of them just writes characters. One writes Pinyin numbered and so I have those and I watch them typing this on the screen and it’s recorded and I go back. Then I just make Memory Palaces and memorize the vocabulary that came up. Like we did the months which is never on Pimsleur and we did things like, “I’m going to the park” and “I’m going to this with a friend” and then we do substitutions. “I read Shakespeare.” “Every day I read Shakespeare.” “I love to read Shakespeare.” These kinds of things work and it really builds quite quickly and then the next speaking session we go through what we did the last time and I produce it from memory and then get the corrections in pronunciation and it’s beautiful.

 

But I have to apologize! I completely skipped off what we were talking about. What are you doing with Mandarin?

 

How Alex Mullen Ethically “Steals” Memory Techniques

 

Alex:  Yeah, so I wrote like a blog a while ago about it. I’m sort of ripping off this technique from a guy I found online. That’s just sort of what I do. I rip off people’s techniques. It was an interesting strategy and I didn’t really think too hard about it.

It sort of appealed to me at the time. I originally saw it a few years ago and I didn’t really put it into practice until sort of recently. The technique is different from the Spanish for me in a sense because when I do Spanish I sort of just look at the words and then I sort of just think of the first thing that comes to my head.

Like for instance, and this is an example I gave in some of my videos, if the Spanish word for apple is manzana, I sort of look at that. Maybe I would break it down and it kind of sounds like “man sand.” I might think of a man with a bag, like a big sand bag or something like that. That’s what I do for Spanish. I just look at the word and think of something that will remind me of the Spanish sound.

 

But for Chinese, I found that to be, at least personally, difficult. Because it’s very dissimilar to English and a lot of the sounds will trigger English words, but then I’ll very easily forget the nuance of the Chinese word. There’s just sort of all these like these different sounds that are very distinct in Chinese obviously, but sort of when I try to translate them to English words, it doesn’t really work quite as well. At least, that was my personal problem.

 

To get to what I’m actually doing, the technique takes advantage of the fact that Chinese words are monosyllabic and there’s sort of this finite set of beginnings and endings to words. What the technique does is it takes a person and there’s a predetermined person to represent every possible beginning. So for instance, one beginning sound is a ja sound and so for me that’s George Costanza from Seinfeld. Another one is the ba sound and that’s James Bond for me.

 

Then there’s endings, like for instance “a” or “i”, so then you can put the “ba” and the “i” and get “bi.” The endings I represent with places.

 

Then the way I do the tones is I sort of pick four different areas in those places. To be more specific there are 12, assuming I got this technique right, there are 12 different endings and so I have 12 different palaces for each of those endings and then within each of the 12 palaces there are four regions. The first region within Palace 1 will represent that ending and it will be the first tone for the first region if a person is in that region.

 

For instance, let me see if I can think of a good example. Okay, let me see if I can get this right, for instance so “bank” in Chinese is (loosely transliterated) “yinhang” I think, if I’m remembering it right. For the “yin” part the first sound is a “yi” sound and so for me that’s my grandmother. I call her Grandmother Eddie and so the “ed” kind of sounds like “yi” in Pinyin so that “yi” and then the ending is sort of an “n” ending. So it’s “in” and that “n” ending for me is the Old Miss campus which is in the town where I grew up. The second tone, because it is “yinhang,” is this sort of sports complex area. So I have my Grandmother Eddie for “yi” in this sports complex and that’s the “n” ending with the second tone and then she’ll be doing some sort of bank related thing in there.

 

This kind of goes back to what I’m was saying about systems. Because this sounds very complicated, it took a little while to set up, but I find that I’m able to do that relatively quickly. I can the “yi” think of my Grandmother Eddie and, see the “n,” think of the place, think of the region for the tone and it works pretty well. That’s one example, but hopefully that makes sense. That’s sort of the technique that I use.

 

Anthony: That’s cool. I’m going to get tons of emails asking me for the link to that blog post or that site that you are referring to. Let’s make sure to link to that (see the resources section below).

 

Alex: Yeah, I’ll send it to you.

 

Anthony:  That would be cool.

 

Exactly How To Know When You’ve Got The Best Memory Technique

 

Alex:  I don’t know if it’s the best technique. I don’t know if it’s the best technique for me. It seems to work so far. Yeah, I just wanted to add that qualifier.

 

Anthony: I always tell people that it’s the best technique relative to the outcome that it gets you.

 

Alex: Right.

 

Anthony:  Is medicine a foreign language would you say?

 

Alex: In a way, yeah. I mean there’s certainly lots of terms to know. One thing I always try to be careful about is, and this is something I’m guessing other people struggle with and I certainly struggle with it myself. When you’re using a lot of mnemonics, you just need to be little careful, a little wary about not, I guess, losing the forest for the trees in terms of focusing too much on the memorization and sort of maybe missing out on some of the underlying concepts going on.

 

I don’t think that’s too big of a problem. I think it’s relatively easily combated just by forcing yourself to actively think about it. For instance, whenever I’m trying to recall something from a palace, I will always try to prompt myself by asking, “Okay, what’s going in real life?” Not in the palace, like visualize what’s happening in the body for instance and then just sort of always trying to ask myself why is this happening, what’s going on, how can I explain this in terms of cause and effect, I guess.

 

I think that to me is sort of the difference. I mean, obviously, there are concepts and grammar and things to learn for foreign language, but I found myself needing to be more careful about the understanding in terms of learning medicine.

 

Anthony:  This leads me to something interesting that we haven’t talked about yet which is you mentioned being a memory athlete. The reality is that you are more than a memory athlete. You’ve won the World Memory Championship. Right? (Update: Since this interview was recorded, Alex became the 2x World Memory Champion!)

 

Alex: Right.

 

Anthony:  We all appreciate modesty and that’s fantastic but I mean that’s the World Memory Championship and we’re talking about a deck of cards in 17 seconds. What does that feel like first of all?

 

Alex: Yeah, it feels good. It’s hard to say. I’ve been a memory competitor for a long time, about 3 years going back to the time March 2013. I had progressed a lot, obviously, and I felt good about where I was at, but even going into the competition last December, I didn’t feel like I was going to win by any stretch of the imagination. I knew that I could kind of compete for the sort of top couple spots if I really did my absolute best in everything, but I didn’t that was going to happen. It sort of was what happened, luckily for me. Definitely, the whole thing was surreal experience and it just felt like things kind of were going my way the entire time.

 

When it actually ended up happening, and I ended up winning on the last event, I didn’t even really know how to react because I hadn’t really mentally prepared for it. It feels great and I love the fact that hopefully it gives me a little bit of credibility in terms of being able to spread the techniques. I love competing but that’s really where my passion is at I think. I want to help people use the techniques especially for learning applications and for students or people in daily life as well to learn languages, etc. I personally like to focus on students, because there are so many inefficiencies with the way learning is done today, and I just think it needs to be done.

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In terms of cards, cards is my favorite event. I love them because I like the sort of manual feel of the cards. It’s kind of random but that’s really one of the reasons I like it. Just being able to sort of speed through the deck by using your hands very quickly. I just like how it’s a fast event. That speed cards event, just memorizing one deck of cards as quickly as you can, has really kind of been like a big part of me doing memory sports. Because it’s very easy to just pick up a pack of cards and just go through it quickly, take a pack of cards with you on the train, the bus or in the car or wherever. I really like that event. Hopefully that answered the question.

 

Anthony:  Yeah, it’s amazing. I’ve gotten just over the 3-minute mark myself and to me that’s really, really amazing.

 

Alex: Yeah, it is.

 

Anthony: The most I’ve done in competition, and I only ever competed once, but that was I did 14 cards in 2 minutes. So 52 in 17 seconds! But in my particular case, having never competed before, I didn’t even know we were going to play rock-paper-scissors and then alternate the cards. It just totally blew my brain that I had to sort of compensate for what the other person was doing and track whether they made a mistake or not. It was really kind of juggling. The recall was on the clock also. Very fascinating experience and so I can only imagine what that must of been like to be able to pace through a deck that fast. Take us through how you prepared for that. What’s an average training day like?

 

Alex: I try to keep my training sessions pretty short. Being in med school obviously I don’t have a whole lot of time to train a lot. I do my best to make each session as efficient as I can. I try to train sort of throughout the day. I mentioned maybe bringing a pack of cards while you’re going somewhere or doing it in sort of these transitional periods. That’s how I try to get some training in to not really add the extra time to my day.

 

How To Create Your Own Schedule For
Memory Improvement And Mastery

 

On a daily basis I would say I train somewhere between 0 and 60 minutes a day. It tends to be in that range. Then I like to do a lot of speed drills. I will take a deck of cards and sort of go through it and see my images, like visualize my images but not actually put it in a palace and try to recall it. I just sort of see it and try to go as fast as I can. To get to something like 20 or 17 seconds, you need to be able to see the cards and translate the images pretty much instantly. That’s really the essential skill in terms of getting fast. That’s personally what I train a lot of.

 

I try to keep it pretty short on a day-to-day basis and that I think helps because I don’t feel like I’m spending a whole lot of extra time training. I don’t really feel like I’m getting tired of training. It doesn’t ever feel like a slough, because every day it’s kind of little burst of training I can do and it’s always very exciting for me.

 

Anthony: They do say short bursts are really the way to go. [Note: Check out Dave Farrow’s ideas about using short bursts for study success]. Do you have a protocol or you just pick up cards and go at it?

 

Alex: I do. I have sort of a weekly schedule that I try to adhere to, trying to get through all the events in these competitions out of the way. It would be something like cards every couple of days, numbers every couple of days, names and faces, words every couple of days, just something like that. I sort of spend some of the time each day doing speed drills, just going through cards or going through numbers and just try to see my images. Then part of it is just doing the actual events in the competitions, spending 5 minutes memorizing numbers and then another 10 or 15 minutes recalling it. I try to stick to that schedule.

 

Anthony: I think scheduling is really powerful even just for memorizing like knowledge, for example, for studies and so on to have a sift and sort pattern so to speak. You offer coaching on your site. What would a person expect if they came to you for coaching as ground zero or Session 1?

 

How To Know That You’re Doing It Right

 

Alex:  You always are sort of wondering, “Am I doing this right?” Like okay, is there something or is there one little thing that I’m sort of missing that’s going to be the difference between getting it to be really successful versus not. I think just being able to talk to somebody else, hopefully somebody more experienced than you about it, is very helpful. But in terms of the ground zero student, I would just start with the basics. Try to go through Memory Palaces, the basic ideas of creating images and how doing certain things can really do a lot to make those images stick better in your palaces. Going through the importance of review schedules or like using spaced repetition. I think that’s very important obviously in terms of learning. I just sort of try to cater to whatever the student’s needs are. If they’re interested in competitions, if they’re interested in learning, I would started with those basics and sort of move forward depending on what their questions are.

 

Anthony:  I would imagine that by going to these competitions, you get coaching by default because you’re around all these great people who have this similar interest or is it completely the opposite? The reason why I’m thinking that is I was watching a lecture by a magician the other day, and he said that going to like FISM (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques), which is a magic  organization with a competition, is one of the best things that he ever did because all his best friends he met at the competition, and they actually help each other get better at magic. I’m just kind of curious about that.

 

Alex: Yeah, I definitely think that’s the case for memory. Most people, for sure, are willing to talk about the techniques they use, discuss their strategies, their ideas for what works and what doesn’t. I’ve definitely found going to competitions to be very helpful to learn personally. Also, just the memory competition sort of community in general has been very helpful, because you meet some of these people at competitions or you just meet them online and you can communicate online very easily and I do that a with different people. That’s always very helpful.

 

Anthony:  You know one thing that I think that is really key, and I’m sure you have insight about this, is that a lot of people get this. They understand it. They don’t feel like they’ve had a jet engine described to them. It just snaps. They are like okay make a Memory Palace, location dependent mnemonic, we put this image here, we go back, we recall it, and decode it. This is not rocket science to them whatsoever.

 

Alex:  Yeah.

 

Anthony:  However, they find it really boring. They’re not in love with it so to speak. Is there a way to fall in love with mnemonics? Is there a way to become so passionate about it that even if they don’t want to go compete, they are able to apply it to the information that makes a difference in their life, or just something that creates pleasure, which also makes a difference to your life?

How To Crush Boredom And Make Memory Development
The Most Interesting Activity In The World

 

Alex:  Yeah, I think so. I think that’s the case. I think the great thing about mnemonics is you can really make them as personal as you want to. So whatever you’re interested in, you can sort of adapt your images or your stories to sort of match that.

 

I think one thing that’s important, for myself and for others, is to really try to focus on making something that’s interesting to you. Sometimes I’ll get a little bored at memorizing numbers or whatever, and then I always try to take it back and force myself to think about, “What can I do to make these stories more interesting?” I always sort of see two images together on one locus when I memorize numbers. I always really try to do my best to make it seem interesting and doing that and just sort of focusing on making something funny or interesting in that way is enough to kind of keep me interested even if I’m having a bad or a boring day.

 

My advice really is to think about what you find interesting and really try to capitalize on that when you’re using mnemonics.

 

Anthony:  Now to take this from the other angle, what about somebody who really is interested in this, but they don’t get it all? They are just hearing all this stuff about Memory Palaces, crazy images, PAO, numbers, three digits per, –

 

Alex: Yeah it’s a lot to process.

 

Anthony:  You mentioned Dominic O’Brien’s book and Ron White’s book and so forth, what would be your go to manual besides your website which I actually highly recommend to everybody to go check it out. It really is awesome and the videos that you put together are very clear and distinct. Let me ask this a different way. Who is your hero in the world of memory?

 

Alex: I really admire a lot of different people. I guess one of them would Nelson Dellis from the U.S. He’s done just a huge amount just to promote the techniques here, and he’s obviously a very talented memory competitor. In terms of the world, I guess if you ask me in terms from a memory competitor standpoint it would have to be the German guy Johannes Mallow because he’s the No. 1 ranked memory athlete in the world right now. The way I created a lot of the systems that I use now for cards and numbers, I sort of stole from him and adapted to my own benefit. In that sense, he’s definitely my idol because I really tried my best to copy him and emulate him.

 

Anthony:  I really want to thank you for being on the podcast today. It has been incredibly inspiring.

 

Alex:  Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

 

Anthony: It’s been insightful and I hope to speak again. So you’ve got your website and a lot of great trainings there. What else is coming up next for you and how can people connect both on your site and perhaps elsewhere with social media and the like.

 

Alex: One thing I guess I wanted to mention was you talked about how for some people having the experience of it being something like putting a jet engine together. Talking about my site also, the way I’ve sort of found is the best way to combat the problem is to sort of just have them do it themselves. Just go through one example and have them do it and see what it’s actually like to do it. On my website I have something I came out with called the 20-word challenge, that’s I call it. It’s just memorizing a list of 20 random words. What I do, it’s a video, and I’m in this place that we’ll use as the Memory Palace and then I go through 20 different locations in that palace and memorize a list of 20 words.

 

That’s something I like to do with people who struggle initially just to show them that they really can do it and it gives them some confidence and also just an idea of what the techniques are actually like. I just wanted to bring that up real quick.

 

In terms of contacting me, a lot of the content that I put out is on my site, on the tutorials. A lot of what I focus on is trying to explain the basics but then also give people some examples of how to actually use techniques of learning. That’s something that I sort of couldn’t really find when I was trying to learn these techniques and use them in my life. I wasn’t really able to find a lot of learning examples or people explaining how to use them in medicine effectively for instance.

 

If people want to go to my site, that would be great. There’s a contact page on my site. They can always contact me and ask any questions that they have. I’m also on Facebook or Twitter at Mullen Memory, you can contact me there as well. All those places are good places to get in contact with me.

 

Anthony: Very cool. Well thank you so much and thank you for being a leader in the field of memory techniques.

 

Alex: You as well.

 

Anthony: One last question. Are you going to compete again and can you beat 17 seconds?

 

Alex: I would love to compete again. I’m still training right now. I took a little bit of a break after the competition but I’m back in it again. I couldn’t put it down for too long. I want to keep competing as much as I can. I haven’t beaten it yet, but I would love to break 17.

 

Anthony:  That’s awesome. Nelson has been on the show twice and he told me one of the best things that you’ll ever do is go to a competition. I didn’t believe him but almost by accident I wound up at one, and it really was the greatest way to learn so much.

 

Alex: Yeah, it’s a good experience.

 

Anthony: Thank you again for being inspiring on that account and I hope that people listening will go and check out Alex’s website and really take the time to study your approach and learn from you and listen to this interview again because it is just filled with great information.

 

Alex: Thank you. I appreciate it.

 

 

Further Resources, People and Items Mentioned in the Podcast

Alex Mullen’s website

Alex’s World Memory Statistics

Getting Started with Memory Techniques #4: Learning Foreign Language Vocabulary

Great article about using mnemonics to learn Chinese from Country of the Blind

Alex’s YouTube Channel

Interview with Alex Mullen on Florian Dellé’s Memory Sports

9 Signs You Need Memory Training, Memory Techniques & Mnemonics

 

 

The post Alex Mullen On Mnemonic Speed, Mandarin And Medical Terminology appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:03am EDT

Optimized-olly-pyramidsAmazing Language Learner Olly Richards Pulls Back The Curtain On Exactly How He Learned 8 Languages In Record Time – With More Than A Full-Time Job Crowding His To Do List … Tune In To Learn How You Can Do It Too!

 

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Olly makes a second appearance on the show to follow up on the episode called Olly Richards Talks About Language Tech And Real Communication.

But before you listen to this episode, make sure to join us on Olly’s free training series, “3 Proven Secrets To Becoming Conversational In Spanish”.

This call is pre-recorded, so you can register anytime. I’m on the call as both moderator and student advocate, so you won’t want to miss a moment of this call. We go deep into what it takes to learn a language and you’ll take away a lot of actionable tips.

After registering for the call, come back and listen to each and every word of this special podcast and you’ll learn:

* How to find words and phrases that you ACTUALLY want to speak when learning a language.

* The power of setting a “crazy goal” for motivating yourself to take action and make targeted strides, even if the language you’ve chosen is difficult.

* How to elevate your thinking about the art of language learning so you get maximum results in minimum time.

* The best ways to “wrangle” your speaking partners and tutors into shape so they help you study what you need to study instead of wasting time on willy-nilly activities that won’t get you anywhere.

* The essential questions you should prepare yourself to answer when studying your dream language.

* How to develop a list of topics that you’re likely to talk about so that you’re not chained to the next page of your textbook.

* The new – and BETTER – way to think about rote learning for getting traction when learning a language.

* Why memorizing is just one part of language learning and how to identify and isolate the other parts to boost your success.

* The one thing that keeps Olly up at night when learning a language. Solve this one worry for yourself and you will never run out of steam.

* The scheduling secret Olly uses to “oblige” himself to attend lessons. You can uses this approach too – even if you’ve got a zillion things to do. Heck, the dude even shipped himself to Thailand when he wanted to learn to speak Thai.

* The absolute best time of day to study your target language so that you always feel like you’ve made progress and build your sense of accomplishment.

* How to avoid letting the great get in the way of the good so that you can start from a place where speaking practice is always good not matter how unprepared you might be. Use this approach and you can literally get prepared on the fly.

* The ultimate motivation secret for getting yourself through multiple lessons and find language teachers you will genuinely love learning from.

* The untapped power of hypothetical questions and role play in your language learning practice that you’re not using – but should be!

* Olly’s take on using mnemonics for individual words and when you should be focusing on them instead of entire phrases. In fact, you should be encountering them inside entire stories. Here’s an example from Olly from his Spanish Short Story collection:

* Textbook tactics for shopping and getting the most out of every resource you buy.

* How to avoid tourist-speak so that you aren’t limited to ordering food and asking directions to the hospital for your cat (yes, you will be led into these dead ends if you don’t take Olly’s advice).

* Exactly how to deal with introversion so that no matter how shy you might be, you can eliminate random social unknowns and learn in a safe and practical environment.

* … and much, much more.

This is the kind of episode you’re going to want to save and keep returning to again and again. And if you interested in memorizing the key points, How To Memorize A Textbook will help you master this simple skill and put you in a position to memorize vocabulary and phrases at a higher level thanks to your practice of the art of memory.

 

Further Resources

 

Olly’s I Will Teach You A Language Podcast

Olly’s Language Learning Foundations Course (highly recommended)

Olly’s Amazon Author Page

Spanish Short Stories For Beginners Volume One

Spanish Short Stories For Beginners Volume Two

Italian Short Stories For Beginners

German Short Stories For Beginners

Russian Short Stories For Beginners

 

Photo Essay

The picture above is from the May 2015 Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. From left to right you see myself, Olly, Richard Simcott, Kris Broholm, Brian Kwon and Jan van der Aa.

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From the same event, Benny Lewis, myself and Olly. Somehow they manage to just look crazy. I took first prize for psychotic.

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Mark Channon discusses memory techniques and the good habits needed to make massive strides with them at Magnetic Memory Live in London 2015.

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Olly’s Memory Palace based on his apartment in Cairo. Top notch work and it was very cool that I could see the place with my own eyes more than a year after he sent me this drawing.

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The list of words in Egyptian Arabic Olly used the Memory Palace to memorize.

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In Egypt, Olly introduced me to the Nile in style. A sushi bar.

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My last day in Cairo, we played with hiragana and katakana and Olly drew a diagram of exactly how languages get learned at the highest possible level. I won’t mentioned the memory-unfriendly Guinness we were swilling – because we truly weren’t. 😉

 

Quick Summary Of Things Olly Taught Me

 

At the 2015 Polyglot Gathering in Berlin, Olly noticed the benefits, but more importantly, the deficits of my flirting around with multiple languages. Talking about this issues, we were talking along a street in Prenzlauerberg when he gave me the excellent idea of directing the Magnetic Memory Method back at just one language.

But this time, instead of starting from scratch with a new language, he suggested I focus on using mnemonics to dramatically improve my relatively advanced German skills.

And so that’s exactly what I did. Here’s how:

First, I immediately hopped on italki and found a German speaking partner. I’ve had a few since then, and each has been a blessing. Olly’s guidelines for getting the most out of a speaking partner are golden, and he talks about them in detail in the episode of the podcast you can download at the top of this page.

To maximize the value of the sessions, I always ask my speaking partners to use a Google spreadsheet for each lesson. This lets me isolate the new vocabulary, arrange it and even drop in a scan of the Memory Palaces I use to rapidly learn and memorize the sound and meaning of each word I’m encountering, often for the first time.

Then, I write sentences around the words after pulling them from my memory – away from the source of the spreadsheet. Only later, do I check them against the record and troubleshoot when necessary.

A second trick I learned from Olly is to record all my sessions. That way I can go back and hear exactly how the speaker pronounced the words. I can also hear my own pronunciations. This process is super-painful, but it helps immensely.

ThirdI follow Olly’s advice to forbid (as much as possible) the speaking partner from using any English. This practice can be frustrating, but stick to it and you’ll be amazed by how quickly you outpace yourself.

Caution, however. This is advice Olly gives for when you’re at an intermediate level with a language. At the beginning stages, it can be very useful to have your instructor explain certain features of a language to you in your mother tongue. Just don’t let that be an excuse for not diving in to the language. You also shouldn’t get in the habit of using it as a crutch. Learn how to say, “I don’t understand” and “please say that in other words” a.s.a.p.

FourthI begin each new speaking session with a review of everything I memorized from the last one. But I don’t cheat. The original spreadsheet is on another tab and I honestly work from memory. This allows me to benefit from any mistakes I make. And again, this is recorded so that I’ll be reviewing the process again later.

You might be thinking that hearing mistakes made grounded on false moves with the Memory Palaces would just lead to confusion, but it’s quite the opposite. The entire process only gets stronger.

Finally, here’s a fun – but rigorous – technique I added on my own:

As part of my reading practice, I choose three new words from each page. Never more and only less when I don’t find a max of three new words on a page. Then I memorize them using the room I’m in as the Memory Palace and follow up by writing sentences around them. A book with an average of 300 pages read over the period of 6 – 8 weeks = 900 new words inside of two months. With an 80% retention rate, the results are impressive.

The only problem I’ve found in the past is that I wind up learning a ton of words that no one uses. However, that’s an interesting problem to have, fun for my philological yearnings and thanks to the practice I’ve found an interesting solution that puts a bit more bang behind this unusual outcome:

I read books written only in first person and in one of the Berliner dialects. This choice increases the chances that I’ll learn words that people use around me and teaches me a lot more about one of my favorite cities in the world and the people who call it home.

Thanks again to Olly for the solid lessons and for being on the show – see you soon!

The post Olly Richards On Crazy Language Learning Goals And Mastering Motivation appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.


Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_36056926It’s a curious thing that human beings, and most other animal species, are driven to regular periods of inactivity and unconsciousness. What could be less evolutionarily beneficial than a stretch of eight hours during which you can’t hunt, defend yourself, or reproduce? Not to mention working on your memory improvement.

All jokes aside, the fact that we are driven to sleep is an indication that sleep has an important purpose in our biology.

And yet, the precise mechanisms of sleep remain largely mysterious. The exact reasons why we require sleep, and what happens during sleep, are areas of current research.

One thing is for certain: lack of sleep leads to an array of social, financial, and health-related costs. Indeed, the fatality rate of sleepiness-related car crashes is similar to that of driving under the influence (Goel et al 2009). What’s more is that prolonged sleep deprivation leads to death for many studied species (and presumably humans) (Cirelli et al. 2008).

Despite these realities, a full 20% of adults are not getting enough sleep (Goel et al 2009). It’s a common practice in our culture to praise those who can work the most and sleep the least.

However, research indicates that this attitude is misguided. Lack of sleep has important negative implications for cognition. Sleep deprivation puts pressure on your entire cognitive apparatus, and has the potential to affect your memory.

After this article, you may be convinced that a nap is in order.

 

What Exactly Is Sleep?

 

Over 85 years, an average person will sleep 250,000 hours, which is equal to 10,000 full days (Scullin et al 2015).

But what is sleep, really?

It is commonly believed that sleep is a continuous period of a complete loss of awareness. But in actuality, sleeping is not one continuous state and a sleeping person does not lose total awareness. Instead, they alternate between reduced awareness of the external world and a complete loss of consciousness (Gudberg et al 2015).

From here, sleep is typically classified into two categories. The first is non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep and the second is rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (Bryant et al 2004).

NREM sleep happens during the early moments of falling asleep. As the name suggests, there is little to no eye movement during NREM sleep. Dreams are rare during this stage, your body is not paralyzed as in REM sleep, and mental activity is still “thought-like” (Bryant et al 2004). This is the stage during which some people will sleep-walk.

The role of NREM sleep is to conserve energy, cool the body and brain, and promote immune function.

Following NREM sleep, a person will fall into REM sleep, where rapid eye movements can be observed. This is where the majority and the most vivid dreams occur. Your body is paralyzed, which is an adaptation to prevent you from acting out your dreams. You will periodically wake up – which some researchers feel serves as a way to survey the environment (Bryant et al 2004). These mini-awakenings are typically not remembered.

 

The Devastating Consequences Of Sleep Deprivation
On Memory Revealed

 

As you sleep, you will cycle between NREM and REM sleep four to five times during the night.

By understanding our sleep patterns, it becomes evident that there is much more that happens during sleep than simply being unconscious. The broad overview given here just scratches the surface of the complex world of sleep.

For all of its complexity, sleep serves essential functions. For example, a sleep-deprived person suffers from many ailments, including:

  • A weakened immune system (Bryant et al 2004).
  • Reduced wakefulness – microsleeps during wakeful hours after sleep deprivation (Cirelli et al. 2008).
  • Compromised cognition.

The compromised cognition experienced during sleep is all too familiar for many of us. We all know that after a poor night’s sleep, we are groggy and we tend to think more slowly.

When it comes to memory, the essential role that sleep plays is more pervasive than most realize.

 

Sleep Plays a Key Role When it Comes to Your Memory

 

There are three basic memory stages.

The first is called acquisition or encoding. This is the process of collecting the information or processes that you’d like to memorize. An example could be re-reading the dates and prominent figures in a history book. This is called “declarative” memory, and is the memory of facts and information. Another example of memory is procedural memory. This is memory of how to do something. This could be anything from learning how to ride a bike or learning how to play the piano.

The second step is consolidation, where the information you’ve absorbed become stable in your mind. It is at this stage that memories are formed in your mind.

Finally, you must be able to recall memories for them to be useful. Thus, the final stage in memory is remembering something during your waking hours.

Numerous studies have indicated the importance of sleep for the second stage, memory consolidation. A good night’s sleep can help you recall facts and information, as well as solidify skills that you’re trying to learn.

Under the current scientific understanding, sleep is absolutely essential to memory. We require sleep to file information collected during our waking moments, in our minds. In doing so, we are able to recall newly acquired information (Ellenbogen et al. 2006).

For example, learning the guitar requires that you memorize hand movements as well as notes. This is called procedural memory. Long term sleep has been specifically found to help with procedural memory formation (Diekelmann and Born, 2010).

 

Sleep Shifts Info Around In Your Brain

 

Sleep also serves to reorganize new memories. During sleep, the brain will access new information and make links with previously absorbed information. This helps segment and associate relevant parts of a complex memory to previous memories. While solidifying new information in your mind, this aids in the creativity process. This is because the brain will sometimes associate new information with old information in unexpected ways, thereby leading to novel insights (Diekelmann and Born, 2010).

Scientists also believe that we “replay” our previously learned information and skills during our sleep. Experiments have been conducted on animals and humans after they have been trained on a particular task. During sleep, the same parts of the brain that were active during the training exercises, were active while sleeping as well. This is because the brain will repeat the actions during your sleep (Diekelmann 2014).

Sleep is essential to memory. One study not only found poor memory recall in sleep deprived individuals, but also found that they recalled false memories. That’s right, you are more likely to remember untrue information following sleep deprivation (Diekelmann 2008).

In other studies, those that slept, recalled more and performed better on cognitive tests than those who stayed up. Looks like those all-nighters weren’t the best idea after all.

How to Use Sleep For Memory Enhancement

 

Getting a good eight hour sleep has been shown to benefit memory (Diekelmann and Born, 2010). But what about sleep that occurs outside of your regular nightly routine, such as power naps?

Good news nappers! Research has also pointed to memory improvement even for shorter naps.

In a study of 29 undergraduate students, one hour naps were found to benefit factual recall. However, the memory of procedures, that is, memory of how to perform actions, was not improved. The study concluded that more complete periods of rest were necessary for the proper learning of memory (Tucker et al 2006).

Even more stunning is that even very short naps seem to have a positive effect on memory of facts and information. A study compared different nap durations, as well as staying awake. They found that even a micro-nap of six minutes enhanced memory recall. The study concluded that although longer naps improved recall more than very short naps, very short naps still have significant benefits (Lahl et al 2008).

Ultimately, it seems that if you’re looking to improve your memory of facts and information, naps are in fact helpful. However, if you are trying to learn the keyboard, a longer sleep time is what you really need.

In terms of the optimal or minimum amount of sleep that you’d need, that is still unclear. More research is needed.

However, if for whatever reason you can’t afford a full-night’s rest, a nap might help to keep you going.

 

How to Get a Good’s Night Sleep

 

Now that we know the importance of sleep, you may be wondering how you can get the absolute best sleep possible. After all, most of us do not have the benefit of being able to sleep and take naps whenever we’d like. That’s why it’s important to learn how to get the highest quality sleep during the time you have available.

Here are some tips to improve your sleep and help you get to sleep faster:

  • Only use your bed for sleeping and sex. Try to avoid using electronics, watching TV or eating in bed. This might associate these activities with being in a bed and prevent you from being able to fall asleep.
  • Avoid long naps during the day. Although I’ve mentioned that naps can enhance memory, it’s important to restrict napping because they can also prevent sleep. Take no more than a 25 minute nap during the day, or avoid them altogether.
  • Remove all lights and sounds from your bedroom. Buy light-blocking curtains if necessary. Use a regular alarm clock instead of your cell phone.
  • Do not drink or consume caffeine for at least six hours before bed. Be careful, coffee isn’t the only substance that contains caffeine. Tea, soda, and even chocolate contain caffeine that you should avoid before trying to fall asleep.

Memory enhancement is a tricky business and there are a myriad of ways you can do it. Whether it be food, meditation, or drugs, everyone has a preferred method.

Regardless, everyone needs to sleep. Since sleep plays such a key role in memory retention and recall, you might as well make the best of it. Make sleep a priority in your daily life.

Contrary to popular belief, sleep isn’t for the weak. Sleep is for those with great memory improvement goals.

Further Resources

Memory Strategies For Your Nightlife And Why I Don’t Do Lucid Dreaming

11 Unexpected Answers To Your Questions About Mnemonics

Bryant, Penelope A., John Trinder, and Nigel Curtis. “Sick and Tired: Does Sleep Have a Vital Role in the Immune System?” Nat Rev Immunol Nature Reviews Immunology (2004): 457-67. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Cirelli, Chiara, and Giulio Tononi. “Is Sleep Essential?” PLoS Biology PLoS Biol (2008). Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Diekelmann, Susanne. “Sleep for Cognitive Enhancement.” Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 8 (2014): 46. PMC. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Diekelmann, Susanne et al. “Sleep Loss Produces False Memories.” Ed. Jan Lauwereyns. PLoS ONE 3.10 (2008): e3512. PMC. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Ellenbogen, Jeffrey M, Jessica D Payne, and Robert Stickgold. “The Role of Sleep in Declarative Memory Consolidation: Passive, Permissive, Active or None?” Current Opinion in Neurobiology (2006): 716-22. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.

Goel, Namni et al. “Neurocognitive Consequences of Sleep Deprivation.” Seminars in neurology 29.4 (2009): 320–339. PMC. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Gudberg, Christel, and Heidi Johansen-Berg. “Sleep and Motor Learning: Implications for Physical Rehabilitation After Stroke.” Frontiers in Neurology 6 (2015): 241. PMC. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Lahl, Olaf, Christiane Wispel, Bernadette Willigens, and Reinhard Pietrowsky. “An Ultra Short Episode of Sleep Is Sufficient to Promote Declarative Memory Performance.” Journal of Sleep Research J Sleep Res (2008): 3-10. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.

Scullin, Michael K., and Donald L. Bliwise. “Sleep, Cognition, and Normal Aging: Integrating a Half-Century of Multidisciplinary Research.” Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science 10.1 (2015): 97–137. PMC. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11, 114-126 (February 2010)

Tucker, M., Y. Hirota, E. Wamsley, H. Lau, A. Chaklader, and W. Fishbein. “A Daytime Nap Containing Solely Non-REM Sleep Enhances Declarative but Not Procedural Memory.” Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (2006): 241-47. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.

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Direct download: How_Sleep_Affects_Memory_Improvement.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:03am EDT

Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_68751665 (1)Supplements, both legal and illegal, have been used for centuries to enhance cognitive performance.

For example, Sigmund Freud used cocaine to prevent fatigue. In fact, he is reputed to have written some of his most popular psychoanalytic works while under the influence.

Entrepreneur and author Tim Ferriss is also known for his experiments into so-called “smart drugs”.

Today, caffeine is a popular choice, used as a cognitive stimulant and is often consumed in very high doses. The widely consumed regular size Starbucks coffee contains five times the amount of caffeine of a normal coffee (Mehlman 2004).

Yet another common cognitive enhancer is nicotine, most commonly ingested through inhalation. It’s been found that nicotine has the ability to improve cognition in areas such as attention, memory and motor skills (Heishman et al 2010).

The reality is that most of us are not open to experimenting with unhealthy or illegal drugs to enhance our cognition.

But with the aging population and increase in age-related memory deterioration, many are turning to out-of-the-box solutions (Mehlman 2004). Discovering a quick-fix pill that protects and even enhances memory would be both beneficial and exciting.

This lusty market for an easy memory solution has been quickly filled with many drugs claiming to have amazing brain-boosting potential. Known as Nootropic supplements, these cognition-enhancing drugs make bold claims about their ability to increase their user’s memory.

In comes science to cut through the marketing hype and give us real answers about whether these pills really work.

Before we continue, here’s an important disclaimer: By offering this information in written form and by including videos of various people explaining or supporting the uses of supplements for memory, I in no way intend to validate, support or recommend the use of memory supplements. Please see your doctor before taking any substance and always, always use mnemonics. 😉

That said, if you’re ready to experience the Matrix of memory supplements, take the red pill and let’s get started.

 

Huperzine A

 

As people start to live longer, the potential for memory loss grows higher. In fact, 11% of people over the age of 65 live with Alzheimer’s. As current treatments have limited effectiveness and come with severe side-effects, scientists are scrambling to find better treatments (Guoyan 2013).

In their quest, a supplement called Huperzine A has been tested for potential benefits.

Huperzine A is a dietary supplement. This supplement is made from an extract of a plant called “toothed firmoss”, also known as Huperzia serrata. Toothed firmoss is native to India and Southeast Asia. In traditional eastern medical practices, it has been used to treat bruises, muscle strains, colds and to improve blood circulation.

As with most cognition-enhancing supplements, firm conclusions about whether Huperzine A can enhance memory cannot be made. There are not many studies completed on the supplement, and those that have been conducted only included a small sample size (Yang et al. 2013).

Nonetheless, the findings thus far  seem promising.

A recent 2013 research paper reviewed all available evidence on the efficacy of Huperzine A to improve or correct memory deterioration. The paper found that Huperzine A demonstrated positive effects on memory recall for those with memory issues. In some studies, Huperzine A even out-performed traditional treatments for Alzheimer’s (Yang et al. 2013).

But what are the effects for younger people without formal memory impairment?

A study looked at treating self-reported memory problems in otherwise healthy adolescent students. . In total, 68 students were given either a placebo or Huperzine A.

After four weeks, the student who took Huperzine A showed signs of significant memory improvement, with no side effects reported (Sun et al 1999).

As data on Huperzine A is still too scant, you won’t find a doctor commonly prescribing this drug just yet. What’s more, the evidence is pointing primarily to Huperzine A’s usefulness for short-term memory improvements (Yang et al. 2013).

But don’t go running to the drugstore to pick up these supplements quite yet. As with any drug, it’s best to consult with your pharmacist or doctor before taking the supplement. Although Huperzine A appears to be well-tolerated in short durations, side-effects such as nauseous, epilepsy and slow heart rate have been reported. Currently, no studies have been conducted on the long-term side effects of Huperzine A.

 

Acetyl-L-carnitine

 

Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) is a hormone that is naturally produced in the body. Unlike many supplements and compounds, it is able to cross the brain-blood and directly affect the brain. It’s function in the body includes improving neuron cell health and preventing excessive brain cell death. For this reason, scientists have considered its potential for improving cognition and memory. However, marketers have skipped a step and have gone directly to selling the supplement as a cognitive enhancer.

But does the evidence support the marketing?

Not so much.

A major review of the use of ALC on improving cognition in Alzheimer’s patients was performed by Cochrane Journal in 2003. It reviewed all of the studies which had investigated the effects of ALC on declining memory.

The results were sobering.

Many measures of cognition were tested and the review only found a slight improvement on a single measure of cognition. This measure was not directly related to memory. What’s more, the review cautioned that even this small positive effect may be due to chance (Hudson, Sheila and Naji 2003).

This review casts serious doubt on ALC’s ability to improve memory, despite marketing claims.

Since 2003, more studies have explored the effects of ALC on memory and cognition improvement. For example, a 2011 study analyzed ALC’s effects on  those with severe hepatic encephalopathy, a disease that impacts brain function. For those assessed, the study did show some improvements in cognition including memory (Malaguarnera 2011).

However, this evidence is preliminary and did not directly mirror the effect of ALC on memory.

Overall, the evidence for ALC is weak. More information is needed before the cognitive benefits claimed by ALC manufacturers can actually be proven.

 

Phosphatidylserine

 

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a naturally-occurring compound that is consumed as part of a normal diet. It can be purchased as an over-the-counter supplement in many grocery stores and pharmacies.

PS is a supplement with a long history. Initially, there was great interest and many scientific studies were conducted on PS derived from cow brains. After fears of mad cow disease became more prevalent, this supplement fell out of favor (Zchut et al. 2013).

https://youtu.be/ZcPFpx-WrPQ

In the mid-1990s, soybean-derived PS became available. This safer alternative once again garnered attention from the scientific community (Zchut et al. 2013).

So far, findings from both the cow-derived and soybean-derived PS have shown promise for improving memory.

For example, in a study of over 388 cognitively-impaired older adults, PS was effective in improving word-list recall.

What’s more is that positive effects have been observed for normally-aging adults. In a study of 149 normally aging adults, PS was compared against a placebo in a variety of memory tests. This study found that the PS-taking adults were better able to coordinate face recognition tests as compared to the placebo group. However, their results were comparable to the placebo-taking participants for various memory recall tests (Villardita et al 1987).

Despite the appearance of a few well-designed studies demonstrating positive results, the overall picture seems less exciting. A review produced in 2003 found that the effects of PS on memory were inconsistent and modest, at best (McDaniel, Maier and Einstein 2003). In the same review however, scientists did underline that the results were positive enough to warrant further research.

As a result, since 2003 more studies have been conducted.

Most recently, a study published in 2014 investigated the efficacy of a omega 3/PS combo supplement on memory enhancement. They recruited 122 healthy seniors who voiced complaints about their memory (but not memory deterioration, such as dementia).

After 15 weeks on the drug, the study found a significant improvement in the memory of its members. This memory improvement was identified by participants and was measured objectively through a memory test (Vakhapova 2014).

A definite bonus for PS is that it seems to be a safe supplement. In the same 2003 review cited earlier, no adverse effects were reported (McDaniel, Maier and Einstein 2003). As always however, it’s best to consult with a pharmacist or physician, especially if you consume other medications or substances.

 

Bacopa

 

Bacopa is also known as Brahmi and is a natural herb in India. It is a small plant with oblong leaves and light purple flowers. It has a long history of use in Indian medicine. Traditionally, it has been used in the treatment of disorders including anxiety, intellect and poor memory.

Bacopa is currently marketed in Western countries as a memory enhancing supplement. Until recently, the only published studies on the effects of Bacopa had been tested on animals. Since the early 2000s, more studies on humans have been conducted.

One of the earlier human studies included 84 volunteers, who took either a placebo or Bacopa. These volunteers were healthy and between the ages of 40 to 65 (Roodenrys et al. 2002).

The participants were given three months worth of Bacopa supplements (or placebo, depending on their group). They were tested on multiple occasions during these months for various tests of memory (Roodenrys et al. 2002).

It was found that Bacopa-taking volunteers did not show any improvement over their placebo-taking partners on most memory tests. However, those who took Bacopa  did experience a significant improvement in their ability to retain new information (Roodenrys et al. 2002).

This study has been followed up by more research exhibiting positive results. For instance, a study conducted in 2008 compared the effects of Bacopa versus a placebo over 90 days. Included were 62 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 to 60.

When compared to the placebo group, takers of the Bacopa supplement saw significant improvements in their working memory performance. Much like PS, the drug was also well tolerated without many real side effects (Stough et al. 2008)

With positive evidence mounting, a systematic review of Bacopa studies was published in 2012. The review pursued all randomized controlled trials on the cognitive effects of Bacopa. This meant that they only included trials with a placebo, which neither the researchers nor the patient knew about (Pase et al 2012).

The results showed that Bacopa was beneficial for improving cognitive function related to attention, and especially, speed of attention. The paper suggests that Bacopa can reduce the time needed to complete a task by around 18 ms (Pase et al 2012).

The researchers were hesitant to say that the evidence strongly favored Bacopa for memory improvement. Although individually, studies do show improvements in different aspects of memory, the overall significance of those effects were unclear.

However, since Bacopa seems to lack any severe side-effects, it might be worth a try – with your doctor’s approval of course.

 

Vinpocetine

 

Ever see a periwinkle flower? It’s that cute flower with that dazzling blue hue. You might be surprised to hear it’s also the plant from which another commonly marketed brain-booster is derived.

Vinpocetine was developed in Hungary, and is currently used in mainstream medicine. However, it’s use in medicine is not directly related to memory. Instead, it has been scientifically proven to increase blood flow to the brain (McDaniel, Maier and Einstein 2003).

But can it increase the memory juice flowing through your mind?

What seems to be certain is that the improved blood flow to the brain does have positive effects on overall cognition. For example, in a study conducted on dementia patients, 87% of vinpocetine patients improved – as compared to only 11% of placebo patients (Manconi et al. 1987)

However, experiments on the effects of vinpocetine directly on memory are lacking. In one of the only studies looking at the effects vinpocetine on Alzheimer’s, no benefit was observed (Thal et al. 1989). Therefore, the jury is still out inasmuch as the benefits of vinpocetine are concerned.

However, vinpocetine seems to have minimal risks associated with it as well.

 

In Conclusion

 

As you can see, definitive research into the link between supplements and memory enhancements is still in its infancy. Despite bold claims made by these supplement marketers, this article demonstrates that overall evidence is far from complete and decisive.

The number one thing that people can do to enhance and protect memory is to follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

However, for those looking for an edge, above and beyond diet and exercise, some of these supplements may be worth considering.

As amply repeated in this article, it is very important to seek medical guidance when trying new supplements. Although most of these supplements have not shown severe side-effects, they may react with other medications.

What’s more, none of these supplements have been studied for their long term effects. For all we know, these may actually lead to memory degradation with years of use. Any use of these supplements should be restricted to no more than three months at a time.

At the very least, these supplements offer a fruitful field of research. There is at least enough evidence to show that these brain-boosting supplements deserve more research.

It’s up to you to decide if you’d like to take part in the experiment.

 

Further Resources

 

Chan A, Remington R, Kotyla E, Lepore A, Zemianek J, Shea T  “A vitamin/nutriceutical Formulation Improves Memory and Cognitive Performance in Community-Dwelling Adults without Dementia.” The journal of nutrition, health & aging 14.3 (2010): 224-30. Web. 4 Jan. 2016

Hudson, Sheila A, and Naji Tabet. “Acetyl-l-carnitine for Dementia.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Reviews (2003). Web. 4 Jan. 2016.

Heishman, Stephen J., Bethea A. Kleykamp, and Edward G. Singleton. “Meta-Analysis of the Acute Effects of Nicotine and Smoking on Human Performance.” Psychopharmacology 210.4 (2010): 453–469. PMC. Web. 1 Jan. 2016.

J.K. Blusztajn, U.I. Richardson, M. Liscovitch, C. Mauron, R.J. Wurtman. “Phospholipids in cellular survival and growth” I. Hanin, G.B. Ansel (Eds.), Lecithin: technological, biological, and therapeutic aspects, Plenum Press, New York (1987), p. 85 Web. 4 Jan. 2016.

Mcdaniel, Mark A., Steven F. Maier, and Gilles O. Einstein. ““Brain-specific” Nutrients: A Memory Cure?” Nutrition (2003): 957-75. Web. 5 Jan. 2016.

Malaguarnera, Michele, Marco Vacante, Massimo Motta, Maria Giordano, Giulia Malaguarnera, Rita Bella, Giuseppe Nunnari, Liborio Rampello, and Giovanni Pennisi. “Acetyl-L-carnitine Improves Cognitive Functions in Severe Hepatic Encephalopathy: A Randomized and Controlled Clinical Trial.” Metabolic Brain Disease Metab Brain Dis (2011): 281-89. Web. 4 Jan. 2016

Mehlman, Maxwell J. “Cognition-Enhancing Drugs.” The Milbank Quarterly 82.3 (2004): 483–506. PMC. Web. 1 Jan. 2016.

Pase MP, Kean J, Sarris J, Neale C, Scholey AB, Stough C.  The cognitive-enhancing effects of Bacopa monnieri: a systematic review of randomized, controlled human clinical trials. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2012; 18(7): 647-652. [PubMed]

Sun Qing-Qi, Xu Si-Sun, Pan Jian-Liang, Guo He-Ming, Cao Wang-Qi. “Huperzine-A capsules enhance memory and learning performance in 34 pairs of matched adolescent students” Acta. Pharmocol. Sun. (1999) 601-603. Web. 4 Jan. 2016.

Vakhapova V, Cohen T, Richter Y, Herzog Y, Kam Y, Korczyn A, D, Phosphatidylserine Containing Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Improve Memory Abilities in Nondemented Elderly Individuals with Memory Complaints: Results from an Open-Label Extension Study. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2014;38:39-45

Villardita C, Grioli S, Salmeri J, Nicoletti F, Pennisi G “Multi-centre clinical trial of brain phosphatidylserine in elderly patients with intellectual deterioration” Clin Trials J, 24 (1987), p. 84.  Web. 4 Jan. 2016

Yang, Guoyan, Yuyi Wang, Jinzhou Tian, and Jian-Ping Liu. “Huperzine A for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.” PLoS ONE (2013). PLOS ONE. Web. 4 Jan. 2016.

Zchut, Sigalit, Yael Richter, and Yael Herzog. “The Effect of Soybean-derived Phosphatidylserine on Cognitive Performance in Elderly with Subjective Memory Complaints: A Pilot Study.” CIA Clinical Interventions in Aging (2013): 557. Web. 5 Jan. 2016.

The post Can You Supercharge Your Memory With These Popular Supplements? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Optimized-Auguste_D_aus_MarktbreitAuguste Deter was only in her late 40s when she started showing signs of dementia. Her husband Karl, cared for her for some time.

Eventually, he could not cope with her hallucinations and forgetfulness that often kept him up all night. When Auguste was 51, Karl placed his wife into a psychiatric institute.

There, she spent the rest of her short life, eventually dying at the age of 55.

Auguste is now acknowledged to be one of the most well known patients in medical history (Muller et al. 2012). The doctor who examined her, Dr. Aloysius Alzheimer, named the disease for which she is acknowledged as the first identified patient. At that time, he called it “presenile dementia,” but later his colleague Emil Kraepelin gave the condition the name by which we know it now.

It’s been over 100 years since Alzheimer’s disease was first described, and yet, no cure has, as of yet, been found. However, with an increasingly aging population, it has become more pressing than ever to find effective treatments (Giacobini and Becker, 2007).

In the absence of a definitive cure, this post and podcast will provide important information about Alzheimer’s. The disease can be all-consuming for those afflicted, as well as their caregivers. Understanding how it works and how to care for that person may help to relieve stress for those trying to cope.

 

Who Does Alzheimer’s Affect?

 

Alzheimer’s is a disease of old age, and generally, affects those over the age of 65. However, a rare variation of the disease, early-onset Alzheimer’s, will affect those as young as 35. The prevalence is higher in females than males, although females do tend to live longer, which may explain this trend (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015).

It’s important to realize that although Alzheimer’s affects older adults, it is not part of normal aging.

Right now, the overall prevalence of Alzheimer’s is between five to seven percent throughout the population (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015). As we age, the likelihood that we will be affected by Alzheimer’s nearly doubles every decade. That is, by the ages of 95-99, your chances of having developed Alzheimer’s increases by 50%.

 

What Causes Alzheimer’s?

 

The cause of Alzheimer’s is, as of yet, not completely understood (Ginter et al. 2015). We do know that genetics plays a role in early-onset Alzheimer’s. This form of the disease is rare, and affects people under the age of 65. What genetics fails to fully explain is the prevalence of Alzheimer’s in aging adults (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015).

The links between risk factors and Alzheimer’s have not fully been proven. However, in studies the following has show to possibly increase our risk of Alzheimer’s:

 

  • Hypertension (high blood pressure) during midlife
  • Having Type 2 diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Living an inactive lifestyle
  • Having had a brain trauma
  • Having had exposure to secondhand smoke

If you have a family history of dementia and Alzheimer’s, the chances of developing it yourself is much higher. People with a first-degree relative (parents or siblings) who developed dementia after 65, but before 85, have a higher risk factor. In fact, they are 10 to 30 times more likely to develop dementia themselves (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015).

 

Alzheimer’s and Memory

 

Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, which is a degeneration of cognitive function. One of the earliest and most distinctive aspects of Alzheimer’s is its affect on memory.

The first warning signs a doctor and other caregivers will look for is memory impairment (Wolk and Dickerson 2015). The patient will typically go through selective losses in short-term memory.

For example, a person suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s may find themselves getting lost on familiar paths. They may forget recent events and repeatedly ask for the same information.

It’s important to keep in mind that normal aging does accompany some memory deterioration. However, unlike normal aging, the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s comes in the way of normal daily activities.

The table below compares normal memory loss associated with aging to memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s (Leifer 2006).

Optimized-Screen Shot 2016-01-18 at 14.06.16

Family members may notice these types of memory declines and others, such as repeatedly asking for the same piece of information.

As the disease progresses, memory becomes severely affected. Memories of the person’s life are impacted. A patient will forget important life events, occurring at a particular time and place early on in their disease (Wolk and Dickerson 2015).

Moreover, factual memory, such as the words used for objects and concepts, deteriorates as time goes on.

A doctor may test memory by asking patients to learn and recall a series of words or objects. Recall is asked for both immediately and at a delay of five to ten minutes. They may also ask them about important historical events or artifacts in popular culture (Wolk and Dickerson 2015).

The brain of a normally aging person will compensate for the memory loss due to normal aging. The cognitive decline of a normally aging brain will not be severe enough to affect their ability to complete everyday tasks. Nor will the cognitive decline affect a person’s ability to live independently (Wolk and Dickerson 2015).

However, a brain with Alzheimer’s will decline quickly. This can vary, but the average survival rate after diagnosis is between eight and ten years. Some survive for as long as 20 years after the diagnosis (Wolk and Dickerson 2015).

 

What Alzheimer’s Looks Like

 

As Alzheimer’s progresses, the afflicted person will become more and more disoriented. Alzheimer’s patients will increasingly be unable to:

  • Speak or write coherently. They will have trouble finding the right words for the right situation.
  • Understand what is said or written.
  • Recognize familiar places.
  • Plan how to take multi-step actions.
  • Carry out multi-step actions, such as cooking.
  • Concentrate.
  • Make logical choices or decisions. For example, dressing in a outfit with oddly matched colors and patterns.

As the disease progresses into later stages, the person will start to exhibit more personality and emotional changes. These can be particularly stressful. They may include:

  • Increased hostility or increased passivity.
  • Hallucinations or delusions.
  • Disorientation.
  • Incontinence.

These changes might be due to chemical imbalances in the brain. They may also be due to the individual’s increasing fear and confusion because they do not understand their own surroundings.

Eventually, an Alzheimer’s patient will literally forget the more fundamental tasks, such as how to move. They will become immobilized and require assistance for bathing, eating and dressing.

 

Treatment options

 

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s. Current drug treatments only slow the disease in the short-term, for no longer than a year. However, for patients with early stages of the disease, medications can improve their cognitive function. These benefits may need to be weighed against the medication’s side-effects as the disease progresses.

In addition to medication, there are behavioral treatments available. For example, speech therapy can be combined with medication to help patients with troubles in this domain.

Caring for an Alzheimer’s Patient

 

Caring for people afflicted with Alzheimer’s is a very cumbersome task, and difficulties range from financial to emotional stress. In a study carried out in the UK, nearly two-thirds of people caring for Alzheimer’s patients were family members (Beinart et al. 2012).

When dealing with Alzeheimer’s, it’s important to seek support from extended family members, friends and your community.

Ask your doctor to refer you to a local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Many changes will need to occur in an afflicted person’s home and life due Alzheimer’s. They will likely be unable to drive, and will need monitoring and help with basic tasks. These include things such as cooking and taking medications (Alexander and Larson, 2015).

Other tips for helping people with Alzheimer’s include:

  • Simplifying choices, such as wardrobe choices, to reduce their indecisiveness and confusion.
  • Having familiar objects or photos may help with a patient’s disorientation with time and space.
  • Keep distractions and noise to a minimal so as not to agitate the patient.
  • Speak clearly, with short and concise sentences to increases your chances of being understood.
  • Encourage daily exercise, such as daily walk, to maintain physical health and tire the patient out. This will help prevent them from wandering and getting lost.
  • Avoid major changes in their environment.
  • Try to be patient when waiting for responses and actions to be performed.
  • Employ safety measures in the home, such as locking medicine cabinets, removing electrical appliances from the bathroom, installing grab bars in the bathroom, and setting the water heater below 120ºF
  • Install locks on the outside of the doors, so the patient cannot unlock and leave the house.
  • To prevent the person from getting lost, employ the use of a “safe return program” provided by the Alzheimer’s Association. They offer 24-hr assistance.
  • Try to implement a daily routine, but remain flexible.

In the mid-to-late stages of the disease, it may become impossible to care for the person at home. They may require skilled health care attention and placing the patient in a nursing home may be the best option.

Most importantly, remember that as a caregiver, you require care as well. Using respite services, such as adult day care and hiring home aides when possible is a great way to recharge. Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to ensure that your mental and physical health is tended to.

Emotionally and mentally, it’s important to try to focus on the positive. Try to enjoy the remaining qualities and activities with your relative instead of only remembering what you’ve lost. Remind yourself that you are doing your best in moments when you feel overwhelming guilt or fatigue.

 

Future Hope for Alzheimer’s Disease

 

Alzheimer’s disease is a tragic sickness, and poses an enormous financial burden on society at large. Paying to care for patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s is predicted to cost 1.2 trillion dollars by 2050.

The good news is that there is increasing evidence that Alzheimer’s may be more of a lifestyle disease than previously acknowledged. Except for rare cases of early-onset Alzheimer’s, which have a strong genetic component, lifestyle may determine your likelihood of developing it. That is, maintaining a healthy diet and doing regular exercise can decrease your chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Due to the strong link between blood-sugar levels, some scientists have even started calling Alzheimer’s “Type 3 Diabetes” (De la Monte and Wands, 2008).

Not everything in life is within our control. However, living a healthy and balanced life are ways to counteract the effects on cognitive function, especially as we age.

For our purposes, the question is …

 

Can Mnemonics And Memory Palaces Help? 

 

It’s too soon to tell, but I highly recommend watching this TEDTalk with Kasper Bormans for an introduction to what might be possible:


Further Resources and Reading

Nelson Dellis spoke on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast about his experiences with Alzheimer’s and his efforts to combat the condition. Check out Extreme Memory Improvement to learn more.

These memory tips from Dr. Gary Small may not be the ultimate prevention against Alzheimer’s, but they are going to serve you well. Give it a listen.

I recommend subscribing to Preserving Your Memory Magazine, put out by the Fisher Center For Alzheimer’s Research.

And for more information, follow-up on the following articles:

Alexander, M., Larson, E. B., Patient information: Dementia (including Alzheimer disease) (Beyond the Basics) Up To Date (2015). Online.

Beinart, N. Weinman, J., Wade, D., & Brady, R. “Caregiver Burden and Psychoeducational Interventions in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review.” Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders EXTRA 2.1 (2012): 638–648. PMC. Web. 15 Jan. 2016.

De la Monte, Suzanne M., and Jack R. Wands. “Alzheimer’s Disease Is Type 3 Diabetes–Evidence Reviewed.” Journal of diabetes science and technology (Online) 2.6 (2008): 1101–1113. Print.

Keene, C. D., Montine, T. J., Kuller, L., H. “Epidemiology, pathology, and pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease” Up To Date (2015). Online.

Müller, Ulrich, Pia Winter, and Manuel B Graeber. “A Presenilin 1 Mutation in the First Case of Alzheimer’s Disease.” The Lancet Neurology (2012): 129-30. The Lancet. The Lancet. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

Leifer, B. P. “Alzheimer’s disease: Seeing the signs early.” Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners(2009) 21: 588–595 Web. 13 Jan 2016

Ginter, E., V. Simko, D. Weinrebova, and Z. Ladecka. “Novel Potential for the Management of Alzheimer Disease.” Bratislava Medical Journal BLL (2015): 580-81. Online.

Giacobini, E and Becker, RE. One hundred years after the discovery of Alzheimer’s disease. A turning point for therapy? J Alzheimers Dis (2015): 12, 37-52

Wolk, D. A., Dickerson, B. C. “Clinical features and diagnosis of Alzheimer disease” Up To Date (2015). Online.

The post 3 Things To Remember About Alzheimer’s And Memory appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:03am EDT

Optimized-Screen Shot 2016-01-14 at 13.46.15How would you like permission to skip school for the rest of your life as a student?

Or how about the ability to quit your job and do whatever you like for the rest of your career?

Well … I’m not sure I can help you with that.

But what I can do is give you some tips on how to live an interesting life. Here are six of them:

1. Be The Driver Of Your Education

 

There are two main forms of education:

* External Driven

* Self Driven

The first is the kind of education where you show up when you’re told and sit where you’re told. You even eat when you’re told.

Sounds kind of like prison, doesn’t it?

 

Prison? It Might Even Be Worse!

 

Not only do you have all kinds of pressures on your time. You’ve got people telling you what to learn.

Think about that:

What. To. Learn.

Oh no, no, no.

No and a thousand times no. That’s not the path to an interesting life.

What you want instead is to …

 

Be The Boss And Manager Of Your Own Intelligence

 

Let me tell you a story:

I dropped out of high school in Grade 12.

There’s a lot of detail surrounding this decision and some of it ain’t pretty.

But sticking to the facts (and just the facts), I thought school was such a drag that I decided to stay home and read Collier’s Encyclopedia.

 

Optimized-Colliers-Encyclopedia

 

Each morning I would leave home. But instead of getting the battered yellow school bus into town, I would hike up into the mountains. For months I experienced the Fall transform into Winter and then Spring from up above the highway where I would wait for my mom’s car to pass by.

It sounds like something out of Hitchcock’s Psycho, I know, but as I was watching the highway waiting for mom to go to work, I was listening and learning.

No, not listening to Heavy Metal. Not pop. Not even soft rock.

Instead, I was listening to the CBC on my fat yellow Walkman. At that time, Peter Gzowski, a.k.a. Mr. Canada, was the host of Morningside.

Over the course of the year, I got virtually a Ph.D. in Canadian culture, history, politics, literature and the arts. I also heard interviews with important people from around the world.

True, a bear might have mauled me while I was up there, and I did have a few close encounters with moose and deer. But the danger was worth it.

And after a few hours of Morningside, I would head down the mountain and make hot chocolate. With a steaming cup beside me on the coffee table, I would sit in the same rocking chair I was nursed in and read the Encyclopedia.

It was like being nursed all over again, this time by the knowledge my parents had invested in when they ordered the Encylopedia one volume at a time.

These days we have Wikipedia, but back then, if you wanted to know about the world, it cost a lot of money. I remember my mom talking about saving for the Encyclopedia year after year. She cut dozens of coupons from the newspaper so she could save more and complete the set.

It took about three years and after that, she kept up with the yearly updates for at least another three.

And this was all before I was old enough to read anything more complicated than Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Come to think of it, that story is rather complex …)

It was a lot of fun reading through Collier’s Encyclopedia.

And educational.

When I finally did return to complete high school, I knew so much about the world that …

 

 

School Was EVEN MORE Boring!

 

But that was fine. Because I knew about all kinds of books I wanted to read.

So whenever I could, I would still skip school and take out a notebook I’d kept and look for all the books I’d learned about in Collier’s.

I would go to the Kamloops Public Library and check them out. While everyone else was spending weeks struggling through A Separate Peace by John Knowles, I was reading:

 

Optimized-7755782156_2e0cbbe820_b

 

* The Stranger by Albert Camus

* 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell

* Demian by Herman Hesse

* The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

* Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski

… and much, much more.

The point of all this is that I was practicing, without even realizing it, the art of self-driven education.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that anyone quit school, skip school or do anything like that …

But I am suggesting that you won’t get nearly as intelligent as you deserve to be if you learn only what you’re told.

 

So What Can You Do?

 

If you’re told to read a Shakespeare play, read the play and follow it up by reading another.

Or look up a book about Shakespeare and read a play by one of his contemporaries (I recommend the zany John Webster).

If you find math difficult and boring, find a book on mathematics that has mostly words. See if you can tackle the idea of math from another angle. Khan Academy has math courses you can take as well, something I couldn’t enjoy. But you can.

And when you find an author or an online teacher you like, stick with them. You can learn a lot by seeing how people develop over time.

You’ll also learn a lot about successful people, which brings us to …

 

2. Reverse-Engineer People You Admire 

(Just So Long As They Aren’t Creepy Weirdos Or Serial Killers)

 

The world is filled with people who have either lived or are living exciting lives.

That doesn’t mean they led easy lives. There’s no such thing and living without challenges would probably be even more tedious than high school.

What you want to look for when studying the biographies of other lives are:

* How they explained their desires, goals and wishes

* What actions they took to do great things

* How they coped with suffering

* What they did to keep themselves expanding

* How they dealt with their historical circumstances

* Who they knew and what they did with their friendships and relationships

There’s so much more to pay attention to, but these are a good start.

 

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Why Do This?

 

Because life starts to get serious when you act and think about who you are and what you want to do.

And to truly develop a unique profile and create the space needed in your mind to become whoever it is you’re going to become …

 

You Need The Ability To Think And Feel The Ideals And Sorrows Of Others And Dream Up Your Preferred Version Of The World So You Can Make It Real

 

When you study others, you’ll experience a diversity of ideas that will train you to pay attention to what everyone around you is doing.

It will also help you get past the negative habit so many have of rejecting differences.

Remember, there are no differences as such. Everything is part of the world. And as long as that is true, everything in the world is part of you. And that means everything and everyone applies to you and your life.

If you don’t like reading or care to develop a re-reading strategy, you can also watch biographies. And for a super-interesting exercise, you can pick a single actor and watch as many films starring that person as possible in chronological order.

You can choose actors who are good at portraying different characteristics and actors who just seem to be playing themselves over and over.

Either way, you’ll notice patterns of consistency and difference. And like a wine expert, you’ll start experiencing all kinds of different shades of flavor you never noticed before.

Next, move from hanging out with books and movies to …

 

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3. Toss Social Inertia From Your Life Forever

 

Whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, it’s easy to fall into the trap of seeing the same people all the time.

That’s no way to revolutionize your life and keep it revolutionizing.

So as you’re finding interesting biographies and adapting ideas to your life, HUNT for advanced people with whom you can share an environment. (But not in a creepy way …)

Find the people who have the characteristics you want and enter their circles. Don’t be creepy about it. Just identify someone and ask if you can have 20 minutes of their time to ask some questions. Then ask them who else you should talk to continue your education.

Do this and you’ll have an unending stream of new contacts and interesting people around you. As a result, you’ll experience SO MUCH MORE in your life. And you’ll always have interesting things to say to the new people you continue to meet.

Plus, if you visit these people in their homes, you instantly have more Memory Palaces. You can also meet them in cafes or restaurants you’ve never visited to increase your awareness of your city and its offerings.

All this will help you develop …

 

4. The Most Important Skills In The World

 

Communication, for example. There’s no point in being more interesting if you’re no good at speaking. At some point, you’ve got to learn to control how words come out of your mouth. You get that practice by … (gasp!) speaking with people.

You can also attend Toastmasters meetings, start a podcast, speak your mind on YouTube and develop yourself as a writer.

To get good at writing, start with the high school newspaper, writing letters to the editor, regularly updating a blog or just by posting on Facebook to explore your ideas.

By studying all those successful people and learning to communicate with them, you’ll also be orienting on success.

This will help ensure that your life isn’t controlled by external circumstances. You won’t fall prey to the strange idea that certain times are good and particular periods of history are bad.

Here’s the only thing about time you need to now:

 

Times Change …

 

Your job is to adjust.

To be flexible.

To be adaptive.

To be agile, aware and if necessary, defensive.

Above all, you want to develop awareness of everything around you that you possibly can.

Because at the end of the day …

The way you succeed has little to do with the ways of the world. It has to do with how you react to the way the world changes.

And you always want to ask …

What advantage can I take of the present state of change?

It’s a compelling question and the best way to prepare for the times when you’ll need to ask it is to …

 

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5. Live Like A Scientist

 

Scientific living means being measurable.

You can measure everything down to what you do to be productive and make good use of your timeTOR’s Post, to measuring your testosterone levels.

Measuring your activities will help you see where you’re strong and where you need to improve. The best part is that, because you’re studying so many other people, you’ll see how you can do more of what works, and how you can do things differently.

Track everything in a journal, diary, Google Spreadsheet, in Evernote or whatever you prefer. Use whatever tool makes it easy for you to see where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going.

By doing this, you can develop processes and systems for your life.

For example, I have systems that tick along no matter what happens on CNN:

* Writing every day

* Putting out a weekly podcast

* Emailing Magnetic Memory Method members 1-2 hours a day

* Theatre group once a week (when in season)

* Other regular courses

* Monday and Friday mornings at the gym

And the best part of all this activity and tracking is that …

 

It’s Easy To See The Holes In The System

 

For example, my activities are all fine and dandy, but looking them over, it’s clear to me that I’m missing out on music. Now I know that I’ve got to schedule more time for my memorize Bach on bass habit. Popping Bach into my memory used to be a huge part of my week, and now it’s faded almost to nil.

The important point here is that you want to develop “sticktoitiveness.”

The ability to stick to it is pure gold. So many of us (including me) get so distracted by the next bright shiny object that we need systems to keep ourselves on track.

Sticking with the program is important because without consistency, we never wind up doing anything long enough to see results.

And at the end of the day …

 

It’s All About The Results

 

That’s why it’s so important to stop and check in with yourself and your stats.

And stop searching for the easy path. That’s one of the quickest ways to fail. In reality, finishing a course you’ve started or completing a project from beginning to end IS the easiest way to get from point A-Z.

Success happens when you bring precise implementation to the game. I’m talking about dedicated practice, which is as true to memory development as it is to any task.

Stick with whatever you’re doing. Experiment with it. Study every angle and explore every corner.

Do that and you won’t need memory techniques. The stones will be set and the things you’ve learned will be impossible to forget.

Finally, there is one point that rules supreme:

 

6. Have Confidence In Yourself

 

Not only do you need to have confidence in yourself. You need to have confidence in the things you’re doing. This is why, for example, completing courses and finishing books you’ve started is so critical.

We live in memory. We thrive or fail by what we’ve done in the past. The more good things we’ve done, the more positive experiences we have to build upon.

That said, if you have weaknesses in your past, perhaps even terrible experiences …

 

There Is No Reason To Let The Darkness Control Your Future

 

If you just make the shifts needed to put yourself in alignment with others, your unique desires and the habits and patterns needed to achieve success, all the pieces will fall together.

You’ll see the patterns you noted in the lives of others emerge in your own life. You won’t let yourself get bullied out of accomplishing your dreams. You’ll be a transformer. An influencer. A true human being who cannot help but live an interesting life.

 

Further Resources

How To Improve Concentration And Memory Buddha-Style

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Direct download: How_To_Live_An_Interesting_Life.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:17am EDT

Optimized-buddhaIf you’re looking for how to improve concentration and memory, this may be the most important blog post you ever read.

Why?

Because there are few things more frustrating than not knowing how to improve concentration!

Well, okay, there’s also the frustration of forgetting important details. Especially when you’re in the middle of something as important as recalling a person’s name, an important fact, or even a hilarious joke.

Or worse:

When you’ve prepared the perfect anecdote, yet, you can’t retrieve the single most important part from your memory.

Here’s where the real frustration sets in:

You can remember the newspaper where you read the information. You can even remember the look of the page where the information was found, including images and other small details.

And yet, in your mind’s eye …

 

That One Piece Of Information Is Painfully Out Of Reach!

 

Don’t worry.

You’re not losing your memory.

Your inability to remember is likely related to the level of concentration you used at the time you read the passage.

This is because concentration is key to memory recall. (In case you want to look it up on Wikipedia, concentration is also known by the slightly less sexy term,  “attentional control.”)

And how to meditate for improving concentration and memory is exactly what you’ll learn in this post.

But first, a demonstration of just how easy it is to sit and meditate:

And now, an important question:

 

What Exactly Is Concentration?

 

Good question, especially when it comes to memory.

Why?

Because concentration is necessary for creating complete memories.

Lack of attention to detail leads to difficulty remembering crucial and important pieces of information.

Although having excellent concentration may not necessarily lead to better memory, concentration is essential to well-formed and useful recall of information.

But in a time with so much valuable information at our fingertips, there are more barriers for our concentration than ever. The notification-saturated world of the the internet constantly attacks our focus.

This reality has led some teachers to worry that students are growing up with decreased attention spans.

Thankfully, there is a powerful and scientifically proven method to improving concentration using meditation for concentration and memory. What’s more, this method has been practiced for thousands of years.

Best of all, it’s a simple practice anyone can take up, at no cost, with no fancy equipment, and no extensive training.

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This 3,500 Year Old Technique Will Improve Your Concentration And Memory

 

The mind is a powerful thing.

Perhaps no other group of minds demonstrates this more strongly than experienced Buddhist monks.

These monks dedicate their lives to following the Buddhist 8-fold path to enlightenment. The path involves doing good, serving others, and extensive meditation.

Enlightenment is the ultimate state of mind. When enlightened, a meditator finally achieves a complete stillness of the mind and inner peace.

 

A Short History Of The Research Into How To Improve Concentration And Memory

 

Although meditation has existed for over 3,500 years, the scientific community has only been studying meditation for over 50 years (Thomas and Cohen, 2013).

Every day people have studied meditation too and discovered a lot about how it helps memory:

For both scientists and lay people, meditation has demonstrated impressive memory improvement and even helped stunning feats of long term retention and recall.

In one mind-defying example, Buddhist monks have been recorded controlling their body temperatures through a meditative practice called “g-tummo”. In controlled scientific tests, experienced monks were able to dry cold and moist sheets (Kozhevnikov et al. 2013).

These sheets were placed around each monk’s body, and were dried within an hour.

This meditation process was made possible through body heat produced by the monks while in their meditative state of “g-tummo”. Some witnesses of similar experiments report seeing steam emerge from the sheets while they dried (Kozhevnikov et al. 2013).

Researchers also measured the monks’ body temperatures, which rose by as much as 17 degrees Celcius.

 

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How Is This possible?

 

No one quite understands the biological mechanisms behind meditation just yet.

But study after study demonstrates that meditation has far-reaching benefits – including for concentration and memory.

Indeed, meditation is perhaps the only mental exercise with so much evidence of its ability to improve cognition and focus.

And you don’t even have to be a monk to start using this tool to better your own mind, body, and soul.

The Long way To Better Concentration

 

As with everything, there’s an easy way and a hard way. Science doesn’t skip over the hard way and investigates everything (crazy right?).

Looking for links between meditation and cognition, researchers from the University of California, Davis, recruited 60 people for a study. Half were assigned to a meditation retreat to practice mindfulness meditation for an average of five hours a day for three months.

Memory Palace free training memory improvement course

These participants were committed. Not only did they volunteer three months of their time t, but they also paid $5,300 to attend the retreat.

The other 30 were used as a control group and placed on a waiting list. This was to rule out that the passage of time alone was not to blame for any differences between the groups.

Both groups were asked to watch a series of lines flash on a screen. Participants were to click a mouse when they saw a line that was shorter than the others.

This detail-oriented test forced participants to focus intently. Researchers found that those who meditated were significantly more likely to see increasingly small differences in the lines (Maclean et al. 2010).

In other words, the meditation group were better able to focus in on small details through their improved concentration (Maclean et al. 2010).

But not everyone has the time to undergo a three month meditation retreat. So, where’s the shortcut for the majority of us who want the benefits without the commitment?

Science has a solution.

 

how to improve concentration and memory magnetic memory method

 

The Easy Way To Better Concentration

 

As benefits to cognition had been observed for longer-term meditation, researchers were curious to see whether less effort could be effective (Zeidan et al. 2010).

In a study conducted at the University of North Carolina, a group of 49 students volunteered for a meditation study. None of them had prior experience meditating.

24 participants were randomly assigned to meditation, while 25 were assigned to listening to an audiobook. Each group performed their activity for 20 minutes, four times a week, for one week under laboratory supervision.

At the end of the one week experiment, the meditation group experienced significant improvements in concentration compared to their audiobook counterparts (Zeidan et al. 2010).

 

Are There Any Limits To Meditation And Improvement To Concentration And Memory?

 

It’s important to note that this research has a few limitations. These results were seen in college students and may not extended to older adults. Also, there is no indication that this is as effective as longer-term and longer-duration mediation (Zeidan et al. 2010).

However, it is encouraging that immediate benefits to practicing short-term meditation were observed. This means that you don’t have to wait a few months before you can start benefiting from your practice. Within a week of consistent meditation, you can start to experience improved concentration.

 

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But Will It Really Improve Your Memory?

 

If the meditation-to-concentration-to-memory link seems shaky to you, don’t abandon meditation just yet. The link is more direct: meditation has also been shown to improve memory.

A randomized controlled test studied the effects of meditation on the working memory capacity in adolescents.

Around 200 teenagers were recruited and assigned to either a mindfulness meditation practice, yoga, or were waitlisted as a control group. The groups meditated or practiced yoga once a day for 15-30 minutes. These were accompanied by two formal teaching sessions twice a week.

By the end of the study, teenagers participating in the meditation group had significantly better outcomes than their yoga counterparts. Particularly in terms of their working memory capacity (Quach et al 2015).

But Meditation Doesn’t Just Improve Memory For The Young!

 

Another study looked at the effects of mindfulness training in adult-aged college students studying for their GRE tests. Sure enough, the meditating participants experienced less mind-wandering and increase working memory capacity. This result was achieved with only two weeks of meditating ten minutes per day (Mrazek et al 2013).

By now, you must be getting excited about meditation’s potential to super-charge your cognition. Calm your mind for now and read on about how to get started on your practice.

How To Meditate For Better Concentration

 

There are as many ways to meditate as there are Buddhist monks.

By stripping away the religious practices, a secular, simple, and one-size-fits-all solution to meditation is available.

To start meditating, just follow these steps:

  1. Find a quiet spot, empty of distractions.
  2. Set a timer for the amount of time you want to meditate. Start with five minutes and move up from there.
  3. Sit on a chair or on the floor, whichever is more comfortable.
  4. Close your eyes and focus on your breath; on where it feels the strongest. When thoughts enter your mind, don’t reject them. Simply acknowledge them and gently return your attention to your breath.

If meditating in silence is too difficult, you can try a large variety of guided meditations. These include phone apps, such as Headspace and Breathe.

No research has been done showing any benefit to meditation less than four times a week. To get the most out of it, aim to meditate as consistently as you can, at least a few times per week.

And if you’d like a more advanced approach to meditation (the one I use most often), check out The Five Fold Path To Memory Improvement.

Enough Reflection, It’s Time For Action

 

Improving your concentration is a step towards improving your memory. Meditation is a powerful tool for improving concentration and bettering your cognition.

The best part is that meditation can help you use a Memory Palace.

Especially in an age of endless distractions and heightened stress, incorporating practices to re-focus your mind is important.

For some, daily meditation might seem like an impractical use of time.

However, think about the time you waste, lost in thought, unfocused, and scatter-brained. With that in mind, it’s easy to understand how meditation yields impressive dividends for a relatively small investment in time.

Results are not instantaneous, but you can be sure that they’re scientifically backed.

Carve out ten minutes today for your first meditation session. Your mind will thank you.

 

Further Resources

 

How To Improve Memory And Concentration By Reducing Stress.

3 Ridiculously Boring Ways To Add Focus And Excitement To Your Life.

Kozhevnikov, Maria, James Elliott, Jennifer Shephard, and Klaus Gramann. “Neurocognitive and Somatic Components of Temperature Increases during G-Tummo Meditation: Legend and Reality.” PLoS ONE (2013). Pubmed. Web. 28 Dec. 2015. <pubmed.com>.

Maclean, K. A., E. Ferrer, S. R. Aichele, D. A. Bridwell, A. P. Zanesco, T. L. Jacobs, B. G. King, E. L. Rosenberg, B. K. Sahdra, P. R. Shaver, B. A. Wallace, G. R. Mangun, and C. D. Saron. “Intensive Meditation Training Improves Perceptual Discrimination and Sustained Attention.” Psychological Science (2010): 829-39. Upaya. Web. 29 Dec. 2015.

Mrazek, M. D., M. S. Franklin, D. T. Phillips, B. Baird, and J. W. Schooler. “Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering.” Psychological Science (2013): 776-81. Sage Pub. Psychological Science. Web. 29 Dec. 2015.

Quach, Dianna, Kristen E. Jastrowski Mano, and Kristi Alexander. “A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Effect Of Mindfulness Meditation on Working Memory Capacity In Adolescents.” Journal of Adolescent Health. Science Direct. Elsevier. Web. 29 Dec. 2015.

Thomas, John W., and Marc Cohen. “A Methodological Review of Meditation Research.” Frontiers in Psychiatry Front. Psychiatry (2014). PMC. PMC. Web. 29 Dec. 2015.

Zeidan, Fadel, Susan K. Johnson, Bruce J. Diamond, Zhanna David, and Paula Goolkasian. “Mindfulness Meditation Improves Cognition: Evidence of Brief Mental Training.” Consciousness and Cognition (2010): 597-605. Print.

The post How To Improve Concentration And Memory Buddha-Style appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Category:Podcast -- posted at: 6:13am EDT

I’ll never forget the day I made the most important discovery of my life. A discovery that would also prove important for thousands of language learners and students of various topics around the world.

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Here’s what happened:

I was on my porch down in Zehlendorf. (It’s really too bad about Zehlendorf …)

I really miss that part of Berlin. I used to walk to the nearby lake and through a wooded area leading to the stores and the M48 bus I often took to Potsdamer Platz where I would watch movies for my work.

Yes, watch movies. I was a Film Studies professor back then. Greatest job in the world – if you can get it.

 

And If You Can Keep It!

 

Anyhow, I was on the porch studying German and nearly tearing out my hair with frustration. No matter what I did, the German vocabulary wouldn’t stick in my mind.

Worse, the flashcard software I’d been using bored me to tears. I’ve never found anything more painful than banging foreign language vocabulary repetitively against my eyes in the vain hope that I would somehow magically remember the abstract and mysterious words.

In all fairness, some people can tolerate rote learning. In fact, there’s research suggesting that polyglots get great value from hard repetition. This happens primarily because they’ve trained themselves to be really good at it.

 

But Let’s Be Real

 

Most people do not want to be polyglots. Most people would be happy just to get halfway decent in one language, not several.

In fact, most people would be overjoyed just to get a couple of hundred words in their long term memory.

And most people would be ecstatic if they could turn those words into basic conversational fluency. All you need is about 800-1200 for that, plus a touch of understanding the grammar.

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So there I was with a fat dictionary pumping words into the spaced-repetition software I loathed like the plague.

I sure loved that dictionary, though. What a glorious thing, all thick and yellow.

Heavy too, almost as heavy as a brick. But that didn’t stop me from carrying it everywhere.

 

And That’s When It Hit Me!

 

With a bit of summer wind on my face, I asked myself a fundamental question:

Why on earth wasn’t I using memory techniques to help me learn German?

Seriously. They sometimes say that Ph.D. stands for “piled higher and deeper,” but Mann O Mann (as the Germans say), was I ever mystified.

You see, following a terrible and nearly suicidal depression that almost forced me out of grad school, I discovered memory techniques almost by accident. I was avoiding the looming field exams and dissertation defense by learning magic tricks.

Of course, procrastinating on my studies only made my depression worse …

But it’s at least a good thing that I was doing something constructive. I thought of my magic practice as developing a kind of “emergency paycheck,” because I was certain at that time I was going to wind up on the streets with nothing more to do than entertain people and pass around my hat.

And I suppose that would have been fun for awhile. Studying card magic was certainly better than jumping off a bridge, which the mounting pressure and the teeth of my depression were forcing me to consider.

Worse, if you’ve ever experienced the horrors of manic-depression in full swing, you know the impulses involved. They are sick and sweet and jump out at you from nowhere. It’s terrible too because once the urges pounce, they can keep trouncing on you for days and days on end.

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The most sinister part of the situation was that I couldn’t concentrate or read. It always felt like my eyes were slipping off the page. And when I could read for brief periods of time, I always wound up forgetting everything.

And that made me frustrated and even angry. Magic was my only relief.

And it was easy to study too because you can buy a lot of training in card and coin magic on DVD. I didn’t have a whole lot of money at the time, but it sure was worth it.

Especially when I came across the process that would save my life. I’m talking about the “Holy Grail” of all card tricks: The Memorized Deck.

There’s a ton of effects you can create with a memorized deck. The only difference is …

They Aren’t Effects! They’re Based On Real Magic …

 

… Or at least, the closest thing to real magic that exists. The ability to go through 52 cards, looking at each only once and being able to recall the entire order backward and forward …

This ability is a complete miracle.

So I bought a book on the topic and an audio program that included a section on card memorization. It would be years before I read the book, but my hungry ears gobbled up the audio like peasants on bread during a famine.

And what I heard nearly made my brain explode.

It’s true. I understood the procedures immediately. It’s shocking how simple it is, and yet …

… I was skeptical. How on earth was I going to put these techniques into action when I could barely concentrate on a book?

Not only that, but playing cards are essentially a kind of book, only they are made up of totally abstract and fragmented sentences and chapters. And the pages can be endlessly recombined.

But even so, I gave the technique a try.

What happened totally blew me away.

Why?

Because 15 minutes after learning the technique, I had memorized my first deck of shuffled cards.

I couldn’t believe it.

In fact, to this day I’m still in awe. And the reason I work so hard to promote memory techniques to people around the world is precisely because that awe remains.

And it grows and grows the more I hear from people who have read one of my books or taken one of my video courses.

 

They All Have One Special Characteristic In Common …

 

They, like me, learned the methods and took action. They experimented. They memorized vocabulary using the tools of the Magnetic Memory Method and they got results.

And then they repeated what they learned and got even more results. And those results led to even higher payoffs because things just keep getting better and better the more you use mnemonics as part of your learning.

Anyhow, as soon as I realized what I had done with the playing cards, I instantly saw how I could apply these techniques to learning and memorizing the 250+ books I needed to cover for my field exams.

These are mean and nasty affairs where seven professors sit around a table and drill you with questions for nearly two hours. They’re very protective of the university Ivory Tower, so they do everything they can to keep you out.

The hostility makes the process of sitting for those exams frightening an stressful in every possible way.

And frankly, most people never make it. I don’t know what the figures are now, but back then, the graduation rate from Ph.D. programs in Canada was a mere 13%.

In other words, out of every 100 people who enter grad school, 87 walk away without a degree.

But I wasn’t one of those who left the hallowed halls empty-handed. And it’s all because I took action and used the memory techniques I’d learned on that magical day during the depths of my nearly suicidal depression.

Of course, it’s not as if my studies were suddenly free from challenges.

 

Far From It

 

The memory techniques boosted my confidence and this gave me increased clarity. But I still struggled to read with the amount of focus needed to even discover and isolate the information I wanted to memorize.

So what I wound up doing was to read the books out loud. Unlike the memory audio program I had no problem following, the philosophy and history books I was reading had no audio editions.

Worse, they were so dense and so obscure … It was often like pulling teeth just to get through them.

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But by reading out loud to maintain my concentration and then listening to my narrations, I could finally concentrate.

And then I would write down the key points and facts from the books on index cards.

Next, I would order the index cards in particular ways to aid the memorization of them into the Memory Palaces I’d created.

Following that, I memorized the information on the cards. Kind of like memorizing a deck of playing cards, only in this case you’re not entertaining audiences but rather earning a degree.

But there was another level of difficulty.

The memory techniques and especially the Memory Palaces I was using at the time were far from foolproof.

 

And I Made A Lot Of Mistakes

 

You see, the techniques I had learned were actually kind of pedestrian. They weren’t made for higher levels of learning. And they certainly weren’t designed for language study.

So what I did was to develop completely new approaches to the memory techniques. I was still learning and memorizing information very well, but I knew I could do better.

Above all, I knew that my Memory Palaces could be much more precise. So I found better ways to begin the journeys through them. I discovered principles that reduced the errors many people make with mnemonics and massively reduced the cognitive load extensive learning places on the mind.

And the more I worked at it, the more streamlined the techniques became. Before I knew it, I had zoomed through most of the books and was ready to sit for my exams.

I had also finally landed on a feasible dissertation topic. And even though I still felt physically terrible and the mental illness remains to this day …

 

I Was Sitting On Top Of The World

 

I marched into those exams brimming with confidence and aced them.

In fact, when my final dissertation defense concluded and I was called “Dr. Metivier” for the very first time, the top examiner who had come up to Canada from the United States told me something I’ll never forget.

“Most people freeze up,” he said. “Some of them even break into tears. But you …

… the only person cooler than you is Miles Davis.”

I guess what he meant is that I was calm, collected and cool in the sense of being unshakable. And trust me, each and every one of the professors surrounding me at that table on the second floor of the Vanier building on the campus of York University in Toronto did all they could to shake me up.

But none of them could, not even the one hellbent on failing me.

Why?

Because I knew my stuff and could remember it.

 

All Of It

 

And when they awarded my degree, they even added a special comment on the form that I had presented my knowledge with originality and audacity.

I take that to mean that I did it all with nerves of steel, total confidence and the ability to create new knowledge, not just parrot what I’d memorized.

And that’s what the Magnetic Memory Method is all about: Creating knowledge while also being able to repeat information verbatim. Or in the case of memorizing vocabulary, being able to create unique and meaningful sentences.

But don’t get me wrong.

In some cases, being a parrot isn’t a bad thing.

 

Not A Bad Thing At All

 

But let’s flash forward a couple of years.

There I was on the porch. Stupidly I’d sat through six months of a German language course after landing a research and teaching grant at a university there.

Looking back, I still can’t believe it. But in all fairness, I had already used my memory to get my Ph.D. But researching and teaching didn’t require them in quite the same way. I used mnemonics only to memorize the names of my students and the basic architecture of my lectures.

But on that porch, I realized that I could have been using memory techniques all along to memorize German vocabulary. The only question now was …

How?

When I thought back to what I’d done during my graduate years, it all fell into place.

You see, when organizing the knowledge I needed to know in order to memorize the works of philosophers and literary or film theorists great and small, I had created at least one Memory Palace for each, sometimes up to five.

In many cases, the Memory Palaces weren’t so much centered on the career of a philosopher, but on a single book. For example, for Aristotle I concentrated only on memorizing the major details of The Nicomachean Ethics. But as for the rest of his cannon, I’m a sitting duck in water.

Foucault5

Michel Foucault, on the other hand, had five Memory Palaces, four for individual books he’d written and one for facts about his life and how it intersected with important moments in his Zeitgeist.

Regardless of having one Memory Palace or five per philosopher, in each I got some kind of picture in my mind of what that person looks like. In the case of Aristotle, I had only paintings to work with. With Foucault, I could look at oodles of photographs.

Then, using a well-formed Memory Palace that obeys the principles of what would eventually become the Magnetic Memory Method, I followed these philosophers along carefully constructed journeys. At one point, for example, Aristotle fistfights with the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Foucault, known for his sexual escapades, got into some situations rather X-rated to at present mention.

I would eventually come to call these Magnetic little puppets of mine, “Bridging Figures.”

Why?

Because by following them around in my imagination, they “bridged the gap” between Memory Palace stations and engaged in behaviors that quickly and efficiently reminded me of the key points I needed to know. After that, it was just a matter of rehearsing the show a few times and writing out what I’d learned in summary format to ease the information into long-term memory.

As one commentator on a Magnetic Memory Method YouTube video puts it regarding my approach to memory techniques and mnemonics overall, it’s all …

 

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

 

Lemon squeezy, indeed.

Thinking about that practice and its tremendous power, I clearly saw that the same approach readily applied to German vocabulary. Abraham Lincoln helped me connect “ab” words in an “A” Memory Palace.

To give another example, Einstein took over the show in an imaginary reconstruction of my brother’s home.

Even more interesting, real people proved useful too.

For example, my ex-wife’s good friend Vera war sehr verantwortlich when it came to stuffing “ver” words into a very special Memory Palace that happened to be her home in Brooklyn. I had only visited the place once, but due to the mind’s uncanny ability to absorb the details of a building on autopilot, I used its rooms and hallways to great effect before moving to my old girlfriend Vicki’s home and on and on and on.

 

Nifty, Isn’t It?

 

You bet it is. And before I knew it, the fruitless hours spent on index cards and writing words out by hand became a thing if the past. I deleted every trace of the spaced-repetition software clogging my laptop and honored instead the unparalleled abilities of a well-trained memory.

Thousands of books and over a dozen video courses and public appearances later, the ancient art of memory finally had an innovation for one of its toughest opponents: language learning.

There had been other attempts. Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas devote three pages to memorizing vocabulary in The Memory Book. In Memo, Oddbjorn By talks about organizing a city into three parts to help organize gendered nouns, an idea he may have found in Host Von Romberch, who was a contemporary of the great mnemonist Matteo Ricci.

But none of these approaches had the rigor needed to memorize vocabulary en masse. Harry Lorayne is no fan of Memory Palaces and mnemonists like Dave Farrow use them sparingly.

 

Nothing Wrong With That

 

But for so many people like myself, pegs and linking do little or nothing. Without a track upon which to lay the associative-imagery, the choo-choo train of the mind has to grasp after ghostly images popped willy-nilly into the void, connected only by abstract relationships between silly images.

But a Bridging Figure moving along a Memory Palace journey matches two extremely concrete elements that are easy to follow. The Memory Palace serves as the rails, beautifully fixed in place. The Bridging Figure is the train conductor who stops at the stations and lets you decode the associative-imagery.

It’s simple, elegant and fun.

 

So Much Fun

 

Of course, it would be years later before I told anyone about this revelation. When I finally did release How to Learn and Memorize German Vocabulary following a mysterious and strange set of tumultuous adventures ranging from divorce to the biggest dental nightmare of my life, many people instantly got it. They went on to collectively memorize thousand of words and experience unheard of boosts in fluency.

But others didn’t get it. They cursed at my book and the books to come, calling the Magnetic Memory Method impractical, impossible and insane. Others called me a scammer and compared me to Kevin Trudeau, a memory trainer who had broken the law by making dietary claims. What his health niche crimes have to do with his memory training, I’ll never know, but one thing will remain eternally clear: haters gonna hate.

The critics and naysayers aside, I focused all of my attention on helping the dozens of people who emailed me their questions. I spent hours clarifying the technique on an individual basis. And to be perfectly honest, I loved each and every minute.

But it soon became impractical to spend the better part of each day sharing clarifications to one person at a time. It’s the Information era after all. So I started gathering email addresses and emailed the answers to every one interested enough to subscribe.

Soon, ever more questions started rolling in. And new subscribers asked me how they could get their hands on all the emails they’d missed.

More than a hundred requests later, I created the Magnetic Memory Method Newsletter. At the end of each month, I gathered the emails I was sending once a day into a Kindle book and put them up on Amazon. Although these never became Bestseller like my other books, they have become the stuff of legend. Not a day passes when someone doesn’t ask to be subscribed to the MMM Newsletter or get the entire collection.

I’ve put ten of them together so far, totaling over 1000 pages of the deepest investigations into the art of memory on the planet. Some people have called me the Simonides of the 21st century. Others think I’m the reincarnation of Giordano Bruno (probably because of my Heavy Metal/Stoner Rock look and sometimes stubborn and insistent ways).

But to quote the late, great master of copywriting Gary Halbert:

 

“Whatever.”

 

One day I will have to put together the mounds of other correspondence with readers that I’ve never published. I expect that this eventual set of documents will amount to 3000 or more pages of material, writing that some people will undoubtedly gobble up and put to immediate use in their personal memory practice.

But for now, my focus is on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and creating second editions of the existing vocabulary books. After all, I now know so much about why people struggle with the MMM that it behooved me to incorporate it all into the first editions.

And now I’m excited to release the second edition of How to Learn and Memorize German Vocabulary. This new and revised edition includes:

* Illustrations of how to create a well-constructed Memory Palace so that you can see the principles right before your very eyes and model them.

* Drawings of a few pieces of associative-imagery so that you really understand how you can instantly memorize the sound and meaning of a word in just a minute or two.

* A lengthy list of suggested German words you will want to learn so that you aren’t stumbling around blind wondering what you should memorize.

* Notes on memorizing grammar principles and phrases so that you can speak sentences instead of just words. (Though the emphasis is on words because you can’t form sentences without them.)

* An expended discussion of Recall Rehearsal so that you know exactly how to get the words and phrases into long-term memory.

* A mega-conclusion that covers every possible question you may have so that no stone is left unturned, and you know exactly what to do to memorize hundreds of vocabulary words a week.

And make no mistake …

 

This Stuff Works

 

I heard a few months back from one person that he learned 1000 words in 6 weeks.

Just imagine what having that ability could do for you.

And even if you’re not learning German, the principles apply to any language.

So if this book is something for you, grab it. If you get it during this special promotion, I’d like to send you a special bonus.

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That’s right. For people who get the book, either for Kindle or in print, I have a 45-minute exclusive video training I gave for Jonathan Levi’s SuperLearner Masterclass.

In this training, we go into detail about the misconceptions and problems people have with creating Memory Palaces. It’s all in the book, of course. But sometimes having a “student advocate” ask me questions live can make all the difference in the world. Plus, Jonathan is a force unto himself when it comes to learning.

At the present moment, this interview is available only in his SuperLearner Masterclass. It’s an experience that costs several hundred dollars to access. And honestly, if you’re willing to take action, 45 minutes listening to me talk in detail about the MMM is priceless.

I’ll send you a link where you can download this exclusive interview.

It’s just as simple as that. So here’s what to do next:

– Grab the book now.

– Click forward on the email receipt you get from Amazon.

– Enter my email address (anthony/at/magneticmemorymethod/dot/com).

– Click send.

Just make sure you do so before 11:59 p.m. on January 1st, 2016.

Now you may be wondering what’s coming up in 2016 for the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. That’s a great question and so I can only urge you to stick around and see just what this grizzly old Wizard of Memory has up his sleeve. 2016 is going to be a big place indeed and if you want to learn a language, never forget a name or recite poetry or speeches, or pass even the most complicated math exam, the Magnetic Memory Method is here to help.

 

But Don’t Delay

 

Each and every day that you aren’t using the natural abilities of your imagination to integrate with the art of memory, you’re missing out on the massive power of flawless recall. You’re surrendering to the demon of forgetfulness when you could be eliminating its terrorist attacks on your life once and for all.

Grab your copy of How to Learn and Memorize German Vocabulary now and make 2016 the most amazing year of your life.

Your friend in memory,

Anthony Metivier

Additional Resources

The post The Story Of How To Learn And Memorize German Vocabulary appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: The_Story_Of_How_To_Learn_And_Memorize_German_Vocabulary.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:04pm EDT

Optimized-Dollarphotoclub_82741935If you’re lucky enough, eating is something you do every day. If you’re like most of us lucky ones, it might be something you do too often every day.

But for something you do so often, are you getting the most out of your eating, for both your body and mind?

Doctors, nutritionists, fitness instructors, and your mom are constantly preaching:

“You are what you eat.”

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

“Eat your fruits and veggies.”

 

Undoubtedly …

 

… diet is consistently cited as one of the more important aspect to weight loss and overall good health. What you eat can make you healthy, happy, and well-functioning, or throw you into a death-spiral of obesity, disease, and disability.

It should come as no surprise that diet also affects mental health. In fact, there is mounting evidence that specific types and classes of food can have beneficial –  or detrimental – effects on memory.

Recently, for example, coconut oil has come into question.

The question is…

Is it possible to change your diet to maintain, and even achieve new and better levels of memory and information retention?

We are all salivating for a definitive answer, but for the most part, the jury is still out. Much of the research surrounding food and memory are in preliminary stages and tested on animal subjects. Not to dismiss the abilities of a lab rat, but making the connection between a rat and a human is dubious.

However, we aren’t entirely left in the dark. In fact, there is exciting new research pointing to real and impressive associations between food and memory.

This post (don’t forget to listen to the podcast version too) will dive into this salad bowl of findings and scoop out foods to help with memory conservation and retention.

All you’re left with is the easy – and delicious – part of figuring out how to incorporate these foods into your meals.

So, let’s dig in.

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The Ugly Nut That Should Get More Attention

 

They look like brains, are hard to crack, and have a slight bitter flavor. Walnuts taste as unique as they look, and cracking them open has been a strength test for bodybuilders everywhere.

Beyond their use as a party trick, these funny-looking nuts have some evidence pointing to their ability to improve memory.

It’s not due to their pretty appearance. Walnuts contain the highest source of antioxidants among their nut brothers and sisters (Vinson and Cai 134). Perhaps due to their impressive antioxidant profile, walnuts have garnered research specifically on their abilities to improve memory.

A recently published, cross-sectional American study was conducted analyzing the association of walnuts to several forms of cognitive function (Arab and Ang 284). The study included participants from a variety of ethnicities, age groups, and genders. It surveyed over 20,000 people about their dietary habits and had them take various cognitive tests. These tests included reaction time, numerical processing, and recall.

This is perhaps the largest walnut to cognitive function study ever done on the US population, and boasts impressive results.

The study showed strong associations between higher walnut consumption and progressively better scores on each cognitive test, including the memory recall test (Arab and Ang 284).

In other words, the more walnuts they ate per day, the better their memory became. These results applied to all of the age groups studied, ranging between the ages of 25-59.

The study concludes with an (albeit serious and scientific) ode to walnuts.

“These significant, positive associations between walnut consumption and cognitive functions among all adults [. . .] suggest that daily walnut intake may be a simple beneficial dietary behavior.”(Arab and Ang 284)

This study does not stand alone.

Another study focusing on elderly subjects found positive effects of walnut consumption on memory recall (Valls-Pedret et al. 773).

What all these studies are really trying to say is, “Walnuts. Get on that”. Raw or roasted, add them to salads, to your oatmeal or even to the your green smoothies in the morning. If the statistics are correct, you should be getting smarter and remembering more details than ever.

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How Green Tea Can Super-Charge Your Memory

 

Green tea is a favourite around the world. It’s found in a variety of drinks outside of its standard tea form, including lattes, soft drinks, and even ice cream. Green tea has been in the limelight for a while for its purported ability to aid in treating nearly any ailment.

Every other week there seem to be stories about green tea’s heroism in fighting cancer and diabetes. Hype aside, can green tea help your memory and mind as well?

In a study conducted on Japanese residents over age 60, higher green tea consumption was associated with lower incidence of dementia (Noguchi-Shinohara et al). Dementia is a common cognitive and memory decline associated with growing older.

The study suggests that green tea consumption could be beneficial for reducing our risk of memory decline.

But what about improving our memory here and now?

A very interesting, albeit small, study on college students, sought an answer to this question (Schimdt et al 3888). The study examined the effects of green tea extracts on brain activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. 12 healthy volunteers were given green tea infused drinks and asked to perform a working memory task while in an MRI.

During the task, the prefrontal cortex showed increased activity and the volunteers performance was heightened (Schimdt et al 3888).

A larger study looked at the effects of tea consumption on the cognitive abilities of middle-aged adults in community living in Singapore. This study didn’t test green tea exclusively, but it found protective and enhancing affects of green tea on cognition, including memory (Feng et al 438).

The evidence suggests that drinking green tea daily will protect from future memory decline and may even provide a memory boost.

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The Small Berry That Packs A Punch You’ll Remember

 

Blueberries aren’t just for toddlers and vanilla ice cream anymore. Blueberries are showing some promise in the protection of your memory.

In a study of nine older adults with memory decline, consuming blueberry juice over 12 weeks resulted in improved memory function. Each day this group of five men and four women drank blueberry juice. After 12 weeks of drinking blueberry juice, these nine test subjects showed improvements in recall and general cognitive functioning (Krikorian et al 4000).

Although small and preliminary, the research offers an interesting benefit to an already very health food. If you aren’t already eating blueberries, these findings should be the kick you needed to start adding them to your smoothies.

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Nothing Fishy About This Brain Food

 

If you’ve been on the internet at any point in the last ten years, you’ve probably heard about “Omega-3s”.

You may not know exactly what they do or what they are, but you know you need more of them.

The purported benefits of Omega-3s is the reason fatty fish have been promoted as a necessary addition to your weekly meals. Fatty fish, such as salmon, contain some of the highest levels of Omega-3s.

Similarly to green tea, Omega-3s have been touted as having a wide variety of health benefits. These include things like reducing pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, ensuring the healthy development of babies, and aiding against dementia.

Setting the former two claims aside, it does seem that Omega-3s, as consumed through fish, have a protective effect against memory deterioration.

A large study followed 889 older adult men and women over nine years. It was hoping to understand whether differences in fatty fish intake impacted the prevalence of dementia by the ninth year (Schaefer et al 1545).

Researchers found that subjects with the highest intake of Omega-3 fatty acids had a lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s. Their subjects consumed a mean of three servings of fatty fish per week and the risk reduction was impressive. Subjects that consumed the most fish saw their risk of memory impairment decline by 47% (Schaefer et al 1545).

Another study followed a group of 281 people aged 65 to investigate the correlation between fish intake and brain deterioration. This study found that higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in the blood, predicted reduced deterioration for its test subjects (Samieri et al 642).

In another very large study of over 1,200 people, Omega-3 fatty acid, along with various other micronutrient levels, were analyzed. The results were compared to the prevalence of an important biomarker for dementia, a compound in the blood that predicts Alzheimer’s. Sure enough, those with high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids had a lower amount of the threatening biomarker (Gu et al 1832).

What’s really interesting is that these results were not replicated through supplementation.

In a huge study, supplementation Omega-3 fatty acids were given to 4,203 subjects to determine whether memory function improved. The study followed subjects for five years, during which they tested various cognitive functions, including memory. The results showed that supplementation did not have a significant effect on cognitive function (Chew et al 791).

Moral of the story? There seems to be real memory benefits and protective effects to eating foods high in Omega-3 acids, such as in fish. Moreover, supplements have not proven effective. You’re much better off saving your money for a nice salmon filet once a week.

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The Simple Diet That Brings It All Together

 

It might get tiring eating walnuts, berries, green tea, and fish all the time. But you’re in luck! As it turns out, there is an entire diet which has been shown to be protective against memory degeneration. The diet, called the MIND diet, reduces the risk of cognitive decline and memory by 35%. And that’s just for people who followed the diet moderately well (Morris et al 1022).

For those who stuck to the diet closely, the study measured an impressive reduction of 53%.

This diet has not, as of yet, been shown to enhance memory for healthy adults. There are no super-memory foods in the MIND diet.

Nonetheless, the MIND diet and study has shown impressive results in its potential to protect you from memory deterioration.

The MIND diet is a combination of two very well-studied diets: Mediterranean and DASH. Unlike these two diet, it places a special emphasis on the consumption of berries, strawberries, and blueberries in particular (remember them?).

The diet involves the following:

  • At least three servings of whole grains a day
  • A salad and one other vegetable a day
  • A glass of wine a day
  • A serving of nuts a day
  • Beans every other day
  • Poultry and berries at least twice a week
  • Fish at least once a week

The MIND diet also calls for limiting or eliminating unhealthy foods, especially butter, cheese, and fast or fried food.

In a time when many countries are facing ageing populations and increasing rates of Alzheimer’s, the MIND diet offers hope. As of yet, there is no effective cure for Alzheimer’s. Every step to a more definitive prevention of Alzheimer’s is a step in the right direction.

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Don’t Be Tricked By Ginkgo

 

Apart from being a lovely decorative tree across North America, Ginkgo Biloba is an ancient species of trees. In fact, they are known to be the oldest tree species in the world, remaining unchanged for over 200 million years. That’s right, this tree has been around since the dinosaurs. Unlike the dinosaurs, they did not go extinct.

Not just a pretty tree, Ginkgo Biloba has also been used in east asian culinary. For example, Ginkgo seeds are added to a traditional vegetarian dish called “Buddha’s Delight”.

Otherwise, Ginkgo Biloba has earned a shining memory-boosting reputation in both alternative medicine circles and the mainstream population. According to the New York Times, it is widely marketed as a preventative treatment to Alzheimer’s disease. What’s more, it is America’s best-selling herbal cognitive enhancement.

But is there substance behind these claims?

Unlike many food claims, definitive answers are possible because Ginkgo is one of the most commonly studied herbs in the world.

Ginkgo has not shown evidence for preventing memory-loss diseases in later life, including dementia. In 2015, a study reviewing many previous studies available on Ginkgo showed no effect on memory loss prevention (Charemboon and Jaisin 508).

But can it help enhance memory for healthy adults?

Again, the evidence is lacking. A similarly large review conducted in 2012 found nothing to prove that Ginkgo Biloba enhances memory, despite the marketing (Laws et al.).

All that glitters is not gold, especially when it comes to claims made by herbal supplement manufacturers. Save your money on Ginkgo supplements and move on to other, better evidenced memory-supporting foods.

Start On Your Memory-Boosting Journey
(Without Supplements)

 

It’s difficult to isolate specific components in foods that make them effective. It’s been found that blueberries, walnuts, and green tea have amongst the highest levels of antioxidant among their respective food groups.

Antioxidants are thought to protect against cell damage from free radicals, which occur naturally in the body due to normal metabolism.

However, many studies analyzing the effects of antioxidant supplements have failed to show significant effects. It seems that you must take the food with the antioxidant.

Although there may be a time and place for supplementation, uprooting food in their place is a poor strategy.

In any case, the variety and availability of these delicious foods leaves no reason not to incorporate them into your diet. Memory-boosting foods and diets are surprisingly commonplace.

Above and beyond improving memory, eating a healthy diet will leave you feeling energetic and, most importantly, disease-free. It’s a fair statement to say that living a long and healthy life is a prerequisite to excellent memory. After all, you need to be living a long life to have something to remember.

No research needed to back that up.

 

Further Resources And Works Cited

 

Dave Farrow Talks About Focus, Fatigue And Memory Expertise

Stop Smoking And Boost Memory With These Step-By-Step Addiction Breakers

How to Stop Information Pollution From Poisoning Your Memory

Arab, L., and A. Ang. “A Cross Sectional Study of the Association between Walnut Consumption and Cognitive Function among Adult Us Populations Represented in NHANES.” J Nutr Health Aging The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging (2014): 284-90. Pubmed. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Chew, Emily Y., Traci E. Clemons, Elvira Agrón, Lenore J. Launer, Francine Grodstein, and Paul S. Bernstein. “Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Lutein/Zeaxanthin, or Other Nutrient Supplementation on Cognitive Function.” JAMA (2015): 791. UpToDate. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Feng, Lei, X. Gwee, E. -H. Kua, and T. -P. Ng. “Cognitive Function and Tea Consumption in Community Dwelling Older Chinese in Singapore.” J Nutr Health Aging The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging (2010): 433-38. Pubmed. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. <pubmed.com>.

Gu, Y., N. Schupf, S. A. Cosentino, J. A. Luchsinger, and N. Scarmeas. “Nutrient Intake and Plasma  -amyloid.” Neurology (2012): 1832-840. UpToDate. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Krikorian, Robert, Marcelle D. Shidler, Tiffany A. Nash, Wilhelmina Kalt, Melinda R. Vinqvist-Tymchuk, Barbara Shukitt-Hale, and James A. Joseph. “Blueberry Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults †.” J. Agric. Food Chem. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2010): 3996-4000. Pubmed. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. <pubmed.com>.

Laws, Keith R., Hilary Sweetnam, and Tejinder K. Kondel. “Is Ginkgo Biloba a Cognitive Enhancer in Healthy Individuals? A Meta-analysis.” Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental Hum. Psychopharmacol Clin Exp (2012): 527-33. Print.

Morris, Martha Clare, Christy C. Tangney, Yamin Wang, Frank M. Sacks, Lisa L. Barnes, David A. Bennett, and Neelum T. Aggarwal. “MIND Diet Slows Cognitive Decline with Aging.” Alzheimer’s & Dementia (2015): 1015-022. Elsevier. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Noguchi-Shinohara, Moeko, Sohshi Yuki, Chiaki Dohmoto, Yoshihisa Ikeda, Miharu Samuraki, Kazuo Iwasa, Masami Yokogawa, Kimiko Asai, Kiyonobu Komai, Hiroyuki Nakamura, and Masahito Yamada. “Consumption of Green Tea, but Not Black Tea or Coffee, Is Associated with Reduced Risk of Cognitive Decline.” PLoS ONE (2014). NCBI. PLOS ONE. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Samieri, Cécilia, Pauline Maillard, Fabrice Crivello, Evelyne Peuchant, Catherine Helmer, Michèle Allard, Jean-Francois Dartigues, Stephen Cunnane, Bernard Mazoyer, and Pascale Barberger-Gateau. “Plasma Long-chain Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy: A Longitudinal MRI Study.” Alzheimer’s & Dementia (2012). UpToDate. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Schaefer, Ernst J., Vanina Bongard, Alexa S. Beiser, Stefania Lamon-Fava, Sander J. Robins, Rhoda Au, Katherine L. Tucker, David J. Kyle, Peter W. F. Wilson, and Philip A. Wolf. “Plasma Phosphatidylcholine Docosahexaenoic Acid Content and Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer Disease.” Arch Neurol Archives of Neurology (2006): 1545. UpToDate. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Schmidt, André, Felix Hammann, Bettina Wölnerhanssen, Anne Christin Meyer-Gerspach, Jürgen Drewe, Christoph Beglinger, and Stefan Borgwardt. “Green Tea Extract Enhances Parieto-frontal Connectivity during Working Memory Processing.” Psychopharmacology (2014): 3879-888. Pubmed. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24643507>.

Valls-Pedret, Cinta, Rosa Maria Lamuela-Ravent’os, Alexander Medina-Rem’on, Melibea Quintana, Dolores Corella, Xavier Pinto, Miguel Angel Martınez-Gonzalez, Ramon Estruch, and Emilio Ros. “Polyphenol-Rich Foods in the Mediterranean Diet Are Associated with Better Cognitive Function in Elderly Subjects at High Cardiovascular Risk.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 29 (2012): 773-82. IOS Press. IOS Press. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Vinson, Joe A., and Yuxing Cai. “Nuts, Especially Walnuts, Have Both Antioxidant Quantity and Efficacy and Exhibit Significant Potential Health Benefits.” Food Funct. (2011): 134-40. Royal Society of Chemistry. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.

Weinmann, Stefan, Stephanie Roll, Christoph Schwarzbach, Christoph Vauth, and Stefan N Willich. “Effects of Ginkgo Biloba in Dementia: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” BMC Geriatr BMC Geriatrics (2015): 14. Print.

The post Foods That Improve Memory You CAN Pig Out On appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Direct download: Foods_That_Improve_Memory_You_CAN_Pig_Out_On.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 8:50am EDT

Optimized-Screen Shot 2015-12-17 at 13.05.34In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Guinness World Record Holder Dave Farrow talks about developing focus, overcoming study fatigue and how advanced memory abilities can make you an expert in anything.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* Why the Ancient Greeks are not the only source of powerful memory techniques.

* An amazing focus method for people with A.D.D. that’ll also work for anyone!

* How to beat any world memory record and maintain the information over long periods of time.

* The important of accuracy in memory and how to develop it fast.

* How Dave memorized 59 decks of cards, totally 3068 cards.

* The important difference between a memory championship and memory competition.

* The nearly magical power of pegs as a powerful alternative to using a Memory Palace.

* The secrets of bring longevity to memory without having to cram or spend tons of time reviewing.

* A stunning and colorful alternative to the Major Method, especially for people with dementia using an arrangement like this (you can create your own version):

1 = red
2 = orange
3 = yellow
4 = green
5 = blue
6 = purple
7 = brown
8 = silver
9 = gold
0 = black

* Exactly how to memorize the Major Method (sometimes called the Major System) using “mnemonics for mnemonics.”

* How to use memory techniques to “fill in the gaps” of anything you missed from a lecture.

* How to deal with being accused of cheating when you use memory techniques to ace every test.

* How to rebalance your brain after intense periods of learning so that you can maximize every minute you invest in your studies.

* How to study with zero fatigue, no matter what field you’re in (medical, legal, etc.)

* The relationship between the focus created by athleticism and what you need to maximize your scholastic studies.

* Why having a short attention span has little to do with the Internet Age and everything to do with our primal ancestors.

* The best places to study so that you have the space and the freedom of mind to get the most out of your memory.

* How to combine focus bursts and mnemonics to blaze through learning a language – even supposedly difficult languages like Chinese.

* Why you need to avoid memory techniques taught by people unqualified to explain them.

* How to find out your primary way of making imaginative connections so that mnemonics work for you at the highest possible level.

* The power of irony, oddity and personification as alternatives to action and imagery in your approach to memorizing information.

* How Dave used memory techniques to become expert in everything needed to build the animatronic FarrowBOT with fully articulated hands. It truly is the robot that memory built.

* The secret keys to developing motivation and passion so that you can make maximum gains with your memory over the long haul.

* … and much, much more!

 

Photos From Dave Farrow’s 2015 Canadian Memory Seminar And Tournament

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The 2015 Seminar and Memory Tournament took place on October 17th in Toronto, Canada at the Ontario Science Center.

Please feel free to read the full Tournament Rules. You can also grab the World Memory Tournament Manual Dave put together with Chester Santos for more information about being a memory competitor or putting together your own competition.

 

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At the competition, anyone can take turns being either a competitor or a judge. It’s amazing how quickly complete beginners pick up the mnemonics and get stunning results just minutes after receiving instructions in how to memorize vocabulary, numbers and playing cards. Even the most skeptical utterly surprised themselves!

 

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As you can see, I was having the time of my life overseeing some of the matches. It was actually a challenging experience because judges have to make some tough close calls. If one competitor makes a mistake, the other competitor can claim the point and then go on to rack up even more until they’ve exhausted the amount of vocabulary, numbers or playing cards they were able to memorize.

 

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These competitors are memorizing lists of vocabulary that they are seeing for the first time. A camera captures everything and detailed records of the results are recorded by the judge.

 

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At the end, everyone walks away as a winner just for taking up the challenge of exercising their imagination and memory abilities and it is a thrill to get a photo with the “Farrow” of Memory himself, Dave Farrow.

 

Dave Farrow and Anthony Metivier in Toronto

Further Resources And Information Mentioned During The Interview

Dave’s TEDTalk On Why Forgetting May Save Humanity:

Excellent article about a Dave Farrow event by Tatiana Sanchez

Dave Farrow article on Wikipedia

Pushbutton Memory

Canada’s  Best Memory

Eric Dinnerstein’s World Memory Statistics

Make A Wish Foundation

Ben Pridmore

PAO notes on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

Harry Loryane

The post Dave Farrow Talks About Focus, Fatigue And Memory Expertise appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Optimized-ricci_matteo--400x300Let me ask you something:

If you had the cure for cancer, to what lengths would you go to get it into the hands of the people?

I’m guessing you would not rest until you could see the world freed from the disease in all its manifestations.

Matteo Ricci did not have the cure for cancer, but as we learn in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence he did have the next best thing: A simple recipe for eliminating forgetfulness.

Not only that, but Ricci’s recipe helps with memorizing entire books and large volumes of vocabulary. Most impressively, Ricci developed a means for memorizing how to write in Chinese.

Yes, you really can memorize how to understand and sound those crazy characters, and even memorize the stroke order.

 

The Freakish Willpower Of A Memory Wizard

 

As an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary, Ricci’s memory techniques were so powerful that some of the people in China who heard him recite their books forward and backward thought he was a wizard. In some cases, people saw him as a religious threat because Ricci also believed he had the ultimate salve for the human condition: Christianity.

Indeed, as Jonathan D. Spence suggests in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, “by impressing the Chinese with his memory skills, Ricci hoped to interest them in his culture; through interesting them in his culture he hoped to draw them to an interest in God.”

 

Talk About Ambition!

 

Although Ricci’s proselytization had only middling results in China, he was a friend of memory techniques, and we can learn a lot from him about how to use mnemonics at a much higher level.

He wrote about his approach to memory and quoted the scholars from whom he learned the Memory Palace technique in a book called Xiguo Jifa. It took me forever and a day to find a copy of it, but finally I did and made sure to pack it up and take it with me during a recent move:

 

 

Speaking of books, Ricci was said to have the ability to memorize them cover to cover – and recite them forward and backwards.

But is this a useful skill? You be the judge.

 

 

But memorizing entire books aside, as with all interesting lives, Ricci’s was filled with drama. Along with his many thrills, chills and spills, this “wizard” of the dark mnemonic arts we can learn …

 

The Many Dangers Of Using Memory Techniques

 

The first danger with using memory techniques is that as your memory grows stronger, so do your powers. You may even find that special new powers grow, abilities that you did not anticipate.

And, as all fans of Spider-Man know …

 

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

 

This is certainly true, but those of us living today can probably ignore the idea that using mnemonics fuses your brain with the cosmos. But it was a common concern in the sixteenth century, the flames of which Giordano Bruno had no problem fanning.

But for Ricci’s contemporaries, the threat was real. Being accused of magical powers regularly led to imprisonment, disfiguring torture and public execution. Often all three.

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We can also probably dismiss the idea that rosemary helps with memory improvement, something promised by Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance, pray you, love, remember.”

Other than that, the rest is golden. Drawing on Spence’s book about Ricci, we can now turn to …

 

Matteo Ricci’s 5 Memory Palace Tips For Total Memory Mastery

 

1. Cultivate eloquence by using familiar buildings.

Ricci grew up during a time when fortresses were taking on more prestige than cathedrals in European cities. This historical circumstance meant that Ricci could use the best of both worlds.

And you can too by visiting the most modern architecture where you live and the oldest remaining buildings. You can transform these buildings into well-formed Memory Palaces simply by following a few simple principles. This free Memory Improvement Kit teaches you each of these, so grab it now.

The great thing about many civic buildings is that they’re well-planned. You can also usually find a floor plan on one of the walls. If not, a guard or other official will probably know where it is and let you take a photograph for later reference.

 

Get Freakishly Insane Results With This DIY Memory Palace Strategy

 

Or, for very good practice, you can sketch out a floor plan of the building yourself. This activity translates your immediate impressions through your muscles and other representation systems directly into your memory, and if you can start memorizing information before you leave the site, all the better.

For more ideas about the kinds of buildings that make great Memory Palaces, check out the How To Find Memory Palaces episode of the Magnetic Memory Method podcast.

The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci Magnetic Memory Method

The most important point Ricci draws out is that familiarity breeds eloquence when it comes to creating top-notch Memory Palaces. As he noted in his letters, even the biggest and most chaotic cities he visited during his travels became small and manageable in his mind through familiarity.

For us, this means spending more time visiting the homes of our friends and maximizing the value of all the Real Estate surrounding us. Even the most sprawling metropolis can provide you a tightly organized system of Memory Palaces if you take it just one corner cafe at a time.

 

This “Best Friend” Secret May Be The Best Way To Get Ahead With Memory Techniques Ever

 

2. You Don’t Have To Use Memory Palaces On Your Own

Memory improvement takes places in your mind and your mind alone …

Or does it?

Not for Ricci.

As Spence unearths, Ricci and his friend Lelio Passionei created Memory Palace systems together while studying in Rome. Twenty years later, Ricci still reflected on these Memory Palaces. No doubt they were even more memorable to him than others because he did not create them alone.

If you’re creating Memory Palaces all alone, you could be limiting your success. Check out this post on how to play memory games using your childhood with a friend to maximize the potential of your memory and the Memory Palaces you want to use.

3. Flexibility is king

All memory techniques involve encoding information, storing it, consolidating it and then decoding it when you want access to it later.

But many people think that using a Memory Palace and visual memory techniques requires creating perfect images. They sweat and labor and fight with their minds to come up with 100% accuracy.

 

The Best Way To Prevent Failure Is To Stab
Perfection In The Heart And Leave It For Dead

 

Not only is 100% accuracy not necessary. It also rarely works. There is rarely a one-to-one correspondence between what you want to memorize and the images you use to memorize that info.

What you need instead of verisimilitude is flexibility and trust. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the rabbit hole of perfectionism.

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Ricci, as Spence tells us in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, often made adjustments, getting things just right enough to trigger the right memories at the right time.

It’s almost like getting a car engine running just well enough to get it on the road until it can either repair itself or coast based on that initial momentum. When it comes to mnemonics, that’s usually all you need.

 

Do The Right Work

 

Ricci did this not only in his mind but in his religious teachings as well. Indeed, to communicate the larger ideas of Christianity, Ricci often adjusted the Gospels so that the visual pictures he had fashioned could do, as Spence puts it, “the right work.”

Our takeaway as memory enthusiasts is that it really all comes down to flexibility and letting your mind fill in the blanks once you’ve got mnemonic imagery that is good enough to do the right work.

4. Information Can Be Broken And Put Together Again

Ricci had the mind of a strategist. Instead of trying to memorize Chinese ideographs as a whole, he would allow them to be as complex as he found them, but cut them into pieces so he could better create images for them.

By doing this, he had an easier time compounding multiple meanings onto the same ideograph.

Spence gives the example of “yao,” which may mean to want, to need, shall and fundamental. To fit all of these possible meanings into the single mnemonic image he placed in his Memory Palace, Ricci saw a Muslim tribeswoman from the Xixia territories. She has fundamental beliefs that oblige her to do certain things. In other words, her fundamental beliefs require that she wants, that she needs and that she shall.

Once created, Ricci places this image of the woman in his Memory Palace so “she will stay there, in the quiet light that suffuses the Memory Palace, calm and unmoving, for as long as he chooses to leave her.”

 

How Do You Stack Up When It Comes 
To Breaking Things Down?

 

The point being that most, if not all pieces of information can be broken down into multiple components. Even the smallest words, in a language like Chinese Mandarin, can be separated to learn better and memorize tone structures.

The Magnetic Memory Method for language learning takes this approach a step further by using Bridging Figures that we can apply to numerous similar word pieces and the various combinations they make with other sounds to form complete words.

Using the MMM, you can also trigger both the sound and the meaning of the word using the actions and interactions of the Bridging Figure in your Memory Palace.

Cool Stuff Or What?

5. Study As Many Memory Masters As You Can

It was common during Ricci’s time to quote from a number of different sources. We still do this in many books today, but in the world of memory, you’d be hard-pressed to find too many references to books written by other memory trainers. Many want you to think that they’ve got the best “system” and no one else exists.

That’s fine and dandy for branding and marketing purposes (though it’s ultimately destructive in the age of the Internet). Luckily, Ricci had no such concerns, nor did Spence. Here are just a few of the many names who come up:

 

Hear Be The Root Of All Eloquence

 

Cypriano Soarez. De Arte Rhetorica.

Spence thinks Ricci first learned about Memory Palaces in this book. Cypriano connects the structured placement of images to help recall information to the eloquence of the thesaurus (thesaurus eloquentae), which he calls the “root of all eloquence.”

Pliny’s Natural History.

In this book, Pliny apparently cites a number of memory experts, passages that Ricci translated and placed in his own book.

Frances Panigarola. Ars Reminiscendi.

 

War. What Is It Good For? Absolutely …
Mnemonics?

 

Ricci may have met Panigarola personally, a man said to have used one hundred thousand stations in a very large number of Memory Palaces. He apparently used a lot of puns to make his images memorable. These images tended to reference current political disputes and wars between nations.

 

Tip: Since wars involve a lot of historical figures and over-the-top activities, the history of war is a ripe source for exaggerated imagery and intensely memorable personalities.

We can also see that many of the mnemonists of Ricci’s era tended to use mnemonic imagery appropriate to their times. We, on the other hand, can use the Internet to examine swaths of history and come up with images as old as cave drawings and as new as Banksy. We’re in the finest moment of all times to be fully and completely visual. We are rich.

Guglielmo Gratarolo (sometimes spelled Gratoroli). De Memoria Reparanda.

 

The Weirdest Way To Use Emotions To Make Information Memorable

 

Gratarolo’s key tip is that the images we create should be so powerful that they “move one to laughter, compassion or admiration.” We could add to this disgust, fear and even anger. As people who need to remember, we need all the help from our emotions we can get.

Gratarolo also appears to have been the first to use something akin to what we now call the Person Action Object technique (PAO).

“After designing a memory location on conventional lines, he then positioned in each an object – a chamber pot, a box of salve, a bowl of plaster were his first three examples – and then had separate figures, each based on individuals he knew well and each carefully named, jolt the scene into mnemonic action. Thus in rapid sequence Grataroli presented his friend Peter as picking up the chamber pot full of urine and pouring it over James, Martin putting his finger in the ointment box and wiping it over Henry’s anus, and Andrew taking some plaster from the bowl and smearing it over Francis’s face. If one could link these vignettes by pun, analogy, or association of ideas to given concepts, one could be guaranteed never to forget them.”

 

That Truly Is Disgustingly Unforgettable!

 

Ignatius Loyola. Spiritual Exercises.

Loyala stressed that Jesuits be mentally present at Christ’s death. “No violent detail is to be avoided,” he wrote, quoting Ludolfus of Saxony.

By focusing on the extremities, the priests would not only better remember the Gospels. They would strengthen their overall abilities with memory techniques.

Host von Romberch. Longestorium Artificiose Memorie.

Romberch described entire memory cities to be divided by categories such as shops, libraries, slaughter yards and schools. How specifically this kind of division should work is not clear.

Nor is his suggestion to use “memory alphabets.” These were to be based on the logical combination of humans, plants, animals and objects.

Of all Ricci’s contemporaries, Romberch seems to have been most closely aligned with the Magnetic Memory Method. The ability to use general methods to create specific systems for specific memory purposes is perhaps the most profound approach we have.

 

Hater’s Gonna Hate …

 

Not everyone in Ricci’s time held memory techniques and mnemonics in high esteem.

In Of the Vanitie and Uncertainties of Arts and Sciences, Cornelius Agrippe said that the “monstrous images” required by mnemonics dulled the mind. He even went so far as to suggest that mnemonics “caused madness and frenzy instead of profound and sure memory.”

Erasmus and Melancthon agreed and Rabelais went out of his way to mock memory techniques. In Gargantua, the title character learns to memorize bizarre books of grammar and the commentaries written on them by Bangbreeze, Scallywag and Claptrap.

 

The Worst Thing You’ll Smell All Day

 

Although Gargantua can recite these books backward and forwards, Rabelais does not present the skill in a virtuous light. Instead, Gargantua “became as wise as any man baked in an oven” and when speaking to him about his memorized knowledge, “it was no more possible to draw a word from him than a fart from a dead donkey.”

Those who mocked memory techniques and the ability to use a Memory Palace really missed out.

 

But Their Loss Is Our Gain …

 

… and their mockery contributed to the preservation of these extraordinary techniques for learning, memorizing and recalling anything.

 

The Enduring Tragedy Of
The Memory Palace Of Matteo Ricci

 

Sadly, Ricci spent so much time in China, but apparently wasn’t aware of the countless Chinese mnemonists capable of memory feats that made his abilities pale in comparison. So although we get a wealth of information in his writing about the Western mnemonic tradition, Ricci could not expose us to the untold treasures of the Chinese memory wizards as part of his extraordinary career.

For this reason, I’ve been inspired to start learning Mandarin Chinese. Two weeks deep into the language, my results using several Memory Palaces to memorize Pimsleur dialogs has been even more successful than anticipated.

I’ll be talking more about exactly what I’m doing, so stay tuned and be sure that you’ve got my free Magnetic Memory Method Memory Improvement Kit so that you’re subscribed for notifications and can learn the techniques to use along with me.

And like Ricci …

 

Use Knowledge To Change The Entire World For The Better

 

Until next time, keep busy learning and practicing the art of memory. And as always, keep yourself Magnetic! 🙂

Further Resources

Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets

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