Magnetic Memory Method – How to Memorize With A Memory Palace: Recent Episodes

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Want to know why you keep forgetting things?

You’re in the right place.

I’ve been studying memory and teaching people how to improve it for over a decade.

And the answers couldn’t be clearer.

You do face the mystery of why it’s so hard to change, however.

That’s why in addition to explaining why forgetfulness in your 30s and 40s starts happening with such soul-sucking brutality, I’ll give suggestions for fixing the problem.

Spoiler alert:

A small amount of personal effort will be required to turn things around.

Frankly, it’s the lack of effort a lot of us have been seduced into by the modern world that needs to be addressed, along with a few other lifestyle issues.

Ready to fix your memory problems practically?

And enjoy improvement while setting the path for lifelong maintenance and personal growth?

Let’s get started!

Why You Forget Things: 6 Reasons We All FaceThe problems begin when we’re too general. We often ask, how can I remember things, for example.

In reality, we need to be much more specific. There are several main types of memory, and each needs to be addressed specifically.

By the same token, most of us benefit from holistic learning. So as we go through this list of factors that cause forgetting, keep in mind two things:

• All of these issues are well worth addressing
• To truly retain information better, make a person list of what you keep forgetting

By combining these two approaches, you’ll see improvements faster. By progressively changing your lifestyle and applying the right memory techniques to the information you need to remember, lasting memory improvement will result.

You don’t have to take my word for it. I’ve been building the longest wall of testimonials on the Internet and many students are enthusiastic about the results they’ve enjoyed. I’m confident you will be too.

Let’s explore your lifestyle factors first.

One: Digital AmnesiaLike all of us, you live in an era where ads interrupt just about everything we read online. Digital amnesia is my slightly more optimistic term for what scientists call digital dementia.

In this study, researchers argue that the data is clear. If you spent too much time online, you’re highly likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

The solution?

Reading physical books without a smart phone in sight to interrupt you. I personally work to get in at least 2-3 hours on uninterrupted reading every day.

Language learning has been shown to help preserve cognitive skills in later life. Here’s one study of many discussing the benefits.

Because researchers have found that memory loss can begin even in your 20s, I suggest you invest in time offline and start learning a new language as soon as possible. I’m currently working on Mandarin, Latin and Sanskrit myself, as I maintain my German.

Two: Unaddressed Stress & AnxietyWe all deal with stress. But if we fail to address it, anxiety will promote memory loss.

You have many options in this department. Spending time away from computers is a start, especially when you get into nature and read.

You can also explore concentration meditations and go through guided visualizations.

Or, you might need to tackle our next cause of forgetting.

Three: Poor NutritionNot long ago, I noticed I was struggling with more stress in my life. That led to me fumbling for words and forgetting more often than I like.

Turns out that I just needed to get some B1 supplements.

For you, the issues will be personal and I suggest you always consult a doctor.

For general information. most foods that improve memory are generally also healthy.

Four: Lack Of ExerciseEveryone knows that fitness and health go together.

Certainly, some people have reasons for why they cannot get regular exercise.

But if you can, we have great research showing that regular exercise boosts cognition and memory.

Five: Allowing Distractions & OverwhelmOne of my best success strategies, both when I was in university, and in my research and writing work now is challenging to set up.

But once you work out how to reduce distractions, it’s so much easier to focus. And where focus goes, memory flows.

In addition to finding places where you can study without interruption, use chunking to break big topics down.

Sometimes people see polymathic learners and build illusions in their minds about how they learn so much.

Sure, there are some polymathic personality traits that might help them naturally. But overall, the true talent they have involves breaking complex tasks down into smaller pieces. Then, whenever required, they use deliberate practice, which is a specific learning approach anyone can use.

Six: Substance ConsumptionWhether it’s drinking too much or feeling the effects of prescription medication, you could be forgetting things due to what you’re consuming.

Sometimes you can ask a doctor for alternative medication that won’t affect your memory so much. I discussed how I did that in this video about my own pharmaceutical memory issues.

As always, you need to consult a physician, but the solutions I worked out with my doctor helped and I’ve never gone back.

Added to the fact that I cut drinking, worked on my diet and started getting regular fitness, my holistic approach improved my memory and thinking skills quickly.

5 Practical Things You Can Do About Forgetting At Any AgeIn addition to all the lifestyle suggestions above, there are a number of specific memory hacks I suggest.

As we go through each, it will be helpful if you have written down that list I suggested above. The one with the kinds of information you keep forgetting listed on it.

If you haven’t done that, it’s not too late. You’ll get more from these suggestions by getting some clarity first on exactly what you want to remember. Whether it’s remembering names, numbers related to math or computer programming, there are specific mnemonic devices that will help.

One: Get More Social InteractionMany people suffer memory issues because they don’t speak with enough people often enough.

Scientists have linked what they call “social cognition” to memory and the evidence is clear. People who socialize more tend to have better memory skills.

Personally, I’m a bit isolated where I live at the moment. But I regularly interview people and hold Zoom calls for people in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

I have an even more ambitious project I’m working on for increasing my social activity. More news on that coming soon.

Two: Play Memory Games That Actually WorkIn addition to the digital amnesia issue we discussed above, there’s the problem of brain games that don’t really work as advertised.

If you truly want to combat cognitive decline, you can choose meaningful activities and add in some legit memory games.

In cases where you’re specifically concerned about dementia, make sure to choose games that address this problem.

I suggest you also expand your notion of what counts as a “game.” For example, in this tutorial, I show you how you can use movies you’ve watched as a form of fun memory exercise.

Three: Use “Recall Rehearsal” StrategicallyIt’s well known that people find rote learning tragically boring.

I don’t blame them.

But the fact remains that we need a certain amount of repetition in order to learn things.

In addition to educating yourself about spaced repetition, which reduces the boredom rote creates, explore ways to use flashcards differently.

You can also recite information by singing, as suggested by Luke Ranieri, a military pilot who became a skilled polyglot and teacher of classical languages.

Four: Self-TestA main reason you forget things is that you don’t regularly challenge your memory.

Although it is true that frustration causes many people to give up, a little bit of failure is needed in order for memories to form.

Scientists call this principle active recall.

Here’s a very simple process to follow:

• Commit something to memory
• Get a pen and paper
• Bring the information to mind
• Write it down

Even if you only partially remember the info, write out as much as you can get. If you get nothing, repeat the process.

The point is that you’re challenging your mind.

If you’re not ready for this challenge, as an alternative, Dr. Gary Small has suggested one of my favorite passive memory exercises. It’s a simple brain boosting routine that works like this:

• Notice four details of a person you see
• Let an hour pass
• Practice recalling those four details

The reason this kind of exercise is called “passive” reflects that you’re not using any kind of memory technique. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use mnemonics. Far from it.

Five: Become A Master of Your MemoryMany people benefit from exploring the world of mnemonics. Whether it’s to participate in a memory competition or explore the Memory Palace for language learning, mnemonics can substantially boost your memory.

The trick is to take this field of practice as seriously as you would any sport or profession.

The key mnemonic strategies you’ll want to pick up involve a small list:

• The Memory Palace technique
• Major Method
• Pegword Method
• Symbol System
• Spaced Repetition

All of these techniques are well-evidence in the memory science available to you.

Not only does adopting these mnemonic strategies help your memory. It will increase your visualization skills too. You can also apply them to critical thinking, which itself is an activity that can boost memory.

Now, it’s a fact that learning memory techniques can create a lot of resistance for some people. One way to get yourself to take action anyway is to explore your roadblocks using mind mapping.

In this video, I give you three mind mapping exercises that will help you figure out your path forward:

Give each one a go and enjoy the mental strength and long-term stamina they help you develop.

You Really Can Stop Forgetting In Its TracksAs you’ve seen, there are two main answers to the question, “Why do I keep forgetting things?”

Lifestyle changes are important. Adding dedicated memory techniques directed at the kinds of information you want to remember better is also critical.

Whether it’s committing a speech to memory, deeply absorbing a poem or remembering your family tree, everything will get better when you take action.

To help you with that, feel free to get my free memory improvement kit:

It gives you four video lessons and three PDF worksheets.

Just going through the course will give you some much needed memory exercise.

I know because I use my own training myself.

This is important to understand because memory always needs exercising.

Treat your memory like a journey, not a destination.

I’ve known some of the best memory competitors of our time and studied the historical memory masters in-depth (like Giordano Bruno and Robert Fludd).

They all have one thing in common:

The quality of their memory is connected to the amount they regularly challenge it.

Seize the day and if you’re worried about getting into a memory course, I suggest you also read or listen to my Memory Training Consumer Awareness Guide next.

I created it to help inspire more people to take memory training seriously, without worrying about the sharks and charlatans.

After all, they rely on people forgetting. But now you don’t have to forget.

Just put in a bit of effort and soon your memory skills will rise, potentially higher than ever before.

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People often ask me about how to use the Memory Palace for programming languages, especially since there’s so much abstract syntax to learn.

Would-be and even established coders worry that ancient memory techniques won’t help, often because they think of mnemonics themselves as inherently abstract.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, you’ll see in a minute that some scholars credit one of history’s greatest mnemonists with creating a mnemonic device that led to programmatic thinking in the first place.

The key is to understand how to use the Memory Palace for coding in the most optimal way.

Just like programming itself, the Memory Palace tradition is worthy of study.

But not hard and complicated study. It’ll take 2-5 hours tops to develop your mnemonic systems for making massive leaps in your programming knowledge.

I can make that promise because I’ve been teaching memory techniques for over a decade and it has helped many students of programming before.

Ready for the Memory Palace technique to help you too?

Let’s dive in!

Why The Memory Palace Technique Is Perfect For ProgrammingChances are that you’re reading this page because you already know what the method of loci is and have heard people talk about the Memory Palace for programming.

Briefly, a Memory Palace is a mental version of a familiar location. If you wanted to commit a list of computing and IT abbreviations to memory, all you would do is place an association in your mental recreation of a room that helps you bring back the information.

Let’s start very simply with 1GL as a mnemonic example related to the world of software. As an abbreviation, IGL is used to describe a first-generation programming language.

This simple, introductory mnemonic example of using a Memory Palace for programming shows the placement of familiar figures in a room to help remember an important computing abbreviationTo remember this abbreviation, you would first bring a corner of a room to mind, or a piece of furniture. Then you might a candle. It looks like a 1 and putting it in the hand of Gillian Anderson from X-Files will remind you of GL. If you imagine her programming with a first generation language on an old computer, you’ll easily recall the information.

The reason this technique relates inherently to programming is that you’re literally “entering” or “programming” a code into your memory. It’s like the binary code that helps produce a display, which in this case is the information you want to get back.

The authors of Ramon Lull: From the Ars Magna to Artificial Intelligence credit Llull for designing the memory wheel technique as an early form of mental computation. His wheels help you compress larger ideas down into small spaces.

You then later unpack the compressed associations to retrieve the complete data set of terms.

The Memory Palace technique refines how this form of placing and retrieving mnemonic images works. Everyone from Robert Fludd, Giordano Bruno and contemporary computer scientists like the memory athlete Nelson Dellis have “programmed” lots of information into their minds.

The Benefits Of Memory Palaces For ProgrammingBefore we get into some examples of using the Memory Palace technique for learning tasks like protocols and tmux shortcuts, it’s useful to think about the many benefits mastering this memory technique will provide.

When you start to use Memory Palaces, you will:

• Enhance your coding skills by increasing efficiency
• Reduce the cognitive load involved in understanding concepts
• Improve your problem solving skills
• Retain more knowledge on the fly
• Reduce errors in your coding
• Learn various keyboard commands

That’s just for starters. As your programming knowledge grows, you can expect to get better jobs. These include consulting gigs or advising on large projects.

When you really know your stuff, you’ll be a hot commodity. Especially as the world of machine learning keeps ramping up.

The Five Mnemonic Systems Coders NeedIn order to memorize using the Memory Palace technique, including “on the fly” memorization at meetings or while reading about programming in transit, you need just five mnemomic systems:

• A Memory Palace Network
• A Number System (like the Major, Dominic of 00-99 PAO System)
• An Alphabet System (like the Pegword System)
• A Symbol System
• Recall Rehearsal (a special approach to spaced repetition)

As mentioned, most of my students in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass develop all of these within 2-5 hours. From there, it’s mostly a matter of organizing what you need to memorize and working with your Memory Palaces to develop your retention of concepts and specific programming information.

Things Programmers Don’t Have To MemorizeMany people have asked me over the years about memorizing things like javascript libraries.

I think their intuition is interesting, but memorizing libraries like these (or libraries) at all, is neither efficient or practical. Instead, aim to:

• Understand core, fundamental principles related to popular libraries
• Know when to use libraries for specific needs
• Familiarize yourself with common APIs and practice using them
• Practice reading documentation without stopping to memorize so you can quickly understand documentation
• Understand the role of patterns so you can adapt easily to other libraries
• Keep bookmarks, snippets, and notes that will help you succeed
• Stay updated with libraries as they evolve

This final point is key because libraries may change at any time. Rather than spend time on surface-level memorization, focus on developing understanding.

So where should you use the Memory Palace technique for helping boost your programming skills? Let’s turn now to some specific use cases with examples.

The Memory Palace For Programming: 5 Advanced StrategiesAs we go through these examples, keep in mind that this ancient memory technique is just a tool. It supplements the learning you can do with flashcards and spaced repetition programs like Anki.

That said, using the Memory Palace technique is a lot more fun. Let me show you why.

But please note that I haven’t placed these examples in any particular order of importance. That is something you will need to decide for yourself.

In all cases, I suggest you set specific learning goals and organize the information optimally. I show you how in my how to memorize a textbook tutorial.

One: Complex Information Structuring FactsLet’s say you’ve broken down complex information structuring into a list of words and concepts you need to remember, such as:

• Nodes (entities) and edges (relationships)
• Graph databases as a type of NoSQL database
• Knowledge graphs and their purposes
• Node class structure (id, properties, edges)
• Edge class structure (source, target, relationship)

This learning goal boils down to memorizing vocabulary and definitions. The exact main points that will help you advance your knowledge are up to you to identify.

For the sake of this example, let’s focus on nodes and edges.

The first step is to have a Memory Palace. Since nodes starts with “n,” I use my friend Nick’s place. This choice harnesses the alphabetical similarity between the information and the Memory Palace.

If you have three points related to nodes that you need to memorize, assign space for them using the journey method.

In the example above, mnemonic images that help trigger the target information have been placed on the walls.

• Optimus Prime to recall that nodes are primary in a graph structure
• The UN Building to recall that a node has a unique identified
• The Edge from U2 to recall that nodes are connected via Edges

You can strengthen your memory of these words and concepts by applying the story method. As you travel the Memory Palace from fact to fact, have the mnemonic images interact. For example, Optimus Prime does something to the UN Building that causes a stone to fall on The Edge during a concert.

Basically all Memory Palace activity works exactly like this. The trick is to have your mnemonic images and Memory Palaces prepared in advance.

Two: Visualizing Algorithm FlowUnderstanding and communicating how algorithms work is an important part of programming.

A Memory Palace can help by allowing you to place parts of an application flowchart on a wall.

It’s the same process you see above, each piece laid out in your Memory Palace using mnemonic associations based on where they are in the algorithm.

Although not perfect, it will provide you with great visualization exercise that will strengthen your mental imagery skills overall.

Three: Memorizing Basic SyntaxWhether it’s variables and assignments, data types, logical operators or conditional statements or loops, here’s what I suggest.

Assign a Memory Palace for each, making sure it’s big enough to accomodate the amount of examples you want to commit to memory.

This is where you number and symbol systems will come into play in a big way.

Let’s say you want to memorize a line related to dictionaries or hash tables, such as:

my_dict = {“key1”: value1, “key2”: value2}

This is what that would look like in one of my Memory Palaces:

In this case, the images are laid out in the Memory Palace in a horizontal line. The dictionary represents what is being memorized, the key with the candle represents key1. A swan looks like 2, so it is paired with the second key. Diamonds represent value.

Although this might look like a lot, once you’re using to this kind of combinatorial thinking, you’ll find that it helps you commit programming related information like basic syntax to memory quite quickly.

You’ll also want mnemonic images for symbols like { and =. I didn’t have space for them in the Memory Palace example above, but typically I use bulldozers for any kind of parenthetical mark. I’ll have a figure with two sticks for the equals sign, like Bruce Lee.

Ultimately, you need to work out your own Symbol System. Once you have it, you can use it over and over again. The best part is that as your pattern recognition grows, you’ll likely have to memorize less and less.

Four: Remembering Tasks & Best PracticesProgrammers need to perform numerous critical routines.

In a simple, to-do list Memory Palace, you can easily memorize a list of steps for debugging, specific code review processes, testing protocols, refactoring or performance optimization.

That’s just to name a few, and now you know all about how to use your own mnemonic systems to encode the exact steps you need to complete in a Memory Palace. You’ll learn them faster and retain the information quickly using this technique.

Five: Memorize Common Keyboard CommandsOne of the first things I look at when approaching a language, are how to get key commands that get used repeatedly.

These might be different depending on the computer you use, but here is a few example of using the Hand Memory Palace concept to a Python Command:

• Command+L to perform clear

When you put your left hand out in front of you, the thumb-shape makes an L. To remember that L clears the screen, I can note that L is in the word “clear,” and imagine my thumb waving back and forth like a windshield wiper, clearing away the rain.

Although very simple, you can apply this mnemonic principle to all kinds of commands.

True, this technique does come with the risk of unducing an issue mnemonists sometimes call ghosting. But with solid spaced repetition practice, you should be able to avoid this and memorize as many keyboard commands as you like.

As a result, you’ll be able to spend more time practicing programming in the beginning and less time looking up shortcuts and trying to learn them by rote.

Use The Memory Palace Technique For Programming HolisticallyAs the end of the day, this mnemonic technique is not a magic bullet. It should be part of a holistic set of learning tools you use in your preferred study locations.

Once you’ve picked a primary language to study, you’ll want to master its syntax and practice it consistently by solving coding challenges. Ideally, you’ll do this daily, and the process will continually present you with new information to memorize.

As you go, you’ll start to understand branching, merging and collaboration workflows. You’ll learn principles like object-oriented programming and explore web development like HTML, CSS and Javascript.

Dive into databases as soon as you can. Learn SQL and NoSQL. Work on understanding more about learn testing and computer science as a whole, including operating systems, networking basics and computer architecture.

It’s also important to keep up with industry trends, participate in communities and attend conferences when you can. These will help you with “soft skills,” which might include giving a speech from memory.

Above all, learn progressively. It’s fine to set ambitious goals, but always remember that we all take it one step at a time.

If you’d like more help with the Memory Palace component, get my free course right here:

It will give you four free video lessons and worksheets that will help you “program” your mind with this special learning tool.

As with programming itself, consistent practice in absorbing the concepts needs to be matched with practice.

Although you’ll want 6-12 months of dedicated study and practice in programming as you embark on a lifelong journey with computing, these memory techniques can be learned in just a few hours.

You’ll be glad that you have them on your side.

And pretty soon, you’ll have added layers of depth to your knowledge of programming few others hold or can even hope to understand.

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Usually I would wait until after someone completes a memorization mission they’ve announced to record an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. But when Luke Ranieri said he’s memorizing the first 100 lines of The Iliad in Ancient Greek…

I just knew I had to talk to him. As soon as possible.

Why?

Because Luke proved long ago that he has what it takes to commit multiple words and phrases to memory.

Better than that, he speaks multiple languages, demonstrating a whole other level of memory skill that we call “fluency.”

And that’s not to mention his skills as a pilot, author, vlogger and the “ineffable” aspects that go into making a person a great teacher and all around wonderful person.

In this episode, Luke and I talk about the lines from the Iliad that he’s already memorized using the “Kephalos Method.”

And we talk about how he’s going to complete the task, with a power-session on the Memory Palace technique for verbatim.

So if you’re curious about how a word class language learning expert goes about committing 100 lines of ancient Greek poetry to memory, you’re going to love this interview.

Let’s get started!

Who Is Luke Ranieri?As linguistic maestro known for his YouTube channels Polymathy and ScorpioMartianus Luke started tackling the ambitious task of memorizing the first 100 lines of the Iliad for a few reasons.

• He already has a background in Classical languages, including Greek
• He has an interest in experiencing first hand what the ancient tradition of memorizing Homer is like
• These are the simply the kinds of polymathic projects people with certain character traits tend to gravitate towards

Luke also practices singing a lot as part of his teaching of Latin. Making audiobooks for learners of Latin and Greek is a passion of his as well, and you can browse his offerings on his amazing website.

Although I didn’t ask him about his military background, Luke brought it up naturally in our conversation. Without spoiling the surprise too much, he considers good memory as a matter of life and death.

That might sound dramatic, or only linked to piloting helicopters. But Lynne Kelly has shown in The Memory Code just how many times ancient memory techniques have helped humans survive challenging conditions.

So although there might seem to be a disconnect between learning lines quickly from an ancient text and human survival, they’re deeply connected.

That’s why we also spend time on creating an unshakeable practice routine using the Memory Palace technique near the end of the interview.

Can You Really Remember So Much Text?People are right to be skeptical when they heard about people memorizing large amounts of content verbatim. These days, digital amnesia runs so rampant, a lot of people struggle just to memorize a few song lyrics.

But memorizing poetry or scripture is not as difficult as it might seem and people in our time still do it successfully. For examples, check out these discussions and demonstrations:

• Ashley Strand on memorizing and performing the Book of Mark from memory
• Matt Barclay demonstrating his recall of a Psalm (while recovering from cardiac arrest)
• My long form Sanskrit demonstration
• Mike McKinley‘s Psalm memorization project

Long story short, you can definitely commit large amounts of text to memory if you wish. If you need help seeing how, I suggest learning to write effective learning goals and considering the wide range of what Lynne Kelly calls “memory spaces” available to you.

I hope you find Luke’s experiences and initiative as inspiring and educational as I do!

Further Resources

In this video, Luke discusses the Kaphalos Method in Latin:

Get the Iliad 100 study materials to join the challenge.

I’ve got even more memory strategies if you need them. There’s no shortage of memory techniques from which to choose. Pick the one that makes the most sense to you and make it happen!

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Memory games for dementia work best when they challenge and improve your ability to recall information.

But not just any information.

Ideally, you’ll choose games that involve the kinds of information you actually need to remember in daily life.

For some people, that will involve where objects are located in the home. Other people might struggle with names.

This means that before deciding upon what games to choose, we need to face a few uncomfortable truths.

First, once a person has dementia, they often aren’t ready or able to dive into certain games.

Yet, many folks struggling to remember information or enjoy daily life are given games based on scientific studies that show a variety of benefits, but don’t actually deliver.

That’s often because studies do not reflect where you or your loved one stands at the particular moment you’re looking for useful activities that might help with some memory recovery.

That’s why on this page, I’ve gathered some of the memory games most likely to help people struggling with dementia in a variety of ways.

Let’s get started.

Memory Games: Are They Really Helpful For People With Dementia?A memory game can be as simple as Concentration with playing cards or Kim’s Game.

The first involves laying out a set playing cards face down on a surface. You then flip over two at a time as you try to find matching pairs. I show you how I play the game in this tutorial video:

It exercises your memory because you need to remember where you previously saw variation cards in order to match the pairs.

Kim’s game, on the other hand, involves presenting players with a number of objects, typically on a try. Some of the objects are either covered or removed. Players then attempt to recall the missing objects.

In both cases, these kinds of games exercise spatial memory, and to a certain extent semantic memory because you need to recall the names of the cards or objects. Hanabi is a slightly more strenuous game along these lines, made more challenging by the fact that you know the cards of other players, but not your own.

The idea that such games improve memory goes back at least to the 1890s with Pelmanism. As a form of brain training, Pelmanism was incredibly popular, so much so that apparently Britain’s prime minister used the program during this game’s heyday. As Oliver Burkeman has pointed out, some of the exercises included with Pelmanism went beyond games and resemble what we now call mindfulness or mental strength exercises.

At the end of the day, the memory games you choose need to:

• Provide mental stimulation
• Include new learning & variety
• Challenge your attention and focus
• Engage your working memory
• Practice pattern recognition
• Stimulate neuroplastic changes in your brain

Activities like this can help people with dementia. But it’s important to note that you really have to look at the needs of the individual.

For example, the individual might need exercise and benefit from the brain volume increases seen in this study of an in-home “Exergame” activity. That kind of activity is very different than playing a board game. Yet you’ll sometimes see experts suggesting word puzzles, which provides no physical fitness at all.

The 7 Best Brain Games To Prevent Dementia By TypeAs I mentioned above, often when people have dementia, it’s too late for them to benefit.

That’s why when talk about memory games for dementia, we really need to focus on prevention above all. As Kasper Bormans has pointed out, dementia is about more than memory loss anyhow. And as he discusses in his TEDx Talk about the Memory Palace technique as tool to fight dementia, there’s still a lot of research that needs to be done before reliable curative activities can be promoted.

So what can you play to help ward off dementia? In addition to Concentration games like I demonstrate in the video above, here are some suggested games and details that will help you get more out of them.

One: Progression-Based GamesA progression-based game exercises your long-term memory because you have to remember where you are in the game.

These include:

• Memory match games
• Tangram puzzles
• Word search games
• Crossword puzzles
• Maze books
• Rubik’s Cubes

A word of caution with crossword puzzles, however. The answers are often on the same page as the game. As a result, many people cheat, robbing themselves of the memory exercise they need. If you cannot delay your gratification while completing the puzzle, it’s best to leave them out.

One incredibly fun game that you can do socially, sometimes including with people struggling with dementia or Alzheimer’s is to progressively tell a story.

You need at least three people. Have the first person start the story, then each person adds a sentence. You go around and around, each player trying to recall as much of the story that has been built until someone makes a mistake.

Example:

• Player A: A red rabbit visited Berlin…
• Player B: A red rabbit visited Berlin and met the prime minister who played Pelmanism…
• Player C: A red rabbit visited Berlin and met the prime minister who played Pelmanism and they rewrote all of Shakespeare’s plays…

The sillier you make the game, the more fun it is. Every time you play it, everyone’s memory will get a great workout.

Two: Pattern Recognition GamesGames like Simon involve remembering patterns of sound, or sound and light.

You can often find games like this at Dollar Stores, as demonstrated by Sherri in this video:

There are countless variations of games like these. Are they the best brain games for adults? As always, it depends on where you currently stand with your memory and issues like long-term memory loss.

Three: Adaptive Memory GamesLet’s talk about the world of apps. These are games that literally learn about how you’re performing and then adapt to progressively challenge you.

A well-known example is Cogmed, which I discussed with Dr. Christine Till on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

Do these kinds of brain games work? According to Dr. Till, results were typically only seen when people using the games followed-up with personal coaching. If you’re willing and able to do that, it could be worth the time and invesment.

Four: Working Memory GamesOne of the most interesting and popular set of activities stems from one activity developed by psychologists called n-back.

Developed by Wayne Kirchner way back in 1958, it started with cards, much like the game Concentration. In the initial studies, it involved one card at a time. Later, it became “dual n-back” when more than one card entered the activity.

Many digital versions have arisen since. Some involve sounds, objects and arguable VR uses with Memory Palaces emulate similar effects. One study even found that dual-n-back activities provided better results than using Memory Palaces.

There’s a lot of controversy over what various studies reveal, however. I see the activity as useful for focus and concentration above all. I haven’t seen any evidence at all that they correct memory disorders, that’s for sure.

Five: Trivia GamesAlthough we often think of trivia and memory in terms of competition, there are many casual games that will exercise your knowledge of world events and pop culture.

If you’re into history, look for games that test your factual understanding of periods you’ve studied.

Or if you’re an art fan, search for trivia games that focus on this field of interest. You can often find them in the gift shop at art galleries, or even read my article about using galleries at large for memory improvement.

At the end of the day, trivia provides great practice at remembering things by prompting you to tap into knowledge you’ve read, seen or heard in the past.

Six: Early-Stage Reminiscence ActivitiesWhen my mom started suffering early cognitive decline, I got her doing Dr. Gary Small’s research-derived “four details exercise.”

Basically, when you’re out and about, you take a moment to notice four details of a person. Then later in the day, you make a point of recalling those details. It’s called a “passive memory exercise” because you’re not using any memory techniques to do it. You’re just asking your memory to do a bit of work, exercising your recall abilities.

You can wait an hour, several hours or even days before recalling the details. I typically do it a few times a day and then a few times over several weeks.

For a more robust version, you can reminisce about your childhood with these memory games designed for that purpose.

Although this sounds like a silly activity, Reminiscence therapy for dementia does benefit some people with dementia.

As always, it really matters what kind of dementia is involved. For example, this study focused specifically on Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. The only catch to the benefits provided by reminiscence activities is that they needed to be frequent and maintained over time.

That’s to be expected, however. Muscles in our bodies require the same frequent attention as our brains.

Seven: Combining Mental & Physical ActivityAs we’ve seen, sometimes what we really need is physical activity. Juggling provides just that.

As Tom Vanderbuilt puts it in Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning, juggling provides “repetition without repetition.”

I decided to take things one step further by talking and reciting the alphabet backwards while juggling.

As you can see, this brain exercise worked out my mind, memory and body all at the same time.

To make juggling more game like, you can explore ways to do it with a partner. But I think it’s perfectly fine and have found it to be wonderfully effect on my own. The key is to bring together a recall exercise with juggling the balls at the same time.

Other ways you can combine mental and physical activity involve talking while walking with friends, listening to audiobooks at the gym and engaging in sports like archery that require estimation as you work your muscles and stance.

How To Monitor The Effectiveness Of Your Chosen Memory GamesI’ve spent a lot of time talking with the world’s best memory athletes. From Nelson Dellis to Alex Mullen, these people know their stuff. Some memory competitors have even won prizes in their retirement, such as James Gerwing.

As memory expert and scholar Johannes Mallow has suggested, it’s important to set a baseline and keep a journal to track your performance.

Then, set clear, measurable goals for improvement and regularly assess your progress. For example, if you’re playing a simple game like Concentration, time yourself. See if you can get faster over the course of a month identifying the card pairs.

As you continue playing and tracking your results, observe how your memory changes. Reward yourself for the positive wins and get curious about any dips you notice.

If needed, check-in with your family and your medical advisor, who might recommend professional evaluation. They have a variety of memory tests (like the memory number test) that can help you discover insights that will likely help you improve your memory further.

Overall, consider the quality of your life and make sure you’re having fun. I’ve had a lot of clients over the years who push themselves. Yes, challenge is important, but sometimes they take it to extremes, reducing the fun that memory games can and should provide.

It’s Worth Repeating The Rules That Make Memory Games WorkWhichever memory games you choose, I suggest you keep these considerations in mind:

• Choose games and activities that involve short-term, working memory and long-term memory. Avoid focusing on just one memory type.
• Personalize your activities as much as possible. Inventing your own games or changing the rules will give you an additional mental workout.
• Keep positive. There are a lot of games that have dark themes. These might not serve some people and you generally want experiences that boost your mood and lift your self-esteem when you’re struggling to improve your memory.
• Play games that involve social interaction as much as possible.

You can also go beyond games. For example, I regularly go through my memory journals to reminisce. Or I discuss photos with my wife, which keeps autobiographical and episodic memory sharp.

I’ve also written memoirs and engaged in many music-based activities. All of these activities provide a lot of sensory memory exercise that we can all use.

If you’d like even more activities, get my free course here:

It includes a game-like aspect in terms of setting up and using a Memory Palace.

The reason why is that you’ll be setting up a familiar space and crafting a journey through it using the method of loci.

Then, you’ll place mnemonic images in it and treat them kind of like hide-and-seek or objects in a treasure hunt.

You can add timed-challenges to how you use Memory Palaces once you have a couple prepared and then everything becomes like a video game.

In fact, I’ve discussed how to base Memory Palaces on video games from the get-go in this tutorial on virtual Memory Palaces.

Personally, I’ve found using Memory Palaces and other ancient memory techniques to be the must fun and rewarding activity of all.

But again, base the activities you engage in on the kinds of results you’re looking for with your current situation in mind. That way you’ll get the most out of the games you play and avoid some of the scoundrels out there with apps that are often exploiting people who are desperate from some improvement.

So there you have it. Now it’s time to pick a memory game and start playing.

Prepare to have fun as the benefits roll in!

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C’mon, admit it. You think that learning how to increase memory skill and ability is going to be a drag.

I thought that myself the first time I read a memory improvement book. It had only two pages of instruction on how to memorize vocabulary. I nearly tossed it across the room because the description was so vague and illogical.

As someone with a PhD and two MAs, perhaps I hold a higher standard to memory training books than most.

But seriously… it can’t be as easy as Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas were trying to make it seem in The Memory Book.

Perhaps like me you’ve also seen all those pictures of memory champions with their sound cancelling headphones and dark sunglasses on while memorizing playing cards.

I wouldn’t blame you if you instantly thought that nothing could seem more boring.

After all… You’ve got learning to do!

You want to pass exams, learn languages and never forget the names of the people you meet again.

Here’s the truth:

You really can improve memory ability without going to the lengths of the memory athletes.

On this page, we’ll discuss how. There are several approaches I think you’ll find surprising. Not to mention unexpectedly pleasing.

How to Improve Memory: 10 Science-Backed StrategiesAs we go through this list, keep in mind that you don’t have to do them in order. In some cases, you might have the steps covered already.

The key is to work on all of these factors, especially if you have holistic learning as a goal.

And rest assured, these truly are research-based techniques. I’ve studied memory science for many years. Although I have disagreed with memory experts like Harry Lorayne on how he taught vocabulary memorization, Tony Buzan acknowledged my work by awarding me the Warrior of the Mind Emblem for Outstanding Contributions to Global Mental Literacy.

I’m not saying I know everything. But you’re in a good place if you care about memory improvement, and especially memory techniques. I do all I can to continually expand my knowledge and keep this site updated. Here’s why if you don’t know my story.

Now let’s get started!

One: Nutrition for MemoryThere’s no doubt about the direct tie between your memory and what you eat. There’s a lot of information about memory friendly foods out there, including foods that harm your mind and memory.

Ultimately, you need to consult with a doctor and work on your diet throughout your life. For example, I was able to eat mostly keto for a few years and it helped me tremendously.

Eventually, I needed to get some dairy back into my diet for gut health reasons. It has definitely created a bit of brain fog.

But because we’re all different and our lives keep changing over time, please consider the dietary factor a lifelong project. As this study shows, food is about a lot more than just providing you with energy and repairing injuries. Certain nutrients directly affect cognition.

Two: ExercisePhysical fitness doesn’t have to be strenuous to boost your memory and thinking ability.

These days, I perform a lot of yoga moves that have been shown to boost memory and concentration.

We’ll talk about mnemonics later, but one great thing about physical fitness is that you can perform mental activities while at the gym. I’m doing that in this pic while performing deadlifts at my favorite gym in Berlin:

Deadlifting helps improve my focused attention and memory. Do you go to the gym?Three: Brain Training ActivitiesAlthough you might think there’s a disconnect between the first two tips and actually getting into brain exercises and brain games, the truth is that the physical quality of your brain needs to be there first.

Some of my favorite brain training activities include neurobics and memorizing playing cards.

The important thing to understand when you choose your activity is that it has some kind of transfer effect. In other words, the game should involve using your brain in a way that applies to improving how your brain needs to operate better while engaged in real-life activities.

This study shows that a video game does that better than a marketing brain training app. Dr. Christine Till shared similar findings when she was on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast to discuss her research with brain training apps.

Four: Increase Memory By Using The Power Of IntentionYes, setting an intention will help you improve your memory power.

But intend to do what, exactly? I suggest your start by intending to pay more attention as you go about your life.

This is where memory expert Harry Lorayne and I completely agree. He makes the point again and again in his books:

Memory ability begins and ends with our attention.

After all, you simply cannot remember anything to which you haven’t consciously attended.

Pay attention to the next movie you watch with the intent to remember more and you’ll already give yourself a cutting edge memory increase beyond belief.

Five: Practice Recalling Movies & Reconstructing StoriesYou probably haven’t done this since you were a kid:

You watch a movie and then immediately get on the phone and retell the entire story to a friend.

At least, I remember doing this as a kid.

I loved hearing my friends recount what they had seen.

Back then, after all, if you missed a movie at the theatre, it could be six months to a year before it appeared on videocassette.

And even then, there was no guarantee that a video store in your town would carry it for rental.

The exercise here is to watch a movie and retell the story to someone.

If you cannot find someone to relate the narrative to, tell it to a pet.

Speak it into a recording device.

Or even just write it down. Who knows? You could wind up becoming a great film reviewer and critic and memorizing what happens in movies for a living.

For bonus points, do both:

Verbally recount the film and write your description down.

This verbal activity will exercise more parts of your memory and improve recall in a deeper way, especially of you make this a regular affair.

And keep in mind, this description doesn’t have to be super-lengthy. When I recall the plot points of a movie in writing, I can usually squeeze it all on to a mid-sized index card, the kind that is about half the size of a sheet of paper. If you’re interested in more about memorizing plot points, you can check out this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on memorizing plot points.

Six: Practice Memorizing Character NamesMy girlfriend and I used to watch Deadwood and Breaking Bad for hours on end.

In season two of Deadwood, a new character showed up and we both immediately recognized the actress. “What was her name in Breaking Bad?” my girlfriend asked. “Skyler,” I said immediately, “Skyler White.”

How did I remember this character’s name so easily when my girlfriend did not – even though we had watched the entire series together, episode by episode?

I deliberately paid attention to character names, that’s how. And then I used this technique for remembering names.

The great thing about memorizing character names and other details of series you watch is that you can apply what you’ve memorized to memorizing vocabulary. I show you what I mean using a Breaking Bad Memory Palace in this video tutorial I created for you:

If you spend just a bit of time memorizing names while enjoying movies, you’ll be better able to instantly memorize other information you come across through mnemonic association.

Seven: Learn to Use the Memory Palace TechniqueA Memory Palace is a kind of mnemonic device that lets you think back to a familiar location and place an association you can later retrieve.

That’s the basics, at any rate.

To get more into this technique, you’ll want to study it and learn the method of loci. Many people have taken this tool for increasing memory seriously for thousands of years because it simply works. For example, this study shows how well it helped endocrinology students outperform those who didn’t use it.

Of course, the Memory Palace is only one of several ways you can increase your memory by using mnemonics. Let’s look at some more.

Eight: Association Techniques For Better MemoryA lot of mnemonics boil down to pairing things that are similar. For example, if you want to remember Walter White’s name in Breaking Bad, you might pair him together with Walt Disney.

As a visual memory technique with auditory properties, it’s really all you need to form fast mental connections.

Over the years, people have developed multiple approaches to refine how quickly they can associate. Here are some of the best options:

• Pegword System
• Major Method
• PAO System
• Number Rhymes
• Active Recall

All of them are well worth knowing.

Nine: InterleavingSadly, many students “cram.” This is not a very good memory hack.

Instead, consider interleaving. As a study method, it sounds counterintuitive. But all you do is read in short bursts and continue changing between books.

This Scientific American article discusses more about why and how this approach works so well. I used it throughout graduate school in combination with the Zettelkasten Method and it helped me a ton.

Ten: Mind MappingAlthough Tony Buzan abandoned mind mapping as a memory method back in the 1980s, I think it’s useful for a lot more than planning and creativity.

For one thing, the exact definition of mind mapping is quite broad.

The way I like to use it for memory is usually limited to language learning, something I demonstrate in this video lesson:

As you can see, it’s kind of like turning a mind map into a Memory Palace.

Rather than use a building, you limit the mind map to 12 individual stations and use quick drawings to help you establish what you want to remember.

Plus, as this pilot study has shown, mind mapping helps many learners bring boring information to life. That helps with motivating them to learn.

In my own life, I’ve also found that mind mapping helps me remember the many things I need to do in my business. That’s because I have mind mapped the work I do, as discussed in this illustration-packed tutorial.

Learning Itself Increases Your MemoryOne thing I’ve noticed with all of my students that take serious steps with memory improvement is that just learning about memory exercises it.

And today you’ve encountered a number of ideas and techniques you can test out for yourself.

That’s the key:

Actually taking these processes out for a test drive. When it comes to boosting your memory, it’s just not possible to experience boosts without applied effort.

If you’d like more help, get my free memory improvement course:

It will take you through developing and using the Memory Palace technique in simple steps.

Going through the steps will increase your memory, especially if it’s currently rusty from disuse.

A little bit of effort will go along way.

But as I hope to have made clear today, it’s not all about grinding. The next time you sit down to watch your favorite movie or series, you can practice your memory in ways that boost and maintain its many types.

So what do you say?

Get out there and make it happen!

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As a student, you want to unlock your potential.

Whether it’s for an upcoming exam or professional certification, you know that you have to be at your best.

Especially when you have so little time to devote to learning.

Enter William Wadsworth, the visionary founder of Exam Study Expert.

If you’ve been following the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast for any length of time, you know I’m not easily impressed.

But William’s commitment to empowering students to achieve academic excellence based on science-backed practices was not only refreshing.

It’s based on similar principles that I’ve studied for years myself. The memory science is very clear, so when listening to William, you can be sure that you’re getting the real deal when it comes to absorbing maximum information in minimum time.

Mastering Your Memory As A StudentIn this episode, William emphasizes the importance of understanding how the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information.

By leveraging how memory works, anyone can substantially boost their retention of even the most complicated information.

The way William focuses on equipping students with the most robust study skills is needed more than ever before. As we all know, we simply must go beyond rote memorization. That’s why I love the practical strategies William advocates to help students to approach their studies in science-backed ways.

As he makes clear, every technique and strategy he teaches is supported by both research and practical experience.

Make no mistake. You don’t have to be taking exams or certification tests to benefit. The same study techniques are useful for lifelong learning goals too.

For all the details on what William knows to work best for studying successfully, tune in to our full conversation by clicking play above or by running the episode through the YouTube upload below.

Who Is William Wadsworth?Long before founding Exam Study Expert, William had secured a highly coveted seat at Cambridge University.

However, his initial celebrations were short-lived because he soon found himself struggling at the bottom of his class.

The basic study techniques that had served him so well in high school were suddenly no longer effective. Not at all.

Feeling overwhelmed and desperate, William found his salvation by studying psychology.

After equipping himself with a deep understanding of how the brain works, William overhauled his entire approach to learning.

Listeners of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast will be familiar with the path William followed:

• He adopted advanced memorization techniques.
• He implemented efficient time management strategies.
• He developed effective methods for tackling exams.
• He improved his essay writing skills.

All in all, these simple activities led William to graduate in the top 10% of his class with a First Class degree.

The Founding of Exam Study ExpertAfter enjoying the fruits of his success, William drew upon his personal experiences, academic insights and understanding of memory to found Exam Study Expert. Along with his team, his company is dedicated to helping students achieve academic success.

Among other offerings, their basic services include:

• Consulting on Curriculum: William advises educational institutions on creating effective curriculums that cater to different learning styles and maximize student engagement.
• Parental Guidance: He helps parents understand their children’s academic needs and provides them with strategies to support their learning at home.
• University Interview Preparation: William assists students in preparing for competitive university interviews, such as those for Oxbridge, ensuring they present their best selves and stand out in the selection process.
• Through Exam Study Expert, William Wadsworth is committed to empowering students with the tools and techniques they need to excel academically and achieve their full potential.

Frankly, I wish I’d had William’s help when I was going through university! Enjoy this episode and all the wisdom William shares.

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You forget what you read for one simple reason:

No substantial attempt to make the information relevant to your brain.

Whether it’s plot details in a novel or critical information you need for an exam, the easiest way to fix unwanted forgetting while reading is to intentionally connect what you read to things you already know.

The process is not only easy.

It’s also a lot of fun.

Although the suggestions I’ll give on this page will take a bit more practice for some than others, I’m going to cover everything you need to do to start remembering more of what you read.

As you’ll see, remember “more” is the key. That way, you’ll avoid overwhelming yourself by trying to have it all.

And the best part is that you’ll discover that the reason many books are hard to remember simply isn’t your fault. Even if it is your responsibility to remember certain books anyway, after reading this tutorial, you’ll be able to stop blaming yourself.

Ready to remove the problem of forgetting what you read and start remembering books realistically?

Let’s dive in!

Why You Can’t Remember What You ReadChances are you probably have an idea of at least a few of the reasons you don’t remember books and articles.

On top of not making the information relevant so your brain has an easy time recalling the information later, there are a few key points I’d like to quickly cover.

That way, you can immediately avoid these behaviors. I’ll pepper in some tips along the way as we move towards the ultimate secret of making everything you read relevant.

One: The Book Is Poorly WrittenSometimes it’s not your fault. Many books just aren’t very well put together.

Years ago I had a student tell me he thought it was his fault. He thought he was a slow reader, which as I demonstrate in this article is rarely a problem for forgetting.

When I asked him for a sample of what he was reading, I instantly saw a major problem. The poorly organized writing lacked verve. For the full story and poor writing example, read this post on how to focus when reading poorly written books.

It’s not just my opinion that bad writing is hard to understand and remember. In The Sense of Style, Dr. Steven Pinker explains why bad writing is so problematic.

For more research, Danny Oppenheimer studied the ins and outs of bad memory and published his findings in The Journal of Applied Psychology. One conclusion of his work is that we can remember just how bad some books were, but not what they were about due to the awful writing style.

Theoretically, bad writing also increases cognitive load. According to John Sweller, the more effort you have to put into understanding something, the more strain it puts on your working memory.

Two: You’re Just Not That Interested In The TopicWe all have to deal with boring topics from time to time.

Here’s the good news:

I’ve got a bunch of suggestions for how to make boring information more interesting.

For now, research shows that meaning matters for understanding and memory. Boredom motivates people to change their behaviors, so it’s important to use the techniques we’ll discuss below when you need to remember what you read.

Three: Your Expectations Are UnrealisticIn the Renaissance era, people Giordano Bruno and Robert Fludd believed it was possible to remember everything.

Although it is true that you can train yourself to remember many things, many people think they need to remember more than is actually necessary.

In reality, memorizing just the main points is often more than enough.

How do you set more realistic standards?

There are lots of ways, but a starting point is discussed in my tutorial on how to memorize a textbook. Once I started using this approach in combination with Zettelkasten, I started remembering a lot more without fear of missing out on extraneous details.

Four: You’re Just Not Ready For The ReadingThere are certain books that I’ve struggled to read and remember.

It wasn’t that they were poorly written. I just didn’t have the necessary background to understand what was going on. That, or the book was filled with vocabulary I didn’t understand.

This is the case for many people. We just have to take a step back. Look for an introductory text and memorize some of the tougher vocabulary in the glossary before giving the advanced book a try.

What You Should Do About Forgetting What You Read: 6 Practical TipsNow that you know some of the major reasons why you forget your reading, let’s dive into solutions.

Although you might be surprised that I didn’t mention turning off distractions, there’s a reason for that.

The modern world is distracting. We can’t let things that impossible to change stop us from remembering what we read.

We need to do the following things instead.

One: Mentally Elaborate What You’re ReadingYou can bring even the most dry and boring writing to life.

Often when I come across difficult passages, I’ll read aloud and act out the ideas.

If I’m alone, I’ll do this in my mind only.

Visualization techniques will help as you read, but make use of all your senses. You can find euroscientific support for this suggestion in Imagery and Text: A Dual Coding Theory of Reading and Writing.

As the writers make clear, Dr. Pinker’s point that I mentioned above is important. The writing often lacks the emphasis we readers need to bring to the reading.

It’s not your fault. It’s just sometimes your responsibility to animate the reading. I read very complex texts when completing my PhD at York University and still and have to do this often. It’s worth it because taking a second to use elaborative encoding really does help me remember more of even the most complex and challenging texts.

Two: Listen To The Book Or ArticleThe problem with elaboration and multisenstory visualization is that some researchers think it’s a struggle for certain readers to make associations while reading.

This makes complete sense to me. That’s why when I find a book really hard to understand, I’ll try the audiobook and try using visualization techniques while listening. This removes eye strain.

When I was in grad school, I sometimes recorded articles and listened back to them so the poor writing was easier to understand and therefore remember.

Three: Extract Information While Reading With Engaging Note Taking TacticsI’ve used many note taking strategies over the years.

But one of the best involves making my own flashcards while reading. I share the exact process I use here. I’ve also created a deeper discussion of the the technique and why it works in this video tutorial:

The key with this technique is to not worry too much about remembering anything while reading.

Just take your notes and save them for later. That way, you can focus on memorizing the information during the next step.

Four: Use A Memory Palace After ReadingA Memory Palace is a simple mental version of a familiar location.

Once you’ve extracted the main points from your books and articles, commit them to memory using this powerful mnemonic device.

The beauty of the Memory Palace is that it makes spaced repetition faster and easier.

Sometimes called “distributed practice,” spaced repetition helps you avoid rote learning and use active recall instead. It’s a creative, fun and fast way to help information enter your long-term memory.

The catch, as researchers have shown, is to time your repetitions based on when you might be taking a test.

Or, if you just want to remember better, to time your re-reading strategy as I’ve discussed in my post suggesting you re-read at least one book a month. (At the time I’m writing this post, I’m re-reading The Lord of the Rings).

Five: Test Yourself Using The Rule Of FiveDominic O’Brien introduced the Rule of Five many years ago.

Basically, it’s the idea that you deliberately recall things you want to remember at least five times.

Although there’s nothing magical about the number five, scientists have shown that self-testing is critical for long-term retention.

If needed, you can set reminders using technology to perform self-testing, but I personally avoid this because it deskills prospective memory – the ability to remember future tasks that need doing.

The beauty of this technique is that you can do it passively or do it by visiting a Memory Palace. I do both.

Another positive aspect to self-testing is that you can memorize information you don’t understand. As you practice bringing it back to mind, your reading comprehension will strengthen. In fact, the self-testing approach was shown to be be more effective for comprehension than concept mapping.

Six: The Ultimate SolutionAll of the strategies above are effective.

But the most useful of all is to simply make what you’re reading relevant.

Ask questions like:

• What does this book or article connect with or remind me of?
• Why is this detail important?
• In what situation is the information useful or important?

Researchers reporting in Educational Psychologist go even further with what they call the “The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development.”

In addition to asking questions like the ones I listed above, you need to spark your own interest in the short-term. You can do this by:

• Noticing an interesting feature of the text, such as unusual word choices or phrasings
• Looking up video interviews about the book or article
• Giving your self rewards to keep motivated if you still can’t engage deeper with the reading.
• Reminding yourself of the value of the material and feeling positive about it

I’d like to add another, more robust means of developing your interest in texts so they become more memorable. Think categorically.

What I mean by that is while reading, think about what category the material belongs to. For example, when reading The Lord of the Rings, I sometimes think about how parts of it belong to the “road movie” genre. It doesn’t really, but it helps me remember some of the scenes.

I’ll also note when a chase is taking place, or when the characters are taking a rest, gathering allies, or the like. It’s a form of labelling.

When reading philosophical books, I’ll do something similar. Except in this case, I’ll think about whether what I’m reading belongs to ontology, epistemology or if it connects to psychology more closely than sociology.

This tactic makes the reading much more personally relevant, supporting memory because I’m actively engaged in categorization of the material.

You Really Can Remember What You ReadAs you’ve discovered, a certain amount of forgetting is normal. There are many reasons we forget things, after all.

In most cases, it’s not your fault.

But as I’ve stressed, if you have to get your reading remembered, it is your responsibility.

That’s why I have personally sought out the tactics we’ve discussed today.

Because having strong working memory is key to remembering more of what we read, especially when the writing is clunky or cluttered with tough words, here’s what I suggest.

Get my free memory improvement course:

It gives you four video lessons and three worksheets that guide you through a way to use memory techniques to remember your reading. If you want to stop forgetting things you read once and for all, this is the course for you.

Now that you’re equipped with actionable strategies, I’ve got one last tip for you.

Writers have their strengths and weaknesses. Celebrate the good, but be patient with the bad.

This suggestion is really important.

I know because I used to be a much worse writer myself.

But people were patient with me, made suggestions, and over time my writing became much more reader-friendly.

I also have learned from the science I shared with you today. Keeping positive and going out of your way to be grateful is itself a memory technique.

So go forth and read with joy, even those books and articles that challenge you.

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Assuming you’ve got your ego in check, it should be easy to become a modern Renaissance Man relatively quickly.

To help you out on this quest, I’ve assembled some of the best Renaissance Man examples I could find after years of studying this topic.

More than studying the concept, I’ve been digging deep into my own polymathic personality traits to better succeed.

Knowledge of who you are and how you already tick is very important.

This is because without some knowledge of both who you are currently and who you want to become, it can be impossible to bridge the gap.

And knowledge truly is all that’s standing in the way between you and the goal of being a Renaissance Man.

Ready to succeed as the architect of your dreams?

Let’s get started!

What Is A Renaissance Man?A Renaissance Man, both in the past and now, is someone:

• Cultured
• Educated with a broad knowledge base
• Proficient in a wide variety of skillsets
• Committed to deliberate practice as part of lifelong learning

Although we use the term “Renaissance,” people have displayed these characteristics for a much longer period of time. Aristotle, for example, is a much earlier example.

The reason we have named it after the Renaissance period is complex. Briefly, it has a lot to do with the explosion of technical skill seen in the arts due to combining multiple fields of interest.

For example, Michelangelo studied anatomy in detail. Da Vinci developed an astonishing understanding of math to the point of designing proto-aircraft.

As Dr. Justin Sledge has explained, the preceding medieval era focused heavily on education. The emphasis on learning at educational centers only grew as books became increasingly available.

As Frances Yates shows in The Art of Memory, as the printing press made it possible for books to spread across Europe and other parts of the world at a faster pace, memory improvement books also reached many more people than ever before. As a result, people not only had more access to information. They also retained more information.

6 Examples Of Renaissance Men In HistoryHistory is packed with examples of Renaissance Men and also women. Let’s have a look at a few key examples and why they were so successful.

One: Leonardo da VinciAccording to Francesca Fiorani in The Shadow Drawing: How Science Taught Leonardo How to Paint, Da Vinci was fascinated in technology.

But not merely with the technology of his times. He also embraced the revival of older technologies that refreshed older ways of thinking about perspective.

At the same time, Da Vinci embraced advances in dissection during his time to made massive advancements in figure painting. Combined, these are some of the explanations for why pieces like the Mona Lisa were successful during their time and remain valuable.

Two: Giordano BrunoAlthough controversial, Giordano Bruno educated himself as a polymathic autodidact in fields as diverse as astronomy, math and an early version of memory science.

Although he faced persecution and was ultimately executed, his example lives on. His pro-science and pro-critical thinking response to the Inquisition may have served the cautionary note our next Renaissance Man needed to keep safe during equally heated times.

Three: GalileoLike Bruno, Galileo lived in a time of science denial.

Yet, he was able to hold to his wits, largely thanks to the mental strength being a polymath provides.

As Mario Livio points out Galileo and the Science Deniers, Galileo did not act like he lived in a vacuum. He studied widely, communicated with as many people as possible and used stories to get his points across.

Four: Benjamin FranklinSometimes called “America’s Renaissance Man,” Benjamin Franklin started working in a print shop at an early age. This is likely why he started reading and writing so prolifically at such an early age.

He traveled widely, including overseas. Later, he owned his own newspaper and used his considerable knowledge to make it a success.

Perhaps most famously, he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and helped in the mission to abolish slavery. He was also a pivotal figure in observing, describing and promoting the development of electricity, something we still benefit from to this day.

Five: Barbara LonghiAlthough people correctly point out that it could not have been easy to be female during the Renaissance, there are women who displayed tremendous learning and skills with their craft.

Barbara Longhi is one of them. Noted for her technical versatility, she was also intellectually curious and devoted to Humanism.

Although we don’t know much about her, those characteristics are more than enough for us to acknowledge her skills in multiple areas.

Six: Isabella d’EsteMore is known about Isabella d’Este. As a patron of the arts, and fashion trendsetter during her time, she displayed the kind of liberal attitudes that can only come from a broad education.

At age forty-five, she became a head of state following the death of her husband. She ruled as the regent of Mantua during a troubled era and historians have said she displayed more competence than her husband. Her handling of the military is considered superior.

As noted, her understanding of art led to not only fantastic paintings. she also supported musicians and architects to great effect. Her support of architects is particularly interesting because she could not actually afford to have them create the palaces they designed. That’s pure devotion.

2 Renaissance Men Examples In Literature And PhilosophySo far we’ve looked at examples of Renaissance Men in the categories of arts, politics and science.

We also see these characteristics in philosophy and literature. Here are some key examples.

Seven: Lady Margaret Lucas CavendishLady Margaret Lucas Cavendish is known primarily as a philosopher. She discussed the physical realities of nature and panpsychism, amongst other philosophical questions.

But she also excelled in poetry, fiction and the theatrical arts. When it comes to her social and political philosophy, it’s fair to see the early seeds of psychology in her work as well.

Eight: Michel de MontaigneMontaigne is sometimes considered the inventor of the essay.

Whether that is true or not, one of his key contributions boils down to thinking through skepticism and relativism.

To do this, he engaged in an early form of what we would not call sociology. He noticed that a lot of people say they cannot change themselves due to their “nature.” In fact, he argued, they are trained by social conventions to think that way.

Montaigne ultimately thought it was important to read widely and continue considering different ideas. He was a great promotor of viewpoint diversity.

2 Modern Day Renaissance Man Examples in Various FieldsNow that we’ve looked at a bunch of historical examples, you might be wondering who counts as a Renaissance Man in our times.

Personally, I don’t think examples like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs or the like make much sense. Although they might be skilled in a variety of areas, not enough time has passed to track the impact of their contributions beyond their lives.

Given Apple’s recent need to apologize for crushing a piano and other treasured tools and objects of the human experience, it’s entirely possible that their reputation gets so tarnished that Steve Jobs is quickly forgotten.

Think about it. Do you know who founded Kodak?

Kudos if you do, but don’t feel bad if you don’t. George Eastman was its founder, and like Jobs, was more entrepreneur than Renaissance Man. They both also held tight control over their public image and their exact contributions are up for debate.

That said, if I were going to gesture at who is more likely to stand the test of time, here are a few people I believe fit the bill.

Nine: Lynne KellyAs the author of The Memory Code and Memory Craft, Lynne Kelly is skilled as an author, scientist and historian.

She’s also talented at delivering impactful speeches from memory.

Ten: Yo-Yo MaKnown primarily as a musician, Yo-Yo Ma is far more than that.

Rather than rest on his laurels, Ma has developed fluency in multiple languages and contributed to important television shows like Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

He also founded the Silk Road non-profit organization for promoting multicultural exchange and allowing a diversity of ideas to flow. As we’ve seen in the case of Isabella d’Este, being a patron of the arts requires knowledge in order to create epic results. My guess is that Yo-Ya Ma’s impact will stand the test of time just as long as hers, if not longer.

2 Renaissance Man Examples in FilmsAlthough it’s questionable to what extent we should take our inspiration from fictional examples of Renaissance Men, many of us clearly do.

Let’s look at some examples of some characters that people favor.

Sherlock HolmesThe detective Sherlock Holmes is well known for his prodigious memory – which is based on how he used Memory Palaces.

He knew a variety of scientific fields well and practiced philosophical thinking. Some people believe it’s possible to reverse engineer his mind and think like Sherlock yourself.

One of my friends has demonstrated how this is possible to substantial acclaim. His name is Ben Cardall.

Although he’s a bad guy, a genre-similar parallel who also has Renaissance characteristics is Hannibal Lecter.

Iron ManPerhaps one reason people consider Elon Musk a Renaissance Man comes from the obvious presentation of Tony Stark and his alter ego Iron Man in the recent movie series.

It certainly is the case that Tony Stark excels in technology, business and to a certain extent, ethics. His role as a moral guide shows up most strongly in the Spider-Man movies where he serves as a mentor.

This provides an interesting portrait of how learning works, because his success is directly linked to the success of his mentee. Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man has all the makings of a future Renaissance Man himself with his interests in science, technology, photography and truth in journalism.

How to Cultivate Renaissance Qualities in Everyday LifeWant to be a Renaissance Man yourself?

Here’s what I suggest you do:

• Commit to lifelong learning as a daily habit
• Practice delayed gratification to avoid dopamine issues
• Develop your curiosity (mind mapping will help)
• Regularly complete critical thinking exercises
• Understand and practice a variety of problem solving models
• Practice brainstorming in intermediate and advanced ways
• Learn to read faster, without sacrificing comprehension
• Master your memory with techniques like the Memory Palace
• Take advantage of learning platforms like MOOCS and join in-person clubs
• Understand the concept of holistic learning and implement on this basis
• Avoid digital amnesia at all costs

Above all, it’s key to take care of your memory and continually develop it. If you’d like help with that, please consider signing up for my free memory improvement course.

It will help you master the same ancient memory techniques most of the people we’ve discussed used to create massive success. Even some of the fictional examples used these techniques, after all.

Beyond that, it’s important to see the theme of science throughout these examples of Renaissance Men.

Even if you don’t want to be a scientist yourself, it’s important to approach life itself scientifically.

In other words, you can’t wait to be sure that various techniques will get you where you need to go. You need to try them, and try them consistently over long periods of time.

The best part? You don’t have to pound your head against the wall by focusing on just one skill or topic area at a time.

You can actually switch between topics in a reasonable way that will create success. It’s called interleaving and I’ll leave you with the suggestion to add it to your skillset as well.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to put the value from these examples into action?

Do so and your personal Renaissance will bloom into existence before your very eyes!

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Can you be both an autodidact and a polymath?

Is there really a difference between the two?

The short answer is that you have to be autodidactic in order to be polymathic. At least to a certain degree.

If there’s an exception to this rule, I’m unaware of it – and I’ve been studying the fields of learning and memory for decades.

As you learn more about how to become both autodidact and polymath, I’ll share some examples that will help you better understand why these categories are tied at the hip.

And you’ll discover how to be both at the same time.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

Autodidactic vs. Polymath:A Detailed Guide On The Only Difference That MattersWhat I’m about to say might sound arrogant.

However, please here me out:

The only real difference between an autodidact and a polymath happens when an autodidact truly believes he or she has learned on their own.

Seriously.

How can anyone learn on their own? We need books written by others.

Those authors needed to learn how to read and write themselves.

This does not mean that you cannot “teach yourself” in a way that resembles the general meaning of autodidacticism.

But the standard definition of “learning without a teacher” simply doesn’t make sense. Someone had to create the learning material. Even if you’re Darwin and discovering the laws of nature behind the theory of evolution, someone else taught him language and the principles of science during his time.

It Comes Down To Personal VolitionIf there is something special that autodidacts have that others do not, it’s their drive to take the reins of learning into their own hands.

In my previous posts on potentially improving your IQ and life lessons from people who enjoy higher IQ, we saw that at some level, you have to define your own goals. To a certain extent, you also have to personally define what meaning intelligence has for you.

That’s not to say you get to create your own definitions and categories. But we know from research presented by Nir Eyal and Duke University that making your own definitions and applying them to a crafted self-identity do lead to better memory and learning outcomes.

You just have to choose that you will do so. If you feel like you’re lacking in will, that’s okay. Give these mental strength exercises a try. I’ve personally found them incredibly empowering, and there’s another one for you in my TEDx Talk.

So Then… What Is An Autodidactic Polymath?An autodidact is essentially someone who takes responsibility for learning in a holistic way from others – without necessarily needing their presence or hands-on guidance.

As it happens, there are some personality traits polymaths exhibit – and they can be adopted. An older way to find examples you can model involves looking up the concept of the Renaissance Man. Obviously, we no longer limit becoming a polymath to men only, but we also have to accept that people used these terms in this way in the past. (Some languages, like German, still use “Mann” to mean all humans, though this may change in the future.)

Some quick examples of autodidact polymaths you can look up now include:

• Ramon Llull
• Giordano Bruno
• Robert Fludd
• St. Augustine
• St. Aquinas
• Lynne Kelly
• Frances Yates
• Ben Cardall
• Phil Chambers
• Nelson Dellis
• Tony Buzan

In each of these cases, I’ve selected people who have also mastered memory techniques. In some cases, these people knew how to use visual memory techniques exceptionally. In others, they have aphantasia (lack of a mind’s eye) and approach learning a little bit differently.

Tony Buzan with Anthony Metivier and Phil ChambersIn some of these cases, the autodidactic polymaths focused purely on mastering multiple topics in terms of “book knowledge.” In other cases, they learned to use action-based and analytical skills related to developing and running businesses.

How To Be An Autodidactic Polymath In Today’s World:7 Tips You Can Implement Now I believe everyone can become an autodidactic polymath.

Here are some of the simplest and most direct activities you can start pursuing whenever you’re ready to get started.

One: Commit To A Lifelong JourneyAs John Michael Greer (another autodidactic polymath) points out in his excellent Druidry Handbook, “initiation” may mean beginning a learning project within a tradition.

But anything worth starting at this scale is really a lifelong project. In the case of Druidry, he suggests the commitment focus on “reshaping your relationship to the Earth.”

When it comes to becoming a autodidactic polymath, I suggest you commit to reshaping your commitment to the journey of lifelong learning. Be all in.

I know, I know. Saying something like “be all in” might ring like a cliche in some ears. But in my own lifelong study, I often remember Gilles Deleuze’s warning that “the war against cliche is a terrible thing.”

Sometimes we really need these cute little phrases to keep committed, one reason I’ve memorized so many simple cliches. And why I’ve memorized a bunch of Sanskrit phrases. Common or complex, personal mantras are very useful for keeping the mind committed to a life of study.

Two: Ditch The Myth Of Learning StylesI’ve been teaching memory techniques through the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass for over a decade. People often email to tell me that they are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, etc.

But according to the American Psychological Association, believing in learning styles may be detrimental. I’m convinced that it is worse than detrimental. I’ve seen it hold many people back.

Tesia Marshik’s TEDx Talk goes into further detail if you want to know more about this issue:

Although Professor Marshik believes they don’t exist at all, others have argued that the best thing is to downplay their importance.

I’m not sure there’s a right answer when it comes to institutionalized education. But when it comes to you and I as individual learners, the truth is that we cannot afford to focus on just one learning style.

We need to be aware of the many types of mental imagery we have to draw upon. And when we feel weak in a certain area, we need to find ways to strengthen them. Neuroplasticity studies demonstrate that you really can rewire your brain and anyone seeking polymathic and self-study abilities to the point of autodidacticism needs to embrace the evidence and take action accordingly.

Three: Become An Expert Reader & ResearcherA huge part of my Read with Momentum program helps learners quickly find the best possible information, read it and comprehend it.

I’m so glad I learned these skills in university and put them into action. With so much trash online about “speed reading,” it’s important that everyone know what really works when it comes to reading faster.

The lion’s share of reading at a steady clip boils down to two things:

• Choosing the best possible books to read in the first place (research)
• Having a vocabulary that supports dealing with the books you want to read

All of this also assumes that you have well-formed goals, which we’ll discuss next.

Four: Define Worthy GoalsA huge reason why many people flounder is that they don’t dream big enough. And when they do, they don’t dream about goals that are actually worth pursuing over the long term.

This is okay and mistakes happen. But the sooner you learn to rule out learning goals that aren’t worth pursuing in advance, the sooner you’ll get more out of the ones you do pursue.

Goal creation is its own skill and one of my favorite ways to formulate them involves mind mapping – especially mind mapping for business.

Five: Be Part Of A Larger GroupRemember how I said that there’s a mythical aspect to autodidacticism?

It’s the idea that anyone learns on their own.

In reality, we all need each other and participating in groups is essential. It helps in terms of getting rapid feedback and stimulates reflective thinking.

Even if you’re an introvert, being involved with other people is important. I used to be introverted too, but I worked on changing this. Although I’m not at all extroverted now, making sure I met and collaborated with others has been essential to my learning journey.

Please don’t skip this step.

Six: Keep Going – Even When The Going Gets ToughIt’s always been tempting to give up. And it probably always will be.

But people who learn continuously cannot afford to do that. They need resilience, the ability to pivot where necessary and what boils down to habits based on systems. These help you keep going even when motivation fails – because it will fail.

If you’re wondering how it’s possible to keep learning without motivation, the answer really comes down to the word “systems.”

I can give many examples, but perhaps one of the strongest involves when I used The Freedom Journal to help me learn enough Chinese to make a surprise invitation to teach the Memory Palace technique in China as successful as possible.

Although I later went on to complete a certificate in Chinese, in this particular case, my motivation has never been very strong. So I set up systems to make sure I completed specific goals. True, my performance with this goal has only been “good enough” to my own personal standards, but sometimes that’s all that matters.

I’m sure glad I found out about systems so that I could put motivation aside and keep moving. Because in this case, there were many days I really didn’t feel like studying – but I found a way to keep going anyway.

Six: Journal As If Your Life Depended On ItAlthough I have no particular special method of journaling to teach, since I started consistently doing it, my learning outcomes have improved.

Journaling helps partially with keeping consistent – it is part of having a system that is “motivation proof.”

And journaling helps make sure you engage in metacognition, which is thinking about how you’re thinking.

When it comes to memory improvement, Johannes Mallow is a great example of a self-taught mental athlete. His journaling tips are priceless. For a broader discussion of how I’ve journaled during my PhD studies and while developing my career as an author, you can also check out my best suggestions for keeping a journal.

Seven: Invest Experimentally In Your EducationMany people share with me their fears that investing in their memory might not be worth it.

I believe this is inherently false – or at least questionable.

Every educational experience is valuable. Even if you wind up not understanding something, or decide not to implement an idea or technique, you deserve kudos for being willing to expose yourself to the information.

So if you feel held back as a would-be autodidact with the intent to become polymathic, I suggest you think like an investor. Risk isn’t going away, but in this particular case, it’s not possible to waste your time. In the rare event that you really don’t find anything useful in a book or course, you’ll at least know that.

Even then, I suggest you keep an open mind. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve taken a second look at a book or course I originally dismissed.

Sometimes I feel foolish for my shortsightedness. But I quickly get over it because realizing the value that was there all along lets me get back to implementing the information and then learning some more from the next source.

Want To Become An Autodidactic Polymath? This Is The Ultimate KeyI’ve shared my best tips for learning multiple topics on your own, while also avoiding the myth that there really is any such thing as going it alone.

For best results, you’ll want to revisit all of these tips often. But if there’s one thing you should focus on above all, it’s improving your memory.

And once it’s improved, maintain for mental fitness.

Using the ancient memory techniques I teach is one fantastic way to do that. If you’d like more help, get my free course right here:

It walks you through the core accelerated learning techniques in just four videos and includes three powerful worksheets.

Although it’s not required, you might also like to add learning about memory science and the history of memory techniques as part of your journey.

Ultimately, it’s more important that your memory is as good as it can be. And I’m talking about all the types of memory you’re blessed with having.

Sadly, some people prefer to cherry pick and only want to improve one aspect of their memory, such as short term memory.

But not you. You won’t make that mistake because you’re committed to a lifelong adventure of learning based on principles that have been working for people for thousands of years.

Power to you!

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Some people tout holistic learning as a solution to boredom and a lack of engagement amongst students.

And it is true that people unhappy with traditional schooling constantly look for more exciting ways to learn.

That, or they ignore proven study routines in search of “learning hacks.”

For this reason, looking at holistic education from a big picture point of view definitely makes sense. And it should addresses the entire individual in their specific context.

But often, education experts are missing the forest for the trees.

Memory science tends to show us that we’re not as unique or individual as we think. There are certain standards we can all strive to meet and a common language we can share.

By the same token, many scientific findings must be challenged. And to do that, we need to look at holistic study itself holistically. With a keen eye to the granular details at the same time.

As I’m about to demonstrate, we need both:

The larger “holistic” picture and singular goals based on definiteness of purpose.

Since we tend to look to others so we can model both the big picture overview and the specifics, it’s more important than ever to get this right.

So if you’re ready to dive into the potential for holistic learning when you get this right during our time of constant change, let’s get started.

What Is Holistic Learning?Some people define holistic learning as a way of connecting school requirements and responsibilities with real life.

This is true. There are many ways to do this and I recall in Germany how schools helped young people learn to wash dishes so they could help complete the same tasks at home.

There is also the dimension of bringing creativity, critical thinking and collaborating with others to learning. In this sense, a greater sense of engagement is inevitable, even with boring topics.

However, here’s where I would propose an alternative definition to holistic learning, one from the past that we cannot allow to be eroded completely away.

During the Renaissance, many polymaths appeared. These were people who mastered multiple topics, largely because of a particular approach to holistic learning.

The Lost Art of LearningIt was based on mastering the Trivium first, then embarking on the Quadrivium.

In brief, students did not study math, music, geometry or astronomy in any particular depth until after they mastered logic, rhetoric and grammar. In this case, rhetoric and grammar had different meanings than they do today. Rhetoric involved the art of memory and grammar largely focused on what we know think of as logic, critical thinking and reasoning abilities.

Although I’m not saying we should revive this exact learning structure, it was holistic in the sense that by setting foundations first, it was possible for people to make much larger connections later on in life.

Whereas now, many countries are failing to produce well-rounded learners, the Renaissance produced people like Giordano Bruno and Robert Fludd who dared to dream that they could learn and master multiple topics. Because they laid the foundations of thinking, expression and philosophy first, many much better enabled to “connect the dots” between multiple topics.

But these days? Many schools encouraged students to focus on topics that have less to do with thinking and more to do with accepting. It’s quickly becoming a world of “all politics, all the time,” which is will undoubtedly look like a race to the bottom when future generations look back at us.

The Big Wins of Holistic LearningNow, I know that beefing up on topics like logic, rhetoric and grammar might sound like a drag.

But the reality is that when students get the ancient learning strategies I teach into their study routines through deliberate practice, fun is the result.

So too is fulfilment.

So if you want to solve problems, understand others better and enjoy greater creativity, here are my suggestions for what to do to truly learn holistically.

How To Implement Holistic Learning In Different SettingsIf you decide to incorporate logic, critical thinking, and rhetoric in the mnemonic sense meant by the author of Rhetorica ad Herennium before adding the arts and sciences, you will wind up with better memory, mental fitness and leadership abilities.

The core techniques I suggest, after familiarizing yourself a bit further with learning structures like Trivium and Quadrivium include:

• The Memory Palace technique
• The Major System
• PAO System
• Pegword Method
• Visual memory techniques
• Linking
• Story Method
• Zettelkasten
• Spaced Repetition

Now, you might be thinking… how can this lead to holistic learning when there’s nothing in the list about “artificial intelligence.”

I’m not opposed to it at all. In fact, I recently conducted a fruitful experiment using ChatGPT for language learning.

Rather, I am making the point that my idea for using ChatGPT in this way arrived thanks to having the foundations for learning holistically already in place thanks to the list of accelerated learning strategies in the bullet points above.

One: Learning At HomeNo doubt about it, the memory techniques I teach and use personally work better when you’re alone, or at least in an optimized study place.

Students in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass often start by applying these techniques to memorizing key information from textbooks.

You can also work at language learning from home. This is especially possible in our era because it’s never been easier to use Zoom and certain language learning software programs for immersion-from-home.

Two: At SchoolHere’s where basing holistic learning on the older traditions really starts to shine.

Rather than feeling left behind or constantly confused, students with these techniques rapidly remember key ideas. They quickly chunk information into memory in real-time. And they have exceptional note-taking skills.

Reading comprehension will also enjoy growth over time because it’s based on a solid foundation.

Three: At WorkImagine being able to remember the names of new contacts and colleagues in a flash.

The overwhelm you used to feel when managing profit and loss statements? Gone because you have the ability to remember things at work on demand.

Holistic learning, when based on the true foundations of thinking, expression and remembering are more important than ever in today’s hyper-competitive world.

Four: OnlineAlthough it’s no longer clear exactly what “online” means (assuming the term ever was fully meaningful), we all need to be able to learn in digital environments.

This needs is tricky because the threat of digital amnesia is real – the idea of becoming a Renaissance man in our day and age is becoming nearly impossible when people can’t remember what they looked at five minutes ago.

The good news is that there are ways to use digital technologies like Evernote, Obsidian and Anki well. The trick is to be truly holistic about them by using interleaving and understanding the Ovsiankina effect.

Overcoming Challenges In Holistic LearningAt the risk of using circular logic, the way to deal with challenges in learning is to learn how to deal with them.

This starts by defining where you are:

• Truly unique
• Not at all unique

Of course we’re all individuals. But when it comes to memory science, few of us are exceptions to the rules of how memory works.

Even people with aphantasia can find ways to use mnemonic strategies, for example. They just need to address the challenge for what it is and cultivate the mental strength that will help them research, plan and implement a path forward.

Learning how to manage your time is a key element too. Once you have memory techniques and holistic learning tactics on your side, organizing your schedule is the major obstacle that has to be dealt with… pretty much every day.

My friend and fellow memory expert Johannes Mallow has shared how he schedules his training regimes for massive success. I’ve also shared my best tips when it comes to using journaling for self-improvement generally and specifically using commercially available products like The Freedom Journal.

If you want to make the transition to lifelong learning, I highly suggest addressing any obstacles you have with these approaches to journaling. It helps create reflective thinking that leads to success.

And when it comes to the memory improvement aspect, if you’d like more help, feel free to complete this course:

It gives you four videos and three worksheets on a “self study” basis.

And if you have questions, I’m a holistic learner myself. I’ll be here to answer.

The best part?

I don’t believe in having “customers.” You’re not a customer while going through my free course anyhow.

You’re a fellow learner, and if my leadership style comes down to just one phrase, it is this:

Take action. Get results.

It’s the universal law. And he more you take the best possible actions based on the knowledge you have and are willing to give yourself through the process of implementation, the more results you’ll get.

So what do you say? Are you ready to learn more holistically and help others do the same?

Make it happen!

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Visual memory techniques make learning faster and easier.

Yet, some people find them confusing.

I don’t blame them.

That’s because the word “visual” is not quite right.

Or better said, there’s a missing ingredient that often needs to come first before you mentally picture the mnemonics you’re using as part of learning.

On this page, I’m going to clarify what visual mnemonics are and how to make better use of them.

Quickly.

Easily.

And in ways that are incredibly fun.

Ready for mental adventure while learning?

Let’s dive in!

What Are Visual Mnemonics?For thousands of years, most ancient memory techniques have involved linking images through association to information. If I meet a new person named Rick, if I can imagine another person named Rick that I know, I’ve increased the likelihood that I’ll remember the name.

That’s because linking is a form of chunking that makes it easier to learn faster. I have “chunked” or associated one person named Rick with another.

Remembering names is relatively simple. But it’s the same basic process when using visual mnemonics to learn more complicated information. It’s a basic formula:

• See something you want to memorize in a book or hear it in a conversation
• Think about what you already know that connects with the target information you want to remember
• Link them together

Typically, people make these links based on the idea that you can visualize the mnemonic image you choose to assign the link.

The Lukasa memory board functions as both a tactile and visual memory technique. Stonehenge may have helped people recall details in a similar way, but at a much larger scale.Historically, Lynne Kelly has questioned in books like The Memory Code to what extent Stonehenge might have served as a kind of visual memory technique. One idea is that people found visual patterns in the stones and used them to help remember information about herbal remedies and other information important to survival.

I think there’s good reason to believe that Stonehenge and other physical structures have been used this way. Objects like the lukasa and using the hand as a mnemonic tool operate in a similar way.

These days, people don’t visit Stonehenge or carry around memory boards. They use methods of association almost entirely in their minds, including techniques like:

• The Memory Palace
• Number rhymes
• The Pegword Method
• Major System
• PAO System
• Zettelkasten

And many more.

The Problem With “Seeing” Mnemonics In Your MindAs fun and easy as making associations can be, there’s a cost to every benefit.

For one thing, not everyone has a strong visual imagination. Mine comes and goes, and for a long time I was pretty sure I had aphantasia – the inability to see mental imagery.

However, as soon as I learned about mnemonics, I knew I had to use them. And so I figured out a way to use them in a multi-sensory way, without getting caught up on the visual part. Over the years, I came up with a bunch of very useful visualization exercises too.

They’ve helped a lot. But at the end of the day, I finally stumbled across memory masters like Giordano Bruno and Robert Fludd.

No one knows just how visual they may have been, but it’s clear that they proposed ways to use visualization differently. In The Art of Memory, Yeats described some of their mnemonic strategies.

Even where she was correct, current memory science, memory competitors and many conversations enabled by the Internet have led to a renaissance in working out how to use visual memory techniques better.

Let’s turn now to these ways. Because the other problem people face, beside not being able to visualize, is time. Get what we’re about to talk about right and you’ll be able to memorize using these techniques much faster.

One: Base Your Visual Mnemonics On Real SourcesWhen many people get into mnemonics, they read books by people like Harry Lorayne, Tony Buzan and Dominic O’Brien.

That’s fantastic and their teaching is brilliant.

However, they often use vague and generic examples. If you need to memorize a word like “ramification,” they’ll suggest that you think about a ram, as in the animal.

That might be fine for some people.

But for myself and many others, it just doesn’t “pop” in the imagination.

I use more concrete images, like the fact that my dad used to drive a particular Dodge Ram. Or the semantic fact that there’s a German band called Rammstein.

These mnemonic images are instantly visual because I’ve already seen them with my own eyes.

The catch is that you do need to think a little sometimes. But with practice, you can train your procedural memory to come up with associations that are concrete and specific in a flash. It’ll soon feel like it’s happening to you automatically, faster than the speed of thinking.

Keep in mind that Bruno and Fludd talked about this tactic hundreds of years ago.

But sometimes people miss it because they use examples from their era. I use Dodge Ram trucks and bands from Germany because they are known to me in our time. The strategy is exactly the same, and all you have to do is lean into the principle of specificity more. You will improve as a result.

Two: Use Logic First (Sort Of…)Success with mnemonics boils down to mental programming.

To do this, we need to quickly come up with the best possible association. The Memory Wheel was one of Bruno’s solutions for rapidly generating the most logical visual associations.

Logical in the sense that when you choose the best possible associations, the result of recalling what you want to remember follows as naturally and as easily as possible.

Ultimately, I don’t think using memory wheels is necessarily the best way to operate these days. But it’s worth understanding both what Memory Wheels are and the ars combinatoria they come from. I’d suggest following those links for more details and spending some time experimenting with memory wheels so you can decide for yourself.

If memory wheels aren’t for you, I would suggest creating simple lists of associations and either placing them in a wheel or just having gone through the exercise so you’re ready to apply the technique.

For example, a few times a year I list out names of celebrities based around the alphabet.

Then, when I have to memorize something, my mental dexterity is ready to apply a specific association. For example, I’ve recently been memorizing Tao Te Ching.

It never takes me long to come up with images for memorizing the Chinese words because I have these lists prepared and ready to go.

I’ve shared well over 500 mnemonic examples, including in The Victorious Mind for my personal Sanskrit phrases project.

But I suggest you not dwell on examples too much. You risk weakening the skill you want to strengthen.

If you don’t understand the theory, just take action on the steps. I’ll offer you a free guide at the bottom of this post that will help you take that action, step-by-step.

Rest assured, I didn’t understand all of this theory in the beginning either. But I followed the recommendations and it works because I followed the steps even without understanding the big picture.

Three: Apply KAVE COGSEven those with the strongest visualization abilities tell me that what I’m about to teach you next has helped them tremendously. It’s one of the core parts of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

Rather than just picture associations in the mind, use a variety of associations. Unlike Tony Buzan’s SEM3, I recommend keeping it simple. For me, I follow a simple pattern called KAVE COGS:

• Kinesthetic
• Auditory
• Visual
• Emotional
• Conceptual
• Olfactory
• Gustatory
• Spatial

Following this specific order, if I had to memorize the word “ramification,” I would first feel the Dodge Ram steering wheel in my hand. Then I would hear the truck’s engine before worrying about picturing it in my mind – a step I sometimes skip altogether.

Why?

Because I already know what it looks like. By basing the visual mnemonic on something visual I’ve already seen, there’s no particular need to recreate it in the mind. Often, that’s just a waste of time.

For emotions, I might feel angry with road rage in my imagination, or like I’m in a hurry. Or I might compound the image by enjoying the sound of Rammstein on the radio.

The conceptual mode is more difficult to explain and I use it only when necessary. It’s just thinking about the category to which the visual mnemonic belongs – such as the fact that Rammstein is a German music group. Or that the Dodge Ram truck was popular amongst mechanics, like my dad.

Olfactory and gustatory just mean taste and smell. I might imagine the cigarette smoke that was always in my dad’s truck or the taste of liquorice I used to buy at the gas station.

Finally, size involves making the truck bigger in my imagination. Often I like this with the kinesthetic mode and feel the size physically, perhaps even imagining what it would feel like if I were the truck.

Four: Practice Other Forms Of VisualizationOften when we learn new skills, we focus heavily on the main technique or strategy.

That can work, but often it winds up hurting us.

In learning, there’s a principle called interleaving. Rather than cram, or spend hours looking for some other singular memory hack, we rotate between practicing different kinds of them. When it comes to mnemonics, there are at least twenty distinct memory techniques.

When it comes to visualization, there are guided visualizations, positive visualizations and different ways of journaling for self-help to explore that involve picturing yourself achieving success.

My point is not to suggest exactly which forms of visualization you should add to your practice. It’s just the suggestion that by adding multiple forms of visualization practice, you’ll get more out of the visual memory techniques you’re using.

One of my personal favorites is to use the Memory Wheel technique in combination with meditation. Because it involves bringing various people to mind, it has made me faster at assigning mnemonic images when learning.

If you’d like more help with these techniques now that you’ve read this post, here’s an invitation to my free memory improvement course:

It will help you learn the most important memory techniques, step-by-step.

And if you feel like you’re not very visual in your imagination, no problem. I’ve got a major solution for you in the program and all you need to bring is a willingness to experiment.

Can you picture yourself doing that?

If so, that’s all you need in addition to a burning passion for accomplishing your learning goals.

The post Visual Memory Techniques: Use These 4 “Hacks” To Learn Faster appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Do brain games work? Yes and no, depending on what you mean when you ask the question.

If you’re looking for a quick fix, brain games are highly unlikely to improve much when it comes to focus, attention and memory.

And scientists are right to discourage people from getting their hopes up. Scientists playing for team human, that is.

I make the distinction because a lot of the science around brain games is suspect at best.

On this page, I’ll share the main points behind why some scientists dismiss many brain games outright. In many cases, it’s because the extravagant claims made by companies and “researchers” who claim their brain games bring benefits are often downright criminal.

But this does not mean that there aren’t any brain games you can play and be repaid for your time and effort.

As you’ll see, enjoying memory boosts come down to your goals and how precisely you integrate playing games in your life.

Full disclosure before we continue:

I’ve created several brain games and memory games over the years, so I might be a bit biased. None of them are for sales on this page, however.

My point today is to address you as someone who knows a fair amount of the research. I belong to major psychological organizations and have access to databases many do not. And as a person with a PhD and over a decade of experience writing about a variety of issues related to memory, I’m capable of not only being objective. I’ve been trained to read, analyze and interpret what such studies mean. And what they don’t mean.

So if you’re ready for a full analysis of when and how brain games stand a chance at improving your memory, let’s dive in.

Do Brain Games Work? The Science ExplainedThe briefest answer here is that real science doesn’t offer final “yes” and “no” answers. That’s because science is about running experiments and analyzing data.

Since a wide variety of brain games exist and we have many ways to test their outcomes against many conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s to stroke and amnesia, we have take each study on its own terms.

This is where producers of brain games often bend the truth. They’ll show studies that “prove” their games work. Often, these companies are just cherry-picking from studies that are marginally related to their apps. And that’s assuming they’re related at all.

This behavior was noted by Dr. Christine Till who studied Cogmed’s effects on a particular group of patients. It’s very easy to interpret the data in different ways. Her conclusion was that any benefits from the brain games were coming more from the test group that worked with personal coaches as part of playing the games. This is a very different outcome than experiencing memory improvement from a game itself.

Again, in order to arrive at a balanced view, we need to look at specific studies and think about them in the context of our goals. In some cases, scientific studies won’t really matter because they can’t give final answers anyhow. They can only talk about what the data validates according to specific trials run against specific groups of people.

This puts you in the position of what I call “radical honesty.” You need to play the best possible brain games yourself over a specific period of time and come up with your own benchmarks for improvement.

In other words, you need to be the scientist in the laboratory of your own mind. To that end, we’ll talk more about different kinds of brain games and how to approach them next.

Types of Brain Games And Their Cognitive TargetsBrain games are often designed to target specific memory skills or improve aspects of your conscious experience. These can include exercising faculties like:

• Memory
• Attention
• Focus
• Logic
• Problem solving
• Increase tolerance for cognitive load
• Rehabilitation

In one study, researched used a game called “Lost in Migration.” The researchers claim that participants experienced a combination of benefits from problem solving improvements to better cognitive processing and memory.

However, if you read the study carefully, it was conducted at and supported by Lumos labs, which produces a “brain training” app called Lumosity. “Lost in Migration” was part of this software at the time the study was conducted. Why might they be funding research that positively supports their product?

Read the study even more closely and you’ll find that it only involved three participants. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about just how valid this study actually is, and welcome you to consult the head researcher’s online CV to assess the state of her credentials at the time the study was conducted.

The larger point I want to get across is that this one example cites multiple benefits based on just three people and is funded by the company who created the brain game. If anyone is the target here, it’s not cognition. It’s the consumer.

Brain Games That Actually Offer Cognitive EnhancementDon’t let this one example discourage you. Although there are many others like it, researchers exist who are working on a fuller understanding of how brain games can help individuals improve their mental abilities.

The key issue to understand is that it might not be possible to benefit from games that you play on your own. For example, some researchers look at brain games from what they call a neureocological perspective. I had this principle in mind, along with intrapersonal memory issues when I created my first Memory Detective and Magnetic Variety games.

(Don’t worry: I’m not promoting them on this page because they are still in the testing phase. But again, I recognize and have written about my own memory and other biases at some length.)

In brief, neuroecological studies suggest that parts of the brain are only switched on and fully exercised when we play games together. Certain brain training apps use points and leaderboards to create the illusion that you’re in a community. They may even include forums. But if you’re not playing with actual human beings, certain brain rewiring effects (neuroplasticity) are unlikely to take place.

In all things, I encourage you to take care when reading any scientific study. When you do, try and stick to studies that come from behavioural psychology and respect the role of the individual as a member of other social groups. As Ginny Smith points out in Overloaded: How Every Aspect of Your Life is Influenced by Your Brain Chemicals, brain scans don’t tell us nearly as much as behavioral psychology does. You need to look at how things change over the long term in your life from playing games much more than what corporate-produced studies say.

With that in mind, here are some games you can play with your others and on your own.

Brain Games You Can Play With OthersThe best games that exercise your memory, focus and attention are some of the classics:

• Scrabble
• Chess
• Matching pairs with cards or tiles
• The Movie Alphabet Game
• Story Stacking (see memory games for how this is played)
• Kim’s Game
• Lego (shown to help kids develop math skills and surely also good for adults)
• Memory Detective (forthcoming)
• Magnetic Variety (forthcoming)

Brain Games You Can Play AloneWhen engaging in games by yourself, it’s important to think more closely about your goals. Rather than going after general boosts in memory, focused attention and concentration, I suggest you seek brain exercises designed to produce specific outcomes.

Completing challenging puzzles like this Houdini puzzle exercises spatial memory and is a lot of fun.

Also, take care around the promises made about crossword puzzles. Not everyone agrees that this solitary game is helpful. Many people cheat, for example, which ultimately developed learned helplessness more than it exercises your brain.

With this point in mind, here are some suggestions:

• Solitaire games
• Puzzles
• Join drawing challenges
• Become a memory competitor and train on your own (3x USA Memory Champ John Graham has some great solo training tips for you)
• Read interactive adventure books like Meanwhile by Jason Shiga
• Juggle
• Recite the alphabet backwards
• Develop a video game you remember as a Memory Palace
• Memorize playing cards
• Study game based magic tricks, like learning poker demonstrations with a memdeck
• Play games with your childhood memories
• Engage in neurobics in a playful way
• Make your own games

This final suggestion might seem silly. But in my anecdotal experience, I found creating my own games incredibly playful. And given all the moving parts involved, it definitely exercised my brain.

Even better, researchers have shown that even examining games can prove therapeutic, boost your creativity and and inspire you. And that’s coming from scientists who were able to declare proudly that there were no conflicts of interest in how their research was funded.

Beyond Games: Holistic Approaches to Cognitive EnhancementAs we’ve seen, games are a tricky topic. Apps might be effective, but usually not. Any skills they might produce are often only evident when you’re playing the game, a problem called near transfer that many people making claims about improving working memory ignore.

In addition to having specific goals that guide the kinds of games and brain exercises you choose, there are a number of holistic activities you can engage in. These include:

• Brain warmup routines
• Cognitive training exercises
• Activities that promote mental stimulation
• Learning a language (bilingualism has been shown to improve your brain)
• Study music

If you find any of these activities boring, you can easily think about ways to gamify them. This tip is important because setting the right frame has been shown to help in a variety of ways. For example, a recent Duke University study found that people who pretended to be art thieves remembered more about items in an art gallery than those who didn’t.

Nir Eyal has shared similar findings in his research related to adopting mental models for positive effects. For example, if you think of yourself as more focused before engaging in some of the cognitive activities we’ve discussed today, you’re much more likely to emerge focused.

Anthony Metivier with Tony Buzan

Tony Buzan seemed to have understood this in the memory training world when he created symbols like the Grandmaster of Memory and Warrior of the Mind. When he awarded me the latter symbol, it certainly shaped my behavior in a more intense way. The effect of having a mental image that guides performance is huge. The olympics use it, the Nobel Prize uses it, the Guinness World Records use it, etc. You can employ images too and enjoy greater mental strength and better memory too.

The Future Of Cognitive TrainingAs I write, many trends are emerging. Everything from augmented reality and virtual reality to my recent experiment in using chatGPT for language learning has been appearing all over social media.

When it comes to the future of cognitive enhancement, it’s difficult to make accurate predictions. But if we think about evolution and how slowly our brains adapt, chances are those of us who manage to keep up with the rate of change will be the ones who invest in the classic activities used by our ancestors. These include:

• Finding developing your polymathic personality traits
• Using ancient memory techniques
• Using modern memory techniques
• Being an effective reader
• Learning to communicate and engage in the debates of our time with passion

Do all these things and your brain will be fit, with or without brain games.

And if you want the ultimate workout, I suggest you learn to use a Memory Palace. I take you through this skill in its entirety in this free course:

This course gives you four video lessons and worksheets.

Although going through this material might not feel like a game, you now know that you can use mental models to change how you engage in anything. With these techniques, even the most boring topics will feel exciting and alive.

So what do you say?

Do you feel more empowered to make use of the brain games that exist and will come onto the market in the future?

As I often like to say, carpe diem (seize the day) but caveat emptor (buyer beware).

Frankly, the best memory and brain games in life were always free and always will be. You just have to make the decision to see them that way.

The post Do Brain Games Work? Here’s A Better Way To Fix Your Memory appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Wouldn’t it be great if you could instantly access perfect calm?

Or even better, live in such a deep state of relaxation that you don’t need some special strategy to deal with anxiety?

That’s what 3x USA Memory Champion John Graham learned to do.

And it turns out that the core techniques are easy to practice.

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, John shares his experiences with shocking levels of anxiety and how he learned to remove the underlying causes.

From there, things have just been getting better and better.

All thanks to the stress-busting tips you’re about to discover.

Who Is John Graham?If you’ve been following the memory improvement world for any amount of time, you’ll probably already know his name. If not, make sure to check out his YouTube channel.

In addition to many competition wins, he has demonstrated incredible feats of memory on a variety of television shows around the world.

That’s why when the topic of developing perfect calm out of life’s many stresses comes up, I pay special attention to what John has to say. Frankly, I don’t know any other competitor who has gone to such lengths. True, memory athletes like Alex Mullen and Johannes Mallow have also done high-stakes television spots…

But I think if you check them all out, there’s something especially nerve-wracking about the challenges John has taken on.

What Is Perfect Calm?At the end of the day, performance anxiety isn’t what John ultimately wants to help people with. He’s all about helping people establish perfect calm, which basically means feeling at ease and being able to maintain that sensation no matter what’s going on.

Realistically. Practically. Efficiently.

This mission is so important because there’s a deep anxiety that far too many people suffer. They unfortunately don’t know how simple the solutions can be. Nor do they have an idea of what calm can feel like in their lives.

This is a tragic outcome because the techniques for achieving a state that feels comfortable, relaxed and easy to return to if you come across some turbulence in life are so simple.

I know that I found it hard to imagine how my mind was going to turn from chaos to calm back when I needed to address anxiety issues. As a result, it made it nearly impossible for me to focus on what needed to be done to solve the problem.

That’s just one more reason I’m grateful to John for opening up and sharing his experiences. That can’t be easy, but transparency around these issues is the key to helping others.

For more discussions with John, please check out Beyond Mnemonics, Next Level Memory Training Secrets and Focus First.

No, there aren’t any brain games to play. You may need to spend some time with concentration meditations or other mental exercises.

But John’s the real deal and I hope you take more than inspiration from him. I hope you will take his advice.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it around, visit John’s Release Panic website and thank you for your kind attention.

The post From Life Crushing Anxiety To PERFECT Calm: USA Memory Champ John Graham’s BEST Stress-Busting Tips appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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So, you want to know how to prepare for a debate.

Good. You’ve got a shot at winning. All without screaming and ruining your reputation like so many debaters do without realizing it.

Rest assured, anyone worth debating probably already knows how to debate well. So the sooner you start mastering this form of presentation, the better you’ll do when it’s your turn to enter the arena.

It’s also good to be prepared to avoid unnecessary debates as well.

And in some cases, win them in advance, cancelling them out.

For example, I was once challenged to a debate about free will. I took the position that it didn’t exist.

But when I asked my opponent for his details to set up the online portal where the debate was going to take place, he refused. He said he would rather remain anonymous.

I replied that if he was so sure free will exists, he could surely convince himself to supply a name.

He didn’t even bother to make a name up just to get past this hump in the setup process. When I pointed this out, he folded completely. As a result, I was placed in a position of declaring the debate “won,” when in truth, this person simply outed themselves as not taking the topic seriously enough to warrant the occasion with him at all.

I tell this story because being ready for all kinds of circumstances in and around debating is key.

So if you’re ready for my best tips, let’s dive in.

The Foundational Rules of How To Prepare For A Debate& The Importance Of Understanding ThemDebates can quickly get heated, especially not all people communicate in the same ways. As researchers have shown, whether you win the debate or not, all debates present opportunities for you to either grow trust or reduce it before the public.

In other words, literally everything you say during a debate influences how you’re perceived. And if you’re being recorded, it’s important to note that the tone and volume of your voice may not transfer as you intended in a live setting.

For this reason, modern debaters not only need to know the rules of the debate setting in which they’re engaging. They also need to think about the interpersonal and intrapersonal effects created by the medium used to broadcast the debate.

With these points in mind, let’s look at some of the basic foundations of debate you need to educate yourself about as part of your preparation.

One: Understand Different Kinds of PropositionsDebaters argue towards resolutions based on propositions or statements that essentially call for change. This change might be a change in belief or behavior, or both.

In order for people to change their minds or how they act in the world, the burden of proof falls on the person bringing the proposition.

As a debater, you should be familiar with the different kinds of propositions, which generally boil down to:

• Propositions of fact
• Propositions of value
• Propositions of action

Fact-based propositions call for objective reasoning. Although fanciful philosophical questions may arise, these need to be identified and placed aside.

Propositions of value, on the other hand, do take subjective reasoning into consideration. Some people think that subjectivity is anathema to reason, but actually you can use reasoning skills to value all kinds of subjective responses to things and events in the world.

Finally, propositions of action call for legislative change. These are sometimes called policy propositions and scientists have studied how a variety of professionals use them to enact governmental change, such as in speciality areas like medicine.

Two: Analyze Propositions Ahead Of Time And In Real-TimeTo prepare for debate, you’ll want to strategies for analyzing propositions before the event begins.

However, sometimes new and unannounced propositions while arise during a debate. In order to prepare to analyze these, you can do three things:

• Engage in debating frequently and analyze propositions in real time
• Watch plenty of debates
• Watch debate reviews and breakdowns

These days, it’s easy to find many recorded debates and people breaking down the performance of others and their own performances.

In terms of how to analyse propositions, you will want to learn;

• Semantic analysis (or the analysis of meaning)
• Issue analysis (what’s at question or what is the nature of the conflict)
• What’s being generalized or subject to abstract vs. concrete thinking

Essentially, the more you know about critical thinking overall, the better you’ll analyze propositions across the board. You can easily improve your critical thinking with these exercises.

Three: Understand Types Of Evidence Before Gathering DataMy good friend Ben Cardall is known as a Real Life Sherlock Holmes. In his professional work as an investigator, he’s fantastic about helping people understand what evidence is and when it makes sense to commit certain kinds of information to memory.

The two broad types of evidence are:

• Factual
• Authoritative

The first category includes data that is observed and reported objectively. In other words, if someone witnesses an accident, they should list only matters pertaining to the time, number of automobiles, their colors, how many people were involved, what they looked like, etc. But offering judgments about who was to blame in an accident is subjective, not factual.

Authoritative evidence comes from experts. They may interpret factual evidence, and can sometimes be wrong or guilty of injecting subjective opinions. But overall, we weigh their input differently due to their experience and ideally their ability to honestly list any biases they hold.

The more you’re aware of these matters, the better prepared you’ll be in debate.

Four: Dive Deeper Into The Nature of EvidenceA lot of people cite studies when providing evidence. In fact, I’ve done so in the article you’re reading now.

When preparing for debates, it’s key that you don’t just take the presentation of evidence for granted. You need to start asking questions like:

• Did I actually read the study, or just a journalistic report about it?
• Who conducted this study?
• What are their credentials and how/where were they earned?
• When was the study conducted?
• Where and by whom?
• Why did they conduct the study?
• What statistical methods were used?
• What were their sampling techniques?
• How many subjects were involved?
• Who interpreted the findings of the study and how?
• What ethical standards did they impose?
• How much of their job security depended on their interpretations?

All of these questions will help you determine just how authoritative various pieces of evidence are in reality.

You also need to be aware of certain “halo effects.” For example, if you like me, you might be biased towards liking my friend Ben Cardall without doing your own research about him.

I get no particular kickback whether or not you read Ben’s book or follow his YouTube channel, etc. But I am aware that every time I place a spotlight on someone who creates knowledge, some people will be persuaded to take more interest in that resource. And my own work relies on this effect too.

But that doesn’t make anything any of us say valid. As a debater, you need to ask all of the questions I’ve just listed in order to be as effective as possible.

Five: Develop Your Knowledge Of ReasoningThere are many kinds of reasoning that you will want to master in debate. If you have certain polymathic personality traits, they might already be at work in your life. Otherwise, you’ll want to learn and practice pointing them out while debating.

Some of the most important kinds of reasoning to understand and deploy include:

• Reasoning from example
• Reasoning from comparison
• Reasoning from analogy
• Reasoning from effect to cause
• Reasoning from cause to effect
• Reasoning from criteria to labeling
• Reasoning from circumstantial evidence to hypothesis

This list is easy to become familiar with when you have the right resources. Check out my list of the best critical thinking books for everything you need to know about reasoning. I taught critical thinking for four years at a university and studied logic during my undergrad, so I think you’ll find those suggestions provide you with a strong starting point.

Six: Understand The Formal Procedures And Evaluation Of Each DebateNot all debates follow the same procedures. For example, the Munk Debates might not follow the same format as your high school sessions. So it’s important to understand each debate on its own terms.

Some debates may use specialized terminology as well, such as status quo, rebuttal, presumption, etc. Make sure you’re aware of the exact terms used, as well as:

• Time limits imposed on speakers
• Rules on how ideas and rebuttals are exchanged
• How the debate is evaluated and the winner determined

Typically, a debate will open with the construction of a case by the person affirming the proposition. In other words, if the burden of proof is on you, you’ll start the debate by analyzing the proposition, talking about how you’ll organize your presentation of the evidence and then delivering it in order.

Since most debates are conducted through speaking, it’s good to know how to memorize a presentation.

Seven: Know How To Expose FallaciesPerhaps the strongest tool you’ll want to have in your toolbox is knowledge of logical fallacies and a strategy for exposing them.

As I mentioned above, everything you do in a debate will either diminish or raise the audience’s trust in your rhetorical skills. This effect was noted thousands of years in ago in a book called Rhetorica ad Herennium.

Because developing and maintaining trust is so important, it’s important to understand that anyone can fall into fallacious argumentation. They are not necessarily attempting to be deceptive anymore than you are. Fallacies occur when:

• You use incorrect reasoning
• Faulty evidence is supplied
• Issues go ignored
• You offer “loaded questions“
• You straw man or otherwise attack a person instead of focusing on the argumentation

Fallacies are tricky and there’s a lot more to them than this. For that reason, I refer you back to the critical thinking books I mentioned above. They will help you avoid all kinds of fallacies as a debater and point them out when you encounter them.

Above all things, just remember that when you point out various fallacies, you are always revealing your own skills at remaining objective and civil.

Eight: Be Prepared For HostilityAlthough you now know just how important it is to point out fallacies in a civil manner, that doesn’t mean your debate partner or the audience will reciprocate.

Part of entering any debate requires bringing levels of mental strength that allow for humans to be human. Hostility often arises when topics like politics, religion, education, culture, economics or even unpopular viewpoints arise.

As a result, you may be stared at, face a restless audience or even be yelled at by protestors. In order to deal with such responses, it’s best to treat them like symptoms. Look for the underlying causes.

Although I wouldn’t say Peter Boghossian’s performance of doing this recently was not perfect, here is a good example of someone skipping over the symptoms and looking for the causes.

Here’s my only criticism:

Hearing, “I feel sorry for you” could come off as an insult. As a result, there’s a chance of increasing the cause that lead to the individual’s “symptoms” in the first place. By the same token, Boghossian is expressing an interest in the transformation his position offers the person attacking him. Although impassioned, I believe his response is authentic.

Finally, when it comes to knowing how to prepare for a debate, do some analysis of human psychology. There are some fairly standard ways people respond to contentious issues. For centuries, people have used Memory Wheels to categorize and remember all kinds of possible issues and enabled themselves to deliver optimal responses on demand.

Step Into the Arena With ConfidenceAs you’ve seen, there are many psychological tactics that will help you win debates. Sure, you can read books like Robert Cialdini’s Influence, but that kind of stuff is more about marketing. Principles like social proof and reciprocity can get you slaughtered in a debate even though it’s useful to know about them. In fact, you can present them in a debate, but using them as debate tools directly can lead you into all kinds of fallacious thinking that exposes you to losing.

When it comes to debating effectively, you’ll do well to follow the rules above and keep learning more. You’ve got theory, study of actual debates and then getting your own experience to cover each and every time you go to debate.

That’s how the pros do it, and you should too, even if you just want to get better at informal debates.

When it comes to remembering everything we just covered, feel free to grab my Free Memory Improvement course:

It gives you four videos and worksheets that will help you memorize just about anything on demand using a Memory Palace.

Then, as you study the debating styles of various masters of argumentation, you’ll be able to quickly absorb their rhetorical techniques and practice them. While also avoiding their mistakes and pitfalls.

At the end of the day, we all have blindspots.

So as a final tip, make sure to record and study your own debate performances. Look at yourself objectively. Create your own benchmarks for improvement guided by the rules we’ve discussed today, ongoing study and ongoing practice.

That’s how to enter any arena and win.

And if you lose?

Make it a win by studying and practicing even harder with more doses of reflective thinking. That will help you develop the metacogntive levels of thinking that have always helped the greatest debaters of all time make a stand and make a change.

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Many people who want to master multiple topics wonder about the exact polymath personality traits they’ll need to nurture.

I went through the hard work of figuring this out myself, especially while completing my PhD at York University in Toronto.

During those years, I studied a variety of polymaths to “reverse engineer” how exactly they developed so many skills without simply winding up with dust in their hands due to splitting their focus.

My research took me into many areas, ranging from self-improvement topics to philosophy and the role of friendship.

Luckily, it didn’t take me long to discover many of the traits found in most polymathic people. But there’s something else I discovered that you also need to know about.

All of these things will be covered in-depth on this page.

So if you’re interested in the traits you need to nurture so that you can become truly polymathic, this may be the most important post you ever read.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

What Is A Polymath?The word polymath comes to us from polymathēs in Greek. It stems from “poly” for many and “manthanein” for “to learn.” That means you can be a polymath without actually having math in your skillset.

Where did the idea that someone can master many topics come from?

Many people say that the idea of mastering several fields arose during the Renaissance and Enlightenment era. There’s certainly truth to this and it’s one reason why the term “Renaissance Man” still circulates.

Frankly, polymathic people have been around for a lot longer than that. Aristotle was a polymath, as was arguably his student, Alexander the Great.

In Ancient China, Shen Kuo mastered multiple topics during his life. Between the years 1031 and 1095 he worked successfully in everything form meteorology and metallurgy to politics and pharmacology.

According to research Michael Araki, it’s not the topics themselves that define polymathy. What matters is:

• Breadth
• Depth
• Integration

In other words, a polymath has a comprehensive understanding of multiple topics, but not in a shallow way. There must be depth, and typically this depth is demonstrated through integration. Since Araki’s terms are open to a lot of interpretation, let’s look first at the traits that must be in place and nurtured in order to fulfil these categories.

Then we’ll look at how to avoid self-delusion. There are a lot of people who claim to have breadth, depth and integration. But we need to know how to test these claims in order to avoid charlatanism.

The 3 Core Traits Of A Modern PolymathAs we go through these traits, keep in mind that none of them need to be inborn or part of your DNA. As intelligence and memory studies have shown, it’s possible to rewire the brain and teach old dogs new tricks. Yes, even those who have never had any experience in mastering a single topic area or skill, let along several.

So if you feel like you’re missing any of these traits, don’t worry. They can all be developed.

One: Curiosity You Can’t ControlPolymathic people are driven by their curiosity.

You might be thinking, how on earth am I going to get curious about boring topics when I only have a mild desire to learn more as it is?

There are several paths you can take. Some of them involve exercises that will grant you greater mental strength. Others might require you to use mind mapping or other forms of positive visualization to start rewiring your current state.

One way or the other, developing your current curiosity and nurturing it is the key.

For example, I was once told by Harry Lorayne to not tell people about memory science. He said that if you’re going to run a successful memory business, you need to avoid heavy topics that scare the “mass market” away from your Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass offers.

This advice made me curious and although I don’t think he was wrong, I made myself lean into it. Soon, I was insatiably curious about memory science.

Sure, some of my least successful YouTube videos cover the science of memory. But I’m glad that something in my character let me avoid that piece of advice. I’ve been personally rewarded many times over by what I’ve learned, even if he was probably right from a business perspective.

This issue is something all true polymaths will probably have to face at some point in their learning journey. As the old saying goes, “you can be rich or you can be right.” So far, I’ve followed the mind map I created with Tony Buzan years ago and my curiosity about memory science and the desire to have an accurate understanding about it has won.

Two: Interdisciplinary Skills With Scientific IntentWhen I started my PhD in Humanities, the exact nature of the program was unclear. I entered the very first year of its existence and was in fact the first person to graduate. To this day, the exact definition is mostly left up to the individual graduate student, which has pros and cons.

Early on, I decided I would absorb all I could by taking courses in the history of science, classical languages and the history of religion. Science was my favorite of these topics, so when I started studying for my field exams, I decided I would use it as my lens for everything. As I’ve traveled the world as part of my ongoing research, I’ve continued to use a scientific foundation and this focus has rewarded me many times over.

Although I ultimately wrote my dissertation on friendship and talked a lot about how friendships appear in movies and TV shows to craft a philosophy of friendship, it was scientifically guided. I combined reader-response theory with market analysis to guide my conclusions, tempering some of my wilder philosophical questions with what the data actually said.

The best polymaths have tended to use the scientific tools available during their times. Whether it’s St. Augustine’s theory of memory or Giordano Bruno’s approach to mnemonic imagery, a huge reason that the learning of these individuals has stood the test of time is the empirical thinking they put into their writing. And that means they tested their concepts empirically during the research and reflection stages as well.

Even if I’m wrong about that, it’s important to place a premium on science in your studies in today’s world. Scientific literacy is a basic requirement if you want to be taken seriously. It’s healthy to recognize its limits too, but far too many people claim to be knowledgeable on topics when they clearly aren’t even thinking critically, let alone scientifically.

Three: AdaptabilityBecause humans have many memory biases and our scientific approaches don’t always pan out, we need to be able to shift. Sometimes quickly.

This is one area where having breadth, depth and integration come in. For example, artificial intelligence is a big field now. All kinds of writers are in trouble. But if they had true breadth and depth in multiple topics, they would find it much easier to integrate the skill of writing and turn it towards AI itself.

That’s just one example, something I explored myself by integrating what I know about language learning with the idea about using chatGPT to help acquire a language through laddering.

It’s clear that humans will have to become more and more adaptable over the years to come. To develop this trait, I would suggest getting a solid mix of brain exercises along with physical exercise, eating the best possible foods for memory and completing substantial learning goals.

Make no mistake: completing goals is a key to developing adaptability. If you have established a pattern of dabbling and never completing what you start, it won’t matter how broad your interests are. You’ll be lacking in depth and have nothing to integrate into the flows and intensities of whatever the future might bring.

Overcoming the “Jack of All Trades” StigmaA while ago, someone commented on one of my videos: “You’re not a polymath.”

Truly, how does some dude on the internet who uses an anonymous screen name know this about me?

I share this criticism because anyone who starts on the road to polymathy is bound to be criticized. You might even be called a Jack of All Trades, Master of None.

You know what? The people who criticism might be right.

To ensure that they aren’t and that you truly are a polymath, you need to identify the traits important to your specific interests and nurture them.

For most of us, this will be a battle of nature vs. nurture. Personally, I’ve needed to master journaling for self-improvement and for memory in the ways discussed by memory expert, Johannes Mallow. In both cases, everything involved here boils down to:

• Crafting a vision of success worth pursuing that includes the variety of topics you want to master
• Breaking goals down into achievable milestones
• Analyzing your performance
• Optimizing how you develop your skills and knowledge over time

After you’ve got this basic protocol in place, it’s just a matter of using accelerated learning techniques properly. Let’s discuss what they are and why you need them next.

How to Be A Polymath: A Practical GuideOnce you’ve identified a worthy vision and are using a journal to track and optimize your progress, you’ll essentially need to hedge against the dangers of multitasking.

Let’s face it: You’re probably not going to master anything if you have dozens of tabs open and spend more time switching between them than actually studying.

To avoid that problem, you’ll want to:

• Keep a study and deliberate practice schedule
• Have multiple places to study worked out in advance
• Include at least one mentor in your lifelong learning journey
• Use interleaving to promote better memory and avoid topic exhaustion
• Master a variety of tools that will help you remember as much as possible

The tools I recommend and used myself during university and have used throughout my professional career include:

• The Memory Palace technique
• Optimized flashcards (a.k.a. Zettelkasten)
• The Leitner Method
• Mnemonic systems for remembering numbers like the Major System and a PAO System
• A Spaced Repetition system to avoid wasting time on rote learning at all costs

Finally, you just need to keep in mind breadth, depth and integration. To ensure that you have all of these covered, you’ll want to decide upon some benchmarks.

One tool I’ve found useful for setting up and tracking benchmarks is The Freedom Journal. I dragged one with me all over Europe on my honeymoon to make sure I got one of my projects done. In this case it was an initiative I felt some resistance around, and having every tool and protocol we’ve discussed on hand helped me finally satisfy the constant urge to work on it despite my resistances and as a result, make space in my mind for other things.

No one can tell you exactly how to measure your accomplishments. But depending on the topic areas you choose, there may be official testing bodies you want to consult. Some of my friends, like Nelson Dellis and Dave Farrow have established Guinness World Records, for example.

For myself, I’m currently drafting a book chapter I’ve had accepted for a scholarly book on memory and the senses. I also test my learning daily on the Internet, everything from my expertise in memory improvement to my copywriting abilities and skills as a presenter. Giving a TEDx Talk that has been seen millions of times was another confirmation of my ability to master both the topic I was addressing and speaking successfully from memory.

Your Role As A Polymath In Future InnovationAt the end of the day, becoming a polymath is about being more successful as a contributor to the human species. In the here and now.

If you’re doing it for your ego, you might succeed. But most people who successfully address complex challenges through interdisciplinary thinking do it because they love being part of reality. It’s almost as life is a game and the more fit you are both physically and mentally, the more you get to enjoy it.

That’s ultimately what the best employers are looking for: highly qualified people who have a breadth and depth and knowledge they can integrate into helping their enterprises grow.

Such people are in demand in every area from artificial intelligence and medicine to education and the arts.

To prepare yourself for success in whatever field you choose to focus on, memory is the foundation you will want to focus on above all things. That’s because memory is like a set of engines that help store and deliver your knowledge and skills.

If you’d like your memory to be better, feel free to sign up for my free memory improvement course:

It will take you through video lessons and worksheets that teach you everything you need to succeed with the mnemonics that have been so essential my success.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to find these polymathic personality traits in your life, nurture and amplify them?

I hope you’re nodding your head “yes,” because I know you’re capable of leading a truly amazing life.

All it takes is a bit of strategy and equipping yourself with the tools that lead to depth, breadth and integration.

The post 3 Polymath Personality Traits Masterful People Nurture & Amplify appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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A lot of people throw around the term lifelong learning.

But what does it really mean?

And how can you adopt its principles to benefit your life in every respect?

I’m talking about more than just being smarter.

I’m talking about using lifelong learning to build the health of your body and brain.

Adopting study skills that build your wealth.

Developing know-how that helps you solve problems fast and stop many problems from arising in the first place.

Ready to discover the benefits of lifelong learning and multiple examples from real lifelong learners you’ve probably never considered before?

Let’s dive in!

What Does Lifelong Learning Really Mean? (Hint: It’s Not What You Think)In a word, lifelong learning is an investment.

It’s an investment of time and resources into five key areas:

• Books
• Courses
• Coaching and consulting
• Deliberate practice
• Taking on new challenges outside your comfort zone

To take my own example as a PhD graduate, I was tasked with reading 500 books and articles for my two field exams. Later, I needed to read even more as part of researching my dissertation.

Although I don’t read quite so much anymore, as a true lifelong learner with polymathic interests, I continue going through books and courses related to my field.

Why? Because as researchers in the field of psychology have shown, self-correction is the key to maintaining expertise. It’s also why I personally keep and recommend a re-reading strategy as you go about your own lifelong learning journey. It’s so important to keep learning because new details and new perspectives are always emerging. We all need to keep ourselves on track.

In terms of getting coaching and consulting, I’ve written many bestselling books and many marketing pieces over the past twelve years. But to this day, I have a writing mentor I meet with every week. I learn new things from him and he helps me keep focused on the fundamentals.

When it comes to deliberate practice, this means you keep a scheduled and modular routine for implementing what you learn. If it’s language learning, you have weekly meetings to practice reading, writing, speaking and listening. For music, you follow a structured program for going through scales and various rhythmical exercises.

If it’s writing, you read the best in your field and you write, ideally every day. In all these fields of practice, you need to balance maintaining fundamental skills while gradually pushing yourself into unknown areas you haven’t mastered yet. So if you’ve been wondering what it means to be a lifelong learner, now you know what it looks like.

The Benefits of Lifelong LearningIt’s impossible to value the benefits of following the model I’ve just shared with you. Although it’s simple, it’s not always easy. But because it’s not always easy, it provides many benefits. The model stretches you and this promotes growth.

Growth, of course, can be quite an abstract thing. That’s why you want to keep a journal of your learning activities and use it to identify specific learning goals. You can structure these goals in terms of learning cycles, which will make it easier for you to see the benefits we’re about to discuss.

One: Preventing Cognitive DeclineResearchers at Harvard’s Economic Research Lab recently released a study showing that retiring early can lead to cognitive decline. According to the head researcher, Plamen Nikolov, they’ve seen damage that amounts to losing three IQ points.

That might not seem like much, but Nikolov cites a Cambridge University study showing that losing just three points can make it harder for a person to remember when they need take their medication. This ability is related to prospective memory and procedural memory – two types of memory none of us can afford to lose.

But lifelong learning, especially in areas like bilingualism, has been shown to help fortify the brain against issues like Alzheimer’s.

So if you want a healthy brain and mind when you’re older, the time to follow the lifelong learning model I shared above is now. It works because it’s mentally stimulating on multiple fronts.

Two: Problem-SolvingI often say, the more you know, the more you can know. And it’s true because information is connective in nature. Even when you use a memory strategy like chunking to break complex topics down, you’re actually making the information even more connectable.

But even better is that you’re expanding your ability to recognize patterns. This helps you see problems and solve them in advance.

Sure, you can study critical thinking and problem solving as topics unto themselves. But without embedding them in the lifelong learning model I’ve shared, it’s unlikely that you’ll get quite the same pattern recognition that leads to substantial problem-solving skills.

Three: CreativityI’ve seen many of my students in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass open up creatively thanks to what they’re learning.

Christian Fitzharris, for example, used his learning about rare texts like Rhetorica Ad Herennium to create a fun rap song about memory techniques called “Brain Games.”

A huge part of its uniqueness comes from his adoption of the lifelong learning model you’ve discovered today.

It’s also what makes all my favorite books unique and interesting. To take another example, novelist David Morrell has trained in everything from defensive driving to crisis negotiation to bring a deeper level of sophistication to his writing. His lifelong learning has not only been profitable, but led to his character Rambo being one of the most famous movie franchises in history.

I took inspiration from Morrell’s learning habits when preparing to write my “Memory Detective” novel Flyboy. I completed online courses in forensics, the utility belts used by police officers and the basics of detecting crimes. An actual detective read the novel, came to visit in Australia and told me how surprised he was by the accuracy in the book.

That’s high praise indeed, but simply following my lifelong learning model is what earned it.

Four: TenacityOne of my favorite learning activities involves memorizing Sanskrit phrases. This activity involves a lot of mnemonic images.

Although the Magnetic Memory Method does not involve creating any of those associations, it does require a certain level of discipline.

Because I got started on my lifelong journey early, I have deeper pools of tenacity than others might enjoy. But I’ve seen many people develop stronger reserves even if they spent much of their lives doing little or nothing. Mental training is a fantastic way to start developing the necessary grit. Given that discipline starts to strengthen itself over time, you won’t regret getting started today.

Five: Career BoostsWhether you want to work for a company, freelance or become an entrepreneur, the more you learn, the more you stand to make.

I’m not just talking about money, though that is an important part of this world.

I’m also talking about the mental peace that comes with knowing that you’re employable in more than one area. By following the lifelong principles you’ll also be adaptable to industry changes and be ready to move upward when positions open up.

As entrepreneurs often say, where preparation meets opportunity, there is no ceiling.

How to Become a Lifelong Learning: 5 Practical StepsFortunately, there are simple and actionable strategies that will help you becoming a lifelong learner.

Let’s have a look.

One: Envision Your FutureYears ago, mind map expert and co-founder of the World Memory Championship, Tony Buzan, told me that he wished he had more time to study the greats like Michelangelo. But because being realistic is so important, we can’t wish and hope for more time. We need to strategize and make use of our time.

As he told me during dinner, “The rules will set you free.”

When it comes to lifelong learning, brainstorm about your ideal future as a learner. I did this with Tony, using his approach to mind map my entire business. By creating the vision first, I was able to identify the most important things I needed to learn.

Focus your lens. Then build the learning journey.

Two: Research the Best ResourcesIn my program for people who want to read faster, we focus on how to find the highest quality resources first. This step can be tricky, but it’s worth every second you spend on it.

That’s because quality books and courses do exist. Ultimately, you do have to take a risk by diving in, but there are so many free materials online, you can invest the time to really quality what you read or what courses you attend.

As you research, one thing to look out for are the stages of learning involved in the topic you want to focus on. Looking for how universities structure their courses and looking at the reading lists included with syllabi is a great tip that I use all the time.

Get your research right and you’ll be ready to make the most of the next step.

Three: Be ThoroughSome so-called “learning experts” say that you should abandon books quickly. Scott Young is one of them and I respect him highly, except on this point.

Sure, I’ve abandoned a book or two in my day, but normally not. It sets a bad pattern and leads to sloppy learning habits.

Instead, I use tools like The Freedom Journal to practice what I’ve come to call Metivier’s Razor:

Less than 90 days of study does not deserve the phrase, “I tried.”

You can take it or leave it, but I impose this rule upon myself. Not just because Tony Buzan said that “the rules will set you free.” But I’ve found so many incredible lessons and substantial wisdom in the harder books.

It’s true that some of the mass market books that are easy to read also contain gems. But they’re the product of someone else having been thorough in their learning journey.

If you want to reap the benefits of lifelong journey, you need to be that person who is thorough. Here’s the best part:

One of the hardest books I was terrified of reading? When I finally committed to spending at least 90 days on Douglas Hofstadter’s legendary Gödel Escher Bach, I was pleasantly surprised that it only took two weeks. But it took an attitude of thoroughness to get me started and keep me going.

Four: Develop a Daily RoutineI’m writing this blog on schedule. That’s because I have established a daily writing routine.

I also do my daily reading on a schedule. At some points in my life, these scheduled reading and writing times have shifted. But they’ve always been scheduled. And that’s how I’ve managed to learn so much, so consistently.

It can seem like an inconsequential thing, but designing your life around your learning is pivotal. Too much time gets wasted when there isn’t a reduction of interruptions and the avoidance of randomness. Set and follow patterns.

Rest assured: Since the focus is on using this scheduled time for learning, the routine will never get boring.

Five: Consider Groups, Platforms, Programs or CoachingAlthough not everyone needs them, it can be useful to help you establish your goals by joining a group or focusing on a particular learning platform.

For example, I spent a few years of my life going through dozens of the Great Courses. Back then, it was called The Teaching Company. When I couldn’t afford the courses on cassette that I wanted, I did my best to find them at the libraries in Toronto. I rode my bike for long distances to get some of them so I didn’t have to wait on the interlibrary loan process.

You might apply this thinking to joining a cohort course. These days, many are offered online, such as David Perrel‘s Write of Passage or my Read with Momentum.

Coaching is one of my personal favorite learning strategies. I find both group coaching and one-on-one coaching invaluable. I also sometimes hire consultants or network with specialists to learn more about fields I’m studying.

Make no mistake: It’s not an extravagance. Other people’s knowledge is an asset. You can boost your progress by tapping into it.

Overcoming Common Barriers to Lifelong LearningThese days, it’s all the rage to say that there’s no such thing as free will. I know, because I wrote a whole chapter about in my book, The Victorious Mind and based it on the research fruits of my own learning on this topic.

Robert Sapolsky’s Determined is a recent entry in this field and he’s really put his foot down on the notion that free will isn’t real.

If that’s right, how on earth can you get yourself to change and become a lifelong learner?

Easy.

You’re reading this because something in you has compelled you to search for information about how to do it. Or you followed a link in one of my emails. Lean into that original impulse. Explore it. Use some of the self-inquiry techniques I teach to learn more about the mental strength you clearly have in order to get started learning about it in the first place.

When you have resistances, instead of pushing them way, get curious about them. Is your resistance to boring topics really your own? Or did you just hear from some accelerated learning guru that it’s okay to abandon books?

Find the truth lurking behind the question. Then search out a better truth and follow the recommendations attached to it. Today I’ve argued that abandoning books is a terrible lifelong learning strategy and given you some ways to deal with them, such as Metivier’s Razor and scheduling your time.

If you still can’t get yourself to do what is obviously important for lifelong learning, just keep asking why. Keep a journal, keep working on your vision statement and developing learning cycles. You’ll eventually experience a breakthrough. In fact, it will be difficult not to if you apply Metivier’s Razor.

That said, sometimes you’ve just got to have skin the game. I signed up with my current coach and the one before him precisely because I know how to engineer my absence of free will. Left to myself, I would not work on some fundamentals I know need to be in place in order to succeed. But by investing in some help, I’ve encouraged my mind to want a return on that investment. And this has propelled my attention in ways that just wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

Lifelong Learning In Action: Success StoriesI mentioned Christian Fitzharris above and his rap song “Brain Games.” He’s also been an actor, magician, musician and is working towards becoming a sommelier.

My testimonials page is filled with similar success stories. Here are some of my favorites.

Jeannie memorized scripture with much greater ease thanks to the learning strategies I teach. Her story is also reflected in Matt Barclay’s experience, someone who used memory techniques to help him recover from cognitive issues he experienced following a cardiac arrest.

David S. Matthew is one of several lawyers I’ve helped pass the bar. What makes his success stick out is that he also learned Spanish while preparing for it. As I’m sure you can imagine, being a bilingual lawyer is definitely going to increase his value in the market for the rest of his career.

For quite a few years, James Gerwing would email me with updates after he completed the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

Here’s James in his own words:

“About 5 years ago, I began taking your online course and then went into some memory competitions.

I am the 4 time, current, undefeated (and record holder) of the Alberta memory championships. Even better; I just won the 2019 Canadian Memory Championships (AND the first ever pan-provincial championship).

I had been banging things into the void of my memory for decades. You have revived, and revived in me, the concept that where there is a will, there is a way.

Since signing up for your Masterclass I have taken a Latin course at the University of Alberta and scored above 90% (that is not common territory for me). Thanks for your input.”

Latin is not an easy language. But as a lifelong learner who follows the core principles, James easily managed to become a national memory champion and score highly in this language. He’s a true Renaissance man.

What about you?

Do you have big goals?

Now that you have the lifelong learning strategy many people have followed, the only thing missing is a strong set of memory skills. If you’d like help learning them, grab my free memory improvement course now:

In just four videos and a few simple worksheets, it will help you master your memory.

That way, you’ll not only remember the things you learn.

You’ll remember to follow the simple lifelong learning structure we discussed today.

Remember: lifelong learning is transformative. It will positively impact each and every area of your life and your overall well-being.

And so what if there’s no free will? If you’ve bumped into me and I’ve succeeded in persuading you to take action, that’s what it’s really all about. Lean into the actions you’re taking and it will help you continue taking them.

Reflective thinking is the ultimate open secret that will help open even more doors to learning as much as possible across the span of your life. The better your memory, the better the journey will be.

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If you want to stop losing things, you’re probably tired of the standard advice.

Sure, tips like getting more organized, reducing clutter and always placing things in a designated spot make sense.

But everyday life does not make sense. Sometimes we put things down and can’t remember where we put them. That’s just the way it goes.

So when it comes to handling this problem in a mature manner, what really works?

Well, if you’re sick of constantly losing things, you’re in luck.

On this page, we’ll go through some proven memory techniques you can use. They’ll help you remember where you placed things even when you cannot follow the standard advice.

How to Stop Misplacing ThingsFirst, we need to start getting more specific.

Instead of “things,” we need to start using the actual names for what we want to stop losing.

As a simple exercise that will help give your memory a workout, jot down the kinds of things you lose. I suggest you use a journal and be as specific as possible. List:

• The types of objects you misplace
• What times of days you tend to lost things
• Where you wind up finding them
• Any other behavioral observations

This exercise may feel hard, but please give it a try. It will almost certainly give you a solid foundation for solving this problem.

Now let’s move on to our first major tip. Here are the steps I recommend any time you’ve lost something and need to find it as quickly as possible.

Then, once these steps have helped you locate the missing object, make sure to journal each of the points above. Doing so will help with some neurological rewiring that will then reduce the amount of times you lose your precious belongings.

One: Say Names And Locations AloudIf you have to set your keys down, say aloud, “keys on the counter.”

This will reinforce the action and help your brain label both the object and the location.

If you tend to forget whether or not you locked the door, saying aloud “locked” will help. It’s so much easier to remember what you’ve said aloud compared to what you’ve done physically.

Rest assured, there’s no shame in this. I’m a memory expert and I say “locked, locked, locked” in my mind almost every time I go out. It eliminates the worry that I might have forgotten to do so.

After I say “locked, locked, locked,” I usually make a point to replay the mental image of using my keys to secure the door. I also mentally repeat the phrase.

I know that forgetting if you locked the door seems like a different issue than misplacing your reading glasses. But leaving your home is a procedural memory and those too can get lost as easily as objects.

Two: Make A FistLet’s say you set your glasses down on a table.

Rather than simply walk away, close your fist as if you still have your glasses in your hand.

You can combine this technique with saying the object and the location as you walk away. For example, you can quietly or silently in your mind state, “I have left my glasses down on the table.”

This physical sensation of closing your fist while naming the action will help you carry the location-based memory with you. Later, you can think back to your fist and where you made this gesture. This action will help lead you back to the location where you left your glasses.

I suggest you squeeze vigorously. Don’t make this a passive action. Put some drive into it.

Also, if you’re leaving one room to go find scissors and don’t want to forget before you reach the kitchen, make a fist. By pretending you’ve got the scissors in your hand before leaving the room, you’ll remember what you were seeking.

When we leave one room and forget what we were heading out for, we are essentially losing what is called a prospective memory. But by simply saying the location and the object out loud while making a fist, it’s much easier to hold on to that memory.

Three: Make Multi Sensory AssociationsNext time you put your wallet down, imagine hearing a massive explosion – just as if you’d dropped a bomb.

Let your imagination soar by making it as loud as possible.

Include a visual flash of light. Feel the ground rumble. Think to yourself, my wallet just blew up the kitchen counter.

Add some emotions, like shock at the explosion.

Follow these simple steps and misplacing things will be difficult for you from now on.

Four: Use RhymesWe’ve already talked about using names. But there are more ways we can use language to help us remember objects and their locations.

Let’s say you have difficulties finding important books on your shelves.

Instead of arranging everything alphabetically (which is not a bad idea), you can remember where books are like this:

My important bookie-wookie is next to Stephen King-a-ling.

Silly, right?

That’s exactly the point. It makes it easier to remember where you stuck that book you always keep misplacing.

Five: Learn The Major System And Pegword MethodPeople ask me all the time, Why do I keep losing things? I even lose my car at the shopping mall!

I would too if I didn’t use memory techniques.

Two of the most powerful for finding your vehicle in parking lots are:

• The Major System
• The Pegword Method

Basically, they help you assign an image to each digit from 0-9 and to every letter of the alphabet.

Then, if you park in B4, you’ll be able to imagine a bee attacking a sailboat. Since “bee” starts with the letter ‘b’ and 4 looks a bit like a sailboat, remembering this location will be a breeze.

Just as imagining your wallet dropping like a bomb needs some multi sensory visualization, you want to enhance this kind of association.

When I use this technique, it’s not the bland idea of a bee attacking a sailboat. It’s a full-scale Hollywood movie with emotions, sounds, intensity and energy.

The trick is to spend a bit of time creating these systems and practicing them. Luckily, they’re easy, fun and provide incredible brain exercise. And when you add the multi sensory aspects, the location of your car leaps instantly to mind.

If you feel a little unusual doing this in the beginning, don’t stress about it. With a small amount of practice, creating associations like this will become second nature.

Six: Turn Your Home Into A Memory PalaceIf you can assign a memorable image to a parking spot, you can do the same thing in your home.

Let’s say you’ve developed your skills with the pegword method. You can then assign a letter and object to each room.

Let’s say you call your bedroom “A” and imagine a grouchy apple lives in it. If you take your watch off in your bedroom, you can think about the grouchy apple complaining about it.

By combining the alphabet with the Memory Palace technique, you will never forget where you placed your items again.

Because the apple is your image for the bedroom, you’ll remember the location. After all, it’s memorably absurd for an apple to be grouchy about you leaving your watch on the bedside table.

If you assign ‘b’ to your living room with Batman, there are all kinds of possible ways to have him interact with your glasses, keys, wallet or anything else you want to remember as you set it down.

If you want to learn more about the Memory Palace technique, check out this free course:

There are many more ways to use your home to remember where you put things. That’s why I hope you’ll check it the free course or even the full Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

These Tips Will Prevent You From Saying, “I Always Lose Things”You now know how to use associations to remember where you placed important objects. Simply by exploring these techniques consistently, you’ll develop the ability to remember where you put things.

The benefits of removing the problem of forgetting things from your life include:

• Saved time
• Reduced stress
• Improved memory

The more you practice these techniques, the stronger your memory will become.

Of course, the standard advice about reducing clutter and creating reminders for yourself still has its place. I personally developed the habit of putting my keys in the same place years ago and have never regretted it.

But because life can get incredibly hectic, your best bet is to become what Tony Buzan called a “Warrior of the Mind,” and make using association a habit. That way, if anything upsets your regular pattern, you’ll have a stronger memory that helps you track your way back to the location of your belongings.

As always, the best app on the planet is the software you’re running in your head. Please use it, and explore related topics, such as how to stop losing your train of thought and techniques for remembering precious memories about your life that may have faded.

And if I can help you further in any way, just post below and I’ll get back to you a.s.a.p.

Don’t worry – I haven’t missed (or lost) a comment yet!

The post How To Stop Losing Things: 6 Proven Tips appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Anyone can learn how to be a Renaissance Man.

No matter your gender, so long as you’re old enough to read and have the discipline to learn, becoming skilled and knowledge in multiple fields is more than doable.

That’s because information has never been easier to acquire.

The tenacity it takes to be an excellent critical thinker, multi-linguist and philosopher familiar with a wide range of ideas remains just as difficult, however.

In fact, it’s probably harder than ever before given all of the distractions in our time.

That’s why I think you’re going to love this list of easy-to-follow strategies.

As an author with multiple degrees, tons of entrepreneurial experience, musical skills and a long history in the performing arts, on this page I’m going to unpack everything I’ve learned.

I’ll also give you a number of examples of people living right now who fit the description of being polymathic.

Ready to master multiple topics and do it in style?

Let’s get started!

What Is A Renaissance Man?Technically, terms like Renaissance Man and “well-rounded man” are dated. It doesn’t have to do with your gender. It’s all about attitude.

As Paul Valéry put it in his 1894 work, Introduction to the Method of Leonardo da Vinci, you have to have a system:

… a system which is the most honest there is: that of conceiving… a psychological model, more or less rude, but on which represents in some manner our own capacity of reconstructing the body of work which we have set ourselves the task of explaining. Success is very doubtful, but the task is not a thankless one. If it does not succeed in solving the insoluble problems of intellectual parthenogenesis, it at least raises them, and this in a light incomparably clear.

I’ve chosen this somewhat difficult passage. But it’s an important one because Valéry nails it. A Renaissance Man systematically pursues the goal of identifying the signs of genius.

He acknowledges that this goal of figuring out “intellectual parthenogenesis,” or self-made levels of high IQ is impossible. But we should try anyway. The attempt itself will raise our own levels of intelligence. Even if it fails.

In the world of mental strength, we say often that you need to let go of the outcome. This is a bit different than saying that “the journey is the outcome.” It’s saying that an essential element of being a well-rounded person involves living effortlessly. Rather than striving, you place a premium on focus, concentration and being as fully in the present moment as possible.

The question is… how?

How to Be A Renaissance Man: 8 Traits You Need To SucceedDon’t worry if you aren’t born with the following list of traits. Each of them can be developed when you use deliberate practice to bring them into your life.

Exactly how quickly you can develop them isn’t knowable. We just know that the sooner you get started, the better.

Here are the key traits to either develop or improve if you’ve already got them.

One: Insatiable CuriosityLet’s face it. Many of us struggle to get interested in boring topics.

Unfortunately, you can’t expect to be truly well-rounded if you give up just because a book or video doesn’t immediately grip you.

Instead, I suggest you fashion a learning goal in writing. Get clear on why you want to add a particular area of expertise to your life.

Then, develop the best possible study habits and develop the tenacity needed to plow through difficult information.

Every well-rounded person I’ll share below had this ability. And you can rest assured they didn’t have to be fascinated with every textbook they encountered.

It was the learning goal that fascinated them. As Nietzsche reportedly put it:

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.

Basically, I’m suggesting that you make sure that you’re curious enough about what life will be like for you after you accomplish the goal that you’ll be able to tolerate what it takes to achieve it.

In a way, this contradicts the idea of letting go of the outcome. To a certain extent it does. But as my good friend and memory champion Nelson Dellis once told me about how he climbs Mt. Everest, you know the peak is there. All you have to worry about is where you’re going to put your hand next.

Two: Commitment To Lifelong Learning With Relentless ApplicationIt’s one thing to learn a skill or master a subject area.

But you’ve got to actually apply what you’ve learned.

This means that if you’re going to study a language, make sure to speak or write in it with ample reading. Dabbling in memorizing vocabulary and phrases can be a good in itself, but that’s not the depth we’re talking about when it comes to the systematic identification and implementation of developing your personal genius.

Personally, I’ve done this by learning German well enough to lecture in it at the University of Saarland (pictured above). Frankly, I haven’t gone far enough. But I have plans one day to translate at least one of my own books into German so that I can follow up my efforts in learning German with one of the most detailed applications possible.

Music provides a similar example. My sitar teacher told me once that to be a true master, you need to spend twenty years learning an instrument, twenty performing it and twenty teaching it.

This is what I mean by matching commitment to learn with relentless application.

Three: Develop And Practice Radical MetacognitionCritical thinking is important if you’re going to enjoy a well-rounded mind. You need to be able to rapidly assess and evaluate ideas from several fields of knowledge.

There are multiple ways to improve your critical thinking abilities. These included completing critical thinking exercises and studying examples.

Basically, you want to think about your own thinking.

I covered some of my favorite self-inquiry questions that have helped me the most when it comes to thinking about how I think. I covered them in this TEDx Talk:

For more along these lines, check out The Victorious Mind and some of these concentration meditations. These resources will help you reflect deeply on the nature of your mind and make the most out of it.

Four: Make Your Body A Topic of StudyOne of my favorite, classic Renaissance Men is Robert Fludd. Although most of his medical ideas are no longer considered correct (or even useful), he is important in the history of medicine nonetheless.

Da Vinci and Michelangelo also studied the body intensively, ranging from dental concerns to expressing the relationship between a healthy body and soul.

And that’s what we all need to do. From focusing on foods that improve memory to getting enough sleep, in order to study effectively, you need to take care of yourself.

Personally, just by memorizing a small amount of medical terminology, I have raised my level of self-care substantially. Focusing on what you want to improve tends to lead results.

I was delighted to find an entire shelf of my mentor’s book in Chinese translation in Beijing!

Five: Avoid The Myth of Being Self-TaughtA lot of people think that well-rounded learners are autodidacts.

Frankly, I don’t believe in any such thing. If you’re going to learn, you have to lean upon the efforts of other people.

And books simply aren’t enough. You need to take courses, talk with peers and spend personal time with mentors.

Alexander the Great had Aristotle, after all. And even if he hadn’t, I’m glad I’ve regularly sought the help of many mentors, interviewed the authors of my favorite books and taken multiple courses with fantastic teachers.

The whole notion of the Renaissance revolves around an explosion of ideas shared by multiple people. Both Justin Sledge and Matthias Castle have been on my podcast and discussed how learning really took place during this era.

No one who amounted to anything learned on their own.

Six: Give BackThey say that you have to teach to learn. I’ve always found this to be true and that’s why I admire people who take time to instruct others.

Not only are they giving back through the highest form of social contribution. They’re also developing more expertise for themselves.

You learn more about topics when you teach them because you consider them from different angles. You have to think about them from the perspective of the learner.

Indeed, you have to think about multiple kinds of learners who will be coming to your teaching with varying levels of experience.

This is one reason why so many of the classic Renaissance Men were authors, or at least kept detailed journals.

Seven: Learn LanguagesI’ve already discussed the power of bilingualism. My ability to function in German has opened so many doors for me.

But you can’t stop there. It’s very difficult to learn philosophy to any significant degree without at least some understanding of Latin and Greek terminology.

Likewise when you study Eastern philosophy, you’ll want at least a passing familiarity with Chinese. Or if you want to seriously understand the Bible, prepare to spend some time on Hebrew and other languages.

It will not only give you fantastic brain exercise. You’ll also learn more about what the texts really mean. No translation is perfect, but as you learn more about the original languages, you’ll come to understand why different translators make their choices. And you’ll be able to participate in the discourse around the texts from the foundations of earned experience in these languages, not mere opinion.

Eight: The Ultimate SecretWe can talk for a long time about other ways to become well-rounded.

But there’s one commonality amongst so many top achievers. It involves a certain level of financial freedom.

Whether it’s through grants and scholarships, like I enjoyed during my many years at university, or mind mapping your way to business success, learning at scale requires multiple resources.

You need the time, funding and space for learning.

Although you don’t have to become an entrepreneur, it certainly helps. You can also start investing early or seek a tenure-track position where they are still available. One way or another, you have to earn the ability to work on yourself and I highly recommend you start with developing time and financial freedom so you can.

How? Learn to delay gratification after setting well-formed goals. It’s really that simple.

22 Examples of Ancient And Modern Renaissance Men And WomenKeeping the memory theme of this blog in mind, I’m going to share the people who I think best exemplify the Renaissance Man traits.

I don’t think anyone should model any of them directly. Rather, take inspiration from how they lived their lives and how they dedicated their time.

It’s little use trying to be like someone else. I’m sharing these examples so you can think about how their careers and personal achievements can positively influence the choices you make in your personal development.

• Tony Buzan
• Lynne Kelly
• Giordano Bruno
• St. Aquinas
• St. Augustine
• Barbara Oakley
• Robert Fludd
• Tyson Yunkaporta
• Ben Cardall
• Matteo Ricci
• Ramon Llull
• Nelson Dellis
• John Michael Greer
• Katie Kermode
• Dominic O’Brien
• Bruno Furst
• Joshua Foer
• Brad Kelly
• Anastasia Woolmer
• Scott Gosnell
• Frances Yates
• Ronald Johnson

Of course, there are many more. But each of the individuals listed above have demonstrated that they use systems to explore and develop their personal intelligence, ability to contribute and have the discipline to learn even the toughest of topics. They are wonderfully interdisciplinary and have shown problem-solving abilities in a variety of fields.

Integrating the Renaissance Ethos In Today’s WorldIn a nutshell, people during the the Renaissance valued humanity and individuality. They sought to balance each person with society as a whole.

To do this, they favored skepticism, developed what we now call secularism and expressed their values through a variety of mediums.

Above all, they preserved and studied history. In other words, they did not allow themselves to forget their roots. In our time, people aren’t quite as protective and even seem to enjoy digital amnesia.

If you want to be a well-rounded person, you simply cannot afford to forget.

If you’d like to ensure that you can remember the things you learn and hold onto them so you can apply the ideas, sign up for my free memory improvement course:

It will take you through four video lessons and worksheets to help you develop a Memory Palace.

This mnemonic device is a core tool many Renaissance people used to learn faster and remember more.

Sign up and I’ll send you many more memory techniques you can explore as well.

As I mentioned, a true Renaissance person always cherishes the past above all. And for that, you need the best possible memory skills.

I’m sure glad I focused on developing them for myself. It’s helped open many doors. I’m confident that mastering your memory will do the same for you.

To your personal Renaissance!

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I didn’t learn the most productive study habits overnight.

But I learned just how terribly ineffective cramming can be when I failed an exam during my undergrad.

I swore I would never never fail like that again and committed myself to mastering the skills involved in studying like a pro.

Sure, I normally practiced good study habits.

But I made it my mission to discover and use the best study habits possible.

After earning my BA, two MAs and a PhD, I have built one of the biggest memory improvement websites online.

In order to provide the best possible information week after week, I still need to use the same learning techniques.

Today, I’m going to share them with you.

So if you’re a serious student who wants to use everything from traditional methods to AI as you ace all your exams, get ready for detailed tour of how the top achievers learn.

All I ask is that you leave cramming at the door. It’s too risky and doesn’t lead to long term retention even if you can get away with it once in awhile. You deserve better.

8 Productive Study Habits To Excel In AcademicsAs we go through these habits, keep the term “habit” in mind. I really do mean long-term habits that involve deliberate practice.

A lot of people try a technique once or twice and then decide it doesn’t work.

Frankly, sometimes they are right. Not all techniques are for everyone.

But trying something for a day or two isn’t fair or honest. I suggest you commit to the study habits you choose for at least 90-days.

There are some studies that say 66 days is enough. Other studies have shown a slightly shorter commitment.

I suggest you keep these in mind and go a bit longer than any study suggests just to be sure. Myself, I love to use The Freedom Journal because it helps guide you through 100 days. It has helped me accomplish many goals and literally rewired my brain to be more productive.

Now, with that success tip in mind, let’s get started with the habits I suggest you explore.

One: Time BlockingNot having enough time is one of the biggest problems learners face. Fortunately, it’s easy to solve.

For example, Benjamin Franklin used time blocking. He literally visualized his day as vertical row of hours.

When I was in university, I blocked time in a similar way. I had various jobs and wrote all of my work hours out. Then I assigned exactly when I was going to study.

I even wrote out what I was going study while commuting and stuck to the schedule.

Later, when I taught as a professor at Rutgers, I used the same scheduling system habitually. I was still finishing my PhD and wrote out that I would grade papers on the train in and read specific books on the way home. As a result, I was able to get my dissertation written ahead of schedule and did well on all of my exams.

Two: Study Habitually In Specific PlacesStudying while commuting is not ideal. That’s why I also make sure I have specific places I study.

Back when I was doing my degrees in Toronto, I had a network of libraries at both York University and Toronto mapped out. I knew exactly which were the best study places for me, and avoided having to read during times of high noise and human traffic.

As a professional, I still have a list of productive study places. My favorite floors in the best libraries are all worked out and I can selectively show up to study during what I’ve found to be the quietest hours.

It takes a bit of discipline, but is well worth it. Plus, if something’s going on and you can’t get the quiet you need, by having a list of alternative places ready to go, you’ll be able to relocate and stick to your basic schedule.

Three: Have A Variety Of Note-Taking MethodsAlthough it would be nice to have a single note-taking strategy for all kinds of different information, that simply isn’t realistic.

I’ve used everything from standard notebooks to recording with a micro-cassette recorder and mind mapping.

When it comes to memorizing from textbooks, my favorite note-taking technique is called the Zettelkasten method. It’s highly adaptable and works well in conjunction with the Leitner System for developing memories faster.

Four: Take Breaks Like A ProWe all know that taking breaks is essential. However, some ways to getting in a bit of rest are better than others.

For example, there’s a science-backed learning technique called interleaving. Merely by switching strategically between topics, you get a memory and retention benefit.

Taking a quick walk (or even a long one) can also refresh your mind. What you want to avoid is looking at your phone and falling down an Internet rabbit hole.

Scientists have generally found that going online provides a net negative for learners. Your dopamine can get messed up, and unlike switching between books or taking a walk, digital amnesia can cause you to lose track of time.

I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t ever go online. Rather, the best possible study habit would be to use time blocking so that when you go online is strategically placed during your day. That way, you’ll be able to afford wherever surfing through links takes you.

Five: Use the Pomodoro Technique With CautionSome learning experts like Barbara Oakley swear by the Pomodoro Technique, which is kind of like technology-assisted time blocking. You use a timer to study in 15-minute intervals.

Certainly, using a timer works for many people. But there are two reasons I’ve used it only as a last attempt method during those rare moments when my mental clarity is challenged for whatever reason.

First, I like to be in flow when I study. If even a shred of my focus is directed at a timer about to chime, I can’t fully get into what I’m studying. If I’m able to get into flow, the timer then startles me at the precise moment I’m finally into my studies. That leads to stress, which can negatively impact memory.

Second, I teach all of my students in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass to train themselves to take natural breaks using interleaving as we’ve discussed above.

That way, you don’t wind up looking at your phone all the time. There are better ways to control how long you study, such as the “pinch technique” I teach in my article about how much to read in any given session.

In sum, Pomodoro can be good for targeted learning goals. But for bigger projects, it can become a time-wasting habit that not only fails to serve you. It can have the opposite effect and harm your ability to recall information.

Six: Eliminate DistractionsI have a little ritual before I sit down to study anything. It only takes a second and makes all the difference in the world. It goes like this:

• Clear the table of anything non-essential
• Turn off the Internet and phone
• Have only my study materials within reach
• Have all my flash cards and writing materials ready to go

I suggest you come up with a similar ritual and make it a habit.

You can also make sure others know your schedule so they are able to avoid being a distraction as well.

Seven: Reduce MultitaskingGetting rid of multitasking entirely is a bit tricky. Many topics are interwoven and sometimes you need to take different kinds of notes at the same time.

Eliminating distractions as discussed above will help make sure you’re not trying to read a book while also looking things up.

But it will be tempting to search for references and even vocabulary you’re not already familiar with, and this is a battle that never goes away. Especially not if you want to be a polymath one day.

That’s why I suggest you keep one notebook you use exclusively for taking note of ideas and vocabulary you don’t recognize later.

I learned this from a professor I had years ago. He called it keeping a “not now folder.” He literally suggested writing every research task on a separate slip of paper and placing it in this folder. Many print journals come with an envelop in the back like this that you can use as part of this strategy. Or you can just keep note of items to look up later in a top-down list in any kind of notebook.

Either way, this approach helps you focus specifically on reading. Later, you then can bring a high quality of focus strictly to research as its own task. This is brilliant advice and circles us back to the principle of time blocking.

Dealing with things you need to look up later rather than multitasking as you try to study will also give you a form of spaced repetition. Let’s discuss that study habit next in more detail.

Eight: Use Spaced Repetition StrategicallySpaced repetition is a science-backed revision process where you revisit information over time. It’s a strong alternative to rote learning.

You can use it in a variety of ways, including a special software called Anki. You just have to be careful that you time block using this software in order to avoid traveling all over the Internet when you’re supposed to be reviewing information you want to learn.

Luckily, there are alternatives to software. One of my favorite is the Memory Palace technique. It lets you revisit information purely in your mind.

Even better, it helps you avoid what memory scientists called the forgetting curve. You will remember more over the long term thanks to having a strategic study habit designed to make sure the things you study stick in your mind.

3 Common Study Habit Mistakes That Kill ProductivityOver my many years as a student, I learned the hard way what works and what doesn’t.

Let me give you a list of the worst habits I’ve seen, both in myself as a student who used to struggle. And I’ll share some of the habits I’ve seen as a professor.

For each common mistake, I’ll share the best possible solution so you can develop much better habits that lead to academic excellence.

Poisoning Your Brain And BodyIt’s hard for me to believe this now, but as an undergrad, I often went to a 24 hour grocery store in the middle of the night for ice cream.

That’s after having eaten pizza during the day and barely drinking enough water.

Even though the metabolism of young people creates the illusion of being able to handle it, memory loss starts at a young age. Some scientists believe it can even begin in your 20s.

The point is that you can start eating memory-friendly foods at any time. If nothing else, be sure to avoid foods that harm your brain.

Don’t Overload YourselfIt’s easy to take on more than you can handle. I know because I was once in a hurry to complete my first degree faster. I want up falling apart completely.

Only later did I learn to slow down, and even read slower when I needed to do so for comprehension purposes.

At one point, I even asked Professor Derek Cohen for an alternative assignment just so I could bring a higher quality of attention to the work. He agreed and I wound up passing his course with an A+.

One reason people overwhelm themselves instead of exploring alternatives is that they simply don’t know that schools are usually more flexible than they seem. Make sure to communicate with your instructors when you’re having issues and most will help you adjust.

When you meet a stubborn professor who won’t, you can always contact the department secretary to find out who to speak to for help. Point being: you don’t have to suffer overload.

Avoid Leaving Assignments To The Last MinutePart of the function of going to school is to prove that you’re competitive. Companies want to hire people who can help them succeed in the market. That means they need employees who can help them deliver on time.

For this reason, university is a great place to practice delivering assignments not just on the date they’re due. You can also practice completing your assignments ahead of time.

This strategy will accomplish a few things for you:

• You’ll have less stress around deadlines
• It frees up more time for study
• You can do additional research and revision of written assignments
• You’ll have more time for extra-curricular activities

Once I got into getting my assignments done as early as possible, entire new worlds opened up for me. At one point, I even started up a small press with my friend, Rob Read. I also was able to do a bit of work in the film industry, perform at a variety of cultural events and write a couple of books.

None of that would have been possible if I was leaving my assignments for the last minute. I wouldn’t have been able to handle the stress.

How To Create An Effective Study Habit PlanCreating a plan is fairly easy.

I suggest you start with a vision statement. I’ve created an epic video training showing you exactly how to do this for better learning outcomes. My book, The Victorious Mind, includes an example from one of my readers who used that training to help himself succeed much better as a student.

Once you’ve created your vision for success, you just need to write out:

• What you’re going to study
• When you’ll study
• Where you’ll study
• Who you will reach out to if you need help

I also suggest you include all of your exam dates and assignment due dates so you can see them at a glance. This will help you “reverse engineer” how many study sessions you’ll need.

You don’t have to get this perfect the first time you give it a try. I just suggest you get started practicing this approach sooner than later. Creating your own study plan is a habit-based skill unto itself and deserves the effort.

How To Make Technology Your Ally For StudyingThese days, it’s easy to ask an Artificial Intelligence for help.

The problem is, even if chatGPT for language learning can be pretty good, it has a lot of accuracy issues. It will also sometimes hide certain perspectives that are essential to know about if you’re going to be a critical thinker.

To get the most out of these technologies, I suggest you include them in your vision statement and study plan. Do you want to be a pro at using Artificial Intelligence for research? Then book the time to figure out how to do it well.

Put it this way: If you’re using these softwares to write for you, you’re doing it wrong. As Julian Peterson, founder of Essay puts it, you need to be able to write for yourself if you want to be competitive in today’s world. It’s about being able to think clearly as much as it is about cranking out original writing.

In terms of other technologies, you can certainly use airplane mode during study hours. But why not just put your phone in a separate room? It’s good to spend time away from your devices anyway. I call the habit of spending time away from my devices so I can get serious reading done “digital fasting.”

As a result, I read much more, remember it and enjoy a much more productive mind.

If you’d like more mental strength yourself, please sign up for my free memory improvement course:

It will help you through free video lessons and worksheets develop your memory skills and reduce lack of concentration issues. As a result, you’ll enjoy an instant boost in how much you remember from your study sessions. You’ll also stop losing your train of thought when sitting for exams.

Plus, you’ll develop your procedural memory and many of these habits will just start happening more automatically.

That’s a beautiful thing because that’s what a habit is: Something you do with minimum effort to enjoy maximum benefits.

So what do you say?

Let’s get studying!

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Ben Cardall’s demonstrations of what Sherlock Holmes would do under real world conditions are legendary.

So too is his book on the key observation and memory techniques you need to pull it all off.

It’s called The Monographs.

To celebrate the upcoming new version of this essential text on deduction, Ben joins me for an expansive conversation. We cover his practice with the Memory Palace technique, critical thinking and other topics.

Then we focus on the most important topic of all: weighing the value of data and deciding what’s worth committing to memory.

Beyond that, we even get into the knotty territory of free will.

For the first time, someone finally gave me a new way to think about this essential philosophical puzzle!

Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from Ben.

Click play on the video below or the audio player above to enjoy this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method and check out some of the links below for more on Ben and his work.

Who Is Ben Cardall?In addition to writing The Monographs, Ben’s YouTube channel, The Deductionist provides you with tremendous resources. On it, Ben covers everything from body language to topics of importance to mentalists and magicians.

Ben’s interest in everything from forensics and psychology to hypnosis and his passion for developing memory skills like Sherlock Holmes are infectious. Check out his website for multiple videos and more information.

In terms of his teaching, so many people are excited about his current Kickstarter for The Monographs V2 that it was fulfilled in less than one day. I’ve still only read the first version, but sight unseen am perfectly comfortable recommending it.

Frankly, I fully expect I’ll be adding this new book from Ben to my frequently updated post on the best Memory Palace books.

The Monographs: A Quick ReviewWhen preparing this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, I though I would call The Monographs an “underground classic.”

My research uncovered too many positive reviews to call it “underground,” however. So we’ll have to settle for it being a classic of memory, critical thinking and deduction.

I love how Ben weaves these skills together. Sure, you can focus purely on the Memory Palace technique. He gives you one of the most important tips you’ll ever read.

But it’s really the fusion of memory techniques with observation tactics and thinking strategies that you need in order to order see, hear, feel and think at the highest possible level.

When you can do that, you’ll be able to select the main points from the environment much better. Whether they’re in a book or lingering at the scene of a crime, there’s no point memorizing information if you haven’t prequalified it first.

So if you truly want to think like Sherlock Holmes, you absolutely need Ben’s training material. This book contains practical exercises, background info and the steps that will help you apply the techniques to real world environments.

Enjoy our conversation today and check out either version of The Monographs. You’ll be well rewarded!

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Giordano Bruno wrote many books about memory techniques.

The mnemonic strategies they contain are really good.

But many are notoriously difficult to read.

For one thing, Bruno rarely just gets down to teaching the techniques. They’re often mixed in with all kinds of elaborate astronomy and philosophy.

Was there any method to this madness?

Or was he just a hack?

You’re about to discover the answer to these questions on this page.

And the truth about Giordano Bruno’s approach to using memory techniques for learning will surprise you.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

Who Was Giordano Bruno?The biography of Giordano Bruno can be difficult to wade through.

His fans adore him for a variety of reasons. They might admire his early understanding of memory science. Or they admire his contributions to early astronomy. Some people even see him as a symbol for freedom of expression and thought.

Others criticize him, especially for refusing to recant when the church accused him of heresy.

Either way, we believe Giordano Bruno was born in 1548 in Nola, a town in southern Italy. He became a Dominican priest in 1572 and earned a doctorate in theology in 1575.

That same year, the authorities investigated him for holding controversial views on the Trinity. Later, in 1600, the Inquisition burned Bruno at the stake for refusing to recant on his views. According to Ingrid Rowland in her study of his life, Bruno denied that Christ was a person. In fact, he denied that anyone was a person, an argument so nuanced, his trial was put on hold for two weeks as the authorities discussed its ins and outs.

Although you could argue that Bruno was merely being stubborn and provocative, current neuroscience, psychology and experts belonging to related fields have confirmed what is now called the Nonself hypothesis.

Bruno’s Philosophy At A GlanceBruno’s ideas can be hard to follow because he was a polymathic learner. He referred to the words of Plato and Aristotle along with references to Ramon Llull and many other thinkers. His ability to remember the granular details of such a wide variety probably frustrated him, especially when others couldn’t keep up.

What were his ideas and why did he hold them to be philosophically important?

To pick a starting point, it concerned Bruno that many people focused on Aristotle’s materialism at the expense of the metaphysical ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas. He worried that concentrating on just one form of logic would reduce critical thinking, rather than increase it.

As a result, people remained fixated on an incorrect model of the universe. Bruno’s alternative theory focused on the universe as infinite and indivisible. He believed in one Universal Soul that collaborates with Universal matter to create reality based on an ongoing process of regeneration and decay.

Bruno extended these ideas to his definition of God. And like St. Augustine, extended them to reflect on the nature of memory. Unlike Augustine, however, Bruno found time to teach mnemonic strategies that people still use today.

The Basic Memory Techniques Of Giordano BrunoBruno’s memory techniques are not particularly original to him. However, his manner of teaching mnemonics is unique. There is no one quite like him, not even Robert Fludd, who shared similar philosophical ideas.

Bruno’s uniqueness comes through in a few ways. He often taught techniques like the Memory Palace through his commentaries on other teachers. In his Opere lulliane, for example, he gives a far clearer description of how to create a well-formed Memory Palace than in any of his own books that I’ve read:

In the basic system of the classical Art of Memory, also known as the method of loci or Memory Palaces, you must follow a basic set of rules. To remember anything, convert them into images and then distribute those images in a set of places around a building or other structure in a sequenced order.

To retrieve those images, retrace your steps through the sequences of places, viewing and decoding each of the images as you go. The places should be well lit, not too far apart and not crowded together and distinctive from one another. The whole structure should be clearly visualized. The path you take should be obvious, so you will not get lost, and to facilitate retrieval.

There is also advice on how to make the images themselves as memorable as possible. They should be visually striking and emotionally resonant. (They may be terrifying, inspiring, or humorous.) They should be visualized as clearly as possible. The images should not blend into the background of the places. If a thing that is to be remembered, is not easily visualized, then you may choose to encode letters or syllables of the name of the thing into a set of predetermined images.

Bruno copied most of this very clear teaching from Rhetorica ad Herennium. People repeated this basic description of the journey method so often, Frances Yates calls this exact description the “Herennium Pattern” in her book, The Art of Memory.

Bruno’s Advanced MnemonicsFortunately, Bruno went much deeper. In fact, some of his ideas about how Memory Palaces can potentially be infinite are so complex, they’re best explained via the magic of video:

For the rest of this article, let’s learn some of his more practical approaches for crafting mnemonics that will help you learn faster. In his wonderful book, On the Composition of Images, Bruno covers multiple aspects of visualization. I have yet to encounter such a wide variety of mnemonic images in any other Memory Palace book.

To give you a taste of his wonderful encoding tools, here are some of my favorite:

Sound AssociationTechnically, any direct association is a sound association (horse sounds like horse). However, you can also use sounds to “trigger” the target information you want to encode and later recall. For example, equus, the Latin word for “horse,” could be used to memorize the word “equality.”

Word DivisionWhen you need to memorize words, break them up or “divide” them in the most useful ways possible. For example, if you need to memorize the word contemplation, consider using the image of a bank robber for “con” and have him robbing a temple in your Memory Palace for the second part of the word.

Meaning AssociationWhen you know what certain words mean based on roots like Latin or Greek, this knowledge can be leveraged for making powerful associations.

For example, Philip is a relatively popular name that means “lover of horses.” Anthony supposedly meant “leader.” If you meet someone named Anthony, you can imagine yourself or someone else as a leader pointing to the person.

Relational AssociationsWhite can make you think of snow, or vice versa.

Honey = sweet
Lions = ferocity
Turtles = patient and persistent

Now, you might be thinking: That’s all find and dandy. But can you apply this kind of mnemonic strategy to memorizing medical terminology?

Absolutely. If you have to memorize the names of insulin medications, for example, insulin glargine is long acting. You can relate the act of glaring for a long time to drinking gin for even longer. Using sound association, you can include actors like Justin Long and Gina Davis.

Often, using relational associations cannot be done in isolation. But adding them to supplement your other mnemonic associations often adds the extra layer of memorability you need.

Conceptual AssociationsThere are a few ways to understand this form of association. For example, you can use genres. Science Fiction is a Conceptual Mode of storytelling.

Or you can leverage concepts like Mars being the god of war. This is a concept that differs from Mars as a planet or a chocolate bar. It is a conceptual metaphor that has been used throughout history to make all kinds of information memorable.

Now, you might be asking… “How is this different from the sword of justice as a visual metaphor?”

This is a good question. Although you might see a sword in the hand of Mars, the god of war, you don’t have to visualize anything to get the concept. The key to mastering this kind of association is to give yourself the benefit of experience. You’ll soon develop a sense for which kinds of conceptualizatoins are most useful for you.

Congruent ActionsLet’s end this list in a similar spot to where we began. If a direct association would be using a horse to help you remember a horse, in this case we’re using an action to remember an action.

Examples:

• A thief does some thieving
• A doctor does some doctoring
• A preacher does some preaching

The opposite of congruent actions is naturally incongruent actions.

Dr. Anthony Metivier visiting the Giordano Bruno memorial in Rome.

Beyond BrunoBruno offers many more types of association, so I encourage you to read his writing yourself. Scott Gosnell has provided several serviceable translations, and John Michael Greer recently produced the best translation of On the Shadows of the Ideas I’ve yet seen in English.

The point Bruno returns to repeatedly is that you need to take action with the techniques. You need to experiment as you explore them. And his stubbornness often comes through in a way that can definitely confuse a lot of readers. For example, he equates not taking action with death in On the Shadows of the Ideas.

Obviously, people do not drop dead if they don’t use memory techniques. I believe that Bruno is being more than a little Zen. He’s trying to wake his readers up so that they pay attention to the details. As Martin Faulks has shown in his demonstrations of Bruno’s techniques, the details do really matter.

So if you’d like to know more about how to use Memory Palaces properly with a special focus on having the most effective associations possible, feel free to register for my free course:

I’ve been a student of Bruno’s for decades and a lot of what you’ll learn is based on a modernization of his most powerful descriptions of the best ancient memory techniques he knew.

Bruno isn’t for everyone, that’s for sure. But I’ve done my best to explain some of his best ideas so that you can put them to use in your personal practice.

Like Bruno himself, I suggest you focus on mastering the fundamentals. That way, you’ll be able to learn faster and remember more.

The trick will be to live in such a way that you stay out of hot water. Bruno was convinced of a particular interpretation of truth and he valued it more highly than his own life.

And no doubt. He didn’t believe in our concept of personhood, after all. Perhaps that was what allowed him to explore memory at a deeper level. His critics insist that his ego led him to a premature end.

But from a memory perspective looked at through the lens of contemporary psychology, perhaps Bruno was able to memorize so much because he knew that his ego was not real. He didn’t let his worries and concerns get in the way of taking action. Perhaps he was also enlightened in the same sense many Sanskrit phrases discuss: he experienced himself as part of a larger process that in no way relied on his individual identity.

As he told those who condemned him to death:

Perhaps your fear in passing judgment on me is greater than mine in receiving it.

These words have always struck me as proof that Bruno had managed to see through the illusion of being a separate person.

One way or another, Bruno made a huge impact. People still consider not just one set of his ideas, but several. That’s more than enough evidence to show that whatever he was doing in his mind and memory has so far stood the test of time.

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Would a few simple visualization exercises help you experience more success with memory techniques? Effecive visualization is possible. Here's how.

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Some people say there are as many types of thinking as there are people to think them.

Actually, no. In fact, such statements demonstrate very poor thinking.

But to give these people the benefit of the doubt, it’s true that many forms of thinking interact with each other. This “intermingling” of ideas can make the list seem infinite.

However, everything to do with our modes of thought can be broken down into a smaller set of “thinking genres.”

And here’s the game-changer you need to know:

There’s a difference between types of thinking and methods of thinking. It helps to be clear about which ones you want to identify and improve. Find this clarity is what this post is all about, so let’s dig in.

The 7 Types of ThinkingAs you go through this list, you might start wishing you were a master of each and every type.

This is possible.

I’ll provide tips for developing your skills with each and everyone as we go. Just remember that it’s a marathon, not a race. You don’t have to work on all of them at the same time.

As you read, keep two central questions is mind:

• What is thinking and why does this type count?
• In what ways am I already thinking like this in my daily life?

One: Critical ThinkingCritical thinking is about analyzing a number of factors. For example, you can think about the value of an idea and divide that from the form the idea takes.

Let’s say someone is angry and yells at you about how they want to change. Critical thinking would allow you to find the value in the suggestion without missing out on it because the form of address was unfriendly.

Critical thinking helps you differentiate form from content, such as when angry arguments contain legitimately valuable information.

In other words, critical thinking allows you to place information in context and reason objectively about it.

Here are 11 benefits of critical thinking to help you improve this type of thinking.

Two: Analytical ThinkingWhereas critical thinking helps you evaluate value through analysis, analytical thinking is about examining the parts of an argument. It looks much more closely at the process.

Analytical thinking typically involves research. As an analytical thinker, you will not be satisfied by the data at hand. You will seek multiple examples so that you can compare and contrast the multiple parts of several examples or case studies.

To improve in this area, developing your reflective thinking skills will be of tremendous value.

Three: Creative ThinkingEdward de Bono is widely considered one of the leaders in the field of creative thinking. For him, it was a process of discovering solutions that are not obvious under normal circumstances.

To help people, de Bono developed a number of processes, most famously lateral thinking.

According to Edward de Bono, creative thinking is like digging holes laterally, rather than merely vertically.

You can visualize this form of metacognition by thinking about digging holes. As de Bono points out, most people dig one hole and if they don’t find the answer they’re looking for, they dig another hole in a different location.

Lateral thinking, on the other hand, digs tunnels in sideways and diagonal patterns. Moreover, it does not throw the dirt away as if it were obscuring the solution. It finds new ways to use the dirt.

If you want to improve your creative thinking, de Bono’s practices are useful to look into. However, it’s important to note that “creative” isn’t quite the right word because no one is “creating” anything new.

It’s more about using existing processes in unique ways to generate new ideas that you would not reveal any other way. And, as Leslie Owen Wilson points out, creative thinking usually involves risk taking as you add layers of complexity to those existing processes.

Four: Abstract ThinkingAbstract thinking begins with symbols.

For example, there’s no reason why the shape of the letter ‘A’ should be pronounced as we use it in English. In fact, it’s pronounced quite differently in, say, German.

The ability to understand that fact is a simple example of abstract thinking. Later, the use of ‘A’ as a symbol in logical and math provides a more complex example.

Jean Piaget is a major influence on the description of this technique. As he pointed out in his theory of cognitive development, children start developing basic symbolic thinking abilities between the ages of 2 and 7.

Between 7 and 11 they move on to develop logical reasoning abilities. Basically, everything after that is devoted to abstract thinking, and we do not stop until death.

To improve your abstract thinking abilities, study subject areas like:

• Math
• Philosophy
• Game theory
• Logical thinking
• Play with figurative language
• Practice visualization meditation
• Use a Memory Palace
• Learn other languages

Five: Concrete ThinkingConcrete thinking is about taking the world literally – or seeking ways to do so. It’s also called literal thinking.

This kind of thinking leads you to ask for specific examples. If someone makes a claim, you want to know what makes it true, why the evidence actually supports the argument and how exactly it does so.

Concrete thinking requires evidence. The more substantial, the better.

Sometimes people avoid concrete thinking because they don’t want to appear stubborn. However, we need more people to insist on evidence that supports the claims people through around, well… concretely.

To improve in this area, ask lots of questions of the who, what, when, where and why variety. And follow-up by applying some of the characteristics of analytical thinking, such as performing due diligence with your own research.

Six: Convergent ThinkingConvergent thinkers look for examples that expose commonalities and reject the distortion of having all kinds of wild ideas flying around. They do this to find the best possible solutions to problems.

NASA provides many examples of convergent thinking – something that is also basically the same as linear thinking. For example, the Apollo 13 mission faced a critical situation where they needed to get enough energy to safely complete the mission – and save their own lives.

To solve the problem, they had to focus on using only the materials they had on hand. By doing so, they were able to quickly and reasonably converge on the best possible answer.

If you want to improve this form of thinking, solving puzzles where you are limited to only the pieces you have and cannot bring any outside parts provides great practice. Escape Rooms are great for this, as are games like Hunt a Killer where you solve crimes based solely on the evidence provided.

Seven: Divergent ThinkingLet’s stick with that NASA example.

When Apollo 13 was in danger, apparently someone suggested they use a flashlight to create more energy.

Of course, the space shuttle team didn’t have a flashlight, so they had to use convergent thinking instead to reach a solution.

However, that doesn’t mean throwing out a wild idea like “flashlight” is entirely wrong. Sometimes you need to brainstorm using this form of nonlinear thinking to trigger ideas you couldn’t arrive at otherwise.

In some ways, divergent thinking is a lot like lateral thinking. In this case, it’s often best conducted in groups.

To improve, you might consider holding what is called an “Idea Party.” I’ve attended these for entrepreneurs and people who need help kick starting an initiative they’re passionate about.

Holding an Idea Party is a great way to gather divergent ideas from diverse individuals in a short period of time.

Basically, each person gets a few minutes to describe their project. Then the audience spends 10-15 minutes sharing their best ideas and resources for making the idea happen. It’s a powerful exercise because it gets many different thinking types to respond in many divergent ways in a short period of time.

How To Improve Your Thinking SkillsAs I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there’s a difference between types of thinking and methods of thinking.

Some of the methods you’ll want to explore include using all of the above in the form of:

• Writing
• Studying
• Mind mapping
• Discussing
• Debating
• Meditating

All of these activities need to be scheduled. Without regular focus and consistent practice, your thinking abilities will not speed up.

The good news is that you can use each thinking type we discussed above to make time for practice. And if you need more help, these critical thinking examples and critical thinking strategies are here for you.

So what do you say? Are you ready to explore new types of thinking? Get out there and enjoy the benefits working with higher quality thoughts will bring you.

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Chess is easy to learn when you have the best tips on your side. Learn how to play chess quickly and remember each piece and move now.

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After over a decade of helping law school graduates with passing the bar exam, I’ve got a list of tips you don’t want to miss.

Why? Because the bar exam tips you’re about to discover simply work.

In fact, one of my students even found time to study Spanish on the side thanks to tackling the law in the optimal ways I suggest.

So if you’re ready for all the best tips law students need to get past this mission critical exam, here’s what I suggest:

Read everything on this page, take notes and do not hesitate to ask questions.

Chances are you won’t have seen some of these tips before, especially since I’m going to share with you some incredible mnemonic tactics too.

That way, you can remember everything about the law for the long term and become a high-paid professional of extraordinary value to the clients and communities you serve.

Let’s dive in!

What Do You Need to Score to Pass the Bar Exam?Bar exams differ from country to country. Everything about them is subject to change, including the fees involved when sitting to pass the bar.

Sometimes these changes place more emphasis on legal skills – which is actually a good thing. Firms and clients will want you to be as skilled as possible.

Other changes have to do with the actual practice of the law, which means your analysis and application may be heavily tested.

As of now in the USA, the test is scored out of 400 points. Many states require a score of 65% to 70%. Though in some states it may be higher, such as 72% in California.

No matter what, it’s important that you inform yourself of the necessary score in your region. And check exactly what you’ll be tested on, which usually comes down to your ability to:

• Read and brief cases
• Understand legal principles
• Perform analysis and apply the law to situations of fact

There may be more depending on your region, but it probably won’t involve less than that. When it comes to points, here’s what I suggest: Even if you can score as low as 65% and still pass, why not go for a higher grade?

With the bar exam tips to follow, you certainly can.

How to Study for the Bar ExamAs we go through this list of what you need in place to pass the bar exam, there’s no order of importance.

Each point will make a huge difference to your success. For that reason, it’s important to understand and make use of each.

One: Sign Up For A Bar Review CourseAlthough it can seem like an unnecessary expense, here’s the reason by taking a bar review course is so critical:

The people who put them together specialize in spotting patterns based on regions. They’ll get you a head start on what is most likely to be on the exam in your region.

They’ll also help you practice multiple choice exams on topics like Civil Procedure, assuming they’re still being given in that form.

Finally, they often have decent mnemonic devices you can use. In a moment, I’ll show you how to strengthen them and come up with your own for even better long-term memory of legal information.

Two: Practice Reading, Briefing & Analyzing Cases/StatutesKnowing how to read fast without missing out on key details is important to success as a lawyer.

As you read, prepare briefs and write your analysis frequently.

You’ll also want to practice:

• Memorizing the name of the parties, including where they are from
• Remembering how the parties got to the specific court they’re trialing in
• The stakes of the case

Always strive to understand the big picture as you read. Identify the most significant legal issues first, but also general legal issues.

For this reason, you cannot skim and scan. Reading for the details and spotting fact patterns is critical to passing the bar and becoming a world class lawyer.

There is a spot for skimming during the bar exam itself, however. We’ll get to that later.

Three: Know the Game Behind the GameAccording to the Bar Examiner, the upcoming changes include:

A third question type, not yet released, is modeled on the current Multistate Performance Test, which requires examinees to demonstrate their ability to use fundamental lawyering skills in realistic situations, completing legal writing assignments appropriate for a newly licensed lawyer.

This suggests that you need spend as much time as you can actually practicing these skills. Writing is only as good as your analysis, so it’s important to follow as many cases as you can.

But what I mean by “knowing the game behind the game” is also about why all of these changes keep taking place. Some theorize that they keep making these exams tougher not so that you’re better prepared for the practicalities of law in the real world. It’s because each new successful lawyer begins to compete with established lawyers already in the field.

This kind of “scarcity” thinking exists in many fields, but is especially large in the law. For this reason, it’s important to keep your wits about you. Prepare to be the best because you want to be the best.

Four: Allocate Time For Different Kinds of QuestionsAs you take practice tests, and during the bar exam itself, you’ll notice that some questions are weighted differently. You definitely want to pay attention to this so you aren’t spending huge amounts of time on questions that aren’t as heavily weighted as others.

However, there’s a bit of trap in this. You also need to read the questions and ask yourself:

• How debatable are the issues?
• Is there a high likelihood of liability? (If so, this can save you time in answering)
• Are damages involved? (These may take more time to explore and explain)
• Does the question require more organization of your analysis?

Five: Find the “Call of the Question”Although it’s not good to skim and scan when learning the law, you can save a lot of time by looking for what a lot of law professors call “the call of the question.”

The most important parts of any question are usually found in the last 2-3 sentences.

You still need to read the whole thing, but scanning for these can help you better decide how to allocate your time during the exam.

Six: Read Carefully And Use IRACEvery word is significant in the law, including the bar exam.

A simple model to follow when reading and starting to organize your answer in way that avoids missing critical details is IRAC:

• Issue recognition
• Rule
• Application
• Conclusion

The more you think about this model as you read the questions, the more you’ll succeed.

Seven: Outline Before AnsweringMany people make the mistake of caving to the time pressure and start writing immediately. Avoid doing this.

Writing a simple outline will help you use the IRAC model every time as you present your analysis.

Outlining is especially helpful because it helps you think through the issues. You’ll make sure you aren’t missing anything, but also discover how to present them in the most logical order.

Eight: Use Plain EnglishAlthough it is possible to use legalese like “heretofore” and “forthwith,” it’s generally not a good idea. Legal Writing in Plain English is a great resource that comes with useful exercises.

Make sure to avoid filling your answers with fluff and skip providing long and windy wind ups. You do not have to write about how interesting the case is, or how many issues it presents. Just get into it.

Nine: Avoid Clean Cut ConclusionsThe law is as much about opening doors as closing them. Yet, a lot of people write their IRAC conclusions with stunning certainty.

Instead of writing “done and dusted” conclusions, you should write something more like:

The defendant may not have broken the law on my analysis. But if he has, he may have the defense of not having received his Miranda warning in the proper manner, if at all according to State and Federal law.

Writing conclusions like this will show your examiner that you truly understand the law in the fullest possible light.

Ten: Be Aware of When You Don’t Have to Write a ConclusionThere are some scenarios in which conclusions aren’t required. For example, if you’re dealing with contract law, you’ll have an “offer and acceptance” model to follow:

• Legality of object
• Capability of parties
• Consideration
• Assent

Powerful Memory Tips for Passing the Bar ExamI promised I would share some memory tips and a success story from one of my best students.

Let’s get into them. Some involve mindset. Others involve mnemonics.

I’m confident you’ll find them all useful.

Avoid Self-Defeating BehaviorsPlease don’t take this study tip as a detour into “self help territory.”

The fact of the matter is that many people sabotage their success by eating foods that are bad for the brain.

Or they rob themselves of much needed sleep and exercise, leading to epic bouts of brain fog.

Another self-defeating behavior is taking on too much at once. I once helped someone who was taking summer courses for an MBA at the same time he was prepping for the bar.

Certainly, this is possible, but it was a struggle in this person’s case because they also insisted on partying.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, David Matthew took the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass and had this to share in his testimonial:

“Since graduating, I’ve used the MMM to:

• Pass the Bar and become a licensed attorney
• Acquire several more professional certifications
• Learn Spanish (Muy bien!)”

The point is that you can take on more. But you need to perform a bit of “know thyself” and manage your time. You also need to pick and make use of optimal study places.

That’s where the rest of the tips are of critical importance, so please keep reading.

Optimize Your MemoryDavid was intrigued by the art of memory, but more importantly, he took action to learn it.

To do that, you need to master a small set of skills:

• The Memory Palace
• Mnemonic Images
• A number system like the Major or PAO System
• Spaced Repetition

These simple systems are the basis of my bestselling book, How to Learn and Memorize Legal Terminology.

It’s very simple to get started. Most people can learn all of these memory techniques in a weekend or less.

Use Anki & FlashcardsAlthough most of my students find the Memory Palace approach superior to flashcards and Anki, you might find them useful.

The trick is to make sure you base your cards on questions. You want them to trigger your recall, not put you in a perpetual game of rote learning.

We know this is true thanks to research in what memory scientists call active recall.

Basically, when you use these learning tools to create puzzles that you need to solve, you will form memories faster. It just how your memory works, without exception. The only problem can be that in life, as in law, some people think they are exceptions to this rule.

But they are not. Not even if they have photographic memory.

Explain Briefs to Imaginary JudgesRaw memorization is not the same as raw understanding.

It’s important to spend time practicing the skills – which recent and looming updates to the bar exams around the world have shown.

You can practice your memory and your insight at the same time by mentally going through case facts and explaining them to a judge of your own invention.

Because you have so many possible areas of the law you need to understand, you can go through various issues alphabetically be building a Memory Wheel for them.

You can them mentally rotate around briefs that you explain to your imaginary judge for:

• Administrative law
• Agency
• Bankruptcy
• Constitutional law
• Ethics
• Corporations
• Damages
• Domestic relations
• Equity
• Federal jurisdiction
• Insurance
• Labor law
• Municipal law
• Property law
• Etc.

This form of practice is especially important because more than one topic can appear in a single question.

Beyond Bar Exam TipsSo, what do you need to pass the bar exam?

Time, common sense, critical thinking and a razor sharp memory.

If you need more help, get my FREE Memory Improvement course:

It will take you through the foundational skill of the Memory Palace technique.

Many thousands of lawyers have used it before you. And many thousands more will use it after you.

The question is:

Are you going to protect your mind and memory from distractions?

And are you going to optimize everything by spending a weekend or two learning memory techniques?

I hear the gavel falling and it sounds like the verdict is in – make it happen!

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Learning how to remember carpal bones is easy when you use fun mnemonics. Get the best mnemonics for the bones of the hand now.

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Learning how to remember insulins of each type, including onset, peak times and duration is fun and easy. This tutorial shows you how.

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Finding a good prospective memory definition is hard. This post is packed with examples so you can understand it quickly.

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Tony Buzan's Self-Enhancing Memory Master Matrix is a clever way of memorizing numbers and other information. Learn it now with examples.

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Looking for cognitive activities for adults? Here’s detail on cognitive processes and 13 powerful activities to keep your brain sharp even as you age.

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Is learning Italian easy? Potentially, yes. But only if you rig the game right based on some simple memory hacks I'll reveal in this post.

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The Art of Memory is one of the most successful memory improvement books. But is it any good? And did Frances Yates use mnemonics herself?

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Tired of hunting for brain games that wind up wasting your time? Here's how to make your own using information that matters.

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A good cranial nerves mnemonic can be hard to find. Here are 12 you can use. You'll also learn how to create your own medical mnemonics fast.

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Knowing how to learn medical terminology quickly is key to your success. Go beyond the standard advice with these 6 powerful tips.

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What are mnemonic devices, and how can you use them to improve memory? This post shows how, including helpful techniques and strategies.

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There are many ways to use the Leitner System. Leitner himself favored experimentation. Here's a Leitner box example with additional tips.

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Knowing how to improve reading comprehension comes down to this small set of unconventional tips. Practice reading better now.

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If you want to legitimately improve your average reading speed, it's important to put the numbers in a proper context. Learn how now.

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Is Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes worth reading? Let's talk about real critical thinking and memory skills so you can decide.

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Using a Memory Palace for language learning is effective if you approach it the right way. Get the best tips now and improve quickly.

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Want to achieve success in all you do? Learn how to visualize clearly and map out your vision in this post.

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Improving your reading skills is actually pretty easy. Discover the best way to improve reading comprehension with 4 other powerful tips.

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The benefits of reading before bed are immense. Learn all about night time reading from a renowned professor who loves laying down to read.

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Matt Barclay suffered memory issues following a cardiac arrest. Yet, using the Magnetic Memory Method, he recited almost an entire Psalm.

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Want to use a Memory Palace for remembering the Bible? Avoid bad advice. These Memory Palace examples will help you memorize scripture fast.

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Active recall works incredibly well. You just have to make sure you're using it correctly. Learn two rules that make it work flawlessly now.

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Spanish is a fantastic language. Use these memory techniques and you'll experience a massive boost in your fluency faster than you can say "pronto." ;)

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Magnetic Memory Method user Richard Gilzean takes you through how he memorized a new German phrase every day for an entire year.

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Rapidly memorizing the postural drainage positions should not be a long, tedious chore. Learn to memorize all the chest pt positions quickly.

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Mental imagery is about more than the psychology of memory. Understanding it can help you learn faster and remember more. Learn more now.

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Ronald Johnson and Anthony Metivier discuss time, technology, and advanced Memory Palace tactics. Optimize your memory with these tips.

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If you want to know how to memorize vocabulary quickly and permanently, this step-by-step guide is your one-stop resource.

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Tired of the same old signs of genius? Read this list and discover the truth about genius and how to rapidly enjoy high intelligence.

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Rhetorica Ad Herennium is one of the best ever Memory Palace books. Explore its five main tips on using the art of memory from its pages now.

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Learning goals are often talked about in terms of SMART goals. That can work, but these learning goals examples go further. Read now.

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Ed Cooke is a legendary innovator of memory software, a proven memory athlete and incredible author. Learn his best memory tricks now.

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Rose Szwed found parts of nursing hard. For phlebotomy she used the Magnetic Memory Method to turn a failed exam into A+ nursing knowledge. Here's how.

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Akira Haraguchi stunned the world by memorizing 100,000 digits of pi. In this post, I reveal his secret and how you can do it too.

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There are 4 key ways to use the Memory Wheel technique of Ramon Llull. Discover them all for better memory and improved thinking now.

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It's easy to overcome learning plateaus when you have the right strategies. Read this masterclass on learning faster in fun ways now.

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The Zettelkasten Method is often over-complicated. Discover an easier, faster and more memory-friendly Zettelkasten system now.

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You can stop struggling to remember the bass clef. The standard mnemonics don't work, so give these faster ones a try instead.

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Do you ever wonder, “what is mind mapping” exactly?

Well, imagine you’re listening to a history lecture. Instead of taking notes, your fingers itch to make a mindmap of World War I events as you hear them.

But how do you draw mind maps?

And, can mind maps alone boost your memory, learning power, and creativity?

In this article, you’ll explore a complete guide to mind mapping, how to draw one, including multiple examples of mind maps. We’ll also examine whether mind mapping alone can improve your brainpower and creativity, and what else you can do.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

• • What is Mind Mapping?
  • Benefits of Mind Mapping
  • Who, When, and How to Make a Mind Map
  • Tools You Can Use for Mind Mapping
  • Can Mind Mapping Alone Improve Your Memory?
  • How to Combine a Mind Map with the Major System

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What is Mind Mapping?
Mind mapping is a simple, visual way to organize your ideas for better clarity and recall. Mind maps focus on only one central concept or idea and are based on radial hierarchies and tree structures.

What does all that mean? Let’s get into the details.

A Brief History and Definition of Mind Mapping MethodsThe practice of drawing radial maps to map information goes back several centuries.

Some people credit the first mind maps to the 3rd-century philosopher Porphyry of Tyros. Ramon Llull, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Isaac Newton also used mind mapping techniques. Much later, in the 1960s, scientists Allan Collins and Ross Quillian developed the semantic network into mind maps.

However, it was psychology consultant Tony Buzan who first popularized the term “mind map.” Buzan drew colorful, tree-like structures called radial trees where a central topic branched out to several sub-topics.

The Tony Buzan Learning Center defines their Mind Map® as “a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, color, and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner.”

These pictorial representations introduced by Buzan are now being used by students, teachers, engineers, psychologists, and others in many ways.

So, what does a mind map look like?

Examples of Mind MapsA mind-mapping exercise is colorful and engaging. And, the result looks analytical and artistic at the same time.

Here are some great examples of how fun and engaging mind maps can be. Some of them look messy — but look deeper and you’ll see they are examples of detailed trains of thought.

Source: Tony Buzan Learning Center

Source: MindMapArt

Source: MindMapArt

Source: BiggerPlate

These fascinating examples are colorful, though in some cases, also quite visually overwhelming.

That’s why I’ve pared down my own style, and am glad I got Tony Buzan’s seal of approval after doing so:

Anthony Metivier with a Buzan-style Mind Map

But you might be asking: aren’t these the same as spider maps, concept maps, and other such visualizations?

No. There are some key differences.

Why are Mind Maps Effective?Nobel prize winner Dr. Roger Sperry’s research proved that visual forms of note making are more effective than written methods.

He showed that the brain is divided into two hemispheres that perform cortical skills like logic, imagination, color recognition, and others. These functions work in sync when you mindmap your thoughts, creating a lasting impression in your brain.

Mind maps are effective because:

• They nudge you to ditch the usual, bullet-point style of thinking, which pushes you to use your creativity.
• They are presented in a brain-friendly format — and people can grasp the linkages quickly.
• They let you see the bigger picture.
• They keep you focused on key issues.
• They give you time for “diffuse thinking” as you pause to change colors and reflect on keywords and images.
• And, they help you retain and recall more information through patterns and associations.

Next, let’s look at why mind mapping can be beneficial.

Benefits of Using a Mind Mapping MethodYears of research have gone into testing the effectiveness of mind mapping.

In a 2005 study by G. Cunningham, 80% of the students agreed that mind mapping helped them understand science concepts better.

Paul Farrand proved the efficacy of mind mapping as a study technique and encouraged its use in medical curricula.

Mind maps are known to help you to improve your productivity at work, academic success, and even to manage your life.

Here’s how you could apply it in your day-to-day life:

• Note Taking: You can map out notes from a podcast, a project discussion, or a seminar.
• Brainstorming: Helps in real-time collaboration with your team members to make informed business decisions.
• Studying: You can summarize books.
• Presenting information to an audience: Use it to get your team’s buy-in for anything through clear narratives.
• Problem-solving: Sometimes, it helps if you map out your current situation and your desired situation separately. This will help you come up with solutions easily.
• Increasing creativity: The words, images, and colors you use let you see the information from a very different perspective.
• Planning: Plan your holiday or your next sales strategy using mind maps.
• Language learning: Use a simple, 12-point mind map to combine 12 vocabulary words with the Major System. Here’s how:

Who, When, and How to Make a Mind Map
Now that you have a fair idea of mind maps, let’s understand who should use it, as well as when and how.

Who Should Use Mind Maps?Mind maps are particularly helpful for those who:

• Remember a visual image or a diagram better than written pieces.
  • (Or need practice becoming more visual.
• Deal with lots of information or a project that needs more clarity.
• Need to brainstorm for ideas from others to build a bigger project or solution.

Mind mapping has also proven useful for dyslexic students and those with ADHD.

When Should You Use Mind Maps?Create mind maps when you need to achieve some goal — to understand your course material or project better, or to assess the ideas from brainstorming sessions.

Remember — mind mapping isn’t the end goal by itself.

And don’t spend too much time perfecting it. If it takes too long, it may hamper your creative thinking.

How to Make a Mind MapDrawing a mind map is pretty straightforward.

For example, if you want to prepare a meeting agenda take a blank page and follow these basic steps:

• Draw a bubble in the middle of the page with the title of your meeting.
• Branch out with new bubbles from the central theme, with each branch representing the topics you want to address.
• Draw lines to connect each of them to the middle bubble.
• Add new ideas starting from the general to the specific.
• Repeat this for each subtopic branching out from the topics.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What are the Rules for Mind Mapping?Mind maps are meant to be hierarchical and show relationships among pieces of the whole.

What are the guidelines you can use?

Tips for Drawing a Mind MapHere are some mind mapping rules to make your mind map project expressive and compelling.

• Use colors, illustrations, and pictures: Some of the most effective mind maps have more doodles and symbols than words.
• Keep the topics and sub-topics brief: Stick to a single word each, or just a picture instead of long phrases or sentences.
• Keyword for branches: Name your branches or lines using a keyword each.
• Use different text sizes and alignment: Provide as many visual cues as you can to emphasize important points.
• Use symbols: Draw symbols like arrows and shapes to classify your thoughts.
• Space it out: Leave enough negative space between your idea bubbles.
• Highlight important stuff: Highlight important branches or bubbles with borders or colors.
• Create linear lists: You can create linear hierarchies using bullet points and numbered lists.
• Mix up word sizes and fonts: Add in hierarchies of words using different font sizes to highlight their importance.
• Use varying cases: Use lower and upper cases to highlight the importance of ideas.

Every little effort you put into your mind map project will engage your brain. And, all these visual aids will make your mind map more memorable and easier to recall.

Now, do you draw mind maps on paper, or is there a diagramming tool to do it?

The answer is: both.

Tools You Can Use for Mind MappingYou can draw mind maps by hand, just like note-taking during a lecture.

Or you can use websites or mobile phone apps to do it.

Traditional Mind MapsNothing is as comforting as putting pen to paper when an idea strikes you. This is, in fact, the simplest way to map your ideas.

It is your personal project — your thoughts, handwriting, and your doodles. You can create it yourself or in groups on a whiteboard during a brainstorming session.

The pen-and-paper method works perfectly most of the time, but it does have limitations:

• You may not have enough space on the paper to expand your thoughts.
• You can’t make too many corrections.
• And, it may not always be presentable enough to share in a formal meeting.

The other option is to use mind mapping software — websites and apps.

Mind Mapping SoftwareMind mapping apps and websites help you organize your ideas and store large amounts of data in a single location.

What makes for great mind mapping software?

The best mind mapping tools…

• Allow you to create a wide network of ideas, facts, and connections.
• Let you make quick changes through automatic spatial organization and hierarchical structuring (particularly useful while brainstorming).
• Let you play with fonts and colors, and even drag and drop files into the mind mapping program.

Which are the Best Mind Mapping Software Tools?Here are three of the best online mind mapping tools available today:

1. MindManager by MindJet: This tool is for business users — a professional mind map maker with MS Office integration. You could even pick a mind map template in the tool to get started.

Source: MindManager

2. XMind: This mind mapping tool has a simple interface and is mainly for enterprise-level users. It lets you convert your mind maps to a Gantt chart that shows the start and end dates and progress of each task.

You can even use a countdown timer to time your sessions on this mind mapping software (this will keep you focused and will stop you from spending too much time mind mapping and brainstorming).

Source: XMind

3. Scapple: This mind mapping tool was built for writers by a writers group called “Literature and Latte.” It is easy to use and comes with great features (minus embedding audio and video).

With this mind mapping application, you’re not limited to starting with a central theme. You can begin with a small idea, then work backward to reach the main idea.

Source: Scapple

You could also experiment with an open-source free mind mapping tool like FreeMind or Coggle.

The point is this: there are a lot of options. For an example of one teacher who uses software and teaches with a specific focus on personal develop is Joseph Rodrigues. Here’s one of his best:

Mind Map + Memory Palace = Magnetic MemoryA mind map is an excellent non-linear visual representation of your ideas that mimics the way your brain thinks.

Once you master it (whether you use a notebook or a mind mapping software), you’ll never go back to linear note-taking ever again. But, mind mapping alone may not boost your brainpower as much as when combined with the Magnetic Memory Method. If you need more mind map examples, we have plenty.

Ready to use this combination to fire up your memory, creativity, and learning? Sign up for my free memory improvement kit today!

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If you’re looking for critical thinking exercises that lead to actual improvements, you’re probably frustrated right now.

After all, the Internet is loaded with generic exercises like “read books written by leaders.”

Sorry, but that’s not a specific exercise. That’s a generic activity.

On this page, we’ll dive into specific exercise for critical thinking targeted at specific outcomes. Each exercise is designed to help you boost precise aspects of thinking so you can feel improvement as you go.

First, however, it’s good to understand what makes an exercise worthwhile.

So let’s dive in.

9 Critical Thinking Exercises That Create Laser Sharp IntelligenceAuthentic critical thinking exercises must always involve:

• New learning by working with information you have not encountered before
• Variety so that you experience growth in multiple areas and don’t “burn out” on just one area
• Varying levels of complexity so you experience different challenges
• Consistent practice over time

Follow those guidelines and you will succeed.

Critical Thinking Exercises For StudentsStudents have many needs. Above all, they need to be able to understand how people make arguments and substantiate their claims with evidence.

One: The News ExerciseOne great source for practice is the news.

For this exercise, head over to any news website. Look for an article that includes graphs, numbers, or any representation involving numerical data.

Here’s the kind of news representation I’m talking about:

As you examine the news, ask the following questions:

• How is the news trying to help you understand the data?
• Does the representation of the data make sense?
• How can you determine whether or not the graph is reliable?
• How can you determine whether or not the presenter is reliable and free from bias?

This is a power exercise that will sharpen your mind whenever you are presented with scientific data.

Two: The Abilities ExerciseDo you know anyone living with a disability?

I do and you can learn more about my mentor Jon Morrow in his article 7 Life Lessons from a Guy Who Can’t Move Anything but His Face.

After reading his post, imagine what it would be like if you could only move one part of your body. Write an essay that describes how exactly your life would change from the way it is.

Three: The Research Response ExerciseTake the following argument:

Pesticides harm the environment more than they’re worth.

As you think through this statement, answer the following questions:

• What kind of research do you need to conduct in order to answer both for or against this statement?
• How would you outline your responses? Use a structure like this: “if A then B, and if B then C, and if C then D, and in conclusion, if A then D.”

Critical Thinking Exercises For BusinessPeople in business need to successfully navigate sales meetings and negotiate multiple levels of management in their careers. Here are some critical thinking exercises that will help you develop skills in these areas.

Four: The Prison ExercisePretend that you’ve been hired to sell a neighborhood council on building a new maximum security prison. This particular neighborhood is upper-class and filled with mansions.

What benefits can you bring together to explain why it would be a great thing for this neighborhood to house prisoners in this area?

What incentives can you include in the full package? As you consider both the benefits and the incentives, reign yourself in.

You want to think logically in order to make this a critical thinking exercise. If you indulge in flights of fancy, then it will be creative thinking exercise instead.

Anytime you get off track, these critical thinking examples will help you get back on this path.

Five: The Facial Expression ExerciseOne way to improve business success is to develop your empathy.

For this exercise, gather a number of photographs from the newspaper or some magazines.

As you look through the photographs, practice identifying the emotions. If you feel like you’re lacking in vocabulary for the task, consider reading The Dictionary of Emotions. You can also use an online dictionary or thesaurus to come up with words.

Next, do some role playing. Pick one person from the photographs and imagine meeting them in real life.

List all the questions you would ask them in order to connect with them better based on the emotion you listed when you first saw the photograph.

Six: The Competitor ExerciseThink about your competitors in business.

As you go through each, list their purpose for being in business. What is it that they are trying to accomplish?

Be non judgemental, realistic and focus on the most significant aspects of their purpose.

Then, think about how you can contribute to the growth of their success without damaging your own.

Obviously, this is a very tricky critical thinking exercise, but I’m confident you’ll find it beneficial. If you’re into sports or any other realm where competition plays a role, this exercise is also helpful.

And if you really want to learn about critical thinking so you’re a master, check out these critical thinking books.

Critical Thinking Exercises For AdultsAs mentioned, exercises that stimulate our thinking abilities are best if they are targeted at a particular outcome.

However, there is some room for general exercises that are good for everyone. Let’s have a look at some of my favorites.

Seven: The Stakes ExerciseMany times when you’re listening to an argument, it’s easy to get hung up on the details.

A great exercise is to simply ask: What’s at stake?

This means, what’s the real core issue? And who benefits the most if they get to be right on the issue?

As you complete this exercise, but sure to go through both the objective and subjective reasoning of both sides.

Also, you’ll benefit if you continually focus on how many possible answers might exist. It’s not always the case that there’s one and only one correct answer, even if situations require us to pick just one.

You’ll want to also spend time interpreting the information on both sides of the argument, and possibly doing follow-up research. In fact, if you don’t, it’s unlikely that you’ll improve your reasoning skills as much as you’d like.

Eight: Make An “Argument Map”I’ve talked a lot about mind mapping on this blog. But there’s another powerful process called argument mapping.

This technique goes back to Plato. If you’ve read the Meno, you might remember how Socrates draws a set of figures in the dirt to display the concepts that come up during the discussion.

These days, we can use pen and paper or software to create an argument map. Here’s one from Evan Rodriguez.

To create one yourself, pick an argument where multiple reasons are involved and break things down.

In this example, Rodriquez has separated the “because” reasons and then used the graph to help him sort through the truth by visualizing a set of if/then parameters.

Creating such argument maps provide tremendous exercise. They’re also relatively quick to produce.

You might also enjoy learning more about the history of what is sometimes called “graphicacy.” Look up people and processes like:

• Ars combinatoria
• Giordano Bruno
• Petrus Ramus
• John Venn (who introduced Venn diagrams)
• Peirce’s Existential Graphs

Nine: Memorize the FallaciesOne of the best critical thinking exercises is to learn the fallacies so well you know them when you see them.

There are at least two kinds of fallacies: Formal and informal. This list of fallacies is very thorough.

To commit as many of these as possible to memory, you’ll want to learn a technique called the Memory Palace. I’m happy to help you learn it here:

Let’s say you want to memorize argumentum ad lapidem or the “appeal to the stone” fallacy.

You can memorize the Latin and English along with the meaning by thinking about a chair in your home and imagining yourself having an argument with a stone. In this image, you’re calling the stone’s arguments absurd without providing any evidence for why you believe this to be the case.

It’s a powerful technique and will help you spot fallacies in everyday life. Commit as many to memory as you can.

The Ultimate Critical Thinking Exercise to Reach Peak Critical ThinkingFor thousands of years, people have asked “Who am I?”

You might not think about this as an exercise that relates to critical thinking, but if you really submit to the question as a practice, it helps your thinking across the board.

When you take away your name, your title, the roles you play in your profession and all the games of life, who are you really? Is there a “true self” in the mix that you can always trust to be the same?

To practice this exercise with more structure, get 15-20 index cards and write down personal qualities on each. They can be qualities like:

• Honesty
• Discipline
• Enthusiasm
• Patience
• Dedication
• Versatility

Sit down, take a deep breath and mix the cards.

Then, pick one of the cards and reflect on how that quality is perceived by others in your life:

Family, friends, co-workers. You might want to learn about how to think about yourself through the perspective of authors through my autobiographical memory post first. Or just dive in.

Next, imagine what it would be like if that quality was completely gone from your life. Who would you be without it? Can you glimpse your true self without this label?

Then pick up another card and repeat the process, linking each with a deep breath. Then follow-up by journaling on your experiences. Making sure to write after completing each of the exercises on this page is key to benefiting from the reflective thinking skills you’ll also want to grow.

Thank you for reading this article, and if you enjoyed these exercises, please consider going through these powerful brain exercises next.

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Is there an optimal amount of reading time you should commit to each and every day?

As a matter of fact, yes.

But does it come down to some meaningless fluff answer like, “15 minutes minimum?”

Absolutely not.

If you really want to experience the benefits of daily reading, stick around.

I’m going to give you the real deal when it comes to becoming smarter in your field through reading.

These tactics will help you have a lot more fun too, including my “Thor’s Hammer” and “Pinch technique” for keeping a solid reading pace and reaching daily targets.

Sound good?

Let’s dive in!

Why Reading Daily Is Essential for a Well-Trained MindHaving a well-trained mind requires frequent reading because humans use language to create new things, solve problems and enjoy life in ways that no other species can.

Sure, animals can and do enjoy their athleticism. We’ve all seen dogs loving their play. But as far as we know, only we humans podcast about such matters. And that’s not to mention creating TV shows, writing books and creating entire movies that dramatize through language the experience of being alive.

14 Benefits of Daily Reading to Unlock Your PotentialI’ve written extensively about the benefits of reading elsewhere on this blog, so here’s a bullet-point summary of those key points:

• Ongoing exposure to new facts that lead to crystal and fluid intelligence
• Vocabulary development through spaced repetition and deliberate memorization
• Mental stimulation
• Greater empathy and emotional intelligence
• Stress reduction and relaxation
• Personal growth through reflective thinking
• Improvements to your internal dialogue
• Boosts to your intelligence
• Stronger creative and imagination skills
• Improved focus and concentration
• Cultural and Historical Understanding
• More topics to discuss during conversation
• Enhanced Communication and Writing Skills
• Structured thinking that can help you deliver presentations better

How to Get the Most Out of Your Daily ReadingAs a pro reader with a PhD and a business based around what I think of as “depth research,” let me suggest this:

Focused results come from setting goals based on firm intentions.

Getting to the point you can do this for yourself may require a higher level of mental strength than you currently have – and that’s something I work on keeping strong myself.

But at the end of the day, without setting an intention first, reading goals often fall apart. And then it doesn’t really matter how much gets read in a day.

That matter aside, let’s say you do have your intention in place. What’s next?

This entrepreneur knew the purpose of his book very well. Not only was it amazingly packaged, but it was linked to a charity with a very high purpose indeed.

Clarify Your PurposeBefore you crack open a book, remind yourself why you’re reading the material in the first place.

You can ask yourself:

• Am I reading for knowledge?
• For pleasure/entertainment?
• For memory exercise or some other aspect of mental fitness?
• Personal growth?

By taking just a few seconds to ask questions like these, you’ll prime your mind. The heightened attention will help you get more out of each reading session as a result.

Eventually, you will also have primed your procedural memory and find yourself asking questions like these automatically. Priming will be part of your natural reading process.

Minimize DistractionsWe all lead busy lives and to do any kind of substantial reading, most of us require silence.

No problem. When I want to read, I simply let the people around me know. Or, if there’s a lot of noise in the house, I go to a park or quiet cafe.

Cafes are amongst my favorite places to study and read. The sounds don’t bother me at all and I find the ambience of cafes much better than listening to binaural beats.

Engage the MaterialAlthough it’s possible to avoid falling asleep while reading in bed, reading is best done hands-on.

This means reading while taking notes, mind mapping or using my “Thor’s Hammer” technique. I teach it in this video on how to focus while reading.

I also recommend using flashcards in a particular way while reading to maximize the value of time spent. I teach this method in how to memorize a textbook.

Pace YourselfOf all the reading comprehension strategies you can learn, reading faster is low on the list of priorities.

Instead, I suggest you learn to do what I call reading with momentum. This meaning creating a sense of flow as you read.

Instead of stopping all the time to look up unfamiliar words and ideas, you can save them for after. Sometimes I will take a break for the purposes of interleaving to look something up.

But normally, flow is best left undisturbed. Most things can be looked up later, and often books clarify key terms when you just keep reading.

Reflect and ReviewSomething a lot of people miss is the principle of active recall.

It’s a fairly developed science, but the key idea is that you deliberately think about what you’ve read.

Even if it feels difficult, do it. That’s the point. The science of active recall shows us that making that effort is itself what helps the brain form memories and understanding.

Beyond that, you want to read a wide variety of material and personalize what you’re reading by using elaborative association and mnemonic imagery.

How Long A Day Should You Read?If you’re going to set a reading quota per day, the exact amount boils down to your goal.

For example, the most effective reading time for me on a daily basis depends on what I’m trying to achieve.

When I’m deep in a project, I aim for 4-5 hours per day. That might sound like a lot, but given the nature of my current work, it’s reasonable.

Especially compared to the 6-8 hours I used to put in during my university years. But even then, 2-3 of those hours were picked up during long commutes to either York University in Toronto, or Rutgers in New Jersey.

When it comes to my daily reading for pleasure, the answer is simple: As much as I can! I love reading!

And since I’m a researcher by trade, it’s often hard for me to distinguish between reading for work and for pleasure. That’s why I set aside an hour each day to go for a walk and read in the park something completely unrelated to my work.

So, if you want to know the exact reading duration for personal growth that will work for you, I suggest you start journaling about your current reading consistency and practice. Match what you discover by tracking your daily reading progress with your goals. Observation will lead naturally to optimization.

I was delighted to find an entire shelf of my mentor’s book in Chinese translation in Beijing!

What Kind of Books Should Your Read?According to at least one study, reading for pleasure on top of the reading you do for school or work helps increase empathy and overall progress in life.

I believe that each person needs to get deeply involved in choosing the best kinds of books for themselves. But here are some categories I recommend that will help boost your smarts:

• Books about memory improvement to help you master the Memory Palace technique
• Books about linguistics so you know more about the language you’re reading
• The best books about how to learn a language so you can become bilinguial
• Books on philosophy so you know the best questions to ask
• The best books on critical thinking so you conclude rationally about everything you read

What Time Of Day Is Best For Reading?The recommended reading time for different genres again has to do with your specific goals. It also requires a bit of “Know Thyself” matched with personal experimentation.

Many people are fresh with energy first thing in the morning. And that can change throughout life.

But to really develop reading habits and frequency of reading, it comes down to setting specific times and showing up. As I once heard Dan Kennedy say, “you sit down, open a book, and read.” It’s really doesn’t get simpler than that.

Finding Time to Read DailyBut I hear you barking, big dog. You’ve got family, school, commuting, work and other obligations. How are you going to squeeze it all in?

Here’s what I suggest:

Stop trying to work everything out in your head.

Map your day out on paper. Don’t try to find time or make it. Manage it.

Proscriptive time tracking in one of my journals

Prescriptive vs. Proscriptive Time Management For ReadingI do this every day by combing prescriptive and proscriptive to-do listing. Prescriptive to-do lists are when you list what has to be done and decide when to do it. This can be done in a journal or random scraps of paper.

Proscriptive lists involve charting out what you actually did and when. You’re describing your tasks in real time. For completing this task, I use a Snapshot journal.

The Snapshot Journal I’m using

It helps me keep pace and read targets because when I write down what I’m doing by start and end time, it trains my brain to think before acting.

Instead of visiting Facebook or Twitter, I keep focused on the task by literally documenting the start and end times.

Although there are apps that help with this kind of time-tracking, I prefer to avoid the digital amnesia they create by time-tracking on paper only.

When you use this form of accountability, you’ll find that you have much more time for reading than it might seem.

It’s not that I don’t use social media at all (I do). But it’s timed, strategic, and the lion’s share of the time goes to what helps move things along in life the most: reading.

Carry Print Books EverywhereMy wife laughs at me for carrying 2-3 books everywhere we go.

But the reality is that I get a lot of reading done that way.

You can also listen to a lot of audiobooks on the go, though you might miss out on the benefits of reading from print, which are well-documented.

How Many Pages To Read Each DayEven if you know how to measure your reading speed, you’ll always need to adjust your daily reading goals.

This is where my “Pinch technique” is so powerful.

Each time I sit down to read, I decide right then and there how many pages I think I can focus on during that session.

I don’t use a timer or the Pomodoro technique. But you can do that yourself and combine it with the pinch technique.

Here, the point is to know the general reading goal and then estimate how much you think you can get through. Pinching the exact amount of pages helps you “hold fast” until you reach the goal.

Over time, you will develop great powers of estimation that help you know what is the right amount for you.

And when you’re under pressure to get through entire books, this technique will also help you save time. Instead of constantly flipping ahead to see how much you still have left to go in a chapter, you’ll always know. You’ll feel it and see it.

This technique relates to what is sometimes called the power of small wins or the progress principle.

Don’t Follow the Numbers: Produce ThemA key point of what I’ve shared with you today is that you need to set goals and create your own daily reading quotas.

If you feel challenged, then that is a good thing. When I did the reading for my research on The Chaos Memory Palace of Giordano Bruno, it was tough! He does not write clearly.

But thanks to following the tips you’ve discovered today, I got through the reading. The progress principle helped me incredibly and the rewards have been huge.

If you love reading, the answer comes down to lifestyle design. Become self-employed or succeed as an entrepreneur and you can read all day long.

To a certain extent, that’s me. But I also love writing. So I need to use the time organization tips I shared with you on this page. They have been key to my success in balancing work pleasures and the joys of reading.

In some cases, it’s not about how much time you spend reading. It’s about getting your mind in shape first. As Catherine Snow has demonstrated in her research, certain language disorders may need to be overcome. Although it was very light, I once went through one such disorder myself when I experienced linguistic deskilling.

In that case, reading more wasn’t the solution. Talking was, and that comes down to improving verbal memory, amongst other things.

So again, it comes down to goals. And if you have big goals, you’re going to want a better memory. Grab my free memory improvement course to help you:

You’ll love how better memory helps you read more. And remember what you read, during the time you have. No matter how much that time might be.

So what do you say? Are you ready to start structuring your reading time around goals?

Doing so has certainly helped me!

The post How Much Should You Read a Day? (& Why It Matters) appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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I learned how to eliminate my internal dialogue, on demand.

It was faster and easier than I ever thought possible.

And on this page I’ll show you exactly what I did.

Better, I’ll give you the science behind why the powerful strategy will probably work for you too.

And I’ll include some variations on the core exercises I used in case this inner monologue “silencer” doesn’t pan out.

But brace yourself:

The ability to control that voice in your head?

It’s powerful.

And this mental superpower could change everything. For the better, of course.

What Is an Internal Dialogue (& Do You Have One)?Internal dialogue refers to any silent conversation you have with yourself. It is also referred to as self-talk or inner monologue.

Although it’s possible that some people don’t experience anything like a conversation in their minds, the self-help industry relies on it.

For example, the neuroscientist Sam Harris talks often about having a “committee” in his head. His book Waking Up and the associated app are devoted to helping people turn down the noise of so many internal conversations.

In Happiness Beyond Thought, Dr. Gary Weber discusses SRIN (self-referential inner narrative). You can also read about it on his blog and follow some interesting scientific citations.

Weber builds upon many traditions devoted to helping people deal with unwanted thoughts and offers several concentration meditations. These exercises are specifically for people who find running on the treadmill of thinking difficult or even intolerable.

I know I certainly did, and was grateful when I managed to get over it because the relief has been immense. And my story must have struck a nerve because my TEDx Talk on the matter has garnered over 3 million views:

The Bright Side of Talking To YourselfThinking is not all doom and gloom. Even overthinking sometimes plays a role in experiencing healthy human consciousness.

For example, reflective thinking helps shape our perceptions, beliefs and actions. The more you know yourself as a kind of “personal narrator,” that whispering in your mind can have a positive influence on your thoughts, emotions, and decision-making processes. You can even use thinking deliberately to exercise your subconscious mind.

Types of Inner DialogueYou experience internal dialogue in many ways. These range from fleeting thoughts to extensive deliberations. You might experience a stream of consciousness, where thoughts flow freely without restraint, or as a structured conversation with distinct voices representing different facets of your personality.

In some instances, you inner monologue might even adopt the tone of a critical inner voice, berating or praising our actions and choices. That’s a big problem I used to have.

But as mentioned, not all forms of inner dialogue are a problem. Let’s look at a variety of types so you’re more aware of what they are and how they tick.

IntrospectionWe often think of philosophy as a form of introspection. Indeed, much of philosophy is dedicated to thinking, often in the form of specific philosophical questions.

Few people would criticize this process. But Timothy D. Wilson points out in Strangers to Ourselves that too much introspection can make you freeze up. He’s gone so far as to say that you can reduce the quality of your preferences for things by overthinking.

And you’ve probably had an experience like that in your life. For example, you might have stood in front of an ice cream parlour and gotten so torn between a chocolate scoop or vanilla that you wound up not wanting either.

I’ve had that experience with ice cream, at book stores and when choosing everything from holiday destinations to new guitars. Some scientists call this issue “decision fatigue.”

That’s why, even though I love to introspect, I try to practice what Dan Sullivan has called “speed of implementation.” Make a decision and move on is basically what it means. And as he points out, once the decision is made, your mind is freed up to think other things.

Verbal ThinkingWe make decisions by thinking. Many scientists openly admit it is hard to study exactly how the mind works to make decisions.

But they seem to agree that the decision making process is experienced differently during childhood than in adulthood.

The quality of your verbal memory, acoustic memory and verbal intelligence play substantial roles in how well you make decisions. And verbal thinking can be down silently or out loud, and it’s a good strategy to use both as problem solving strategies. You can also use mind mapping and brainstorming to help and deliberately include your inner voice and speak out loud to generate more ideas.

Self RegulationHave you ever said something you immediately regretted and started mentally punishing yourself?

This kind of self-referential inner narrative is the dark side of self regulation. It’s important to try and avoid it. You simply don’t deserve it.

But we also experience a form of self regulation when we feel proud about an accomplishment. You can even deliberately tap into your episodic memory to recall happy memories. Dr. Tim Dalgleish has even scientifically tested a “happy Memory Palace” method using the method of loci to help people heal depression.

Many of us self regulate using our inner monologue throughout the day, even if it’s just mentally running through a to-do list.

Inner ExperienceThat voice in your mind is actually just one kind of inner experience. Scientists Russel T. Hurlburt and Christopher L. Heavey have described five phenomena of inner experience:

• Inner speech
• Inner seeing (unless you have aphantasia)
• unsymbolized thinking
• emotions and feelings
• sensory awareness

Although you might not experience unsymbolized thinking as a form of inner monologue, it certainly can influence your attitude. That in turn can shape the thoughts you did think. Richard Petty’s entry in the Encyclopedia of Human Behavior is a great place to start finding more information about attitude formation and change.

Why Does Your Internal Dialogue Spiral Out of Control?It’s truly painful when it happens.

You’re in a good mood and then suddenly someone says or does something and your mind goes nuts. You can’t stop thinking about it.

Why is that?

There can be several reasons.

One of them is purely practical: perhaps whatever happened really is distressing.

More often, the real reason we cannot stop our thoughts comes down to:

• Poor sleep
• Poor diet
• Lack of fitness
• Lack of mental training
• Issues with emotional regulation
• Not having your cognitive needs met

If you have issues with all of these lifestyle elements at the same time, your mind can take you on quite a road trip. That’s exactly what happened to me, a story I shared with you in The Victorious Mind.

Luckily, I managed to reign it in. What I learned ultimately saved my life – and keeps saving it. So let’s get it into the exact steps.

6 Steps to Become the Boss of Your Own Internal DialogueAs we get into the process, please understand that not all of the steps need to be followed in order.

The important thing is to get started. And then keep moving forward.

Tackling your inner speech consistently is the key. I know because I stopped one of my core practices as an experiment. Before I knew it, the old negative patterns were back.

So please consider each of these steps as timeless and worthy of continual review.

Step One: Cultivate AwarenessGood news: You’re here reading this post. New awareness is forming as we speak!

But you also want to start thinking more about your actual experience of the voices you hear in your mind. Explore the content, tone and patterns. Using a journal for this express purpose is highly recommended.

Step Two: Challenge Negative Thought PatternsAs you start cultivating awareness around what your thoughts are like, you can label them. But I recommend you go a step further: challenge them.

A simple way of doing this comes from Dr. Weber. Without exaggeration, it changed my life.

When I used to hear my mind saying negative things. I believe it. But after starting to ask simple questions to challenge those negative thoughts, things got so much better.

The two questions I started with include:

How do my thoughts behave?

Are they useful?

To help with the questioning process, I followed Dr. Weber’s suggestion to include yoga, which is also good for improving memory.

Step Three: Boost Positive Thought PatternsAs you start to enjoy how challenging negative thoughts helps you let them go, you can start to harness the power of positive thinking.

One simple tactic is to notice that you’re having a positive thought or state of mind, and then respond to it with a personal mantra.

My favorite mantra for boosting positive thought patterns is simple:

Deepen, deepen.

Those might not be the best words for you. The point is to approach your positive thoughts with something that recognizes them, acknowledges their positivity and prompts your mind to think of more. This process is basically a form of positive conditioning.

Step Four: Practice Thought StoppingAs I mentioned, I have learned how to stop my thoughts completely.

The process involves a combination of everything we’ve discussed so far: optimizing diet, sleep, fitness and other aspects of my environment. Journaling is key as well.

But the kingpin technique is what I call Memory-based Meditation.

I have memorized not just the two pattern-interrupting questions I told you about, but 28 more. All of them challenge the mind and its constant habit of chattering away.

To memorize all of the material, which you can find in Dr. Weber’s Evolving Beyond Thought, I used a Memory Palace.

Step Five: Surround Yourself With Positive InfluencesOne of my biggest issues while learning to change my inner dialogue came down to the people I was spending time with on a daily basis.

Don’t get me wrong. They are all wonderful people.

But just because I love them, doesn’t mean the boozing and depression was the best thing for me to be around.

For many people, this form of lifestyle adjustment will be very hard. It might even seem impossible.

But the fact is that upgrading our social circle, or at least shifting it is going to be absolutely necessary for helping to create a lasting positive feedback loop.

Even if this project seems hard, consider working on it. You might find it as simple as joining the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass and getting involved in memory training through our group coaching option.

Step Six: Keep Exploring Thought Improvement StrategiesThere are more paths to explore. As you continue challenging your mind and experiencing tremendous growth, you can:

• Practice visualization
• Use guided visualization and meditations
• Meditate
• Learn how to regulate your dopamine levels
• Study critical thinking and complete thinking exercises to improve your mind

Does Everyone Have A Voice In Their Head?As we discovered by looking at the findings of leading experts like Drs. Hurlburt and Heavey, your inner experience is about a lot more than having a mental voice.

All conscious beings have some kind of inner experience. The quality of that experience can be influenced by internal and external factors.

When you get the balance right, the exact “flavor” of your mind can be very fine indeed. All you have to do is take action.

One rewarding action I recommend is to focus on improving your memory. That way, you can easily explore the “Happy Memory Palace” technique proven through research by Dr. Dalgleish.

If you’d like help, here’s access to my free memory improvement course:

It will help you have access to a much more positive inner dialogue on demand.

So what do you say?

Would you like to experience what I’ve come to call a “victorious mind”?

If so, dive in and make it happen!

The post Internal Dialogue: Unraveling the Intricacies of Controlling The Mind appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Are you looking for the best Memory Palace book to help you keep your memory razor-sharp?

Ask any search engine, and it will throw up plenty of memory improvement book recommendations with techniques that may or may not work for you.

Which one do you choose?

And, could there be any alternative ways to train your brain to remember and recall everything you want to?

In this article, I’ll give you eight Memory Palace book recommendations to make your search easier. I’ll also show you three alternative ways to sharpen your brain.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

• 8 Best Books to Learn Memory Techniques and Improve Your Memory
• 3 Better Ways to Improve Your Memory

Let’s get started.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.8 Best Memory Palace BooksSeveral authors – including Mira Bartok, Dominic O’Brien, and Joshua Foer – dive deep into the concept of Memory Palaces.

Here’s my pick of 8 excellent books on memory improvement for you to read. A compilation of these could create a treasure trove of memory improvement ideas, including the art of building memory palaces.

Let’s get right to it with my first recommendation.

1. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua FoerFirst published in 2011, Joshua Foer’s bestseller debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times bestseller list and stayed on the list for eight weeks.

In his engaging writing style, Foer will take you on a fascinating journey through how the mind of a memory champion works. He goes in-depth about the mnemonic techniques they use to store memories.

A freelance science journalist, Foer learned the technique of memory training while researching the US Memory Championship. At the contest, Foer observed how people would memorize an entire deck of cards in just a couple of minutes.

This fascinated him and got him thinking whether the skill could be learned. Foer discovered that individuals who aced memory contests used special strategies handed down from the ancient Greeks to visualize things.

Most people use Memory Palaces by visualizing a structure (such as their home) in their mind — these Memory Palaces usually have several different rooms and people inside who represent what they are trying to remember.

He decided to test his own memory power.

A year later, he won the US Memory Championships against champion ‘mental athletes’ who could memorize the exact order of ten shuffled decks of cards in less than an hour.

The book draws on thorough research, the history of memory studies, and various tricks of mental champions.

1. The Art of Memory by Frances A. YatesPublished in 1966, this book is still referenced in influential memorization guides and books today.

The author, France A. Yates, traces the development of the mnemonic systems from the Simonides of Ceos era through the Renaissance until the 17th century when scientific methods were initiated.

This is the oldest mnemonic strategy and is also known as the method of loci.

The book narrates the story of Simonides, who was hired by a nobleman to read poems during a banquet. After the reading, he was asked to go outside to meet someone. Before he could re-enter the banquet hall, it collapsed, killing everyone inside.

All the bodies were mangled beyond recognition. The story goes that Simonides used his memory to recall the faces and names of every person that was killed. He realized the importance of recalling facts based on their locations or the method of loci.

These ideas hold good even now.

For example, if a defense lawyer needs to recall evidence during a trial, he can first create mental images of a place familiar to him – maybe his home – and peg each piece of evidence to a room. During the trial, he can then recall those pieces of evidence by mentally walking through his house.

But there’s more to it than memory stunts for winning court cases. Witness…

1. The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan SpenceIn this book, the author explores the story of a Jesuit priest named Matteo Ricci who lived during the 16th century, and how he used special mnemonic memory techniques to convert the Chinese to Christianity.

The priest joined the new Catholic order, the Society of Jesus, in 1571 and studied law in Rome. At that time, the order was quite young and needed to widen its influence. To ensure this, it would send young priests into the world to convert people to Catholicism.

The story goes that Ricci became a willing member of that mission and sailed to China as a missionary. For more than three decades, he used his vibrant personality to convert the Chinese to Catholicism. I imagine he knew a lot about how to memorize speeches.

During his efforts, the Jesuit priest believed he could convert more people by impressing them with his learning. That was when he started to use mnemonic devices to memorize huge amounts of information.

One of his key tasks was to convey basic Christian principles to the Chinese people in a manner they could appreciate and learn from. So he turned to memorization techniques for help.

He taught the Chinese people the art of creating memory palaces through images in their heads, helping them store several pieces of information in their mind and be able to recall it later.

The images acted as a narrative or a story helping the Chinese understand the Bible and its teachings through their own cultural and spiritual norms.

1. How to Remember Anything by Mark ChannonIn this book, memory grandmaster and author Mark Channon focuses on how a radically improved memory can add more value to anyone’s personal and professional life.

It is filled with memorization techniques that teach you how to recall numbers, dates, and facts, as well as ideas on how to remember them by using different processing strategies.

This makes the book one of the most practical ones on the art of memory improvement.

It comes with innovative exercises that can build the confidence and vocabulary of readers. It also includes core strategies that can make memories and mental images more ‘magnetic’.

1. Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grades 5 to 8 How to Remember Better and Make School Easier by Brad ZuppIf your children are struggling with learning in school, this book has plenty of ideas you could use.

It outlines powerful strategies that can improve memorization skills while making it a fun activity. The techniques teach them to remember what they see, read, and hear – three traits that can result in better grades and more confidence in classroom settings.

These strategies are scientifically proven and claim to have helped thousands of students — those who want to improve their grades, who are forgetful, lack motivation, prefer some subjects over others, feel stressed out or bored in class, and those who have a hard time completing their homework on time.

The book is based on The Feats of Memory show which is an assembly program that was created by the author, Brad Zupp himself. Teachers who have used his techniques say that it transformed the way their students processed their lessons and made tremendous improvements.

The guide also dives into the main issues that affect our attention spans – our memory and focus. This makes it especially useful for students in grades 5 to 8. Children in grades 3 and 4 can also benefit from it with some help from parents and teachers.

1. The Victorious Mind: How To Master Memory, Meditation and Mental Well-Being by Anthony MetivierSo maybe it’s cheating a little bit to include your own book, but if you’re looking for the best books to help you learn memory techniques it’s one I highly recommend!

The Victorious Mind tells the story of how I overcame the mental distress that imprisoned me in a “highly functioning manic-depressive” identity and almost took my life. I used just three practices to do so: self-inquiry meditation, memory training, and “biohacking.”

But more than a story of self-transformation, it offers detailed guidance through the techniques I used to release myself from the haze of lithium along with the illusion of self.

This book is ideal not just for those struggling with mental illness but for anyone suffering mental malaise – whether it’s digital amnesia and scatterbrain, depression, or “control freakism.”

Apart from these six, you could also read any other book on memory improvement you may find interesting.

One additional example is The Memory Palace: A Memoir by artist and children’s book author Mira Bartok, which talks about her traumatic brain injury after an accident, finding her mother who suffers from schizophrenia in a women’s shelter, and a poignant comment Bartok hears at her mother’s memorial service. Here, Bartok uses a Memory Palace as a metaphor.

7. Mnemonic Methods by Robert FluddLike Giordano Bruno, Robert Fludd believed it was possible to know and understand everything. That said, he also included a twist on the notion of “everything” by suggesting that we need to also know how to contend with two other things:

• Nothingness
• Incoming information

The nothingness part is a bit complicated because he basically says that nothing is always a something. Philosopher Eugene Thacker has explained how this concept works in more detail than we need to get into here.

In Mnemonic Methods, translator Paul Ferguson has cut out everything from Fludd’s The Metaphysical, Physical, and Technical History of the Two Worlds, the Major as well as the Minor that doesn’t have to do with memory.

This helps us as readers focus only on Fludd’s mnemonic ideas, and they are powerful.

In brief, Fludd helps the reader establish:

• Memory Palace systems
• Alphabet pegwords
• A number shape system

These days most of us memorize numbers with the Major Method and build that mnemonic system out to a PAO System. Nonetheless, Fludd’s mnemonic examples are great to go through and can help you arrive at ideas of your own.

8. The Hermetic Art of MemoryI was delighted when Lewis Masonic sent me The Hermetic Art of Memory. Here’s a full video review:

I will endeavor to get a written version of that review up soon, and can tentatively announce that some of what I’ve learned from it will appear in my own next book.

But for now, let’s talk about…

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What To Do NextAll these books on memory are sure to give you a wonderful insight into the art of brain training using mnemonic techniques, including Memory Palaces.

However, let’s face the facts:

Learning something by reading a long book may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Unless you diligently make notes and push yourself to try out the instructions, your chosen Memory Palace book will end up being just a dusty one on your bookshelf.

What could be more achievable is this: Make a few small lifestyle changes, or learn from online videos and courses that you can re-read quickly or listen to any time.

Here are three alternative ways to improve your memory based on lifestyle that could be far easier to implement. Work with these and you almost certainly will be able to read more books, more often and get more out of them.

3 Better, Alternative Ways to Improve Your MemoryA few lifestyle changes, and creating Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method regularly will help you sharpen your memory with just a little daily effort from you.

Let’s look at three ways you can do this.

1. Practice MindfulnessMindfulness is about listening to your mind and body, being aware of your surroundings, and being completely present in the moment you live in. Mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn calls it “moment to moment non-judgmental awareness”.

Practicing mindfulness meditation for just 10-20 minutes a day can work wonders on your memory. You can also do it while doing your daily chores – just by stopping for a minute to take in the sensation of whatever you’re doing – eating a meal, walking to work, or driving down a busy road.

Mindfulness is known to increase blood flow to the brain. It can strengthen the network of blood vessels in your cerebral cortex and reinforce memory capacity.

Meditation reduces stress on your brain and can be effective in improving memory — even after a brain injury.

A recent study proved that mindfulness improves your working memory. A few participants spent a few weeks learning to focus on breathing and body sensations, being aware of what was happening around them, and redirecting their attention when they were distracted.

After this, they took memory tests that clearly showed an improvement in short-term memory and a slight increase in hippocampus volume.

And just so you know that I walk my talk on this one, here you see me recite 32 verses of Sanskrit in front of a live audience while meditating:

It is really fun and made so much more powerful when you combine meditation with a Memory Palace strategy!

1. Try Word Puzzles and GamesWord puzzles like crosswords, word association games, and Scrabble can stimulate your brain. They activate parts of the brain that deal with vocabulary and word finding, forcing the brain to stay active. It can delay any cognitive decline due to aging and mental illness.

Research proves that using crossword puzzles to teach a second language is an effective strategy of vocabulary instruction. Paper-based and interactive puzzles are used frequently in language teaching, to make learning interesting for teaching spelling rules, lexical meanings, and synonyms.

Opt for the old-school way of doing it — use newspapers or puzzle books you can scribble on, rather than mobile apps that pop up distracting ads or tempt you to switch away to social media.

Remember to vary the type and difficulty of word puzzles frequently. Once you’re an expert at simple crosswords, go for more cryptic ones.

1. Build Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory MethodMemory Palace is a powerful mnemonic tool to develop and use your spatial memory in a way that unlocks the power of autobiographical memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory, and more. You can also move information into long-term memory faster for years to come.

Building Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method will provide you with the ultimate organizational system for learning, committing things to long-term memory, and recalling anything.

The trick is to associate information to parts of a location you’re familiar with. This helps your brain file things to remember them easily.

So if you’re learning a new language, peg all words related to travel on your living room sofa, words related to the weather on your dining table, and so on. You could use familiar locations so that you spend your time in quickly memorizing a lot more information, and reduce cognitive load.

The more you practice mnemonic methods for learning and recalling vocabulary, routes, names, and so on, the easier the process becomes.

Improve Your Memory Magnetically with These Books on Memory ImprovementThe six books on memory recommended above (and any others like the one by Bartok) will give you a good understanding of the history of memory improvement techniques and ideas on how to build Memory Palaces.

But, creating memory palaces regularly using the Magnetic Memory Method can be the quickest and most effective way to learn, memorize, and recall anything.

If you’d like to get started (for free), sign up for my memory improvement kit.

And before you go, please let me know:

What are your favorite memory improvement books?

The post The 8 Best Memory Palace Books to Supercharge Your Brain appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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You hear people preaching about the benefits of reading all the time, but is it really true?

After all, there are also CEOs who talk about having ADHD and barely being able to focus on reading.

So… maybe you can skip it altogether?

The truth is that most of those CEOs can read. And they probably read really well – especially when it comes to the information that helps them succeed.

You want to know what really matters? It’s that you do not compare yourself to anyone else.

And when it comes to reading, the answer is clear:

Reading is beneficial for everyone. Even those who might not think so.

Here are all the reasons why you definitely want to read more, including tips on how to read more efficiently.

Why Is Reading So Important?Reading connects us to each other. Deeply.

In fact, there would never have been an Internet if it weren’t for reading. One reason we’re able to communicate with each other today is because some clever people managed to create the first online discussion board.

And in case it’s not obvious, you can’t write to another person if you don’t also know how to read. Those early discussion boards relied on it and we still use variations on the earliest formats in discussion sections, Slack, etc.

Research also shows that reading makes us better citizens, largely because it helps us feel more empathy for one another.

In The Novel Cure: An A-Z of Literary Remedies, the authors discuss “bibliotherapy” and show many ways that reading can help cure a lot of our many ailments. The only problem was might still face is that there is so much to read and not enough time to do it in.

But that’s where my work on how to read faster and increase your focus while reading comes in handy.

Even better, reading is the most likely way to make yourself smarter. As Scott Young has demonstrated in Ultralearning, you can improve your education at a very low cost simply by reading.

8 Scientific Benefits of Reading That Can Change Your LifeWhen it comes to the science that supports how and why reading improves your life, there’s an abundance of it out there.

Let’s dig in and draw some principles from the research that will help you read more effectively and efficiently.

One: Reading Reduces Stress and AnxietyAccording to research conducted by Margaret Kustritz, reading for leisure helped stressed out veterinary students cope better with the stresses associated with going to school for this topic.

She also had her subjects practice yoga, which has been shown to improve memory and concentration.

The best part?

Kustritz notes that reading costs very little compared to other alternatives. You can travel the globe by reading Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, for example. It’s in the public domain too, so you can read it for free online.

Two: Reading Improves Mental Focus and ConcentrationAlthough you might be worried that reading may put you to sleep, that’s far from the case. Especially when you have a good places for doing your reading.

In Mind Change, Susan Greenfield explains why some people feel that playing games improves their memory. It’s actually a short-term memory benefit that comes from how the games involve moving multiple objects and dealing with other factors.

But the benefit of reading comes from following a story or line of argumentation and evidence without interruptions.

This is why researchers have been raising the alarm for a long time now regarding digital amnesia. Part of the problem has to do with how the sheer abundance of information narrows our “collective” attention span.

Another huge benefit has simply to do with the fact that we read differently from physical books. If we remove ourselves from the online distractions, we get more out of the books because we can’t distract ourselves by looking up words we don’t know and opening dozens of links.

So the key tip is to read at least 30 minutes a day from physical books without interruption. According to Greenfield, this is also a great way to ensure you develop your crystal intelligence, which helps you access information from your long-term memory.

Three: Reading Enhances Your Creative and Critical Thinking SkillsWant to be more creative?

Read more. It will help you observe how others do it. This is why Stephen King goes on at quite some length about how reading helped him in his career as one of the most successful authors of all time.

But people like King aren’t just creative. They are also epic problem solvers. That’s because when you read about the lives of others, and stories about people in challenging situations, you naturally pick up a number of problem solving models.

Nearly every book you read is like engaging in a powerful critical thinking exercise. The more you read, the more critical thinking examples you get, and the more critical thinking benefits.

Four: Reading Expands Your WorldviewOne reason people struggle in life comes from limited perspective. They can’t imagine how things could be different because their view of the world is small.

Books make your world so much larger. Read more and be sure to include a variety of different kinds of books to enjoy this particular benefit. Having a re-reading strategy is very useful too.

This is because of all the major benefits of reading, re-reading helps you expand your perspective on each book you go through a second time. Even with the most powerful note-taking strategy, you will still not notice certain details, largely due to memory biases and effects from state dependent memory.

Five: Reading Boosts Your VocabularyThere are two direct ways to boost your vocabulary:

• Memorize words using memory techniques
• Read frequently

When you read frequently, you’ll bump into a wide variety of words much more often. Consistent reading provides you with a natural form of spaced repetition as a result.

I often come across words I don’t know when reading. In order to not break the flow, I use the index card method I shared with you in how to memorize a textbook.

It’s easy to use an index card (or flash card if you prefer) as a bookmark. That way, you can quickly jot down the page number and the word you don’t know and keep reading.

Later, you can memorize those words and when you encounter them again, two things can happen:

• You now recognize the word and understand what you’re reading better
• You encounter the word being used in a different way and come to enjoy greater nuance in the language

Pro-tip: When looking up word meanings, go beyond the dictionary. Look at the etymology as well for even more benefits that lead to greater knowledge about the history and workings of your mother tongue.

Six: Reading Improves Academic and Career SuccessSo far we’ve seen what boils down to many mental training benefits from reading.

But you might be thinking…

“Show me the money!”

No problem. How about a little story?

When I completed grad school, I easily got teaching jobs and a Mercator, one of Germany’s biggest grants. This grant was approximately the size of my student loans, almost instantly turning my educational investment into profit.

It would have been impossible for me to get any teaching jobs or win that grant if I hadn’t done the reading.

That’s just my experience, but scientists in The Economic Journal have studied this topic closely. They found that the number of books young people read correlates with higher levels of wealth throughout life.

Thomas Corley, author of Rich Habits found that 85% of wealthy people read two or more self-improvement or books related to excelling in their professions per month.

And of course, Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors of all time, has famously advised, “Read 500 pages a day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest.”

This approach has certainly always worked for me, which is why I constantly read as many books about the Memory Palace technique as I can. It keeps me sharp and improves my usefulness to those who follow the Magnetic Memory Method blog.

Seven: Reading Entertains YouThis one is kind of obvious, but still worth mentioning.

And not only does fiction give you a thrill.

It can be incredibly entertaining to learn about the biographies of a wide variety of people.

I’m reading all about Dr. Seuss at the moment, and the many stories about his family and how they survived during wartime and depression are incredibly gripping.

The drama not only provides a diversion, but does what all good stories do. Reading reminds you that others have gotten through tough times, and so can you.

This is one of the key points made by Lisa Cron in her science-driven study, Wired for Story. Being entertained by reading literally helps our species survive.

Eight: Reading Improves Your MemoryReading starts improving your memory by engaging working memory and leveraging psychological aspects of cognition like chunking.

When reading a novel, your brain gets a workout by juggling plot details, names of people and places and aesthetic details like mood and atmosphere. You may also find yourself wrestling with philosophical questions.

These benefits all take place passively.

If you want to improve your memory through reading more explicitly, there are a few ways you can do that. Let’s have a look.

How To Become A More Efficient Reader & Boost Your MemoryThe key ways you can improve your memory through reading will also make you a more efficient reader. This can apply to both fiction and non-fiction.

Discuss What You ReadOne of the best ways to read a book and remember more is to discuss what you’re reading.

You’ll tap into your long-term memory and verbal memory. And you’ll listen to what others have learned or enjoyed, broadening your experience.

Write About Your ReadingI’m not talking about leaving book reviews online – though authors certainly do appreciate that.

No, to truly remember more from what you’re reading, keeping a reading journal is useful. It can be a full summary in prose or just bullet points.

And if you’d rather not keep a journal, you can always use the index card bookmark method I shared with you above to jot out your key takeaways. Leave them in the book itself and you’ll know where to find them later.

Memorize What You’re ReadingBy far the most effective, efficient and powerful way to boost your memory while reading is to place some of the information in a Memory Palace.

A Memory Palace is a simple mental construct based on a familiar location. You simple extract a detail you want to remember and associate it with something in a room.

For example, to remember that Dr. Suess was born in 1904, I placed an image from the PAO System I used in the corner of the room I was reading in.

To learn more about these techniques, please consider signing up for my free memory course:

It will help you develop Memory Palaces you can use while reading.

And that way, you’ll benefit far more than reading without some kind of mnemonic strategy.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to benefit from reading more and remembering more of what you read?

Get out there and make it happen!

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Does reading make you smarter?

Obviously “yes,” right?

In reality, the answer is more nuanced and quite surprising:

Reading always has an effect on your intelligence. But not always a positive one.

Today, we’re going to focus on the positive ways that reading boosts your intelligence, but one point will help us frame the discussion correctly.

And it’s an important one because history shows that dictators with dark agendas have used reading to make people duller.

For example, George Orwell wrote 1984 to highlight how propaganda worked in Stalinist Russia. Winston Smith works at the “Ministry of Truth” where his job is to remove the truth from newspapers.

As a result, citizens are subjected to rote learning en masse and their intelligence is harmed.

We need to keep Orwell’s allegory in mind when we think about how to improve our intelligence through reading.

With so many people glued to their devices and battling digital amnesia, it can be hard to know whether your reading choices are going to make you smarter or not.

That’s why today we’re going to look at exactly how reading can make you smarter. I’ll share some of the books that are most likely to it.

And how to test them through a process that might be even more important than reading.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

Does Reading Make You Smarter?Generally, consistent reading has been shown to improve cognitive ability.

And as Keith Stanovich famously showed with his Matthew Effects, children who we start off with strong reading skills develop stronger vocabulary and comprehension skills over time. Those who don’t, may have a hard time catching up. It’s like the old saying, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” but applied to reading. It’s worth reading his original paper on the matter.

But is Stanovich right?

Not necessarily, and that’s because reading isn’t just about young people. And reading to increase your intelligence is never just about reading.

Reading is just one part of a larger project. And it’s one you can start to help become smarter at any age.

In fact, one long-term study found that older adults enjoyed better cognition, critical thinking and verbal intelligence by reading consistently.

How to Read Consistently – At Any AgeWhen I was a kid, we used to have U.S.S.R.

(An ironic acronym, I know, given what I warned us about regarding Orwell’s allegory about Stalin in the intro.)

The teachers at my school used this term for:

• Uninterrupted
• Silent
• Sustained
• Reading

No matter how distracting the modern world gets, U.S.S.R. remains one of my key ways to keep focused while reading.

Key point: taking the time to schedule time for uninterrupted reading is itself intelligent.

All you need after that is to make sure you have a solid note taking strategy and books that actually have the ability to boost your intelligence.

In a book called Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Maryanne Wolf makes the point that you also need to “think beyond” reading itself. And I agree.

7 Ways Reading Books Makes You SmarterWhat does it mean to go beyond reading?

Simple: good books that improve your smarts always get you to take action. Even if that action is nothing more than thinking about what you’re reading.

Here’s a list of things that books do to make your smarter and why additional action is always involved.

One: Exercise Your ImaginationI first read Orwell’s 1984 in grade 11. I don’t think my imagination had ever been stretched quite so far.

Imagining the scenarios described in a novel like that can’t help but make you smarter because they involve counterfactual thinking.

Many non-fiction books stretch the imagination too. Gödel Escher Bach, although quite old, still has many relevant things to say about math, self-reference and Artificial Intelligence. It uses images and short stories to help you imagine very difficult concepts and was so successful that it won a Pulitzer Prize.

Two: Increase Your VocabularyIn my writing on how to read faster, I’ve shown the most likely way to pick up speed and still understand what you’re reading: More vocabulary.

The good news is that it’s fast and easy to memorize vocabulary.

That said, memorizing vocabulary comes with some conditions (each of which will make you smarter).

As Stanislas Dehaene makes clear in Reading in the brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention, kids and language learners also need to learn syntax and morphology.

Three: Connects You to OthersEven if you never talk to another person about what you’re reading, you’re still connected to the author.

But for maximizing the benefits, you’ll have conversations about what you’re reading. This will give your verbal memory a great workout while deepening your relationships.

Not only that, but people will be able to share their reading experiences with you. Often the best book recommendations come from conversations that spark memories and ideas in the minds of other readers.

Even if you don’t have a large circle of friends, there are local bookshop owners and librarians who love speaking about books. Don’t be shy.

Four: Improved ComprehensionReading improves understanding in a couple of ways.

First, if you work on developing your vocabulary, you’ll recognize more words and the connections between them.

But reading consistently is also a form of spaced repetition that builds pattern recognition.

I mentioned Gödel Escher Bach, for example. When I later started reading The Road to Reality by Sir Roger Penrose, I noted similar ideas emerging. Without having done the previous reading, I probably would have gotten quickly lost.

Now, taking on challenging reading raises a “chicken or the egg” problem: When should you start taking on challenging reading and which are the best books to start reading?

For myself, I push myself a little to take on books I think are too hard for me. If I find myself understanding little or nothing, I then scale back and find a simpler introduction.

But usually, I’m able to keep moving forward, and Penrose thinks so too. He mentions the problem of people talking themselves out of continuing to read in The Road to Reality, and he’s right. At some point, you’ve got to read so that you might understand in order to break free of the chicken vs. egg loop.

Five: Epic Critical ThinkingOne major reason people don’t think critically involves passive reading instead of active reading.

But the Renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno taught active reading using questioning. It’s a simple thing, but his ars combinatoria (technique of combinations) included a consistent pattern of asking what you read:

• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why
• How

These questions are well known, and they will improve your intelligence. But only if you ask them while reading. Not asking them is just one of several critical thinking barriers to avoid. Now that you know to keep asking these simple questions, you’re able to benefit a lot more from your reading.

Keep in mind that critical thinking also needs to be done when you’re not reading. As Bacon said:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

Many philosophy books need more digestion, so don’t be afraid to take your time. I’ve had many times when insights suddenly connected years after reading a book.

Six: Boost ConcentrationWhen using the U.S.S.R. model, a key benefit is how reading without interruption improves your focus while reading. There are a number of tactics you can add, such as the “Thor’s Hammer” technique and the “Pinch technique.” I demonstrate both in this video:

Seven: Self EsteemThere are many other benefits to reading. But one of the smartest that makes reading worth your time is how reading can make you feel better about yourself.

As in all things, what you read needs to be considered.

And let’s face it, if something you read makes you feel badly about yourself, you might have dopamine issues or other problems that reading can’t fix.

But generally, a wide variety of reading will help you encounter the many aspects of humanity, good and bad.

The more you extend your field of reference, the more you’ll see yourself in the larger context of humanity. Even just picking up seemingly trivial facts can help you discover new ways of thinking and activities to try and it’s hard for your self esteem not to go up.

With all that in mind, let’s look at some of my favorite reads for increasing intelligence.

14 Books to Read to Increase Your IntelligenceBefore we get into this list, it’s important to understand that finding the best books comes down to your goals.

Ask yourself: “What do I want to get smarter about?”

From there, reading on any topic is pretty much a win-win, provided that you’re consistent. You’ll quickly learn who the leading experts are. And even if you read something poor in quality or depth of understanding, you’ll start developing the pattern recognition needed to spot that.

In other words, there are no bad books. Only opportunities for reflective thinking after reading anything on your list.

Okay, enough advice. Here are some books I think anyone will benefit from on the quest to be smarter in a variety of areas.

• Happiness Beyond Thought by Gary Weber
• Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes
• The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
• Learning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley and Terence Sejnowski
• Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell
• Principles by Ray Dalio
• Memory Craft by Lynne Kelly
• Infinity by Brian Clegg
• Plato’s Republic
• The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics by Adrian Moore
• Creating Great Choices by Jennifer Riel and Roger L. Martin
• How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain by Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman
• Inquiry into Existence by James Swartz
• The Knowledge Illusion by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach

How to Use chatGPT To Get Great Book RecommendationsI could list many more books that have made me smarter, but let me suggest this in the age of chatGPT. Create a template for the topics you want to know more about. Like this:

Please ignore all previous instructions. You are an expert researcher who finds books to help keep the world’s smartest professor keep getting smarter.

I want you to find 20 of the best books on [insert your topic] in the [insert your preferred] language. Please make sure that 10 of the books are less common, but still come from respected sources. In other words, what are the books recommended by the best [insert your topic]? Make sure the recommendations come from experts with substantial credibility and a proven track record of making ideas accessible to the public

Do not self reference. Do not explain what you are doing.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find some books I didn’t know about when using this template for a variety of topics.

Common Questions AnsweredNow let’s have a quick Q&A to help us sum up.

How Does Reading Make You Smarter?Reading specifically makes you smarter when you set goals and seek books that help you fulfil those goals.

It’s really that simple.

After that, it comes down to improving your vocabulary, increasing your pattern recognition and using reading to help you connect with others better.

Reading also helps you set more goals in the future, usually with more focus and specificity thanks to the compound value of continuing to read based on specific goals in a consistent manner.

How Often Do I Have To Read To Get Smarter?Technically, you can get smarter by not reading at all. For example, we know from deliberate practice studies that you can improve your intelligence about painting simply by painting more in more environments.

Speaking of painting, I watched videos on both Photoshop and AI image generators to collaborate with the Internet itself to make the image at the top of this blog post. Some reading was involved, but the learning cycle needed a lot more in order for me to develop the necessary skills and abilities.

So there’s no “cookie cutter” answer to this question. You either want to read as much as possible with consistency towards a goal (including the goal of pleasure). Or you want to figure out the minimum doses you can take and use a technique like interleaving.

When I use interleaving, I read in blocks of 15-20 minutes before switching to another book or another task altogether.

Other than that, I make sure to read daily. As much as I possibly can.

Does Reading Increase IQ?I believe that reading could well increase IQ.

The problem comes down to your willingness to establish a baseline and then take IQ tests repeatedly.

Is this the best way to test whether or not your reading has improved your intelligence?

I personally could not be bothered because having discussions with others and applying my reading to completing specific goals is a much better testing method.

If I read a book about writing and produce a better book, does it really matter if it increased my IQ? I think not.

What Kinds of Books Make You Smarter?This again comes down to choosing the right goals to complete a particular goal.

Generally, you want books written by:

• Good researchers
• Clear communicators
• Writers with credibility
• Writers with unique perspectives

All of these qualities are fulfilled by a variety of publishers, both on the mass market and amongst independants.

For example, I recently read The Nomads at Large by Monte Dwyer. He’s an Australian journalist who started his own publishing outfit and does what you might call immersion journalism for some of his books. I saw his table in a shopping mall, chatted with him for a few moments, and knew he was a writer I wanted to read.

Just one of his books made me smarter about a specific group of people in Australia, about Australia overall and about his career as an indie author. I’m especially impressed by his ability to write so well and produce such nice looking books on his own – so I also learned through observation how I can do better myself. Heck, I even got smarter about what kinds of companies exist in Australia by reading his colophon page.

All of which is to say that books perfectly suited to make you smarter are everywhere around you. Having goals is always great, but if you keep your eyes open and talk to indie authors, you can find yourself getting smarter about topics you didn’t even know existed.

Why Does Reading Make You Smarter?At the end of the day, writing makes you smarter for the same reasons it can possibly threaten your intelligence:

Connection.

I used to reject the idea “garbage in, garbage out.”

But there’s truth to it.

Just as your body and mind react poorly to foods that are bad for your brain, if you constantly read poorly researched books filled with poisonous ideas, you might “know” more and remember that kind of content. But you won’t be smarter, even if memory bias makes you feel like you are.

When you read a variety of materials to build your pattern recognition and stretch your critical thinking muscles, you’ll be able to discern what’s good and what’s bad. And just as someone who maintains their diet can tolerate the occasional junk food from time to time – and even enjoy it – you can intelligently enjoy even those books that are filled with toxic ideas.

And if you’d like help remembering more of what you read, please consider getting my free memory improvement course:

These are the tips I use day in and day out to remember more of what I read. That way, I’m able to not only retain the information, but also think about it in a reasoned manner.

Our species still needs to read intelligently, and also listen and view with our best critical capacities switched on. I hope these suggestions help you out and I wish you much more pleasure and positive outcomes as you continue to read in this fascinating world of ours.

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David Kolb’s learning cycle is based on a simple idea:

We cannot learn effectively or efficiently if we tackle a subject from just one angle.

According to the science of learning?

Kolb is right.

The question is: why do people pick up a book and fantasize that they’re going to master the topic just by reading it?

According to Kolb himself, there are a few reasons.

One of which is that the cycle of learning is not just a process that you clunk through mechanically.

Learning any topic or skill using study cycles is also an art and a craft.

And if you haven’t been taught to think of learning that way by your teachers, then it’s good that you’re here.

Because we’re diving deep into exactly what Kolb suggests. I think he’s right, and I’ll give you some examples and steps you can follow to make learning much easier.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

What Is Kolb’s Learning Cycle?David Kolb taught at Stanford University and wrote extensively on the topic of experiential learning.

However, his research quickly found that merely having experiences was not enough. Reflective thinking about those experiences was required in order for proper learning to take place.

He proposed four stages of learning:

• Concrete experience
• Observation and reflection
• Engaging in abstract thinking as you reflect
• Testing your ideas and conclusions

He called this approach a “learning cycle” because once you reach the final stage, you’re supposed to return to the top of the list. You can do that either with the same topic or another subject you want to learn.

However, in a chapter he co-wrote in Student Learning Abroad, he said that “the learning cycle is actually a learning spiral.”

He changed the term because:

“When a concrete experience is enriched by reflection, given meaning by thinking and transformed by action, the new experience created becomes richer, broader and deeper.”

Long story short:

If you want to use Kolb’s learning style, just follow the steps. Start by finding opportunities for concrete experiences, observe what’s happening, then reflect on the experience. Finally, abstract some principles and use these to create new experiments that lead to more concrete experiments.

Do You Have To Use Kolb’s 4 Learning Styles (Or Can You Use Your Own)?You do not have to use Kobl’s approach to learning.

In fact, it has been heavily criticized and for good reason.

For one thing, what isn’t an experience? If I think abstractly about something, how is that not also an experience of concrete thinking at the same time?

That question might puzzle you, but if you consider how I define and use abstract thinking myself, it’s totally possible to start with abstractions. Or you can start with a hypothesis based on either a deduction or induction. Or you can start with an observation.

Remember:

Kolb was a theorist of how we learn. He was addressing teachers much more than students He wanted to help teachers create better learning environments for students so they could engage in what he called “holistic learning.”

He thought of the student as both the receiver and actor based on the environment and processes provided by their teachers.

The Kolb Learning Cycle adapted for teachers in Student Learning Abroad.

You can adapt a lot from this simple diagram. But you don’t have to follow it exactly.

And as I’ve just suggested, there probably aren’t many circumstances where it makes sense to do so. Everything is an experience, including sitting still to perform a concentration meditation where your goal is to try and experience nothing.

How To Craft The Perfect Learning Cycle For Your GoalsNow, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t adapt from Kolb’s learning styles and turn them into either a cycle or a spiral.

I’m only saying that personally, I’ve got a PhD, two MAs and many other certificates. I’ve also written many books and created nearly 1000 videos for this website. I’ve never used it.

Instead, I learn using the following steps. Although I offer them to you openly, they’re not meant to be a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all model.

I don’t always follow these steps in the same order, for example. But generally, they reflect my process and I think you’ll do well to adapt from them with knowledge and inspiration from Kolb.

Step One: Write A Vision StatementRecently, I decided I was going to learn as much as possible about physics.

It’s a tough topic and in many ways, I don’t have the prerequisite math for it. Still, I’m interested, so I wrote using my journaling process to try and figure out why.

This is kind of like starting with the final step of Kolb’s cycle first: testing.

After that, I wrote out a vision statement. It was very simple:

I will read three of the most important books on physics over the next six months.

I started with two books at the same time using interleaving. And I was pleasantly surprised to find in Sir Roger Penrose’s The Road to Reality that he think the math isn’t that difficult for most people.

If you need more information on crafting a vision statement before you start your next learning cycle, check out this free masterclass:

Step Two: Gather The Best Possible MaterialsOne reason people get stuck is failing to research the topics they want to learn. That, or they rely on their teachers.

Remember, Kolb was working hard to help teachers stop failing their students. But you don’t have to suffer if you’ve got a teacher that isn’t exciting you.

Just do some research.

The internet is amazing for that. You can use search phrases like I did: “syllabus physics textbook”.

That’s how I found out about The Road to Reality. It has so many references, it’s easy to just keep building based on the books Penrose mentions once I’m done with his.

I did something similar when I was learning about computer programming. I shared more of this selection and building process in my detailed blog on how to read faster.

Step Three: Take Notes In A Sophisticated MannerDo you know the opposite of a learning cycle or learning spiral?

It’s a learning nightmare. That’s what you call a situation in which, even if you’ve identified the best time to study, you’re completely scattered and cannot remember the main points, or what books you found them in.

To avoid this problem, I suggest using either flashcards, Anki or a notebook in the highly optimized manner I teach. To this day, my preferred method is taught on this blog about how to memorize a textbook.

I love index cards because they can be stored easily in shoe boxes and alphabetized. It’s also a great learning routine that helps fend off digital amnesia.

Four: Use Memory TechniquesMemory techniques are the alternative to rote learning.

There are quite a few types, and the strongest of the bunch is the Memory Palace. It’s an ancient memory technique that helps you deal with large volumes of information.

If you’d like to learn how to master the approach to learning, grab my free course:

It will help you through four free videos and worksheets that help you master your memory.

That way, no matter where you are in a learning cycle, or which adult learning style you have, you’ll be able to recall the information you need to succeed.

This technique also helps you fulfil your cognitive needs while filling the many gaps left by many teachers.

Remember, teachers are only human too.

And that’s why it’s wonderful to be able to discuss different ways of thinking about learning models like Kolb’s learning cycle.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to go out there, experiment with the steps I’ve suggested today or create your own cycle of learning?

No matter what, remember that Kolb stressed one point I agree with above all:

Learning is not just about science. It’s also an art and a craft.

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The best time to study is counterintuitive, so brace yourself.

At least, it is for me, and I’m a PhD and professional researcher who studies every day of every week.

I’ll share my experiences with you and what the science says about picking the best possible times.

Spoiler Alert:

If you really want to maximize your productivity and increase how much you remember, you ultimately need to shift how you think about time, learning and memory.

Don’t worry. It won’t be difficult.

Except for this first part.

I want you to honestly ask yourself:

Is asking questions like, “Is it good to study before bed?” or “When is the best time to read?” really all that practical?

What if you asked a different question? A question like:

What if I knew a way to make progress with my learning 24 hours a day? With less effort? And with more bang for my buck when it comes to remembering what I’ve spent time learning?

These are much higher order questions, so let’s take a deep dive into the issue of coordinating your study periods with your personal energies.

That way, you’ll always be at your best when learning new things.

Is There A Best Time To Study?No, there is not.

At least not in a one-sized-fits-all kind of way.

There are practical and scientific reasons why this is true. Let’s have a look at both.

Practical TimingFirst, we all know the old saying, “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

Serious learners simply cannot rely one a “best time” to do anything because many different things disrupt us all the time.

Plus, some of us love to work out in the morning, which makes us tired for a few hours after hitting the gym. And some of us can only make it to the gym during hours that aren’t optimal, but still want the benefits of physical exercise. So it doesn’t quite make sense to try and force studying to take place, even if there were such a thing as an optimal time.

Here’s a much better goal: Be flexible to all kinds of situations.

That way, when push comes to shove, you’re still able to get the job of studying done. We’ll talk more about how to do this below.

Scientific TimingThe science of timing when you choose to engage in certain activities is called chronobiology. It’s based on the principle that most species are sensitive to changes in light and temperature.

As humans, we’re also subject to a timed (or metered) digestive cycle. This fact means that if you eat foods that are bad for your brain on Tuesday, you might not start feeling the effects until Friday.

But even if you time your diet perfectly, you might still run into unexpected issues in life that mean you have to rely on other tactics in order to get the most of your study time.

That said, it is useful to know more about how, why and when your brain might be more receptive to learning new things.

When Is The Brain Most Active?According to one study, exactly when your brain is the most active has to do with the length of your work day. If there is a cookie-cutter answer for the average study participant, the answer is noon.

However, when you take the statistical analysis way, there really are no average people.

Myself, when I went to university, I sometimes started reading at 5 a.m. on my way up to York University on the subway. Then I would study at the library on campus until it closed at 11 p.m. I would keep reading on the 90-minute subway ride home.

Even while I was a professor at Rutgers, I maintained a similar study load. I would take the train from Manhattan early in the morning and get back late at night. When I wasn’t grading student papers, I took every opportunity to do my own studying.

More recently, I was able to pass level III in Mandarin Chinese, also by studying while on transit.

And the truth is simple:

My brain was most active when I needed it to be. And I was able to use some of the techniques I’ll teach you in a moment to be on the ball no matter what was going on in the many noisy trains and hectic schedules I followed across my academic career.

Apart from optimizing my diet so I could establish a clean and clear mind, no amount of chronobiology has ever been personally useful to me.

What Time Of Day Is The Best Time To Study For Memorization?When you have the best possible memory techniques on your side, any time of day is the best time.

That said, I’ve almost always gotten the best memorization results in the morning. And there’s a specific process I’ve long followed that I think you’ll love experimenting with along your own quest to study faster.

However, as you go through my personal process, think about how you can adapt it to your own lifestyle. And note that sometimes I complete these activities at different times of day. Sometimes I have morning appointments, for example, and shift my meditation to the afternoon.

Extract The Information At A Different Time Than You Memorize ItIt starts with how I suggest you read books. In brief, I suggest you extract the information first using my textbook memorization process.

If you’re using this approach, what time of day you pull your notes onto flash cards is not nearly as important as where and how. Having a variety of secured places to study is the key.

Even if one of those places is on a train or a bus, you can still effectively pull your notes for memorization later at any time. You don’t even have to feel particularly focused when you know how to identify the main points in a book.

Meditate, Journal, MemorizeMy preferred routine is to get up, drink a glass of water and then meditate, usually using the personal mantras I share in The Victorious Mind.

Next, I will journal my goals for the day, and write a quick gratitude list. When language learning is involved, I’ll usually also use The Freedom Journal format.

Once these concentration meditations are finished, I’ll get into the memorization of what I’ve extracted on the cards by using the appropriate Memory Palace Networks.

Is the morning always the best time for these activities?

No, of course not. But it’s a general routine, and it’s the routine that matters. Keeping to a routine like this has been shown to help maintain proper dopamine levels in the brain.

Spaced Repetition Throughout The DayWhen it comes to reviewing information using spaced repetition, the science of learning and recalling information makes it clear:

Frequent active recall is the key. It’s easy to do:

• Put the phone away
• Get out a journal or notebook
• Ask yourself to recall the information you were studying
• Write it down

Do this several times throughout the day.

This simple activity will help activate your brain, even if you’re feeling mentally sluggish.

And it’s the combination of recall sessions that helps form memory and understanding, not some special time or brain state during the day.

The Pros And Cons Of Studying At Each Time Of DayAs I’ve suggested, you want to be able to study at any time of day and get great results.

However, there are certain pros and cons to studying at different times of day. Let’s look at each.

MorningThe main pros of studying and memorizing in the morning is that the world is very quiet. In my home, my wife is still asleep and I can go into my office and read along.

The con of the morning is that sometimes it’s nice to sleep in, especially for remembering more dreams.

It’s also nice to sometimes stay in bed and read for fun, and even allow myself to fall asleep while reading.

AfternoonAssuming the scientific study above is correct and noon is the best time to study, then that is the pro. If you work at your studying for six hours a day, then noon could well be the best time for you to start studying.

However, noon is also when a lot of people like to have lunch with friends. Noon is also a great time to take a nap if you need one.

If you’re not eating foods that improve memory, you could also have trouble concentrating. You might want to look closely at your diet to optimize this time of day. Consider looking at some teas and herbs that can help with concentration and memory too.

EveningExcept on my gym days, I love studying most evenings. That’s because I find it harder to stay awake while reading in bed on gym days.

The role of sleep and remembering is still being studied by scientists. Although there’s no doubt that sleep affects your memory, the amount that studying before you sleep helps your recall has to do with your age.

For example, some procedural memory learning tasks benefit from sleep when you’re younger, but not necessarily as you age. But when it comes to learning vocabulary, older people may need more sleep than younger people.

All of which is to say that annoying answer to the question, “Is it good to study before bed?”

It truly does depend.

How To Know When Is The Best Study Time For YouI mentioned journaling and keeping one is truly the only way to start spotting your best performance patterns.

Memory athletes keep journals all the time to spot trends and find ways to improve their results.

This is so important because you truly need to “Know Thyself” in order to be a top performer in every area of performance.

So if you don’t feel like your study sessions are as productive as you’d like them to be, start journaling.

Soon, you’ll generate clues that will help you figure out when is the right time of day for you.

In fact, the more personalized your study routine is, the better it will be. It does not have to be “guru-approved” and probably shouldn’t be.

If you found this practical and science-based tutorial helpful, you might also love my free memory improvement course. Grab it here:

It reveals more scientifically valid learning and memory improvement tips with four video lessons and detailed worksheets and examples.

The best part?

You’ll be able to do what I did in university:

Study effectively and memorize information any time of day and rest assured that you’ll remember what you read every time.

So what do you say?

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Imagine memorizing seven decks of playing cards.

Now imagine knowing the location of each card in each deck by number. In other words, if someone names the 2 of clubs, you know how far down in the deck it is, such as the 27th card from the top.

Now, you might be thinking…

How the heck is that going to help me pass an exam, get a raise or learn a language?

Magnetic Friends, I believe that memorizing cards will help you in multiple ways that directly relates to each of these goals.

In fact, it’s one path towards what Richard Rubin calls the Massively Distributed Memory Palace.

And that’s exactly what we talk about in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, amongst other topics of interest:

• Harry Lorayne
• Bruno Furst
• The implications of AI for mnemonists
• Memory Palace books and linguistics books
• Ancient memory techniques and more modern approaches
• Mnemonic imagery in the context of phonics, reading and the implications for comprehending mnemonics
• Memdeck considerations, including the Tamariz stack

And of course, Richard’s take on the Memory Palace technique.

Who is Richard Rubin?Richard is a memory athlete with impressive stats.

He also creates incredible and fun memory demonstrations, often based around magic and mentalism:

I think his ideas are fantastic and his insights into memory improvement profound, so I suggest following him on YouTube. And check back here for a link to his forthcoming website when it’s ready.

The Massively Distributed Memory PalaceI’m going to let Richard explain this himself, so please enjoy the conversation.

And the cool thing are the connections to other mnemonic strategies I’ve seen before. For example in Giordano Bruno’s writing and especially the mnemonic writings of Robert Fludd.

What I love so much about this conversation, is that Bruno himself once said that those who think enough about mnemonics will reach similar, if not the same conclusions. It’s a lot like how magicians independently arrive at various moves and wind up calling essentially the same thing a different name.

This point is important because the more teachers we have, the more people will discover the fundamental logic that supports all learning assisted by elaborative rehearsal, properly optimized spaced repetition and tactics like chunking.

My belief is that the Mnemonics Renaissance given full steam by Tony Buzan with the memory competitions and massively supported by books like Moonwalking with Einstein is only going to continue growing.

So my hat is off to Richard and I hope you’ll support him along with all the other great memory athletes and teachers who are out there doing great things to inspire and encourage others.

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The best mnemonic for tarsals I know is incredibly easy to remember.

That’s because I’ve super-charged it with a few little-known secrets that make all mnemonic devices for memorizing anatomy much more effective.

So if you’ve ever struggled to remember the tarsal bone names using any other mnemonic strategy, you’re in luck.

On this page, we’re taking a deep dive into what actually works for memorizing anatomy.

The best part?

The Magnetic Memory Method approach is easy and fun.

What Are Mnemonic Devices?Real quick before we get started:

Mnemonic devices are specifically multi-sensory images that help you remember information. They help you reduce the amount of spaced repetition needed to establish information in long-term memory.

For example, if you want to memorize anatomical terms like “tarsal bones” or “metatarsals,” you would think of an image like “tar” covered in “salt.” For “metatarsals” you can imagine the same image in the “metaverse” to remember “metatarsals.”

This visual approach creates an incredible alternative to acronyms for memorizing medical terminology.

Now, by all means, you can use an acronym like many other people teach. Here’s a typical example:

The Cat Never Meows In Leaky Caskets

These words stand for:

• Talus
• Calcaneus
• Navicular
• Medial cuneiform
• Intermediate cuneiform
• Lateral cuneiform
• Cuboid

The problem with acronyms like this is easy to spot:

How toes “the” help you remember “talus”? How do you get from “never” to “navicular”?

Let’s go beyond acronyms as a mnemonic for the tarsal bones. There’s a much easier and more effective way and it only takes a few minutes to learn.

How to Remember Tarsal Bone Names With MnemonicsThere are actually a few mnemonic devices you can choose from that are far better than acronyms. You don’t have to become a mnemonist to benefit from knowing these different approaches, but more is more.

I suggest reading and experimenting with each approach. You can fluidly switch between them as you memorize more and more information about the body.

One: The Number-Rhyme MnemonicBecause we’re talking about a simple list, I’m going to first recommend the number-rhyme mnemonic as the most direct technique.

All you have to do is come up with a rhyme for a digit and then connect that rhyme to the tarsal bone you’re memorizing.

Here’s what I mean:

• One is a gun… shooting at an extremely tall US flag (Talus)
• Two is a shoe… crashing down on a calculator made of Coke cans kneeing us (Calcaneus)
• Three is a bee… operating a navigation device sitting in a cooler (Navicular)
• Four is a door… pressing a dial on my chest (medial)

And you just go from there.

Now, these images might not make complete sense to you. But having a dial on my chest gives me the “me” sound. And since imagining a door is completely absurd, the image is inherently memorable.

The more you use the rhymes to help you craft strange associations, the more memorable they’ll be.

If you don’t think you’re creative, or worry that you have aphantasia, give these visualization exercises a try.

Two: The Alphabet MnemonicInstead of using rhymes to memorize a numbered list, you can use alphabet mnemonics.

This is essentially a pegword system were you develop an image for each letter of the alphabet. You then mentally attach this letter to the target information in a memorable way.

Here are some examples:

• A is for a very tall apple that is crashing into the US flag (Talus)
• B is for Batman, who is using a calculator made of Coke cans and kneeing it into the US flag (Calcaneus)
• C is for Cookie Monster operating a navigation device, etc…

Can you see the pattern developing here?

All effective mnemonics that help you remember all of the tarsal bones are based on associations.

But there’s one more approach I want to share with you that will make the process even faster.

Three: The Memory PalaceMany successful medical students use the Memory Palace for anatomy.

That’s because this ancient memory technique helps you memorize thousands of words, concepts and procedures.

Simply put, you place the words you need to remember in a mental recreation of a home or other familiar location. In fact, you can even place the entire structure of a foot in a familiar location, such as on your bed:

The reason a Memory Palace is so beneficial is because it provides a reference, kind of like a canvas.

That way, when you apply associations like bees or Batman, you can imagine not only where they are in a familiar location. You can also imagine where they are on the foot, while getting back the correct terminology.

It’s Easy To Memorize The Foot Bones QuicklySo there you have it:

3 powerful alternatives to using an acronym to memorize the tarsals.

And now that you know how to memorize the tarsal bones, how about continuing your journey?

Grab my free memory improvement course:

It will help you use these techniques in even more sophisticated ways. Whether you’re into nursing, need to learn pharmacology , the sacral plexus or just want to know more about the body for trivia night, these are the techniques that will help you the fastest.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to master all the tarsal bones and much, much more?

Enjoy this journey and thank you for being a medical professional who cares about the quality of your memory.

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If you’d like to become a mnemonist, or a person who excels at using memory techniques, it’s actually pretty easy.

Or at least, it can be if you follow the right steps based on the right goals.

What exactly are those goals and what steps do you need to follow in order to become a memory expert capable of demonstrating how memory techniques work?

That’s exactly what we’re going to cover in this post.

I’m a memory expert and mnemonist myself. But I won’t just be using my own examples.

I’ll share with you the stories of many other mnemonists as well.

That way, you can compare and contrast the different mnemonic styles you can pursue.

Along the way, you’ll also discover how to memorize a large amount of information.

Ready?

Let’s get started!

What Is A “Mnemonist”?The term mnemonist is related to the word “mnemonic,” which means “memory technique.”

This means that a mnemonist is essentially someone who is skilled with using memory techniques.

The term may also refer to a person who:

• Gives memory demonstrations (like Harry Kahne)
• Teaches memory techniques
• Does a combination of both

There’s a bit of a grey area here because sometimes people think that people with superior autobiographical memory, synesthesia are also mnemonists.

For example, there are people like Solomon Shereshevsky or Daniel Tammett where autism may be involved. In each of these cases, it seems clear that these people used mnemonics or something very close to mnemonics when memorizing vast amounts of information.

Kim Peek does not appear to have used mnemonics, but the mental calculator Sal Piacente has successfully reproduced many of Peek’s talents.

You may also encounter people like Jill Price. She’s associated with photographic memory, but technically has hyperthymestic syndrome. One of the first studies was based on Jill Price’s case, and this condition is not to be confused with eidetic memory.

In sum, a mnemonist has developed a skill. Virtually anyone who wants to have this skill can train for it.

How to Become a Mnemonist and Unlock Your Memory’s True PotentialOnce you’ve decided to become a mnemonist, your path is mostly straight forward.

Let’s have a look and pick up some specific examples along the way. Note that some of these steps are in a logical order. But others can be started any time, such as making friends in the memory community.

One: Decide To Be All InWhen memory expert and mnemonist Harry Lorayne decided to master his memory, it was to escape punishment.

In order to do it, he went to the library and devoted himself to figuring out what mnemonic devices are and how to use them.

When I say “be all in,” I don’t just mean read a lot of books on Memory Palaces.

I also mean devote yourself to practicing the techniques with a wide variety of information types:

• Vocabulary
• Names
• Numbers
• Symbols
• Playing cards

By doing this, you’ll start to deeply understand more about what memory really is and how you can make it work better on demand.

Two: Start SimplyThat said, you have to start somewhere. And for most us, we’ll need to start with a simple goal.

A first goal is to learn how to memorize a list. You can do this using the pegword method, or a use an even a simpler number-rhyme system.

Three: Make Friends In The Memory CommunityGiven the many stages of learning, it’s useful to be able to speak with others who are both behind and ahead of you.

You’ll find lots of cool people doing amazing things. For example, Braden Adams memorized 70 decks of playing cards for charity.

Marno Hermann broke a record in his country for reciting pi.

And Jesse Villalobos got a raise and a promotion.

There are so many examples like this, and the best part is that most of these people are happy to share their experiences and the specific memory hacks they’ve explored.

Four: Learn More Advanced Mnemonic TechniquesOnce you’ve mastered the basic techniques, it’s time to keep developing your skills.

Now, exactly what counts as an “advanced” memory technique is admittedly subjective. But in general, number rhyme systems and alphabet mnemonics are simple compared with tactics like using a 00-99 PAO System based on the Major Method are more advanced.

At this stage, it’s possible to get stuck with decision anxiety because instead of the Major Method, you could choose the Dominic System.

Other times, people cause issues for themselves by using Anki to learn the more advanced systems. But that’s really evading the skill you’re trying to build by confusing mnemonic spaced repetition with rote learning.

Journaling and mindmapping to test if you really want to be a mnemonist can help resolve such issues, and ultimately you want to know about both options, even if you only use one.

Five: Increase The Complexity Of Your GoalsAs you continue using memory techniques, you’ll likely find that you plateau. In other words, you get pretty good and then your growth comes to a stand still.

2x USA Memory Champion John Graham has a great suggestion: adding distractions. You can practice memorizing pi with loud heavy metal playing, for example.

Or, you can keep yourself challenged by:

• Exploring new topics
• Becoming a trivia master
• Memorizing mantras as part of a concentration meditation program
• Applying mnemonics to learning a language
• Giving memory demonstrations

One person who gives very interesting memory demonstrations is Nelson Dellis. He’s memorized decks of cards underwater and while climbing Mount Everest!

Six: Know Your Memory HistoryMost of the “real deal” memory techniques are in the past.

For example, did you know that Aristotle was a memory master? He was one of the first to write about the more advanced memory techniques based on the alphabet.

Then there are the Aboriginal memory techniques discussed by people like Tyson Yunkaporta and Lynne Kelly.

Perhaps my favorite mnemonists are Matteo Ricci and Giordano Bruno. They both traveled widely during the Renaissance and we still feel their influence.

In fact, it’s a pet theory of mine that in the 20th century, the mnemonist Bruno Furst took that name as a reference to Giordano Bruno.

Seven: Keep Studying Other MnemonistsTechnically, your goal of studying the great mnemonic traditions is never done. And since it’s a living tradition, it only makes sense to take courses and read the books of those currently alive and writing them.

I do this myself, and in recent years have loved learning from mnemonists like Tony Buzan, Ron White, Jim Kwik, John Michael Greer, Martin Faulks and Brad Zupp.

Even if I don’t agree with some of these people, or have criticisms that come to mind with now disappeared courses like Phenomenal Memory, it’s only possible to stretch yourself if you have the widest possible picture of what’s out there. And by understanding how others use memory techniques, you’ll fashion new goals for yourself that you probably wouldn’t have come up with on your own.

Eight: Teach OthersAlthough this step is optional, it’s almost impossible to understand mnemonic imagery properly without explaining it to others.

How exactly to teach others is its own discussion, but in brief, you can simply give a demonstration and then explain how you were able to accomplish the feat.

A lot of mnemonists I know get frustrated that people often aren’t interested in picking up the skills for themselves.

But I suggest avoiding this conclusion. Teaching of others will certainly benefit from them. But it also helps you. By talking about what you’re learning, you’ll see the gaps in your own knowledge. And that will give you clues regarding how to come back to this list and start again from the beginning.

Because ultimately, that’s what memory training is really all about: the deliberate practice of keeping an open mind and focusing on the fundamentals.

Beyond Memorizing ListsAs I hope you’ve seen, there are different kinds of mnemonists and different goals mnemonists can complete.

If you would like to develop exceptional memory skills and call yourself a mnemonist, I can really only ask one thing:

Seek the truth about memory.

And that means being radically honest.

Nothing is gained by trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. Sadly, there’s quite a bit of cheating in the memory world, and that only harms everyone.

But if you’re willing to talk about the mistakes you’ve made, something I go out of my way to do, you’ll help and inspire others who also want to enjoy superior memory skills.

And if you would like my free course on using the incredibly powerful Memory Palace technique, here’s where to get it:

It will take you through my favorite of all the ancient memory techniques, with exercises and examples.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to master your memory and become a world class mnemonist?

Make it happen!

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When you’re learning how to memorize fast, you need to brace yourself for impact.

Tons of people give advice in this area who have no idea what they’re talking about.

For one thing, they’ve never been to a memory competition, let alone completed a degree.

And if they do have learning credentials, chances are they haven’t used memory techniques.

Of course, there are some good ideas out there, and I’ll share them with you on this page.

But you want more.

You want to know not only what memory experts say. You want the lived experiences of people who actually know how to memorize things fast.

And that’s what you’re going to get, so let’s dive in.

Want to know what this post will cover?

• The Best Way To Memorize: Beyond The Myths
• How to Memorize Quickly: The 5 Steps You Need To Complete This Week
• How to Memorize Quicker: Becoming A “Speed Demon” of Memory
• How to Memorize Like a Memory Athlete
• Remove The Obstacles Between You And Your Need For Speed
• How To Memorize Something Quickly

Ready? Let’s go!

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.How to Memorize Something Fast: Beyond The MythsThe first thing you need to do is to let go of the notion that there is a “best” way to memorize.

When I was in graduate school and first asked, “How can I memorize things quickly?” I already knew this. I was intimately aware of the simple fact that you want effective processes.

This fact has a few consequences (good ones, I promise, if you keep reading everything on this page):

• You might need to sacrifice efficiency for a short while in the beginning
• You might feel yourself stretched and challenged
• You might find be confused by conflicting ideas you find online
• You might have initial results and then quickly plateau

In each of these cases, there are solutions.

The Shocking Truth About The “Best” You Need To Hear…First, the “best” memory techniques are always the ones you’re actually going to use. That means you might have to try a few on for size. This means doing some research and making a plan of action for how long you’re going to stick with each memory training. (I suggest 90 days minimum per memory improvement book or course.)

Superior lifelong learners drop the myth of their learning style and practice all possible styles to increase their speed

When that challenge starts to kick in, it means you’re growing. Having a plan will help you keep going – and avoid all the clashing recommendations available on the internet. For example, some people will tell you to discover your “learning style.”

A Fact About Your “Learning Style” That Is Probably Slowing Your DownIn reality, we all have multiple learning styles. The trick is to find out what your learning preferences are and then work to improve these and patch in those you’re avoiding.

If you prefer audio, then your goal is supplement reading. If you prefer reading, then you want to make space for verbal and physical learning styles so you can learn and remember with greater speed. (More on how to do this below.)

In sum, taking action is your best bet, and making sure you have a path to consistent action is best.

Being subscribed to the Magnetic Memory Method blog, podcast and YouTube channel are great ways to ensure you keep getting the ongoing training and encouragement you need as you work things out.

How to Memorize Quickly: The 5 Steps You Need To Complete This Week1. Create proper Memory Palaces. I can’t stress this enough: If you want to memorize rapidly, you need to master the fundamentals. Luckily, How to Build A Memory Palace is a core (and free) training that has you covered. 2. Learn the tools of association for numbers, symbols, and words. These mnemonic devices include: * The Major System or The Dominic System * The Pegword System * Elaborative Encoding Exercises 3. Learn the fundamentals of Recall Rehearsal.

(This is how you use the Memory Palace technique to get the info into long term memory.)

1. Practice the techniques consistently.
2. Repeat by continuing to study the techniques for more knowledge of how they work.

Again, you want to spend approximately 90 days with every memory training you encounter. By focusing on and really understanding how each training works, you’ll develop laser fast memory skills much sooner.

But if you keep bopping around the internet looking for the next “shiny new memory technique,” you’re delaying the development of learning and remembering quickly.

For a free summary course that brings all of this together, check this out:

Next, let’s look at how to increase your speed.

How to Memorize Quicker: Becoming A “Speed Demon” of MemoryAssuming you’ve mastered the fundamentals, now it’s time to talk about getting even faster.

For that, you want to create and complete memory missions.

Mission One: Create Your First Memory Palace NetworkTo do this, create 26 Memory Palaces, one for each letter of the alphabet. If you speak a language which has fewer or more letters, I still suggest you have at least 26.

Why?

Because this will train your brain to rapidly make associations between spatial memory and semantic memory content based on words.

For example, when you see a word like “electron,” you instantly want a Memory Palace related to ‘E’ popping into your mind. In my case, I have several, everything from my brother’s house to a concert hall where I once saw a band with a drummer named Ernie.

Mission Two: Create Magnetic ImageryTo get really fast, you want to fill your Memory Palaces quickly. For that, you need to have at least one image per letter of the alphabet, ideally 2-5 (or more).

For example, to rapidly place “electron” in an “E” Memory Palace, I can use “Elvis.” But I can also use an elephant, Einstein or Eric Stolz who appeared in Pulp Fiction.

The more you think about the alphabet and train yourself to come up with associations based on the alphabet, the faster you will become.

The double alphabet is a mnemonic device that can help you rapidly increase your memorization speed.

Pro tip: Many of us develop a “double alphabet.” For example, I gave the example of Elvis for “electron” and that is because in addition to having images for every letter, I’ve done some work to develop images for two-letter combinations.

A = Apple

Ab = Abacus

Ac = Accountant

Ad = Addiction

In each case, the words are generic, but they actually point to specific multi-sensory images. The apple is a Mac Computer, the abacus is a toy I had as a kid, I imagine my accountant, and Addiction is a song by Skinny Puppy.

I know this is a lot of front-loaded effort, but if you really want to memorize fast, the setup is everything. We call this the Principle of Preparation in the Magnetic Memory Method Family.

Mission Three: Build Your 00-99 PAOWe’ve talked about memorizing words by creating systems of association based on the alphabet.

But what about numbers?

For that, you’ll want a Major System or the Dominic System to help you have associations for every number, ideally in pairs from at least 00-99. I’ve shared my associations on the Pegword Method page.

Pro tip: It’s also worth the time to prepare a system for associating symbols. For example, you can use Pacman facing east for an open parenthesis and facing west for a closed one. You can use a star for an asterisk and Cookie Monsters googly eyes for the percent mark, etc.

Mission Four: Study the TraditionNo matter how fast you get, two things will remain true:

• You can still get faster
• Someone else will always be faster no matter how fast you get

Personally, I never turn my speed into a competition. However, I modestly strive to learn as much as possible. That’s why I continually study the ancient memory techniques and read all the new books that I can.

In other words, true “speed demons” of memory always assume that they don’t know what they don’t know. Then they plan to fill those gaps.

Some truly EPIC memory speed secrets are hidden in old books like:

• Rhetorica Ad Herennium (author unknown)
• Aristotle’s On Memory
• Aquinas’ Summa Theologica
• Bruno’s On The Shadows Of The Ideas
• Dickson’s The Hermetic Art of Memory

And this is just scratching the surface! You can even pick up tips from people Simonides of Ceos from whom no written texts survive.

The more you study, the more little tips and tricks you’ll discover that will shave seconds off your speeds.

Mission Five: Extracurricular ActivitiesMost of us apply memory techniques to learning languages and professional matters like passing the bar or getting a raise at work.

But to truly amp up your speed, I suggest taking on a few supplementary memory exercises, such as:

• Memorizing playing cards. (MMM student example – YouTube)
• Memorize 100 digits of pi (MMM student example – YouTube)
• Memorize long-form poetry (Example from me – YouTube)

But what if you want to go further?

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.How to Memorize Like a Memory AthleteNelson Dellis told us a long time ago how to win the USA Memory Championship. One of the best takeaways is that you need to actually practice competition.

John Graham, who has also won the USA competition, stresses the need to take on additional challenges as you train. The suggestions he gives are like the equivalent of putting on a concrete backpack and performing pushups – they will make you faster!

Alex Mullen shocked the world by memorizing cards in pairs using a variation on the Major System. If you want speed, make sure to listen to his tips.

Braden Adams is a very interesting upcoming figure you’re going to want to pay attention to – and he has great ideas about a memory technique called the “Shadow.”

And don’t let age stand between you and success. James Gerwing retired from his profession and then became Canada’s 2019 Memory Champion. He has truly proven that you never have to slow down.

Remove The Obstacles Between You And Your Need For SpeedWe’ve gone through the technical factors needed to memorize quickly and then speed up. I’ve also given you resources from some of the fastest memory athletes on the planet.

Now it’s time to focus on refinement.

You see, mental processing speed isn’t just about technique. It’s also about lifestyle.

For that reason, you want to improve your:

• Sleep
• Diet
• Physical movement
• Mental strength
• Creative Imagination with multi-sensory visualization

Let’s go through each:

Optimizing Sleep for Speed Memory GainsYou already know all about having a bedtime ritual and getting enough hours.

But what about keeping a journal beside your bed to capture your dreams? And why on earth do that?

Well, on top of removing all devices from your bedroom and making sure you spend enough time in darkness, you can train your brain to make mental imagery faster by writing down your dreams.

To get started, start writing down the following each night: I will remember my dreams. Then, the following morning, write down what you can remember with a special focus on all of the sensations you experienced.

Tony Buzan with Anthony Metivier and Phil Chambers

For example, the other night I dreamed that Tony Buzan and I were in a university of memory training. There was some kind of nuclear emergency and showed me how to work the fire hoses to release a special liquid that would protect all the students. I wrote this down and took a moment to:

• Feel the hose in my hands (Kinesthetic association)
• Hear the sound of Tony’s voice (Auditory memory)
• See the building and the people in it (Visual association)
• Experience the emotions (Emotional association)
• Explore the concepts (Conceptual association)
• Imagine the tastes and smells (gustatory and olfactory association)
• Spatial descriptions (association of heigh, size, depth, distance)

As you journal your dreams, thinking through all of these sensations and levels of association will transfer into your skills with using mnemonic devices.

Optimizing Your Diet For Faster MemoryDiet is highly personal and best conducted with a professional. Generally, though, you want to cut out all foods that create brain fog. You also want to explore natural memory supplements instead of plunking down hard cash on potentially poisonous supplements.

Blueberries are a memory boosting food

But you can also optimize your diet for faster memory by practicing your tools while eating. So instead of just shoving broccoli into your mouth, count how many pieces of it you have on your plate. Then use your number system to memorize that number. And think of all the Memory Palaces and images for B and BR you can come up with during the meal.

Every ounce of practice means that every ounce of food can help you learn and remember at greater speeds in the future.

Optimizing Physical Movement For Accelerating Your Mental ProcessingNot only can you turn your gym and favorite walks into Memory Palaces. You can also spend the time practicing your speed of mental association.

For example, as you walk your neighborhood, name the items you see and associate. Don’t just see a tree – think “tree” and then think of Trevor, trippin’ out, trucks, trick or treat, and everything you can muster.

Combine this simple association exercise with neurobics and you’ll be amazed by how fast you can get.

Optimizing Your Mental StrengthAll these activities might sound like a ton of effort just to memorize faster.

No pain, no gain, right?

Well… what if you could speed up your memory without pain?

You can, and to get there, you’ll want the mental strength tools that help you get past the mental noise that’s holding you back.

One quick tip is to spend some of your time visualizing the goals you have for memorizing faster – and then be radically honest about whether you actually have the skills needed.

If you do, great! If not, then forge a plan for how you’re going to get those skills. Make sure you’ve mastered the fundamentals and followed all the other tips on this page. You now have a structured path and if you need help, ask questions. There’s a place to post them below. And if you need more, try these brain exercises.

Optimize Your Creative Imagination For Maximum VelocityI’ve saved the most powerful tip for last:

You don’t have to be creative.

In fact, real success from memory techniques means removing creativity from the equation. As the processes and examples above have shown, lightning-fast memory comes through association.

And those associations are not invented. They are discovered through practices that make it fast and easy to access information that is already in your memory.

I am always studying how to memorize things fast and taking action with simple memory exercises at every opportunity.

When I see a pillow in the shape of the letter G, I don’t practice creating new words. No!

I think instead of Grover Cleveland, the 22nd president of the United States (here’s how to memorize the rest of the presidents). I don’t invent the mental image of him and his moustache – I practice accessing it faster.

Likewise, I think of Grover from Sesame Street, giants from various stories I’ve read, the character “Gas” from David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ and as many more associations as I can muster.

And the speed of it comes from consistent, unrelenting practice. Not just any kind of practice, but multidimensional practice.

That means making sure I hit all of the following mental experiences:

• Kinesthetic (the feeling of what it’s like to be Grover Cleveland physically)
• Auditory (the sound of signing a new piece of legislation)
• Visual (the look of the clothes from the 1800s and early 1900s)
• Emotional (the feelings of having the hardest job in the world)
• Concepts (the many legal and constitutional ideas I would have to weigh)
• Olfactory (the smells of my favorite foods in the White House kitchen)
• Gustatory (how the same taste)
• Space (walking the White House gardens)

It’s not just that practicing all of these “Magnetic Modes” will make you faster. You also want to practice them so that you use them faster in real-time.

Every time I meet a new person, I go through each within seconds – or at least as many as I feel I need. More practice and more dimensions means greater speed.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.How To Memorize Something QuicklyIn conclusion, let me make this power tip loud and clear:

Memorizing “something” sounds awfully vague.

Instead of memorizing unclear and vaguely defined things, spend some time and get really clear on your learning goals and desired outcomes.

Have a vision and a plan. And ask yourself:

What does it matter how fast you go if you’re traveling in the wrong direction?

Far too many people want faster memory for undefined reasons that have no structure or roadmap to support them.

Frankly, it’s worth repeating the cliche that failing to plan is planning to fail. But now you don’t have to worry about such sad results.

You know exactly what it takes to remember as much as you want at a clip so fast it will make your head spin – in a good way, of course!

The post How to Memorize Something Fast: 5 Simple And PROVEN Memory Techniques appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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If you’re wondering how to read a book and remember everything like a professional scholar, this is one of the most helpful tips I can give:

Sit down, open a book and read.

Of course, I have more secrets to share than just that.

But isn’t common sense powerful?

It is.

And it’s getting even more powerful as modern life creates more and more distractions and demands on our attention.

Of course, we can (and will) talk about different types of reading, like elementary, inspectional, analytical, and syntopical reading.

These are terms introduced by Mortimer J. Adler in his famous guide, How to Read a Book.

But these terms are useless if you don’t:

• Schedule time to read
• Read according to demands of the genre
• Read based on clearly established goals
• Be prepared with the appropriate tools for interpretation and analysis

So if you want to know the best way to read, I encourage you to explore ways to read.

That’s because there are multiple kinds of books.

And when you have a toolbox of strategies at your fingertips, you’ll be able to read faster, remember more and even better:

You’ll understand what you’re reading and become a person of knowledge and wisdom.

You’ll make connections on the fly and experience multiple a-ha moments of revelation.

Sound good?

Let’s get started!

The 4 Main Types of Reading (And Which Is the Best Way to Read a Book)Before we get started, ask yourself a simple question:

What’s the point of reading?

A lot of people try to imitate how others read. But they wind copying strategies that do not align with their goals.

So reading more thoroughly and choosing a strategy always begins with thinking through your goals.

Some reading goals include:

• Acing school assignments and exams
• Filling in gaps left by traditional education
• Developing personal wisdom
• Solving problems
• Expanding mental awareness
• Substantial reflection
• Identifying or creating opportunities for yourself
• Research as a profession
• Spiritual goals
• Leisure

Each of these categories can involve multiple reading types.

Let’s start with the oft-cited types identified by Adler in How to Read a Book.

I’ll cover Adler’s main points, and after that, we’ll talk about how to read a book like a scholar so you can remember as much as you want.

Why should you care what I have to say about reading?

Well, I have a PhD, two MAs and am an author of many books. Most of those books involve tons of research.

I’ve also taught reading and writing at three universities around the world, including for Rutgers where the legendary Kurt Spellmeyer was my boss.

Oh, and I read every single day, completing 2-5 books a week on average. All kinds of books from fiction to philosophy, science and Zen.

You name the category, and I’ll probably have read something that belongs to it.

And if I haven’t, even if the category is crushingly complex, I’ll figure out a way to increase my IQ in that field to the best of my ability.

All right, enough about my street cred. Let’s get started with Adler’s four main types of reading.

One: Elementary ReadingAdler says that this reading type hardly goes past basic understanding.

You know what the words on a page say, and you can follow a basic plot.

However, I think we need to add a very important point.

Elementary reading is often directed reading.

You’re told to do it by a parent or teacher.

It’s the opposite of self-directed reading.

And that’s a big problem. As the authors of Balancing Principles for Teaching Elementary Reading argue, one core value matters above all.

Teachers and parents should strive to help kids want reading as part of their lives.

Why is a passion for reading so important?

Simple: true literacy demands are only going up as technology and automation increase.

Not only that, but critical thinking is so important to the success of all people.

In fact, there are 9 critical thinking strategies all people need, but if you only have elementary reading skills, you cannot develop them.

And no, you can’t expect so-called microlearning to help fill in the gaps if you’re an elementary reader.

Will inspectional reading get you there?

Let’s see.

Two: Inspectional ReadingFor Adler, inspectional reading is what most people now call skim reading.

Adler seems to confuse it with scanning, which is substantially different.

Don’t get me wrong.

There’s nothing wrong with inspectional reading. As the authors of Reading as a Perceptual Process have shown, words can be skipped while scanning a book without the reader necessarily losing comprehension.

However, the most interesting finding in the book is that how much you can still understand while inspecting a book may be linked to handwriting.

For example, they analyse “target scanning,” which is stronger in those with decent handwriting skills.

This means that if you never write by hand and are finding it difficult to grasp the meaning of books you’re skimming through using “speed reading” techniques, you might improve by practicing your longhand writing instead of typing.

Whether or not doing a lot of typing helps your “target scanning” for any kind of reading on screens is yet unknown.

But there are also aren’t a lot of people who have talked about inspectional reading from devices because digital books aren’t quite so easy to scan.

Either way you look at it, I’ve chosen to read from print instead of digital. The benefits are too profound, especially when you’re using memory techniques.

Three: Analytical ReadingA lot of people worry that reading without understanding wastes time.

I disagree.

Rather, I read so that I might understand.

After all, if I already know what a book is going to cover… why bother reading it?

Well, Adler had an answer for that. He called it “superficial reading.” It’s technically part of inspectional reading, and not exactly the opposite of analytical reading.

For example, you might be perfectly justified to read superficially if you’re just looking a book over to see if it covers anything new or surprising.

But if you really want to dig deep into a book, you need tools of analytical thinking. Even if you’re familiar with the topic and the book is repetitive, you still need to perform what can also be called a “close reading.”

What’s involved?

A lot, frankly.

Genre

First of all, you want to understand the book’s genre or category.

Why is this important?

Because it will help you connect the book to other texts that directly relate to it or hold an important connection. Knowing the various fields of knowledge speeds up your pattern recognition.

Classifying texts by their type is so important, I created an entire course about it called Genre Frameworks.

Composition

You also need to understand how the book is put together.

This is called the form/content paradigm.

In other words, how a book is written forms part of its ultimate meaning.

For example, Plato’s Republic is a dialog. This formal aspect influences the meaning of the philosophical ideas in the text. They are discursive and combine objective and subjective reasoning in ways that only the dialog form can.

Aristotle’s philosophy, on the other hand, is presented in direct prose. It is argumentative and designed to convince you that his points are valid.

Paraphrase and Summary

Analytical reading isn’t just about reading.

Adler wants you to be able to restate the points in a book in your own words.

Developing generally involves writing about what you’ve read.

This is critical because A+ students get those grades by producing variations of assigned readings.

Think of it like music. If you know a scale, you can play it forwards and backwards. But you can also perform the scale in your own style.

I use the music metaphor because writing about what you’ve read should be combined with talking about it too.

When you’ve properly analyzed a book, performing what you know is what you’ll be able to do. Whether it’s while sitting for an exam, giving a speech or just discussing between friends, your descriptions of how what you’re reading connects to the larger field and how its style impacts the meaning of the book will be a great achievement.

For help with writing summaries that boost your understanding, I recommend How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One by Stanley Fish.

Four: Syntopical ReadingThis term sounds fancier than it is.

Basically it means that you read a number of books on the same topic.

Then, ideally by paraphrasing and writing summaries, you can compare the output of those books.

Not only that, but you can abstract the core ideas through contrasting different approaches to them.

I do this frequently when I compare different Memory Palace books.

What exactly should you compare between books using this type of reading?

• Publication dates
• Author backgrounds
• Why their books were written
• Their research approaches and resources
• Any ideological agendas or biases the authors hold
• Key passages
• Key vocabulary

You also want to use this face to distinguish fact from opinion. When comparing and contrasting different authors on the same topic, you’ll find that some stick to science and evidence from their research. Others waffle on about ideas without providing substantial references.

As the reader, you don’t necessarily want to discount opinion or even anecdotal experience. But you do need to place it in the context of other writers and how they approach the same topic. You could find that some anecdotal books that seem quite outlandish on the surface actually are backed up by science, even if the author of that book is unaware of it.

How to Read a Book Properly in 6 StepsThe points from Adler we’ve just gone through are solid.

But he lived in a different time. The very definition of what a book is has changed.

For example, when Adler wrote his book in the 40s and updated it in the 70s, contacting an author would involve writing to the publisher.

These days, you can follow authors on Twitter, watch countless interviews with them, and often even get an email response to your questions.

So with our era in mind, let’s talk about some other ways to read a book. I’m confident you’ll find them empowering.

Step One: Schedule ReadingI started this post with the notion that reading is as simple as sitting down with a book and starting to read.

This is true.

So rather than talk in greater detail about skimming, reducing subvocalization or all the other topics I’ve addressed in how to read faster, let’s focus on the importance of scheduling.

There are many ways to schedule, but the easiest I find is to set simple rules.

For example, when I’m not doing major research projects, I often use this rule:

• One hour of reading in the morning
• One hour of reading at night

If I can squeeze in more reading during the afternoon, I certainly will.

In the past, I have tracked my exact activities, which I find a lot more useful than writing to-do lists. I can memorize my schedule, after all.

But each person needs to explore many kinds of scheduling to find what works best. But if one thing is common to us all, it’s that having some kind of rule will set you free to follow it.

Without a rule, you are a prisoner of inconsistency.

Step Two: Pace Your ReadingFor my research and personal development reading, I like to work in 90-day blocks.

For example, when I first started studying Advaita Vedanta, I made it a rule to read only about this topic for ninety days.

I wound up reading about it for longer than that, but this only proves the power of setting rules. They are productive.

Plus, anything less than 90-days is unlikely to help your brain build enough connections to compare and contrast anything of substance.

This science-based principle is the origin of what is now called Metivier’s Razor:

Less than 90 days of study and practice of (almost any) accelerated learning technique does not deserve the phrase, “I tried.”

In sum, pick a topic, identify ten to fifteen books that deal with it, and then for the next 90-days, plow through those books.

For bonus points, follow-up with another 90-days on a related topic. For example, I followed my Advaita Vedanta research project with 90-days on hermeticism, then 90-days on Zen.

This allowed me to not only compare multiple books within each topic area. I was also able to compare and contrast the topic areas as a whole.

Give this style a try. You are effectively creating your own semesters that resemble what a course of graduate study at university would be like.

Step Three: Interleave ReadingRarely do I read books from beginning to end without pause. The only exception would be novels.

When it comes to reading non-fiction, there’s a very powerful strategy called interleaving. You will learn faster and remember more by reading 3-5 books at the same time.

To interleave, you keep shifting between them.

There’s no exact pattern you need to follow. Generally, I read between 1-3 chapters of a book before switching to the next.

The books that are being interleaved are read until they are done.

This is one of those rare speed reading techniques that actually works. Give it a try!

Step Four: Capture & Organize ReadingI don’t know about you, but when I come across ideas in books that resonate, I want to remember them.

We’ll talk about memorizing key points in a moment, but I personally prefer to separate the process.

One of the best ways to set the stage for memorizing information from textbooks is by taking notes on index cards.

That way, each note is mobile. You can arrange them in multiple ways, which increases your ability to compare and contrast ideas.

It also helps when you’re writing essays or books in the future.

Step Five: Memorize Your ReadingOnce you have the information extracted, knowing what you want to remember is important.

Generally, I suggest memorizing:

• Author names
• Historical dates
• Key ideas
• Key vocabulary
• Verbatim passages

I’m very glad I did all these things, especially during my university years.

During my dissertation defense, to take one example, one of the examiners claimed that I had hardly written about Nietzsche. “Where’s the Nietzsche?” she demanded.

Calmly, I said “Page 72.” Without looking at the page myself, I recited Nietzsche from memory. In German.

Needless to say, I walked out of that room with my Ph.D. in hand.

How did I memorize both the page number and the quote in a foreign language?

I used a Memory Palace. Learn this technique yourself with this free course:

In the beginning, many people will still get stuck on exactly what to memorize from the books they read.

“Sure,” they’ll say, “remember key terms and historical dates. But how do I know which ones are important?”

There are two ways to think about this issue:

• The more you read, the more you’ll develop an intuition for these things
• Research

I think the point about reading more is clear. If you practice extracting information and performing it in your own words as we’ve been discussing, practice itself will hone your radar for the points that matter. It will also help ensure that you stop feeling like a lot of the material you’re tasked with is boring. Chances are, it isn’t.

When it comes to doing more research, a lot has to do with your context and deploying some admittedly unusual measures to expand your context.

For example, when I was a student, I used to visit the department secretary and ask for exams from the previous years. That’s the kind of research that can help you figure out what’s going to be important on a test. You can use that knowledge to read to identify those terms and ideas in the textbook.

You can also closely analyze the books themselves. Often there are feature boxes, summaries, introductions and conclusions that use bullets or other formatting to highlight key ideas.

Extract them from the book and memorize them.

And if you memorize something that turns out to not be important?

No big deal. You never know when it might be useful. And if it’s never useful, you’ve gotten in some valuable practice using memory techniques.

Step Six: Expand ReadingThe final step is to expand upon what you’ve read.

We already know that the fourth and most powerful kind of reading involves reading multiple books on the same topic. You can’t compare and contrast without doing so.

That’s an easy way to expand your reading. You simply visit Amazon or your local library and find more books on that topic by keyword.

But there’s another way to expand your reading that is a bit more subtle. It’s also more powerful.

I call this the 2-10% Rule. When I’m reading in one of my 90-day blocks, I build it out by trying to read 2-10% of the books mentioned in the core textbooks I’m reading.

Note: If a book is loaded with too many references for even 2% to make sense, I’ll pull that number down to just 2 other books.

Also, we don’t always have to apply this rule strictly to books. Your 2% can also include journal articles or even material from popular magazines. But ideally you want to draw from trusted sources.

That said, I’ve studied topics like the Mandela Effect. To understand this subject and the naive people who believe in it, I had to read many pseudo scientific articles. I point this out because depending on the topic, your exact reading strategy may take you into questionable realms.

So long as you’re a trained skeptic, that’s okay, and it’s important to have as many critical thinking benefits at your disposal as possible.

By reading in the strategic ways we’ve been talking about, you’ll come to learn more about the author’s context. And your mental web of connections grows.

Sometimes, you’ll find that the books you choose turn out to be quite incidental to the key point you’re studying.

That’s okay. Knowledge is not a puzzle that will ever turn into one complete picture. Not all the pieces have to fit.

The important thing is to have a strategy for expansion.

And another key strategy is to strategically reread a percentage of books you go through. I try to shoot for at least one a month.

This not only refreshes your memory about what you’ve read, but also lets you use the 2-10% rule again, this time with fresh eyes.

Of course, this next point should go without saying, but I’ll make it clear anyway.

After you’ve identified your 2-10% you’re going to read next, schedule that reading too. Then follow all the steps we’ve discussed before repeating them with the next round.

Reading A Book Like A ProAs you can see, it’s fun and easy to read a book in a sophisticated manner.

Sure, it might seem like there’s a lot of moving parts if you’re new to reading in this way.

But give it 90-days and I’m confident you’ll see the logic in it. We’re talking about being a reading pro so that you can reach expertise in multiple topics, after all.

Frankly, I cannot imagine how horrible my life would be now if I hadn’t started reading this way myself back when I was in high school.

I can’t stress the importance of reading highly enough.

With thanks for reading me today, let me know if I missed any steps in the comments. And tell me, what are you reading right now?

What would you like to read about over the next 90-days?

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Recently I walked out on the TEDx stage, opened my mouth, and for 13 minutes and 22 seconds, a bunch of words spilled out of my mouth.

The sentences and quotes flowed easily, without my having to think about a single one of them. At the end, a bunch of people clapped. I said goodbye to the people I’d met (by name, of course, because I’d memorized them), and then went home.

But wait. Isn’t this post about memory strategies? What does giving a speech have to do with strategies to improve memory?

That’s the beauty of what happened that day on stage. Because I have a number of memory strategies, it was easy for me to give that speech.

I can think back to a number of public speaking engagements that were stress-free, totally blissful, and perfectly wonderful — all because I have (and use) memory strategies.

This isn’t to say that stress-free means problem-free.

Far from it. As you can see in this video of the TEDx Talk, people laughed at something I wasn’t expecting…

…but thankfully, I was able to get back on track by simply falling back on the strategies you’re about to learn.

When I think back on all the times I’ve walked into a room and remembered the names of people and been able to speak to them without notes, I’m continually grateful for these strategies.

It makes me sad how many people suffer badly in life because they don’t have a strategy. That’s why today’s post will cover how to develop and cultivate a memory strategy that helps you with memory improvement.

Ready to bring memory strategies into your life?

Here’s what this post will cover:

Memory Strategies to Boost Retention and Recall
1. Pick a Long-Term Learning Project
2. Structure and Organize
3. Break It Down
4. Schedule Everything
5. Make Relationships
6. Make Mind Maps
7. Read Aloud
8. Use Priming to Form Mental Models
9. Seek Novel Experiences
10. Create a Memento Mori
11. Optimize Your Lifestyle

Before we dive into the strategies themselves, let’s look at what a memory strategy is, and why it’s so important to develop one.

Memory Strategies to Boost Long-Term Memory and RecallEach of the 12 strategies below can be used separately to aid in improving long-term memory and memory recall. But the strategies become even more powerful when implemented together.

Let’s look at each memory strategy in detail.

1. Pick a Long-Term Learning ProjectThis first strategy is deceptively simple: have a long-term learning project to help you focus your attention.

You might decide to have multiple projects, but I like the discipline involved in focusing on a singular project.

That being said, I currently have several long-term learning projects that are all intertwined. My current project is a very elaborate and deep project I’ve been working on for years, called The Art of Memory.

As another example, if you are a medical student you could turn your learning into a longer-term project than you originally anticipated. To become the best possible doctor, you could learn more about the history of medicine. You might choose to create a long-term learning project around medicine during the Italian Renaissance.

Every time you learn more, find the clues that lead you to your long-term learning project. Build out a concrete set of things to study – planned out over time – that will help you create a foundation for connections in your neuronal networks.

Each new book you explore or subtopic you examine will create more and more connections.

What this type of long-term learning helps you do is learn how to focus. You’ll extend your concentration on something called cognitive shifting.

Please note, we’re not talking about multitasking or task switching here. Instead, cognitive switching is the ability to very consciously switch gears in a way that doesn’t disrupt your focus. It doesn’t incur a mental cost; in fact, it creates more energy than it burns.

In order to be at the top of your memory game, you need to master cognitive switching. You need to be able to switch gears on a dime, all the while maintaining your focus on being the best possible learner.

Your long-term learning projects will teach you to master this type of focus, to juggle multiple threads of thoughts and ideas at a time. And over time, you’ll develop memory reserve (sometimes called cognitive reserve), which leads to long-term fortification of the brain against damage.

Exercise: Pick one life-long learning projectIt might feel too limiting to pick just one project, but trust me. You can start with just one, and if you spend a few months focused on the single project and feel like it’s too limiting, you can add more in.

If you have trouble with the idea of picking just one thing, I recommend watching (and taking action on) my Memory Training Vision Statement video.

My Art of Memory project leaves me swamped in variety. My head spins every day as I make my way through page after page, exercise after exercise. I just keep following the adventure and haven’t found an end yet!

Whatever you choose, be the brave warrior of the mind who is courageous enough to zero in on one thing and be satisfied with the totality of what you get. Instead of trying to “have it all” and ending up with nothing, see how it feels to commit to a singular path for a while.

1. Structure and OrganizeThe most helpful thing you can do to improve memory is to be a “self-organizing structurer” — become someone interested in structuring things. One of the top ways to do this is to learn about bibliography.

Just think: what if you could structure your mind to store information like a library?

Imagine if you committed the Dewey Decimal System to memory. You would have a never-ending Memory Palace where you could store every piece of information you wanted!

But for those who don’t want to put in the effort to memorize something as extensive as the Dewey Decimal System, you can still think bibliographically. It’s simply a major tool of structure and organization.

To understand how libraries came to be structured as they are just might influence you to begin structuring your mind in a similar way. If you’re already familiar with Memory Palaces, you’ll see they are structured both thematically and bibliographically.

To tackle this style of self-organization, have several styles of note-taking at your disposal. Two helpful resources here on Magnetic Memory Method are the note-taking YouTube video below and the post about How to Memorize a Textbook.

As I discuss in How to Memorize a Textbook, index cards can be a helpful tool. Rather than taking notes out of a book in a linear fashion, using index cards makes them moveable.

When you get ready to memorize the information on the cards, you can mix and match the cards, move them around, and memorize the information in the order it makes sense. Instead of being locked in the same linear mode of the book itself, you can be flexible in your learning and memorization.

As you structure and organize your thoughts and memorization, try to maintain what I call an “index flex” that allows you some kind of structure that you can also move around and restructure as needed.

When you have your structure and organization in place, you’re able to use your memory tools in a way that’s streamlined and strategic.

Exercise: Read a book using the How to Memorize a Textbook methodologyThis exercise is as simple as it sounds. Choose a book to read – any book – and apply the 10-step checklist in the How to Memorize a Textbook video (or blog post, linked above).

1. Break It DownAt some level, this means chunking — breaking information down into smaller more manageable chunks, or grouping information into units.

For example, instead of listing a phone number as 9872380341, it’s easier to read when written as 987-238-0341.

For those interested in taking this a step further, you can also add chunking to mnemonics using things like a PAO, 00 to 99, or Dominic System.

There are many different approaches to applying this chunking method. You could try dedicated practice (a musical concept applied to memorizing a phrase) and break down a larger phrase of a foreign language — maybe taking it a word or two at a time before bringing the entire phrase back together.

This is a very important strategy in and of itself, but when you add mnemonics inside of a memory strategy it takes on its own dimension:

First you divide and then you encode. Then you can break each part down, loop it over and over, and make the process incredibly simple.

Exercise: Use notes you’ve gathered and “chunk” themTake a section of notes you’ve written out for school or work and chunk them down. You can even use the notes you took when you followed the How to Memorize a Textbook method in the last section.

Take your index cards, recombine them, chunk them, make them meaningful and useful, put them into a Memory Palace, and then use the dedicated practice strategy above.

Timo Hahn, on our testimonials page, shows how he uses this approach in both learning and with his consulting clients. He uses this strategy with index cards (the index flex) and chunks it in different ways to improve how he serves his clients.

1. Schedule EverythingScheduling is the antidote to cramming.

When I was preparing to do my TEDx talk, I had to schedule very carefully. I had a ton of things going on at the same time, and it would have been a terrible idea to cram all my preparation into the night before.

I even scrapped my speech and did a completely different talk than the one I originally planned — the only way I could have accomplished that was to schedule ahead and have enough time to memorize not one, but two, speeches!

This comes down to an 80/20 rule. When you pick up the book you chose in the second section of this post, you’ll decide on a certain percentage of other books to read afterward. (The debt obviously grows over time, but you don’t have to read everything.)

Schedule carefully, and you’ll fit in much more learning and growth in the long-term. On the flip side, if you don’t schedule you’re not likely to get much done.

For example, to combine scheduling and chunking, go through the citations at the end of your book and choose three other books. Go to the library (or your library’s online book lending portal) and at least look at them. Skim them or use priming to go through them.

It’s a form of chunking, so to speak: “Out of this bibliography, three books. I’ve looked over these 3, perhaps held them in my hands, flipped through the pages, and understood that I want to read chapter 4 of one of them.” Then schedule when you’ll read chapter four.

If you try this without a long-term learning project in mind to guide and govern your exploration, you’ll end up with all these shiny new books and no plan to actually make use of them.

Remember, it’s not about having it all — instead, it’s about having clarity on specific goals, and in a way that honors the nature of how time works.

Next, divide planning and organizing from reading and remembering.

There’s the reading part, when you use some sort of device to capture what it is you want to memorize. And there’s the remembering process, when you’ll commit the things you captured to memory.

Also schedule self-testing. First ask, “what do I want out of life (or this learning project)?” Then make it happen, schedule self-testing, and schedule some journaling.

Why? To test that you really want the thing you think you do.

When self-testing, set time to:

• Look through and ask questions about your notes,
• Write a summary of what you’re doing, and
• Make sure you really understand the topic.

If you self-test and realize you’re not quite ready, you can go and look at another book. The testing process will help you identify where your weak links are and how to fix them.

Exercise: Organize and schedule your reading listRemember, organization and scheduling go together! For this exercise, organize your reading list, and then schedule time for reading, reflecting, and self-testing.

If you follow this set of steps and turn it into a regular practice, you will have an amazing memory as you get older. Now is the time to get started, no matter what condition you’re in at the moment.

Start to read properly. Start to schedule time properly. Progress toward getting better and better at both. Practice the things you really want to get out of life. And you’ll be so amazed by how many incredible things start to happen.

1. Make RelationshipsMake relationships — both to people and to existing memories.

If you’re in a particular situation and you hear someone say something, what existing memory surfaces? If you think of an author or a book or an object, what comes up?

For example, if I think of Frances Yates, the memory that surfaces is the first time I read The Art of Memory. Reading Moonwalking with Einstein also comes up, as well as the magic shop in Toronto where I think I saw Jay Sankey one time.

These are all slightly random examples, but they demonstrate how to practice linking a thing to existing memories.

It’s the practice of being able to come up with a memory (or more) on demand and make a relationship to it, even if it’s a very loose relationship. It’s also the practice of fluid memory and free association. And the more you can do that while you’re reading and learning, the more you’ll remember.

Next, practice making analogies. Even if they’re incorrect, or terrible, they help you make mental relationships between two things.

It also helps to compare and contrast the two things. Contrasts are often more useful, simply because existing memories and analogies are more like comparisons. So balance out the focus by using more contrasts.

And finally, understand what facts really are. Don’t be lax and let yourself think they’re what you want them to be or what you were taught in school. Instead, seek the real truth about what facts are. They’re usually heavily contingent and testable.

Set yourself up to rock and roll on that higher factual basis, as opposed to getting stuck in the weeds or the gears of the machine — the things that lead to all sorts of nonsense on the internet and in journalism.

Exercise: Think of an analogy to memory strategyThink, “What is analogous to a memory strategy?” First, make an analogy, and then think about what the contrast would be to that memory strategy. Try to write down at least five analogies and their contrasts.

And then ask yourself, “What is the factuality of memory strategies?” Write down the answers you discover.

1. Make Mind MapsThis strategy is wonderful, extraordinary, and perhaps even unparalleled.

Mind mapping is about thinking and remembering. It also lets you make analogies and stress-test factuality, as well as do contrasting and comparison. It enables you to break things down and do chunking in a certain way.

But even better, you’re not beholden to all those things. It comes down to, “What is your strategy?”

When you take your long-term learning goal and think of your strategies within it, mind mapping will have a place. And how, specifically, you use mind mapping will also have a place.

There are many different styles of mind mapping.

One mind map style is how Ke Ko took what I said about sea-shelling in Memory Palaces and applied it to her mind map. This is like the Magnetic Memory Method in a nutshell. So beautiful.

Ke Ko’s Memory Palace / Mind Map of the Magnetic Memory Method

Mind mapping can also be useful for spaced repetition.

For example, let’s say you mind map something you want to memorize. You now have this wonderful visual display you can visit and revisit as often as you’d like — and I would recommend keeping track of how many times you revisit it by putting a small roman numeral in the bottom corner.

Aim for at least 10 reviews and you will see great benefit. This is a creative use of spaced repetition. It’s not mnemonics or a memory technique (at least in the sense of Memory Palaces), but it’s a great way to combine mind mapping and spaced repetition.

You can also use a mind map as a Memory Palace. To learn more about mind mapping, watch our YouTube playlist covering Mind Map Examples.

Exercise: Use 3 styles of mind mapping on your life-long learning projectTake your life-long learning project and mind map it using at least 3 different mind mapping techniques.

If you’re not familiar with all of the styles of mind mapping, I recommend Tony Buzan’s book Mind Map Mastery to help you choose. The book also has a delightful resources section that will help you expand your learning project.

1. Read AloudYou might think there’s only one way to read out loud, but it’s really very nuanced. I like to read aloud in many different ways.

For example, one of the ways I overcame a deep depression in grad school was by turning to memory techniques and recording my own audiobooks. And what I mean by that is I read books out loud and recorded myself reading them on a tiny cassette recorder.

I listened to those recordings at two-times speed — which sounded like listening to a chipmunk. But it worked. It was the focus and concentration that helped me remember more. The “levels of processing” effect guarantees that you’ll multi-channel things (speaking, reading, etc).

You don’t have to sit there and “try” to focus. Instead, you create focus and mechanically turn focus into a physical activity by reading aloud.

Another thing you can do is rhyme for memory. Rhyming is also a great trigger for coming up with images. You can then use the rhyme and image to launch yourself into higher levels of association.

You can also sing to improve memory and brain health. Memorizing songs is a powerful tool on the path to memory improvement.

Discussion groups can also be a great way to remember more. You hear yourself speak as well as hearing others, and then you can repeat directions, instructions, and content in your own words.

For example, let’s say you’re with a study group and you’re reviewing a skill. Someone might say, “well, first what you need to do is open this file in the library, extract the microfiche, and then put it in the machine.” You can mentally repeat those instructions in your own words as well as write them down.

Exercise: Narrate a page from a book that’s part of your life-long learning projectChoose one of the books from your life-long learning project and pick a page. Read the page out loud. Then take out your phone or another type of recorder and narrate the page, if you’d like. Listen to the recording once (or more). See how it feels.

1. Use Priming to Form Mental ModelsWhen you hear the word “priming” you might immediately think of the speed reading technique.

But that’s not the only thing we’re looking at in this context — there are also other types of priming. In the priming world, speed reading is essentially biography, but it’s also observing mental responses to difficulty and then strategizing based on your observations.

Here’s one approach to self-priming: instead of saying, “Oh, this is so difficult. Poor me!” you can say, “Yeah, this is difficult. But I can do it.”

For example, in the coaching world, there is research that indicates certain athletes have different motivational types than others. There are some who need to be told, “This is going to hurt.” Somehow, bracing for the inevitable pain improves their performance.

And I personally have a fighter pilot mentality: “Come on. Let’s go! This is a war, and we’re gonna win.” Maybe I played GI Joe too much when I was a kid.

Many of these mental models are formed in childhood, and a lot of it is positive. Much of it can be tapped to improve your performance.

So the key here is to understand what your motivational model is. Observe your own mental responses to difficulty, and then use that information to strategize and turn the wind in your favor.

If you want to learn more about mental models and how to apply them, I highly recommend Nir Eyal’s Indistractable.

In the book, he lays out why and how to explicitly and expressly put time aside to figure out your mental models and create some secular rituals around it. Then be prepared to explore, challenge, and change them as you learn what works for you.

One secular ritual you might choose to explore is memorizing playing cards. I personally like to memorize 13 cards at a time, but you can start with whatever number you like.

In creativity studies, there’s also a type of priming — and one priming creativity exercise is to do a small and quick creative burst of exercise to warm up your brain before you tackle the task at hand.

Or if you’re preparing to memorize something for a test at school or for your language learning, before you jump into the challenging goal, do a quick exercise to warm up (much like an athlete warms up their muscles). Then be sure to cool down and relax.

Exercise: Pick a mental modelFor this memory strategy, choose a mental model, build a secular ritual that works for you, and learn the best way to prime yourself.

1. Seek Novel ExperiencesWhen we’re in new situations, the brain creates more norepinephrine. And while norepinephrine is related to stress, it’s also related to memory.

This needs more research, but my personal experience is that I easily remember airports I’ve visited once and the drive into a city I had never visited.

I started to experiment with this by studying and doing memory practice in multiple locations, and it does seem to have an effect. It could be that I’m putting expectation-effect into things, but I believe it to make sense from a neurochemical basis.

I also believe novelty is related to a concept called inter-leaving. This means spending some time on studying one thing in depth, and then radically and quickly switching to another thing.

So imagine what would happen if you approached this with a bit of strategy and studied in multiple locations. Think about the archetype of a really smart librarian who knows the whole library and can speak very specifically, versus the cognitive shift over to a jack of all trades who can speak generally.

There is a catch to interleaving, though. You want to avoid the Zeigarnik Effect, which can happen when you give yourself a to-do list so overwhelming that it degrades your concentration. The more undone things you have on your list, the more your ability to focus is inhibited.

Exercise: Identify 3 new locations where you could studyFor this strategy, pick three locations where you’ve never studied, and then progressively plan and schedule how you’re going to get there.

It’s the opposite of always sitting in the same seat in a classroom or going to the same cafe every time. Instead, the effort necessary to identify the new setting and get yourself there creates positive stress that leads to new memory formation — which also leads to life-long robustness of your brain’s neural networks.

1. Create a Memento MoriA Memento Mori is something that reminds you that you are eventually going to die.

It may sound morbid, but we don’t get to choose when or where or how it’s going to happen. This is why now is the best time to try the things you’ve always wanted and to get involved in improving your memory.

For example, Mr. Death is always on my desk. When I was in my band I always had him on my bass strap, reminding me he would “catch me later.”

Mr. Death and the Amor Fati coin are my two main Memento Mori. The third pin is the Warrior of the Mind Emblem given to me for “Outstanding Contributions to Global Mental Literacy” by Tony Buzan.

This shouldn’t terrify you or haunt you. It should be a comfort because as I interpret the great Giordano Bruno, there is no death, and there never could or can be — but, nonetheless, that thing you think you are, that “I”, that ego, you think it’s going to die, and that causes so much pain.

Instead, use the reminder that life is short to do the things you’ve put off. Seize the day. Live the life you dream of.

Another Memento Mori is the amor fati coin, which says, “Not merely to bear what is necessary, but love it,” which is a quote from Nietzsche. His internal Memento Mori is known as the myth of the eternal return — imagine what it would be like to wake up and live the same day, every day, for all of eternity.

How would you live that day? What would you do to make sure it was not merely tolerable, but the most wonderful day possible?

Say yes to life. Instead of getting stuck in “poor me” mode, take the opportunity to make whatever changes are possible in your life.

Exercise: Create your Memento MoriChoose a symbol or reminder that life is short. Whatever you choose should motivate you to make the most of every given day.

If you’re having a hard time choosing, Richard Wiseman’s book 59 Seconds has a wonderful funeral exercise that can help.

1. Optimize Your LifestyleThis strategy is fairly simple, but it’s also a very important part of your overall strategy.

In a nutshell:

• Get enough quality sleep
• Exercise and move your body regularly
• Eat a healthy diet and stay well hydrated
• Have a plan to manage the daily stresses of life
• Sit for daily memory-based meditation

If you’re not sleeping properly or working on optimizing and maximizing your sleep, you’re missing out. Your brain (and memory) are dependent on getting a good night’s sleep. The explosive, blissful feeling that comes from being reliably well-rested is some sweet stuff.

Exercise is also essential. Socrates even said, “it is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit.”

You owe it to yourself to be at the height of your athleticism and try to hold onto it for as long as you can.

Another life management tip that is great for your memory – but very rarely discussed – is to have an emergency plan for your family. Having this plan in place takes weight off your shoulders and frees up your mind to think about other things.

For your plan:

• Create and sign a will
• Designate an emergency meeting point
• Have fire blankets and fire extinguishers handy
• Store enough food and water for 2 weeks
• Have a reasonable stock of toilet paper

In his book Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, James Doty talks about many of these things. He also talks about the dark side of meditation and mindfulness — where you not only get distance and discernment, but you also get detachment and you’re not so concerned about things.

You’re able to let go of outcomes, and might even get to the point where you exploit people and situations because of it. So make sure you have a good moral compass as you make meditation part of your lifestyle.

Exercise: Audit your lifestyle categories and make a plan to improve themFor this strategy, audit every lifestyle category above. Make a plan for how you want to improve in each category, and then schedule the improvements in.

Do your research using all the tools we’ve talked about as part of your life-long learning project. And then remember every step you take helps to improve the health of both your body and your mind.

Exercise: Learn the Magnetic Memory MethodThere are a number of ways to learn the methods, strategies, and techniques in the Magnetic Memory Method. But the easiest way to get started is to sign up for the free memory improvement kit.

Memory Strategies for the Long and Short-Term MemoryYou now have 12 different strategies at hand you can use to improve memory and take on the world. You have your chosen mental model. And you know what kind of person you want your memory studies to help you become.

Now it’s time to take these strategies and start forming habits. Show up long enough and consistently enough. Do the work. Then come back tomorrow and do it again.

Remember, memory is the ability to recall things on demand because you’ve been able to store them — and strategy is the science and the art of accomplishing goals.

To help you accomplish your goals through memory strategy, sign up for your free memory improvement toolkit today. And remember the speed of implementation rule — don’t just sign up. Get started right away.

The post Memory Strategies: 11 Shockingly Easy Ways to Improve Your Memory appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Imagine stumbling across a treasure trove of memory improvement tips that actually work.

Not only are you suddenly able to remember the names of everyone you meet.

You’re also passing exams, remembering vocabulary and phrases in multiple languages and wowing yourself, your family and your friends.

What would it take to make such a list a reality?

For one thing, the tips would need to be specific to your actual goal.

And it would need to be written by a memory expert who actually applies mnemonics to the kinds of information you want to remember better.

Here’s the very good news:

You’ve just stumbled across the best memory improvement strategies on the Internet.

And they’re gathered by myself, a renowned memory expert with decades of experience using mnemonics, teaching them and even judging memory competitions.

Ready to open this treasure chest?

Let’d dive in!

If You Want to Improve Your Memory, Here’s What Matters MostThe main reason people struggle with memory techniques, is that they’re looking for a one-size-fits-all approach to memory improvement.

But when it comes to learning how to improve memory, the best place to start is with a goal.

You need to ask yourself what kinds of memory improvement you’re looking for. The major categories involved in memory improvement involve:

• Recovering from memory loss
• Making language learning easier
• Performing better in social situations
• Passing tests and exams

You’ll instantly do much better by choosing memory techniques or cognitive training exercises that relate specifically to a well-defined goal or outcome.

In other words, there really are no such thing as memory tips for every scenario. There are different types of information and different kinds of situations to consider.

With this critical point in mind, let’s look at each of these categories in-depth and set you up with the best possible memory tips.

Memory Improvement Tips for Memory LossI’ll never forget when Michael Gusman told me about how memorizing Bible verses using mnemonics helped him restore his memory following a nearly-tragic car accident.

Although you might be skeptical, many memory experts have shown how using mnemonics and other kinds of memory training can help people recover from traumatic brain injury or strokes. Dr. Gary Small is one of many and he recommends passive memory routines, like the 4-details brain exercise.

Memory loss may also result from poor eating habits that harm your memory. Reviewing your diet from top to bottom can help reverse memory loss tremendously. Certain memory-friendly foods, teas and herbs are a key part of improving.

When it comes to recovering from memory loss, memory training can help. But often people need to look to exercises and dietary change first.

Memory Improvement Tips for Language LearningDid you know that studies of bilingualism have shown that learning at least one other language can help fend off Alzheimer’s and Dementia?

That’s great news, because learning a new language is not that difficult. The main tips boil down to a near-daily diet of:

• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening
• Memorizing vocabulary and phrases

You might be thinking… how is “reading” a language learning tip?

Easy: It’s one of the most direct and natural forms of spaced repetition when you’re picking up a language. It certainly beats rote learning.

As part of your language learning journey, you may also want to consider the highly-optimized uses for flash cards and Anki I’ve created for you.

Then there’s the ultimate memory technique I recommend: The Memory Palace for Language Learning. In a Memory Palace, you will use a number of association systems based on the principle of mnemonic imagery.

Memory Improvement Tips for Social SituationsWhen it comes to memory improvement strategies for social situations, the first step is to improve your ability to remember names.

Next, you’ll want to work on memorizing conversations in real-time. This will help you keep track of many things as you enjoy the company of your friends.

Finally, you’ll want to remove any chance of embarrassment. To do that, it’s important to stop losing things.

Finally, it’s useful to practice mental strength and develop a personal philosophy. That way, you can be the best possible friend and an overall good citizen while in public.

Memory Improvement Techniques for StudyingIn many ways, sitting for an exam is a kind of social situation. You’ve gone to the classes and you’re ready to prove to society that you’ve mastered a particular topic with full mental acuity.

Studying effectively boils down to:

• Practicing identifying and memorizing the main points of books
• Scheduling your time (including sleep and physical fitness)
• Using active reading strategies and chunking
• Using critical thinking skills to distinguish between facts and trivia
• Mind mapping
• Summarizing what you read
• Using the Memory Palace technique or method of loci
• Using acronyms, ideally based on a pegword method
• Having advanced mnemonic strategies like the Major System

One of my favorite ways to improve my memory for topics I’ve studied circles back to being social:

Spend time talking with your friends and colleagues about what you’re learning. One study has shown that as little as ten minutes of talking about what you’re learning can help improve your exam scores.

The best part about the conversation memory tip is that the research shows it works for all ages.

Improve Your Memory Fast with These TipsAs we’ve seen, there are different memory needs, so the most important tip is to really think about your goal.

Then, reverse the journey and think about what you need to remember better in order to achieve your goal. Improving your memory is always possible, and you can get there a lot faster when you’re using the right techniques for the job.

Now, you might be thinking:

I don’t have a goal? How can I get one?

I’m glad you asked because many of my students have mentioned this to me. That’s why I created this free training on how to craft a memory improvement “vision statement” using journaling.

This kind of mental training also gives you reflective thinking muscles a good workout.

And if you’d like even more memory improvement tips, here’s one I think you’re really going to love. Take my free course:

It will help you develop a full mnemonic system and give you tips on how to get anything you want into long-term memory while exercising your short-term memory.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to master your memory on the basis of specific goals and the right memory improvement tips for the job?

Enjoy this journey and feel free to leave a comment or get in touch if you have any questions!

The post The Ultimate List of Memory Improvement Tips: 32 Simple Tactics appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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The world’s a challenging (and sometimes crazy) place, and that’s why everyone needs mental training.

If you’re like me, someone dealing with multiple physical and mental health issues, training your mind regularly is even more important.

That’s because it takes a particular kind of mind to show up to life, even when things are going good.

See, you either want your brain to:

• Start doing something
• Stop doing something
• Resume doing something you started but dropped

Or you have a learning situation where you just can’t get your memory to make something stick.

What will help you make the change?

Mental training. And here’s the very good news:

Many scientists have studied what it takes to keep your mind and memory strong. And I’ve personally run a number of experiments I’ll share with you on this page.

So if you’re a person who wants to enjoy a high-performance mind, you’ll love the tips and strategies you’ll find on this page.

Let’s get started!

Mental Training: The Superpower That Helps You Master Any Topic Or SkillMental training is defined quite simply as anything you do to keep your mind sharp, focused and helping you move towards your goals.

The main trouble with the idea of taking on various exercises is that in order to grow your mental strength, you need to choose specific exercises with a goal in mind.

To help you think of the goal you might want to pursue, here are some of the main experts in the area of mental performance.

Dr. Carol DweckDr. Dweck measures mental strength in terms of mindset. She distinguishes between having a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset.

She suggests that hard work, dedication, and training will train your mind on their own.

However, this suggestion may not suit you. Many things involve several learning stages, and you may need to put some thought into where exactly you start. Diving straight into learning new skills without knowing where to begin can sometimes wind up unnecessarily frustrating you.

Still, her book Mindset does contain some powerful suggestions, such as giving yourself a kind of cognitive behavioral therapy. If you get frustrated, she advises you not to call yourself stupid. Rather, she advocates replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.

I can agree because I used to ridicule myself a lot until I learned to ask the self inquiry questions I shared in this TEDx Talk.

Dr. Anders EricssonSome people attribute Dr. Ericsson with developing the concept of deliberate practice. Although he may have coined that term, musicians have been using this form of practice for centuries.

Nonetheless, he scientifically demonstrated how focus on specific goals combined with targeted feedback can lead you to mastery in any given field.

And he’s definitely right that you need continuous practice and some form of journaling to provide feedback if you want to achieve peak performance. As memory champion Johannes Mallow has shared, journaling has been a key part of how he trained his mind to improve as a memory athlete over the years.

Dr. Richard DavidsonDr. Davidson has conducted impressive research on the brain to teach us about how it is affected by meditation and mindfulness practices.

Similar to Dr. Dweck, he has found that simply starting the practice is a good unto itself. Meditation often makes more meditation easy to perform because of how it increases well-being and resilience. After a short while, you don’t have to force yourself to do it. You simply find yourself attracted to doing it.

I’ve reported similar experiences in The Victorious Mind and shared more substantial concentration meditations you can try.

Dr. Martin SeligmanDr. Seligman has studied both the bright and dark sides of mental training.

For example, he studied learned helplessness. Before I used mental training to heal my problem with high places, I literally went out of my way to train my friends to help me steer clear of bridges.

It wasn’t until I learned of his work that I was able to use mental training in a better direction. I’ve used concepts he’s talked about like learned optimism to cultivate a more positive attitude and enjoy more resilience in the face of challenges.

Dr. Angela DuckworthDr. Duckworth talks about the concept of grit. It’s definitely something we can all use, especially those of us who need perseverance and passion in order to achieve our long-term goals.

Dr. Duckworth has suggested that grit is a better predictor of success than IQ, inborn talent or any level of natural skill or ability.

Like Dr. Dweck, a theme of developing grit through hard work, resilience, and a growth mindset run throughout her work.

7 Mental Training Exercises to Unlock Your Mind’s PotentialAlthough I’ve learned a ton from each of the experts listed above, some of the books they’ve written are for the popular market and heavily shaped by traditional publishers.

That means they tend to stick to the easy techniques and use the books as long “sales letters” to expensive training programs or software packages.

How about some more substantial mental training exercises? Ones that won’t cost you a dime?

Before we get started, this point is important:

Please understand that if you don’t put these suggestions into action, no mental training will take place. Each person has to pick up the tools and put them into motion, so if you’re depressed or suffering brain fog, you may need to weed out any foods that harm your brain from your diet first.

Seriously. All the training routines in the world will do very little for your mind if your brain is sick.

With that in mind, here are some of my favorite brain training routines that directly tackle the strength of your mind.

One: Brain ExerciseThere are many ways to exercise your brain. For example, you can:

• Practice memory-related brain exercises
• Play memory games
• Play brain games especially designed for adults
• Ask philosophical questions
• Develop your critical thinking skills
• Learn to change your physical brain through neuroplasticity
• Engage in daily brain warm up exercises
• Play chess and memorize the major openings

There are many other brain exercises that will provide mental stimulation. But these all go directly to the mind itself.

Two: Memory-Based MeditationWe’ve talked about meditation already, but let’s kick things up a notch.

Memory-based meditation involves memorizing long form content, like personal mantras.

At the moment, I’m personally memorizing the Lojong phrases to create more mental peace. Many of them are also great reminders to keep practicing and how to think about the nature of real practice.

For example, one of the Lojong says, “If you can practice even when distracted, you are well-trained.”

That’s the ideal I strive for, and memory-based meditation is the finest path I know for crafting a mind that remembers to practice for the goal of avoiding distraction.

These practices are also useful for improving negative attitudes, something I certainly needed at one point in my life.

Three: Develop Your VocabularyHuh? What does memorizing vocabulary have to do with mental training?

A lot.

For one thing, having a bigger vocabulary helps you read faster.

It will also serve as a learning project that helps you develop some of the grit discussed by Dr. Duckworth.

Four: Read Something Challenging For At Least 30 Minutes DailyA lot of people weaken their minds and create digital amnesia by endlessly scrolling through social media online.

Make no mistake:

Just about everything you see online is designed to be lightweight and not exercise your mind. In fact, it’s a kind of rote learning that has been shown to reduce critical thinking.

But carrying a physical book, whether it’s a novel or a non-fiction study of something you’re interested in, you’ll get much more mental exercise.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything. I personally go out of my way to choose books I don’t understand. Challenge is the only way to get the mental fitness I seek, so I go out of my way to find it and you should consider doing so too.

If you struggle to get started, or can’t focus, try these focus for reading tips.

Five: YogaDid you know that yoga can improve your concentration? It gives you memory boosts too, which you can increase by memorizing the terms related to the practice.

Even though it’s technically not dopamine fasting, yoga does provide a great way to give yourself a break from the dopamine spikes created by too much time spent online.

Six: Practice Multiple MentalityOne of the hardest courses I ever completed is Harry Kahne’s Multiple Mentality. I first heard of him from performer and magic historian, Ricky Jay in his book Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. (How’s that for a strange and intriguing title?)

The basic idea is that you play various games with the alphabet in your mind, such as learning to recite it backward.

It sounds silly, but it’s quite a challenge and provides a lot of focus and clarity.

From there, you can learn to write backward, or develop something like ambidextrousness. For some other exercises related to these powerful challenges, check out neurobics.

Seven: Memory TrainingThe most direct and powerful mental training involves committing information to memory using memory techniques.

One of the most effective is the ancient memory technique called the Memory Palace.

To master this form of mental training, I invite you to get my free memory improvement course:

It will teach you the Memory Palace technique and give you several exercise that will train multiple aspects of your mind.

Mental Training Is The Challenge We All NeedNow that you have a bunch of mental training routines you can follow, what do you say?

Are you ready to put them into action?

I hope so. The world needs more people who seek out the path to owning a finer mind.

So I compliment you on joining us and can’t wait to hear how things go for you as you train your brain for total success!

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Do 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 7 powerful techniques to help you remember what you 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.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.How to Improve Study Skills and Memory: 7 Powerful Tips1. The Memory Palace (The Top Recommendation)Want just one simple method that helps you study and memorize?

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.

Our own student, Marno Hermann memorized Pi to 1200 digits and recites them all for you in just over 10 minutes (!) on the MMM Podcast.

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.

2. Acronyms to Improve Memory for StudyingAcronyms 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 what you study.

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, KAVE COG helps us remember all the Magnetic Modes:

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

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 – and consider these different navigation techniques too. 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 ImprovementHere’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.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.4. The Major Method for Memory ImprovementWant 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

2 = n

3 = m

4 = r

5 = l

6 = ch, j or sh

7 = k

8 = f or v

9 = b or p

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 StorageHow 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.
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 Cognitive FunctionYour 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.

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 WritingTeachers 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 To Remember What You Study?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 in “Memory Palace Mastery in 8 Steps”:

And let me know in the comments below:

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

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A skill is the specific ability to perform a task and a competency involves broader knowledge.

Think about the novelist Stephen King.

He’s very skilled at writing bestselling novels.

If that’s all he did, he’d be easily considered one of the most highly skilled authors of all time.

But Stephen King does more than just write successful novels.

He also writes books and gives talks about the writing industry and his specific genre. These additional contributions show that he’s competent in multiple ways that many authors are not.

I’ll give you more examples in a moment, but King provides a simple way to think about the difference because he’s both competent in the writing industry and skilled as a writer.

But it’s possible to be a competent expert about the history of publishing and what it takes to write a popular book without being able to write one yourself.

Indeed, creative writing programs around the world rely on this difference because few highly skilled writers are competent teachers. And they would much rather be writing.

With this key difference in mind, let’s have a deeper look at competencies vs skills.

The #1 Difference Between Competencies and Skills The most important difference between competency and skill comes down to your goals and the concept of “scope.”

If your goal is to teach, then you might not need to work on the skill you want to teach.

Take music, for example. If you want to be a skilled performer, you will need so much deliberate practice as a performer, you won’t have time to practice being a teacher. Likewise if you want to be a recording artist – you have to practice recording in a studio in order to truly develop that skill.

When it comes to scope, you’ll go through many stages of learning based on your decision.

If you go for skill, the stages of learning will involve analyzing your specific weaknesses when it comes to performing the tasks related to the skill. Scope will involve many technical aspects related to specific goals tied to the performance of the skill.

When seeking competence, on the other hand, scope is much wider and more general. To stick with the example of music, you will not need to spend nearly as much time your musical chops as you will on understanding music theory, history and comparing and contrasting a variety of genres. Rick Beato is an example of someone who is basically skilled as a player of instruments like piano and guitar, and highly competent as a teacher of music.

As we’ve seen with Stephen King, it’s possible to be both highly skilled and competent, but it’s quite rare. In Stephen King’s case, even his demonstrations of competence are small compared to his demonstrations of skill. Out of all his books, only a minority are books about the industry (Danse Macabre and On Writing).

3 Examples of Competencies vs SkillsAs we dive into a few additional skills and competencies examples, it might be useful to look at the origins of these terms.

Competency comes from a Latin word that means “meeting together, symmetry and agreement.” It’s a much broader concept than skills, which involves the knowledge and wisdom of how to do something.

With that in mind, here are some examples.

One: The Skilled CommunicatorIt’s ultimately a matter of taste, but many people are very skilled at delivering speeches and presentations.

But that doesn’t make them competent or skilled at writing them. Many speakers, politicians and even comedians hire writers.

To give an example of one person who was both a skilled speaker and highly competent at writing his messages, take a look at Winston Churchill.

Because he had both skill and competency, Churchill was able to influence millions of people and make history.

Two: Technical SkillYou’ve probably heard people debating over who was the better inventory: Edison or Tesla.

I’m not going to try and solve that argument here, but the point is that both were technically skilled.

But many would say that Edison was more competent in the market than Tesla, even if they were both technically skilled inventors.

Three: Competent Problem SolversProblem solving is much more of a competency than a skill because you often need to bring together people who have many different kinds of skills.

That, or you have to be a highly competent researcher.

Albert Einstein is probably one of the greatest problem solvers of all time. Even if physics still doesn’t have all of the answers, he was able to combine research skills with thinking, collaboration and raw talent to help his colleagues make huge strides. His influence is still felt today.

Which Are More Important: Competencies or Skills?As we’ve seen, the choice of what to work on comes down to your goals.

You just want to make sure to avoid the truth in the famous cliche: those who cannot do, teach.

As I’ve argued, it’s perfectly possible to teach a topic competently. In fact, I taught Film Studies for years without being a filmmaker.

Eventually, I worked as a story consultant and even have a writer’s profile on the Internet Movie Database for my work in the field. It was cool to work on the set of a movie and have my name in the final credits of a movie.

A flashbulb memory from working with celebrities Dominic Purcell, Edward Furlong and director Uwe Boll

But that opportunity ultimately came from a high competence in knowing what makes stories on the big screen great. It had little to do with my skill as an actual writer of screenplays.

4 Proven Tips to Improve Your Competencies and SkillsThere are many ways to improve your competencies and skills. We’ve already mentioned deliberate practice above, so let’s dig deeper.

Be More ScientificAccording to Tyler Cohen, author of Talent, we need to encourage people to learn how to make science better.

This suggestion is fascinating because all of the best performance gurus essentially urge us to become more scientific in how we improve our lives. I’ve said it in The Victorious Mind, James Clear says it in Atomic Habits and Abraham Maslow basically suggested it in his work on fulfilling your cognitive needs.

A simple way to get started is to keep a personal performance journal. If you want to improve your memory at the same time, Johannes Mallow has some great tips for using scientific principles in combination with journaling.

Get A MentorFew people who experience tremendous success do so without help from others.

You don’t have to necessarily find a wildly successful business person or top tier scholar – though I’ve done both myself and it is highly recommended. One of my mentors is also the creator of the incredible Cosmic Journal, which I highly recommend.

It’s also perfectly fine to seek peer mentors. This is something I also do, and it’s as simple as getting on regular calls with writers and entrepreneurs who are at a similar level as I am.

Also, it’s useful to do mentoring yourself, something I also do. I learn a lot by helping others.

Never Stop LearningIt’s tempting to put the books down and rest on your laurels after achieving a certain level of success.

But this is not recommended. In fact, this is a sure-fire way to rust your skills and reduce any competency you’ve developed.

I’m not suggesting that you “grind” 24/7. I’m just pointing out that it’s important to keep the chain well-oiled.

Which leads me to my next tip.

Exercise Your MemoryThe easiest way to keep learning so that your skills and competencies keep growing is to keep your memory well-trained.

To do that, I suggest working with memory techniques like the Memory Palace and as many ancient memory strategies as you can.

If you’d like help, please feel free to grab my free memory improvement course:

It will give you the real deal memory techniques that give you both incredibly learning skills and competency in all the key areas of mental acuity that will make you a top performer in your field.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to work on improving both your skills and competencies?

Or have you decided to just become skilled in one particular area?

There’s no right or wrong.

What matters is that you experiment and explore until you find the right path for you.

And when your memory is highly skilled, you’ll be amazed by just how much time you’ll have for both.

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Worried about losing mental sharpness as you age?

Me too.

But I don’t rest on my worry alone. I take specific actions known to have a high likelihood of preserving my mental acuity as I age.

Would you like the exact set of activities I’m using?

They’re all free (or can be) and definitely don’t require you to shell out for a mental acuity test.

And the best part is that each of these simple ways to improve your mental acuity are interesting, fun and provide many other rewards.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

Is Losing Your Mental Sharpness Inevitable?No, but it is is possible.

That’s because some forms of Alzheimer’s and other issues are hereditary.

But assuming you’re not facing an inherited condition, there’s every reason to believe that the tactics you’re about to discover will help you preserve your brainpower.

You may also be able to increase it, possibly even your IQ too.

The Main Components of Mental Acuity & How They Fade OvertimeSo what is “mental acuity” anyway?

One study defines it as “mental performance.” As the researchers note, the components include:

• Logical reasoning
• Basic math
• Remembering the location of objects and information in space

These are key cognitive abilities, and they were looking for speed and accuracy when asking questions of the participants in the study.

Another study looked at acuity as a mental health factor, in terms of the presence or absence of depression.

You can also think of mental acuity in terms of mental strength, which involves grit, determination and your ability to think critically.

Why do these skills fade?

Simple:

As we age, parts of the human brain shrink in size. In consequence, neurons might not “talk” to each other as quickly as they used to when you were younger.

However, this is not guaranteed. Research shows that the brain can continue to evolve and improve with age, especially when you take steps to encourage neuroplasticity.

What are those steps?

Let’s have a look.

How To Improve Mental Acuity & Remember MoreHave you ever heard about Tony Buzan, creator of the World Memory Championships? Before he passed away, I was blessed to know him personally. He was before the sharpest senior member of our society I’ve ever known.

Why?

Well, he kept physically active, for one thing. Check out the gym clothes he was wearing when we met with Phil Chambers in the UK.

Tony Buzan with Anthony Metivier and Phil Chambers

He had just come in from rowing!

Plus, he told lots of stories while socializing and quoting wisdom from the top of his head. Sometimes in foreign languages.

Apart from the obvious matter of getting lots of physical exercise, let’s unpack the other clues Buzan left us and highlight other simple and fun activities.

One: Lifelong Language LearningThe scientific studies into bilingualism make it clear that learning other languages helps the brain create cognitive reserve. This means that your brain will protect itself and potentially fend off issues like Alzheimer’s or Dementia.

Studying languages also gives you opportunities to be more social and do more reading.

If language learning really isn’t for you, at least consider improving your vocabulary. I memorize new words almost every day, and the benefits are incredible.

Two: Reading ChallengesMany people want to read faster, which is sometimes possible.

But the better thing to do is read more slowly and with intention.

Put some thought into a long term reading goal. For example, go through all of Shakespeare, something I’m currently doing.

It doesn’t have to be Shakespeare. The point is to have a structured reading goal that develops massive knowledge of one topic.

As I read the Bard, I follow up by reading articles about each play and watching lectures about them on YouTube. This simple process helps my brain not only understand one playwright better, but also his entire era and people still writing today.

In your case, you might pick all the symphonies of Beethoven to do a deep-dive reading project on, or a particular historical period.

The point is to go deep and practice your focus while reading for the mental sharpness this form of project-focused reading brings.

Three: Play MusicIt’s well known that the deliberate practice involved in playing an instrument provides a high level of brain exercise.

I play bass myself and continue to study the ins-and-outs of a wide variety of musical styles.

I also continue to study music theory by expanding my knowledge of the circle of fifths and all the key signatures.

Memory expert Anthony Metivier performing at a concert in Germany.

But you don’t have to play an instrument.

You can get many brain benefits from singing.

For example, one study found that people caring for family members with cancer experienced reduced anxiety after singing with a choir just once a week.

Make no mistake: Anxiety and stress can reduce your mental fitness.

So memorize some lyrics and give this simple activity a try to boost yours.

Four: Meditation MasteryDopamine resetting has been getting a lot of discussion recently.

But so far, there are no shortcuts. Certainly none so impactful as sitting just to sit, or quietly following your own breath.

And it’s not too late to start. As one study found, even the elderly can start meditating with no prior experience and get results.

To master meditation, all you have to do is show up and practice, ideally at least four times per week. In the context of mental acuity, I recommend focusing on concentration meditations above all.

Five: Select Games WiselyA lot of people ask me about brain games for adults and apps like Cogmed.

Frankly, when it comes to cognitive training for adults, it’s always “buyer beware” when it comes to these products.

Myself, I try to keep the time I spend on apps very limited. And when I play games, I tend to make them social experiences so I get the brain benefits of being with others.

You’ll also want to be cautious around activities like crossword puzzles, which may encourage cheating. That will give you the opposite of the active recall you want in order to keep your brain sharp.

Six: Become a PhilosopherSome people shy away from philosophy books. But learning to ask philosophical questions helps you weed out bad thinking.

Even just coming to understand how philosophy is properly defined will improve your mental acuity.

From there, you can get into activities like reflective thinking through the use of philosophical questioning.

As I discussed in my TEDx Talk, learning to question everything in a philosophical matter improved my life in many ways.

Seven: Reduce Your StressStress can harm your brain, so anything you can do to reduce it in your life will be a win for your mental sharpness.

Some quick wins have already been discussed, such as getting enough exercise.

Sleep is also critical, alongside choosing memory friendly foods, herbs and teas.

Lifestyle changes are also worth looking at.

For example, over a decade ago I decided to only live in places with excellent transit. This removed all the hassles involved in owning a car completely from my life. I don’t miss any of that stuff at all, and if I need a car, I can rent one.

Simple hacks like moving to more convenient areas or paying down debts aren’t necessarily easy. But if you’re willing to make the change, you’ll probably thank yourself for it.

Eight: Train Your MemoryDid you know that many people use ancient memory techniques to keep their minds sharp even in the 21st century?

Take James Gerwing, for example. As a school administrator, he started using the art of memory to help him score 90% and higher on his Latin exams. (Remember, learning a language is one of the best things you can do to stop losing mental sharpness.)

Then, in 2019, James become the Canadian memory champion shortly after retiring as a school administrator. He’s now enjoying an incredible retirement thanks to the mental fitness these activities have provided. I often see his posts on Facebook and he looks like he’s having a blast!

In a slightly different, but equally hopeful vein, Nic Castle retired from the police force with some unfortunately damage. Fortunately, using memory techniques helped him reduce the PTSD symptoms created by the job.

The Truth About Mental AcuityAlthough I believe that each and every activity I’ve outlined above will help you, you have to be the judge.

Experiment as widely as you can, and ideally keep a journal of your activities. This physical record will help create observations that you can use to sharpen your mind even further.

For example, you might notice that you’re drinking too much. This can lead to reducing your alcohol intake, which is another great way to preserve your brain health over the long term.

And taking notes about what you’re reading can keep the ways you’re challenging your brain going. For example, I often leave little puzzles for my future self to solve in my notebooks. This makes for a lot of intrigue that stimulates the brain over the years.

If you enjoyed this information and would like more help, get my free memory improvement course:

It will help you keep growing and glowing as you age, just like Tony Buzan.

I’m certainly doing all I can so I can keep my brain as focused, sharp and present as he always was.

So what do you say?

Are you ready for a lifetime of incredible mental fitness?

Make it happen!

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Did you know that visualising success, jumping in a cold river and consuming illegal narcotics can trigger the release of the same pleasurable neurochemical in your brain?

I know, I know…it sounds like a late-night infomercial from the 90’s, but it’s true. It’s science. And this little feel-good chemical is called dopamine.

Dopamine is a well-known but often misunderstood neurotransmitter that plays a vital role in our experience of rewards, motivation, and cravings.

If you have any interest in psychology and personal development, you’ve probably heard of it. Unfortunately, the internet is rife with popular myths about the nature of dopamine, dopamine ‘levels’ and how this all impacts our sense of pleasure, focus and drive.

Broadly speaking there are two types of dopamine levels to be aware of: tonic and phasic.

Tonic dopamine levels are the baseline levels of dopaminergic activity that occur in our brain. If these levels are too high this can be related to impulsivity, hyperactivity and mania, among other symptoms. If they are too low, this may lead to loss of pleasure, depression symptoms and fatigue.

Phasic dopamine levels are the moment-to-moment fluctuations in dopamine that we experience in response to specific stimuli such as food, media, cigarettes and alcohol. If phasic dopamine levels are too high, particularly for a prolonged period of time, this might lead to addiction and associated risky behaviours. If they are too low, this may reduce our ability to experience pleasure.

What Factors Impact Your Dopamine Levels?However, it’s important to note that our dopamine systems are impacted by environment, genetics and specific circumstances and their relationship to behaviour is complex. While there may be a correlation between loss of motivation or low mood and low dopamine levels, this doesn’t mean that feeling low or unmotivated is only a result of dopaminergic dysfunction.

So what does we really mean when we say we want to “reset our dopamine levels.”

Well, this would be to return our baseline (tonic) dopamine levels to a normal range. There are generally three ways you can do this and later in this post I’ll offer some specific examples:

• Reduce or eliminate the factors that cause dopamine dysregulation
• Adopt healthy habits that support dopamine (and other neurotransmitters) balance
• Increase your tolerance and capacity to experience pleasure and pain

But first, it’s necessary to consider why we may have low dopamine levels or more low motivation and mood more generally.

5 Reasons Why Your Dopamine Levels Are Low#1. Chronic StressReleasing dopamine can often be a way that we deal with the stress of the present moment. It helps us disengage (go on autopilot), distract (ignore discomfort) and disconnect (numb).

When we’re stressed, our brain releases a hormone called cortisol. Unfortunately, chronic stress leads to persistently elevated cortisol levels and this can disrupt our dopamine balance and contribute to reduced motivation, pleasure and general cognitive function. Stress can also mess with your memory.

Reducing your stress levels may therefore increase your baseline levels of dopamine and increase your dopamine receptor sensitivity and in doing so, reduce the urge to reach for quick dopamine spikes.

#2. TraumaWhen we talk about dopamine detoxes, most of the attention is focused on daily habits such as social media, Netflix, and overconsumption of food, caffeine, nicotine or other substances. However, we often overlook the root causes of our reaching for those things in the first place.

While part of this behaviour may be linked to societal abundance and increased access to dopamine-spiking stimuli, this whole system is partly fuelled and maintained by the very common experience of trauma.

Trauma is basically any intense physiological or psychological stressor that the nervous system cannot process in the moment and which results in a defense mechanism that limits our range of future responses to a situation.

The result of this trauma can range from simple disconnection and disengagement in life all the way to a formal diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Traumatic experiences – particularly during crucial periods of brain development – have long-lasting impacts on the brain’s neurochemistry. That’s not to mention trauma from brain injury, which can also cause issues.

While we’re still learning about the brain, it’s entirely possible (maybe even probable) that “dopamine hits” give us relief from painful emotions and therefore trauma makes us more susceptible to craving and addiction.

For example, trauma impact the functioning of dopamine-related brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, and disrupts dopamine receptors and the Hypothalic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, which helps regulate stress hormones like cortisol. Fortunately, by receiving therapy to heal our trauma we can move towards a state of nervous system regulation and control.

#3. Dopamine Abuse AKA. Pleasure SeekingWhen we engage in pleasure-seeking activities such as excessive screen time or consuming unhealthy or processed foods, we are rewarded with brief surges in dopamine without any effort.

The problem with instant gratification (as opposed to delayed gratification) is that the brain was evolutionarily designed to provide good feelings in response to effort. This means that over time, our dopamine receptors become desensitised and we are dependent on more and more intense forms of pleasure-seeking.

The extreme end of this occurs in substance abuse such as amphetamines or cocaine, whereby the result is chronically low dopamine levels, depression, decreased motivation and cognitive dysfunction. However, overindulging in something like YouTube, Netflix or social media can do the same thing, just on a smaller scale.

In psychology there is something called “the opponent process theory.” This is a general heuristic that is used to describe how the brain seeks to find balance.

In the case of pleasure and pain, if we only seek pleasure, we eventually experience pain, whereas if we intentionally seek out discomfort we will be rewarded with pleasure (such as in the case of intense exercise and endorphin release).

This is known as hormesis – exposing ourselves to mild stressors to improve resilience and well-being in the long term.

#4. Sleep, Diet and ExerciseAnother important reason why your dopamine levels may be low (and definitely not one to be overlooked) is because of a generally unhealthy lifestyle. Insufficient quality sleep can get in the way of the brain’s ability to reset dopamine levels, damaging your concentration, motivation and mood regulation.

Similarly, if we don’t get the essential nutrients we need, such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals, our brain is not optimised for dopamine production. Exercise is important for overall brain health as well as the effort-based dopamine release we described earlier, so a sedentary lifestyle can also contribute to low levels of dopamine.

#5. GeneticsThe final factor that may relate to low dopamine levels is genetics.

There is a complex relationship between dopamine production, the enzymes involved in dopamine synthesis, dopamine receptor sensitivity and the efficiency of transporters. It’s beyond me and beyond the scope of this article. Importantly, there is currently no test that can accurately tell you if you are genetically predisposed to low tonic dopamine levels.

The most important take-away from this is that you can change how you feel, and we are about to share how!

Dopamine Fasting: Does This New Trend Really Work?There has been a lot of talk in recent years about dopamine fasting and if it can be helpful. Because the relationship between dopamine and behaviour is still relatively misunderstood, there are conflicting opinions among researchers.

According to Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author of Dopamine Nation, and neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, in the case of those with chronic dopamine imbalances, such as recovering addicts, a dopamine fast whereby we intentionally abstain from things that trigger our phasic dopamine levels, while our tonic dopamine levels get back towards normal, can be helpful.

For those with a history of substance abuse, this is best discussed with a psychiatrist before attempting any form of detox, which can be quite challenging and emotionally disruptive.

Why You Need To Avoid Easy StreetHowever, for most of us, Huberman suggests that it’s more effective to actively reduce (not completely eliminate) things that give us pleasure too easily. For example, I noticed at one point, about a year ago, that I had picked up a couple of small but noticeable immediate gratification habits throughout the extended COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

Firstly, whenever I ate a meal by myself, I would always consume content, usually an educational podcast or Youtube video. It was easy to justify this as productivity, but the reality was, it was entertainment. Secondly, when exercising I would consume caffeine beforehand and listen to music throughout.

21st Century AbstinenceBoth of these activities fell under something that Huberman refers to as “dopamine stacking,” drawing from multiple sources of pleasure at once (food, digital media, caffeine, music, exercise). I took his advice and began to eat meals without any external stimuli and exercise (usually) without any caffeine or music. Initially there was resistance, but after a few weeks I noticed that I was enjoying both eating and my post-work exercise ‘high’ a lot more.

One thing to consider is that you might want to abstain from what you habitually reach for when you’re in distress (such as your phone), and learn to tolerate distress and discomfort, and if possible, go one step further and actively seek out challenges. If you don’t have chronically low dopamine levels, a complete dopamine fast probably won’t have any long-term effects, and the stress of doing so might actually counteract any subtle positive effects of the fast anyway.

The originator of the “dopamine fast” psychiatrist Dr. Cameron Sepah, actually says that his initial focus was not neurochemical (as you can’t fast from a naturally occurring chemical) but it was a cognitive-behavioural therapy method intended to help people reduce impulsive behaviour.

How to Repair Your Dopamine Receptors: 5 Mindfulness-Based ExercisesBased on the factors that cause a reduction or imbalance in our dopamine levels, it’s clear that maintaining a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, having sufficient sleep and reducing your overall stress levels are all important.

However, here are some other ways to reset your dopamine levels.

Exercise #1 – MeditationThere are several forms of meditation and the one that is most likely to improve your baseline dopamine levels (and general brain health) is ultimately the practice that a) makes you feel good b) you are motivated to do most consistently. This will be different based on your unique brain, history, temperament, and natural level of concentration.

For example, focused attention meditation is a great way to stimulate high levels of dopamine release, but many people find it difficult to concentrate for long enough to get into such a state.

Loving-Kindness meditation can be deeply healing and is great for fostering feelings of love, safety and connectedness, but some people find the visualisations that are a part of the practice challenging and struggle to feel compassion at will.

Chanting or singing meditation is an amazing way to stimulate the Vagus nerve, reduce physiological stress and release dopamine but some people may be too shy to chant out loud.

Exercise #2 – Cold ExposureIn sticking with the theme of hormesis, progressively introducing yourself to uncomfortable situations, one of the most potent ways to reset dopamine levels is through cold exposure. This is most commonly done with ice baths, swimming in cold water or cold showers.

Cold exposure stimulates the production of norepinephrine, which is a precursor to dopamine. One study found that immersion in cold water raised blood levels of dopamine by 250% and that this was still elevated for up to 72 hours after the exposure.

On top of this, there are other health benefits to consistent cold exposure, such as a reduction in stress levels, improved blood circulation, improved focus and energy, and better sleep, which may indirectly help in balancing out your dopamine levels.

Exercise #3 – Viewing Early Morning Sunlight & Avoiding Screen Time at NightHuman beings spent 99% of our history without electronic lights. As a result, our physiology is highly attuned to natural light, which is influential in regulating our dopamine production. Viewing early morning sunlight (without sunglasses) for 10-30 minutes a day can help release dopamine when done consistently. It goes without saying to make sure you don’t stare directly at the sun!

On the flip side, viewing bright artificial lights between 10pm and 4am has been shown to significantly reduce the amount of dopamine in our system. This is worrying given that a large majority of the world’s population are watching screens late into the night.

Exercise #4. – Do One Thing at a TimeBy stacking several sources of dopamine at a time, we may over-spike our phasic dopamine levels which can lead to a crash and reduced motivation in the long term.

For example, if you’re going to exercise, you may be accustomed to having energy drinks, loud music, and social connections all at the same time. If you can reduce one of these (e.g. don’t always listen to music or ingest caffeine), that’s a good start.

Likewise, you may be used to having a beer while watching a thriller movie on television and eating dinner – you may want to try having dinner without the television playing.

Exercise #5. – Control Your ThoughtsIt’s quite clear that when we have negative thoughts our nervous system takes this as a stressor, and it reduces our capacity for pleasure.

However, what a lot of people don’t know is that by intentionally having positive thoughts or using positive mental imagery, we can actually release dopamine. Memory palaces, which combine goal-oriented, focused attention with mental imagery can undoubtedly improve our dopamine levels.

The Truth About How To Repair Dopamine ReceptorsUltimately, it’s important to maintain not only a healthy dopamine balance, but also to ensure you get enough of the other “feel-good” neurochemicals such as endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin. This will ensure that you feel more fulfilled and motivated in general and don’t have as many cravings to reach for dopamine hits.

Making the necessary effort to balance dopamine levels when there are so many easy sources of neurochemical reward available at our fingertips can be a tough task. Like most healthy habits, the best route to long-term success is to start with small steps.

It may be necessary to improve our diet, exercise and meditate, but within this it’s also important to choose things that we enjoy in order to keep us motivated and consistent. Find an exercise routine that you like doing, eat healthy foods that you prefer (you don’t have to eat kale if you hate it!) and experiment with meditation styles till you find a style that you enjoy. Don’t forget to include a Memory Palace exercise routine too.

If you’re concerned that you may have chronically low dopamine levels as a result of substance abuse, or you’ve experienced a prolonged period of low mood, make sure you contact a counsellor or psychotherapist in your area. If that’s something you need, Ben Fishel has been on the MMM Podcast before and I highly recommend him for global telehealth counselling, or if you’re looking for a psychotherapist in the Melbourne area.

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If you’ve ever struggled to remember the circle of fifths, don’t feel bad. It can be overwhelming.

One of the major problems is that many learners simply aren’t ready to start with a circle.

Certainly not with so much information on it.

That’s why today you’re going to discover a powerful way to learn the wheel of fifths as a straight line first.

Then, every time you look at a circle of fifths chart, you’ll not only understand it better.

It will be so much easier to use.

That’s because I’m going to teach you the easy rules that will help you memorize it too.

So if you’re ready to master this circle of chords without all the sweat and hassle, let’s dive in!

What Is The Circle Of Fifths?You’ve probably heard musicians tell you that, “The circle of fifths changed my life!”

Is it true?

In a word, yes.

That’s because knowledge of the circle of fifths helps you know every note in every key.

Not only that, but knowing the circle of 5ths allows you to:

• Understand chord progressions
• Calculate the number of sharps and flats in a key
• Compare and contrast it with the musical modes
• Anticipate where a composition might be going while sight reading
• Compose much more pleasing and interesting music
• Rapidly transpose music from one key to another
• Be a better improvisational musician in all musical genres
• Master music theory
• Find the enharmonic equivalents
• Visualize music in a straightforward manner
• Use a reference in ear training that speeds up the process
• Help you better understand music history
• Connect you more deeply to the skills of composers and musicians you study and enjoy

When you take all of these benefits into consideration, I think it’s more than fair to say that knowledge of this musical wheel is more than life changing. It’s like a gong powerful enough to vibrate the entire earth.

And that’s what it does, so let’s get busy learning it.

Circle of Fifths ChartThe first thing that is really important to understand is what a fifth is in the first place. What we normally mean is a perfect fifth, which means that there are 5 letters involved.

This is where a lot of people get confused because you’ll often hear that the distance between C and G represents a fifth because there are five letters “between” the two notes (C, D, E, F, G). But you might look at that and think there are three notes between C and G, which is a fair interpretation.

So let’s simplify everything, shan’t we?

Step One: Consult A Piano KeyboardBefore even getting to the wheel, it is tremendously helpful to see the fifths in a straight line. The best way to do that is to look at the keys on a keyboard.

Take the first A.

Count it as one and move up until you reach five.

Now that you see what a perfect fifth is represented as a straight line, you can word the relationship in a few different ways:

• E is the fifth note relative to A
• A is five lettered notes distance from E
• There are three lettered notes between A and E (B, C, D)

Step Two: Compare With The Circle of FifthsNow find A on this circle of fifths chart:

As you can see, the next note below A is E.

And that’s one of the major jobs of the circle of fifths. It helps you see, either with your eyes or in your mind, which notes are fifths relative to one another.

How to Memorize the Circle of 5thsNow that you’ve understood the basic concept, a really easy way to memorize the circle of fifths is to chunk three associations together.

It’s incredibly simple, so here are the steps.

Step Three: Start At the TopFirst, create a mnemonic image for the letter C as you think of a clock.

For example, you could imagine Cookie Monster as a pegword that reminds you of the note C. This is all happening at the 12 o’clock position on your imaginary clock.

At the same time, imagine that 12 o’clock stands for the “zero hour.” That will help you remember that C in this position has zero sharps and zero flats.

Step Four: Start Moving ClockwiseThe next step is to move to G. You can imagine Cookie Monster giving Grover a cookie to help establish the memory that G follows C. But you can also simply count the notes based on the straight line of the keyboard I just shared with you.

Step Five: Use The Simple Number System Like A ClockAt the one o’clock position, you know immediately thanks to the logic of the wheel of fifths that G must have one sharp.

That’s because of two simple rules:

• Every note on the right side of the circle indicates the number of sharps
• The number of sharps increases by one until you reach the 6 o’clock position

All you have to remember now is that when you go up the left side of the circle, you are now calculating how many flats are in each key.

Here’s the cool thing about what you’ve just learned so far:

So long as you can picture the straight line of the notes on a keyboard from A-G, you can figure out the fifth between any note. And if you just remember that one o’clock means there is only one sharp at the one o’clock position and every sharps and flat goes up and down by one as you navigate, you’ve just unlocked the main system.

To practice, I suggest you work this out mentally in your mind and draw it out by hand.

Don’t worry if you make mistakes. That’s normal when learning and you can always fix any errors when you use memory techniques like the associations I’ve just shared in combination with proper spaced repetition and scientifically valid practice routines.

Step Six: Learn The Relative Minor For Each KeyI suggest you take time to master the outer wheel first. Then add a very simple rule to rapidly calculate the relative minor of each key:

Just go down three notes in a straight line to find the relative minor of any key.

For example, if you look at the keyboard again, it’s easy to see that A is the relative minor of C because it’s three notes down.

Or, you might find it more useful to think that there’s one letter between the Major and the relative minor.

Either way, it’s crucial to think about the keys on the keyboard when learning this because it’s so much easier to understand.

And now that you know how to use mnemonics to make each letter memorable and simple logic to remember the number of sharps and flats, your musical superhuman abilities are secured.

If you enjoyed learning these memory techniques and would like even more strategies for learning faster, please grab my free memory improvement kit by clicking the image below:

You’ll love this because you can turn an entire instrument into a Memory Palace in a way that makes what you just learned even faster and more exciting.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to finally master the circle of fifths? I’m sure glad I did because it helped me learn pieces of music so much faster, like this one I performed for you on bass:

If I can do it, you can too.

So get out there, make it happen and just shout out if you have any questions along the way.

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Some say that linguistic intelligence started out as one of Howard Gardner’s theories of multiple intelligences.

Maybe.

The fact is that many philosophers have identified different kinds of intelligence going back much earlier than Plato and even Confucius.

Indeed, it was Confucius who said in the opening of The Analects that the greatest pleasure is verbally repeating something you’ve learned.

I think Confucius was right about that. But make no mistake:

Gardner’s definition of linguistic intelligence is still powerful. In his own words, linguistic intelligence is:

“Sensitivity to the spoken and written word and the ability to master languages and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals.”

But what does “sensitivity” really mean?

Is he saying that some people are born with a knack for reading books with ease and speaking well?

Or does he mean that everyone has the opportunity to become a linguistic learner?

I believe anyone can develop advanced linguistic intelligence.

And Gardner’s definition should not be your only source of linguistic intelligence examples.

So if you’re ready to dive deep into a full discussion of linguistic intelligence and its many characteristics, let’s get started!

What Is Linguistic Intelligence?Experts widely considered linguistic intelligence to be a subset of verbal intelligence.

In this regard, it is governed to a large extent by your verbal memory.

You need everything working in order because verbal intelligence and linguistic intelligence help you:

• Speak
• Understand spoken language
• Learn new languages
• Improve vocabulary in your mother tongue
• Use objective and subjective reasoning
• Think logically about problems and solve them
• Write and deliver great presentations

Naturally, anything involving language draws upon your current level of linguistic dexterity.

The Number One Characteristic of People With Advanced Linguistic IntelligenceNoam Chomsky is a linguist and author of many books on linguistics who distinguishes between “competence” and “performance” when it comes to verbal skill.

For Chomsky, your competence comes down to how well you understand language. For example, if you can distinguish between a verb and a noun, you have a higher level of competence than someone who can’t.

Performance, on the other hand, is how well you use the rules of grammar. Paradoxically, it’s possible to have a high level of unconscious competence in a language without actually knowing grammar.

You see an orientation towards performance a lot in the polyglot community where learners use deliberate practice to get the languages they’re learning to the “muscle memory” of the mouth.

But when many people get hung up on grammar, they wind up spinning their wheels and suffering low linguistic intelligence because they focus on the wrong parts.

After all, you can always observe the grammar after you’ve learned to perform the language. This is a key point I made in my detailed tutorial on memorizing grammar rules.

So, if you want to enjoy advanced linguistic intelligence, here’s what I suggest:

Take action. Being an action-taker is the number one common denominator amongst people with not only high linguistic intelligence. You see it amongst people who have increased their IQ too.

Linguistic Intelligence: Nurture Or Nature?Speaking of IQ, you might be wondering if people are born with linguistic intelligence.

Chomsky certainly thinks so. A key part of Chomskyan linguistics is the idea that humans automatically acquire language.

If he’s right, then you’re definitely born with it. You’re also born with the ability of your brain to perform acoustic encoding. This feature of human cognition allows you to remember things you hear.

Even better, with cognitive training, you can improve your linguistic abilities, often quite quickly.

Let’s look at some strategies for doing that next.

4 Ways To Enhance Your Linguistic IntelligenceAs we go through this list, there’s no special order.

But I would suggest that you explore and experiment with all of them for best results. That way you can enjoy multiple benefits and improve all of your multiple intelligences.

This is important because if Howard Gardner was right about one thing, it’s that each of us can find the things that we’re good at and improve our skills in these areas.

Tony Buzan noticed this about the idea of multiple intelligences and made it the core of his work with mind mapping. So let’s start with that practice first.

One: Mind MappingIn Mind Map Mastery, Buzan shows how both Leonardo Da Vinci and Charles Darwin used sketches in combination with words to help them conceive of their ideas.

This approach is not new or specific to geniuses. Chinese characters started as simple pictograms linked to the sounds of Mandarin Chinese. Most characters are like mind maps unto themselves and they give your brain a great workout.

I personally use mind mapping a lot to help me figure out the best ways to script my YouTube videos and blog posts like the one you’re reading now.

By stripping things down to basic keywords and using lots of colors, I help my own brain structure what I’m going to say. That way, everything flows much more smoothly.

In Chomskyean terms, what I’m doing is putting a bit of constraint on my competence with English and keeping things simple. Adopting the simple rules and the one-sheet space of a mind map helps enable my ability to perform the ideas in language.

It’s not exactly “less is more.” It’s more like something Giordano Bruno said in De Minimo:

“The Grammarians enslave themselves to the words. We subdue the words instead. They follow the use which we indicate to them.”

Can you see how this statement also applies to what we said above about language learners who perform what they’re learning as opposed to “enslaving” themselves to grammar?

If you’ve fallen into that trap yourself, you can use mind mapping as part of developing the mental strength that sets you free while crafting much more powerful goals.

Remember: That’s what Gardner defined as a huge part of linguistic intelligence. The ability to accomplish goals. That’s why I started with mind mapping. It’s a fast and effective path to unlocking your ability to do so alongside keeping a journal.

Two: Learn LanguagesAs we’ve seen, Gardner thought that linguistic skill involves the ability to learn new languages.

How do you do that?

You make language learning part of your life. These days, you can easily study many languages from home. There are even ways that Netflix and other streaming services can help you pick up another tongue.

Personally, I keep learning Chinese in small doses while studying Latin, Greek and maintaining my German.

I also take on memory missions related to foreign languages, such as memorizing scripture in a variety of source languages. As far as I can tell, this is one of the most direct ways to instill advanced linguistic skills in your brain.

Check out my case study on doing exactly this with the Book of John in Latin if you’d like a direct example:

Three: Read Like A ProMany people know they don’t spend enough time reading.

Worse, they’re aware of how much time they fritter away on ineffective skimming and scanning techniques that really don’t work.

The truth is that if you want to read faster, you need to do exactly what Gardner suggests: Have goals.

That and understand that the number one path to reading faster involves improving your vocabulary.

How can you make this happen?

Simply put: Pick just one topic. Read only books on that topic for approximately three months with perhaps one unrelated book to help fend off topic anxiety.

Then, make note of the vocabulary you don’t know or some turns of phrase that you’d like to memorize. And for getting those words into memory so you can enjoy boosts to your language skills and reading comprehension at the same time, continue with my next tip.

Four: Exercise Your MemoryI’m a huge fan of learning the ancient memory techniques while learning from the best contemporary memory athletes and including contemporary scientific findings like the principles of active recall.

There are many memory techniques you can pursue. Here’s a power tutorial on 20 of the best.

My favorite is the Memory Palace technique. It’s what allows you to memorize dozens of words a day in multiple languages.

But in order to make sure that you’re getting the most out of the technique, it’s important that you do more than just memorize. To boost your linguistic intelligence, make sure that you follow up with:

• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening

Basically, you want to embed everything you memorize in a set of productive activities.

This is important because linguistic intelligence is never just in your head. It’s in your hands, your mouth, your ears and in your critical thinking efforts.

If you’d like to learn more about using memory techniques, grab my free course now:

It will help you master everything related to getting more words and phrases into your memory so that you can practice the multiple levels involved in becoming a true language-based learner.

What Is A Linguistic Learner?You are.

Everyone capable of reading the words on this page is already a genius.

That’s what Tony Buzan used to say. He said that the only problem we face is that people start forgetting the brilliant intelligence they were born with. They stop exploring and experimenting with the world.

But you don’t have to belong to this group.

You can enjoy each and every moment as an opportunity to grow.

As you do, words will be a huge part of the process.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to boost your linguistic intelligence?

Make it happen!

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Knowing how to remember trivia questions and answers can make you a lot of money.

But there are other reasons you might want a full arsenal of memorization tricks at your side.

In addition to making bank, being at the ready with lots of interesting tidbits can be:

• Personally fulfilling
• Professionally useful
• An alternative to physical sports for competitive people
• A great way to socialize
• A source of social capital

Plus, being fascinated with trivia does not make the information “trivial.”

Far from it.

In fact, as you’re about to discover, even if (heaven forbid) a fact you commit to memory does prove trivial, you can still use that datapoint as an asset. I’ll show you how I just did earlier today near the end.

So if you want to learn how to get better at trivia, this page has all the details that will take you from amateur to pro.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

The Strategy Behind Trivia MemorizationWhen memory athlete Jonas von Essen won a major television trivia competition in 2023, a ton of people asked me my opinion as a memory expert.

“Did he use memory techniques to win?”

Of course. But that’s not the only strategy von Essen and other successful trivia players use.

If you want to truly know how to study for trivia, it’s a combination of multiple methods. These learning techniques include:

• Keeping up with current events and world news
• Watching other trivia shows and game shows at large
• Using chunking techniques while reading
• Being good with numbers and mental calculation
• Memorizing key lists like the names and dates of presidents
• Practicing in situations that are like the trivia setting to stimulate state dependent memory

This final point is key.

See, if von Essen had one edge above all, it’s that he was well-practiced at competition. He won the World Memory Championship twice, after all.

That means the stress helped his memory more than it hindered it. He was a pro at performing well under pressure, something most of us can only do when we have some deliberate practice in similar settings under our belts.

How to Remember Trivia: 6 Memorization Tricks to Help You Become a Trivia MasterNow that you’ve got the broad overview and understand how being skilled with trivia can fulfill a variety of cognitive needs, let’s get into the granular details.

Every step of the way, knowing how to remember things is going to be key.

So let’s start with that.

One: Master MnemonicsBroadly speaking, a mnemonic is anything that helps you remember something, including rote learning.

The problem with rote is that it takes too long. That’s why people use mnemonic devices like planet mnemonics, mnemonics for anatomy, and alphabet mnemonics for simple tasks.

More advanced strategies like the Major System and PAO System are also helpful, especially for memorizing numbers.

All of these approaches have mnemonic images and the Memory Palace technique in common. People serious about getting better at trivia will want to get deeply familiar with each of these approaches.

Two: Consume Massive Amounts of Info Like a ProOnce you’ve got your memory skills boosted, you’ll want to get good at extracting information from a variety of sources.

One of my go-to strategies has always been a special textbook memorization technique. It’s a vast improvement to most speed reading programs because it avoids skimming and scanning practices that cause you to miss the important details.

Basically, you use this technique with physical index cards. Some people call them flash cards, but the strategy is the same. You extract the information onto cards and then use Memory Palaces to memorize it.

The writing step is really important. Memory expert Lynne Kelly calls handwriting “a powerful encryption tool in the science of memory.”

Sure, you can use Anki or some other spaced repetition software, but you’re quite possibly diminishing the amount you can remember when you do.

Three: Chunk While You ReadYou don’t always have to use the index card method, however.

For example, I was reading a book about Latin and Greek word origins earlier today. I learned that “sitos” is Greek for “sitting and eating, usually at the side of another.” It’s part of the word parasitos. We get our word for “parasite” from this origin.

To remember this, I didn’t need to do anything other than chunk it together with a quick mental image of Superman sitting beside a guy I know named Perry at a Safeway grocery store.

Superman is a pegword I use a lot for words that start with ‘s.’ And I have many others.

The point is that I’m able to “chunk” the core information quickly together and add it to a Memory Palace. In this case, the Memory Palace starts with ‘s’ as well.

Four: Learn Mental CalculationA lot of facts involve numbers related to historical dates, how much things weigh, how old things are, distances, etc. I suggest you use the number techniques I’ve already mentioned, or try the number rhyme technique.

You may even have to perform calculations. To get really fast at that, you can:

• Learn mental calculation skills
• Master the Trachtenberg method
• Develop an understanding of Vedic Math

Not only will these skills help you solve any math-related puzzles that may come up, they also contain interesting tidbits that might come up on a trivia quiz.

Five: Practice in the Right ConditionsI once competed at a memory competition against Dave Farrow.

Fortunately, I didn’t fall flat on my face. But because I had never competed before, I had no context dependent memory developed.

As memory expert and multi-time USA Memory Champ Nelson Dellis coached us when he hosted the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, to win you need to practice competing.

Here are a few ways you can do that in low stress environments before taking it to the big time:

• Play trivia games in noisy places where your concentration will be taxed
• Practice with friends who understand your goals and support you
• Make sure you balance the challenge-frustration curve

This final suggestion comes from The Victorious Mind.

Balancing the challenge-frustration curve means that you should watch out for when things get too easy. It can feel good for your ego that you’re doing really well, but it risks not growing your skills.

On the flip side of the coin, if you take on too many challenges, you wind up frustrating yourself. So always be willing to scale back so that you don’t wind up quitting.

As you continue on, you’ll find that that mental strength tactic helps you improve with greater consistency and avoid the temptation to pause or quit.

Six: Keep a Progress JournalWe’ve talked about the role of handwriting as a kind of encryption tool.

You can take it a step further by journaling for improvement over time. Memory athlete Johannes Mallow has used journaling a great deal as a memory athlete.

And as someone who loves facts large and small, I journal what I memorize frequently.

I’m not particularly tidy about it. I just summarize what I memorized throughout the day to get in a bit of extra practice.

Become an Invaluable Trivia Player & Person of Incredible KnowledgeOne thing I love about memorizing trivia is that it makes playing trivia games with others a lot of fun.

Not just because winning is deeply fulfilling. It also provides two special opportunities:

• A chance to reflect on when and where you encountered the right information in your past
• The opportunity to learn many new things

In this way, you never lose when you play trivia. Each and every question gives you fantastic brain exercise whether you score points or not.

Plus, becoming a personal of greater knowledge is an ongoing benefit.

There’s always so much more to know.

And the great thing about learning more about Latin and Greek as I was just doing today is that I can chunk on more and more facts. That’s because once you establish one thing in memory, it’s easy to add on more.

For example, it’s not at all trivial to know about the etymology of “sitos” when I can use the same image of Superman to add on “supercilious.”

The word means “haughty and arrogant” now, but it literally comes from the words for eyebrow (super means “above” and “cilium” is eyelid). What better eyelid to use than Superman’s?

If you’d like ancient memory techniques like these working for you, please consider getting my free memory improvement course by clicking the image below and signing up:

In it, you’ll learn more about how to create a vast web of associations in your mind.

That way, you’ll win on trivia night and enjoy knowledge that stand the test of time.

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If you’re not sure how to break patterns on demand, I’m confident you’ll love the simple exercises on this page.

One of them in particular saved my life. Other lives too.

I know this because my TEDx Talk about one of the most powerful ways to demolish reoccurring patterns has millions of views and thousands of comments.

People email me about the main technique I’m about to share with you every day.

And this technique is probably going to work for you too. I have the science to help convince you.

The best part?

Each exercise is fun, easy and they’re even better when used combination.

Ready?

Let’s take every life pattern you’d rather leave behind and replace them with positive behaviors of body and mind that lift you up.

Why You Can’t Break Those Harmful PatternsThe reasons we get stuck in harmful behaviors boil down to memory.

For example, Nick Bendit is a researcher who has found evidence that a lot of our negative behaviors and thought patterns start when we’re young. According to him, implicit memory is the culprit.

In most cases, this major type of memory is useful. But according to Dr. Bendit, implicit memory explains why many of us suffer suicidal thoughts and other negative mental health issues.

Unfortunately, I went through years of such suffering myself. I shared the experience and the solution publicly, even though it was difficult to do so:

Other reasons people can’t break old patterns and unwanted habits has to do with procedural memory.

This is the aspect of memory that lets us hop on a bike after years of not riding one and still successfully ride.

In a similar way, we default to negative thoughts and behavior patterns because it’s become a well-known “procedure.”

Finally, many of us accept the negative aspects of our lives as fate or impossible to change. We may even experience “learned helplessness” and get locked into patterns by others because we’ve effectively trained them to hold us in place.

I used to experience what E. A. Poe called “the imp of the perverse” around bridges. Some scientists some scientists call it high place phenomenon. Whatever, you call it, I would feel a terrible urge to jump. When I shared this with people, they soon reinforced my fears by reminding me whenever a bridge was coming up.

Even when immersed in a conversation, my friends would remind me of it and the fears would come rushing back. They were helping me repeat the negative pattern of fearful behavior. Only by no longer telling people was I able to finally break out of it.

4 Mental Exercises To Eliminate Habits and Cause a Pattern BreakNow that we know the main reasons we get stuck in negative patterns, let’s turn to some solutions.

As we go through this list, there’s no special order. I suggest you give them all a try.

In fact, for best results, use them in combination.

One: Rub Your Hands TogetherI learned to briskly rub my hands together in Tai Chi and Qigong classes. Scientists have found that it provides what they call “psychomotor effects.”

In other words, by suddenly directing your attention onto just one part of your body and a simple activity, you can break a thought pattern in an instant.

There are variations I like to use as well, such as kirtan kriya. This practice incorporates simple sounds and can also boost focus, concentration and memory:

Two: Journal Your Heart OutSometimes when I find myself getting stuck, pencil and paper provide the most immediate solution.

Journaling for self improvement is incredibly powerful because it lets you “brain dump” whatever is on your mind.

This makes space for new perspectives and entirely new ideas.

It also allows for objective thinking because you’ve literally turned an unwanted pattern into something physical. Seeing the unwanted thoughts outside of your mind also allows you to reflect on the material differently.

In sum, writing provides a powerful intervention. That’s why journaling is best done daily.

Three: NeurobicsOften you can nip problems in the bud by changing not just one troublesome pattern, but many patterns.

That’s one of the fundamental concepts behind neurobics.

When I started developing serious digestion issued, I remembered one particular pattern-breaker from neurobics: eating with your non-dominant hand.

Although my wife laughs at how I use chopsticks ambidextrously, it helps me slow down. It has broken my negative pattern of eating too quickly while providing me with excellent brain exercise.

Four: Personal Mantra WorkPersonally, this practice has provided me with the biggest win.

It works because when you add personal mantra meditation to your habit stack, you give yourself mental content you can rapidly rely on.

For example, when I find myself repeating negative thoughts, I go directly into one of my Memory Palaces and recite some beautiful Sanskrit.

But not just any Sanskrit: Verses designed to show in a Zen-like way just how unreal thoughts are.

For example, one of the verses I’ve memorized says that “a real thought is more rare than a rabbit with horns.”

That’s such a bizarre image, it makes me laugh. And that laughter breaks me out of my negative loop every time.

How To Guarantee Your Pattern Stays BrokenThere are other ways to break patterns. Calling up a friend, reading a book or playing a game.

But the four exercises above help to establish long term change.

The question is:

Can you permanently remove unwanted patterns?

The answer depends on the exact pattern and the circumstances.

But for the best bet, a complete overall of your memory from top to bottom is recommended.

I call this holistic memory training. It involves getting deeply involved in using ancient memory techniques.

I’m not the only to find that using them has therapeutic properties. Tyson Yunkaporta has shown how we can heal how we discuss with others using memory techniques in combination with our hands.

Dr. Tim Dalgleish has shown how using memory techniques can help heal depression and even PTSD.

If you’d like to experience similar benefits, get started with my free course:

Finally, it’s helpful to continue educating yourself about the nature of the mind. Read as much as you can and take care around the toxic aspects of social media.

Why?

Because of procedural memory. By continuing to read and learn about positive things, you start to automatically think positively. That’s a wonderful alternative to constantly training yourself on junk.

Plus, by keeping offline as much as possible, you save yourself from digital amnesia.

So, what do you say?

Are you ready to get rid of those reoccurring patterns once and for all?

You can make it happen!

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William Shakespeare famously compared the stages of learning to acts performed in the theatre of life.

For example, in As You Like It, the second stage involves going to school, whether the child likes it or not.

But what are the four levels of learning we use today?

I’m talking about stages like:

• Concrete experience
• Reflective thinking
• Abstract thinking
• Personal experimentation

That’s one model given by Kolb in Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development.

Is this really the best way to describe the stages of the learning process?

Or should we look to other models that describe the various levels of learning we go through? Ones that include the notion of “unconscious competence”?

On this page, we’re taking a deep dive into the topic.

Ready?

Let’s go!

What Are The Four Stages Of Learning?As mentioned above, Kolb presents a version of the four levels that involve processing at concrete, abstract and reflective levels of thinking.

Usually, however, people are looking for the four levels of competence. These originally come from Martin M. Broadwell who intended them for teachers in need of a model for their students.

As a learner, you can also use these levels of learning to help navigate your way through complex topics. Following this model can also help ensure you meet your cognitive needs in a structured manner as you go about your learning.

Let’s have a look at each level in detail.

Unconscious IncompetenceHave you ever started learning something you’re basically familiar with only to realize how little you know about the topic?

I’ve had this with music. Although I’ve played in bands for decades and toured the world, when I hang out with much better musicians, I realize how little I know. My skills lead to all kinds of incorrect intuitions as I play simply because I don’t know the key signatures as well as some of the trained jazz musicians I know.

Memory expert Anthony Metivier performing at a concert in Germany.

Still, I sometimes find myself trying to play in ways I don’t understand, only to hit notes that don’t sound great. It doesn’t happen to me anymore, but when it did, it was like I was suffering the musical version of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

This point is important to understand. You don’t have to be completely unfamiliar with a topic to experience unconscious incompetence.

Captain Edward J. Smith provides one of the most famous examples. As the captain of the Titanic, he certainly knew a thing or two about sailing boats.

But that didn’t stop Captain Smith from following the wrong intuitions. Although he received multiple warnings about the dangers ahead, he still failed to take action and the Titanic wound up sinking.

Conscious IncompetenceI’ve become much more modest over the years in music, and am now much more conscious of my incompetence with certain genres of music.

To become more competent, I study the specific areas where I’m weak and patch in deliberate practice to turn incompetence into skill.

A more famous example of conscious incompetence is someone like Elon Musk using first principles to figure out what he doesn’t know. Then, by adding knowledge and competence, he was able to purchase various companies and improve them.

Of course, the court is still out on whether or not his conscious incompetence about Twitter will improve.

Conscious CompetenceAt this level of knowledge, you’re in the sweet spot.

You can think about people like Stevie Wonder. Many people think he’s a musical genius – including me.

Although blind from birth, he learned not only how to play piano and sing, he also learned how to compose and perform.

You might think of these as one task, but they’re actually different things.

For example, I’m consciously competent when it comes to playing concerts with bands in my preferred genre. I can also compose relatively well and even sing to a certain degree.

But I’ve never developed conscious competence as a studio musician.

This is not uncommon. Many of your favorite bands aren’t actually playing on the albums you buy. Their record companies have hired consciously competent musicians, leaving them to do what they do best: perform.

Then there are musicians who don’t even write their own songs, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Many creative industries rely on detailed knowledge of conscious competence. That way, each person can focus on just their part and shine.

Unconscious CompetenceAt this level of competence, the individual barely has to think about what they’re doing.

Shakespeare, for example, was thought to be able to run circles around other playwrights when it came to writing incredibly powerful plots and individual lines of dialogue.

Or you can think about virtuoso musicians. They don’t even need to see a score or rehearse. They just hop on stage with musicians they’ve never met and produce pure musical magic.

Theoretically, they have highly trained procedural memory skills.

Why You Might Have Trouble Learning New Information QuicklyThe answer is simple:

Many people put the cart ahead of the horse.

I once heard musician Joe Satriani answer a guitar student’s objection that they did not know what to learn next to overcome a plateau. They were trying to do advance soloing but kept getting stuck.

Satriani asked if they knew the name of every note on the fretboard. The person did not.

“Then you do know what you need to learn next,” Satriani insisted.

He wasn’t particularly patient in his response and it was partly because the student clearly had Dunning-Kruger Effect. (This happens when people are unaware of how little they know about something, but nonetheless suffer memory biases that make them think they do.)

So what’s the solution:

Always analyze what you want to learn, chunk it down, and start with beginner’s mind.

Being humble, developing foundational knowledge and not being afraid to repeat certain levels of knowledge is almost always the key.

How to Remember the Stages of KnowledgeAs we’ve seen, there’s more than one “four levels of learning” model out there.

So if you want to be able to whip out the stages of learning process from any source you’ve found interesting or useful, here’s what I suggest:

Develop unconscious competence with memory techniques.

They will help you rapidly absorb lists like these and add on examples like the ones we’ve discussed today with everyone from captains to musicians.

How to get started?

I share the best ways I’m aware of in my free memory improvement course:

These ancient memory techniques are still in use today for one simple reason:

Our ancestors found them helpful when it comes to moving through a lot more than the four levels of learning.

We’ve been using them to help us learn languages and every topic you can imagine.

All you have to do is avoid the perils of unconscious incompetence and they will you avoid learning struggles.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to learn with greater competence?

Make it happen!

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How many different types of memory do we have?

If you search the Internet you can actually find a variety of answers.

But is it three, four, five, or more?

And if you find the correct number, how many can you improve?

Confused?

You are not alone.

The confusion is understandable because memory science is a complex and ever-evolving field.

In fact, there are a number of models of memory types that experts and academics have proposed over the years. As you can see from this infographic, the types of memory are also laid out differently by different disciplines:

Whereas biology and psychology describe different kinds of memory models with particular kinds of terminology, social and cultural studies have words and terms of their own. Both fields also progress and often add or change terms as more research is carried out.

These are just some of the reasons why so much terminology abounds.

So with this background in mind, what are the main different types of memory? The kinds you really need to know.

The Three Main Types of Human MemoryIn this post, we will cover the 3 principal types of human memory as our key guides into this world of learning and remembering:

• Sensory memory
• Short-term memory
• Long-term memory

You’ll see how these three types of memory can be broken down further into various constituent parts.

Combined, these parts form what you might think of as a ‘memory orchestra’ – an array of memory types our brains use to help us navigate the world.

These three kinds of memory are also the basis for the three-stage or multi-store model of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. It is still the most agreed upon memory model in science and has been further developed by other academics.

It basically looks like this, starting with the information encountered by your sensory memory:

This infographic is one way of representing the three-stage or multi-store model of memory first proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968.

• Sensory (iconic, haptic, echoic, olfactory, and gustatory)
• Short-term (includes working memory)
• Long-term – explicit (includes declarative, episodic and semantic) and implicit memory (includes procedural)

As you can see, these three memory types serve as umbrella terms for various other kinds of memory. By the end of the article, you will have learnt about the various types of memory and how this knowledge can help your memory powers!

Let’s get started with the first type of memory we all rely upon first and foremost.

One: Sensory MemoryThis type of human memory derives directly from the five senses.

These senses are often experienced within a few seconds or can last for minutes.

George Sperling, a cognitive psychologist working in the 1960s, did important work which established just how short sensory memories are. He found that most of our sensory memories are gone within a quarter of a second.

Even though momentary, all memories we ever retain start here and come from your sight, smell, touch, taste, or from what you hear. Here are the names for the specific types of memory.

Sensory memory breaks down into a number of sub-categories.

Sensory memory involves at least these five modes of sensory perception.

Iconic – relating to our visual experiences

Echoic – relating sounds we hear.

Haptic – relating to touch

Olfactory – relating to smell

Gustatory – relating to taste

Needless to say, the more senses that are engaged, the more memorable the input. As a consequence, the more likely the information is to remain in longer-term memory.

If you want to guarantee that your sensory memory works better, try these tutorials:

• Elaborative encoding exercises
• Sensory memory exercises

Two: Short-term MemoryHaving passed through our sensory memory, information then travels to our short-term memories.

Like sensory memories, we hold new memories for a very short period – usually up to 30 seconds.

George Miller covered this kind of memory in his classic 1956 study, “The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.”

This study is well known for stating that we have 5 to 9 slots available in our short-term memories. All of our memories pass through this stage and they are either discarded as they are not needed for long, or they get retained and passed into longer-term memory stores.

Of course, memory athletes break this rule all the time. And you can too.

Working MemoryRemember the last time you tried to remember a list of words or a phone number but did not have a pen and paper? This would be using working memory.

Often used interchangeably with short-term memory, this is the form of memory dedicated to performing certain tasks. For example, remembering an internet password, a phone number, or a short shopping list.

Without rehearsal, memories in this area are not retained for long. If some of these working memories are useful for a longer period, it might be worth committing them to long-term memory which is the next type of memory we will turn to.

Three: Long-term MemoryThis form of memory is for longer-term storage and has unlimited capacity.

In The Brain: The Story of You (2016), David Eagleman says we have a zettabyte of memory at our disposal. This is considered enough to store approximately 30% of all the information in the world.

Whilst you may never need to remember that much, this is the kind of memory people usually would like to improve. We may broadly divide the kinds of long-term memory into explicit memory involving conscious thought, and implicit memory which involves unconscious thought.

Explicit MemoryThis type of memory recalls specific events and recollections from the past and has three elements to it:

Declarative Memory

This is the recall of facts and snippets of memory that take conscious effort to remember. Whenever you were preparing for a test, you were working on improving your declarative memory and your ability to recall those particular facts. Declarative Memory is further divided into two related parts – episodic and semantic memory. They often work in harmony such as when recalling autobiographical details about your life.

Episodic MemoryAs the word suggests, this kind of long-term memory relates to episodes – brief snippets from your life – and their recall. These memories are all the stronger if they are associated with emotions whether good or bad. You may never forget being bitten by a dog, or the way you felt the day you got a shiny bike for Christmas. We can also include autobiographical memory here – we can all relate to moments in our lives or stories that we have recalled multiple times that we can ‘declare’. These are also sometimes called experiential memories.

Semantic MemoryThis is the body of knowledge stored in our brains that helps us understand and describe the world. For example, knowing what a dog is, how many days are there in each month, knowing that the sea is blue, the grass is green and so on.

Facts you can draw from memory include the colors of things like grass and water. You might even know the names for these objects in multiple languages.

These types of long-term memories represent our general knowledge about the world – facts. As the word suggests, these memories are the essential building blocks that provide the context and the meaning in our lives. They are stored away in our brains for retrieval.

For example, if you are recalling your wedding day (an episodic memory) you need to have the key building blocks for the story – the color of the bride’s dress, the type of car, the church, the guests, the speeches, the weather and so on. This is an illustration of how episodic memories and semantic memories are often used together.

Implicit MemoryThe other major category inside long-term memory is implicit memory. This is a kind of memory that does not have to be consciously recalled and can affect thoughts and behaviors. These memories become automatic after an initial period of exposure, study and practice. Studies have been done, for example, around how strongly people associate the melodies and words in a song. If you play the same melody with different words, people often say they don’t know it. Implicit memory often involves the brain making associations between two types of inputs in this way.

Procedural MemoryThis is often the most highlighted element inside the implicit memory category. This kind of long-term memory relates to carrying out a certain task or list of tasks.

For example, many of us would have learnt to ride a bike or drive a car. After initially learning, then consciously doing and then repeating, we no longer have to make a conscious effort to carry out these tasks.

Riding a bike draws strongly upon your procedural memory.

Indeed, it is often possible to carry out another unrelated activity whilst carrying out these kinds of tasks. For example, you can sing along with your favorite song while driving your car.

Procedural memory usually involves knowledge that gets stronger primarily through repetition and feedback. These are the types of memories that high-level performers in sports or other fields are trying to cultivate. A golfer cannot consciously remember every single movement in his swing when trying to hit the ball. He has to practice the movement and get feedback until the movement becomes unconscious and the memories therein are implicit.

Improving your memoryAs we’ve seen, there are primarily three stages of memory. Another way of describing them is to call them:

• Encoding
• Storage
• Retrieval

Encoding can be done via the senses, storage is either short-term or long term and retrieval involves both short-term and long term memory. See here for some further discussion on the stages of memory.

Now, when people talk about improving our memories they are generally thinking about improving retrieval. However, we need to treat memory improvement holistically and improve all three levels.

With that in mind, what does understanding the types of memory mean for improving all of these levels?

Mnemonic devicesDevices such as these help recall by giving the brain a simple accessible framework to use. Everybody remembers things such as Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit to remember the names for musical notes that fall on the lines on a stave. These are used extensively in many fields to remember certain facts and naturally, you can invent your own.

Testing and The Rehearsal LoopIt is something that our teachers used with us at school but worth remembering. The act of repeatedly retrieving memories has a greater impact than long study periods. When you have something you are trying to retain in your short-term memory you are advised to use a rehearsal loop to keep the memories fresh. Over an extended time, using rehearsal and testing, memories can find their way into long-term memory. If these activities can be turned into games to make them more fun, the results are certain to be better.

Immediate FeedbackImmediate feedback creates better long term memories too. When undertaking any activity, and this applies particularly to learning a skill, it is ideal to have immediate feedback so you can correct your faults and then practice the skill correctly. There is nothing worse than remembering the wrong way to do something!

Sleep and HealthSleep works as a cleansing system that reduces the presence of toxins and improves brain function. Those who sacrifice sleep are likely to see a build-up of metabolic toxins such as the sticky protein beta-amyloid. Naturally, minimizing stress, eating well, and exercise all have great impacts on the brain and its memory function.

Some coffeeResearch has shown that a certain quantity of coffee can improve our mental sharpness but too much has the opposite effect.

Play Brain Games and Have FunAs with muscles in the body, the more you use them the stronger they get. Brain games or anything that exercises the grey matter can have a positive benefit on overall memory performance.

The study of the brain continues and new discoveries bring slight changes to the theories. Our memories are immensely powerful and have unlimited capacities. With a deeper understanding of the brain’s user manual and the types of memory stored therein, we can get more from our memories and an accompanying positive impact on our lives.

To maximize the impact, consider signing up for my Free Memory Improvement Kit. In just a few days, you can experience tremendous boosts in your memory, and have fun while doing it.

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Have you ever sat down to learn faster with some new accelerated learning technique and thrown your hands up in the air?

No, not to catch a balloon or give a salute.

But because you were furious and frustrated?

And have you felt that a learning process 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, over 100 verses of Sanskrit.

Then there are the musical instruments I’ve learned like trombone, sitar and bass.

Plus I’ve used my ability to learn new skills at laser-fast speeds to help me run the memory website you’re reading now:

Hands-on mechanical tasks like figuring out how to spread the good news about memory techniques with videos, blogs and podcasts.

And in all cases, it takes grit and mental strength.

It takes tenacity.

Above all, success with learning quickly takes these…

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.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 everything carefully and give at least ONE of these insights from my experience a serious try.

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 AskOne of the reasons some people find learning new skills so painful is that they don’t ask simple questions.

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 WhatYou 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 something that has 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 CanOutlearn The Flash Any DayOkay, 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 TweetAnd 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…

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 for a study session, stretch a little first.

One way I like to do that is by mind mapping. My friend Joseph Rodrigues is a great source for learning how to use the technique to get into a state of flow.

Meditate.Focus on your breathing. Just 5 minutes a day, 4 times a week is scientifically proven to create better memory.

Attention paid to breathing will lower most of your resistances to learning and make everything easier.

You can also use your meditation time to walk through the Memory Palace Networks you create. As memory expert Boris Konrad has explained, active recall is essential for memory formation. What better way to practice it than when you’re already using meditation to stack the chips in your favor?

3. Understand That The Map Is Never The Territory – But Maps Sure Do Help!When I created this Infographic and Podcast episode giving you a deeper understanding of 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 new 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 MethodHave 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 as a self-directed learner.

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? I promise:

It’s easy, fun and speeds up everything.It’s called:

Writing summaries.

Every time you take a class, attend a study session, 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. This will help train your selective attention abilities.

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 ExcusesA 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, beyond just a bad way of drawing from their episodic memory, 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 brain 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, here are 7 more powerful tips that show you how to improve memory for studying.

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!

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.The post How to Learn Faster and Remember More: 4 Easy Techniques to Learn New Skills appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Aphantasia.

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:

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(!). This was according to his own words on his Sunday School podcast, Episode 174.

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

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What Is Aphantasia? A Detailed DefinitionThe 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.

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.

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.”

Can You Dream With Aphantasia?It depends on what you mean by “dreaming”.

For example, I just told you about Gerrard. He’s never seen Mt. Everest, and yet he’s climbed it. He had to have a dream to do it.

Some people with this condition do report that they dream. Others say they don’t. But even people without this condition also report they don’t recall their dreams.

The only way to really know is take it case by case and visit a dream lab.

Personally, I dream very vividly, but not particularly visually. I never see faces, for example. Strangely, I tend not to see technology either, such as cellphones or computers.

I know this because I have journaled by dreams for many years. I made them more “visual” over time by placing them in writing so I could cross-index the dreams, chart patterns and observe the workings of this mind at rest.

Some people with aphantasia also report that they can lucid dream. I’ve had similar experiences, and the sensations all culminate as physical, rarely visual. For example, I am often piloting a space craft, balancing on a tight wire or even levitating as I write in my dream journal.

And that’s a trick for you if lucid dreaming interests you: By keeping a journal consistently, you’re likely to start dreaming about it. When it appears in your dreams, you may become aware that you’re dreaming. It’s quite wild!

Also, you can think verbally throughout the day about your dreams. You don’t have to approach them from a visual angle at all in order to explore the wonderful world of dreaming as an aphantasic.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.How Common Is Aphantasia?How many people have aphantasia? 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 AphantasiaHowever, 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 visual images in their mind’s eye.

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

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

How Aphantasia Affects MemoryOur brain stores information in at least 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. They can also often (but not always) complete these non-visual sensory memory exercises.

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 TweetEven 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 MindNeuroscientists 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.

As AphantasiaMeow and I suggest in these videos, it might have to do with how the brains of some people develop:

There are still a lot of unknowns, that’s for sure. But it’s great that someone is doing such good work to help people create a mind’s eye.

Back to the source of the problem:

Experts 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.

Does Aphantasia Hamper “Visualization” Memory Techniques?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 TweetWhen 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:

Personally, I don’t have aphantasia.

However, I am low on the visual threshold.

As a result, it took me a long time to understand techniques like mind mapping, let alone developing mind map mastery (which is still a work in progress, to be honest).

Most of what I do in the world of memory techniques 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 visual 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. I’m not trying to develop eidetic memory, after all. I just want to remember more.

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 visual 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 use all senses to describe your bob of light or memory: sight (vision), hearing (audition), taste (gustation), smell (olfaction), and touch (somatosensation).
7. While you are examining and describing your after-images or visual 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. Then move on and try these multi-sensory brain exercises.

How to Use A Memory Palace With A Blind Mind’s Eye?Here’s the basic idea behind the Memory Palace Technique, something you can use without actually seeing anything in your mind:

You associate pieces of information with a location you are familiar with, like placing a new word in a house.

The technique does not require you to visualize your house. You can “know” factually where your bedroom is in your home or where to find the kitchen window or the attic. You then use this knowledge to imagine that a funny or interested association is located there, such as using a statue of the magician Penn Jillette weighed done with small silver trees. Thinking about this concept in this location of your home can help you remember that Pennsylvania means “Penn’s small forest.” (Silva means forest in Latin.)

Keeping the full range of your Magnetic Modes in mind, you can use any home or location with which you are familiar. You can also explore different ways of navigating your Memory Palaces with these 5 examples.

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:

Memory Is More Than Just Visual MemoryMemory 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?

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Did you know that nearly every discussion of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is missing an essential piece of the pyramid?

It’s true, and today we’re going to restore that piece.

On top of that, we’re going to dive deep into how you can fulfill each tier in your life.

Even better, I’m going to help you remember each of the needs.

That way, as you work on improving your life and the lives of others, you’ll be able to rapidly access a mental database packed with examples of psychological needs.

And you’ll be able to fulfill your full potential.

Perhaps you’ll even be able to go beyond that because there’s one need in particular that Maslow wasn’t able to publish before he died.

I’ll share what it is, show you how to experience it and give you tips on maintaining this missing piece of the pyramids of needs once you’ve got it in place.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

What Are Cognitive Needs? The Forgotten Tier In Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsAs the term “cognitive needs” suggests, we have cognitive awareness of things we want and need from life.

We’re not the only species that has this, but our cognitive abilities are so developed that we seem to be especially sensitive to things we don’t have.

Abraham Maslow got very interested in humanity’s special sensitivity to a set of human requirements that led to him developing the hierarchy of needs.

Often, you see Maslow’s needs placed within a pyramid.

The wider needs are basic and as you move up the pyramid, you get psychological and fulfilment needs. All together, the needs in the basic pyramid of needs are:

• Physiological needs (food, water, warmth, rest)
• Safety needs (security, safety, predictability)
• Belongingness and love (intimate relationships and friends)
• Esteem needs (prestige, sense of accomplishment)
• Self-actualization (creativity, fulfilling your potential)

Maslow first presented these needs in a paper titled, “A Theory of Human Motivation.”

Solving the “First Glance” Problem With The Pyramid of NeedsOne mistake that people sometimes make is thinking that you can move up the pyramid and leave earlier needs behind.

But this isn’t the case. You always need to balance the needs, which is why an alternative, dynamic visualization can help understand Maslow’s hierarchy as something that plays out over time:

Others have interpreted the hierarchy of needs in terms of a circle.

For example, my friend Arthur Worsley used the “Wheel of Life” format in his “Faster to Master” Tracktion Planner:

In this case, the “needs” are modernized to include cognitive needs examples like:

• Health and vitality
• Thoughts and emotions
• Family and friends
• Love and partnerships
• Productivity and performance
• Growth and learning
• Business and career

As you can probably see, “productivity and performance” are basically the same as Maslow’s original esteem needs.

In truth, there’s no perfect way to visualize the hierarchy. The best thing is to find a model that works for you so you can bring balance to all of the needs in your life.

The Missing Cognitive NeedAs great as Maslow’s original hierarchy can be, he ultimately wasn’t happy with it.

Towards the end of his career, he wrote The Farther Reaches of Human Nature.

In this book, he described a very special cognitive need he called self-transcendence.

Basically, it’s like the “karma yoga” concept we talked about in my post on mental strength. The idea is that you ultimately put your own needs aside as much as possible, if not entirely.

Many people who have sought to master their memory share this concept. For example, Giordano Bruno described a kind of nondual experience where you would experience a kind of oneness with the entire universe.

Sound weird and raise your skeptical hackles that a psychologist like Maslow would suggest such things?

Well, here’s Maslow in his own words from The Farther Reaches of Human Nature:

Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos.

I myself have suggested something similar in my book The Victorious Mind. Fulfilling the cognitive need to give to others without expectation of return is hard, make no mistake. But this “karma yoga” is indeed far more fulfilling than I ever imagined possible.

In fact, fitting it into your life is highly recommended.

Why It’s Important to Fulfill Your Cognitive NeedsWe’re all on this planet together.

That’s the ultimate reason why you really should spend time every week working on your personal hierarchy or “wheel of life.”

The more people who self-transcend, the better it will be for everyone. Eckhart Tolle makes an excellent argument for increasing the number of people in this state in his books, A New Life.

A similar point is made by John Danaher who focuses on the positive outcomes technologically is likely to bring when it comes to freeing humanity from work.

Let’s take another example. The reason you want to make sure you’ve fulfilled every example of physiological needs specifically comes down to your ability to learn faster, focus and remember things.

But you can’t do that if you’re clogging your mind with foods that destroy your memory and create brain fog.

The same goes for your career, study needs, family and personal rituals around sleep, meditation and the quality of your memory.

The good thing is that if you start working with your memory first, you’ll be able to better remember to focus on all the other parts of the hierarchy.

With that in mind, let’s talk about a powerful memory technique that will help you do just that.

How to Use a Memory Palace to Satisfy Your Cognitive Needs Along my personal journey, I found it useful to go beyond merely reading about Maslow’s hierarchy.

I also memorized it while completing journaling exercises that use the Wheel of Life.

The best technique for getting all of the cognitive needs into memory? The Memory Palace technique.

Let’s say you memorize Maslow’s original hierarchy.

All you have to do to memorize it is mentally layer it on a wall in a room of your house, your school or where you work. Like this:

By placing the pyramid in a familiar space, you give your mind an anchor point it can refer back to when you want to recall each tier.

If you need more “stickiness” you can add a memory technique like the number rhyme or other forms of mnemonic imagery.

With practice, you can memorize information like this often within minutes.

Once in memory, it will be much easier for you to remember to focus on each tier as you go about your life.

Memorize The Pyramid Of Needs And SucceedI’m so glad I took time to really understand Marlow’s formula. And not just the original form, but the enhanced format he wasn’t able to fully promote before he died.

Luckily, people have expanded the concept since his time with alternative versions like the Wheel of Life.

But as I hope to have made clear, it’s important for you to experiment with multiple versions. Even if you find one that feels “right,” I suggest you continue to study and experiment.

Many cultures have interesting variations and the more you can consider them both through study and application, the more you’ll benefit.

And who knows?

Perhaps one day you’ll transcend and become so selfless that you’ll enjoy a life of giving.

That’s certainly my goal, and to paraphrase the playwright Howard Baker put it, “because it is hard, I feel honored.”

Not everyone agrees that humans need to take on challenging projects to feel fulfilled, but it’s certainly worked for me.

One of those projects is to give this free course away to as many people as possible:

Is it really free?

Yes, but it does “cost” your time, attention, focus and energy.

However, complete the exercises and you will emerge with a memory system that allows you to learn faster and remember more.

And you’ll have practice fulfilling one of the biggest cognitive needs of them all:

The esteem need to feel a sense of accomplishment.

I enjoy that sense every time I memorize something new and know that you will too once you have some Memory Palaces set up and in use.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to get out there and make the cognitive needs your own by committing them to heart and practicing fulfilling each and every one (including the lost tier)?

I wish you a great journey and hope to meet you some time and place along the way!

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If you want to know how to rewire your brain, rest assured:

You absolutely can do this.

But you’ve got to avoid the charlatans.

Far too many people are shilling “tricks” and “tips” for rewiring your neural pathways that just don’t work.

That’s because they don’t follow a simple rule I’ll share with you today.

Of course, simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy.

And that’s the catch the sharks in the water don’t want you to know.

But I will share with you the pros, the cons and some of the ways that make it possible for you to stretch your brain cells, even if it feels challenging.

Because that’s one of the other secrets that’s usually hidden from you:

Neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells and neuroplasticity, the changing of the brain?

Both require challenge. You literally do have to stretch yourself.

But when you take certain challenges on willingly, there’s no ceiling to how much you can improve the quality of your mind and mental abilities.

Ready for what really works?

Let’s get started!

Rewiring Neural Pathways: Can You Change Your Brain?It sounds like science fiction.

But countless neuroscientists and other professionals have shown that you literally can change the physical characteristics of your brain simply by thinking.

This is the core premise of John Arden’s Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way To A Better Life.

The title of this book refers to psychologist Donald Hebb’s famous finding that “Neurons that fire together wire together.”

This statement has been validated by scientists countless times and is now known as Hebb’s Law or Hebbian theory.

Sharon Begley has done great work in showing how the ancient sages were right and why meditation literally changes the brain. Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain is a great study that includes research about how to increase neuroplasticity through meditation.

I’ve personally experienced the benefits described by Begley and other researchers like the authors of How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain. I wrote up my experiences in The Victorious Mind and shared them at a TEDx event.

Long story short: Yes, you can change your brain.

Why It’s Possible to Increase Neuroplasticity After TraumaAccording to Dr. Tim Dalgleish, it really comes down to intervention.

For example, he and his research teams have studied using memory-based interventions for depression and PTSD.

I didn’t know about these studies until after my own depression improved after using the same method of loci and Memory Palace interventions they used in their studies.

And my student Nic Castle also reported relief from his PTSD. I was so inspired by the survivor story he shared on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, I wrote an entire “Memory Detective” novel that is influenced by it. (Nic was a police officer.)

Example Of An Intervention That Created Positive NeuroplasticityAfter reading Tim Dalgleish’s research, I followed his suggestion and created a simple Memory Palace with 10 positive memories.

These work to “defang” negative memories because when you experience them, you intervene by using the Memory Palace to think of happy memories instead.

I found this technique so useful, I went one step further by choosing a home from my youth that was packed with bad memories.

But instead of filling it with bad memories, I filled by memorizing positive poetry written in Sanskrit.

Since going through this exercise, it’s now possible for me to think about those experiences without re-traumatizing myself. My brain has been “rewired.”

But it did take an intervention.

And that’s the catch if you want to enjoy a rewired brain.

You need some kind of behavioral interruption.

Good news:

I’ve got a bunch of activities that will give you exactly these kinds of positive interruptions, plus another essential ingredient. Just keep reading.

6 Methods to Rewire Your Brain for Memory ImprovementAs we go through this list of ways that you can enjoy the benefits of neuroplastic changes to your brain, keep challenge in mind.

As all of the books and studies I’ve cited above show, taking on some kind of mental challenge is the key.

But there’s another key that has been shown extensively by performance experts like James Clear.

This ingredient is called time.

Typically, when we want to experience meaningful change that lasts, we need at least 90-days of practice.

Why?

Well, it takes that long for the brain to form new neural pathways. There are also brain chemicals involved, such as myelin. An excellent and highly readable study that condenses all the science is Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code.

So keep in mind that challenge over time is the special sauce that makes everything I’m about to share with you tick. Without taking on the challenge and giving the challenges the necessarily time to form new neural connections in your brain, it’s unlikely that you will experience the changes you seek.

But use a tool like a simple journal or notebook, and you will succeed and become a whole new version of yourself. Someone with a brain of steel!

One: NeurobicsFor most people, the easiest way to get started is a simple set of activities called neurobics.

It’s basically aerobics for your brain.

A simple example is writing with your non-dominant hand. This challenges parts of your brain that you don’t normally use.

Provided you have someone to observe you, you can also practice walking backwards or walking with your eyes closed.

Taking different routes also counts as neurobics. It’s worth taking up these practices to help revivify your brain and form new neuronal connections.

Two: Learn New SkillsWe’ve all heard that learning music is great for the brain.

But do you really have to learn new skills that challenging to enjoy neural benefits?

No. You can also build upon abilities you already have.

For example, you probably already know how to bounce a ball and you know how to use a hammer.

But can you bounce a ball on a hammer?

That’s a new skill that is like a game and builds your brain.

Or you can take up fun activities like card magic, and perhaps even learn how to use a memdeck.

Finally, you can build upon your existing math skills and learn to perform mental calculations.

Adding challenges based on your current skills is a great way to stimulate your brain.

Three: Learn A LanguageMany studies show that bilingualism changes the brain in positive ways.

In fact, scientists are actively working on ways to make sure this message reaches the larger public. That’s because language learning creates cognitive reserve.

This special benefit helps protect your brain from diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s. So if you aren’t already learning a language, please get started soon.

(You’ll need to spend more than 90-days for full fluency, but it will be worth it. And even just 90-days will give you many benefits, especially if you use a language learning Memory Palace.)

Four: Play Challenging GamesMost of us know that playing games provides a certain level of cognitive training.

The trick is to find solid brain games and game-like brain exercises that legitimately challenge you.

Dr. Christine Till is one scientist who has studied some of the apps that claim to provide benefits through gamification. But like me, she’s skeptical.

Crossword puzzles aren’t necessarily the ticket either, as my research into them has shown.

Ultimately, you need to experiment and keep in mind the exact kind of brain rewiring you’re after. Then it will be easier to find games that suit.

Five: Read & WriteScientists study how reading changes the brain with great gusto.

Although there’s still much to be understood, the reality is that reading transforms the brain in many positive ways.

But it’s not just about reading alone. Writing also helps.

As memory expert Lynne Kelly has shown in books like Memory Craft and The Memory Code, writing has historically been key to the ways we remember.

So I suggest finding a balance between learning how to legitimately read faster and effective note taking.

Six: Use Memory TechniquesMy personal favorite method for keeping my neural pathways strong involves using memory techniques.

These are useful when meeting people and remembering their names.

Or you can use them to remember lists using simple rhymes.

I teach ways to use mnemonics much more broadly for what I call “holistic memory improvement.”

That means using memory techniques as part of meditation, diet, goal-setting and everything we’ve talked about above related to skills acquisition and language learning.

If you’d like my FREE course on how to get started, just click the image below:

Please just remember that although it’s free, it will challenge you and I do suggest at least 90-days of practice for best results.

And that’s the key takeaway worth repeating.

You see, there are all kinds of things that can negatively rewire your brain and we have no problem doing them repeatedly for very long periods of time.

I’m talking about eating horrible foods that cause memory loss instead of memory friendly meals.

So always remember that to make changes, you need to challenge yourself.

And the first challenge is being willing to make the change. Positive changes might not be easy, but they’re definitely the most rewarding.

That’s what this blog is all about, so what do you say?

Are you ready to rewire your brain and live a better life?

Make it happen!

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It’s shocking how much the difference between ability and skill matters to the quality of your life.

Even more shocking is how little we’re taught about the core differences between skills and abilities when we’re in school.

That’s because you really do have to focus on each of them in different ways. That’s because they each have nuances that matter.

For example, there are some skills that related purely to how your body moves. You can lose them if you don’t use them.

Then there are abilities that you’re born with that have nothing to do with learning. And least not as such.

That means there are a bunch of abilities you don’t have to worry about at all, which frees you up to focus on those that do.

Want to know more?

On this page, we’re taking a deep dive into a bunch of skills vs abilities examples that will help you save time as you improve all aspects of your life.

Let’s dive in!

Skills vs Ability: Why You Need to Know the DifferenceOne of the best ways to understand the differences between things is to take a moment and look at the origins of the words themselves.

“Skill” comes from the early 12th century. It was originally related to other words like knowledge and wisdom. Later, it came to mean separation or boundary in languages like Danish (skjel).

That’s a very interesting definition of the word skill.

Why? Because if you have skills you do tend to separate yourself from those who don’t. In a positive way, of course, the kind of way you can put on your resume.

Ability, on the other hand, has more to do with capacity.

For example, you probably have the capacity to hear. That’s something that happens to you automatically without having to do anything.

Abilities we’re born with belong to the realm of what psychologists call perceptual learning. This kind of learning relies on your brain automatically receiving and processing information about the world. It’s how kids learn languages – specifically the language that enters their senses through their surroundings.

These abilities are also called cognitive abilities. Although many can be trained, it’s important to understand that ability as such often refers to capacities that exist without any need for training.

But skills, by definition, do require some kind of learning process. And that takes us back to the early meaning of skill as a kind of separation.

To learn any skill, you not only separate yourself from those who do not have them. You also separate out the time needed to learn the skills.

Examples of Skills Vs. AbilitiesWhen it comes to examples of the differences, here are some simple ones that make the difference easy to understand:

• The ability to hear music vs the skill of understanding musical key signatures
• The ability to remember episodes from your life vs using memory techniques to help you recall key events
• Having synesthesia that helps you experience numbers as highly memorable colors vs learning a number system to help you memorize a sequence like pi
• Being raised bilingual vs using adult tactics to learn a new language

How Memory Improvement Books Train Your Abilities Vs Your SkillsIf you’ve ever read a book about Memory Palaces and memory improvement, you’ve probably had your abilities and skills tested early on.

Usually they start by giving you a list of twenty words. Without using any memory techniques, you’re asked to try and remember the list. Because your natural memory ability already uses some chunking, you’ll probably have the ability to recall 7-10 items.

After you develop memory skills like a number rhyme system, you’ll use those skills to score much higher. When you’re really skilled, you’ll get all 20 right.

The Ultimate Exercise For Spotting The Difference Between Skills & AbilitiesYou can also do a simple exercise throughout the rest of your day:

As you go about your business, ask yourself:

Am I using a skill I learned or harnessing an ability I was born with?

Here’s an example of what I mean:

When you pick up those chopsticks, you’ll probably be able to remember when you picked up the ability to use them. But if you reflect on your body as it digests the food you ate using those chopsticks, that’s an ability your body has.

That said, your ability to digest is massively assisted by learning skills like how to chew properly. There are many examples like this where the skills we learn optimize our natural abilities.

How to Assess Your Own Skills vs AbilitiesNow that you’ve understand the difference between skills and abilities, you might be wondering how to test the skills and abilities you’ve got.

First of all, self-testing is possible. But you have to make sure you aren’t bringing any of these biases to the table. We often tend to grade ourselves more highly than we deserve, which is why impartial assessment tests like the LSAT exist.

Let’s look a bit deeper at this kind of test:

You have the ability to show up for an exam. And you probably have enough discipline to sit through the exam period and run a pencil over the paper.

But do you have the skills needed to pass the LSAT? You can only really test this skill by having gone through a training period first.

And to train effectively requires self-testing all along.

To do that, here are some suggestions.

One: Keep A JournalOn this site, I teach memory techniques and how to self test your skills using a process known as active recall.

Both Johannes Mallow and Don Michael Vickers are highly accomplished memory athletes, for example. They’ve both share in detail how they use journaling for better memory, and I’ve shared how I’ve extended journaling myself for overall self improvement.

You can also read about how I’ve used The Freedom Journal for self-testing of my language learning skills and the ability to recall vocabulary and phrases.

Artists also use journals to test their skills and abilities. It’s a very important part of deliberate practice in all areas of art and performance.

Two: Work With A CoachWhen I first got serious about developing my physique, I knew I needed to work with a fitness expert and a dietary counselor.

By working with both of these experts, I was able to rid my body of foods that cause memory loss.

Deadlifting helps improve my focused attention and memory. Do you go to the gym?

Lars, my fitness coach, was especially good at helping me test my skills. i learned the very challenging Turkish Getup using kettlebells with him.

And a huge part of it was him helping me first reconnect with my natural human ability to find my balance and move correctly.

I cannot stress the value of working with coaches enough. Even if you’re protesting that this isn’t technically testing yourself, I’m here to say that it is: You’re testing your ability to stay the course and work with someone who gives you meaningful feedback.

Three: Set Milestones And GoalsA lot of people say that you should have systems that you follow instead of relying on motivation.

I completely agree. And I think it’s very important to create and use vision statements in order to maximize your mental strength.

Having clearly described outcomes that you want to achieve are a test unto themselves.

The trick is to never let yourself become discouraged, which is why I highly recommend you learn the best possible positive visualization skills. I certainly needed to learn them because until I undertook training, I had no ability to think positively, natural or otherwise.

I share more of the story of how I became much more happier by setting goals and using vision statements in The Victorious Mind.

How to Use Your Natural Abilities to Enhance Your Memory SkillsNow, since this is a memory training blog, let’s talk about one natural ability just about everyone has: memory.

The great thing about memory is that it comes packed with something called spatial memory.

Those of us who love learning the skills involved in mnemonic imagery harness spatial memory to use an extraordinarily powerful tool.

It’s an ancient memory technique called the Memory Palace.

Basically, you create a mental recreation of a familiar place in your mind.

Then, using funny associations, you remember important information by placing those associations along a journey.

It’s fun and easy to do and I show you how in this FREE memory improvement course:

This technique provides the perfect way to take your natural abilities and increase their value by learning a new skill.

It’s an incredibly simple memory hack and it helps you improve both your natural abilities and your skills at the same time.

Here’s a simple example:

Humans have the ability to make sounds with their throats. Over time, our culture trains us to speak.

But just because we know how to speak our language doesn’t mean we can give a speech or presentation very well.

We all know that we can learn how to give very good speeches from memory with training, however.

I personally took that natural ability to make sounds with my mouth and trained in the art of giving speeches. As a result, I wound up reaching millions of people through one TEDx Talk.

As a result of so many people, I’ve received a ton of feedback. By reflecting on that feedback, I’ve managed to improve both how I write and deliver speeches ever since.

And that’s how the Memory Palace helps you improve both your natural abilities and your trained skills at the same time.

What Are Skills And Abilities? Life Itself.No, I’m not exaggerating.

We life in a world that faces constantly changing global economies, amongst other challenges. The more skilled you are, the more likely you’ll be to find and keep employment.

And the more you’re aware of your inherent abilities, the more you’ll be able to perceive them and harness them towards developing the skills that are right for you.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to apply your newfound understanding and improve your skills while exploring your natural abilities?

I hope so. The world is truly your oyster and you have so much potential!

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Can anyone really become a human calculator?

Yes, and as renowned skeptic Michael Shermer wrote in the introduction to Secrets of Mental Math, “mathemagic” is unusual for two reasons.

First, you don’t have to be skeptical. Anyone really can become a mental calcultor.

Second, Shermer points out that unlike magicians who usually hide their secrets, people who perform rapid mental calculation demonstrations are different. They love to share their techniques with you.

And on this page, we’ll take a deep dive into what mental calculation is and how you can perform the exact same feats yourself.

It’s not rocket science, but it helps if you can remember the tactics and formulas.

And since this is a memory improvement site, I’ll help you with that aspect too.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

What Is A Mental Calculator?According to Guinness record holder Scott Flansburg, the secret to numbers is to use your brain as a calculator. In other words, you can correctly solve math problems without using any external aid. No pen, no paper and definitely no abacus or calculator.

As he explains in this television interview, most people don’t really know math. They’ve just memorized the multiplication table.

But if you want to know how to be a mental calculator, you’ve got to stop relying on memory.

We’ll cast some doubt on the idea that you have to stop using your memory, but overall, Flansburg is right. To mentally calculate, you literally have to become a person who calculates.

And that comes down to understanding some fundamental rules. In fact, you might already have access to Flansburg’s lessons if you have the same version of this “speed reading” course that I do. In my version, there’s a course with him called “Crash Math.”

Flansburg talks fast, but one of the key lessons I took away from his course is simple:

To become a mental calculator, you need to start by doing three things:

• Observe numbers
• Get curious about what you observe
• Use reflective thinking about the nature of numbers

You might also note, that like Jill Price, the woman who claims to have photographic memory, Flansburg brings a lot of focus to observing and reflecting on the nature of numbers.

As Flansburg says, “ask your brain a better question and you’ll get a better answer.” So in sum, a mental calculator is ultimately someone who perceives patterns and then asks better questions about those patterns.

One of the exercises he gives is to literally pay attention to numbers on road signs. Add them up and then reduce them to nine. “This is logical thinking and checking of mathematical facts,” he says. And, he claims (I believe correctly) that doing such exercises strengthens your brain.

Do “Human Calculators” Really Exist?In a word, yes. In addition to Flansburg, Arthur Benjamin is the author of Secrets of Mental Math. He’s a professor and has a PhD from Johns Hopkins University.

What makes Benjamin so great is that he shares some tidbits of the history of mental calculation, mentioning people like Zerah Colburn.

Then there’s Sal Piacente. In his Penguin Live lecture, he shares exactly how he solves square root problems at lightning fast speeds. One of his shows was inspired by his friendship with Kim Peek, who was the inspiration for the movie, Rain Man.

Sal Piacente explains his skills as a mental calculator in his excellent Penguin Live lecture.

In the memory improvement world, there’s Dominic O’Brien. In some of his books, he shares his mental calculation techniques for determining the exact weekdays based on any historical date. He also created the Dominic System, which helps you memorize any number or sequence of digits.

Harry Lorayne also wrote Miracle Math: How to Develop a Calculator in Your Head.

Some of these people use the Trachtenberg Method or something like it.

All of these people have definitely observed and reflected on numbers as Flansburg instructs. However, unlike Flansburg, who says that you have to calculate and not memorize, many people have indeed memorized formulas that help with speed math.

So let’s turn now to look at some of these specifics and give you some exercises.

9 Mental Math Tricks to Become a Human CalculatorThe main trick common to human calculators is that they know something about the different kinds of calculations they might be called upon to do.

And in most demonstrations, I’ve noticed that they’re the ones who determine exactly what kinds of calculations they’re going to perform.

This observation suggests that they might not be masters of all math, but just the parts where it’s possible to derive outcomes using formulas they’ve committed to memory. Here’s where I think Scott Flansburg contradicts himself a little. He says that you need to calculate, not memorize only to tell you a bunch of rules that need to be memorized.

He even gives you a number rhyme to help you remember one of the key principles: “If I get nine, that means everything’s fine.”

So with the requirement that you do have to remember things in order to use the mental math tricks, let’s dig in.

Trick One: Learn The Trachtenberg MethodIt’s really important to study what other mental calculators know about. I teach you the Trachtenberg Method (sometimes called Trachtenberg System) in this mental math tutorial.

Trick Two: Break Numbers DownIt’s really important to break numbers down so they’re more manageable. The need for smaller numbers has to do with how the brain chunks information.

In other words, instead of trying to add 57 to 29, break it down. Add 20 to 57 to get 77 first. Then add 9 to get 86.

Even if this feels like you’re adding an additional step, remember: You’re a mental calculator. You will be a lot faster when you separate the numbers like this.

Trick Three: Estimation and RoundingArthur Benjamin gives a ton of estimation exercises in his book. To take a simple example, instead of trying to multiply 49 by 6, you can round it up to 50. This gives you a much clearer and faster path to an estimated answer which you then correct by adding 9 multiplied by 6.

Estimation and rounding are very important when you’re using a Mnemonica stack or other memdeck as well (if you’ve that realm of multiple mentality to your cognitive training routine).

Trick Four: Observe and Use PatternsMany mathematical formulas involve patterns, particularly based on repetition.

Multiples of 9, for example, involve a pattern where digits in the answer add up to 9. If you calculate 9 times 7, you get 63. 6 plus 3 equals nine. There are many other patterns like this, so if you want to be a “mathlete” start to observe and commit them to memory.

Likewise in the cube roots, you find patterns like, “if the perfect cube ends in 0, the cube root of it must end in 0.” This pattern repeats all the way up to nine.

Trick Five: Memorize Important NumbersKnowing your square roots, the most common fractions and your multiplication tables makes mental math much easier.

You can use the Major Method and a Memory Palace to commit them to memory quickly. A 00-99 PAO system is recommended as well because it will help you memorize numbers faster.

Trick Six: Learn ShortcutsThere are many shortcuts in math. But some of the most fun involve using your hands. Chisanbop is one example worth learning.

Some ancient memory techniques also used the hand, but in these cases, it was usually for calculating the modes in music for producing pleasant harmonies.

Trick Seven: Read a Lot of Mental Calculation BooksThere’s nothing better than being able to get natural spaced repetition by reading similar things from multiple authors.

Fortunately, there are dozens of books about speed math out there to choose from.

Trick Eight: Get Warmed UpA lot of people give up on techniques they’re learning. Not because the skills are tough, but because they come at them stiff and cold.

That’s bound to be frustrating.

But when you complete a few simple warmups, as simple as breathwork exercises or journaling for a few moments to get yourself in the right headspace, you’ll do a lot better with the final step. And the final trick is essential.

Trick Nine: A Special Kind of PracticeEverybody knows that you have to practice when you want to learn a new skill.

But did you know that not all kinds of practice are made equal?

They aren’t, and in the case of becoming a “mathlete,” you’ll need deliberate practice.

In brief, this kind of practice involves focus and structure.

Instead of leaping around between different kinds of calculation, you master one first. In fact, if you read Secrets of Mental Math, you can’t get very far into it without completing the initial exercises in a structured way.

And that’s a good thing.

Mental Calculator Q&AsAt this point, you might have some questions. Let’s get them answered.

How Long Does It Take to Become a Human Calculator?If you take Flansburg at his word, you are a human calculator whenever you’re calculating.

I think that’s right, so just get started and use dedicated practice to make sure that you don’t stop.

And keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to become a person who gives demonstrations. The people teaching it do that, but it’s okay for you to only have personal goals for your mental calculations.

Either way, it’s a journey with no destination and practice never ends if you want to keep your skills sharp.

What Kind of Math Can I Do As a Mental Calculator?Basically, you can do any kind of arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).

You can also:

• Calculate square roots
• Use factorials
• Determine differences
• Work with decimals

And if you like, you can even compete at the Mental Calculation World Cup and other events.

How Can I Use My Mental Calculator?As Flansburg suggests, you can use it every day by looking at roadsigns and calculating numbers.

Or, if you work with numbers, you can apply it to your profession. If you’re an accountant, obviously you’ll have a lot of opportunities.

As someone mental calculators do, you can practice determining which day of the week certain historical events took place on. This is a good way to test your mental calculation skills.

You could also practice determining how much interest you would expect to earn on various real estate deals, or many other mental tasks related to finance.

It’s really up to you what you do with these skills.

Speaking of skills, if you enjoyed learning about mental math, you’ll love learning about the Memory Palace. Grab my FREE Memory Improvement Kit now:

It will help you memorize any and all formulas and processes you need on your journey towards becoming a person who can reliably solve equations without an external aids.

So what do you say?

Now that you know how easy it is to become a mental calculator, are you ready to dive in?

Make it happen!

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I can help you improve your verbal intelligence.

After all, I’ve been working on my own since I was in kindergarten.

I remember an older neighbor kid teaching me the word “hilarious.” I fell in love with language that moment while talking and playing on the swings.

Years later I distinctly recall trying to guess what the word “ramification” meant based on the context of the book I was reading.

And to this day I still memorize vocabulary to maintain high verbal intelligence – as high as I possibly can.

It’s too valuable to let it slip, after all.

The ability to navigate the world through language creates so many opportunities.

And so much joy.

So if you’re ready to deeply understand what your verbal intelligence is and how to improve it, let’s dive in.

Verbal Intelligence DefinedVerbal intelligence comes down to a few things.

First, as Tony Buzan once put it in his book on verbal intelligence, it’s your ability to “juggle the alphabet.”

I believe Buzan was making a specific reference to the memory techniques he was so famous for promoting (techniques like the alphabetical pegword method and Major System). Buzan was so influential that Moonwalking with Einstein wouldn’t have happened without him.

The second important aspect of verbal intelligence is the size of your vocabulary. Whenever people ask me how to read faster, I always tell them that increasing your vocabulary is the number one thing to improve.

Finally, verbal intelligence comes down to your understanding of word parts, such as roots, prefixes and suffixes.

Does High Verbal Intelligence Come From Nature or Nurture?None of it comes down to either nature or nurture. Studies have shown that there are too many variables to make any hard and fast statements either way.

It’s not even obvious that environmental factors play a role. For example, I’m an author and my brother is an industrial mechanic, welder and highly credentialed foreman. He’s never read much, but I always have.

Both of us had the exact same access to books and tools growing up. He was just drawn more to working in the garage with my dad, and I was more interested in reading the books inside.

At the end of the day, I’d say we’re both equally intelligent. But I’ll probably write a better book than he will, while I couldn’t change a tire or the oil in a vehicle to save my life. And his knowledge of how to do things like weld underwater always impresses me.

This is an important point because verbal intelligence is really useful and important. But it’s not the only kind of intelligence.

Verbal Intelligence Examples: How to Spot a High Verbal IQDue to memory biases and things like the Dunning-Kruger Effect, it can be hard to spot true verbal intelligence. Lots of people can repeat things they’ve heard, but still don’t understand them very well.

Or it’s possible to understand things, but have verbal memory or other issues that prevent you from enunciating what you know clearly.

But the question remains:

How do you know when you see it?

Let’s look at some examples.

Example One: Mature Speech BehaviorsYou can generally tell a lot by the maturity a person brings to their speech, no matter what their age.

For example, brain scans show that teenagers with high verbal IQ have much more white matter in the linguistic areas of the brain. If you look closely at this study, you see that some teenagers have much more white matter in the brain areas related to hands.

This could explain why my brother is so good with his hands, but I am not. He’s not very talkative either, but I am. I can also switch from being very serious and scholarly, to being completely casual or even a bit of a comedian. He’s much more consistent in his mannerisms.

Example Two: Verbal ComplexityLook for whether people speak in complete sentences, the kinds of words they use and how they use language.

Do they use a lot of metaphors? Do they illustrate their ideas with quotes? Or do they usually say very little and give only short and simple answers?

Example Three: Love Of “Bookish” LearningPeople with high IQ tend to seek out opportunities to learn where reading and writing is involved precisely because it helps them exercise their verbal intelligence.

Others may avoid learning such situations and only undertake them when absolutely required for school or employment.

But these people may be the first ones to seek out certifications that allow them to learn on the job or at workshops.

Can Tests Help You Determine Your Verbal IQ?In a word, it depends.

Here are a few ways to get tested.

Free Online TestsFor example, this verbal IQ test asks you a bunch of questions.

But when I took it, it only gave me a score. It didn’t give me any insight about the 3 questions it says I got wrong.

Basically, any test you find for free on the Internet is basically going to produce something like this.

But if you have any critical thinking abilities, you’re going to be skeptical about it these kinds of results.

Sentence Completion TestsGet out a timer and see how long it takes you to find an answer for the blank spot on this sentence:

“John had a look of ________ on his face when he found out that someone stole his guitar.”

For that test, there’s a fairly obvious range of appropriate answers.

You can also test by finding more complex tests that require creativity. For example, many hiring managers show people a paper clip and ask them to list how many different ways it could be used. This is basically the same as a sentence completion test.

Many brain exercises also boil down to variations on sentence completion tests.

Play Word GamesThere are lots of games that will test your verbal intelligence. Spend some time with crossword puzzles and other brain games for adults.

You’ll need to figure out a way to score yourself in some cases. But that activity can in itself help you improve your verbal intelligence.

Test Your Reading ComprehensionYou’ve probably heard that Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle.

I mention it because because having tutors in philosophy was once very common. Fortunately, I did a PhD and got to experience a bit of what that was like through some “directed reading” programs I completed. These were courses I completed one-on-one with some very successful professors.

And they tested my reading comprehension intensively. They also taught me reading strategies for comprehension I use to this day.

Basically, they did this by requiring me to write summaries of everything I read as part of their courses. This was a powerful means of testing my comprehension because writing creates reflection on what words mean.

If you don’t have access to such people, a great way to test your comprehension is to get in a reading group. Read and participate in the discussions. You’ll find out pretty quickly how much you understand and give your verbal reasoning skills a great workout.

Read Word Books That Include TestsOne of my favorite books for testing my verbal intelligence?

Word Power Made Easy by Normal Lewis.

There are a lot of books like this and they’re great fun.

When using them, I prefer to not write in the books themselves. Instead, I complete the verbal tests in a notebook.

That way, I can take the tests again in the future without seeing my previous answers.

Develop a High Verbal Intelligence With These 3 ExercisesAs you go through these exercises, there’s no particular order.

The key thing is to complete such exercises consistently and track your progress, ideally in a journal dedicated to your self-improvement.

All of them are powerful and all of them are exercises myself and many other people use to consistently improve our verbal intelligence.

One: Memorize VocabularySince verbal intelligence is all about your ability to use language accurately and efficiently, it only makes sense to learn new words.

Memorizing vocabulary is pretty easy. Just follow these steps and use a Memory Palace.

Also, consider a variety of words that relate to your career and mix in words that are just plain interesting or random.

And as I mentioned before, pay close attention to the word parts, especially prefixes and suffixes.

Two: Memorize Verbatim TextWhen people ask me about my speaking skills, I tell them that I wasn’t always very good at it.

But I got better by memorizing speeches and using mnemonic images as part of my presentations.

Memorizing poems and song lyrics is very beneficial as well.

The great thing about speeches, poems and songs that they include rhetorical devices. The wordplay will open your mind to how to better manipulate language as you speak or write it yourself.

Keep in mind that you can explore memorizing both traditional language, or experimental language. I’ve enjoyed learning parts of Ursonate for an additional level of verbal workout, for example.

Three: Learn Another LanguageBilingualism is well-known to protect your brain. And it obviously does a lot to build your vocabulary.

But learning a new language also helps you understand your mother tongue better. New insights occur to you because you compare and contrast what you’re learning to what you already know.

And knowing more about how your native language works boosts your abilities with it.

The best part?

You can use memory techniques for language learning, or explore things like the Pimsleur Method, flashcards or Anki.

But make sure that you also get lots of reading, speaking and especially listening practice in. This will help with your acoustic encoding, which the brain uses to help you deal with understanding what you hear.

Some people will also benefit by adding books on linguistics to the menu. I know I certainly have!

Boosting Verbal Intelligence Is EasyThere’s a bit of a paradox in saying that it’s easy to boost your verbal intelligence.

You do have to challenge it. And that’s going to feel hard sometimes.

But setting up the situations where you challenge it is relatively easy.

And when the exercises get too easy, you’ll want to voluntarily make them more challenging.

I call this “balancing the challenge-frustration curve.” In other words, whenever something gets simple, you need to add a bit more difficulty to ensure that you keep growing.

One way to do that while continually boosting your brain’s ability to use words in sophisticated ways is to train your memory.

If you’re interested in a fun and interesting way to do that, please sign up for my FREE Memory Improvement Course:

It will help you commit as many words as you like to memory.

And that’s the most direct way of all to not only improve your verbal intelligence. It gives you a simple, yet refined way to test your progress as you go.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to enjoy the benefits of improved verbal intelligence?

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Can tea help your memory and improve your focus?

Maybe.

But you have to be careful.

That’s because a lot of people throw out scientific studies.

You read them and think: “That’s the tea for me.”

But those studies don’t show you all the nuances of how interacting various teas concentration or focus with other substances you’re taking can wind up making things worse.

So in this post, we’re going to look at the truth about tea for better memory and brain health.

It’s easy to understand and will help you make better choices overall.

The Best Tea for Memory, Studying, Focus, and MoreLet’s approach the topic counterintuitively:

What’s better?

Something you add that stimulates focus?

Or something that helps remove distractions so that you can focus?

The answer to this question is ultimately only something you can determine. And you do that through experimentation.

Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that many teas have L-theanine, which studies have shown makes you feel more peaceful.

In other words, it takes away the feeling of unrest more than it adds focus or concentration. In fact, Murray Carpenter reported in his book Caffeinated that Starbucks added L-theanine to its coffee to prevent people from getting too buzzed, which in some contexts means too focused and concentrated.

But how you feel is not necessarily the same as being able to focus or concentrate in a way that helps you learn faster and remember more.

Only taking specific actions do that. And that’s why I suggest you learn about tea for memory through experimentation and thinking about what you add vs. what you take away.

Because the truth is that you can often increase your focus by not drinking any teas at all.

That said, I do drink tea and I’ll explain why it has personally been the most effective for me. Let’s get started.

One: Personalized Chinese Herbal TeaAs I mentioned in my study of herbs for memory and focus, everything comes down to removing pain and discomfort.

Since I have chronic pain that leads to brain fog when left untreated, I go to a Chinese Medicine practitioner almost every week.

The tea I’m given is personalized to where my health stands on a week-to-week basis. And we always check that the tea I’m drinking works in conjunction with my diet overall. That way, there are no problematic interactions.

I’ve had interaction issues in the past, such as when two supplements created confusion, so I’m glad I now get help in order to reduce chronic pain issues.

Two: Matcha Green TeaMany people have cited straight up green tea as helping with memory.

However, I’ve found better results anecdotally from matcha. And although longest term studies have only been done on mice, they prove the basic point that other dietary considerations matter.

Matcha has also been shown to have more L-theanine than standard green tea. It is likely brought out during the detailed preparation process proper matcha goes through.

But one study has shown that your working memory could potentially benefit from green tea extract on its own. I tried this for a few months, but only notice skin issues as a result. But it might work for you.

Three: Yerba MataI was first introduced to Yerba Mata while visiting memory expert Jonathan Levi in Tel-Aviv.

As I looked into it, I found studies that show why it works.

First, it helps reduce the destruction of your neurons as you age.

But it can also help prevent negative memories from distracting you while you’re trying to focus your mind.

And that’s undoubtedly while I felt so focused while hanging out with Jonathan and drinking this tea with him for weeks on end.

Here again you see the key principle at play:

It’s not so much about what these teas for focus add. It’s about what they take away.

Tea For Brain HealthWhen it comes to your personal development, you really do have to experiment.

All of the teas I’ve mentioned on this page have been tested by myself personally.

As mentioned, the biggest consideration I would suggest you make regards interactions between the teas you drink and other substances.

Always remember: there’s a huge difference between foods that are bad for memory and those that are good for it.

And definitely consider staying away from black tea. This study shows that it could lead to suppressing memory formation in living creatures.

A second, major point you need to consider is your sleep in the context of memory improvement. If you constantly fall asleep while reading, tea might not actually help because the teas that help for memory also tend to lead to greater relaxation.

How To Experiment And Find The Best Tea For Concentration And EnergyHere’s how I do it.

As part of how I journal for overall self-improvement, I keep track of what teas I drink and when.

At the end of the week, I look for patterns in how I’m feeling.

A lot of this is guess work, but I get my blood tested regularly, and as mentioned, see my Chinese Medicine practitioner almost every week. I share my journal with her to get another point of view.

Even if you don’t check in with a health professional frequently, developing pattern recognition around what you’re eating and drinking is key.

Finally, always take timing into account. Humans have a 72 hour digestion cycle, if not longer. Journaling helps with tracking back to what may have been consumed a few days ago, something very helpful for people who have memory issues.

Speaking of memory issues, if you’d like to experience better memory, sign up for my FREE memory improvement course:

It will help you remember details like we discussed today.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to think about teas for memory a bit more critically and make better choices?

Thanks for reading and happy sipping!

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If you’re interested in using acoustic encoding to remember things better, you’re in the right place.

You see, this encoding memory process mixes really well with mnemonics.

Provided that you understand the concept properly and apply it well to what you’re doing with memory techniques.

On this page, you’ll learn all about auditory memory and how to use memory encoding techniques related to acoustic encoding.

And you’ll get the knowledge from a memory expert well-versed in tactics and strategies you won’t find anywhere else.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

Memory Encoding Techniques: What Is Acoustic Encoding?Acoustic encoding is more than just a type of memory in the category of sensory memory.

But it’s important that you understand it in that context because you do need to sense sounds in order to have your brain form memories of them.

As with the very similar echoic memory, acoustic memory happens automatically. Sounds enter your senses and your brain automatically remembers them.

It’s that simple.

But the question of improving your acoustic memory comes down to not relying on what you automatically remember.

You need some form of elaboration and rehearsal.

I’ve give you some exercises soon, but first, an important answer to a common question.

Does the Encoding Memory Process Really Work?The answer is:

It depends.

Here’s what I mean:

Have you ever had an experience where someone tells you to do something and you comply? But when they see that you’re actually going to do it, they stop you and say, “I was just kidding!”

Well, in such situations, your brain has definitely encoded the message. But it has interpreted it wrong.

The study of how we perceive or misperceive irony involves concepts called paralanguage and proxemics.

In Nonverbal Communication, the authors discuss how tone of voice is perceived and encoded by the brain. The authors also talk about “content-free speech.” In other words, how our brains perceive and interpret grunts, groans and other sounds humans make that don’t have strict semantic meaning. As a result, these kinds of utterances often don’t enter semantic memory. They are governed by acoustic memory.

How to Improve Your Acoustic Memory With EncodingNow that you know about content-free speech, you’re in a good position to improve your acoustic memory.

Here are some steps to follow.

One: Pause And EnquireWhen you hear someone make a statement that could be ironic, or use content-free speech, stop and ask them what they mean. Often people hesitate or say “uhm” or provide other nonverbal cues that you don’t notice.

But now you will, and you’ll get a clearer answer about what those sounds mean. This will help you match the meaning of the sounds with words, thereby allowing it to enter semantic memory.

Here’s a quick example from my personal life. My wife speaks Chinese and I’ve learned quite a bit of it. But there are sounds like “uhn,” that sometimes mean yes, usually quite enthusiastically. At first, I wasn’t even sure she was communicating something at all.

So to be sure I wasn’t interpreting her incorrectly, I had to ask. And now that I know, the sound is in both my acoustic memory and semantic memory.

Two: Exercise All Aspects Of Your Sensory MemoryHyper-focusing only on what you hear is missing the point. You also want to pay attention to many other senses.

To improve your overall memory inputs, give these sensory exercises a try.

Three: Add Sounds To Your Mnemonics A lot of people who use memory techniques fail to make sounds part of the encoding memory process.

To improve in this area, combine sounds with kinesthetic, emotion and visual experiences.

For example, let’s say you’re memorizing something related to glycolysis.

Instead of having a one-dimensional mnemonic image in your Memory Palace, have your figure grunt loudly. Imagine what it feels like to be the one doing the grunting as you hear it in your mind’s ear.

Four: Practice Learning Other Kinds Of Sound-Based InformationEveryone knows that learning music is good for the brain.

One simple skill you can take up to get started is to learn the key signatures. Although not exactly a paralanguage, it’s interesting because there are many terms used to describe all kinds of musical expressions. It will help you improve your auditory memory in many ways.

Five: Read While Reciting Or Listening To RecitationI went through horrible bouts of clinical depression while I was in university. I could barely focus on anything I needed to read.

So I made myself audiobooks. Back then, I had to use micro cassettes. Now it’s so much easier with cell phones.

But the point is, I helped improve my auditory memory by speaking a lot.

And whenever I could, I read along with audiobooks. Some of my favorite memories from university involve being curled up with a book in my lap and a narrator in my ears. This practice gave me a much deeper feel for what some literature can mean thanks to the interpretive acting of the narrators.

When you’re reciting out loud, you can also come to understand texts more by acting the text out a little. Especially in the mnemonic way we discussed above.

Acoustic Encoding Q&ANow let’s dive into some common questions around acoustic memory.

What Can I Do With Acoustic Encoding?A lot of acoustic encoding happens automatically, so you don’t have to do much.

However, if you’re having memory issues overall, you can check in with a doctor. Some memory issues have to do with health problems only a medical professional can consult on.

Assuming you’re in good health, you can start paying a lot more attention to the ways you observe the world. We’ve already talked about noting how people use nonverbal communication. With some critical thinking you can take things in the opposite direction by thinking about sounds that might be missing.

For example, in some of the work of Edward T. Hall, the social anthropologist talked about what he called The Hidden Dimension. Hall shared an anecdote in which American representatives told Saddam Hussein’s son that the USA would bomb Baghdad. But when Hussein’s son went to his father, he said that the Americans didn’t even pound their fists on the table. They interpreted this as a lack of serious intent behind their threats. But they were serious and Desert Storm was the result.

Hopefully you won’t have such dramatic situations in your life, but the point is that you can be proactive about auditory memory through observation. Or you can think critically about sounds that aren’t being made and what that might mean.

Who Is Acoustic Encoding Best For?Everyone can benefit from learning about this form of memory and practicing better listening skills along with elaborative encoding exercises.

But it will be especially beneficial for people who need to remember what they hear in conversations better.

Finally, memory competitors need excellent hearing. They often have to memorize spoken words and numbers without being able to use any visual memory cues whatsoever.

How Long Does It Take to Improve Acoustic Memory?The answer to this question comes down to how much time you’re willing to explore and practice your listening skills and memory.

As Don Michael Vickers shared on my podcast, he read one Memory Palace book and within weeks he was performing so well at memory competitions, the regional and national media was interviewing him. He and I talk a lot about auditory memory and acoustic memory issues in that podcast.

Your Next Steps With Acoustic MemoryIf you’ve enjoyed learning about how you can perceive and think about how you interact with sounds differently, you’ll love my FREE Memory Improvement Course.

Click the image below to sign up:

You’ll learn more about dealing with sounds, especially how to memorize difficult vocabulary.

And learning a language is yet another way you can give your acoustic memory an intense workout. It will really attune your ears to what others are saying. And the best part is that you can use a Memory Palace to help with the process of remembering the new sounds you hear.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to get out there and enjoy better acoustic memory?

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You’ve got advanced Memory Palace problems and Don Michael Vickers has got solutions.

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, we’re diving deep into his impressive memory competition experience.

And together, we discuss the differences between using memory techniques for short-term memory and long-term memory outcomes.

But you might be wondering…

What Kind Of Advanced Memory Palace Problems?There are a few you might encounter as you use the Memory Palace technique.

These include:

• Too much or too little space between your loci
• Dropping off parts of words when memorizing vocabulary
• Mishearing or misreading the target information
• Not keeping a journal for this form of self improvement or memory athlete specific journaling
• Not having a community with people who share your interest in memory

Suggestions From Don Michael VickersOne thing I love about how Don shares his approach to using memory techniques is that he documents the journey.

You can check out a lot of what he’s doing on his YouTube channel and other media.

But that’s just one level or layer of journaling.

He also journals privately so he can see what’s working and what isn’t.

This is a solid tactic for one big reason:

It’s only through what scientists sometimes call “metacognitive learning recognition” that we can learn as fast as possible. It’s been demonstrated to help us see variables and define new strategies.

Journaling also helps us because it enables deeper levels of reflection than if we were to merely think about our memory improvement activities without writing them down.

How Specifically Does This Help You Solve Advanced Memory Palace Problems?The answer is easy:

As your perspective widens, you’re able to run new “experiments.”

In other words, every time you use a Memory Palace to memorize anything, you’re experimenting.

If you take the time to observe your results, you can always ask:

• What went right? And how can it go better?
• What went wrong? And what needs to improve?

These are the kind of questions that only you can solve and you need to be the scientist in the laboratory of your own mind to do it.

But there’s one more ingredient that I think really shines in this conversation.

Let’s talk about that next:

The Power of CommunityYou can also see in how Don talks about his interactions with fellow memory competitors like Katie Kermode that hanging out with others who love mnemonic strategies is key.

Communication is yet another level of reflection.

But there’s also the competition aspect.

As Don puts it, memory competitors are a lot friendlier than hockey players. Yet, you still get the chance to really throw down the gloves and test your skills.

I hope you enjoy this discussion with Don and please do follow him on his YouTube channel and social media for more exciting demonstrations and news from his activities in the world of memory competition.

Don Michael Vickers’ YouTube Channel

Don Michael Vickers’ LinkedIn

Don Michael Vickers’ Twitter

Don Michael Vickers’ Tiktok

Important Show Note Regarding The Shadow Memory TechniqueThere’s a technique known as the Shadow. I heard about it quite some time ago, and Braden Adams has discussed it with us on this previous episode of the MMM Podcast, and on this one.

During this episode, Don and I figured that I probably hadn’t understood the Shadow correctly.

But Ron Johnson from the excellent Craft of Memory Podcast posted this on YouTube below the video version of the interview:

This is an excellent example of the power of community, so if you aren’t yet part of ours, here’s what I suggest.

I have a free course you can download and get notifications about new podcasts like these.

If you’d like to register, please click the image below:

That way, you won’t miss a thing when new interviews like this come out.

And you’ll get some world class memory training too.

It’s a win-win!

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How many types of observation do you think you’d need to get to the bottom of things like Sherlock Holmes?

Whether you’re a scientist, private researcher or just someone who wants to know more about the process of observation, the benefits are immense.

For example, you can use observation skills to be a better professional. You’ll be the one who gets the raise because you’re the one who notices the nuances that improve the bottom line.

Or you’ll be the scientist who wins all the grants and awards. Or the better student who provides stronger examples in your essays and exams.

All because you know how to practice the art of observation and deduction.

Ready to learn everything you need to know to make these outcomes a reality?

Let’s dive in!

First, the Basics: 4 Types of Observation for ResearchAccording to the authors of The Power of Observation, no matter what type of observation you use, the real goal is objectivity.

This means developing an awareness of the assumptions you naturally make – and weeding them out. Successfully observing them comes from knowing a little about how your memory creates biases.

As we go into these major types of observation, keep in mind that we all bring subjective ideas and experiences. But to be truly objective, cultural artefacts stuck in your procedural memory, personal beliefs and your personal interests and feelings need to be set aside. Even your professional experience can create false interpretations.

Creating distance between yourself as a person and what the data you’re observing actually says is one of the hardest parts of science. But that’s why it’s a good thing that no scientist works in isolation. The principles of science itself helps ensure true objectivity will emerge over time.

Here are the techniques that make this possible.

One: Controlled ObservationIf you’re a “control freak,” you’ll love what comes next.

That’s because controlled experiments involve a level of technical design, surveying and measurement that gets very granular.

The way controlled experiments work is that you have two separate groups. You treat them exactly the same except for one variable.

A simple example is one you’re probably already familiar with:

When testing drugs, one group will get the real chemical. Another group will get a placebo.

But there are other kinds of controlled experiments. For example, on a website like this, you can have half the people see a green subscribe button, and the other half see a blue subscribe button. These kinds of controlled experiments are run by Google, YouTube and even small sites like mine all the time.

Controlled Experiments In MemorySpeaking of my blog, we do controlled experiments in memory science as well. Here’s a recent example we discussed in depth with Drs. David Reser and Tyson Yunkaporta. In this case, one test group used Memory Palaces and mnemonic images to learn a set of complicated words and the other group did not.

Again, the point is to change only one variable between two groups.

But keep in mind that not all controlled experiments succeed. Some won’t reach statistical relevance, for example, or have issues with study participants not complying with the instructions. An excellent book on the topic that will help you learn more is called Failing in the Field: What We Can Learn When Field Research Goes Wrong.

Two: Participant ObservationEver heard of “immersion journalism?”

For example, in Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer was hired as a journalist to report on the world of memory competitions.

He did that, but also wound up observing through participation. He even wound up becoming a USA Memory Champion.

A researcher named Joseph T. Howell basically set the model for this when he wrote Hard Living on Clay Street. Describing the conditions for his study, he identified the following steps:

• Establish rapport with a group or community
• Immerse yourself in the field or site of activity
• Record data and your observations
• Analyze, consolidate and share the information

This is basically what Joshua Foer did when reporting on the world of memory. Ben Cardall does something similar when it comes to methods of detection and deduction in his role as an investigator.

Three: Naturalistic ObservationOf all the types of observation, naturalistic observation is perhaps the toughest. For one thing, we’re all doing it all the time.

Here’s what I mean:

Everyone is observing the natural world around them. And it’s hard to be objectively about it.

But qualitative naturalist observation requires you to objectively record what you’re experiencing.

A simple example is one you might have seen about Dian Fossey in the movie, Gorillas in the Mist. She studied mountain gorillas for decades until she was murdered, primarily in Rwanda. Often, she had just herself and a notebook. Sometimes she had a camera.

These days, people have cellphones which lets them capture sound, video and take notes at the same time. You can also get multiple cameras together and create entertaining studies.

Although somewhat questionable, the mentalist Derren Brown has incorporated many elements of naturalistic observation in his television specials. But his program, The Secret of Luck draws directly from the scientifically valid research of Richard Wiseman. Based on a ten-year study, Wiseman’s findings are available in his excellent book, The Luck Factor.

Four: Indirect ObservationEverything we’ve just discussed involves direct observation. They’re based on experiments that are set up and observed in real time. Or, they use some kind of form of control in a laboratory.

But what about determining the laws of physics by watching leaves blow around or apples fall from trees? For centuries, scientists have correctly arrived at core truths by thinking indirectly.

To this day, scientists and entrepreneurs use indirect thinking to arrive at “first principles” that help them approach problems in new ways. Being able to arrive at solutions indirectly is just one reason why critical thinking and philosophy remain so important to our species.

4 Proven Ways to Improve Your Observation SkillsNow that you know the major types of observation and observational research, let’s talk about improving your chops in all of these areas.

We’ve just talked about improving your critical thinking skills over all, so let’s start by expanding on this point.

Read WidelyLet’s face it. Developing scientific literary is hard. There are so many counterintuitive aspects to it and you really do have to remove your personality and emotions from the game in order to get anywhere with it.

But that’s part of what makes the journey exciting. Realizing that the world operates independent of your thoughts and opinions will liberate you in a way only scientific thinking can.

Make sure to also read critical thinking books, philosophy books and take on the challenges of critical thinking exercises and puzzling philosophical questions. These will sharpen your mind for being a better observer.

Network with Scientists and ScholarsAs I shared above, I’ve interviewed scientists like David Reser and Tyson Yunkaporta. There are many more I’ve recorded conversations with on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

Long before that, I made sure to get involved in study groups and talked at length with as many of my professors as I could.

Not only will this help you observe better, but you’ll be observing people who have dedicated their lives to observation itself.

Run ExperimentsIt almost goes without saying that in order to understand the process of observation as fully as possible, you have to do some.

You don’t have to wait for a professor to give you an assignment. Take some inspiration from Hermann Ebbinghaus, who discovered spaced repetition. He knew the rules that govern a good scientific study during his time and took the initiative to apply them to his interest in memory.

Learning to use spaced repetition to defeat the Forgetting Curve started in earnest with the research of Hermann Ebbinghaus.

You can do the same. And when you follow my advice to network with scholars and scientists, you’ll have a sounding board that can help you set up your experiments correctly and analyze them well.

Expand Your MemoryOne thing I’ve seen holding so many people back from learning observation skills at the highest possible level is pretty easy to solve.

When you expand your working memory, you’re literally able to process more information in your mind. More information will also enter your long-term memory for objective comparison over time.

Although Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, the memory skills the stories describe are real. It’s just a matter of learning and practicing them so that you can start to experience the benefits.

If you need help in this area, please grab my FREE Memory Improvement Course (it’s got one of those green buttons I told you I once tested objectively):

Being able to remember more of the information you observe is a pretty obvious win, so please enjoy.

And consider this final point.

Observation Methods for Memory…Do They Really Work?I believe that simply observing more will itself improve your memory to a certain extent.

I’m not alone in this belief, and I don’t even have to believe it.

See, Dr. Gary Small shared with us the four details exercise, one of many brain exercises which that have been experimentally proven to boost memory. And that’s what makes science great: the data decides, not you or me.

To perform this simple exercise and use it experimentally, here’s what you do. Next time you’re out:

• Pick a person you see to observe
• Choose four details about them (red hair, blue shirt, black pants, brown shoes, etc)
• Write the details down in a notebook
• Set a timer and ask your memory to provide those details
• On a separate piece of paper, write down the details
• Check your memory against the record

Over time, you should find that your memory improves. Even better, the habit of observing others improves. But as always, it’s the data that will tell.

Listen, I’m sharing this exercise because being able to observe is a good unto itself. And the more you practice a variety of observation types, the more your metacognitive learning observation of your own mind will improve.

So it only makes sense to get in as much practice as you can.

With all that in mind, what do you say? Are you ready to go forth and observe the world in a much better way?

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You’ve probably heard about cognitive training apps and come across some controversial claims about them.

Corporations love quoting scientific studies, for example.

But do the fat-cat CEOs and their teams really understand what cognitive skill training is really all about?

And is it really possible for online brain training games to improve your memory and how fast you can learn?

After all, they’re often packed with ads and so many strange activities, I can’t blame you for being skeptical.

Well, on this page, I’ll explain what cognitive training actually is.

I’ll share some legit sources and how to use them properly.

That way, you can have fun while growing your cognitive skills and improving your memory.

Sound good?

Let’s dive in!

Disclaimer: Do You Need Cognitive Training?Let’s start with a public service announcement:

You might not need cognitive training.

See, often people who struggle with brain fog actually have dietary issues. It’s not brain training they need, but a break from foods that harm the brain.

Or it could be that they’re dealing with a variety of stresses or anxieties that lead to thought blocking.

If you have any concerns about these issues, please see a doctor. Although my blog contains information about recovering memory after a stroke, it’s far better for you to avoid having one in the first place.

And that’s not to mention a whole host of problems only a trained medical professional can help you sort out.

But if you’ve been told by a doctor that you need to look up some examples of cognitive training to give your brain a boost, then cool. Let’s carry on.

What Is Cognitive Training?As I explained in my post on spaced repetition, cognitive skill training was first studied by scientists in the late 19th century.

In brief, Hermann Ebbinghaus trained himself to memorize over 2000 nonsense syllables. Then he tracked how long he was able to remember them.

Learning to use spaced repetition to defeat the Forgetting Curve started in earnest with the research of Hermann Ebbinghaus.

His experiments led to great interest in what scientists call learning potential. There are entire books on how to assess it and even attractive university scholarships for people interested in studying it.

In a phrase, the definition of cognitive training boils down to brain plasticity. It’s the idea that certain activities can make your brain better.

These activities can involve everything from neurobics to brain games and memory games. Or you can perform concentration meditations or even just read more to improve your mind and memory.

Does Cognitive Training Really Work?Yes. But there’s a catch.

For the “training” part to be meaningful, it’s important that you’re consistent. Sadly, consistency to their chosen source of mental stimulation is a step many people miss.

As Dr. Christine Till discovered while researching the cognitive training software called Cogmed, people only received substantial results when they paired the software experience with personal coaching sessions.

Please consider this before spending even a minute with any of the brain training games out there. They might be entertaining, but they’re also potentially empty.

Cognitive Training BenefitsNow, provided that the activities you choose actually provide cognitive improvement, you stand to enjoy all kinds of benefits. These include:

• Improved memory, both short-term and long-term
• Improved attention and focus
• Better brainstorming and critical thinking abilities
• Improved ability to memorize vocabulary using a variety of memory techniques
• Faster results when learning new skills
• A shot at developing what Harry Kahne called multiple mentality

Cognitive Training DownsidesTechnically, there are no downsides. Using your mind is a wonderful thing to do.

However, self-deception is a problem. People wind up spending a lot of time on activities that don’t actually do much for them.

For example, a lot of the brain training apps create what is called context dependent or state dependent benefits. These terms mean that although you might become more skilled in the environment of an online brain training game, the skills won’t transfer to real life.

Unlike using memory techniques discovered by people like myself and memory expert Lynne Kelly who wrote Memory Craft, most cognitive training apps do little or nothing to combat Alzheimer’s or dementia.

That said, there are some legit activities you can pursue. Let’s take a look.

5 Brain Training ExamplesAs we go through this list, start thinking about how you can incorporate one of two of these activities into your daily life.

Remember: It’s consistency that matters. It just simply isn’t “training” without at least 3-4 sessions per week.

One: Play Challenging GamesNo, I’m not talking about crossword puzzles.

Why?

Because they let you cheat. It’s way too easy to look up the answers.

You need games that push you a little, such as these memory exercises you can play with on your own.

Other challenging games include live action role playing games. Sometimes I hold Memory Detective, for example, so please be sure to subscribe for notifications.

Although not technically a game, the mystery genre involves solving problems and puzzles. This is one reason why I wrote the novel Flyboy. It allows you to “play along” as a detective uses memory techniques to help him save the day and solve a crime.

Or you can play games where you need to make decisions, games with dice, card games or even some of the games memory competitors play.

Memorizing a deck of cards and trying to beat your own record is a powerful cognitive training exercise, for example, and studies have shown it improves your brain.

Two: Take CoursesGetting out and meeting people is a benefit unto itself. But taking courses while meeting people is even better.

My wife and I took a painting course recently and it was fantastic. Not only did we exercise different aspects of our minds, but we got exercise and met interesting people we never would have encountered otherwise.

You can also take courses online, especially memory improvement courses. Just make sure that they are offered by authentic teachers who know that your brain needs a challenge, not just a bunch of meaningless activities.

Three: Pick Up A LanguageDid you know that bilingualism can protect your brain?

Even better, learning new languages involves multiple levels of challenge because you need to read, write, speak and listen while exercising your working memory. Talk about an incredible mental fitness routine!

Four: Learn MusicDid you know that you don’t have to play an instrument to benefit from learning music?

Even just studying some music theory can give you cognitive training benefits.

Or you can sing. As one study found, people who sing have the same or even better benefits than people who know about other ways to train their brains.

Singing also reduces stress, which is great because reduced stress helps you pay attention better. And that means you can learn and remember more.

Five: Become A Memory MasterMemory techniques have been around for a very long time. And for good reason.

For example, techniques like the Memory Palace can be used to help you learn a language faster.

They can also help you remember numbers, names and even long passages of scripture.

Don’t think you can do it?

I’ve had everyone from ten year olds to retirees master these techniques after going through the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass. I’m confident you can too.

And to help you get started, I’ve created this powerful free course:

Once you start using these techniques, you’ll discover what I believe is the ultimate cognitive skills training.

Not only does mastering memory techniques give your mind a powerful workout and great brain exercise.

It helps you reflect on the nature of what it means to have a mind.

And that leads to metacognitive cognition: the ability to think about how you think.

It just doesn’t get any better than that, especially since better memory makes it easy to learn and remember cool terms like “metacognition.”

In sum, cognitive training does really improve your brain, your memory and your ability focus.

You just need to make sure you rule out other issues, pick the activities that suit your desired goals and engage in those activities consistently.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to start enjoying true cognitive training?

The post Cognitive Training: Do These Exercises Really Improve Your Brain? appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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You probably already know what a memdeck is, but might still struggle with memorizing the order.

And if you’re like like a lot of magicians, you’re reasonably worried about managing that memorized stack order while performing.

Worse, so many magicians who teach memdeck work poo-poo using memory tricks.

They swear that rote learning is the best for all magicians and mentalists. And they say this knowing that magicians like Harry Lorayne and Darwin Ortiz use mnemonics.

Frankly, I was horrified when one magician told me this at a magic convention in Brisbane. He simply would not accept that memory techniques can and do indeed help many magicians.

So let me just lay my cards out there, if you’ll forgive the pun.

I’ve not only memorized stacks using mnemonics. I’m a huge advocate of the techniques used in rapidly committing cards to memory.

Sharing these techniques with people is my passion. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do on this page.

So if you’ve always wanted to get into using a memdeck, but found the memorization and management during performance daunting, you’re in luck.

You’ll learn exactly how to do memorize any stack you like and walk away with a few simple and fun tricks.

I’ll even show you how to keep multiple stacks in memory too.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

What Are Memdecks (And Why Are They So Useful?)In case you’re new to memorizing playing cards and haven’t heard the term “memdeck” before, let me share some common stacks used in magic. And some less common ones while I’m at it for the sake of completion.

“Memdeck” is short for “memorized deck.” In other words, rather than perform magic with a legitimately shuffled deck, you know the order of every single card.

And if you’re really well prepared, you also know the exact number of every card in terms of its position from the top of the deck. (In other words, you know that the King of Diamonds is the 26th card in the Tamariz stack devised by Juan Tamariz.)

The reasons memdecks are useful for magicians are easy to summarize:

• Your tricks become much harder to reverse engineer (if not impossible)
• Your control over the deck increases dramatically
• You can perform “holy grail” magic tricks like David Berglas‘ “Any Card at Any Number”
• You can perform a variety of poker deals with ease
• You can perform spelling tricks that are much more mystifying than non-memdeck versions
• You can use faro shuffles and other mixing methods to quickly establish other stacks
• The same techniques used to memorize cards helps you remember the names of your participants
• Underlying memory techniques like the Major System have great applications in mentalism
• Applications for using an index
• You get great brain exercise that benefits your career at large

As you can see, there are countless benefits when you pick your preferred and easy to learn memdeck stack.

How to Perform Magic Tricks Using a MemdeckNow that we’re on the same page about why memorized stacks are so powerful, let’s get into the specific steps involved in using them to perform magic.

As we go through these steps, most of them are in order. It’s best not to skip ahead. That way, you’ll avoid unnecessary mistakes.

One: Pick One Stack First And Master ItThere are many stacks to choose from. As Martin Joyal documents in his excellent book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck, there are multiple categories of complete deck stacks.

Then there are systems like Si Stebbins. These are cyclical and operated differently than memorized stacks. True memorized stacks must:

• Involve all 52 cards (and the jokers in specific positions if desired)
• Allow you to cut them as often as required
• Be known forward and backwards, even if cut
• Give you the number of the card and its identity at the same time
• Ideally, they’ll help you determine relationships between cards (i.e. to know where one King is helps you know where all the other Kings are)
• Can be displayed without people seeing a pattern

Joyal has other rules, such as ease of assembly, but I’m not sure about this one. I have no problem manually assembling the various memdecks I use.

Two: Commit Your First Stack to MemoryNow comes the fun part. Unless you prefer rote learning, which has been shown to reduce critical thinking skills.

As I mentioned, many magicians frown upon using mnemonics. I don’t know why, but some people have promoted a variety of mnemonic methods, such as The Memory Arts book.

I teach the process I use in this tutorial for memorizing a deck of playing cards.

In brief, you want to associate a number with an image to each card. Here’s some homework from Sharon, one of my students, who did just that very quickly:

What’s going on here in Sharon’s set of mnemonic examples?

The core of the method is to combine two simple techniques with the Major System:

• Memory Palaces with enough room for all 52 cards
• PAO System

To give you some examples from my memorization of the Tamariz stack, my 4 of Clubs is Jim Carrey slamming a lyre down on a fan. The fan is associated with 2 of Hearts.

Both of these playing cards are in the corner of a Memory Palace. This one took out mere seconds to draw and get into use:

A Memory Palace drawn on an index card to maximize its value as a mnemonic device. This one is based on a bookstore in Zamalek, a part of Cairo.

I realize these systems can seem daunting, especially for beginners. But my friend Braden Adams has memorized 70 decks for charity in just a few hours.

And many of my students have done it quickly, such as Maze who submitted this video testimonial and demonstration:

Trust me, as long as you don’t overthink the process, using memory techniques is a no-brainer. But if you can’t wrap your mind around it, consider using the story method instead. It’s close to the method Lorayne teaches and used in his magic.

Three: Practice Recalling The StackFor this discussion, I’ll assume that you’ve used mnemonic imagery to memorize your chosen stack.

The best way to form long term memory of each stack you commit to memory is called Recall Rehearsal.

Basically, the Memory Palace is used as a spaced repetition alternative to Anki. But it’s a lot more fun, especially because you can even associate your cards with magicians. For example, my 8 of Diamonds is Max Maven.

To perform Recall Rehearsal, journey through your Memory Palace and recall all the cards in these orders:

• Forwards
• Backwards
• From the middle to the end
• From the middle to the beginning
• Skip the stations/cards
• Drop in randomly, perhaps using this dice memory drill

You can also use a random card generator.

When it gives you a random card to find in the deck, first think of your image, think of where it is in the Memory Palace, determine its number, and then test yourself by counting down to that card.

Four: Master False Cuts & ShufflesNothing will draw suspicion to a memorized deck faster than being precious about your cards.

It’s ideal if others can shuffle your deck, so consider learning a deck switch. But even if you’re ringing your memdeck in with a deck switch, nothing sells legitimacy better than having others shuffle the deck and having them see you shuffle it.

Five: Pick Tricks You LoveI’m not one of those people who insists that you should start simply. Certainly, that’s not a bad idea. But when I see a trick I love, I don’t let its difficulty stand in the way of learning it.

Mnemonica is one of the most famous sources for memdeck tricks. But the first one I learned is intermediate and taught by Darwin Ortiz in his Penguin Lecture. It’s called “Test Your Luck” and I love it.

It’s also useful to read memdeck tricks that you have no interest in performing. Memorandum has many great ideas and routines, only one of which I’ve performed.

Six: Practice In Low Stress SituationsOnce you’ve got a stack memorized and at least one routine learned, it’s time to perform.

Personally, I like to start practicing the performance of any trick with friendly audiences first: family and friends.

To calm my nerves and maximize mental focus, I tell them that I’m working on something new and want their honest feedback.

Then, I usually start with a routine I’m very familiar with to catch them off guard after I switch in the memdeck.

After that, it’s best to record yourself and view your performances before taking them before a paying audience.

Seven: Have Multiple Outs ReadyMost magicians know all about how to deal with mistakes. But the cool thing about memdecks is that you can have a couple of them on you.

That way, if you make a mistake, you can always ring in another memorized stack so you can recover.

But failing that, it’s best to always have another trick to go to so you can jazz your way to a powerful conclusion.

8 Easy-to-Learn Memdeck StacksSo what memdeck stacks are available to you? For starters, you can pick from:

• Joyal stack
• Tamariz stack (Mnemonica stack)
• Aragón stack (Memorandum stack)
• Aronson stack
• Marlo stack
• Skinner stack
• Redford Stack
• Rix stack

There are more out there. And in some cases, the magicians behind the stacks devised more than one.

But the ones listed here are all great and offer you different features. It’s worth considering each. And now that you know how to memorize any stack, it’s possible to rapidly commit more than one to memory.

The Best Way To Learn Memdeck Stacks And SucceedYou now have a powerful roadmap for mastering multiple memdecks and performing incredible routines using them.

Are mnemonics the best?

I believe so. Unlike rote learning, using mnemonic devices for cards leads to so many other applications.

But as Harry Lorayne once told me during an interview, even just knowing about memory techniques is a kind of magical experience.

So if you’d to learn more about ancient memory techniques and how they can help you in multiple areas, grab my FREE Memory Improvement Kit now:

This learning experience comes with video lessons, short ebooks and exercises that will help you master your memory quickly.

That way you can perform much more sophisticated magic and perform the next level tricks that will make sure you and your name get remembered.

The post 7 Keys to Performing Magic Tricks Using a Memdeck appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Imagine this: you’re standing up in front of an audience and giving an important speech.

Now tell me, how do you feel? Are your hands sweaty or your knees shaky? Is your stomach tied up in knots and feeling a bit queasy?

If you’re anything like me during my undergraduate years, maybe you even have a phobia of public speaking.

Yes, it’s true.

I might be a TEDx speaker now who gives presentations from memory around the world, but I once had a terrible aversion to giving speeches.

I was in the situation because I took a medication for manic-depression that made me shake really, really badly.

Then, in a fourth-year course on Romantic-era poetry, I was supposed to give a speech. My hands shook, my papers rattled in my hands, and I couldn’t concentrate on my delivery of the speech… much less expressing my familiarity with the topic at hand!

Instead, I left the classroom frustrated and embarrassed. It was one of the most horrible moments of my scholarly career to be shaking so badly and yet have so much to say.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.And to top it all off, the professor wouldn’t take me at my word — I had to go to the Behavioural Sciences Building to get a letter from the psychologist.

Going through this elaborate process to prove my medical condition so I could get an alternate assignment instead of being required to give the speech, led a crippling phobia of giving speeches that lasted for quite some time.

But here’s the good news: even if you have a fear of public speaking – most people do – there’s still hope. With the help of memory and a few other tricks I’ll teach you today, you can overcome your fear.

Why should you trust me? Well… here I am giving a TEDx presentation from memory. No slides, no nothing. Just raw memory:

Was I nervous? Not at all, even though I used to suffer like crazy just at the thought of giving a talk (even ones where I was allowed to have notes).

And I’ll let you in on a secret. Now, when I give a speech I really have a lot of fun! I think you can see that from the example above.

So are you ready to kick your fear of public speaking to the curb and have fun with it instead? Let’s dive right in and take a look at how to memorize a speech — and how memorizing can help you overcome your public speaking fears.

Want to skip ahead to a particular section?

Memorizing a Speech Without Losing Your Place
How to Memorize a Speech: Tips and Techniques for Public Speaking
Tip Number 1: Be Prepared
Tip Number 2: Relax, Relax, Relax
Tip Number 3: Don’t Make it a Big Deal
Tip Number 4: Know Your Body
Tip Number 5: Do Table Reads
The Best Way to Memorize a Speech: Create a Memory Palace
How to Memorize a Speech: Step by Step
Real-Life Examples of How to Remember a Speech
Have Fun Memorizing a Speech

You might be thinking… “but will your approach work for me?”

I can honestly say — yes! I’ve seen this method work not only for me, but also for clients of mine. Here’s one example:

Michael DeLeon wrote the other day and said:

“I’ve been training myself in the techniques of the Magnetic Memory Method. I’ve given two speeches that were, by far, the easiest for me to give because of the Magnetic Memory Method. I felt no pressure. I could relax and deliver the speech I wanted to give because there was never a fear of ‘I would lose my place.'”

So are you ready to learn some tips for memorizing a speech? Let’s start with a common fear: losing your place.

Memorizing a Speech Without Losing Your PlaceWhen we talk about how to memorize a speech, one of the first things people often ask is what to do when you get lost. In this post, we’ll cover how to find your way quickly back, as well as a host of other issues that can arise during your speech.

We’ll also talk about Steal the Show: From Speeches, to Job Interviews, to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for all the Performances in Your Life, a great book by Michael Port that I’ve learned a lot from, as well as some tips I learned from my mentor about giving speeches.

The short answer is: a Memory Palace can help you be fearless, focused, and able to track back if you ever do lose your place. The longer answer? Keep reading!

To make the most of this post, take notes as you read, then start to carve a path forward to where you go out and give some kind of speech (even if it’s just to your friends and family).

We’ve got an action-packed post waiting for you, so let’s get started.

How to Memorize a Speech: Tips and Techniques for Public SpeakingBefore we talk through my top tips, let’s get one big question out of the way: what’s the point of learning to give (and memorize) a speech? Whether or not you’re using a memory technique, why do you want to learn how to do it?

Here are a few benefits to being a great public speaker:

1. It’s a highly marketable skill.

There are lots of companies that need someone to be able to present the value they offer – their expertise, unique selling proposition, value for the market, etc – and why customers should pick them. It’s the same for you — you want to be known as the person a company wants to hire, the one they want to promote, the one they want to give a raise.

1. Public speaking displays your expertise.

Your ability to speak coherently and clearly is a key indicator to both your employer and clients that you know your stuff. When you can speak from the top of your mind without hemming and hawing or stuttering, it lets your knowledge shine.

1. Stepping on stage develops courage.

Getting comfortable with public speaking takes practice — and getting out there and starting to give speeches (even if it’s just to a friend or two at first) will begin to build your courage muscle. It’s a win-win.

1. Speaking shows your personality.

As you practice giving speeches, you’ll begin to develop your own personal presentation style. And the more comfortable you get, the more your personality will shine.

1. Giving speeches helps build relationships.

Getting out into the community allows you to connect with people in both your personal and business networks. And if you’re still in school, it can help you build connections with your teachers and your fellow students.

1. Public speaking sets you up as an expert in your field.

When you’re the one up on stage, it’s clear to the audience that you know what you’re talking about. You can prepare the road ahead by being known as the expert who has the courage to get up on stage and share their knowledge. Just look at Sunil Khatri’s speech success story.

1. It helps you deliver results to other people.

Right now, your audience doesn’t have a particular set of knowledge. When you get up on stage, you’re able to give them that knowledge — and package it in a way that helps them quickly absorb it. Plus, you can do so in a way that encourages them to take action, because they’ve seen you demonstrate how valuable it is from the stage.

1. Speaking can help you build your memory as you learn.

Learning to memorize a speech will help you build your memory as you go. Even if you do need notes in the beginning, you can still improve your memory as you practice your speech.

1. Bonus: it’s fun!

It’s not only a valuable skill, but being able to jump up on stage and speak off the top of your mind is actually a lot of fun!

Now you know the benefits of memorizing a speech, let’s take a look at a few tips to help you along the way.

Tip Number 1: Be PreparedThe number one best technique of all is to be prepared.

This means: do your research and have the knowledge in your head that you’re presenting on. This might be obvious, but a lot of people think they can skip this step.

If you’re nervous or worried, that sense of fear often comes from the fact that you don’t know your topic well enough. At the end of the day, be prepared with solid research and actual knowledge about your subject…

Because the number one memory tool you have — is to not have to use memory techniques.

You’re here to memorize a speech, but the best way to do that is to know what you’re talking about. It will help you avoid your fears about getting lost when you know your subject backwards and forwards.

This is especially important if you’re wondering how to memorize a long speech.

Part of giving good speeches of any length from memory is preparation. The longer it is, the more familiarity with the core content you want to have on hand.

Then, as you prepare, memorize the key information as you go along. Snap it into your larger understanding of the topic as you go along. There are a number of ways to do this:

Use a Mind Map

Mind mapping helps you prime your memory from the very beginning, by giving it structure in space.

Imagine you’re creating a mind map — you have your central image, which primes your mind to dig deep into your memory and create a mental image around the core topic, by name. You can also use a key word that’s big, bold, and centered in your attention.

This example Mind Map was created for one of my live stream presentations. I usually juggle for a few minutes before giving a speech to get my creative juices flowing.

This allows you to think in imagery and images placed in space, and also the connections you can make by having multiple key words arranged in space.

You can also turn a mind map into a Memory Palace.

Consider Content Mapping

If you decide to memorize your speech verbatim, this is another kind of mapping that can help you with your beats.

But what do we mean by beats? When you memorize verbatim, you may want to remember things like:

• Where your pauses are,
• Where on the stage you plan to turn and look at a particular part of the audience,
• When you want to pull a prop from your pocket, or
• Any other physical cues.

You might even plan to give a speech with another person and need to remember where their lines begin.

Hat tip to Steal the Show by Michael Port for this idea.

Read Additional Books

Once you create your original mind map, then you might consider reading two or three additional books on the topic.

For example, I recently did a livestream on the topic of how to memorize a speech.

As part of my preparation, I read not only Michael Port’s Steal the Show, but also the Rhetorica ad Herennium and other books on rhetoric and speaking by authors like Matthew Clark and Dan Kennedy.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.Know Your Audience

One fun way to engage with your audience is to know and mention the names of your host and audience. When I give talks on memorizing names, I make it a point to memorize every name in the room — and then I address audience members by name as I give my speech.

But even more important is to tailor your presentation and speech to that particular audience. This may mean memorizing things about the audience, or things about the individuals who will be present, so you can respond on the fly.

You won’t initially have the kind of information you need to do this, but it’s easy to find. Reach out to the person who invited you to give the speech – or ask your teacher or professor – and ask them what considerations they would like included in your speech.

It’s very powerful to tailor your speech to the audience and their specific interests or concerns.

Train Under Pressure

One of the best tips on how to memorize a speech I can give is this:

When you’re in the middle of a speech, you ideally want to keep moving forward — even if you make mistakes or something unexpected happens.

When you memorize your speech and train yourself to give it under any circumstances, it can help you find your place when the unexpected happens. You can then quickly find where you were and keep moving forward.

Now that you’re prepared, it’s time to let your hard work pay off.

Tip Number 2: Relax, Relax, RelaxThe most important step of all is relaxation, and being willing to let go of your expectations.

Letting go of the outcome is essential when it comes to learn how to memorize a speech fast.

Why is this point so important?

For one simple reason:

When the light goes green and you’re live you can no longer control the outcome — but you can practice not being in control very early on. You do this through relaxation.

For best results, practice relaxing while you:

• Prepare your research,
• Memorize your speech,
• Practice reciting what you’re going to say from memory,
• Deliver your speech (by being relaxed ahead of time), and
• Analyze how the speech went.

The more relaxed you are during each of these stages, the more you’ll be able to effectively analyze how your speaking engagement went. This gives you the chance to think through the results in a clinical fashion and improve, rather than judging yourself on your performance.

But how do you relax at each stage of preparation and memorization? There are a few techniques you can use.

Box Breathing

This is a breathing technique that’s widely attributed to a former Navy SEAL, who used the skill set to stay calm in combat situations.

To use this technique, think of a square and follow along with your breath.

• Inhale to a count of five,
• Hold the breath in for a count of five,
• Exhale to a count of five,
• Hold the breath out for a count of five, and then
• Repeat as necessary.

This technique is really good for activating your parasympathetic nervous system and giving you some space between you and your monkey mind. The more you’re able to relax, the more you can be present to what’s happening — instead of overthinking.

You might wonder: why does the monkey mind go on and on?

Well, it’s worried what people are going to think about you! It’s worried about what happens if you make a mistake. It’s worried about what happens if people think you’re going to make a mistake.

Prepare to Make Mistakes

So here’s the deal… I guarantee you’re going to make some kind of mistake. I did when delivering my TEDx, largely because people laughed at a moment when I wasn’t expecting that they would.

But — it’s not really a mistake if you don’t pay attention to whatever “error” arises. If you’re relaxed and you just move on, the audience is less likely to notice that you made a mistake. If you get flustered, on the other hand, you make it harder for yourself to find your place again.

Everyone stumbles over their tongue every once in a while, and the more you speak the more it will happen to you. The way you overcome mistakes is to be relaxed and just keep going.

Remember: it’s all about practice.

Meditate

I highly recommend meditation for anyone preparing to give a speech.

It really gives you distance between what’s going on, and quiets the monkey mind so you don’t get caught up in mental commentary as you’re speaking. It allows you to roll with the punches when the punches come.

Meditation is great to help you be aware of different self-criticism that may come up and to keep going anyway. It also helps you let go of the outcome, because you can’t control what’s going to happen.

Technical situations that are out of your control? Venue issues that impede your flow? No problem — meditation helps you keep going.

Meditation also helps with the next tip on our list.

Tip Number 3: Don’t Make it a Big DealWhatever you do, don’t turn memorization into some sort of Holy Grail.

As I learned from my speaking mentor (who coached me through getting better on camera), there’s more to giving a speech than just reciting from memory.

He told me:

“Yeah, you can memorize this stuff, but it looks like you’re reciting from your mind. Nobody wants to watch this. Very few people are going to be impressed by being bored by your precision recall. It’s just not something that is entertaining or engaging.“

And when I did my first university lectures, using hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages of lecture notes, I quickly understood that it was much more in the service of my students to deliver from memory and select words than to be reading out these long speeches.

Soon, I abandoned my notes and spoke very freely — which made for much more interesting lectures and served my students better in the end.

It’s a process of practicing, refining, analyzing what you’re doing, getting feedback, and trying again.

And through this process of repetition, you begin to realize that giving a speech is neither the end of the world, nor the most important thing you’ll ever do. It’s simply a means to an end and can be a fun experience.

Another tip to help make your speaking experience pleasant is to “know thyself.”

Tip Number 4: Know Your BodyYour body is like any other machine: it needs to be properly maintained and cared for to achieve peak performance.

When it comes to preparing to give a speech, it’s beneficial to be hydrated and well-rested the day before your speaking engagement.

Some people might choose to fast the day before a speech to give them mental clarity, while others wouldn’t dream of fasting because it makes them weak.

Along those lines, observe how your dietary choices affect your body. If you eat or drink the wrong thing before giving a speech, it can be very draining, since your body is processing stuff that takes energy away from your mind or makes you feel terrible. This takes focus away from the task at hand.

(For more focus tips, I suggest Nir Eyal’s Indistractable.)

Avoid any foods that make you dull, tired, or irritated. Instead, choose foods that help you stay calm and clear. Pick your battles, and know how certain foods make you feel as you choose your pre-speech diet.

Finally, let’s look at a tip the pros use when preparing to memorize a speech.

Tip Number 5: Do Table ReadsThere are a few ways you can approach a table read, but the most important elements are to read out loud whatever it is you’re going to deliver — and do it seated with others so you can really study your body in a seated position.

Practice giving a speech in front of friends before taking it to the stage.

Then, be sure to also practice it standing and mobile, like you will be when you deliver the speech, with an audience present.

You do this because your writing is very different than it sounds read out loud. Because of this, delivering your speech can be very strange if you haven’t written it specifically as a speech. The table read helps you correct what you’ve written so it sounds natural while you’re speaking out loud.

And if you can’t find other people to do a table read with you… do one by yourself!

You can practice on camera — this is a great way to hear your speech externally and objectively. If you work from key words or acronyms instead of a written script, you can also get the recording transcribed.

When I prepare for a speech, I almost always record my preparation and get it transcribed. Then, I can look at 1) how it reads, 2) what it sounds like, and 3) what to add or take away.

Recording yourself doesn’t need to be complicated. You can use your smartphone to record, and use a service like Rev.com to transcribe.

If you can, share your script or transcription with other people. Ask them what’s too much, and if there’s anything you should take away. You don’t have to take their opinion, but it can be helpful to get an outside viewpoint or two.

And, be sure to ask qualified people who will tell you the truth — and that their truth is coming from a place of expertise and proper context.

The Best Way to Memorize a SpeechIf I’m totally honest, the best way to memorize a speech is – hands down – to use a Memory Palace.

Yes, I also recommend using Memory Palaces for most memorization — but I do that because they work!

Let’s take a look at why creating a Memory Palace is best, and how to do it.

Top Technique to Help You Memorize a Speech: Create a Memory PalaceThe memory palace is king when it comes to memorizing a speech.

Why? Because it enables you to use space in the world to memorize exactly what you want to deliver… in the order you want to deliver it. As you move through your Memory Palace, you’re just ticking off boxes, spatially speaking.

You know when you’ve finished a specific section of your speech, and you know exactly where you are in space. This is why it’s easier to find your place if you momentarily get lost.

Let’s look at a specific example of how a real person uses this technique: Jonathan Levi and his TED Talk “What if Schools Taught us How to Learn?“

The Memory Palace Jonathan used in this speech is one I helped him create. In this TED Talk, he shared not only that he was using a Memory Palace, but you can also see it up on the screen during his talk:

Jonathan Levi’s Memory Palace for his TEDx, a speech he memorized verbatim.

You can see how much he had to cover in his speech, and how the Memory Palace was helpful as he mentally walked through it while giving the talk.

Now you’ve seen a Memory Palace in action during a speech, let’s take a look at what kinds of things you might choose to memorize.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What to Memorize Using Your Mind PalaceWhile this technique can be used to memorize a speech verbatim, I don’t recommend it. In my opinion, it’s not the best way to give a speech, because reciting from memory often ends up sounding… well, like you’re reciting from memory.

Instead, memorize the following key pieces of your speech.

1. Key Words and Acronyms

Instead of memorizing verbatim and sounding like you’re reciting from memory, try to memorize key words and phrases out of your speech.

When you prepare in this way, you can use your Memory Palace to memorize specific words or acronyms that will allow you to unlock your speech as you go. You can also use it for data you don’t want to look at from your slides.

2. Specific Details

Your Memory Palace is a great place to store things like names, dates, and specific terminology.

It’s much more interesting for your audience to watch you look at them and pull dates out of your head, rather than needing to look at the PowerPoint or your notes. Instead, you can easily remember the names of people you’re referring to, any dates associated with them, and other details you need to keep in your head.

3. Quotes

Instead of getting your little laser pointer out and reading a quote, being able to recite it from memory is also very powerful!

Next, let’s look at a couple of tips to make memorizing with a Memory Palace easier.

Tips for Memorizing a SpeechHere’s something to consider: you don’t want to visit your Memory Palace and just recite what you find there.

Instead, you want to have access to those facts, names, dates, terminology, and quotes — and then you want to be able to recite from memory. Similarly, you want to deliver your speech with the assistance of your Memory Palace, rather than drawing your words straight out of the stations in your mind.

Memory Palaces are best used to get information into your long-term memory. This means you don’t need them to deliver the speech, but they are there as a safety net in case you need to retrieve them.

One last reminder before we dive into the step-by-step of how to remember a speech: think about why you want to memorize it.

Why You Shouldn’t Memorize a SpeechIt may seem paradoxical… here I am writing a post about how to memorize a speech, and I’m telling you NOT to memorize your speech. What gives?

Truthfully, I never actually memorize speeches, because the delivery sounds very stilted.

Quoting is one thing (and it’s sometimes nice to be able to quote things), but it’s not that interesting to listen to a fully-memorized speech.

When I give a speech, I structure it very differently, using the process we’re talking about today.

• I have some key words to talk about.
• I have acronyms built into place to guide my delivery, and then
• I practice a couple of times in front of the camera.

Ideally, when you give your speech, you’re just speaking very loosely, openly, and warmly. This way, it sounds like you’re talking from one person to another.

Framing how you use memorized material can be helpful as well, so people know memorized material is headed their way — and you can be fluid in your presentation style.

Now that you have some history under your belt – and considerations around how you’ll use the material you’re getting ready to memorize – let’s take the memorization process one step at a time.

How to Memorize a Speech: Step by StepNow that you know all of the parts and pieces that go into the process, let’s break things down one step at a time.

1. Get PreparedIf I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: preparation is everything.

While you prepare and write out your speech, start memorizing information as you go. I would recommend using a mind map during this stage, so you can start with a solid grasp of your spatial orientation.

This early stage will give you a suggestion of how to organize things later, when you’re putting it all into your Memory Palace. You might even think of the mind map as a first draft of your Memory Palace.

In particular, start to memorize any key words, facts, dates, names, or quotes you want to bring in.

Next, you’ll begin to actually write out what you want to say.

1. Write Your SpeechRemember, even though I write out my speeches, I very rarely deliver anything verbatim.

My mentor once told me, “You can memorize verbatim, but you look like you’re accessing from memory. Be more free.” The way I took his advice was to write the speech and then organize it into key words and acronyms.

Using a mind map in this step is really helpful — but even without it, organizing your speech into acronyms is very powerful.

Next, you’ll begin to memorize those pieces.

1. Memorize Your Key WordsYou’ll take the key words and acronyms from your speech and start to memorize them at the stations in your Memory Palace.

If you don’t know how to create a Memory Palace, you can pick up your free memory kit.

Or, at least make sure you’re using the masterclass – if you have it – to deeply understand what to do with your Memory Palaces.

Then, you’ll use repetition.

1. Use the “Big Five”Once you’ve memorized your key words and acronyms, then it’s time to use the Big Five at least five times.

What does that mean?

1. Write out what you’ve memorized, from memory.
2. Speak it out loud, either to yourself or someone else.
3. Record yourself speaking and then listen to the recording.
4. Get your recording transcribed and read it over.
5. And practice, practice, practice!

Finally, you’ll practice some more.

1. PracticeThis may feel like I’m overstating, but the importance of practicing your speech is paramount!

Practice your speech in front of the camera or in front of friends. Use the relaxation tips I shared earlier in the post. And get as comfortable as you possibly can before you jump up on that stage.

Finally, let’s take a look at a couple of real-life examples, so you can see how this methodology works in practice.

Real-Life Examples of How to Remember a SpeechIn this section, we’ll talk about how to memorize a speech quickly, the way I do it.

There are a couple of speeches I give regularly. Both the NAME and FREE speech are very fluid and packaged, and I do them entirely from memory (from acronyms).

Let’s look at both speeches, starting with…

The NAME SpeechWhen I give this speech, I talk about how to memorize names.

I follow the acronym “NAME.”

• Noticing,
• Making Associations,
• Using Memory Palaces, and
• Managing Expectations.

Within 20 minutes I’m done and everyone in that room can memorize any name they want!

Does that mean my speech is a little bit different every time? Of course, but this method is super simple to follow, very structured, and gives me the chance to just talk about the topic.

Next, let’s look at…

The FREE SpeechThe same thing goes for this particular speech. When I give this speech, I run through the acronym:

• Frequency,
• Relevance,
• Edutainment, and
• Engagement.

What I find fun about using acronyms to memorize your speech is that you can also use them backward. Sometimes I’ll write out “FREE” on the board, and then proceed to work up from the bottom. It’s a great way to catch the audience’s attention.

Hopefully, by this point, your interest has been piqued. And maybe you even want to learn more about how to give a great speech.

Have Fun Memorizing a SpeechThink back to how giving speeches used to make you feel.

Sweaty. Queasy. Shaking just thinking about stepping up on stage.

Now, think about how confident and powerful you can feel standing up on stage as you deliver your expertise to a rapt audience.

This second scenario isn’t just possible… it’s probable. All you have to do is follow the tips and techniques in this post, and before you know it you’ll be a cool and confident public speaker.

But maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t know how to get started — how can I give my first speech?” I would recommend to everybody, if you haven’t given a speech in your life, make an occasion to go out and give a speech, and give it in different ways.

Give a number of speeches, even if it’s just to a small audience or a close group of friends. This simple practice will help develop both your crystal and fluid intelligence – both needed for developing the skill of speaking. And try different formats: recite from a piece of paper, do partial recall from memory, speak verbatim from memory, or any way you prefer.

And whatever you do, have fun with it! Giving speeches is a great way to play a giant, satisfying brain game — as well as delivering value to others and setting yourself up as an expert in your field.

If you’re still feeling uncertain, there’s a mini-course in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass about memorizing speeches that goes deeper into this topic.

I suggest you start with the free course first and if you’re interested in speeches, and then dive into this part of the Masterclass after completing the core training. Sign up for the free course and make your memory magnetic.

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Does anxiety cause memory loss?

In a word, yes.

But it can also increase your memory in certain situations.

That’s why you need to identity the specific triggers and symptoms with care.

And if you’re struggling with anxiety-induced memory loss, you’re probably looking for information on how to identify your specific memory issues around anxiety.

Since you’re looking for more than a generalized solution, let me assure you that you’re in the right place.

See, although I’m a memory expert now, I suffered anxiety for years before finding a few sure fire solutions.

Before I had these fixes, anxiety negatively influenced my ability to remember a wide variety of things.

Not anymore.

Give this page a thorough read and I’m confident you’ll find yourself enjoying much better memory. And benefitting from reduced stress and anxiety as a result.

Can Anxiety Really Cause Memory Loss? Yes…And Here’s HowAnxiety definitely interferes with memory.

In many cases, this happens because it’s very difficult to pay attention to incoming information when you’re under duress.

As one study found, anxiety negatively affects what scientists call attentional control.

When I was a teenager and had anxiety attacks, I had to leave the classroom altogether. That’s because I had no control over my attention. The anxiety attacks forced me to pay attention only to the pressure on my chest that made me feel like I could not breathe.

Stress-induced memory loss can stem from anxiety causing physical symptoms like breathing problems.

Later, I had a major anxiety attack while delivering a lecture at the University of Saarland. In this case, it wasn’t that I couldn’t remember incoming information during a class.

I wasn’t able to focus on my delivery because lack of attentional control caused me to focus on my physical distress.

These are highly specific states of memory loss.

And the weird thing is that, although they impede learning and memory in the moment, the episodes themselves are highly memorable to me. That’s because stress can help form memories in certain circumstances.

As Sallie Baxendale points out in Coping With Memory Problems, stress can also lead to the formation of what are called flashbulb memories. Often the stress of shock is involved, such as when someone famous like John F. Kennedy of Princess Diana passes away.

The point is that anxiety and memory loss cut both ways depending on the nature of the stimulus.

How to Identify the Trigger Behind Your Memory LossHere’s where things can get tricky.

If you’re in an anxious state, it can be hard to remember the last five or ten minutes to figure out what might have triggered the episode.

But here are some powerful steps you can take, all based on my own path to reliable solutions.

One: Seeing a Doctor is Never SillyWhen I found myself in a lecture hall going completely blank as my heart pounded in front of nearly one hundred students, I stopped the lecture and went straight to a clinic.

As Richard Shames points out in Thyroid Mind Power, there are many hormone issues that could be causing the anxiety and memory loss.

Plus, even if you’re eating foods that improve memory, you have a 72 hour digestion cycle.

This means that you could mistakenly think that too much coffee earlier in the morning is the cause, when in fact, it’s something you ate two days ago that is suddenly causing an issue.

For more, check out the science on the stress-digestion connection.

Two: Journal to Find Your TriggersFew of us spend enough time in reflective thinking about our lives.

But in just five minutes a day of journaling for self development purposes, you can rapidly spot triggers.

Normally, I suggest journaling in a print notebook, but this study found that stress-reduction occurred even for those journaling online.

You can also seek out Writing to Heal, which includes exercises you can follow. They’re scientifically verified processes that help your body produce chemicals that restore you physically. According to Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, writing can also reduce stress by calming the amygdala.

Three: Plan the Best Possible InterventionsSince each person is different, you’ll need to combine your doctor’s advice with your own findings through journaling.

Over the years of food journaling I discussed in The Victorious Mind, I’ve worked out a variety of diets that help me avoid anxiety issues.

I’ve also learned how to avoid situations that spike my stress levels. It’s not always possible because no one has a crystal ball. But being able to reduce them is very helpful.

Finally, adding guided visualizations designed for stress reduction have been very helpful. Concentration meditation routines have also helped me develop better attentional control.

That way, if I have an anxiety attack, I’m able to finish the lecture I’m giving without having to abandon it. Knowing what’s happening and having insight into why, is tremendously reassuring.

But it’s all triangulated with medical support and insight generated through journaling.

5 Common Symptoms of Anxiety-Induced Memory LossNow, I’ve mentioned the feeling of your chest tightening and not being able to focus due to attentional control.

But what are some of the other symptoms of anxiety-induced memory loss?

Let’s have a look.

Overall CognitionCognition means the ability to think and arrive at conclusions. Scientists have found that stress and anxiety can impede this ability greatly.

Once you’ve got your anxiety issues in check, you can start completing some cognition exercises to improve your overall abilities in this area.

Sensory PerceptionOne of the major memory problems people with stress and anxiety face is that they don’t notice things in the first place.

For example, your visual memory will be impeded if your attentional control causes you to miss visible information.

Likewise, you might fail to hear things while under stress, which messes with your echoic memory. Then there are verbal memory issues and problems like the Ugly Sister Effect.

Losing Track of Important ItemsPeople with anxiety and stress often misplace things.

The good news is that there are ways to stop losing the important objects you need in daily life. You can explore simple solutions like keeping them in the same place intentionally. Or you can try techniques like the Memory Palace.

Forgetting What People Tell YouConversations are packed with so much important information.

It’s especially sad that people struggling the most often forget what their doctors tell them.

However, there are ways to remember more from conversations you can explore.

Recalling and Following DirectionsOne of the saddest things that happens to people is getting lost.

As Christopher Kemp shows in his book, Dark and Magical Places, not keeping track of directions costs societies around the world in many ways. We lose in terms of productivity, family commitments and personal fulfilment.

As usual, there are solutions. It’s just a matter of getting started with memory techniques that can help.

4 Coping Mechanisms for Generalized Anxiety and Memory LossIn addition to seeing a doctor, monitoring your symptoms through journaling and working on your diet, here are some additional things you can do.

Optimize Your SleepLack of sleep causes increased anxiety because it throws off the levels of important chemicals in your body.

You can also learn more about sleep and memory specifically. There are many solutions if your life needs attention in this area.

Learn New ThingsAlthough taking on new learning tasks is not an alternative to getting medical attention, once you have a treatment plan, it certainly can be.

This positive outcome happens because learning new skills exercises your brain. In many cases, you’ll also meet new people, which promotes health.

Practice NeurobicsNeurobics are activities that actively challenge your brain. As they do, they stimulate neurogenesis that can help resolve certain stress issues.

Here’s a simple activity:

With your left hand try to draw a circle in the air while trying to draw a square in the right hand.

For more challenge, try to draw a square with the left hand and a triangle with the right hand.

Memory TrainingAs Dr. Tim Dalgleish has shown, memory techniques like the method of loci have helped people reduce symptoms of PTSD and depression.

Using mnemonics has certainly helped me in this regard as well. Nic Castle was courageous enough to share his story on my podcast as well. He was a police officer who suffered PTSD with anxiety and memory blackouts, but these were reduced once he got into memory training.

Exercising your memory is not a magic bullet, but once you’ve seen a doctor and worked on your overall health, it’s a great supplement to those primary efforts.

This point is very important because coping mechanisms are just that: strategies that help you cope. That’s why this next section is so important, even if it’s also repetitive.

Consider Professional Treatment for Anxiety and Memory LossThe Internet is packed with all kinds of advice. And it’s tempting to avoid proper medical treatment.

But it’s absolutely a must to seek it because we can’t guess at our blood levels. So many people mistake their memory loss symptoms with stress and anxiety when in fact something quite different is going on.

It could be a quick fix, one that lets you get back on track with great memory faster than you might think.

Plus, a doctor can help you think through whether you have anxiety and short-term memory loss or long term memory issues. It’s astonishing how many people think they have short term memory issues when they’re actually long term memory problems, or vice versa.

And once your doctor gives you the green light, consider taking my FREE Memory Improvement course:

It will help ensure that you have a solid path towards improving your memory.

And that’s important because it could be simply having poor memory that is causing your anxiety in the first place.

I know that it used to bother me before I took my first memory improvement course and started to see results.

So what do you say?

Are you feeling enlightened on the issues that underly memory loss induced by anxiety?

Please take good care around this issue and please keep me posted on your progress with this critical issue.

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Spaced repetition learning has a great reputation for one simple reason:

It works.

But there’s a big “if” when using any spaced repetition system.

You have to use this form of rehearsal correctly.

The good news is that it’s not hard to make sure you’re bringing the most effective approach.

And the correct way of applying this spaced learning tactic is exactly what you’re going to learn on this page.

The best part?

There are some unique ways you can apply this scientifically-valid learning approach to many things you might want to learn.

Once you get it right, this memory technique will serve you well. It will be your go-to learning tool for the rest of your life.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

What Is Spaced Repetition?Spaced repetition simply means repeatedly exposing yourself to information and using active recall on an optimized schedule. In other words, “space” refers to the arrangement of time. And as a memory hack, it’s a legitimate alternative to cramming.

Scholars aren’t entirely sure, but the ancient poet Horace may have been the first to identify this principle when he reportedly said, “Repetition is the mother of learning.”

Here’s the problem:

People don’t like to repeat things over and over again. That’s called rote learning and it’s known to stunt critical thinking skills.

That’s why ancient memory techniques evolved: to optimize repetition in learning so repetition could be reduced.

But it’s not until Hermann Ebbinghaus released his study Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology that we get a scientific examination of just how many times you need to repeat information before it sticks. Basically, he memorized over 2000 nonsense syllables and worked out how much time it took him to forget them. There’s an online program you can use to try and memorize them yourself.

As Ebbinghaus put it, retention has a number, and this number can be reduced by defeating what is now called the forgetting curve. Ebbinghaus first described this effect in 1885, and you can still read articles from scientists working to optimize how we repeat information.

Learning to use spaced repetition to defeat the Forgetting Curve started in earnest with the research of Hermann Ebbinghaus.

As Ebbinghaus tracked his rate of forgetting, certain principles emerged that enabled him to remember information for longer periods of time. Spaced repetition thus entered its infancy.

How Spaced Repetition Learning Turns Your Brain Into a Powerful Memory DeviceAs Ebbinghaus and many other scientists have shown, looking at information you need to learn coupled with retrieval practice works to form neurochemical connections in the brain.

Scientists think that the majority of the bonds in your brain form while you are sleeping, a process known as memory consolidation. This is why you sometimes get the advice to study before you go to sleep.

Many people have worked out different repetition and retrieval patterns to try and optimize the system. Some people find that randomness works best, while other studies show that regular intervals provide much faster results.

Spacing the amount of time between exposure and recall is the core of the Pimsleur Method and learning software like Anki. It’s also at the core of the Leitner System and the similar Zettelkasten technique.

The Leitner spaced repetition system helps you manage your exposure by placing accurate and inaccurate flashcards in boxes.

Ultimately, scientists and memory experts don’t know exactly why spacing out our learning periods work. We just know that it does.

Even better, we know how to improve it, which we’ll discuss soon.

How to Choose the Right Spaced Repetition Schedule for YouThe first step is to choose how you’re going to engage in spaced repetition learning. You can do it by:

• Manually setting the reviews times in your calendar
• Flashcards
• Using a spaced repetition software
• Using a Leitner or Zettelkasten system
• Using a Memory Palace system

No matter what you choose, here are some suggested schedules.

Schedule #1: Irregular SpacingWhen learning and coming back to the material, you can space out your exposure and retrieval in irregular doses. In other words, you can randomly choose to review material on an irregular pattern like:

• After one day
• After three days
• After two days
• After seven days
• After five days
• After one day, etc.

Schedule #2: Regular SpacingAs cited above, some studies find that regular rehearsal patterns work better.

Dominic O’Brien, creator of the Dominic System for memorizing numbers, teaches what he calls the Rule of Five:

• Once a day for five days
• Once a week for five weeks
• Once a month for five months

There’s nothing magic about the number five, however. You could easily change it to two or seven. The point is that the intervals are regular instead of irregular.

I personally modify this approach for many of own learning projects by repeating new information 5 times a day for the first 5 days. I find this incredibly effective, especially for language learning or tough things like Morse Code.

Schedule #3: Blended SpacingThere are many kinds of information where you don’t have to choose irregular or regular spacing. You can combine the two for maximum effect.

Often, the blending will happen naturally. For example, if you’re using graded readers in language learning, you will naturally receive additional exposure.

A similar effect will happen when reading any book with terms you’re memorizing. You can revisit them on a regular pattern and also get random exposure as you study the topic over time. This kind of blended exposure is ideal whenever you can get it.

In other words, the best repetition schedule is really not one or the other, but both.

The Most Effective Way to Use Spaced RepetitionOnce you’ve settled on how you’re going to use the spaced repetition method and decided on the scheduling, it’s time to optimize the entire process.

Many people make a huge mistake:

They simply expose themselves to the information they’re trying to learn. This activity is closer to rote learning, and although it can work, isn’t fun or all that interesting.

Here’s what to do instead.

Step #1: Elaborate While LearningNever simply read the information. Always interact with it by using mnemonic imagery.

For example, if you’re learning a new word like “brachial plexus,” imagine stomping on brakes made out of plexiglass.

This process is called elaborative rehearsal and it makes information very sticky, very fast. To get better at it, give these elaboration exercises and visualization exercises try.

If you’re skeptical, Dr. David Reser and Tyson Yunkaporta have published research demonstrating that medical students who did this retained far more information than a control group.

In that study, participants used a journey method, which is like the Memory Palace technique. It’s well worth making mnemonic devices like that part of the elaboration process for best results.

Step #2: Let Your Chosen Amount of Time PassThis part is simple. You really don’t have to do anything. You can go have fun with your friends, play games, music or check out a movie.

Or, as we discussed above, you can get some sleep to help your memories form faster.

Step #3: Recall Your Elaborations FirstHere’s two errors a lot of people make:

• They look at the information before trying to recall it during the next rehearsal, or…
• They try to recall the information without using their elaborations as part of the process

You can form memories faster by avoiding these two errors.

When it comes time to review your learning material, don’t look at your flash cards or spaced repetition software first. Instead, write out what you remember from memory first.

This challenge, which is part of active recall, will help you learn the material faster. Even if you make a mistake, you will still benefit. In fact, making mistakes helps you learn faster because it causes you to think about what went wrong and how to fix the issue.

When writing out your answers, make sure it’s on paper. Research has demonstrated you will learn faster by using a notebook than a tablet or computer.

Step #4: Add Other Repetition OpportunitiesI learned very fast in university because some of the places I used to study involved groups of my peers. We would talk about what we were learning and listen to each other. This simple act rapidly improved memory formation.

You can also seek out additional books, podcasts and video tutorials related to your topic.

Finally, write summaries as much as you can. You don’t have to build an elaborate blog to do this. You can leave comments on videos you’ve learned from or share in social media posts.

These are highly overlooked forms of spaced repetition that are very powerful. Please make use of them.

Step #5: Take Test ExamsNo matter what you’re learning, you can find sample exams or come up with your own. Self-testing a fantastic form of spaced repetition that gives you rapid feedback.

In fact, you can manually schedule a bunch for yourself and automate reminders so you don’t forget.

Step #6: Visit Your ProfessorOne of my favorite strategies as a student was regularly taking advantage of office hours.

You might not naturally think of doing this as spaced repetition, but so long as you’re pulling what you’re discussing from memory, that’s what it will be.

And please don’t think this is weird. Teachers and professors regularly have refresher courses and go to conferences precisely because they too need repeated exposure to knowledge. They cannot keep it fresh in memory without themselves regularly visiting the topics of their expertise.

Start Using Spaced Repetition for Memory RecallThe truth is that we’re always repeatedly encountering different kinds of information that we already know.

Spaced repetition studying simply optimizes the process.

Please don’t worry about getting your first spaced repetition schedule 100% correct. It’s not a learning practice like that.

What matters is that you bring a decent amount of regularity to the process and that you use the specific steps we discussed above.

People who get poor results from this form of learning usually aren’t elaborating the material with mental imagery. Or they’re not recalling information in the flow you now know to use.

At first, you may find doing things this way a bit counterintuitive.

But don’t worry. Before you know it, you’ll feel like you’ve been doing it forever.

And you can apply it to rapidly learning many things in life. For example, I used it a lot when giving my presentations as a university professor. And it was an essential tactic for memorizing a speech I gave for TEDx in Melbourne.

Spaced repetition also has applications in the deliberate practice we use to learn music and choreography.

Wherever there is learning, there is space for highly optimized spaced repetition.

If you’re attracted to this process, check out how the ancient art of memory can help by grabbing your FREE Memory Improvement Kit now:

It will help you master the best spaced repetition system of them all:

The one you use purely in your mind thanks to the Magnetic Memory Palace technique.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to learn faster and remember more with the best that ancient wisdom and the contemporary science of learning has to offer?

Dive in and repeat with highly optimized spatial abandon!

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Paul Pimsleur wanted to language learning to be fun, interesting and engaging.

He spent much of his career finding ways to make language learning keep the attention of students without them needing to refer to a dictionary.

To do this, he focused extensively on the specific words and phrases his various programs involved.

He also included a variety of spaced repetition elements within short learning sessions.

We talk about shrinking attention spans now, but even back in 1972, one of his books suggests that students of that era could not focus on a paragraph with more than 200-300 words in it.

Since very little has changed for better or worse, many people still seek out and try the Pimsleur approach.

But what is it exactly?

And how can you know in advance if a Pimsleur language program will work for you?

Good news:

In this Pimsleur review, I’m going to share my experiences with it as a learning and memory expert.

I’ll tell you why parts of his approach work and how to enhance those parts.

That way, if you’re going in cold, you can hit the ground running.

And if you already have a bunch of Pimsleur books or audio recordings kicking around, you’ll now be able to get much more out of them.

Ready?

Let’d dive in.

What Is The Pimsleur Method?The Pimsleur Method accomplishes a few things at the same time:

• Introduction to new vocabulary and phrases
• Listening and comprehension practice
• Voluntary speaking practice
• Exposure to passive, irregular spaced repetition
• A relatively weak invitation to voluntarily use active recall

Having read a few of Dr. Paul Pimsleur’s textbooks, I feel that he was a credible educational innovator. There’s some real genius in what he put together, even if it has several weaknesses.

The main weaknesses have to do with a combination of user error and “faults” common to all self-study programs:

The individual has to bring their own personal volition and mental strength to get through the lessons.

So whether you’re using one of the now dated Pimsleur textbooks (like the ones he made for Spanish and French) or an audio program, here’s the first thing to consider:

Are you mentally stimulated by reading books on your own or listening to audio programs in a quiet study place where you won’t be disturbed?

These are important considerations because that’s what the Pimsleur approach is:

A technique that involves you studying from a book or an audio program on your own. You listen by yourself and repeat words and phrases based on a kind of mix of spaced repetition and context dependent memory exercise.

This means that you could become quite good at “playing the game” while listening to the recordings and responding. But you won’t necessarily be able to read or speak the language in a real life situation.

And if you’re a learner who needs interaction with others, Pimsleur risks being incredibly boring.

But for what it is, the approach is definitely legitimate. It’s just not something that’s going to help you develop fluency for reasons we’ll discuss in a minute.

How Does the Pimsleur Method Help You Learn a Language?The answer is that the Pimsleur Method doesn’t help you learn a language at all. And it can’t.

It’s especially weak in some cases because it’s almost purely auditory. Even if you go through the guidebook, it won’t help you learn the hiragana or katakana, for example.

It’s also weak because if you aren’t aware of how to supercharge it with mnemonics, you’ll quickly fall into rote learning.

But don’t give up hope because it can help you develop some basic vocabulary and pattern recognition quickly.

Let me share an episode from when I first started learning Chinese to show how specifically it helped me.

Instead of expecting the Pimsleur program in Mandarin to help make me fluent, I used it for some basic vocabulary and phrases. That realistic mindset is key: I approached it as a tool, not a magic bullet.

While listening, I actively engaged with the audio material by writing down a version of what I was hearing. Then, without resorting to Anki or flashcards, I memorized the material using a Memory Palace.

I next wrote out what I memorized from memory and took the material into lessons with language tutors I found using some of the best language learning software.

And yes, the Pimsleur Method helped me quite a bit as a source for some basic familiarity with Chinese. I previously used it this way for German too.

The Pimsleur Method vs Other Auditory Memory TechniquesThis question is easy to answer:

Most Pimsleur programs are dated. They often give you phrases in situations that are much less relevant in the 21st century than when they were recorded.

This isn’t a total deal breaker. But Olly Richards has been doing amazing work by creating audio programs to accompany story-based language learning books that are very up-to-date with contemporary issues.

Benny Lewis has likewise been proactive in making sure his language learning materials include phrases that relate to modern situations.

Frankly, the datedness doesn’t devalue the Pimsleur Method that much. But it does make context a big issue that may discourage you because you’ll often meet native speakers who will tell you, “we don’t say it that way anymore.”

Plus, even for the words and phrases that are good, you’ll still need to use the Big Five of Language Learning no matter which audio source or reading textbook you use.

The Big Five of Language Learning is essential. It gives you a balance of all the activities needed to develop fluency in a language.

You’ll learn how to balance them all effectively in this tutorial on how to learn a new language fast.

The Pimsleur Method vs Other Memorization MethodsTechnically, Pimsleur is not a memorization method. It’s not even a memory technique.

As Pimsleur wrote in Sol y Sombra, one of his still perfectly useful textbooks for learning Spanish, his goal is to help learners:

• Increase active vocabulary knowledge
• Practice grammatical structures
• Exercise comprehension
• Practice speaking and writing

Although each of these things provide memory exercise, the approach is not mnemonic in the sense we mean in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

Don’t get me wrong. Pimsleur’s approach is effective. It’s just not a mnemonic strategy because it doesn’t involve elaborative encoding.

Having short study sessions and spaced repetition does involve some chunking, however.

But if you do want a memorization-based language learning strategy, here’s what I suggest:

One: Develop Memory PalacesMemory Palaces are useful in language learning for a few reasons. And they’re becoming increasingly popular since 3x World Memory Champion Alex Mullen and Mandarin Blueprint arrived on the scene.

Then you have my students like Sunil Khatri and Kevin Richardson, amongst many others, who have crushed their language learning goals thanks to this simple ancient memory technique.

This pre-numbered Memory Palace example shows you how I prepared to memorize the Atma Bodha in full. I know the text and the number of each verse in an ancient Sanskrit text thanks to my favorite memory technique.

So what is it and how does it work for learning a language?

Basically, you associate words you’re learning with familiar locations. Instead of passively listening to the Pimsleur material, you mentally translate those words and phrases and “place” them in a bedroom or on a living room couch.

Two: Use Highly Memorable AssociationsFor example, when I first started learning Chinese, I used Pimsleur in combination with a library in Berlin.

The first sentence was, “Do you speak…?”

I created a mental image, something like Bruce Lee kneeing Hemingway with his shoes.

This translated easily into, “Nǐ huì shuō…”

From there, you just add more images to learn an entire phrase.

Three: Recall StrategicallyAs mentioned in the video above, I wrote out what I memorized from memory. This exercised my memory through active recall.

Pimsleur certainly prompts you to recall the information, but because it involves no memory training elements, you don’t form memories as quickly as you could.

And again, if you’re recalling only in the presence of a recording, you might do okay in that context. But it’s actually conditioning you to not be able to recall nearly as well in real life situations. You need to also practice recalling what you’re memorized with native speakers.

Four: Dictionary SourcingAs much as I admire many of Dr. Pimsleur’s innovations, I feel that one of his motivations was patently false.

So many language learning gurus seem to think that students should not be using dictionaries.

I find this incredibly strange because dictionaries are sources of words and meanings. Why would you want to avoid them when you’re learning a language?

Not only that, but when you don’t know what a word means in your mother tongue, the dictionary is precisely where you go. Plus, if you want a variation on a word, you go to a thesaurus.

So the prohibition or deviation from using dictionaries strikes me as utterly false. Using a Memory Palace Network in combination with a dictionary is incredibly useful.

Besides which, Olly Richards’ books always come with a kind of mini-dictionary with key words in what you’re about to read or listen to. This kind of dictionary-esque feature has been with us at least since Wheelock’s Latin.

In a word, dictionaries work.

So, Does the Pimsleur Method Really Work?As I hope you’ve discovered in this article, I think “Does Pimsleur work?” is the wrong question.

Pimsleur can be a useful part of learning any language.

But there’s no such thing as one source when it comes to learning any language. You need to combine a number of approaches.

And if you’re willing to book enough sessions with language learning partners, you could potentially skip it altogether. Frankly, there are so many free sources of words and phrases from so many languages these days, you don’t really need to invest in an old recorded program that this company has transferred to MP3s.

And that’s ultimately its biggest failing.

It has “crystallized” how a handful of native speakers pronounce the language. What you really need is exposure to a variety of speakers, which these days can be accessed easily within your Netflix account.

Plus, you need feedback from native speakers, especially when it comes to sharpening your verbal memory for sounds and meanings.

So although I’ve used the program twice for German and Mandarin, I learned far more by following the Big Five and spending time with native speakers based on memorization.

And if you’d like to know more about using a Memory Palace to commit mounds of vocabulary and phrases to memory quickly, grab this FREE Memory Improvement Kit:

It will help you rapidly commit essential words and phrases to memory from any source.

So what do you think?

Do you like the Pimsleur concept yourself?

Or are you ready to update your approach for the 21st century with the most scientific and direct language learning methods available to you at a very low cost?

The post Does the Pimsleur Method Really Work? A Little, And Here’s Why appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Are you duty bound by your military or police affiliation to learn the phonetic alphabet inside and out?

Ashamed that you’re struggling with it?

Please don’t be.

Many people haven’t exercised their memory abilities since they were kids.

The good news is that the mnemonic alphabet used by the military and police can be learned fast.

And it can be learned in a way that exercises your memory so that you’ll be sharper and faster while serving the citizens and colleagues you care about.

So if you’re ready for a fun and easy way to master the mnemonic alphabet, let’s get started with the most direct and powerful memory hacks on the planet.

3 Mnemonic Hacks to Memorize the Phonetic AlphabetBefore we get started, let’s make sure you’re in the right place.

Sometimes people use the term “phonetic alphabet” to mean the Major System. That’s well worth-learning too, but it’s not “Alpha Bravo Charlie.” It’s used to help you remember numbers.

Also, we’re not talking about the International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA. That’s something to memorize for learning a new language, especially if you’re learning more than one at a time.

No, today we’re talking about the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. Because military and police communicate through radio and often during noisy scenes of battle or crime, this simple system helps make sure communications are clear.

Like Morse Code Mnemonics, there are a few simple tricks you can use to remember each and every word in the military phonetic alphabet. Let’s look at each in order.

One: The Pegword MethodThe Pegword Method gives you an instant mnemonic image for each letter of the alphabet. Ideally, these image associations are based on highly familiar people or objects.

For example:

• A = Apple Computer
• B = Batman
• C = Cookie Monster, etc.

Although you can copy the images of others, it’s best to come up with your own. This is because copying others means memorizing their associations. Coming up with your own gives you great brain exercise and lets you rely on what’s already in your memory without having to memorize anything new.

To get started, just quickly go through the alphabet to come up with a bunch of associations.

Two: Create A Memory PalaceThe Memory Palace technique will allow you to rapidly memorize all of the Phonetic Alphabet by giving each a home in a familiar place.

For example, I used Apple Computer for Alpha. All I had to do was pick a spot in my bedroom and imagine an Apple computer sneezing and spewing a colorful alphabet into the air.

Although that’s not the association you might choose, try practicing with this image by using the Apple computer to imagine it sneezing and releasing an alphabet into the air.

Then continue based on this example using your own images for each letter of the alphabet.

Here are two more examples:

For Bravo, I imagined Braveheart (played by Mel Gibson) in a battle with Batman – in my kitchen.

For Charlie, I imagined Charles Manson and Cookie Monster making cookies with Charlie Brown in the living room.

Three: Review The Alphabet Mnemonics StrategicallyThe catch with this approach is that you can’t immediately “set and forget it.”

But you will be able to remember them all effortlessly soon.

First, you need to apply some active recall.

This term means that you need to challenge your brain. You need to think back to the first room where you placed the letter A and ask yourself: “What was happening there?”

Soon, the answer will come. “Oh, the Apple computer was sneezing and the alphabet came rushing out of the screen into the air. That means that A is Alpha.”

You can also benefit from the primacy effect, recency effect and serial-positioning effect by visiting the list out of order.

In other words, don’t always start your recall practice at the beginning. Sometimes start at the end, the middle or a random spot. We also do this when instilling a memorized deck of cards and it is very effective.

Learn the Phonetic Alphabet Today With These MnemonicsI shared my first three alphabet mnemonics above. For the sake of completeness, here’s the complete list I use:

• A = Apple Computer sneezing alphabet = Alpha
• B = Batman battling Braveheart = Bravo
• C = Cookie Monster with Charles Manson and Charlie Brown = Charlie
• D = Dracula swimming through a deluge = Delta
• E = Einstein shouting at a wall = Echo
• F = Fox from Disney’s Fox & The Hound trotting = Foxtrot
• G = Golem golfing = Golf
• H = Harry Lorayne checking in = Hotel
• I = Ian Mackaye with a sitar = India
• J = Julie Andrews in a Shakespeare play = Juliett
• K = Kilometer dial measuring itself = Kilo
• L = Giant Lime falling on a map = Lima
• M = Mike Tyson boxing himself = Mike
• N = Nova falling from sky onto a calendar = November
• O = Oscar the Grouch opening his can = Oscar
• P = My dad with a punching bag = Papa
• Q = Q-Bert trotting on a map of Central Canada = Quebec
• R = Romeo (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) = Romeo
• S = The sea pounded by air = Sierra
• T = Tango & Cash actors dancing = Tango
• U = Uma Thurman in a uniform = Uniform
• V = Victor Frankenstein making victory sign = Victor
• W = Big bottle of Whiskey in hands of Walter White = Whiskey
• X = X-ray cover of a Ministry album = X-ray
• Y = Yankee Stadium covered in egg yolks = Yankee
• Z = The Berlin Zoo stormed by Lou Reed = Zulu

Remember: These images are distributed throughout a familiar location using the Memory Palace technique. This ancient memory technique is the ultimate memory hack because it serves as a kind of canvas. The images or mentally painted on these well-known surfaces.

The process itself already helps establish the memory through elaboration. Going through a few quick recall patterns helps establish long term memory for using each letter accurately in the future.

If you need more help, why not get my FREE Memory Improvement Kit by clicking on the image below? It will help you rapidly master all of these skills. And you’ll be able to apply the techniques to other things you want to learn fast too:

So what do you say?

Are you ready to come up with your associations and enjoy knowing these alphabet mnemonics for the Phonetic Alphabet like the back of your hand?

Dive in, enjoy feeling like a kid again and make it happen!

The post Alphabet Mnemonics: Learn the Phonetic Alphabet Fast With These Memory Hacks appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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John Graham surprised me twice on the same day!

And if you know me, you know I’m not easily surprised.

So, what exactly made my jaw hit the floor?

First, I found out that John had won the USA Memory Championship… again.

I mean… who has the time for all that memory practice? Especially during times like these?

Then John tells me that focus is so much more useful than memory… and more lucrative too.

And to make matters even more confusing… John keeps telling people not to meditate in the morning?

Huh?

As a practitioner of meditation for decades, I really had to get to the bottom of all these incredible (and sometimes shocking) things John was saying.

And so I did in this EPIC discussion of how John really succeeds.

Not only to win memory competitions, but to experience an abundance of time freedom supported by a fantastic business.

And you’ll be surprised to discover that memory improvement training doesn’t even get second fiddle. Not when it comes to the tactics you really need.

After hearing what he has to say and giving it some consideration, I think it all makes sense.

And I think it will help you too.

So dive in for an epic discussion packed with takeaways, and…

Don’t worry!

I ask John to share some feedback on a little memory issue with mnemonic images I was having. So there are some next level memory secrets in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast too.

Who Is John Graham?John Graham is an entrepreneur, memory expert, memory athlete and winner of both the 2018 and 2022 USA Memory Championship.

In case you’re not familiar with what an accomplishment that is, let me explain:

You have to accurately recall a lot of information from multiple categories of information.

These categories change from competition to competition, but often include:

• Memorizing playing cards
• Memorizing long strings of digits using something like the Major System, Dominic System or PAO System
• Memorizing names
• Poetry
• Abstract images

The Memory-Focus ConnectionBut as John points out in today’s episode, memory isn’t so much the core of his success. It’s the ability to focus his mind that matters.

And the tactics and strategies that explain his ability to win also support his entrepreneurial success.

2x USA Memory Champion John Graham with competition founder Tony Dottino

If you’re an entrepreneur and would like to speak with John about your own focus, check out his Optimize My Mind page where you can book a time.

Obviously, John is very serious about helping entrepreneurs, and I know you’ll respect his wish to focus on your concentration, not your memory.

Because John’s right:

There’s an enormous amount of information about memory techniques out there. So if you still haven’t nailed memory techniques so you can use them in your business, it’s focus and concentration that are at stake.

Get that nailed, and so many other things will fall in place.

I second his argument completely because the same thing has been true for me.

And it always will be:

Focus first!

The post Focus First/Memory Second For Business and Lifestyle Success? 2x USA Memory Champ Shares His Secrets appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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Ever come across memory courses and schools that promise an instant memory boost?

Not so fast! Before you sign up, read on.

Quite frankly, you’ll be losing money if you go after (tempting) memory tricks like how to develop a “photographic” memory.

Truth is, you’ll end up not using your memory power to the fullest potential.

But, how do you tell the best memory training schools and courses apart from the rest?

In this article, I’ll reveal the world’s best schools and courses for memory training. This includes a powerful, magnetic way to supercharge your memory so you can learn everything important faster and recall it easily, anytime.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

• Why Are Memory Courses Important?
• Best Schools and Courses For Memory Training
  • • Magnetic Memory Method
    • Mongolian Intellectual Academy
    • Durrington Research School
    • Brain Academy
    • Other Courses

Let’s get started.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.Why Are Memory Courses Beneficial?Memory courses are important because they can train you to remember and recall information, as well as keep your brain sharp.

Even a memory champion needs training to be in top form during a contest.

And anybody can learn memory strategies to remember and recall information like a champion. A 2017 study revealed that practicing mnemonic techniques can actually alter connections in your brain to make it resemble that of a memory champion.

Now, you may not want to become a memory champion. But, there are many other everyday benefits of memory or brain training.

1. Memory training helps you retain and store memories a lot quicker than you generally would. So, you’ll no longer face memory problems like forgetting your car keys, or the crucial formula for your maths exam.
2. It stimulates the neurons in your brain — making it much simpler for your brain to form connections when exposed to new information, say, in a dull history class.
3. It improves your problem-solving skill, making it easier for you to respond to situations aptly. For example, working memory training has been proven to help children who struggle with math problem solving.
4. Memory training helps filter out information selectively instead of memorizing everything you see, read, or hear.
5. It fires up your overall memory and intelligence. This includes your working memory skills, short- and long-term memory, executive function, fluid intelligence, and creativity.

Let’s take working memory as an example.

Poor working memory has been found to be a common feature of educational underachievement.

It is also one of the characteristics of people with Down Syndrome, those with dyslexia or learning disabilities, and those who’ve suffered a brain injury.

How does memory training improve your overall working memory performance?

Memory training improves both of the working memory subsystems — the “sketchpad” that stores visual and spatial information, and the phonological loop that is the verbal working memory. This means you won’t have to worry about losing focus on your studies or research due to distractions.

Consistent memorization training or memory training exercises will help you fight your fears of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. A 2010 study showed that it improves brain function in older adults who have started displaying signs of dementia.

What should you look for in a memory course or school?

Look for training that contains focused approaches, without the fluff that seems to fill many memory performance books and video courses.

At the bare minimum, they should offer you plenty of systematic worksheets, working memory tasks, visualization exercises, memory exercises, and detailed guides on each technique — all explained in simple terms you can understand.

Some of the best memory courses and schools inspire you by covering brain training techniques from around the world. You’ll come across exciting insights on:

• How Chinese mnemonist Wang Feng memorizes a deck of cards
• How Matteo Ricci’s memory palace helped him to pass China’s civil service exam
• The Mnemonic Major System used by French scholar Aimé Paris
• How Mongolia uses mental athletics as a nation-building exercise
• And more

So, what memory courses and schools can you trust to give you the best results?

Best Schools and Memory Courses For Memory Training in 2023I’ve handpicked some of the best memory schools and courses that will sharpen your memory power. Let’s look at each of them in detail.

Magnetic Memory MethodThe Magnetic Memory Method was launched… by yours truly! I’ve taught thousands of students and worked as a memory coach and adviser to top ESL instructors and language school administrators worldwide.

The Magnetic Memory Method is an incredibly powerful technique that will help you improve your memory in as little as eight days.

It’s a practical and fun approach to using Memory Palaces, mnemonics, and other memorization techniques to store and retrieve all kinds of information you want to remember later.

It can help you easily learn a foreign language, memorize names and faces, speeches, and specialized terminology from professional fields like law.

How does a Memory Palace work?

Memory Palace is a powerful mnemonic technique that was used by the Greeks, and by geniuses like Hannibal Lecter and Sherlock Holmes.

It is based on associating information to real locations that are familiar to you — your home, school, office, a mall, etc. You walk through the place in your head, and associate memories with different parts of that location.

For example, if you were to associate the room you’re in with names of your neighbors, you’d store names starting with A on the drawer, those with B on the ceiling, and so on. You could associate vivid visual imagery with these names, helping aid your visual memory.

When you need to remember something, simply go back to your memory palace and look it up.

When you build memory palaces, you unlock your spatial memory and visual working memory. This provides a foundation for working with your semantic, episodic, autobiographical, procedural, and other types of memory.

Combined with Recall Rehearsal, this process lets you move information from short-term memory into long-term memory quicker, and with reliable permanence. The more you do retrieval practice (conscious recall), the more you reconstruct the memory and encode it deeper in your brain.

What’s more?

All other memory techniques can be used inside Memory Palaces (but not the other way around). This maximizes the power of the loci method and combines well with the pegword method.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch. >>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.Mongolian Intellectual AcademyThe Mongolian Intellectual Academy was founded by Khandsuren Khatanbaatar, who came across competitive memorization while studying law in Turkey.

His interest soon turned into an obsession. Later, he got trained under Melik Duyar – the co-founder of the Memoriad games – who the Turkish media refers to as “the man who forgot to forget.”

Khatanbaatar returned to Mongolia to start the Mongolian Intellectual Academy. The institute is now known to test the limits of students with training and exercises like reading at 1,500 words per minute, memorizing a deck of cards in 20 seconds, or multiplying seven-digit numbers without a calculator.

The academy focuses on improving the overall brain function and memory of students. They rely on many exercises, including Rubik’s cube practice or a simple training task like speed stacking, to help students become memory experts.

In an interview, a student revealed they even have a kindergarten that teaches basic memory techniques and mental calculation.

Thanks to its unique approach to teaching, Mongolia reigns supreme in mental athletics competitions across the globe. There are as many as eight Mongolians in the list of top 10 junior competitors for mental athletics. In the Asia Championship 2019, Mongolia’s memory athlete team won 67 medals out of 90.

Durrington Research SchoolThe Durrington Research School in the UK is part of the Research Schools Network. Their cognitive training courses follow a holistic approach and cover everything about memorizing, retention, and teaching strategies.

Durrington’s program on improving memory and metacognition explores the research-based evidence behind memory training and how to make it useful in a classroom.

It covers:

• Teaching methods that can improve memory recall
• Strategies to enhance the depth and scope of student knowledge through better curriculum planning
• Effective revision strategies
• Techniques to prepare students for content-rich exams
• Practical recommendations to make metacognition and self-regulated learning useful for teachers

It aims to design lessons, tasks, and policies to help students retain knowledge and develop their metacognitive processes. This is especially useful for primary and secondary teachers.

Brain AcademyThe Brain Academy by Gregory Caremans has several courses that are focused on developing memory and learning. You’ll also find plenty of videos, blog posts, and insights on how your brain works.

The Ultimate Guide To Memory And Learning Skill course dives into how your memory works and evolves over your lifetime. It also shows you how to stimulate your brain as you age — through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. The lectures include theories on memory, memory exercises, and plenty of tips.

There are other courses on: