Anthony Metivier's Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

I’m a pretty calm and relaxed guy. But if there’s one word related to memory improvement that drives me bonkers, it’s “system.” And you’ve probably heard me talk all about why I don’t teach a comprehensive memory system like some of the others on the market. Nothing about my refusal to offer a memory improvement system is ever going to change. The truth, reality and scientifically demonstrated fact about your memory is this: No One On Planet Earth Can Give You A Memory Improvement System! Oh, but they’ll promise, which is exactly why I created this Memory Training Consumer Awareness Guide. (Side note: Can you believe that’s way back to Episode 9 of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast! Thanks to your support, you can click the audio above to listen to this post as episode 180!)     Here’s The Bloody Truth No One Else Will Tell You   Although you do need memory systems of a sort, YOU need to learn how to create them. And then you need to follow through and actually create them. That’s right. YOU. And if you do it right, you’ll discover that you, like me, will also think about the word “system” very differently. And here’s the very good news:   Right Thinking About Memory Systems Will Solve All Your Memory Problems And Pains – FAST!   And once you’ve come to share my admittedly biased (but always Magnetic) opinion that the only memory systems that matter are the ones you create yourself … You’ll be a master of your memory. The only question is … What are these memory systems that you need so badly? I’m glad you asked. There are just 4. They’re simple to understand, fast to get in place for yourself and super-easy to use. It all begins with … #1: A Location-based Mnemonic System   Not such a sexy term, is it? Well, don’t fret. It has many other names. Looked at from the top, there are oodles of mnemonics out there, ranging from rhyming to creating crazy images that you let float in the void of your mind. Many people experience all kinds of success with the different kinds of mnemonics to choose from. But most people can’t just create a mnemonic and then toss it out into the void of their mind. They need to connect their Magnetic Associations to something in the world. Like a location. There are other kinds of locations that are more abstract, like Virtual Memory Palaces, but here’s the truth:   Keeping It Concrete And Real Works Best For The Vast Majority Of People   And that’s why having a system for creating Memory Palaces is so powerful. You can create them strategically by building up a storehouse in advance. Or you can create Impromptu Memory Palaces anywhere, at any time, completely on the fly. The trick is to know how to create them. And know how to create them well. If you haven’t taken the Magnetic Memory Method free video course, it’ll walk you through everything you need to know. (Hint: Just click that big subway image above or subscribe above and I’ll send you this course for FREE.) And then, Bang Presto! You’ll be a Master of the first memory system you need to succeed! Just make sure you ground it on a memory method.   #2: You Need An Encoding System   Once you’ve got a reliable way of creating the Memory Palaces you need, you next need a systematic way to encode the information you want to learn. It helps if you’ve got that information organized. That way you can quickly “map” it onto any Memory Palace. Luckily, a lot of information comes pre-organized for us, so you can easily use the How to Memorize A Textbook training to tap into that raw power. And have a goal. An outcome. A realistic target that you actually want to hit. From there, you just need to be able to look at a piece of information and associate it with something else. Ideally that “something else” should hit a number of characteristics. It should be: Deeply familiar Colorful Big Bright Dynamic Capable of interaction And don’t worry if you’re not a visual person (#noexcuses). Here’s the final word on that strange objection to using memory techniques:   https://youtu.be/2l1DJXZyHmM   Example of an image that fits all the characteristics defined above? Well, let’s take Homer Simpson. Are you deeply familiar with him? I sure am. He’s got the world’s worst memory, after all:   https://youtu.be/KVyr-39IhNM   But if you’re not familiar with Homer, you can probably name some other cartoon character. Bugs Bunny, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Fred Flinstone … The options are endless. And if that character, actor, politician, musician or even your least favorite aunt can move around in space (such as within a Memory Palace) … You can create a system for pumping out oodles of characters like these to help you encode information you don’t know with information you already do. You see, it’s association that makes things more memorable. And you can develop a system for making associations very f

What would you give if you could have the world’s best mentor accessible at any time? I’m talking about catering to your every need … So you can accomplish a specific goal … and in a way that fits that mentor inside your pocket? To be honest with you, at first I didn’t believe it was possible. But guess what? I’ve got …   Good News For Students & Educators!   In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, let me introduce you to the incredible thought leader and digital innovator, Edan Kertis. But first … here’s a limited time opportunity: If you’d like to shape the creation of the first Magnetic Memory Method memory coaching app (it will be in the form of a MyQuest!), please fill out this MMM App Survey (the link will open in a new tab). Edan and I thank you for taking the time to letting us know how we can help you and your memory further by guiding the creation of this memory improvement app. Now then, you might be asking yourself …   Hold up, there! What is a “MyQuest?”     As the co-founder and CEO of MyQuest, Edan is helping educators create “Quests” for learners. That means no more boring video courses that forget about you after you register. No more books that don’t even know you exist. No more teachers who can’t provide you the accountability you need to succeed. When it comes to MyQuest’s powerful platform, Edan and his team have made it possible for mentors to create educational journeys that help students learn through gamified, step-by-step missions and levels. The best part? MyQuest allows educators to lead a community towards a common goal while still addressing the needs of the individual learner.   How On Earth Is This Possible?   As a software engineer, Edan has helped surgeons plan surgeries better. It’s clear how his experiences with Brainlab have paved the way for even bigger accomplishments when it comes to learning how to learn. And in this exclusive interview (scroll up and hit ‘play’ to listen), you’ll learn all about how Edan came up with the idea for MyQuest, including: ⇒ Edan’s personal “Quest for Enlightenment” to expand his mind and experience self-development. ⇒ The “butterfly effect” and how small actions can influence others all around the world. ⇒ Why happiness is really all about what you remember. ⇒ Why everything with MyQuest is action-based with missions instead of lessons ⇒ Why you need to manage the level of challenge so that you’re always stretching, but never overextended so far that frustration holds you back. ⇒ Why how we frame our educational experiences with story and metaphor matters. ⇒ Why you need to spend time enjoying random thoughts and “doing nothing” in order to increase your productivity. ⇒ The power of “digital fasting” for completing any learning goal. ⇒ The importance of reporting on your progress with peers for accountability. ⇒ The dual role of push notifications in order to ensure your teachers don’t forget about you and you don’t forget about them. ⇒ How you can easily create your own app as a mentor and help thousands of people achieve their goals. ⇒ Why traveling is like meditation. ⇒ How to find what feels right inside – despite anything society might be telling you about what counts as “normal.” … and much, much more! 🙂   What’s Your Quest?   As a Magnetic Memory Method Podcast listener, please let me know what you’d like to learn the most. What skill would make the biggest difference in your life? What habits do you think you’ll need to master in order to achieve the outcomes you seek? Let’s face it: Like is like a game. And the best way to play the game is to play the kind of games that you want to be invited to play again.   But There Will Be Obstacles!   What would a game be if there weren’t obstacles to overcome and puzzles to solve? I’m excited that Edan and MyQuest are doing so much to create learning innovations that help educators create structured, yet responsive learning experiences that help learners accomplish their goals. Let’s all help MyQuest accomplish their quest by sharing this post and engaging in the discussion. Look forward to hearing from you! For more information about MyQuest, creating your own app using their educational technology and Edan Kertis, please visit: MyQuest.co Edan Kertis on LinkedIn MyQuest on Twitter

What if I told you that turning your brain into a passwords manager is the easiest thing on the planet? Yes, even massively complex and (seemingly) meaningless passwords like … HHTDFY66^&dd766g^^%7*d … can be memorized without breaking a sweat. And you’ll even have some fun! To get this done … So that you can easily learn and remember so much garbled and meaningless data quickly … 1) All you need is a strategy. 2) You need a bit of practice with the strategy. 3) You need a solid reason why.     Why Memorizing Your Passwords Is The Ultimate Only Path To Cyber-Security   To discuss the reasons why you need to learn, memorize and develop the ability to recall your passwords without storing them anywhere other than your memory, I’m delighted to be joined by memory expert, record setter and incredible memory educator, Brad Zupp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7O9VtKBpgk If you haven’t already, scroll up and click the “play” button to listen in on our discussion. In it, you’ll learn: * The shocking truth behind why Brad decided it was time to create a system for memorizing his passwords and the horrifying realities behind why he’s sharing that system with the world. * Brad’s method of dividing Memory Palaces so they’re easy to review and use to memorize and organize thousands of rooms and thousands of digits. * Why Brad uses Memory Palaces based on real locations and varies between rooms and outdoor memory journeys. * How to understand the differences in your mind and the mind of other mnemonists so that you can get better results faster. * How Brad deals with renovations to Memory Palaces. * Brad’s incredible experiences with face memory and how it factors in with remembering names. * Brad’s take on what to do if you have aphantasia or otherwise are in need of developing your mind’s eye.   Would You Like The Ability To Make Your Memory A Passwords Manager That Works Safer Than Any Computer?   Let me recommend Brad’s brand new book, The Hack-Proof Password System. (Note: The link will take you to the Amazon store nearest you. 🙂 )   I’ve read this book cover-to-cover and highly recommend you do the same. You’ll learn everything you need to know about protecting yourself online by developing an amazing memory skill. It’s easy, fast, effective and fun. And the best part is that making your memory the ultimate passwords manager is great brain exercise too.   For More Of Brad Zupp’s World Class Memory Expertise …   You may recall my “book report” of Brad’s excellent book, Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grades 5 To 8 How To Remember Better And Make School Easier. If not, you can read all about it and listen to the podcast review here: How To Help Middle School Students Remember More Another fine resource for you is the first Magnetic Memory Method Podcast interview with Brad: Brad Zupp On Memory Techniques And Memory Improvement For All Ages   But nothing could be more important to your Cyber Security than Brad’s new book, so please be sure to add it to your memory improvement library.   But That’s Not All!   For Brad’s free bonus material to go with The Hack-Proof Password System, claim his free workbook and companion ebook now. While you’re at it, check out Brad’s main website. For information on Brad’s presentations for students, visit Brad’s Exceptional Assemblies page. Twitter: @BradZupp Brad Zupp on Facebook Brad Zupp on LinkedIn And if that wasn’t enough, if you want to pop your questions, experiences and comments in the discussion area below, I’ll make sure Brad sees your contributions to the Mnemonics Renaissance a.s.a.p. In the meantime … Thanks as ever for helping us help you and talk soon! 🙂

When Lynne Kelly released The Memory Code, it immediately changed how we understand human memory. In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Lynne joins me to reveal how ancient oral cultures used a variety of memory techniques to store vast amounts of knowledge. These methods include: Songlines Storytelling Objects like lukasa A variety of other spatial memory systems There’s something for everyone in this fantastic book. And as I update this podcast description in 2025, I can see the delight in my face from the video I shot upon its arrival: https://youtu.be/u2Z3SW8s0dg But being a fanboy of memory science and the history of ancient memory techniques isn’t the only reason I could barely contain my excitement about Lynne’s book. I’m also a fan of the present moment and how memory interacts with it. So getting to speak with the author of The Memory Code as a fellow mnemonist was a real treat. That’s because Lynne doesn’t just study ancient memory traditions. She always uses them. What You’ll Learn in This Conversation About The Memory Code Scroll up and hit play as Lynne and I explore The Memory Code. You’ll want to listen to this episode a few times to fully grasp how her discoveries rewire what we think we know about human memory. Discussion points include: * How a skeptical science writer became a memory practitioner by replicating memory techniques used by ancient cultures. * How humans once regularly memorized 1600 plant names and locations (while thriving on less than a third of them). * The role of rituals and Songlines in long term memory encoding and retention and specifically how Lynne uses these techniques in her daily life. * Why Lynne’s associations with her Memory Palace Songlines have become so strong, she cannot relocate from her environment. This point will help you avoid Memory Palace Agoraphobia. * The potential relationship between social inertia and a cure for Dementia (or at least a serious reduction in the number of cases and their severity). * Why your brain is a set of “chemical locations” and how these can integrate with other locations in the world to help you remember. Jesse figured this out in a big way as you’ll learn in his Magnetic Memory Method Review and Testimonial. * What we’ve lost in schools and what Lynne is doing to bring formal memory education back into the curriculum. * What Nobel prize winners have shown us about how and why the brain associates information with locations naturally. * Why the continuous culture of Australia is so beneficial to the study of memory. * The economic history of memory training and why the going rate for one memory song could be exchanged at a very high rate. * Why knowledge is so essential to human survival. * Why vivid imagery in stories and dancing is far more memorable than straight, unencoded information. * The 3 kinds of “Memory Spaces” anyone can use to remember information and get it right – very important in everyday education and matters of life and death. * Why some information was restricted in early societies to avoid the so-called “Chinese Whispers Effect.” * Why ancient groups of people were not naive or living in clouds of ignorance. Learn how science is helping us discover their incredibly sophisticated ways of knowledge – far from primitive! * The power of multi-sensory mnemonic methods for helping you make fast associations. * The importance of playing with the stories and images you create in order to facilitate rapid encoding and long term recall. * The secret skill all children have (one of the barriers that far too many adults unnecessarily let themselves get in their way). * The possible role writing might have in decreasing our visual imagination abilities. * Why you need to memorize based on a firm foundation upon which layers can be built. * Examples of how kids are using mnemonics to memorize physics equations using location-based mnemonics. * How children are learning about art using Memory Palaces and other memory techniques that enable the teachers to help young learners achieve better grades. Memory Techniques For People Of All Ages Helping young people is essential, but Lynne talks about how all the same techniques apply across the board to people of every age. No matter how time crushed you may be. As you continue listening, you’ll learn: * Why memory techniques will save you time, not consume it. * Why memory techniques should be taught within the curriculum of schools, not as a separate subject. * Why memory techniques have inspired students to BEG for testing, not run shrieking from their exams. * The role of cold in creativity and memory with respect to cold showers and the vagus nerve. Additional Links & Resources This conversation with Lynne Kelly remains one of the most profound explorations of memory I’ve recorded on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. We’ve since recorded conversation

Don’t you love a teacher who can tell a good joke? You know the kind: Each class begins on a funny note. You hang on every word, no matter how difficult. In fact … it pains you when the lectures end. You can hardly believe it, but as tough as the information flowing from your teacher might get, you simply cannot get enough. When that happens … Don’t Despair!   And understand this: According to Barbara Oakley in her new book, Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles And Discover Your Hidden Potential, successful teachers have a strange ability … … the ability to wrap candy around the crusted salt of difficult ideas. In other words, great teachers make challenging concepts easier for your brain to absorb and remember.   How On Earth Do They Accomplish That?   To accomplish this difficult feat, many great teachers use humor. Humor? Is that all it takes? Well … In many cases, yes.   https://youtu.be/AizStjbSg0w   Humor, it turns out, (which can be verbal or situational as Zizek makes clear in the video above) is a core ingredient in the magic spells these soothing muses of hardcore information use to slide information into your mind without you noticing. That’s right. You really can learn almost on autopilot.   An Aspirin For The Aches And Pains Of Education?   Humor, and those humorous teachers who deploy it, use their special talent with jokes to manipulate your brain’s “opioid reward system.” Rest assured: This painkiller for information is super-important for the future of humanity. Why am I being so dramatic? I’m glad you asked. As Oakley explains, merely thinking about learning something difficult activates one of the pain centers in your brain. Nothing like Christian Bök’s pleasant flurry of “motorized razors” (another professor who uses humor to great effect):   https://youtu.be/jrNpI0r7fa8   But you get the idea. Your brain anticipates the pain and tries to run away shrieking. That part of the brain so opposed to learning? It’s called the insular cortex. Even this biological term itself sounds scary, doesn’t it? Well …   This Term Should Sound Scary!   But here’s the thing: Oakley has good news for you and your insular cortex on every page of Mindshift. And the best part is that you don’t need every teacher to be a comic to learn even the most difficult topics without fear and suffering. Mindshift is designed to help you figure out what you want to learn and how to get yourself take the steps needed to succeed. Using stories, activities and factual data about how your brain works, you’ll walk away from reading Mindshift equipped to anticipate and remove all obstacles you could possibly face on your way. All you need to do is understand a few key “time travel” secrets …   Time Travel Secret #1: Your Past Is A Treasure Trove Of Transformation   One of the most exciting aspects of Mindshift is the lesson that nothing in your past is a waste. In fact, much of your potential for future success as a learner and eventual leader in a field of your choosing lies in what you’ve already done. You need only know how to tap into it. As Oakley demonstrates throughout the book, traditional ideas about expertise are outmoded. But here’s the beautiful news: We are all unusually equipped for the requirements of the 21st century where several areas of “deep knowledge” separate the cream from the crop. And if you’re a scholar, a lot of what you know can help you escape the Ivory Tower and have an impacting career beyond the university. Here’s Barbara helping you make that mindshift: https://youtu.be/sDqUifVGAJg   You Can Be The Cream Floating Gracefully Up To The Top   The trick in getting there lies in understanding your passions and being able to identify your current skills (more on “current” affairs in your time traveling in a second). But this is important: Don’t get caught up on this word “skills.” It has a lot of meanings and if you’re reading this page, you’ve got a done of them. Without a doubt, you’re already beaming brightly from within the paradise of your multiple intelligences.   But There’s A Catch!   If you haven’t sat down with some paper to make your skills and mental assets visible to yourself, so many vibrant resources in your life could be entirely lost to you like some kind of undetected natural gas resource waiting to be tapped. And that means you might find yourself living a life lost to digital amnesia. In addition to making your past resources discoverable, Mindshift shows you how to install the needed desire for lifelong learning if you haven’t already got it.   Time Travel Secret#2: The Power Of Now For Your Learning   That’s right. You really can “time travel” the

Would you like to pick the mind of the greatest living Major System masters? If so, click play above and dive into the incredible mnemonic talent of Florian Dellé. In this exclusive interview with Florian on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, you’ll discover: ♣ The key factors that make memory competition more exciting to participate in and watch as a spectator … ♥ The number one need every student of memory techniques must fulfill to experience their true capabilities … ♠ The connection between using your memory and motivation. Master this and you’ll create a state of excitement that helps you overcome all kinds of learning obstacles and barriers! ♦ Why you shouldn’t waste any more time on boring and frustrating learning techniques … ♣ Why everything we do with memory techniques always builds on the work of others … ♥ How to use forms and shapes to help you memorize keywords and the names of cells, golf statistics or anything you want to memorize … ♠ How to use chain stories, image clusters and other ideas locked up in Esel’s Welt … ♦ How to create a second or even third Major Method/Major System list to create multiple memory advantages and more variety in your mnemonic tool box … ♣ The “annoying” truth about reusing your mnemonic images and Memory Palaces … ♥ Why these techniques are never just about having a “code system” ♠ Florian’s PAO system with 1000 people and 1000 objects and how specifically he works with them in sets of 100 in order to generate a workable memory system. Understand the thinking behind his strategy and you’ll be well-equipped to evolving your own approach for achieving any learning goal. ♦ Florian’s amazing Pyramid Memory System … ♣ How to open your image sets for any purpose without getting bogged down by dogmatic rules. ♥ The limits of the Major System and why Florian decided to expand and create his own. ♠ Why some people FEAR the Major System and how to overcome this hurdle so that you can feel the fun while experiencing its many benefits … https://youtu.be/R0nJj0-E-g4 ♦ Why Florian likes movement and even abstract images, as opposed to stationary objects like street lamps in his memory practice … ♣ Why boredom should be avoided at all costs when learning to use memory techniques … ♥ Why Florian created ThinkKniht and developed an alternative to the Major System … ♠ How to find your “feeling” for the Major System associations so that you’re happy with it and using it to maximum effect from the beginning … ♦ The difference between a “native society” and a “civilized society” and the role of apps for the future of your memory … ♣ The difference between learning, training and coaching software yet to come. Understanding how all these softwares can be relevant for your learning will blow your mind with all the possibilities … ♥ Why trial and error might eventually be eliminated from the learning process. The only question is … will that be a good thing or bad? ♠ Why you should never be intimidated by the lingo and “systems” of memory techniques and how to quickly get yourself into the practice of using your memory … even if you initially doubt the efficiency of the initial training period … ♦ … and much, much more! (Note for puzzle-fans: Can you see the special mnemonic I’ve hidden in the special-characters?) I’m grateful for this discussion with Florian and look forward to hearing your response. Be sure to follow Florian on Twitter and support his mission in bringing mnemonics and the real magic of memory to everyone around the world. Resources Mentioned In The Podcast & Other Great Links To Explore Esels Welt by Ulrich Voigt Alex Mullen Interviews Florian Dellé Florian’s World Memory Championship stats – impressive!

Have you ever heard the phrase, “writing is re-writing”? It’s an important principle for people learning to write – one that I shared with my students at universities like York, Rutgers and the University of Saarland. Why? Because there’s a destructive fantasy going around in the minds of so many people who want to write for a living (which means essentially reading for a living). I’m talking about the fantasy that your first draft is good enough. Or that your first read-through a book is sufficient. The truth:   The First Draft & First Read Of A Book Usually Stinks!   Writing needs revision. Often lots of it. And it’s the same thing with reading books. You need to re-read them. Sure, you can use the Magnetic Memory Method to memorize a textbook, literally picking out only the key points. It’s an incredible skill to have and can help you read faster without sacrificing comprehension.. But more often than not … one read just doesn’t cut it. And there are many reasons why. Here are 11 of them.   #1: Content May Be King, But Context Is God   Get this: Once upon a time, I could only afford to take one course at university at a time. I had to work three jobs just to afford the tuition! Looked at ironically, I was actually lucky I could afford to take just one course. Why? Because all those jobs left me with time enough to complete the reading requirements of only the one course! All joking aside, I read Plato’s Republic that year while walking up and down the hill to the university. It was all the time I had for reading. And the only reason why I was walking up and down the hill to the UNBC campus where I was studying political science as an undergrad was because even with three jobs… After paying tuition, I still couldn’t afford the bus if I wanted to also pay rent. Reading Plato’s Republic while walking was fitting, though. Many of the dialogues that make up The Republic seem to take place outdoors. And although it’s Aristotle who belongs more closely to the Peripatetic School of philosophy, walking around is … walking around. And because I’m a diligent reader who enjoys the slower process of MMM Bibliomancy as taught in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass, I let the books I need to read absorb me based on the context of reading. The second time I read The Republic was as a professor living in Saarbrücken, Germany. This time I read The Republic as an audiobook, also while walking up and down a hill. But even though the mechanical operation of walking from place to place was the same, I was reading The Republic the second time around as an educator, not a student. And instead of reading The Republic in the context of other philosophers (like St. Augustine and Hobbes), I was re-reading Plato during a period when I was dialed deep into Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dyer. Context changes everything and that means the same book was actually very different. The result? Context unlocked thoughts about its contents and “unhid” more interesting details to remember. Alethia for unhiding is a fancy ancient Greek word you’re going to want to add to your collection, by the way. Keep it and context in mind as your go-to rereading strategy. You’ll be delighted by what happens!   #2: The Organic Source Of New Ideas Re-generates Itself   You know that many of your cells regenerate, right? Not all of them, but enough that you can make the claim that we have a chronological age and a cellular age. And if you wait long enough to re-read a book, you’re technically not the same the person as the first time you read the book. Sure, your heart, brain and bones are pretty much the same, but the rest? A whole new you. And that means completely new arms, hands and eyes that deliver the book to your brain. Plus, thanks to how the brain rewires itself, you’ll have entirely new experiences, viewpoints and perspectives to bring to your re-reading. Isn’t that exciting to think about?   #3: Why Something Most People Dread Is Really The Icing On The Cake   Most people regret getting older. I’ve never understood why, but I guess it’s because they don’t value the power of re-reading books. Think about it: As you age, you collect more Memory Palaces to help you remember information. Plus, your pool of imagery and mnemonic images to use within a Memory Palace gets larger year after year. And as you work with your memory, you discover so many resources set in stone that you never discover unless you’re re-reading books. Put simply, age is a currency. It is traded on the strength of connections. The older you are, the more connections you make on autopilot and can engineer deliberately. Better be doing some brain exercises, though. You’re always in danger of losing what you’re not using, after all … #4: How Location, Location, Location Will Save The Life Of Your Memory   Think about thi

Go ahead and admit it. You’re skeptical that memory techniques will work for you. You might even be skeptical that memory techniques work at all. I mean … those memory champions could be using mirrors or some kind of technology, right? They’re absolutely not, but … Who hasn’t given such tricks a thought when you hear the incredible results of memory improvement training? Hundreds of words! Thousands of digits! Countless decks of playing cards! All under the pressure of time, cameras and competition. Here’s the thing: As scientifically proven as the memory techniques are … Your Skepticism Is Good! In fact … It turns out that the more skeptical you are about memory techniques, the better they work! And over the years, I’ve discovered 3 reasons why skeptics succeed with memory techniques better than anyone else. Buckle in because if you’ve been sitting on the fence when it comes to using memory techniques … … or if you’ve been suffering less than stellar results every time you give them a try … The problem could be that you’re just not skeptical enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S04U79rNKKw #1 Skeptics Are Ethical Kind of a weird place to start, right? But it’s true. Because skeptics tend to follow, in one way or another, the laws of a universal rule: The responsibility for demonstrating the validity of a claim falls on the person making the claim. I believe the Flynn Effect helps explain why more and more people have assumed this responsibility over the past 100 years or so. You can witness me doing exactly this when people claim certain gurus are able to memorize entire books. But that’s external skepticism about memory facts and statistics that I should be able to independently confirm. There’s also the internal skepticism that many people new to mnemonics encounter. And they sometimes say very mean and nasty things to themselves. In other words: If YOU say something outlandish like, “Memory techniques won’t work for me” … … AND you’re an ethical person … YOU Will Do Something To Prove That You’re Right! And that’s where the fun begins. Why? Because it’s almost impossible NOT to succeed with memory techniques if you’re ethical and willing to apply your reasoning skills. Beyond that, if you fail, you must be seriously getting in your own way to make failure even a remote possibility. Or, you can take a chance and get results. You might even wind up proving your skills to a big crowd that cheers you on. Paul Deery took my training and did just that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4f-JXhvY5c   #2 Skepticism Comes Packed With Determination People anxious to prove that they can’t use memory techniques bring truckloads of determination. So much so that they’re able to quickly overcome the objections that people with only a passing interest in training their memory allow to disrupt them. What are these objections? I’m not creative … I’m not visual … I don’t have the energy … It’s too hard … … and a slew of other negative self-talk that no true skeptic would ever let stand in their way. No, skeptics want to get at the truth – badly. So they tackle the training with all the due diligence it deserves. Aren’t you starting to wish that you were a skeptic too? 😉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2zz110cTr0 #3 Skepticism Creates Multiple Levels Of Energy Think about it this way: The fact that the skeptic motors in with all guns blazing to prove that they can’t do it is one level of energy. But then when they begin to see that they’re absolutely wrong … A new energy appears. The energy of total surprise and excitement from getting results! Because lo and behold, these skeptics discover … the memory techniques do perform with ease after all! And when that second level of energy doubles back to the memory of their skepticism … it grows even bigger! Why? Because they’ve returned to their ethical core and accomplished something profound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4eZcFNc9sU They didn’t sit around whining and crying about their doubt. They went out and investigated. They picked the purportedly miraculous skill apart and learned it in the process. And, of course, to really learn memory techniques, you’ve got to also use them. And when that happens … You’re Hooked For Life! Isn’t that exciting? You bet it is. Just like it was for Tom, who attended one of the live Magnetic Memory Method trainings I give around the world. On this particular occasion … Guilin, China. At the end of the second session, Tom came to me and exclaimed, “You changed my life!” With Tom in Guilin showing off the quick Memory Palace he drew to memorize 20 Chinese idioms overnight. To be honest, that bold claim made

Hey, it happens. We’ve all forgotten a name. Where we left our keys. Whether or not we locked the front door. But there’s a difference between mild forgetfulness and more serious memory problems like memory loss. And mild forgetfulness is particularly vicious because it can creep up on you. In fact, it could be biting up parts of your brain as we speak. But it’s not the same as memory loss, which is what we really need to focus on curing. https://youtu.be/Rvwnx-w-5OY And to help you out, here are five signs of serious memory loss problems you need to take seriously:   1. Asking The Same Questions Over And Over Again   This is a big warning sign that you have memory loss problems. You might even be suffering from one of the big memory loss diseases like Alzheimer’s or Dementia. It’s not just that you’ve forgotten the answers to the questions. You’ve even forgotten that you asked the question before. If this happens to you or someone points out that you’ve been asking the same question multiple times, please get it checked out. No shame in having the problem. Just something that needs attention.   2. Getting Lost In Well-Known Places   This problem can occur at any age. It’s not necessarily a sign of Alzheimer’s or dementia, either. It could be a sign of fatigue, dietary problems or thyroid issues. But if you find yourself getting lost in places you’ve been in many times before (including your home), you know that it’s more than well-warranted to get yourself to the doctor.   3. Inability To Follow Directions   No, I’m not talking about rebellion. I’m talking about literally not being able to understand and execute. We all have this from time to time. Sometimes, the instructions are to blame. But other times, it’s a sign of serious memory loss.   4. Experiencing Confusion About Time   It’s normal to forget the day of the week every once in awhile. But if it becomes a common occurrence, you need to do something about it. Not only that, but you can use a Memory Palace to help ensure that you always know what day of the week it is. Here’s how: Look at the wall nearest your bed. Imagine it has seven quadrants. In each quadrant, place an image. For example: Monday = the moon Tuesday = a can of Tuna Wednesday = a weathervane Etc … Having a mnemonic calendar like this will make the days of the week more memorable for you as such. But to know for sure, you can imagine crossing out a huge X over the can of tuna before going to bed on a Tuesday. Or you can do something even more imaginative, like seeing it smashed by the weathervane that represents Wednesday. In this way, when you wake up, you can think of what happened before you went to sleep on your mnemonic calendar. That will instantly remind you of the current day. And this works just as well for young people as it does for people coping with age related memory loss. Having a mnemonic calendar is also one of many great brain exercises that will help you keep sharp.   5. Not Taking Care Of Yourself   Seriously. Some people forget to eat, bathe and otherwise take care of themselves. I know this problem well from the periods when depression has crushed my memory so heavily my hygiene went down the drain. It sucks and if it happens to you, get it checked out.   8 Simple Cures For Memory Loss And Forgetfulness   The good news is that people are winning the battle against memory loss and forgetfulness. Here are 8 things you can do starting today that will give you the upper edge in the battle against these critical memory problems.   1. Learn A New Skill   Seriously. Juggling, piano, simple sketching. Anything you can find will help. I’m currently learning more about video production and photography while learning Chinese. The improvements to my memory are noticeable on a daily basis.   2. Volunteer   It could be at a school, community service office or church. It really doesn’t matter what, so long as it’s with other people and you genuinely feel happy about helping others. These kinds of experiences create powerful new memories that will last a lifetime while exercising your brain.   3. Spend More Time With Friends & Family   Be honest. You’re not getting enough face time with the people that matter. And it’s killing your memory. Get out your calendar and cell phone now. Make the call. Book a time. Your memory will thank you for it.   4. Put Your Wallet, Keys & Glasses In The Same Place Every Time   Look, I can teach you how to remember where you put objects in the house. But sometimes it’s good to give your memory some relief. That’s why instead of imagining explosions every time you set your keys down, you can take the pressure off your memory by dedicating a spot for these easily lost items.   5. Get More Sleep   Easier said than done, to be sure, except … It is easy if you set a computer curfew. Seriously: Shut the machine down at the

Ever hear that crazy phrase, “knowledge is power”? Sounds kind of cool, right? But have you ever asked yourself …   What The Heck Does That Silly Cliche Mean?   Well, “power,” it turns out, is an interesting concept. Especially when it comes to memory and memory improvement. To begin, understand this: People have defined it thousands of different ways throughout history. Ever since I discovered it in university, I’ve always liked Michel Foucault’s definition. He’s a philosopher who you should check out sometime. Don’t worry if you think philosophy is boring. Foucault didn’t dally around. He gets right down to defining it in many books. For Foucault, power amounts to “the ability to conduct the conduct of others.” Now, let’s be honest:   Who In Their Right Mind Wouldn’t Want A Taste Of That?   And let’s be clear: When it comes to memory improvement and using memory techniques as a way of life, that’s what we going for: Power. Exactly as Michel Foucault defined. Why? Because if you’re using memory techniques to help you learn a language, guess what? Speaking a language “controls” what others think. Just like my words are controlling what you think now. Controlling what you’re thinking, feeling, deciding to do next. And more than that …   Power Is Productive   It produces the next action in line. When it comes to the power that using memory techniques creates, think of it this way: If you’re using memory techniques for numbers so that you can quote SKU numbers at work or cite aspects of the law, you’re instantly better at controlling how your colleagues work with you. Pretty neat, huh? Well, hold on now, because it gets even better. Because there are a lot of things about memory you probably don’t know. And all of them will give you more power. Which equals more control. Particularly over the most important person in your life you need better control over. You. So with all that in mind, let’s get started: 1. Memory Loss Starts At A Much Younger Age Than Most People Think Sad, but true. We have this image that memory loss starts when you’re forty or older. Worse, we project the idea that struggles with memory belong to the elderly or people with Alzheimer’s. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Long before the age of digital amnesia, scientists knew that memory struggles begin already in our mid-20s, if not earlier. And the more people relegate their memory activities to smartphones and computers, the more younger people start experiencing memory problems. Don’t Blame The Machines For Everything! Of course, we can’t just blame the machines or the questionable fact that they don’t teach learning and memory techniques in schools. (They do.) This is what’s more important: We’re exposing young people to information they don’t care about. Want to help the young person in your life learn how to discover exactly what they care about to help guide their studies? Make sure you listen to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast for the link to the listener only audiobook, The Ultimate Memory Improvement Secret. I promise. That book will help. And then giddy up on improving your memory. No matter how young and spry you think you are now, memory loss is always around the corner. 2. You Change Your Memories Every Time You Remember Them Every time you remember something, you’re engaging in an exchange of chemicals. You know this, right? Your mind is produced by your brain: soft, squishy material made up of all kinds of nutrients and acids. The kind of stuff that aliens probably love to eat. 😉 And in that pool of chemical substances, sit your memories. Your memories are part of that stuff, not different from it. Every time you access one of them, it’s like putting bread into a toaster. Chemical change. And, as you know, bread that has been toasted ain’t never going back to being bread again. It’s different now, and different it shall remain. 3. Your Memory Is More Like A Neighborhood Than A Computer Not only are your memories made of physical material, they are also dispersed like multiple spheres in a pinball machine. Think of it the way Gary Small suggested when I interviewed him on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. He explains that the computer metaphor for the human brain and memory is false. Instead, your brain is like a series of neighborhoods, bigger and more complex than the biggest cities of the world. And every time new information enters your “memory city,” it doesn’t book a room in a hotel someplace and wait patiently to be called for a business meeting when you need it. Instead, the information is broken up and sent into many different homes in many different neighborhoods. The Businessmen Your Memory Slices And Dices Everyday Think of it like this: Say that you learn a German phrase like, “Ich möchte mir etwas kaufen, aber ich weiß nicht was.” (I want to buy myself something, but I don’t know what.) If that phrase was a businessma

Have you ever wished you had the ability to memorize information in real time? Believe it or not, you can. Interpreters do it all the time. They listen, understand, memorize, translate and speak – all at the same time. Impressive, right? Conference interpreting is certainly not for the faint-hearted. In fact, research shows that conference interpreting is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. One study put the stress levels experienced during interpreting on about the same level as those of an air traffic controller! Go figure. How To Succeed In Conference Interpreting Without All The Stress However, people who wind up with great conference interpreting jobs were not born with these skills: they developed their abilities by learning and practicing specific techniques. If you’d like to do the same, pay attention because I’m about to show you exactly how it works. 1. How One Simple Test Will Strengthen Your Memory And Boost Your Fluency Here’s the single most important thing you can learn from conference interpreters: They focus a lot on flexibility. You see, no matter how good your memory is or how many words you know, sometimes you’re going to forget something or wind up stuck looking for words. It even happens in your mother tongue! Interpreters know that if you want to boost your fluency, you need the flexibility to retrieve at least something to say from your memory in every situation. The good news: this ability to remember is something that can be trained! Even better, if you’re already a conference interpreter, you can continue learning and potential boost your conference interpreting salary! How To Hear The Future As A Conference Interpreter Before It Happens One way interpreters go about this is by making it a habit to guess what a speaker is going to say next. That buys them time to think of a good translation. Now you know why your interpreter friends are always finishing your sentences! As annoying as that habit might be, exercises in which you anticipate words might be the key to increasing your flexibility. The most important exercise used by interpreters to train this skill is the cloze test. This exercise is fantastic, and I use it all the time. How To Close In On The Cloze Test For Maximum Memory Results So how does the cloze test work? You get a sentence with certain words blanked out. It’s your job to fill in the blanks with an appropriate word (or word group). That word can be anything, as long as the sentence makes sense and is grammatically correct. An example: David wants to ____ a table for 5 tonight. Answers: David wants to book a table for 5 tonight. David wants to reserve a table for 5 tonight. David wants to make a reservation for a table for 5 tonight. David wants to make a call to the restaurant for a table for 5 tonight. David wants to ask if you’ve booked a table for 5 tonight. … and so on … You get the point. Try to come up with as many appropriate answers as possible. The more you can find, the more flexible you are in speaking a language! The Truth About What Really Improves Your Fluency Here’s another reason I really like this exercise: It builds flexibility by teaching you how to take advantage of context. In this regard, it relies a lot on your association powers. The better certain language patterns and structures are ingrained in your brain, the easier words to fill in will come to mind. That translates to improved fluency. And that’s wonderful given how much we now know about the benefits of bilingualism. However, there’s more. What really makes the cloze test stand out for me is that it shows how context can be a mnemonic for learning words or expressions! Context: The Ultimate Conference Interpreting Equipment That Sits In Your Awareness (Priceless!) To give you a basic example: whenever someone says “Thank you” to me, I’ll immediately, without even thinking about it, respond “You’re welcome!” Just hearing these words triggers my memory and gives me the appropriate response. The association between those two phrases became so strong that they act as a mnemonic for each other. If you’d like to take advantage of the cloze test to memorize vocabulary and use context as a mnemonic, I found that the easiest way to do that is by making flashcards (physically, or use an app like Anki (link)). Here are the steps: 1. Make a flashcard with sentences in the language you’re learning. 2. Blank out the words you want to memorize and add them at the back of the flashcard. 3. Review your flashcards and try to guess which word would fit in the sentence. Try to experience the situation described in the sentence as vividly as possible! Read it out loud, visualize it, feel it. 4. Every time you review the flashcard, the connection between the context and the word you’re learning will become stronger! My experience is that learning vocabulary this way works wonders. Incorporate this in your language learning routine, and you’ll start seei

No question about learning and memory enters my inbox more often than than “why aren’t these memory techniques taught in schools?” The question reeks of conspiracy. It creates pictures of entire nations hoping to keep their children in ignorance so they will become mindless slaves working for the state. But worse than all of that paranoia … The question is …   Completely Irrelevant! First off, memory techniques are taught in schools. I recognize this simple fact even if once upon a time I dropped out without a high school degree (part one of this three-part series) and mercifully figured out what to go back to school for (part two). How are memory techniques already used in schools? How about the song we teach children to help them remember the alphabet? Its melody is a memory technique, loud and clear. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge for music is a memory technique. We have simple mnemonics for astronomy, art, math, biology, geography and chemistry. Heck, just search Wikipedia for “list of mnemonics” and you’ll find more than you can shake a stick at. But Are Simple Mnemonics Enough? That’s the real question at hand. Because the problem is that a lot of the images and word play you’ll find on that Wikipedia page are useless. Worse than useless, they create a ton of overwhelm. Why? Because they don’t come with any understanding. They’re not loaded with strategy … They Have No Method … And that’s why the Magnetic Memory Method is such a roaring success. No, not for everyone. Not everyone wants to learn how to think about memory. Many people want formulas, gimmicks and “systems.” I’m sorry, but that’s not reality. And it’s not what we do in the Magnetic Memory Method Family. Far from it. Instead of pretending that there’s some kind of fix all system that will magically improve your memory for all things forever and ever amen … We Break Memory Techniques Down To The Basics   And once that’s done, we understand the how, the why and the what. So that it doesn’t hurt so much to learn. Here’s why you feel pain with learning, by the way (thanks to Miklós in the SuperLearner community for bringing it to our attention): https://youtu.be/UBVV8pch1dM It’s even easier to stop the pain than the video suggests. How so? By making sure that you understand how to really get results from the techniques by aligning them with your real reasons for learning, remembering and recalling information. It’s often not what it seems. Because here’s the deal … At the Magnetic Memory Method Headquarters, I strive to achieve just one thing: Mastery. Mastery over your memory. Mastery over your concentration. Mastery over the rate at which you learn. Mastery over the pain of forgetfulness. So That You Never Have To Feel That Pain Again! But it’s not going to happen without study. It’s not going to happen without effort. It’s not going to happen without creating and using Memory Palaces. Above all, it’s not going to happen without consistency of effort (which your Wise Advocate can help you with). And that’s what’s so cool about the Magnetic Memory Method. If you’ve been following the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, you’ve heard the stories of success. Just one for today: https://youtu.be/Y4eZcFNc9sU These success stories with learning and memory techniques all boil down to one thing: Learning the techniques. Using the techniques. Analyzing your results and then improving your abilities using them. The best part? I’ve had the chance to teach the Magnetic Memory Method to some of the finest students on the planet. And guess what? Success Leaves Clues All of the most successful students share one thing in common. They don’t wait around waiting for success to happen! They invest in themselves. They study the material they’ve invested in. They take action. They experiment, explore and when they’re done, they experiment and explore some more. USA memory champion and memory expert John Graham can help in this area with his ideas about challenge-stacking too. Having The Humility To Learn Is A Skill What I’ve learned from all of the Magnetic Memory Method success stories is that everything begins with a decision. It’s a decision to set aside time to learn. To really learn. I’ve done it myself. After years of success with my own memory and as a memory trainer, I went to learn from one of the best on the planet. Not just to collect data and “spy” on the competition. To Truly Learn As a result, I’m better for it. In fact, I still buy books and courses from people. Some are from authors who help only a fraction of the audience the Magnetic Memory Method has gathered. Some are from towering figures who practically rule the memory world. I’m talking about taking some courses that cost 4x the amount of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass and Mastermind combined. Yes! Memory improvement courses that expensive really do exist! The Best Always Invest In Themselves Here’s the thing: Ev

Picture this: You’re a bright student well on your way to completing your high school diploma, but also … You’re a child of chaos. Yes, you love your parents, but … It’s been a rocky road. You live an all too interesting life. And most days, school is the last thing on your mind. Plus … when you do go …   School Is Utterly Boring!   At least, that was almost always the case for me. I mean … seriously? What the heck is a high school diploma to a guy who just wants to play bass, write lyrics and hang out with his friends? And the teachers? Not exactly friendship material. They never made me care about getting better grades. And yet, I’m still grateful for them, even though back then, I wasn’t yet smart enough to see their value. Why You Should Never Forget Any Of Your Teachers Sure, I had some real characters for teachers. For example, there Mr. Joyce. He always had a fishing boat on the back of his truck. Every day, we saw him leaning against it and smoking a pipe before wandering off to his classroom after recess or lunch break. Another teacher who had a huge impact on me was a champion curler. Mr. Esdale could make the trash bin stop on a dime right beside the desk of anyone chewing gum. And then there was the math teacher we always called “Stewie Smith.” He used beer in many of his examples for math because it was the only thing he could do to get anyone’s attention. And you know what? Even though I forget 99.99% of everything they taught me … They still teach me because I use them as Bridging Figures in my Memory Palaces. Milk Those Teachers For All They’re Worth! Advanced memory improvement tip: Go through your life history and write down the name and a description of every teacher you've ever had.Click To Tweet If you remember their names, all the better. But more importantly, focus on their classrooms. What they looked like. How they moved. Then keep these details in mind for the next time you need to remember something. If you’ve got the Magnetic Memory Method under your belt, those teachers will serve you very well as mnemonic tools for the rest of your life. You just have to finesse them a little by doing the simple memory exercise of “excavating” them from your past. Anyhow … … As amusing as those teachers were … I still thought grinding out the hours toward this abstract thing called a “high school diploma” was … A Complete Waste Of Time! It really felt that way. Besides, almost every teacher I spent time with obviously had other things they would rather have been doing with their time. Fishing … Curling … Drinking beer … No Wonder I Became A High School Dropout! But here’s the thing … Just because I dropped out of high school doesn’t mean I stopped learning. Far from it! When I took my leave from the hallowed halls of high school education … I did it in a very sneaky way. (Hi Mom, if you’re reading this!) Every morning, I’d head out to the bus like usual. But instead of standing and waiting for that rusted bucket along with the other kids … I’d leave for school a little bit earlier. No one ever saw me. This was rural Canada, after all. Frosty mornings … Turkey farms … Lots and lots of trees. The True Story Of My Real High School Diploma And back then, I carried one of razzmatazz yellow Walkman cassette-radio players. You know the kind: Chunky plastic that you bolted down. Grey plastic nozzles to protect the headphone jacks from getting wet. (Oh yes, multiple headphone jacks. You just never knew when there was going to be need for a spontenous listening share. We didn’t have Facebook for sharing music videos on YouTube, after all …) But instead of my fave Metallica and Megadeth or Slayer cassettes those frosty schoolday mornings … I would listen to CBC Radio. Peter Gzowski’s Morningside, to be exact. I could get lost in his voice so easily. Oh! and he always had great guests. Amazing guests … People who taught the listeners about themselves … About the world … And how to think about it from a myriad of exciting angles. To hell with school! I Learned Everything I Needed To Know About My Country And Science And Literature And World Political History During Those 6 Months Just By Walking Up Into The Hills With My Walkman! To this day, I can’t quite understand why they even bothered having schools! Seriously? Why bother back when Gzowksi was so good at asking important authors, musicians and politicians the right questions. And my-oh-my, the stories they would tell! Anyhow, about 10 minutes along the road, there was a path up into the mountains. Like some kind of solace-seeking samurai of the mind, I would enter the forest. And yes, it was dangerous. More than once I nearly got my head kicked off by a startled deer. I can only thank my Magnetic stars that I never encountered a bear. Not Even That Tank

It’s annoying when the memory improvement exercises on your smartphone don’t help, isn’t it? Your smartphone is supposed to be smart after all. But instead, it’s packed full of junk you never use or apps you never get results from. And if you’re like most people, you’ve downloaded a few brain trainers, some of which include memory improvement exercises. Enter frustration when they don’t actually provide any results. Don’t worry. I’ve been there. And the good news is … Real Memory Improvement Exercises Make Everything Better It’s true. When you engage in memory exercises that actually produce results, you will be able to remember better. And it’s not just about improving your memory. It’s also about bringing a higher level of fitness to your mind. https://youtu.be/5HK0hnHv2uk Who am I to make these claims? I’m not the one making them. Many scientific studies have shown that apps for exercising your memory either don’t work, or at best provide near-transfer results. This Harvard study asks an even better question: If device-based brain games work… why aren’t there studies showing their results? Dr. Christine Till has asked a similar questions and when I interviewed her about some of the claims made by the creators of memory exercise apps, her answer made sense. The studies that do exist show results that do not favor the technologies that have emerged so far. Far from it. Worse, companies have even been punished for some of the claims they make about the memory improvement an app can make possible. Stop wasting your time on memory improvement apps. Mind you … I have discovered one that I think is worth your time and I might be talking about it more if I continue to experience benefits from it. I’m talking about using chatGPT to help with language learning. So far, I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by how it helps. But for now, I still claim that you never need memory improvement apps in order to enjoy substantial memory boosts. You just need to complete the best memory improvement exercises in the world. Let’s dive in to my Top 5 faves. 1. The Gary Small Memory Improvement Exercise It’s been awhile since I interviewed Dr. Gary Small, author of the excellent book, 2 Weeks To A Younger Brain. My favorite exercise from the book involves a simple exercise that will amaze you. You not only feel your memory improving over time, but you get a clarity boost too. All you have to do is pay attention to people in the world. Pick one of them. Notice four details. Then, later in the day, recall that person and the four details you noticed. For example, the other day I chose a man I saw on the way to the gym. He wore a red scarf, black jacket, held his key in his hands and had scuffed brown shoes. Don’t Try To Memorize! This is important: I didn’t try to memorize these details. Instead, I just noticed them and asked my brain to pay attention. This is Dr. Small’s recommendation in order for the passive memory exercise to take place. So how are you supposed to recall the details? You just do the best you can and it doesn’t matter if you’re accurate or not. It’s the testing of your memory that matters, a principle scientists call active recall. That’s why on my way home from the gym and once again later in the day, I recalled the four details I noticed. It’s such a simple exercise and more than enough to challenge memory in a positive way. Better than all the memory improvement vitamins in the world. And it feels so good. I’ve played a lot of memory improvement games and not a single one of them created nearly as much pleasure. Best part: You don’t have to stop with just one person. You can do this memory exercise all day long and really stretch yourself. For example, when I got to the gym, I made it a point to notice another four things about the woman at the desk who took my card and gave me my wristband. I noticed the grooming of her eyebrows and the colors of her sweater, jogging pants and shoes. Paying attention to these details not only exercised my working memory. It also made me more present. Something we all need to be practicing. We know that meditation is good for the brain, and this exercise, although not a form of meditation, relates to the practice because of how it keeps you aware of your surroundings. Instead of being lost in thought, you’re actively paying attention to the world and the things you encounter in it. 2. Memorize Information From A Book But not just any information. Information that matters. Information that enhances the experience or even helps you make the world a better place. For example, some of us are sloppy readers. Because character names are repeated so often, we never bother to memorize them. That, or the authors focus our attention on the meaning of names in order to ensure that we instantly remember them. But what if we made it our goal to actively practice our memory by m

Annoying, isn’t it? You’re an attentive person and you care about people. But no matter what, the names you encounter completely slip your mind. And it happens in a flash. In one ear and out the other. Zap! It’s not just the names of people either. We’re talking about the names of: Pets People Places Months Days Holidays Historical periods Wars Books Vehicles Events Institutions … and even adjectives derived from proper names.   The List Goes On And On!   The question is … Why is information like this so darned difficult to remember? Well, you’re in luck. Although some of the reasons may shock you, today you’re going to learn everything you need to know about exactly why proper names of all kinds of thing challenge your memory. And as we go along, we’ll solve the problem so that names become much easier for you to remember.   Why The Meaning Of Names Fuels The Fire In Your Brain   At the most basic level, some names are easier to remember simply because they mean something as opposed to meaning nothing. For example, The Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall are less challenging to remember than Ostkreuz and Shun Yi for most people because the names themselves come soaked in meaning. But if you hit a name cold with no base line of familiarity … It slides out of your grip like sand. Certain names also enter your memory at a younger age than others. Bugs Bunny, Marvin the Martian and Donald Duck all hold special favor in my memory because I’ve been encountering them for years. But in the John Grisham novel I’m reading right now, I needed to deliberately go out of my way to remember the names of the characters. Names like Troy and Nate are so bland, there’s little for the mind to grab onto. Mnemonics to the rescue. Speaking of guys named John, I was blown away by John Graham’s incredible skills with memorizing names. Listen to him talk about his skills and see if you can’t up your game based on his inspiration.   How Authors Trick Your Brain Into Remembering Characters   Other novelists are good at making remember character names easy, however. I’m also reading Blank at the moment. Author Matt Eaton uses names like Luckman. This naming strategy deliberately attaches meaning to the hero by reducing abstraction to a concrete signal that says this man has a relationship to luck. It tells your brain to look out for signs that confirm or disprove this, making the name instantly more memorable. On the other hand, the meaning of names spikes in value when Maxine is subtly shifted to Max. This technique asks the reader to think about her name as an object and wonder if she abbreviates it because she’s fun and funky or to give her a masculine edge.   The Name-Letter Effect And Your Brain’s Endless Name Meaning Search   The truth is that names usually have no meaning. And in the real world, there is no author in the sky using literary tricks to help you remember names or find meaning in them. But that doesn’t stop your brain from seeking the meaning of names when you encounter them. For example, Jozef Nuttin has demonstrated your brain finds the alphabet letters in your name more attractive than others. Now called the Name-Letter Effect, Nuttin’s discovery sheds light on why some people do better in school, gravitate towards certain cities and remember some names better than others. In the main study, Nuttin presented students ranging from elementary school to university with letter pairs. Some were given random letters. Other subjects were given lists that more closely matched the letters in their names. In either case, when asked to select the letters they preferred, all subjects showed a preference for letters that were in their own names. Although memory studies don’t all agree, it is possible that the Name-Letter Effect also explains why we remember some names better than others.   And It Seems To Appear In Just About Any Language!   Note that this effect does not appear to be language-specific. It has been tested in Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Other experimenters have tried it with other alphabets like cyrillic and done experiments to see if the effect persists into adulthood when people learn a foreign language that uses a different alphabet or character-set. Also note that the Name Letter Effect might apply to numbers as well. Although I use the Major Method, I tend to find 2 and 7 easier than other numbers, and that advantage may reflect the fact that my birthday is overloaded with both of them.   Sound Has Its Own Sex And Success Appeal   There’s no doubt about it. Some names sound nicer than others. And that appears to have a psychological effect. For example, if your name “sounds” like it belongs to a successful person, you may be motivated to fulfill the prophecy. So one cool trick for remembering names a lot better you can explore is to always associate new informati

Entrepreneurs need a ton of skills to achieve their goals. And let’s face it: The amount of material entrepreneurs need to learn can be downright discouraging. Just to stand a chance of “making it” requires so much know-how that a lot of people give up. Here’s the good news: You don’t have to give up on your entrepreneurial dreams. You can learn and remember everything you need to know. And you can recall it all with ease. But as they say in the entrepreneurial world, a lot of success comes from first knowing your “why.” That’s why in this post I’m going to talk about the 5 biggest reasons entrepreneurs need memory techniques.   Don’t Discount Any Of These!   Each is important, and you’ll find that the Magnetic Memory Method covers each. https://youtu.be/AG0h6OI50Ig If you haven’t already taken the free course I’ve got for you, grab the memory kit by subscribing above and get ready for an amazing memory boost that will impressive the pants off you and everyone you know.   1. Not Being Able To Remember Numbers May Be Causing More Lost Revenue Than You Can Imagine   Numbers overload the average life lived in business: Conversion rates Tax percentages Statistical formulas Phone numbers Identification codes Dates and times … and many, many more. A huge part of the success of any entrepreneurial enterprise links directly with how well you can manage numbers like these. You can’t wring more profit out of numbers you haven’t remembered, after all. And you can’t even begin to understand math concepts you haven’t committed to memory. To get better at memorizing numbers, it’s important that you learn the Major Method (sometimes called The Major System).   What Is The Major Method?   It’s a way of quickly memorizing numbers by turning them into images. There are different ways of using the Major Method, but to get started, associate each number from 0-9 with a sound. Here’s what I use based on a standard approach popular around the world: 0 = soft c, s, z 1 = d or t 2 = n 3 = m 4 = r 5 = l 6 = ch, j, sh 7 = g, k 8 = f, v 9 = b, p But right now, you’re probably wondering …   How On Earth Am I Supposed To Remember All Of That?!?   It’s pretty easy – if you’re willing to experiment. I won’t give you an example for each number, but to get you started: For zero, you could see a giant snake hissing as it eats its own tail. The shape of a snake in a circle resembles the digit 0. The sound of hissing reminds you of the ’s’ and soft ‘c’ sound options. For nine, look closely: From one perspective, it’s like a ‘b’ standing on its head. From another perspective, it’s a golf club facing the wrong direction and driven down into the ground. Check out five. If you hold out your left hand and stick out your thumb, you’ll notice that you have five digits. The pointer finger and thumb make an L-shape.   Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!   Let’s put it all together. If you wanted to remember a number like 905, the Major Method gives you several options with these letter-sounds. You’d just need to pop in a few vowels so you can make a word. For example, 905 could be: Basel (the herb) or Brazil (the country on a map or the Terry Gilliam movie). 509 could be an image of yourself speaking with a lisp. 590 could be Jennifer Lopez. Make her leaping to compound the 5 and 9 and it’ll be even easier to remember. This Is Just The Beginning Of Remembering Numbers With Ease Give this memory technique a try. You’ll find that it does wonders for your memory improvement. And it’s fun to give your friends challenges, like Jonathan Levi and I have done. Even just a short run of numbers like the serial numbers on a dollar bill makes for great memory exercise in a restaurant. Just make sure that you’re not totally exhausted – and even then the techniques can still work wonders. Here’s the full story: https://youtu.be/SY_b168fWTM I can’t stress how important the ability to remember numbers is for an entrepreneur so please get busy and let me know how you fare.   2. A Simple Way To Remember Names That Works Even In The Noisiest Convention Halls And Business Meetings   As an entrepreneur, you meet a lot of people. And there’s nothing worse than forgetting someone’s name. It’s embarrassing. It’s crude. It’s unnecessary. To learn how to remember names, check out this Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and the accompanying illustrations. You’ll find it useful. In brief, all you need for getting started with remembering names is the ability to make associations. You can create your Magnetic associations in advance or on the fly. Let’s look at both options. I will ultimately suggest that you learn both … you’ll need them!   The Magnetic Memory Method Name Crib   Some people who use memory techniques create databanks of celebrities in their minds. That way, whenever they meet someone new, they can make instant associations. For example, I have Tom Cruise as my instant go-to name when I meet a new

You’ve heard about Mind Mapping and Memory Palaces, right? Well, if you’re anything like the hundreds of people who have emailed me about it, you’ve probably wondered … “Can I bring Mind Mapping and the Memory Palace together?” To help me answer the question, I asked the reigning World Mind Mapping champion Phil Chambers to talk about Mind Mapping and how to bring this creativity, memory and learning tool together with a Memory Palace. Turns out that we had a lot more than just that to talk about. Tune in to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and learn all about. How To Combine Mind Mapping And Memory Palaces With Phil Chambers ⊕ The techniques Phil uses in his personal daily memory practice. ⊕ How to capture and store ideas using memory techniques – even when you’re driving. ⊕ The number-rhyme technique to take action on to-do list items. (Not to be mistaken for the Major Method/Major System.) ⊕ The perfect Mind Mapping definition and where to learn more about mind mapping techniques ⊕ Why there are always new things to explore in the world of memory techniques. Once you start using them, you will never cap out on new angles to explore and increase your skills. ⊕ The difference between semantic memory and episode memory and how using the journey method capitalizes on the power of both. This is the most “natural” way to use your memory. Hanging out with Phil Chambers and Tony Buzan ⊕ The reasons why memory competition skills translate directly into every day memory needs we all face. ⊕ Why the principles behind Mind Mapping never changes, but Mind Mapping software continues bring new enhancements to the art and craft of this thinking, learning and planning tool. ⊕ Details on how to bring Mind Mapping together with the Memory Palace technique. ⊕ Why and how Mind Mapping uses all of the classic memory techniques. ⊕ The major criticism about memory techniques as regurgitation of knowledge and not learning – and why it’s misguided. ⊕ Why Phil’s title as a World Mind Mapping champion is up for grabs and exactly how to take his title. ⊕ The exact criteria by which world class Mind Mapping is judged. ⊕ Why you should never worry about your artistic ability when creating Mind Maps. ⊕ Phil’s Mind Mapping examples of how to schedule your week and get more done. ⊕ How Mind Mapping your daily schedule gives you many more details than a to-do list. Not only that, but you’ll often be able to double your efforts in ways you wouldn’t have otherwise seen on a page with linear notes. Further Resources   https://youtu.be/VW6O2okqmO4   Phil Chamber’s website (where you can subscribe to his newsletter!) Phil Chambers on Twitter Phil Chambers on YouTube Phil Chambers Talks About The Outer Limits Of Memory Skills https://youtu.be/LOKi8pe7C8M

Remember Joanna Jast and all those tips she gave you on how to improve focus and concentration while you work on memory improvement? Good news. Joanna’s back with a new book called Hack Your Habits and in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, we’ve got her here to talk about it. As always, I’ve got the interview transcript for you below and would love to hear your comments and questions in the discussion area below. Enjoy!   Why You Don’t Have To Have It All Mapped Out To Get A Handle On Your Habits   Anthony: You go into your personal story in the introduction. Why do you think you faced so many challenges and what was the turning point? Joanna Jast: It’s interesting you’re asking me this question. I actually thought about it the other day on my way to work. And – I don’t really have the answer. I suppose it’s the combination of many factors: my temperament – which is like emotional and behavioural building blocks for personality and to large extend is hardwired, inborn, so my temperament, my upbringing, the environment I grew up in, the challenges I faced in life and the solutions to those challenges I chose to follow etc. I haven’t got it all ‘mapped out’, but I think the key reasons why I’ve faced so many difficulties is my low threshold for boredom, poor ability to delay gratification, my self-compassion, which drives many of my willpower failures with: ‘But you deserve it, Joanna… you’ve had such a bad day’. The turning points? There have been quite a few. But if I was to choose the key turning points that led me to create my own system for building better habits, it would be the following three: The first one the day when my study routine was born. It was actually accidental – I wrote about it in my book Laser-Sharp Focus. It was the moment when I decided to stop trying to study in the evening, sitting on the sofa or on the bed and start doing it in the morning, at my desk. To cut a long story short, I suddenly realised not only how much more productive and effective my study sessions became, but also how much happier I became – with better grades, more energy and time to do other things in life. Now, 20 years later, looking back at what happened, I realise that back then I created a study routine, which over the years became my productivity and now writing routine that has transformed my life. My study routine happened to be one on those keystone habits – habits that create a ripple effect throughout our life, creating space and energy for more healthy habits to emerge and grow stronger, ultimately transforming our lives.   How The Secrets Of Behavioral Economics Can Improve Your Life   The second turning point was the day when I heard about Behavioural Economics for the first time. It was during a lecture on marketing. I went home, did more research, read books, articles, did a course and… fall in love with the approach. I thought this could be something that would work for me. So I started experimenting with various behavioural economics strategies. Initially, I applied them to sort out my finances – so paid off my debts and started saving money. Then, I started experimenting with my exercise routine and eating habits. And the third pivotal point was, when I refined my exercise routine, my running routine to incorporate all the lessons I’d learnt about human nature and my own difficulties in forming habits, and particularly – my previous failures in establishing a reliable exercise routine. I used many of the behavioural economics strategies I’d learn about when doing it. And now I’ve got a running routine, where I run 3 times per week, whether I feel motivated or not (and at least once a week I don’t feel motivated at all), whether is raining, or 100% humidity, or my foot is sore. I just do it.   The Truth About Your Age And Your Habits   Anthony: Is the problem of habits age specific? Does it apply to all ages equally? Joanna Jast: I don’t know, really. I think this is a problem of our times though – so this modern age. We become more aware of the role and the impact of habits, good and bad, on our health, happiness, success, on our lives, and also we realise that motivation and willpower have limits. And that’s why we think about our habits more, we become interested in strategies for improving them. You can say that ‘habits are in fashion these days’. And it’s nothing negative – on the contrary. I’m very happy to see that many people are turning away from relying on unreliable motivational strategies towards using more practical approaches to transforming their lives. So it’s not only scientists, or health and fitness fanatics who are exploring habits. Many people, of all ages, are seeking better understanding of habits, and their own habits in particular, to improve their health, happiness, wealth, relationships and many other aspects of their

2020 Update: If you’re American, here’s How to Memorize the Presidents. Life is good, isn’t it? You bet it is. But for some reason, when times get tough, without knowing a thing about the Prime Ministers of Canada, people around the world throw up their hands and say, “It’s time to head to the Great White North.” Here’s the thing: You’ll find some beautiful terrain and plenty of peace-loving citizens. But as a nation, we do not lack our own host of colorful characters. So if you’re coming over for a permanent BBQ in response to US election results or some dictator who’s been giving you the squeeze, it’s time to learn how to memorize the Prime Ministers of Canada. It’s important to know what you’re getting into, after all. 😉     Beginner’s Guide To Memorizing Any List   The first thing to understand when memorizing the names of the Canadian Prime Ministers is that you’re dealing with a list. We’re talking about discrete units of information. Like, Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891). The best way to rapidly memorize any list is to create a Memory Palace. All Memory Palace creation takes is a simple drawing and a list of your Magnetic Stations charted out in a strategic way. Creating an effective Memory Palace reduces your cognitive load to a bare minimum. That reduction forms a huge part of the secret behind how memory techniques like a Memory Palace work: You use a location you already know to place information you’ll Magnetically encode with imagery you already know onto a station so you can retrieve and decode what you want to know later. Curious about correct Memory Palace creation? Here’s a Memory Palace walkthrough based on a Memory Palace submitted by a Magnetic Memory Method student: https://youtu.be/jjV8CMiWCms If you need more guidance, here are an additional 5 Memory Palace Examples.   A Small Set Of Super Important Information   In this case, we have just 23 names for the Prime Ministers of Canada. When it comes to memorizing them, you have options. 1. You can create one Memory Palace with 23 Magnetic Stations exclusively for remembering them. 2. You can create two Memory Palaces with 12 Magnetic Stations each. In either case, you ‘ll ideally use Memory Palaces with more Magnetic Stations than you need so that you can use more than one station per name if needed. Or, if you’re already experienced with memory techniques, you can experiment with the Magnetic Memory Method “passing the baton” technique, which allows you to memorize more than one name per station. That’s for advanced memorizers, however, and even then, it’s good once in awhile to stick with the basics. And that’s ultimately what I recommend so that you can add the dates of the Prime Ministers later using the Magnetic Chaining memory technique.   The Art Of Embarrassing Politicians   Let’s assume you’ve got a Memory Palace with a bit more than 23 Magnetic Stations to give you wiggle room. Next, you need your list of information. The Wikipedia Prime Ministers of Canada page is as good as any. Whip that little darling open and look at the first name. The trick to memorizing anything is association, also called encoding. It’s easy, fun and with a bit of practice using special exercises I’ve created for you, unbelievably fast. John A. Macdonald, for example, brings to mind a picture of my friend and fellow mnemonist, John McPhedrine to mind. You’ve heard him on the show talking about memorizing German and music before. I see John at the first station of the Memory Palace I’ve created with a giant letter ‘A’ in his hands. He’s using this to smash my MACbook Pro, which is playing a video of Donald Trump singing “Old Macdonald Had A Farm.” Plus, as an advanced memorizer, I’ve got Trump’s hair as the tail of a dog swatting at a bat. Why? Because that additional imagery helps me remember the dates of this Canadian Prime Minister. How does that work? It sounds complex, but it’s actually simple: Using a special memory technique for memorizing numbers, 15 is “tail” and 91 is “bat.” I’ve got an entire course in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass about all the ways you can remember numbers, or you can just check out this post on the Major Method. It’s a great way to instantly memorize any number, and not just short ones like historical dates. The Prime Minister Who Built Walls You Can Be Proud Of   Wikipedia tells this story about Alexander Mackenzie: Once, while touring Fort Henry as prime minister, he asked the soldier accompanying him if he knew the thickness of the wall beside them. The embarrassed escort confessed that he didn’t and Mackenzie replied, “I do. It is five feet, ten inches. I know, because I built it myself!&#82

Studying about boring topics you don’t give a hoot about sucks, right? Especially when you’re in a rush. And especially when all you want is the grade, the certification, the knowledge. Well, I can’t make any promises, but there might be a way to help make any topic much more interesting to you. At the very least, we can remove the sting of boredom. At best, we can make any topic we want 100% Magnetic. 1. Warning Signs That Your Mindset Is Off I know, I know. You’re tired of hearing about mindset. But let’s face it. We have minds. Every day we wake up with more or less the same world outside the window. Just like we have to make our beds so that the sheets won’t be sprawled all over the place, we have to set up our minds for success. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? Lots of people are happy to leave their beds messy all day long and then crawl into the unkempt mess at night. It’s cold because the mattress has been exposed and probably a bunch of insects have settled into the dune-like patterns. Sure, you might fall asleep okay, but there’s nothing like slipping into a made bed. You know it’s true. It’s The Same Thing With Your Mind! Sure thing, you can get through life without setting up your mind for success, but it will be cold and exposed to the elements. The bugs will crawl in and lay their eggs, and you’ll never get the warmth you deserve. But take just a few moments to tidy up and you’ll reduce the suffering that comes from studying things you don’t like. Because that’s just the thing: A lack of mindset is probably the thing that got you into a position where you’re studying things you’re not passionate about in the first place. You’re probably studying material that produces no great excitement because you’re chasing after hopes and beliefs and dreams and wishes – not what you really want. How To Set A Powerful Mindset For Learning Whether you’re trapped or not, the process works the same. The best way to get your mindset in order is to set it each and every morning. As I talked about in the Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, having morning rituals is a killer way to conquer the day. When it comes to creating a mindset for making the material you’re studying vibrant and exciting, all you have to do is write down in a journal how exciting it is to be studying and how grateful you are to have the opportunity. And it’s true: Not everyone has the learning opportunities you do. A massive percentage of people in the world don’t have access to the Internet, schools, books or anything even remotely related to helping them develop their knowledge. But you … You’ve Got Everything You Need So take a moment every day to recognize what an amazing opportunity you have. If that isn’t a recipe for injecting excitement into a boring topic … I don’t know what is. If all else fails, here’s what to do if you or someone you love is considering not completing their high school diploma. They may have already left school, but it’s not too late to go back. I dropped out of high school myself for awhile, but I’m so glad I returned. Best decision of my life. 2. Be An Info-Completionist Okay, so now that you’re plump with self-hypnosis induced excitement for the privilege of study, you still have to sit down and learn the stuff. The question is … How? A lot of people ask me how I manage to read so much, and the answer is simple: Get a book. Find a place to sit. Read the book. Repeat until you’re done. I don’t say that to be flippant, but it’s the truth. If you’re trying to read in a place filled with distractions or on a device that encourages you to skip from tab to tab and answer notifications … Stop Trying To Read Like That! Seriously. It’s not a recipe for success. Plus, you want to read in a way that helps you isolate the information you want to memorize. I have two posts with podcasts and videos that show you how to realistically memorize a textbook. Just check out the video for now: https://youtu.be/h0nRcFFn680 If you want more information, listen to How to Memorize A Textbook and study the infographic. True, my approach to realistically memorizing textbooks involves a bit of setup, but people who give it a try usually find that the process makes reading and remembering the key points of even the most difficult books much easier. The best part: By having a dedicated strategy for reading books, you make it a lot more fun. Like having a mindset, having a process you can follow without having to think about it makes everything more fun and interesting. Having operating principles and guidelines reduces cognitive load, and like Tony Buzan said when I studied with him, the rules set you free. 3. Look For The Parts That Do Interest You   One thing that you’ll learn from my training on (reasonable) textbook memorization is how to skip the parts that don’t interest you. No, you can’t always do this. There are times when you have to sl

Want to improve your ability to use memory techniques almost overnight? I promise it’s super-easy. All you need is the willingness to support your nearest art gallery and your awareness of the following 17 reasons going to an art gallery is good for your memory. 1. Art Inspires Your Visual Imagination   When you’re using memory techniques, you draw upon visual imagination. Even if you’re only using words in your mind when developing mnemonics, you’re using visual words. The more visual iconography you’ve seen in your life, the more potency the visual words you use will hold. Exposure equals experience. Experience leads to substance. When you use the words “run,” “hit” or any other verb, the more art you’ve seen, the great depth of meaning these words will have.   2. Art Depicts Words Used In Visual Ways   If you’ve been to an art gallery lately, you’ve undoubtedly seen how modern artists use words. Pop artists use comic strips. Futurists made a big deal out of typefaces. You don’t even have to enter an art gallery to see words used in graffiti on nearly every street in your city. Looking at art and paying attention to how artists use words is especially great for inspiring how you can use your visual imagination to memorize foreign language vocabulary and phrases. Next time you’re in an art gallery, pay particular attention to how words appear in the exhibits. 3. Art Helps You Make Mental Connections Between Space And Material Objects   Looking at art is never just about “looking.” As your eyes meet the graphic displays, ideas emerge. In fact, “art” happens the moment that you start thinking about what you’re looking at or noticing your emotional responses. You can become conscious of what you’re thinking and feeling and use your awareness to become more visual. Reflect on how the visual experience has triggered your thoughts and responses. Also, journal what you’ve thought while at the gallery. By writing down your responses, you access your memory. Accessing your memory exercises your mind, which helps keep it fit. 4. Visiting Art Galleries Makes You Aware Of World Geography   It’s not just that art often depicts different parts of the world. Art galleries also exhibit art by international artists. Pay attention to the international names and locations of where the art originates. This will exercise your geographical imagination and give you more facts to remember. It’s also great memory exercise to remember the names of the artists you see and include their home countries. For bonus points, you can also use the Major Method to add the dates of their lives and when they created the pieces you’re admiring. The more experienced you become with memory techniques, the more information you can memorize at a single go. Plus, the location of the art itself within the gallery amounts to a Memory Palace station. Using the location gives you great practice at using your spatial memory in addition to all the other tools mnemonics draw upon, such as association, semantic memory, episodic memory and the like.   5. Art Galleries Are Depositories Of History   Yes, you can memorize the raw data of dates when going to an art gallery. But you also expose your memory to information about historical periods. Artists love to reference other eras and historical events. Some artists have even made careers out of referencing history. Fluency in art equals fluency in history, which is always good for your memory.   6. Art Galleries Exercise Your Ability To Create Meaning   Let’s face it: A lot of art doesn’t make much sense. At least, that’s until you give it some thought and learn about how to interpret art. Believe me. Interpretation matters. After all, a huge part of art interpretation is creating meaning. To have created meaning, you have to remember the meaning you created. Ergo, going to art galleries and interpreting what you see is good for your memory. And if you’re practicing memory techniques, handling abstract ideas your mind is perfect for practicing the art of remembering challenging and abstract ideas. Art history is loaded with them.   7. Art Galleries Give You The Experience Of Puzzlement   Being puzzled by something is different than having to create meaning. To be puzzled, after all, you must have already understood something. Two (or more) things are separated and you know they go together … You just have to figure out how. Visiting art galleries gives you that experience and to fit the pieces together, you need to hold them in memory. The benefits of being puzzled are massive because it always exercises your memory as you work things out. Even if you give up before you’re satisfied, your memory abilities will have grown.   8. Art Galleries Create Enigmas That Carry On Throughout Life   Looking at art not only forces you to create meaning and solve puzzles. It also creates unsolvable mysteries that you will carry throughout your life. Take “The P

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could create a Memory Palace on the go? This goal is quite different from traditional Memory Palace development – the kind where you build Memory Palaces for learning languages, passing exams or beefing up on your historical knowledge. When it comes to spontaneously developing this ancient mnemonic tool… I’m talking about rapidly developing a responsive mnemonic tool that lets you hear a word or phrase and instantly learn, remember and then recall it forever just by thinking of that place. Here’s the good news: Making a Memory Palace “on the go” is fun and easy to do. You just need to know the principles of the Magnetic Memory Method. If that sounds good to you, let me take you on the road with me. On this page, I’ll show you exactly how I create impromptu Memory Palaces on the go in a variety of locations and situations. How to Create An Impromptu Memory Palace In A Restaurant Or At An Event (A Case Study) You can build a Memory Palace in a restaurant, just as I discussed in this video shot in Berlin: https://youtu.be/LVdurlibnhs Step One: Quickly Assess The Plan Of The Location When creating a Memory Palace on the fly, you can’t afford to make the kind of Memory Palace drawing I normally advise. These Memory Palace examples show you what I mean in detail, in case you’ve never used the Memory Palace drawing approach before. Instead of making a quick sketch, or trying to find a Memory Palace by drawing on both your autobiographical memory and semantic memory, sometimes you need to develop Memory Palaces wherever you happen to be. To do this, I suggest you simple glance quickly around the location. Then, formulate a plan for how you’re going to use the space based on linear logic. In locations like restaurants, I suggest you pay close attention to the walls and corners only. Establish these as you loci and design a linear journey that you will follow strictly. When I was in this particular restaurant, as my wife threw out new words at me to memorize, I simply placed associations in the simplest and clearest possible stations in the spontaneously created Memory Palace. Step Two: Lay Out Associations On A Station-By-Station Basis There’s no time to be creative. You also can’t spend time on making complicated decisions in an impromptu Memory Palace. For example, I used to frequently give memory demonstrations in office meeting rooms like this: Having never seen the room until I stepped into it to demonstrate how easy it is to remember names, the stations I assigned simply follow where the people at the meeting were sitting. For example: Haley is station one Allen is station two Sharon is station three Edward is staton four Nick is station five Etc. In this case, where the people were sitting aligned perfectly with the walls. So it was easy to assign mnemonic images to each person based on their location in the room. For Haley, the associative image was Halley’s comet. For Allen, I thought of an Allen Key, and so on. In this particular case, I also used the linking method at the same time as the Memory Palace technique. It’s not just that Halley’s comet helps me remember the name of the person at the first station of the Memory Palace. I have this idea interact with the Allen Key. To a certain extent, the story method is involved here as well. The difference between using stories and linking is kind of splitting hairs in my view, but here’s the important point: Whether you call it linking or the story method, you’re using the techniques inside of a Memory Palace. And any location can serve as a Memory Palace within seconds. Just follow the linear nature of the location for best results. Step Three: Be Flexible When Challenges Arise Sometimes you need to create a spontaneous Memory Palace when there are no buildings in sight. Using forests or parks as Memory Palaces is definitely more challenging than using a restaurant or meeting room. This is because the space is not as clearly defined. However, I’ve used outdoor options often enough to learn a few tricks, so here are some basic tactics for your consideration. I use 秋天 qiūtiān (Mandarin Chinese for “autumn”) in the following video tutorial as an example. https://youtu.be/XpZHPG3KrhM Although I struggled with the pronunciation at the beginning of this video (and even experienced a few rare seconds of frustration), the core memory technique set the stage for success. I still remember all of the seasons in Mandarin to this day. Step Four: Look For Solid Loci Even In Unstable Locations As you’ve seen, walking through a Berlin park with April, 秋天 came up. My eyes instantly searched for a place to create and secure a mnemonic image. But not just any place. The most solid places possible within the park. If you’re familiar with the method of loci, then you know just how essential this principle is for the ser

Are you interested in learning how to learn at a higher level? I’m talking about mastering math, sailing through high-pressure exams and making the most of your study time. Every time you sit down to learn. If knowing how to do that sparks your interest, in this special interview, bestselling author and world famous video professor Barbara Oakley shares her best study and memory tips. Plus, as the author of some interesting works on human nature, you’ll discover some of Barbara’s most powerful insights about altruism and memory that you won’t soon forget. You can read the transcript in full below. Plus, please be sure register for the next free session of Barbara’s popular course, Learning How To Learn and make sure to follow her on Amazon for the latest news about her incredible books. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAg7eN2SatI   How A Former Math Flunky Changed Her Brain And Created A Mind For Numbers   Anthony: Barbara, thank you so much for being on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. One of the things that I wanted to begin with was your first memory of being interested in learning as a topic, as a subject, even at a meta level where you’re aware of this as being a concern, an issue, and something that you can optimize. Barbara: Oh, it’s funny because I think there are two kinds of people who are teachers. There are people who are teachers because they really love teaching. There are people who are teachers who really hate teaching. They’re very shy about getting in front of a bunch of people, and they only do it because they feel it’s so important to communicate what they’re trying to communicate. I fall more or less into the latter category. I never envisioned myself becoming a teacher or learning about learning or anything of that nature at all. It wasn’t until I was probably, well, about five years ago, four years ago, something like that, one of my students asked me. He found out that I had been a formal math flunky. I had flunked my way through elementary, middle and high school math and science. Which is really kind of ironic since I’m now a professor of engineering. He asked me, “How did you do it? How did you change your brain?” I wrote him a little a page of information about how I had been a linguist in the Army. I’ve always loved languages and that’s all I thought I could ever do. How did I gradually shift? Well, not so gradually but with a lot of work, to being able to assimilate and master math and science. I wrote him this email, and then I thought well, you know, how did I really do that? That’s a very good question. I started looking more deeply into it. A Mind for Numbers grew out of that. I thought, oh you know that’s a very straightforward thing, I’ll just kind of put together some of the good insightful research and talk a little bit about that. Of course, it was far more intensive than I ever might have dreamed.   The Biggest And Best Permission You Can Give Yourself As A Learner   I think it was just such an interesting experience to realize that I’d never really thought about learning even though I remember when I was growing up. I was like man, you know, isn’t there an easier way to learn these things because I do these stupid things like reread a page over and over and over again. Then finally I would flip the page and there the answer would be. If I had just turned the page earlier, I would have kind of figured it out. https://youtu.be/O96fE1E-rf8 Anyway, I backed into it I think. But, I do notice that when I’m in front of my classes. I think because I’m very empathetic, I’m always looking at them and going you know they didn’t get that. I know they didn’t get that even though I explained it very clearly. A lot of learning is just growing out of wondering about how other people learn. Anthony: That’s very interesting. I think so many people they wind up getting into teaching as an art itself by having that experience of being asked how did you learn that and coming from a space where they weren’t masters of something first, or that not even close to mastery, but actually flunking in that area. I wonder what lessons you might give to someone in sort of number one thing you have to realize if you’re failing right now in something like math, that someone struggling with could see that turn around perhaps in the future. Barbara: Probably the biggest thing that if I had known back in the day when I was trying to retool my brain and actually learn math and science, and even before when I was just plain flunking it, the biggest thing that I could have done was to realize that it is quite all right to not understand something the first time you see it. I always thought I must be an idiot because these other people are all understanding what’s going on and clearly I’m not. I’m just really slow. It i

A lack of memory training plagues every nation. It’s true. And as far as I know, only Tibet has ever included dedicated memory training in its educational programming. The consequence of this lack of attention to providing young people with memory techniques that will improve their lives? We all experience unnecessary pain and frustration thanks to forgetting precious information.   But That’s Not The Biggest Problem For Seekers Of Real Memory Training!   The biggest problem is that we don’t always recognize the signs related to our memory problems. Without that critical insight, we can’t make proper decisions about undertaking memory training. (Worse, you might wind up wasting time on memory training software that you really don’t need if you have a solid understanding of mnemonics and other memory techniques.) Here’s the good news: I know the signs that you need memory training. And I have the solutions, none of which involve wasting time on tedious memory training games or the fraud of photographic memory training. Interested? Let’s go through each of the 9 signs you need memory training in detail so you have a better grip and know exactly what to do. You’ll find a tip included with each sign that will help ease each problem. Work on improving just one issue per month and well within a year, you will be the owner of a superior memory you’re proud to call home.   Sign You Need Memory Training #1: You Can’t Remember Names   You know the scene: Two seconds after hearing someone’s name and shaking hands, you’re looking into the eyes of a stranger. And now instead of paying attention to the conversation, you’re paddling around the pond of your mind … “Was his name Ross … or Roger … or Tom?” The feeling is tiring and exasperating. Most of us have grown so accustomed to it that we laugh off our forgetfulness instead of getting memory training to take care of the problem. A simple mnemonic image – or “Magnetic Image” – I used to memorize the name Lars at a business event. You can do something like this with every piece of information you encounter. The fix is simple: Learn and practice the simple art of association using mnemonic images. When you meet someone named Lars, instantly see Lars Ulrich from Metallica drumming on the top of their head with drumsticks made of “lar”d. If you meet a Betty, see Betty Crocker pouring flour into her ear while midgets “bet” on how Betty is going to react. The associations don’t have to be celebrities. One John you already know can help you remember the name of another. Associations are just the beginning of memory training for how to remember names, a quick tip that will serve you well. There are other memory techniques you can use to memorize names for which you have no immediate association. Here’s a simple process: Quick Memory Training Steps For Memorizing Names (N.A.M.E.): Notice the name Associate a mental image or total match with the name Memory Palace – locate the image or association you make using the Method of Loci Express the name by mentally and verbally repeating But the number one memory technique you need to memorize names? Train yourself to pay attention. That way, when you hear people announce their names, you’ll actually capture the information.   Sign You Need Memory Training #2: Your Mind Goes Blank During Exams   Stress and pressure cause havoc on memory. The higher the stakes, the more we quake in our boots, especially after weeks of diligent study during which we’ve dreamed of a great post-exam future. In addition to taking basic memory training based on the principle of association, you can add relaxation to your memory exercise. A lot of people skip this step in memory training (assuming it was included at all), but relaxation is one of the most critical tools in remembering. Meditation before studying, including progressive muscle relaxation, can be repeated before sitting for your exam. Reproducing the same calm physical state will help your memory in exams a great deal because you will have reduced fight-or-flight syndrome. In some cases, you can also get access to the examination room and study in it. That way you’ll be entering a familiar environment. And as Scott Gosnell talks about in this interview about mnemonist Giordano Bruno and memory techniques, you can even use that room as a Memory Palace. Here are another bunch of great places to study as well. Put relaxation and a Memory Palace together as part of your memory training profile and you’ll never need to sweat through an exam again. And here’s more info on avoiding 17 other student fails related to your memory. I got you covered. Ultimately, the memory training students need requires a solid understanding of spaced repetition. With that in tow, you’ll use flashc

Can You Improve Your Memory At Any Age?   The answer is a resounding “Yes!” and Brad Zupp’s story proves it! In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Brad Zupp joins us to talk about everything from language learning and memory techniques to the philosophy of education. Brad Zupp is a wealth of information about memory, so after downloading the MP3 and reading or downloading the transcript, be sure to check out the fascinating memory improvement articles on his blog. One of the things that makes Brad so unique in the memory field is his candid revelations about using memory techniques as he ages. As you start opening multiple tabs and start absorbing all of this memory-boosting information, you can also follow Brad Zupp on Twitter and follow his author page on Amazon to be notified when the new books he mentioned on this interview appear. I’m all hooked up and as a serious student of memory improvement, you should be too. Enjoy this episode with the stellar memory athlete and educator Brad Zupp and be sure to say hello in the comments below! 🙂   Will Unlocking Your Memory Begin With Names?   Anthony: Brad, thank you so much for being on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. As you know, I was really enthusiastic about your book, which is incredible. It is called Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grade 5 to 8 How To Remember Better And Make School Easier. I reviewed it. You were kind enough to follow up on that with this interview. So thank you for being here. Brad: Thank you. It’s my pleasure. I really appreciate both the chance to talk about memory improvement and the kind review of my book. Anthony: For people who aren’t familiar with Unlock Your Amazing Memory yet, tell us a little bit about your story. Maybe, what’s your first memory about being interested in memory? Brad: The first memory about being interested in memory was when I was myself in about the fourth or fifth grade I was horrible at numbers and names. Names were not helped in that we moved a lot. My dad was an executive in a company. He was he was a fixer. He was someone that they’d say well that division or that office branch is having trouble. We need someone to go fix it, so my dad would get tapped for that. So we moved a lot. I remember third grade I guess was the first time it really came to me that memory is important. It was the end of the school year, and I gone to that school for the first time in the fall. The third grade, it was at the end of the school year though the teacher asked me to hand out papers on Friday. We must have written some type of paper or book report or something.   The One Memory Problem That “Freezes” Just About Everyone   She said, “Okay, Brad, you can hand out papers this week.” I just froze because I knew I didn’t know everybody’s names in class. Now as adults, we introduce each other to each other or introduce ourselves to each other. Kids don’t do that. Kids will come up and say, “Hi, my name is Sally.” So part of it was I had never met people. But I had a horrible memory with names and with numbers. I was up at the front of the class and I had the papers. I was going, “Oh, Sally you got a B. Way to go.” You know, kind of looking up with my eyes to see who of the girls in the class was going, “Oh, I got a B,” Because that’s how I knew it was Sally. I didn’t know people’s names. That continued all my life. Numbers, I was always bad at math in large part because I couldn’t remember numbers. I could do the calculations. But if it any of it involved storing a number in my head to add it or anything, I couldn’t retain that number long enough to do the second step of the calculation. If I could write the first part down or use my fingers, I was fine. The calculations weren’t the problem. It was remembering numbers was the problem. There was no solution for me back then. That’s in part one of the reasons I wrote the book I did first instead of writing a book for adults first is that there’s a lot of kids like that. They can’t remember something. Maybe they’re good with math, but they can’t remember the spelling of their vocabulary words, or they’re great with spelling but they, for whatever reason, cannot remember numbers like me. That’s why I wrote the book. That’s my first memory.   How Do Kids Deal With Memory Problems?   Anthony: This is fascinating. I wonder how do you think that kids enunciate their frustration with their memory, because you know you were aware of it and that’s quite an early memory, but to what extent do you observe that young kids are aware of that as being a memory problem and how do they express it? Brad: Back when I was experiencing that, there wasn’t really a way to express it. I mean I didn’t

If You Don’t Know Tony Buzan And His Mind Map Technique, Here’s How To Learn Faster and Remember Everything! Actually, it’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of Tony Buzan before. But even if you’ve never heard of Tony Buzan, this fact is almost certainly true: Your life has been touched by someone whose creativity and intelligence was revived by the ideas, processes and incredible inspiration found only in the Buzan troposphere, stratosphere and infinite universe of imagination and inventiveness beyond. Either way, today’s your lucky day, because you’re about to learn: How Tony Buzan transformed himself from thinking he was stupid to knowing he is extraordinary. (You’ll be modeling this simple tactic before you know it.) How to create an imagination so valuable that you would never sell it – not even for a trillion dollars! How to use your mind to deal with the dark times. No matter how deep the valleys go, with Tony Buzan’s approach, they still can be fascinating and even fun. … and much, much more. In this interview, Tony Buzan also reveals one of his personal heroes and gives clues on how to maximize the power of your own. We talk about threats to the future and exactly how you are already equipped to deal with anything and everything that could ever come your way. 2019 update: Tony has since released a new book called Mind Map Mastery. I’ve reviewed this incredible mind mapping book in full on both the blog and podcast. For now, be sure to download the MP3 of this interview with Tony to your desktop and revisit this episode often. You can also download a PDF of the transcript and go over it using the same speed reading skills you’ve learned from the master himself. I recommend that you print out a copy and share it with your friends. And as you do, be sure to visit Tony Buzan on Twitter, Amazon and check out the World Memory Championships homepage for details of this years event and all of the incredible records over the past 25 years. Plus, don’t forget World Mind Mapping Day. Here’s a beautiful and amazing mind map about it created by Phil Chambers: Tony Buzan On The Paradise Of Multiple Intelligences Anthony: Tony, thank you so much for being on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. It’s been in the making for a while. I’m really excited, actually, that we have done it after I had a chance to meet you and attend one of your trainings, which was so pivotal for me even after some time in the world of memory training. It was just a delight and an honor to learn from you directly. So thank you for being here. Tony: Well, thank you for being on my course, and thank you for having read so many of my books. Thank you for being such a good beacon really for other people who need to follow the development of their own mental literacy and the empowerment of their memories, their mind mapping skills, their reading, speed reading, their study skills, and their mind-body coordination. You are a lovely example. Anthony: Well thank you very saying that. It kind of circles back to you, because I remember in high school first just being fascinated by your name and the covers of your book, and they’re really adventures to get into once you’re in there. They are so unique because of that. I know that there are ideas behind how you even design your books to make them feel that way. It’s just amazing how the world works and how fate puts you in certain places.   “I trained myself very cleverly to become stupid, and I was very successful.”   Tony: It does doesn’t it. It’s almost odd that when I was in school I didn’t like schoolwork. I didn’t like homework. I didn’t like taking notes. I didn’t like studying. So you would think that the person who has written books on studying and thinking would have loved it, but he didn’t. That is actually the beginning of my journey, because I had begun to realize that the way that I was being taught in my school, like in many other hundreds of thousands of schools, I was being taught in a way that turned me off my brain, tuned my brain out. I tuned it out very well. I trained myself very cleverly to become stupid, and I was very successful. Anthony: Talk about that. What do you define as stupid and how did that feel? Tony: I think probably stupid, which is a word that ideally should not need to be used anywhere, means being unable to use the natural skills and intelligences with which the brain is gifted. We are, i.e., we humans are astonishingly brilliant, beautifully multiply intelligent. When the brain is given misinformation, because it learns so fast and when it believes people who tell it what it is, when they are told things that are wrong and they believe them, then they train themselves to become less intelligent. I did that brilliantly.   The Only Stupid Thought Tony Buzan Has Ever Had  

You’ve heard people throw the word serotonin around, right? But do you know what serotonin is and how it connects with the quality of your memory? Well, if you want to experience a better life, it’s time to pay attention. Serotonin is not only essential to having healthy memory abilities. It also helps you feel good, sleep better and works magic on your mood when you’re feeling down. In fact, as a neurotransmitter derived from tryptophan …   Serotonin May Be The Most Important Anti-Depressant In The World!   Actually, there’s a lot of controversy about whether or not serotonin levels create depression. It’s only known that many people with depression show low levels of this chemical. But here’s the real question: How can you actually use the information you’re about to read? Easy: If you can get your serotonin in order, you’ll not only feel better, but you might not need SSRIs and whatever other pills you’ve been taking to regulate your mood. I’ve taken a lot of those pills myself, and although none of what you’ll read in this post should be taken as medical advice … I can’t emphasize this enough: Healthy Serotonin Levels = Better Learning And Memory Why? Because there are seven distinct receptors with different densities. When things get messed up with your serotonin, you’re much more likely to experience the aging of your memory and fall into risk for Alzheimer’s and other issues. In order to understand exactly how serotonin is connected with how memory works, we need to look at how it interacts with other neurotransmitters. These include: Acetylcholine Dopamine Glutamate y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) Basically, all of these elements hang together and require precious balancing in order for you to be able to learn and remember. When it comes to serotonin, scientists have found that by using serotonin reuptake inhibitors like alaproclate and oxotremorine, they can improve memory retrieval. Moreover, scientists believe that with more research, we’ll be able to use related chemicals to suppress the retrieval of addiction-primed memories. Sounds Like A Mouthful, Right? It’s actually easy to understand: When it becomes possible to treat addiction-associated memories, the hope is that drug addicts will experience decreased cravings. That means fewer destructive behaviors to themselves and others in society. The reason serotonin plays such a huge role in this area of memory is that its connection to different receptors involve reward-based learning, something that can be helpful, so long as negative drugs like tobacco aren’t involved. (By the way, stop smoking.) But it’s not just all about addiction memory. Serotonin is also involved in: Boosting Spatial Memory If your serotonin levels are in check, you have much better chances of remembering locations and the relative distance between objects. Experiencing this kind of boost means that you can use a new place you visit as a Memory Palace with greater ease. You’ll likely also be more receptive to possible locations you can use because research shows that reasonable doses of sunlight boost serotonin. Read Sunlight Brightens Learning and Memory for all the details. I find this point especially important because many people tell me they can’t think of enough Memory Palaces to get success with memory techniques. However, as I’ve shown in my training on how to get rid of brain fog, merely getting outside makes you more attentive. That’s thanks in part to increased serotonin, which will help you put my mega-list of Memory Palace ideas to work in your learning life. Mastering Emotional Memory It’s well known that we tend to remember things with greater accuracy and vividness when emotions are involved. But if you’re low on serotonin, you might not be experiencing emotions properly. Lower emotional capacity also means that you may not be paying attention properly. You cannot encode information into memory that you haven’t registered either in part or whole. This explains why depression and other mental illnesses are so devastating for memory, especially since emotions are often so short-lived. Luckily, however, we can generate emotions at will. By using mnemonics, we can supercharge every piece of information we meet so that it is more memorable. But it sure helps if we have healthy serotonin levels. You Can Forget About Fearful Memory Fear can either create new memories or inhibit their formation. Either way, if your serotonin is out of whack, your brain can’t properly manage fear to any advantage. Having your serotonin out of balance leads to memory errors and contributes to the fearful part of depression. With certain mental illness, for example, you can learn to be afraid when there’s nothing fearful in the environment. Proper serotonin levels can correct this problem. But … What Exactly Does Serotonin Do? Research shows that serotonin influences memory by increasing the ability of different neurons to get excited by

  Do You Know Your Learning Duties And Obligations?   Put some thought into that question. It could well change our entire life. Because, yes. YOU are obliged to learn. And even though learning takes time, energy and can even cost a bundle of bones you’ll never see again …   You Cannot Lose When You Learn The Right Ways https://youtu.be/8RnfK-DqAhc Download the MP3 of this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and have a blast reading the transcript below. And if you’ve got something to say, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below! Anthony: This is Anthony Metivier. You’re listening to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, coming to you live from Tel Aviv with my good friend Jonathan Levi. Jonathan has been on the show many, many times before. You know him from SuperLearner. This is a universe where you can learn how to learn faster with greater comprehension, greater memory of what it is that you want to learn. Every time that we speak, he’s been on the Magnetic Memory Podcast so many times, it’s just absolutely incredible what I learn. It is incredible what you can learn from Jonathan Levi. We’re going to freewheel it a little bit. We’ve got some background noise and so on. But it would be a lost opportunity if we didn’t just jump on the fact that we’re together hanging out in Tel Aviv and have a talk about how you can learn and memorize more information, do so in a way that feels great, is a load of fun, reduces stress from your life and just makes everything better so that you can make the world better, which is what this is all about really. What would you say to that? Jonathan: Yeah, I would say that I really like – I was actually editing a video today from the last time that you were in Tel Aviv and it resonated. You said something that I often say, and I think a lot of people in our very fortunate position to help people and educate people for a living often say. I think Tony Robbins says it a lot as well. He says you have a unique gift and it is your duty and obligation (we say it in Branding You), it is your duty and obligation to figure out what that gift is a soon as possible and then arm yourself with the tools that allow you to deliver that gift. I think the sooner you do that the more quickly you realize your potential in life then you realize your purpose. I mean it ties all the way back to Viktor Frankl. Like all you need in life to be happy is a purpose, a worthwhile purpose, and then that just sets your trajectory in life of what you’re going to do, skills you’re going to acquire, the things are going to learn about, the people you’re going to be with, it all comes from that purpose. Anthony: So then riddle me this, if I can quote the old Batman movie. Why is it that some of us know our purpose and some don’t? For those of us that do, what’s like an example from your own life that got you to know your purpose, and how did you take that knowledge of knowing your purpose and turn it essentially into a self-sustaining engine that just drives you towards doing what you’ve accomplished? It’s the fire that burns itself, or you know the burning bush. We’re here in the land the burning bush. Jonathan: We are in the land of the burning bush. Anthony: How does that work? Why You Need To Seek If You Want To Find   Jonathan: That’s a tough question. Why do some people know and some people not know? I think the first question is why do some people seek and some people do not seek? I think a lot of people go through their lives not seeking more. I call it the prefix approach when what you really want is the a la carte approach to life. I think in order to really be seeking and searching for your purpose, your mission in life, you have to take the approach that my life is a la carte in the sense that I can pick and choose from certain things. I can pick and choose if I want to have kids. I can pick and choose if I want to work in an office. I can pick and choose and so on. I think that’s a big component of why people struggle to find their purpose.   Why The Cost Of Stability May Be Killing You   But I think the other thing is we somehow along the way through the industrial era have kind of all settled on this stability over excitement mentality. A lot of parents raise their kids go get an education, get a good stable job, and that’s wonderful. Stability is great especially if you’re raising a family, but I think we need to get over this mentality that stability comes at the expense of excitement. You can have both. I know a lot of people who have super stable jobs, who are working at a very stable corporate job, and they’re doing their life’s purpose. They’re really excited about what they’re doing. So I reject the idea that you have to give up on a purpose and just go to a 9:00 to 5:00 that you hat

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could look at a piece of music once, instantly memorize the notes and then immediately start drilling it into muscle memory? The time you’d save using music mnemonics would be immense, and you’d experience much more pleasure learning music as a result. Here’s the thing:   You Absolutely Can Memorize Music!   But there’s a catch. What I’m about to share is largely untested. I’ve completed some promising experiments, but haven’t completed the full Memory Palace for any single instrument. That means I haven’t used the approach I’ll describe for you to its fullest potential. UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, I have made great strides. Here’s a run down of where things currently stand with how to memorize notes on a guitar: https://youtu.be/5A_Q5LZmcMQ I’ve also finally gotten around to sharing how I memorized the circle of fifths. Bottom line: I will continue exploring every nook and cranny of using mnemonics to remember music. And when I’m satisfied, I’ll make a course about how you can use the method too. In the meantime, the concepts are far too exciting not to share. They’re also so logical, coherent and mnemonically beautiful. It will be impossible for you not to grow in memory and mind if you choose to tinker with them. And who knows? You might come up with a cool variation that winds up in the forthcoming book and video course. For now, here are the most important things to consider if you want to learn music using memory techniques.   Music Mnemonics: The Ground Rules   First off, we need to establish some ground rules and guiding principles for music mnemonics. When talking about memorizing music, we need to be specific about what kind of music and for what instrument. Or, we need to focus on particular parts of music theory. To just throw around the term “music mnemonics” risks confusing everyone. If we’re talking about musical terminology, that’s easy. Just treat the terms like you would any professional material, like you would using the second edition of How to Learn and Memorize Legal Terminology. Since numbers might be involved, go in prepared with the Major Method. If you want to memorize notes on the staff, there are already well-established mnemonics for that. I don’t have much to add when it comes to Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge for the treble stave and FACE for the notes between the lines. You can find lots more mnemonics for music like these all over the net, but in truth …   You’re Always Better Coming Up With Your Own Music Mnemonics   Why does this matter? Because you’re on the Magnetic Memory Method website to master music mnemonics and other memory techniques. Not goof around with yet another crutch of limited, short-term value. You’re here to learn skills that will serve you for life and that means learning to make music mnemonics of your own. Here’s how a thorough reading and re-reading of this material will help: What I’m going to cover in this post is the memorization of the notes on the fretboard of stringed instruments like the guitar and the keys of a piano. This material is a demonstration of what is possible if you combine a number of Magnetic Memory Method elements and see your instrument as its own kind of Memory Palace. To accomplish this, we need to know how to use instruments like guitars and pianos in terms of what note falls on which spatial position. I’ll make a few suggestions about chords, but beyond that, I cannot currently say much. There are a lot of aspects to music and what I’ve got for you is just a piece of the puzzle.   But Oh What A Piece!   Let’s look at guitar first. For some much earlier writing I put out on the topic, you might want to start with Memorize Bach On Bass. Or, just dive in. https://youtu.be/N6iHzX_YH6E The fretboard of the guitar is a field that can be expressed using coordinates. In this way, the fretboard shares characteristics with the chess board (something I believe this approach will also help with when it comes to memorizing chess moves). For example, E appears several times in the fretboard. A string, 7th fret D string, 2nd fret E string, 12th fret There are several more appearances, including the open string noted and 12th fret positions on the E strings themselves. If we say that each open note is represented by 0, as it is in guitar tablature, then we can agree that each note has a numerically expressible geographical coordinates. This May Be The Simplest Unused Technique In All Of Music Learning   Next, let’s try and make each string more concrete. For example, I play primarily 5-string bass, so my strings all have an associated character: B = Bob (Played by Bill Murray in What About Bob?) E = Ernie from Sesame Street A = Al Pacino D = Dracula (As played by Bela Lugosi

Do adult coloring books really help you relax and fulfil other claims people make about their value? For example, some people claim that this simple activity reduces anxiety. Naturally, as a researcher working on claims like this, I was immediately interested. I got a lot more than I bargained for when I started combining primary and secondary research. Because what I discovered is that coloring books designed for an older audience certainly did reduce my anxiety. But even better, they also provided a path to memory improvement. But before we get into the magic of that … There are a few huge problems people interested in exploring this form of relaxation and self improvement face. 1. Not enough time. 2. Not enough creativity. 3. Not enough relaxation. Let’s deal with each of these in order and see how adult coloring books can help. Then we’ll look at their role in improving memory. How To Wrestle Time Into Submission And Win Every Time As researchers have found, spending time with adult coloring books has indeed been proven to reduce stress and anxiety. But there’s a catch. Many people feel that they just don’t have the time to sit around coloring. Fortunately, the problem of time is easily solved. For starters, stop telling yourself you don’t have enough time! That’s the first step and an important one. The more you tell yourself that time is running out, moving too fast and not on your side, the more you’re actually pushing the time you do have away. After all, you have time to spend thinking about how you don’t have time, right? In reality, time can be your servant, and you can be its master. You just have to take control. How? Well, as I talked about in Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics and Morning Memory Secrets, you need to let go out of the concept of discipline. Seriously. People constantly tell me I’m such a disciplined person, but the truth is that I’m not any more or less disciplined than your average Manic Depressive alcoholic heroin-addict gutted with debt living in the gutter. The difference is that I use rituals and systems. And I do so in a way that minimizes the need to be disciplined. Such as not acting like a person who already has a memory implant. Can You Use My Daily Productivity Systems? Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t believe you can carbon copy what another person does, which is why when it comes to mnemonics, memory improvement and creating your first rock-solid Memory Palace I teach you the Magnetic Memory Method. It’s a method that teaches you how to create your own system of Memory Palaces. The same thing goes for learning how to control your time. You’re never going to reproduce what anyone else does. But you can emulate their methods to create your own system. If adult coloring books become part of that, awesome. But it all begins with saying “Yes!” to making a change and replacing discipline with systems. Once you’ve got that under control, create an If-this-then-that sequence. How To Fire Off The Perfect Time Control Sequence Rules, as Tony Buzan said at a recent training I attended, set you free. Poets have known this for years. When Shakespeare submitted himself to the rules of the sonnet, for example, he managed to write X NUMBER of the most beautiful poems history has ever seen. That’s not to mention the glorious theatre he produced following other rules and guidelines at the level of dramatic structure and the sentence. When it comes right down to it, constraints are not restrictive. They’re productive. So my method is to chain together a number of “ifs” and then tie those to follow-up sequences to ensure that I’m living the life of my dreams. (Crazy, but yes, playing with adult coloring books while using memory techniques is part of my dream lifestyle.) My “If-This-Then-That” Revealed … Here’s a sample morning ritual sequence: If I get up in the morning (which I always do), I meditate for 9 minutes. If I meditate for 9 minutes, then I start the day off on solid footing with The Freedom Journal. If I write in The Freedom Journal, then I study Chinese and learn 3 new words. If I study Chinese and learn 3 new words, I write a minimum of 1000 words on a new book project. If I write, I eat breakfast. If I eat breakfast, then I memorized some playing cards. If I memorize some playing cards, then the computer goes on. Does It Always Work Out That Way? Close, but not always exactly. For example, sometimes I eat before I meditate. Other times, I write before I study Chinese. The actual elements of the chain are interchangeable except for the last one. It’s the last one that matters the most because the computer is the great destroyer. Why? Because … We All Have Limited Discipline Once the machine goes on, emails blast into my eyes. Friends and family Skype text me. Uploads fail. Shiny new objects glitter and grab my attention. That’s why the important things must get done first. Why I Grab Adult Coloring Books Last Thing In The Day The e

Tired Of Struggling To Learn Memory Techniques For Language Learning On Your Own? Sometimes all it takes is a powwow with a good friend. I know, I know … Your friends think you’re weird when you talk about your favorite Memory Palace and the crazy images that you use to memorize information like German phrases or other parts of language learning. That’s why I was so excited when John McPhedran and I started hanging out to talk about our shared passions: Heavy Metal … Movies … … & Mnemonics!   You Don’t Have To Memorize Vocabulary And Phrases Alone!   At least two cool things happen when you share your adventures in memory: 1) You learn how to use the techniques better yourself. 2) You come up with completely new approaches. Or you learn to use the Major System for memorizing notes: https://youtu.be/5A_Q5LZmcMQ All of those things happened when John and I started hanging out, and so I’m excited to share with you our wide-ranging conversation about memorizing German, music and even a bit of Mandarin. (It’s funny to listen back to this interview because since then, my approach to Chinese and how much Chinese I now know has thoroughly grown!) Here’s the full transcript of our discussion. To make it concrete for you, I’ve extracted 16 principles from the discussion you can start using right away. We’re confident that you’ll learn a lot and urge you to find a person to chat about your memory projects with. For starters, you can join the Magnetic Memory Method Facebook Group after downloading and listening to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.   Method Number One: Invest In Memory Training   Anthony: This is Anthony Metivier. You’re listening to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and today we have a real special treat John McPhedran. Did I pronounce that right? John: Yeah. Anthony: It’s pronounced just the way it’s spelled which is awesome. Well John, how do we know each other? John: It’s quite a funny story. About just over a year ago, I’ll tell the whole story. Anthony: Yeah, tell it all from the beginning. John: Just over a year ago, I’m from New Zealand, and I have married a lovely German woman. I was in Germany last year, so this is my third time now, but I was here last year and I was about to fly home to New Zealand. Me and my wife, we were in a hotel in Prague, and I was just looking on my Kindle for stuff to buy on Amazon. I was always looking at German language books, things to learn German and better ways to do it, and I came across the Magnetic Memory Method mnemonics system for learning vocab. I bought that and started reading. It just sounded really cool. It wasn’t something I dove into straight away. I knew that it would take a while before I got around to doing it because I had some other priorities, but I always kept it on the back of my mind. Six months after that, I came back to Germany to live, and I knew that I had to sharpen up my German skills, so I looked further into the Magnetic Memory Method and ended up buying the product on Udemy. Through the message system there, I just start typing Anthony just questions that I had. From reading his books, I knew he lived in Berlin, which is where I’ve moved to, and I knew that he also was a heavy metal bass player. So I thought it would be cool if I just put it out there just to you know just poke the fire I guess you could say. Just to see if he was close to where I was and just make the first step into maybe meeting because he seemed like an interesting guy. We just started talking back and forth and I kind of dropped that I was a heavy metal guitarist. That kind of sparked Anthony’s interest. Basically, from there we just kind of messaged back and forth and ended up jamming together. Then the real funny part of the story I guess was that we ended up living a fifteen minute walk apart from each other. So coming from the other end of the world, from New Zealand to Berlin, to actually live fifteen minutes apart from this dude that I was learning all this cool stuff from was you know pretty awesome. So we’ve kind of just been friends since and have been recording music together and just talking about memory stuff. I’ve kind of come out with some memory things that sparked Anthony’s interest. So it’s why I’m here today doing this. Anthony: Yeah, and not any kind of memory stuff, but grammar and music which is, well, some very rich and detailed things to be memorizing. I’m really glad that you did email me and now you’re coming to my birthday party. So things are getting real serious. John: Yeah, I’m looking forward to that. Anthony: So that’s the end of the week. But in any case, one thing that I really admire is that you’re actually taking these approaches and doing what I have suggested, and we’re trading notes. We

You know all about the dangers of smoking, right? Bronchitis, emphysema, vascular disease … Heck, the Demon Nicotine has even been linked to cancer. But did you know that smoking also poses risks to your intelligence and memory? Some experts disagree, but common sense in combination with evidence tells us that …   Smoking Murders Your Memory!   Never fear. If this post doesn’t spook smokers out of lighting up ever again (it probably won’t), it’ll at least educate them. Plus, I’ll give you some ideas for how to quit with minimum suffering in record time. If you’re not a smoker yourself, you can at least pass the tactics on. But if you’re one of those who prefer cocktails of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen cyanide, abandon this post right away because it’s basically a rant from a guy who cares for both you as a person AND for your mental abilities. So buckle up if you’re going to stick around, because here comes some tough love from your friendly neighborhood Warrior of the Mind.   A Brief History Of The World’s Stupidest And Stinkiest Habit   There may be earlier accounts, but history tells us that Columbus witnessed Native Americans huffing and puffing on rolled dried leaves starting in 1492. They “drank the smoke” as he put it. Later, ships brought some of those Natives with them to Europe, leading to tobacco seeds being left at each and every port of call. The Dutch brought tobacco home from the Hottentots, the Portuguese introduced it to the Polynesians and people soon planted nicotine anywhere and everywhere it would grow.   Even Kings Failed To Stop The Spread Of Smoking Across Their Kingdoms   We often think of royalty from the 1600s as slovenly pigs stuffing their faces with mutton and mead, but not King James. When he wasn’t busy developing the Bible, he was writing hate mail to smokers. Check out this rant in which he says smoking is … “… A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and the black stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible stygian of the pit that is bottomless.” King James wrote those words in 1604, but his rage was nothing compared to the Russian czar who banned smoking and said that “offenders will be sentenced to slitting of nostrils.” Ouch! Nonetheless, demand exceeded supply all over Europe, and tobacco prices soared. As a result, some people got mighty wealthy. How Smoking Formed A Global Superpower … Almost Overnight!   By the 17th Century, smokers had become aware of nicotine’s addictive powers. But it was already too late, and, much worse, tobacco had become central to the development of an emerging economic and political powerhouse. For example, the tobacco industry bolstered the success of the Virginia Settlement. Farming the plant became the backbone of slavery and the southern plantation practices overall. The weed stood behind the Louisiana Purchase and is still considered America’s oldest industry (not to be mistaken with prostitution, which belongs to the entire world). By the 1930s, smoking had entered the world of advertising. Printed images of sexy women and dapper men enticed people around the world, not to mention Hollywood movies, which were entering the era of sound. Now you could even hear the sounds of beloved celebrities puffing their way into early graves. If You Think Trump Is An Idiot, Get A Load Of This   Some people admire Theodore Roosevelt and perhaps for good reason. But he’s the same dude who classified tobacco as an essential crop and had the stuff shipped overseas to America’s servicemen. Thanks to him, they could get their limbs blown off and memory-destroying pulmonary diseases too. Not only that, but in 1945 alone over 267 BILLION cigarettes were sold domestically in the US. The military draft legislation was changed so that enough people could stay home to work on the tobacco farms to supply the domestic and overseas markets.   Science Fails To Come To The Rescue   Although people had long been aware of tobacco’s addictive properties, medical research didn’t pick up the issue in earnest until the 1940s. But it wouldn’t be until 1957 that a Public Health Service report called for sales restrictions, health warnings and advertising regulations. Those not afraid to speak out against smoking gained some traction, but the tobacco industry retaliated by introducing filtered cigarettes to allay the fears of current and future smokers. Congress continued to favor the industry and to this day, celebrities romanticize the disgusting habit by either smoking themselves or pretending too. (Some actors even pick up the habit after playing the role of smokers!)   Smoking Destroys Your Body And Mind At The Same Time   Despite different conclusions, most stu

Did you know that your ability to be a moral person directly connects to the quality of your memory? At least, that’s an argument made by Albertus Magnus. and I think he’s right. Why? A few reasons. First off, forgetfulness is an unnecessary evil. Let it run your life and you’re automatically living on the Dark Side. Second, you learn, memorize and recall less than you’re capable of. That’s not only an act of self-cruelty. It’s a crime against humanity. Finally, if you’re not on top of your ability to memorize the information you need to achieve maximum success in life, you’re not able to pass the skills on. It doesn’t get any more immoral than that. But Albertus Magnus has a lot more to teach us about using our memory than that. He shares a few points that anyone using the Memory Palace technique and other mnemonic strategies should consider. So if you’d like to learn more about Magnus’ incredible worldview and powerful memory improvement tips, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in! Memory Is The Sensitive Part Of The Soul Born sometime around 1200 in the Duchy of Bavaria, Albertus Magnus spent a fair shake of time writing about memory skills before dying in the year 1280. He was influenced by Aristotle, who also wrote about memory, and left his mark on Thomas Aquinas, who also filled a few pages on the art of memory. For his part, Magnus was fixated on ethics and what exactly makes good things good. For example, he nailed down four cardinal virtues: Fortitude Temperance Justice Prudence Memory, or memoria, belongs to prudence for Magnus, along with intelligence and providence. This isn’t to say that workign on these matters will improve your iq. Rather, Magnus breaks prudence down even further by saying it has a rational part and an emotional part. We should be using memory to live usefully based on both of these aspects because balancing them improves our critical thinking skills. As Magnus writes: “Memory can be a moral habit when it is used to remember past things with a view to prudent conduct in the present looking forward to the future.” Calling up positive things from the past to guide your behavior in the future is fine and dandy. But what about mnemonics? Guess what? Using Memory Techniques Is Also A Virtuous Habit Magnus called mnemonics “artificial memory” after the conventions of the time. We know better now, however. Using the power of your imagination to make Memory Palaces is the most natural activity on earth, especially compared with spaced-repetition software. That’s the hammer of memory that deserves the term “artificial” more than anything else. 5 “Magnus Rules” For Creating Top-Notch Memory Palaces Plus, Magnus was a lot like me. He wasn’t into using virtual Memory Palaces. He advises using only real locations and especially recommends churches because of how they can move the soul. It’s an interesting suggestion because often the more meaningful the building, the more powerful the Memory Palace will be. Keep that in mind when creating your next Memory Palace and avoid basing any on buildings that may suck your enthusiasm. With this point established, Magnus offers five rules. 1. Use Quiet Locations Makes sense, right? Maybe. I can understand wanting to base your Memory Palaces on locations prone to silence. It kind of makes sense for them to mimic the intense concentration needed for creating powerful associative-imagery inside the Memory Palace. However, if you’re using a bustling cafe, you don’t need to do the memory work inside the cafe. And when you are using the Memory Palace after studying in the cafe, you can make sure you’re in a quiet study space. In fact, no matter where in the world the building you’ve sourced for your Memory Palace happens to be, it’s always a good idea to learn, memorize and practice Recall Rehearsal in quiet places. Not sure where to find the best possible places to study? Here’s a list of my favourite kinds of study locations. But if you want to use the stage and stadium of a memorable Kiss concert, do it. If for any reason your memories of the excitement do get in the way, simply move on to another place. 2. Your Memory Palaces Should Neither Be Too Large Nor Too Small Many beginners get excited by the possibilities of making massive Memory Palaces. They draw diagrams of shopping malls, airports and try to use each and every floor of New York skyscrapers. There’s no doubt that with practice you can use enormous Memory Palace structures. But Mangnus is right. You want to find a comfortable size the works for you. In my case, I max out at 50-60 stations per Memory Palace. In many cases, I stick with a mere 10, using proper Magnetic Memory Method form to get the into long term memory so any given Memory Palace can be put out of rotation for a while and then reuse

You probably think you can get all the memory training you need from books, right? Maybe. Ben Pridmore certainly did (reportedly just one) and worked miracles at the World Memory Championships. But Those Kind Of Results Don’t Happen To Everyone The truth is that most of us (including me) need more than one memory training resource. In fact, as I mentioned in The Story Of How To Learn And Memorize German Vocabulary, I studied dozens of memory improvement books, audio programs and video courses. The Magnetic Memory Method simply wouldn’t exist without years of relentless research, experimentation, documentation, reconfiguration and teaching. But that doesn’t mean the research is ever done. Far from it!   The Art Of Memory Is A Way Of Life Defined By Multiple (Super-Exciting!) Duties   To this day, I still study. To develop as a mnemonist, a journalist of memory and a lifelong devotee to teaching the art of memory, I consume all the wisdom about memory improvement I can. That’s why I recently attended the ThinkBuzan Memory Training at the Henley Business School in Henley-On-Thames taught by Phil Chambers and world leading memory expert Tony Buzan himself. I was so happy to join this course because my mission is simple: To keep getting better as both a student and teacher of mnemonics. We all should so that we can contribute to the world at a higher level by being the solution to the many problems created by forgetting. Because as Tony Buzan always made clear, there is a solution to forgetfulness. And if you apply yourself …   You Never Have To Forget Information That Matters Ever Again!   Seriously. If you’ve read more than one book or taken more than one course and still aren’t getting results, there are probably only two reasons: 1) You’re not studying the right stuff. 2) You’re not taking the right actions. And even if you’re already equipped and running memory circles around your friends, here are 13 reasons you still really ought to get trained at the Summit of Memory.   1. You Learn More About The History Of Memory   I’ve encountered the story of Simonides of Ceos countless times. However, never have I encountered it so thoroughly and elegantly expressed as when Phil Chambers took us through it. The best part of the story is that it contains all the elements of good mnemonics: strange events and colorful characters. Massive, visual action. A Memory Palace in ruins that, albeit utterly destroyed, still stands in the minds of millions nearly two thousand years later.   2. You Learn About The Science Of Memory   There’s history behind memory research too, so getting both the past, present and future of memory science makes ThinkBuzan memory training a tremendous asset. MIG, also known as The Most Important Graph In The World, shows you the most cutting edge elements of memory science. It is a Masterplan for engineering any information into your memory forever. You learn The Most Important Graph in the world effectively too. It’s presented in stages so that you understand each part. The ThinkBuzan teaching approach also uses the science underlying the graph to get it into your long term memory. Speaking of which …   3. You Learn How To Teach Memory Skills Right Away   You’ve heard me talk about the importance of educating others about memory skills before. I always talk about how and why you must do it immediately in order to get the best results from what you’ve learned and memorized. For example, in Language Learning For Introverts, I suggest that you explain to anyone who will listen the Memory Palace and mnemonic imagery you use to memorize new words and phrases. It’s partly self-serving for how it drills the information into your memory, but more importantly …   Teaching Others Creates Enthusiasm For The REAL Magic Of Memory   Not only that, but by demonstrating what’s possible with your memory through teaching the core skills, you’re also getting better at using your memory. You’re practicing what you preach and getting better every time you do.   4. You Create A Group Memory Palace On The Spot   Nothing enthused me more about the ThinkBuzan memory than creating a Memory Palace together as a group. Phil Chambers had us memorize all the member countries of the European Union in alphabetical order. But even better, Phil tricked us into doing it outside of our awareness. I won’t tell you exactly how, but it’s similar to how I teach people to memorize the alphabet backwards. To really let you have your cake and eat it too, Phil then shows you how to compound the countries with the capitals of each.I learned a great deal that day about exactly why he’s a master at teaching you how to train your memory. This quick exercise means memorizing 40 pieces of information inside of 20 minutes. Using The Mo

Have you ever gone through a phase that forced you into starting over from scratch? Don’t worry. It happens to everyone. Luckily, we can learn from those who have gone before us. In this guest post from Jeffrey Pickett, you’ll learn how to minimize the suffering that comes from rebooting your life and how to get back on your feet in the best possible manner.   Three Reasons Why Starting Over Is So Painful   Starting over can be painful. You’d love to blame others, but after close analysis, you realize it all points back to the person looking at you in the mirror. Our careers, like cars, were meant to go forward most if not all of the time. No one likes to go in reverse. It takes more attention, more focus and more detail. Starting over means you need to back up before you can go forward. Finally, starting over sucks because self-doubts creep in the back door, playing with your mind. The sky is no longer blue, the chirping birds are dead, and someone pulled the chain, diminishing the once bright sunlight. Take heart, my friends, because it just so happens I am the self-proclaimed big deal in the world of starting over. Allow me to prove it to you…   Why You Should Forgive But Don’t Forget   In a previous relationship, well perhaps several, the occasion to try and make things work occurred a few times too many. The bottom eventually fell out and I beat myself up for letting things go on as long as I did. That guy on the street with the “The End is Near” sign was right all along. I just wouldn’t listen. When you make mistakes, learn from the event, forgive yourself and move on. Looking in the rearview mirror only serves to cause pain. Learn the lesson and move forward. Forgive while you’re at it. Holding anger or resentment towards another only sets you up for failure. Let go of the attachment to anger.   Wouldn’t It Be Cool If You Could Be Superman?   I think I’d ditch the cape myself, but having superpowers and flying around would be awesome, right? Well, back in reality-world, that doesn’t work. You can only be yourself. That’s not totally correct. Humans have this unique ability to recognize who they are and change. We can go back to school, join a gym or even seek therapy if necessary. With effort, we can become a better version of ourselves. An important facet to starting over means you have to be willing to change any aspect of your life that no longer works. Ultimately, you can only change yourself; you have no power to change anyone else. That common definition of insanity (dare I repeat it?) is accurate – to avoid more mistakes, change that which is in you versus what you have no control over.   What To Do When The World Turns Upside Down   Whenever your world upside down, forcing you to start over, a vital lesson should be at the forefront of your brain. The way we see things may not be the best perspective. You can’t mold the world to your point of view, but you can shift your perspective. Recently I went hiking with my wife. Just when the trail appeared to dead-end, I’d take one more step, and my perspective changed. The opening was there all along; I just needed a few more steps.   How To Get More Done With Less Effort   I love running. I used to train five to six days a week, running up to 15 miles on some days. But I could never improve my race times. One day, a friend of mine introduced me to running sprints instead of running long distances. I did as he suggested and my race times came down even though I ran shorter training distances. Another example involves my garage that needed some fix-up. A friend offered to help, someone with a lot more experience than I. But my pride got the best of me. I thought I’d do it myself. You can guess what happened. I ripped up most of my work, I cut my thumb open, and my kids learned a new curse word from my repeated frustrations. If only I would have invited the help and pushed away my pride… See the difference? I just needed to change my approach.   I Lied – You CAN Be Superman!   You just have to do one thing before you begin starting over. You have to learn a new skill. Maybe you need a better memorization technique… A potential reason you are in need of starting over is that as hard as it may sound, you may lack the resources to get the job done. Before starting over, research your topic of interest or situation, gain the extra knowledge and get back into the fight.     The Real Reason It’s Better to Give And Not Deceive   The world operates differently these days. You used to be able to ask for favors. But now it’s all about, “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” That’s not all bad. Instead of looking out for good ol’ #1, start over with an effort to provide value. Do things for others. Show the world you want to add versus su

Alex Stone Shows You How Magic And Memory Can Heighten Your Sense Of Reality   Go on, admit it. The idea of being a magician has haunted you since childhood. Who hasn’t at some point wished they could perform miracles and win the admiration of the masses? The truth is, anyone can, but not everyone has the time, energy or discipline. But the good news is that in Fooling Houdini, magician and outstanding author Alex Stone takes you into the world of Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind. And the best part is that you learn about using your memory better too. So tune in to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and enjoy the full transcript below. 🙂 https://youtu.be/mKnFv3XP30c Anthony: Alex thank you so much for being on the podcast today. It’s a real honor and exciting because I myself have a relationship to magic and the whole world. So I hope to touch on that a little bit. The book Fooling Houdini is an absolute marvel I think. Not just because of my interest in magic, but it’s about learning as such. One of the themes, and you can correct me if I’m wrong about this, seems to be self-acceptance as being kind of the best thing we can do for ourselves, and that going through the process of self-acceptance is kind of like “fooling” around with yourself a little bit as if life is kind of a game. Would that be a fair assessment? Alex: I think that’s a wonderfully nice way of saying it, yes. Anthony: With all that said, what’s your first memory of being interested in magic? Alex: It was definitely when I was 5 years old and my father went on a trip to New York for an academic conference of some sort. He was a professor and he bought me a magic kit at that famous store FAO Schwartz. It’s like a famous toy store, which closed, I believe, recently. It was just like one of these little kids kits, but he brought me back, and I was 5 years old in just remember like being enchanted by it. I couldn’t stop playing with it, and I learned all the tricks and went around just showing them to everyone every time. We had guests over and to my friends. Honestly from there on, I was interested in it and it became like a thing that my father and I kind of bonded over and did together. But that was very vivid memory. Gosh, come to think of it, it probably is up there with some of my earliest memories actually. Because I was only 5.   Can Kids Be Fooled?   Anthony: One group of people that tend to be very difficult to fool is young people because they don’t know the cues of Mr. Action so to speak. So it’s kind of a fascinating age. What experience do you have doing magic for kids? Alex: You are absolutely right. I learned that at my first show when I was 6. It was my own birthday party. I performed for my friends and it was a disaster. They were trying to touch everything and yelling at me and heckling me. I remember crying and going to my room and being really upset. But you know, it’s a fact that children are very difficult to perform for. I mean not just because, I mean obviously they have a hard time sitting still and they can be rambunctious. It’s hard to do anything with kids because of that, but they’re also, I talk about this a bit in the book, psychologically I think quite good at figuring out magic tricks. You know there could be a lot of reasons behind that, but I think part of it is that they don’t have quite so many assumptions going in. They have a way of thinking about things where they’re kind of testing out new ideas, and on some level, they’re better at figuring out tricks than adults are. I’ve seen this time and again. If you talk to magicians, they’ll say the same thing that kids can be remarkably difficult to fool. They often figure out tricks that fool some of the smartest adults. Anthony: It’s always interesting performing for kids. I wonder, you started at a young age with that interest. How did you manage to combine throughout your life and particularly once you got into university and so forth, physics and magic and journalism. Is there a common thread between all those three things that the more you see a connection or is it just happenstance? Alex: Well the short answer is yes. I absolutely think there’s a nice connection. I was very fortunate because I had these three interests of writing, journalism, magic, which I’ve been into since I was 5, and physics and science, which I’d also been into for years and was studying. It was this wonderful moment of realization when I sort of saw that, well first of all as a writer, this world, these concepts and ideas hadn’t really been written about. Secondly, that there were all these beautiful connections between magic and science. Especially psychology and neuroscience, but also mathematics and physics. To see that there was this science to the magic and tha

You’ve dreamed about learning a foreign language for years. You imagine opening your mouth and fluently speaking a foreign language. Not only can you imagine it. You absolutely know in advance just how deeply that ability will fill the wide open gap in your soul. I’ve been there. I longed to learn another language for years before I started developing my German to the point that I could lecture in it while working at the University of Saarland. Before that, my monolingualism hurts so bad, it practically kept me up at night. But since cracking the code, I’ve learned several languages, if only in some cases to engage in small talk. Whether you go for full fluency or just master the basics of another tongue, in this post you’ll discover 15 reasons to learn a new language starting today. That way, you’ll stop missing the personal fulfilment and multiple career opportunities about to come your way. Let’s explore each of these and see how each can inspire you to get started learning a language today. There’ll be some powerful tips and action steps for you at the end so you can get started today. 15 Reasons To Learn A New Language As we go through all of these incredible reasons, keep in mind that there’s no particular order of importance. Each reason matters, and each one should give you more than enough reason to get started today. One: Language Learning Exercises & Extends The Life Of Your Brain Do you ever feel like your mind has gone a bit soft? Chances are it does feel a little doughy. The good news is that learning a language is one of the best long-term workouts you can get. Working with new words and grammar rules gets multiple areas of the brain working together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPM-gNX4AAM And because you get to think familiar thoughts from a completely new angle, your perspective stretches more profoundly than looking at an M.C Escher painting ever will. The science about language learning and protecting the brain makes it very clear. The principle is called cognitive reserve and this study calls bilingualism the “pathway” to protecting your brain against figure disorders. One of the reasons I took up Latin again recently has to do with giving myself the greater challenge of grammar precisely for the brain benefits. Learning Latin in particular also helped me fend off the linguistic deskilling I noticed after years of living in Germany and barely speaking any English. Moving to Australia and speaking English again helped. But I still wanted the extra challenge for the brain benefits and wrangling with Latin Grammar gives my brain a tangible and noticeable workout. Two: Language Learning Develops Your Personal Discipline Languages are fun, but also require consistency of exposure and effort. Luckily, access to languages has never been easier thanks to the Internet. However, you do have to click over to the right websites and invest your time optimally. Sites like Duolingo and Memrise offer some help, but you’ll also want to find resources that capture all of the “Big Five Musts” of language learning: Memorizing Reading Listening Speaking Writing https://youtu.be/bR15aAXv-F0 The good news is that you can get each of these done in the first half hour of your day with an additional one hour or less in speaking practice with a tutor per week. Covering The Big Five Of Language Learning is especially easy if you develop the discipline of consistently getting your language learning in before you even switch on the computer. There’s more information about making sure you get all of these done within the first 15-30 minutes of your day in my case study Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets. After you’ve covered your daily language learning activities first thing in the morning, you’ll never never suffer the dreaded Zeigarnik Effect which creates intrusive thoughts when we’re not focusing on things we need to get done. For the rest of your day, you can check in on your language periodically by stocking up on podcasts, watching some Youtube videos in your target language and by using the technique taught at the end of this article. Finally, work on understanding motivation in the context of language learning. Master your motivation and you’ll make steady strides toward fluency in no time. Three: Language Study Deepens Your Appreciation & Understanding Of Your Mother Tongue You rarely ponder it and yet it’s in front of your eyes and on your mind all day long. It even dominates your dreams. Yes, your mother tongue is that prevalent. But just imagine understanding the ins and outs of your mother tongue at a higher level. The benefits are wide reaching and knowledge of how and why we speak as we do will enrich many aspects of your life. Your mother tongue is also downright amusing when you realize how many weird things we say. And as I suggest in this video… https://youtu.be/hyIHcBLHYxE You won&#

You want your children to remember what they learn, right? You’ve probably even hoped that they’d learn enough to succeed in life. Maybe even change the world. It’s a great aspiration. And an important one. There’s also a reason I’m talking about it as an author of many books about memory improvement. It connects with my years of study, concluding with my PhD in Humanities at York. Something that almost never happened because I was not encouraged as much as I could have been while younger. It’s on this basis that I want to share with you today what I think are the most important ways to talk about memory with young people that I know. How To Teach Your Kids Memory Techniques As far as I can tell, one of the biggest reasons young people struggle in school comes down to one word: Memory. I mean, think about it. Every test your child will ever take relies on memory. Every gatekeeper your child will ever pass on the way to fulfilling their dreams on the job market hinges on the ability to recall details. Thoroughly and accurately. That includes entrepreneurship too, where strong working memory is a huge asset. And since we know that the ability to succeed has everything to do with what you know (and who you remember that you know), the question is … How do you get your children started towards a superior memory so that they can succeed? I’m glad you asked because you’re about to find out. A Simple Way To Help Your Kids Recall Anything The best memory techniques I’m aware of center on the Memory Palace technique. It’s a fun way to use a location you know to place associations that help you remember facts and all kinds of information. Why use fixed locations? Because the human mind has the unusual ability to remember the layout out buildings. For this reason, location-based mnemonics has lasted thousands of years. Go ahead and try it. Have everyone in your family draw a map of your home. You’ll be amazed by the accuracy each of you brings to the game. Here’s an image of a simple drawing from a young person who did precisely this activity to give you ideas and inspire you. She took the layout of her home from the drawing stage to rebuilding this floor plan in her mind so she could memorize a poem. How To Use The Memory Palace to Learn, Memorize And Recall Anything Anyone of any age can build one and use this technique to memorize anything. But please don’t use Memory Palaces to memorize random stuff, unless you’re preparing for a memory competition. The trick is to use these wonderful mental structures for memorizing important information. I’m talking about the kind of information that makes a direct impact on the quality of your child’s life. In the present and the future. So location is the first power of memory. The second power of memory is association. The third is applying the techniques to important information like language learning, math, facts, historical dates and the like. Once these fundamentals are in place, the steps are easy: Associate valuable information with a location Make sure the mnemonic images are vivid and multisensory Use the location for spaced repetition Here’s a quick walkthrough of what I mean, based on the number rhyme technique combined with a Memory Palace. Case Study Of The Memory Palace Technique In Action Imagine that your house has five rooms. Kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom and playroom. You’ve already drawn them out and can walk in your imagination from room to room. And your child can do this too. Next, use the following rhymes to place an imaginary object in each room. 1 is a bun 2 is a shoe 3 is a bee 4 is a door 5 is a hive You don’t have to use these rhymes. It’s great fun to come up with your own as a family activity. But these are standard and you can find a full list of these mnemonic examples and a full explanation of this mnemonic peg system here. But keep in mind that we’re going to take things one step further than rhyming. We’re going to combine this technique with a familiar building like your home. Now pretend that your son or daughter needs to learn the names of the first five vertical entries on the Periodic Table of Elements. The following suggestions are examples only. The method will work best when young people come up with the images on their own. Hydrogen goes in the first room. They see a bun saying “Hi” to a drone reading Genesis. In the second room, they see a shoe with a huge L on it. It’s drinking tea and saying “um.” Lithium, The third room has a bee. He’s also saying “um” while drinking soda. Sodium. The fourth room has an enormous potato with a door from which donkeys are entering the room with small potatoes in their mouths. Potassium. In the fifth room, we have rubidium. Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz is knocking on the hive. You can

Was Harry Lorayne The GODFATHER Of Memory Techniques For The 20th & 21st Century? (He must have been. The dude had memory courses on vinyl, after all.) Although memory training has been around for millennia, it’s largely thanks to Lorayne that it has seen a huge resurgence in modern times. Largely thanks to his influence, there are now countless books and materials about memory improvement, not to mention video courses, audio programs and, yes, resources like the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. Why does the name Harry Lorayne stand out so much? A few reasons. First, Lorayne wrote voluminously and gave countless presentations, often on hugely popular TV shows. Plus, he worked with world class advertisers. As a result, Lorayne spawned and popularized the modern industry of memory training. Some of Lorayne’s success came down to how he kept his memory improvement books direct and simple. But not too simple. Tony Buzan, for example, told me that when he got into mnemonics, Lorayne was the first person he sought out for consulting on what to do and how to do it. So correct me if I’m wrong, but in terms of sheer visibility and quality, I think it’s safe to say that the answer to my opening question is a resounding, “yes.” Harry Lorayne was the Mnemonic Godfather of modern memory training. Having passed away in 2023, thanks to his mastery of the written word and giving dynamic presentations, we have every reason to believe his influence will live on.   How Lorayne Survived A Terrible Childhood And Create A Memorable Career   The future didn’t always look so promising for Lorayne. Judging from his childhood conditions during the depression-era, it seemed that the odds were firmly stacked against him. https://youtu.be/kaPMuWHZ1lU “I had an awful childhood. I’m a depression kid.” Lorayne shares in his 2012 interview with Michael Senoff. “I remember having a potato for dinner.” He was also affected with dyslexia, which he only identified as such years later. This learning disability caused him to struggle and fail while in grade school. But Harry Lorayne’s life took a different course when he discovered books on memory improvement. As he told me in the exclusive interview he gave for Masterclass members, Lorayne discovered memory techniques in a dramatic way. We’ll talk about that in a moment. For now, let’s be grateful that Lorayne did a lot more than just learn these memory methods so he could drastically improve his grades at school. He started teaching his classmates on how they too could become memory masters and massively improve their grades too. And once he started teaching, he never stopped. https://youtu.be/Xo3RDIVWs08 From there, Harry Lorayne progressively became more and more successful. Lorayne has managed to emerge as one of the most famous and published magicians and memory experts of the century. Even into his 80s and 90s, Lorayne continued publishing books and teaching the world about memory, success and perseverance.   The Secret Ingredient That Made Harry Lorayne And His Memory Techniques Go “Viral”   Harry Lorayne was born of Jewish parents in 1926 in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, right near the East River. Having come to the world only 3 short years before the Great Depression, Lorayne’s childhood was spent in impoverished and difficult circumstances. Most everyone was poor, and Lorayne was amongst the poorest of the poor. Poverty colored all aspects of Harry Lorayne’s childhood, including his play. He recalls how with his childhood friends he would play in a garbage dump near where he lived. Lorayne recounts: “The garbage became a petrified hill. They were long, petrified mountains of garbage, and that was our playgrounds. That’s what my friends and I played on when I was a little boy.” School also proved to be difficult Lorayne. Due to his undiagnosed dyslexia, Lorayne received failing grades as a young boy. To make matters worse, his father had a heavy-handed way of dealing with his son’s school performance. “I got the paper [test] home to my father to sign, and he would look at the failing grade, and he would punch me,” remembers Lorayne “I was scared. Not of getting failing grades, but of getting hit by my father.”   How Fear Created A Memory Solution That Would Help Millions Of People Improve Their Memory Pushed to find a solution, a stroke of insight struck Lorayne one day on his walk to school. “I just realized that at that point in my life, all you had to do was remember the darn answers to the questions, and then you’ll get a passing grade. And then, more importantly, your father won’t punch you.” In other words, Lorayne understood that school was more about a test of how well you could memorize than a test of ‘intelligence’. As he says repeatedly in many of his interviews “There is no learning without memory.” Lorayne soon headed to the library where he asked the librarian to show him where the books on “how to

Have you ever wondered how the world’s top performers manage to pull off their tremendous feats? I’ll bet you have. I’ll bet you’ve even felt jealous, and all the more so when it comes to memory champions. But as Alex Mullen reveals in this exclusive Magnetic Memory Method interview, you can build your memory skills to epic levels with a shockingly small budget of time. For an hour a day or less, Alex demonstrates that you can learn to memorize a deck of cards in 17 seconds. You can win a Guinness World Record for memorizing the most digits in under an hour – Alex clocks in at 3029! And the best part is that you use the powers of memory you develop to sail through your studies. As a John Hopkins University grad with degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Alex is living proof that you really can squeeze it all in and have an excellent memory too. Currently a medical student at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Alex is not only a two-times World Memory Champion. He currently holds the record for scoring the most points since the competitions began 24 years ago. So what are you waiting for? Tune into this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. Download the audio and transcript to your desktop and follow through on the suggestions in this action-packed session with one of the world’s greatest living mnemonists. https://youtu.be/IxGPEmiUoG8   Episode Transcript Anthony: Alex, it is really great to have you on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, and actually a real honor because you have achieved so much and really at a young age. Maybe tell people what age you are here in 2016 and a little bit about your first memory of being interested in memory. Alex: Sure, well let me say first of all, I am happy to be here. It’s nice to be talking you. I got interested in memory back in March 2013. That was sort of the first time, at least that I can think of, that I was introduced to the techniques. At that point, I think I was either a sophomore or junior in college. Up to that point, I had done things like using acronyms and some basic mnemonic stuff, but I really didn’t know about Memory Palaces. I didn’t know about any visual mnemonic strategies, anything more advanced than that. How To Get Your Foot In The Door With Mnemonics My first exposure was this TED talk by Joshua Foer called Feats of Memory Anyone Can Do. It was a short TED talk but that just really got me hooked. I was blown away about what he talked about in that talk. I ended up reading his book. He had this TED talk and then he wrote this book, a pretty famous one called Moonwalking with Einstein where he goes into his journey as memory athlete, learning the techniques, competing at the USA Memory Championship. That was really what got me interested. https://youtu.be/U6PoUg7jXsA I tell you, in terms of what was going on in my own life, like I mentioned, I was a student at the time and I probably, and it’s hard to remember ironically, but I’m pretty sure I probably felt like I was struggling with my own memory in school. Not really feeling like I was learning in the most efficient way, forgetting things all the time. Seeing these techniques, obviously as many people do, it struck me as something that I could use to improve my academic life. That was really the original motivator for me using memory techniques. I didn’t really think about competitions. I didn’t really think about memorizing numbers and cards. I really just wanted to use it for school, and that was my initial sort of entry into the world. Then, once I read his book I got interested, and I figured why not make a system for numbers, make a system for cards, and then at least even if I don’t compete, I can use those to practice memory techniques and get comfortable with them. That’s what I did. I ended up reading a few more books: Dominic O’Brien‘s Quantum Memory Power, Ron White‘s Memory in a Month. I got through those and just made my systems. I started making a PAO system for numbers, a PAO system for cards. Then I just kind of started practicing and doing the events at the competitions and then trained for about a year. My first competition was the 2014 USA Memory Championship. The Minimalist Guide To the PAO (Person Action Object) System And Beyond Anthony: There is so much to talk about with what you just said but maybe if we just jump into the bolts and the mechanics and so forth. When you’re talking about systems and PAO, what are you referring to? I think one thing that is supper important in what you’re saying is you’re talking about creating systems. A lot of people look for a system in someone else’s mnemonic strategy, but you’re talking about creating your own. Why is that important? What do you mean by system? What does it mean to create your own? Alex: Right, well, when I say I created a PAO system, I was just lo

Amazing Language Learner Olly Richards Pulls Back The Curtain On Exactly How He Learned 8 Languages In Record Time – With More Than A Full-Time Job Crowding His To Do List … Tune In To Learn How You Can Do It Too!   In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Olly makes a second appearance on the show to follow up on the episode called Olly Richards Talks About Language Tech And Real Communication. But before you listen to this episode, make sure to join us on Olly’s free training series, “3 Proven Secrets To Becoming Conversational In Spanish”. This call is pre-recorded, so you can register anytime. I’m on the call as both moderator and student advocate, so you won’t want to miss a moment of this call. We go deep into what it takes to learn a language and you’ll take away a lot of actionable tips. After registering for the call, come back and listen to each and every word of this special podcast and you’ll learn: * How to find words and phrases that you ACTUALLY want to speak when learning a language. * The power of setting a “crazy goal” for motivating yourself to take action and make targeted strides, even if the language you’ve chosen is difficult. * How to elevate your thinking about the art of language learning so you get maximum results in minimum time. * The best ways to “wrangle” your speaking partners and tutors into shape so they help you study what you need to study instead of wasting time on willy-nilly activities that won’t get you anywhere. * The essential questions you should prepare yourself to answer when studying your dream language. * How to develop a list of topics that you’re likely to talk about so that you’re not chained to the next page of your textbook. * The new – and BETTER – way to think about rote learning for getting traction when learning a language. * Why memorizing is just one part of language learning and how to identify and isolate the other parts to boost your success. * The one thing that keeps Olly up at night when learning a language. Solve this one worry for yourself and you will never run out of steam. * The scheduling secret Olly uses to “oblige” himself to attend lessons. You can uses this approach too – even if you’ve got a zillion things to do. Heck, the dude even shipped himself to Thailand when he wanted to learn to speak Thai. * The absolute best time of day to study your target language so that you always feel like you’ve made progress and build your sense of accomplishment. * How to avoid letting the great get in the way of the good so that you can start from a place where speaking practice is always good not matter how unprepared you might be. Use this approach and you can literally get prepared on the fly. * The ultimate motivation secret for getting yourself through multiple lessons and find language teachers you will genuinely love learning from. * The untapped power of hypothetical questions and role play in your language learning practice that you’re not using – but should be! * Olly’s take on using mnemonics for individual words and when you should be focusing on them instead of entire phrases. In fact, you should be encountering them inside entire stories. Here’s an example from Olly from his Spanish Short Story collection: https://youtu.be/DYOUX6XYMtU * Textbook tactics for shopping and getting the most out of every resource you buy. * How to avoid tourist-speak so that you aren’t limited to ordering food and asking directions to the hospital for your cat (yes, you will be led into these dead ends if you don’t take Olly’s advice). * Exactly how to deal with introversion so that no matter how shy you might be, you can eliminate random social unknowns and learn in a safe and practical environment. * … and much, much more. This is the kind of episode you’re going to want to save and keep returning to again and again. And if you interested in memorizing the key points, How To Memorize A Textbook will help you master this simple skill and put you in a position to memorize vocabulary and phrases at a higher level thanks to your practice of the art of memory.   Further Resources   Olly’s I Will Teach You A Language Podcast Olly’s Language Learning Foundations Course (highly recommended) Olly’s Amazon Author Page Spanish Short Stories For Beginners Volume Two Russian Short Stories For Beginners   Photo Essay The picture above is from the May 2015 Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. From left to right you see myself, Olly, Richard Simcott, Kris Broholm, Brian Kwon and Jan van der Aa. From the same event, Benny Lewis, myself and Olly. Somehow they manage to just look crazy. I took first prize for psychotic. Mark Channon discusses memory techniques and the good habits needed to make massive strides with them at Magnetic Memory Live in London 2015. Olly’s Memory Palace based on his apartment in Cairo. Top notch work and it was ve

If you’re wondering how sleep affects memory, here’s a curious thing: Human beings, and most other animal species, are driven to regular periods of inactivity and unconsciousness. And it’s during those periods of sleep that our brains place a lot of information into long-term memory. What could be less evolutionarily beneficial than a stretch of eight hours during which you can’t hunt, defend yourself, or reproduce? Not to mention working on your memory improvement. All jokes aside, the fact that we are driven to sleep is an indication that sleep has an important purpose in our biology. And yet, the precise mechanisms of sleep remain largely mysterious. The exact reasons why we require sleep, and what happens during sleep, are areas of current research. I researched sleep and memory myself while I was in graduate school because I was struggling to remember critical information. As you can tell by the fact that I’ve written this article, I managed to graduate and later became a professor with a Mercator Grant, amongst many other accomplishments. If there’s one thing I learned for certain, it is this: lack of sleep leads to an array of social, financial, and health-related costs. Indeed, the fatality rate of sleepiness-related car crashes is similar to that of driving under the influence (Goel et al 2009). What’s more is that prolonged sleep deprivation leads to death for many studied species (and presumably humans) (Cirelli et al. 2008). Despite these realities, a full 20% of adults are not getting enough sleep (Goel et al 2009). It’s a common practice in our culture to praise those who can work the most and sleep the least. However, research indicates that this attitude is probably misguided. Lack of sleep has important negative implications for cognition. After this article, you may be convinced that a nap is in order. What Exactly Is Sleep? Over 85 years, an average person will sleep 250,000 hours, which is equal to 10,000 full days (Scullin et al 2015). But what is sleep, really? It is commonly believed that sleep is a continuous period of a complete loss of awareness. But in actuality, sleeping is not one continuous state and a sleeping person does not lose total awareness. Instead, they alternate between reduced awareness of the external world and a complete loss of consciousness (Gudberg et al 2015). From here, sleep is typically classified into two categories. The first is non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep and the second is rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (Bryant et al 2004). NREM sleep happens during the early moments of falling asleep. As the name suggests, there is little to no eye movement during NREM sleep. Dreams are rare during this stage, your body is not paralyzed as in REM sleep, and mental activity is still “thought-like” (Bryant et al 2004). This is the stage during which some people will sleep-walk. The role of NREM sleep is to conserve energy, cool the body and brain, and promote immune function. Following NREM sleep, a person will fall into REM sleep, where rapid eye movements can be observed. This is where the majority and the most vivid dreams occur. Your body is paralyzed, which is an adaptation to prevent you from acting out your dreams. You will periodically wake up – which some researchers feel serves as a way to survey the environment (Bryant et al 2004). These mini-awakenings are typically not remembered. The Devastating Consequences Of Sleep Deprivation On Memory Revealed As you sleep, you will cycle between NREM and REM sleep four to five times during the night. By understanding our sleep patterns, it becomes evident that there is much more that happens during sleep than simply being unconscious. The broad overview given here just scratches the surface of the complex world of sleep. For all of its complexity, sleep serves essential functions. For example, a sleep-deprived person suffers from many ailments, including: A weakened immune system (Bryant et al 2004). Reduced wakefulness – microsleeps during wakeful hours after sleep deprivation (Cirelli et al. 2008). Compromised cognition. The compromised cognition experienced during sleep is all too familiar for many of us. We all know that after a poor night’s sleep, we are groggy and we tend to think more slowly. When it comes to memory, the essential role that sleep plays is more pervasive than most realize. Sleep Plays a Key Role When it Comes to Your Memory According to Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School in a recent interview with Robinson Erhardt, “I don’t know of any memory type of memory that isn’t enhanced by sleep.” There are three basic memory stages. The first is called acquisition or encoding. This is the process of collecting the information or processes that you’d like to memorize. An example could be re-reading the dates and prominent figures in a history book. This is called “declarative” memory, and is the memory of facts and information.

Do memory supplements work? Well, in my research into memory, we know this for sure: Supplements, both legal and illegal, have been used for centuries to enhance cognitive performance. For example, Sigmund Freud used cocaine to prevent fatigue. In fact, he is reputed to have written some of his most popular psychoanalytic works while under the influence. Entrepreneur and author Tim Ferriss is also known for his experiments into so-called “smart drugs”. Today, caffeine is a popular choice, used as a cognitive stimulant and is often consumed in very high doses. The widely consumed regular size Starbucks coffee contains five times the amount of caffeine of a normal coffee (Mehlman 2004). Yet another common cognitive enhancer is nicotine, most commonly ingested through inhalation. It’s been found that nicotine has the ability to improve cognition in areas such as attention, memory and motor skills (Heishman et al 2010). The reality is that most of us are not open to experimenting with unhealthy or illegal drugs to enhance our cognition. But with the aging population and increase in age-related memory deterioration, many are turning to out-of-the-box solutions (Mehlman 2004). Discovering a quick-fix pill that protects and even enhances memory would be both beneficial and exciting. Do Memory Supplements Work? The Most Honest Answer In a phrase, it depends. I’ll share the exact research both for and against memory supplementation below. What we know for sure is that there’s a big market looking for an easy memory improvement solution. As a result, suppliers have quickly filled that need with an astonishing number of drugs claiming to have amazing brain-boosting potential. Known as Nootropic supplements, these cognition-enhancing drugs make bold claims about their ability to increase their user’s memory. In comes science to cut through the marketing hype and give us real answers about whether these pills really work. Before we continue, here’s an important disclaimer: By offering this information in written form and by including videos of various people explaining or supporting the uses of supplements for memory, I in no way intend to validate, support or recommend the use of memory supplements. Please see your doctor before taking any substance and always, always use mnemonics. 😉 That said, if you’re ready to learn more about the world memory supplements, let’s get started. 1. Huperzine A As people start to live longer, the potential for memory loss grows higher. In fact, 11% of people over the age of 65 live with Alzheimer’s. As current treatments have limited effectiveness and come with severe side-effects, scientists are scrambling to find better treatments (Guoyan 2013). In their quest, a supplement called Huperzine A has been tested for potential benefits. https://youtu.be/kfAGDFSWlAc Huperzine A is a dietary supplement. This supplement is made from an extract of a plant called “toothed firmoss”, also known as Huperzia serrata. Toothed firmoss is native to India and Southeast Asia. In traditional eastern medical practices, it has been used to treat bruises, muscle strains, colds and to improve blood circulation. As with most cognition-enhancing supplements, firm conclusions about whether Huperzine A can enhance memory cannot be made. There are not many studies completed on the supplement, and those that have been conducted only included a small sample size (Yang et al. 2013). Nonetheless, the findings thus far seem promising. A recent 2013 research paper reviewed all available evidence on the efficacy of Huperzine A to improve or correct memory deterioration. The paper found that Huperzine A demonstrated positive effects on memory recall for those with memory issues. In some studies, Huperzine A even out-performed traditional treatments for Alzheimer’s (Yang et al. 2013). But what are the effects for younger people without formal memory impairment? A study looked at treating self-reported memory problems in otherwise healthy adolescent students. In total, 68 students were given either a placebo or Huperzine A. After four weeks, the student who took Huperzine A showed signs of significant memory improvement, with no side effects reported (Sun et al 1999). As data on Huperzine A is still too scant, you won’t find a doctor commonly prescribing this drug just yet. What’s more, the evidence is pointing primarily to Huperzine A’s usefulness for short-term memory improvements (Yang et al. 2013). But don’t go running to the drugstore to pick up these supplements quite yet. As with any drug, it’s best to consult with your pharmacist or doctor before taking the supplement. Although Huperzine A appears to be well-tolerated in short durations, side-effects such as nauseous, epilepsy and slow heart rate have been reported. You might also find your sleep gets disrupted, and poor sleep means bad results for your memory. Currently, no studies have been conducted on the long-term side effects of

Auguste Deter was only in her late 40s when she started showing signs of dementia. Her husband Karl, cared for her as long as he possibly could. Eventually, he could not cope with her hallucinations and forgetfulness that often kept him up all night. When Auguste was 51, Karl placed his wife into a psychiatric institute. There, Auguste spent the rest of her short life, eventually dying at the age of 55. Auguste Deter is now acknowledged to be one of the most well known patients in medical history (Muller et al. 2012). The doctor who examined her, Dr. Aloysius Alzheimer, named the disease for which she is acknowledged as the first identified patient. At that time, he called it “presenile dementia,” but later his colleague Emil Kraepelin gave the condition the name by which we know it now. It’s been over 100 years since Alzheimer’s disease was first described, and yet, no cure has, as of yet, been found. However, with an increasingly aging population, it has become more pressing than ever to find effective treatments (Giacobini and Becker, 2007). In the absence of a definitive cure, this post and podcast will provide important information about Alzheimer’s. The disease can be all-consuming for those afflicted, as well as their caregivers. Understanding how it works and how to care for that person may help to relieve stress for those trying to cope. Who Does Alzheimer’s Affect? Alzheimer’s is a disease of old age, and generally, affects those over the age of 65. However, a rare variation of the disease, early-onset Alzheimer’s, will affect those as young as 35. The prevalence is higher in females than males, although females do tend to live longer, which may explain this trend (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015). It’s important to realize that although Alzheimer’s affects older adults, it is not part of normal aging. Right now, the overall prevalence of Alzheimer’s is between five to seven percent throughout the population (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015). As we age, the likelihood that we will be affected by Alzheimer’s nearly doubles every decade. That is, by the ages of 95-99, your chances of having developed Alzheimer’s increases by 50%. What Causes Alzheimer’s? The cause of Alzheimer’s is, as of yet, not completely understood (Ginter et al. 2015). We do know that genetics plays a role in early-onset Alzheimer’s. This form of the disease is rare, and affects people under the age of 65. What genetics fails to fully explain is the prevalence of Alzheimer’s in aging adults (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015). The links between risk factors and Alzheimer’s have not fully been proven. However, in studies the following has show to possibly increase our risk of Alzheimer’s: Hypertension (high blood pressure) during midlife Having Type 2 diabetes Poor diet or otherwise not eating foods that improve memory Obesity Living an inactive lifestyle Having had a brain trauma Having had exposure to secondhand smoke If you have a family history of dementia and Alzheimer’s, the chances of developing it yourself is much higher. People with a first-degree relative (parents or siblings) who developed dementia after 65, but before 85, have a higher risk factor. In fact, they are 10 to 30 times more likely to develop dementia themselves (Keene, Montine and Kuller 2015). Alzheimer’s and Memory Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, which is a degeneration of cognitive function (thinks like fluid and crystal intelligence. One of the earliest and most distinctive aspects of Alzheimer’s is its affect on memory, specifically long-term memory loss. The first warning signs a doctor and other caregivers will look for is memory impairment (Wolk and Dickerson 2015). The patient will typically go through selective losses in short-term memory. For example, a person suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s may find themselves getting lost on familiar paths. They may forget recent events and repeatedly ask for the same information. It’s important to keep in mind that normal aging does accompany some memory deterioration. However, unlike normal aging, the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s comes in the way of normal daily activities. The table below compares normal memory loss associated with aging to memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s (Leifer 2006). Family members may notice these types of memory declines and others, such as repeatedly asking for the same piece of information. As the disease progresses, memory becomes severely affected. Memories of the person’s life are impacted. A patient will forget important life events, occurring at a particular time and place early on in their disease (Wolk and Dickerson 2015). Moreover, factual memory, such as the words used for objects and concepts, deteriorates as time goes on. A doctor may test memory by asking patients to learn and recall a series of words or objects. Recall is asked for both immediately and at a delay of five to ten minutes. They ma

If you want to know how to live an interesting life, stop missing the big and important details. You might well develop the ability to quit your job and do whatever you like for the rest of your career. But that’s not necessarily going to make your life more fulfilling. No, not because some researchers have concluded that money can’t make you happier. It most certainly can. The point is that being happy isn’t necessarily interesting. And to be more interesting means feeling excited and alive. I’ve been on this quest myself. I temporarily dropped out of high school when I was younger precisely because it wasn’t interesting to me. Later, I went to York University where I completed my PhD. Then I won a Mercator grant and taught in Germany for several years. The difference was making sure I knew how to make my life interesting, even when certain aspects of it were a slog – such as making myself return to highschool. On the basis of all these experiences, here are my best tips as someone who has thought a lot about life and its relationship to keeping mind and memory sharp and interesting. How To Live An Interesting Life In 6 Steps As we begin, I suggest taking some notes and answering in writing one simple question: What is my impossible dream? If it’s learning a language, write that down. Or if it’s traveling the world, starting a business or something personal like memorizing lots of poetry, write that down. No matter how impossible your dream might seem, you’ll make your life much more interesting simply by capturing it on paper. Do that first, and then let’s begin. 1. Be The Driver Of Your Education The problem I faced in high schoool is that someone else was in control of my education. That’s why I dropped out. I wanted to direct my own interests so that I could feel excited about the things I was so curious about. So, without dropping out of high school, I suggest that you explore ways to take the reins of your own education. But what does that even mean? To keep things simple, let’s consider two main forms of education: External Driven Self Driven The first is the kind of education where you show up when you’re told and sit where you’re told. You even eat when you’re told during recesses built into a schedule that repeats daily. Sounds kind of like prison, doesn’t it? Prison? It Might Even Be Worse! Not only do you have all kinds of pressures on your time when the education you undergo is externally driven. You’ve got people telling you what to learn. Think about that: What. To. Learn. Oh no, no, no. No and a thousand times no. That’s not the path to an interesting life. Worse, there are two kinds of externally driven education: Minimal guidance Maximum guidance Minimal guidance is actually not too bad. It gives you more space for deliberate practice, a key part of thinking for yourself and developing a wide variety of skills. Maximum guidance, on the other hand, involves constant attention, checking in and a lot of “do as I do,” instead of getting the benefit of working out a lot of what needs to be learned on your own. For some people that approach will surely work. But for must of us, probably you want instead is to be the manager of your own intelligence. With that point in mind, let me tell you the more complete story of how and why I dropped out of high school in Grade 12. There’s a lot of detail surrounding this decision and some of it ain’t pretty. But sticking to the facts (and just the facts), I thought school was such a drag that I decided to stay home and read Collier’s Encyclopedia.     Each morning I would leave home. But instead of getting the battered yellow school bus into town, I would hike up into the mountains. For months I experienced the Fall transform into Winter and then Spring from up above the highway where I would wait for my mom’s car to pass by. It sounds like something out of Hitchcock’s Psycho, I know, but as I was watching the highway waiting for mom to go to work, I was listening and learning. No, not listening to Heavy Metal. Not pop. Not even soft rock. Instead, I was listening to the CBC on my fat yellow Walkman. At that time, Peter Gzowski, a.k.a. Mr. Canada, was the host of Morningside. Over the course of the year, I got virtually a Ph.D. in Canadian culture, history, politics, literature and the arts. I also heard interviews with important people from around the world. Without a doubt, all of that listening also helped me hone the focus skills so necessary to success across the many stages of life I had yet to encounter. https://youtu.be/luzMAz4F7mw True, a bear might have mauled me while I was up wandering around in the mountains. I did have a few close encounters with moose and deer and even saw a bobcat that put the fear of God into me. But the danger of exploring nature on my own while learning through the magi

If you’re looking for how to meditate for concentration and memory, this may be the most important blog post you ever read. Why? Because there are few things more frustrating than not knowing how to improve concentration! Well, okay, there’s also the frustration of forgetting important details. Especially when you’re in the middle of something as important as recalling a person’s name, an important fact, or even a hilarious joke. Or worse: When you’ve prepared the perfect anecdote, yet, you can’t retrieve the single most important part from your memory. Here’s where the real frustration sets in: You can remember the newspaper where you read the information. You can even remember the look of the page where the information was found, including images and other small details. And yet, in your mind’s eye …   That One Piece Of Information Is Painfully Out Of Reach!   Don’t worry. You’re not losing your memory. Your inability to remember is likely related to the level of concentration you used at the time you read the passage. This is because concentration is key to memory recall. (In case you want to look it up on Wikipedia, concentration is also known by the slightly less sexy term, “attentional control.”) And how to meditate for focus is exactly what you’ll learn in this post. But first, a demonstration of just how easy it is to sit and meditate: https://youtu.be/mBRZZEbX4w8 And now, an important question: What Exactly Is Concentration?   Good question, especially when it comes to memory. Why? Because concentration is necessary for creating complete memories. Lack of attention to detail leads to difficulty remembering crucial and important pieces of information. Although having excellent concentration may not necessarily lead to better memory, concentration is essential to well-formed and useful recall of information. But in a time with so much valuable information at our fingertips, there are more barriers for our concentration than ever. The notification-saturated world of the the internet constantly attacks our focus. (Good news, though: There is a way to become Indistractable.) This reality has led some teachers to worry that students are growing up with decreased attention spans. Thankfully, there is a powerful and scientifically proven method to improving concentration using meditation for concentration and memory. What’s more, this method has been practiced for thousands of years. Best of all, it’s a simple practice anyone can take up, at no cost, with no fancy equipment, and no extensive training. This 3,500 Year Concentration Meditation Technique Will Improve Your Concentration And Memory   The mind is a powerful thing. Perhaps no other group of minds demonstrates this more strongly than experienced Buddhist monks. These monks dedicate their lives to following the Buddhist 8-fold path to enlightenment. The path involves doing good, serving others, and extensive meditation. Enlightenment is the ultimate state of mind. When enlightened, a meditator finally achieves a complete stillness of the mind and inner peace.   A Short History Of The Research Into How To Improve Concentration And Memory With Meditation   Although meditation has existed for over 3,500 years, the scientific community has only been studying meditation for over 50 years (Thomas and Cohen, 2013). Everyday people have studied meditation too and discovered a lot about how it helps memory: For both scientists and lay people, meditation has demonstrated impressive memory improvement and even helped stunning feats of long term retention and recall. In one mind-defying example, Buddhist monks have been recorded controlling their body temperatures through a meditative practice called “g-tummo”. In controlled scientific tests, experienced monks were able to dry cold and moist sheets (Kozhevnikov et al. 2013). These sheets were placed around each monk’s body, and were dried within an hour. This meditation process was made possible through body heat produced by the monks while in their meditative state of “g-tummo”. Some witnesses of similar experiments report seeing steam emerge from the sheets while they dried (Kozhevnikov et al. 2013). Researchers also measured the monks’ body temperatures, which rose by as much as 17 degrees Celsius.   How Is This possible?   No one quite understands the biological mechanisms behind meditation just yet. But study after study demonstrates that meditation has far-reaching benefits – including for concentration and memory. Indeed, meditation is perhaps the only mental exercise with so much evidence of its ability to improve cognition and focus. And you don’t even have to be a monk to start using this tool to better your own mind, body, and soul. The Long way To Better Concentration   As with everything, there’s an easy way and a hard way. Science doesn’t skip over the hard way and investigates everything (cra

I’ll never forget the day I made the most important discovery of my life. A discovery that would also prove important for thousands of language learners and students of various topics around the world. Here’s what happened: I was on my porch down in Zehlendorf. (It’s really too bad about Zehlendorf …) I really miss that part of Berlin. I used to walk to the nearby lake Krumme Lanke and through a wooded area leading to the stores and the M48 bus I often took to Potsdamer Platz. I went there so I could watch movies for my work. Yes, watch movies. I was a Film Studies professor back then. Greatest job in the world – if you can get it.   And If You Can Keep It!   Anyhow, I was on the porch studying German and nearly tearing out my hair with frustration. No matter what I did, the German vocabulary wouldn’t stick in my mind. Worse, the flashcard software I’d been using bored me to tears. I’ve never found anything more painful than banging foreign language vocabulary repetitively against my eyes in the vain hope that I would somehow magically remember the abstract and mysterious words. In all fairness, some people can tolerate rote learning. In fact, there’s research suggesting that polyglots get great value from hard repetition. This happens primarily because they’ve trained themselves to be really good at it.   But Let’s Be Real   Most people do not want to be polyglots. Most people would be happy just to get halfway decent in one language, not several. In fact, most people would be overjoyed just to get a couple of hundred words in their long term memory. And most people would be ecstatic if they could turn those words into basic conversational fluency. All you need is about 800-1200 for that, plus a touch of understanding the grammar. Still my favorite German dictionary after all these years. So there I was with a fat dictionary pumping words into the spaced-repetition software I loathed like the plague. I sure loved that dictionary, though. What a glorious thing, all thick and yellow. Heavy too, almost as heavy as a brick. But that didn’t stop me from carrying this German-only (or monolingual) dictionary everywhere.   And That’s When It Hit Me!   With a bit of summer wind on my face, I asked myself a fundamental question: Why on earth wasn’t I using memory techniques to help me learn German? Seriously. They sometimes say that Ph.D. stands for “piled higher and deeper,” but Mann O Mann (as the Germans say), was I ever mystified. You see, following a terrible and nearly suicidal depression that almost forced me out of grad school, I discovered memory techniques almost by accident. I was avoiding the looming field exams and dissertation defense by learning magic tricks. Of course, procrastinating on my studies only made my depression worse … But it’s at least a good thing that I was doing something constructive. I thought of my magic practice as developing a kind of “emergency paycheck,” because I was certain at that time I was going to wind up on the streets with nothing more to do than entertain people and pass around my hat. And I suppose that would have been fun for awhile. Studying card magic was certainly better than jumping off a bridge, which the mounting pressure and the teeth of my depression were forcing me to consider. Worse, if you’ve ever experienced the horrors of manic-depression in full swing, you know the impulses involved. They are sick and sweet and jump out at you from nowhere. It’s terrible too because once the urges pounce, they can keep trouncing on you for days and days on end. The most sinister part of the situation was that I couldn’t concentrate or read. It always felt like my eyes were slipping off the page. And when I could read for brief periods of time, I always wound up forgetting everything. And that made me frustrated and even angry. Magic was my only relief. And it was easy to study too because you can buy a lot of training in card and coin magic on DVD. I didn’t have a whole lot of money at the time, but it sure was worth it. Especially when I came across the process that would save my life. I’m talking about the “Holy Grail” of all card tricks: The Memorized Deck. There’s a ton of effects you can create with a memorized deck. The only difference is … They Aren’t Effects! They’re Based On Real Magic …   … Or at least, the closest thing to real magic that exists. The ability to go through 52 cards, looking at each only once and being able to recall the entire order backward and forward … This ability is a complete miracle. So I bought a book on the topic and an audio program that included a section on card memorization. It would be years before I read the book, but my hungry ears gobbled up the audio like peasants on bread during a famine. An

If you’re lucky enough, eating foods that improve memory is something you do every day. If you’re like most of us lucky ones, it might be something you do too often every day. But for something you do so often, are you getting the most out of your eating, for both your body and mind? Doctors, nutritionists, fitness instructors, and your mom are constantly preaching: “You are what you eat.” “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” “Eat your fruits and veggies.” As a memory expert with a PhD who has faced lifelong struggles with food sensitivities, I can tell that these statements aren’t always true for all people. Certainly not when it comes to memory. For example, when I have an outbreak after eating something to which I’m allergic, it can diminish my health and negatively impact my focus and memory. Sometimes for days on end. So what to do? On this page, I’ll share the science of foods that positively boost memory. While also explaining how to make sure that you’re getting the best possible results without any negative side effects. Foods That Improve Memory & How To Test That They Work For You As we know, diet is consistently cited as one of the more important aspect to weight loss, mood and overall good health. What you eat can make you healthy, happy, and well-functioning, or throw you into a death-spiral of obesity, disease, and disability. It should come as no surprise that diet also affects mental health. In fact, there is mounting evidence that specific types and classes of food can have beneficial – or detrimental – effects on memory. Recently, for example, coconut oil has come into question. And as I share in this video, there are many very healthy foods I simply cannot eat without a negative reaction, including brain fog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bobKqgCXge0 I shared my story in the video above because science is a process of questioning, especially when so many healthy foods can lead you to lack focus and concentration. So the question is… Is it possible to change your diet to maintain, and even achieve new and better levels of memory and information retention? We are all salivating for a definitive answer, but for the most part, the jury is still out. Much of the research surrounding food and memory are in preliminary stages and tested on animal subjects. Not to dismiss the abilities of a lab rat, but making the connection between a rat and a human is dubious. However, we aren’t entirely left in the dark. In fact, there is exciting new research pointing to real and impressive associations between food and memory. This post (don’t forget to listen to the podcast version too) will dive into this salad bowl of findings and scoop out foods to help with memory conservation and retention. All you’re left with is the easy – and delicious – part of figuring out how to incorporate these foods into your meals. So, let’s dig in. One: The Ugly Nut That Should Get More Attention They look like brains, are hard to crack, and have a slight bitter flavor. Walnuts taste as unique as they look, and cracking them open has been a strength test for bodybuilders everywhere. Beyond their use as a party trick, these funny-looking nuts have some evidence pointing to their ability to improve memory. It’s not due to their pretty appearance. Walnuts contain the highest source of antioxidants among their nut brothers and sisters (Vinson and Cai 134). Perhaps due to their impressive antioxidant profile, walnuts have garnered research specifically on their abilities to improve memory. A recently published, cross-sectional American study was conducted analyzing the association of walnuts to several forms of cognitive function (Arab and Ang 284). The study included participants from a variety of ethnicities, age groups, and genders. It surveyed over 20,000 people about their dietary habits and had them take various cognitive tests. These tests included reaction time, numerical processing, and recall. This is perhaps the largest walnut to cognitive function study ever done on the US population, and boasts impressive results. The study showed strong associations between higher walnut consumption and progressively better scores on each cognitive test, including the memory recall test (Arab and Ang 284). In other words, the more walnuts they ate per day, the better their memory became. These results applied to all of the age groups studied, ranging between the ages of 25-59. The study concludes with an (albeit serious and scientific) ode to walnuts. “These significant, positive associations between walnut consumption and cognitive functions among all adults [. . .] suggest that daily walnut intake may be a simple beneficial dietary behavior.”(Arab and Ang 284) This study does not stand alone when it comes to nuts and seeds for cognitive health. Another study focusing on elderly subjects found positive effects of walnut consumption on memory recall (Valls-Pedret

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Guinness World Record Holder Dave Farrow talks about developing focus, overcoming study fatigue and how advanced memory abilities can make you an expert in anything. As a long term researcher into many aspects of memory science, it was an honor to move from using the techniques personally while studying them to trying my hand in a competition with one of the best. Farrow was incredibly generous to record this episode, something in his character I noticed at the competition itself. Putting together memory competitions is not easy, after all. And on top of that, he’s put in the practice to establish his legendary status as a memory champion. Press play above and in this episode, you’ll learn: * Why the Ancient Greeks are not the only source of powerful memory techniques. * An amazing focus method for people with A.D.D. that’ll also work for anyone! * How to beat any world memory record and maintain the information over long periods of time. * The important of accuracy in memory and how to develop it fast. * How Dave memorized 59 decks of cards, totally 3068 cards. * The important difference between a memory championship and memory competition. * The nearly magical power of pegs as a powerful alternative to using a Memory Palace. * The secrets of bring longevity to memory without having to cram or spend tons of time reviewing. * A stunning and colorful alternative to the Major Method, especially for people with dementia using an arrangement like this (you can create your own version): 1 = red 2 = orange 3 = yellow 4 = green 5 = blue 6 = purple 7 = brown 8 = silver 9 = gold 0 = black * Exactly how to memorize the Major Method (sometimes called the Major System) using “mnemonics for mnemonics.” * How to use memory techniques to “fill in the gaps” of anything you missed from a lecture. * How to deal with being accused of cheating when you use memory techniques to ace every test. * How to rebalance your brain after intense periods of learning so that you can maximize every minute you invest in your studies. * How to study with zero fatigue, no matter what field you’re in (medical, legal, etc.) * The relationship between the focus created by athleticism and what you need to maximize your scholastic studies. * Why having a short attention span has little to do with the Internet Age and everything to do with our primal ancestors. * The best places to study so that you have the space and the freedom of mind to get the most out of your memory. * How to combine focus bursts and mnemonics to blaze through learning a language – even supposedly difficult languages like Chinese. * Why you need to avoid memory techniques taught by people unqualified to explain them. * How to find out your primary way of making imaginative connections so that mnemonics work for you at the highest possible level. * The power of irony, oddity and personification as alternatives to action and imagery in your approach to memorizing information. * How Dave used memory techniques to become expert in everything needed to build the animatronic “FarrowBOT” with fully articulated hands. It truly is the robot that memory built. * The secret keys to developing motivation and passion so that you can make maximum gains with your memory over the long haul. * … and much, much more!   Photos From Dave Farrow’s 2015 Canadian Memory Seminar And Tournament   The 2015 Seminar and Memory Tournament took place on October 17th in Toronto, Canada at the Ontario Science Center. Please feel free to read the full Tournament Rules. You can also grab the World Memory Tournament Manual Dave put together with Chester Santos for more information about being a memory competitor or putting together your own competition.     At the competition, anyone can take turns being either a competitor or a judge. It’s amazing how quickly complete beginners pick up the mnemonics and get stunning results just minutes after receiving instructions in how to memorize vocabulary, numbers and playing cards. Even the most skeptical utterly surprised themselves!     As you can see, I was having the time of my life overseeing some of the matches. It was actually a challenging experience because judges have to make some tough close calls. If one competitor makes a mistake, the other competitor can claim the point and then go on to rack up even more until they’ve exhausted the amount of vocabulary, numbers or playing cards they were able to memorize.     These competitors are memorizing lists of vocabulary that they are seeing for the first time. A camera captures everything and detailed records of the results are recorded by the judge.     At the end, everyone walks away as a winner just for taking up the challenge of exercising their imagination and memory abilities and it is a thrill to get a photo with the “Farrow” of Memory himself,

Let me ask you something: If you had the cure for cancer, to what lengths would you go to get it into the hands of the people? I’m guessing you would not rest until you could see the world freed from the disease in all its manifestations. Matteo Ricci did not have the cure for cancer, but as we learn in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence he did have the next best thing: A simple recipe for eliminating forgetfulness. Not only that, but Ricci’s recipe helps with memorizing entire books and large volumes of vocabulary. Most impressively, Ricci developed a means for memorizing how to write in Chinese. Yes, you really can memorize how to understand and sound those crazy characters, and even memorize the stroke order.   The Freakish Willpower Of A Memory Wizard   As an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary, Ricci’s memory techniques were so powerful that some of the people in China who heard him recite their books forward and backward thought he was a wizard. In some cases, people saw him as a religious threat because Ricci also believed he had the ultimate salve for the human condition: Christianity. Indeed, as Jonathan D. Spence suggests in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, “by impressing the Chinese with his memory skills, Ricci hoped to interest them in his culture; through interesting them in his culture he hoped to draw them to an interest in God.”   Talk About Ambition!   Although Ricci’s proselytization had only middling results in China, he was a friend of memory techniques, and we can learn a lot from him about how to use mnemonics at a much higher level. He wrote about his approach to memory and quoted the scholars from whom he learned the Memory Palace technique in a book called Xiguo Jifa. It took me forever and a day to find a copy of it, but finally I did and made sure to pack it up and take it with me during a recent move:   https://youtu.be/4F0DL0vLkaY   Speaking of books, Ricci was said to have the ability to memorize them cover to cover – and recite them forward and backwards. But is this a useful skill? You be the judge.   https://youtu.be/X-zB_mGT0Zc   But memorizing entire books aside, as with all interesting lives, Ricci’s was filled with drama. Along with his many thrills, chills and spills, this “wizard” of the dark mnemonic arts we can learn …   The Many Dangers Of Using Memory Techniques   The first danger with using memory techniques is that as your memory grows stronger, so do your powers. You may even find that special new powers grow, abilities that you did not anticipate. And, as all fans of Spider-Man know …   With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility   This is certainly true, but those of us living today can probably ignore the idea that using mnemonics fuses your brain with the cosmos. But it was a common concern in the sixteenth century, the flames of which Giordano Bruno had no problem fanning. But for Ricci’s contemporaries, the threat was real. Being accused of magical powers regularly led to imprisonment, disfiguring torture and public execution. Often all three. We can also probably dismiss the idea that rosemary helps with memory improvement, something promised by Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance, pray you, love, remember.” Other than that, the rest is golden. Drawing on Spence’s book about Ricci, we can now turn to …   Matteo Ricci’s 5 Memory Palace Tips For Total Memory Mastery   1. Cultivate eloquence by using familiar buildings. Ricci grew up during a time when fortresses were taking on more prestige than cathedrals in European cities. This historical circumstance meant that Ricci could use the best of both worlds. And you can too by visiting the most modern architecture where you live and the oldest remaining buildings. You can transform these buildings into well-formed Memory Palaces simply by following a few simple principles. This free Memory Improvement Kit teaches you each of these, so grab it now. The great thing about many civic buildings is that they’re well-planned. You can also usually find a floor plan on one of the walls. If not, a guard or other official will probably know where it is and let you take a photograph for later reference.   Get Freakishly Insane Results With This DIY Memory Palace Strategy   Or, for very good practice, you can sketch out a floor plan of the building yourself. This activity translates your immediate impressions through your muscles and other representation systems directly into your memory, and if you can start memorizing information before you leave the site, all the better. For more ideas about the kinds of buildings that make great Memory Palaces, check out the How To Find Memory Palaces episode of the Magnetic Memory Method podcast. The most importan