The Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

Did you know that your ability to be a moral person directly connects to the quality of your memory? At least, that's according to Albertus Magnus and I think he's right. Why? A few reasons. First off, forgetfulness is an unnecessary evil. Let it run your life and you're automatically living on the Dark Side. Second, you learn, memorize and recall less than you're capable of. That's not only an act of self-cruelty. It's a crime against humanity. Finally, if you're not on top of your ability to memorize the information you need to achieve maximum success in life, you're not able to pass the skills on. It doesn't get any more immoral than that. Memory Is The Sensitive Part Of The Soul Born sometime around 1200 in the Duchy of Bavaria, Albertus Magnus spent a fair shake of time writing about memory skills before dying in the year 1280. He was influenced by Aristotle, who also wrote about memory, and left his mark on Thomas Aquinas, who also filled a few pages on the art of memory. For his part, Magnus was fixated on ethics and what exactly makes good things good. For example, he nailed down four cardinal virtues: Fortitude Temperance Justice Prudence Memory, or memoria, belongs to prudence for Magnus, along with intelligence and providence. Magnus breaks prudence down even further by saying it has a rational part and an emotional part. We should be using memory to live useful lives based on both of these aspects. As he writes: "Memory can be a moral habit when it is used to remember past things with a view to prudent conduct in the present looking forward to the future." Calling up positive things from the past to guide your behavior in the future is fine and dandy. But what about mnemonics? Guess what? Using Memory Techniques Is Also A Virtuous Habit Magnus called mnemonics "artificial memory" after the conventions of the time. We know better now, however. Using the power of your imagination to make Memory Palaces is the most natural activity on earth, especially compared with spaced-repetition software. That's the hammer of memory that deserves the term "artificial" more than anything else. The 5 Magnus Rules For Creating Top-Notch Memory Palaces Plus, Magnus was a lot like me. He wasn't into using virtual Memory Palaces. He advises using only real locations and especially recommends churches because of how they can move the soul. It's an interesting suggestion because often the more meaningful the building, the more powerful the Memory Palace will be. Keep that in mind when creating your next Memory Palace and avoid basing any on buildings that may suck your enthusiasm. With this point established, Magnus offers five rules. 1. Use Quiet Locations Makes sense, right? Maybe. I can understand wanting to base your Memory Palaces on locations prone to silence. It kind of makes sense for them to mimic the intense concentration needed for creating powerful associative-imagery inside the Memory Palace. However, if you're using a bustling cafe, you don't need to do the memory work in the cafe. And when you are using the Memory Palace, you can be in a quiet space. In fact, no matter where in the world the building you've sourced for your MP happens to be, it's always a good idea to learn, memorize and practice Recall Rehearsal in quiet places. But if you want to use the stage and stadium of a memorable Kiss concert, do it. If for any reason your memories of the excitement do get in the way, simply move on to another place. 2. Your Memory Palaces Should Neither Be Too Large Nor Too Small Many beginners get excited by the possibilities of making massive Memory Palaces. They draw diagrams of shopping malls, airports and try to use each and every floor of New York skyscrapers. There's no doubt that with practice you can use enormous Memory Palace structures. But Mangnus is right. You want to find a comfortable size the works for you. In my case, I max out at 50-60 stations per Memory Palace. In many cases, I stick with a mere 10, using proper Magnetic Memory Method form to get the into long term memory so any given Memory Palace can be put out of rotation for a while and then reused. That said, it's good to stretch once in awhile, so keep working progressively to extend your abilities. The trick is to make sure that you're getting your desired outcome. Sure, creating a Memory Palace with 5000 stations would be cool – but can you get measurable results from it? Probably not. 3. Avoid Using Overly Similar Memory Palaces Here's another rule where it really depends. But in principle, you sure can confuse the heck out of yourself if you can't distinguish one Memory Palace from another. In my experience, this isn't such a big deal. Here's why: It's the difference in information that matters. For example, I like to use the Ross Building on the campus of York University. I start on the seventh floor where the Grad Pub used to be and work my way down. The levels are nearly identical, as are the journeys through them. The key diff

You probably think you can get all the memory training you need from books, right? Maybe. Ben Pridmore certainly did (reportedly just one) and worked miracles at the World Memory Championships. But Those Kind Of Results Don't Happen To Everyone The truth is that most of us (including me) need more than one memory training resource. In fact, as I mentioned in The Story Of How To Learn And Memorize German Vocabulary, I studied dozens of memory improvement books, audio programs and video courses. The Magnetic Memory Method simply wouldn't exist without years of relentless research, experimentation, documentation, reconfiguration and teaching. The Art Of Memory Is A Way Of Life Defined By Multiple (Super-Exciting!) Duties To this day, I still study. To develop as a mnemonist, a journalist of memory and a lifelong devotee to teaching the art of memory, I consume all the wisdom about memory improvement I can. That's why I recently attended the ThinkBuzan Memory Training at the Henley Business School in Henley-On-Thames taught by Phil Chambers and Tony Buzan himself. To keep getting better and contributing to the solution. Because there is a solution to forgetfulness and if you apply yourself … You Never Have To Forget Information That Matters Ever Again! Seriously. If you've read more than one book or taken more than one course and still aren't getting results, there are probably only two reasons: 1) You're not studying the right stuff. 2) You're not taking the right actions. And even if you're already equipped and running memory circles around your friends, here are 13 reasons you still really ought to get trained at the Summit of Memory. 1. You Learn More About The History Of Memory I've encountered the story of Simonides of Ceos countless times. However, never have I encountered it so thoroughly and elegantly expressed as when Phil Chambers took us through it. The best part of the story is that it contains all the elements of good mnemonics: strange events and colorful characters. Massive, visual action. A Memory Palace in ruins that, albeit utterly destroyed, still stands in the minds of millions nearly two thousand years later. 2. You Learn About The Science Of Memory There's history behind memory research too, so getting both the past, present and future of memory science makes ThinkBuzan memory training a tremendous asset. MIG, also known as The Most Important Graph In The World, shows you the most cutting edge elements of memory science. It is a Masterplan for engineering any information into your memory forever. You learn The Most Important Graph in the world effectively too. It's presented in stages so that you understand each part. The ThinkBuzan teaching approach also uses the science underlying the graph to get it into your long term memory. Speaking of which … 3. You Learn How To Teach Memory Skills Right Away You've heard me talk about the importance of educating others about memory skills before. I always talk about how and why you must do it immediately in order to get the best results from what you've learned and memorized. For example, in Language Learning For Introverts, I suggest that you explain to anyone who will listen the Memory Palace and mnemonic imagery you use to memorize new words and phrases. It's partly self-serving for how it drills the information into your memory, but more importantly … Teaching Others Creates Enthusiasm For The REAL Magic Of Memory Not only that, but by demonstrating what's possible with your memory through teaching the core skills, you're also getting better at using your memory. You're practicing what you preach and getting better every time you do. 4. You Create A Group Memory Palace On The Spot Nothing enthused me more about the ThinkBuzan memory than creating a Memory Palace together as a group. Phil Chambers had us memorize all the member countries of the European Union in alphabetical order. But even better, Phil tricked us into doing it outside of our awareness. I won't tell you exactly how, but it's similar to how I teach people to memorize the alphabet backwards. To really let you have your cake and eat it too, Phil then shows you how to compound the countries with the capitals of each. This quick exercise means memorizing 40 pieces of information inside of 20 minutes. Using The Most Important Graph In The World (and with a bit of stretching, maybe even without), this is information you can get into long-term memory for the rest of your life. Again, you get all this amazing memorization in less than 20 minutes, plus sufficient review over a week or two. At most, that will total another 20 minutes, likely much less. Plus, while you're completing the live memory exercise … 5. You Create Lifelong Friendships With Other Memorizers ThinkBuzan makes sure that you get to know your classmates from the moment their memory training starts. But the real time group Memory Palace exercise deepens the relationships beyond belief. This bonding occurs not only becaus

It's no secret that students want to succeed. They really do. Even a former dropout like myself dreamed of getting all A's during all those years goofing off took precedent over serious study. I just didn't have the guidance and strategies talented young people need to get the most out of their education. So pay attention, because whether you're in high school, college, university or taking training for certification … Every Student In The World Can Be The BEST Student In The World! But first, you need to overcome a few problems, such as … The Failure To Make A Cozy Little Study Nest Far too often, students all over the map. They try to read The Canterbury Tales in cafeterias, do math at the mall and even work on programming logo-rhythms in the loo. With rare exceptions, none of these places support extended concentration (more on that topic in a bit). But even if you do study well in a variety of noisy places, having a dedicated and protected area can work miracles for your memory. Why? Humans are creatures of habit, and none of us are stronger than our habits. But when we consistently engage in powerful practices, they guide us to amazing places. How To Find Your Comfort Zone In truth, I don't know. You'll need to experiment. And you may need more than one, For me, one of my best study places was Joanne's closet. She was my main squeeze during my BA years, but for a long time, I was her best-kept secret. One day I didn't leave her place in time to miss the people who weren't supposed to see me, however. The only solution in our intellectually intelligent but emotionally immature minds was to hide me in her closet. And that's where I stayed for a very long time after she threw in my backpack, a blanket and a few pillows. Later, she brought me a flashlight so at least I could read. Over the course of the day, Joanne kept me fed and watered and facilitated the odd trip to the washroom. (Very unusual trips these were indeed!) The Most Unusual Productivity Hack In The World Anyhow, the whole ordeal turned out well because not only was I very comfortable, but I wound up reading a challenging book from cover to cover and getting key points down on index cards. I didn't know how to memorize a textbook (infographic) back then, but getting that work done in a focused place was such a boon, I've been reading in and even writing in closets ever since. Heck, when I was in Gran Canaria, I even recorded two episodes of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast in the closet of my hotel! The point is, you can find a perfect place to snuggle in and get stuff done. If that means hiding from the family of your lover in a dark place, by all means do it. You'll be pleased by the results that your regular homework, writing and study space brings. Next, don't fail to … Rack Your Study Schedule Shotgun I know. That's a slightly violent image. But the reality is that we as students and lifelong learners often fail to follow a planned schedule. And went that happens, it's impossible to set 'em up and knock 'em down. I'm talking about writing essays with enough time left over to edit them. I'm talking about giving yourself enough time to take a warm up exam before sitting for the one that counts. I'm talking about planning time for fun, relaxation and rest so your brain consolidates all you're learning. The problem is, so few know … How To Create A Bulletproof Action Plan And Consistently Implement The best tip I know to help you with this one involves two simple sentences. Conquer the Morning. Win the day. Remember when I told you about my Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets? Well, I didn't invent that strategy just for studying Chinese. I've been using morning routines for years to get the most important tasks out of the way first. But You've Got To Know What Your Most Important Tasks Are! To do that means identifying and setting priorities. If your teacher is any good, you'll have these loud and clear. For example, with the Magnetic Memory Method, it's simple: organize the target info, create Memory Palaces or select existing Memory Palaces, encode the info and then use Recall Rehearsal to place it in long term memory. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. But not all teachers know how to help you understand your priorities, so you must make sure you … Stop Failing To Communicate With Your Instructors I know, I know. They're the teachers and it's their responsibility to guide you. But in reality, that's only 50% correct. Every top-notch student needs to meet their instructors halfway. You need to observe where they are failing you and get what you need. Avoid This Student Plague … Like The Plague! Have you ever sat in class with a burning question and yet … you didn't raise your hand? If so, you're in the majority. Don't feel bad. It's part of the human condition not to want to stand out, or feel stupid or be the first to say something. You might also be wrongly assuming that the teacher will get to what you want to know later an

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 subtract. Don't provide something with the apparent reason you just want something in return. Give with the intention of helping. If you're lucky (and genuine), then the gifts will come back. Give your work away. Giving is good for the soul. It's good for your he

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

You've dreamed about it for years. Opening your mouth and fluently speaking a foreign language. You know just how deeply that ability would fill the wide open gap in your soul. You may not be fully aware of why your monolingualism hurts so bad, but in this post you'll discover 15 reasons to find out what you're missing. Let's explore each of these and see how each can inspire you to get started learning a language today. There'll be some powerful tips and action steps for you at the end so you can get started today. Learning A Language Exercises Your Brain Do you ever feel like your mind has gone a bit soft? Chances are it does feel a little doughy. The good news is that learning a language is one of the best long-term workouts you can get. Working with new words and grammar rules gets multiple areas of the brain working together. And because you get to think familiar thoughts from a completely new angle, your perspective stretches more profoundly than looking at an M.C Escher painting ever will. Language Learning Develops Discipline Languages are fun, but also require consistency of exposure and effort. Luckily, access to languages has never been easier thanks to the Internet. However, you do have to click over to the right websites and invest your time optimally. Sites like Duolingo and Memrise offer some help, but you'll also want to find resources that capture all of the "Big Five Musts" of language learning: Memorizing Reading Listening Speaking Writing The good news is that you can get each of these done in the first half hour of your day with an additional one hour or less in speaking practice with a tutor per week. Covering The Big Five Of Language Learning is especially easy if you develop the discipline of consistently getting your language learning in before you even switch on the computer. There's more information about making sure you get all of these done within the first 15-30 minutes of your day in my case study Mandarin Chinese Mnemonics And Morning Memory Secrets. After you've covered your daily language learning activities first thing in the morning, you'll never never suffer the dreaded Zeigarnik Effect which creates intrusive thoughts when we're not focusing on things we need to get done. For the rest of your day, you can check in on your language periodically by stocking up on podcasts, watching some Youtube videos in your target language and by using the technique taught at the end of this article. Finally, work on understanding motivation in the context of language learning. Master your motivation and you'll make steady strides toward fluency in no time. Language Study Deepens Your Appreciation And Understanding Of Your Mother Tongue You rarely ponder it and yet it's in front of your eyes and on your mind all day long. It even dominates your dreams. Yes, your mother tongue is that prevalent. But just imagine understanding the ins and outs of your mother tongue at a higher level. The benefits are wide reaching and knowledge of how and why we speak as we do will enrich many aspects of your life. Your mother tongue is also downright amusing when you realize how many weird things we say. And as I suggest in this video… You won't get this level of silent education and amusement while walking down the street in any other way, so pay attention to the odd nature and quality of the phrases we speak. Ezra Pound called this element the logopoeia of language and it is profound. New Languages Exercise The Muscles Of Your Mouth And Ears There are spots on your tongue that you didn't know you have. Lots of them. And that's not to mention the backs of your teeth and the terrain of your palette. When learning a new languages, these places suddenly become a vast world ready for exploration. Your ears develop exciting new abilities too. You'll automatically start picking up on variations in sound and your attentiveness to detail will improve. All languages are musical and syncing your ears with your mouth makes you both the player and the instrument. Prepare to bloom. Your Cultural Knowledge And Understanding Expands Want to know why some people tick as they do? Learn about their culture from the inside looking out instead of trying to peer in. Whether it's history, politics, cinema, literature, theater or music, the ability to study and experience these aspects of a culture from within its language is inspiring. Even sculpture and painting take on new dimensions when you can read the plaques in your target language. The best part is that your interest in the culture will expand. When you start learning the language of a new culture you're interested in, prepare for your curiosity to increase twelve-fold (or more). Numbers And Math Concepts Will Grow Your Logical And Conceptual Abilities Learning to count and perform basic math operations in another language can feel a bit like learning to tie your shoelaces all over again. Different languages express numbers and the time of day in unique ways that can

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. And yet … Here's Why So Few Children Fail To Make A Mark As Grownups Memory. Think about it. Every test your child will ever take relies on memory. And every gatekeeper your child will ever pass on the way to fulfilling their dreams hinges on the ability to recall details. Thoroughly and accurately. 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. The Simple Way To Use Rhymes And Your Family Home To Learn, Memorize And Recall Anything The best memory techniques all use buildings and other fixed locations. Why? 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. The Special Structure Anyone Can Use To Learn, Memorize And Recall Anything Anyone of any age can build one and use it to memorize anything. But please don't use Memory Palaces to memorize any old thing. The trick is to use these wonderful mental structures for memorizing important information. Not just any 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. To use this power, you associate information with a location. And to make the information really magnetic, you create crazy images that makes it easier to recall. Usually these images will come from visual sources you already know, such as movies, paintings, famous figures and the like. You can also turbocharge the images you create by using stock images placed in the Memory Palace. Here's An Easy Way To See The Second Power Of Memory 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 help everyone in your family use this location and rhyme-based memory technique to learn and memorize anything. From facts and mathematical figures to foreign language vocabulary and artifacts from Ancient Egypt. Being able to recall these in a snap make a huge difference for kids in school. And bilingualism is very health for young brains. The Minimalist Guide To Making Memory Improvement A Family Event If your young person is struggling to learn, retain and reproduce information, here's how you can help. If you've already used your home as a Memory Palace, visit a relative or friend. Make a Memory Palace based on their home. You can literally walk the journey between the actual rooms with them, encouraging them to come up with the memorable images on their own. You can also use a walk through a simple park, a movie theater, a church or a library. But please do start with simple structures before introducing anything more complex. Mastering simple buildings makes masteri

Could This Man Be The GODFATHER Of Memory Techniques Of The 20th & 21st Century? (Seriously. The dude has memory courses on vinyl.) Although memory training has been around for millennia, it has seen a huge resurgence in modern times. There are now countless books and materials about memory improvement, not to mention video courses, audio programs and, yes, resources like the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. But if there is one name who stands behind the explosion of mnemonics in the 20th and 21st century, that name is Harry Lorayne. Through his voluminous work as an author and presenter, Lorayne spawned and popularized the modern industry of memory training. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in terms of sheer visibility and quality, I think it's safe to say that Harry Lorayne is the Mnemonic Godfather of modern memory training. How To Survive A Terrible Childhood And Create A Memorable Career But the future didn't always look so promising for Lorayne. Judging from his childhood conditions during the depression-era, it seemed that the odds were firmly stacked against him. "I had an awful childhood. I'm a depression kid." Lorayne shares in his 2012 interview with Michael Senoff. "I remember having a potato for dinner." He was also affected with dyslexia, which he only identified as such years later. This learning disability caused him to struggle and fail while in grade school. But Harry Lorayne's life took a different course when he discovered books on memory improvement. As he told me in the exclusive interview he gave for Masterclass members, he discovered memory techniques in a dramatic way and after learning these methods and drastically improving his grades, he started teaching his classmates on how they too could become memory masters. From there, Harry Lorayne progressively became more and more successful. Lorayne has managed to emerge as one of the most famous and published magicians and memory experts of the century. Now in his late 80s, Lorayne is still at work teaching the world about memory, success and perseverance. The Secret Ingredient That Made Harry Lorayne And His Memory Techniques Go Viral Harry Lorayne was born of Jewish parents in 1926 in Manhattan's Lower East Side, right near the East River. Having come to the world only 3 short years before the Great Depression, Lorayne's childhood was spent in impoverished and difficult circumstances. Most everyone was poor, and Lorayne was amongst the poorest of the poor. Poverty colored all aspects of Harry Lorayne's childhood, including his play. He recalls how with his childhood friends he would play in a garbage dump near where he lived. Lorayne recounts: "The garbage became a petrified hill. They were long, petrified mountains of garbage, and that was our playgrounds. That's what my friends and I played on when I was a little boy." School also proved to be difficult Lorayne. Due to his undiagnosed dyslexia, Lorayne received failing grades as a young boy. To make matters worse, his father had a heavy-handed way of dealing with his son's school performance. "I got the paper [test] home to my father to sign, and he would look at the failing grade, and he would punch me," remembers Lorayne "I was scared. Not of getting failing grades, but of getting hit by my father." How Fear Created A Memory Solution That Would Help Millions Of People Improve Their Memory Pushed to find a solution, a stroke of insight struck Lorayne one day on his walk to school. "I just realized that at that point in my life, all you had to do was remember the darn answers to the questions, and then you'll get a passing grade. And then, more importantly, your father won't punch you." In other words, Lorayne understood that school was more about a test of how well you could memorize than a test of 'intelligence'. As he says repeatedly in many of his interviews "There is no learning without memory." Lorayne soon headed to the library where he asked the librarian to show him where the books on "how to memorize" were kept. There, he immersed himself for hours in how-to books on memorization. These included books from the 17th and 18th century, and works from modern memory trainers, such as David Roth. Much of the material was not comprehensible for him at his young age. However, he understood enough to teach himself how to memorize things quickly and effectively using mnemonics techniques. From that point on, he aced his tests at school, surprising his teachers and sparing him from his aggressive father. His classmates took notice, and started to ask Lorayne how he managed to have improved his memorization so drastically. That marked the start of his career teaching others on how to memorize effectively. Later, Lorayne would even have other people teaching his techniques for him. For example, the magician Darwin Ortiz talks about teaching for Lorayne in his Penguin Magic Live Lecture. But long before being a teacher and helping others become teachers of memory techniques, Lorayne became

There's No Way Of Learning Chinese With A Messy Mind! Or … Is there? Actually, yes. There is. No matter how manic, no matter how depressed, no matter how much I've got on my plate, ALMOST every day, I fit language learning into my schedule. One of my best tricks is this: Win The Morning, Win The Day Do you reach for your cell phone first thing? And are you making the mistake of using it as an alarm clock so that you have no choice but to check it first thing? If you're serious about learning a language, checking your messages and farting around on social media first thing in the morning is a big no-no. That's true even if you want to learn languages online. Think about it. How many times have you gotten caught up in the "Twilight Zone" of Facebook only to notice that 15 minutes … 30 minutes … even an entire hour has slipped past. For nothing! So don't do it. Here's How To Get Language Learning In First Thing So You Feel On Top Of Your Progress All Day Long I hate having that feeling throughout the day that I'm neglecting what I love: memory and language learning. So in addition to winning back oodles of time by not looking at my "dumb phone" and not turning on the computer, here's what's going on right now: On the floor beside my bed, I have Langenscheidt's Chinesisch Schreibübungsbuch. It's a book written in German that teaches how to write the Chinese characters. Tucked inside the book is the notebook I'm using to draw the characters. I don't get out of bed until I've spent as long as it takes to practice drawing 8 characters 8 times. Why 8? No idea. That's just the number that came to mind. It's just part of what I've learned from Olly Richards: You Must Have A Language Learning System! Seriously. You must. Languages don't get learned Helter Skelter. They get learned based on consistent efforts executed consistently. That's the first part of my system and a huge part of The Big Five Of Language Learning. Next, I pop in my Human Charger and meditate. I do this for exactly 9 minutes. Why 9 minutes? Because that's how long it takes for the Human Charger to shoot its light into my ears. You may have heard me talk about other, more relaxed meditation approaches in the past, but I'm experimenting with this one and it works really well. Next, I knock off another of The Big Five language learning activities: Spend Time Listening To Your Language Every Day Listening to Pimsleur language learning programs (Pimsleur for Mandarin Chinese no less) used to bore the snot out of me. Sorry to be vulgar, but it's true. Think about it: You listen to this guy promoting you in English to say stuff in the language you're studying again and again and … … again. It's Like Pounding Nails Into Your Head! But then I had an idea: What if I "fuse" listening to Pimsleur recordings with the Magnetic Memory Method. Oh ho ho, Magnetic friend. That's when Pimsleur started to get really interesting. This might sound complex, but it works. Get a notebook. Reserve it for your MMM Pimsleur experiment. Then get out a pen and pop on your headphones. Next, make a couple of columns: English (or mother tongue) Homophonic transliteration Mnemonic Imagery Words Notes Also, leave space to draw a Memory Palace on the page. Draw one out using all the principles of the Magnetic Memory Method you've learned from one of my books or video courses. If you don't know how to make a Memory Palace, get this: It's all very easy peasy and, yes, even lemon squeezy (as one MMM student once put it). Now you're set. Keep the pause button handy and then press play. When the man introduces how to say: "Excuse me, may I ask?" pause the recording and write this down in your English column. Then, after you hear the native speaker say it in your target language, write out what you hear in your own spelling. Say it out loud and spell it in whatever way seems best to you. Don't Make The Mistake Of Overthinking This For Mandarin Chinese (Or Any Other Language) Like Jesse Villalobos told us in his recent Magnetic Memory Method review, just do it. And don't worry about standardizing your homophonic transliterations. You're just helping your mind understand the sound and meaning of the phrases using multiple senses and muscles. Seriously. I can't tell you the dozens of different ways I've spelled different phrases and it doesn't matter. I can speak them in the target language, in this case, Chinese. Next, think up some imagery that helps you memorize the words. Whatever comes to mind. And if you're following along, the brief meditation will have you calm, relaxed and juiced up with creativity. Once you've got that whipped up, stick it on, at, beside or even under your first Memory Palace station. Finally, press play again and carry on. What Will Happen To You Next Is A Language Learning Miracle Soon the Pimsleur guy will ask you to say that phrase for which you just created mnemonic imagery. Press pause and then look into your imagination (not at the page!) and "decode" the ima

Can This Incredible Memory Champion Teach You How To Memorize 52 Playing Cards In 17 Seconds, Ace Med School And Get The Upper Hand On Learning A Language? Have you ever wondered how the world's top performers manage to pull off their tremendous feats? I'll bet you have. I'll bet you've even felt jealous, and all the more so when it comes to memory champions. But as Alex Mullen reveals in this exclusive Magnetic Memory Method interview, you can build your memory skills to epic levels with a shockingly small budget of time. For an hour a day or less, Alex demonstrates that you can learn to memorize a deck of cards in 17 seconds. You can win a Guinness World Record for memorizing the most digits in under an hour – Alex clocks in at 3029! And the best part is that you use the powers of memory you develop to sail through your studies. As a John Hopkins University grad with degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Alex is living proof that you really can squeeze it all in and have an excellent memory too. Currently a medical student at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Alex is not only a two-times World Memory Champion. He currently holds the record for scoring the most points since the competitions began 24 years ago. So what are you waiting for? Tune into this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. Download the audio and transcript to your desktop and follow through on the suggestions in this action-packed session with one of the world's greatest living mnemonists. Episode Transcript Anthony: Alex, it is really great to have you on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, and actually a real honor because you have achieved so much and really at a young age. Maybe tell people what age you are here in 2016 and a little bit about your first memory of being interested in memory. Alex: Sure, well let me say first of all, I am happy to be here. It's nice to be talking you. I got interested in memory back in March 2013. That was sort of the first time, at least that I can think of, that I was introduced to the techniques. At that point, I think I was either a sophomore or junior in college. Up to that point, I had done things like using acronyms and some basic mnemonic stuff, but I really didn't know about Memory Palaces. I didn't know about any visual mnemonic strategies, anything more advanced than that. How To Get Your Foot In The Door With Mnemonics My first exposure was this TED talk by Joshua Foer called Feats of Memory Anyone Can Do. It was a short TED talk but that just really got me hooked. I was blown away about what he talked about in that talk. I ended up reading his book. He had this TED talk and then he wrote this book, a pretty famous one called Moonwalking with Einstein where he goes into his journey as memory athlete, learning the techniques, competing at the USA Memory Championship. That was really what got me interested. I tell you, in terms of what was going on in my own life, like I mentioned, I was a student at the time and I probably, and it's hard to remember ironically, but I'm pretty sure I probably felt like I was struggling with my own memory in school. Not really feeling like I was learning in the most efficient way, forgetting things all the time. Seeing these techniques, obviously as many people do, it struck me as something that I could use to improve my academic life. That was really the original motivator for me using memory techniques. I didn't really think about competitions. I didn't really think about memorizing numbers and cards. I really just wanted to use it for school, and that was my initial sort of entry into the world. Then, once I read his book I got interested, and I figured why not make a system for numbers, make a system for cards, and then at least even if I don't compete, I can use those to practice techniques and get comfortable with them. That's what I did. I ended up reading a few more books: Dominic O'Brien's Quantum Memory Power, Ron White's Memory in a Month. I got through those and just made my systems. I started making a PAO system for numbers, a PAO system for cards. Then I just kind of started practicing and doing the events at the competitions and then trained for about a year. My first competition was the 2014 USA Memory Championship. The Minimalist Guide To the PAO (Person Action Object)System And Beyond Anthony: There is so much to talk about with what you just said but maybe if we just jump into the bolts and the mechanics and so forth. When you're talking about systems and PAO, what are you referring to? I think one thing that is supper important in what you're saying is you're talking about creating systems. A lot of people look for a system in someone else's mnemonic strategy, but you're talking about creating your own. Why is that important? What do you mean by system? What does it mean to create your own? Alex: Right, well, when I say I created a PAO system, I was just looking to, as most memory

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: * Textbook tactics for shopping and getting the most out of every resource you buy. * How to avoid tourist-speak so that you aren't limited to ordering food and asking directions to the hospital for your cat (yes, you will be led into these dead ends if you don't take Olly's advice). * Exactly how to deal with introversion so that no matter how shy you might be, you can eliminate random social unknowns and learn in a safe and practical environment. * … and much, much more. This is the kind of episode you're going to want to save and keep returning to again and again. And if you interested in memorizing the key points, How To Memorize A Textbook will help you master this simple skill and put you in a position to memorize vocabulary and phrases at a higher level thanks to your practice of the art of memory. Further Resources Olly's I Will Teach You A Language Podcast Olly's Language Learning Foundations Course (highly recommended) Olly's Amazon Author Page Spanish Short Stories For Beginners Volume One Spanish Short Stories For Beginners Volume Two Italian Short Stories For Beginners German Short Stories For Beginners Russian Short Stories For Beginners Photo Essay The picture above is from the May 2015 Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. From left to right you see myself, Olly, Richard Simcott, Kris Broholm, Brian Kwon and Jan van der Aa. 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 very cool that I could see the place with my own

It's a curious thing that human beings, and most other animal species, are driven to regular periods of inactivity and unconsciousness. What could be less evolutionarily beneficial than a stretch of eight hours during which you can't hunt, defend yourself, or reproduce? Not to mention working on your memory improvement. All jokes aside, the fact that we are driven to sleep is an indication that sleep has an important purpose in our biology. And yet, the precise mechanisms of sleep remain largely mysterious. The exact reasons why we require sleep, and what happens during sleep, are areas of current research. One thing is for certain: lack of sleep leads to an array of social, financial, and health-related costs. Indeed, the fatality rate of sleepiness-related car crashes is similar to that of driving under the influence (Goel et al 2009). What's more is that prolonged sleep deprivation leads to death for many studied species (and presumably humans) (Cirelli et al. 2008). Despite these realities, a full 20% of adults are not getting enough sleep (Goel et al 2009). It's a common practice in our culture to praise those who can work the most and sleep the least. However, research indicates that this attitude is misguided. Lack of sleep has important negative implications for cognition. Sleep deprivation puts pressure on your entire cognitive apparatus, and has the potential to affect your memory. After this article, you may be convinced that a nap is in order. What Exactly Is Sleep? Over 85 years, an average person will sleep 250,000 hours, which is equal to 10,000 full days (Scullin et al 2015). But what is sleep, really? It is commonly believed that sleep is a continuous period of a complete loss of awareness. But in actuality, sleeping is not one continuous state and a sleeping person does not lose total awareness. Instead, they alternate between reduced awareness of the external world and a complete loss of consciousness (Gudberg et al 2015). From here, sleep is typically classified into two categories. The first is non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep and the second is rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (Bryant et al 2004). NREM sleep happens during the early moments of falling asleep. As the name suggests, there is little to no eye movement during NREM sleep. Dreams are rare during this stage, your body is not paralyzed as in REM sleep, and mental activity is still "thought-like" (Bryant et al 2004). This is the stage during which some people will sleep-walk. The role of NREM sleep is to conserve energy, cool the body and brain, and promote immune function. Following NREM sleep, a person will fall into REM sleep, where rapid eye movements can be observed. This is where the majority and the most vivid dreams occur. Your body is paralyzed, which is an adaptation to prevent you from acting out your dreams. You will periodically wake up – which some researchers feel serves as a way to survey the environment (Bryant et al 2004). These mini-awakenings are typically not remembered. The Devastating Consequences Of Sleep Deprivation On Memory Revealed As you sleep, you will cycle between NREM and REM sleep four to five times during the night. By understanding our sleep patterns, it becomes evident that there is much more that happens during sleep than simply being unconscious. The broad overview given here just scratches the surface of the complex world of sleep. For all of its complexity, sleep serves essential functions. For example, a sleep-deprived person suffers from many ailments, including: A weakened immune system (Bryant et al 2004). Reduced wakefulness – microsleeps during wakeful hours after sleep deprivation (Cirelli et al. 2008). Compromised cognition. The compromised cognition experienced during sleep is all too familiar for many of us. We all know that after a poor night's sleep, we are groggy and we tend to think more slowly. When it comes to memory, the essential role that sleep plays is more pervasive than most realize. Sleep Plays a Key Role When it Comes to Your Memory There are three basic memory stages. The first is called acquisition or encoding. This is the process of collecting the information or processes that you'd like to memorize. An example could be re-reading the dates and prominent figures in a history book. This is called "declarative" memory, and is the memory of facts and information. Another example of memory is procedural memory. This is memory of how to do something. This could be anything from learning how to ride a bike or learning how to play the piano. The second step is consolidation, where the information you've absorbed become stable in your mind. It is at this stage that memories are formed in your mind. Finally, you must be able to recall memories for them to be useful. Thus, the final stage in memory is remembering something during your waking hours. Numerous studies have indicated the importance of sleep for the second stage, memory consolidation. A good night's sleep can

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

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

How would you like permission to skip school for the rest of your life as a student? Or how about the ability to quit your job and do whatever you like for the rest of your career? Well … I'm not sure I can help you with that. But what I can do is give you some tips on how to live an interesting life. Here are six of them: 1. Be The Driver Of Your Education There are two main forms of education: * External Driven * Self Driven The first is the kind of education where you show up when you're told and sit where you're told. You even eat when you're told. Sounds kind of like prison, doesn't it? Prison? It Might Even Be Worse! Not only do you have all kinds of pressures on your time. You've got people telling you what to learn. Think about that: What. To. Learn. Oh no, no, no. No and a thousand times no. That's not the path to an interesting life. What you want instead is to … Be The Boss And Manager Of Your Own Intelligence Let me tell you a story: I dropped out of high school in Grade 12. There's a lot of detail surrounding this decision and some of it ain't pretty. But sticking to the facts (and just the facts), I thought school was such a drag that I decided to stay home and read Collier's Encyclopedia. Each morning I would leave home. But instead of getting the battered yellow school bus into town, I would hike up into the mountains. For months I experienced the Fall transform into Winter and then Spring from up above the highway where I would wait for my mom's car to pass by. It sounds like something out of Hitchcock's Psycho, I know, but as I was watching the highway waiting for mom to go to work, I was listening and learning. No, not listening to Heavy Metal. Not pop. Not even soft rock. Instead, I was listening to the CBC on my fat yellow Walkman. At that time, Peter Gzowski, a.k.a. Mr. Canada, was the host of Morningside. Over the course of the year, I got virtually a Ph.D. in Canadian culture, history, politics, literature and the arts. I also heard interviews with important people from around the world. True, a bear might have mauled me while I was up there, and I did have a few close encounters with moose and deer. But the danger was worth it. And after a few hours of Morningside, I would head down the mountain and make hot chocolate. With a steaming cup beside me on the coffee table, I would sit in the same rocking chair I was nursed in and read the Encyclopedia. It was like being nursed all over again, this time by the knowledge my parents had invested in when they ordered the Encylopedia one volume at a time. These days we have Wikipedia, but back then, if you wanted to know about the world, it cost a lot of money. I remember my mom talking about saving for the Encyclopedia year after year. She cut dozens of coupons from the newspaper so she could save more and complete the set. It took about three years and after that, she kept up with the yearly updates for at least another three. And this was all before I was old enough to read anything more complicated than Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Come to think of it, that story is rather complex …) It was a lot of fun reading through Collier's Encyclopedia. And educational. When I finally did return to complete high school, I knew so much about the world that … School Was EVEN MORE Boring! But that was fine. Because I knew about all kinds of books I wanted to read. So whenever I could, I would still skip school and take out a notebook I'd kept and look for all the books I'd learned about in Collier's. I would go to the Kamloops Public Library and check them out. While everyone else was spending weeks struggling through A Separate Peace by John Knowles, I was reading: * The Stranger by Albert Camus * 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell * Demian by Herman Hesse * The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka * Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski … and much, much more. The point of all this is that I was practicing, without even realizing it, the art of self-driven education. Of course, I'm not suggesting that anyone quit school, skip school or do anything like that … But I am suggesting that you won't get nearly as intelligent as you deserve to be if you learn only what you're told. So What Can You Do? If you're told to read a Shakespeare play, read the play and follow it up by reading another. Or look up a book about Shakespeare and read a play by one of his contemporaries (I recommend the zany John Webster). If you find math difficult and boring, find a book on mathematics that has mostly words. See if you can tackle the idea of math from another angle. Khan Academy has math courses you can take as well, something I couldn't enjoy. But you can. And when you find an author or an online teacher you like, stick with them. You can learn a lot by seeing how people develop over time. You'll also learn a lot about successful people, which brings us to … 2. Reverse-Engineer People You Admire (Just So Long As They Aren't Creepy Weirdos Or Serial

If you're looking for how to improve concentration and memory, this may be the most important blog post you ever read. Why? Because there are few things more frustrating than not knowing how to improve concentration! Well, okay, there's also the frustration of forgetting important details. Especially when you're in the middle of something as important as recalling a person's name, an important fact, or even a hilarious joke. Or worse: When you've prepared the perfect anecdote, yet, you can't retrieve the single most important part from your memory. Here's where the real frustration sets in: You can remember the newspaper where you read the information. You can even remember the look of the page where the information was found, including images and other small details. And yet, in your mind's eye … That One Piece Of Information Is Painfully Out Of Reach! Don't worry. You're not losing your memory. Your inability to remember is likely related to the level of concentration you used at the time you read the passage. This is because concentration is key to memory recall. (In case you want to look it up on Wikipedia, concentration is also known by the slightly less sexy term, "attentional control.") And how to meditate for improving concentration and memory is exactly what you'll learn in this post. But first, a demonstration of just how easy it is to sit and meditate: And now, an important question: What Exactly Is Concentration? Good question, especially when it comes to memory. Why? Because concentration is necessary for creating complete memories. Lack of attention to detail leads to difficulty remembering crucial and important pieces of information. Although having excellent concentration may not necessarily lead to better memory, concentration is essential to well-formed and useful recall of information. But in a time with so much valuable information at our fingertips, there are more barriers for our concentration than ever. The notification-saturated world of the the internet constantly attacks our focus. This reality has led some teachers to worry that students are growing up with decreased attention spans. Thankfully, there is a powerful and scientifically proven method to improving concentration using meditation for concentration and memory. What's more, this method has been practiced for thousands of years. Best of all, it's a simple practice anyone can take up, at no cost, with no fancy equipment, and no extensive training. This 3,500 Year Old Technique Will Improve Your Concentration And Memory The mind is a powerful thing. Perhaps no other group of minds demonstrates this more strongly than experienced Buddhist monks. These monks dedicate their lives to following the Buddhist 8-fold path to enlightenment. The path involves doing good, serving others, and extensive meditation. Enlightenment is the ultimate state of mind. When enlightened, a meditator finally achieves a complete stillness of the mind and inner peace. A Short History Of The Research Into How To Improve Concentration And Memory Although meditation has existed for over 3,500 years, the scientific community has only been studying meditation for over 50 years (Thomas and Cohen, 2013). Every day people have studied meditation too and discovered a lot about how it helps memory: For both scientists and lay people, meditation has demonstrated impressive memory improvement and even helped stunning feats of long term retention and recall. In one mind-defying example, Buddhist monks have been recorded controlling their body temperatures through a meditative practice called "g-tummo". In controlled scientific tests, experienced monks were able to dry cold and moist sheets (Kozhevnikov et al. 2013). These sheets were placed around each monk's body, and were dried within an hour. This meditation process was made possible through body heat produced by the monks while in their meditative state of "g-tummo". Some witnesses of similar experiments report seeing steam emerge from the sheets while they dried (Kozhevnikov et al. 2013). Researchers also measured the monks' body temperatures, which rose by as much as 17 degrees Celcius. How Is This possible? No one quite understands the biological mechanisms behind meditation just yet. But study after study demonstrates that meditation has far-reaching benefits – including for concentration and memory. Indeed, meditation is perhaps the only mental exercise with so much evidence of its ability to improve cognition and focus. And you don't even have to be a monk to start using this tool to better your own mind, body, and soul. The Long way To Better Concentration As with everything, there's an easy way and a hard way. Science doesn't skip over the hard way and investigates everything (crazy right?). Looking for links between meditation and cognition, researchers from the University of California, Davis, recruited 60 people for a study. Half were assigned to a meditation retreat to practice mindfulness meditati

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

If you're lucky enough, eating is something you do every day. If you're like most of us lucky ones, it might be something you do too often every day. But for something you do so often, are you getting the most out of your eating, for both your body and mind? Doctors, nutritionists, fitness instructors, and your mom are constantly preaching: "You are what you eat." "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." "Eat your fruits and veggies." Undoubtedly … … diet is consistently cited as one of the more important aspect to weight loss and overall good health. What you eat can make you healthy, happy, and well-functioning, or throw you into a death-spiral of obesity, disease, and disability. It should come as no surprise that diet also affects mental health. In fact, there is mounting evidence that specific types and classes of food can have beneficial – or detrimental – effects on memory. Recently, for example, coconut oil has come into question. The question is… Is it possible to change your diet to maintain, and even achieve new and better levels of memory and information retention? We are all salivating for a definitive answer, but for the most part, the jury is still out. Much of the research surrounding food and memory are in preliminary stages and tested on animal subjects. Not to dismiss the abilities of a lab rat, but making the connection between a rat and a human is dubious. However, we aren't entirely left in the dark. In fact, there is exciting new research pointing to real and impressive associations between food and memory. This post (don't forget to listen to the podcast version too) will dive into this salad bowl of findings and scoop out foods to help with memory conservation and retention. All you're left with is the easy – and delicious – part of figuring out how to incorporate these foods into your meals. So, let's dig in. The Ugly Nut That Should Get More Attention They look like brains, are hard to crack, and have a slight bitter flavor. Walnuts taste as unique as they look, and cracking them open has been a strength test for bodybuilders everywhere. Beyond their use as a party trick, these funny-looking nuts have some evidence pointing to their ability to improve memory. It's not due to their pretty appearance. Walnuts contain the highest source of antioxidants among their nut brothers and sisters (Vinson and Cai 134). Perhaps due to their impressive antioxidant profile, walnuts have garnered research specifically on their abilities to improve memory. A recently published, cross-sectional American study was conducted analyzing the association of walnuts to several forms of cognitive function (Arab and Ang 284). The study included participants from a variety of ethnicities, age groups, and genders. It surveyed over 20,000 people about their dietary habits and had them take various cognitive tests. These tests included reaction time, numerical processing, and recall. This is perhaps the largest walnut to cognitive function study ever done on the US population, and boasts impressive results. The study showed strong associations between higher walnut consumption and progressively better scores on each cognitive test, including the memory recall test (Arab and Ang 284). In other words, the more walnuts they ate per day, the better their memory became. These results applied to all of the age groups studied, ranging between the ages of 25-59. The study concludes with an (albeit serious and scientific) ode to walnuts. "These significant, positive associations between walnut consumption and cognitive functions among all adults [. . .] suggest that daily walnut intake may be a simple beneficial dietary behavior."(Arab and Ang 284) This study does not stand alone. Another study focusing on elderly subjects found positive effects of walnut consumption on memory recall (Valls-Pedret et al. 773). What all these studies are really trying to say is, "Walnuts. Get on that". Raw or roasted, add them to salads, to your oatmeal or even to the your green smoothies in the morning. If the statistics are correct, you should be getting smarter and remembering more details than ever. How Green Tea Can Super-Charge Your Memory Green tea is a favourite around the world. It's found in a variety of drinks outside of its standard tea form, including lattes, soft drinks, and even ice cream. Green tea has been in the limelight for a while for its purported ability to aid in treating nearly any ailment. Every other week there seem to be stories about green tea's heroism in fighting cancer and diabetes. Hype aside, can green tea help your memory and mind as well? In a study conducted on Japanese residents over age 60, higher green tea consumption was associated with lower incidence of dementia (Noguchi-Shinohara et al). Dementia is a common cognitive and memory decline associated with growing older. The study suggests that green tea consumption could be beneficial for reducing our risk of memory decline. But what about improvin

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. 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, Dave Farrow. Further Resources And Information Mentioned During The Interview Dave's TEDTalk On Why Forgetting May Save Humanity: Excellent article about a Dave Farrow event by Tatiana Sanchez Dave Farrow article on Wikipedia Pushbutton Memory Canada's Best Memory Eric Dinnerstein's World Memory Statistics Make A Wish Foundation Ben Pridmore PAO notes on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast Harry Loryane The post Dave Farrow Talks About Focus, Fatigue And Memory Expertise appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

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: Speaking of books, Ricci was said to have the ability to memorize them cover to cover – and recite them forward and backwards. But is this a useful skill? You be the judge. But memorizing entire books aside, as with all interesting lives, Ricci's was filled with drama. Along with his many thrills, chills and spills, this "wizard" of the dark mnemonic arts we can learn … The Many Dangers Of Using Memory Techniques The first danger with using memory techniques is that as your memory grows stronger, so do your powers. You may even find that special new powers grow, abilities that you did not anticipate. And, as all fans of Spider-Man know … With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility This is certainly true, but those of us living today can probably ignore the idea that using mnemonics fuses your brain with the cosmos. But it was a common concern in the sixteenth century, the flames of which Giordano Bruno had no problem fanning. But for Ricci's contemporaries, the threat was real. Being accused of magical powers regularly led to imprisonment, disfiguring torture and public execution. Often all three. 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 important point Ricci draws out is that familiarity breeds eloquence when it comes to creating top-notch Memory Palaces. As he noted in his letters, even the biggest and most chaotic cities he visited during his travels became small and manageable in his mind through familiarity. For us, this means spending m

This Insanely Smart Guy Teaches You How To Learn Anything At Record Speed – Including Learning How To Engineer Your Own Body. Tap The Mental And Physical Wellness Secrets Of SuperLearner Jonathan Levi. In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method podcast, the host of the Becoming Superhuman podcast and the bestselling Become a SuperLearner video course and book shares a ton of actionable knowledge with you about learning quickly, efficiently and in ways that honor your memory instead of taxing it. In this incredible hour, you'll learn: * The importance of developing your visual memory. * How the process of using a Memory Palace can change over time – and become even more powerful when you have the best practices under your belt. * How to create a powerful Memory Palace – even if it's just minutes before giving a major presentation. * How to use the most shocking locations in your personal history to memorize anything (graphic content). * Why it's never acceptable – and also never necessary – to have crappy grades in school. * How Jonathan deals with ADD, both with and without medication. * How to cope with listening to boring lectures. * Why traditional education needs to change and what the future of education will look like. * How to speed up the slow pace of learning as an independent learner on the road to autodidacticism. * How to use stories in order to memorize and make what you have to say memorable. * The magical power of tension and distress when learning, memorizing and recalling information. * How to deal with feeling uneasy about things you don't want to do and why this kind of action creates such powerful results. * Why people don't use memory techniques, even if they've mastered them. * The connection between slouching and bad memory habits. * How to build confidence in your memory for better conversations and social performance in practical situations. * How to shape the muscle of your mind in order to increase raw memory ability. * How to make using mnemonics second-nature. * How to safely do N=1 experiments on yourself (and why self-experimentation may be the most important activity you ever engage in). * The danger of doing exercises that aren't optimized for endocrine. * The rampant evils of estrogen in everything from your food to your cologne. * Why there is no such thing as being in the "normal range" and why you need to go much deeper when exploring your own health. * How to be more attractive to the opposite sex – even if you're a weird and introverted memory enthusiast. * Why you have a moral obligation to share what you know with the world. * Jonathan's core values and why you shouldn't waste your memory on appointments and other small details. * How to create deep knowledge in ways that create dense connections between the neurons in your brain. * How to harness the power of dual-coding in your use of memory techniques. * How to share your knowledge ethically as you navigate the changing educational landscape in the 21st century. * … and much, much more! Further Resources, People And Items Mentioned In the Podcast Jonathan Levi Talks About Becoming A SuperLearner on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast USA Memory Champion Nelson Dellis On Memory, Tenacity, & Conquering Anything Extreme Memory Improvement: How Nelson Dellis Pushes The Limits Of Recall For The Good Of Humanity Ben Greenfield Fitness Rob Wolf of Eat Real Food Loren Cordaine of The Paleo Diet Kombucha N=1 Branding You: How to Make $1000 A Day Selling YOUR Knowledge The post Jonathan Levi On ADD, Education And His TEDTalk Memory Palace appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.

Let's face it – you're burned out. Work is killing you. Your Kindle app is bursting with unread books. Your credit card is melting from the heat of buying stuff you want but do not need. And that circles back to the job or entrepreneurial pursuits you need to keep the devil's circle spinning. Here's the good news: There are specific habits that can get you off of that wheel. They are easy and mostly inexpensive to do. They give you insight into your situation and can spring you from the prison of burnout faster than you can imagine. The best part is that these seven techniques are also minimalistic. There's almost nothing to them. And the "zen of almost nothing" is a great way to get started dealing with overwhelm. 1. The Shocking Truth About Meditation Daily meditation feels good and creates many benefits ranging from stress relief to increased creativity and improved critical thinking. The only catch is that taking time for this simple practice can be difficult to remember. And that's somewhat strange, given how good it can make you feel, even after only five minutes of practice. One way to make meditation a regular practice you won't forget is to place a mat beside your bed. When you wake up, sit for even just a moment to connect with your surroundings. You don't have a spend a penny on your mat either. Just fold up a blanket, and for extra comfort, place a pillow on top of that. In this way, you can keep your ankles off of the hard floor and give some balance to your spine. Many people think meditation is difficult. But it's easy to do and gets even easier when you approach it without a lofty goal, like enlightenment. As Alan Watts said, the best way to approach meditation is "sitting just to sit." If you can make this simple approach to meditation a regular practice, even with thunder and lightning jolting through your soul, you have a chance at developing better balance in your life within a week or less. 2. How Taking A Simple Walk Can Protect Your From Harm Many hold walking as a form of meditation. But walking also releases regulatory chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine and norepinephrine. These chemicals not only create pleasure, but can also help reduce any physical pain you might be suffering. And you can make walking even more soothing for yourself. Take some MP3s of calming music that you resonate with and focus on immersing yourself in the sound and rhythm as you walk. Match your movements to the music and pay attention to the feeling of the world around you. It's only important that the music you choose reduces overwhelm – not increase it. And if you are interested in meditation, take a break and sit on a bench in a park. Just to sit. 3. How To Practice Vegging Out (In A Positive Way) Well, not exactly "vegging out" in the traditional sense. Practicing Shavasana has a funny catch to it. You will always lose the game. No matter how good you get at the stillness, your body will eventually force you to move. But in this game, losing is a good thing. As you experience the relaxing feelings of stillness, you're also studying your impulses and your need to react to the same thoughts and desires that lead to overwhelm in other areas of your life. As you practice Shavasana over the coming weeks and months, try extending the periods of stillness longer each time. You'll find that by extending your reactions in Shavasana, you'll also be able to slow how you react to overwhelming elements of life too. 4. Do This With A Pen And Paper Every Day When life hands you a car crash, we tend to react to the overwhelm by piling on worry, concern and more stress. The way around this is to buttress yourself in good thoughts before tough things happen. That way, you'll have a reference guide to which you can refer. To complete this simple exercise, get a notebook and focus on writing down things you genuinely appreciate. Be specific. If you're grateful to have a computer, list it. If you enjoyed the smile of a stranger on your walk, make a note of it. And commit to doing this every single day for at least three months. Add these 5 Brain Exercises for bonus points, if you like. Please don't think this daily writing habit is silly or will itself contribute to your overwhelm. In 59 Seconds, a book by Richard Wiseman, the author gives scientific studies that demonstrate the validity of journaling gratitude. But you don't take the word of science for it. Give it a try and you'll find out on your own. Within as short a period as one or two days, you may find that you're already feeling happier about your life and this new recognition of how things are for you will buttress you against future troubles that really can be overwhelming without a daily defense practice in place. 5. Have Two-Tiered Positive Goals You Can Achieve Now And Later You've probably heard of SMART goals. They are goals that are: * Specific * Measurable * Achievable * Realistic * Time-related These are all great guidelines to keep in mind when mak

Check out this guest post by Camilla Hallstrom of 99 Smart Ideas. She teaches you how to use powerful psychological tools to make finally crossing that language off your bucket list simple and fun. Take it away, Camilla! Have you ever started learning a language only to find yourself still no better than a beginner years later? If so, you're certainly not alone. Learning a language is often considered extremely daunting and takes a long time. After all, you'll have to cram all this information into your brain. For example, you'll have to memorize new vocabulary, including regional variations, slang, cultural concepts, grammar rules, and numbers. If you're not some sort of a memory prodigy, you're in it for the long term – and who has time and energy for that? But here's the thing: The conventional wisdom that learning a language is a long and arduous path is… Just Plain Silly As a native speaker of two languages, Swedish and Finnish, and fluent speaker of three more languages, English, French, and German, I can communicate in two other languages, Norwegian and Danish, and I'm a beginner in an eighth language, Italian. Am I a language prodigy? No way. Do I have superhuman memory skills? Not really. Is it in my genes? Nope. No one in my family speaks as many languages with the same fluency. The key to every language that I've learned is that I have learned how to motivate myself to keep on learning and memorizing. Being motivated to learn a language might sound intuitive, but still, this is one of the most basic things language learners struggle with. Motivation also applies to learning in general and learning memorization methods that can be applied to other things. For example, you know from Anthony's Magnetic Memory Method that there are structured frameworks that can be applied to language memorization. And if you've used the Magnetic Memory Method, you know it works. Yet, it's easy to fall back on the same old excuses – you don't have time to create those Memory Palaces right now, you don't have time to learn the techniques, etcetera. So how do you continue to motivate yourself to keep on learning? How do you master those Memory Palaces and learn a new language? Read on to learn exactly how you do this – once you've mastered motivation, there are no limitations to your learning. (Note: I've put together an eBook at the end of this post that will give you 19 actionable ways get motivated and achieve your goal.) What Does Motivation Do to Your Memory? Years ago, back in high school, I wasn't very diligent. German was one of my least favorite subjects. Yet, I had to undertake a rigorous and important exam at the end of my senior year. Everything that I had ever learned in my German classes throughout school was going to be tested. I didn't have very much time to revise. Also, I had to take three other exams at the same time. I pretty much gave up at the starting line. Instead of trying to frenetically revise grammar books and dictionaries a month before my test, I decided to do something unconventional. Quite simply, I watched my favorite movies, read my favorite books, and watched the news – all in German. I did this for a month and I enjoyed doing it. At the end of that month, the result for my exam took me by surprise – I scored nationally in the top 20% and was one of the best in my class. This success happened despite the fact that I had been one of the poorest performing students just a few months earlier. How come? Don't Overlook This Little Known Secret:It Supports All Successful Language Learning The fact that I enjoyed the way in which I was revising for my test meant that I was motivated to do the tasks I did. And as it turns out, motivation can affect cognition. In fact, many of those who achieve success in learning a language are highly motivated. Of course other things play in as well. When learning a language, your success is – beside motivation – determined by your aptitude skills: Working memory. Your working memory is what enables you to both temporarily store and process information. Working memory is crucial for our language learning because it enables us to understand and communicate in our target language. Associative memory. Your associative memory helps you remember associations between unrelated items, such as the name of someone you just met and it helps you connect old and new information. For example, when learning a language, your associative memory can help you build links between words in your native language and your target language. How strong your mechanisms are for implicit learning. Implicit learning is what you learn without realizing that you're learning. For language learning, implicit learning means that you unintentionally learn complex and subtle regularities in a language. Implicit learning is common for children, but for adults it can be more challenging. However, you'd think that my classmates were also motivated. Some of them had been much more successful langua

Have you ever thought about getting into marketing? Or perhaps you've just wondered … what on earth makes the people who write all those ads tick? If so, then today's your lucky day, because on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, the remarkable comic turned copywriter, Kevin Rogers of Copy Chief, holds the truth about … How To Be Memorable On The Stage And On The Page So go ahead click on the play button above, download the transcript for this interview or read Kevin's many words of wisdom right here below. Anthony: Kevin, I'm really excited to have you on the podcast today. There are a number of reasons why I wanted to speak with you in particular. Maybe you could tell everybody listening to this a little bit about who you are and what you do. Kevin: Sure, thanks Anthony for having me. I'm really glad to be here. An interesting, I guess, resume, I am now a freelance direct response copywriter, which means I write the ads that force people to make a decision. Essentially, direct response compared to more sort or traditional advertising means that there's always a call to action at the end of it. An extreme version would be an infomercial – buy now, buy now and you'll get an extra set of knives and all that good stuff. We certainly have much more subtle ways to do all that, but that would be the one big distinction between what we do and other types of marketing. My story is that I was a stand-up comedian. I actually left high school a little early because I was restless and after doing some labor jobs that I didn't feel were a perfect fit, I was dared by friends to do an open mic night at local comedy club. It turned out that was a better fit for me. I was fortunate to excel pretty quickly at that and actually won a contest to take over as the house MC at this club here in Clearwater, Florida. It was a really great opportunity because it meant that I was doing eight shows a week and stage time is everything to a comic. For instance, in New York City, there are so many comics there, and they will club hop. They might be taking cabs from club to club from 5:00 in the afternoon to 2:00 in the morning just trying to get on everywhere. It was a big deal to get that much stage time at a popular club here in town. Then I went on the road at about 19 and stayed on the road for almost 7 years as a comic. That was an incredible adventure. How To Turn Your Hair Into A Calling Card I knew at some point that I didn't have any control over whether I succeeded or not in that business. Show business is one of those things where it takes a little bit of luck and some knowing the right people. For me, I had no business sense whatsoever. I do know a few comics who had marketing backgrounds and certainly used that to their advantage, Carrot Top being one really good example. Carrot Top was having stickers made of his image when he was still just a road comic. He really understood that his shock of orange hair was his calling card. I had none of that. I had no business sense. I just kind of knew that at some point I would need to make a decision that if I wasn't getting signs from the business that this was going to pay off for me, somewhere around the age of 30 maybe, I did not want to risk becoming some of the older very bitter comics that I worked with. Because they were amazingly funny and talented, and, they were also really tortured. It was clear to me, and to them, that they had no alternatives. When you spend most of your life as an entertainer and that does not manifest into a big win, then what do you do? It's a really sad state of affairs for a lot of people I have a lot of respect for. Anthony: We know the image of the tortured comic, or many of us do anyway because we see it again and again. What do you think it is that tortures them? Is it something that links to memories that they're trying to deal with? What would it be maybe from your own experience? Kevin: Yeah, it's absolutely that. I think there is an incredibly thin line between pleasure and pain when it comes to how we express ourselves. You know funny comes from pain, period. We laugh as a healing device. Comics – I can't tell you about a stable person I've ever met who is like gut-busting funny. It just doesn't equate. Not everybody grew up in some terrible condition, although that's often the case. A very true statement is comedy is therapy for the comic. Very often, these people would be in dire straits mentally without that outlet. It's funny because hanging out with them or being around them offstage is very often not what you would expect. People just assume a comedian is funny all the time and loving life and it's nothing but laughter. There are parts of that which are true. For the most part, it's a bit of – I don't want to call it miserable – but…. How To Hold The Most Depressing Dinner Party In The World I'll never forget a story a screenwriting teacher told about his wife wanting to liven up a dinner party so she invited comedy

Have you ever wondered if mnemonics and memory techniques are for everyone? Or maybe they just didn't feel right for you? Here's the thing: They might not be. That's just one of the unexpected answers you'll hear in this podcast and read below. Let's get started with a wonderful letter I received from a student in the Netherlands: Let me introduce myself. I am Timo, a Dutch high school student. Nowadays I am preparing for my finals, but besides that I am also working on a final paper about the human memory. To be honest, last year I failed to pass my exams, so I decided to learn differently this year. During my summer vacation, I came across your website. While listening to your podcasts, I realized that this would be the best way to learn for me. That I eventually picked out this subject for my paper was a coincidence. Back to the story. The last months I have read many books and scientific articles about the method of loci (or the Magnetic Memory Method). There are not many articles about this matter. These articles suggest that the method of loci is an effective way, but they are written by psychologists. Most of them are sceptic to use this in classrooms. You are, on the other hand, the expert for teaching this method to students. I assume that you use this method almost every week. My practical part of my paper is an experiment with high school students. (This is required in The Netherlands.) Last week I finished teaching them the basics and how to apply the method to a list of random facts and vocabulary words. Now they are preparing to make a test, which I prepared. A university researcher helps me to process the data from these test results. However, I met some resistance with some of the students. They think that this is too time consuming. The teachers are, however, enthusiastic about my research. They want to know more about this subject. Therefore I am considering writing a much shorter paper for all the teachers to explain my findings. Assuming that you are the only one, who gives these kind of courses, could I ask you humble opinion. Most of the books and articles do not give a clear answer, whether or not this method is effective on large classes and is better for the knowledge of the student (long-term memory). So here are my questions: Is the Magnetic Memory Method a skill that everyone can develop? No. The Magnetic Memory Method, any mnemonics or set of memory techniques are exclusive to a particular kind of person. First, the person must be open to experimentation and implementation. These personal characteristics appear not to be present in everyone. They require learning a set of tools that must be used in order to truly understand them. Think of a computer keyboard, for example. Anyone can look at the keyboard and understand a description of what it is supposed to do. But without putting their fingers on the keys and learning to press the keys to produce words, words will never form. And the exciting thing about typing is that, once you've started learning it, you can learn to write very fast. Not only that, but you've become so familiar with the keyboard that you can type entire books without even looking down at the keys or your fingers. Memory techniques are like that, especially if you're using Memory Palaces. The Memory Palace is a kind of keyboard you build yourself based on a manual like the Magnetic Memory Method. The information you want to memorize forms the keys and the associative-imagery are the sentences you write on the paper of your imagination. And of course, no one types an entire book without making mistakes. But editing is a minor feat and quickly accomplished simply by scanning the record and compounding your associative-imagery or making the necessary changes. The keyboard metaphor is not perfect, but it gives a sense of how mnemonic approaches like the Magnetic Memory Method work. Other metaphors have been given, such as the wax tablet and bird cage metaphors given by Aristotle. In sum, not everyone can develop memory techniques because not everyone will take action. Seriously. Some people prefer crossword puzzles. But even with games and puzzles, a large percentage of those who do get started with memory exercise and other forms of mental training will, unfortunately, abandon the task at the first sign of mental effort. This premature departure is unfortunate because incredible successes are usually just around the corner. Again, memory techniques are best learned by doing. The real job of an instructor in the art of memory is, therefore, inspiring people to take action by learning the techniques and then continuing to take action as a kind of scientist. As a scientist, you create the basis for an experiment based on a clearly defined outcome and track your results. When the results don't match the desired outcome, you analyze the mnemonic procedures you used and the Memory Palace itself and make the necessary changes, try again and once again track the results.

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, USA Memory Champ Nelson Dellis teaches you how to win the USA Memory Championship. Take it away, Nelson! So you've read a bunch of books on memory skills. You may have even listened to all the podcasts on this site. But although many of them have helped your memory tremendously, there might be some of you out there who want to use your techniques to compete in (and possibly win) the USA Memory Championship. As a 4x USA memory champ (and before you think I'm cocky, also a 3x USA Memory Championship loser), I know the ins and out to winning this competition. Surprisingly, becoming a memory champion is not necessarily all about memory. There are a lot of other subtle things that go into making it to the end and winning the USA Memory Championship. And I'm going to explain to you exactly how. Here we go. Step 1 – Sign Up This first point is dumb and obvious, but I've met a lot of people who talk about the competition as if it's this Holy Grail that awaits them … … once they are truly prepared. To them I say, f*ck it. Just sign up and compete. There is nothing better than getting the experience of a full competition under your belt than actually competing. I hate to say this but, no one (well except for the very first winner, Tatiana Cooley) has won this thing on the first try. You could argue that Joshua Foer won on his first go, but technically he was there the year before as a journalist. Sure, he didn't compete that first time, but he dug himself deep into the competition for his article. Scott Hagwood, Ram Kolli, Ron White, Chester Santos and myself, we all lost before we won. Even this year when I took first place, I honestly believe I won based on competition experience. There were some competitors with better-trained memories than me, but less competition knowledge and experience. So, bottom line, it's about getting competitive experience. If you want that edge, just sign up and compete. It's worth gold. Go for it! Step 2 – Make It To The Second Round The USAMC is split into two parts. The morning events: * Names & Faces * Speed Numbers * Speed Cards * Poetry The afternoon playoff events: * Spoken Words * Tea Party * Double Deck O' Cards. Making it to this afternoon second round has a lot of parts, because you need to score well in each event to make it into the advancing top 8. Not as well as you might think, but decent enough. The scoring works like this: With each discipline you get a score based on how much you memorize correctly according to the rules. Then, that score is turned into a championship score, which is a weighted score based on a curve. The best score is 100 pts and then everyone scores comparatively. Statistically over the years, you need about 200-250 out of 400 pts to make the cut. But standards change over time and it is harder to get a score that high than ever before. But the nice thing is that even if there are a couple people hitting some awesome scores, there are a lot of people with mediocre scores. Until everyone in the USA is amazing at memorizing (which they're not … yet), this fact will be your savior. The mediocre scores are there because it often ends up that there are one or two, at most three front runners who are in another league compared to everyone else in the top 8. The rest are good, and still better than the remainder, but not that impressive comparatively to the top. So the bottom line is that you need to score consistently mediocre (or better) across the board to make the top 8. You used to be able to pass to the second round by being amazing at just 2 of the events. But agian, that's getting harder to do. And if you are great at only one event but none of the others, you're chances are nearly zilch. In other words, sorry to say, but there is no real shortcut here. You gotta be "good" at all four disciplines: names, numbers, cards, and poetry. But the good news is, you don't have to be that good. Step 3 – Play Strategically Through The Playoff Rounds Okay, you've made into the top-8. Maybe not top ranked, but you're in there. The nice thing about the afternoon playoffs is that it is all strategy. The chances for anyone to win at this point are all pretty much even. You could be the worst of the 8 (i.e. Ram Kolli in 2013) and still end up beating 1st place (me) and become the champ. SPOKEN WORDS They take you backstage to memorize 200 words (or as many as you can of those 200) in 15 minutes. Then, recall takes place back on stage, in order of the list, alternating between competitors. One slip-up and … … you're out. The round ends when three people have made a mistake. To me, this is the most difficult and nerve-wracking event. What you want to be able to do is memorize just enough not to run out of words before those three competitors get eliminated. This means that the real trick is in figuring out how many words to memorize. It makes for a delicate balance between what you are capable of and what you thin

Absentmindedness sucks. You forget where you put your keys. Your car disappears from the parking lot. You left the stove on again. Well, guess what? There's a cure for absentmindedness. It's called focus, and you're about to learn three ridiculously boring ways to develop it. The following techniques work best in combination, but obviously life changes work best when you add them one by one, so pick your favorite and dive in. But if you have to begin anywhere, I recommend that you start with establishing a basic framework by understanding … The Stunning Magic Of Being Boring Boring? Oh yes, and here's why: Just about every successful person in history has lived a life of constraint. Check out the following video and beneath that, I'll break out some of the key points. As you've just learned, highly boring people live exciting lives. They reduce everything they do to the essentials, including: Wearing similar clothes and eating repetitive meals every day to eliminate decision fatigue. Isolating tasks and remove distractions. You can do this by working in cafes without WiFi. Leave your smartphone at home and bring only a pad of paper and a pen and your laptop if you must. Wear earplugs if noise bothers you, or if you like music, try an app that features focus­friendly compositions, like focusatwill.com. Hammering away at carefully defined tasks without adding new things to do willy nilly. Keeping a journal to record their activities and track their time. You can even keep an attention span journal. The reason developing a life based on constraints helps develop focus and eliminates absentmindedness is because you give yourself far less about which to be absentminded. Not only that, but should you fall prey to absentmindedness, you'll find your way back to focus. Why? Because the mountains you climb in your daily life won't be hidden behind the fog of multitasking. Frankly, when you limit your activities and focus on the essentials, you'll not only find and climb your mountains, you'll move them entirely out of your life and move on to finer things. Even if you have a boss, it should be possible for you to isolate your most high margin tasks. Write a proposal, make a meeting and ask to redefine your activities. If your boss rejects your suggestion, either track your time on your own time to prove what you can do on your own, or … Find Another Boss! Speaking of which, if you want to bypass working for the man altogether, becoming an entrepreneur or self­-employed is a great way to develop focus. Placing yourself in a situation that forces you to get results or starve will rip absentmindedness from your life and leave it wriggling on the floor like a helpless insect. As you can see, developing a boring life really can add tremendous excitement to your days on planet earth. So get started. Time is ticking. The Extraordinary Power Of Sitting Still For No Reason Whatsoever One of the most regular activities you can add to your life involves one of the most boring ­ and yet tremendously exciting activities ­ ever invented by humanity … Yes, we're talking about meditation. Would you like to know why so many people struggle to incorporate this simple activity into their daily routines? The answer is simple: It's Because They're Trying To Meditate Sorry, dear Memorizers, but that's the wrong road to enlightenment and a quick path to suffering. But before we talk about how to meditate the Magnetic way, here's what meditation can do for you. All of these features of the world's oldest brain training technique are scientifically proven and should persuade you to add meditation to your daily routine. Meditation … Increases focus Creates emotional control Improves your working memory (luca link) Reduces "wandering mind" syndrome Lowers pain Each of these benefits of meditation reduces absentmindedness because when you're not in pain, and you eliminate mind wandering, focus glides in to replace these distractions. To maintained your renewed focus, all you need to do is keep meditating. Boring, right? Not necessarily. Not when you know … How To Meditate In A Buddha-­shaped Nutshell Surprisingly, proper meditation is super easy to do. You need only chuck the idea that meditation is about experiencing so­called "no­mind" and sit just to sit. That's it. Sit down and let your mind wander. When first starting out, don't bother with breathing exercises or mantras. Sit just to sit. After a few moments, you'll become aware of the fact that you're sitting on the floor, completely lost in thought. When this happens, you'll become present. You'll be in the room, totally focused on the present moment instead of fantasizing about the future, playing some alternative version of things you've done in the past, or talking to yourself. In reality, all that inner­-dialogue is far more boring than meditating. Why? Because You've Repeated All That Junk To Yourself Before! When that moment of clarity comes, even if it takes a few sessions to get

This is Andrew Barr and today I'm sitting in for Anthony in this guest post. I'm from realfastspanish.com and over there I help Spanish students get a conversational level of Spanish using specific tactics and strategies to improve their effectiveness as language students. And in this post I'm going to teach you how you can apply some of these strategies to significantly improve your effectiveness when it comes to your memorisation challenges using the principles of the Magnetic Memory Method. Whether you are just starting out with memory palaces or you are a seasoned professional, today you will learn three ways you can improve your effectiveness with memory palaces in order to achieve your goals with less effort and in less time. If you are already using Memory Palaces and mnemonics you are well ahead of the curve. You already know that using memory techniques improves the efficiency of learning. But, it is still possible to get even more out of your approach to memorisation. It doesn't matter whether you are using the Magnetic Memory Method for language learning, acing exams in school, vying for a memory championship title or trying to impress friends at a party. There are three steps you need to consider if you want to have even more success with your memory challenges. Memory Palaces Are a Means, But … What is the Goal? "If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question; I could solve the problem in less than five minutes." — Albert Einstein. "Begin with the end in mind" — Stephen Covey. Before you can start to maximise the potential of your memory palace training you need a clear vision of what you are a trying to achieve. A memory palace is a tool that you can use to achieve any number of outcomes with incredible efficiency. But the real power comes when your outcome is sharply defined. The problem is that, often, we don't clearly define where we want to end up, which makes the path to get there a lot harder than it needs to be. Recently, I met a guy who works for an oil company and was telling me about his vision to become rich. He said he had his whole plan mapped out. His plan was to buy property after property and then subdivide and develop. He told me he wanted to have a few million in property, a few million in stocks and a few million in cash for those "just in case" moments. After mapping the whole plan out, I looked at him and said "Why? What is all this money for? If money is a means to an end, what is your end goal?" He said "I want to work with children". I Couldn't Believe It I said "why don't you become a teacher?" He said "I want to work with disadvantaged children". He then told me that he didn't need the money to pay for programs for the children, he needed it so he could live without needing to work to free up his time. I told him he didn't need millions of dollars to do that. I told him about a good friend of mine—a high school teacher who quit her job to work with disadvantaged children. She left her job here in Australia and moved to the Solomon Islands where she is working and living on a small allowance to cover her board and her food. She is working with the local teachers to develop a new curriculum in the school. As well as helping and teaching the children that live in the local area. She didn't need millions of dollars, she was clear about what she wanted to do and she went and did it. After telling him the story, he just stared at me blankly. He offered a few excuses but it was obvious there was a disconnect between the goal and the means for getting there. Without a clear vision in mind, it is possible he will spend years trying to achieve a poorly defined goal. What if it takes him 30 years to meet his goal? Will it be worth it if he gets there in his 60s? Or worse, if he doesn't get there at all? Don't Get Caught With A Poorly Defined Goal He is not the only one, though, who got caught with a poorly defined goal. I too have found myself without a clear vision at times. Seven years ago I decided I wanted to be fluent in Spanish. I did some online research and found some resources for beginners. I printed everything off and got to work. I practiced for quite some time learning whatever I could about the Spanish language. Within two years, I organised my first trip to Spain. Before I got there I was so excited for the fun and adventure I was going to have with my new language skills. I was going to make local friends, I was going to go to interesting places only the locals knew about and I was going to experience Spain the way a typical tourist couldn't. Does Language Learning Overwhelm, Confuse And Frustrate You? When I got there, the reality was a completely different thing. I was overwhelmed, confused and frustrated. My Spanish was hopeless. It was miles from what I thought it was. I couldn't understand what the locals were saying. I co

Do you get overwhelmed and frustrated every time you need to come up with new ideas when using memory techniques as part of your brain training? Especially when learning a foreign language? You know what it's like struggling to come up with mnemonics. It can feel a bit like pulling nails out of dead wood with a pair of rusted tweezers. And what really makes the pain so bad is that you know that your brain is teeming with ideas. Great ideas … If only you could catch them. Here's the good news. In this unconventional brain training post I'm going to teach you how … You Can Catch More Great Ideas Than The Most Successful Fishing Fleet In The World (Catches Fish)! Just pick and choose from these super simple brain training activities and start with the most appealing. We're going to go deep into each one so that you'll have the fullest possible understanding. Add one or more per month over a year's time and you'll enjoy an overflow of ideas so powerful it will take ten lifetimes and thousands of employees to handle them. Just Kidding – Most Will Be … Crap. Seriously. As awesome as having boatloads of ideas can be, the real power comes from the refinement brain training brings. We'll talk about that too a bit further on so your ideas will always come out shining. But here's the important thing for now: You can't refine what you don't have. And you can't get more ideas to refine if you aren't already producing a lot of ideas in the first place. That's why you need an unending flow of ideas that you can turn on at will and focus into form with laser intensity whenever you choose. Here are 3 unconventional ways how brain training can make that happen. 1. Milk Your Mind For Ideas Each And Every Morning Most people flush their most vibrant ideas down the toilet as soon as their feet hit the floor. It's true. By the time you hit the head, you've forgotten most, if not all, of a valuable stream (pun intended) of ideas you'll never get back. I'm talking about your dreams. Of course, most of what we dream makes little sense, at least not without practicing the art of dream recall. Even then, dreams remain fundamentally surreal and devoid of fixed meaning. But just because they may be meaningless, doesn't mean your dreams can't help you create meaning. Au Contraire! Since the early beginnings of literature, for example, Daniel in the Bible, making dreams meaningful has been a practice powerful enough to direct the choices of kings. And with The Interpretation Of Dreams, Freud created an entire industry by empowering people to interpret their dreams and generate ideas about what to do and how to live in the world. You don't have to use the dreams you remember to influence world leaders or deal with childhood trauma. You can simply jot down what you remember and then free-associate to the images and vignettes. Here's a quick way to get started with this form of brain training: 1. Get a dream journal and pen/pencil. Make it exclusive to your dream capture practice. 2. Place the journal where it's impossible to miss near your bed. You can even date it before you go to sleep and leave it open at the page you'll write on. 3. Make the commitment to remembering your dreams. Just say your personal version of, "I remember my dreams. I write them down." That mantra in itself will serve as powerful brain training. 4. Free-associate to one or more of your dreams. It helps if you get relaxed first. Let ideas come to mind and jot them down. Don't think about it or try to guide them. Let them breathe. If you recall no dreams … No. Big. Deal. Write down, "no dreams" and perhaps a few notes about how you slept. Before you know it, you will start remembering your dreams with depth and intensity. And when you practice associating with these dreams, you'll always be able to come up with new ideas. The best part is that you're journaling your dreams. This brain training practice means that you don't have to associate only with recent dreams for new ideas. You can go back through those pages for as long as you've been journaling. You'll have a treasure trove of images, narrative snippets, and longer sequences as often as you please and always find some new angle on the material. To give you an example, years ago I dreamed about the pyramids. I saw them filled with a scented lava that poured down the sides, creating a river. When I finally got to visit Egypt, for some reason, I remembered the dream and started to explore it for ideas. I was there to research ancient Egyptian culture for its relationship to memory and reincarnation, past lives, etc. That was all fine and dandy and I learned some great stuff in some of the museums I'll be telling you about soon. But the fact that I remembered this dream and the lava was scented led me to think about aromas, and I wound up wondering if there is a relationship between scent and memory. It turns out there is. I have found a wealth of research material on the matter, much of which centers on the use o

Here's a great question about how to memorize textbooks I received from a Magnetic Memory Method fan: What if I wanted to memorize a chapter in a textbook so I could ace a test on that subject? That would be cool, wouldn't it? Good news: It's 100% possible. No Joke When I was studying for my doctoral examinations and later for my dissertation defense (rigorous 2 hr. + grilling sessions in front of a committee of 4-7 accomplished professors), I read a total of over 500 books and articles. I'm not kidding. I almost broke my back at the library on several occasions! Here's exactly how I used to operate – and still do when I'm conducting research or just want to memorize the contents of a book using memory techniques. It's an ongoing memory improvement project to continue learning from textbooks and it all begins with this important step every time: Leave Your Fear At The Door: These Details Will Show You How To Memorize Textbooks Unfortunately, a lot of people get hung up on the details when learning how to memorize textbooks. For good reason: There are some operational factors in what I'm about to describe that might not seem to involve memorization. Trust me: Each step is essential as you learn how to memorize textbooks. If it weren't, I wouldn't have included it. Before I take any of the steps that I'm about to describe, I always begin with a carefully defined Memory Palace. As I talk about in all of my trainings, I always make sure that each Memory Palace involves a location that I'm intimately familiar with. If you're having a hard time finding good Memory Palaces, check out the MMM Podcast episode: How to Find Memory Palaces. It will help. Plus, make sure that you have the free Memory Improvement Kit so you can use the worksheets and videos as a guide. Create Limited Set Memory Palaces Based On The Textbooks You Want To Memorize I always chart out between 4-10 stations within each room of that Memory Palace. In the past, I usually made more (like 50 or so, often with between 30-50 stations within a single room). These days, I'm more focused on small sets of information. Why? Because I find that leads to more meaningful quantity over time with my current Mandarin Chinese learning project. For more information on how to create a Memory Palace, get my free memory improvement kit: Next… Create The Right Mindset This is important: Decide to work with the correct mental attitude. For example, when sitting with a textbook or journal article, I need to have the attitude that I will walk away with the most essential information firmly magnetized into my mind. You should do this too. Then Chillax Seriously. Take a moment to relax. I recommend that you adopt a traditional meditation pose on the floor, or lay down for awhile and do some progressive relaxation. Either way, I spend time practicing a bit of pendulum breathing and maybe even the Human Charger. With those operating procedures covered regarding how to memorize textbooks, let's get into further detail. 1. Look At The Book And Read The Conclusion First When approaching a new book, carefully examine the front cover and the back cover. Next, read: the colophon page the table of contents the introduction the conclusion Finally, scan through the index (if available). The scholar Gerrard Genette calls these parts of a book the "paratext," (the text beside the text). This step takes about five minutes and effectively trains your brain to understand the scope and dimension of the book with respect to its topic. Why read the conclusion first? Part of the reason is to judge whether or not the author's conclusion about his or her own subject was profound enough to warrant reading all of the steps needed to arrive at it. The introduction and conclusion also give clues regarding which chapters of the book might be the most important to focus on. 2. Manage Index Card Mania It's important to decide how much information you want to take away from a textbook in advance. That way, you don't overwhelm yourself. And you can start in a structure manner. Like this: Take out an index card and write down the name of the author, the title of the book and all of the bibliographic information. Number this card "1" in the top left corner. Before starting with a book, I tend to decide in advance exactly how many pieces of information I want to retain from it. This is the principle of "predetermination" that I discuss throughout the Magnetic Memory Method training. Often, I default to three facts or details per chapter, but always keep enough index cards on hand in case I want more. The reason for deciding these matters in advance is because a) failing to plan is generally planning to fail (especially when it comes to structured reading), and b) predetermination prevents overwhelm. Remember: Less is more. When you use the Magnetic Memory Method for something like foreign language learning or studying, you'll find that by focusing on just a few key points, a lot of the surrounding infor

This Man Shows You How To Unlock The Extreme Power Of Your Memory Interested? I thought you might be. The man in question is Nelson Dellis. He climbs mountains,memorizes playing cards underwater and works to solve Alzheimer's by collecting data through the Extreme Memory Challenge. Take it now. Not only does Nelson use his memory talents to create good in the world, he's also on a mission to help and inspire you to do the same. Because the fact of the matter is, when you have improved memory skills, you won't be able to stop yourself from contributing to the world at a higher level. Just remember … With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility Please enjoy this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast by downloading the MP3 and listening to it. You'll find the full transcript down below with some links throughout to help continue your education into the world of Extreme Memory Improvement. Let's get started and feel free to download the entire transcript as a PDF to your desktop for future reference. Anthony: Nelson, it's great to be able to speak with you. I've been following some of the things you've been doing for quite some time. Maybe, just for people who don't know you, give a brief overview of what got you interested in memory and how you came to achieve what you've done and take it to the level of basically bringing social good out of the achievements you've had with memory. Nelson: Yeah, you know this all started back when my grandmother was struggling with Alzheimer's as she lived in Europe. I wouldn't see her all the time but I think that made a bigger impression on me because I would go visit every six months to a year and she had drastically changed, deteriorated immensely. That made a big imprint on me. Then she passed away the summer of 2009. At that point, I had kind of dabbled in memory. I decided to take what I had read about and really drive it home and see if I could, at a young build a strong memory, a healthy brain, and I set the goal of myself winning the memory championship. That seemed like a good milestone to try to get to and to judge, test, and base all of my training scores on. I did, and I got very good at it and all motivated by my progress and eventually I ended up winning the U.S. Memory Championship four times. That's now what I do. I teach people how to unlock their memories. Anthony: That's very cool and you know one of the things that is so extraordinary is that you also turn it into social good, which we'll talk about. Talk a little bit about the book that you're working on and who it is for and why developing memory abilities is so important for the audience that you're creating it for. What If Memorizing Could Be The Most Exciting Activity In The World? Nelson: You know I still get a lot of people who approach me and talk about their father, their mother, or grandmother has early onset or has Alzheimer's, and they ask me if it's something that I can train their parents to improve their memory. Unfortunately, I don't know much about that. In my opinion, I think learning these memory techniques is a habit thing. You've got to learn it, I think, at an early age. That is something that just sticks with you. When you go into your higher education, you already know how to memorize. It is a skill that you were given in school. Right now, obviously, you see if you have a class or a teacher who gives you tips on how to improve your memory you just do it. Memorize this song. You go home. You struggle with it. You repeat it over and over and then you come back and you're excited and it's the most frustrating process. What if you lived in an age where your teachers actually had a class or spent some time teaching you memory techniques at a young age? When it would come to that poem or med school textbook that you've got memorize, you would have some toolbox in your brain to figure that out faster and more efficiently. I've been working on a book. I actually wrote a book, it's not published yet for normal people of normal age. The one I'm really excited about is this one I've been working on for kids which is teaching them memory techniques at a very young age. It's geared towards a first grader in a picture book style. Because I feel like if you can get that in the head of a kid who already has a fantastic imagination and memory, that those things could stick with them and help them be successful throughout life. Anthony: I think that's fundamental because often adults feel that they have lost their creativity somehow. It's pounded out of them through work or whatever the case may be. How do you think the people could resuscitate creativity if they felt that they have lost it? The Truth About Memory Techniques And Creativity Nelson: I know that feeling. I have felt it myself over the years. A lot of people tell me creativity is hard for me. It is hard for me to do these techniques, for example, which take a lot of creativity and imagination, but I honestly believe that anybod

Have you ever purchased something and hated it? And yet, for some reason, you gradually … … started to love it? Or have you seen a movie that thrilled you, only to find that your opinion suddenly sours? If so, then it could be that … Someone Is Seriously Messing With Your Memory! And there's bad news. The people involved in changing how you feel about products and media you've consumed hold more than one weapon of memory destruction. Let's look at just one of the ways advertisers manipulate your memory. But please understand that I am in no way talking about subliminal advertising. The tools we'll explore rely solely on images and procedures that rehearse, train and retrain how you think by accessing your memory in particular ways. One tool, for example, involves … Blatant And Phoney Misinformation About The Competitors Do you remember the Pepsi Taste Challenge? How thinly they disguised the fact that they were testing Coca Cola with the poor citizens they ambushed on the streets with Coca-Cola? How Pepsi used to call Coke, "the leading cola?" By representing their main competitor in these challenges by association, Pepsi was capitalizing on the fact that human memory is constructed. Our memories don't come from one location in the brain, but several. This means that as our memories come to the fore, they can be changed by the catalyst responsible for summoning them. And because the advertisements make use of nostalgic images, rousing music and cleverly placed sound effects that also invoke nostalgia (the sound of a soda can being cracked open or bubbling pop snapping against ice), they create feelings. These feelings cause your brain to associate positive experiences with the product and negative feelings with the competition. Because as this documentary reveals, it's not about selling a product. It's about selling an idea: At least, that's the theory. Scientists and marketers call this effect "memory blending." At its highest level, the injection of blended memories into your mind makes you think that you're the one who formed your preferences. And if advertising can change how you feel about something you've purchased in the past, you can be led to buy more and … … Think It Was Your Idea! Soda companies aren't the only ones to use product comparison and misinformation to create blended memories. Many companies do, including airlines, stereo and speaker manufacturers and fashion designers. The craziest part of all is that in so many cases, the difference between the products is marginal to none. If information is to be perceived by consumers … It Must Be Done By Advertising And because what matters most in these advertisement campaigns rely on how we feel about past experiences, advertisers constantly make references to childhood experiences. Playing with toys, camping in the woods, munching on cereal. You might see a mother with a child, a doctor with a patient or athletes with their trainers. Or the ads may feature running on the beach, playing tennis or eating in a restaurant. These iconic, universal cues apply to almost everyone living in the West. Even when traveling in countries like Egypt, I have seen ads nearly indistinguishable from those we see in North America and England. Two Routes To Radical Memory Change Let's look deeper at how all of this memory change works. As we've already discussed with the Pepsi Taste Challenge example, the ads work at altering your subjective experiences if the past. Secondly, the ads change how you think about an objective experience from your past. Many ads, especially the Pepsi challenge, blend the two together. To take another example, let's look at an interesting experiment conducted by Kathryn Brown and reported upon in 1997. In the experiment —- demonstrated that consumers will take second-hand information and use it to reconstruct memories of past experiences. They will do this completely outside of conscious experience. Here are the basics of the experiment: 2o female and 30 undergrads at a university in Iowa were shown the trailer for a Johnny Depp movie called Nick of Time. https://youtu.be/3ylx6aTM2hU The researcher chose this movie because: 1. The plot and marketing were shaped to appeal to Generation X. 2. The movie had not been released in Iowa, reducing the likelihood that students were aware of it. After viewing the film, the researcher asked the students to give their opinion of the film. They were asked to rate the trailer on traits such as acting, directing, pacing, etc. Brown also asked the participants if they would like to see the film in the future. The researcher then thanked the participants for their time after a twenty minute period given for watching and rating the film. For all intents and purposes, the participants thought the experiment was over. Next, however, the students were given reviews of the film to read. Although the reviews were professionally written, students were not given the names of the reviewers or the names of the ne

Memory is not what you think it is. Whereas we often use the word "memory" as if it's a singular, globular entity, memory is more than one thing. It's a collection a multiple entities that deal with different kinds of information, even … Information About Things That Haven't Happened Yet! First we have, prospective memory. Prospective memory is that wonderful device that helps you remember tasks you need to complete and events you're booked to attend in the future. The only problem is … … prospective memory isn't necessarily all that good. For example, how many times have you forgotten an appointment, to take a pill, to wash the shampoo from your hair? These slips happen, but even more interesting is how prospective memory tends to fail us most in areas that it should be the most reliable. I'm talking now about routinized tasks. For example, most of us do our own shopping. And yet, why is it that we so often forget items we need and know we need? Even pilots have this problem. Without checklists, even the most routine – and absolutely necessary operations for flight safety – would be forgotten as easily as you can forget eggs or milk. Spend One Dollar And Benefit From This Memory Exercise Forever For prospective memory to work, you also need retrospective memory. Retrospective memory helps you recall information that you learned in the past. Your home address, directions to a restaurant or where you put your medication all rely on your ability to recall where things are located in space. Without this kind memory, even if you do remember to take your pills, you won't have a clue where they are. Prospective memory and retrospective memory work together, and it's quite easy to keep them fit. Here's a fun exercise: Go to a dollar store and buy an object. It could be a ball, a pack of clown stickers or hair elastics. Next, visit a friend and ask them to let you hide the object in the back of a closet or somewhere deep beneath a bathroom sink. The more of the home you must navigate to reach the object, the better. In other words, don't put your object in the hallway closet directly inside the entrance. Put it down in that creepy basement bathroom where a hole in the wall exposes all those rusty pipes. Then make an appointment to come the next day, the next week or even the next month to reclaim the object. When you get home, replay the entire journey in your mind. See the entire path from your home to the store to the creepy basement in your friend's home. At the same time, see the object you placed in the home and nourish that image. Make it big, bright and colorful. Infuse it with a crazy energy, almost to the point of bursting. Then, use the Major Method in combination with Dr. Jim Samuels' method for memorizing appointments and associate the object with the date and time of the appointment you made for pickup. To complete the exercise, keep your appointment and claim your object. Then go hide it somewhere else and repeat the exercise as often as you like. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Not really. It's the way you use to exercise your memory as a kid, after all. Only back then, you called it a treasure hunt. And Now For Another Episode Of The You Show On The Brain Channel Having gone to the store and the secret hiding place, you now have a nice little story in your head. Your ability to recall that story is called episodic memory. Always connected to time, episodic memory makes it possible for you to recall elements of your last vacation, going to the movies and just about any expanse of experience that features a beginning, middle and end. Then there's semantic memory. This kind of memory trades in general facts that aren't bound with time (as such). Vancouver, for example, is a city in British Columbia, one of several provinces in Canada. Of course, if you're a historian and can rattle off the dates of when Vancouver was founded and when British Columbia became a province, then you might be blending in a touch of imaginary episodic memory, For example, when I think of places like Vancouver becoming a city, a little flash of story enters my mind. I see stiff European dudes with quills and parchment tricking the Natives into giving up all that precious territory for a few bottles of whiskey and a stack of shiny dimes. To take a more practical example, if you know that Vancouver is in British Columbia, Canada and Seattle is in the American state of Washington, and you're also aware of the fact that a ferry runs between them … … you can take the ferry and then use episodic memory to recall all the beauty you saw along the way. But here's the weird thing … Episodic Memories And Semantic Memories Are Stored In Two Completely Different Parts Of Your Brain! Do you remember that interview on the Magnetic Memory Method podcast with Dr. Gary Small? In that interview, he told us that our memories go into different neighborhoods of the brain. In those neighborhoods are tiny little houses in which parts of memories live. In o

Wouldn't it be great if you could experience memory improvement … … almost on auto-pilot? Here's the good news: Even if you don't use elaborate memory techniques and mnemonics, the following 5 ways will help you improve your memory almost without effort. 1. When Darkness Falls … Go to sleep with the sun. Seriously. What have you got to do after dark anyway? Netflix? How boring. Drinking in bars? How destructive to your memory. Playing Scrabble? Well … okay. That's at least halfway good for your brain. But the reality is that we're killing our memory by stating up late and waking up early. And when you kill your memory, you murder something else too: You Murder Your Intelligence! And as with all acts of murder, you will get caught and you will be sentenced to life in the prison of stupidity and forgetfulness. Mark my word. Next to getting more sleep, it's essential to … 2. Keep Your Brain Moist As The Soil Of A Mighty Rain Forest That's a fancy way of saying, drink lots of water. All too often we forget to imbibe the world's mightiest drink. Oddly enough, some people don't even like it. This strange, but true fact is responsible for forgetfulness around the world. But it doesn't have to be you. And if for any reason you struggle to remember to drink deep from the tap in your kitchen, the solution is simple enough. You can create a visual mnemonic by placing a big fat bottle of water on your desk. Or you can print out a picture of a bottle of water and stick it on the wall or window directly behind your computer. In addition to this … Use Every Bit Of Technology You've Got To Remind You Smart phones … Dumb phones … Computer calendars … All of these of these come equipped with programmable alerts. Most of them can be set to repeat every hour on autopilot. It's easy enough to ignore these alerts, however, so it helps to get theatrical. Instead of "drink water," program in something like: Drink Water Or Else All The Cats On YouTube Will Suffer One Thousand And Seven Deaths! If that doesn't get your attention, I'm not sure what else will. Well … maybe this: 3. Funnel Words Into Your Mind Like The Wind Shapes The Desert One of the beautiful things about living in Berlin is that they still have bookstores all over the place. Not only that, but you still see people reading books too. Here's a quick guide on how to read a book: Buy a book. No, it doesn't have to be a book by me. Whatever you read, by all means read on Kindle or some other digital reader, but I recommend also holding a physical book in your hands once in a while. As this article suggests reading books instead of Kindles can improve your memory, concentration and good looks. Reading in general helps improve your memory because you hold the details of a story in your memory over an extended period of time. You also retain and maintain details about characters, objects and locations. But you can also deliberately memorize elements of the books read by using memory techniques. For example, instead of relying on bookmarks or dog-earing pages, you can memorize the number of the last page you read before pausing. This provides you with delightful memory exercise. Speaking of which … 4. Get Your Fat Butt Into Gear Exercise is one of the best ways to improve your memory. It sends oxygen rich blood to your brain and brings fitness to your entire body. Awesome, right? You can also use your exercise time to reminisce over the books you've been reading. If you're not a reader, you can play movies you've seen beginning to end in your mind (link to breaking bad movie post). And if you use Memory Palaces (you do use Memory Palaces, don't you?), then what better time to practice Recall Rehearsal than when you're out and about, huffing and puffing and sweating up a storm? Exercise also improves your mood, and when you use memory techniques, your mood improves even more. Nothing feels better than combining jogger's high (wiki link) with the edification of recalling foreign language vocabulary. Or mathematical equations, song lyrics, professional terminology, or whatever else wets your whistle. 5. Stop Rolling Like A Stone And Gather A Bit Of Moss For Once In Your Life Meditation makes everything in life better, including your memory. The problem is … most people have been misled by weird definitions. For example, many people think that they're supposed to sit like a stone. And like a stone, they're not supposed to have thoughts. No, dear Memorizers. No, no and a thousand times no. As the great Alan Watts pointed out … Sitting Like A Rock Is Boring, Useless And An Utter Waste Of Time! Instead of eradicating thoughts from your mind (which is technically impossible), don't bother doing anything with them. Watts most famously said that the best way to practice meditation is to sit just to sit. Don't "try" to do anything. Just sit there on the floor. Let your mind wander. Be mindless as you sit and float around in fantasies about the future, alternate versions of the present

Have you ever had a fact you know like the back of your hand stick on the tip of your tongue? And has your presque vu (as the French call it) ever been so bad that a completely different thought came to mind? And not only did that other thought come to mind in place of the one you were looking for … It Completely Took Over The Show! Never fear, dear Memorizers. You've been suffering something known as "the ugly sister effect." It's closely related to what mnemonists and memory champions call "ghosting." I prefer to call it "Magnetic fossilization." Either way, if you've ever suffered either of these problems, here's the good news: In this post, you're going to learn … How To Turn That Interfering Memory Into Prince Charming The Ugly Sister Effect gets its name from the Cinderella fairy tale. In many versions of the story, every time Prince Charming tries to get hold of Cinderella for a smooching session (and perhaps a little more), her ugly sisters intervene. Not very cool of those ugly sisters, is it? The reason the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon gets this name is because when this happens with your memory, there's a competition going on. It's a struggle between the cue that causes you to look for the memory in the first place and the target information encoded somewhere in your mind. Worse, these ugly sisters are other information that comes to mind. So, for example, let's say the song Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell comes to mind, but you keep coming up with Joan Baez's Diamonds and Rust instead. Annoying, isn't it? Well, as great a song as Diamonds and Rust is, in this case, it's an ugly sister. Good News: There's A Well-Known Way To Deal With This Problem The method has two parts: 1) Don't make a big deal out of it. 2) Carry on with the discussion or change topics. The target information will probably pop into mind shortly after, or at some point in the future when it's no longer relevant. The important thing to realize is that these … Ugly Sisters Are Perfectly Normal! Now, when it comes to the world of mnemonics, we use Memory Palaces to store information. We do this by using crazy, weird and exaggerated imagery to encode the information we want to memorize. No information exists that you can't work with using these procedures. This fact isn't to say that you can achieve a state of perfection in which your mind instantly creates the best possible associative imagery and snaps everything you want to memorize flawlessly into place in your Memory Palaces. Rather, you'll find that you need to massage different kinds of information differently. Sometimes you'll use a Bridging Figure, other times you'll use a cartoonish stream of images across several stations. You need to be flexible, which is why the Magnetic Memory Method is a method, rather than a system. It teaches you to respond to information in an inviting way, to cradle it, to kindly Magnetize it in a way that makes it willing to stay. But here's the thing: Some People Want To Memorize Oodles And Oodles Of Information … … but they only have a limited set of resources upon which they can base their Memory Palaces. Well, no problem. On the How to Find Memory Palaces episode of the podcast, we talked about your endless fountain of Memory Palaces just waiting for you to claim them. And in the episodes about virtual Memory Palaces you can find here and here, you can learn about making Memory Palaces based on nothing more than your imagination. Or, dear Memorizers, you can experiment with reusing the same Memory Palaces over and over again. But watch out … Some Of Your Memory Palaces Might Be Haunted! That's right. And when that happens, you might find yourself running into some Ghosts of Memory Past. Memory champs and mnemonists call this phenomenon "ghosting." But normal people use this term too. For example, here's part of a letter I received a few days ago regarding "images too vivid leaving 'ghost images'". Here's what she wrote: There are Memory Palaces I reuse like an etch-a-sketch, such as the cars for phone numbers (I use the Dominic number system) or my office to remember a grocery list or even the walk to the local shops to remember a speech. My problem is that the images from the last time I used that palace are often very vivid still. I can still see Einstein on his surfboard for example (Einstein being number 15 as you know) so the next time I picture Einstein in the drivers seat I can still see him surfing then it all gets muddled up with a previous set of information. I have tried using the alphabet or months of the year as placeholders, but the abstract letters are not as memorable as locations. Could I have your advice? Thanks and kind regards. Lydia The first thing I would say is that using the alphabet raw for Memory Palaces is a good idea, but it's going to take lots of practice. Better – or at least less abstract – would be to use playing cards. For example, you could have an Ace of Spades Memory Palace, a 2 of Spades Memory Palace

Have You Ever Had A Past Life Experience? Do You Believe In Reincarnation? How Much Karma Do You Spread On Your Mummified Animal Crackers? If so, it's time we had a little chat. And in this one-to-one between just you and me (sorry, no apparitions from times yore allowed), we're going to talk about past life memories, past life regression and how regression is performed in a clinical setting. The emphasis being on how regression is performed to give people the feeling that they're remembering past lives. And to accomplish all this, we're going to see how the entire notion and the culture surrounding past lives fits into the larger context of our shared psychological needs around the globe. Oh … and I'll even tell you about my past life experience too. Warning: Reincarnation Can Make You Fat A few weeks ago, we talked about The Surprising Truth About Hypnosis And Memory Improvement and some of the controversial issues surrounding the topic. For example, hypnosis can produce all kinds of memories, the quality and integrity of which vary. We looked at one of the most consequential ways that hypnotically induced memories play out: in courtroom testimony. Like memories produced by hypnosis, past life memory is a controversial and highly unlikely topic. At its worst, the ability to recall past lives is a sham sold in books, live or online courses and supposedly therapeutic past life regression hypnotherapy. Content creators direct these at the gullible. For example, in Many Lives, Many Masters, Brian Weiss makes the claim that exploring past lives can cure all kinds of ailments, phobias and anxieties. He suggests focusing on clinical results and forgetting about whether past lives are real or not. Easy to say when your wallet is bursting with fees from patients seeking relief and willing to try anything. Then There's The Dark Side On the opposite end of the scale, people have reported bringing back ugly scars from their regressions, or later becoming obese thanks to things seen in visions of the past. But we certainly must admit that that past life regression and the memories it seems to produce may have some legitimate therapeutic value that goes beyond placebo and hypnosis. I'll talk about my experience with descending into a previous life a little further on. Helpful or fraught with danger, to be ethical, the hypnotherapist or "regressionist" must make it clear that the techniques induce dream­like fantasies, not realities. Past life memories, no matter how clear or intense, are mirages produced by the mind, not HDTV memories based on anything that ever actually happened. How To Win A Million Dollars With Just One Of Your Past Lives! And if you feel that I stand to be corrected, please let me direct me to the James Randi Foundation and the Million Dollar Challenge. They'll be pleased to receive your evidence and reward you with a handsome sum upon reasonable validation of your material. In any case, I see no reason to believe that past lives exist. And any value past life regression can probably acquired by other means without questionable sessions with a hypnotist. All the same, let's look at the issue in detail and try to figure out why some people do believe in it. The reasons are fascinating, and we all stand to learn something from them. The first thing we need to realize is that … Past Lives Are Not About The Past! No, no and a million times no. Past life regression is all about the future. It's about life after death and the fantasy that we never really die. As I'm sure you know, your mind has a hard time conceiving of the planet without you. So at its core, past life fantasies drive forward as much as they dive backward to ease the anxiety that when we're gone … We're Really, Really Gone! In case I haven't convinced you that past lives are really about the future, consider Karma. Karma is an idea tied to notions of immortality and rebirth. Karma supposedly brings to the present attitudes, beliefs and actions from another time that you can "read" or interpret. Interpret these signs in just the right way, you stand to have an easier life the next time around. Screw up, on the other hand, and continuous living is not going to work in your favor. You will suffer the consequences of being bad in this life in your next one. Past lives and fantasies of reincarnation also fascinate societies around the world because these beliefs let people hunt for patterns. People Love Patterns! And there are certainly many patterns to find. Look at literature throughout history, for example. Archetypes are everywhere, and for more on that you can check out the research and writings of the delightful Canadian scholar Northrop Frye. Here's a decent rundown of how his theory of archetypes connects different kinds of human character with the seasons. Patterns can make you feel transcendent because there is the oft­ cited saying that those who know the past aren't doomed to repeat it. But is it really true? After all, haven't al

To celebrate the release of a course I put together with Jonathan Levi called, Branding You: How To Build A Multimedia Internet Empire, we're re-releasing an interview I gave on his Becoming a Superhuman podcast. So when you're ready, hit play and learn … How To Outsmart Forgetfulness Forever With Superhuman Memory Skills! Jonathan: Hello Ladies and Gentleman, and welcome to the Becoming Superhuman Podcast. I am your host Jonathan Levi. For those of you who don't know, I teach a course on a web platform called Udemy, which is one of the world's largest online course platforms. It is through that platform and through that platform and through being an instructor that I met my guest today. Dr. Anthony Metivier is an experienced author, consultant and an expert in the field of memory and learning. Dr. Anthony is a fellow instructor on Udemy and he's been a friend of mine since I originally appeared on his highly rated podcast, the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. Anthony's innovations in the field of mnemonics helped him teach people all over the world to exceed in academics, learning languages, memorizing poetry and a whole host of other amazing skills. This podcast goes into a lot of different topics and Anthony and I cover a lot of ground from different mnemonics and memorialization techniques all the way to meditation. So now I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Anthony Metivier. So Anthony, good evening, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for making the time. I had so much fun with you on your podcast, the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. It was one of the things that actually inspired me to do this show, and I want to thank you for that, and I thought it would be really fun to have you as one of our first guests. So welcome. Anthony: Well thank you for having and I know my audience of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast really responded well to your interview, and I know it sent some people to your course so it was fantastic. Jonathan: It did and thank you for that. It was such a blast and I think the audience picked up on that. You and I kind of having this mind meld, and we had a really good time and I'm sure we're going to have a great time on this podcast as well. Anthony: Yeah, absolutely. I think people really respond to it too because it's not really coming from MENSA or championship stuff, and nothing wrong with that, but it is more down to earth and real application to our studies and so forth from people who use it for those purposes. Jonathan: Definitely. Actually you have been involved in memory and accelerated learning for a long time. Before I was and also before it became kind of a really trendy topic. Maybe share with our audience the story of how you got into this field. Anthony: Well it was just happenstance and a very lucky one because I had been in graduate school in Toronto at York University and these hard Toronto winters and something wrong with my biology sent me into a real bad depression. I couldn't think and I couldn't concentrate. I had the weight of all these exams on my shoulders for my doctoral exams. For people who aren't in a PhD program now or have been, then they would know that there is these committees you have to go and sit in front of and they grill you over hundreds and hundreds of books that you are supposed to have covered, and I could hardly get out of bed. So it was just a crazy time. To avoid life, to avoid facing all of this and to avoid the horrid pain of cracking another book of obscure French philosophy with terms like architectonic tautology and just things that rattle your brain, I was starting to play with cards and magic tricks. I could focus on that. I could watch these videos. I didn't have to read a book or anything like that. You don't get far in the world card magic without coming across one of the holy grails which is a memorized deck and most people to some kind of trick. It's not really memorized but there is another class of people who actually memorize the deck. There is a whole bunch of different techniques. I thought no way this is crazy I thought I would never be able to do this because I can't even read. I couldn't even read Harry Potter which is one of the books I had to read for a course where I was a teacher's assistant and barely able to get out of bed for that. I apologize to all of those students that I misdirected with showing up to class unprepared for Harry Potter. In any case, I tried it and it was incredible. It is like a light saber through all that fog and all the inability to concentrate. That is what really hooked me on memory techniques. It is irrelevant how bad you feel. It is irrelevant how tight you are. It is irrelevant how hungry you are. You can actually just go to this place in your mind and these images that you have created and they are bulletproof so long as you've created them correctly. That was real miraculous for me. It has actually helped with a lot of concentration issues and a lot of mental confusion

The thought of memory improvement excites you, doesn't it? But then you start reading all the books and watching the videos and within seconds … Improving your memory suddenly starts to feel like a lot of hard work! It's understandable. Using a Memory Palace, associative-imagery and practicing Recall Rehearsal can be tough. It involves a lot of moving parts. But if you've gotten hold of my free Memory Improvement Kit, then you know that in reality, it's actually pretty simple. But if you're not interested in beelining directly towards total memory mastery, no sweat. Here are three games and exercises you can play starting today. They will exercise your memory, move the muscles of your imagination and renew access to parts of yourself you've probably long forgotten. Warning! Before we get started, you'll need something to write with. And what you're about to experience could well change your life forever. (In a good way, of course.) And when I say write, I mean "write." Sure, you can play these memory games by writing in Evernote or whatever. But don't. You'll get more from them by using old-fashioned pencil and paper. You can also use your mind on its own too. These exercises can be completed while daydreaming on a park bench or wherever you find yourself. But with writing, the pages you fill will prove to you that your mind is a vast place with many recesses. And you'll enjoy the exercise more when you see what emerges from the depths of your imagination. Plus, you'll be able to feel the weight of your memory in the paper on your hands. And that is a sensation you can't get from any app in the world. (Though a device that gets heavier the more information it contains could be a fun option for those who want to go on a data diet!) Do These Things Now If You Want To Improve Your Memory Without Sweat, Blood Or Tears 1. Make a list of all the places you can remember visiting. Start local and go back as far as you can remember. For example, here are some of the first places that I remember visiting: Where my dad used to train his duck hunting dogs The farm at Tranquille where my mom used to work A chocolate factory we visited on a field trip in Kindergarten Immerse yourself in these memories. Think about colors, smells, textures. Recall the people you were with and call up as many people as you can. Then you can start listing other towns and cities. Again, go as deep into the past as you can. I remember flying to Prince Rupert with my dad where he bought me cowboy boots. Get All The Memory Guidance You Need From Someone Close To Home Next, take these early memories and ask someone in your family to give them your version. When I press my memory for sensory detail, I remember nothing of the flight. But I do have glimpses of how the city looked, and I can smell beer on my dad's breath. For bonus points in your own memory play, move from the deep past up until the present. And do your best to establish a linear time line so you have a feeling for the chronology. But at this point … Don't Worry About Exact Dates … … except for seasons if your sensory memory provides them. For example, in my first memory of watching my dad train one of the dogs, he's wearing the white sweater my mom knit for him. Although there was no snow on the ground on those mountain plains, white clouds were shooshing from the dog's noise as it ran after the dummy. And I remember my dad letting me the starter pistol and how cold it felt in my hand. These details make it safe to assume it was Fall. Once you've gotten your sensory details gathered, come back and add dates if you wish for an extra memory massage. For that you should learn the Major Method for memorizing numbers. Or you can proceed the next of our memory games: 2. Recall the names of every classmate you can remember. Again, go as deep into the past as you can. From preschool, I remember Ryan and Clayton. Ryan moved away with his family in grade one, but I would know Clayton for many years to come. I believe the last time I saw him was grade nine, and we've only had a quick series of exchanges on Facebook since. For each friend you can remember from this deepest place … Fill In As Many Sensory And Narrative Details As You Can … Recall their homes, their parents and your activities together. With Ryan, I remember a white house at the top of a lawned hill with a backyard with white wood fences on either side and a chicken coup at the back. We played downstairs, and he once proudly displayed an American dollar. His mom worked for the Buy & Sell newspaper, and I distinctly remember eating tomato soup. With Clayton, I remember much more. It would take a novella to write it all out, but I find sharp highlights in my memory. These include building blanket tents, watching Chuck Norris movies during sleepovers, going to the pool, smoking cigarettes for my first time and once getting our bikes taken by weird apple orchard farmers for trespassing. Later our bad-ass dads, both bikers, spun by o

How Much Would The Quality Of Your Life Skyrocket If You Could Remember More About Your Daily Life? The days rush by, don't they? And it can be hard to remember what exactly happened. Forgetfulness about your own life is not only frustrating, but it's downright painful. At least … It should be. And that's the problem, isn't it? You get bothered by certain things and yet … You Do Absolutely Nothing To Make Changes! But what if I were to tell you that there's one simple thing you can do to remember more about your life? And what if I told you that this one thing is also fun and will even make you more productive too? If that sounds interesting to you, then keep reading each and every word on this page. Why? Because the simple activity I want to share with you is the kind of game changer you simply cannot afford to ignore. Do You Wake Or Sleep? That's what Keats asked himself back in May of 1819 when he wrote Ode to a Nightingale. Check it out. It's well worth memorizing. The cool thing about Keats is that he wrote letters. Lots of them. No email. No fax. Heck, Keats didn't even have a laser jet printer. But he still wrote. Every single freakin' day. And then he got tuberculosis and died. But here's the thing: It's Scientifically Proven That If You Write Every Day You Will Remember More About Your Life! Not only that, but by writing every day about your daily activities, your experience of time expands. In other words, you not only remember more, but you feel like you have had more time on a daily basis in which to remember more. Pretty cool, right? Well, I don't know if it'll be cool for you or not, so … You Absolutely Have To Try It! Seriously, just do it. Here are 3.5 amazing ways to give writing about your daily life a try. Journal When You Get Up Every Morning You know how fitness freaks talk about keeping their running shoes beside their beds so they don't forget to get fit first thing every morning? You can do the same thing every morning with your journaling. Seriously. Go out and buy the fattest journal you can find and the hugest pencil or pen. Plop those puppies on the floor where you normally place your feet when you get out of bed and just try ignoring them every morning. When I've done this, I take the journal with me to the washroom. And yes, even as a man, I sit down for this even if I'm engaging only duty number one. (Hey, if you can kill two birds with one wet stone, why not?) For bonus points, write down any dreams you remember as well. This practice also expands your sense of time because dream journaling expands your awareness of how time passes while you sleep. Trust me. Just Try It There's an entire course about remembering your dreams in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass if you need more help. But even if you don't go through all that training, here's the thing: If you just commit to writing down your dreams, you'll be amazed by what will happen in your life. And if you can't remember any dreams, don't worry. Write that down. It's as simple as one sentence: "I didn't remember any dreams." Believe it or not, that simple exercise will help you remember dreams, no matter how skeptical you might be. But I know, I know. You might be thinking, "What If I'm not a morning person?" No problemo. Here's … The Amazing Secret Of Writing Magical "Remember More" Spells Before You Turn Into Pumpkin I don't know about you, but I have rules about when I go to bed that I try to keep, almost religiously. It helps me keep the blues away, burn more fat, build more muscle and, of course, remember more dreams. And if you want to remember more about what happened during your day, put that plump journal square on your pillow. That way you won't be able to ignore it come bed time. Next, set a timer for five minutes (or even less) and write down everything you remember about your day. Don't Overthink This Activity! Just write whatever comes to mind starting with breakfast. And don't judge yourself. Nothing you write is stupid or insignificant. That little voice in your mind that's always trying to wreck everything will tell you the entire exercise is dumb, but put a gag on it. Trust me. That jerk doesn't have a clue what he, she (or it) is talking about. For bonus points, put the journal where your feet hit the floor first thing in the morning and then write down your dreams when you get up. And yes, you should even make note of it when you can't remember any dreams at all. We know that even one simple sentence acknowledging that you can't remember any dreams can (and most likely will) trigger dream recall. If none of these suggestions appeal to you, try this technique on for size: The Miraculous Memory ­Improving Wonders Of Having An Accountability Partner Sarah Peterson from Unsettle.org is my accountability partner. We write each other 3-­4 times a week, sometimes more. We do this exchange for two purposes: 1) To tell each other what we've been up to. This practice automatically helps us remember more of w

How Would You Like A Quote That Will Change Your Life – And Your Memory – For The Better? If the answer is yes, then pay attention to every word of this quote and my commentary on it. But prepare yourself … This quote may well contain the most important set of thoughts you will ever read. "To young writers I give only two secrets that really exist… all the other hints of Rosetta Stones are jiggery-pokery. The two secrets are these: First, the most important book you can ever read, not only to prepare you as a writer, but to prepare you for life, is not the Bible or some handbook on syntax. It is the complete canon of Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Holmes mysteries are nailed to the fixed point of logic and rational observation. They teach that ratiocination, and a denial of paralogia, go straight to the heart of Pasteur's admonition that "Chance favors the prepared mind." The more you know, the more unflinchingly you deny casual beliefs and Accepted Wisdom when it flies in the face of reality, the more carefully you observe the world and its people around you, the better chance you have of writing something meaningful and well-crafted. From Doyle's stories an awakened intelligence can learn a system of rational behavior coupled with an ability to bring the process of deductive logic to bear on even the smallest measure of day-to-day existence. It works in life, and it works in art. We call it the writer's eye. And that, melded to talent and composure, is what one can find in the work of every fine writer. The second secret, what they never tell you, is that yes, anyone can become a writer…. The trick is not to become a writer, it is to stay a writer. Day after day, year after year, book after book. And for that, you must keep working, even when it seems beyond you. In the words-to-live-by of Thomas Carlyle, "Produce! Produce! Were it but the pitifullest infinitesimal fraction of a Product, produce it in God's name! 'Tis the utmost thou has in thee: out with it, then. Up, up! Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy whole might. Work while it is called Today; for the Night cometh, wherein no man can work." All that, and learn the accurate meaning of "viable," do not pronounce it noo-kew-ler, understand the difference between "in a moment" and "momentarily," and don't say "hopefully" when you mean "it is to be hoped" or "one hopes." Because, for one last quotation, as Molly Haskell has written: "language: the one tool that enables us to grasp hold of our lives and transcend our fate by understanding it." This quote comes from Harlan Ellison. It has got so much packed into it – and that's not even to mention the quotes inside the quote. Why Reading Properly Is The Ultimate Cure To Ignorance Here's a secret: A lot of people read. Except that they aren't really reading. What does it mean to read a book? I talk about this in the podcast episode How To Memorize A Textbook. So if you haven't checked it out, give it a listen. In brief, it shoes you how to memorize the right parts of a book, not every page. A lot of people think they need to memorize an entire book, but it isn't true. There's a circular question that's been going round for thousands of years: Is it better to learn and memorize thousands of books to get a broad education? Or is it better to know just a few books better than most people ever will? The Answer Is Pretty Simple! The best book that you ever read, the most important book you can ever read is the book that you actually read. Of course, it's up to you which book you read. You don't have to take Ellison's advice that it must be Sherlock Holmes. Ellison asks us to see a life lesson in Holmes: "Chance favors the prepared mind." And that's really what Holmes is all about. After all, using Memory Palaces or Mind Palaces is the ultimate preparation. At the same time, it's not really that Holmes has some super intellect or that he uses Memory Palaces or that he is more intelligent than anyone else. It's just that he has a prepared mind. And this leads us back to this idea of reading a thousand books or reading one book. Memorize! Memorize! Memorize! Do you remember the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast episode How to Tap the Mind of a Ten‑Year-Old Memory Palace Master? In it, I interviewed Alicia Crosby, the 10‑year-old who used Memory Palaces to memorize all of the Shakespeare plays in historical order by title. Not the actual content of the plays, mind you, but the title of every play – which is still an extraordinary feat. On the interview, we also heard from her father. Together, they were talking motorcycle rides and making Memory Palaces along the way. These Memory Palaces were filled with beautiful stations found along the way. All done at speed. And that's a beautiful thing. But (and with respect to my speedreading friends) … Reading At Speed Is Not Always The Best Way To Invite Information Into Your Mind! During the interview, I told a story from Kafka. In that

You'd like to have psychic powers, wouldn't you? Go on. Admit it. Life would be easier if you could read the mind of your friends and lovers. And you could be rich overnight by divining the insights of the best stock pickers alive. But the reality is that psychic powers do not exist. Or at least, there's no meaningful evidence to suggest that they do. Yet the question is, why do so many people believe in psychic powers? Why are tarot readings and crystal divinations and all kinds of claptrap so attractive to so many people. Perhaps some of the answer to these questions involves working memory. So in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, let's talk about how. What is working memory? Working memory is the system that is responsible for holding and processing new and already stored information – for a short time. Having working memory is important for reasoning, comprehension, learning and memory updating. As a term, working memory is generally used synonymously with short term memory. Yet, the two concepts are distinct and should be distinguished from one another. Whereas working memory is a theoretical framework that refers to structures and processes used for temporarily storing and manipulating information, short-term memory refers to the short-term storage of information, and does not entail the manipulation or organization of material held in memory. Given these facts about working memory, it seems clear that it plays a roll in why people believe the psychics and their readings. Here's why … First off, psychics overwhelm their clients with questions. By asking them to access so much about their past, it can be difficult, if not impossible to remember the questions the psychic asked. As a result, the person sitting for the psychic reading will only remember the hits and not the misses. "Hits," just to define this term, is the word used to describe any time a psychic gets something right. "Misses" refers to any time the psychic gets something wrong. As we'll see, talented psychics use language as a tool for increasing the recall of hits and obliterating our memory of the misses. Magicians know how to use this effect as well. For example, they use what is commonly called misdirection. But in reality, they use … Focused Attention By using focused attention, you are not misdirected but rather directed to pay attention on the wrong things. The audience then remembers only the big moves the magician makes, and should they have spotted the small moves in which the dirty work is done, the cognitive overload of the big moves erases the memory of anything else. In fact, the most rewarding compliment a magician can hear is, "but he didn't do anything." In these cases, the big moves have been so natural or ordinary that they have no meaning for working memory to grasp onto. But "misdirection" isn't the best word for this technique. A better term would be focused attention. To "misdirect" is to draw attention away from something. But sleight of hand works best when concentration is so focused on innocent movements that it cannot pay attention to the dirty ones. Psychics use the exact same process, but in this case, instead of calling it sleight of hand, we should call it … Sleight Of Mouth Psychics often hide their moves by asking questions that for most people will generate "yes" answers. Drawing from Ian Rowland's excellent The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading, here are some of those questions. Follow along and think about how many of these questions would generate a yes from you. Have you recently come across some old photographs, some in albums, some that still need to be properly arranged? Have you recently thrown out some medical supplies that had gone out of date or expired? Have you recently thrown out or donated some old books, toys or clothing? Is there a note on your fridge or by the phone that is no longer relevant but you haven't yet thrown away? Are there any stuck drawers or drawers that don't slide properly in your home? Do you have keys that you cannot remember what locks they belong to? Do you own a broken watch or clock you've been meaning to get fixed? Have you ever had an accident or near-accident involving water? Is the number 2 in your address or does someone significant in your life have the number 2? Do you have a scar on your elbow or knee? Is there a blue car or truck parked across the street from your home or work? Do you carry photos of a loved one in your wallet or purse? Is there a set of earrings that you've lost one half of? (For a man, the psychic can ask the same question about the jewelry collection of a girlfriend or wife.) And so on. Chances are that you probably answers yes to a significant number of these questions. All of them rely on accessing your long term temporal memory and often your spatial memory. Whether you say yes or no, the psychic will quickly overload your short term working memory by saying "yes and" or "no but," a tactic identified by the great magi

How To Use Your Emotions To Memorize More Instead Of Letting Them Take Over Your Life And Make A Big Fat Mess Of Everything You're an emotional person, aren't you? Those uncontrollable feelings well up from time to time, perhaps even taking over the show. In other words, emotions replace the you that you know with someone quite different. At least, that's one way of looking at it. Emotions are different versions of ourselves. The self that becomes overwhelmed by laughter is different than the self who drowns in sorrow and misery. But then eventually you find your way back. You become you once again. The Only Problem Is That You Don't Become You! Strong emotional states change you, and I'll bet you remember at least a couple of times that you've been changed so strongly by an emotional state that you've had no means of going back. You're as chemically changed as toast is to bread. The question is, to what extent is this change due to memory? Has the experience of emotion changed you as such, or does it impact your memory so much that you literally remember to be a different person. Certainly, post traumatic stress disorder provides some examples of people affected by memories so strongly that constant recall of the traumatic event causes that new version of the person to hold fast. But that state does have to be renewed. Even if the person feels that the memories are coming back of their own accord, they must at some level be participating in the reconstruction. And such events don't mean that trauma has improved memory in that instant so much so that the person remembers everything in sparkling detail. Traumatic memory in no way ensures accuracy and it can also lead to the repression of memory. The Return Of The Repressed Repression and suppression of memory is really intense because it is essentially an attempt to obliterate memories from the mind. But as Sigmund Freud made himself famous for saying, what we repress returns, usually in the form of a monster. Post-Freud, we have some interesting research about the suppression of memory. For example, test subjects asked to repress feelings of disgust while watching a horror movie remembered far less about the story and with much less accuracy than those not asked to repress their feelings. And plane crash survivors who remain calm have been said to remember more than people overwhelmed by hysterics. I've experienced this memory effect myself following a near miss trying to land in Toronto. I was going there from New York to sit for a field exam when the plane suddenly pulled up and circled over the city. We late learned that another plane had still been on the runway ahead of us, and thank goodness the pilot pulled us out of there in time enough to avoid a fiery collision. Although I didn't go crazy in terms of screaming or crying out, my inner life went nuts, something that affected my memory for days and days after. While sitting for the exam, for the first time I felt a real disruption in accessing my Memory Palaces and mnemonics. All the more so because one person on the committee was in the warpath and doing her best to see me fail. But luckily, I had relaxation on my side and calmed myself. I reminded myself of the combined power of memory and relaxation and without suppressing or repressing the feelings of terror I remembered from the previous days's adventure in the sky, I managed to handle that remembered stress and the current stress at the same time. And this is interesting because I could have broken down into tears or hysterics in that examination room because I was so fragile. But according to some theories, memories and the emotions tied to them don't force us to act in particular ways. But these emotional memories do influence our actions. And that's good news because with the exception of hungry lions and tigers and bears (like during that examination), most everything that influences us, we can influence back. Control: The One Advantage You Can Use When Your Emotions Get Really Crazy Emotions and memories share one major characteristic: they are both highly manipulable. Think of emotions and memory like blinking and breathing. Both blinking and breathing happen on autopilot. We don't have to think about them in the least in order for them to happen. But we can think about them and control them – at least for a while. You can choose to have a staring contest, you can keep you eyes closed even though you are not sleeping or you can flutter your eye lids at anyone you fancy. You can do this entirely at will. Likewise, you can influence your breathing. You can hold your breath, cause yourself to gasp and deliberately sync inhalations with exhalations as you walk or jog. And so it is with memory. You can deliberately call up memories of your childhood. You can say, "I want to think about grade one" and deliberately call up – or try to call up – the name of your teacher. Along with this deliberate action, emotions might also arise. And it makes f

How Cool Would It Be If You Could Hypnotize Your Way To A Better Memory? Well, good luck. As you're about to learn, there's no scientific basis or reason to believe that hypnosis can cause memory improvement. But to look at this issue, it will be helpful to focus on one area where hypnosis has been used in the attempt to improve memory: court cases. So our question is, can hypnosis really improve the memory of witnesses? Read every word of this post if you want to learn several key ways that you can still make strides with your memory improvement goals even if hypnosis turns out to be a dud when it comes to enhanced memory. Would You Believe That Hypnosis For Memory Improvement Goes This Far Back? Hypnosis in the courts has a long history. If we can focus solely on America, I've read that hypnosis to improve the memories of witnesses was first rejected in 1897 by the Supreme Court of California. After that, there's a dark spot until after World War II. Given all that happened during this war, officials wanted reliable ways to enhance the recall of witnesses. But despite all kinds of testing, to this date, no meaningful evidence supports hypnosis as a reliable means of improving memory. Especially not for providing testimony in a court of law. Let's break this issue down into parts so we can get both a broad and specific perspective. This Is The Truth About Memory And Hypnosis The TV Shows Don't Want You To Know About First off, hypnosis of this kind sets itself up for failure. Why? Because you can't improve something that mostly doesn't exist. Think about it. You're walking down the street and you see a crime. You weren't expecting anything would happen, but then something does happen. The memories you do form are based on information that you have learned incidentally. For example, I was riding my bike last Sunday to the Mauerpark. There's a wonderful Flea Market and I was going to look for some cool postcards to send new members of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass. I usually find something cool there, often old cards with interesting buildings are memorable art that helps stimulate creativity. Anyhow, I was stopped at a light when all of a sudden two guys ran into the street in front of a car. They asked a group of maybe three people, "This one?" and the group of people said yes. Rage-Fuelled Vengeance On The Streets Of Berlin! Then the two guys approached the doors of the car. One went to the passenger side, the other to the driver's side. I think the car was blue, but I don't quite remember. It may have had four doors. What I do remember is that the guys opened the doors and started yelling. The driver and the passenger were clearly in shock and didn't know what to do. Finally, the passenger pulled out a wallet and in a Russian accent, the guy standing in the street said, "Give it me!" He ripped the wallet out of the guy's hand and slammed the door. As the other guy slammed the driver's door, the colliding air created a puff of ash from the ashtray. After the two men got back onto the sidewalk, the light turned green and the car sped off. Which Of These These Facts Prove That Hypnosis Has No Chance When It Comes To Improving Memory? What I've done just now is to recall an event that I "learned" incidentally. As I'm telling it to you, there are oodles of things I'm not telling you because there aren't enough words in the universe to explain: * The urgent voice in the back of my head telling me to get the hell out of there. * The fact that the two guys in the car were either Turkish or Syrian. * The hot girl on the bike in front of me with people who may or may not have been her brother and father. * My thoughts following the event, such as the concern that someone could have been shot, questions about the crime rate in Berlin and other images and concepts rolling around in my mind. Shortly thereafter, I forgot about the whole thing until it came time to put together this podcast. In fact, I had already outlined the entire episode before this event happen, and only when I started writing it did I remember this event. And if I were asked to give testimony about it, my testimony would be deeply flawed because I wasn't expecting such an event to happen. As Harry Lorayne points out in all his books, you cannot remember what you haven't paid attention to in the first place. That's why I couldn't tell you: * Anything about the clothes any of the people were wearing (except for the clothes on the girl on the bike, because I was definitely paying attention to those). The hair color of the Russian guys. The color of the wallet. The exact color or make of the car. The exact time of day. The name of the intersecting street (though I could take you to it if necessary). * … and there is probably so much more useful information that the cops might need to know if they were to put together a case. And in this case, the large amount that I do remember possible has to do with shock, the novelty of the event, the eas

How To Memorize Even The Most Difficult Words In The World Using World Class Memory Techniques Hey everybody, this is Daniel Welsch. And I'm here today as a special guest host for the Magnetic Memory Method podcast. Anthony invited me to do the podcast today about using memory techniques for Basque and it's a great pleasure and enormous honor for me to do so, also in Spanish in a general way: I've been following Anthony's work for about a year and I've been corresponding with him for nearly the same length of time and he's been a great inspiration to me, not only in my memorizing ventures but also in my own work as a teacher and writer here in Madrid, the beautiful capital of Spain. So when he offered me the chance to do an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method podcast on memory techniques, of course I jumped at it… So first I'm going to tell you a bit about my language learning journey. And then I'm going to tell you how I became acquainted with Doctor Metivier and his work with memory techniques. And finally, I'm going to take you through one of my Memory Palaces to show you exactly how I memorized some very difficult material from a language that's like no other language in existence. Now… A little bit about me. Aprende Más Inglés You probably don't know me, because most of the work I do is in Spanish. But I have my own website called Aprende Más Inglés, which you can find at aprendemasingles.com. There I teach English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation—and now, learning memory techniques and how to be a more effective student and person in general. You might want to know a bit about me. Well, I was born in the US, specifically in Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the middle of the Sonoran Desert a couple of hours from the Mexican border. Filling In Blanks On Worksheets Has Never Been One of My Passions In school I learned Spanish but never took it too seriously. After that I ended up working in a kitchen with some guys from Mexico and found that speaking languages was a lot more fun than learning them in school. Filling in blanks on worksheets has never been one of my passions. When I was 21 I moved to Madrid, Spain, which is kind of a long story, and ended up, one way or another, teaching English. And at the same time I was learning more and more Spanish. I was doing it organically, for the most part. I had some free Spanish classes, which I barely ever went to. And the rest of the time I was walking around, talking to people, reading the newspaper, watching TV, things like that. At the same time, at work I was teaching English. And I was kind of startled by how ineffective language learning in Spain was. Of course, back in the US it wasn't any better, but in Spain learning English is just hugely important for a lot of people. Now that Spain is in the European Union and with the massive amount of international business and tourism that goes on, almost everybody needs to learn English. It should almost be a strategic objective for all of Spain, to get the general level of English up to the level where they could compete with any country in Europe. But unfortunately, the system wasn't very effective at actually creating bilingual Spaniards. And after a few years I started to discover why. But we'll get back to that… Couldn't Speak, Or Even Worse, Refused To Speak While I was teaching, I had a website where I was writing about grammar and vocabulary. And in the meantime, my Spanish was getting better and better. I eventually got the highest level diploma in Spanish offered by the Instituto Cervantes, which is an international organization that teaches Spanish like the British Council teaches English. And the thing about it was that I never felt like learning Spanish was a chore or an effort. I did the minimum possible in school, and later learned working in a kitchen with some guys from Mexico. And my Spanish really took off when I moved to Madrid and discovered that I could use it to meet girls. Meanwhile, a lot of my students had studied for years and couldn't speak, or even worse, refused to speak. They were terrified! I decided that maybe more grammar wasn't what people needed. And after a couple of weeks on vacation in Italy, with my girlfriend at the time, I realized that everybody was going about it all wrong. A Sort Of Exotic Dialect … What happened in Italy is that I was in contact with a sort of exotic dialect of Italian that doesn't sound anything like "standard" Italian. As far as I know there are no textbooks for this sort of thing. They don't even really have a literature in this dialect—it's a small-town thing, and if you want to leave the town and do big things in Italy as a whole you need to learn proper Italian. So I had been there surrounded by this dialect, and I had found that the book I had read to learn some Italian before going had been pretty useless too, since the pronunciation was so different than what I was hearing in small town central Italy. In any case, by just listening and imit

Sometimes Learning Is As Simple As Asking The Right Questions Were you one of those students? You know the kind I'm talking about. The kind of student whose mind is brimming with questions. And yet … You never asked any of them. Instead, you sat behind your desk, gripped by curiosity, but forever reason, kept quiet. How To Train Your Memory To Memorize Any Word It all begins with getting out of your comfort zone and asking those questions. But before that, you'll need to read and test how well you've understood something on your own. And that's what I admire so much about Jordan. He sent in this question and really took his time to think things through. Because here's a little-known secret for you … The Answer Is Almost Always In The Question! To prove this point, take a moment to go through the following question. Note just how many times Jordan's fantastic questions create the basis for a powerful answer. You should do the same whenever you have questions. Write to explore and you'll find that you know so much more than it might at first seem. Hi Anthony, Everything about your associative memory methods is exceptionally clear. I actually developed a near-identical memory system for myself to learn basic Hebrew and Farsi, years ago … However, what I didn't include at the time was my own "spatial / palace" dimension. My images were going 'into the void.' For that reason, I'm having a bit of trouble understanding just how it is you use your Memory Palace – in combination with your Excel sheets etc. – when learning a new language. I'm now learning Russian, so let's use that as an example here. Sorry for the questions to follow. Just bear with me a moment, and maybe this can help you clarify your method to other future learners. I'm curious how it is you build your palatial repository, sequentially speaking. Here's how i understand it… please let me know if I'm getting any of these steps wrong or missing out something crucial. 1) Create one Memory Palace for your new target language (e.g., Russian), and begin by subdividing into 33 'locations' within that Memory Palace (i.e., one location per letter of the alphabet). The path you walk through the palace at any point in the future will now be by location, by alphabetical order. (I.e., start with 'A' location, then 'Б' location, then 'B' location, etc., linearly, without crossing or doubling back or boxing yourself in) 2) For each 'location', identify at least 10 'stations' (i.e., sub-locations?) … These stations are where you're going to store the associative images for your first 10+ vocabulary words. Respectively, each of which starts with the respective letter of the alphabet corresponding to the location. For instance, in my 'A' location I have 10 stations, where I store the words 'арка,' 'афиша,' 'аптека,' etc. (i.e., one word/associative image combo per station). 3) I continue to populate all my locations and stations this way, i.e., organized by initial letter. 4) I write each of my vocab words down in an Excel file, noting the words itself. Plus, the location, the station and/or the image … ? (please advise if I understand this correctly)… 5) Continue ad infinitum and practice my walk through regularly… Assuming I have that right, above (please correct me if not), I have a few questions: i) As you learn any new word, you must create a new station within the appropriate location, and store it there for organizational purposes and ease of access … correct? … So, theoretically, each 'location' grows in terms of volume of 'stations', infinitely (i.e., it grows by one newly invented station every time you add a new word that begins with the location-relevant letter). ii) Assuming what I just said in (i) above is correct, do you subdivide the 'location' into ever-smaller, more specific 'stations', as your vocabulary grows? Does this result in a sort of infinitesimally divided 'location' … If so, do you have any tricks or techniques for finding ever more, or increasingly small/minute, stations to create and use within your locations as your vocabulary grows? … If not, and I have this wrong, please correct me. iii) Assuming (i) and (ii) are mostly correct, what do you do to memorize key phrases, as opposed to just words? Do you store each one in a new station, within a location that corresponds to the first letter of the first word of the phrase (e.g., 'Что нового' gets its own new station within the 'Ч' location)? I realize this may be different for everybody, but I'm curious how you do it, particularly in terms of Russian, but also for any language, generally. iv) Assuming i have the general storage hierarchy system understood correctly, do you tend to store new words/phrases in new stations in alphabetical order within your locations? E.g., if you already know and have stations for 'аптека' and 'афиша', but then you learn the new word 'арка,' do you create a new station for 'арка' in-between the stations for 'аптека' and 'афиша'? (I.e. because the letter 'р'

How To Become More Creative And Remember The Information That Matters In Your Life Would you like to be more creative? How about in a way that makes you more visual so you can memorize more information faster and with greater accuracy? You would? Great. Then this may be the most important episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast you'll ever experience. Here's why: I'm going to give you two simple ways to become more visually creative so you can use your imagination to memorize anything. Of course, you'll need to use a Memory Palace. Ideally you've already created several. If not, you can listen to previous episodes of this podcast for help. These include How to Find Memory Palaces and movie and How to Enhance Your Memory With Virtual Memory Palaces. There's also a full memory improvement course for improving memory in all areas of your life. But for now, here's … How To Improve Your Memory By Legally Stealing Information That Already Exists Using Direct Analogy The first way to become more visually creative involves creating "direct analogies." To use direct analogy, you need only follow five fun steps. 1. Identify an issue or problem. For people interested in using memory techniques for accelerated learning, this step should present no problems. Chances are that you need to memorize: Facts for school Mathematical equations and other number-based information (link to math book) Information about historical figures Professional terminology in fields like medicine or law (am links) Music Names and faces Poetry and speeches Foreign language vocabulary and grammar rules And this list is just for starters. Pilots, teachers, restaurant staff, police officers and a whole host of other people need memory techniques to make them better professionals. The more specific you are about the problem you need to solve, the more dedicated you can be about shaping memory techniques as your go-to solution. 2. Find similar problems. You might think it's crazy to leap from your problem to other problems that only tangentially relate, but trust me. This second step is critical for developing your visual imagination. We'll explore this point more completely in the next section. 3. Explore the analogy. Once you've picked an example, dive in and start charting out the territory. For example, doctors need to memorize a lot of terminology relating to the body, diseases, medicines and the cruel instruments related to their trade. How to get that large variety of terms and definitions into long term memory can be hard to visualize. A similar problem that might come to mind could involve computer programmers. They need to teach computers to store terminology and make it accessible to users with intuitive ease. You could then create a picture in your imagination of a doctor programming his mind as if it were a computer. Maybe he's opened his skull and attached some wiring to his brain. And maybe the wires run into a keyboard so he can type the words and definitions, sending them exactly where they need to go. Every Cell In Your Brain Has The Power To Help You Create Powerful Memories By finding an analogy, you help yourself create an image. It's great exercise and simply achieved. To take another example, you could think of a painter who needs to place shapes and colors in just the right places. For example, you could see a doctor painting terminology onto a patient. Or you could think about how novelists observe people in cafes to create portraits of them in prose. How could you use the needs of a doctor to create a visual analogy for comparison with the observation process of a novelist? Whatever you choose for this part of the exercise, see the computer programmer-doctor or the painter-doctor or the writer-doctor in your mind. Focus intensely on creating that visual image. If you can't see a picture using your mind's eye, take a few seconds to write out a description in words. Or access your other senses. What would it feel like to paint terminology on to a canvas, for example? Whatever you do, don't overthink the exercise. Just get started. You'll learn by doing. 4. Repeat the process and prime yourself for better results Now that you've found and explored an analogy, it's time to start all over. Do it again. Just do it again. And up the ante. Here's how: Keep giving your mind material that will make you more creative. To become more visual, use the material as a kind of "paint" to spread on the canvas of your mind. In sum, you need to feed your mind the materials that make up paint. The good news is that filling your paint factory with raw materials is easy and fun. You can: Read novels and poetry Look at art Go to a museum Watch movies Sit in a park and study nature Blind contour drawing Why engage in any of these activities? The Springtime Of Your Imagination Is Just Waiting To Explode With Insane Growth Because when you feed your mind with images, you're giving yourself more material to process than you consciously realize.

How To Win Any Language Learning Contest On this week's episode of The Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Sam Gendreau talks about what it takes to develop the right mindset for learning a language, developing solid pronunciation and using mnemonics the right way. You'll find the full transcript of the interview below or download the full PDF to your desktop for easy reference. And check out part of Sam's award-winning entry to the KBS World Korean Speaking Contest. Transcript Anthony: Sam, thank you for being on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast a second time. It was really great the first time. I am grateful for the opportunity to catch up with you again. Not so long ago you won something called the KBS World Korean Speaking Contest. What is the story behind how you got involved with that? Sam: Well first of all, thanks Anthony. It is a pleasure to be here for a second time. Indeed, I won the KBS World Korean Speaking Contest in 2014 so it's been a couple months now. The reason why I got involved in the first place is in fact I was just following an organization on Facebook. I saw that they were advertising this new contest organized by KBS. For those of you who might not know, KBS is the largest broadcasting corporation in Korea. It's the equivalent of CBC in Canada or the BBC in the UK. I just looked at that, and I thought that maybe I could have a good chance of winning if I were to apply to that contest. The contest was split into three different parts. The first stage was essentially all of the applicants were submitting a video of themselves speaking in Korean for about three minutes and you had a particular theme around which you had to structure your video. Following this phase, I essentially made it to the top ten. The second phase entailed the ten participants having separate interviews with a professional Korean radio announcer. You essentially had to talk over Skype with this announcer in Korean. They were testing your speaking abilities just to see whether, as opposed to just recording yourself, in a more natural setting you are able to hold a conversation. I made it to the top three. The third phase was to submit another video in Korean. I finally made it to the first prize. I was invited to spend a week in Seoul, Korea. I was on the national radio. I visited the KBS headquarters. It was quite an experience and certainly a memorable one. This year there is going to be a second KBS World Korean Speaking Contest so I encourage people who might be interested in participating this year to certainly register. There is a Facebook page so you can have a look at it and it should be a popular contest this year. Anthony: What interests you in Korean in particular, and at what stage were you already when you entered the contest? Sam: My interest in Korean was sparked when I was living in Australia over 7 years ago because I met some Koreans there for the first time actually. I really had never had any interest in Korean in particular, but then I made a couple of friends there in Australia. That is basically just how it got started. I got to know about Korean food, about some Korean culture and eventually I started to learn the language very gradually. I just purchased one of these little phrase books that you find on the shelves of bookstores. Slowly I started to learn the language, the script Hangul and after a couple of years, I registered in classes in university. For the most part, I really just learned on my own. When I applied to the contest last year, I mean it is always a subjective thing to gauge your own level, but I guess I was probably at a C1 level, so a fairly advanced level at least in terms of speaking abilities. How To Use The Key Learning Strategies To Develop Fluency In Any Language Anthony: Given that level you reached primarily on your own, what have been some of the key learning strategies that you have used with Korean and specifically with respect to speaking at that level? Sam: That is a very good question. I think, first of all, what is more important even than any strategy or technique is really to keep yourself motivated. I think the primary reason why most language learners do not reach an advanced level of proficiency in a foreign language is usually just because they just give up after a few months or years. The question is how can you keep yourself motivated and I think it boils down to curiosity, pure interest and really being curious about the culture and about the people who speak your target language. That is what has really been able to keep me going for that many years. I have been really fascinated by the culture. I have been really interested in movies and music, and the history of the country. I am also a fan of international affairs and international relations. That is my major. I am also very much interested in the international relations of Northeast Asia. The Secret Of Using "Massive Input" To Build Build A "Self-Propelling Language Learning Engine Studying ab

Who Else Wants To Get Rid Of Stress-Induced Memory Loss Forever? Have you felt stressed out lately? I'll bet you have. Me too. Stress sucks, and worse than being a drag, it's a memory killer too. But not always. On occasion, stress can make certain things memorable. Car accidents, terrorist attacks and riots can make many things impossible to forget. Such events can can even lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. Usually, though, stress punishes our bodies and minds without the need of catastrophe. Work, relationship problems and health can all create stress. How Safe Are Your Goals And Dreams From The Destructive Powers Of Everyday Stress? Stress gets in the way of goals and dreams. Important professional missions like: Studying for exams and professional certifications. Learning a language. Remembering the names of the important people you meet. But stress distracts from these activities. Stress makes paying attention difficult and learning new information becomes almost impossible. If anything, all you learn is how to be more stressed out. How To Increase Your Chances Of Getting Dementia or Alzheimer's So we've established that stress can create memory loss by making it impossible to pay attention. In other words, you've lost what you wanted to remember because you couldn't pay attention to it in the first place. But isn't it strange that memory loss is one of the symptoms of stress that far too many don't know about? How about these symptoms that also seem to have fallen off the radar: Anxiety Fear Tension Panic Anger Confusion Depression Impatience Irritability Worse, you might experience pain, insomnia, develop heart disease, and elevated blood pressure. Even just one of these can lead to diseases like dementia or Alzheimer's. 8 Signs That You're WAY Too Stressed So how do you know if you're stressed? Chances are you already know when you're stressed. You don't need a checklist. But just in case, here are some of the symptoms so you can see how to improve memory and concentration power starting today. Loss of appetite More than just losing the desire to eat, stress can make it impossible to eat. Swallowing even a mouthful can become difficult. Overeating On the other hand, stress can make you eat too much. Some people use food as a coping mechanism, something that places even more stress on your system. The heavier you are, the harder your bones and organs have to work. Plus, not feeling positive about how you look is psychologically draining. Headaches and Backaches Think that pain in your head or at the base of your spine is just part of life? Maybe, but it could also be the symptom of stress. Indecision Having a hard time making decisions? It's not necessarily just part of your personality. People who can't define a clear path and follow it could be experiencing stress. Pessimism It's little wonder that stress makes it hard to see the cup half full. If you're doubtful that your current situation will ever improve, it's not necessarily depression. Stress could be at the core of your dark thinking. Obsessing Over the Nuts and Bolts of Life It's good to pay attention to detail. But it can also be a symptom of stress. If your perfectionism is getting in the way of your ability to contribute to your family and society at large, you might want to check in with your stress meter. Impatience and Irritability Have you flipped out and chewed someone's head off lately? Such bursts of irritation rarely come from nowhere, so be sure that you aren't acting out based on stress. You probably have other solutions. Muscle Tension Are your shoulders all bunched up? Do you have pain in your neck? Do you slouch when you walk? If so, you're probably holding stress in your body. And along with muscle tension comes shortness of breath, cramps and even nervous twitching. Even your eyebrows can show signs of muscle tension. Having your face twisted and scrunched up can lead to others thinking that you're grumpy or angry, stressing you out even further. Horrible, right? You betcha. 5 Simple Ways To Reduce Stress From Your Life And Improve Your Memory The good news is that solutions exist for each of these stress symptoms. Let's look at some of them. 1. The first step is to learn the signs of stress and look for them in your life. 2. Next, train yourself to tune into your emotional state. You can best accomplish this awareness through meditation and journaling. 3. Seek out an accountability partner. An accountability is someone you contact daily or nearly every day to talk about your commitments, proclaim victory when you've accomplished something and admit your guilt when you've fallen short. At first, accountability might sound more stress inducing, but it isn't. Your accountability partner will encourage you and act as a kind of coach. They'll notice when you're pushing too hard, criticizing yourself too much, need to take a break and help you recognize just how well you're doing. You simply cannot have a bad day when you

Can You Really Trust Memory Palaces You've Made Up Entirely With Your Mind? Remember Dorothy? Of course you do. That innocent young woman. Skipping through the Land of Oz. Meeting new friends. Tackling Wicked Witch. Reigning forever as the most beautiful Queen with Ruby Slippers who ever lived … Oh no wait … that's not the way it went. And that's exactly the point. When we use our imagination, we can change anything. We can invent things too. Including Memory Palaces. So if you want to know how to enhance your memory using a very special kind of Memory Palace, download the MP3 and keep reading this post all the way to the end. 3 Kinds Of Virtual Memory Palaces And The Little Known Factors That Affect Your Success Let's kick this discussion off with a question I recently received: Hi Sir, Could you give me an example of how to create an artificial memory palace? Thanks. Thanks for this question! There are many, many ways to create artificial Memory Palaces. What Do We Mean When We Call A Memory Palace "Virtual"? First off, by "artificial" we are talking about either Memory Palaces built from scratch or based on fantasy locations. To begin with the latter, you could use the layout of Homer Simpson's house or the house of any sitcom. Fantasy layouts like these are great because we can quickly become familiar with the living room, kitchen, dining area and the bedrooms of each character. We can then simply study the layout of these rooms with great intensity the next time we are watching the show and create a journey throughout the house. Some people have used video games too. When I use them, I prefer simple platform games like Donkey Kong. I find these best because you can see the entire journey and all of its stations at a single glance. You can also set rules much easier, such as that there will always be three stations per ramp, etc. Experiment, Experiment, Experiment However, if you're keen on first-person shooter games or games that use vast expanses of space and can remember these journeys, I encourage you by all means to experiment with them. You might also want to check out this interview. Ten years old at the time we spoke, Alicia Crosby talked about using Minecraft for building Memory Palaces. Here's a video showing how that might work for you: Is Hollywood The Ultimate Untapped Resource For Foolproof Memory Palaces? Movies sometimes have good potential for creating stations, but not always. I've talked about how to enhance your memory using movies before on this podcast called How to Increase Memory By Watching Movies and TV Series. On the main, movie and TV scenes are usually too broad. Not only that, but characters constantly cross their own paths. Plus, you have to hold large parts of the narrative in your mind as part of the journey. That said, you can experiment with a "then this happens and then this happens" structure to build a journey. For example: Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, then … Dorothy meets the Tin Man, then … Dorothy meets the Lion, then … Dorothy meets the big green head of Oz, then … Dorothy battles the witch, then … Dorothy meets the real Wizard of Oz, then … Dorothy goes home. These meeting points all serve as pseudo-stations. They might work well because the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, Oz, the Witch and even Dorothy herself can easily be combined with other associative-imagery elements. Plus, Dorothy meets them at specific locations in the movie that are easy to visualize. I've done a bit of experimentation with this method and for short lists of information, it works gangbusters. However, I wouldn't expect to amass huge amounts of information using movies unless you are very, very familiar with the journey the characters take throughout the story. Again, characters often cross their own paths, or, as in the Wizard of Oz, completely double back. Is It Worth It To Build A Mega-Memory Palace From Scratch? Moving from Memory Palaces based on pre-made fantasy locations, you can build virtual Memory Palaces from nothing. In fact, the classic Memory Palace method, which I do not endorse, involves creating a single Memory Palace with multiple doors that lead into multiple rooms or buildings. Using this approach, you build a Memory Palace and a long corridor with many doors. When you go through the first door, you find yourself in your childhood home. When you go through the second, you find yourself in your first school. The next door opens onto your high school, then your workplace, your sports club, etc. I can't fully enunciate why I don't like this idea, but it's never worked for me. The Alphabetical School Of Memory Palaces 101 As readers of my books and participants in my video courses know, I prefer structuring my Memory Palaces around the alphabet. The alphabet is somewhat like a conceptual corridor in the Memory Palace of my skull, and it's both pre-built and built by the user using the Magnetic Memory Method principles. Because we know the alphabet so well from a young age, we

These Memory Strategies Can Quickly Boost Your Foreign Language Fluency … Even If You Wind Up Throwing The Mnemonics Away! Have you ever wished someone would just inspire you and give you exactly the tools you need to succeed in one blast of self-empowerment at the same time? Well, if you're into language learning, what I'm about to tell you may be the most important episode of this podcast you'll ever hear. And of course if you'd like the transcripts in handsome PDF form, you can download them here. You can also scroll all the way to the end for the links mentioned in the podcast for a power-packed injection of inspiration and practical guidance. Plus, I've got something cool to teach you at the very end about using hats to increase your productivity, so go all the way through for that. Here's How Philosophy Can Double Your Fluency When All Other Techniques Fail … Last week I attended the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. Of the many talks, Christopher Huff's struck me the most. All of the other presentations were great, of course, but… because Christopher drew some language learning ideas from philosophers I know very well, I was struck by the connections I'd never noticed before. He also had some great ideas about memory techniques and more importantly, memory strategies. Taken in the context of philosophy, Christopher presented some exciting ideas you can start applying to your language learning and overall life right away. You may even experience results overnight. Here's why: The Undercover Secrets Of Minimalism And Hedonism Christopher talked about two kinds of philosophers, which we could call the minimalists and the Epicureans. The first group like to toss out everything unnecessary and the Epicureans fill everything to excess. What they share in common is that only the now exists. You might want to check out philosophers like Plato and Aristotle for more info on this matter. For example, Plato's Republic has many passages on frugality in many aspects of life (including thought). Aristotle talked about minimalism in terms of the Golden Mean and eudaimonia, a special definition of happiness. When it comes to learning a language, minimalism helps you concentrate on the essentials by using only the essentials. Sell Everything! Being minimalist also helps you identify what is essential. If you're only working on mastering one language learning book, after all, you're more likely to discover what's essential in that book in a meaningful way than if you try to find out what's essential in twelve books. You can learn more about this powerful form of whittling down in How to Memorize a Textbook. By focusing on just one thing, you're more likely to get a concentrated vision of what you're lacking. So minimalism creates focus, understanding and diamond-hard clarity about what you don't know yet. You can make much more powerful decisions because you're a minimalist. You're only going to acquire one more book, one that you select well based on your well-developed knowledge of what you need. Epicureanism, on the other hand, allows for excess. So long as it's linked to pleasure, epicureanism happily encourages maximalism. How to Over-Exaggerate Everything And Still Get Results Although it might sound wild, excess can be done intelligently. Christopher pointed out the value in giving yourself rewards of excess (which is different than giving yourself an excess of rewards). Christopher also implied that having a library of special books you've collected, even ones you're never going to read, is not really clutter. Each book is a memory of the passion behind why you got the book in the first place. So even though Christopher (and probably you) may never study some of the language learning books in his collection, they serve as part of a language learning whole. It is a specific library, one that contains many touchstones that point to the larger goal of gaining fluency in many languages. In other words, overkill can be an effective memory strategy. So there is a sense that bigger is better, especially if people who amass such enormous collections of language learning materials also practice minimalism. The "Stubborn" Principle That Can Make Your Language Learning Soar When people select just one book from that collection and work through it in a dedicated manner, they may need to buy a new book thereafter. But they are strengthening the collection as a whole by adding material that is now much more targeted. It's kind of like growing as a content specialist as you allow the maximalism to inform your minimalism and vice versa. The Golden Mean between these two extremes is what Christopher called the "Stubborn Quintile." It basically refers to the percentage of words that language leaners struggle with no matter what. This concept allows you to identify the material that eludes you and figure out what techniques will best help. Be it certain difficult words, phrases, grammar concepts or other issues, by identifying this