Anthony Metivier's Blog, page 4

The Art of Memory, Frances Yates & The Rise of Modern Mnemonics

The Art of Memory is one of the most successful memory improvement books of all time.

Ironic, given that its author says she never tried to use the memory techniques she discussed in such detail.

Frances A. Yates made a mark nonetheless.

She was a meticulous researcher and The Art of Memory is not her only book to touch on the world of mnemonics.

Are you interested in the art of memory at large, Yates’ contribution to the tradition of using mnemonics through her famous book and some of the best strategies she uncovered?

If so, let’s dig in and explore what Yates discovered about the method of loci. As we go, we’ll look at some of the historical figures who used the techniques to learn faster and remember more too.

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The Woman Behind The Art of Memory:
Who Was Frances A. Yates?

According to Marjorie Jones in Frances Yates and the Hermetic Tradition, Frances Yates was one of the most important intellectuals in postwar England.

As Jones points out, Yates is also significant for women’s history. We tend to focus on scholars of memory like Aristotle, Ramon Llull, Giordano Bruno and Robert Fludd. But beyond Lynne Kelly, Mary Carruthers and memory athletes who share their mnemonics like Katie Kermode, there don’t seem to be many women in the conversation.

In fact, many people express surprise when I use “she” and “her” to discuss Yates. Many people tend to assume she’s a man – an impression perpetuated by the fact that her picture is not included with any of her books that I’ve seen.

Yates led a scholarly life, and Jones gives some indication that Yates may have treated one of her main topics, the memory master Giordano Bruno as a kind of symbolic father. But Yates died in 1981 before completing a biography she’d started and called the “B Book.”

It would be lovely to know more about Yates’ life, especially the fact that she didn’t use memory techniques. Jones subtlety casts some doubt on this claim Yates makes in The Art of Memory. By many reports, her memory was actually quite good.

That could be a result of context dependent memory, however, not Yates’ understanding of the ancient memory techniques she wrote about in such depth. Authors tend to spend a lot of time preparing and editing drafts, so it would not be surprising for her to have better memory than others for topics relating to memory and intellectual history at large.

The Primary Principles of The Art of Memory

As Yates discusses in The Art of Memory, her primary goal is to better understand Giordano Bruno. She wrote about him at length in another book, and in a work about Llull. Bruno also comes up in some of her work on Fludd.

Contextualising Bruno’s historical moment is fantastic. To do so, Yates takes us all the way back to the ancient world.

Many interesting names come up, and the core mnemonic strategies that go with them are:

The Method of Loci, which is associated with Simonides of CeosThe use of memory techniques to give speeches as discussed in Rhetorica ad HerenniumMemory wheels, thought to be originated by Ramon LlullGuilio Camillo’s “Memory Theatre”Rober Fludd’s “Theatre of the World”Giordano Bruno’s alphabetical method for rapidly developing mnemonic images

Yates is particularly interested in how Bruno’s mnemonic strategies connect with his cosmological ideas. Not everyone agrees with Yates’ interpretation. For one thing, there have been new discoveries since Yates stopped writing about memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNrJl...

Dilwyn Knox suggests that Yates’ interpretation of Bruno as a hermeticist is forced, and I agree. But as John Michael Greer has suggested, everyone who works on Bruno is bound to invent their own version.

All of Yates’ discussion of memory techniques becomes even more complicated when we add in her claim that she never used the memory techniques under discussion.

Ultimately, I don’t know, but some of the ways she discussed mnemonics does suggest she didn’t understand them through experience.

 

7 Memory Techniques (Mnemotechnics) From the Art of Memory

In addition the memory techniques listed above, The Art of Memory discusses or at least mentions:

The Memory PalaceNumber systems we now call the Major System or Dominic SystemMemory wheelsJourney methodPegword methodSpaced repetitionMeditation on topics, or what we might now call reflective thinking

Yates didn’t live to see some of the Aboriginal memory techniques we now know about from people like Tyson Yunkaporta and Lynne Kelly’s Memory Craft.

But that’s okay. Yates finished writing The Art of Memory in 1965 after all. And we probably wouldn’t have the work of countless others without her inspiration.

The Art of Memory: Has It Stood the Test of Time?

It’s difficult to say. Generally, I’m a fan of memory improvement books. And generally, reading makes you smarter.

But is it in my personal top five?

Frankly, no. Even though I’ve taken dozens of notes on it.

If you want to learn about the history of memory techniques, then Yates’ writing is an absolute must.

But if you want to learn how to improve your memory, then you might walk away confused.

For best results, you’ll also want to read some of the primary texts Yates refers to throughout The Art of Memory. Some of these are easy to find online. For others, you can find them in their own volumes or in Carruthers’ The Medieval Craft of Memory.

For a more direct path to memory mastery in contemporary terms, many people like Harry Lorayne, Tony Buzan and books like Moonwalking with Einstein.

And of course, I’m honored if you read my book, The Victorious Mind. I probably never would have written it without having read Yates.

Nor would I have written my own book about Giordano Bruno and his “infinite Memory Palace technique.”

At the end of the day, I agree with Jones that Yates was a tremendous scholar.

Although her takes on Bruno are a bit hard to swallow after having read a lot of Bruno myself, Yates’ overall scholarship about memory is profound.

It’s just not a direct path to learning how to use the techniques, even if will inform you about the history of who used them.

If you’d like the fastest path to mastering the most important memory techniques quickly, please grab my Free Memory Improvement Course now:

You’ll discover how to do what Yates did not:

Use the techniques yourself.

But something even more profound:

Use the art of memory as an art, to be sure.

But also as a craft, a science and a martial art of the mind.

And that’s important, because another thing Yates glosses over in The Art of Memory is the role of critical thinking.

Ultimately, that’s what the art of memory at large is really all about. Yes, you need to understand the composition of images as Bruno discussed mnemonic imagery.

But Bruno, Llull and contemporary teachers of memory like myself urge you to take the art of memory into the realm of thinking better thoughts.

The true art of memory is about using your memory to make better decisions and solve problems quickly. To solve them accurately. And to solve them with wisdom each and every step of the way.

 

How to Write Learning Goals That Work For Mastering Any Topic

All successful learners set learning goals.

Even if the exact path isn’t clear and there might be some wiggly lines involved, this truth matters above all:

You can’t expect success from self-directed study programs without at least forming some kind of destination.

And the truth is, having a clear destination in mind, isn’t always the best policy. Sometimes you have allow for a little wiggle room. If not a lot.

As someone who has been both student and professor, I can help you from both sides of the coin.

I’ve passed multiple exams based on many courses. But I’ve also gone on to learn on my own to learn new skills and research and write multiple books.

To help you out based on solid scientific research and experienced earned from preparing many outlines for my memory goals, let me give you some examples you can model.

And let me do even better than that:

In this post, I’ll show you how to create a learning goal that actually gets you the outcome you want.

Whether that’s learning a language, mastering a musical instrument or becoming an expert in a difficult topic, this is the blog post for you.

How cool is that?

Very cool, as you’re about to see. So let’s dive in.

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What Are Learning Goals?

Learning goals are like destinations on a map.

You have never been to the location, but you know that it exists.

The reason you know it exists is either because others have been there, or others have tried to reach the destination.

And this is an important point:

A lot of people think that learning goals must be achievable.

Frankly, I think we have every reason to believe this simply is not true.

For example, must it be achievable that we do all we can to learn about space travel?

We don’t know if it’s actually possible or not, but we’re doing it.

To take a more down-to-earth example, I had no idea whether or not I would be able to understand many topics or learn some of the languages I’ve tackled.

And right now, as part of my current learning cycle, I’m studying physics. It’s really hard to understand, but I take heart from a quote I found early on from one of the most renowned physicists, Richard Feynman:

It is my task to convince you not to turn away [from physics] because you don’t understand it. You see, my students don’t understand it either. That’s because I don’t understand it. Nobody does.

Ultimately, this means that the exact definition of learning goals is exactly what I’ve suggested: It’s a destination. And all you need is an inkling that the destination exists just as Richard Feynman and millions of other people make learning goals based on their intuition that physics and math exist.

Why Is It Important To Set Learning Goals For Improvement?

We need learning goals precisely because without a direction to follow, we wind up getting either nowhere, or someone other than we want to be.

Having goals for our learning also helps us identify others who have attempted and succeeded at similar projects.

It’s not just about goals either. Using mental metaphors based on images of other successful people is very helpful. Nir Eyal makes this point in his book Indistractable.

Carol Dweck says something similar in Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Only she puts a bit of a twist on it:

We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.

In other words, to be successful requires a combination of big dreams and thinking practically about how others have completed them. This process is sometimes called “reverse engineering.”

For example, you might notice where and when people act on their goals. This is a point suggested by Dr. Heidi Grant. We often think about the outcome when we actually need to visualize the process.

How to Write Learning Goals That Work:
4 Strategies for Writing Successful Learning Goals

When it comes to achieving our dreams, whether it’s learning the law or acing med school, one quote has always stuck with me. I heard it from a “business guru” named Dean Jackson:

All wealth comes from writing.

I’ve always found this to be true, so let’s start with some nuance on that tip.

One: Test Your Goals Through Writing

A core part of my teaching involves journaling. I’m talking both about journaling for self improvement and keeping a journal like a memory athlete.

When it comes to goals, I’ve found that it’s really important to write them down.

But not just once.

To really test that I want to go through something, I ask myself to write out the goal several times over a few days, if not weeks.

Why?

Because I’ve found that a goal I’m not willing to write out a few times signals I’m not really interested in completing it.

Plus, writing out a goal several times helps test the “truth” of the goal. Sometimes we just want an outcome for the sake of having it. But we don’t actually need the outcome.

So in the journal, I divide the page into two columns: Want vs. Need. By focusing on what I really need to learn, I wind up having much more free time and enjoyment at the end of the learning goal.

I know this process sounds challenging. But it’s 100% scientific. Angela Duckworth would likely file this kind of exercise under her concept of developing “grit.” I consider it an exercise that helps you establish and maintain mental strength.

Two: Decide Why, Where & When

Once you’ve tested that you really want to learn something, it’s important to keep journaling.

My three questions each morning before I engage in a learning activity always come with:

Why?Where?When?

It’s a simple model that helps build both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

For example, I’m working on a book and part of my research involves reading Shakespeare to follow-up on someone’s suggestion that the great memory master Giordano Bruno may have influenced Shakespeare’s creation of Hamlet.

Shakespeare’s not exactly light reading, so I remind myself of why I’m doing it. Then I plan where and when I’m going to get the reading done.

This simple metric is useful to go through because it can help you choose times when you have the best possible energy for certain tasks as well.

Three: Give Yourself Space for Focused & Diffuse Modes of Thinking

Here’s one of my favorite learning goals examples:

Study hermeticismStudy the memory systems of Bruno and people like Ramon LlullCompare with multiple traditions and philosophiesCompare with contemporary memory science and memory athletes like Ed CookeWrite up the findings in a book

If you want to know how to write a learning goal, that’s basically what the framework looks like. I then tested it as described above. As of this moment, the first draft of this book is now done based on my research and learning.

However, due to the enormity of the project, I couldn’t cover it all overnight. So I remembered lessons I learned from Barbara Oakley in her Learning How to Learn book and course. Some of these ideas area also in her excellent book, Mindshift.

Basically, you get very clear about when you’re going to study. But you used spaced repetition to take plenty of breaks.

This shifting between focus and taking time off for “diffuse thinking” allows the brain to form connections, primarily while you’re resting.

Four: Accelerate Everything Using Memory Techniques

Now, you might be thinking… I can learn while resting?

Yes, and it’s an important part of any learning routine, especially when studying tough subjects.

There are many ways memory techniques can help you:

Mnemonic images make ideas stick fasterMemory Palaces help you scale the amounts of raw data you can learnSpaced repetition speeds up how fast you can establish long term retention

If you’d like more information, please dive into my free memory improvement kit:

It will walk you through a learning plan for mastering your memory.

Crafting The Perfect Learning Goals Outline

Action is perfection when it comes to learning.

If you’re learning a new language, you need to speak and learn from mistakes.

And when you’re learning how to train your memory, you need to practice putting together the perfect routine.

Time management and setting goals also requires practice.

I suggest always keeping in mind the Feynman quote I shared above.

No one quite understands how to do anything perfectly, or what it means to master a study subject.

We need to keep humble and keep moving.

Action reveals and if you start with the journaling and testing process first, you’ll find that exactly how to accomplish your learning goals will tend to reveal itself to you.

So what do you say?

Dive into these suggestions and I can’t wait to hear about how you feel when you accomplish your learning goals with greater ease and efficiency!

Obsidian & the Memory Palace Technique with Aidan Helfant

Using memory techniques in combination with software programs like Obsidian is enticing, isn’t it?

The promise is not only that you’ll remember more… faster… but you’ll also be able to make more mental connections.

Although I personally don’t use software much at all in my learning journey, I have helped promote others who have great ideas and a proven track record of success.

For example, years ago we took a deep dive into Evernote when it was still all the rage.

I never hear anyone talking about it anymore, however.

These days, all I hear about is Obsidian.

That’s why when I learned about Aidan Helfant’s results using the software, my ears perked up.

And I just knew I had to get him on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

Click play and listen in as we take a deep dive into the use of Obsidian as part of your learning strategy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbGBk...

Who Is Aidan Helfant?

Aidan is an incredible learner who is creating incredible tutorials that help students enjoy going to college much more. His excellent blog covers a number of very important learning strategies, from mastering the Memory Palace technique to overcoming distractions.

Aidan’s teaching is well worth paying attention to because he focuses on the fundamentals:

Learning habitsStaying away from foods that are bad for your memoryAligning your true interests with your choice of degreeThe truth about multitasking for lasting successWhat it takes to really succeed at a university like Cornell

In all things, I suggest you get into his work and apply the ideas he shares to what you want to learn a.s.a.p.

Here’s where to find Aidan on YouTube and his excellent Twitter/X account.

In all things, if you want to beat procrastination, create dense mental connections without having to explore mind map mastery, and fill your life with meaningful activities, Aidan’s a great new voice on the scene.

Avoid the soul-sucking tedium of rote learning and actually enjoy studying for a change!

7 Mental Training Tips To Boost Your Life and Enjoy Total Success

The world’s a challenging (and sometimes crazy) place, and that’s why everyone needs mental training.

If you’re like me, someone dealing with multiple physical and mental health issues, training your mind regularly is even more important.

That’s because it takes a particular kind of mind to show up to life, even when things are going good.

See, you either want your brain to:

Start doing somethingStop doing somethingResume doing something you started but dropped

Or you have a learning situation where you just can’t get your memory to make something stick.

What will help you make the change?

Mental training. And here’s the very good news:

Many scientists have studied what it takes to keep your mind and memory strong. And I’ve personally run a number of experiments I’ll share with you on this page.

So if you’re a person who wants to enjoy a high-performance mind, you’ll love the tips and strategies you’ll find on this page.

Let’s get started!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3gtp...

Mental Training: The Superpower That Helps You Master Any Topic Or Skill

Mental training is defined quite simply as anything you do to keep your mind sharp, focused and helping you move towards your goals.

The main trouble with the idea of taking on various exercises is that in order to grow your mental strength, you need to choose specific exercises with a goal in mind.

To help you think of the goal you might want to pursue, here are some of the main experts in the area of mental performance.

Dr. Carol Dweck

Dr. Dweck measures mental strength in terms of mindset. She distinguishes between having a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset.

She suggests that hard work, dedication, and training will train your mind on their own.

However, this suggestion may not suit you. Many things involve several learning stages, and you may need to put some thought into where exactly you start. Diving straight into learning new skills without knowing where to begin can sometimes wind up unnecessarily frustrating you.

Still, her book Mindset does contain some powerful suggestions, such as giving yourself a kind of cognitive behavioral therapy. If you get frustrated, she advises you not to call yourself stupid. Rather, she advocates replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.

I can agree because I used to ridicule myself a lot until I learned to ask the self inquiry questions I shared in this TEDx Talk. Since learning how to stop filling my brain with so much mental noise, my concentration is so much better. You also can boost your concentration quickly if you wish.

Dr. Anders Ericsson

Some people attribute Dr. Ericsson with developing the concept of deliberate practice. Although he may have coined that term, musicians have been using this form of practice for centuries.

Nonetheless, he scientifically demonstrated how focus on specific goals combined with targeted feedback can lead you to mastery in any given field.

And he’s definitely right that you need continuous practice and some form of journaling to provide feedback if you want to achieve peak performance. As memory champion Johannes Mallow has shared, journaling has been a key part of how he trained his mind to improve as a memory athlete over the years.

Dr. Richard Davidson

Dr. Davidson has conducted impressive research on the brain to teach us about how it is affected by meditation and mindfulness practices.

Similar to Dr. Dweck, he has found that simply starting the practice is a good unto itself. Meditation often makes more meditation easy to perform because of how it increases well-being and resilience. After a short while, you don’t have to force yourself to do it. You simply find yourself attracted to doing it.

I’ve reported similar experiences in The Victorious Mind and shared more substantial concentration meditations you can try.

Dr. Martin Seligman

Dr. Seligman has studied both the bright and dark sides of mental training.

For example, he studied learned helplessness. Before I used mental training to heal my problem with high places, I literally went out of my way to train my friends to help me steer clear of bridges.

It wasn’t until I learned of his work that I was able to use mental training in a better direction. I’ve used concepts he’s talked about like learned optimism to cultivate a more positive attitude and enjoy more resilience in the face of challenges.

Dr. Angela Duckworth

Dr. Duckworth talks about the concept of grit. It’s definitely something we can all use, especially those of us who need perseverance and passion in order to achieve our long-term goals.

Dr. Duckworth has suggested that grit is a better predictor of success than IQ, inborn talent or any level of natural skill or ability.

Like Dr. Dweck, a theme of developing grit through hard work, resilience, and a growth mindset run throughout her work.

7 Mental Training Exercises to Unlock Your Mind’s Potential

Although I’ve learned a ton from each of the experts listed above, some of the books they’ve written are for the popular market and heavily shaped by traditional publishers.

That means they tend to stick to the easy techniques and use the books as long “sales letters” to expensive training programs or software packages.

How about some more substantial mental training exercises? Ones that won’t cost you a dime?

Before we get started, this point is important:

Please understand that if you don’t put these suggestions into action, no mental training will take place. Each person has to pick up the tools and put them into motion, so if you’re depressed or suffering brain fog,  you may need to weed out any foods that harm your brain from your diet first.

Seriously. All the training routines in the world will do very little for your mind if your brain is sick.

With that in mind, here are some of my favorite brain training routines that directly tackle the strength of your mind.

One: Brain Exercise

There are many ways to exercise your brain. For example, you can:

Practice memory-related brain exercisesPlay memory games Play brain games especially designed for adultsAsk philosophical questionsDevelop your critical thinking skillsLearn to change your physical brain through neuroplasticityEngage in daily brain warm up exercisesPlay chess and memorize the major openings

There are many other brain exercises that will provide mental stimulation. But these all go directly to the mind itself.

Two: Memory-Based Meditation

We’ve talked about meditation already, but let’s kick things up a notch.

Memory-based meditation involves memorizing long form content, like personal mantras.

At the moment, I’m personally memorizing the Lojong phrases to create more mental peace. Many of them are also great reminders to keep practicing and how to think about the nature of real practice.

For example, one of the Lojong says, “If you can practice even when distracted, you are well-trained.”

That’s the ideal I strive for, and memory-based meditation is the finest path I know for crafting a mind that remembers to practice for the goal of avoiding distraction.

These practices are also useful for improving negative attitudes, something I certainly needed at one point in my life.

Three: Develop Your Vocabulary

Huh? What does memorizing vocabulary have to do with mental training?

A lot.

For one thing, having a bigger vocabulary helps you read faster.

It will also serve as a learning project that helps you develop some of the grit discussed by Dr. Duckworth.

Four: Read Something Challenging For At Least 30 Minutes Daily

A lot of people weaken their minds and create digital amnesia by endlessly scrolling through social media online.

Make no mistake:

Just about everything you see online is designed to be lightweight and not exercise your mind. In fact, it’s a kind of rote learning that has been shown to reduce critical thinking.

But carrying a physical book, whether it’s a novel or a non-fiction study of something you’re interested in, you’ll get much more mental exercise.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything. I personally go out of my way to choose books I don’t understand. Challenge is the only way to get the mental fitness I seek, so I go out of my way to find it and you should consider doing so too.

If you struggle to get started, or can’t focus, try these focus for reading tips.

Five: Yoga

Did you know that yoga can improve your concentration? It gives you memory boosts too, which you can increase by memorizing the terms related to the practice.

Even though it’s technically not dopamine fasting, yoga does provide a great way to give yourself a break from the dopamine spikes created by too much time spent online.

Six: Practice Multiple Mentality

One of the hardest courses I ever completed is Harry Kahne’s Multiple Mentality. I first heard of him from performer and magic historian, Ricky Jay in his book Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. (How’s that for a strange and intriguing title?)

The basic idea is that you play various games with the alphabet in your mind, such as learning to recite it backward.

It sounds silly, but it’s quite a challenge and provides a lot of focus and clarity.

From there, you can learn to write backward, or develop something like ambidextrousness. For some other exercises related to these powerful challenges, check out neurobics.

Seven: Memory Training

The most direct and powerful mental training involves committing information to memory using memory techniques.

One of the most effective is the ancient memory technique called the Memory Palace.

To master this form of memory training, I invite you to check out these Memory Palace examples so you can start training. Next, get my free memory improvement course:

It will teach you the Memory Palace technique and give you several exercise that will train multiple aspects of your mind.

Mental Training Is The Challenge We All Need

Now that you have a bunch of mental training routines you can follow, what do you say?

Are you ready to put them into action?

I hope so. The world needs more people who seek out the path to owning a finer mind.

So I compliment you on joining us and can’t wait to hear how things go for you as you train your brain for total success!

5 Powerful Visualization Exercises and Techniques [Step-by-Step Walk-Through]

What comes to mind when you think about visualization exercises?

Does the simple phrase conjure up images of some woo-woo, fluffy mind game offered by a two-bit guru?

Or are you ready for the real deal from a guy who struggled to see pictures in his mind and almost failed, but…

… after hundreds of hours of struggle, finally found a way?

(I‘m that guy, by the way)

And what if I told you that I’ve discovered something profound about visualization?

Why Visualization Is Not Just About “Seeing Pictures” In Your Mind

I’ve discovered a simple process that suggests everything you thought you knew about “seeing pictures in your mind” is wrong?

Especially when it comes to memory techniques, the Memory Palace and everything related to mnemonics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovmxr...

There are at least 8 Magnetic Modes:

KinestheticAuditoryVisualEmotionalConceptualOlfactoryGustatorySpatial

And “seeing” is just one of them!

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.Multiple Modes Of Visualization Doesn’t Mean You Shouldn’t “See” Mentally”…

Now that you know there are so many different ways to visualize, would you give a few alternative visualization techniques a try?

If you said “yes,” or are at least nodding your head in the affirmative, that’s wonderful. Read on.

Did you know that visualization is so much more than meditation, and can actually serve you in your everyday life in a practical way?

Again, it’s more than seeing pictures in your mind.

But don’t get me wrong!

The ability to conjure up mental pictures is a great skill. Some people with aphantasia can’t do it at all.

But let’s not disregard our other senses.

Visualization techniques are most powerful when embedded in a multi-sensory experience.

Here are five visualization techniques that show you exactly how:

5 Beginner Visualization Techniques Anyone Can Master 1. The  Candle Exercise

Try this:

Take a moment and close your eyes. Imagine that when you open them a candle has appeared in front of you.

Consider:

What size is the candle? Is it a tea candle, long-stem candle, three-wick candle?How heavy is it?How much of the candle has burned away? Has it burned down to the base or do you see it still newly lit?How far away is the candle from you? Within arm’s reach? Across the room? The Lit Candle Variation

You can also try gazing into a lit candle then closing your eyes.

What do you see?

If you’re anything like me, you’ll experience an after burn effect.

You can no longer “see” the candle, but can still see its effects.

Using this after burn as a kind of canvas, mentally trace over the shape in front of you.

2. The Apple Visualization Exercise

Gradually you will be able to visualize, in great detail, a candle and flame of your own making.

We can take this simple visualization technique one step further and incorporate our other senses once we have mastered the “visual” aspect.

Try visualizing an apple.

Feel its smooth peel, observe its perfectly ripe sheen, and then imagine yourself taking a bite.

How does it taste?

Imagine its crispness and taste its sweetness.

The Interaction Variation

Take this apple visualization technique further:

Follow the apple through your body as your entire digestive system interacts with it.

Don’t take this visualization technique too seriously or get too granular. Just play with the idea of being able to follow one bite of an apple through your system.

And ask yourself periodically as you go through the process:

How real is that apple to you? The Negative Space Variation

Once you feel like you can move beyond seeing and feeling a simple, everyday object, try to visualize that object in relation to space in the room.

Imagine the corner of a table.

Where is it in the room? What is the negative space surrounding it?

Think of this visualization technique almost as an optical illusion.

We are all familiar with Rubin’s vase, though we may not know it by name.

This is the optical illusion where one can see either two faces or a singular vase from an image.

The key is being able to toggle between the two.

To be aware of the negative space as well as the image.

This visualization technique is helpful when using mnemonics, a Memory Palace and other memory techniques because we need to “suppress” mental imagery at the same time we manipulate it.

3. The Number Skipping Exercise

Think about this:

How abstract are numbers?

They are representations of concepts, right?

Take the number three, for example.

Three only “exists” when we conceptualize a group, or a set of objects, and call it three due to concept of three things we call “one” placed together.

How is three represented exactly?

Well, lots of ways. The Chinese character differs from the Roman numeral, which differs from the character 3.
Three is represented based on a mark society agrees it will call “3.” You can see the 3 your culture uses, or multiples versions used by multiple cultures.

You can also visualize one to 10, to 20, or even to 1,000.

Start with a small goal…

…but the goal is not to reach the highest number!

It’s to stay connected and concentrated in your mind.

If you find this becomes so easy that your mind is wandering, you can build up to higher and higher numbers, eventually going forwards and backwards.

And that’s when the real challenge begins:

Skipping numbers.

I first encountered the idea of skipping numbers in Gary Weber’s Happiness Beyond Thought. This is such a simple idea, but yet it’s such a challenge.

Don’t believe me? Give it a try.

Visualize the number one.

Easy enough, right?

Now try to suppress the urge to visualize the number two.

Next, is three, correct?

Skip, or visualize a blank space in place of the number four.

Keep building, skipping numbers as you go.

Once you reach the highest number you can without losing concentration (say, for example, 10), then go in reverse. Visualize 9, skipping 8, 7, and skip 6, and continue on.

You may be asking “How is this useful? Isn’t this a bit counterintuitive? Am I not supposed to be visualizing? Why are you suddenly telling me to suppress visualization?”

I get you. I do. But hear me out and keep reading…Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer. The Negative Space Variation

Remember, for memory training one of the keys is Recall Rehearsal.

You will find ways to use memory palaces in different orders, and actually need to, and want to, for memory benefits, get the von Restorff Effect working.

You can shut down thoughts so that they do not interfere with other thoughts. This visualization technique will undoubtedly aid you in further memory training.

In other words, the ability to not visualize helps you visualize because you can shut out competing images.

4. The Globe Exercise

How well do you know your geography?

Don’t worry about it. This is an exercise based on what you know.

To start, imagine a giant spinning blue ball.

Next, slow it down. Make it completely still.

Zoom in.

Travel all the way down until you touch the blue.

What is that blue?

Is it water?

The choice is yours, but let’s imagine for this visualization technique that it’s water.

Next, pick the color of your house.

Imagine your hand building up your home on the water. (You might want to spread some imaginary dirt underneath first.)

As you build your home through visualization, pay attention to all the multi-sensory details. I’m talking about the feeling of the stair rails in your hands, the smells in the kitchen and the temperature on a cool morning.

Spend 2-5 minutes just on the home construction.

Next, lay out your street. Try to add as many of the houses and buildings as you can, holding each one in mind as you lay it out on the blue globe.

When you’re ready, zoom out. Allow the buildings you’ve built to get smaller and smaller until they are just a speck.

Any time you like, revisit the neighborhood you are building on the globe. I suggest you keep returning to it until you’ve mentally constructed as much of your city as you’re familiar with now.

And for the future, every time you’re out, pay close attention to how things look in the world. Try to remember as much as you can. Then the next time you practice this visualization, add more details to the imaginary version.

5. The Clock

Next time you’re laying in bed, imagine a giant clock on the wall directly in front of you.

Give it a color, name what it is made from and hear the sounds of it ticking away.

Really go through it’s dimensions: It’s height, width, the diameter of the clock face. Think deeply into it, imagining all the gears and their intricacies as they wind through time.

Then, give the clock face numbers. Make the even numbers Arabic numerals and the odd numbers Roman numerals. Or, if you know a language like Chinese, use its hanzi for the numbers, mixing it up with other kinds of numerals.

You can also rotate between Arabic and Roman numerals, synchronizing the change as the imaginary tick-tock takes place. This is great training for your visual, auditory and spatial sense.

And this is really just the beginning because I’m not introducing…

The New Visualization Mastery Course in The MMM Masterclass!

If you’re still struggling to visualize when using memory techniques (especially when completing a huge memory project like committing all the presidents to memory)…

I just finished producing a powerful course that is already helping Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass students use mnemonics better.

This result happens because the Magnetic Imagery they use in their associations are far stronger than ever before.

Do you want that?

Do you want to “own” any information every time you place it in your brain?

Cool. I can help.

But take caution:

As we’ve discussed today…

It’s not that easy if you’re only using visualization techniques to “see” pictures in your mind.

The solution begins when people take things to the next level and use a multi-sensory visualization approach.

And in this new course, Visualization Mastery…

I didn’t JUST come up with these exercises out of nowhere.

No, I developed these visualization techniques with the help of dozens of memory athletes. I’m talking about memory experts like John Graham, thousands of MMM students and hundreds of hours of my own practice.

In this course, Visualization Mastery, you get the insights, skills, and ability to develop the strongest mental imagery for your Memory Palace efforts ever. They’re even more powerful than these neurobics.

And the calm confidence that tells your brain that you’re serious about memorizing information quickly, efficiently and permanently.

This course in visualization and visualization meditation includes:

Video 1: Multi-Sensory ProjectingVideo 2: Exercises for Conceptual VisualizationVideo 3: “Details” Exercises For Multi-Sensory Self-StudyVideo 4: Visualization MeditationsVideo 5: Auditory-Visual ExercisesVideo 6: Mental Rehearsal ExercisesVideo 7: Conclusion & Next Steps

For more information, here’s the course trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpLXD...

If you’re already in the MMM Masterclass, please login now to take the course.

Or, if you’d like access this special training course and much, much more, you can read all about the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass here.

The Bottom Line When It Comes To Visualization Techniques For Memory Improvement

Use these visualization techniques regularly and consistently. Don’t expect results from just one session.

Also, mix and match these exercises. For example, try number skipping with candles or apples, both forward and in reverse.

Or, add a range of simpler and more advanced exercises. Here’s 5 more easy and fun visualization exercises I shot for you in 2022:

https://youtu.be/1BMVeGVUIOk

Really, the sky’s the limit here. The more you play with this visualization technique, the more benefits you will receive and the more ideas for more brain exercises will emerge.

Above all, keep challenging yourself and your memory for growth. It’s when we stop getting brain exercise that we go downhill. And if you want more practice, these positive visualization exercises and guided visualization tips will help you keep moving forward.

The 7 Main Types Of Thinking (And How To Use Them Better)

Some people say there are as many types of thinking as there are people to think them.

Actually, no. In fact, such statements demonstrate very poor thinking.

But to give these people the benefit of the doubt, it’s true that many forms of thinking interact with each other. This “intermingling” of ideas can make the list seem infinite.

However, everything to do with our modes of thought can be broken down into a smaller set of “thinking genres.”

And here’s the game-changer you need to know:

There’s a difference between types of thinking and methods of thinking. It helps to be clear about which ones you want to identify and improve. Find this clarity is what this post is all about, so let’s dig in.

The 7 Types of Thinking

As you go through this list, you might start wishing you were a master of each and every type. 

This is possible.

I’ll provide tips for developing your skills with each and everyone as we go. Just remember that it’s a marathon, not a race. You don’t have to work on all of them at the same time. 

As you read, keep two central questions in mind: 

What is thinking and why does this type count? In what ways am I already thinking like this in my daily life?One: Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is about analyzing a number of factors. For example, you can think about the value of an idea and divide that from the form the idea takes.

Let’s say someone is angry and yells at you about how they want you to change. Critical thinking would allow you to find the value in the suggestion without missing out on it because the form of address was unfriendly. 

Critical thinking helps you differentiate form from content, such as when angry arguments contain legitimately valuable information.

In other words, critical thinking allows you to place information in context and reason objectively about it. 

Here are 11 benefits of critical thinking to help you improve this type of thinking.

Two: Analytical Thinking

Whereas critical thinking helps you evaluate value through analysis, analytical thinking is about examining the parts of an argument. It looks much more closely at the thought process.

Analytical thinking typically involves research. As an analytical thinker, you will not be satisfied by the data at hand. You will seek multiple examples so that you can compare and contrast the multiple parts of several examples or case studies. 

To improve in this area, developing your reflective thinking skills will be of tremendous value.

Three: Creative Thinking

Edward de Bono is widely considered one of the leaders in the field of creative thinking. For him, it was a process of discovering solutions that are not obvious under normal circumstances. 

To help people, de Bono developed a number of processes, most famously lateral thinking.

According to Edward de Bono, creative thinking is like digging holes laterally, rather than merely vertically.

You can visualize this form of metacognition by thinking about digging holes. As de Bono points out, most people dig one hole and if they don’t find the answer they’re looking for, they dig another hole in a different location.

Lateral thinking, on the other hand, digs tunnels in sideways and diagonal patterns. Moreover, it does not throw the dirt away as if it were obscuring the solution. It finds new ways to use the dirt.

If you want to improve your creative thinking, de Bono’s practices are useful to look into. However, it’s important to note that “creative” isn’t quite the right word because no one is “creating” anything new.

It’s more about using existing processes in unique ways to generate new ideas that you would not reveal any other way. And, as Leslie Owen Wilson points out, creative thinking usually involves risk taking as you add layers of complexity to those existing processes.

Four: Abstract Thinking

Abstract thinking begins with symbols. 

For example, there’s no reason why the shape of the letter ‘A’ should be pronounced as we use it in English. In fact, it’s pronounced quite differently in, say, German. 

The ability to understand that fact is a simple example of abstract thinking. Later, the use of ‘A’ as a symbol in logical and math provides a more complex example.

Jean Piaget is a major influence on the description of this technique. As he pointed out in his theory of cognitive development, children start developing basic symbolic thinking abilities between the ages of 2 and 7.

Between 7 and 11 they move on to develop logical reasoning abilities. Basically, everything after that is devoted to abstract thinking, and we do not stop until death.

To improve your abstract thinking abilities, study subject areas like:

MathPhilosophyGame theoryLogical thinkingPlay with figurative languagePractice visualization meditationUse a Memory PalaceLearn other languagesFive: Concrete Thinking

Concrete thinking is about taking the world literally – or seeking ways to do so. It’s also called literal thinking.

This kind of thinking leads you to ask for specific examples. If someone makes a claim, you want to know what makes it true, why the evidence actually supports the argument and how exactly it does so. 

Concrete thinking requires evidence. The more substantial, the better.

Sometimes people avoid concrete thinking because they don’t want to appear stubborn. However, we need more people to insist on evidence that supports the claims people throw around, well… and insist concretely. 

To improve in this area, ask lots of questions of the who, what, when, where and why variety. And follow-up by applying some of the characteristics of analytical thinking, such as performing due diligence with your own research.

If you find it difficult to remember asking questions like that, consider using a memory wheel to help. 

Six: Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinkers look for examples that expose commonalities and reject the distortion of having all kinds of wild ideas flying around. They do this to find the best possible solutions to problems.

NASA provides many examples of convergent thinking – something that is also basically the same as linear thinking. For example, the Apollo 13 mission faced a critical situation where they needed to get enough energy to safely complete the mission – and save their own lives.

To solve the problem, they had to focus on using only the materials they had on hand. By doing so, they were able to quickly and reasonably converge on the best possible answer. 

If you want to improve this form of thinking, solving puzzles where you are limited to only the pieces you have and cannot bring any outside parts provides great practice. Escape Rooms are great for this, as are games like Hunt a Killer where you solve crimes based solely on the evidence provided.

Seven: Divergent Thinking

Let’s stick with that NASA example.

When Apollo 13 was in danger, apparently someone suggested they use a flashlight to create more energy. 

Of course, the space shuttle team didn’t have a flashlight, so they had to use convergent thinking instead to reach a solution.

However, that doesn’t mean throwing out a wild idea like “flashlight” is entirely wrong. Sometimes you need to brainstorm using this form of nonlinear thinking to trigger ideas you couldn’t arrive at otherwise. 

In some ways, divergent thinking is a lot like lateral thinking. In this case, it’s often best conducted in groups.

To improve, you might consider holding what is called an “Idea Party.” I’ve attended these for entrepreneurs and people who need help kick starting an initiative they’re passionate about. 

Holding an Idea Party is a great way to gather divergent ideas from diverse individuals in a short period of time.

Basically, each person gets a few minutes to describe their project. Then the audience spends 10-15 minutes sharing their best ideas and resources for making the idea happen. It’s a powerful exercise because it gets many different thinking types to respond in many divergent ways in a short period of time. 

How To Improve Your Thinking Skills

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there’s a difference between types of thinking and methods of thinking. 

Some of the methods you’ll want to explore include using all of the above in the form of:

WritingStudyingMind mappingDiscussingDebatingMeditating

All of these activities need to be scheduled. Without regular focus and consistent practice, your thinking abilities will speed up.

The good news is that you can use each thinking type we discussed above to make time for practice. And if you need more help, these critical thinking examples and critical thinking strategies are here for you. 

So what do you say? Are you ready to explore new types of thinking? Get out there and enjoy the benefits working with higher quality thoughts will bring you. 

How Many Words Do You Need To Know To Be Fluent (+ How to Learn Them)

Ever heard about the 10,000 hour rule?

It’s the idea that world class musicians and athletes spend at least 10,000 hours to master their skills.

In language learning, some people say that 10,000 words is the minimum number you need to be fluent.

The only problem is…

They’re both absolutely and utterly wrong.

Basic fluency starts at 1000-1200 words and proficiency at an academic level is considered by some testing bodies as a vocabulary of 16,000 words.

But even these numbers are questionable.

So if you’re ever wondered how many words you need to know to be fluent in a language, today you’re getting the real deal.

Even better:

I’ll show you exactly how to memorize 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 words, and more, all while coming to understand a much more important number.

Ready? Let’s get started!

How Many Words Do You Need to Know to Be Fluent in a Language? The Answer

If you want to understand approximately 75% of what native speakers are talking about in everyday life, you’ll need between 1000-1200 words.

This is according to A2 on the CEFR test. For that accomplishment, you’ll need knowledge of approximately 1000 words. I’ve done it myself in German and that number sounds right to me.

For some people, 1000 words is going to sound like a lot to cover. But the problem is now the amount of words. What really matters is this question:

How exactly are these words counted? Take the word “run” in English, for example. Is it really just one word?

Not really. It’s also:

To runTo have runRanRunning

There are other examples, such as dog becoming dogs, or cat becoming cats. A lot depends on the morphology, because in some languages, grammar will determine whether a new word needs to be used or not.

In sum, the number of words you need to learn to become fluent depends on two things:

Your personal definition of fluency (a.k.a. your goal)The way you speak in your mother tongue in order to accomplish everyday goalsAn external testing structure like the CEFR

If you take the CEFR as your standard, which is not a bad idea, then C2 requires familiarity with 16,000 words. But this is generally based on what you will need to understand scholarly and academic writing, a class of information that may have little or nothing to do with your daily life.

Again, keep in mind that how those words in the different levels involves matters of grammar. This means that you can often boost your word count simply by knowing how one word operates in different tenses.

But you can also think about the exact number of words you need by thinking about the goals you need to achieve. If you don’t read scholarly papers, then you might not need anything close to 16,000 words.

How to Figure Out How Many Words You Truly Know

Think about your mother tongue.

How many words in the language can you recall right now?

Chances are that you would struggle to list all the words you’ve learned over the course of your lifetime.

The same thing will be true when working towards fluency. This is because active vocabulary consists of the words we use most often, even in the easiest language you can choose to learn. 

Passive vocabulary, on the other hand, involves words that have gone into reserve. We have to stretch to remember them because we use them less often. That, or we might undergo linguistic deskilling for a variety of reasons.

For example, this happened to my English when I spoke primarily German for a few years. Likewise, in Mandarin, if I don’t use the new words I learn frequently, I can wind up struggling to get them back from memory or confuse them with other words.

All of these facts about language learning beg the question:

How do you know how many words are active in your vocabulary? Here are a few things you can do.

One: Anki

Anki is a spaced repetition app that will help you track your recall rate.

It’s easy to use poorly, however, so be sure to check out my article on how to optimize your use of the tool.

Two: Flashcards

If you use physical flashcards as part of your language learning efforts, you can simply count how many you answer correctly.

Three: Listening Tests

Throw on a podcast or movie in the language you’re learning.

Using a notebook, keep track of how many words you recognize.

There might be a catch with this kind of testing, however. If the movie or podcast is in a dialect you’re not familiar with, your accuracy count might not be accurate.

This can happen in your mother tongue too. For example, when watching Deadwood or The Witch, both of which use older forms of English, I sometimes didn’t recognize words or expressions, even though they are technically in my mother tongue.

Four: Reading Tests

As you read, keep a tally of how many words you understand. If you read at an especially high level, you can probably just count the amount of words on one line and multiply that by the number of lines on the page.

Also, test with a variety of books in the language you’re learning. These can be books designed for language learners, fiction or non-fiction.

Recently, I got a famous German book and was delighted by how I can cruise through many pages and recognize almost every word. But when I pick up a Thomas Mann novel, I get the inverse effect.

Four: Writing Tests

Every once in a while, sit down and compose an email to someone on a topic in the language you’re learning. If you don’t have a friend or speaking partner in the target language, you can still complete the exercise without sending it to anyone.

But I highly recommend ample doses of communication with a variety of people, especially in writing to help you establish the levels of processing effect.

In 5-10 minutes per day, you can easily test the amount of words you know in any language.

Pop it into a software that gives you word counts and you’ll instantly know how many words you wrote in that message.

You have to make an allowance for repetition, however. Definite and indefinite articles should be excluded from the count, for example.

Six: Record a Conversation

If you’re meeting with a language learning teacher regularly, you can record the sessions. Then, when you review the recording, count the words you know.

If you need tools for doing this, check out the part of my language learning software post where I talk about how I record my sessions and review them.

Seven: Review Your Memory Palace Networks

In the language learning parts of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass, you learn to use a special memory device called a Memory Palace.

Once it’s populated with vocabulary, it’s easy to know how many words you know. This is because you’ll have one word on each station.

At more advanced levels, however, you’ll memorize entire sentences on each station of your Memory Palace. That’s why the next strategy is the ultimate way to know how many words you know.

Seven: Sit for an Exam

If you really want to know where your level of fluency is at, arrange to take an exam. The CEFR makes it very easy to see how many words you’re capable of dealing with.

There are other exams you can pursue, depending on the language. When I sat for the level III Chinese exam, for example, it was based on the HSK system.

How to Become Fluent in Any Language Fast

The truth about fluency is that you simply want to be able to accomplish the goals that are important to you in the language.

For most people, you’ll want to shoot for B1, which is achievable within 6 months to a year. This CEFR level will equip you with at least 2000 words.

Chances are that you’ll have a much bigger vocabulary than that, however, especially if you’re reading regularly in the language. After all, books are the ultimate spaced-repetition app.

But beyond reading, here are the steps you need to follow:

Lean Into Multiple Media

I’ve just mentioned the importance of reading. You also need ample doses of:

SpeakingListeningWritingMemorizing

For the listening and reading component, check out my tutorial on using Netflix to learn a language. It will help you combine listening and reading at the same time.

Setting limits with how many language learning books you use at a time is critical to your success as a language learner.

Be Disciplined with Your Language Learning Material

Many people overwhelm themselves with too many options. They’re constantly hunting the Internet for the “magic bullet” that will finally help them learn the language they’re interested in.

It won’t happen.

Instead, you need to milk the materials you already have for all they’re worth.

To make progress much faster, limit yourself to:

One video courseOne audio programOne textbookOne teacher

Stick with them until you’ve reached a milestone before moving on to the next.

Learn How to Associate

The fastest way to commit anything to memory is association.

This means that you take something unfamiliar and associate it with something you already know.

When you learn how to do so, you’ll be able to benefit from active recall. For help with this, you can learn association techniques like the story method or the pegword method.

For a quick example of association, think of a word like “vocabulary.” Just pretend for the sake of this example that you don’t know it.

To use association to learn it, you would look at the first letter of the word. It’s a V so I’m going to think of a Vulcan named Spock. I would then have him tap his vocal chords while jumping into a cab.

What associations can you think up for the rest of the word?

Hint: It’s not always easy, but Ferris Bueller’s Day Off might help you.

Scale Your Vocabulary with Memory Palace Networks

The only problem with association is that it can be confusing and murky to figure out what association goes with what word.

That’s where the Memory Palace technique comes in.

Let’s say you have a Vulcan getting into a cab while tapping his vocal chords. He’s on his way to see Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at a theater next to a library.

Using the Memory Palace technique specifically for language learning, you would place this association in a familiar location, such as on your living room couch. Or you could use an outdoor journey, like the one pictured above that I’ve used for memorizing Sanskrit phrases.

If you get strategic about how you identify and create your Memory Palaces, it’s fun and easy to memorize thousands of words and phrases.

Embrace Mistakes

The fastest way to reach fluency is to make as many mistakes as you can.

Sadly, some would-be learners just can’t get past the embarrassment. That, or their egos are too strong.

But the reality is that making mistakes develops pattern recognition through comparison.

And of course, we need to realize that even as experts in our mother tongues, we still sometimes misspeak. Everyone has to make corrections from time to time.

To develop greater tolerance for making mistakes, it’s important to be relaxed during your learning sessions.

I recommend meditation and simple stretching exercises a few times a day. These activities are also good for your memory overall.

Fluency On Demand

Anyone can develop fluency.

And everyone should. The benefits of bilingualism are too good to ignore.

The trick is to let the numbers help you, not frustrate you.

The CEFR levels are probably the best indicator out there, and the best part is that you can practice for the texts without worrying too much about exactly how many words you know.

For many of us, numbers will serve as milestones that we use to chart our progress.

But frankly, I’ve never worried too much about it. Although I once counted that I know 1700 words in Sanskrit, this knowledge hasn’t added a shred to the ways that I use the language to create fulfillment in my life.

The same thing goes with using the Memory Palace technique you can learn with this FREE course:

I have created several hundred Memory Palaces. But the actual number isn’t nearly as important as the outcome of using them.

And that outcome has been tremendously useful. It’s helped me earn degrees, travel the world, and speak with the locals in their language while visiting many different countries.

I’ve learned 1200 words for A2, reached B1 and probably now have 16,000 words for German by now. But as I hope to have expressed in this post, the number that matters is not the vocabulary count. It’s the consistent amount of days put into studying and practicing the language.

And the more you base the words and phrases you learn on what you regularly say on a daily basis, the faster you’ll reach functional fluency. Because chances are, what you need to say in daily life in your mother tongue will be the same as in a foreign language.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to dive in and start learning more words in the language you dream of speaking fluently?

Make it happen!

 

How to Use Kolb’s Learning Cycle to Improve Your Studies

David Kolb’s learning cycle is based on a simple idea:

We cannot learn effectively or efficiently if we tackle a subject from just one angle.

According to the science of learning?

Kolb is right.

The question is: why do people pick up a book and fantasize that they’re going to master the topic just by reading it?

According to Kolb himself, there are a few reasons.

One of which is that the cycle of learning is not just a process that you clunk through mechanically.

Learning any topic or skill using study cycles is also an art and a craft.

And if you haven’t been taught to think of learning that way by your teachers, then it’s good that you’re here.

Because we’re diving deep into exactly what Kolb suggests. I think he’s right, and I’ll give you some examples and steps you can follow to make learning much easier.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VRTD...

What Is Kolb’s Learning Cycle?

David Kolb taught at Stanford University and wrote extensively on the topic of experiential learning.

However, his research quickly found that merely having experiences was not enough. Reflective thinking about those experiences was required in order for proper learning to take place.

He proposed four stages of learning:

Concrete experienceObservation and reflectionEngaging in abstract thinking as you reflectTesting your ideas and conclusions

He called this approach a “learning cycle” because once you reach the final stage, you’re supposed to return to the top of the list. You can do that either with the same topic or another subject you want to learn.

However, in a chapter he co-wrote in Student Learning Abroad, he said that “the learning cycle is actually a learning spiral.”

He changed the term because:

“When a concrete experience is enriched by reflection, given meaning by thinking and transformed by action, the new experience created becomes richer, broader and deeper.”

Long story short:

If you want to use Kolb’s learning style, just follow the steps. Start by finding opportunities for concrete experiences, observe what’s happening, then reflect on the experience. Finally, abstract some principles and use these to create new experiments that lead to more concrete experiments.

Do You Have To Use Kolb’s 4 Learning Styles (Or Can You Use Your Own)?

You do not have to use Kobl’s approach to learning.

In fact, it has been heavily criticized and for good reason.

For one thing, what isn’t an experience? If I think abstractly about something, how is that not also an experience of concrete thinking at the same time?

That question might puzzle you, but if you consider how I define and use abstract thinking myself, it’s totally possible to start with abstractions. Or you can start with a hypothesis based on either a deduction or induction. Or you can start with an observation.

Remember:

Kolb was a theorist of how we learn. He was addressing teachers much more than students He wanted to help teachers create better learning environments for students so they could engage in what he called “holistic learning.”

He thought of the student as both the receiver and actor based on the environment and processes provided by their teachers.

The Kolb Learning Cycle adapted for teachers in Student Learning Abroad.

You can adapt a lot from this simple diagram. But you don’t have to follow it exactly.

And as I’ve just suggested, there probably aren’t many circumstances where it makes sense to do so. Everything is an experience, including sitting still to perform a concentration meditation where your goal is to try and experience nothing.

How To Craft The Perfect Learning Cycle For Your Goals

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t adapt from Kolb’s learning styles and turn them into either a cycle or a spiral.

I’m only saying that personally, I’ve got a PhD, two MAs and many other certificates. I’ve also written many books and created nearly 1000 videos for this website. I’ve never used it.

Instead, I learn using the following steps. Although I offer them to you openly, they’re not meant to be a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all model.

I don’t always follow these steps in the same order, for example. But generally, they reflect my process and I think you’ll do well to adapt from them with knowledge and inspiration from Kolb.

Step One: Write A Vision Statement

Recently, I decided I was going to learn as much as possible about physics.

It’s a tough topic and in many ways, I don’t have the prerequisite math for it. Still, I’m interested, so I wrote using my journaling process to try and figure out why.

This is kind of like starting with the final step of Kolb’s cycle first: testing.

After that, I wrote out a vision statement. It was very simple:

I will read three of the most important books on physics over the next six months.

I started with two books at the same time using interleaving. And I was pleasantly surprised to find in Sir Roger Penrose’s The Road to Reality that he think the math isn’t that difficult for most people.

If you need more information on crafting a vision statement before you start your next learning cycle, check out this free masterclass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFz31...

Step Two: Gather The Best Possible Materials

One reason people get stuck is failing to research the topics they want to learn. That, or they rely on their teachers.

Remember, Kolb was working hard to help teachers stop failing their students. But you don’t have to suffer if you’ve got a teacher that isn’t exciting you.

Just do some research.

The internet is amazing for that. You can use search phrases like I did: “syllabus physics textbook”.

That’s how I found out about The Road to Reality. It has so many references, it’s easy to just keep building based on the books Penrose mentions once I’m done with his.

I did something similar when I was learning about computer programming. I shared more of this selection and building process in my detailed blog on how to read faster.

Step Three: Take Notes In A Sophisticated Manner

Do you know the opposite of a learning cycle or learning spiral?

It’s a learning nightmare. That’s what you call a situation in which, even if you’ve identified the best time to study, you’re completely scattered and cannot remember the main points, or what books you found them in.

To avoid this problem, I suggest using either flashcards, Anki or a notebook in the highly optimized manner I teach. To this day, my preferred method is taught on this blog about how to memorize a textbook.

I love index cards because they can be stored easily in shoe boxes and alphabetized. It’s also a great learning routine that helps fend off digital amnesia.

Four: Use Memory Techniques

Memory techniques are the alternative to rote learning.

There are quite a few types, and the strongest of the bunch is the Memory Palace. It’s an ancient memory technique that helps you deal with large volumes of information.

If you’d like to learn how to master the approach to learning, grab my free course:

It will help you through four free videos and worksheets that help you master your memory.

That way, no matter where you are in a learning cycle, or which adult learning style you have, you’ll be able to recall the information you need to succeed.

This technique also helps you fulfil your cognitive needs while filling the many gaps left by many teachers.

Remember, teachers are only human too.

And that’s why it’s wonderful to be able to discuss different ways of thinking about learning models like Kolb’s learning cycle.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to go out there, experiment with the steps I’ve suggested today or create your own cycle of learning?

No matter what, remember that Kolb stressed one point I agree with above all:

Learning is not just about science. It’s also an art and a craft.

What Is A Paracosm? Plus: 3 Steps To Building A Paracosm Circle

Are you paracosmic?

I know I sure am.

And it was easy and fun to get there by developing my own paracosm, even if it took a bit of time. 

I’m talking about having hundreds of fantasy characters constantly rolling around in my mind. Real people too.

Sadly, some people think this state of having a large mental population is some kind of disease…

Frankly, even if it is a disease, I absolutely love my paracosm symptoms.

I wish I could get more.

And to explain exactly why, on this page, we’ll look into why it’s so beneficial to build and use a paracosm of your own. 

What Is A Paracosm?

A paracosm is an invented world, typically populated by many imaginary characters. They could number in the dozens, hundreds or even the thousands.

“Cosm” simply means world or universe.

The Latin prefix “para” can mean many things:

AlongsideBesideNearAboveResemblingBeyond

And it can even mean “abnormal.”

Huh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZQGB...

 

In the Handbook of Dissociation, Barry Cohen talks paracosm in adulthood as something belonging to either abused individuals or artists, if not both. 

He defines it in terms of repressed images that go through “revisualization.”

Now, I’m not saying that some people don’t suffer so badly that they create what Cohen calls a posttraumatic paracosm. 

But he is walking a thin line and practically reifies having a rich imaginary life as a disease. 

You’ll find a more balanced approach in Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them. In this book, Marjorie Taylor shows how it can be quite healthy.

For example, she discusses the ways that Ancient Greek poets used to use the gods as their muses. The very idea that those gods exist and influence human affairs is an example of a very productive paracosm.

Then we have more contemporary authors.

For example, take the paracosm created by C.S. Lewis for his Narnia series of books. When I read them as a kid, I actively imagined all of those characters, and even added new ones by writing stories that took place in that world. 

Nothing could be healthier when you’re a kid than actively using your imagination. In this sense, having an invented world that lives alongside reality is rarely abnormal.

And as we’ll see, people who use memory techniques have such a world living alongside them all the time. 

If Having A Paracosm Is Abnormal, What Are The Symptoms?

In Anti-Oedipus, Deleuze and Guattarri famously argue out that capitalism creates mental illness. 

What they mean is that capitalism requires you to justify your existence by participating in an economic system premised upon the notion of production and growth.

People who can’t follow along with this are often deemed mentally ill. You can see this in the Cohen article where you claims that a key symptom of having a paracosm is a lack of “growth.”

Sadly, entire industries have developed in order to sell medicines and other forms of therapy to help people “fit in” and “grow” according to an economic agenda. 

So if you find that you or a loved one is lost in a paracosm to the extent that participating in the capitalistic system is impossible, then you might have “symptoms.” 

These might include struggles to:

Learn new skillsCommunicateRemember things like important details, names, appointments, etc.

But what if the symptom of having a paracosm could be having a better memory? 

This is where developing your own paracosm circle comes in.

3 Steps To Build Your Own Paracosm Circle

I mentioned at the outset that I went out of my way to create my own paracosm and link it to both the standard Memory Palace technique I use and the virtual Memory Palace approach.

Why?

Because I needed to remember a lot of information fast.

At that time, a major depression practically destroyed my ability to focus or concentrate on my PhD studies and dissertation preparation. And a ton of negative memories kept coming up.

Then I discovered memory techniques. 

One principle of these techniques is association, often based on fantasy characters. 

Memory athletes and memory experts often create what is called a PAO System to organize their characters.

A variation technique is the pegword method.

Then, you arrange these in a Memory Palace. The Memory Palace helps you associate your familiar characters with information you don’t know. 

And it lets you revisit both your fantasy characters and the information at the same time. 

To help you understand this better, I’ve created a free course called Memory Palace Mastery. Register here:

This kind of paracosm imaginary world is extremely powerful. I wish I’d created one like it much, much earlier! Here’s how to build one step-by-step.

Step One: Create An Alphabetical Paracosm Circle

Learn the Memory Wheel technique of Ramon Llull.

Basically, you create a circle in your mind built from the alphabet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opmb-...

Step Two: Link Each Letter in the Paracosm Circle To A Figure

This step is fun. When you think of the letter A, link it to either an existing fantasy character, or one of your own invention. I sometimes use Marvel’s Ant-Man. Other times I use Adam Apple, who is a character I’ve developed for personal use and my forthcoming Memory Detective Jr. series.

I suggest going through the entire alphabet so you have at least one figure for each letter from A-Z.

But it’s also perfectly okay to have a paracosm that uses only part of the alphabet. It really comes down to how much mental training you want to enjoy.

Step Three: Draw Upon The Paracosm Circle With Purpose

There are different reasons to draw upon your world of fun and friendly associations. Primarily I use these images during a learning cycle. For example, when studying a language, instead of focusing on how hard Italian may or may not be, I look upon the letters in the words (or in some cases the characters)  I want to learn and then memorize them.

Here’s a demonstration of what I mean specifically for the language learning example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dvde...

You can also draw upon your paracosm when you’re feeling down and want a mental vacation from stress. This technique has helped me a ton over the years.

The best part? It’s something you can do completely in your own mind for a fast and fun distraction. You don’t have to expose yourself to yet another app, which we all know are often the source of the problems we’re trying to eliminate.

Paracosm In Adulthood

As we’ve seen, some people may create paracosms to escape trauma and abuse. 

However, when used for memory purposes, researchers like Tim Dalgleish have found that much relief can be found from using the method of loci in positive ways.

(Note: method of loci basically means the same thing as Memory Palace.)

I’ve seen students like Nicholas Castle turn things around for themselves. He created tremendous relief from his PTSD symptoms as I teach in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

I myself experienced freedom from trauma by using these techniques. I shared the full story at a TEDx event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvtYj...

Beyond that, we’ve talked about C.S. Lewis and his Narnia series. 

Then there’s author Michael Connelly. As he has discussed, his Bosch series is inspired by the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights. 

As Connelly has his detective solve crimes across dozens of novels, he is trying to create a cast of characters that is literally like another world. 

Then there’s Mark Rosenfelder, who wrote The Planet Construction Kit for authors. He also wrote the Language Construction Kit so that all the people on your planets will have authentic sounding ways of speaking.

As someone who also writes fiction, I’ve created many worlds and many people myself. (Ask me about Planet Etc. sometime!)

Beyond fiction, my career as an author now stems from the “fantasy” worlds I’ve built to help me use memory techniques better. I’m not the first one. There have been many others throughout history, Giordano Bruno being one of the best.

So in my final analysis, developing and maintaining a paracosm is a perfectly healthy thing to do. It might even help you experience hyperphantasia.

I’m not a therapist, so please take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt. But it appears to me that a lot of paracosm psychology is broken. 

I’m not saying that it’s a good thing for people to respond to trauma with escapism.

But to lump the creation of imaginary worlds together with acts of dissociation through fantasy is simply false. If you have an active imagination, that’s one of the greatest gifts in the world in my books. So many people wish they had your gifts.

And if you are suffering from trauma, the memory training offered on this site has been scientifically proven to help people with such issues.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to develop your own paracosm? 

13 Powerful Cognitive Activities To Sharpen Your Brain

Are you looking for cognitive activities for adults to stimulate your brain?

Your cognitive abilities and brain health may weaken with age, illness, or poor habits.

Cognitive stimulation activities are a great way to defy this deterioration — helping you improve your attention, memory, and overall mental health.

In this article, we’ll take a brief look at cognitive processes. I’ll also show you 13 stimulating activities for cognitive development that will keep your brain fighting-fit, even as you age.

Here’s What I’ll Cover In This Post:

What Are Cognitive Processes?13 Activities For Strengthening Cognitive Processes For AdultsWhy are Cognitive Processes Important?Do Cognitive Processes Decline as You Age?Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What Are Cognitive Processes?

While you were binge-watching The Mandalorian, a burning smell caught your senses.

You dashed to the kitchen to turn off the oven.

As you cleaned up the mess, your brain made a list of ingredients you need to bake that cake again.

You then drove to the grocery store, bought the ingredients, and returned home to bake again.

What a day!

But it was worth every bite of that oozy, chocolatey delight sitting at your kitchen counter.

Now:

Did you realize you used many of your cognitive skills in the above scenario?

In his 1967 book, Ulric Neisser defined cognition as “how sensory inputs are transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used.”

Let’s go deeper.

What are the Different Cognitive Processes?

Here’s a closer look at the various cognitive skills you use in your daily life. They include attention, memory, logic, reasoning, and visual and auditory processing.

They help you process the world around you.

Attention

Attention allows you to concentrate on a particular activity or stimulus instead of processing everything around you.

Activities such as walking, wearing clothes, and driving require little attention because the repeated practice has made them a part of your routine. But activities like responding to a friend in crisis would require more attention.

Your attention could also be selective to a strong stimulus, letting you focus only on it. For example, you could listen to a podcast on the radio amid noisy traffic or work on your laptop with the TV switched on.

Sensation and Perception

Sensation is the process of receiving information from the environment through your sensory organs — eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin.

Perception is the process by which you interpret this information. Past experiences influence your perception and allow you to make sense of the world around you.

Gestalt psychologists believe that we perceive our reality as a whole rather than the sum of different parts. For example, a dotted line (…………….) will be seen as a line and not as separate dots.

Comprehension

To comprehend means to understand and interpret what you read or hear. Your brain decodes the language of what you’ve read and makes connections with what you already know.

For example, you read, “The train left the station and John’s friend was gone forever.” To process this sentence, you need to understand what is left unsaid: John’s friend was on that train.

Memory

Memory is made up of three processes: acquiring, storing, and retrieving information on ideas, facts, images, habits, or events around you. It is the store of all things you’ve learned and retained from your activities and experiences.

Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to find alternate ways of getting things done. You can only improve it by performing new tasks and challenging the brain to learn new skills.

That is where cognitive activities for adults can come to your rescue. Some of them even help people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Let’s see what they are.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.13 Powerful Cognitive Activities for Adults

You’ll find plenty of cognitive stimulation activities for adults, including exercise workbooks and several enticing online brain training games and apps.

I’d suggest you stay away from online apps as they may make you good at completing those tasks, but don’t really stimulate your brain.

Here are my top recommendations for cognitively stimulating activities, especially for older people. All of these will improve your cognitive skills — attention, comprehension, perception, memory, reasoning, and/or processing speed.

1. Mindful Walking

A recent study on mindfulness established that mindfulness-based exercises help elders with mild cognitive impairment improve their daily life.

When you step out for a morning walk, concentrate on sensations like the wind in your hair, your breathing, or the sounds around you.

While the walk keeps you physically active, this mindfulness will help you build your attention span, filter out distractions, and boost your overall cognitive health.

2. Drawing

Drawing or illustration involves the use of cognitive abilities such as perception and memory. A study also suggests that the process of drawing can help older adults fight memory loss.

Observe a complex drawing with multiple colors or layers, and try to replicate it later. Or take in a scene around you and draw it on paper, bringing out all the minute details.

3. Counting Letters

Select a paragraph from any book and count the number of times a particular letter appears. This will help you sustain your attention by focusing on one letter for an extended period of time.

In a study on older people, researchers have used this cognitive stimulation activity to measure everyday attention.

4. Color Arrangement

Take a piece of printed cloth and find out how many shades of a particular color are present in it.

Color has cognitive stimulation properties and helps older folks improve their spatial memory.

5. Approximation and Estimation Exercises

Keep two spoons next to each other on a desk. Then move the second spoon away from the first spoon. Now figure out how many spoons you can fit in between them.

This is a handy exercise that adults can do easily to improve perception and information processing abilities.

6. Card Games

Poker, Solitaire, and other card games for seniors can improve cognitive function — especially logical problem solving and memory retention.

Try this card-matching game:

Pick 8 to 12 pairs of identical cards and lay them face down on the desk. Ensure that the pairs are not together. Pick any two cards at a time and see if they match. See how many pairs you can match in five minutes.

Keep increasing the number of pairs, to improve your memory and attention span gradually.

7. Word Games

Try out crossword puzzles, Scrabble, or any other word game that you enjoy.

Here’s another one — finding unrelated words. Pick a random word and think of words that are not related to it. If you pick ‘sky,’ then words like the moon, sun, night, or birds are not allowed.

This exercise will help you improve your comprehension skills. Elderly adults can play this engaging brain game with their family members or caretakers.

8. Remembering Sequences

Try to remember words in a particular order. For example, list all the fruits you know. After an hour or so, try to remember the fruits in the same order.

This is a classic memory improvement technique. You could do multiple variations such as unknown words, nonsense words, and increased distractions.

9. Number Games

Calculation exercises and number games like Sudoku will keep your problem-solving skills sharp.

Here’s an interesting twist — a license plate game. When you see license plates on vehicles, you could try to figure out the relationship between those numbers. For example, XX4812 could be 4 + 4 = 8 and 8 + 4 = 12. Alternatively, 12 * 4 = 48, hence, 4812.

This is an entertaining game that elderly adults can even play from the comfort of their home balconies to improve their memory and processing speed.

10. Board Games

Board games like chess can help you boost your IQ, concentration, and focus.

Get some partners to play with and alternate among Checkers, Clue, Monopoly, or any other board game to increase your creativity and cognitive functioning.

11. Reading

Researchers have proven the power of reading in keeping Alzheimer’s disease at bay. Besides keeping you informed and entertained, it will spark your imagination and exercise your brain.

You could read magazines, fiction, or non-fiction books. To make it more effective, retell the gist of what you read to someone.

12. Physical Exercise

A study by Italian researchers proved that regular physical activity “is a strong gene modulator that induces structural and functional changes in the brain”, leading to improved cognitive skills and wellbeing.

The Alzheimer’s Association says that regular exercise may be a beneficial strategy to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia as well.

Choose a workout routine that you enjoy and stick to it — be it aerobic exercise, resistance training, badminton, or swimming.

13. Creating Memory Palaces

Creating Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method is an incredible memory technique that boosts your long term memory.

To make it simpler on your brain, always draw them out before using them in your mind.

Then, when learning a new language, mentally walk around your home. Use associations to place vocabulary and phrases related to shopping (in that language) on your kitchen counter, or the words related to travel on your sofa.

This will help you store the information in your long-term memory and recall it easily at will. You can also try mind mapping to activate yet another level of your memory and creativity when learning something new.

Why are Cognitive Processes Important?

Cognitive processes let you:

1. Understand sensory inputs:

Your brain transforms the sensations and information around you into signals for you to understand and act on.

That’s how you instinctively drop a hot piece of coal or turn when someone calls your name, or push a person onto the sidewalk when you see a vehicle dangerously veering towards them.

2. Elaborate information:

When you recall information, sometimes your brain fills in the missing pieces.

For instance, while buying groceries, you may remember an item that needs to be restocked but wasn’t on your list. Also, at times when you narrate incidents to your friends, you may add details that weren’t part of the original memory.

3. Remember and recall information:

Your short-term memory stores information, such as the office address for your upcoming interview. And your long-term memory helps you remember your childhood home address or a language you learned at age five.

4. Contextualize information and solve problems:

Cognitive processes link past information to current information and help you make decisions to solve problems. Your attention to your surroundings, memories, understanding of language, biases, and judgments all contribute to how you interact with your environment.

For example, you rush to turn off the oven when there’s a slight burning smell because you know the consequences of what might follow if you don’t.

Now, here’s another important question:

Do Cognitive Processes Decline as You Age?

The answer is – yes – just as much as your physical function weakens with age.

Some cognitive skills start to fade with age, especially your memory and attention.

How does cognitive decline manifest itself?

Here’s how:

Life experiences that come with age (like your knowledge or vocabulary) remain stable. But your abilities such as riding a bicycle start to decline.Your childhood memories remain relatively intact, but forming new ones gets difficult. It may get tougher to remember where you kept the house key or spectacles, or the name of the new neighbor you met yesterday.Older adults may show a slower reaction time (the speed at which we respond to stimuli).Paying attention to multiple activities such as watching TV while chopping vegetables might become difficult.Solving problems and puzzles will take more time than when you were younger.

Progressive neural decay leads to neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

People with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are considered to be at an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. In their study, researchers Roberts and Knopman proved that 15% to 20% of people aged 65 or older have MCI.

Diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia are incurable, and a healthy cognitive reserve is the only way to combat these diseases. Some people who are diagnosed with mild-to-moderate dementia or Alzheimer’s disease opt for psychological intervention, including Cognitive Stimulation Therapy.

Cognitive Stimulation = Get a Super-Fit Brain

Keeping your cognitive processes sharp is a critical part of successful aging.

All these brain-stimulating activities, especially the powerful Memory Palace technique, will help you improve your cognitive performance effectively — even as you go about your day-to-day life and social activities.

If you want to learn more about how to improve your memory (including how to use a Memory Palace), sign up for your free memory improvement kit.