More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
September 5 - September 25, 2023
Imagine you were born without a memory. Who would you be? You would be nothing; if you didn’t have a memory, you wouldn’t be able to function in our world. Your memory is the glue that binds your life together; everything you are today is because of your amazing memory.
Understanding doesn’t create use: Only when you can instantly recall what you have understood, and practice using your remembered understanding, do you achieve mastery.
This raises a question: Would you hire a person for his or her ability to Google information? No. You want people with information and experience at their fingertips. You want confident people that are certain about what they know. Not storing information in your mind is expensive and can lead to embarrassment and poor judgment. If you must continually refer to notes or manuals to do your work, you will waste time and look unprofessional. Would you allow a doctor to operate on you if she had to continually refer to a manual or an iPad? Definitely not! Memory means storing what you have learned
...more
Always remember that where your attention goes, your energy flows.
Most of us pay half-hearted attention to almost everything we do. We live in an activity illusion and think that “busyness” is equal to good business, but it’s often just procrastination in disguise. Busyness may make you feel good and make you think you are productive, but if you look back at the end of the day, you’ll realize you haven’t done anything worthwhile. We’ve trained our minds to have continuous partial, fragmented attention.
Sharpen your intellect by making it a habit to do one thing at a time.
Exceptional work is always associated with periods of deep concentration.
Learning with a purpose increases your attention, comprehension, and retention; it also helps organize your thoughts.
Perfect memory is a skill and not a special gift.
People that learn quickly or have a so-called photographic memory apply creativity to everything they learn.
The more we turn information into images or mind movies, the more we will remember and comprehend. We can make all our learning more creative and memorable if we use our unlimited imagination. It is a power that can be compared to magic.
Make your mental images larger or smaller than life. The more you exaggerate the image you’re using to help you remember a concept, the easier it will be to recall later on.
The process of imagination is a fun and creative process. The more enjoyment you can put into it, the better.
Memory is not a thing that happens to you; you create your memories. You can make any information into something more meaningful.
Organizing new information is key to retention and retrieval.
The vivid image of the list is easier to use and think about than a plain series of words.
The car list works because your whole car is in your long-term memory (LTM). LTM offers you a place to store the new information; that is, the locations in the car become “storage compartments” for short-term memories (STMs).
The secret to accelerated learning is superior organization.
The body method was originally invented by the ancient Greeks. You can use it to remember information for exams, work, shopping, or any list of items. You can even use it to remember things when you don’t have a pen at hand, like when you are in the shower.
The method is simple—it makes memory pegs out of words that rhyme with numbers.
Most people will repeat the list of information over and over again and try to force it into their memory. Unfortunately, rote learning and constant repetition are frustrating and can create an aversion to learning. The more you can encode information into your memory, however, the more effective the learning will be. Using the journey method will help you find the “fun” in FrUstratioN by focusing your attention and connecting each thought to a place.
Make sure to choose places you know well, that have significance for you, and that have lots of variety. You can make routes as long as you want; you can have a place or route for every subject you are learning. Remember to have fun!
Your imagination can attach any information to a familiar journey.
There are no limits to this system, only limits in your own thinking. The important thing is that you practice. The more you practice, the better you will become.
I often hear people say, “Oh, do you learn by association?” We learn only by association. Learning connects new information to old information; it doesn’t happen any other way. It creates a relationship between the known and the unknown. The more you know, the easier it is to connect more information, and to know even more.
This method is powerful because we use more of our creativity and imagination to make the information stand out. This stimulates our interest and curiosity, keeping our attention at a peak. Each word reminds you of the next, since you are making your own links.
You can also use this method to memorize paragraphs of information. First, condense everything into a list of key words, and then convert those lists into meaningful link stories. A whole syllabus or textbook can be condensed into a ridiculous story. When you do this, it is easy to remember the information. It gives you a great mental workout and it is fun!
There is no such thing as a good or bad memory for names, there is only good or bad strategy.
If you hear the name, repeat it back to the person; this will improve your recall. If you don’t hear the name, ask the person to say it again. If it is a difficult name, ask them to spell it, too. Listen and be genuinely interested in the other person’s name. We are normally so worried about being interesting that we forget to be interested. Learn to listen to people from their perspective and not your own. This will not only improve your name memory, but your social intelligence, too.
When you put a name into your mind and you don’t do anything with it, it will disappear and you won’t be able to find it again. That’s because working memory doesn’t store information. So to store it, you’ll need assistance from your short- and long-term memories. You have to really think about the name to remember it because we only remember what we think about.
By taking a long-term name and using it to remember the new, short-term name, it will only take a few seconds to cement the new person’s name in your memory forever.
To remember numbers you need to give them more meaning.
The systems that memory masters use for numbers vary, but most use a system that was developed in the seventeenth century by Stanislaus Mink von Wennshein. This method twists the numbers into shapes so that they form letters, then turns the letters into words. That may seem like a lot of work, but once you know your code it will make the process of remembering numbers a breeze; the code almost memorizes itself. Stick with it and open your mind to a whole new language. It is also a great way to exercise your verbal and numerical intelligence at the same time.
When I learn most dates I use only the last three digits, because most of the dates we need to remember occurred in the last thousand years. Here are some examples.
Turning information into art grabs your attention; your mind won’t let go of it. All of the systems taught in this book can be enhanced by turning the information not only into mental images, but also physical media, like a drawing, painting, mind map, or simple doodle.
One of the best ways to see your mind and memory at work is through Mind Mapping. When you adopt this method, it will change the way you think. It is a powerful way to organize information, think on paper, and get more out of your head.
A Mind Map is a multisensory way to transfer your thoughts to paper. It is incredibly easy to do. At first it may take a bit of practice, but then your brain will remember how to have fun, and your life and learning will never be the same again. Mind Maps are a wonderful way to structure information so that you can see both the big picture and the details. Linear notes can never provide the flexibility that you have with Mind Maps.
Mind Maps are entertaining; they are fun and make use of your creative brain. If you stick with them, you will take your mind to a new level; you will improve your creativity, elevate your planning power, develop more of your brain, and increase your powers of memory and observation. You can use Mind Maps for a whole range of learning; they can be used very effectively to summarize large amounts of information, and to get the gist of what is being communicated.
Remembering information verbatim can help you in presentations, negotiations, or meetings. You can use it to hold on to information so you can call upon it when you need a bit of inspiration. It is also helpful in exams to remember definitions of key concepts. Remembering and reciting poems is also a great way to train your mind and improve your presentation ability.
Once you have found your keywords, the next step is to create images out of them and place them in one of the systems that you have learned in this book. Remember that your imagination is like the pen and the system is the paper. You can use a journey, your body, a car, or anything that is already in your long-term memory.
Once you have placed the key concepts, then you need to read through the material a few times. The key words will make the text “stickier” and your knowledge of English will help you to remember the syntax. Make the material come to life and you will remember more!
The purpose of any presentation is to get an audience to understand, believe, and act on what you say. If you as a presenter can’t remember your content, how is your audience supposed to? If they can’t remember it, they won’t believe or act on it.
When you really remember the information, it builds confidence, and you will look like you know what you are talking about. Memory power is presentation power.
Take charge and control of your content, because without notes you will look more professional in your delivery. When you present using the memory methods it is as if you are reading from a teleprompter. Although you do not learn the information word-for-word with rote memorization, you clearly remember the structure.
Once you have created images for each of the cards, you will have to get to know them. It will take practice to automatically turn each card into an image, but with time it will become second nature. To remember the whole shuffled pack you then create a journey of 52 places and store each character along the route, or you can link the cards together. These methods are not tricks; you are simply using the memory fundamentals and therefore maximizing more of your memory potential.
Self-discipline is not self-deprivation. It is about raising your standards, going for and being more.
What do you want? What are you doing daily to get what you want? If your daily actions are not moving you in the direction of what you want, then you will never get what you want.
Self-discipline requires you to make decisions daily. Self-discipline requires you to start fresh every day. Every day is a new day. If you need incentive, tell yourself you don’t have to practice this skill for the rest of your life—just for today.
Repetition or rote learning on its own (without the methods) is no fun; it takes a long time and can often result in an aversion to learning. Memorizing should be a pleasure; it should be like a game.
Review takes discipline, but it keeps information fresh in your mind. It keeps it alive. It keeps it awake so that you can connect more information to it. The more that you connect to that information, the stronger it becomes. Your mind is the only computer in the world with this characteristic: The more you put into it, the more it will hold.
