UNLIMITED MEMORY HOW TO USE ADVANCED LEARNING STRATEGIES TO LEARN FASTER, REMEMBER MORE AND BE MORE PRODUCTIVE GRANDMASTER KEVIN HORSLEY

UNLIMITED

MEMORY

HOW TO USE ADVANCED LEARNING

STRATEGIES TO LEARN FASTER,

REMEMBER MORE AND BE MORE

PRODUCTIVE

GRANDMASTER KEVIN HORSLEY

Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Kevin

Horsley. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced,

stored in retrieval systems, or

transmitted by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recorded or

otherwise without written permission

from the author.

Published by TCK Publishing

www.TCKPublishing.com

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Eloise, my

extraordinary partner in life and work. I

would like to acknowledge the

contributions that you made to this book

and thank you so much for all your

encouragement and support in my life.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ForewordChapter 1. IntroductionPart 1. ConcentrateChapter 2. Excuse meChapter 3. Never believe a lieChapter 4. Be here nowPart 2. Create and connectChapter 5. Bring information to lifeChapter 6. Use your car to rememberChapter 7. Use your body to rememberChapter 8. Pegging information downChapter 9. In the first placeChapter 10. Linking thoughtsChapter 11. Remembering namesChapter 12. Remembering numbersChapter 13. Art in memoryChapter 14. Using the methodsPart 3. Continuous useChapter 15. Self-disciplineChapter 16. Review to renew

Endings are the seeds for beginnings

Bibliography

About The Author

“Memory is a way of holding onto the

things you love, the things you are, the

things you never want to lose.”

The Wonder Years

FOREWORDWith this book, Kevin brings to lifeprinciples that can change your lifeforever. I say this with confidencebecause I have studied and implementedthese methods in my own life. There areso many areas in your life and existencethat can be transformed by theseprinciples that I am honored to makesuch a small contribution to this amazingbody of work.While studying to be a medical doctor, Ididn’t know these methods and inacademic performance I was an averagemedical student. I would spend many anhour battling through random bits ofinformation while struggling to makesense of it. The question is not whether Imade it or not but rather how much moreefficient I could have been whileworking towards my qualification. Thefirst time I encountered Kevin’s methodswas while training to be a medicalspecialist. It has completely changed theway I now approach studying and how Inow manage information – with astraight “A” academic record as addedbenefit. With this bit of information Isincerely complement the author of thisbook. I did not suddenly change intosome ‘intelligent being’; I decided totransform my perceptions about mymemory. With this new-found structureand purpose, I managed to discover apotential within myself that I neverthought possible.After realizing the impact of theseprinciples in my academic life, I startedapplying it to my everyday life. What ajourney this has been! The experiencehas been so much more than just learningto manage information; it ultimatelyenhanced my self-confidence, and theconsequence of this cannot be limited toa specific area of my life.I am privileged to know Kevinpersonally and seeing the informationwritten in this book evident in his lifehas been such a great source ofmotivation for me!After many years of research,experience, and achievement, Kevinshares life-changing methods with us inan easy-to-understand and practical way.When you decide to utilize thesemethods and make them your own, youwill unleash unlimited potential to notonly improve your memory, but your lifeas well.Dr Marius A. Welgemoed

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION“The great breakthrough in your lifecomes when you realize that you canlearn anything you need to learn toaccomplish any goal that you set foryourself. This means there are no limitson what you can be, have or do.”~ Brian TracyWhat would your life be like if youcould learn and remember informationeasily, quickly, and effectively? Thinkabout it.In this short, easy-to-read book I willprovide you with a set of powerfulmemory-enhancing mindsets and skills,which will allow you to take control ofyour learning and your life. You willdiscover many amazing methods, bothancient and new, that have been modeledfrom the world’s best minds in the areasof accelerated learning and memorydevelopment. This book will give youinformation that school forgot to teachyou. The approach is all about runningyour own brain; I believe that this canonly be possible with the foundation ofmemory.Imagine if you were born without amemory. Who would you be? You wouldbe nothing; if you don’t have a memory,you don’t have anything else. If I askyou, “Who are you?” you wouldimmediately start rearranging memoriesin your mind to answer that question.Your memory is the glue that binds yourlife together; everything you are today isbecause of your amazing memory. Youare a data collecting being, and yourmemory is where your life is lived. Ifyou didn’t have a memory, you wouldn’tbe able to learn, think, have intelligence,create, or even know how to tie yourshoes. You wouldn’t be able to buildexperience in any field becauseexperience is just a collection ofmemories after all! Only if you canremember information can you live it.Over the years, memory has been given abad name. It has been associated withrote learning and cramming informationinto your brain. Educators have said thatunderstanding is the key to learning buthow can you understand something if youcan’t remember it? We have all had thisexperience: we recognize andunderstand information but can’t recall itwhen we need it. For example, howmany jokes do you know? You’veprobably heard thousands, but you canonly recall about four or five right now.There is a big difference betweenremembering your four jokes andrecognizing or understanding thousands.Understanding doesn’t create use: onlywhen you can instantly recall what youunderstand, and practise using yourremembered understanding, do youachieve mastery. Memory means storingwhat you have learned; otherwise, whywould we bother learning in the firstplace?Some people say you don’t need a goodmemory in the Google age. Ken Jenningssaid, “When you make a decision, youneed facts. If those facts are in yourbrain, they’re at your fingertips. Ifthey’re all in Google somewhere, youmay not make the right decision on thespur of the moment.”Which raises the question: would orhave you hired a person for his or herability to Google information? No, youwant people with information andexperience at their fingertips. You wantconfident people, people that are certainabout what they know. Not storinginformation in your mind is expensiveand can lead to embarrassment and poorjudgment. If you have to continually referto notes or manuals to do your work, youwill waste time and look unprofessional.Would you rather buy a product fromsomeone that forgets your name or fromsomeone that remembers it? Would youallow a doctor to operate on you if shehad to continually refer to a manual or aniPad? Definitely not!Memory is the corner stone of ourexistence. It determines the quality ofour decisions and, therefore, ourentire life!Learning and memory are the two mostmagical properties of the human mind.Learning is the ability to acquire newinformation, and memory holds the newinformation in place over time. Memoryis the foundation to all learning. Ifmemory is not set in place, all you aredoing is throwing information into adeep hole never to be used again. Theproblem is that many people are notrecalling what they know, and they areconstantly learning and forgetting, andlearning and forgetting, and learning andforgetting…When you improve your memory, youimprove everything. You can accessinformation more quickly and moreeasily – creating greater opportunitiesfor connections and associations. Themore facts and memories that you haveproperly stored in your brain, the morepotential you have to make uniquecombinations and connections. Anincreased memory also enhances basicintelligence because intelligence isbased on all of the events, people, andfacts that you can recall. The more youremember, the more you can create anddo because factual knowledge alwaysprecedes skill. Information can only bebuilt onto more information, so the moreyou know the easier it is to get to knowmore.Now, with your memory you have twochoices. The first choice is that yourmemory cannot be improved; you can donothing to make any difference to yourin-born ability. Many people choose thisas their life’s choice because through thethousands of hours of schooling, not onehour is spent on showing you how youramazing memory can be made better.School never told you anything aboutyour amazing brain.When I was eight years old, a schoolpsychologist gave me a bit of adviceabout my brain. He said I may have aform of brain damage, and he wanted tosend me to a special class. I was aclassic dyslexic: I wasn’t born with agood memory, and I couldn’tconcentrate; reading and writing werealways a challenge for me. Throughoutmy school career, I learned by having mymother and friends read the syllabus tome; I forced myself to memorize it andwhat I didn’t get, which was most of it, Ijust didn’t get. I had no future because Ijust couldn’t grasp what was beingtaught to me. In twelve years of school, Icouldn’t read a book from cover-tocoveralone and in my final year ofschool, I still couldn’t read much betterthan when I started out in First Grade. Tocut a long story short, I somehowmanaged to graduate from high school in1989.A couple of years later, my life waschanged when I was walking through alocal bookstore. Up until that point, I hadnot read a book from cover-to-cover bymyself, but that night I decided to buythree books. They were all written byTony Buzan. The first book was UseYour Head, the second Use YourMemory, and the third The SpeedReading Book. Back then, I honestlythought I would begin with the speedreading book and then read the other twoquickly. However, it didn’t work out thatway. I started reading Use Your Memoryand discovered that we all have asecond choice. This choice is: ourmemory is just a habit, and habits can beimproved with the right kind of trainingand practice. I discovered that there arebasic fundamentals to memoryimprovement and that if we apply themconsistently, we will get the same resultsthat great memory masters do. If wedon’t, we won’t. I started studyingpsychology and anything I could get myhands on in the areas of the brain, mind,and memory. I studied hundreds of booksand tapes, and I also interviewed peoplewith great memories. Through this longjourney, I overcame all of my dyslexicissues and took myself to a point where Iwas reading and taking in, on average,four books a week. I could learn in anhour what took the average personmonths to master.In 1995, I decided to compete in theWorld Memory Championships. This isan event that attracts the best memorymasters from around the world, and thecompetition tests every facet of memory.That year I managed to come fifthoverall, having won second place in thewritten word event. This was proof thatI had overcome all of my dyslexicchallenges. I was also awarded the title‘International Grandmaster of Memory’by the Brain Trust: a title, which waspresented and jointly sanctioned by HisSerene Highness Prince Philip ofLiechtenstein, on October 26th, 1995 atHanbury Manor in Ware, Hertfordshire,England. Considering my pastdifficulties and from where I had come,this was a great achievement. From thatday on, I knew my life had changeddirection, and it would never be thesame again.In 1999, I decided to stretch myself andtest my abilities even more when I brokethe world record that has been called‘The Everest of Memory Tests.’ Imemorized the first 10,000 digits of Pi –Pi has passed every test of randomnessand has no known limit. The first 10,000digits of Pi are divided into 2000 5-digitblocks. The testers would call out anyone of these 5-digit sequences, and I hadto reply with the 5-digit numbers oneither side of the number chosen. Thishappened 50 times. The record was forthe time taken to complete the test; Ibroke the previous record by 14 minutes.Why did I do it, you ask? Mainlybecause people said it was impossibleto do, and that’s what my life is allabout: breaking limitations and showingpeople what our memories are capableof.Ever since then, I have been training,teaching, and coaching people toremember key information that they needfor their lives and that the joy of learningis available to us all. Many people say Ihave a photographic memory, but that isnot true. I have just discovered many‘secrets’ about memory, and I have beenable to use and make these methods myown.I don’t tell you all this to impress youbut to impress the point that everyperson has the same potential to masterhis or her memory. It doesn’t matterwhere you come from; all that matters iswhere you are going. However, if youkeep on doing what you have alwaysdone, you are going to get what you havealways gotten. You need to do differentto get different. Thus, a word ofwarning: mastering your memory isgoing to require a different kind ofthinking.Don’t judge or look for perfection fromthis book; rather look for value. Whenyou judge information, you stop yourselffrom learning it. You can judge themethods, you can criticize them, you cantry another approach, but I promise you,you will not be able to get the sameresults as us memory masters withoutapplying these principles. I ask you toread with an open mind; I have no doubtthat everything that you will learn in thisbook works and works amazingly well.The methods that I will share with youare the same methods that memorymasters use. This is the strategy!You will see that this book is broken upinto three sections covering the four keys(or Cs) to improving your memory. Thefirst section talks about improving yourConcentration. The second section isabout improving your ability to Createimagery and Connecting conceptstogether, and the final key is aboutcreating a habit with Continuous use.These four Cs are the solution to anymemory problem that you have or willface in the future. Some of the examplesthat I have used in this book come frompersonal development and businessbooks so not only will you learn toimprove your memory, but you will alsolearn some key concepts that you can usefor your personal development.I will teach you to transform blandinformation into something that is realand well organized. This, in turn, meansthe information has meaning and willthen be used instead of being discarded.I am not talking about rote learning but away to store information differently withfar better results. The goal is to improvelearning and understanding.There are many books out there that do alot of talking before you find any meat.This book is different; I want to getstraight to the point and save you a lot oftime and energy. It is my goal to showyou the wonderful world of memoryimprovement in a way I wish someonewould have taught me. Don’t just readthis book; play with the concepts andmake it part of your thinking and yourlife. If you are ready, then turn to the firstlesson and unleash the power of yourmemory.

PART 1. CONCENTRATE“The best advice I ever came across onthe subject of concentration is:Wherever you are, be there.”~ Jim Rohn

CHAPTER 2. EXCUSE ME“You cannot fly with the eagles if youcontinue to scratch with the turkeys.”~ Zig ZiglarBefore we begin, what excuses are yougoing to make for not reading this wholebook?If you decide to read the whole book,what excuses are you going to make fornot using the information that you aregoing to learn? I know you don’t knowwhat you will be learning, but you havethose excuses all lined up, don’t you?Take time to really think about yourexcuses and write them down.These are the same excuses that you useevery time to stop yourself from learninganything new. You can have success orexcuses, but you can’t have them both.People that learn quickly only focus onthe information and skills that matter –excuses don’t matter, and they arethought viruses.The only things that are keeping youfrom getting what you want in your lifeare the excuses you keep telling yourself.Who would you be without yourexcuses? Think about it.Every excuse you accept makes youweaker. Excuses stop you fromconcentrating and paying attention. Whenyou excuse yourself from learningsomething new, you block your focus andyour energy. Always remember thatwhere your attention goes, yourenergy flows.Some of the most common excuses thatpeople use to give away their powerare:1. I AM HELPLESSI’m not smart enough.It’s not my nature.I don’t have the time to practise theinformation (time is always there; youjust need to schedule it.)I don’t have the right genes to have agood memory (how do you really knowthat?)I am getting older; I can’t do anythingabout my memory.You can’t teach old dogs new tricks!(Then it is a good thing you are not adog!)2. SOMEONE ELSE IS TO BLAMEMy parents always said that I wasstupid.I need support to develop these skills.It is the book’s fault; I need toexperience it in a seminar.It is impossible to have a negativeemotion without blaming someone orsomething. Free your mind. You alwayshave two choices with your life andexperience: you can either learn from itor you can place blame. The choice isalways yours.3. TOO MUCH STRESSThere is just too much to learn.I have to change my thinking.The book requires me to do too much.It will be difficult.We excuse ourselves into livingmediocre lives. We explain why wecan’t do this or that; we excuseourselves from taking responsibility.Decide now to stop giving away yourpower to your excuses.Are your excuses true? Are you 100%certain that they are true? Do any of yourexcuses really enhance and empoweryour life? You are more than yourexcuses, aren’t you?Drop them now!Richard Bach said, “Argue for yourlimitations and, sure enough, they’reyours.” The only cause for not doingsomething with the information in thisbook is you; nobody else but you. Youare responsible for your learning. Theperson that has the most to do with whathappens to you is you! If you believeyour limits, your life will be verylimited.Improving your memory andconcentration is not only about what youneed to do more of; it is also about whatyou need to do less of. It is amazing howquickly you can learn a new skill whenyou decide to let go of your excuses,judgments, and complaints. If youconsistently change your approach andincrease your desire to learn thisinformation, you will master it.TAKE ACTION NOW!1. If you continue to hold on to yourexcuses, what would your life be likefive years from now?2. Who would you be without yourexcuses? Enter all learning with this newmindset.3. Remember they are just excuses. It isnot the truth. Change them now.4. What is more important to you:excusing yourself from experiencingyour potential or being the best that youcan be?5. Why is it important for you to learn toempower your memory? Think about itand write down as many reasons as youcan to create a big WHY. As DarrenHardy says, “We need why power notwillpower.”

CHAPTER 3. NEVER BELIEVE ALIE“The mind is the limit. As long as themind can envision the fact that you cando something, you can do it – as longas you believe 100 percent.”~ Arnold SchwarzeneggerThere was once a fish that lived in apond. One day, he met another fish thatused to live in the sea. The pond fishasked, “What is the sea?” and the seafish said, “It is a vast amount of waterthat is a million, million times biggerthan your pond.” The pond fish nevertalked to the sea fish again because hethought the sea fish was a liar.What can we learn from this?Your beliefs of what your concentrationand memory can do may be your ownlimited version of the truth. Many peoplenever get a taste of their true potentialbecause they have decided to entertainonly a limited view of what they can do.What if your negative beliefs about yourconcentration, your memory, and yourpotential were not true at all? Whowould you be without these beliefs?Richard Bandler said, “Beliefs aren’tabout truth. Beliefs are aboutbelieving. They are guides for ourbehavior.” We always defend what webelieve. If you believe you have a badmemory, you will always act and think inaccordance with that belief. Where yourattention goes, your energy flows.If you want to improve your memory andconcentration, you need to create abelief system that supports them.Imagine there is an Earth 1 and anEarth 2. The planets are the same inevery way, but... they are in differentdimensions.On Earth 1 lives Mr. A and on Earth 2lives Mr. B.They look the same, they speak the sameway, they live in the same environment,they have the same education, and theyeven have the same brain and nervoussystem. Everything is the same. There isonly one thing that separates them.Mr. A believes that he has a terriblememory. He always tells people:“My attention is all over the place; it islike a kangaroo hopping around mymind.”“I’m always forgetting things.”“I’m terrible with names.”“My memory is getting worse everyday.”“My memory is full.”“My memory is like a sieve.”“I’m stupid.”“Your brain will fill up – so don’t learntoo much!”He hates learning. He is not interested inremembering because he thinks he willforget.Mr. B believes he has a wonderfulmemory; in fact, an exceptional memory.He always says:“I choose to focus my attention; it is likea laser beam.”“Memory improvement is important.”“Look how much I remember: I havequadrillions of memories stored in mymind.”“My memory is getting better and betterevery day.”“I’m interested in remembering names.”“I’m brilliant.”“My memory has the ability to store andrecall mountains of information. It is theonly container with this characteristic:the more I put into it, the more it willhold.”He loves learning. He wants toremember and train his mind.Now, who do you think will have thebetter memory? Of course: Mr. B.The only difference between Mr. A andMr. B is their beliefs. Whose beliefs doyou think are right?The answer is that they are both right. Itis only our thinking that makes thingsright or wrong. Mr. A and Mr. B bothhave beliefs, and they both haveexperiences or thoughts to back it up.The only difference is that Mr. A’s focusis negative and disempowering. He setshimself up to fail.Mr. B’s focus is positive andempowering. He sets himself up forsuccess. Both Mr. A and Mr. B choosetheir own beliefs. It isn’t an outsideinfluence that determines their outcome.We all have the freedom to choose whatwe focus on and in the end, it willdetermine the beliefs we carry aroundwith us.A belief is a sense of being certain andwhat you believe, you become.Negative beliefs and thoughts place ablock on your concentration andmemory. Unless you decide to takeresponsibility and change the thoughtsthat you are constantly feeding yourself,you will not be able to break throughyour negative conditioning. Every singlethought we have is creative: it has thepower to build and the power to destroy.Most people don’t realize that when theyuse doubtful phrases they are settingstandards for themselves. Thesestandards become expectations and inthe end will become self-fulfillingprophecies.Here is an example of what happenswith a negative belief frame:Your mind will loop and prevent youfrom learning anything new. Your beliefseither move you or stop you. In brief,every thought and every word works foryou or against you, and every thoughtthat you confirm to be true multiplies andbecomes a belief. When you change abelief you change a mental constructionand, therefore, your life. In other words,we believe what we have been taught tobelieve, and we don’t question beliefsbecause we don’t want to question thesource. Begin to ask yourself, “Who willI be doubting by changing my beliefsabout my mind, concentration, andmemory and why do I think this is true?”People tend to think that their beliefs areabsolutely true, but these beliefs are onlytrue for them. Just because you can’t dosomething well doesn’t mean it isimpossible. Identify your self-limitingbeliefs and then ask, “What if they werenot true at all?” and remember the limitsin your belief system will always stopyou from seeing any alternatives thatshould be obvious.If you choose to change your beliefs,here is how you can do it:First, 80% of changing anything is aboutwhy you want to change and only 20% isabout how you do it. Take responsibility;it is as simple as having a reason andmaking a decision that you want tochange your beliefs.Second, question the belief. There aresome things that you previously believedwith all your heart but now you don’tbelieve them. Why? Because youquestioned them. If, long ago, someteacher told you that you have a memorylike a sieve, it doesn’t mean you have tomake the teacher’s words true or areality. You were younger then, had lessexperience, and did not have the abilityto question authority. Now with agecomes the advantage that you canquestion his or her judgment of youryounger self. Ask yourself questionslike, “How much is this belief going tocost me if I hold on to it? Do I have tohold on to it? Is it true? Can I be 100%certain that it is the truth?”Third, create a new belief and think ofexperiences, research, and thoughts toconfirm it. When you change yourbeliefs, you allow yourself to experiencemore of your potential and create newpossibilities.Fourth, use the new belief often andmake it part of your identity.Your beliefs are only the stories thatyou have accepted to be true aboutyourself… just decide to change thestories.Spenser Lord said, “Beliefs are nottattoos, they are just like clothes – youcan put them on and take them off atwill.” Thus, here are five core beliefsthat you can ‘put on’ right now:1. I WAS BORN WITH EXCEPTIONALCONCENTRATION AND MEMORYYou are already all you need to be.Maxwell Maltz said, “Do not toleratefor a minute the idea that you areprohibited from any achievement by theabsence of in-born talent or ability.This is a lie of the grandest order, anexcuse of the saddest kind.” You don’tneed anything more. You don’t need aspecial talent or pill to have brilliantconcentration or a great memory. All youneed is a willingness to learn, a method,and self-discipline.2. MEMORY IMPROVEMENT ISIMPORTANTSuccessful people believe that what theydo is important and worth doing. Withthis belief, people move from interestinto commitment. Consider livingwithout your memory for one week.You wouldn’t be capable of doinganything. Everything you do, say, andunderstand is due to memory. It is yourmost important mental function and ifyou improve it, you will improve yourlife.3. I HAVE INCREDIBLE ABILITIES. MYMEMORY IS UNLIMITEDThink about how much data you alreadyhave stored in your memory (numbers,stories, jokes, experiences, words,names, and places.) Think about what anincredible memory you need just to havea conversation. You have to listen,create meaning from what you have justheard, and then search your memory fora response. Not even all the computersin existence connected to each othercan perform such a feat. You will seeyour incredible ability once you havelearned the memory methods.4. THERE IS NO FAILURE, ONLYFEEDBACKCatch your memory doing things right.One of the best ways to strengthen thisbelief is to ask yourself, “How does mymemory serve me – how did it serve metoday?” Generally, people only focus onwhere their memory went wrong;therefore, making it weaker. Focus onyour strengths and change your approachwhen the feedback or result is not whatyou want.5. I DON’T KNOW IT ALLThinking you know everything there is toknow about something is really not auseful place to be because it preventsyou from learning anything new. Listenand become interested in other points ofview and embrace change as well asnew things. Allow information to cometo you. Open all channels to receiveinformation.Decide now that you will only feed yourmind with good. Adopt and try on asmany empowering beliefs as you can.Use them and watch your life take on anew direction.TAKE ACTION NOW!1. Identify your self-limiting beliefs.2. Question these beliefs and askyourself: “Is it I can’t improve myconcentration and memory or is it Iwon’t make the time to improve myconcentration and memory?”3. What else do you believe about yourmind and your potential?4. Memorize this quote by Jim Rohn, “Ifyou don’t like how things are, changeit! You’re not a tree.”

CHAPTER 4. BE HERE NOW“Concentrate all your thoughts on thetask at hand. The sun’s rays do not burnuntil brought to a focus.”~ Alexander Graham BellWe are all gifted: gifted with the powerto think about our thinking. You canfocus your thinking to improve any areaof your life; you are in control of whatyou chose to attend. You can continue toallow your attention to be pulled by yourenvironment, or you can decide now todirect it.Many people believe superconcentration is a magical state withwhich only a lucky few are born. Forinstance, do you agree with thisstatement: big muscular biceps aresomething you are born with? No ofcourse not because we all know it takesmany hours of training in a gym. Yet,people look at attention as somethingyou have or don’t have. Concentration,like anything in life, takes practice.Concentration is made up of many smallchoices consistently practised. Everydaybrain research is telling us that the brainis consistently changing when we learnsomething new. The people that limittheir attention are still using the ‘yourbrain-can’t-change’ model. We know thatconcentration can and should beimproved. You have everything in younow to take control of your bouncingmonkey mind and to take your powerback.Here is the average person’s dailyattention training: they wake up in themorning, not peacefully, usually to someloud song or blaring alarm clock. Theycheck their mobile phone for anymessages, just to see if anyone missedthem. Then they jump out of bed into theshower and there they think about ahundred and ten things that they need toworry about or need to do.Unfortunately, they haven’t allowedthemselves enough time to get ready andcan only manage a small unhealthybreakfast and fill up with coffee. Theyget in their car, put the radio on, makephone calls, or even try to text messagesin the traffic. They get all angry, and theyget all worked up about the traffic. Thetraffic is there and won’t change; yet,they think it should change. In fact, weworry and focus our attention on a‘million’ things which can all wait forthe appropriate time, but we allow ourattention to be pulled in differentdirections.Imagine your attention was an Olympicathlete. Would your athlete be able to becompetitive? The reason our attentionand focus isn’t that great is because wehaven’t trained it. We keep on switchingthrough the channels of our minds andnever stop long enough on one specificchannel. We pay attention half-heartedlyon almost everything we do these days.We live in an activity illusion and thinkthat ‘busyness’ is equal to good business.Busyness is sometimes justprocrastination in disguise. Busynessmay make you feel good and make youthink you are more productive but whenwe look back at the end of the day werealize we haven’t done anythingworthwhile. We are training our mindsto have continuous partial attention, andour attention is being fragmented.Training your concentration isn’t thathard. You just have to learn to becomemore peaceful and find the moment. Youhave to learn to be here now. When youare at work, be at work. When you are athome, be at home. “Learn to be silent.Let your quiet mind listen and absorb,”said Pythagoras.We fill our minds up with all kinds ofconflict, and this takes us away from themoment. Have you ever had a fight withsomeone at home, then you get to work,and the whole day you can’tconcentrate? Conflict pulls your mind inmany directions; when you fill your mindwith conflict, your mind will be all overthe place. Conflict is the opposite ofconcentration.When you are peaceful, you enjoy themoment and your mind becomes like alaser beam. Peace and concentration arethe same thing.There are four areas that you need tofocus on to eliminate conflict and createmore peace in your mind:1. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR INNERVOICEDo you have a little voice that talks toyou in your head? If you are not sure,you are probably asking yourself, "Do Ihave a little voice or don't I?" We allhave a little voice, and it has a hugeinfluence on our concentration and ourlives. You are constantly talking toyourself but the only problem is that youcatch yourself doing things wrong. Startto catch yourself doing more thingsright.How or where did you concentrate welltoday? In what area of your life do youneed to stop ‘beating’ yourself up?Your inner voice has the ability to offerinstructions so instruct yourself well. Itis the center of your focus of control thathelps you explain and make sense ofyour world. Don’t agree with the wrongvoices; all self-hatred and conflict is justa thought or a little voice… so changethe thought. It is not set in stone.Remember: if you give yourself badcommands, then bad things will happen.2. STOP MULTITASKINGWe destroy our concentration bymultitasking the moment and our peaceaway. Multitasking is a myth!If you watch a lioness hunting in thewild, she will focus on one wildebeest.She never focuses on two – because sheknows the odds of missing both arestacked against her. She is single mindedand does everything in her power toachieve her goal. In the circus when theytrain lions, they put a chair in front oftheir face to control their behavior. Thisconfuses the lion and divides theirattention. Now they have four chair legsto focus on, and they go into a type oftrance. We humans are the same. Ourbrain can really only focus on one thingat a time. It is impossible to focus ontwo things at the same time. When youare multitasking, you are actuallyswitching between tasks, you are alwayssemi-attending, and it is not veryeffective. We cannot do more than onething well at a time. It has become one ofthe most damaging myths out there.We are training our brains to have anattention deficit. A lot of people simplycannot focus for an extended period oftime anymore. I have heard that theaverage person looks at their mobilephone about 50 times a day. We arereading emails, the news, Facebook, andtwitter etc., during what should befamily and relationship time. Peoplethese days even drive while talking on aphone. Driving with a mobile phonemakes you hit the brakes 0.5 secondsslower. If you are travelling at 112kmper hour, in 0.5seconds you travel 15.5meters... a lot can happen over thatdistance. If you are distracted in yourcar, you have a 9 times higher chance ofhaving an accident. When your phonerings, you don’t have to pick it up...that’s why voice mail was invented!Neuroscience consultant MarileeSpringer says, “Multi-tasking is knownto slow people down by 50% and add50% more mistakes.” Multi-tasking islike putting your brain on drugs. There isa whole body of research that shows thatmultitasking is less productive, makesyou less creative, and contributes to youmaking bad decisions.We are also not allowing ourselves to sitand enjoy the moment anymore. BlaisePascal said, “All man’s miseries derivefrom not being able to sit quietly in aroom alone.” We get in the car, and wehave to put the radio on. When wearrive home we have to put the TV on.When we watch TV, we flip through thechannels. We even lack enough attentionto watch the commercials. We areconstantly filling our minds withconflict. Most people allow theirattention to be pulled in differentdirections; very few people direct theirattention. A lack of attention directionis the real disorder.Stop overwhelming yourself bycontinually changing the channels of yourmind. Sharpen up your intellect byreturning to the habit of doing one thingat a time. Rediscover the value ofconsecutive tasking, instead of settlingfor the quality dilution associated withsimultaneous tasking. Exceptional workis always associated with periods ofdeep concentration. Nothing excellentever comes from a scattered effort.When you are all there, your brainpower and resources will be all there,too.3. KNOW WHAT YOU WANTWhen people approach information theynever really know what they want out ofit. They don’t direct their minds. Learnto engage and be present withinformation by creating a strong PIC inyour mind:Purpose: Have a clear purpose becauseclarity dissolves resistance. Alwaysremember why you are reading orlearning the information. Keep yourpurpose at the forefront of your mind. Ifyou don’t know what you want, how areyou going to know when you get it?Learning with a purpose increases yourattention, comprehension, retention, andorganizes your thoughts. The morespecific the purpose, the moreinformation you will get. A vaguepurpose would be: I want to learn moreabout memory from this book. A specificpurpose would be: I want to learn atleast six key strategies that will enableme to improve my memory. Focus ongetting information that you can use –and then put it into practice. As DavidAllen said, “If you’re not sure whyyou’re doing something, you can neverdo enough of it.”Interest: Your level of interest sets thedirection of your attention and, therefore,your level of focus. If you are notinterested, remembering what you readwill be almost impossible. Whatever ishighest on your interest list is whereyour mind is alert, disciplined, andfocused. Whatever is lower on yourinterest list is where you hesitate andprocrastinate.You can remember mountains ofinformation when you are interested inthe subject. It almost feels automatic andyour concentration is at a peak. Yourdeficits of attention are mostly interestdeficits. Your mind never wandersaway; it only moves towards moreinteresting things.We all know that interest improvesconcentration but how do we getinterested in the ‘boring’ information?The first step is to find your interests andthen to find links or connections betweenyour interests and the new informationthat you are learning. For example, I’minterested in training and sharingknowledge with other people. When Iread anything I’m always searching fornew information relating to my interest.When I read or listen through my interestfilter, I am focused and I canconcentrate. I always ask myselfquestions like, “How does this connectto training? How is it going to improvemy life? If I read or remember this, is itgoing to give me something that not manypeople know? Is it going to help me inthe future? How does this material helpme achieve my goals?” In other words,all ‘boring’ information can be mademore interesting with the right mindset.Gilbert Chesterton said, “There are nouninteresting things, only uninterestedpeople.” So get interested!Curiosity: Questions are the answer toimproving curiosity. Before you startreading or learning, ask yourselfmotivational questions. Most people askquestions that don’t move them to takeaction. They look at the book and saythings like, “Why do I have to read thisbook? This is too much to read. Thislooks really boring.” If you askquestions like that, how much energy areyou going to have to learn? You want toask energy enhancing questions that getyou engaged in the information. Askyourself, “How is this relevant andapplicable to my life right now? Howwill this information help me achieve mygoals? How can I apply this informationto improve my work? How will this helpme? How will this information make memore significant?” Get curious aboutyour mind and how it works. TonyRobbins says, “If you want to cureboredom, be curious. If you’re curious,nothing is a chore; it’s automatic – youwant to study. Cultivate curiosity, andlife becomes an unending study of joy.”4. ELIMINATE WORRYImagine one day you woke up and youdidn't have to worry. What would youfeel like? You would be peaceful; therewould be no thoughts moving throughyour mind. No thoughts sending stressemotions through your system.Imagine waking up and you didn't haveto run or control other people’sbehaviors or control the governmentwith your thinking. Imagine you didn'thave to believe the latest fear rumor.Byron Katie says, “I could only findthree kinds of business in the world -mine, yours, and God's. Whose businessare you in?” You become more relaxedwhen you decide to take up residence inyour own mind and your own business.Life is easy when you simplify and makepeace with your train of thought. Whenyou believe your ‘bad’ thinking; yousuffer. How many people, events, andthings did you try to control with yourmind today? Stay in your own mind andenjoy the laser like energy of having aclear mind.You don’t worry because you care; youworry because that is what you havelearned to do. Worry is a very creativemental process. The questions you ask inyour mind create your worries. If youask 'what if' questions, you set your mindup to worry. If you consistently ask,“What if I lose my job? What if I crashmy car? What if criminals attack me?”All these ‘what if’ phrases create‘movies’ in your mind that constantlyloop different scenarios, which creates astate of worry. Rather, say to yourself,“What would I do if I lost my job? Whatwould I do if I crashed my car?” Thesemovies that are created by thesequestions don't loop you into worry.They give you action steps that directyour mind. Create a procedure fordifferent scenarios and make peace withyour thinking.Learn to practise peace because if youhave no attention you have noretention.Most people swing from one emotionalextreme to the other. Concentration isabout learning how to stay centered.When you concentrate your power, youcan achieve anything. Imagine your mindwas a torch. Most people allow theirtorch to jump and shine all over theplace. You want your torch to stand stilland shine brightly. Nothing outside ofyou is going to fix your concentration; itis an inside job.You need to make a decision today: doyou want to improve your concentrationor don’t you? It is always up to you.Therefore, eliminate your excuses, cleanup your beliefs, and be here now!

PART 2. CREATE AND CONNECT“When you train your creativity, youautomatically train your memory. Whenyou train your memory, youautomatically train your creativethinking skills!”~ Tony Buzan

CHAPTER 5. BRINGINFORMATION TO LIFE“Your mind is the greatest homeentertainment centre ever created.”~ Mark Victor HansenMany people dream of having aphotographic memory. They define it asthe ability to take a quick mental pictureof information (without effort), and thendescribe it in detail from memory. In thiscase, your mind would be like a camerataking photos of anything you need toknow. Unfortunately, all perfect memorytakes some conscious effort andphotographic memory is a myth.Memory is a creative process and not aphotographic process. Many people whoare thought to have a photographicmemory are just using all the methodsthat you will learn in this book on someor other level. If you take these methodsinto your life you will be tapping intoyour natural memory power too. Perfectmemory is a skill and not some specialgift.Have you ever had this experience? Youare in an exam, and you know exactlywhat page the information is on but youdon’t know what is on the page. Or, youare reading something and you get to thebottom of the page and you think toyourself, “What have I just read?” Thereason this happens is because you neverbrought the information to life.Think about it... what happens when youread a novel or a story? You make a kindof movie in your mind, don’t you? Youcan remember all the names of thecharacters, places, and events becauseyou can see it and you are creatingpictures all the time while reading. Youare using your imagination and yournatural creative ability.However, when people start to learntextbook material they try to make amental photograph or recording of thepage but leave their creative abilities outof the learning process. People that learnquickly or have a so-called photographicmemory apply their creativity toeverything they learn. They may haveeither learned how to do this in the pastor they have been using the principlesnaturally and unconsciously.Most people try to rememberinformation with their sense of sound.They repeat the information over andover again, hoping it will somehowstick. Sound is very limited because itdoesn’t attach easily to other memories.A sound is also always sequential; if youwant to remember something with soundyou have to start at the beginning andwork your way through the information.However, when you see information asan image in your mind you can jump inand out of the information, and thereforeimprove your understanding too.Any book that you really enjoy normallyactivates your imagination and brings theinformation to life. You naturally getengaged in the book and you battle to putit down because you don’t want to turnthe ‘movie’ off.Your mind is like an internal moviescreen on which you can ask it toproduce information. This is how wethink and learn effectively. Your braincreates miracles everyday by convertinglifeless information into pictures andideas. When you become aware of this,every word becomes a picture drawnwith letters because words are onlysymbols of three-dimensional images.Arthur Gordon said, “Isn’t it amazinghow we take them for granted? Thoselittle black marks on paper. Twenty-sixdifferent shapes known as letters,arranged in endless combinations,known as words, lifeless, untilsomeone’s eye falls on them.”If your brain was unable to make imagesout of symbols, all learning and readingwould be worthless and incrediblyboring. Your brain likes pictures and weare really good at remembering them. Asneuroscientist John Medina says, “Heara piece of information and three dayslater you’ll remember 10% of it. Add apicture and you’ll remember 65%.”Some people say, “I can’t make picturesin my mind.” We all make pictures in ourmind. If you were unable to create orremember visual images, you would beseverely handicapped. Learn to use yourimagination; it is a learned skill and nota natural talent.Reading and understanding is also acreative imagination process. It is apower that can be compared to magic.We succeed in this area when weproduce images in our mind. When wedon’t, we feel confused or ignorant. If Itried to explain to you how a car engineworks but you don’t know what anengine looks like or if I didn’t have onefor you to look at or a drawing torepresent it, it would be really difficultto understand.The more we turn information intoimages or mind movies, the more wewill remember and comprehend. We canlearn to make all our learning morecreative and memorable if we use ourunlimited imagination.You can learn to enhance your memoryimagination system by making your mindmovies exciting and sticky. The way todo this is with the ‘SEE’ principle.THE SEE PRINCIPLEUse your S – Senses: there are only fiveways to get anything into your brain, andthat is through sight, sound, smell, touch,and taste. When you utilize your sensesyou experience more of life and youremember more.Our senses help us mentally recreate ourworld. If you train your senses you willbe using more of your brain, and if youlearn to engage as many of your sensesas you can then you will automaticallyimprove your memory. Think of a horse:see it in your mind, touch it, smell it,hear it, and even taste it. You didn’t seethe letters H.O.R.S.E in your mind; yousaw a multisensory picture of what theword represents. Your senses make mindmovies real and memorable. Use them!E – Exaggeration: what is easier toremember: a strawberry that is normalsize or one the size of a house? Makeyour images larger or smaller than life.What is more memorable: an elephant oran elephant wearing a pink bikini?Exaggerate with Humor; tickle yourmind. There is no scientific evidenceto prove that learning should beserious. Make your images illogical.Have fun; create some positiveexaggerated learning memories.E – Energize: give your pictures action.Would you rather watch a movie of yourholiday or a slide show? What createsmore feeling in your imagination: ahorse standing still or a horse that isrunning and moving?Make your information vivid, colorful,and not boring, flat and black and white.Use action; it brings life to yourmemories. Make your images act inillogical ways: you can weave, crash,stick, or wrap things together. We canmake things talk, sing, and dance. Thinkabout the great genius Walt Disney.The process of imagination is a funcreative process. The more enjoymentyou can put into it the better.When you are reading, or hearingsomething, focus on all the SEEprinciples and imagine it is a movie.Even if you don’t use a specific methodthat you will learn in this book, the SEEprinciples will improve yourconcentration. Emile Coue pointed outthat, “When the imagination and thewill are in conflict, the imaginationalways wins.” If you ‘will’ yourself toremember, and your imagination is noton the task, you will have zero retentionand recall. Your imagination is the placeof all your memory power.Some people say, “This is not the waythat I naturally think.” This is not theway that I naturally think either; thisis how I have taught myself to think,because it works. The more skilled youbecome in using your imagination themore you can know, comprehend, andcreate. In this way, you become thedirector of your own mind.How do I turn abstract information intoimages?We remember nouns and adjectives withease because they have meaning and wecan make a mental picture without mucheffort. Most abstract words can be madeto mean something. Just use a meaningfulthought or word to represent a‘meaningless’ word. Find a word orphrase that sounds the same or similar tothe abstract word, or you can break aword up into its individual sounds.Imagine you had to remember the nameWashington; you could turn that wordinto a picture of you washing a tin. Or, ifyou had to remember the wordHydrogen you could see a picture of afire Hydrant drinking gin.You can turn all complex informationinto something meaningful andmemorable by turning it into images. Inthe beginning it will take a bit of efforton your part. You will have to investyour attention at first and then it willbecome a habit. To practise look atwords, break them up, make a pictureand give it all more meaning. Let uslearn a few foreign words for practice.Really imagine each word and create aSEE mini mind movie.First, we will use Spanish words:Tiger is Tigre, it sounds like tea grey.Imagine a tiger drinking his tea that hasturned grey.Sun is Sole. Imagine that the sun isburning the sole of your one foot.Arm is Brazo. Imagine a bra is sewnonto your arm.Some Italian words:Chicken is Polo. You can imagineplaying polo with a chicken instead of aball.Cat is Gatto. Imagine saying to yourfriend, “You’ve got to hold my cat.”Some French words:Book is Livre. Sounds like liver, so youcan imagine opening a book and findingsquashed liver inside.Hand is Main. My main hand is my righthand.Chair is Chez. Imagine you have sharesin a chair.Some Zulu words:Dog is inja (eenjaa). Think of aninjured dog.Floor is phansi (pansee). Imagine apansy growing out of the floor.Snake is Inyoka (eenyo’kaa). Imagine asnake slithering in your car.Some Japanese words:Chest is Mune (Mooneh). Imaginemoney growing out of your chest.Door is To (Toe). Imagine you arekicking the door with your big toe.Carpet is Juutan (Jootan). Imagine youare tanning on a big carpet. Or, you tana carpet.Test yourself:What is the Spanish word for tiger?What is the Italian word for cat?What is the Zulu word for dog?What is the Japanese word for chest?What is the French word for book?What is the Italian word for chicken?What is the Zulu word for snake?What is the French word for hand?What is the Japanese word for carpet?Just by connecting these words in a sillymind movie you have learned fourteenforeign words. You can use this methodto remember hundreds of foreign wordsif you use the SEE principle. Rememberyou are only connecting two concepts ata time. If you imagine it for a fewseconds it will stick in your memory andit will be easy to recall if you need it.You can even use this method toremember all the countries and capitals.You just need to bring the information tolife.The capital of Australia is Canberra,you can imagine a Kangaroo (representsAustralia) eating a can of berries(Canberra) and the two will sticktogether making it more memorable.The capital of Greece is Athens.Imagine eight hens (sounds like Athens)swimming in Greece.The capital of Madagascar isAntananarivo. Imagine a Mad gas carcrashing into your friend Ann, who istanning on a river.The capital of Belgium is Brussels.Imagine Brussels sprouts falling out of abell doing gym (Belgium.)Make a silly picture and really SEE itand you can remember all the capitalswith ease.The greatest secret of a powerfulmemory is to bring information to lifewith your endless imagination. Takeresponsibility for your memory. You canonly learn to control your memory whenyou become the source of yourimagination. Memory is not a thing thathappens to you; you create yourmemories. You can make anyinformation into something moremeaningful. When we start using thememory systems you will see how easyit is to convert abstract information intomeaningful concepts. Using all thesememory methods improves yourcreativity, enhances your memory andyour humor too.

CHAPTER 6. USE YOUR CAR TOREMEMBER“Making the simple complicated iscommonplace; making the complicatedsimple, awesomely simple, that’screativity.”~ Charles MingusWe have just learned to bringinformation to life by turning informationinto pictures or mind movies. Now weneed to learn to create files, for pictures,from our long-term memory. This willassist us in remembering newinformation. These systems require youto think differently. I always think it isamazing how people want to improvetheir memory and concentration, but theydo more of the same thing and expect adifferent result. You have to do different,to become different.The method that I will share with younow is called, The Car Method. Our caris a great long-term storage compartmentbecause we know it well and can easilynavigate it in our mind. With thismethod, as with all of them, I want youto SEE the images in your mind.Remember every word in any languageis only a picture drawn with letters. Getrid of your excuses like, “I’m notcreative” or “I don’t think like this”.This isn’t how I think either; this is howI have trained myself to think, because itworks.These methods may seem silly but justgo with it. I promise that you will see thepoint and you will remember theinformation. These systems take long forme to explain, but they work at the speedof thought. The only reason it won’twork for you, is if you don’t do it.We are going to use nouns for thisexercise because they are easy toimagine and therefore easier to controland store. Then in the second exercise,and the rest of the book, we will usemore abstract information. Follow theimages in your mind and let’s see howmuch you remember.See your car in your mind and imagineyou squeeze a big apple into the frontgrid of your car. Take a carrot andstab it into the bonnet. On thewindscreen see grainy bread, andthink to yourself, “The grainy bread isgoing to damage my windscreenwipers.” Get inside your car and squashdried fruit on the dash board, reallysee it go into your speedometer. On thedriver’s seat imagine you are sitting onblue berries and strawberries– really feel it. Throw eggs at theperson sitting in the passenger seat nextto you, they now have egg on their face.Imagine you are pouring thousands ofnuts and seeds onto your back seat.Go outside your car and imagine amassive orange on your roof. Youopen the boot and it is full of fish –really smell the fish. In the exhaust pipethere is broccoli and Brusselssprouts growing out of the exhaust,and finally the tires of your car are madeout of sweet potatoes. Sweet!Go through your car, from the beginningto the end, and see if you can rememberall the information. If a word didn’tstick, go back, make the connectionstronger and SEE it more clearly in yourmind.What you have just learned are fourteensuper foods; foods that have been shownto improve your vitality and keep yourmind agile and alert. Not only do youknow the list forwards but you alsoknow it backwards and inside and out.What is on the roof? What are the cartires made of? What was on the driver’sseat? What was on the bonnet of the car?Your mind automatically makes theconnection and answers the question forrecall. Now that you really know it, it iseasier to use and think about.Some people say, “But now I have toremember the car too, you are giving memore to remember.” That is not true.With all of the systems you will be usingsomething that is already in yourmemory. In fact, you are using all of theunused space in your long-term memory.You remembered the entire list and withease. Now, why does this system workso well? If you throw water into a sieveit goes in and straight through. If you puta packet into the sieve the water will gettrapped. Your memory works in the sameway. Your long-term memory (things thatare in your memory forever, like yourname and what your house looks likeetc.) is like the packet that can be used totrap short-term information (newinformation coming in, like a newtelephone number.) When you havemanaged to do that, you make a strongmedium-term memory (MTM).With the car list your whole car is inyour long-term memory (LTM). LTMoffers you a place to store theinformation. The locations in the carbecome storage compartments for theshort-term memories (STM). All thememory methods work with my formula:LTM + STM = MTM.These methods also organizeinformation, therefore making it easier tofind. What is easier to remember, ‘Supermemory’ or ‘Yomerm puers’? Sameletters, but very different meaning andthe second is harder to memorize. Themore order you put into a subject theeasier it will be to remember. Thesecret to accelerated learning issuperior organization.We can use other cars to remember othernew information too. Here is a picture ofa car with seven images on it. Itshouldn’t conflict with the food car,because it opens up a new ‘memoryfile’.Look at the picture below and make surethat you can clearly recreate the wholeimage in your mind. Break the imagesdown; look at each place and make surethat each one sticks to its place.Have you done that? Good, what youhave just learned are Stephen Covey’sSeven Habits of Highly EffectivePeople. By remembering all sevenimages you are creating points ofreference within your mind for each ofthe habits. When you have it in yourmemory it will be easier to gauge if youare living the Seven Habits. When youmentally look at the car you willinstantly be able to recall all theinformation. Remember the more youknow, the easier it is to get to knowmore.Let me explain each of the pictures; theSeven Habits are as follows:Habit 1: Be Pro-active – I thought of aBee that is a pro-golfer. That pictureshould be enough to trigger habit 1.Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind –The brain is running a race, and lookingat the end in mind.Habit 3: Put First Things First – theman is in 1st position, putting first thingsfirst.Habit 4: Think Win/Win – the twotrophies show that everyone wins withwin/win.Habit 5: Seek First to Understand,Then to be Understood – The manunder the umbrella will stand up.Habit 6: Synergize – sign balancing onthe edge with eyes.Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw – on the tireof the car.With your memory always use as fewpictures as possible, to remember asmuch as possible. The more simple andclear it is, the less you will feeloverwhelmed.You can also make the connection thatthe first 3 habits are the PrivateVictory: the front of your car is private;you are the only one that opens thebonnet of your car. Habits 4, 5 and 6 arethe Public Victory: in the car, you allowothers to get into your car, it is public.Habit 7 is outside the car: the seventhhabit keeps everything else in check.Remember these habits, read the book toget more understanding and retention andlive them. As Stephen Covey said,“Habits can be learned and unlearned.But I also know it isn’t a quick fix. Itinvolves a process and a tremendouscommitment.”In this chapter you have been able toremember twenty-one bits of usefulinformation. These methods help you toorganize information more clearly andtherefore you will be using more of yourmemory power and potential. All themethods in this book help you to storeinformation that can be used. You canmake many more storage compartmentsin and on your car. If you think about ityou can use every detail of your car tofind at least 100 places to store newinformation in your memory. You canalso use any other forms of transport:buses, trains, airplanes, ships or evenspace ships as storage files orcompartments.

CHAPTER 7. USE YOUR BODYTO REMEMBER“The music of your life is far betterplayed with all the fingers of yourMultiple Intelligences performing theirmagic on the keyboard of yourexistence.”~ Tony BuzanThe quote you have just read was takenfrom Tony’s book called Head First. Inhis book he talks about how we have atleast ten intelligences. We don’t justhave one way of being ‘clever’ but atleast ten and probably more. I like toremember these intelligences to remindmyself how incredible we all are and tofocus on improving them daily. Butbefore I get ahead of myself, let medemonstrate how to remember theseintelligences with another system. It iscalled, The Body Method. It is similar toThe Car Method, but this time we areusing parts of our body to store the newinformation. Your body is another greatlong-term storage compartment; you arein it every day and you know it well.There are plenty of storagecompartments that you can use, but fordemonstration purposes I’m only goingto use ten places.With this method we are going to placeten key bits of information on our body.The information is a bit more abstract, itwill require you to think morecreatively, so let’s give it a go.The first place that we are going to storeinformation on is our feet. The firstintelligence is Creative intelligence. SoI want you to imagine that you arestanding on a big bright light bulb (alight bulb always reminds me of creativeideas), and it is burning your feet. Tostrengthen the association you can alsoimagine you are painting a beautifulwork of art on your feet.On the second place, your knees, we aregoing to store Personal intelligence.Now imagine a big Purse (sounds likePersonal) on your knees. Create a bit ofaction with this picture; imagine openingthe purse on your knees and your kneescome flying out of it. Personalintelligence is about takingresponsibility, so own the purse on yourknees.The next storage compartment is yourthighs. Here we will store Socialintelligence. Imagine people having abig Party (Social) on your thighs.Really SEE the party and feel ithappening on your thighs now.The next place is your belt or hips, andwe will store Spiritual intelligencethere. Imagine a beautiful angel on yourbelt, or that the angel is buckling yourbelt for you (Angels remind me ofspirituality). Now review all theprevious images from your feet to yourhips. The words are Creative, Personal,Social, and Spiritual.Next is your Physical intelligence andwe will store it on your stomach.Imagine you get physical, start doing situps and your stomach all of a suddenbecomes muscular; it becomes theperfect six pack.Imagine in your left hand your Sensualintelligence. Here you can imagine asnotty nose, ears, and eyes to remind youof all of your senses.Then in your right hand place Sexualintelligence – here you can make up yourown picture.Now let’s review quickly, we have:Creative, Personal, Social, Spiritual,Physical, Sensual, and Sexual.The next place is your mouth. Imaginebig bright colorful numbers flying out ofyour mouth (Numerical intelligence).Or, you can only speak in numbers.On your nose, SEE a space ship landingon your nose and forehead (Spatialintelligence.) Or, SEE a space shipflying up your nose.Finally, on the top of your head imaginewriting words on your hair, or your hairstarts talking (Verbal intelligence.)Let’s review The Body List:The Creative and EmotionalIntelligences(Legs create motion; that is to remindyou that the Creative and Emotionalintelligences are stored on your feet andlegs.)1. Creative intelligence2. Personal intelligence (selfknowledge,self-fulfillment, andunderstanding self)3. Social intelligence4. Spiritual intelligenceThe Bodily Intelligences(All stored on the biggest part of yourbody, on your torso.)5. Physical intelligence6. Sensual intelligence7. Sexual intelligenceThe Traditional IQ Intelligences(The head intelligences.)8. Numerical intelligence9. Spatial intelligence10. Verbal intelligence.Tony Buzan says we are now enteringthe intelligence age, so it is vitallyimportant that you know more about youramazing intelligences. The Body Methodalso helps you structure the informationso that you can easily jump in and out ofthe material. When you read Head First,the body list will act as a powerfulmemory matrix that will attract moreinformation and improve yourunderstanding and recognition of thecontent. If you hear any other list ofintelligences, like Howard Gardner’s,you can easily slot the information intoits relevant compartment. When you hearpeople discussing IQ you will alsoimmediately know (remember) that IQonly tests three intelligences – the headintelligences.“Most of us have been taught to thinkthat we are either intelligent or we arenot. But the definitions of intelligencewe learned at school were built aroundthe specific types of intelligence thatare most valued at school – verbalintelligence and numericalintelligence.”~ Paul McKennaThe Body Method was originallyinvented by the ancient Greeks. You canuse this method to remember informationfor exams, work, shopping lists or anylist of information. You can even use itto remember things when you don’t havea pen at hand, like when you are in theshower. I just used ten places as anexample, but you can use your back, yourears, eyes, nose… you can use it all. Justmake sure you connect the two in ahumorous way (remember the SEEprinciples), and that you remember theorder. I have been able to use thismethod to remember fifty bits ofinformation. I like to use this system toremember information so that I canconsistently look at the information andhave it at my fingertips.

CHAPTER 8. PEGGINGINFORMATION DOWN“The existence of forgetting has neverbeen proved: We only know that somethings don't come to mind when wewant them.”~ Friedrich NietzscheHave you ever had this experience, yousmell something and instantly yourmemory takes you back to another time?The smell is a link to the experience. Or,you hear a song and a whole stream ofmemories are released from your mind?We can consciously take control of thisreminder principle to create anothersystem for our memory skills toolbox.This is the first system that I everlearned, and it introduced me to mymemory potential. It worked so well thatit seemed like a trick and ever since thatday I have been hooked on the power ofmy memory. I hope it has a similar effectfor you. It is called, The Peg Method ofmemory.We are going to explore the power ofyour associative mind. We are going tolearn two new peg methods of memory.The first is called The Rhyming PegMethod and the other The Shape PegMethod. These secrets were brought toour conscious awareness by JohnSambrook and Henry Heardson in thelate 1700s.These methods are very simple andeffective. It will provide you with amethod that can help you remember 40or more bits of information in a shortspace of time. You can even rememberthe information in random order and bynumber.Let me explain the first method, therhyming pegs. The pegs act in much thesame way as clothes pegs. They keepinformation hanging around in yourmind. The pegs themselves must becomepart of your long-term memory for themto work. Remember you always needyour long-term memory to assist yourshort-term memory. With this method youassociate new information to long-termmemory pegs in your mind. The pegsalso act as compartments or files foryour new thoughts. The method issimple; it makes memory pegs out ofrhyming words and we will use thefollowing rhyming words as mentalfiles:One rhymes with the word BunTwo– ShoeThree– TreeFour– DoorFive– HiveSix– SticksSeven– HeavenEight– GateNine– VineTen– HenNow, each one of these pegs can becomecompartments to store new information.You link the peg (using the SEEprinciple) to the words that you want toremember.In Anthony Robbin’s life changing book,Awaken the Giant Within, he has a listof The Ten Emotions of Power. I wantyou to use this new system so that youcan hold these emotions in your mind.Think about them daily, becausepersonal development only happenswhen you can remember what you needto act on.The Ten Emotions of Power are:1. Love and warmth2. Appreciation and gratitude3. Curiosity4. Excitement and passion5. Determination6. Flexibility7. Confidence8. Cheerfulness9. Vitality10. ContributionRemember to make the images illogical.SEE the information in your mind for afew seconds. Take your time and makethe associations strong; you can alsodraw an image to help you experiencethe information more.One bun, imagine a heart (symbol forlove) shaped warm bun, or imagine thatthousands of warm hearts are flying outof a bun. Really visualize it and you willremember that one is love and warmth.Two shoe, imagine that a preacher isgrating a shoe with a cheese grater. Iused a preacher to remind you ofappreciation and a grater for gratitude.Three tree, imagine a cat in the tree,don’t make it logical. Maybe, imaginethat the branches look like cats, cats arehanging off the branches or cats aregrowing out of the tree. Curiosity killedthe cat. So, three is curiosity.Four door, imagine an excited personbashing down your door. Or, the door isso excited it jumps up and down andopens and closes. You squeeze passionfruit on the excited door. Four isexcitement and passion.Five hive, imagine determined bees ordetermined terminators trying to breakopen a bee hive. Bees are a determinednation. Determination is five.Six sticks, imagine hitting a flexibleperson, that is doing the splits, with astick. Or, really feel how flexible thestick can be. Six is Flexibility.Seven heaven, imagine heaven is full ofconfident people. See them walking tallwith confidence that they are inparadise. Seven is Confidence.Eight gate, see a smiley faced shapedgate. You cheerfully open the cheerfulgate. Eight is cheerfulness.Nine vine, see vitamins growing on avine. As you eat these vitamin grapesyou feel your sense of vitality improve.Ten hen, imagine a hen giving youpresents. She is a contributing hen. Tenis contribution.Now really see each link picture in yourmind and make it clear. You should nowknow these emotions forwards,backwards, and in random order. Testyourself to see if you have them all.Practise feeling these emotions becauseyou become good at what you practise.Anthony Robbins says, “You are thesource of all your emotions; you are theone who creates them. Plant theseemotions daily, and watch your wholelife grow with vitality that you’ve neverdreamed of before.”The rhyme method can be extended byfinding more words that rhyme with thenumber, e.g.: one - bun, sun, tum, gumand gun. With this method you can easilycreate a peg system that you can use tostore up to 30 bits of new information.Pegging also has no limits; you cancreate other lists too. Here is the secondshort peg list that you can use, TheShape System. It converts numbers intoconcrete shapes. It works in the sameway as the rhyme list, only this time thepegs are shaped like the number. We arenot going to do an exercise with thissystem, because you have alreadylearned the principle in the rhyme list.Use this list on your own, to rememberten bits of new information, play with itand have a bit of fun. The shape methodjust gives you another option to use.Here is the list:These peg lists create so many newpossibilities; you can create all kinds ofpeg lists. You can use any list that isalready in your long-term memory. Youcan make up words for each letter of thealphabet e.g. apple, bucket, cat, dolphinetc. Use any list that you already knowwell: your favorite football players,super heroes, pop stars or any list thatyou can remember in order. Enjoy usingthis method, and find new ways toimprove it.

CHAPTER 9. IN THE FIRSTPLACE“Whatever you think about, that’s whatyou remember. Memory is the residue ofthought.”~ Daniel T. WillinghamThe system that you are about todiscover is the most incredible tool youwill ever learn. It will help you grow inways that you could never imagine. It isso simple, it has been around for 2500years, and yet few have harnessed itspotential. You can use this system toremember any information andmountains of it. It takes practice, butonce you use it you will never lookback.This method is the original and still themost effective of all the systems. Usingthis system is as easy as remembering ajourney. Some people think this methodis too simple to work, but it worksbecause it doesn’t overwhelm you.It is the same process as The Car andBody List, but only this time we areusing places or markers on a location,journey or route to store information.Here is how it works:1) Prepare in your mind an organizedlocation (e.g. a house layout, a journeyor a shopping centre.)2) Create markers or places on thislocation, same as what we did with thebody and car list (in an easy-to-followorder.)3) Make a clear image (using the SEEprinciples) of the information that youwould like to remember.4) Place each item you are trying toremember on each of the markedlocations.In short, it is as simple as finding a placelike a route, journey or building in yourmind to store the information. Then youstore it. This system makes rememberinglarge amounts of information as easy asremembering a trip to the nearest shop.You are using the formula again: LongTermMemory + Short-Term Memory= Medium-Term Memory.Let me introduce you to The JourneyMethod with a short exercise. We aregoing to store twelve useful principlesfrom one of John C. Maxwell’s books. Ireally enjoy his books because they arealways very well organized andtherefore making storing informationeasier. He normally creates a summarylist of the topics that he will cover andthen he writes in more detail about eachtopic. You can use the systems toremember all of his lists and laws andbecome an expert in leadership. Oncethe information is in a memorablematrix, it will start to attract moreinformation to it; it helps long-termstorage and use. When you have it inyour head it is so much easier to use,because what is the use of information ifyou can’t recall what you know?In his book Today Matters he sharestwelve keys that you can focus on dailyto get more success and fulfillment inyour life. As he says, “You will neverchange your life until you changesomething you do daily.” He calls them,The Daily Dozen.Here are the keys:1. Attitude2. Priorities3. Health4. Family5. Thinking6. Commitment7. Finances8. Faith9. Relationships10. Generosity11. Values12. GrowthMost people will repeat the list ofinformation over and over again and tryto force it into their memory. Rotelearning and constant repetition createsan aversion to learning and it isfrustrating. The more you can encodeinformation into your memory, the moreeffective the learning. Let’s use a methodto find the fun in FrUstratioN. Now allthat we have to do is to focus attentionand connect each thought to a place. Trythis little exercise with me…I am going to be using four rooms in myhouse as a journey to give you anexample of how you can use this system.The rooms are compartments in my mindthat I can use to store new information.Let me guide you through the house andlet’s store the information together.Make sure that your markers are all in aneasy to follow order. Then review yourmarkers to make sure you have clearstorage compartments. The places mustalso be near each other, but nicelyspaced out.Here is a mental map of four rooms inmy house and twelve places that we willuse, and they are:Room 1 Kitchen: 1. Washing machine 2.Fridge 3. Stove.Room 2 TV room: 4. Chairs 5. TV 6.Exercise bike.Room 3 Bedroom: 7. Mirror 8.Cupboards 9. Bed.Room 4 Bathroom: 10. Bath 11.Shower 12. Toilet.If I gave you a box with twelve objectsin it, would you be able to place it on thefurniture in my house? Of course youwould, now all we do is turn theinformation into something tangible, likean object, and then place them in theroom.We start in the kitchen. The first word isAttitude. Imagine someone with a reallybad attitude jumping into your washingmachine. Clean up his attitude in themachine. SEE it!At the next place imagine writing all ofyour Priorities on the fridge door. Use apermanent marker and think about howyour priorities are permanently stored onthe fridge door.Imagine a healthy bodybuilder making anapple pie and shoving it into the stove.The apples are also a reminder forHealth.So what was in the washing machine?On the fridge? At the stove?Now we move to the TV room. The firstplace there is the chairs. Imagine yourwhole Family is jumping up and downon the chairs. The more illogical theimage, the more it will stick.The second place is the TV. Imagine athought bubble coming out of the TV,because it is a Thinking machine. It alsoinfluences our thinking.The final place in the room is theexercise bike, so imagine combing(reminds you of commitment) theexercise bike. It is also a Commitmentto use the bike.In my bedroom the first place is themirror and here imagine money flyingout of the mirror. Your Finances are amirror of your productivity.Whatever represents faith for you, placeit inside the cupboard. Put Faith onevery shelf or hanger.The next word we want to place on ourmemory journey is Relationships, andthat is on the bed. Okay, you can makeyour own picture here.The final room is the bathroom. See agenie jumping out of the bath and hegives you what you wish. The geniegiving reminds us of Generosity.Imagine the shower is made out of gold.Or, you open the taps and gold runs outof it. Gold has great value, andrepresents Values.At the last place we imagine a treegrowing out of the toilet for Growth.What was the word connected to eachplace?Excellent, that is now your first memoryroute or journey, and it will begin toopen your mind to the possibility ofhaving a perfect memory. You have justlearnt the 12 keys in John Maxwell’sbook Today Matters, and it was as easyas walking around my house. You willremember all the words if you haveconnected them properly. Go through it afew times and you will know The DailyDozen. You will get better results withthis method if you used your ownenvironment because you are moreaware of the order of the places.Review the list backwards and you willnotice that it will all still be there. Byreviewing it backwards, you make theimages clearer for your memory. If youmade clear images and placed them onthe route, the list will be verymemorable. This method helps you tosee the big picture and zoom into thedetails. The concepts are brought to lifeand become concrete. It is always easierto remember something that isexperienced in your mind; we rememberwhat we think about.Now think about this information thatyou have learned, buy Today Mattersand focus on making small changes inthese areas daily, and remember it tolive it.This journey or route method shows youwhat is possible. Every great memoryperson uses this method more than anyother. It is so effective because you canmake thousands of storage places. Thinkabout how many markers you can make?We all have a brilliant memory forjourneys. You have visited many placesin your life; you can use buildings,museums, schools, shopping centers, andalmost any location that you know. Makesure they are places you know well, thathave significance to you, and they havelots of variety. You can make your routesas long as you want; you can have aplace or route for every subject you arelearning. Remember to have fun!This system will change the way that youlearn forever. The only effort is trying toimprove your ability to make images andplacing it on a familiar mental journey. Itwill feel like you are cheating; it is likehaving crib notes or a teleprompterinside your head. The journey is like thepaper and the images are like the ink.Your imagination can create anyinformation on a familiar journey. It willchange your life!You can use it to remember all kinds ofinformation, I have helped medicalstudents, law students, pilots, managers,and business people remember all kindsof information with this method. I usedthis method to store the first 10,000digits of pi. A friend of mine Dr. YipSwee Chooi remembered the wholeOxford dictionary, 1774 pages, wordfor-word with this method. Anyone canstore an unlimited amount if they chooseto spend the time. Some people say, “Iwill run out of space.” If I gave you atruck full of objects to place in ashopping mall, would you be able to dothat? Of course you would. If you lookfor it, you will find thousands andthousands of places just waiting to beused in your mind. There are no limits tothis system, only limits in your ownthinking.The important thing is that youpractise. The more you practise thebetter you will get.

CHAPTER 10. LINKINGTHOUGHTS“No memory is ever alone; it's at theend of a trail of memories, a dozentrails that each have their ownassociations.”~ Louis L’AmourIn the previous chapters we learned tobring information to life, and to store itin a long-term memory compartmentsystem. Now in this chapter we aregoing to learn to link more thoughtstogether. It is a way to direct attentionand to strengthen your imagination andyour ability to associate concepts. Yourmind is an associating machine and ithas no limits.I often hear people say, “Oh, do youlearn by association?” The answer tothat is we only learn by association.Learning is connecting new informationto old information, it doesn’t happen anyother way. It is creating a relationshipbetween the known and the unknown –and the more you know, the easier it is toconnect more information and get toknow more.Now let’s memorize a list together toexperience this method. It will seemsilly, but stick with it and I will make apoint. This story takes longer for me toexplain than what happens in your mind.Read it and remember to use the SEEprinciple.I want you to imagine that you arewashing a tin; really see it in your mind.As you wash the tin, it suddenly beginsdeveloping a huge Adams apple. A chefand her son grab the Adams apple andrip it out. The Chef and her son thendecide to make some medicine, whichthey give to Marilyn Monroe and shestarts to develop a massive Adamsapple too. Michael Jackson sees herAdams apple throbbing and runs awayscreaming and jumps into a van withbeer in it. The van is being driven by abig yellow hairy sun – really see it,make it silly, hairy, and let it stick. Thehairy sun doesn’t drive very well andcrashes into a tiler tilling his wall. Thetiler’s tiles are polka dot tiles. A tailortakes the polka dots off and startstailoring you a polka-dotted suite.Now recall the story and all the keywords. If you didn’t get it all, read itagain and make the links stronger. See ifyou can do it backwards too.What you have just learned are the firsttwelve presidents of the USA. You cancontinue remembering all forty-fourPresidents just by linking one thought tothe next. If you have any problemsrecalling the list just make it moreoutstanding and make the links clearer.Here is the list of the first twelvePresidents:1. Washing a tin - Washington2. Adams apple - Adams3. A chef and her son - sounds likeJefferson4. Medicine - sounds like Madison5. Marilyn Monroe - Monroe6. Adams apple - Adams7. Michael Jackson - Jackson8. A van with beer in - Van Buren9. A hairy sun - Harrison10. A tiler (a person who lays tiles) -Tyler11. Polka dots - Polk12. Tailor - TaylorOnce you have the list in your mind gothrough it forwards and backwards afew times to make sure it is all there.You can also link more information tothe list, so it becomes like a new peglist. You could link each vice-presidentto your presidents, just like we did withthe foreign words and capitals. You canalso connect your links or stories tosome of the other systems that you havelearnt. You can link more than oneconcept at a specific place orcompartment on the car, body, pegs orjourney method. This way you canremember thousands of words orconcepts by connecting links to a shortmental journey.It is so powerful because we use moreof our creativity and imagination to makethe information outstanding, thereforestimulating our interest and curiosity;keeping our attention at a peak. Eachword reminds you of the next, you aremaking your own links and you are onlymemorizing two things at a time. You canalso use this method to memorizeparagraphs of information. All that youhave to do is condense everything downto a list of key words and then convertthose lists into meaningful link stories. Awhole syllabus or a book can becondensed into a ridiculous story. Whenyou do this it is easy to remember, givingyou a great mental workout and it is fun!

CHAPTER 11. REMEMBERINGNAMES“Remember that a person's name is tothat person the sweetest and mostimportant sound in any language.”~ Dale CarnegieThere is no such thing as a good or badmemory for names, there is only a goodor a bad strategy. In this chapter you aregoing to learn strategies that can make ahuge difference to your name memory.Make a commitment today to improve; itis a commitment that will provide youwith numerous benefits and save youfrom many embarrassing situations.In Chapter 3, I showed you the selffulfillingcircle. Get rid of your limitingbeliefs about your name memory andstart to focus on finding a strategy thatcan help you. Become motivated andinterested in names and how we brandpeople according to that name.Imagine you meet a person and they saythat they will give you a million dollarsif you could remember their name aweek from today. Would you thenremember it? Of course you would. Weare all brilliant at names if we aremotivated enough to hold on to them.The methods that I will be sharing withyou have been used for centuries. Theyrequire you to think differently and touse your incredible associating mind.Some people say that they have triedassociation to remember names and itdoesn’t work for them. It doesn’t work ifyou don’t practise, nothing in life worksunless you work with it. All the memorychampions are using associationmethods and can easily remember abouta hundred names in less than half-anhour.I believe that if you copy thestrategies of the champions you can getthe same results and if you don’t youwon’t.The untrained memory is not veryreliable. The average person leavestheir memory to chance, hoping that thename will somehow stick. The strategiesthat I will share with you work – usethem!Now if you want to remember nameslike a memory master you have to focuson the four Cs.1. CONCENTRATEWhen you meet someone with the samename as you, do you remember theirname? Yes, because you are interested inthat name, you always hear it, and yourattention is at a peak. The name hasmeaning to you and you also connect it toyourself. If you follow this basic strategywith every person that you meet you willremember their names.When we get introduced to people theynormally say their name so quickly thatnobody can get it. Take control of theintroduction, to be able to really get thename you have to slow down theintroduction. Put your elephant ears onand really hear the name, makeremembering names something that isimportant to you.Oliver Wendel Holmes said, “A personmust get a thing before they can forgetit.” You need to really hear the namefirst, if you don’t hear something youwill not remember it. You have to firstget it to turn it into a memory. If you hearthe name, and repeat it back to theperson you will improve your recall. Ifyou don’t hear the name, ask the personto say it to you again, and if it is adifficult name ask the person to spell thename too.Listen and get genuinely interested in theother person’s name. We are normally soworried about being interesting, that weforget to be interested. When youbecome interested you will want tolisten to the name. Learn to listen topeople from their perspective and notyour own. Not only will it improve yourname memory, but your socialintelligence too.2. CREATEYou have to create an image for the namein your mind, to be able to re-create itlater.Have you ever heard people say, “Iknow the face, but I can’t remember thename...?” You never hear people say,“The face is on the tip of my tongue”. Weremember faces because they form animage in our mind. The names don’tnormally ‘stick’ because we try toremember it with our auditory memoryor our little voice. It doesn’t make senseto try to stick a sound to a vision – ofcourse it won’t stick. Plus, auditorymemories are never as solid as visualmemories.To hold on to a memory we must makean image out of the name. Rememberhow we created images out of nameswhen we learned the presidents? Whenyou give a name meaning you can thenhold on to it.When you put a name into your mind andyou don’t do anything with it, it willdisappear and you won’t be able to findit again. This is because workingmemory doesn’t store information. So tostore it you need assistance from yourshort and long-term memory. You have toreally think about the name to rememberit because we only remember what wethink about.When you are introduced to someone,you only have twenty seconds to thinkabout the name and make an association.If you don’t do anything with the name intwenty seconds the name will be gone.The more connections and meaning youcan give the name, the more it will‘stick’.Some of the names will naturally createa picture like the surnames Baker, Cruiseor Gardner. My surname is Horsley soyou can think of a horse and Bruce lee.My first name is Kevin and it soundslike Cave in, making it easy to create animage and meaning out of my name.Other names may be more difficult, butby using a bit of creativity any name canbe given meaning and turned into apicture.3. CONNECTRemember that all learning is creating arelationship between the known and theunknown. You will already know theface so you need to connect the unknownname to the known face. When you seethe face it must act as a trigger or peg tobring the name to your awareness.Here are some methods to make theconnection. All the methods you learnhere take a great deal longer to explainthan to use.COMPARISON CONNECTIONWith this method you connect the personto a name that you already know. Let’ssay we meet a person by the name ofGeorge. To make the name stick, wethink of someone that we already knowwith the same name. Do you knowanother George? You may even think ofsomeone famous with the same name,like George Clooney.Now all we do in our mind is comparethe two people. What color hair does theGeorge that we are meeting have? Whatcolor is the other George’s hair? Bycomparing this one feature you will bepaying more attention than you wouldhave before, therefore making a strongerconnection.Compare as many different features asyou can and you will focus your attentionand create a long-term impression forperfect recall. It is as simple as that…just compare the two faces in your mindand you will remember them. Impactyour memory even more by imaginingthe person with two heads – their own,and that of the person you already knowwith the same name.I like this method because it helps you toboth remember the new person, as wellas reinforce the other name too. Thismethod only takes a few seconds to helpyou remember the person’s nameforever. We are using the memoryprinciple of taking a long-term name andusing it to remember the short-term newname.Some people ask, what happens if youdon’t have a similar name to compareto? We can then use one of the othermethods that I will be showing you now.Find a system that works best for you.FACE CONNECTIONWith this method you make a linkbetween the name and an outstandingfeature on the person’s face. Everyperson’s face is unique and every facehas an outstanding feature. Let me giveyou an example, imagine you areintroduced to a woman and the first thingyou notice about her face is that she hasstriking blue eyes. That will then be heroutstanding feature. When she gives youher name you will then have a place toput the name. Imagine she says her nameis Janice. You then make an image of thename: Janice sounds like chain ice. Youthen make the connection and think of achain of ice flying out of her blue eyes.Here is another example, imagine youmeet a man and you notice that he has abig nose and his name is Peter. Turn thename into a picture; you can thenimagine a ‘Pea eater’. Then quicklymake the connection that his nose is abig pea eater. By making a sillymemorable association you will connectthe face and the name together.With this method never tell anybodywhat you have done in your mind. It ispersonal and some people may becomeoffended. I remember once meeting awoman by the name of Hazel. She askedme how I remembered her name, so Itold her… big mistake. I said I thought ofa hazelnut. She was not impressed.Remember, most people identify withtheir names – they like it and consider itas their own unique brand. If you makefun of it you are making fun of them.A few questions that people ask aboutthis system are:What happens if I meet four people andall of them have an outstanding nose?Searching for the outstanding featurehelps you focus on the face as you maynever have done before. Most peoplenever really look at the person whenthey are meeting them. So the feature ismore about directing your focus on theface and making a connection. I havedone a demonstration where I haveremembered over a hundred names inhalf-an-hour using this method. Whenyou meet a hundred people you use manyof the same features, but amazingly thereis never any confusion. Go to Facebookto practise this method, there aremillions of faces to choose from.Can I connect the name to the clothesof a person?Yes, but only if you notice the person’sface too. People change clothes, but theirfaces are unique and don’t change much.What happens if I find it hard to make amental picture of the person’s name?You can imagine writing their name ontheir forehead. Make sure you use a bigfat red mental pen. It is all aboutcreativity. If you create their name inyour mind, you will remember the namewith as much ease as you remember theface.MEETING LOCATION CONNECTIONWhen we meet people for the first timewe tend to also remember the place thatwe first met them. The place makes aclear impression in our memory, but thename is nowhere to be found!With this method we connect the name tothe place where we meet the person. Weare using a journey peg to hold on to thename. Let’s say we meet a woman by thename of Rose. Ask yourself, “What willI remember about this place where Imeet her?” Let’s say you think you willremember the buffet table, you thenconnect a big red rose to it and when youthink of the place you will think of hername.4. CONTINUOUS USEIf you concentrate and get the name, thenmake it meaningful and connect it to theperson, then this will enable you toremember the name for the short-term.However, to make the name stick in yourmemory forever you have to continueusing it.Talk about the name. If it is a foreignname ask the person what it means. Howdo you spell it? Also use the name inconversation. The more you talk aboutthe name the less you will be relying onworking memory and you will begin tostore it.In your mind ask yourself, “What is thatperson’s name again?” Get the answerand then ask yourself, “Does that feelright?” Try to strengthen the associationduring the course of the day or evening.Review the name. Create a names folderin your diary, on your computer or onyour mobile phone of people that youwould like to remember. Invite peopleyou want to remember to one of yoursocial networking sites, so that you canreview their names. Review the namesoften to keep them in your long-termmemory. It is just a question of writingthe name down and where you met theperson. Look at the list every now andagain and you will have a massive namememory filing system, you will never becaught off guard for a name again.You can use these methods to rememberhundreds of people at one meeting. Theyare all designed to improve your focusof attention, because when youremember others they make a point ofremembering you.

CHAPTER 12. REMEMBERINGNUMBERS“Group a list of letters together andyou have a word that representssomething – an image, an emotion, aperson. Throw a few numbers togetherand you have, well, you have anothernumber.”~ Dominic O’BrienNumbers have become an important partof our lives, yet no one has shown ushow to remember them. You can useexternal memory devices to remembernumbers and you can choose tooutsource your brain. But if you are inbusiness and you can recall facts andfigures without referring to your‘external brain’ or notes, then it buildstrust and certainty. When you rememberfacts and figures it builds confidence inyour memory, it builds mental strength,and it is like gym for your brain.If you call out digits, the average personwill only remember about seven digitsforwards and only four to fivebackwards. If you have a trainedmemory there are no limits. I canremember a 50-digit random number inless than 20 seconds and 100 digits in 45seconds. I have taken my numbermemory far beyond all the limits thathave been set in that area.Any person can produce the same resultsif they know the strategy. If you practisethe methods and take pride in improvingyour memory, you can also developthese ‘super-human powers’.Many people try to repeat numbers overand over again, trying to hold on to thenumber for dear life. They do more ofwhat they have always done to try toimprove their recall. We don’t onlyimprove with practice; if you repeat abad habit over and over it just getsworse. You also need a new method. Wecould use The Number Shape method tohold on to smaller numbers, but themethod I am about to show you has somany more possibilities andapplications.What is easier to remember?1. American Presidential Candidatesor2. 34729401215721110It is obviously “American PresidentialCandidates”, it is easily understood. Assoon as you say it you memorize it. It hasmeaning and makes a visual image inyour mind. The number has no meaning,and it is not very memorable. So toremember numbers you need to givethem more meaning.The systems that the memory masters usevary, but most of them use a systemwhere you change the numbers intowords and then into images.We take the numbers and twist them intoshapes, so that they form letters. Thenwe turn the letters into words. Thissystem seems like a lot of work but onceyou have your code down it will makethe process of remembering numbers abreeze. The code almost memorizesitself; stick with it and open your mind toa whole new language. It is also a greatway to exercise your verbal andnumerical intelligence at the same time.Let’s get started with learning thenumber code. Just go with this process,it will all come together in a moment.Let us begin with the vowels a, e, i, oand u. These letters have no value. Theyact as fillers or blanks. The letters w, hand y are also fillers or blanks. Theyalso have no value. Just remember thatfor now.Now, see the numbers in the followingletters:0 is the S, Z or C sound: S sounds likethe hissing of a wheel (which looks like0):1 represents the T or D sound:2 is the N sound:3 is the M sound:If I make the word TOMATOES, whatwill the number be?T: 1, O: no value, M: 3, A: no value, T:1, O: no value, E: no value and S: 0. Thenumber would be 1310.What word could you make for 321?3: M, 2: N and 1: D or T. We have theletters MNT or MND. If we add thevowel ‘i’ we have the word Mint, or ifwe add a ‘d’ at the end and the vowel ‘e’we have Mend. Or, try the vowel ‘a’ andadd a ‘y’, then you can make the nameMandy.It is like learning a new numberlanguage.4 is the R sound:5 is the L sound:6 is the J, Sh, soft Ch or soft G sound:What word can you make with 654?Jailer.7 is the K, C sound:8 is the F or V sound:9 is the B or P sound, looks like themirror and upside down image of 9:If I say cave, what is the number?78.What word can you make with thenumber 98?Beef.Now you can see that the number3472 9401215 721110 is as easy asrememberingaMeRiCaN PReSiDeNTiaLCaNDiDaTeSDo you now see how you can use this toremember any number?You may be saying, “But now I have toremember a number and a word.” No, itis like learning how to read. In thebeginning you really have to work hardto encode the information, but then itbecomes easy. Think of the number 007,instantly you think of James Bond. Weare trying to create the same experiencewith all numbers that you want toremember. We remember concreteinformation with ease, so you are notremembering more; you are just makingit more memorable.It will take a bit of time to master, butonce you have it you will have itforever.I will now give you a list of words foreach number from 1 to 100.This method is great because you don’thave to worry about spelling – it workson sounds.00.Sauce01. Soda02. Sun03. Swim04. Sir05. Seal06. Sash07. Sock08. Safe09. Soap1. Tie2. Noah3. Ma4. Ray5. Law6. Jaw7. Key8. Foe, UFO9. Bee10.Toes11.Dad12.Tan13.Dam14.Deer15.Tail16.Dish17.Duck18.Dove19.Tape20.Nose21.Net22.Nun23.Gnome (Silent G)24. Nero25.Nail26.Nosh27.Neck28.Navy29. Nap30. Mouse31. Mat32.Moon33.Memo34.Mower35.Mail36.Mash37.Mike38.Mafia39.Map40.Rose41.Rat42.Rain43.Ram44.Rower45.Reel46.Rash47.Rock48.Roof49. Robe50. Lassie(one S sound)51. Lady52.Lion53.Limo54.Lorry (one R sound)55.Lily56.Leach57.Lock (ck one K sound)58.Leaf59.Lip60.Chess (one S sound)61.Jet62.Chain63.Jam64.Chair65.Jail66.Cha – Cha67.Shake68.Chief69. Jeep70. Case71. Cat72.Can73.Comb (Silent B)74.Car75.Coal76.Cash77.Coke78.Cave79.Cab80.Face81.Fat82.Fan83.Foam84.Fire85.Foil86.Fish87.Fake88.Woof-woof89. FBI90. Bus91. Bat92.Bun93.Bum94.Bear95.Ball (one L sound)96.Beach97.Back98.Beef99.Baby100.DaisiesIf you don’t like some of the abovewords make up your own.Not only can you use this method toremember numbers, but it can also beused as a very effective giant pegmemory system.This peg list memorizes itself. Memorize10 a day. Let’s say you want tomemorize 10 to 15. For 10, the word is:toes. Think of the 1 as T and the 0 as S,then add vowels to make the word Toes.Make a clear image of toes in your mind.For 11, think of the digits 1 1, that is: Dand D. Now fit in a vowel and we haveDad. See it clearly in your mind. Whenwe get to 15 we can make the word doll– remember the system works with thesounds of the word, so the LL soundslike one L. I prefer to use the word tail.There are many advantages to knowingthis method of memory. You can use it tolearn 100 bits of information easily andin order. Once you have these values youcan remember any numbers and there isno limit. When each number representsan image you can hold the number inyour mind and place it on a system toremember as many numbers as youchoose.I have also used this method toremember athletic and sports statistics,stock prices, and any key informationrelating to numbers. This method alsoworks well to remember important datesin history. I enjoy remembering datesbecause it links historical events to atime line. Once this information is inyour memory it is easy to correlate it toother events. With this method, I am ableto remember up to 100 dates in fiveminutes. Plus, this is just another methodthat allows you to trap your thoughts andmake information easier to recall.Here is how dates are remembered:1926 Television was firstdemonstrated.The way I remember this one is to onlyremember the last three digits, becausemost of the dates we need to rememberare all in the last thousand years. Wetake the 926 and use the code to makethe word Punch. Now using the memoryprinciples we can imagine that youpunch the television and it starts towork.1969 People land on the moon.We can see a Bishop (969) on the moon.See a bishop walking on the moon andplaying with the moon dust.1901 The Nobel Prize was firstawarded.We can imagine that the first prize wasmade of Pasta (901).1942 The first computer wasdeveloped.We can imagine a computer that lookslike a Barn (942).1801 The first submarine was built.See the submarine being built very Fast(801).1784 The first newspaper waspublished.See Caviar (784) all over thenewspaper.This number method was developed inthe 1700s by a man named StanislausMink von Wennshein who brought it toour conscious awareness. This methodtakes practice. You have to really workwith it to make it work for you; thenthere will be no limits to your numbermemory and it will make you moreknowledgeable.

CHAPTER 13. ART IN MEMORY“Interest level is measured by howmuch you remember.”~ Philip A. BossertIn this chapter, I want to show you thepower of turning information into art.All of the systems taught in this book canbe enhanced by turning them into adrawing, painting or picture. When youuse more of your creativity you will beusing more of your memory. It is a verysimple method – you take informationand you simply turn it into some form ofart, and the information is rememberedforever. It grabs your attention and yourmind won’t let go.As I have said before, every word is apicture drawn with letters. Every wordcan conjure up an image that can bedrawn, and pictures register veryquickly in the brain. If an image can bepresented in 3D it adds to the visualimpact because that is the way thingsappear in the real world. You canachieve this by using Google images, bygetting an illustrator to make youdrawings, you can cut out pictures frommagazines, or you can just use doodles.Any art can help you to remember more.You can sculpt your information; you canpaint it, or even act it out. The wholeprocess is about creative rememberingand becoming more associated andpersonally involved with theinformation.Use the power of Google images tocreate memory diagrams. Place all theimages in a Word or PowerPointdocument and view it often, so that whenyou look at the picture it creates instantlearning. Let me give you two examples- the pictures below are notprofessionally drawn it is just a wholebunch of Google images placed togetherto make a linked picture. Have a look atthe pictures and see how much registersin your mind. Link the pictures in a storyand it will create an even strongerconnection. The more deeply you thinkabout any information, the more you willremember it.This picture below is a memory diagramof the twelve cranial nerves that emergedirectly from our brain:The link starts with a picture of an oldfactory (sounds like Olfactory). Thesecond picture is a tic to remind you ofOptic. The third picture is a motor withice blocks on it; it is an icy cool motor(sounds like Oculomotor). The fourthpicture is a truck, with clear written onit, which represents Trochlear. Thethree gems are a reminder forTrigeminal. Two cents for Abducens. Alady having a facial is for Facial. Vestfor Vestibulocochlear – you can alwaysadd more to the picture if the vestdoesn’t trigger the whole word. The lipgloss is for Glossopharyngeal. Elvisrepresents Las Vegas, so the word isVagus. The earring is an Accessory andfinally the hippo is for Hypoglossal.These pictures are all short mentalreminders or triggers to help you recallthe main content. By looking, linking,and locking in the image you will makethe memory link stronger and easier torecall. Try it!The next example is a picture that willhelp you remember the first ten elementsof the periodic table:First, we have a shiny red fire hydrant(Hydrogen) with helium-filled balloons(Helium) tied to the top of the hydrant.The helium balloons are touching thelight bulb (Lithium). The light bulb isburning the different colored berries(Beryllium). The berries are being eatenby a smelly wild boar (Boron). A carwith a bun attached to it (Carbon),crashes into the boar. Behind the car-bunis a knight (Nitrogen), and out of hisarmor pops an oxygen tank (Oxygen).The oxygen tank is being used by theman with flu (Fluorine). The splutteringand sneezing ‘flu man’ has a massiveneon sign (Neon) that blinks on and offbehind him.Look at the picture again, make the linksand it will be installed in your memory.If you wanted to remember the entireperiodic table, you could create a fewpictures and it will all be installed.You can also use memory diagrams tohelp children remember spelling. Hereare a few examples:BusinessThere are two snakes (2 Ss) in thedessert.Here is a great way to clear up anyconfusion between homophones:He has a pear in his ear.The pair of shoes are flying through theair.Any information can be represented as adrawing, painting, photograph orsculpture. Make an effort to turn keyinformation that you need for your lifeinto a picture so that you will be able toeasily see it in your mind’s eye. Use artto remember… and have fun!Another great way to get your creativebrain working for planning andremembering is:Mind Mapping (Registered trademark by TonyBuzan)“Your memory system operates soquickly and effortlessly that you seldomnotice it working.”~ Daniel T. WillinghamOne of the best ways to watch your mindand memory at work is through MindMapping. When you adopt this methodinto your life it will change the way youthink. It is a powerful way to organizeinformation, to think on paper, and getmore out of your head.Tony Buzan is the inventor of MindMaps and has authored over eightybooks. He created this amazing mindtool in the early 1970s and the methodhas evolved into one of the world’s mosteffective learning and thinking tools.Tony calls Mind Mapping the ‘Swissarmy knife for the brain.’ It is not only amethod for expanding your memory, buta way to improve your thinking skills.Mind Mapping can be used for:memorizing, learning, presenting,communicating, organizing, planning,meetings, negotiating, and all types ofthinking.A Mind Map is a multi-sensory way oftransferring your thoughts to paper. It isincredibly easy and simple to use. Atfirst it may take a bit of practice, but thenyour brain will remember how to havefun, and your life and learning will neverbe the same again. Mind Maps are awonderful way of structuringinformation, so that you can see the bigpicture and the details. With linear notes,which are lists and lines, you will neverhave the flexibility that you have withMind Maps.To be a successful Mind Mapper all youneed is the following:1. Your brain;2. A blank piece of paper, the bigger thebetter, and turn it to landscape;3. Lots of colored pens and pencils.The best way to explain a Mind Map isto map something out. The Mind Mapthat I will be creating here is about allthe systems that I have shared with youin this book.With every Mind Map you start in thecentre of a blank page with a centralimage. This central image is what thewhole Mind Map is about; therefore Iwill call this central image ‘Systems’.As we now know images are memorableand stimulate more creativity.Step 1:Step 2:Once you have your central image, thenyou connect branches to the centralimage and start branching out theheadings. The main branches are all thememory systems we have covered.Step 3:Once we have our main branches, thenwe can connect second and third levelbranches to give more detail to eachmain branch.We can add even more branches to theexisting branches to help clarify ideas orgive more detail. Remember to use onlyone word per branch. This aids yourassociating mind to bloom freely, andremember to add lots of images. Eachmain branch will also have one color,this helps visually to distinguishbetween different branches or content. AMind Map can never end because yourassociating mind can always find justone more memory.Mind Maps are entertaining; they are funand make use of your creative brain. Ifyou choose to stick with it, you will takeyour mind to a new level. You willimprove your creativity, planning power,develop more of your brain, andincrease your powers of memory andobservation. You can use Mind Maps fora whole range of learning areas; they canbe used very effectively to summarizelarge amounts of information, and to getthe gist of what is being communicated.Here is a Mind Map that I made of thebook The Seven Habits of HighlyEffective People.You will notice that each main branchshows a concept that we remembered onThe Car List. This Mind Mapsummarizes the key content from StephenCovey’s whole book.I created this Mind Map with iMindMapsoftware; you can go towww.imindmap.co.za and downloadyour free version of iMindMap basictoday. There are many Mind Mappingcomputer programs out there, but nothingcomes close to the flexibility andusability of iMindMap. Play with it, youwill be surprised at how much you canachieve with this one thinking tool.

CHAPTER 14. USING THEMETHODS“Success is neither magical normysterious. Success is a naturalconsequence of consistently applyingbasic fundamentals.”~ Jim RohnNow that you know the fundamentals ofthe memory methods you can succeedwith any information. By being morecreative with information it helpsincrease your involvement with thecontent, and makes it part of your reality,therefore improving your memory. In thischapter I want to share with you howyou can adapt the methods to rememberalmost anything. I will give you shortguidelines on how to rememberinformation word-for-word, rememberpresentations, how to get rid of yourabsent mindedness, remember playingcards, and how to remember anythingthat you choose to study.1. REMEMBERING WRITTENINFORMATION WORD-FOR-WORD“Memory ...is the diary that we allcarry about with us.”~ Oscar WildeThis is the method that I use to rememberinformation word-for-word. If you workwith this method you will be able toremember any written information withease. You can use it to remember quotes,poems, definitions or verses fromreligious text.Remembering information verbatim canhelp you in presenting, negotiations ormeetings. You can also use it to hold onto information so that you can call uponit when you need a bit of inspiration. Itis also helpful in exams to remember keydefinitions of key concepts.Remembering and reciting poems is alsoa great way to train your mind andimprove your presentation ability. Manyreligious texts refer to the importance ofholding verses in your heart, so that youcan live the lessons being taught.In this section we will be using a quotecalled Success that has been attributed toRalph Waldo Emerson. The first elementof this memory method is to find the keywords that will help you remember therest of the text. Have a look at the keywords that I have picked out:SUCCESSTo laugh often and much; to win therespect of intelligent people and theaffection of children; to earn theappreciation of honest critics andendure the betrayal of false friends; toappreciate beauty, to find the best inothers; to leave the world a bit better,whether by a healthy child, a gardenpatch or a redeemed social condition; toknow even one life has breathed easierbecause you have lived. This is to havesucceeded.Once you have found your keywords, thenext step is to create images out of themand place it on one of the systems thatyou have learned in this book.Remember it is like your imaginationis the pen and the system is the paper.You can use a journey, your body, a caror anything that is already in your longtermmemory. You can even link all theconcepts together like you did with thepresidents. Let me get you started; let’suse a tree to remember the key concepts.Why a tree? Because it representsgrowth for me, and it is in your Longtermmemory.Imagine the roots laughing andintelligent people (you can imagineEinstein) are sitting at the base of thetree. Imagine children hugging the trunkof the tree (affection of children), and onthe branches you can imagine a nest(honest) full of critics. You will noticethat we have connected the first few keywords to your system, and with a bit ofrepetition you will have it all in place.If you choose, you can continue toconnect the rest of the information to theleaves, thorns, and the fruit or to a parkwhere the tree is planted. Once you havethe key concepts then you need to readthrough the material a few times. Thekey words will make the text ‘stickier’and your knowledge of English will helpyou to remember the syntax. Make thematerial come to life and you willremember more!My friend, the late great CreightonCarvello, memorized ErnestHemingway’s novel The Old Man andthe Sea and each word's numericalposition. For example, you might haveasked him the 6th word on Line 15 onPage 8 and he could name it. He did notuse rote learning; he used a methodsimilar to the one I have just shown you.Like with anything in life it takes a bit ofpractice to be able to remember textwith ease. When you master this, youwill be able to remember anyinformation that you need for yourbusiness or your life word-for-word.Actors have also successfully used thismethod to remember their lines. Whenyou really know the information, you canfeel and act it out more comfortably aswell.2. PRESENTING FROM MEMORY“The human brain is a wonderfulorgan. It starts working as soon as youare born and doesn’t stop until you getup to deliver a speech.”~ George JesselDo you enjoy watching a presentationwhere the presenter hides behind a pieceof paper or a screen and reads all theinformation to you? No, you want to seea human being, making eye contact andcommunicating freely.The purpose of any presentation is to getyour audience to understand, believe andact on what you say. If you as a presentercan’t remember your own content, howis your audience meant to remember it?If they can’t remember it, they are notgoing to believe or act on it.Many people are afraid of publicspeaking. I believe that the fear has a lotto do with the fear of forgettinginformation. Many people say, “I mighthit a blank.” The methods that you havealready learned in this book willprovide you with a solution. If you workwith the methods you will never ‘blank’out again.I have been giving professionalpresentations for fifteen years now andthe last thing on my mind is the fear offorgetting information. When I present Iuse the memory strategies and theinformation is always there waiting forme to deliver it. I can also clearlyremember jokes, slides, research, pointsthat other people have said, and all myprepared content. I can loop back to anyquestions asked and be certain in mydelivery. When you really remember theinformation, it builds confidence and youwill look like you know what you aretalking about. Presentation power ismemory power.You can eliminate the fear of forgettingby using memory methods like thejourney, body, car, peg list, drawing yourown pictures or making mind maps. Takecharge and control of your content,because without notes you will lookmore professional in your delivery.When you present with the memorymethods it is like you are reading from ateleprompter. You are not learning theinformation word-for-word but you areclearly remembering the structure.If you don’t move an audience you arenot managing your content correctly.Great presenters know that audiencestend to remember the first and last bits ofthe presentation. Therefore they maketheir introduction and conclusionpowerful and outstanding. They maketheir introductions more outstanding byopening with a memorabledemonstration, question, fact, quote or ameaningful story. They also continuallylink information to the audience, makingit more outstanding and keep repeatingthe main points. You can design yourpresentation with this FLOOR principlein mind. In a presentation we tend toremember:F – First thingsL – Last thingsO – Outstanding informationO – Own linksR – Repeated informationIf you use this principle you will getyour audience to remember more –making your presentation moreenjoyable.If you have a clear structure installed inyour head, it will be easier to move youraudience, you will look more confidentand you will be a much more powerfulpresenter.3. ABSENT MINDS“Is the object lost or are you lost?”~ AnonymousHave you ever had this experience, youare sitting in your room and you think,“I’m going to make chicken for dinner.”You then walk to the kitchen and whenyou get there you think, “What am Idoing here?” You may even open therefrigerator door, thinking therefrigerator will provide you with youranswer. Or, have you ever parked yourcar and you can’t find it when you getback? Have you ever wondered if youhad taken your vitamins or othermedication? And don’t you just hate itwhen you put your car keys down andwhen you need them you can’t find them?If any of this has ever happened to you,then you are normal. Yes, normal! Thisall happens because familiarity breedsforgetfulness. All of our routinessometimes create a state of ‘autopilot’and we often don’t attend to what we aredoing. The good news is that 95% of thetime you are not absent minded. Youremember where you put your car keys,you could find your car again, and youdidn’t put your pants in the fridge. Yetwe ‘beat’ ourselves up for the mistakeswe make 5% of the time. If you keepyour focus on your absent mindedmoments you are going to create moreabsent mindedness. Start to catch yourmemory doing things right and you willstart to see improvements.It has been estimated that peoplesquander forty days annually trying toremember things they’ve forgotten.People are becoming increasinglyabsent-minded as they struggle to copewith constant streams of informationfrom mobile phones, the internet, radio,and television. With all our technologyand systems in place we should be moreat peace but we seem busier and morestressed than ever. As a result, we areregularly misplacing items or forgettingpeople's names. We are living in anactivity illusion and keeping our mindsfull of ‘busyness’ – no wonder we areabsent minded. Making excuses for yourabsent mindedness doesn’t solveanything.So what is the solution? When you putitems down, like your car keys, you needto bring yourself back to the presentmoment. Ask yourself questions like,“When am I going to use this next?” orsay to yourself, “I am putting the keys onthe table.” Or, you could imagine thatyour keys are exploding the table. Tryanything different to bring yourself backto the moment. Most things in life can besolved with more responsibility andawareness.In Chapter 4, I talked about being allthere. When you start to single taskinstead of trying to do a hundred thingsat once, then you will start to be morefocused. Take action today! Clear theclutter. Get organized; think on paper.Bruce Sterling said, “Chaos is thesexiest excuse for laziness everinvented.” Creating systems and usinghabitual places to put your items willsave you massive amounts of time.Do yourself a favor and stop trying to getattention for your absent mindedness. Ihear you protesting, well why do you tellother people about these incidents if youdidn’t get attention for it? Decide todayto rather bring yourself back to thepower of now and pay more attention tothe moment.4. REMEMBERING PLAYING CARDSWithout a method the average personwill only be able to remember about halfa pack of cards in 30 minutes, if they arelucky. The average person doesn’t havea way of trapping thoughts. So they arenever really certain of what they know.With the method that I am about to teachyou, you will be able to remember ashuffled pack in a few minutes. With thesame method, I have been able toremember a pack in 45 seconds; with abit of practice you will be able to do thesame.Remembering cards has many mentalbenefits. It is a great way to train yourmemory, it can help you in card gameslike Blackjack and Bridge, plus it hasthe added bonus of being a greatdemonstration of your memory power.Knowing what you have already learnedin this book, you now know that toremember something well you need tobring it to life. So how do you bringcards to life? First, we must create apicture for each card. Each card musthave its own identity, so that you candistinguish it from the others and thenplace it on a long-term place or system.You can associate each card with aperson that you know or you can makeall the diamond cards celebrities, all theheart cards your family, spade cardspeople you work with, and the clubcards your friends. That would be oneway of organizing it.With the system that I use, you will needto know the number code system fromChapter 12. The card system works inthe same way as with numbers. Only thistime, the first letter of each suite willstart the name of each card e.g. the 3 ofdiamonds will be D for diamonds and 3= M, add a vowel and you have DaM.All the Diamond cards will start with aD; all the hearts will start with H etc.And then you just add the convertednumber to the end of the card.Here are all the images for all the suites:DiamondsA – Date (Ace is 1)2 – Dan3 – Dam4 – Door5 – Deal6 – Dish7 – Duck8 – Dove9 – Deep10 – Dice (10 will be zero, s sound)J – Diamond (Jacks will always be theimage of the suite)K – Ding (With Kings we use a wordwith ‘ing’ in it)Q – Dean (With Queens we use arhyming word)HeartA – Hat2 – Hen3 – Ham4 – Hair5 – Hail6 – Hash (hash brown)7 – Hack8 – Hoof9 – Hoop10 – HouseJ – Heart (Jacks will always be theimage of the suite)K – Hinge (With Kings we use a wordwith ‘ing’ in it)Q – Your queen of hearts (E.g. PrincesDiana)SpadesA – Sit2 – Sun3 – Sam (Uncle Sam)4 – Sir5 – Seal6 – Sash7 – Sack8 – Safe9 – Soap10 – SeasJ – Spade (Jacks will always be theimage of the suite)K – Sing (With Kings we use a wordwith ‘ing’ in it)Q – Steam (With Queens we use arhyming word)ClubsA – Cat2 – Can3 – Camo (camouflage)4 – Car5 – Coal6 – Cash7 – Cake8 – Cafe9 – Cap10 – CaseJ – Club (Jacks will always be theimage of the suite)K – King (With Kings we use a wordwith ‘ing’ in it)Q – Cream (With Queens we use arhyming word)Let’s practice: imagine a King bashingdown the Door and entering your House.He finds some Ham and Duck to eat inyour fridge. With that silly story youremembered five cards – King of Clubs,4 of Diamonds, 10 of Hearts, 3 of Heartsand 7 of Diamonds. Easy isn’t it?Once you have created images for eachof the cards, you will have to get toknow them. It will take a bit of timepractising getting the card toautomatically turn into the image, butwith time it will become second nature.To remember the whole shuffled packyou then create a journey of 52 placesand you store each character on thejourney, or you can link the cardstogether. These methods are not tricks;you are just using the memoryfundamentals and therefore maximizingmore of your memory potential.This is memory gym, the more you workwith it the more your overall memorywill improve. It is a way to practiseyour memory skills. I know many peopleare not going to put in the effort toremember cards, but at least now youknow how. This is just another exampleof how these methods can be applied tosolve any memory problem.5. STUDYING ANYTHING“Learning new information isn'thelpful unless it can be recalled later.Anything that increases one's memorypower increases access to everythinglearned.”~ Richard Restak, M.D.There is no learning without memory.The more you can enhance your memorythe better you will be able to learn. Inevery course there is some theory thatneeds to be remembered. The quickeryou can get the theory down the moretime you can spend on practising theinformation. Many of the first andsecond year University subjects aremostly memory based. If you have astrong memory system in place, you willsucceed in anything that you choose tostudy.There are a few things you shouldconsider to enhance your performance inyour area of study. First, never learn justto pass an exam. What is the purpose ofdoing well in an exam and not knowingwhat you have learned two weeks later?Learning is not a destination, it is acontinuous process.All the ‘A’ students that I have everinterviewed prepare and plan theirlearning. They do little bits over timeand don’t stress before the exam,because all the hard work has alreadybeen done. All the ‘F’ students overdoseon energy drinks the night before andstress their way through the informationhoping it will stick for the exam. Sobreak your learning down and master thematerial over time.Before you study anything make sure youhave a strong PIC (Purpose, Interest andCuriosity) in mind. Review Chapter 4 toget more details on the PIC principle.Your vision will determine how muchenergy you will have for your learningand how hard you will be willing towork.When studying it is also important totake breaks, as our mind can remainfocused for only so long before webecome unproductive and tense. Whenyou return from a break you will feelrefreshed and do more work in less time.Every 35 to 40 minutes take a break,take a walk and get away from whateveryou’re working on and give your mind arest.Get an overview and analyze thematerial that you have to cover. Mark outall the areas that you need to remember.In any subject the same concepts keepcoming up, so make images for these keyconcepts and create an image‘vocabulary’. This is so that you don’thave to keep on finding images forinformation that you have alreadycreated. Then create a memory systemthat will work for each section and storethe information. Record your systemsand go through them a few times to makesure you have all the content in yourhead. I have had students that have usedone shopping centre to remember theirentire syllabus. Using the methods,shared in this book, you will never havethe experience of not being able to getinformation into your head again.No matter what information you need tolearn, these methods can be adapted sothat you can find a solution and make theinformation ‘sticky’. I have helpedthousands of people to learn all kinds ofmaterial for school and university. I havehelped medical students, law students,pilots, policeman, nurses, medical reps,miners, ornithologists, marketers andengineers. There isn’t an area of studythat won’t benefit from these methods.These methods have no limits; the onlylimits are the excuses and judgments thatyou may place on them with yourwhining mind. Some people say, “I’mnot creative and I don’t make pictures”,when I hear people say that to me, all Ihear is, “I’m too lazy to put in theeffort”. If you choose to believe in limitsyou will live a limited life.

PART 3. CONTINUOUS USE“Habits begin as offhanded remarks,ideas and images. And then, layer uponlayer, through practice, they grow fromcobwebs into cables that shackle orstrengthen our lives.”~ Denis Waitley

CHAPTER 15. SELF-DISCIPLINE“We all love to win but how manypeople love to train?”~ Mark Spitz (7 Gold medals inthe1972 Olympics)There has never-ever been anundisciplined world champion. Ourrewards are always directlyproportional to our efforts. It sometimestakes years of training to developabilities in the area in which we wouldlike to achieve success. People say,“That person has such a talent,” but theynever look down the road to see howmany hours have been spent training. Ifyou want to master the skills that youhave learned in this book, or if you wantto master anything, you need selfdiscipline.Self-discipline is not selfdeprivation.It is about raising yourstandards and going for and beingmore.Many people think that things are goingto magically appear in their lives. Thinkabout it… people want beautiful healthyteeth, but they don’t have the selfdisciplineto floss them. Is it expensive?Does it take a lot of time? Is it difficultto do? It is none of these. How can theyexpect to change any area of their livesif they can’t even bring themselves to dothat? So why don’t people floss?I once read an article on CNN.com thatstated, “Up to 59% of Glaucoma patientsregularly skip their eye drops, eventhough untreated glaucoma can lead toblindness.” If you have glaucoma youare going to lose your eyesight if youdon’t use your drops! Why don’t peopledo it?People simply don’t do it because theythink that the future will be a betterplace than today, without doinganything to make it better.What do you want? What are you doingdaily? If your daily actions are notmoving you in the direction of what youwant, then you will never get what youwant. Common sense, isn’t it?It is not that your goals are physicallyimpossible; it is more that you lack theself-discipline to stick to them. Thereare four keys to creating more selfdisciplinein your life and the first oneis:1. CREATE A VISIONYour inner vision and your energy areconnected. If you wake up in the morningand focus on all the bad things that couldpossibly happen in a day, your energylevel will be low. If you wake up andimagine all the exciting possibilities,and focus on all the great things that youget to do, your energy level lifts. Whereyour attention goes, your energy flows.David Campbell said, “Discipline isremembering what you want.” Themore reasons you have to do somethingthe better your inner movie will be, andtherefore the more energy you willcreate to do it. If your excuses are highand your reasons are low, you will haveno discipline to start. If your reasons arehigh and your excuses are low, you willhave lots of motives, and motives inaction creates motivation. Always askyourself, “How badly do I want it?” Ifyou really, really want it, you will createa strong vision and you will have theself-discipline to do it.2. MAKE A DECISIONAll change happens only when you makea true decision to change. When youmake a true decision you will not allowfor any other possibility. Make acommitment to yourself that this is theway that you are going to live your life.For anything to happen in your life youhave to schedule it. Decide to make itpart of your routine.3. STOP LISTENING TO YOUR FEELINGSElbert Hubbard said, “Self-discipline isthe ability to make yourself do whatyou should do, when you should do it,whether you feel like it or not.” Whenpeople want to start a task that they haveto complete and say something like, “Iwill do this tomorrow” a loop closes intheir mind and they are happy to continuewithout doing it… because they will doit tomorrow. The problem is that whentomorrow comes the same loop justrepeats itself. Or if you say, “I just don’tfeel like it” a loop closes because youhave tricked yourself into thinking thatyou will do it when you do feel like it.These pictures and voices, that wecontrol, create our feelings. If you wantemotional mastery learn to take controlof these pictures, movies, and voicesthat you run in your mind.Some people say, “I have to listen to myinner voice because it guides myintuition.” Listen to your intuition orfeelings when you are deciding to pass atruck on a busy road, making a massivedecision or whether you should climbinto an elevator with a freaky lookingguy. But when you are following adiscipline these feelings only get in theway. If you have to floss your teeth, youdon’t have to consult your intuition, youjust do it. When you have to exercise youdon’t have to listen to your feelings, justdo it. William James said, “The morewe struggle and debate, the more wereconsider and delay, the less likely weare to act.”Schedule a time in the day for memorytraining and practise – whether you feellike it or not.4. DAILY ACTIONIf you want to develop a habit then theonly way to achieve this is by doingsomething daily. You have to reviewyour new skill to renew it. Only byconsistently practising your disciplinecan you turn it into a skill. Most of theresearch that I have read says it takestwenty-one days to develop a new habit.In my experience it takes a lot longer.Some people think that once the twentyonedays are up the brain will then takeover. Then after twenty-one days theygive up, waiting for their brain to do therest. Self-discipline requires you tomake a decision daily. Self-disciplinerequires you to start fresh every day.Every day is a new day. You don’t haveto practise this skill for the rest of yourlife. Just for today.I believe that life does not rewardidleness. If you put your arm in a slingfor a week you start to lose the use ofmany of your major muscles. Your brainis made of flesh and blood like the restof your body, so if you use it, it willimprove and if you don’t you will loseit. The only way you get good atanything is through self-discipline;remember life only rewards action!

CHAPTER 16. REVIEW TORENEW“You know as well as I do that it isentirely wrong to assume that anysubject matter which we once learnedand mastered will remain our mentalproperty forever.”~ Bruno FurstIt has been estimated that two years afterleaving school, the average person onlyremembers three weeks’ worth oflessons. Think about it in your own life.Do you still remember all thosetheorems? That means that after twelveyears all you have left is three weeks.The average person that passes a testtoday would never pass that same testfour weeks later. Final exams are reallyfinal!In Spritzer’s experiment it was foundthat the average person who learnstextbook material (without memorymethods) remembers only the following:After 1 day:54%After 7 days:35%After 14 days:21%After 21 days:19%After 28 days:18%The above shows that the averagestudent only remembers 18% of theirwork after a 28-day holiday. That meansthe lecturer or trainer only has 18% ofthe knowledge to build new knowledgeonto. The average company or studentloses 82% of the information or 82 centsout of every training Dollar after twentyeight days. Any training is a waste oftime if there is not a process of review!Many people feel that they can neverforget the information that they learnedusing the memory methods and systems.The memory methods make the learningprocess fun and more effective. Theycreate such a strong impression and it isso different to your mind that you have toremember it, and consequently it sticks.The methods help to store the memoryquickly for a medium term, but to makesure that the information remains in yourmind you need to review and recite it.The reason we review is to make theinformation more solid in our minds.The only way we can build on a memoryis if we can remember it. Your memoryis like a bank: the more you put into itthe more it grows. Review also helpsyou to create more long-term memories.Repetition or rote learning on its own(without the methods) is no fun; it takeslong and can often result in an aversionto learning. Memorizing should be apleasure; it should be more like a game.Reviewing when using the memorymethods doesn’t require a lot of time. Itis just a process of thinking about it, andmaking sure that the pictures are strongand that you can clearly see them. Thenrecite any information that you want tostick in your mind.I have found that if you review yourinformation in a specified time frameyou increase recall. If you repeat it afterten minutes of learning the information itwill remain in your memory for at leastan hour. The first review should alwaysbe done backwards. Reviewing imagesbackwards helps you to remember themmore effectively.If you learn concepts in reverse youcreate a new impression in your mindand this makes information moreoutstanding. It just seems to make thememory so much stronger. Once youhave done this, you review at longer andlonger intervals: review after 1 hourthen 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, 21days, 28 days, 2 months, 3 months andthen it should be in your memoryforever. During the first 72-hour periodthe knowledge transfers into a deeperstronger memory. So if you are using aroute or journey system, after the first72-hours you will be able to reuse thejourney for new information. However,if you have information that you want tokeep forever, rather assign it its ownroute or system and review it often.Review takes discipline, but it keepsinformation fresh in your mind. It keepsit alive. It keeps it awake so that you canconnect more information to that existinginformation. The more that you connectto that information the stronger theinformation becomes. Your mind is theonly computer in the world with thischaracteristic: the more you put into it,the more it will hold.The perfect way to learn is to make lotsof firsts and lasts by having lots ofbreaks, make your informationoutstanding, make your own links (usingmemory methods) and then you review itto keep it ready in your mind for newlearning.No matter how many times youmemorize something, you will have tostart over from the beginning if you letyourself forget it. You have to spread outyour revision over longer and longerperiods of time. If you use it you willstrengthen the information, and you willremember it.When you review, it helps you to thinkmore about what you are remembering.By thinking about it you begin to reallyunderstand it too. It is important to usethis information when rememberingnames. Only if you review them are yougoing to remember them. If you use theinformation often it acts as a review.You either use it, or you lose it fromyour instant recall.You should always use the power ofreview to put a lid on your learning toprevent your learning from escaping.We have learned that the only way thatyou improve is to get rid of anything thatis preventing you from improving. Sowe got rid of the blocks to your mindlike excuses, limiting beliefs andlearning to single task, and then webecame more willing to learn more. Thenwe learned how to improve through theSEE principle of imagination. We havelearned the different memory methods –the link story method, memory art, thebody and car method, the route orjourney method, the peg systems, thenumber code, and remembering names.These methods are only limited by yourown imagination and level of selfdiscipline.We now also know how toreview.Remember to review to renew.
ENDINGS ARE THE SEEDS FORBEGINNINGS“If you’re hoping to harvest a life ofgreat deeds, remember you first have toplant some great seeds.”~ Denis WaitleyYou are the source of all your memoriesand remembering is a choice! There isno magic when it comes to memoryimprovement; there is only management.Memory skills are an important tool inyour self-improvement arsenal. I havegiven you many tools, but rememberbatteries are not included. You need toprovide the energy to make it work. Theinformation you have received willchange your life for the better… use it!Memory training will enable you tocreate more certainty with information.Certainty fosters confidence, and willgive you a glimpse of your amazingability.Brice Marden said: “The possibilitiesof thought training are infinite, itsconsequences eternal, and yet few takethe pains to direct their thinking intochannels that will do them good, butinstead leave all to chance.”Today you have two choices. You cantake the first option: you can leave it allto chance and do what you have alwaysdone, but you will get what you havealways gotten. Or, you can take the painsand decide today to take the secondoption: do different to become different.Take these tools, make them your own,practise hard, and unleash the power ofyour memory.“May you never forget what is worthremembering, nor ever remember whatis best forgotten.” – Irish Blessing
BIBLIOGRAPHY1. Buzan, T. 1995. Use Your Memory.London: BBC books.2. Buzan, T. 1995. Use Your Head.London: BBC books.3. Buzan, T. 2001. Head First. London:Thorsons.4. Baddeley, A, Eysenck, M.W,Anderson, M.C. 2009. Memory. USA:Psychology Press.5. Covey, S. 1989. The Seven Habits ofHighly Effective People: PowerfulLessons in Personal Change. Britain:Simon & Schuster Ltd.6. Lorayne, H. 1992. Improve ExamResults In 30 days. London: Thorsons.7. Luria, A.R. 1998. The Mind of theMnemonist. London: Harvard UniversityPress.8. Maxwell, J.C. 2004. Today Matters:12 Daily Practices to GuaranteeTomorrow’s Success. USA: Time WarnerBook Group.9. Robbins, A. 1992. Awaken The GiantWithin. London.Simon & Schuster Ltd.10. Worthen, J and Reed Hunt, R. 2011.Mnemonology: Mnemonics for the 21stCentury. USA: Psychology Press.11. Medina, J. 2008. Brain Rules: 12Principles for Surviving and Thrivingat Work, Home, and School. USA: PearPress.12. Lorayne, H. 1957. How To DevelopA Superpower Memory. New York:Frederick Fell.13. Higbee, K. 2001. Your Memory :How It Works and How to Improve It.Da Capo Press; 2nd edition14. Price, I. 2011. The Activity Illusion.Matador15. Katie, B. 2008. Loving What Is:How Four Questions Can Change YourLife. Ebury Digital16. Hall, M. 2013. Movie Mind. USA:L. Michael Hall17. Demartini, J. 2008. The Richeswithin: your seven secret treasures.USA: Hay House, INC.18. Gruneberg, M. 1987. LinkwordLanguage System – Italian. UK: CorgiBooks19. Furst, B. 1949. StopForgetting.USA: Greenberg.
ABOUT THE AUTHORFor over 20 years, KEVIN HORSLEYhas been analyzing the mind and memoryand its capacity for brilliance. He is oneof only a few people in the world tohave received the title InternationalGrandmaster of Memory. He is a WorldMemory Championship medalist, and atwo-time World Record holder for TheEverest of memory tests. Kevin is alsoan author of four books, and the designerof a times table game with the SeriousGames Institute at North-West UniversityVaal Campus.Kevin is a professional speaker, andassists organizations in improving theirlearning, motivation, creativity, andthinking.Learn more about Kevin atwww.supermemory.co.za
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