Memory Improvement

Free Memory Course

To help entice and get you up-to-speed I’m giving away an interactive course, FREE!

This is free, no strings attached! The memory course covers all the basic and some advanced memory skills and will help as a great starter point, if you download it and it gets you interested then pass it on to someone you think might find it useful!

The Human Language

To become really great at something always takes a lot of dedication. Improving your memory is no different and like most things at the core it boils down to a fairly simple concept. In regards to memory Tony Buzan refers to this as ‘The Human Language’, for a number of years I’ve talked about it as ‘the memory formula’, I actually prefer the human language now as I believe this captures the essence of memory improvement.

So what is the human language? Well, try this quick exercise out. When you read the following words say the ‘first’ thing that pops into your head out loud – don’t ‘edit’, just say the first thing which comes to mind, no matter how ridiculous:

  • Bill Clinton
  • Madagascar
  • Karova

I’m guessing there was perhaps a variety of images for Bill :)

A popular one for Madagascar is a character from the film

Even if you don’t know what Karova means you will still of had some kind of image pop into your mind (even if you weren’t really aware of it), perhaps a car? Or a Russian? In fact Karova mean’s Cow in Russian.

The point of this, is that we ‘think’ in images and associations – a word sparks of another and another and another (you see where I’m going?). To improve your memory all you have to do is play with this simple concept and start to take control of it, in time you can create clearer images and more elaborate associations and because of how our brain works this makes any information you are trying to remember more memorable.

So the Human Language is:

Imagination + Association

To make information more memorable use the following steps:>

  • Convert information you wish to remember into images and then associate those images together in your mind.
  • Since we all have excellent visual memories, especially when there is a strong association, we remember the images therefore we remember the information.

Mnemonics

Mnemonics play a key factor in improving your memory and they are more than just a set of techniques. Mnemonics are a way of thinking that not only helps you to improve your memory and creativity but also enhance your ability to comprehend information. The challenge with mnemonics is not in learning the various techniques but more about the way to apply these techniques to remembering information and overcoming real life situations.

To get the most out of mnemonics it’s good to have an understanding about what is going on in our mind when you are using them. In the simplest terms it all comes down to combining logical and creative skills. These two factors don’t just relate to mnemonics, they are core concepts in many self-development tools and systems – NLP, hypnosis, meditation, creative visualization, speed reading, rapid reading, photoreading and mind mapping. Combining logic and creativity doesn’t stop there it also encompasses martial arts, dancing, acting and sports. For some reason though when it comes to learning information, facts and figures these concepts fly out the window and we tend to rely on our logical mind to deal with remembering information, using repetition to make it sink in.

When you have memorized something in the past there is a fairly high chance that you read it over and over again until it eventually sank in!. By doing this you are mostly using left brain logical skills; linearity, analysis sequence etc. now these are all good skills, and they help us comprehend what we are reading, yet they are not enough to help us remember quickly and retain information over a long period of time. By adding right brain skills to the equation; colour, dimension, daydreaming, rhythm, imagination, spatial awareness etc. we are making use of all our cortical skills and therefore using our brain in a more productive way, the results are – we perform better. When I talk about mnemonics, what I am actually referring to, is this way of using your mind that combines both your logical and creative skills.

In a practical sense you can use mnemonics to gain a quick and thorough understanding of any subject by creating a complex network of mental notes that contain main topics, core elements and detailed information, thus improving memory and comprehension.

In the beginning

In the beginning mnemonics will feel unnatural, however with enough practice the ‘techniques’ that you learn will become second nature and part of the way you think. When something becomes second nature its no longer a technique its just something you do. In the same way a martial artist learns forms and techniques to defend themselves, with enough practice those techniques become part of his or her ‘instinct’. The same goes for a sports person or dancer, once you have achieved a high level of skill, you no longer think about the steps, they just happen. I say this from personal experience, being an actor/singer/dancer for many years. On one particular job, ‘Tap Dogs’, I spent the first 2-3 days struggling with picking up the steps as there was a lot of stuff I had never come across before. They were completely foreign to me, however because there was a combination of logic and sequence to the steps as well as rhythm, emotion and physicality, things naturally fell into place and I started getting a feeling for the various steps and combinations. They became natural and second nature.

This is what you are eventually aiming to achieve with mnemonics.  Use creativity, senses and emotion and combine it with your logical and analytical skills, to improve your memory in every sense. Natural mnemonics happen to us all the time; a smell triggers off a memory of a holiday, you enter a room which reminds you of someone from your past or something you’ve forgotten to do, you see a kids toy and memories of childhood come flooding back to you. These are all natural mnemonics.

Basic building blocks

Visualization

Visualization plays a major part in not only utilizing your memory but also in achieving your goals, so it’s good to have a firm grasp of ‘how to visualize’ before leaping into the world of mnemonics. We are all very different, some people find it very easy to see images in their mind and some find it more difficult. I have found that the key to visualizing is just to imagine the thing you are seeing, instead of actually trying to see it. If you are quite physical then imagine what it feels like, if you are more of an auditory person say the word aloud while imagining it or give it a sound.

Try this simple exercise

  • Take a deep breath and as you breath out just feel yourself relaxing. Choose a pleasant memory from your past, it may be a holiday or something similar, now just remember what you were doing at the time, how did you feel? What were your surroundings like? Spend a few minutes, close your eyes, relax and just remember everything you can about that time.
  • Now remember the same scene and this time imagine that a huge 6 foot pink rabbit appears out of nowhere and starts tap dancing in front of you. Close your eyes and do this now.

Whether you realize it or not, by remembering this scene and then making a pink rabbit appear in your memory, you are using your visualization skills. So just think of visualizing as remembering only you create your own memories. You don’t necessarily have to see the scene in front of you, although some people do. It’s different for everyone, some can just feel it somewhere in their head, while many feel they are actually there right in the middle of it. There is no right or wrong, with some practice and experimentation you will find which works best for you.

Improving visualization

While you are sitting in a room, look at an object, let’s just say it is a TV. Close your eyes and remember the TV, as you remember it imagine that it suddenly grows arms and legs and a big smiley face,maybe it starts juggling. Open your eyes and see if you can re-create that scene. Just experiment and make up different situations in your mind. This may seem kind of crazy, but it will go a long way to improving your visualization and creative skills.

Rules Of Memorization – ROM

To fully utilize the mnemonic formula, you need to use as many of your cortical skills as possible. For this reason I have created the Rules Of Memorization or ROM for short (other books/courses will refer to these by different names, orders etc. but the principle is always the same, I just like to keep things as simple as possible). These rules combine your logical and creative skills. There are 4 steps to ROM, use them whenever you are memorizing information:

  1. Organization – arrange the information in a logical order so that it makes sense and is easy to understand.
  2. Relaxation – when in a relaxed state of mind you are more likely to remember and recall information than when you are nervous or panic.
  3. Imagination – convert your information into images.
  4. Association – associate the images together in your mind.
  • Senses – see the image as clear as possible, hear any sounds and speak the information out loud, smell any smells, taste any tastes and finally get your touch involved.
  • Emotion – make your images, funny or surreal or sexy, give your images arms and legs, put yourself in the picture, By involving your senses and emotion the images will become real in your mind.
  • Exaggeration – you must exaggerate all of your images if they are to stay locked in your mind. Making things bigger or smaller, exaggerate their emotions and actions.
  • Action – the action is what really connects and associates items or bits of information together, it is the driving force in our associations.

A simple mnemonic to remember the Rules Of Memorization would be O.R.I.A – sounds a bit like ARIA – Imagine yourself memorizing something while singing an ARIA but say to yourself out loud as if you were an opera singer “O.R.I.A”, do this several times. Next relate the letters to the words and again repeat out loud:

“O.R.I.A”

  • “O – Organization”
  • “R – Relaxation”
  • “I – Imagination”
  • “A – Association”

The Rules of Memorization should be applied to all kinds of memorization. If you were to think of you brain as a computer, ROM would be the software which allows you to input and store information.