Memories are Made of This

Imagine this rather unusual scene with me if you will … A sandy desert with dunes rising up to the sky. Suddenly two magnificent, red, shiny new trucks drop from out of the sky and land in the desert sand. The sand kicks up, and then from out of the vehicle step three pixies wearing green boots and purple waistcoats. You peer at the lovely silky material and notice that each waistcoat has eight golden buttons. Turning around you see a big burning circle just ahead in the distance; and as you walk to it and step through you feel the heat before disappearing down the right hand of two wooden trapdoors that were in front of you. You land hard on the floor of an open cave to see eight men with spears all pointed at your head, and then shortly after, another steps out of the shadows to make it nine. They all then turn around and throw the spears at a giant target at the end of the cave with them all missing apart from one, which hits the bull's-eye.

And there you are. Recognise the key elements of the story and you have now memorised the atomic weight of uranium 238.02891. Not too tricky was it. Imagine that story vividly enough in your mind, and replay it back over time and you will never forget it. Indeed, science has shown that the best way to remember is to go through this a couple of times today, then tomorrow, in a weeks time, then a month, and then in six months and it will be so ingrained in your brain that you couldn't prise it out even if you wanted too.

Now, I realise at this point that you may have a guilty secret…

Lets face it. That was just way to easy. Heaven forbid, it was almost fun! If you transformed all the boring stuff you have to learn into stories your life would be filled with way too much pleasure, and that would never do. Rote memorising is like trying to dry your clothes in a cooker, whilst cooking your dinner in the tumble dryer. The brain simply was not built that way. The good news though is that if you memorise the way your brain likes to do it, then literally the sky is the limit as far as remembering goes.

So how does your brain like to remember?

Well, the three crucial elements are imagination, association and location. An event that is vividly imagined, has immediate associations and a specific location is always going to be memorable. That is why our little story is so memorable (you can still remember it can't you?). Add to that the fact that it has an unlikely scenario, and you have a winner memory wise. The old synaptic connections in your brain are positively dancing about wanting to get acquainted.

So, don't let your memory be a blank. Turn it on with Imagination. Tune it up with Association, and Drop In to your own rosy mental Location and enjoy new memory muscles.

For more information about Memory you can also click here to read a review of a 'Radiant Thinking Course'; which I attended that was designed to teach Mind Mapping, Memory and Speed Reading.

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