How to Remember Anything: The Proven Total Memory Retention System (18 page)

DEMONSTRATE YOUR MEMORY POWER: A LONG-DIGIT NUMBER

After you know the Key Words for every two-digit number, you can demonstrate to yourself and others one of the most amazing examples of the power of a trained memory. In fact, this demonstration is so impressive that I sometimes hesitate to include it in my lectures. I don’t want my audiences to confuse education with entertainment. The truth is, the demonstration is incredibly entertaining. In fact, based on the reaction I always receive from an audience, it’s downright mind-boggling! What others do not know is that anybody can learn how to do it quickly and easily. The demonstration involves remembering a long-digit number after seeing or hearing it only one time.

According to psychologists, the average individual can recall only a seven-digit number after hearing it once. With my learning system, you can recall a twenty-digit, forty-digit, 100-digit number, or more, after seeing or hearing it only once. Even better, you can do it with ease and self-confidence. I know this sounds incredible. It’s not only incredible—it’s really easy with an organized memory system!

I can think of only two reasons to recall a long-digit number: First, to show off! There is nothing wrong with showing off the incredible power of your mind just as you would show off a magic trick. Second, it is one of the best mental exercises you can perform because you can precisely measure your accuracy and speed.

I urge you to learn this exercise for several very important reasons: it will require you to know the Key Words for the numbers 00 through 99. Also, it will greatly benefit you when you need to remember numbers for any other memory project involving numbers. Further, it will enable you to practice the use of the following memory tools anytime, anywhere!

The numbered Cube system
The Number Code
The Key Words
The association

I often practice the long-digit number during “waiting” times. This is a way of making good use of time I might otherwise waste. If you were to keep track, you would be amazed to discover how many of your valuable moments are spent waiting for things to happen: for public transportation, for people to see you at appointments, and so on. By practicing memory exercises, you can effectively turn waiting rooms into classrooms.

With a trained memory, you will even begin to look forward to those times you may once have dreaded. I like to go through such mental gymnastics while traveling. In addition to the practical value of the mental exercise, I find it very relaxing while driving or on an airplane.

There is probably no better confidence-builder among memory students than to demonstrate their ability to recall a long-digit number. If I were your memory doctor I would prescribe at least a forty-digit number every day for the rest of your life. It will build your self-confidence. The practice will increase your memory efficiency and, therefore, your memory power, and help you to stay mentally alert for a lifetime! In addition, the long-digit number exercise will sharpen your concentration skills. You cannot accurately recall different forty-digit numbers every day without, at the same time, improving your ability to concentrate. The exercise will also enhance your self-image and consistently improve your memory abilities. Both will enable you to gain the respect of others.

Before you can rapidly store a long-digit number just by hearing it, it is necessary to know the Key Words for the numbers 00 through 99. This is because you store the numbers two digits at a time. Assuming that you do not yet know all of the Key Words, I will tell you in advance which two-digit numbers I am going to use for this sample exercise.

Since this is your first experience with the long-digit number, I will give you only twenty digits to remember. That sounds like an ambitious first step, but soon you will see how simple it really is.

To perform this memory feat, all you need is the Cube and the Key Words. You won’t even need the numbered locations—just the sequence of the numbered locations.

Let’s suggest that you already know the Key Words for the following two-digit numbers:

Practice these two-digit numbers until you are certain that you know the Key Words and can see an object for each of them.

Please do not continue until you know the Key Words for these two-digit numbers.

When you are demonstrating a multidigit number, always have the person or persons give you the number in sets of two. You should always ask them to allow you to control the speed by waiting for you to repeat the number before they give you another set.

For this demonstration, use your Units room or the room in which you are now located. Also, always start with the ceiling location so that you can store ten sets of numbers (twenty digits) in each room.

Visualize the ceiling of the room. Look up at it right now. You should be looking at or visualizing the ceiling.

The first number is
21
. For 21, think 2-1, N-T,
n
e
t
. See a gigantic
n
e
t
hanging from the ceiling.

As soon as you see a clear mental image of the net at the ceiling, mentally see the next location (the back left corner), and wait for the next number.

The next number is
32
. Think 3-2, M-N,
m
oo
n
. See the moon rolling through the back left corner! It is crushing everything in its way! See it! Hear it! Look out! Moon!

After I mentally store a two-digit number I always review the previous location to confirm what I put there. Then I review the present location by seeing what I put there. Then, I look at the next location and wait for the next number.

Do that now. Look up at the ceiling and see the
n
e
t
. This will be the last time you will look at the ceiling and see the
n
e
t
while you are learning the number.

Next, review the back left corner again and see the
m
oo
n
.

Now look at the left wall and wait for the next two-digit number.

The next number is
25
. Think 2-5, N-L,
n
ai
l
. See the largest nail in the world being driven toward you through the left wall! Hear it!

Review the back-left corner and see the
m
oo
n
. Review the present location and see the
n
ai
l
. See the next location—the front left corner—and wait for the next number.

The next number is
22
. Think 2-2, N-N,
n
u
n
. See a nun standing in the front left corner of the room! The nun is so tall that she reaches from the floor to the ceiling!

Review the left wall and see the
n
ai
l
. Review the present location and see the
n
u
n
. See the next location—the front wall.

The next number is
52
. Think 5-2, L-N,
l
io
n
. See a gigantic lion leaping through the front wall! It is leaping right at you!

Review the front left corner and see the
n
u
n
. Review the present location and see the
l
io
n
. See the next location (the front right corner).

The next number is
14
. Think 1-4, T-R,
t
i
r
e. See an unbelievably large tire crashing through the front right corner of the room! Hear it as it spins and crashes through the front right corner!

Review the front wall and see the
l
io
n
. Review the present location and see the
t
i
r
e. See the next location—the right wall.

The next number is
20
. Think 2-0, N-S,
n
o
s
e. See a huge nose at the right wall!

Review the front right corner and see the
t
i
r
e. Review the present location and see the
n
o
s
e. See the next location—the back right corner.

The next number is
43
. Think 4-3, R-M,
r
a
m
. See the largest ram in the world bursting through the back right corner! It is kicking everything in its way!

Review the right wall and see the
n
o
s
e. Review the present location and see the
r
a
m
. See the next location (the back wall).

The next number is
53
. Think 5-3, L-M,
l
i
m
e. See a gigantic lime so large that it fills the entire back wall of the room!! It is squirting lime juice all over you!

Review the back right corner and see the
r
a
m
. Review the present location and see the
l
i
m
e. See the next location—the floor.

The next number is
40
. Think 4-0, R-S,
r
o
s
e. See a giant rose growing out of the floor! You can even smell it!

Review the back wall and see the
l
i
m
e. Review the present location and see the
r
o
s
e.

Now, if you saw a clear visual image of each object as we went around the room, you should be able to start at the ceiling and move around the room, identifying each object along the way.

To remember the twenty-digit number, just translate the ten objects (Key Words) back to their two-digit numbers! Here is the process:

Ceiling: See the
n
e
t
.
Think: N-T.
Say: 2-1.

Please note that, you will say each digit separately. Don’t say “21”; instead say “2, 1.” It is much more impressive to call the numbers back as twenty single digits rather than ten sets of two-digit numbers.

Back left corner: See
m
oo
n
. Think M-N. Say 3-2.

Left wall: See
n
ai
l
. Think N-L. Say 2-5.

Front left corner: See
n
u
n
. Think N-N. Say 2-2.

Front wall: See
l
io
n
. Think L-N. Say 5-2.

Front right corner: See
t
i
r
e. Think T-R. Say 1-4.

Right wall: See
n
o
s
e. Think N-S. Say 2-0.

Back right corner: See
r
a
m
. Think R-M. Say 4-3.

Back wall: See
l
i
m
e. Think L-M. Say 5-3.

Floor: See
r
o
s
e. Think R-S. Say 4-0.

Now, try it on your own! Without looking at the book, start at the ceiling and write down the ten sets (twenty digits) in sequence. Then come back to this page and check your answers: