How to Remember Anything: The Proven Total Memory Retention System (30 page)

You have now seen ten of the thirteen cards in the suit of hearts. To determine which cards have
not
been played, just review the thirteen Code Words for the suit of hearts in sequence. If the Code Word object was changed in any way, the card was played. If the Code Word object was not changed, the card was not played. Although you would review the Code Words mentally, for this exercise, I’ll list them in sequence since you can’t be expected to know them yet:

Ten cards were played. Three were not played. Simply by reviewing all the Code Words for the suit of hearts, you can easily determine which objects were not changed. In the list above, only
rower, lure,
and
quarry
were not changed. This means that 4H, 5H, and QH were not played.

To be efficient, you must be able to review the Code Words for the four suits of cards very rapidly. You will be amazed at how quickly you will be able to review all fifty-two cards when you are just reviewing the Code Words. When reviewing the Code Words, there is no need to convert the words to the names of the cards. That can be done only when you need it.

You can practice with a deck of fifty-two cards after you know all the Code Words. I sometimes shuffle a deck of cards and place five cards facedown. I look at each card and quickly convert it to its Code Word and change it in some way (usually by imagining it smashed or broken).

After looking at all the cards and imagining each object smashed or broken, I use the word cards (representing the four suits) to review all the Code Words in each suit (c, r, d, s). When I come to a card and see an object that was not changed (smashed or broken), I know that is one of the five cards that was not played (and is facedown). I make a note of the five cards that are facedown. When I complete the mental review of the fifty-two cards, I turn the five cards over to confirm that I was right. Do I ever miss any? Sure, but not very often, and only if I try to do it too quickly.

Another great mental exercise is to shuffle a deck of cards, turn the cards facedown one at a time. As you look at each card, change it to its Code Word and visualize the object in its numbered room location. You need six rooms to do this, but the sixth room includes only the numbers 50, 51, and 52.

After you look at all fifty-two cards, start at location 1 (the back left corner of the first room) and recall the object in each of the fifty-two numbered room locations. Convert the object in each location to the name of the playing card it represents.

This exercise will truly amaze your family and friends. I suggest that you start with just ten or twenty cards. Each time you do it you may wish to do an additional five or ten cards.

HOW TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ

Did you ever get to the bottom of a page and wonder what you just read?
That is a very common problem among students and adults. Many people ask, “How can I remember what I read?”

It is not practical to try to remember every word you read. It is practical to read until you find something you want to remember and then use an organized memory system to remember it. When reading information, some of which you want to remember, use the Cube. Select a familiar room. When you read something you want to remember, stop briefly and highlight it or write it down. Then convert the information to audionyms. Associate the audionym (s) with location 1, 2, 3, and so on, in the familiar room. After you have mentally stored nine items of information in the first room, mentally go to the next room and start at the ceiling (location 10) and continue.

After you complete what you are reading, mentally review each numbered room location to recall all of the information you have read. This is an excellent mental exercise and a very practical application of the memory system.

HOW TO REMEMBER THE CHAPTER OUTLINE OF ANY BOOK

Remembering the chapter headings and subchapter titles of an entire book
is really easy with the memory system. If you know the chapter headings and the subchapter titles and you read the book, you can generally articulate the entire book.

1.
Highlight or write the name of each chapter.

2.
Convert the name of each chapter to an audionym(s).

3.
Using the Cube, in location 1, see the audionym for chapter 1. In location 2, see the audionym for chapter 2. Do this for all the chapter headings before starting the subchapter headings.

4.
Highlight or write the name of each subchapter heading for chapter 1.

5.
Convert the name of each subchapter to an audionym(s).

6.
Link the audionym for the first subchapter heading to the audionym in location 1 (chapter 1). Link the audionym for the second subchapter heading to the audionym for the first subchapter heading.

7.
Repeat items 4, 5, and 6 for chapters 2, 3, 4, and so on.

This is an excellent memory exercise, and it is a very practical application of the memory system. There are numerous valuable uses of this application in the classroom and in business.

I can remember using this application many years ago in a corporate setting. At an executive staff meeting several months earlier, there had been a heated discussion (and disagreement) on a certain point. That evening I did some extensive research on the subject. I used the memory system to mentally lock in enough information to easily win any future debate on the subject if the opportunity were ever to arise again. Sure enough, the opportunity arose again several months later.

The individual who earlier had convinced everyone (but me) that he was correct didn’t have a chance. He was about to argue the point again when I politely interrupted him. In a very calm, deliberate, and confident manner, I was able to provide research-based information that proved him wrong. Although I used less than 10 percent of the information I had stored in my mind, I was able to refer to multiple publications, books, and manuals by chapter, subchapters, and even page numbers and verbatim quotes—all without any notes. Needless to say, he was dumbfounded! More important, I think that, after that, the entire staff would have believed almost anything I said. They talked about it for a long time.

To gain a competitive edge in the classroom or on the job, use a combination of the memory tools you have learned in this book. Although the subjects will vary greatly, the system will remain relatively the same. And remember that no matter how complex the information may be, you will never work with more than two objects at a time.

HOW TO GET HIGHER GRADES WITH LESS STUDY TIME

If you are a student, you now have a way to achieve higher grades in less
study time. By using various combinations of the techniques you have learned in this book, you now have the tools you need to make learning a lot faster and a lot easier. Best of all, you will remember what you learn.

Simply select the appropriate tools for each memory task. I will share with you numerous actual applications to show you how to effectively apply these exciting new mental tools.

No matter what subject you are studying, it is almost a certainty that some combination of the tools you have learned in this book can easily be applied to it. Most information you mentally process falls into only three categories: words, numbers, and things that are already visual.

Please keep in mind that you must change information you want to remember into something you can see. If the information is words, use audionyms. If it is numbers, use the Number Code. If it is already visual, it is already easy to mentally process.

Converting words and numbers to visual images is only part of the process. After you can see the information in pictures, you must have a place to store it in your mind. This is why you must always have a known to work with. The known must also be something you can see. With this system, you never need to work with more than two pictures at a time: the known and the information you want to remember. The known can be a Cube or Grid location, an audionym, a face, a painting, or anything you are certain you will remember at the time you need to recall the information you are learning.

Even information as seemingly complex as the periodic table of the elements in chemistry can easily be broken down so that you work with only two objects at a time: one object represents what you know already—the known—and the other represents the information you want to learn.

TERMINOLOGY, NOMENCLATURE, TECHNICAL TERMS, AND VOCABULARY

For each of these categories, use the audionym technique and association. Change the word you are learning to an audionym. Then change the meaning to an audionym or audionyms. Associate the audionym(s) of the meaning with the audionym of the word you are learning. Later, when you see or hear the word, just change it to its audionym. Recall the audionym that was associated with it and you will recall the meaning of the word.

Biology
: chromatid

Change chromatid to an audionym. For example, visualize a
chrome mat.

Definition:
A chromatid is one-half of a replicated chromosome.

Change the definition to audionyms. For example, replicated becomes
replica
and chromosome changes to a
chrome stone.

Association
: On the
chrome mat
see one-half of a replica (replicated) of a chrome stone (chromosome).

A chromatid is one-half of a replicated chromosome.

If you are studying biology, you will already be familiar with many of the terms. This will make it even easier to create audionyms for terms and definitions.

Simply by reviewing the new word, its audionym, its association, and its meaning several times, you won’t need the memory techniques anymore. You’ll just know the meaning of the word. Think of the memory techniques as a means to an end. Through use of the techniques and through use of the word, the need for the techniques disappears. What remains is knowledge.

HISTORY

For the history of any nation, there are, essentially, only three things you need to know:

1.
Who was the leader?

2.
When was the person the leader?

3.
What happened when the person was the leader?