The Power of Forgetting (32 page)

As much as we’ve gotten used to the blessings of electronics to make life easier, we’ve become accustomed to chronic
interruptions that can slow our productivity down and cloud our creative minds. The pace of technology has, unfortunately, moved faster than our brains can adapt. Which is why we increasingly find ourselves feeling rushed, scatterbrained, and depleted. This is not a frivolous point. Study after study shows that we’re more stressed out than ever before. We’re overworked, underslept, and overscheduled; we chronically feel like we’re behind the eight ball with responsibilities both at work and at home. We are confronted with an increasing amount of stimuli and information, which is to say we’re encountering more and more opportunities
and
distractions. The question is, how can we better mine all this incoming data that our brain accepts at face value and determine what to pay attention to and what to disregard? How can we keep up with our frenetic world, all the while working faster and smarter throughout the day?

The solution isn’t to take on less or try to do more, as we have in the past (and have failed at miserably). The answer lies in mastering a few skills that will allow us to optimize our time and in fact accomplish more with less effort—and not feel frazzled, stretched to the limit, and utterly exasperated. Brain clutter and attention-deficit disorders needn’t be realities we embrace as necessary by-products of our modern world. As I stated clearly in the introduction:
If we can learn to minimize the idle, ineffective clutter and maximize the stuff that future successes are made of, then we can go far. And mastering the art of forgetting is the ultimate key to that achievement
.

To say that you’ve accomplished a lot by 9:00 a.m. because you’ve dealt with numerous to-dos in a flurry of electronic activity (all the while getting ready for the day and
taking care of household chores, too) may sound heroic, but that can set you up for an unproductive day if you’ve burned through all your mental energy and cluttered the brain with pablum. Indeed, there are limits to our ability—and mental capacity—to “do it all.”

None of us can possibly fathom the persistent synthesizing that our minds do on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis throughout our lives. When I make decisions today, including those that guide me through complex problems, I am basing the course I take on the existing library of my mind. It’s filled with knowledge past and present, however practical or impractical that knowledge may seem to be on the surface.

I believe that highly productive thinking on a regular basis is achievable by most anyone—regardless of IQ—because of two fundamental facts that I’ve been instilling in you since the beginning of this book. One, many of the attributes of an efficient thinker are very teachable—and learnable; and, two, the mind is an incredibly mysterious organ that we just don’t fully understand yet. I’ve witnessed people who believed they were doomed to mediocrity radically transform their lives in a matter of weeks just by implementing some of my techniques and gaining a little more confidence to keep going, to keep trying. There’s never been a better time to establish strategies that can soothe the ongoing storm that modern technology foments and maintain a cool, calm, collected mind that supports peaceful well-being—the cornerstone to productive thinking.

Productive thinkers don’t all belong to the same tribe. There are as many different breeds of productive thinkers in the world as there are species on the planet. This explains
why there can be so many disparate subject areas, industries, professions, and callings to pursue. So of course, part of occupying your own brilliance is a matter of finding your tribe and then thriving in it. Again, that entails making the most of your learning so you can spot the opportunities and capitalize on them. I am fortunate to be able to see these kinds of achievements in people across the world, both on the formal-education side and out in the real world where people are trying to get ahead in their personal and professional lives.

America has always promoted the belief that each person can create his or her own success. We love being independent—the rights of the individual are very much enmeshed in our culture. Independence Day is one of our finest national holidays and a cornerstone of the American mind-set. But somehow that idea of personal independence gets lost when it comes to learning and education. When we don’t do as well as we’d like to in school or in our jobs, we point a finger elsewhere rather than hold up a mirror. We forget that our founding fathers tried everything in their power to ensure that we would thrive on independence, which I would think entails a great deal of personal integrity, fortitude, and responsibility.

I’ve been hinting at the importance of taking learning into your own hands since the beginning of this book, and I want it to be firmly planted in your mind as you move forward now and take the necessary action to control your educational life and opportunities. Every January 1, if you want
to make just one New Year’s resolution that’s actually doable, incredibly powerful, and sustainable for the entire year, make it your goal to refresh your mind on the strategies in this book and schedule time to work your brain every single day in ways beyond your normal routine. If there is a master switch somewhere inside you, only you can ultimately decide to flip it on. My hope is that I’ve given you plenty of ideas to at least begin to make a tremendous change in your life. The six skills outlined in this book reflect the essence of productive thinking. They will facilitate whatever it is you want to accomplish in life.

I know the value that being productive brings to people because I see it day in and day out. I also see what lack of confidence, defeatism, and chronic failure can do to people, no matter how privileged they are or how many people love them. Without a well-functioning brain, life is much more difficult. But when you do have a strong brain, pretty much anything is possible. Things tend to fall into place when your mind is ahead of everyone else’s. Whatever you hope to gain from reading this book, I hope that you at least embrace its call to personal action. Always question how you can do something faster and more effectively. Always seek new solutions to age-old problems; when you get stuck, simply find another way. And always think back to the idea of forgetting—what you eliminate from your convoluted mind will position it to better manage problems and prompt moments of discovery. This will ultimately make you a more efficient human being and a more prosperous individual. After all, isn’t that all any of us wants in life? To be more (effortlessly) prolific in all that we do? The rewards go far beyond the financial ones. I think it’s safe to say we’d all be pleased
to leave a legacy that associated us with the words “prosperous,” “productive,” and “prolific.”

Alvin Toffler, an American writer and futurist, might have said it best when he stated: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” As parents, teachers, mentors, and general contributors to the world at large, it behooves us to be fierce advocates for our own future, including the future of our society. I don’t know any better way to do this than to learn the lessons of memory, which are really the lessons of learning, and to share those with as many people as possible. It just may be your stroke of genius.

Odds and Ends and a Few More Reminders in the Classic FAQ Style

This appendix includes some frequently asked questions I get from both children and adults. In many of these answers, you’ll find echoes of information from previous sections of the book. If you have a question that isn’t answered here, just log on to my Web site at
www.MikeByster.com
and ask me there.

Q:
The idea of “forgetting” and being more efficient in all that we do seems absurdly counterintuitive. Remind me: How can you be “forgetful” and super efficient at the same time?

A:
I didn’t just put these two concepts together to
confuse readers. There’s tremendous power in the ability to forget. Although the human brain can take in and retain an enormous amount of information, it’s not all that great at processing and working with tons of data at once—which is what we’re increasingly having to do in our work and personal lives. If we can make a habit of instantly forgetting nonessential details we come across, we can make mental room for the information we need to have on hand to solve problems and get more done. Too many of us try to remember everything, rather than be choosy about what to bank in our memories and forget the rest. But the people who discriminate against the trivial and savor the essential are the ones who succeed.

Q:
Are you a prodigy or genius?

A:
I don’t like these labels because they are impossible to define, even from a scientific perspective. I am just a super productive thinker—someone who sees relationships and patterns in the world that most people don’t see but could if they tried. And my real gift is being able to teach the skills that allow people to amaze their friends, improve their minds, and become excited about learning. It doesn’t take a “genius” to learn my program: Adults and students across the spectrum—from the learning disabled to the most gifted—have had great success in learning my strategies. I believe we all have the potential to become astonishingly productive thinkers, whether or not you call that being a prodigy or genius.

Q:
How do you create the shortcuts?

A:
I naturally see relationships among numbers. Some of my shortcuts are the result of painstaking trial and error, while other shortcuts come to me at random moments (while
watching TV, for example). Some of the shortcuts I’ve come up with are ones that I found out later were first documented by others, while other shortcuts I believe are unique to me. The shortcuts I present in the book are really just alternative ways to approach a problem. The shortcuts do not bypass reason and problem-solving skills but do help people identify patterns. The ability to recognize patterns is one of the documented tests for cognitive ability.

Q:
Why aren’t you in Las Vegas making a living gambling?

A:
While the math and memory exercises that are a part of my program probably would make anyone better at understanding the odds involved in card games, the truth is that I am much happier helping individuals become more productive in their everyday lives than trying to beat the odds in Vegas. And the casinos have made it clear that they would rather I stayed away from them anyhow.

Q:
Why is it important to do math problems in your head when you have a calculator?

A:
My system is about much more than multiplying large numbers without using a calculator. It’s about exercising your brain and training it to organize information. I like to say that your brain is like any other muscle—the more you exercise it the stronger it will become, and the stronger your brain is the more you can do with it. I’ve designed my system with this goal in mind.

Q:
How hereditary is productive thinking?

A:
How we each think is hereditary, but more important, learning strategies such as those that help us organize our
thoughts and be creative are highly learnable. These are the very skills that make someone a productive thinker. I like to say that you’re never too old to change your brain, but it helps to start early, as there’s more time to shape the brain, build on the features that commonly characterize efficient thinkers, and bring out that inner brilliance.

Q:
What’s the difference between being “naturally gifted” and being a “hard worker”?

A:
I see both types of people all the time, and sometimes you cannot tell the difference in their achievements. But I will say that I’ve also seen plenty of people who are naturally gifted who don’t make much of an effort. These people rarely reach their fullest potential and rarely catch up to the average folks who simply work hard.

Q:
What is the most powerful memory strategy of all?

A:
The one that works for you. Experiment with all of the strategies and see what resonates with you and your abilities. There is no single “right” strategy—beyond the one that makes sense to you and that you find easy to implement.

Q:
Will these strategies help me prevent dementia or general senility?

A:
While I cannot make any specific health-related promises or guarantees, I will say that science has now proved that challenging the brain in the ways I describe in this book can improve the brain’s functionality and help stave off the onset of progressive age-related brain disease. There are still lots of missing clues to the science of the brain and exactly how and why it declines over time.