There I was, walking from the kitchen to the front door, knowing I had to do something. Yet I completely forgot what I was doing there in the first place.

Or when I was totally prepared for that exam, knowing everything I needed to know. But when I saw the first couple of questions, I knew this was not going to turn out the way I thought it would. Better yet, I knew that it was going to turn out exactly the way I was thinking about it right then, a complete failure.

I am sure you had these moments yourself as well.

What did you do about it? Did it stress you out or was it something that helped you learn how to remember information better?

For me it was a way to learn how to memorize things smarter, better and faster. I did that up until a point I was able to memorize new pieces of information better than most people. I don’t have a really good memory yet, but it does what it needs to do in order to help me move forward.

This brain does need to improve.

So starting now, I will take up some of the biggest memory challenges out there. How to remember names, numbers, lines, quotes, faces, directions and even the Holy Grail of memory… memorizing a deck of cards.

The beauty of this is… I will share the progress I have with you. You learn from my mistakes and triumphs. You benefit from all my experiences. The best way of learning with me how to memorize is by using the Memory Report. A monthly newsletter/training I compile based on what I did that month to improve my memory.

Enough about that, let’s get into the way people are able to memorize information.

Many people tell me they have a good memory. Question of course then is “what is a good memory”. For me it is something I can trust. When I am able to memorize what I need to memorize, and retrieve it from my brain, I have a good memory.

Another thing I experienced is that many people know they are good in remembering some information better than other stuff. Usually people remember things they like or are interested in much better than boring or stupid bits of information. Recognize that?

It would be much nicer if you can remember everything you need to know, rather than only remembering information you like to know.

How to we memorize information?

There are a couple of very important pieces of information you can use immediately to remember information faster and better. Some of these are perhaps obvious ideas for you, but that’s ok. I am not giving you a completely new perspective on memorizing here. I am here to make it easer for you.

1: Conscious intake

What most people do is they hear a new piece of information and they do something else at the same time. This is usually a sure way to forget what you heard.

The situation many of us do this in is when meeting someone and getting introduced. We ‘hear’ they name but we don’t actually listen. The name perhaps goes in your left ear, but bypasses your brain and jumps straight out your right ear. This is by the way a good start… some people don’t even listen to the name at all.

The easiest way to remember a name is to do this as conscious as possible. Really take a genuine interest in the name of the other person. Perhaps you can ask them about the reason why they have that name, of what it means, of anything else. Make it a piece of information that is use immediately.

Some people advice you to use the name the next couple of sentences. That means I would hear: Hello Arjen, nice to meet you Arjen. What do you do for a living Arjen. And so on…

Now that nice to use it that way. I find it really annoying. When you talk about their name, you make the conversation revolve around the other person, making them more important (and that is sub-consciously something we all want, being the center of the universe).

2: Make it interesting

Remember that we are able to remember information about our hobbies and lives much easier than stuff we don’t care about?

Make it your primary goal to enjoy the information you have to remember. This way you WILL remember it faster.

So when you are about to learn something about knitting, and you don’t like it at all… make it interesting. Imagine what knitting would do for you if you could do that. A business person who has to remember this information might be interested in the way he can start up a business and sell the end product. Learning about the different types of wool is now very interesting (read profitable).

Or a woman who has a complete negative perspective on knitting might think about the way she can save money by creating some clothing. Different models of socks become more interesting as we speak.

Find your own interesting angle when you are looking into a new topic.

When nothing else works for you and you can’t find a single interesting angle… you simply think about the way this stupid topic needs to be exposed as a total fraud. And it is up to you to remember everything to tell the world about it.

3: Use different modalities

Strange word perhaps in the context of memorizing information, but it makes complete sense.

Some people are better able to memorize information when they are hearing it. Others simply need to see it. And there are people who have to touch something in order to understand and remember it.

Know what type of person you are. This is vital in using your brain effectively.

When you hear something but you are a visual person, you make sure you write it down, or you look for a name at the name sign a person is wearing.

Remember that we all have all 3 modalities in us. You are a person who uses visual, auditory and kinesthetic ways to memorize things.

For names it could be that you need the visual part first, then you need to hear it and finally you have to shake the hand of that person or give them a hug. Your order of the modalities is V-A-K.

When you rely most on hearing, touching and seeing, you need to make sure you use A-K-V stimulus. So you listen to a person, then you shake their hand and then you look at their face or name tag.

4: Use humor

Humor, very important. It gives you a different perspective on the data. It helps you to decode it and store it in your brain faster. It also helps you to retrieve it from your brain again.

For instance, you listen to the name of the person you meet and it reminds you of someone you know. The person is called Adam. You might think of them wearing a leaf only and being completely naked. Yes, we are talking about Adam (as in the partner of Eve).

Or you think of Patch Adams and picture the person you meet wearing a red nose and smiling.

I assure you, next time you meet them, you will be smiling because of the humor you used in remembering their name. You will be smiling and the other person will see you are happy to see them.

Of course you don’t tell them the association you created between them and the other people . That’s just your little secret.

5: Make it painful!

Our brain is wired in a strange way. A couple of weeks ago I listened to a presentation. In this, Darren Hardy explained that we as human beings take more time to look at the scene of a car accident (and create a traffic jam at the same time), than look at a beautiful sunset somewhere else.

We are beings that live with, and in pain simply because it gives us an advantage.

So why not use this then? Why not connect pain to the information you want to memorize?

I have a peg list of 10 places connected to my body. On each of these places (head, nose, month, neck, etc.), I can connect a different word or sentence.

The best way to do this is by using pain to associate the 2 together.

Need to remember the word tree? I simply connect it in a painful association to the first place in my list, my head.

Can you see yourself banging your head against the tree you want to remember? Pretty painful, right?

I could have told you to visualize me banging my head against the tree, but that would not create a feeling of pain in your brain. That would be humor (for you, not for me).

6: Repeat

Most people just want to remember everything immediately. No need to repeat, because they know they stuff.

But as you know already, that isn’t the case all the time. In fact, it hardly is the case. You need to repeat to create a clearer and wider path between your new information and yourself.

Be sure to repeat the same information on set times. You can start by using this model:

Repeat after 20 minutes, 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months.

This will help you to use a system to remember information and not spend every moment studying.

As you can see, the time between the periods is getting bigger and bigger. Only move forward to the next stage when you memorized the information. If you don’t feel confident yet, you simply repeat the step again or go back one step.

Better safe than sorry, especially when you are working on remembering very important information.

7: Systematize

Create your own system to remember information the best way possible.

This means that you think about WHERE you study the information, WHAT TIME you do this, WHAT MODALITY you will use, etc.

When you have your system in place, you start to use it and you tweak it. Make it better. Create special systems for different pieces of information. Know how to stimulate yourself to remember everything!

8: USE!

You will not be able to guess how many people tell me then will use the techniques to improve their brain and not use the system/techniques every day!!!

The only way your brain will be able to memorize all kinds of things is by stimulating your brain. You have to train to get any better.

Good thing to know: if you don’t train, your brain will become less and less able to remember new things. The only way to stop and revert this situation/problem is by using your system and the techniques I am about to share with you using the Memory Reports.

To Conclude

There are many things involved in you becoming a person who can remember easily.

Use the 8 steps discussed above and see immediate changes in the way you can remember information.

For me consciously using a system to remember information is the most important aspect of them.

Now let me end this article with a question and a request.

Can you tell me using the comments box below what you are doing to improve your memory?

My request is that you, if you like this article, you click on the LIKE button a the left hand side next to this article or if you tweet about it.

Take care of your mind and it will take care of you!

We will talk soon!

Arjen