Category Archives: Learning

Three Tricks to Supercharge Your Memory

Everything was perfect. Down to the second. Log off the internet. Jump in the shower. Brush my teeth. Get dressed, get ready to leave, so I show up at work right on time, and…oh crud…where’d I put my keys? Pocket? No. Backpack? No. Freezer? No. Aha! Jacket pocket! No. Wait, over on top of the stereo? Next to my little statue of Buddha? What in the world? Hey Buddha, why’d you steal my keys? The Buddha doesn’t answer. Maybe because they didn’t have keys back in Buddha’s day. But guess what, that reminds me. Here are three tricks to remember the three things you forget the most. Ready?

Car Keys

Where’d they go? Well, this trick, as with the other two, require that you decide before you put your keys down that you want to remember where you put them. This trick won’t work if you throw them down while talking to your friend on your cell phone while checking through the mail for that big check that is supposed to come. The trick? Simple. Imagine the keys are made of some highly toxic alien blood metal, or some kind of advanced explosive, and whatever you set them down on gets completely and absolutely destroyed. I know a person that imagines her keys to be a little tasmanian devil, and spins around and eats through whatever surface she puts them on. Make sure the destruction is really fantastic. So when you think of your keys, you can easily remember what you destroyed with them. (Only in your mind, of course.)

Remote Control

Use the same method, but involve the buttons and some kind of a death ray coming out the front of the remote. Choose something you’d like to destroy before you set it down. Something that doesn’t move, so the cat won’t work. Like a big plant, or your stereo, or your homework. Anything. So when you come looking for the remote, you’ll automatically remember what it is you wanted to destroy with your Death Star remote control.

Car

This one requires a little imagination, but it’s the most fun. Say you park in section A4. Usually when you leave, you look up at A4 and think, ok, no problem. But when you come back, problem. A-what? In this case, A4, think of a noun that starts with the letter A.  Acrobat. Astronaut. Aerobics teacher (choose your favorite.) Then think of something related to the number four. Four leaf clover. Four legged elephant. Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Four members of the Beatles. Choose one for each, and make a crazy story connecting the two. Like your Aerobics teacher riding an elephant who is crushing your car. Or an astronaut with his space suit filled with killer carniverous alien four leaf clovers. It sounds complicated, but it only takes a couple of seconds, and your friends will be amazed. Just be careful not to mumble your secret memory picture too loudly while you’re walking back to your car. Your friends might suddenly want to call a cab.

These are just three simple techniques that can easily help you increase your skills when you use the amazing power of your mind. To find out many more ways to use your brain in new and fascinating directions, have a look through my other articles, or check back for more, as I update this site daily. And be sure to tell your friends, too.

Permalink

I’d Like to Change My Order

I was having dinner with a friend the other night. I was in a pretty good mood (as I usually am,) but he seemed to be out of sorts. I could tell because he usually orders a mixed cocktail (he has a really strange system based on the day of the week and the general weather pattern to choose his drink. Either that or he’s been pulling my leg all this time,) but that night, he ordered a beer. Not just any beer, well actually, yea, he just told the waitress “whatever’s on tap is ok.”

I asked him what was wrong. He said that he was having second thoughts about going forward with his business that he’s been planning on starting. “What changed?” I asked.

He said that he’d been talking with another guy that his advisor had put him in touch with, that had successfully started a business in the same general line of work. He said that he had worked 7 days a week, about 12 hours a day for the first two years. He had a supportive family, and finally after two years, his business was successful enough that he could hire other people to manage it for him.

“So what’s the problem?” I asked. He said he wasn’t really prepared to put in 12  hours a day for a year before he saw a profit. He seemed to think that all businesses need that level of commitment to get off the ground and become profitable.

I told him about this book I read (I forgot the title) about a kind of study they did on successful entrepreneurs. Now that I think of it, I think it might have been a tape program, and I’m pretty sure I got it from Nightingale Conant. If you’ve never had a look, I recommend it. They got some good stuff there. If you find something you like, you might check ebay first, because lots of times people buy stuff, listen and get great benefit, and then sell it at a pretty cheap price.

So what this program said was that there was a huge range of variables that went into successful business creation. Some people were successful right from the start, some had to work at it over several years, others had all kinds of loans and help from family. It really didn’t matter. The term ‘work’ is really a relative concept. What might seem like ‘work’ to some, may be totally enjoyable to somebody else. Some people might consider putting two weeks of effort to get a ton of money a huge burden, but others might consider three or four years total enjoyment, even if you don’t make a lot. So long as you enjoy what you do.

I asked my friend if he enjoyed doing what he thought he was getting himself into. He thought about, an decided that he really did enjoy it. Then I asked him if he would enjoy doing what the other guy did for two years, 12 hours a day for, and he said no way. Then he confessed that the other guy said the only reason he quit after two years, well not really quit but hired other people to take over, was because his wife had their second baby and really needed his help around the house. So it turned out my friend was imagining himself doing what the other guy was doing and imagining not enjoying it, while in reality the other guy was enjoying it so much it took a second baby and his wife’s demands that he ease off a bit.

When he put it into that perspective, it made total sense to him. Although the waitress was pretty confused when he sent back his beer and asked for a Vernal Equinox.

Permalink

You Want Fries With That?

“Dude why does this always happen to me?”
“Why does what always happen to you?”
“This!”
“What?”
“They always mess up my order.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I ordered the chicken burger with mashed potatoes, and they gave me the chicken burger with fries. I can’t eat fries, my doctor said so.”
“What does your doctor have to do with this?”
“He told me not to eat too much fried food.”
“I see. So is that why your order always gets messed up, because your doctor told you to stop eating so much fried food?”
“No, I’m just saying. They always mess up my order.”
“They?”
“Waiters, waitresses.”
“Both waiters AND waitresses?”
“Mostly waitresses.”
“So then they don’t ALWAYS mess up your order, only waitresses?”
“Yea. Yea, that’s it. Waitresses always mess up my order.”
“All waitresses?”
“Well, now that you mention it, usually only cute ones do.”
“Hmm. I see. Do they know they are cute?”
“Huh?”
“The cute ones that mess up your order, do they know they are cute?”
“Dude, what?”
“You said most cute waitresses mess up your order. How do they know that they’re cute? Is there some internationally agreed upon scale of cuteness that they have to check themselves against every day to see if they can qualify to mess up your order?”
“Huh? Dude, what are you talking about? Of course not. There’s no standard.”
“You’re not saying that cuteness is subjective, are you?”
“Of course it’s subjective!”
“So they’re psychic then, right?”
“WHAT?”
“Since there isn’t any international standard for cuteness, and cuteness is subjective, they can only mess up your order if they can read your mind and decide that you think they are cute. Right?”
“Um, I think I’ll just eat my fries…”
“No, no, this is getting interesting. Maybe, they read your mind, and because they realize you think they are cute, it makes them nervous and that’s why they are all messing up your order. Or maybe, they all hoping that because you think they are cute, you might want to ask them out, so they mess up your order on purpose so they’ll have a chance to apologize, and give you a chance to ask them out? Whatta you think?”
“I really just… dude, you wanna fry?”
“Do you have any other explanation?”
“Can we just drop it?”
“No, no, I’d like to get to the bottom of this. Perhaps there is another explanation. Maybe YOU are the one that is messing up your order. Maybe you actually said ‘fries’ when you meant to say ‘mashed potatoes.’ Did you ever think of that?”
“Seriously, these fries are pretty good, you should try one. They have like garlic or something on them…”
“What is cute, anyways? How exactly do you know that a girl is cute? I mean, say look over…there! Is she cute?”
“Dude, you really are starting to embarrass me.”
“Have you ever had a cute waitress that DIDN’T mess up your order? Or did you ever have a waitress that was really uncute, and HE messed up your order? I mean, that’s not really a cute thing to say, you know. Cute people have feelings too. I suppose I could order you to just be thankful you have some pota….dude, what happened to your fries?”
“I finished them while you were rambling on about whatever you were rambling on about.”
“How were they?”
“Great, I think I’ll order them again next time.”

Permalink

Submitted For Your Approval

I was sitting in a local coffee shop yesterday, as I like to do. And I ran into some this guy that I sort of know, but haven’t had the chance to really put in the “friend” category in my brain. You know what I’m talking about, right? Anyways, this guy tells me about his roommate. And his roommate is the kind of guy that is always trying to learn new things, he’s always going to some seminar, or reading a new book on this subject or another.

And he was telling me how is roommate went to this really interesting seminar in some kind of esoteric philosophy, kind of like metaphysics, I guess. And there was a guest speaker at the seminar, and he really didn’t do much speaking, because for most of his allotted time he had them watch a video tape with this Indian guru. Which is strange in and of itself, because nowadays, most people simply use DVDs to watch videos, instead of tapes.

So anyways, this guy said that the secret to being able to get what you want in life is related to how well you can give yourself approval. He was saying that behind most desires are a hidden need to receive approval from other people.  He said that it relates somehow to growing up, and internalizing some of those messages that we received from our parents. Kind of like the guy with the anchor, sometimes something is good to hold onto, and sometimes you should just let go.

Now I’m not going to tell you to automatically believe this stuff about releasing the need for approval from others, because I think it’s important for you to discover that on your own. And while some people tell me that they think the need for approval is based on genetic programming rather than conditioning, I think it’s clear that people who have been able to operate independently from the need for approval from others will tell you differently.

And you are probably already aware of the fact that when you remember those times when you did things without waiting for permission or approval from others, you were able to feel more freedom to experience the situation. Like sometimes when you were able to detach from the outcome, whatever it was, and just focus on the experience, you can remember having a great time.

And this might not be entirely relevant to you, but when you do release any need for approval from others, you might find that you get more approval than you’d ever hoped to receieve had that been your outcome in the first place.

But it did sound like an interesting seminar that he went to, and I never did find out if he got a copy of the tape that they watched, as he left before I got a chance to ask him. Seems he was in a hurry to meet somebody about something, and he was just stopping by to pick up a latte for the road.

You are probably already aware of the fact that many people have decided that the more they expose themselves to mind expanding ideas, like articles on this site, the easier it is for them to find new ways to get what they want out of life.

Permalink

Quickly and Easily Learn a New Language

Klaatu Barada Nikto! The meaning of this phrase, repeated in the recent rendition of “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” has been widely discussed and the generally agreed upon meaning is that it is a kind of “safe word” used to keep the giant Gort from destroying the Earth.  While no translation has ever been given by the writers of the original screenplay, you can understand the meaning by the context in which it was used.

When we are babies, that is exactly how we learn English, or whatever other language you happened learn when you grew up. We pay attention to the sounds, and expressions, and figure out what they mean by the context in which they are used. When we practice copying the sounds and phrases of the adults around us, we learn what words get us what things. Over the course of three or four years, we unconsciously soak up all the grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary that will form the basis for our entire communication that we use for our entire lives. We do all this without thought, worry, or stress. It just happens.

So what makes it seemingly so hard to learn a foreign language when we get older? Do our brains change somehow, as many believe, making it harder for us to learn as we get older? I don’t think so. I suspect that wherever you are in your stage of life, if you put yourself in an environment exactly the same as when you learned your native language, you’d learn a new one just as quickly. The rub is making sure the environment is EXACTLY the same. Surrounded by loving adults who give you all kinds of happy feelings when you speak, correctly or incorrectly. An environment where the ONLY thing you were expected to do was learn things. And environment where you didn’t have to worry about food, TV, or anything else that you take for granted today.

Unfortunately, unless you have a lot of money to throw around, re-creating the environment where you learned your first language is not likely. So if you want to learn another language, you need another strategy. Luckily, if you’ve read my other articles on memory, you already have a fantastic strategy for learning new words in a foreign language. It’s called pegging. If you haven’t read the other articles on memory, I suggest yo do that.

Imagine you want to learn the Japanese word for apple. Ready? I’ll teach it to you. Imagine you are in Tokyo at a Beatles concert. You can see John and Paul in the front, and George off to the side. But you can’t see the drummer, what’s his name. You walk over to the side, to get a better look. And to your shock, instead of the Beatles drummer, you see a giant apple, with arms and legs, banging away on the drums. How do you say “apple” in Japanese? You guessed it: Ringo.

Now if you need to, you can add more stuff to that picture to make it more memorable, but keep the elements the same. An apple playing drums for the Beatles at a concert in Tokyo. Try this with other words. Take the target word (in this case, “Ringo”) and say it until it reminds you of anything in English. Then just connect them up using a crazy, emotional, nonsensical picture/story. The more you do this, the easier it will get.

Now how long did it take to learn that? One minute? Two minutes? Do you know how many words are the base for everyday fluency in any given language? About 3000. And that’s really stretching it. Most linguists figure there’s really only about 500 that people use in basic non-technical conversation every day.

If you only spend 5 to 10 minutes a day, you could easily become conversationally fluent in a new language every year. And simply because you can imagine this, you can make it happen. How much would that impress your friends?

Permalink

Develop Powers of Instant Deep and Peaceful Sleep Anywhere, Anytime

You roll over, nervously glance at the clock. 2:46. Ugh. You need to wake up in less than 5 hours. Roll back over. Sleep. Sleep. You need to sleep. Focus. The more you worry, the more awake you become. You roll back over, afraid to rest your eyes on the soft glow from clock, taunting you with the ever increasing speed with which it reminds you of your increasingly disappearing night. 2:58. Less tired. More awake. This goes on for the entire night. An eternity of rapidly increasing anxiety fueled thoughts racing around your head. Finally you feel the long awaited sleep which beckons you to blissful unconsciousness. MMmm. Feels wonderful, worries melting away, sleep, soft warm, dreamy escape. Just as you nod off…

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Crap!  What, only two minutes of sleep is all I get? Why does this always happen? You know exactly what I”m talking about, because there is an obvious conspiracy of alarm clocks which somehow magically keep us awake until just moments before their alarm is set, at which time they maliciously send out some kind of trans-dimensional sleep inducing alarm clock voodoo only to cause us anguish. Who is setting whom?

It doesn’t have to be this way. You can train yourself to fall sleep easily and naturally every night so you can rest peacefully, and enjoy those dreams that you can interpret for your benefit.  You can wake up  and notice that you feel refreshed and rested so that you can overcome any challenge the day can dream up to throw at you, unaware that you now possess super sleep skills.

What exactly is the skill? Easy to learn, and you will receive immediate benefit once you naturally put it into practice. Some call it focused attention, others call it trans-hemispheric dialogue, but you probably know the ancient name of counting sheep. But with a twist.

What it does is allows you to develop a mental conversation between your right and left brains. One side is used to visualizing, imagination, while the other side is used for the creation of speech (among about billion other really fascinating stuff.) The idea is to create enough brain fatigue, so it eventually just gives up and you are consequently out like a light.

Here’s how to do it.

As you lay there, finished with your day. Close your eyes. (Ok, not right now because you need to read this.) Allow whatever you see in your imagination. Describe it, to yourself, in your mind. As you see it. Be careful not to create any images, just follow your imagination with your description of it.  Allow it to go wherever it goes, and describe it, to youself, in your mind, in as much detail as you can imagine. Here is an example:

Ok, I see a field, a green field with some trees off to the left, and now I see a rocking chair,and at the bottom of the rocking chair is an old pair of shoes, and one of the shoes is on the left side, and the other shoe, is, wait, ok, now there are a bunch of chickens, and, wait, there’s my mom, and no, wait, there is that guy I knew in elementary school, and, wait, there’s, no wait, theres..z..z.z.z.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Next thing you know, it’s morning.

You get the idea.

And the more you practice this technique, the more you will be able to fall asleep faster and faster, and pretty soon you will be able to train your body to fall asleep and recharge your mind and body in so many fascinating ways you’ll wonder why you didn’t discover this earlier.

And of course, if you remember to come back often, and read more articles, you can easily begin to realize just how much potential you have inside you, right now, to do those things that you’ve always wanted to do.

And if you want, you can also share this site with others as well, because the more you share, the more there is.  And that’s good for everybody.

Permalink

OH BABY!

I was sitting in a coffee shop yesterday, minding my own business, when a young, happily beeming woman walked in carrying a very recent addition to the human race. Tightly bundled in a comfortable looking baby sling, his head poked out and his eyes looked around, ceaselessly amazed at the colors and lights and sounds and activity. Imprinting his fresh young brain with stimuli to later categorize into learnings and beliefs and ideas about who is he and how he fits into all this amazing unfolding of stuff that is always presenting itself to us.

I tried to think back to when I learned something, really able to truly discover something and give it meaning. Through some slippery power of thought, connect cause to effect. When I first noticed that when you turn that round thing on the door, that other part that looks like it’s the same material goes in and out of the side of the door.  Or when you are holding those sort of round white things, and you open your hands, they fall and crack open on the ground into a yellow gooey mess. Or those squiggly lines that my first grade teacher wrote on the board, and made us copy over and over, that had no meaning at the time, but later, through some voodoo magic that I am still trying to wrap my mind around, became letters with which I could build words and sentences and express complicated ideas and desires and plans that were inside my head, waiting for me to give them life.

But then I realized that something happens to us as we grow old. For some reason, we stop being able to see the world as an exciting unfolding of learning and discovery.  We somehow learn, or believe, or pretend, that once we get to a certain level of knowledge, the learning stops.  We trick ourselves into thinking that instead of being people who always find new and exciting things to learn about, we slip into the comfortable habit of doing, instead of becoming. Does it have to be that way? Do we have to give up any idea that we are able to continuously learn and grow and change? And if we do change and learn, does it have to be to satisfy some external requirements by society? Can we not set our own course of our lives so that we can not merely serve others, but to serve others in a way that can benefit us both?

As the young woman sat down to join her friends, they all took turns holding young child. A child who has a long journey ahead of him. Clearly enjoying the support of the caring adults around him. Well equiped by nature to pull from his environment all the resources he will need to survive and thrive. In his young mind the few, yet to be voiced thoughts soon to be joined by many others. The thoughts we all too soon let go of. The thoughts we should never forget, as they can help us to master our reality in any stage of our life.

What is this?

What does it mean?

How can I use it? How can I share it?

I like it! How can I get more?

 

Permalink