How often do you hear people complain about the fact that they don't have a "good memory"? They say things like "If I had a good memory my life would be so much easier" or "don't ask me to remember anything because I can't even remember what I did yesterday!" But how often do people take the time to do some memory training and learn how their memory actually works?
What would having a "good memory" mean to you? Would it mean that you could always remember people's names? Would it mean that you can remember everything you need to know for that test that's coming up soon? Or would it mean that you can remember everything that ever happens - like those people you saw on television that have photographic memories?
The fact is that your memory behaves exactly as it is supposed to behave. The real problem is that we don't bother to take the time to understand how our memory works and therefore how to make remembering information much easier for ourselves. So listen up. The trick to improved memory recall is quite simple. You must move your memories from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. And that's it!
However, in order to move your memories from your short-term memory to your long-term memory you must understand and apply the five pillars of memory. Trying to improve your memory recall without understanding the five pillars is like trying to drive without a car, it's not going to work and you might hurt yourself!
Pillar One - Association. Your memory really likes grouping things together. So, if you want to remember something vividly you should associate it with something that is already familiar to you. People regularly say things like "I remember that day because this also happened on that day as well!" Why do you think that might be? It's because when we associate and group things together our mind finds it much easier to store and recall the memory.
Pillar Two - Imagery. Your memory recalls events and experiences as images and pictures. It's like you have a movie maker rolling in your head ready to snap up the next big event. Even as you read these words your mind is creating images to store what you are reading as memories! So if you want to recall information or events easily you must create a real (i.e. draw a picture) or mental picture. It will far easier to remember a picture than remember anything else (including written words).
Pillar Three - Time. As we are all aware, memories fade over time and our memory recalls recent events much quicker and easier than experiences that occurred a long time ago - especially when they are not particularly interesting or unique events. If you really want to recall an experience you need to move it to your long-term memory as quickly as you can by using association or imagery techniques. If you don't you may find the experience is very hard to recall. The longer you leave it, the less your chance of recalling it later.
Pillar Four - Repetition. This pillar is pretty self-explanatory. When you stop doing things or saying things or using things you forget them! If you don't ride a bicycle for ten years you will at first appear quite uncoordinated and possibly even fall off. If you don't use your online banking for a month you may struggle to recall the password. So if you want to remember something, consistently engage in recalling it - otherwise you can kiss it goodbye!
Pillar Five - Emotion. Have you noticed how emotional events can be remembered in great detail? This is because your mind will move intense, shocking and strange occurrences to your long-term memory automatically. This is because these types of events or experiences give a cue to the memory that they should be moved to your long-term memory. Therefore, if you want to remember something you need to add some emotion, intensity or weirdness to it! But be warned, if you make the memory negatively emotional there is a chance your memory will block some, most or all of the memory out - so always choose positive emotion rather than negative.
Memory training is the best way to improve your memory recall ability. By spending a couple of minutes today reading this you have already accessed the most important part of memory recall - the five pillars. Remember, if you want to recall something, move the memory from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. Memory recall will then become a breeze. Good luck!
What would having a "good memory" mean to you? Would it mean that you could always remember people's names? Would it mean that you can remember everything you need to know for that test that's coming up soon? Or would it mean that you can remember everything that ever happens - like those people you saw on television that have photographic memories?
The fact is that your memory behaves exactly as it is supposed to behave. The real problem is that we don't bother to take the time to understand how our memory works and therefore how to make remembering information much easier for ourselves. So listen up. The trick to improved memory recall is quite simple. You must move your memories from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. And that's it!
However, in order to move your memories from your short-term memory to your long-term memory you must understand and apply the five pillars of memory. Trying to improve your memory recall without understanding the five pillars is like trying to drive without a car, it's not going to work and you might hurt yourself!
Pillar One - Association. Your memory really likes grouping things together. So, if you want to remember something vividly you should associate it with something that is already familiar to you. People regularly say things like "I remember that day because this also happened on that day as well!" Why do you think that might be? It's because when we associate and group things together our mind finds it much easier to store and recall the memory.
Pillar Two - Imagery. Your memory recalls events and experiences as images and pictures. It's like you have a movie maker rolling in your head ready to snap up the next big event. Even as you read these words your mind is creating images to store what you are reading as memories! So if you want to recall information or events easily you must create a real (i.e. draw a picture) or mental picture. It will far easier to remember a picture than remember anything else (including written words).
Pillar Three - Time. As we are all aware, memories fade over time and our memory recalls recent events much quicker and easier than experiences that occurred a long time ago - especially when they are not particularly interesting or unique events. If you really want to recall an experience you need to move it to your long-term memory as quickly as you can by using association or imagery techniques. If you don't you may find the experience is very hard to recall. The longer you leave it, the less your chance of recalling it later.
Pillar Four - Repetition. This pillar is pretty self-explanatory. When you stop doing things or saying things or using things you forget them! If you don't ride a bicycle for ten years you will at first appear quite uncoordinated and possibly even fall off. If you don't use your online banking for a month you may struggle to recall the password. So if you want to remember something, consistently engage in recalling it - otherwise you can kiss it goodbye!
Pillar Five - Emotion. Have you noticed how emotional events can be remembered in great detail? This is because your mind will move intense, shocking and strange occurrences to your long-term memory automatically. This is because these types of events or experiences give a cue to the memory that they should be moved to your long-term memory. Therefore, if you want to remember something you need to add some emotion, intensity or weirdness to it! But be warned, if you make the memory negatively emotional there is a chance your memory will block some, most or all of the memory out - so always choose positive emotion rather than negative.
Memory training is the best way to improve your memory recall ability. By spending a couple of minutes today reading this you have already accessed the most important part of memory recall - the five pillars. Remember, if you want to recall something, move the memory from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. Memory recall will then become a breeze. Good luck!
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