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Proven Ways to Impr..
Proven Ways to Improve Your Memory
When it comes to the functioning of your brain
and your memory the saying is “use it or lose it”.
But there are plenty of other things you can do
to stay mentally sharp and keep your memory
strong. There are even ways to get a better
memory at any age, with science showing us
that neuroplasticity puts an end to the thinking
that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. For
humans anyway, anything is possible.
Improve your memory with these simple but
powerful tips and techniques. Based on the latest
science, our in-depth guide is the way to build a
better memory.
Until fairly recently, it was believed that once
your memory started slipping a bit, things could
only get worse.
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q Oo i)But it’s now known that this is not true.
Every day, your brain has the opportunity to grow
new cells and form new neural connections ...
provided you give it what it needs.
Your brain’s ability to change and grow, to get
better, throughout your lifetime is called
neuroplasticity.
Simply put, your brain is constantly changing.
And all of your daily habits influence — for either
better or worse — how well your brain works,
including your memory.
In this guide, we've compiled the most effective
ways to improve memory by harnessing the
power of the brain’s ability to change.
All tips and techniques are based on time-tested
results and the latest scientific evidence.
So you know what to do to start building a better
memory today.
Whether you want to be a better student,
maintain your competitive edge at work, or stay
mentally sharp as you age, this guide is your
how-to manual.Stay Active
Keeping a strong mind means keeping the body
active as well. It might be hard to make the
connection between keeping the body moving
and keeping the mind sharp, but research shows
that the less active you are, the more likely you'll
be to experience memory loss at an early age.
You don't have to exercise like mad in order to
keep your memory sharp. Consider taking a
daily walk. You can take a different route each
day in order to keep the mind engaged as well
as the body.
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q Oo i)'t Overdo Alcohol
Don't Overdo Alcohol
You're born with a finite number of brain cells,
so it’s a good idea not to kill them off with
excessive amounts of alcohol. The liver can only
process so much at one time, so binge drinking
can be very taxing on the brain. You might find
that you have trouble remembering what
happened the next day, but the real damage will
come later in life when you're trying to recall
important information and are unable to due to
a decreased mental capacity caused by alcohol
abuse earlier in life.
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Visualize
In order to aid the brain in remember things you
want it to, it helps to visualize what it is you
want to remember. The brain works by created
visuals of things, for example when you read the
word “cat” your brain doesn’t conjure up an
image of the letters c-a-t, but rather the word
conjures up images of what a cat is. So rather
than try to get your brain to remember arbitrary
symbols, attach the meaning of those symbols
to visual cues and concepts for easier retrieval.Use Associations
The brain works by building a large neural
network of associations. That's why there are
certain words, phrases, and images that
automatically get us to think about certain
things. For example, if your Aunt Sally’s favorite
flower is roses, seeing or smelling them might
make you think of her. So if you want to
remember someone's name, it’s good to build an
association around it. That way all you have to
do is remember the association, and the name
should come up without effort.eet
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Believe You Can Do It
A big part of memory is self-efficacy when it
comes to remembering things. if you have
repeatedly told yourself that you have a bad
memory, or that you don’t remember things
easily, you have been conditioning yourself to
not remember things well. It becomes a self-
fulfilling prophecy. Like so many things in life, a
strong belief that you can do it is the starting
block for success. Start with something small to
remember and build up from there. These small
successes will establish the confidence you
need to remember larger and more important
things.ORGANIZE
Use Mnemonics
This is a trick you might have used to remember
lists of things in high school, such as the names
of the planets. It involves using phrases like My
Violent Evil Monster Just Scared Us Nuts. It
provides clues to what it is you're trying to
remember, and provides order and structure so
you don't forget the details, like which planets
come first. If you have to remember a list of
random items, it might be easier to establish a
mnemonic in order to keep it organized and help
you remember the first letter of each item on
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Use Rehearsal
Rehearsing what you need to remember is a
great way to commit it strongly to memory, as it
will add repetition to the game, and also involve
different parts of the body, and therefore
different parts of the brain. If you go through the
process of imagining what it will be like to recall
the information you need, and stir up the
feelings that you'll have once you successfully
remember something, you'll be more likely to
replicate it in reality. Practicing a successful
delivery is key to remembering all sorts of
things.sh
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Break It Up
Break It Up
It is easier to memorize larger topics in phases,
so that you don't become overwhelmed by the
task. You can gradually start digesting bigger
chunks as you go along and get more familiar
with the material. What we're trying to avoid
here is the feeling like there’s simply too much
to remember. You want to feel like you're in
control of the material, rather than at its mercy.
Mastering the basics of what it is you're
studying is key, as this forms the proper
foundation for more advanced material later.an
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Keep Things Organized
It's harder to remember things if your brain can't
see any order to them. That's why you should
take the time to organize the data you want to
remember in a meaningful way. When you go to
remember it you'll have an easier time, because
the brain will have compartmentalized it in a
similar way to how you organized it in the
physical realm. The more complex the subject
matter, the more important organization
becomes. You might have a cluttered desk or a
messy room, but you can still work to organize
your information before trying to lodge it in your
brain.a
Use Gestures
When you use tapping, clapping, snapping, or
other hand, arm, and body gestures in
conjunction with what it is you're trying to
remember, it commits it to your muscle memory,
which can help to trigger your actual memory.
Think of an instance where you had to
remember a phone number and it helped to
actually pretend to dial the number in order to
jog your memory. It's the same concept, only
this time you are doing it deliberately, instead of
just something you use in pinch when you can’t
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Prioritize
If you have a large number of things to
memorize, such as for a big exam, you'll need to
do triage and identify the things that are most
important to remember. Work hard on those
items first, and leave whatever remaining room
you have in your brain for the less important
items. All too often we end up filling our heads
with useless data that doesn't serve us in the
future when we really need a crucial piece of
information and can't recall it.
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q Oo i)Focus
It’s easier said than done in certain situations,
but the more you can tune out the world around
you and focus in on what you're trying to
remember, the better. Do whatever you can in
order to help establish or maintain your focus,
until you feel that you have the object
committed to memory. You can then go about
your day and periodically check in to see that
you still remember what it is you were trying to
remember. If you've forgotten, simply regain that
focus and try to memorize it again. Eventually
you'll be able to log it in your long term memory
and won't need to focus in order to recall it.@ 4:40 PM
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Speak It Aloud
The act of speaking something aloud helps to
remember it later, even if you aren't able to
speak it aloud at that time. You have the aural
memory of hearing it spoken, and that engages
a different part of your brain, which can be
beneficial to the process of recalling what it is
you need. And of course the more you speak it
aloud, the greater your chances of remembering
it when you need it in the moment.
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Learn a New Langua..
Learn a New Language
Learning a new language not only gives you a
new vehicle with which to express yourself, it
also beefs up your memorization muscles as
you take on a new vocabulary, sentence
structure, and conjugation rules. If you already
know a second language, or have previously
studied one in the past, you can take it up again.
The process of relearning a language also
activates dormant parts of the brain, which has
been shown to help in unrelated areas.@ 4:40 PM
Feed Your Brain
The food you eat has a direct effect on your
brain, which is why it’s essential to eat foods
that contain the proper antioxidants for brain
health. Many of the foods on our extensive list
of superfoods contribute to a healthy brain, so
this is a good place to start. The reason they're
so important is that they help the body defend
against free radical damage, which can have a
big impact on degenerative disorders that
specifically target the brain. Battling back is an
important step for overall neurological health.a)
Train Your Brain os
Train Your Brain
Keeping your mind active is now easier than
ever, because there are several sites that provide
brain training games designed to improve your
sharpness, memory, and agility. Rather than
simple crossword puzzles, these games have
been developed specifically to improve certain
brain functions, and they even provide scores
and graphs that record your progress. The whole
point of these games is to make it more fun to
expand your mental capabilities, instead of
making it dull and boring through rote
memorization. You might find that you're able to
expand your peripheral vision and calculate
larger figures in your head than you did before.
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Take on a Challenge
Playing it safe and keeping your brain in its
comfort zone can allow it to get lazy and you'll
lose some of that mental edge you once had.
Sometimes you have to give your brain some
tough love and challenge it with a new project or
venture, something that stimulates it and gets it
ready for another day. This can be in the form of
a new profession, or a new hobby, just follow
your passion and don't be afraid if it's in a totally
new area for you.Carey
Read More os
Read More
In our Information Age we're inundated with all
sorts of tidbits of information flying at us, and it
might seem like we're reading more than we
once did. But reading news blogs and emails is
not the same as getting immersed in novel, and
reading helps to give the brain something new to
chew on. New ideas, new concepts, a mystery to
solve, or even trying to remember character
names and subplots all help keep your brain at
its best. Not only is it important to feed the brain
good nutrients, but you don’t want it to rehash
the same thoughts over and over again, so it's
important to give it new information regularly,
preferably daily.Go Lefty (or Righty)
You don't have to become ambidextrous, but
challenging the brain by switching to your non-
dominant hand can help it to grow. You may feel
silly at first, and your writing might look like
chicken scratch, but over time you might find
that you become quite adept at using your other
hand, and in the meantime your brain as
overcome a challenge and learned something
new. Start by trying to write the alphabet and
see how you fare. Then practice each of the
letters until they start to look pretty good. If
you're into sports, trying throwing a ball with
your opposite hand, or switch hitting if you're
into baseball.MS Mea
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Drink Water Regularly
Drink Water Regularly
Staying properly hydrated is key to having a
brain that is firing on all cylinders. Contrarily, if
you find yourself in a dehydrated state you can
quickly find yourself losing focus, and asea ina
sort of brain fog that makes it hard to
concentrate on anything. You don’t want to
overcompensate here, and if you're not used to
drinking water you'll want to ease your way into
it. You can't make up for months or years of not
drinking enough water by drinking gallons of it in
one day.AE eee
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Take It Slowy
The main thing to keep in mind when trying to
improve the condition of your brain is to just
take it slowly. Everyone has their own potential
to live up to so don't try to compare yourself to
others, and try to unlock your own hidden
talents and latent abilities. With continued
practice and a bit of determination you can start
to see the fruits of your labor. But it’s not going
to come in a quantum leap where you're
suddenly solving physics equations a la Good
Will Hunting. Look for small signs of
encouragement and then build on that.
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Ch. OT:
Introduction: What this Book Has to
Offer
What are you scared of?
Everybody has some fears and worries —
as humans, we're programmed to feel fear
as a natural response to threats in order to
protect and look after ourselves.
But, what happens when your fears begin
to take over? Fear can control your life and
keep you from following your dreams,
prevent you from taking risks, and stop
you from living the life that you want and
doing the things which you desire.
But...
It doesn’t have to be this way! Fear can
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hold many people back, and one of the
biggest mistakes that you might be
making right now is taking your fear at
face value.
What you need to understand is that fear
can be both real or imagined, and it's hard
for your body and brain to differentiate
between the two. Let’s look at two
different situations to put this in
perspective.
Imagine that there’s an angry bull racing
towards you, and you're wearing a red t-
shirt. This would be real fear. You have
every reason to be scared if you're being
charged at by a furious horned animal!
Now, imagine that you've just turned the
lights off after watching a particularly
scary horror movie. You know that you're
q Oo i)iA eee)
absolutely safe in your home, but you still
can't shift that nauseous feeling in your
gut when you think about some of the
scenes from the movie. This fear is
imagined.
Fear can be a product of two different
things - it's either due to reality, or a
product of your imagination. In general,
real fear will be felt by both you and others
around you, and imagined fear will be
personal to you alone. Imagined fear is
generated by your beliefs and individual
perspective of the world, which is why
some people have fears which are
completely incomprehensible to others.
For example, a person who fell into a lake
as a small child may have a fear of water
even into adulthood, whilst somebody
who's never had a scary experience with
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water could be a professional swimmer
with absolutely no fear of scuba diving in
the sea. This is because water in and of
itself isn't something to be fearful of, but
your personal experience could make it
scary for you.
In general, the fears which hold us back
are these imagined fears which are
personal to each and every one of us. Just
because they're imagined, however,
doesn’t mean that they’re not real — they
certainly feel very real to the person who
is feeling them.
Conquering the fears which are holding
you back relies on you getting down to the
source. Discovering what causes your
fears is key to facing them head on and
taking control of your own life and
happiness. Figuring out what you need to
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do to push your fears out of your life and
no longer allow them to hold you back will
involve putting everything into perspective
and sifting out the irrational fears from the
rational ones.
Once you know where it is that your fears
come from and how to deal with them,
you'll become a braver and stronger
person. Fear and anxiety can severely hold
you back, and taking the steps to gain
control over them and no longer allow
them to rule your life is a process which
will take time, effort and patience — but it
will all be worth it in the end.
In this book, you'll learn how to:
Identify the causes of your fears
¢ Determine which fears are rational
and which are not
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positive ones
* Challenge yourself to take risks
¢ Use imagery to alleviate your fears
¢ Use talking therapy to help you
control your emotions
¢ Practice daily meditation to reduce
stress.
Many fears are a product of your own
mind, whether it be going to the dentist,
flying in a plane, or public speaking. Some
fears are caused by a bad or even
traumatic past experience, whilst others
can be the product of influence from other
people.
However, no matter how your fears were
established, conquering them is entirely
possible when you use the right steps and
strategies.