Magicians around the world dream of being able to effortlessly memorize

the order of a randomized deck of cards. Yet so few will ever develop the
skills needed to achieve this goal. Even with the best intentions, people
struggle to hold more than a few cards in their minds, and magicians resort
to stacked decks that, however effective for certain tricks, will never elevate
them to the level of miracle-making that magicians like Juan Tamirez and
Derren Brown have achieved.
Why is memorizing a deck of cards such a struggle? Many people blame a
lack of time. Some claim that memorizing the order of the cards is too hard.
Others try to do it by rote, desperately looking at the cards over and over
again, or by repetitively saying the order out loud, driving everyone around
them completely nuts.
The biggest excuse heard around the world is the saddest of all: far too
many people claim that they have a bad memory.
I sympathize with this. I used to love claiming that I have a poor memory.
In fact, the first time I seriously tried to memorize something without using
a dedicated memorization technique, I silently swore in so vehemently
about my “bad memory” that I would have been kicked out of class if my
teacher had heard me speaking my frustration out loud. And he didn’t even
know English!
I remained irritated with what I perceived to be my poor memory until I
decided to do something about it. I studied memorization and ultimately
devised the unique Magnetic Memory system described in my books. It is
an easily learned set of skills based around the numbers 1-10, one that you
can completely understand in and start implementing in 30 minutes or less.
It is a system that will have memorizing your first deck of randomized cards
shortly thereafter. Instead of struggling to memorize the order of 5 or 6
cards over the course of a day, you will find yourself memorizing an entire
deck within a few minutes when you practice using the strategies taught in
this short guide.
It pleases me immensely to help people memorize cards. It is an
achievement that thrills me, will thrill the people for whom you perform
and this technique will thrill you too.
Three obstacles stand between you and memorizing the order of 52
randomized cards.
 The Belief That You Don’t Need A Dedicated Memorization Strategy
For Memorizing Cards
Although repetition is always important when it comes to any form of
learning, it is a shame that so many magicians who want to memorize cards
wind up giving up because they rely on rote learning. Repetition kills.
Instead of sitting with a deck and staring at the same cards over and over
again for hours on end, these magicians could have been supplementing
their experience with the Memory Palace and Association system taught in
this book. With a dedicated memorization strategy, anyone can memorize
the order of dozens of decks in under an hour.
The Belief That Memorization Strategies Won’t Work For You
People often tell me that the memory techniques I teach will not work for
them. But I always confidently respond by saying that not only will these
techniques work: these techniques will literally blow them away when they
see how quickly they can memorize a randomized deck of cards.
Try out the techniques taught in this book for yourself and you will marvel
at how fast you can memorize a deck of cards. Guaranteed.
The Belief That Memorization Strategies Are Too Much Work
You will need about an hour to set up the full system taught in this book and
another hour to really get the hang of the method and pick up speed. The
steps are easy, fun and you can memorize a deck of cards as soon as you’ve
understood the system. The best part is that this system will serve you for
life and can be extended to memorizing just about any information you
could ever want.
I have a suggestion for you before you turn the page and start your journey
toward memorizing a randomized deck of cards. Believe in the power of
your mind. When I started using memorization techniques, I constantly told
myself that it was too difficult and that my brain was ill equipped. I acted as
if I had been born with a poor memory by virtue of birth.
Don’t be like this. The ability to memorize large quantities of information
with 100% accuracy opened the world’s doors for me, and it will do the
same for you.
You will love learning this system and adapting it to memorizing
randomized cards. Given me approximately two hours of your time as you
teach yourself how to use this system and I will give you a memorization
technique that will make your magic stronger than you ever dreamed
possible.
How to Learn & Memorize A Randomized
Deck of Playing Cards …
Using a Memory Palace and Image-
Association System Specifically Designed
for Card Memorization Mastery

By
Anthony Metivier, PhD

For Joshua Smith & Magicians Everywhere

WAIT!

I would like to offer you a free subscription to the prestigious Magnetic

Memory newsletter. Just send a quick email to
learnandmemorize@zoho.comand I’ll sign you up. Whilst subscriptions are
currently free for readers of my books, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be
making this offer. Subscribe now and get the only information that will
keep your memory magnetic for years to come. Make sure to check your
spam folder and whitelist learnandmemorize@zoho.com.
Table of Contents

Introduction
How to Organize the Cards for Number-Image Association
How to “Locate” the Cards In Your Mind For Rapid Recall
Conclusion
Further Resources
Introduction

Imagine the following scenario.

You’re seated with some friends in a restaurant. You have 52 individual
objects on the table. They’re quite small and easily stored in your pocket.
These objects can be assembled and reassembled at will. Each object has a
unique set of images on the front and look virtually identical on the back. In
fact, you have to turn each one over to spot the difference between one
object and another.
You have the objects out on the table because your friends have been asking
you exactly how you’ve come to have such a powerful memory. You give
them a demonstration.
Imagine that you ask one of your friends to reorder the objects. They can
spend as much time as they like.
Once they’re done, they hand the objects to you. You turn them over one at
a time, look at the fronts and then turn them back over, hiding their unique
features from your line of sight for the rest of the demonstration.
When you’ve gotten through all 52 objects, you have the objects back to
your friend. To create a bit of time delay, you recite the alphabet backwards
or a new poem you’ve recently created.
Then, you ask your friend to look at the front of the first object.
You tell him what it is.
You proceed to the next object and then the next and the next until you’ve
correctly named all 52.
Your friends are amazing. You feel wonderful. You are now in a position to
teach.
What are these 52 unique objects you’ve remembered with such
tremendous ease?
Yes, you’ve guessed it: a deck of cards.
Admittedly, effectively memorizing a deck of cards is quite complex, at
least to get started. However, do the groundwork and you’ll find many more
applications for the raw tools you’ll need to cultivate that are applicable in
numerous ways. I’ve included some bonus material at the end of this book
that will introduce you to just some of the potential that awaits you once
you’ve started using memorization strategies like these.
There are a number of stages in being able to memorize a deck of
randomized cards quickly and effectively.
How to Organize the Cards for Number-Image Association
First, we need to learn a method of organizing the cards. We do this by
giving each card a number. Since there are 52 cards in the deck, we need to
divide them up according to suite and then give each suite a number. I’ll
explain the rationale behind these numbers in a moment, but for now, let’s
say that:

Spade = 10
Diamonds = 30
Clubs = 50
Hearts = 80

Now let me explain why we have designated these suites with these
numbers. It has to do with a numerical sound system that works like this
(believe it or not, remembering this simple list of sounds is really the
hardest part of the job – the rest is just a technical application of the list):
1 = ta/da
2 = na
3 = ma
4 = ra
5 = la
6 = cha/ja
7 = ka
8 = fa/va
 9 = ba/pa
0 = sa

I know what you must be thinking: these memory people are nuts! Well,
there is some truth to that, but let’s carry on with developing the technique.
Remember that we said the Spades are assigned the number 10. The reason
for this will start to become clear when you look at the following:
Ace of Spades = 11 (Toad)
2 of Spades = 12 (Tin)
3 of Spades = 13 (Dam)
4 of Spades = 14 (Tire)
5 of Spades = 15 (Tail)
6 of Spades = 16 (Dish)
7 of Spades = 17 (Tack)
8 of Spades = 18 (TV)
9 of Spades = 19 (Tape)
10 of Spades = 20 (Nose)
Jack of Spades = 21 (Nut)
Queen of Spades = 22 (Nun)
King of Spades = 23 (Enemy)

Now, we start with the Ace of Spades as the number 11 simply to give the
order a nicer sequence. Since the sound for 1 is “ta” or “da,” I have made
the word Toad as my association for the Ace of Spades. You could come up
with whatever word you like based on “ta” or “da” sounds, but I would
recommend that you pick something that can be easily imagined and placed
into action in some way.
Just to be clear how the sequence works, I’ll point out that the 2 of Spades
is “Tin” in my system because the sound for 1 is “ta” (or “da”) and the
sound for 2 is “na.” Therefore, 12, which is the 2 of Spades could be “tan,”
or “dan.” Surely there are other options, but “tin” has always worked well
for me.
Another tip that you might find useful is to pick words that have some
personal meaning if you can. 3 of Spades is “dam” for me, not only because
as a card associated with 13 is “dam” a logical word, but it also reminds me
of when my father worked on a huge dam-building project. He brought me
out there a few times, and to my childlike imagination, it was amazing to
see the scope of that project. In fact, I think it would probably seem pretty
amazing to anyone of any age. The point here is that the more personal the
image is, the more staying power it has.
Now, assuming you have this system in place, let me briefly explain why
after the 9 of Spades, we switch from words that start with “t” or “d” to
words that start with “n.” The reason is that the 9 is represented as the 19th
card in the sequence, and since 1 is “ta” and 9 is “pa,” I have chosen the
word “tape.” The Jack of Spades, however, is the 20th card. Since 2 is a “na”
sound and 0 is a “sa” sound, I have selected the word “nose.”
Before I give you my personal keywords for the rest of the deck, let me
give you a quick example of how I would use this system using a single
suite. Let’s say that I want to remember that the 9 of Spades comes on top
of the 3 of Spades in a stack I am trying to memorize. I would imagine a
giant role of tape manically wrapping up a huge concrete dam.
Later, if I wanted to remember which order the two cards came in, it would
simply be a matter of remembering the absurd image of a roll of tape
crazily unraveling over the surface of a dam, as if to secure it from cracking
apart in an earthquake. In fact, in order to really make it memorable, I might
want to add a detail like that. This is called “giving the association a
reason.” If there is a reason, no matter how absurd, that a role of tape is
wrapping up a large concrete structure, then it can help with remembering
it.
Let’s carry on to see how I’ve portioned out the Diamonds using this
system. Since the Diamonds fall under the number 30, most of this suite
will start with “m” words. But as in every suite, we eventually come to the
next group of 10, which means that the 10 of diamonds will start with an ‘r’
word.
 Ace of Diamonds = 31 (Maid)
2 of Diamonds = 32 (Man)
3 of Diamonds = 33 (Mime)
4 of Diamonds = 34 (Mare)
5 of Diamonds = 35 (Mail)
6 of Diamonds = 36 (Match)
7 of Diamonds = 37 (Muck)
8 of Diamonds = 38 (Movie)
9 of Diamonds = 39 (Map)
10 of Diamonds = 40 (Rice)
Jack of Diamonds = 41 (Rat)
Queen of Diamonds = 42 (Ran)
King of Diamonds = 43 (Ram)

Clubs:
Ace of Clubs = 51 (Lad)
2 of Clubs = 52 (Lion)
3 of Clubs = 53 (Lamb)
4 of Clubs = 54 (Lyre)
5 of Clubs = 55 (Lily)
6 of Clubs = 56 (Leash)
7 of Clubs = 57 (Lock)
8 of Clubs = 58 (Leaf)
9 of Clubs = 59 (Leap)
10 of Clubs = 60 (Cheese)
Jack of Clubs = 61 (Cheetah)
 Queen of Clubs = 62 (Chain)
King of Clubs = 63 (Gym)

And finally:
Ace of Hearts = 81 (Fat)
2 of Hearts = 82 (Fan)
3 of Hearts = 83 (Foam)
4 of Hearts = 84 (Fire)
5 of Hearts = 85 (Foil)
6 of Hearts = 86 (Fish)
7 of Hearts = 87 (Fake)
8 of Hearts = 88 (Fife)
9 of Hearts = 89 (Viper)
10 of Hearts = 90 (Bus)
Jack of Hearts = 91 (Boat)
Queen of Hearts = 92 (Bone)
King of Hearts = 93 (Bomb)

These are the words I’ve come up with for each card using the numerical-
sound system, but it’s up to you to pick the words and images that work
best for you.
Believe me, this will work a lot better if you make up your own words
using the numerical system. This is because you are drawing upon your
personal, organic imagination and fusing it with the system. You’ll proceed
faster and retain the information much easier when you use your own
imagery and concepts.
How to “Locate” the Cards In Your Mind For Rapid Recall
Let me tell you how I put all of this together using the Memory Palace
concept.
Memory Palaces are mental constructs that allow you to place images along
a journey. I’m going to give you a very simple rendition for now, but if you
look through the bonus material, you will find a tremendous amount of
intricate detail that will take you much further with this method.
Basically, the Memory Palace method works by using either a real or
imaginary location, typically a home or school that you are very familiar
with.
In the following example, I combine an imaginary location with a real
location, as well as some real objects that I use as “stations,” the places in
the Memory Palace where I place the individual images that you learned
about in the previous chapter.
I have lived in two apartments in the capital of Germany, Berlin. I really
liked my office in the first apartment and have used it a lot to memorize
many things.
In my mental, Memory Palace version of that office, there is a pack of red
Bicycle playing cards.
There are no playing cards in this box.
Instead of playing cards, there is a garage. If you’ve seen Christopher
Nolan’s second Batman film, The Dark Knight, you’ll know the kind of
space I’m talking about. In that film, Batman’s “Batcave” is actually a
sophisticated room, open and bright with plenty of room for automobiles.
But I don’t have any fancy sports cars or Batmobiles in this garage (inside a
card box in an office in an apartment in Berlin).
Rather, I have the first four cars I owned as a teenager. I have these cars
lined up in order from the first car to the fourth car (which also happened to
be the last car I ever owned before turning to transit and rental cars only).
These cars provide a simple and elegant set of “stations” within this
memory palace because there is nothing I have to remember. I already
intimately know these cars because they are part of my personal history.
All you have to do is find something similar in your life and you’re ready to
go.
Here’s how my cars are arranged.
The first car is my blue Volkswagen Beetle. It was lowered to the ground
and very special to me. Too bad I wrecked it.
My second car was an orange Volkswagen Beetle. There was nothing
particularly special about it, but I miss it even to this day.
My third car was a silver Ford Fiesta. A bizarre choice, but I loved it.
My fourth car was a blue Chevy Malibu.
For the purposes of this Memory Palace, each car has 13 locations, which
works nicely because each suite in a deck also has 13 cards.
The locations I use are:
The front driver’s side headlight
The front passenger’s side headlight
The engine hood
The windshield
The steering wheel
The driver seat
The passenger seat
The seat behind the driver’s seat
The seat behind the passenger’s seat
The inside of rear window
The outside of the rear window
The trunk
The exhaust pipe

For some people, these stations might be too closely compressed together,
but this arrangement works very well for me. In general, I like my stations
to be as close together as possible.
The nice thing about each car having 13 locations is that I don’t feel like I
have to memorize an entire deck. Instead, I only need to remember 13 cards
per car. It’s ultimately rather arbitrary, but it still has a psychological effect
that helps the task seem less daunting.
So, taking thirteen cards, let’s see what the first car might look like:
Front driver’s side headlight = 3 of Clubs (Lamb)
Front passenger’s side headlight = 8 of Hearts (Fife)
Engine Hood = 7 of Spades (Tack)
Windshield = 6 of Spades (Dish)
The steering wheel = 10 of Spades (Nose)
The driver seat = Ace of Clubs (Lad)
The passenger seat = Ace of Diamonds (Maid)
The seat behind the driver’s seat = Jack of Spade (Nut)
The seat behind the passenger’s seat = 3 of Diamonds
(Mime)
The inside of rear window = 9 of Clubs (Leap)
The outside of the rear window = 10 of Diamonds
(Cheese)
The trunk = 5 of Spades (Tail)
The exhaust pipe – 5 of Clubs (Lily)

Now it’s just a matter of using location, imagery and activity to weave these
images together. It’s actually very easy and fun.
Just imagine a lamb standing in front of the car with a fife in his mouth. In
addition to the horrible music the lamb is blaring from where he is not
standing in front of the passenger side headlight, tacks are firing rapidly
over the hood from the fife and smashing into the dish hovering over the
windshield. Pieces of shrapnel from the dish have smashed into the nose on
the steering wheel, which belongs to the lad sitting in the driver’s seat. He
winds up sneezing all over the maid sitting in the passenger’s seat and so
she steals a handkerchief from Nutty Jack of Spades in the back seat who is
hitting on the mime beside him. She tries to leap through the window, but
crashes her head against a huge chunk of cheese and just as she is
recovering, she finds herself being smashed in the face by the tail of the dog
I hate, Lily.
It seems like a lot of work to get this system rolling, and I must be honest
with you: it is. But once you’ve got it set up and given it some practice, it
gets faster and easier. You’ll even begin to find that you don’t really need
all the mnemonic “training wheels” I’ve described nearly as much as you
did in the beginning, though they will still always be there to help you and
will always remain the basic foundation of how you remember the cards.
Even the world’s finest memory champions still use methods like these to
compete. In fact, you’ll find that all of them are perfectly honest about the
simple fact that without using these techniques, their memory is very poor.
The best part about practicing card memorization is that you’ll find your
concentration sharpening and your attention for detail widening. It’s a great
mental exercise that you won’t regret taking up as a habit. I believe that one
benefit of mental exercise like this is that it increases the flow of oxygen-
rich blood to the brain.
To conclude, a few notes on this chapter that will help you understand why
coming up with your own personal images based on the number-sound
system is so critical:
I do not use “ran” as a verb for the Queen of Diamonds. Here I am thinking
of the Kurosawa movie Ran, which is a samurai adaptation of
Shakespeare’s King Lear. I actually don’t picture a woman here, but the old
man as he is seen sitting in ceremonial dress at the beginning of the movie.
Lily, the 5 of Clubs is not a flower, but a dog a friend of mine used to have
as a pet. I never liked that dog very much, which makes it all the more
effective as a memory prompt, ironically.

Leap for the 9 of Clubs is the one spot where I use a verb. I would rather
not have, but I couldn’t find any other image that worked for me. “Lap”
would be a natural choice, but since laps don’t actually exist, at least not
once a person is standing, it just doesn’t work for me.
As a final note to this chapter, I want to tell you a little about what didn’t
work for me when it came to memorizing a deck of cards. The great
magician Juan Tamirez gives a number of strategies.
One is to sing the order of the deck as you want to learn it. Record yourself
singing the order and listen to the recording again and again. This approach
is perfectly fine, so long as you want to remember a pre-arranged deck that
is always pre-arranged in the memorized order. Sometimes, this is my
preference, since I am adept at appearing to shuffle a deck without
disturbing the order of the cards.
Nonetheless, singing the order never worked for me. It amounts to learning
by rote.
Another idea Tamirez gives is to arbitrarily assign both a number and an
animal to each and every card. This is getting closer to the system I
ultimately landed upon, but it still leads one to use rote memorization in
place of a system that lets you remember the order of the cards almost
instantly.
Conclusion
Now that I’ve shared this system with you along with some notes on what
hasn’t worked for me, let me summarize everyone into a number of action
steps that you can take in order to get started right now.
Action steps:
1) Make the commitment to memorize the sound system for the ten
digits, 0 – 9. It’s very easy.
2) Apply the number sounds to the different suits in the manner
described.
3) Make a word for each card using the number system. Using a
written list, Word file or Excel sheet, store the words you create so
that you can test your memory of them later.
4) Decide in advance where you are going to store the order of the
cards you will be memorizing. Use actual locations or invent them.
Since you need 52 for this exercise, it is best to think of how you can
compress them into a smaller space.
5) Make sure that you are relaxed throughout this process. Training
yourself to be relaxed while working on memory techniques helps
with recall. You want to “anchor” the sensation of relaxation so that
you know it very well. You’ll instantly fall into that state of
relaxation at any time you want to with dedicated practice.
Remember that we also practice relaxation while memorizing so that
we automatically fall into relaxation when attempting recall.
6) Get out a deck of cards, shuffle it, and begin memorizing it.
7) Test everything, but always make sure that you are not falling
back on rote memory. That is not the purpose of these exercises.
8) Describe to someone else the procedures that you are using. You
do not need to show off. Simply explain what you are doing and your
progress with it. Give a demonstration if you like, but focus on
teaching the method whenever possible. Doing so will enhance your
 skills. Always make sure to demystify these memory techniques as
difficult or something to be reserved for nerds or geniuses or people
who are otherwise weird. Memory skills are for everyone.
I do hope you enjoy using this technique to memorize the order of a deck of
cards.
Before I go, here’s a simple magic trick you can do, one that is especially
effective if you know how to false shuffle or execute a convincing false cut.
After convincing the spectator through whatever means you like that you
cannot possibly know the order of the cards in the deck, ask the spectator to
cut the cards.
Option One
Many people will expose the card facing down on the uppermost half of the
deck as they lift it up.
Once you’ve seen that card, you know the name of every card above and
below it.
Option Two
If you are unable to see the card during the cut, tell the spectator that you
are going to read their mind. Ask them to take a card from where they cut
the deck, look at the card and then concentrate on it.
It might hurt your ego a little bit, but take a guess and be willing to fail.
If the card you guess is the correct card, you’ve got a miracle.
If it isn’t, then all you have to do is ask what the card was (in effect telling
you what every other card in the deck is) and then say, “You know what, I
think I need to lean in a little closer” or if it’s a woman, “I think I need to
hold your hand.”
Miracles, dear friend. Miracles.
SECRET HIDDEN REVIEW SECTION

Here’s an interesting question I received from a reader and my response.

Although much of my answer repeats what you’ve just read, please go over
it so that you can benefit from some of the finer details.
From: John
“Thank you for taking my email.

I reviewed your methods in your book on memorizing a deck of cards and

am having a little trouble digesting the method or details.

I admit I’ve gone over your method rather quickly and probable have not
given it a fair test – meaning I’ve skipped to the end before completing each
step.

I was wondering if you had or could break your steps down further (if that
makes sense) – so that I can actually practice each step slowly over time (or
do I just need a coach?) I’d really love to learn this ‘trick’.”

I am really interested in your methods. I am a family physicain and

generally, as the joke goes, we are taught by someone who sprays
information like a fire hose! So if I could use some of your ‘tricks’ that
would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance.”

Hi John,

Thank you for emailing. After you've read the following, let me know if
you'd like to be subscribed to my Magnetic Memory newsletter. You will
get literally dozens of new memorization ideas as a result of being a
member of my exclusive mailings.

Now then ...

Coaching is definitely an option, and I do occasionally take clients under
certain conditions, but I try to discourage it because coaching does not
eliminate the work that a person needs to put in if they truly want these
memory techniques to work.

But once the work has been put in, mnemonics are the closest thing to real
magic you'll likely ever encounter.

To break the steps down further, I would suggest that you start with
memorizing the sound-number associations:

0 = sa
1 = ta or da
2 = na
3 = ma
4 = ra
5 = la
6 = sha or ja
7 = ka
8 = fa or va
9 = pa

Without this step, the rest of the Magnetic Memory card memorization
system simply won't work. You could try rote memorization or Juan
Tamirez's singsong method, but that takes forever and a day. I'm only
interested in helping people acquire this skill in what should be less than an
hour if they sit down and put in the effort.

After you've memorized the sound-number associations, focus on just one

Suite. For example, start with the Spades.

You can review the book for further details, but by now you know that this
particular approach to card memorization requires that you assign each suite
with a value after having memorized the .

In this case, Spades are 10, Diamonds are 30, Clubs are 50 and Hearts are
80.

Since we don't actually count these numbers, each Suite begins one number
up (Ace of Spades is 11, Ace of Diamonds is 31, Ace of Clubs is 51, Ace of
Hearts is 81).

Why do we do this?

So that we can use the sound-number association to create memorable

images.

So let's say that you're starting with the Spades.

You need an image for the Ace of Spades.

Ace of Spades is 11, so that means you can make an image from "ta ta" or
"ta da" or "da ta."

In my memory system, I always use "toad." But you need to come up with
whatever works for you because that will always be the most memorable.

Of course, you also need to see that image big and bright and colorful.

The word you construct from the sound-number system should also be an
actual object. If you recall from the books, I sometimes use abstract
concepts, but that's only because they happen to work for me in that
context. In general, however, you should always use concrete objects.

Here are the rest of my images for the Spades (remember: 1 is ta/da, so each
word will start with one of those sounds):

2S (12): Tin can

3S (13): Dam - as in the Hoover Dam
4S (14): Tire
5S (15): Tail
6S (16): Dish
7S (17): Tack
8S (18): TV
9S (19): Tape

Now for the follow cards, we move to 20. That means each will start with a
"na" sound followed by the sound of the next number in the digit.
Therefore:

10S (20): Nose

JS (21): Nut
QS (22): Nun
KS (23): Enemy

The rest of the 20s you simply leave blank until the Diamonds, which are
represented by 30 start at 31 with the Ace of Spades.

I know that sounds a bit complex, but it's actually very elegant once we've
sorted it all out in our heads.

Again, I cannot stress enough that you come up with your own images.

Can you spot the one major weakness in my Spade number associations?

It's Enemy.

Why is it a weakness?

Because it's not specific. I can't see the concept of an enemy.

For the time being, it works for me, but to be faster, it would really benefit
me to come up with something concrete.

I'm revealing my predilection for weakness to help ensure that you don't do
the same and come up with a stronger image for each and every card.

Also, take the time to actually memorize these words as a conceptual

construct so that when you see the card, you can instantly assign it the
mnemonic image you've created for it.
You need to be able to say that the 7 of Spades is a tack within a second of
seeing it in order for this system to work as well as it most certainly will if
you put in the effort.

And put it this way: if you put in the effort just one time, you'll never in
your life have to do it again.

Okay, so let's now assume that you've memorized all 4 Suites using this
system.

Now you want to memorize the cards in a randomized order.

Here's where my system truly departs from all others.

I want you to think of four cars, ideally the first four cars you owned so that
you can mentally line them up in the order that you owned them.

If you haven't owned four cars, then perhaps you can use the four cards of
your parents, your best friends, your neighbors, etc.

Or you'll come up with something else.

The important point is that you select four "Memory Palaces" and that each
has a 13 station journey.

The stations I have on each car are:

Driver-side headlamp
Passenger-side headlamp
Hood
Windshield
Steering wheel
Driver's seat
Passenger's seat
Seat behind driver
Seat behind passenger
Top of seat
Back windshield
Trunk
Exhaust pipe

That's enough stations for one quarter of the deck.

Here's an important tip: the journey from station to station has to be clear in
your mind.

The journey should be direct: you should not cross your own path, nor
should you trap yourself in any way. That just leads to mental confusion
later on when you're trying to recall the order of the cards.

If you haven't by this point memorized a set of images for the entire deck
(52 in total), then at this point, just use the Spades. Shuffle them up and
practice placing them at the 13 stations you've identified.

Give it some practice and then give it a little more practice.

Before you know it, you'll have the entire deck memorized and will be able
to memorize new orders within 15 minutes or less. You can push yourself to
do it in under 5. I think the world's best can do it in 30 seconds.

Where preparation meets opportunity, there is no ceiling.

Knock, knock, knocking on the Joker's door ...

I hope this review of the system helps you reach your goal, John.

If not, let me know and I'll see if I can't help you out further.

Sincerely,

Anthony
Further Resources For Memory & Memorization Techniques

Before reading through this list of valuable resources, please don’t forget to
email learnandmemorize@zoho.com for your free Alphabetical Memory
Palace worksheets.
The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work,
at School and at Play is a wonderful resource from the master of memory,
Harry Loryane. Get it here:
http://memorizegermanvocabulary.com/harrylorayne
Lorayne’s website is also well worth visiting:
http://www.harrylorayne.com/
If you’d like to hear a nearly 2 hour long interview with the man himself,
check out You’re Only an “Aha!” Moment from Greatness on this website:
http://www.hardtofindseminars.com/Harry_Lorayne_Interview.htm
You’ll also want to read Tony Buzan. I recommend Use Your Perfect
Memory.
http://memorizegermanvocabulary.com/tonybuzan
A recent memory book that has gotten everyone talking is Joshua Foer’s
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering
Everything has an appearance by Tony Buzan that is a delight to read. His
success with memorization skills is absolutely stunning. Here’s the link:
http://memorizegermanvocabulary.com/moonwalking
Perhaps my favorite audio program is Dominic O’Brien’s Quantum
Memory Power: Learn to Improve Your Memory. He reads the book
himself, making it a wonderful experience. His passion for memorization
techniques really shines through.
http://memorizegermanvocabulary.com/quantummemorypower
You’ve probably seen Kevin Trudeau hawking his products on late night
television infomercials. Don’t groan, however. His Mega Memory is one of
the best memory products I’ve ever encountered. He talks a lot, but in Mega
Memory, everything he promises is right there, ready to be learned.
http://memorizegermanvocabulary.com/megamemory
From the world of magicians and mentalists, I recommend Richard
Osterlind’s Easy to Master Mental Miracles.
http://www.mymagic.com/dvd/dvd-osterlind.htm
This book includes tons of other ideas as well that will have you amazing
your friends.
Tricks of the Mind is Derren Brown’s third book. It includes a very
powerful chapter on memorization that will take you further on your
journey as a memory artist:
http://memorizegermanvocabulary.com/DerrenBrown
Finally, if you find any resources that you think should be included in future
editions of this book, please do not hesitate to send them to me at
learnandmemorize@zoho.com.
About the Author

Anthony Metivier completed his BA and MA in English Literature at York

University in Toronto, Canada. He earned a second MA in Media and
Communications from The European Graduate School in Switzerland while
completing a PhD in Humanities, also from York. As the author of scholarly
articles, fiction and poetry, he has taught Film Studies in Canada, the United
States and Germany. He plays the electric bass.
SECRET BONUS SECTION #1

To thank you for reading this book, I want to give you a few special
bonuses. Think of this section as one of those hidden tracks some artists put
at the end of their CDs.

When I teach memory skills in a live setting, I haven’t got a whole lot of
time to impress my students while I’m demonstrating the memory
techniques discussed in this book. Let’s face it: we used to live in an instant
on world. Now it’s a world of instant downloads. People want the skills I
have to offer and they want to download them into their brains immediately.

Here’s what I’ve come up with a routine suggested by Michael J. Lavery of

Wholebrainpowercoaching.com to help create that effect. Within fifteen
minutes, I teach students to recite the entire alphabet backwards. It’s strange
that we cannot do this naturally and equally strange that we need to go to
such elaborate lengths in order to train ourselves to do it, but it’s worth the
effort. Saying the alphabet backwards is the equivalent of skipping rope
with your brain. It sends oxygen rich blood to your brain and will wake you
up any time you need a kickstarter. And it’s healthier than coffee!

Having read this book, you already have the basis for how to accomplish
this feat. There’s actually two ways to do it.

Option One: Create a 26-station Memory Palace. Place 26 objects, one per
station. The only rule is that each object must start with a letter of the
alphabet in reverse order, i.e. zebra, yolk, xylophone, weathervain, etc. As
with all memory techniques, the process works best if you create your own
words.

Option Two: Create a highly memorable story. This method uses a linking
system taught in this book. I didn’t teach it because with the exception of
using it to memorize the alphabet backwards, I personally don’t use it. For
more on the linking technique, I recommend reading any of the books
mentioned in the resources section.
Here’s Lavery’s suggested story that I used to memorize the alphabet
backwards:

Zebras with Yellow Xylophones ask What to a German man named VUT
who is a SR (Senior) with a Question for the Post Office in Northern
Minnesota, Lake Kilimanjaro where Jesus asks I (me) about the Human
Growth Formula created by the Education Department of the Central Brain
Administration.

I use Option One in class to teach my students how to say the alphabet
backwards, but I do it in a sneaky way. I never tell them that the goal is to
say the alphabet backwards. I simply have them first draw a memory palace
for themselves with 10 stations. I give them ten words. When they are
sufficiently impressed with their ability to recall the first ten words (zebra,
yolk, xylophone, etc), I have them repeat the process with a second memory
palace.

With another ten words down the hatch and everyone reciting all twenty
words with ease, I ask one of the students to recite the words again, but this
time saying only the first letter of each word. It rarely dawns on the person
speaking what they are achieving, but within seconds, the rest of the class is
stunned.

Five minutes later, the students have added six more words and everyone is
reciting the alphabet backwards with ease. Try this for yourself. You’ll love
it!
SECRET BONUS SECTION #2

In this bonus I will describe to you how that I have modified the larger
principles described in the previous chapter to my own purposes as part of
reaching my goals of easily memorizing the vocabulary words of different
languages.
Although you may not use your memory to retain poetry, the order of a
deck of cards or the number of your car and seat on a train in Spain, my
hope is that you’ll follow my descriptions of how I put these larger
principles into action and see how to apply them in your own way.
Please don’t skip this bonus section. There are many important clues and
ideas that you can use on your journey towards memorizing a deck of cards.
These exercises were essential to me and they will be essential to you.
Poetry and Novels
I know that we’re not here to learn memory tricks, but there is little that
impresses people more than the ability to whip out a heap of Shakespeare
off the top of your head. I’m not talking about “To be or not to be.” I’m
talking about the entire soliloquy.
Poetry can be difficult to remember, especially if it is unrhymed or has an
unusual rhyme structure. Take John Keats’s Ode to a Nightingale, for
example. I love the second stanza:
O for a draught of vintage! That hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth
Tasting of Flora and the country green.
Dance, Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South!
Full of the true, the blushing Hippocrene
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim
And purple-stained mouth
That I might drink and leave the world unseen
And with thee fade away into the forest dim
Good stuff, no?
Now, how did I memorize it? Well, as discussed in the previous chapter I
started by picking a location. As it happens, I had first encountered this
poem in a classroom in Winters College at York University in Toronto
where I took some of my four degrees.
I remember the room where I studied the poem and the entire building very
well. So that’s where I started. Remember: we use places that we know
precisely because we don’t have to remember them. If I know where the
door is in relation to the desk where I sat, then there is no need to remember
that the desk is station one and the door is station too. It just happens
naturally.
So let’s begin. Here is how I memorized this delightful, if sad stanza from
one of Keats’ most heartfelt poems.
O for a draught of vintage!
I imagined myself as large and as vibrantly as possible squeezed into the
tiny desk I sat in when class was in session. I saw myself drawing the word
“vintage” using dark black pencil. The pencil is enormous and digs deeply
into the surface of the desk like a knife. To get more action into the scene, I
imagined myself working feverishly, like a mad draftsman trying to express
some unspeakable secret.
That hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth

By the door leading out of the classroom, I pictured a fridge, and there I
saw myself digging earth out of it with a shovel. I stabbed the earth deeply
with the shovel and tossed the dirt into the hall.
Tasting of Flora and the country green.

Outside in the hall, I saw myself painting the concrete wall with flowers
and a green countryside. This time I was a mad painter and this time, to
remember the line, I visualized myself tasting the paint.
Dance, Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!
By the door of the next classroom down the hall, I saw myself dancing, and
then kicking Ezra Pound through the bars of a prison. For reasons I won’t
get into, Pound is readily associated with Provencal songs by people who
majored in English. Pound also went through a period in his life where he
was caged beneath the sun, and according to legend he laughed at the
guards a lot. So I saw him laughing at me as I kicked him, his face badly
burnt by the sun.
O for a beaker full of the warm South!
For this one I had to bent the rules of reality. There is a third classroom in
Winters College on that floor, and I simply imagined that it was a scientific
laboratory. Inside, I imagined a mad scientist violently cracking an egg-
shaped compass pointing south into a bubbling beaker. The smoke and
boiling bubbles helped me remember that the South Keats speaks of is
warm.
Full of the true, the blushing Hippocrene
For this image, I moved into the staircase at the end of the corridor. I
imagined a blushing Hippopotamus with his mouth full of college degrees,
his belly stuffed to the brim with them.
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim
This one was easy. In the basement of Winters College is a pub run for and
by students. I just saw myself trying to bead the brim of a wine glass with a
needle and some thread. And of course, everything was huge, vibrant and
visualized with over-the-top action. For example, I wasn’t just “trying” to
push a needle into the glass, but stabbing at it frantically. The imagery is
kind of disturbing, but that’s exactly the point. That’s what makes it
memorable.
That I might drink and leave the world unseen
Brace yourself for more grotesque violence. To remember this, I saw myself
drinking from the glass and then stabbing myself in the eyes with the
needle.
And with thee fade away into the forest dim
The patio outside the pub isn’t exactly like a forest, but I still used it. I
populated it with trees, made it dark, and envisioned myself being guided
into the forest as the entire picture dimmed out, like the ending of a film.
In truth, memorizing the passage was not a great deal of work, partly
because I love the poetry. Being able to pay attention to the subtleties of the
language and Keats’ particular spin on the world not only helps, but creates
a sense of urgency for me. I not only want to know Keats better, but I need
to know his poetry better. This is what I tell myself. I manufacture
excitement when I don’t feel it naturally. Paradoxically, I combine this
sense of excitement with deep relaxation when working. This combination
of excitement and relaxation helps came easily to me because I just relaxed
and let them come to me. In about half an hour, I was able to recite the
passage with ease.
When it comes to novels, the procedure is more or less the same. But
instead of memorizing individual lines, I remember important plot points
and the names of characters. Character names don’t necessarily have to be
remembered because the novelist will use them over and over again and in
many cases we’ll come to identify with the characters and remember their
names naturally and without any external effort.
It helps too if you understand the shapes novels tend to take. Usually there
is some kind of problem or dilemma experienced by a character who is
faced by something that has happened in his or her past. The dilemma then
turns into a crisis that must be dealt with, followed by a strong decision and
a series of actions leading to a battle or confrontation with the antagonist.
There may be a moment of self-revelation during the battle that helps the
character defeat the antagonist, followed by the resolution. Obviously, not
every story has this exact shape, but thinking in terms of story shape can
certainly help as you work on memorizing the elements of the plot.
The important thing to keep in mind is the kind of space you use. If you are
memorizing 8-10 lines of poetry, then it’s possible that a single room or a
small apartment with several rooms will do. I usually prefer to use one
room or location for this kind of work, but if you are able to compress
things in your memory palace, you could imagine a bookshelf in a room
you are familiar with and use each individual book as either a portal to
another memory palace or as an individual signifier of what you want to
remember. It’s all up to you.
But when it comes to remembering the key events of a novel, make sure
that you have a big enough place so that you don’t run out of stations. I
wouldn’t want to use Winters College to remember Tolstoy’s War and
Peace, for instance, but for something like that, Broadway in Manhattan
would probably do. It’s a long walk from 187 where I used to live down to
the southern most tip of Broadway, but I’ve done it, the streets are
numbered and you can easily follow it in a sequence that’s hard to miss.
If you are a film reviewer, or just want to memorize the plot points of the
films you see, it may take some practice to get fast enough to create vibrant,
memorable and active images and store them in unique locations in real-
time, but it can be done. You can also take notes and then memorize these
later when you can relax.
On that note, I must say it again: one of the key points in all of memory
practice that no other memory book I’ve read mentions is that you need to
make sure that you are relaxed. If you are feeling tense or running away
from a mugger (which you might be on the stretch of Broadway that runs
through Manhattan), these techniques probably won’t have the desired
effect.
I mention this mugging example for a reason. I was once the victim of an
attempting mugging on Broadway in Harlem. I know the area quite well,
but I cannot use it as part of any Memory Palace because of that experience.
My heart always quickens when I think of that gun pointed at me. This
touch of anxiety interferes with the memorization process immensely. Keep
this point in mind when building your memory palaces.
Here are some action steps that you can take immediately to start practicing
the memorization of poetry:
1) Pick a poem you actually enjoy. Although it is certainly possible
to memorize material you could care less about, obviously for the
purposes of practice, you want to enjoy “owning” the material in
your head.
2) As always, make sure that you plan out in advance where you are
going to store the material. Make sure that you are familiar with the
locations and that you’ve “cleaned” them out. If you’ve used the
location before, you might run into some trouble if memories from
the past are still lurking there.
3) Work on your memory only when you are relaxed.
4) Avoid falling back on rote memory attempts. They can sneak up
so easily, but are not the point of the exercise. Use the techniques of
location, imagery and action.
5) Test yourself, but in a way that doesn’t involve rote learning. If
you make a mistake, go back and examine the imagery you’ve
chosen. Is it strong enough? What might you need to add in order to
make it stronger?
6) Talk to someone about the efforts you are making. This is one of
the best ways to solidify your results. If you can, teach them how to
do what you are doing. Teaching is not only personally edifying, but
it helps to make the world a better place. And remember, the more
you can remember, the more you can remember.
7) Avoid using places where stressful memories might interfere with
the memorization process.
Magnetic Memory Mondays
Newsletter
Volume 1
By
Anthony Metivier, PhD

For Language Learners Everywhere

As an extra special gift for reading this book, I’ve included here the first
volume of the Magnetic Memory newsletter in its entirety. Although you’ve
purchased this book to memorize a deck of cards, there’s a whole lot more
you so do with your mind, so if you’d like to subscribe to this newsletter,
send a blank email to learnandmemorize@zoho.com. As a subscriber to the
prestigious Magnetic Memory newsletter, you’ll receive a free set of
Magnetic Memory worksheets that will help you achieve your
memorization goals. Whilst subscriptions are currently free for readers of
my books, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be making this offer.
Subscribe now and get the only information that will keep your memory
magnetic for years to come.
Table of Contents

5 Ways to Ruin a Perfectly Good Memory

How to Improve Your Memory By Rolling Dice
Lowering Your Memorization Hurdles
Try Every Skill You Want to Learn at Least Twice
What the Flu Made Me Realize About Memorization
What If I Want to Learn 3000 Words?
Using “Big Box” Stores for Memorization
Memorization Happens in the Heart
What if I wanted to memorize a chapter in a textbook so I could ace a test on that subject?
More on Memorizing 3000 Words
Can I use Video Games as Memory Palaces?
Today’s Free Magnetic Memorization Gift
Magnetic Memory Motivation
The Pains of Perfectionism in Magnetic Memorization
Magnetic Memorization Time-Management
Free Memory App
Magnetic Memorization at the Grocery Store
Magnetic Memorization and Visuality
Magnetic Memorization Question: Using English Words to Find Target Words?
How to Use Free Email Services for Your Magnetic Memorization Goals
Pay Attention in the First Place
Magnetic Memorization Kryptonite
Free Magnetic Memorization Excel File Video Walkthrough
Magnetic Memorization Sequencing
Five Ways to Ruin a Perfectly Good Memory

Dear Memorizers,

I've got the itch this week to talk about how we sometimes ruin the
perfectly good memories we've worked so hard on.

I'm thinking specifically of 5 fatal mistakes learners make that cause people
to leave some seriously important memorized words floating in the mist.

But because I don't want to overwhelm you with too much at once, we're
going to have 5 separate emails this week. And we're going to go through
these 5 ways to ruin a perfectly good memory in reverse order, beginning
with ...

5. Not Picking a Place for the Memory

Once upon a time, a client in my Magnetic Memory coaching program said

that it wasn't necessary to "locate" his remembered words anywhere. I'm not
one to argue with people because when it comes to memorizing words,
phrases, terminology or longer things they're working on like poems and
speeches. It's important to go with what works.

In this case, my client was working on Spanish. He told me that when he

wanted to remember something like that "vaca" means cow, he simply
needed to see a cow vacumming. For him, it was just a concept that floated
around in the inner space of his mind.

If that works, great.

Yet, a few weeks later, I asked him, "say, what's the Spanish word for cow?"

It took him about a minute to "find" it in his mind.

That's actually not too bad, but I know it can be better. I know it can be
better because people who take the time to establish a location just for "V"
words are essentially creating a groove in their mind, a place that they know
where to go to look for words. It's kind of like dropping a needle on a
record (you do remember records, don't you?)

A common objection to using this method is: "great, but what if I can't
remember that the word begins with a "V"?"

To tell you the truth, I haven't got a hard boiled answer to this question.

What I do know is that, merely by making the effort to place the letter in an
alphabetically arranged "palace" in your mind (like a palace just for "V"
words), your brain has paid attention to that word and done so in a very
specific way. You've magnetized that word and given it a special charge.
When the time comes to find and use that word, you're much more likely to
be drawn to it.

Even if you're remembering something on the fly, stick it somewhere. When

I used to take the train across Germany twice every week for my research, I
always memorized the wagon and seat number on my ticket so I didn't have
to pull it out of my pocket every five minutes to make sure I was standing
in the right spot.

Let's say it was wagon 23, seat 92. Since 2 is "tin" in my memory and 3 is a
"dam," (the kind that holds back water), I would see a dam in the shape of a
Campbell's soup can bursting at the seams to hold back a river of trains. I'd
make it like something out of a disaster movie so that the image was large,
colorful and even quite noisy.

Even though I didn't really have to, in order to strengthen the memory, I
would make sure to "place" it somewhere. What better place than the train
platform itself? Merely by taking that extra bit of effort to locate the image,
even though I was mentally placing just right in front of me, the memory
was so much stronger when I wanted to recall it. Why? Because I knew
where to find it. I completely eliminated any anxiety that it might be lost
(more on that when we get to memory ruination point number 2).
The take-away here, my friends, is that memorization is a lot like Real
Estate: location, location, location.
4. Not Making the Associative Image Large, Colorful and Exaggerated

For a lot of people, this is a tough nut to crack.

We shouldn't blame ourselves either. I myself am a very imaginative person,

but I'm not particularly visual in my imagination. I work better with
concepts.

However, I've trained myself to be more visual over the years. All it takes is
practice.

The funny thing is that I actually found myself "forced" to be more visual
when I got a research grant to work with an Art History department in my
other career as a Film Studies professor.

That's when I got the idea that people working with their memories who
suffer from what I call "image deficit" should spend some time looking at
books with large reproductions of art.

You don't have to spend a pile of cash on such books either. It's healthy (and
normal) to spend some time at the library or at a bookstore. I'll bet that in
your city or town, there are even free entrance nights at your local art
gallery.

The point is: you can train your brain to be more visual and you can use that
training in your memory work to make your associative images brighter,
more colorful and more exaggerated.

You'll also build a large pool of images from the world of art that you can
reference.

Who can forget Dali's melting clock in "The Persistence of Memory," or the
lone survivors in Bruegel's "The Triumph of Death"?
You can use these monumental images in your memory palaces. So look at
some art books and give this method a try.
3. Not Incorporating Action Into Your Associative Images

Action is crucial. It's not only a means of exaggerating your images, but
motion captures the eye - including the mind's eye. We tend to remember
the details of exactly how something happened very well, and so we need to
take advantage of this mental blessing.

Sometimes readers complain about the fact that I advocate using cartoon
violence in memorization work. As always, my answer is: use whatever
works for you. If sunshine and daisies waving in the wind on your front
deck remind you that "dactylomegaly" means an abnormal largeness of
fingers and toes, then by all means use it.

However, many people will probably find that enormous daisies with huge
muscles bearing hammers are pounding on your toes and making them
swell into a state of "abnormal largeness" is much more memorable.

Either way, it's a mistake not to incorporate action into your memory work.

Tomorrow and on Friday, we'll talk about some of the ways that you can
allow your mind to come up with locations, imaginative images and actions
for those images easily and naturally.
2. Not Revisiting and Rehearsing

Think about memorizing vocabulary or terminology or facts like playing

music. Maybe you can "get" the song merely by looking at the sheet music
once, but chances are that you'll need to play it a dozen or more times to
become proficient and possible dozens more to "master" it. It all depends on
your level of proficiency with your instrument.

In this case, your mind is the instrument, your memorization techniques are
the music stand and the material you want to memorize is the music.

Is this rote learning? No.

The reason it isn't rote learning is because the only time you are going to
look at the "sheet music" on your music stand is to "test" that you've gotten
the memorized material right. When you haven't, you're going to refine the
images and the action, and if necessary, work on the location of the memory
as well. This is all part of mastering what you've memorized and developing
perfect recall. It's also the reason I ask my readers and clients to use
worksheets or Excel files to chart out their locations and the images and
actions they used to memorize their target information.

This is also tied to the principle of location, believe it or not. Merely by

having a "hard copy" somewhere, even if you don't look at it, the mind feels
a sense of safety and security. We hate losing things, so when we allow
ourselves to keep a record, even if we never actually refer to it other than
for the purposes of testing once in awhile (once or twice a month is
recommended for 2-3 months per word), we know it's there. It has a place
and being able to conceive of that place in terms of a location has
psychological benefits.

I use this musical metaphor because I play bass, and I can tell you that my
fellow band members expect me to have the music down pat the first or
second time I see it before we get into serious rehearsal and then
performance without the safety net of sheet music. But it's still nice to have
the sheet music back home. I don't know about you, but I'm not too proud to
own a security blanket when it comes to something as precious as the
material I've memorized.
1. Not Being Relaxed

Relaxation is a key component to memorization that no one I've read talks

about. Maybe it's a just a given, but in my experience talking with readers
and clients, there is so much stress around memorization and memory in
general, that people often feel apprehensive when they sit down to work on
their memories. So many of us love to claim that we have bad memories,
and so when it comes time to memorize something, we're already in a
defensive position.

This is not ideal. In fact, it just won't do.

As a reader of one of the Magnetic Memory series books, you know that I
talk about the benefits of relaxation and give a few methods you can use
before starting a memorization session. These include a particular kind of
breathing and progressive muscle relaxation exercises.

Don't skip relaxation. Everything goes faster and smoother when you're
relaxed. Your imagination, which naturally knows how to provide you with
the perfect images, needs nothing more than a relaxed body to work with.

So the next time you want to memorize, remove all distractoins. Close the
door, light a candel, meditate a little, do some pendulum breathing and do
some progressive muscle relaxation. You'll be so glad you did.

That's all for this short series on 5 Ways to Ruin a Perfectly Good Memory
Palace from here at Magnetic Memory Mondays. Feel free to share this
entire article to your friends and social networks and let them know to email
me at learnandmemorize@zoho.com to be included on the list.

As always, teach someone what you've learned about memorization. It's the
best way to deepen the techniques for yourself and make the world a better
place in the process.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
How to Improve Your Memory By Rolling Dice
Dear Memorizers,

This is kind of a funny story ...

I was at a concert last weekend and met a person who gave me a flyer to
another concert I attended last night. He was really interested in my band
and wanted me to see his to see if we could work together to put on a show.

As it turns out, the concert took place in a youth center. Now, I'm not
exactly old, but I do have grey in my beard and felt kind of out of place,
especially when the kids at the ticket counter (a wobbly table, actually)
asked me to roll dice from a cup. Normally when I go to concerts they take
your money or your ticket and usher you in without any fun or games like
this.

And of course, this game got me very curious.

But when I asked them why they wanted me to roll dice, they just urged me
to stop thinking about it and do it.

So I shook up the cup and let the dice fall onto the unstable table these
emerging music icons and music industry tycoons were seated around.

I rolled Snake Eyes, one and one.

"Whoa!" the kids shouted. "That'll be twenty cents."

"Twenty cents?" I asked.

They explained that since the concert was a charity event for the youth
center, they were asking for donations at the end of the evening, but basing
the actual entrance fee on chance.

So I paid up my twenty cents, got stamped and headed into the concert.
As I was waiting for the first performance to begin, I started thinking:

Using dice could be a great way for people in the Magnetic Memory family
to challenge themselves and shake things up a bit (literally).

For instance, if you've set a goal to memorize new vocabulary words, but
have been doing, say, ten a day per Memory Palace for so long that the
routine has become a bit of a drag, why not roll some dice to determine a
new number? If you get a six, memorize six words per Memory Palace on
that day. If you roll eight the next day, do eight per Palace and so on. This
has the benefit of building anticipation for yourself, and also giving you
various degrees of challenge. You also get to add new variables. Maybe
you'll roll just one die for a couple of weeks and then later add two or three
or even four. If you feel like having an easy day, then you can scroll things
back to one.

If variety is the spice of life, then maybe, just maybe dice are the spice of
memorization.

By the way, I left the concert organizers a crisp twenty before leaving. If
you feel like doing something nice today for your fellow world citizens,
here's an alphabetical list of charities to choose from (or maybe you have
your own already in mind):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_charitable_foundations

Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Lowering Your Memorization Hurdles

Dear Memorizers,

Last week I had the honor and privilege of speaking with the ESL students
of my "comrade-in-memorization," Joshua Smith.

The meeting took place via video teleconference. It's amazing how - a few
techno-struggles aside - Google Hangout connected Joshua's valued
students at Hi-Tech English in sparkling warm Brazil with me and my
laptop in freezing cold Berlin. (It's March 10th and there is a thick blanket
of fresh snow on the ground this morning - yikes!)

The best part is that Joshua linked the teleconference to YouTube where it
was broadcast live and stored for future access. In just a few short
paragraphs from now, I'm going to offer you a link where you can watch the
entire presentation for free ($25 value).

One of the most interesting points that Joshua pointed out while masterfully
hosting the presentation was that I have the noble fault of setting the bar
quite high for myself and others. As we all know, I advocate that Magnetic
Memorizers have all 26 A-Z Memory Palaces in place, but Joshua had a
great idea that might help a lot of people overcome overwhelm and just get
started.

Work with just one Palace to begin with. Pick your favorite letter, find a
palace that works, identify 10-12 stations, and then work on populating
those stations with words. Get comfortable with just one letter first before
branching out to the next Palace.

If you watch the presentation, you'll hear Joshua calling this simplified
approach "lowering the hurdles." It's a great way of putting it. I want you as
a member of the Magnetic Memory family moving forward, not clipping
your toes on all kinds of obstacles as you move along.

You can also start with just one-syllable words to make things even more
simple. Scan through the dictionary or encyclopedia for one syllable words
beginning with, say 'A,' and work on developing them one station at a time
in your 'A' palace. There may not be a whole lot of them in your target
language, but again, the emphasis is on getting started.

For those who may be struggling with the words in your target language
more than with the memorization technique itself, here's another tip:

Don't start your memorization practice with your target language. Start with
your native language. I've forgotten the point, but when working with my
very first Magnetic Memory coaching client, this is exactly what we wound
up doing. Instead of having her work on her German Memory Palaces first,
we familiarized here with the Magnetic Memory method by working on
English words first. Somehow the comfort and safety of working with in
her mother tongue first gave her all the confidence she needed to make the
leap over to the foreign language she wanted to learn.

It wasn't long after that before she contacted me to end our coaching
sessions. What a triumph!

A triumph, you ask? How can losing a client be a triumph?

Well, first of all, I didn't lose her. She's still a great friend, and as I state in
my Magnetic Memory coaching ad, I only work with clients until they've
got their first 100 words memorized. If I can't help them make that happen
for them within four hours of coaching, I work with them until I have
without any further charge. I call this commitment my "Right Decision
Guarantee."

But in this case, my client had her 100 words memorized after only 3 hours
of coaching. She didn't want to claim her final hour at all because she
preferred to spend the time soaking up new vocabulary. But we're holding
that hour for a refresher session sometime in the near future.

So here's the deal: if you'd like the link to the video teleconference
presentation I gave to Joshua's students at Hi-Tech English in Brazil, just
respond to this email with SEND ME THE LINK in the subject line. I'll be
out tromping around in the snow for the rest of the day, but I'll send it to
you later today after I return and have gotten all warmed up.

With this link in your Memorizer's hands you'll get to:

· Watch a 1hr+ slideshow-assisted training in real-time and with
real students
· Enjoy "in-person" clarification of the Magnetic Memory method
· Hear the story of exactly how and why I developed my own take
on mnemonics for learning and memorization
· Learn the one major memorization mistake I made when
teaching students about how I memorized their names at the
beginning of the school year
· Discover why it's important to use exaggeration and why it's
critical not to judge your imagination
· Listen in as Joshua's students challenge me to memorize
Portuguese words on the spot and I demonstrate exactly how I do it
... and I still have those words today and am totally tempted to start
memorizing Portuguese vocabulary and writing a book that
documents my memorization adventure!
· ... and much, much more.
Again, to get this presentation, just respond to this email with SEND ME
THE LINK in the subject line.
Before I go, I wanted to tell you that Joshua has written a book of his own
about becoming fluent in a language. It's called Breaking Through to
Fluency and was a bestseller for several weeks when it first appeared on the
market. There's a link in the book guiding you to where you can download
the audio version for free, and the simple, but critical concept that Joshua
talks about will revolutionize anyone's language learning journey.
Until tomorrow, dear Memorizers, make sure to teach someone what you
have learned about memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own
understanding and to help make the world a better place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.
Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Try Every Skill You Want to Learn at Least Twice

Dear Memorizers,

There are two rules that apply to the process of acquiring almost any new
skill.

Rule #1: The first attempt is almost always sloppy and frustrating.

Rule #2: The second attempt is always easier than the first attempt. And it's
usually a lot less sloppy and a lot much more fun.

The problem is that most people quit after their first attempt just because
things haven't gone so well the first time. But we shouldn't be frustrated. It's
perfectly normal for that to be the case.

The truth is that you will always get a better sense of how a skill works on
the second attempt. And you'll know it even better on the third, and so on.

But 95% of people, if not more, give up after their first try. They decide
whether or not they like a new technique based only on that first
experience.

Here's the good news. As a member of the Magnetic Memory family who
always gives a new skill at least one more try, this means that it will take
you just the slightest amount of effort to walk 100% farther than the masses
who give up. And you'll do this merely by trying this new memorization
skill just one more time if you don't fall into it naturally and easily the first
time.

But as I was saying yesterday, it's been brought to my attention that the
goals I set for my readers (i.e. the same goals I set for myself in terms of
creating an entire alphabet's worth of Memory Palaces straight out of the
gate), may present some unnecessary hurdles for people just starting up
with the Magnetic Memory method.
That's why I want to remind you again about the video teleconference call I
gave last week with Joshua Smith for Hi-Tech English in Brazil. You'll hear
Joshua encourage me to simplify the method and give some great ideas
about how you can start simply with just one letter in the place your
currently live. And as I was talking about yesterday, you can even start with
English words that you're already deeply familiar with or even a set of facts
you've always wanted to learn (if you missed yesterday's message, just let
me know and I'll send it along to you).

The point is to get started, and then try again just one more time if you get
lost, frustrated or something in life distracts you from getting deeply
enough into the method for it to stick and start becoming a habit for life.

So if you'd like the link to the video teleconference presentation I gave to

Joshua's students at Hi-Tech English School in Brazil, just respond to this
email with SEND ME THE LINK in the subject line. I've got some things
to do today, but I'll send you the link at some point this evening (Eastern
European Time) after I've received your confirmation that you'd like access
to this valuable presentation.

As I mentioned yesterday, with this link you'll get to:

· Watch a 1hr+ slideshow-assisted training in real-time and with
real students
· Enjoy "in-person" clarification of the Magnetic Memory method
· Hear the story of exactly how and why I developed my own take
on mnemonics for learning and memorization
· Learn the one major memorization mistake I made when
teaching students about how I memorized their names at the
beginning of the school year
· Discover why it's important to use exaggeration and why it's
critical not to judge your imagination
· Listen in as Joshua's students challenge me to memorize
Portuguese words on the spot and I demonstrate exactly how I do it
... and I still have those words today and am totally tempted to start
 memorizing Portuguese vocabulary and writing a book that
documents my memorization adventure!
· ... and much, much more.
Again, to get this presentation, just respond to this email with SEND ME
THE LINK in the subject line.
Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
What the Flu Made Me Realize About Memorization

Dear Memorizers,

I'm a bit late getting out my correspondences today ... I have a terrible flu.
Probably the worst I've had in a decade. It had been Spring in Berlin, so I
turned off the heat for the first time at night a few days ago.

Big mistake.

Not only did I spy over a foot of snow on the ground outside my window
the next morning when I woke up, but I also had a terrible sore throat.

It's been rough-going ever since.

But ...

It has given me the opportunity to get around to something I've wanted to

do for a long time:

Hold a Tom Cruise marathon.

In my other life as a Film Professor, I often like to watch the arc of an entire
career, be it a screenwriter, director or actor. I've surfed the oeuvres of
everyone from Tarantino to Tarkovsky, Lynch to Lucas and Brando to
Brangelina.

Anyhow, as I've been watching I've been noticing what a "natural" Cruise is
... or at least, has become over the years. It made me wonder how he goes
about memorizing his lines.

I know that Anthony Hopkins has said in this episode of the Inside the
Actor's Studio that he reads every script 250 times, and it is the stuff of
legend that in his later years Brando had enlarged copies of his lines lying
just out of sight when shooting so that he could just recite his dialogue
instead of having to learn it, but I know nothing about how Cruise works.
Remembering these details got me thinking that what all of these pros have
in common is their spontaneity and naturalness in everything they do.
They've lived those words and those words live in them.

And this is what having a dedicated memorization strategy can do for you.

One of the reasons the techniques of location, imagery and action work so
well is that we ground the memorization work in places we already know.
We connect everything we want to remember with locations that in one way
or another characterize our inner selves, not only our personal habitations,
but our social habitats (stores, schools, clubs, etc).

Acting is kind of like that too. The best actors connect the role with
themselves. They fuse this fictional person and the words he or she would
speak with their inner lives.

And in a round about way, this made me think that the whole memorization
technique is kind of like acting. When things get tough, or something you're
trying to recall isn't coming as quickly as you would like, just remember
that you're playing a kind of role. You've already studied the script and
internalized the words. Now all you have to do is access the inner locations
and personalized associations of imagery and action you've placed there and
do it naturally. Don't think about it too much. Just relax and let the
associations come back to you. Or perhaps better put, let your mind to be
drawn to them ... magnetically. Just like we are magnetically drawn to the
things we say in normal, everyday conversation from the core of our being,
the same way great actors create the illusion of being magnetically drawn to
what they say in their roles.

Well, these are the feverish thoughts of a memorization devotee during a

Spring fever Tom Cruise marathon. I hope these ideas give you a new way
to think about memorization and how to maximize the core principles to
help you reach your memorization goals.
Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
What If I Want to Learn 3000 Words?

Dear Memorizers,

Earlier this week I had been talking about simplifying the Magnetic
Memory method, or "lowering the hurdle." The theme of simplification was
also part of the free video conference I gave and have been offering you (it's
still available for the next little while, so if you haven't already seen it and
you want access to this 1hr+ video presentation, just reply with SEND ME
THE LINK in the subject line).

But I also received a great question last week from a Magnet Memory
reader last week. It's about making the Magnetic Memory technique more
complex.

Here's what he writes:

Hi,
I bought your book, it was great but I did not understand one thing.
(I am sorry for my english, I am trying to learn it in fact)
I am ok with the idea of building a memory palace (26 houses, and 10
rooms in each house).
BUT, how do I proceed if I want to learn 3000 words ?
It is impossible at least for me to create 3000 rooms! Even a memory
champion who designed a memory course has 1000 place for him to play
with (50 journeys of 20 places).
Please can you help on this point ?
Do you re-use the same journey ?
Thank you in advance
Regards,
Laurent

Here is my reply:
Dear Laurent,

Thanks for your message!

First of all, your English is very good.
Second of all, once you are more practiced with the basics of the Magnetic
Memory technique, you can do very interesting things within rooms.
Imagine, for example, having a bookcase in a room and placing 5-10 words
on each shelf. You can work from top to bottom or bottom to top. Every
room can have a real or imagined bookcase. Depending on your skill level,
your rooms can have multiple bookcases. Let's say that you decide upon
having 10 bookcases per room in a 10 room memory palace. If each
bookcase has 10 levels and you store just one word per level, then you have
a room with 100 words in it, with 1000 words total when you add all the
rooms together in just that one Memory Palace.

You can get started on a memorization project like this today merely by
picking a room that you are very familiar with and mentally building and
installing a beautiful bookcase. For the sake of this example, let's say the
bookcase has 10 shelves.

Decide in advance if you will memorize from the top to the bottom, or the
bottom to the top. I would go from the top to bottom myself, but go with
whatever works for you. The point is to move in a linear progression
without skipping shelves. As ever, you don't want to cross your own path or
somehow trap yourself as you move from station to station and word to
word

As a beginner, help yourself out by picking ten words that proceed in

alphabetical order, i.e. ten words that start with "an," or share some other
similarity. That way, you've eliminated a detail you have to remember
because you already know how the next word will start.

It's also good to have a key image connected with the "lexical bridge" (I just
came up with term ... how do you like it?) So for a lexical bridge like "an,"
you could have Annikin Skywalker, or Anne of Green Gables or anything
concrete and visual that you associate with "an."

Now as it happens, I've just been working on a portion of my 'A' Memory

Palace devoted to "an" words in German (or words that change meaning
when "an" is added to them).
My 'A' Memory Palace starts in a home my mother used to live in down a
forest lane. But by now, I've got so many items, I've wandered out of the
house and have made it halfway to town along a 30km road. So for the
purposes of this example, I'm going to place an imaginary bookcase right in
front of the peacock farm (yes, there really is a peacock farm and you have
to slow down when driving past it because it is part of a school zone).

Now, to set myself up for even greater ease and success, I'm going to focus
on words that start with "an" followed by "b." Not every language lets you
do this, but German does, so it's important to capitalize on it. Whatever
you're working on, there will almost always be some memorization
advantage you can exploit if you keep your eyes open for opportunities.

On the top shelf of this bookcase, I'm going to place the word "anbaggern."
It means "to flirt." To memorize this word, I see Annikin Skywalker flirting
with a peacock who is shoving a plastic bag into an urn. I see this image
big, bright and colorful in my mind and the action of forcing the bag into
the urn is very exaggerated. "Anbaggern." Got it.

One shelf down, I place "anbahnen." This word has a somewhat similar
meaning, in that it indicates initiating something. This is tricky, because it's
more conceptual than concrete, but the first thing that comes to mind is
Annikin Skywalker feverishly "initiating" the launch of a peacock into outer
space, its mouth filled with bon-bons. Again: big, bright, colorful,
exaggerated action.

Aller guten Dinge sind drei, say the Germans (all good things are three), so
I'll give you one more example before I go.

One shelf down, I place "anbetteln." This means to beg. Now I see Annikin
Skywalker kneeling before a bed, begging the peacock he first flirted with
and then tried to launch into outer space to let him into the bed so he can get
some rest after a long day of being a former hero who fell so badly from
grace. And he is really begging in a larger-than-life way, tears and
everything.
From there, I would continue on down to the bottom of the shelf and start
again on the second one, or move to the next room, etc.

It's important, however, to take time before getting started to predetermine

and prepare the way in advance. In this case, I decided in advance to do
only ten words, so I only made one book case. But if I were sitting down for
a memorization session and wanted to do a hundred, then I would want to
have spent time in preparation for this. There's nothing worse than being on
a roll and then having to pause to build or identify the next station you want
to use. Success comes from planning, and as they say in the self-help
circles, failing to plan is planning to fail.

One last thing:

Did you read the chapter on card memorization? In that chapter I talk about
the pack of cards on my office desk and how in that pack of cards I keep
four cars, each of which has 13 locations (driver's side headlight, passenger
side headlight, hood, windshield, etc). This is an entirely imaginary
location, of course, but it's the tiniest little deck of cards and it is packed full
of information. In other words, you don't have to use big bookshelves that
take up entire rooms. You could have a deck of cards and inside of it an
entire universe filled with space for placing the information you want to
memorize. Just imagine having a deck of cards in each and every room, or a
deck of cards on each and every shelf in each and every room ...

Yes, I think it is very easy to come up with thousands of locations, if not

hundreds of thousands. It just takes practice, and of course preparation and
predetermination in combination with the basic principles of imagination
and action. Throw in some relaxation before you get started and you will
never find the ceiling to what you can achieve.

Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.
Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Using “Big Box” Stores for Memorization

Dear Memorizers,

I'm grateful today for a new question/suggestion from a reader that in some
ways follows the theme of yesterday's question about how to memorize
3000 words (or more).

Here's the note I received:

I have an idea I have not tried but wanted your opinion first.
I live in California and we have many large "big box" stores such as, Target, Home Depot, Lowes
and of course Walmart. They have many rows at least 25 and each row has many selves. Several
have a rear isle that splits the rows and stores like Target have the store divided into departments as
well. What is your opinion on using palaces like these.

I really like this idea, and it would work well for me personally. Back when
I was paying my way through grad school, I worked in such a "big box"
store as a loss prevention detective. Yes, just imagine your humble
Magnetic Memorizer in street clothes, nonchalantly strolling over 150,000
sq. ft. of product-stuffed aisles, carrying a hidden earpiece and a license to
...

... arrest hospital cafeteria workers and high school students who could not
resist stuffing hair elastics and Transformers into their purses or backpacks.

James Bond it was not.

In any case, over the months that I strolled those aisles listening to
university lectures from The Great Courses series on my iPod in one ear
and "tactical commands" from my "eye in the sky" partner in the
"interrogation room" in my other, I spent a lot of time getting very familiar
with this depot. I knew the aisles and what were in them by number and
could basically guess what people were stealing from them based on the
coordinates my partner gave me. "Middle Aisle 4 West" most certainly
meant either toothbrushes, toothpaste or dental floss, and "Front Aisle 10
East" would definitely mean a VHS movie - this was back before DVDs hit
the market. All I had to do was head on over, confirm with my partner that
he had observed concealment and then maintain continuity until the person
left the store. Then it was showtime: apprehension and a guided tour back
to the interrogation room.

By the way, the "interrogation room" in this place really does look like
something out of the movies with its pockmarked walls, camera monitors,
and the racks where the video recordings are stored, i.e. the visual
"memories" of the thefts.

Back to the question at hand, I'm going on about this Resume Ghost of
mine because I want to make a point about familiarity. I can confidently use
this store as a Memory Palace because, with pen and paper in hand, I don't
have to think about 10-15 stations I could use in that location. I spent
countless hours in it, and even more than a decade later, I recall it in great
detail. Within seconds I can jot down:

1. Front entrance
2. Perfume
3. Cosmetics
4. Health & Bathroom
5. Household cleaners
6. Seasonal
7. Toys
8. Sporting goods
9. Do-it-yourself
10. Electronics & Media

It's strange to think of how these places are set up, but they have more
method than madness if you spend some time learning about the use of
"customer blocking" to direct your path through the store and the things
consumers look at from different angels depending on where they stand in
the store.

The point is that I have all of this in mind, which means I don't have to
think about these areas in order to use them. There is no effort involved
when doing my preparation and predetermination exercises. Mind you, with
a bit of effort, I could easily double, if not triple these stations by splitting
the aisles into front, middle and back, and further into left/right or
East/West. I can do this conceptually, without needing to think about what
specifically was stored in those parts of each aisles, but I need to make sure
that I'm not crossing my own path. Also, splitting aisles like this requires
defining some rules.

For instance, if I mentally travel an aisle from the front to the back using
front, middle end and left and right, do I go from left to right and then up to
the next right and then left again, or do I go left, right, left, right in a zigzag
pattern ... it all gets a bit much for me, but for other people, having all kinds
of rules of operation can be helpful and fun. No matter how we use our
Memory Palaces, we are building new pathways in your mind, and that is
an exciting thing.

Nonetheless, for beginners, I would suggest not using left/right separations

and just plopping your association images and actions in the middle of the
aisle. And even if you are advanced, put some space around the material
you want to memorize whenever you can. Let it breathe like a bottle of
wine so that it can better fuse with the taste buds of your mind.

If you want to use a store like this that you're not as intimately familiar
with, that's no problem. Next time you're in there shopping, pay more
attention to the layout. Pick out little details. Is there a cashier station in
Men's apparel that you hadn't noticed before that could serve as a perfect
station? Is there an area where they display tents that will stick out in your
mind now that you've noticed it? Does the entrance have four sliding doors
or five? If you haven't counted them before, then you don't know how many
you can use as stations. What about the journey from the door to your car?
Where are the shopping carts stored? Where are the parking lot lamps? Is
there a ticket booth? A doughnut shop directly across the way?

There are oodles of stations you can add to your memory palace so long as
you've paid attention to them, familiarized yourself and feel that you can
mentally proceed to the next station without spending time on thinking
about what comes next.

Above all, if you need to familiarize yourself with a store by visiting it,
make sure that you walk through it in the way you would use it. Decide
upon a starting point and then create a journey in which you never cross
your own path. It's also helpful to think in advance just how many stations
you would like the Palace to have. If you're looking for only 10 and you
know that there are ten aisles, then a visit may not be necessary and you can
just place your associations in numerical order. But if you want 100 stations
leading up to thousands, like we saw in yesterday's question, then some
serious familiarity with the inner workings of the location will be your
friend.

In sum, my opinion is that the success of a Memory Palace depends on the

familiarity you have with the location. Familiarity is desirable not only for
speed during your memorization sessions, but also during the initial stages
of recall. With the appropriate amount of rehearsal, recall won't be an issue
in a very short time, but at first, you want to be able to get to the word
quickly and without having to think too much about where it is in your
Memory Palace.

Familiarity = speed.

Thank you for today's question and, to everyone, please keep them coming.
Soon I'm going to be sending out a message about the new memorization
book I'm writing and I'll be asking for questions from you. I'll also be
offering a free digital copy of the book when it's done to those who have
contributed (or already have), and there's also going to be a special contest
for the audiobook edition a few months after that (it takes awhile for
audiobooks to be produced).

Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.
Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Memorization Happens in the Heart
Dear Memorizers,

First, a quick follow up on yesterday's message about using "big box"

stores:

Joshua Smith, with whom I recorded the video presentation I've been
offering for free this week to everyone who writes back with SEND ME
THE LINK, suggested that the store doesn't have to be as huge as Target or
Costco.

It could just be your local grocery store. Chances are that you're very
familiar with the basic layout. I'll bet that if you think about it, you know
exactly where the bananas usually stand in the produce section, not to
mention the apples and the oranges. These are relatively fixed stations
within that section and they are "ripe" for use when it comes to
memorization. The bakery is similarly divided between breads and pastries,
etc.

If you can't picture these spaces easily now, just get yourself a little relaxed
before you go shopping next time and really pay attention to the layout of
the store.

Remember: familiarity = speed.

But what I really wanted to talk about today is my realization that

memorization doesn't just happen in the mind.

After grunting through my morning pushups, I was walking around the

block for some fresh air and rehearsing some vocabulary and poetry I had
memorized - talking with Joshua's students has got me very interested in
Portuguese and I am working on memorizing some of the German
translation of Shakespeare's King Lear. I mean, Shakespeare is great in his
own tongue, but "Nothing will come of nothing" sounds like limp fish
compared to the German "Aus nichts kann nicht enstspringen."
Anyhow, as I walked, I thought about spoken word performers and how
much passion they express when reciting their poems. I thought about the
joy I've heard when my coaching clients cover their eyes on Skype and tell
me the words they've memorized as they walk through their Memory
Palaces. Memorized poetry comes from the heart. The triumph of my
coaching clients comes from the heart. The mind is just a tool, a vehicle, the
shed where we store the "bicycle" techniques of memorization that I've
written about in my books.

With all this passion in mind, I stopped "rehearsing" the new vocabulary
and King Lear and just felt this material. Not in my head, but in my heart.

Those of us who are men will never be pregnant, but there is a Latin phrase:
pregnans constructio (sometimes written constructio pregnans). It literally
means to be "pregnant with meaning." Using our memorization skills, we
are all capable of that, and when we use what we've memorized, it's like
giving birth to meaning into the world. We can communicate more, educate
more and inspire more people to improve their memories with our abilities.
We are sharing the life of language that we've stored within us.

Yes, having vocabulary, terminology and some of the world's greatest

literature living inside my mind affects my heart.

How about yours?

Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,
Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
What if I wanted to memorize a chapter in a textbook so I could ace a
test on that subject?

Dear Memorizers,

I received two great questions from a reader yesterday. The first question is
about memorizing mathematical formulas. I'm going to address that next
week.

The second question is:

What if I wanted to memorize a chapter in a textbook so I could ace a test on that subject?

This is a great question.

For myself, when I was studying for my doctoral examinations and later for
my dissertation defense (these are rigorous 2 hr. + grilling sessions in front
of a committee of 4-7 accomplished professors), I read a total of over 500
books.

Obviously I didn't memorize every word I read. But I did remember at least
something from every book that I read.

Here's exactly how I used to operate - and still do when I'm conducting
research. There are some operational factors here that might not seem to
involve memorization, but trust me, each step is essential.

Before I take any of the steps that follow, I already begin with a carefully
defined Memory Palace. As I talk about in my books, I've made sure that it
involves a location that I'm intimately familiar with. I've charted out at least
10 stations within that Memory Palace, usually more (like 50 or so, often
with between 4-10 stations within a single room), and I've simply decided
to work with the correct mental attitude that I'm going to walk away from
the book or journal article or whatever I might be studying with the most
essential information I need.

I also take a moment to relax. I may adopt a traditional meditation pose on

the floor, or I might lay down for awhile and do some progressive
relaxation. Either way, I spend time practicing a bit of pendulum breathing
(relaxation and breathing are matters discussed in the book).

Now let's get into further detail.

1. When approaching a new book, I would carefully examine the front

cover and the back cover. I would then read the colophon page, the table of
contents, the introduction, the conclusion and then scan through the index if
the book had one. The scholar Gerrard Genette calls these parts of a book
the "paratext," (the text beside the text). This step takes about five minutes
and effectively trains your brain to understand the scope and dimension of
the book with respect to its topic.

Why read the conclusion first? Part of the reason is to judge whether or not
the author's conclusion about his or her own subject was profound enough
to warrant reading all of the steps needed to arrive at it. The introduction
and conclusion also give clues regarding which chapters of the book might
be the most important to focus on.

2. I would take out an index card and write down the name of the author,
the title of the book and all of the bibliographic information. Then I would
number this card "1" in the top left corner. Before starting with a book, I
tend to decide in advance exactly how many pieces of information I want to
retain from it. This is the principle of "predetermination" that I discuss in
my books. Often, I default to three facts or details per chapter, but always
keep enough index cards on hand in case I want more.

The reason for deciding these matters in advance is because

a) failing to plan is generally planning to fail (especially when it comes to

structured reading), and
b) predetermination prevents overwhelm.

Also, less is more, and when you use the Magnetic Memory system, you'll
find that by focusing on just a few key points, a lot of the surrounding
information will automatically "stick" to the memorized material. Try it. It
just happens.

3. Having just read the introduction and conclusion, I would already have in
mind which chapters I wanted to read first. I would start with one of these.

4. At this point, I know that there are three pieces of information that I am
going to walk with away from this chapter. I've got the index cards ready to
go, though I only number a card once I'm prepared to start writing on it.

5. I've already adopted the attitude that I'm going to succeed and literally
"own" the key information in the book, but if I find that it is particularly
dull, I like to play a game. I pretend that I'm the talk show host of a program
and later that evening I've got to interview the author. Millions of people
will be watching, so I need to really know my stuff about that book. And I
need to read it fast.

What this mindset does is allow me to ask questions while I'm reading. I get
really curious, and instead of reading passively, I actively engage with the
writing. Since the author isn't there, I can pretend that he or she is there and
try to "mindread" what the author might say to my questions.

6. When I come across a gem of a detail, I write it down on the index card. I
also write down the page number where I found the information on the
bottom right corner. I do this regardless of whether or not I've jotted down a
quote. Should I ever need to find that information again, I'll know where to
go. Finally, If I have any secondary ideas, I use the back of the index card to
capture these.

At this point, I don't do any kind of memorization. I'm familiarizing myself,

learning, connecting the details with information I already know and
gathering new facts and details. That's it.

So let's assume now that I've read a book that has ten chapters and I've got
three index cards for each.

Each card is numbered. I have 30 index cards and I'm prepared with 30
station in the Memory Palace I've already assigned to this book.
7. My next step is to simply start with card #1. I want to remember the title
of the book and the name of its author. That information is memorized at
station #1. If you happen to know the title of the book already by heart, then
you don't need to use the first station in this way, but it can still be useful to
do so, and here's why:

You can use the author as a "lexical bridge" to move from station to station.

8. See if you can find a picture of the author online. Let's say that you are
reading the book Paratexts, by Gerrard Genette.

I've Googled him up and Genette looks like this. Gerrard Genette reminds
me of Gillette razor blades, and so I see him shaving in that first room. To
remember that it's Genette and not Gillette, I see him shaving away a beard
of Ns growing crazily out of his face. For "Paratexts," I could ease either a
pear bouncing up and down on a textbook, or a can of Para Paint splashing
over a book - there are always options.

9. Now let's say that card #2 says: "A text does not exist outside of the text
itself." That sounds pretty obvious, but we don't often think about the fact
that until someone comes along and reads a book, it essentially doesn't do
anything. There are billions of books standing unread on shelves around the
world that only "exist" when someone is reading them or talking about
them. This is what Genette means when he says that "a text does nt exist
outside of the text itself." Our minds are a kind of text, so when we are
reading, two texts are intermingling.

So, to remember all of this, my second station will feature the book
Paratexts itself. Words are trying to escape from the book, and there's poor
Genette trying to beat them back in because, according to him, there is no
text outside of the text itself. He needs to get all of that text back in!

As always, the images are big, bright, colorful and filled with exaggerated
action.

To get some of the other concepts in Genette's thinking that I've just
described, I might see Genette giving up the battle, and then opening up a
lid in his head, which is also filled with words, and allowing the words from
Paratexts to mingle with the words in his mind.

And from there, I would move on to the next index card.

10. The final step I would take, is to later, test my memorization of the
details and facts and concepts I had memorized from the book by writing a
summary from my mind and then checking it against the index cards. One
of my supervisors required me to submit summaries to prove that I was
reading the books on my list, so I got into that habit and have always been
grateful for it. If you're a student, I highly recommend that you take this
step. It will not only deeply immerse you in your topic area, but it will
provide you with material that you've already written when it comes to
composing essays, pieces for publication and even your dissertation further
on down the road if you decide to complete a PhD.

What happened during my examinations? They were fun. I had been in a

relaxed state while reading and memorizing the material, and so I took care
to spend a bit of time relaxing before attending the exams. When I was
asked a question, my mind zoomed to where the material was stored and I
was able to talk at length about it, whether it was Gerrard Genette's idea
about paratexts or Aristotle's philosophy of friendship in The
Nichomeachean Ethics.

I hope this answers your question. If you look in your "How to Learn and
Memorize" Magnetic Memory series book, you'll find a bonus chapter on
memorizing poetry that you will also find useful in this regard. In the
meantime, let me know if you have any further questions you'd like me to
answer.

By the way, in case you're wondering what I did with all those index cards:
I used to wrap them with an elastic band, one per book, and then store them
in a shoe box. Somehow, index cards and shoes boxes were made for one
another. But if I haven't looked at them for 5 years or so (I rarely do), I
recycle them.
Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
More on Memorizing 3000 Words

Dear Memorizers,

I found some incredibly useful feedback from a Magnetic Memory reader in

my inbox this morning that really opens up the conversation regarding the
memorization of thousands of words using imaginary elements in your
palaces such as bookcases.

Have a read:
Your answer regarding adding more than says 260 foreign words was not totally satisfactory in that a
bunch of bookshelves look just alike in one's mind and would easily get confused. From reading
your Spanish book, I think a better answer would have been that the stations of a given site start
inside the structure and in this way it leaves room for adding stations on the outside of the structure
as you point out in your book(s). The bookshelf idea seems to be a recipe for interference, proactive
and retroactive.

This is a very important word of caution. It is true that in my books I

advocate starting from within a Memory Palace, such as an apartment and
working your way out without:

a) trapping yourself, and

b) without crossing your own path.

However, depending on your imagination, I would not rule out adding

elements like imaginary bookcases. Success with memorization comes from
personal adaptation, integration and experimentation with the core methods.
It's like the Matrix, or something, where there may be no spoon as such, but
what we can see and conceptualize, we can bend to our will if we simply
relax into being the "one" (i.e. the Memorizer).

As I talk about in my books, I'm not a particularly visual person, so I need

to constantly focus on visually with my images and actions in order to
experience the best possible results. But I have had a great deal of success
with bland and uncharacteristic locations I have completely invented based
on the idea that an organizational object can be conceptually invented and
that this object can be subdivided into numbered stations. I make the
numbered stations a journey along which I proceed from word to word, or
whatever it is I might be memorizing.

Here's an example of what I call my "emergency" Memory Palace:

It is an imaginary train. I start at the back of the caboose on the platform.

Then I move into the caboose and use the back left corner. Then I move to
the right corner, the center, the front right corner and the left corner. Next I
find the link between the caboose and the first car. That is a station. Then
the next car is used in precisely the same way as the one before. I make no
attempt to differentiate these cars other than that I start with the caboose
and every car thereafter is numbered starting with 2 and up.

Now this isn't foolproof, certainly can lead to confusion and there are no
magic bullets in memorization . However, once you've understood the core
techniques, read different variations that different memorizers use and done
the footwork of your own adaptation and experimentation, this stuff is as
close to a magic bullet as we are likely to find in life.

With respect to the bookshelf issue within a room, one could differentiate
these shelves if they wanted to add an organization system for doing so. If
you happen to know the Circle of Fifths in music by heart, for instance,
every room could have a set of bookshelves organized in accordance to the
Circle of Fifths.

Now this is admittedly advanced stuff and involves adding rules upon rules
and principles upon principles, all of which can lead to overwhelm. As
Joshua Smith mentioned in the video teleconference he invited me to, and I
have been talking about throughout much of the last week, overwhelm is
the last thing that people need when it comes to reaching their fluency
goals.

However, I believe that advanced concepts are empowering, so I always

encourage people to experiment. If you think you might be comfortable
setting a rule that every room in your Memory Palace for the letter 'G' has
10 bookcases and you will always proceed from the top of each bookcase to
the bottom, then it might just work miracles for you.
Keeping Joshua's caveat in mind, "forget" about my impulse to have 10
imaginary bookcases. Why not experiment with just one imaginary
bookcase in just one room of one Memory Palace when you're ready to take
this step?

By the way, all of the great idea this week about making things more
complicated verses simplifying them reminds me of the wonderful
exchange between Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In a letter to Emerson, Thoreau wrote about life: "Simplify, simplify,

simplify." To which Emerson responded, "Don't you think one 'simplify' is
enough?"

So with that in mind, no matter where you are with your memorization, the
more you simply think about the concepts, the stronger the basis upon
which you can improve. It's like music: you might not be thinking a lot
about theory while you're playing, but spending time with it cannot help but
improve performance, particularly with respect to improvisation.

That's why I'm really glad today's reader mentioned the forums at
Mnemotechnics in another part of the message I received. Mnemotechnics
is is a great place to get new ideas, inspiration and conversation with some
very advanced, intermediate and emerging memorizers alike. You'll get
plenty of exposure to those who make matters more complex and those who
simplify.

And today's contributor to the Magnetic Memory newsletter highlighted a

participant over there who goes by Gavino. This person wrote an amazing
post called Gavino's Massive Memory Palace System.

Although I don't connect with everything Gavino uses, I admire him a great
deal for innovating, expanding and sharing. Sharing is educating and I've
learned a lot from him (he has over 100 posts!)

You may not connect with everything he uses either (or everything I use or
theorize about, for that matter), but so long as these explorations don't lead
you into overwhelm, please educate yourself as much as you can as you
continue to adjust the "bicycle' of your memory. The goal is to get the
smoothest ride possible.

To continue the bicycle metaphor, keep in mind that sometimes the chain on
your memorization bike requires oiling, or you get a flat tire or you need to
replace some parts. No big deal: you have the Magnetic Memory newsletter
to fall back upon for ideas, and now (in case you didn't already know about
it), Mnemotechnics.

Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Can I use Video Games as Memory Palaces?

Dear Memorizers,

Here's another great question from last week that continues last week's
theme of making our Memory Palaces simpler vs. more complex:
Hey could I use a place off a video game as a memory palace such as breeze home off of skyrim??

The quick and dirty answer is: Yes. Of course. Why not?

The more detailed answer is to remember a principle we've talked about

before with is that familiarity = speed. If you are so familiar with that
location in the video game that you can create a journey through it and don't
have to spend a millisecond thinking of what comes next, then you can use
it.

I'm being a bit dramatic with the "millisecond" thing, so don't take that as
law. The same guidelines for preparation and predetermination that apply to
real locations apply to imagined spaces as well, so you'll want to make a
dedicated list of the different stations in the videogame area that you'll be
using.

I don't know the game that you are referring to, but if I were going to use a
videogame - something I'll experiment with throughout the week - I would
use Donkey Kong. (Am I revealing my age here?)

The reason I would use Donkey Kong is because it is a single screen that
can be easily divided into quadrants without thinking about it. My journey
would start at the bottom left of the screen. That would be station number
one.

Looking at the screen, I see a number of platforms. Without Googling to see

just how many platforms there are on level one, I'll just decide that there are
five and Donkey Kong stands at the very left of the top platform.

I assign the rule that each platform gets three stations (left, center, right) and
another rule that I move across each platform in a zipper formation (left to
right, right to left, left to right, etc).

This gives me 15 stations total.

I could see this method being very effective and will report back to you on
the results later.

In the meantime, you might want to set yourselves up with something

similar if you've ever spent time playing videogames and can come up with
your own example and find a way of constructing a journey through it. If
you do, please let me know which game you used and a little bit of the
journey you created. You can simply reply to this email with your
description.

On the matter of using "virtual spaces" for memorization, this topic was hot
over at Mnemotechnics the other day. Josh Cohen posted some links
leading to the floorplans of popular TV shows as well as a Wiki article
about "artificial memory palaces." Check out his post here.

Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Today’s Free Magnetic Memorization Gift

Dear Memorizers,

Today I want to talk about procrastination. It's one of the major issues my
clients tackle with in the Magnetic Memory coaching program.

It's understandable. Many times when we start a new activity, we

experience a dropping-off of energy and resolve and then we begin to
sabotage ourselves by finding excuses that take us away from moving
forward.

Procrastination often occurs with my clients at the beginning of their

experience with the Magnetic Memory method, but procrastination can
happen even after you've begun memorizing. For example, when we hit a
challenging word, we might think about checking email or about washing
the dishes or about doing anything but the work of memorization. Yet we all
know that the memorization of vocabulary and terminology is one of the
key activities that leads to our goals.

Usually when we find ourselves procrastinating instead of memorizing, the

first thing we need to ask ourselves is a deeply intimate question: What am
I afraid of?

There are several things we fear, but the two major fears are paradoxical.
They are:

1) The fear of failure

2) The fear of success

We fear failure because it frustrates us and puts negative, self-defeating

ideas in our minds. If we never get started, we can never fail. Or so we
seem to think. Looked at another way, not getting started for fear of failure
may be the ultimate failure.

Fear of success is a bit more difficult, but it often causes us to procrastinate

because at the subconscious level, we fear change. We know that if we
achieve our goal, we'll be a different person. This is huge, and it's no small
reality to face. Just imagine what life would be like if you achieved fluency
in a language or aced all your exams. With great power comes great
responsibility.

I know this because I was once afraid to achieve one of my major goals in
life: to go on tour with a band. I was invited and I said no because I feared
the responsibilities that success would bring. I would need to memorize and
get very good at some complicated music.

This time around, however, I took the call to adventure, and the
responsibility has been intense. I still haven't memorized all the music, and
yet the first show of the tour is 2 weeks from now. Success has
consequences.

But I'm so glad I'm doing this and I have a dedicated plan for exactly how
I'm going to get all that music in my head and be ready for the stage (there's
actually only two more songs to go). I'm taking responsibility for my
success and the pleasure of the audiences we'll be performing for, so there is
really no reason to fear it. Everyone who buys a ticket wants nothing more
than for me and my band to succeed.

Another reason we might fear success is the mistaken belief that we don't
deserve to succeed.

Self-worth is very important, and can be a huge barrier when negative

beliefs surround this essential element of inner health.

Connected to self-worth is the belief that there are people out there who are
smarter, faster and better than you. All of that may be true, but it has
nothing to do with your success.

Some people fear success because they belief that success is impossible.
However, there is a golden rule when it comes to mental abilities that
humans can learn. The rule is that if someone else can do it, I can too. You
can learn from others, find mentors and follow the same paths that have
worked before.

Therefore, nothing that has already been achieved is impossible so there is

no reason to fear impossibility. When it comes to memorization, the
impossible simply does not exist.

"I can't" is more of an excuse than a fear, but it becomes a fear every time
we say it, either silently in our minds or out loud to the people around us
(some of whom will unfortunately agree).

But just imagine what you could achieve if you went around for an entire
day, a week, a month or even a year saying "I can" every time you would
normally say "I can't." You'd probably achieve your dreams very quickly.

The last fear I want to mention is the fear that you might not actually want
to achieve your goal, and that it might not really be worth the time and
effort.

And you know what? Sometimes this is true. That game on your
Smartphone that you want to beat? The hours its going to take to achieve
level 94 might not be worth the work in the grand scheme of things. This
isn't to judge video games, because they're great, but I use it as an example
of the kinds of goals we sometimes make that ultimately fall flat with
respect to other things we could have been doing.

When it comes to achieving fluency through the acquisition of vocabulary

or professional mastery by learing the terminology of our field, we all know
that the effort is worth it. More than worth it. We do not need to hold onto
fear in that area.

So, ask yourself, do you hold fear of success in any of these ways?
Answering these questions may be the prompt you need to overcome any
procrastination you have in your life.

Next, we need to remind ourselves why we started learning a new language

or taking up a new subject of study in the first place. Sure, we can keep
putting off our goals until we are 90 and can't read the dictionary or the
lines of a textbook anymore. But that would be a waste of the knowledge
we'd really rather have in ours mind across all of those years. Do we really
want to put off the experience of discovering what it's like to hear and read
and speak a new language with the highest level of fluency we know we're
capable of? Ideally, we want to experience that dream as soon as possible.

For most people, prioritizing presents a major hurdle. It's difficult to know
exactly where to begin, and with so many distractions in the modern world,
focus can be quickly scattered. Before you know it, we can find ourselves
running around like a memorizer without a magnet, and not really achieving
anything.

Prioritization comes from focus, and there are in fact two kinds of focus. I'll
talk about just one of those kinds today.

The first is a generalized vision that we hold for ourselves. Think of it like
being a fish in a fishbowl. You are the fish, and the bowl is your goal. The
question of how big your vocabulary or knowledge will grow reflects the
size of your bowl and how much you focus on swimming every bit of the
water surrounding you.

Keep in mind that you are a magical fish. You can increase the size of your
own bowl to give you more water to swim at any time. But you also know
that there's plenty to discover in the amount of space you've already defined
for yourself.

The best way to ensure that you stay focused on the present goal (the size of
the fishbowl) is to create a mission that is directly aligned with your goal.

The first part of the mission should be to identify what sorts of things
distract you. Do you actually know what characterizes the majority of your
distractions? Have you identified what parts of the memorization process
hold your attention the most and found ways to focus on these aspects to
help maintain focus? Do you know what takes you off track and what gets
you back on track again?

If not, it's time to find out and coaching can help you discover the
difference between the internal and the external stimuli in your life that pull
you away from your goals. Magnetic Memory Coaching is designed to help
you understand the Whys of why your attention wanders and the Hows of
how to get it back on task. You'll get strategies that will improve your focus,
teach you how to circumvent distractions, break up your memorization
tasks and prioritize them.

Ultimately, I want you to be able to focus on a few key questions:

· Is building my vocabulary truly important and meaningful to
me?
· Will I truly feel a significant sense of accomplishment if I apply
myself to memorizing 100 words next month?
· Would I benefit from imposing a deadline upon myself with
respect to my goals?
· What future opportunities am I going to miss if I do not increase
my vocabulary or knowledge now?
· Are there other people in my life who would benefit if I achieve
my goals?
· Would not achieving my goals set a precedent for other goals I
want to achieve?
· How about the opposite? Would achieving my vocabulary goal
set a precedent for the other goals and dreams I want to achieve?
That's all for today, dear Memorizers, but here's some homework for you in
the meantime:

1. Get out a pen and paper or something you can journal with.

2. Define your goal and write it down. If it's 10 words a day, write that
down. If it's 100 by the end of April, write that down. Make sure that it's
concrete. "Speaking fluently the next time I go to Peru," is a great goal, but
it's not concrete enough. Be specific.

3. With reference to the Magnetic Memory System, write down the first
three steps you need to take to get started with vocabulary memorization.
Number one could be filling out the Magnetic Memory worksheets, for
example.

4. Take the first step.

That's all for today. Tomorrow I'll be talking about self-motivation and how
to harness it with respect to achieving your memorization goals.

Finally, I mentioned that I have a free gift in the subject line of this
message.

I'm offering you a free Magnetic Memory Coaching consultation on Skype.

Why let the work of getting started wait?
Because you're already committed because you've invested money in the
book and have been reading this newsletter, and I want to help make sure
that you truly do take those first steps.

As I've been talking about today, many people don't believe they can do
this, even though they've got the tools that shows them how. Either failure
or success frightens them, so they don't give the Magnetic Memory Method
a really good try.

What you'll discover in Magnetic Memory Coaching is:

· What really motivates you and how understanding these
elements (often they are unconscious) will help move you forward.
· What fears and doubts about your memory may be holding you
back.
· Ways that you may be sabotaging your progress.
· How overcoming procrastination can change every aspect of
your life for the good.
· How increasing focus can make you healthier and happier.
· How to recognize unhelpful elements in your memorization
practice so that you can leap forward with ease.
 · What to magnify and what to minimize based on your personal
strengths and abilities that need improvement.

You'll also receive support for your success so that you can:
· Spot the culprits in your inner and outer life that keep you down.
· Conquer the excuses that stand in your path.
· Overcome the limiting beliefs, negative attitudes and behaviors
that delay getting started.

If you would like me to work with you for one free 30 minute consultation,
then here's what you need to do:

1. Send an email to me at learnandmemorize@zoho.com.

2. Make the subject: Magnetic Memory Coaching Consultation.
3. List 10 words that you want to memorize and why (describe your goal in
concrete terms).
4. Send me your Skype handle and I'll add you.
5. Wait for my confirmation.

Listen, there are a lot of people on this mailing list, and I've only got time
during the rest of this month to meet with the first 10 people who respond to
this email with all the above information. So if you miss out this time
around, I'll be sending this offer out sometime again in the future.

Until tomorrow, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,
Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Magnetic Memory Motivation

Dear Memorizers,

First of all, thanks to those of you who claimed your complimentary

coaching spots. There are a few places left, so if you haven't read
yesterday's message about the free gift, there's still time to do so and send in
your request.

Following up on yesterday's topic of prioritization vs. procrastination, today

I want to say a few words about motivation with respect to memorization.

In some respects, we already covered motivation yesterday. We talked about

clearly identifying why we want to improve our memory, and I suggested
some key questions we can ask ourselves, questions that will help create
motivational clarity.

But there is more to say about motivation, so let's get started.

One very interesting motivational exercise is to think about the energy you
feel with respect to your goals. Naturally, one experiences different levels
of energy throughout the day, but when you approach something like the
memorization of vocabulary, take a moment to analyze your energy. Is this
truly the best moment to work in your Memory Palaces?

For example, although we may be highly motivated for many reasons, if we

work on memorization while tired or distracted by hunger, we may
inadvertently reduce our motivation. Over time, this can create a lull and
then eventually a sunken ship. What once was a highly motivated goal
based upon a dream has become the idea of dream based upon a diminished
goal. Unlike dreams, ideas are easily forgotten.

Therefore, it is important that we test our energy levels in order to ensure

that we work on our memorization during peak periods. We want to be in
this game for the long haul, so we're going to need a strategy with respect to
the energy we can bring to the task of vocabulary memorization.
Part of this means paying attention to daily schedules. If you're at your best
in the morning, then that may be the perfect time to work on vocabulary
memorization. Yesterday we talked about identifying which tasks from the
Magnetic Memory process we most enjoy, so it would make sense to spend
time on these during peak energy periods because better achievement will
lead to greater levels of motivation.

We can then ride this upward crest and use its energy to tackle the more
difficult tasks. It then follows that the more successful we've been with, say,
identifying our locations and the stations within them, the less difficult
placing the words will be. Remember, a key principle of the Magnetic
Memory method is that we do preparation and predetermination work in
order to reduce, if not eliminate directing any unnecessary energy at the
recall of our Memory Palace journeys themselves. We want that energy for
building our associations and then magnetically floating to the words later
on when we want to access them.

There are a few stages we can go through in order to enhance our

motivation and the energy we bring to our memorization tasks once we've
gone through the prioritization exercises I talked about yesterday. These
include:

Pre-motivation : This is the stage of knowing we need to increase our

motivation with respect to memory work, but not yet knowing what to do or
even doing anything to find out what we could be doing.

Ideation : This is the stage where we have started to look into what we can
do to increase our motivation, but without having done anything concrete.
The ideation stage can also come about by accident. Searching on the
Internet often leads to surprise discoveries of different methods that we
want to try and then next know we find ourselves looking into them.

If you're in the Ideation stage now, you can play the Benjamin Franklin
game with yourself. This involves writing down a list of pros and cons. On
one side a piece of paper you list the benefits of working on your
memorization goal, and you list the deficits, or negative consequences of
continuing to do little or nothing on the other. Going through this exercise
can be tremendously motivating, usually because the evidence in favor of
going ahead with achieving your goal is stronger than the evidence in favor
of doing nothing.

Preparation & Predetermination : Having decided to move yourself ahead,

it's time to chart out the steps you will take. You can use the basic plan laid
out for you in your Magnetic Memory book (creating one Memory Palace
for each letter of the alphabet and at least 10 stations within each Palace).

The great thing about Preparation & Predetermination is that this stage
amount to baby steps - important baby steps, foundational baby steps, but
easily accomplished baby steps.

Action : By now you should be highly motivated to start populating your

Memory Palaces with vocabulary.

Now, some people recommend that we tell others about our goals before
taking action. For instance, if you want to have 100 vocabulary words
memorized by the end of the month, such people recommend Tweeting your
followers, posting on Facebook and just talking about the goal in general,
the idea being that this self-revelation will keep you on track.

There may be wisdom in this, but it might also set you up for frustration
and discouragement if you falter. (As I discuss in the Magnetic Memory
books, procrastination is bound to happen, so recommend Tim Ferris' idea
to schedule procrastination into your schedule instead of letting it plan its
way into you).

My personal feeling is that the best goals are kept silent and worked on with
personal resolve. It's kind of like doing something nice, like giving money
to a homeless person. There's no need to go around seeking the approval of
others because you've done something awesome. In fact, doing so can
diminish the value of your generosity. Likewise, you don't need the
approval, acknowledgment or the implied pressure of others to be true to
your goals. On the note of "implied pressure," do you really want to make
police officers of your friends?
What I do recommend, however, is talking to people about how you're
working with your memory and the exact steps that you're taking. I consider
this part of the work of memorization because you're deepening your
familiarity with the method and finding ways of adjusting the different
components of the system to your own needs. The fringe benefit is that you
will be helping others find new ways to think about their own memory and
how they too can motivate themselves to engage in memorization.
Assuming the associative material isn't too over the top, you can even
describe one or two of the images you've used to memorize different bits of
vocabulary by way of demonstrating how the system works. That way you
are rehearsing and compounding while educating.

But before any of that, the next part in the Action sequence is, of course,
actually sitting down and placing the vocabulary in your Memory Palaces.
This is done by carefully selecting the kinds of words you want to work on
during designated times of appropriate energy, breaking the words up into
component parts whenever possible and then using the time-honored
principles of location, imagination and action to aid your recall of the
vocabulary later.

Maintenance & Rehearsal : For many of my coaching clients, the

Maintenance and Rehearsal stage is the most pleasurable. Here's where you
really get to feel the payoff of your progress. You've charted out all of your
Memory Palaces and the stations within them and have built yourself a
substantial pool of words. Now you can regularly test and refine them.

Of course, the Maintenance and Rehearsal stage is just as likely to fall prey
to procrastination as any of the other stages, so be sure to revisit yesterday's
email to keep on track in that department because the Maintenance and
Rehearsal stage is ultimately where you are going to make the most gains.
And Maintenance and Rehearsal is also the stage in which you are
effectively using the vocabulary you have memorized either in reading,
listening or speaking.

Now that everything is working with respect to motivation, you should find
yourself to be the proud owner of a Magnetic Memorization Feedback
Loop. The more motivation you build, the more motivation you feel, and
the more motivation you feel, the more motivation you build. All of this
leads to greater momentum, and the next thing you know, you'll have
experienced some very edifying breakthroughs as you move towards your
goal.

Next time we'll talk about perfectionism, when to use it and when to avoid
it.

Until then, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Oh, before I go, here's a callback to yesterday's free gift offer: if you would
like me to work with you for one free 30 minute consultation, then here's
what you need to do:

1. Send an email to me at learnandmemorize@zoho.com.

2. Make the subject: Magnetic Memory Coaching Consultation.
3. List 10 words that you want to memorize and why (describe your goal in
concrete terms).
4. Send me your Skype handle and I'll add you.
5. Wait for my confirmation.

There are now 5 spaces left until the next time I make this offer.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
The Pains of Perfectionism in Magnetic Memorization

21 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
1˚ and cloudy

Dear Memorizers,

This week I've been talking about the tension between procrastination and
motivation. Now it is time to talk about perfectionism.

It has been said that perfectionism bears a relationship to anxiety, and this
makes sense. After all, who feels calm and carefree when impeccability is
at stake? Relaxation is impossible when trying to get everything "just
right." As I stress in my other books, in order for our memorization work to
truly succeed, relaxation is precisely what we need, both during the
memorization process itself and during recall.

Here are just a few of the steps perfectionism can disrupt:

- Filling out the Magnetic Memory worksheets and deciding upon a

Memory Palace for every letter of the alphabet because one feels the need
for each Palace to perfectly fit the letter.

- Identifying a sufficient amount of stations within each Memory Palace.

- Choosing the best words to work on first.

- Setting up an Excel file or other means of tracking for the purposes of

testing and rehearsing.

- Sitting down with a dictionary and memorizing.

- Not leaving a word because it doesn't feel perfectly memorized, leading to

rote repetition rather than Magnetic Memorization.
- Completing effective rehearsal sessions, or turning them into rote learning
instead of memorization exercises.

Now, don't get me wrong. Seeking perfection at each of these stages has its
rewards, and the accomplishment you may sometimes experience can
reinforce your feelings of triumph, if only for the short term.

However, it's important to realize when perfectionism is in fact tripping you

up, if not halting forward progress altogether. Has perfectionism in fact
become a form of self-sabotage? Could you be memorizing 50 vocabulary
words per day instead of just 10 if this "anxiety" of perfectionism were to
disappear?

If so, there is a cure for perfectionism:

Make a mess of things.

One of the toughest lessons when it comes to memorization - especially

after we've tasted its power - is that our Memory Palaces and the
associations within them aren't going to come toppling down if we make a
few mistakes now and again. Sometimes words simply won't "hold" in the
way that we hoped they would. This is normal.

It's also why the "compounding" and rehearsal processes I talk about in the
Magnetic Memory series are so important.

We know that mnemonics, as powerful as they are, do require revisiting

from time to time. I like to think of it as "ballooning" because it reminds me
of the way one rubs a balloon against a sleeve in order to create the static
magnetism that allows the balloon to stick to the wall or other people.

When you go back to a memorized word later and find problems with the
mnemonic, that's when you compound or make repairs to the associations
you've made (i.e. rub the word balloon against your sleeve). But don't work
on the word forever during the memorization stage in the hopes of finding
perfection. That will only slow you down and prevent you from fully
exercising the capabilities of your mind. Perfectionism will also reduce the
amount of time you can spend on rehearsal, and that is on top of having
severely reduced the amount of words you could have memorized in the
first place by moving forward without stopping.

So in sum, allow yourself to make mistakes. Expect potholes and

patchwork, all of which you can return to and patch up later. Because you
are memorizing a language or a field of expertise, these words and terms
are material that you want to revisit anyhow. Needing to revisit and
strengthen your associations is always going to have the positive benefit of
increasing your exposure, and maximizing the amount of attention you're
allotting to the word over the long haul. So don't fear moving ahead with
errors in your mind. They are a good thing so long as you attend to them
later and in a spirit of calm and relaxation.

That's all for today, dear Memorizers. Feel free to send in any questions you
may have. Tomorrow I'll have some notes for you on time-management.

Until then, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

And before I go, here's another callback to the free gift offer from a few
days back: if you would like me to work with you for one free 30 minute
Magnetic Memorization consultation via Skype, then here's what you need
to do:

1. Send an email to me at learnandmemorize@zoho.com.

2. Make the subject: Magnetic Memory Coaching Consultation.
3. List 10 words that you want to memorize and why (describe your goal in
concrete terms).
4. Send me your Skype handle and I'll add you.
5. Wait for my confirmation.

There are now 3 spaces left until the next time I make this offer.
Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Magnetic Memorization Time-Management

22 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
-2˚ with light snow on the horizon ...

Dear Memorizers,

Following yesterday's meditation on perfectionism, we finally arrive at

time-management. This issue is related to everything we've talked about
this week, including procrastination and motivation.

Ultimately, time-management is less about time and more about structure.

There are two kinds of "time structure":

1) The time structures we make for ourselves.

2) The time structures others make for us.

Here's the thing: other people are experts at making time structures that rule
over us. But as individuals, we're often not so expert at making
"appointments" with ourselves. So let's talk about that a little and see how
we can improve in that area.

If you've read books like Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich and many
others like it in the success genre, then you know that such authors
recommend filling out a to-do list at the end of each and every day. That
way, the subconscious mind works on the tasks while sleeping - or so the
theory goes.

Somehow, I think that my mind would rather be sleeping, so I tend to make

my to-do lists first thing in the morning. But in recent months, it dawned on
me that working from day-to-day is not as effective as it might be because I
find myself plugging in tasks as I go along without a dedicated master plan.
For me, creating daily to-do lists simply isn't structure enough.
To increase my productivity and move with more "time structure" towards
achieving my goals, I now jot out monthly and weekly plans. I decide in
advance about various milestones, and use my iPhone to create pop-up
reminders that help keep me on track.

This in no way eliminates the daily creation of to-do lists, but it does give
them greater focus. What happens is that each daily task I write down
becomes more intimately directed at the "master narrative" of my goals
(a.k.a. dreams and desires). Hardly anything makes it on my list that isn't
focused on those aspirations.

I once heard the marketer Joe Polish talk about the three coins of
productivity and time-management. He said that he divides his tasks into
three kinds:

1) Gold coin tasks

2) Silver coin tasks
3) Bronze coin tasks

This is a really great idea. In his case, Polish is talking about dividing tasks
into those that make you the most money, but you could easily replace
money with other concepts, such as 100 new vocabulary words. For
Magnetic Memory readers, that is no doubt a very gold coin task indeed.

It all depends on your personal goals. The key principle is to associate

different levels of value to things that we do. This act of separation will
shape your approach to prioritization and further calibrate your daily to-do
lists with the monthly and weekly goals.

On the matter of having goals, far too people write them down. We are all
capable of achieving virtually anything we put our minds to within the
realms of earthly possibility (if not beyond), but far too few people actually
write those goals down.

I find that one of the most important aspects of writing down goals is that it
is a great way of finding out if your goals are actually something you want
to achieve. The effect of this "reality check" really kicks in if you take a few
moments to "goal journal," by writing out your goals every single day.

For example, I goal journal every morning as I write out my to-do list. It is
never repetitive because there are always variations and new ideas to add or
shades to fill in - or take away.

For months I wrote down that I wanted to live by the ocean. But as time
passed and I reflected on it day after day in writing, I found that, not only
did this goal not gel with other, more important goals, but I didn't in fact
want to live by the ocean at all. In fact, it became increasingly evident that
it was something I wanted to achieve in order to please someone else, not
myself.

My conscious mind might never have discovered this without conducting a

daily goal meditation. My true desires might have been continually buried
beneath false illusions if it weren't for this daily habit of goal excavation.

And when you discover what your real dreams and aspirations are, the
results can be explosive.

Richard Wiseman has discussed research in his book 59 Seconds which

provides strong evidence that writing goals down produces more results
than merely reflecting on them in the mind. Even without evidence, it has
long been said that "the hand builds the mind," and it is well known that
people like Leonardo da Vinci practiced mirror writing, an activity that
quite likely boosted his genius.

Other people have pointed out that ambidexterity can enhance intelligence
and the overall quality of thought, so for some time I have been practicing
writing out goals in my non-dominant hand. It's impossible for me to prove
that these things are directly linked to the positive things that have been
going on in my life, but it only stands to reason that they do, because
without such exercises, dear Memorizers, I would not be writing this
message to you today.

Whether you write out your goals with your right hand, left hand or both,
here are some general guidelines you can follow with respect to managing
your time and setting vibrant and achievable goals:

1. Create monthly, weekly and daily to-do lists.

2. Be as specific as possible about what it is you want to achieve - break

each accomplishment into parts so that you can schedule those parts in
without proceeding vaguely along.

3. Write down your goals. Try doing it daily for at least a month, but three
months is better. It's often said that if you can do something for 30
consecutive days, it will become a habit for life, but the actual research says
that it's more like 90 consecutive days. Nonetheless, after 30 days, you
should have enough experience with the method that you'll note a positive
change insofar as moving towards your goals is concerned.

4. Allow for flexibility. Distractions will come up.

5. Refine your goals. Don't feel that just because you're committed to
something that you cannot change it as you go along. It would be unrealistic
and possibly prevent you from taking action if you came to a point along
your Magnetic Memorization journey where something no longer fit your
portrait of the universe and yet forced yourself to keep chugging along
based on a commitment you made months or even years ago.

6. Avoid perfectionism. It follows from the previous point about refining

goals that perfectionism can slow you down. It can also create fear and
anxiety, and at its worse, negative thoughts.

7. Keep your eye on the larger vision or the "master narrative" you have for
your life. If it is achieving fluency, write that down and write it in the
present tense as if it were already happening. You'll be surprised by how
quickly you find yourself making decisions that manifest your dreams for
you, especially if you write your goals down every single day.

Give these ideas a try and let me know how you do.

And so, until next time, make sure to teach someone what you have learned
about memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding
and to help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The
more we remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the
more we can learn.

Oh, before I go: I wanted to send out one last reminder today about the
complimentary 30 minute coaching session I had been offering this week,
but all the spaces have been taken until the next time I'm able to make the
offer. However, if you're interested in coaching, it's as simple as replying to
this email to find out more. Just add "Magnetic Memory Coaching" to the
subject line. I'll send you all the information you need to know and you'll
also hear about my very special "Right Decision Guarantee." If you're
struggling to reach your memorization goals, coaching can take you to the
next level, to the point where you'll be memorizing vocabulary without
even really trying.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Free Memory App

23 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
-5˚ and yet delightfully sunny ...

Dear Memorizers,

I want to let you know about a free memorization app I learned about over
at Mnemotechnics the other day.

It's called Brain Athlete.

Although the app gives no instructions regarding mnemonics, it does give

you a convenient way to practice building speed and accuracy. It will feed
you up to 1000 randomized words, so those of you who feel that you might
want to practice memorizing words in English to get a feel for the Magnetic
Memory system before advancing to vocabulary and terminology could use
this app to generate words for you.

But be advised that the words are delivered at random rather than in
alphabetical order. That has benefits for overall mental training, but does
not entirely gel with the Magnetic Memorization principle of working in
basic alphabetical order as part of learning a language or mastering a field
of study through its terminology.

Brain Athlete will also feed you sequences of random numbers. I've not
experimented with this function because, with the exception of phone
numbers, I have no particular reason to memorize long strings of digits.
However, for general brain exercise, I do plan to incorporate the techniques
for memorizing numbers eventually, and this app will be a great resource
for toying around with that.

My favorite part of the app is the virtual deck of cards. This function allows
you to choose as little as 1/4 of a deck to work with, up to 12 randomized
decks. You can set the app to show you between 1 and 4 cards at a time, and
during the recall/testing stage, it shows you more than one card to choose
from, making it an extra challenge for the brain because you've recently
seen all of the cards on display, but need to pick the right one that comes
next in line.

I found seeing more than one option very useful because it caused me to
focus on my mnemonic journey with a force of clarity I had not done
before. This is particularly important because my memory palace for cards
is partly based on reality and partly based on invention.

I have a 52 location Memory Palace inside a deck of cards. It is a kind of

empty white parking garage, sort of like the space Batman has inside that
shipping crate when he needs to work in the city. Call it the Batcave 2.0.

In this imaginary space, I have 4 cars. They are the first fours cars I owned
in chronological order. Each car has 13 stations. They are:

1. Driver's side headlight

2. Passenger's side headlight
3. Hood
4. Windshield
5. Steering wheel
6. Driver's seat
7. Passenger's seat
8. Seat behind driver
9. Seat behind passenger
10. Speaks above back seat
11. Back windshield
12. Trunk
13. Exhaust pipe

As I was using the app, I realized that when I memorize a deck of cards, I
am far too conceptual about these stations and don't "see" them clearly
enough. This not only slows me down, but disrupts recall. It's true that I
know absolutely which location comes next, but with respect to this
imaginary location, I've realized over the past few days of playing with the
Brain Athlete app that I need to work on making my stations more visual.
Luckily, this need is served well by the principle of compounding. In order
to do this, I've gone back and in a meditative, eyes-closed posture, really
looked at the headlights of the car, the paint of the hood as my mind travels
toward the windshield and then through the glass onto the steering wheel. I
notice the seat covers and the material covering the speakers by the rear
window. I focus on the shape of the trunk and the rust on the exhaust pipe.

This is important because I'm also helping myself more clearly differentiate
this car from the next car in line and the two cars beyond that.

Having gone through this exercise, I have found that, working in

conjunction with the app, my memorization goes faster and my speed
during recall picks up significantly.

So there you have it, dear Memorizers. I highly recommend getting yourself
the Brain Athlete app and trying it for yourself.

Until next time, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Magnetic Memorization at the Grocery Store

24 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
-1˚ and dark out ...

Dear Memorizers,

The irony of working with Memory Palaces is that focusing on the small
stuff can distract you from the big stuff.

Like eating.

I constantly overlook that in Germany, most stores, including grocery

stores, are closed on Sundays.

And so here I am. It's 7 pm and I'm starving.

Well, I've got a few things I can eat, but it's not ideal, and I wish I would
pay more attention to the shopping schedule every Saturday ... but I'll talk
about memorizing to-do lists in another issue of the Magnetic Memory
newsletter and what Derren Brown has had to say about them.

In any case, being painfully aware of this absentminded error as I type, I'm
reminded of something I wanted to tell you about last week, namely an
exercise that I came up with when I was shopping in the grocery store
around the corner.

I haven't done it yet, but I thought it would be a neat exercise to memorize

the items as I put them in the cart along with their prices. Without looking
at the cart, or looking at it as little as possible, I could then test my
memorization of the items as I emptied the shopping cart and then see how
well I did with the prices as well. Obviously, this is an exercise best
reserved for casual shopping when there isn't a fixed shopping list already
in play.
I'm going to give it a try ... the next time the grocery store is open.

In the meantime, I wanted to remind you about the free memorization app I
mentioned yesterday: Brain Athlete. Give it a try, and if you like it, leave
the developer a review. There's only one aspect of the app that I don't like,
and it has to do with it having "give up" buttons instead of "stop" or "pause"
buttons. Since so many people are quite sensitive about their memories, it's
not exactly the best message to have hovering in front of one's eyes when
doing memory work. I talked to the developer about it and he said he was
going to change this in a future update, which I think will make the app
much stronger all around.

Until next time, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Magnetic Memorization and Visuality

25 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
-1˚ and sunny ...

Dear Memorizers,

I received an interesting book review from someone disappointed by the

visual nature of the Magnetic Memorization system. This person is not
particularly visual, so feels that the techniques will not work.

I understand this concern all too well, since I am not a particularly visual
person myself. However, there are some solutions.

Even without being visual, a person can borrow visual elements from other
parts of the world. If you close your eyes, you can probably see the Mona
Lisa's face in your mind, even if you aren't visual.

If you can see the Mona Lisa's face, then you can place the Mona Lisa at a
station in a Memory Palace. But you don't even necessarily have to "see"
the painting in order to benefit from using it. The concept alone can carry
great power. You can mix the concept of the Mona Lisa doing all kinds of
strange things to help create associations without seeing them at all.

Let's say that you want to memorize the English word "ecmnesia." This
word means the loss of recent memory with the retention of earlier
memories. In other words, the person forgets what happened five minutes
ago, but not five years ago.

The first thing I would do is have my location and some stations worked
out. For the sake of argument, we'll use my fallback Memory Palace for the
letter 'E,' which is my brother's home. Please note that in the Magnetic
Memory system, it's important to use a location even if you are only
memorizing one word or item. My belief is that we fear losing things, and
this creates anxiety. However, if we know where they are mentally, we have
no fear and this makes material easier to memorize. It's a subtle point, but I
think an effective one.

Next, I would place the Mona Lisa in the first station, or if I had already
been using the Palace, the next station in line. In this case, I'll use the guest
bedroom. It has now become host to the Mona Lisa.

Now, when I relax, the first thing that comes to mind is the Mona Lisa
writing E = MC2 squared on her knees. I don't even need to see this visually
in order for it to immediately start sticking in my mind, because it's almost
entirely conceptual. In truth, it's a bit convoluted, because E= MC2 gets an
"emc" sound when what I really need is a "ecm" sound. Nonetheless, I'm
better off than where I started, which was without any method of
association whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned, it's better to struggle with
how an association can be made to produce the word I am looking for than
it is to struggle with finding a word out of thin air.

The point is that the Mona Lisa, although visual in nature, doesn't need to
be seen in order to be useful. I also don't need to see her writing E=MC2 on
her knees. I just need to conceptually exaggerate the idea. The Mona Lisa
has no knees, after all, so there's nothing to see. Yet, the concept is so
bizarre that it has staying power.

In sum, don't be discouraged if you are not a visual person. Maybe you can
use sound in your Memory Palace work, or tactile elements. For those
willing to experiment, there are options.

And as I wrote to you before, try every new skill at least twice before
deciding whether or not it works. Here's a brief snipped from that earlier
message in case you don't have it:
There are two rules that apply to the process of acquiring almost any new skill.

Rule #1: The first attempt is almost always sloppy and frustrating.

Rule #2: The second attempt is always easier than the first attempt. And it's usually a lot less sloppy
and a lot much more fun.
The problem is that most people quit after their first attempt just because things haven't gone so well
the first time. But we shouldn't be frustrated. It's perfectly normal for that to be the case.

The truth is that you will always get a better sense of how a skill works on the second attempt. And
you'll know it even better on the third, and so on.

But 95% of people, if not more, give up after their first try. They decide whether or not they like a
new technique based only on that first experience.

Here's the good news. As a member of the Magnetic Memory family who always gives a new skill at
least one more try, this means that it will take you just the slightest amount of effort to walk 100%
farther than the masses who give up. And you'll do this merely by trying this new memorization
skill just one more time if you don't fall into it naturally and easily the first time.

One last point: In the Magnetic Memory series books I talk about what I
call my "Imagination Deficit Disorder." I rarely see pictures in my mind
when I read and constantly have to monitor myself that I am indeed using
exaggerated images when working in my Palaces, because I do tend to fall
back on conceptualizations.

What I don't talk about in the book is how I helped myself overcome IDD
by taking some drawing classes. Of course, taking up drawing may not be
for everyone, but I mention it as a way forward if you want to train your
mind to be more visual. It truly helps, and I am now not only more visual in
my imagination, but have a much stronger appreciation for art overall.

Until next time, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Magnetic Memorization Question: Using English Words to Find Target
Words?

26 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
-1˚ and overcast, but with a pleasant bit of sun ...

Dear Memorizers,

I received a great question yesterday from a reader about the Magnetic

Memory concept of using the alphabetized Memory Palace system to store
the target language.

Here's what he writes:

I understand that I am placing Spanish words in the memory palaces with their English meanings.
How do I translate English to Spanish? The words in the palace are cataloged in Spanish to English.
Do I need another palace from English to Spanish? I don't understand how to do this if I need to
translate my English to Spanish in a conversation.

I will probably know the answer to this question after I get into it more, but I am trying to
conceptualize to process now.

The first thing I would like to say in response is that you will definitely
know the answer once you try the method out. We're all different, and as I
point out in the book, these memorization techniques are like a bicycle. If
we can just see the techniques in this way, then it's easy to figure out ways
of adjusting the parts to suit our mental "bodies" so that we get the
smoothest and most successful ride possible.

That said, my experience is that the Palaces should be devoted to the target
language. The main reason is that we are focusing on learning another
language, not our own (though we can certainly use Magnetic Memory
method to memorize words in our own language that we haven't learned
yet, such as "ecmnesia," which I talked about in yesterday's message).
I believe that if you earnestly assign a letter to a single Memory Palace with
all of the stations constructed so that you don't cross your own path or trap
yourself, you will find yourself zooming to the words you have memorized
and their meanings with no difficulty. It's something that has to be
experienced, but if the associations you have made in your mind follow the
guidelines of using a secure station within a familiar Memory Palace,
coupled with vibrant associations that make use of exaggerated colors, size
and zany actions, you will be magnetically pulled to the location almost
without thinking about it.
Once you're there, it's just a matter of reconstructing the word by allowing
the associations you made to reverse-engineer it for you. The better
rehearsed you are, the quicker this process will be. The more you use the
system, the faster you'll be able to "translate" the words into the target
language. This is a mental skill, and like all skills, it takes dedicated
practice. However, even without much practice, the dividends come very
quickly, though my hope is that people will get a taste of that power very
quickly and become hooked. Things just keep getting better and better the
more we expand the natural abilities of our minds. Trust me on that one.

Let me turn now to examples of why moving from English towards the
target language is key. Yesterday I learned and memorized that "franco"
means open, frank or outspoken. In my 'F' Memory Palace for Spanish, I
saw my friend Frank opening a window while shouting "oooooo-pen" at it
through a bullhorn (here I am incorporating sound into the image to give it
even more dimensionality).

Now, this is an interesting example because "franco" is cognate with the

English word "frank." They cross over, meaning that to search for "franco"
is to search for "frank" and vice versa. That helps, and in fact, cognates are
very common in Spanish.

Let's try one that isn't a cognate. In this example, I hope to demonstrate
further why it is important to store the words of your target language and
not the English words.

Let's work with "antaño." This word means either "days gone by," "long
ago," or "last year." Using the Magnetic Memory method, I would have
many words that start with "ant" along a journey in my 'A' Palace. It's not
always possible to use this principle, but I do so whenever possible because
it familiarizes me with not only several words and their meanings, but also
how the language works. I get to see variations on the same sounds and
literally "own" a chunk of the dictionary in my mind." The only real
weakness I can find with this method is that the actual meanings of the
words can become quite random. For some of my coaching clients, this has
been readily solved by creating special Memory Palaces for storing words
that belong to a particular theme. One could have a palace for vocabulary
associated most closely with shopping, for example. Ultimately, it's a matter
of preference, but I still think that for those of us serious about really
knowing the vocabulary of a language, the alphabetical Memory Palace
method is best.

Back to "antaño." Since my name is Anthony, I will see myself fighting ants
using a retro yo-yo that says "the past" on it. The ants are all dressed like
Roman soldiers from days gone by. I can compound this even further by
having the yo-yo accidentally strike a clock that sends the hour hand
whirling backwards to help strengthen the idea of the past. I can also have a
calendar from "last year" knocked off of the wall.

Now, my experience is that when I want to recall something like "last year,"
my mind is naturally going to go back to this little vignette about the yo-yo
and the solider ants. My mind is going to fly to the vignette almost faster
than I am able to rationalize the process. This effect occurs because that the
word has a location. In other words, my mind actually has a place to go
instead of fishing around in the void. Also, I've taken care to compound the
meanings of the word using several elements that help me remember
variations on the word's meaning, rather than just one. Finally, I've made
the images of battling the ants with a yo-yo evoke the sound of the Spanish
word.

This compounding aspect is important, and here's why:

Had I operated in reverse, I would in essence need three different locations

for "antaño" because the word has at least three different uses: "long ago,"
last year," "days gone by." Would it be sufficient to have a palace for just
one of those? Probably not. By making all of my associations link with the
Spanish term itself, however, I can compound more than one meaning at its
station in the location. This is very powerful, and as far as I can tell, too
unwieldy to use the other way around. For every word in your target
language you store at a well-selected station in a Memory Palace, you can
pack in or string together an unlimited number of meanings. This is readily
the case the other way around.

I'm very grateful for questions like these and always appreciate feedback
from readers. Please don't hesitate to contact me with your questions.

On the matter of feedback, I have a small favor to ask: If you've enjoyed

learning about the Magnetic Memory method for vocabulary, please leave a
positive review of the book on Amazon. You could also mention this
newsletter so that people know they are getting more than just a book with
their purchase. I have made it my mission to help people memorize
vocabulary and your positive review will help people decide whether or not
this system is something they will want to add to their toolbox.

Why am I so passionate about helping people in this way? The answer is

simple: the more we as humans can communicate with one another based a
deeper understanding of other languages, the better our world will become.
We will share more with other cultures and other cultures will be able to
share more with us. My observation is that vocabulary is one of the major
stopping points that frustrates so many language-learners and I believe that
my approach to vocabulary memorization can help our world grow by
helping people transcend this barrier.

To that end, every review helps. All you have to do is search for the
Magnetic Memory series book you purchased on Amazon and leave your
positive comments by clicking the "write a customer review" button. If you
are able to do this and respond to this email with a copy of the review you
left, I have a special gift for you that I know you will enjoy.

Until next time, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
How to Use Free Email Services for Your Magnetic Memorization
Goals

27 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
1˚ and mostly sunny ...

Dear Memorizers,

I had a lovely bit of correspondence yesterday with a reader that raised an

interesting use of email for language learning that I had not thought to
mention before. It seems that this reader and I receive the same daily
Spanish language word server.

But before I share some sources you might want to peer into, I wanted to
quickly recap yesterday's message about why it is better to store the words
of our target language in our Memory Palaces as opposed to using our own
language in order to get to the target language.

If you haven't read yesterday's message for the full explanation, please be
sure to do so, but as a recap, the reasons we want to store the words of our
target language first and foremost are:

a) We are learning the target language, not our own language. Although we
could use the same system to memorize words in our native tongue we don't
know, such as when learning legal or medical terminology, fluency comes
from working with the language we want to learn first and foremost and
trusting your knowledge of your mother tongue to assist you from the
sidelines via association.

b) If we store the English words first, we limit our ability to store more than
one meaning for each word at a single station. To take yesterday's example,
it would be very difficult to store the multiple meanings of the Spanish
word "antaño" using English words because we would need to create 3
Memory Palaces to get them all in. However, if we use our 'A' Memory
Palace to store "antaño," then we can readily squeeze in three meanings into
the station for that word, including "long ago," "days gone by," and "last
year."

Speaking of "antaño," I learned this word from

http://www.spanishdict.com/. If you visit their site, you can sign up to
receive a daily word in Spanish. For German, I really like
http://www.german-flashcards.com/. And although I have long since
stopped using the rote learning software put out by Before You Know It, I
still use their word of the day service for several languages, including
German, Spanish, French and Russian (my big challenge right now because
it involves a different alphabet that requires a new approach to memorizing
effectively that I am currently working on). You can get daily words sent to
you from them by visiting: http://www.transparent.com/word-of-the-day/.

For most languages, there are several ways that you can receive several new
words a day that will help increase your exposure to a language. If the links
I've just provided don't help you find what you need, then just type the
name of your target language into Google and add: "free word a day."

The only word of caution you need to realize is that these services will give
you a wide variety of words that in some cases will bring you words that
native speakers don't even know. However, this is not a bad thing. When
you have your first experience explaining to someone the meaning of a
word in their own mother tongue that they don't recognize, you're going to
have a huge smile on your face and a very good feeling inside your soul. I'll
tell you about the first time this happened to me sometime soon.

Until then, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,
Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Pay Attention in the First Place

28 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
1˚ and overcast ...

Dear Memorizers,

I'm making a special video at the moment to show you exactly how to use
Excel files to create a record of your work with vocabulary and it should be
finished tomorrow. Until then, here's an extract from a project I'm working
on right now tentatively titled "The 21 Laws of Memorization."

The Sixth Law of Memory: Pay Attention In the First Place

Harry Lorayne made a major point about why we forget things: we never
paid attention to them in the first place. We’re not engaged in the
information bombarding us, and yet we wonder why we’ve forgotten so
much.

Here's a well-known tip that we too often fail to use. When someone tells
you their name, repeat it. That’s the first thing. This will make you seem
much more engaged (because you will be), and it instantly aids your recall
of the name. Inside your mind, you can actually say the name quite loudly
to help increase your impression of it. Sometimes what is screamed sinks in
deeper than what is whispered.

Second, place it somewhere. You can imagine a nametag on their shirt, or

maybe suddenly a tattoo of their name appears on their forehead. The point
of mentally placing the information somewhere is that it helps your
unconscious mind feel safe.

Why? Because the unconscious mind doesn’t like to lose things. In fact, not
paying attention is one of the unconscious mind’s secret ways of not taking
responsibility for forgetting. It lets the conscious you take all the blame
instead.
Third, create an association. If Mr. Baxter’s nose looks like a bean, imagine
it being chopped with a giant axe (but don’t tell him this). Make the image
large, bright, colorful and be sure to include some form of action.

Another way of saying that we need to “pay attention in the first place” is to
say that we need to make sure that new things really do make an impression
on us. We can better remember all new information we encounter merely by
paying attention to what it is and using visualization to “amplify” it. Even
just conceptualized amplification will help, such as imagining that you are
turning up the volume on a word or a phrase.

End of Extract

Keep your eyes open for the upcoming Excel video and until then, make
sure to teach someone what you have learned about memorization. It's the
best way to deepen your own understanding and to help make the world a
better - and more memorable - place. The more we remember, the more we
can remember, and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Magnetic Memorization Kryptonite

29 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
0˚ and snowing ...

Dear Memorizers,

I mentioned yesterday that I have been hard at work on a video about using
Excel files as part of the Magnetic Memorization process.

To be honest, there have been some setbacks, mostly due to my learning

curve with using video-editing technologies. So until I can weed out some
of the kinks in the video, let me tell you about the dangers of Magnetic
Memorization Kryptonite.

It's true, dear Memorizers, that stuff is out there, lurking around every
corner.

Here are some of the things that impede memory on a biological level:

1. Diet. Research suggests that too many carbs can really bog the brain
down. They also say that tofu messes with the mind if taken excessively. It's
hard to imagine eating too much of the stuff, but apparently it has been
linked with dementia.

2. Smoking. Of course, it is in the nature of an addiction that one never

forgets to satisfy the cravings, but demonstrable research exists that shows a
connection between nicotine consumption and depleted memory.

3. Pain, especially chronic pain. This point leads us back to yesterday's

reference to Harry Lorayne, who said that we often don't remember things
because we didn't adequately pay attention to them in the first place.
Suffering is bound to reduce one's focus and create distraction from
memorization.
4. Thyroid disorders. Memory regulating hormones go way down if you
experience issues with your thyroid. It's best to keep on top of this kind of
issue anyway, but especially for the purposes of hanging on to all those
precious memories, but in the recent past and the far.

5. Sleep. Even the slightest bit of exhaustion can reduce recall. It also
interferes with the kind of conceptualization we use to build and populate
our Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory approach.

There are more forms of Magnetic Memorization Kryptonite lurking

around, so let me know if you think of any and I'll talk about them in a
future issue.

Until then, watch out for this nasty stuff and make sure to teach someone
what you have learned about memorization. It's the best way to deepen your
own understanding and to help make the world a better - and more
memorable - place. The more we remember, the more we can remember,
and the more we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Free Magnetic Memorization Excel File Video Walkthrough

30 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
1˚ with the promise of more snow ...

Dear Memorizers,

Here finally is the video I created on how to use Excel files as part of the
Magnetic Memory system for vocabulary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMPMuOyfke4

This video will show you how you can:

- Use Excel to create alphabetical groupings of your Memory Palaces

- List your stations in each location
- Store images, actions and the meanings of your words
- Memorize phrases
- Test the accuracy of your recall

I really had a lot of fun making this video - while also learning how to use
the amazing software that enables such productions. Let me know what you
think, and as always, feel free to send your questions and comments by
replying to any of the Magnetic Memory emails you've received.

Until next time, dear Memorizers, make sure to teach someone what you
have learned about memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own
understanding and to help make the world a better - and more memorable -
place. The more we remember, the more we can remember, and the more
we learn, the more we can learn.

Sincerely,
Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Magnetic Memorization Sequencing

31 March 2013
Berlin, Germany
2˚ and still promising more snow ...

Dear Memorizers,

First off, if you haven't seen the Excel demonstration video I made for you
regarding the use of Excel files to test the memorization work you've done,
here's that link once again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMPMuOyfke4

Now onto the new:

I received a great question yesterday about "building into" existing Memory

Palaces in order to add new words.

Here is the message I received:

Anthony,

I'm really enjoying your stuff! I've just started using your book on German, after coming across your
blogs from comments at the mnetechnics site. I've been a Latin teacher for many years, and am
working on several languages at once, so I'm very excited about using the memory palace and
keyword techniques I've been learning. I do have a question based on your book and emails. Your use
of loci for the alphabet, if I understand you correctly, is based on sequencing the words alphabetically
within each letter site. How then are you able to add new words to a letter's site without upsetting the
sequence, after you've already put in your basic vocabulary, if you're going to add the new word in to
its correct alphabetical slot? I can see how I can add locations or extensions on to a site, but that's just
adding things on to the sequence, which won't work if you keep on adding words (which I will) after
I've already memorized a basic vocabulary list.

This is definitely an interesting issue and there are at least three main
experiments that I have made to address the occasional need to change the
sequence of a journey or otherwise expand the interior of a Memory Palace.

1) Place an imaginary bookshelf or some other kind of invented station in

between two pre-existing stations. This is perhaps for memorizers who have
experienced success both with journeys based on real locations and the use
of imaginary constructions. If one takes the time to build a system for
memorizing a deck of cards based on numbers, sounds and a journey, then
one will be much better equipped to insert imaginary stations into
preexisting journeys.

2) Hazard a mnemonic palimpsest by using stations twice, i.e. having a two-

lane highway of alphabetical sequences (clunky and confusing, but not
without application in some cases, such as adding phrases to a particular
word - see the video I sent out yesterday for an example of that).

3) Create a new palace for any given letter.

The first and third options have worked best for me. The third option is
especially useful for working with word types.

One of the things we can do, for example, is create a key like this (using
German as an example):

E1: Words that start with Eig

E2: Words that start with Ein
E3: Words that start with Ent
E4: Words that start with Er

... and so forth.

In doing something like this, one may have skipped a lot of different word
types, but what this method allows for is: a) create more space within a
single palace, and b) the addition of new palaces that respond to different
word types.

Admittedly, building multiple palaces for individual letters may not be for
everyone. However, it is always worth experimenting. The worst that can
happen is that one winds up with a vertiginous array of sub-journeys that
require mental demolishing. But that's all part of Mental-city development,
so to speak. Our minds are very receptive to these experiments and
revisions. The mind is infinitely capable of expanding of bringing you into
direct contact with your goals. Since Napoleon Hill's "Think & Grow Rich"
concept has such power, the world is just waiting for a book called "Think
& Grow Fluent." It's all just a mix of mindset, desire, determination and the
willingness to try each new technique we learn at least twice in the spirit of
experimentation.

A lot also depends on how one is using the Memory Palaces they have
prepared and predetermined. Are you sitting and devouring the dictionary.
Do you have a learning/memorizing plan based on themes, or are you
memorizing as you read a novel or so forth? Depending on the scenario, it
might be wise to have a variety of Palace-types for different scenarios, or,
as part of the preparation and predetermination stage, begin with greater
clarity about how exactly the Palaces are going to be used.

On that note, I have been spending a lot of time speaking German recently,
and it has come to my attention that I need to start experimenting with a
Memory Palace specifically designed for learning words on the fly, or in
some cases, re-familiarizing myself with words or compounding them in
real-time. For this purpose, I have been thinking about using an
administrative building at one of the universities I attended.

This building is appealing for a few reasons. Although I don't know it in

and out as such, it has eight floors and each has a cookie-cutter layout.
Thus, I can enter the floor from the elevator and complete an eight station
journey around the floor before moving down to the next one. (I want to
move down from the top of the building in order to obey the principle of not
trapping myself).

I'll have to report on how this experiment goes in future issues. Obviously,
one has to be super-fast in order to effectively memorize a word while
engaging in a conversation, but depending on with whom you are speaking,
great progress can be made. Plus, you'll have received the meaning of the
word in the target language itself and using a definition from a native
speaker. Combined, this makes for a powerful means of boosting fluency
indeed.
Until next time, make sure to teach someone what you have learned about
memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding and to
help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The more we
remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the more we
can learn.

Sincerely,

Anthony Metivier
learnandmemorize@zoho.com
Conclusion

I hope you’ve had a lot of fun revisiting the past month of the Magnetic
Memory Mondays newsletter. I know I’ve had a lot of fun writing it.
If you’ve enjoyed my work, I’d like to ask you the favor of leaving a
positive review on Amazon, either of this newsletter or the original
Magnetic Memory series book that brought you to this newsletter.
As always, feel free to send my your questions, comments and concerns
with the Magnetic Memory System.
And as I like to say, make sure to teach someone what you have learned
about memorization. It's the best way to deepen your own understanding
and to help make the world a better - and more memorable - place. The
more we remember, the more we can remember, and the more we learn, the
more we can learn.
© 2013 Metivier Magnetic Memory Series.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in

any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or
otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Disclaimer and Terms of Use: The Author and Publisher have strived to be
as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this book,
notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time
that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of
the Internet. While all attempts have been made to verify information
provided in this publication, the Author and Publisher assumes no
responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject
matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or
organizations are unintentional.
This Edition, Copyright 2013

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