Improve Your Memory With Perspective PowerTM
If I ever have the privilege of speaking to your association or company, you'll see me attempt to memorize the location of every card in a shuffled deck of playing cards in under a minute. This challenge sounds and, quite frankly, looks completely impossible. In truth, I have a terrible memory and so, in order to regularly pull off this demonstration, I use a Perspective PowerTM strategy.
To elaborate on this point, and enable you to experience how a Perspective PowerTM strategy can turbocharge your performance, here is a similar - albeit greatly simplified - version of my memory challenge.
Your Challenge...
Your mission is to memorize this list of ten objects so well that you could recall it forwards and backwards...
And, if I gave you a number, you could give me the object at that number and vice versa...
And, if I called you next month and asked: "What object is at number 6?" you would still be able to instantly reply, the chair...
And, you only have five minutes to do it.
- 1. Toaster
- 2. Airplane
- 3. Broom
- 4. Credit Card
- 5. Book
- 6. Chair
- 7. Mug
- 8. Knife
- 9. Television
- 10. Baseball
...STOP!!!
Wait! Don't knuckle down and attempt to memorize each object, and its corresponding number, by brute force. Rather than sweating it out, flex your Perspective PowerTM.
Remember, your outlook controls your thinking. Therefore, changing your outlook will turbocharge your thinking in the service of solving a problem. And so, whenever you face any kind of challenge, always ask yourself: What specific Perspective PowerTM strategy can I employ to see this problem from a different point of view?'
By the way, I'm under no illusions. I'm well aware that many readers will scan this exercise – get the general gist of my argument – and skip to another article. Don't! Take a few minutes and give it a go. I guarantee, you'll amaze yourself!
What's more, you'll learn a simple method for remembering any list of ten unrelated items, such as the important points of a business presentation, a shopping list or the the key benefits of a new product.
A Simple Strategy
Rather than trying to memorize the above list by rote, let's flex our Perspective PowerTM.
The first step to memorizing our list of ten objects is to memorize another list of ten objects. What!!!! I know, at this point, most of you are thinking, "Another list of items! How can memorizing twenty items be easier than memorizing ten?"
Answer: You've probably experienced that awkward moment when, on meeting someone for the second time, you find that you recognize the person's face but can't recall their name. This happens because you find it much easier to remember something you can visualize (like a face), than abstract (like a name). And so, in this case, memorizing twenty items is easier than ten because it enables us to associate each number with its corresponding object to create an easily visualized mental picture.
What's more, the second list is a piece of cake to remember because each number rhymes with its corresponding word. For this reason, I suggest learning the list like a poem: 'One – gun, two – shoe, three – tree, etc... This should take no more than a couple of minutes, a small effort given the fact this strategy will enable you to memorize any list of ten items, for the rest of your life.
Step 1: Memorize This Rhyming List
- 1. Gun
- 2. Shoe
- 3. Tree
- 4. Door
- 5. Hive
- 6. Sticks
- 7. Heaven
- 8. Gate
- 9. Vine
- 10. Pen
It's vital that you have this rhyming list down cold before continuing...
Step 2: Create vivid, Easily Visualized Mental Pictures.
The rhyming words are called 'hook' words because each one is now 'hooked' to its corresponding item in the original list, creating a vivid, easily visualized mental picture.
For example, the first word to remember is 'Toaster'. We need a vivid mental picture that will associate it with our hook word 'Gun'. I'm seeing a gunslinger poised to draw his weapon. However, rather than pulling his six-shooter from a holster, his gun is wedged in a toaster hanging from his belt. This is, of course, just one possible way of linking 'Toaster' with 'Gun' to create a vivid picture. How would you do it? You might visualize shooting slices of toast – a la clay pigeons – as they pop out of the toaster and into the air. It doesn't matter what image you choose, or how silly it is, providing it's vivid. Close your eyes for a moment and visualize your mental picture. Now forget it. That's right forget it. Don't make any effort whatsoever to remember 'Toaster' or to keep the image in mind.
The second word to remember is 'Airplane'. How might you associate this object with the hook word 'Shoe'? I'm seeing a plane where the oxygen masks that fall from the ceiling are all old shoes – yuk! The image you choose should be as wacky as possible. Perhaps, in your mind, you're seeing all the airplane seats replaced by shoes. Once again, come up with a striking mental picture, concentrate on it for a few moments and then force yourself to completely forget it.
The third word to remember is 'Broom'. How might you link this object with the hook word 'Tree'? On the face of it, this seems like an easy association to make because a tree looks like an upside down broom. However, if you decide to use this image, make sure your picture is sufficiently vivid. You might imagine birds nesting and/or apples growing in the bristles of the broom. It's vital the mental picture you create is striking enough to be etched on your brain.
I'm sure you get the idea. Once you know your hook words creating these mental pictures only takes a few seconds. Just remember to make your associations freaky or funny, the more absurd the better.
Try it for the remaining objects on the list – keeping each image in mind for a few seconds – and then deliberately forgetting it. You will find that, after forging your ten 'object-hook word' associations, you can remember them at any time, without straining. Simply recite the poem one-gun, two-shoe, etc and the associated objects will immediately jump into your head. Even though you deliberately tried to forget each object – when you bring a hook word to mind – the corresponding mental picture will reappear, making it easy to recall each item on the list.
Test Yourself...
Let's see how well you can recall the original list. Your first hook word was? And your associated image was? And so the object to be remembered is? Asking these three questions makes the process seem very laborious. In practice, it happens in a flash. You can prove this for yourself by listing off all ten objects, in order...
...Amazing, isn't it?
Let's take this to the next level: Repeat your list backwards, i.e., starting with the object at number ten.
What object is at number six?
What number is the broom at?
Sometime tomorrow, recite the rhyme and write down the objects in order, one through ten. Don't make a concerted effort to recall the items – just recite the poem – even after a break, the objects will still spring to mind.
Oddly enough, the poem, 'one-gun, two-shoe...' can be reused for remembering any ten items and will serve you well for the rest of your life. What's more, by simply learning more hook words, this principle can be extended to memorize much longer lists.
While this memory system is incredible, my objective in teaching it to you wasn't primarily to improve your recall, but rather to demonstrate that looking at a challenge from a different point of view makes it far easier to overcome. When you flex your Perspective PowerTM, it's amazing what you can achieve!
