Tricks to Improve Your Memory

1. Eat Right

Tricks to Improve Your Memory

The foods you eat – and don't eat – play a crucial role in your memory. Fresh vegetables are essential, as are healthy fats and avoiding sugar and grain carbohydrates. You can find detailed information about nine foods for brainpower here.

For instance, curry, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, and walnuts contain antioxidants and other compounds that protect your brain health and may even stimulate the production of new brain cells.

Increasing your animal-based omega-3 fat intake and reducing consumption of damaged omega-6 fats (think processed vegetable oils) in order to balance your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, is also important. I prefer krill oil to fish oil, as krill oil also contains astaxanthin, which not only protects the omega-3 fats from oxidation but also appears to be particularly beneficial for brain health.

Coconut oil is another healthful fat for brain function. According to research by Dr. Mary Newport, just over two tablespoons of coconut oil (about 35 ml or 7 level teaspoons) would supply you with the equivalent of 20 grams of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which is indicated as either a preventative measure against degenerative neurological diseases, or as a treatment for an already established case.

2. Exercise

Exercise encourages your brain to work at optimum capacity by stimulating nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections and protecting them from damage.

During exercise nerve cells release proteins known as neurotrophic factors. One in particular, called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health, and directly benefits cognitive functions, including learning.

A 2010 study on primates published in Neuroscience also revealed that regular exercise not only improved blood flow to the brain, but also helped the monkeys learn new tasks twice as quickly as non-exercising monkeys.

This is a benefit the researchers believe would hold true for people as well. In a separate one year-long study, individuals who engaged in exercise were actually growing and expanding the brain's memory center one to two percent per year, where typically that center would have continued to decline in size.

To get the most out of your workouts, I recommend a comprehensive program that includes high-intensity interval exercise, strength training, stretching, and core work, along with regular intermittent movement.

3. Stop Multitasking

Top Priority Vitamins For boost our Brain Power

"Nutrition plays a significant and crucial role over the long run and the short run in brain health," 
 "We can maintain a healthy and active mind well into our 80s and 90s by eating properly,"

Top Priority Vitamins For boot our Brain Power

Vitamin B
"B vitamins are involved in helping the formation of brain chemicals such as dopamine, epinephrine, and serotonin," 
"Vitamin B12 has a number of roles including helping in the formation of myelin,"
 B12 is mainly found in meats (beef, pork, lamb, veal, fish, and poultry), and an as result, vegetarians may be deficient. This deficiency could lead to nerve damage, memory loss, low moods, and mental slowness.
Folic acid or folate is another important B vitamin for the brain,
"Magnesium is an important brain nutrient because it protects the brain from neurotoxins,"
"Vitamin C is an important antioxidant that can intercept free radicals before they affect the brain," 
Vitamin E
When you consume food rich in vitamin E, including almonds, green leafy vegetables, corn oil, sunflower oil, hazelnuts, and whole-grain flour, you get both alpha tocopherols and gamma tocopherols, she says. If you are choosing supplements, look for vitamin E with "mixed tocopherols" and take 400 IU a day, she says. Vitamin functions as an antioxidant and the brain is particularly susceptible to free radicals (damaging, unstable molecules). Some research indicates that vitamin E can delay progression of Alzheimer's disease and/or prevent it from occurring in the first place by reducing the free radicals damage!

Memory Demonstrations

                   A few theatrical agents were gathered together  at a carnival, to see an act that everyone was raving about. As everybody watched in awed silence, Bosco, the Great, climbed up a ladder to a tiny pedestal, four hundred feet in the air.

On the pedestal, he took a deep breath, and then started to pump his arms to and fro. The drums rolled until they reached a noisy crescendo, and at this precise second Bosco, the Great, actually left the pedestal and flew!

His arms pumping madly, he flew around the entire arena, up and down, back and forth.

Just then one of the agents turned to another, and asked, “is that all he does, bird imitations?”!

            I SUPPOSE that some of you are wondering why I am teaching, or have taught, all the memory feats in this  book. You think that since I am a performer, and my performance does consist of memory stunts-I am creating competition for myself. Well, perhaps I am, but it doesn’t bother me too much. I know that if any of you do want to perform in front of an audience, you will have the ingenuity to put together your own stunts and plan your own routine. And, most important, you will realize that you have to sell yourself, not your memory feats.

It Pays to Remember Anniversaries, Birthdays and Other Important Dates

“Does your husband forget your anniversaries?”

“Never. I remind him of it in June, and again in January; and I always get two presents!”

             If a man’s memory is so poor that he can be led to believe that he has an anniversary every six months-then he deserves to have to buy two presents.

             Seriously though, the peg system can be applied to remembering not only important anniversaries, but also important dates in history. It is also helpful for memorizing addresses, prices or style numbers.

             As far as dates are concerned, if you want to remember people’s anniversaries or birthdays, just associate the people, or substitute words for their names, to the date, in this way:- Suppose Mr. Gordon’s birthday is April 3^rd. if you associate Mr. Gordon, or  the word, “garden” to “ram,” you would remember it. “Ram” represents 43, and Mr. Gordon’s birthday falls in the 4^th month, on the 3^rd day!

It Pays to Remember Appointments and Schedules

“The man who is always punctual in keeping appointments never loses anything by it.”

“No, only about half an hour waiting for the other fellow to show up.”

             THERE ISN’T much I can do about those of you who know that you have an appointment, and get there late, anyway. But  I think I can help you if you forget those appointments completely. You’ve already learned, in a previous ehapter, how to remember your errands or appointments for each day. You can still use that idea; but if, in your particular business, or even socially, you find if necessary to keep numerous appointments during the week at certain times of day, you’ll be interested in this chapter. The system contained here is one which enables  you to make a conscious association as soon as you’ve  made an appointment. By making this association, you can recall all your appointments for each day of the week without bothering with a date or memo book.

            For those of you who don’t care about remembering weekly appointments or schedules, I would suggest that you learn the idea behind the method anyway. You never know when you might find it useful. Please don’t let the length of the explanation frighten you; once you understand and use it, there’s nothing to it.

Amaze Your Friends

FARMER (showing off his farm to a friend):

How many sheep would you say were in that flock? See if you can get close with a rough guess.”

FRIEND (after short pause): “I’d say there were about 497 sheep there.”

“why, you hit it right on the head, that’s exactly right! How in the world did you know?”

“it was simple, really, I just counted all the legs, and then divided by four!”

            THE MEMORY stunt contained in this chapter may not be as astounding as dividing the legs of sheep by four, but it’s certainly easier to do. You’ll probably be glad to know that there are no mathematics involved at all-just a trained memory.

          A friend of mine in the textile business here in New York has told me that he has gained quite a reputation for himself by remembering numbers. He goes to lunch with a few business acquaintances each day, and he invariably asks them t9o give him any four or five digit number to memorize. He usually has anywhere from there to six people with him, and he memorizes the numbers they give him. They interrupt him during the luncheon to see if he can still recall the numbers, and, of course, he does.

Don't Be Absent-minded

Towards the conclusion of his lecture on the wonderful  sights to be seen in this world, the famous  traveler said, “There are some spectacles that one never forgets!”

At this point a tiny old lady in the back row, stood up and timidly inquired, “Oh, my, can you tell me where I could get a pair? I’m always forgetting mine!”

              ARE  you continually plagued by misplacing certain items? Do you waste precious time searching for your glasses or are you the type that’s always screaming, “But I just had it in my hands a moment ago!”? Do you always hide your valuable trinkets so well that you yourself can’t find them? Ladies; are you constantly late for a dare because you simply can’t locate your favorite lipstick? And, men; does your wife rant and scream while you laboriously search for that misplaced cuff link?

            If the answer to any of these questions is, “you,” run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore-.

          Well, if this were a radio or television commercial, it might sound something like that, don’t you think? But seriously, have I hit the bull’s eye with some of the above questions? I’m almost certain that I have, because very few of us are fortunate enough not to be absent-minded at times.

          Many people make the mistake of confusion  absentmindedness with a poor memory. Actually,  I feel that they should be considered as two entirely different things. People with excellent memories can also be absent  minded professor stories; well, be assured that in order to be a professor you must have a good memory to being with. The hundreds of gags about the absent-minded professors who wind their wives, kiss the cat good night and put out the clock, may be true  for all I know, but it still doesn’t signfy that they have poor memories.

The Importance of Memory

A business man traveling in the mid-west was told about an Indian, living in the vicinity, who had a most fantastic memory. Having just completed a memory course, and priding himself on his own newly acquired achievements, he decided to visit this Indian to see whose memory was better.

He introduced himself to the Indian and proceeded to test him. The memory expert answered every question quickly and accurately. His mind was storehouse of knowledge, containing such information as the important dates, scientific theories, etc. the business man couldn’t stump him. Finally, he decided to try one last question. “what did you have for breakfast on the morning of April 5^th 1931?”

The Indian didn’t hesitate for even a second, as he answered, “Eggs!”

The business man took his leave, completely stunned by this prodigious memory. When he arrived home, he told all his friends about it, only to have them scoff and say that eggs were usually eaten at breakfast, and that anyone could have answered that.

As the years passed, the man began to believe this, until one day he found himself back in the mid-west on a sales trip. One afternoon he happened to come upon the same Indian he had met here years ago. Wanting to show that his memory for faces was pretty good, he raised his hand in the traditional Indian greeting, and  said, “How.”

It Pays to Remember Telephone Numbers

The little girl was trying to get the telephone operator to find a telephone number for her.

OPERATOR:  you can find that number in your telephone directory.

LITTLE GIRL: Oh, I can’t, I’m standing on it!

                ALTHOUGH MOST of you do not have to stand on the telephone directory in order to use the phone, you do have to use it quite often to look up numbers that you’ve forgotten. Sure, many people feel that it isn’t necessary to remember phone  numbers since that’s just what the directory is for; but the fact remains that the phone companies have to keep information operators on duty continually. Next to forgetting names and faces, I think the most common memory complaint  is, “I simply can’t remember telephone numbers!” as I  mentioned in an earlier chapter most untrained memories are one-sided. Those w ho usually do remember telephone numbers can’t remember names, and vice versa. Of course, I intend for you to be able to do both , and more, with equal proficiency.

             My good friend Richard Himber, famous musician magician, realized that most people couldn’t remember phone numbers, so he did something about it. He made it very simple for everyone to remember his-he just told them to dial his name, R. Himber. Somehow, he managed to obtain an exchange  for his telephone that  begins with the letters, RH. The rest of the number is 4-6237, which  you get when you dial i-m-b-e-r. now, don’t you all dial it just  to see if this is true-take my word for it, it is!

More about Names and Faces

Ruth was a sweet and lovely girl and had many boy friends, but here mother felt it was time she was married.

While reading a book on the meanings of names, Ruth said, “Mother, it says here that Philip means ‘lover of horses,’ and James  means ‘beloved.’ I wonder what George means?”

“I hope, my dear,” said mother, “that George means business!”

          Now that you know how to make any name have meaning, by using a substitute word or thought, you have to know how to associate the name to the face in such a way as to remember both of them. Many memory systems teach the student to make a jinglet with the name; something like, “Mr. Baker is a faker” or “Mr. Gold is old,” or “Mr. Radcliffe had a mad tiff,” or “Mr. Lillienkamp is a carnival tramp.”

      This is fine, until you meet a Mr. Nepomosimo or a Mr. Smolensky. Even if you could quite grasp is how this would  help you to remember the person’s face, or rather, how one would bring the other to mind. No, I don’t think that this jinglet system is of too great a help. In my opinion, the only way to remember a person’s name is to associate that name to the person’s face in some ridiculous way. And here’s how to go about it:-

         Whenever you meet someone new, look at his face and try to find one outstanding feature. This could be anything; small eyes, large eyes, thick lips, thin lips, high forehead, low forehead, lines or creases on the forehead, long nose, broad nose, wide nostrils, narrow nostrils, large dimples, clefts, warts, mustache, lines on the face, large mouth, large mouth, teeth-just about anything.

What's in a Name?

    This fellow was very proud of the way he could remember names by association, until he met Mrs. Hummock. Mrs. Hummock was quite heavy, and had a large stomach, so he decided to use “stomach,” as his association.

There weeks later, he met the some lady glanced at her stomach, and feeling very pleased with himself, said, “good day, Mrs. Kelly!”

        I had the pleasure one of performing for the executive club of a well-known department store in New York City. This was their annual dinner, and demonstration in my performance that probably hits home for more people than any other is the one in which I remember everyone’s name.

       The way I usually do it is to introduce myself to all the guests as  they arrive, or, meet them while they’re having dinner. I simply walk from table to table getting everyone’s name (and getting hungry). I’ll meet all the people at one table, then the next, and the next, and so on, until I’ve met everyone in the room. I work as quickly or as slowly as time suggests. Many’s the time that I’ve had to meet one hundred to two  hundred people in fifteen minutes or less, without forgetting a single name! I give credit and praise to  my methods and systems, of course, not to myself.

It Pays to Remember Foreign Language Vocabulary and Abstract Information

             The more intelligible a thing is, the more easily it is retained in the memory, and contrariwise, the less intelligible it is,  the more easily we forgot it.

            YOU MAY not think that the above quote shows any particular brilliance on the part of Mr. Spinoza. You may feel, “sure, anyone knows that if something is intelligible, or makes sense, it is easier to remember.” Well, that’s true it is an obvious thought, but it took Mr. Spinoza to say it, or put it down on paper just that way, as far back as the 17^th century.

             I’m making a fuss about this particular quote because it tells you in one sentence what this entire book is about. Almost all the systems in the book are basically that-they help make unintelligible things intelligible. One example, of course, is the peg system; number by them-tem makes them mean something to you. 

             Perhaps the best example is in trying to memorize foreign-language  vocabulary. A word in a foreign language is nothing but a conglomeration of sounds to anyone who is not familiar with the language. That’s why they’re so difficult to remember.

            To make them easier to remember you will use the system of SUBSTITUTE WORDS. Substitute words or thing that is abstract, intangible or unintelligible; something that makes no sense to you, can’t be pictured, yet must be remembered. be sure you read this chapter carefully, because substitute words will also help you to remember names.

            Making up a substitute word is simply this:-  Upon  coming across a word that means nothing to you; that is intangible and unintelligible, you merely find a word, phrase or thought that sound as close to it as  possible, and that is tangible and can be pictured in your mind.