Do you have a photographic memory? Do you have the ability to perfectly recall a long list of random ideas, thoughts or things? If someone tested you right now, I would bet you don’t have a photographic memory. Actually 99.997% of the world population doesn’t have it, so I doubt you do. Or better said, I doubt you believe you do.If I gave you 20 random items to remember – in order – could you do it? Let’s try it out. Read this list and try to remember all 20 items on the list in order.
1. Rusty razor blade, 2. Goalie mask, 3. Red VW bug, 4.Blender, 5. Coffee cup, 6. Brown paper bag, 7. Chess set with a broken white king piece, 8.Marble statue, 9.Megaphone, 10. Shower curtain, 11. Canopy bed, 12. Plaid wool blanket, 13. Pencil, 14. Salt shaker, 15. Wooden baseball bat, 16. Private jet, 17. White apron, 18.Button, 19. Superman costume, 20. Fluorescent light bulb
Now from memory, write down the seventh item on the list. No cheating! Next, write down the third item, then the 17th item, and finally the 12th item. If you’re not sure, just give your best guess.How many did you get? None, right? (If you did get one or two right, you’re amazing! You should be a spy.)
The truth is, you DO have a photographic memory. You just don’t know it yet. And since you never believed you could do it, you probably never tried. And by not trying you have affirmed yourself to be right… that you DON’T have a photographic memory. But I am here to tell you, that you do.
There’s a method to help you unlock your natural ability to remember things photographically. If you follow this method, you will harness that power by the end of this post.
First, you must BELIEVE that it is possible for you to have a photographic memory. More than that, you must BELIEVE that it it’s EASY to have a photographic memory – especially for you.
The trick is, your mind work best with pictures and associations, not repetition. So the first step to your new found photographic memory is to create an association of pictures. Start by memorizing an easy rhyming list of pictures for each number, one through ten. This will be your Anchor List. Here’s what I use, and suggest you use the same:
1. Gun
2. Shoe
3. Tree
4. Floor
5. Bee hive
6. Pile of sticks
7. Heaven
8. Skate
9. Slime
10. Hen
Next review the random list of 20 random items below. Here’s the list I will use as an example for the rest of the exercise:
1. Golden goose egg, 2. Firefly, 3. Paint roller, 4. Diamond ring, 5. Stop sign, 6. Kitchen table, 7. Ticket stub, 8. Leather jacket 9. Ice cream cone, 10. ATM machine, 11. Scalpel, 12. Champagne bottle, 13. Stroller, 14. Couch, 15. Rose bush, 16. Swimsuit, 17. Rotting apple, 18. Candy cane, 19. Cowboy boots, 20. Train
Link The Anchor List To The Items To Remember
Now, when you look at the first item on the new list (golden goose egg), associate it with the first word from the anchor list (gun). For example, picture a gun shooting out a golden goose egg. Picture it in detail, your arm holding out a gun, smoke rising from the gun, and a golden goose egg shooting out. The more details, the better. The more color to your mental picture, the better.
Visualize a connection between the second word (firefly) and the corresponding word on your anchor list (shoe). Picture the firefly trying to carry a shoelace off the shoe. Imagine how hard the firefly is trying, how small the firefly is compared to the shoe, whatever detail you can conjure up to connect the firefly with the shoe.
Before you move on to the third item on the random list of things, recap the first two. What was the gun shooting? Right, the golden goose egg. How about the shoe? What was going on there? Right a firefly was trying to take off with the shoelace in tow. Then start on the next word. Keep doing this for the first ten items on the list.
Now stack the pictures. When you get to the eleventh item (scalpel), go back to the first image (a gun shooting out the golden goose egg) and add the scalpel to it. For example, you might have a scalpel stuck in the golden goose egg that is shooting out of the gun. Gross yoke nastiness flying out, just for effect.
Continue to the next object. For example, the firefly that is trying to pickup the shoe’s shoelace, now has to struggle with one itsy bitsy arm to lift the Champagne bottle he is carrying (Dom Perignon that he bought on sale, of course). Oh, the horrible life a firefly can lead. Follow this stacking method for the remaining objects on the list.
Congratulations!
Congratulations, you now have a photographic memory! Don’t believe me? Let’s test it out. Use your anchor list to guide you. I don’t expect you to have the rhyming down just yet, so it’s OK to look at the anchor list of above.
Let’s start with, hmmm, number two. Two is shoe. OK, what is happening with the shoe? Right! The firefly. OK how about number eight. Eight is skate, and what did you have going on with the skate? Excellent! Now number 11. OK the anchor for 11 was the gun. Since it is over 10, it is going to be the stacked image… OK, what was going on with the gun. Yes, the golden egg. And what’s stacked with the egg. YES! The scalpel. Try it for five, now. How about 18? How about ten and then 20? Damn… You are good. No, no. You are really good.
Surprised? Did you just achieve the impossible?
You’re welcome.
