Trust your memory
memory
by Ron White
As I was training for a championship in 2009, I emailed the then World Champion, Ben Pridmore. I asked him for any advice that he could give to me as I trained. His advice was simple: trust your memory.
That was it. Just Trust it.
What did that mean? Well, when you are memorizing a deck of cards in a tournament, you are timed. And the fastest that you can do it, the better. Oftentimes, I would find myself focusing on a card for several seconds to make sure that I had it in my brain. Then I started with Ben’s strategy of “trusting my memory” and I would start going faster than I thought possible. Guess what? My brain still had the information at the faster speed!
It is much like speed reading. Most of us read slowly. Not because that is the fastest that we can go, but because we really don’t understand how much our brain takes in going at fast speeds. Think about driving down the road at 70 mph and all the signs, billboards and movement you are able to take in. The brain is the greatest computer ever created. So my advice is to trust it more.
This doesn’t necessarily always mean speed, but it does mean expect more of it. Stop saying to yourself, “Oh I am horrible with names,” or “I am a poor test taker” or “I just can’t remember like I used to!” Trust and you will be amazed. I went from memorizing a deck of cards in 6 minutes and 30 seconds to memorizing a deck in just over a minute because of better technique—but also because I started to trust my memory!
Trust your memory, trust yourself and improve your memory results.
More “Personal Development” articles
Follow us
