Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EmfL1e (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
Want to improve your memory? Who better to learn from than a memory grandmaster?
Kevin Horsley, awarded the title "International Grandmaster of Memory" by the Brain Trust, held the top record for the "Everest of Memory Tests" by memorizing 10,000 digits of Pi, and Pi is completely random. It does not have repeating sequences as recurring numbers do unlike what some people think.
Please let me explain the significance of this reward.
You must memorize the first 10,000 digits of Pi, and on the competition the digits will be devised into 2000 groups of 5 digits. Yes, 2000 groups, each consisting of 5 digits. Then the testers will call out any one of these 5-digit blocks and you have to reply with the 5-digit numbers on either side of the number. Think about how insane that sounds for a moment, and how much memorization it requires. And this happens 50 times.
The record is given not on your capability of doing the given task, you could technically find the numbers eventually after calculations, but on the time it took you to finish the task. And kevin had done it in 16 minutes 38.35 seconds. You can see the current record holders' list here
Even after being surpassed in 2019 and again in 2024, his record had remained unbroken for six years and, at the time of this article's publication, still holds a respectable third place.
Before we begin, this book is packed with practical memory improvement techniques with only 130 easy to read pages that you can finish in one go. And by looking at Kevin Horsley's past it's fair to assume those memory techniques do wonders when used well. However, he doesn't provide a scientific explanation for the methods. Nevertheless you will still leave this post with really effective memory improvement techniques. So enjoy!
Kevin says the following in his book when he is introducing himself:
“I wasn’t born with a good memory, and I couldn’t concentrate; reading and writing were always a challenge for me. Throughout my school career, I learned by having my mother and friends read the syllabus to me”
And he also says the following:
“I forced myself to memorize it and what I didn’t get, which was most of it, I just didn’t get.”
Both quotes are from the book we'll be discussing today, with the title:
How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive, UNLIMITED MEMORY by GRANDMASTER KEVIN HORSLEY
You can find the Amazon link to purchase this book at the beginning (below the image) and end of this post.
Early in the book, after reading Kevin's introduction, I noticed something.
He had to memorize. Although he says that he wasn’t able to memorize most of it, there is still a constant practice of memorizing happening throughout his education due to his condition making it harder to read and seek information that he doesn’t have in his memory.
“In twelve years of school, I couldn’t read a book from cover-to-cover alone and in my final year of school, I still couldn’t read much better than when I started out in First Grade”
In the following pages of the book he will also say that constant practice is one of the keys to memorization.
Kevin says that the 4 keys (or Cs) are the solution to any memory problem you have faced or will face in the future, so what are those 4 Cs,
Concentration, Create imagery, Connecting concepts together, Continuous use.
Some of the experiments he makes you partake in stays with you for I don’t know how long. I finished the book about a week ago and what I thought would be hard for me to memorize is still in my memory today.
Essential Strategies for Improving Your Memory:
1- Concentrate
Be where you are. Concentrate into one thing and one thing only.
2- Ditch the "bad memory" excuses
Do not have excuses for why you have a “bad memory”, he calls excuses “thought viruses”
Never believe a lie, the lie being you have a “bad memory”, instead try catching the things where your memory has done a good job and reward it, appreciate it. You believe it and it becomes reality.
3- No Multi Tasking
Stop multitasking, concentrate all your thoughts into one task. Focus on and appreciate the things you do right, rather than only complaining about your mistakes.
Know what you want: purpose, interest, and curiosity.
Quit worrying, instead of saying "what if" say "what would I do if" so you can see there are possible actions to be taken under the circumstances you are worrying about and don’t loop yourself into a loop of worry.
4- Mentally visualize the information
SEE things (Sense, Exaggerate, Energize) in your brain. Your brain is capable of creating visions, which will be easier to remember than letters read. Sense the vision you create, feel it, see it. Exaggerate it, create a giant orange instead of a normal sized one. And energize it, make that orange run. What you imagine doesn’t have to be realistic.
5- Memories to locations, real or imagined
In chapters 6,7 and 10 Kevin talks about the use environments in your long term memory to remember things. We will go more in depth about this “Car Method” in chapter 6, which was my favorite chapter due to it being the earliest that surprised me with its effectiveness. I will give you the example that he has given in the book too and you will realize in a few days that you actually do have a good memory when you try to have it.
These were the key principles and my favorite points of memory in this book which teach you how to improve your memory. He also goes in depth on how to remember names and how to remember numbers using the core principles mentioned above.
6- Practice
Memory experts agree that practice is crucial for retaining information. But the how and how often you should review are just as important. Here's Kevin Horsley's take on the subject.
If you repeat it after ten minutes of learning the information it will remain in your memory for at least an hour. The first review should always be done backwards. Reviewing images backwards helps you to remember them more effectively.
Later on in this post you will see the "Car Method", in which we will have a direction that we follow. Here he says the first review should be done backwards. So instead of recalling the information in the order you created the imagery, try recalling it backwards.
If you learn concepts in reverse you create a new impression in your mind and this makes information more outstanding. It just seems to make the memory so much stronger. Once you have done this, you review at longer and longer intervals: review after 1 hour then 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, 21 days, 28 days, 2 months, 3 months and then it should be in your memory forever.
Really simple! Hey, again, just a reminder: This advice is coming from someone who memorized 10,000 digits of Pi, try the first 100 yourself now if you wish. If you've forgotten, Pi is completely random. It does not have repeating sequences as recurring numbers do unlike what some people think.
What is the “Car Method” in memory improvement?
This is essentially just a way of using the steps 4 and 5 together. You find a place that is in your long term memory, and place the information throughout that location to then remember whenever it's needed. Read the example below to see how effective it is in practice. When I first read it I was surprised how well it worked.
‘See your car in your mind and imagine you squeeze a big apple into the front grid of your car. Take a carrot and stab it into the bonnet. On the windscreen see grainy bread, and think to yourself, “The grainy bread is going to damage my windscreen wipers.” Get inside your car and squash dried fruit on the dashboard, really see it go into your speedometer. On the driver’s seat imagine you are sitting on blueberries and strawberries – really feel it. Throw eggs at the person sitting in the passenger seat next to you, they now have egg on their face. Imagine you are pouring thousands of nuts and seeds onto your back seat. Go outside your car and imagine a massive orange on your roof. You open the trunk and it is full of fish – really smell the fish. In the exhaust pipe there is broccoli and Brussels sprouts growing out of the exhaust, and finally the tires of your car are made out of sweet potatoes. Sweet!’ Go through your car, from the beginning to the end, and see if you can remember all the information. If a word didn’t stick, go back, make the connection stronger and SEE it more clearly in your mind.'
Remember “SEE” in step 4: Sense, Exaggerate, Energize.
Not only do you know the list forwards but you also know it backwards and inside and out. What is on the roof? What are the car tires made of? What was on the driver’s seat? What was on the bonnet of the car? Your mind automatically makes the connection and answers the question for recall. Now that you really know it, it is easier to use and think about.
You've just learned about fourteen superfoods that is believed to boost vitality and mental agility. Congratulations!
Keep in mind, the environment here does not have to be a car. It can be any place that is in your long term memory. Maybe you want to use your house instead. Or your middle school building. Even a grocery store you are familiar with. Maybe you prefer some other place that you will create yourself from scratch. Imagine a room or a building where it will be your personal "data center", and place whatever it's you want to memorize in its rooms, tables, chairs or boards you put in there.
Since I've first read this, I still remember the foods. Although I realized while writing this that I do forget the fish and sometimes when I am imagining the car I forget about the person in the passenger seat so the eggs also disappear.
You can fix these by imagining someone you really dislike in the passenger seat, add more emotions and focus more on the senses by maybe feeling a stronger smell and focusing on how you feel the egg in your hand before you throw it, and then throwing the egg at their face, I think it will help significantly.
The end
I hope you enjoyed reading this post, I also hope that you will remember to apply the methods you have learned from this post and from the book in real life.
If you liked the contents of this book and would like to go more in depth, you can purchase it on Amazon. By purchasing using the link below you also help me provide better content since as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Thank you for reading this post, if you know any other people who would benefit from the information shared in this post or this book please don't hesitate to share!
Now go out there and put these principles into action! See you later.
