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Power Memory (Part 25)

Use the Systems

A violin virtuoso living in" America truly believed that he could
play so well that he could actually charm a savage beast. De-
spite the warnings and pleas of his friends, he decided he would
go to darkest Africa, unarmed, with only his violin.
He stood in a clearing in the dense jungle and began to play.
An elephant received his scent, and came charging towards him;
but, when he came within hearing distance, he sat down to
listen to the beautiful music.
A panther sprang from a tree with fangs bared, but also
succumbed to the music. Soon a lion appeared to join the
others. Before long, many wild animals were seated near the
virtuoso; he played on, unharmed.
Just then a leopard leaped from a nearby tree, onto the
violinist, and devoured him! As he stood licking his chops, the
other animals approached, and asked, "Why did you do that?
The man was playing such lovely music!"
The leopard, cupping his ear, said, "Eh, what did you say?"
So you see, no matter how beautiful music is, unfortunately,
if you can't hear it, it doesn't mean a thing. Similarly, no
matter how useful and helpful the systems in this book
are, they won't do you a bit of good if you don't use them.
I do hope that most of you have given some time and
thought to them. If you have, you should be pleased with
the progress you've made. The flexibility of the systems, I
believe, is their greatest asset. I, personally, have yet to
come across anything, pertaining to memory, to which the
systems were not applicable.
Take the time necessary to learn how to make conscious
associations and once you've mastered it, it will take care of
itself. Every once in awhile you may come across some
piece of information that you want to remember, that is
made to order for an association. If you wanted to remem-
ber that a certain item sold for $17.76, you could, of course,
use peg words as you've been taught. However, you have
all heard of the "Spirit of '76." That phrase will create a
picture for most of us of the famous portrayal of the
"Spirit of "76"; a man with a drum, a man with a fife, and
the third holding our flag. If you were to associate the item
in question, with this picture, you would recall that $17.76
was the price.
The Japanese volcano, Fujiyama, is 12,365 feet high.
Again, you could use peg words to remember this, or you
could associate Fujiyama to "calendar." The reason for
"calendar" is that the number of feet is the amount of
months in a year (12), and the amount of days in a year
(365). You would associate calendar either to volcano, or
a substitute word for Fujiyama.
I'm not suggesting that you do this with all numbers; the
Peg system is the only infallible one. However, looking for
numbers that fall into this category, is good for your imag-
ination and observation, and it helps create an interest in
numbers.
In an early chapter I told you that you could remember
the names of the Dionne quintuplets by remembering the
word "macey." Now you know that in order to remem-
ber the word, you would have to associate the quints to
"macey." You might "see" Macy's Department Store com-
pletely packed with quints, etc. If you want to know the
names of the four living quints, drop the odd e, for Emilie,
and you'll remember, Marie, Annette, Cecile and Yvonne.
This idea would aid you in recalling the names of the
five Great Lakes. If you made a picture in your mind of a
lot of "homes" on a great lake, you would always remember
that the Lakes are Lake Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie
and Superior!
If you've learned to make up substitute words quickly
and easily, this will become your greatest move towards a
better memory. Actually, I should say substitute thoughts
or pictures; you know by now that it is the picture created
in your mind that's important, not the word itself.
Did you know that the capital of New Mexico is Santa
Fe? Well, make a picture of Santa. Claus wearing a Mexican
sombrero, and you'll probably never forget it. If you "see"
yourself throwing little rocks at an ark, you'll have no
trouble recalling that Little Rock is the capital city of
Arkansas. Do you know a girl whose name is Helen or
Helena? Picture her climbing a mountain, to help you
remember that Helena is the capital of Montana. If you
picture boys eating raw potatoes, you'll remember that
Boise is the capital of Idaho (Idaho potatoes). Of course,
you could picture Ida hoeing boys, and get the same result.
You can easily memorize the capitals of all the forty-eight
states with this idea.
You understand, I'm sure, that it would have been impos-
sible for me to give direct examples of how my systems are
applicable to all businesses. Be assured that they are applica-
ble to just about anything where memory is involved. Your
own particular problem may require a certain twist or change
of one of the systems, but you would know that better
than I.
Nowadays, most of us are diet conscious, and I've
noticed people carrying around little calorie counters to
tell them what not to eat. Well, this is fine, but you could
use the Peg system to help you memorize the amount of
calories contained in the foods you usually eat. If you
made a ridiculous picture between a fried egg and "disease,"
you'd know that a fried egg contained 100 calories. Did you
know that one tablespoon of mayonnaise contained 92
calories? Well, if you associate it to "bone," you won't
forget it. If you keep gaining weight, and you drink lots
of bock beer, you ought to associate "tackle" to the beer,
and you'll remember that an 8 ounce glass contains 175
calories.
If any of you still feel that it is too much trouble to use
my methods, let me repeat that I call this the "lazy man's"
way of remembering. It is the so-called "natural" or rote
method of memory that is difficult. Not only is it difficult,
but not as efficient, not as retentive, not as rewarding, and
not as much fun. Most important, my methods are unlim-
ited. At the risk of seeming repetitious--"you are limited
only by your own imagination."
I just used the word "repetitious," which reminded me
to mention the fact that many students have trouble remem-
bering that this word is spelled with an e, not an i. If you
would print the word on a piece of paper, making that e
extra large, make it stand out (repEtitious) and look at it
for awhile, you won't misspell it again. If you want to
catch your friends, ask them to spell the word, "liquefy." I
think nine out of ten people will put an i before the f,
instead of an e. Print the word like this:--liqu E fy; look
at it and concentrate on it for a moment, and the chances
are you'll spell it correctly from here on in. Try this with
any word that you are not sure of, and you'll certainly
improve your spelling.
Many of the ideas that were taught to you, were taught
as memory feats. I've done this for a variety of reasons.
First, I believe that it makes it much easier to learn,
because you can actually see your goal. I've seen too many
people start to try to learn something, and then give it up
midway because they couldn't see the use or benefit of it
right in front of their eyes. Seeing the goal gives you an
added incentive to learn. The fact that you can use the
feats to entertain your friends, is an extra added incentive.
When you can do or understand the stunts, you've
grasped the idea, and that's all I care about. Once you've
got the idea, you will be able to apply it when you need
it. This is where you must put your imagination to work.
Any memory problem that may present itself, can be solved
by using one or more of the methods and systems; whether
they were taught to you in the form of a memory demon-
stration or otherwise.
My purpose in writing this book has been to give you the
basis and groundwork of a trained memory. The systems
are more far reaching and more applicable than the space
allowed me could possibly show. I do hope, however, that
I have given you an inkling of what can be done with my
systems. The rest is up to you!

END

Power Memory (Part 24)

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 teach-
ing, 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.
Most of the people in show business are aware of the
fact that it's not what you do that makes you a good enter-
tainer, but the way that you do it. The specialties that
performers do, are simply means to an end. Whether you
tell jokes, dance, sing, do memory feats, acrobatics or bird
imitations is unimportant, as long as you entertain your
audience.
Although my main reason for teaching you the memory
stunts is that the ideas used in them can be applied for
practical purposes in many ways--I also feel that the best
way to learn the systems, is to give you an incentive by
giving you something with which to showoff for your friends.
So, if you want to use the stunts to entertain at your lodge
meeting or church affairs, feel free to do so. However, be
sure that you know them well enough so that you do credit
to yourself and my system.
There are unscrupulous characters in show business as
well as in other fields, who would do anything they feel
will further their careers. There is one "culprit" who steals
a new act every year or so. Last year, he did me the "honor"
of stealing my entire act, leaving out only the difficult
demonstrations.
People who "steal" material are common in show busi-
ness, but to take someone's entire act is almost unheard
of. However, this fellow did it, but what annoys me, is not
so much that he is doing my act, but that he does not do
it well. This is to be expected because if he was a good
entertainer, he would never have to resort to using an act
or idea that someone else has already built up.
No, I don't mind creating competition for myself by
exposing these memory feats--as long as the competition
is good. As a matter of fact, the rest of this chapter consists
of stunts that I have used, and some that I still use occa-
sionally.
One of the stunts you can use, is remembering objects
and initials. First have your friends call any object and any
Memory Demonstrations 207
two initials. Do this with as many as you feel you can han-
dle. Then you have the audience call any object and you give
them the initials, or vice versa.
This stunt is not only impressive, but easy to do. Just
make up a word that starts with the first initial and ends
with the last, and associate that word to the object called.
For example:-- If the initials are R. T., and the object
is "chandelier," you might associate rat to chandelier. The
initials B. D. and bottle--associate bed to bottle. The
initials P. S. and fan--associate puss to fan, etc.
Here is another example of how the systems can be
twisted and manipulated--you can do the "missing card"
stunt with numbers if you want to. Have someone number
a sheet of paper from 1 to 52, or up to any number you
like. Have them call numbers haphazardly and cross out
the numbers as they call them. They can stop calling them
any time they like, and you can tell them which numbers
are not crossed out!
Do exactly as you do for the "missing cards." Just
mutilate the peg words which represent the numbers called.
Then go over your words mentally from "tie" to the peg
word of the last number listed on the paper. When you
come to one that is not mutilated, that is one of the "miss-
ing" numbers.
One very impressive card demonstration is the "hidden
card" feat. This is most effective when you are working for
a group of at least fifty-two people. (For less people, use
less cards.) Hand the deck to the audience and let everyone
take one card. Now, have each person call the name of his
card and also give you a hiding place for it.
What you do, is associate the card word for the card
called to the hiding place. If someone called the Jack of
Spades hidden in a typewriter, you would perhaps, see
yourself shoveling typewriters (with a spade}.

After all the cards have been "hidden," you can hear the
name of a card and immediately give the hiding place. Or,
you are given the hiding place, and you name the card
hidden there!
Do you want to impress your friends with your ability
to remember numbers? Well, if you've learned another
peg list up to 16 or 20, as I've taught you, you can do
this:--
Have your challenger number a piece of paper from 1 to
16 or 20. Then have him call any of these numbers and
write a two digit number alongside. When all the numbers
have been called, you can go from one to the end telling
him the two digit numbers--or, have him call any two
digit number and you tell him what number it is at, or
vice versa.
Just use your other list to remember the sequence, and
use your basic pegs for the two digit numbers, i.e., #3 is
called, and the two digit number to remember is 34. Well,
if you're using the alphabet list, you would associate "sea"
(3) to "mower" (34). The #14 is called and the number
to remember is 89--associate "hen" (14) to "fob" (89).
If you feel confident, you can have your friends call an
object and a two digit number for each number listed. You
can memorize both, by making one ridiculous picture for
all three. The number called could be #9, the object is a
toaster, and the two digit number is 24. Any combination
of associations is possible here; you could see Nero (24)
popping out of a toaster, playing on an eye (9) instead of
a fiddle! I have been using the alphabet list idea in these
examples. Of course, you could use the other idea wherein
the pegs look like the numbers they represent. In that case,
9 would be "tape measure," 3 would be "clover," 14 would
be "farm," etc.
Any one of the systems in this book can be used for a
stunt of some sort, just as the ideas for all the stunts can
be used for practical purposes in some way. If you want to
apply substitute words to a stunt, you can memorize names
and playing cards, names and objects, and so on. You can
utilize the system for remembering long digit numbers, by
having people call their names and the serial number on a
dollar bill, or their social security number. Then you should
be able to give the number when you hear the name, and
give the name if you hear the number. To do this you
simply make up a substitute word for the name, if necessary;
associate that to the peg word for the first two digits of
the number, and make a link to the end of the number.
Although the following is not actually a stunt, the idea
grew from the initial and object feat that I mentioned
earlier. The Morse code is a very difficult thing to remem-
ber because it is almost completely abstract and intangible.
The dots and dashes are meaningless and cannot be pic-
tured.
I don't suppose that too many of you will ever find it
necessary to have to remember the Morse code. However,
I do want you to see that there is no limit to what you
can do with conscious associations, and the knowledge that
anything meaningless is easy to remember if it is made
meaningful. Your only limitation is your own imagination.
Since dots and dashes have no meaning, I decided to give
them meaning by making the letter R stand for dot, and
the letter T, or D represent the dash. With this in mind, you
can make up a word or phrase for each letter, which can
be pictured and that will tell you the code signal for that
letter. Look at this list:--
A . -
rat E
.
air
B -- . . . terror
F . . -- . rear tire
C _ . - .
torture G ----- .
tighter
D -- . .
tearer
H . . . .
rarer rye
210
Memory Demonstrations
I
rower
J
ratted
K _
trout
L
retire her
M
toad
N
tier
O
touted
P
rotator
Q __ tethered
R
writer
S
roarer
T
toe
U
rarity
V
re-arrest
W
retied
X
turret
Y
treated
Z
teeterer
All that remains to be done, is to associate the word to
the letter itself, so that one will remind you of the other.
You could use the peg words that sound like the letters--
associate ape to rat, bean to terror, sea to torture, dean to
tearer, eel to air, effort to rear tire, and so on to zebra to
teeterer.
Or, you could use the adjective idea by associating an
adjective that begins with the proper letter, to the word--
awful rat, big terror, crazy torture, dreamy tearer, excellent
air, flat rear tire, and so on to zigzag teeterer. If you know
the position of all the letters, then you could just use
your regular peg words, by associating them to the signal
word.
The way you associate them is up to you. The idea is
that now the dots and dashes are no longer unintelligible.
It shouldn't take you more than half an hour to memorize
the Morse code with this system. Of course, this doesn't
mean that you will be a telegrapher. Speed in sending code
comes only with lots of practice and experience, but the
system does make it easier at the beginning, when you have
to memorize the signals.
So, you see how the systems can be twisted and manipu-
lated to help you with most any memory problem. I've tried
to teach you many stunts in this chapter and throughout
the book, and I'm sure you'll be able to think of many more.
. . . And then there was this theatrical agent who was
watching an act with a friend. The act was on a high wire,
hundreds of feet above the ground. There was no net to
catch him if he fell.
He balanced a golf ball on the wire, and balanced a
chair, upside down, on the golf ball. He then proceeded to
stand on his head on one of the upturned chair legs. In this
precarious position, he began to play a violin with his feet!
The theatrical agent turned to his associate, and sneered,
"Aah, a Jascha Heifetz he'll never be!"

Power Memory (Part 23)

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 de-
serves to have to buy two presents.
Seriously though, the Peg system can be applied to re-
membering not only important anniversaries, but also im-
portant 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 3rd. If you
associate Mr. Gordon, or the word, "garden" to "ram," you
would remember it. "Ram" represents 43, and Mr. Gor-
don's birthday falls in the 4th month, on the 3rd day!
Of course every date will not be able to be transposed
into a basic peg word. You can do that only with those that
fall within the first nine months, and for the first nine days
of those months. All other dates will be a three digit num-
199
200 Anniversaries, Birthdays and Other Important Dates
ber, so a different idea must be used. I could tell you to
make up a word which would represent the three digit num-
ber, and I will tell you to do that in most cases. But, if done
all the time, it may confuse you.
If the word in your association was "tighten" (112), how
would you know whether it meant the first month, 12th
day, or the nth month, 2nd day? You wouldn't, and your
birthday card would be a bit late if you sent it on Novem-
ber 2nd to someone whose birthday is January 12th. It
would be late, or about two months too early.
So, you must have a definite distinction to avoid this. I
would suggest that the easiest way to do it is to use one
word for the three digits, only for the first nine months.
For October, November and December, use two words,
your peg word to represent the month, and another word to
represent the day. If you feel that you wouldn't know
which word came first, then always use a word that is not
a basic peg word for your day. That way you'll know that
the regular peg always represents the month.
Actually this isn't necessary if you're going to use one
word to represent the month and day for the first nine
months. If you do, you will know that wherever you have
two words in your association, the one that denotes two
digits must represent the month, and the other, the day.
If you have two words in your association, both of which
denote two digits, then naturally the one over twelve would
have to stand for the day. Only in the few cases where the
day is either the 10th, 11th or 12th in the 10th, 11th or
12th month will you have to use the ideas suggested in the
chapter on telephone numbers. You would have to use a
"logical illogical" picture to know which word comes first,
or, always use the basic peg word for the month, and make
up a word that fits phonetically, but is not a regular peg
word, for the day.

If, as in school work, it is necessary for you to remember
the year as well as the month and day--simply get a word
to represent the year into your association. For instance, al-
though everybody knows the date of the signing of the
Declaration of Independence, I can use that as an example.
If you associated the Declaration, or a substitute word, to
"car cash," you would know that it was signed on July 4th
(7-4--car) in the year 1776 (76--cash). It is almost never
necessary to bother with the first two digits of the year, be-
cause you would usually know the century in which an
event occurred. If not, get a word for those digits into your
picture, too.
School students usually have to remember only the year
of an historical event. This is a cinch, because all you need
in your association, besides the event itself, is one word to
represent the year. Napoleon was crowned emperor in the
year 1804. If you made a ridiculous picture of Napoleon
being crowned, and the crown hurting his head, or making
it sore (04), you would remember it.
The Chicago fire was in 1871; just associate fire to "cot"
(71). If you made a ridiculous picture of a giant ocean
liner sinking because it is made of "tin," you would remem-
ber that the Titanic went down in 1912.
Sometimes it is necessary to remember the year of birth
and the year of the death of important people. Just as an
example, if you made an association of a stevedore dressed
as a lass, fighting a bear--you would recall that Robert
Louis Stevenson (stevedore) was born in 1850 (lass) and
died in 1894 (bear).
Now you won't be like the little boy, who when asked
how he was doing in school, complained that the teacher
expected him to know about things that happened before
he was born!
Talking about school work, in Geography it is often im-
portant to know the products that a country exports. So,
why not use the Link method to remember them. Also, if
you want to remember the general outline of the map of
any country or state, you can always use the idea that is
usually used to remember the shape of Italy.
Italy is shaped like a boot, which makes it easy to recall.
If you look at the map outline of any country, with a little
imagination you can make it look like something that can
be pictured. Just associate that to the name of the country,
and you'll always have a general idea of its shape.
Now, if you fellows want to be able to throw away those
little black books full of addresses, you can. Just remember
the addresses of the young ladies by using associations. The
same methods apply to this. Simply transpose all the num-
bers into sounds, the sounds into words, and associate the
words to the person living at that address. If you made a
picture in your mind of yourself flying a rope, and landing
it on a carpet (landed rope)--it would help in remember-
ing that Mr. Karpel lives at 5211 (landed) 49th Street
(rope).
The same ideas, of course, apply to style numbers and
prices. If you happen to work in the clothing line, and wish
to remember the style numbers of, say, dresses--associate
the number to an outstanding feature of the dress. If style
#351 is a dress with a back panel, you might "see" that
panel melting; melt--351. The dress with puffed sleeves
is style #3140; associate "mattress" to the puffed sleeves,
etc.
The prices of the dresses can be included in the same
association. I'm giving you only one or two examples for
each idea, because it is always best for you to use your own
imagination. It is entirely up to you as to which method
you will use for remembering dates and how you will asso-
ciate style numbers and prices, etc. The ideas, however,
can be applied in any business.
Prices can be memorized just as anything else that has
to do with numbers. Just associate the price to the item. To
avoid confusion, you might decide to always use the basic
peg words for dollars, and any other word that fits phonet-
ically, for cents. The same methods have to be used here,
as for telephone numbers and dates. You can use one word
to represent three or four digits because you'll usually know
if an item is priced in the hundreds of dollars, or not.
If you had associated "maple" with book, you'd know
that the price of the book is probably $3.95, and not
Anniversaries, Birthdays and Other Important Dates 203
204 Anniversaries, Birthdays and Other Important Dates
$395.00. On the other hand, if you had associated "maple"
to television set, it would be $395.00, not $3.95, or I would
buy a couple of dozen.
Well, there you are. After this you should never forget
any dates, prices, style numbers, addresses, and so on. I
must repeat that it might seem easier, at first, to write
down this type of information, but after awhile you will
be able to associate faster than you can write.
Most important, don't worry about cluttering your mind
with all these associations. Again, I want to remind you that
once you have memorized the information through associa-
tions--and you use this particular information; well, you've
etched it into your mind. The associations have served their
purpose and you can forget about them.
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 teach-
ing, 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.

Power Memory (Part 22)

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 chapter,
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 it necessary to keep nu-
merous appointments during the week at certain times of
day, you'll be interested in this chapter. The system con-
tained 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 appoint-
ments 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 under-
stand and use it, there's nothing to it.
The first thing you must do, is to give a number to each
day of the week. Since there are seven days in the week,
you'll number them from 1 to 7. According to our calendar,
Sunday is the first day of the week; but I have found that
many people refer to Monday as the first day. This, I imag-
ine, is because of our work-a-day world, and the first day
of work is Monday. I will therefore use Monday as the first
day in the following explanation. If you are accustomed to
considering Sunday as the first day of the week, just change
the explanation as you read. From now on remember the
days of the week in this manner:--
Monday--1 Thursday--4
Tuesday--2 Friday--5
Wednesday--3
Saturday--6
Sunday--7
Once you know the number of each day of the week, you
can transpose any day at any hour to one of your peg words.
That's right, you will use the peg words which you already
know, to help you remember schedules and appointments.
Each day at every hour will be represented by a peg word,
and you don't have to remember anything to know the
words; it works itself.
Any day at any particular hour can be transposed into a
two digit number in this way:-- The number of the day will
be the first digit, and the hour itself will be the second
digit. For example, if you wanted to remember an appoint-
ment for Wednesday at 4:00 o'clock--Wednesday is the
third day, so # 3 is the first digit. The appointment is for
4:00 o'clock, so #4 is the second digit. You now have a two
digit number--# 34, and the peg word for # 34 is "mower."
Therefore, "mower" must represent Wednesday at 4:00
o'clock!
Appointments and Schedules 191
Monday at 2:00 o'clock would be "tin." Monday is the
first day, and the time is 2:00 o'clock. In the same way, you
would arrive at the following:--
Thursday at 1:00 o'clock--rod (41)
Friday at 8:00 o'clock--lava (58)
Sunday at 6:00 o'clock--cage (76)
Tuesday at 9:00 o'clock--knob (29)
Simple, isn't it? Of course, if you can transpose the day
and hour to a peg word, it is just as easy to transpose a peg
word to the day and hour. "Notch," for example, is your
peg word for #26; so it must represent Tuesday (2) at 6:00
o'clock.
There are two hours that cannot be represented by a peg
word. That is because they themselves are composed of two
digits. I mean, of course, 11:00 and 12:00 o'clock. Ten
o'clock can be transposed to a regular peg word, because it
is thought of as zero only, instead of one and zero. In other
words, Saturday at 10:00 o'clock would be transposed to
#60 (cheese), because Saturday is the sixth day and 10:00
o'clock is zero. "Rose" (40) would represent Thursday at
10:00 o'clock; Monday at 10:00 o'clock is "toes," and so on.
I'll give you two methods for handling eleven and twelve
o'clock, both of which have been tried and tested. The first
method is the obvious one (although not the better one)
because it follows the same system as the other hours.
Transpose any day at eleven or twelve o'clock to a three
digit number by adding the 11 or 12 onto the number of
the day. I.E.--Tuesday at 11:00 o'clock--211; Thursday
at 12:00 o'clock--412; Sunday at 12:00 o'clock--712;
Wednesday at 11:00 o'clock--311, etc. Now, you would
have to make up a peg word, following the phonetic alpha-
bet, which would fit each day at eleven or twelve o'clock.
The words you select would be used all the time for those
days and hours. If you want to use this idea (don't make
up your mind until you've read the second method) I'll
give you some examples of words that can be used. You can
pick any of these, or any that you find by yourself.
Monday 11:00--dotted,
toted
12:00--tauten, tootin'
Tuesday 11:00--knotted,
knitted
12:00--Indian, noddin'
Wednesday 11:00--mated, imitate
12:00--mutton, mitten
Thursday 11:00--raided,
radiate
12:00--rotten, written
Friday 11:00--lighted,
loaded
12:00--Latin, laden
Saturday 11:00--cheated,
jaded
12:00--jitney, shut in
Sunday 11:00--coated,
cadet
12:00--kitten, cotton
The following method, I think, is the better of the two.
First of all, I transpose the day at 11:00 or 12:00 o'clock
into a two digit instead of a three digit number. I do this
by considering 11:00 o'clock as a one, and 12:00 o'clock as
a two. Now, Friday at 11:00 o'clock is thought of as 51;
Friday at 12:00 o'clock--52; Sunday at 11:00 o'clock--71;
Sunday at 12:00 o'clock--72, etc. Of course, you can't use
your regular peg words for these, since they are already be-
ing used for one and two o'clock; so use any other word,
that fits phonetically, for these numbers.
Let me give you a few examples:-- For Tuesday at 11:00
o'clock, you could use the word "nut"; later on, when you
picture your association (I'll explain the associations in a
moment) you will know that "nut" couldn't represent
Tuesday at 1:00 o'clock because you would have used your
Appointments and Schedules 193
regular peg word, "net" for that. So, "nut" must stand for
Tuesday at 11:00 o'clock.
Saturday at 12:00 o'clock could be represented by "chin."
Your regular peg word, "chain," represents Saturday at 2:00
o'clock, so you know that "chin" must mean Saturday at
12:00. Do you get it, now? Basically, it's this:-- For any day
at eleven or twelve o'clock use the same sounds that you
would use for that day at one or two o'clock, but do not
use your regular peg word. That's all there is to that!
If all your appointments are usually made for the exact
hour, on the hour, you actually need read no further about
memorizing appointments; you have all the information
you need right now. Supposing you have an appointment
to see your dentist at 9:00 o'clock on Tuesday, and you
want to be sure that you won't forget it. Well, transpose
Tuesday at 9:00 o'clock, to the peg word, "knob," and asso-
ciate that to dentist. You might picture a gigantic doorknob
as a dentist, or you could see (and feel) your dentist pulling
a knob from your mouth, instead of a tooth.
If you had to remember to make a deposit at your bank
on Monday at 2:00 o'clock--you would associate "tin" to
bank. You have to catch a plane on Friday at 11:00 o'clock
--associate "loaded" or "lad" (according to the method
you're using for 11:00 and 12:00 o'clock) to airplane.
Wednesday at 10:00 o'clock you have to visit a friend--
associate "mice" to your friend, etc.
If you usually have appointments with people whom you
do not know too well, or if you cannot picture them, use a
substitute word for their names in your associations.
That's all you have to do. If you have made an association
for all your appointments for an entire week, and you want
to remember what you have scheduled for, say, Tuesday--
simply go over the peg words for that particular day:--
Tuesday--nose, net, nun, name, Nero, nail, notch, neck,
knife, knob, knitted or knot, and Indian or neon. As soon as
you reach a peg word that has been associated, you'll know
it! You might reach "neck," and know immediately that
you've made a picture of neck, and say, hospital. This will
remind you that you have to visit a sick friend at the hos-
pital at 7:00 o'clock on Tuesday! That's all! Again, you
need only try it to be convinced that it works.
As far as I personally am concerned, this is all I use to
remember my weekly schedule. Some of my appointments
may be arranged for the hour exactly, and others for say,
3:15, 3:30 or 3:45, but I find that it doesn't matter. If I
associate the day of the appointment at 3:00 o'clock, on
the hour, true memory tells me that the date is for fifteen,
thirty or forty-five minutes past the hour. However, there
may be some of you who must remember the exact time, to
the minute, for some appointments, such as catching trains,
etc. In order to do this, you must add only one word to
your mental picture. You would actually be remembering
a four digit instead of a two digit number.
The second pair of digits will represent minutes, while
the first two digits represent the day and the hour. For
example, if your appointment with the dentist was on Tues-
day at 9:42 o'clock--transpose the day and hour to "knob"
(29), and get "rain" into the association to represent 42.
You realize, of course, that in this case you are faced with
the same problem as you were when learning to memorize
the four trunk line digits of a telephone number.
In the above example, how will you be sure that your
dental appointment is for Tuesday at 9:42, and not for
Thursday at 2:29? This could happen if you weren't sure
as to which peg word belongs first, and which belongs last.
Well, the problem is solved in the same manner as it was
solved for telephone numbers. The best solution is to make
Appointments and Schedules 195
a "logical illogical" association, so that, even though it is a
ridiculous picture, one peg must logically follow another.
If you made a picture of your dentist pulling a "knob"
from your mouth, instead of a tooth, and doing it in the
pouring "rain," you would know that knob came first, fol-
lowed by rain. Any of the other suggestions that I gave you
for telephone numbers will apply for appointments, too. If
you used the Link for your picture--you would associate
dentist to knob, and then knob to rain. The idea of using a
word other than the regular peg word, for the last two digits
(in this case, the digits representing the minutes) is just as
applicable here. That would help for any day at any time,
except 11:00 or 12:00 o'clock, where it wouldn't be neces-
sary, since you are not using a regular peg for the day and
time, anyway.
You are the best judge as to just which ideas to use. I
would suggest trying them all; the one that comes easiest to
you, of course, is the right one for you. Although, as I told
you, I don't think it necessary to bother with the minutes
of an appointment--If I did want to remember the min-
utes, I would do it this way:-- On Monday at 3:25 I must
remember to pick up a television set--I would picture a
television set acting as a "tomb" stone, while "nails" per-
form on the screen.
You see, I use the logical illogical picture idea. The asso-
ciation above will leave no doubt that "tomb" (Monday at
3:00 o'clock) comes first, followed by "nail" (25 minutes).
One other example:-- On Wednesday at 12:10, I have a
date to go swimming--I would make a picture of myself
swimming; I hit a "mine" which injures my "toes." Now,
when I go over my pegs for Wednesday of that week: mice,
mat, moon, mummy, mower, mule, match, mug, movie,
map, mitt and mine (I always use "mitt" to represent
Wednesday at 11:00, and "mine" for Wednesday at 12:00),
I will be reminded of this ridiculous picture. I know that
"mine" is not one of my regular pegs, so it must represent
12:00, not 2:00 o'clock. "Toes" (10), being the last part of
the association, represents the minutes; so I know that my
swimming date is for Wednesday at 12:10.
These are the ideas that I use; but again let me stress
that what is best for me, is not necessarily best for you. This
must be left to your own discretion; which I'm sure you
will use, once you understand the basic principles involved.
You might be wondering about one little thing at this
point, and that is, "How do I differentiate between say,
7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.?" Well, that is a good theoretical
question, but if you stop to think for a moment, you will
realize that there can hardly be any conflict, if you use this
system for practical purposes. The appointments that you
make for the evening are usually so vastly different than
those made for the morning, that they couldn't possibly be-
come confused. You will certainly know, for example,
Appointments and Schedules 197
whether you usually see your dentist in the morning or in
the evening. You also would know that your dinner date is
for 7:00 p.m. and not 7:00 a.m. And, if you had an appoint-
ment to meet a friend for lunch in front of the Public Li-
brary, and got there at 1:00 a.m., you'd be awfully hungry
by the time you had lunch.
So you see, there's really no problem there. Of course, if
you had to, you could put a word into your ridiculous asso-
ciation to tell you whether it was a.m. or p.m. You could use
"aim" for a.m. and "poem" for p.m., or any other words
that use those letters. You might even use white and black;
get black into your mental picture to stand for p.m., and
white for a.m. But, believe me, all this is hardly necessary;
I only mention it to show that you can remember anything
with the use of a conscious association.
Now you can discard your note and memo pads, if you
USE the systems explained in this chapter. Remember,
only if you use it, will it help you. Here are the bare bones
of the system:--
When you make an appointment, transpose the day and
hour (and/or minutes) to peg words.
Associate the appointment itself to these peg words.
When you arise on the morning of each day (or, if you
like, the evening before) go over all your pegs for that day.
When you come to a peg that has been used in an asso-
ciation, you'll know it--this will remind you of what you
have to do at that particular hour.
As the day goes on, you might make it a habit to check
your peg words for the day, periodically. This is in case one
appointment has slipped your mind, even though you were
reminded of it in the morning.
In the next chapter, I will show you how to remember
important dates throughout the year, such as, anniversaries,
birthdays, etc., but for the time being, you should never
forget any weekly appointments, if you follow these rules.
The information you've been taught here can be prac-
ticed, or used as a memory stunt in the following man-
ner:--
Have a friend call out certain errands for different hours
of different days of the week. They needn't be called in
order, since appointments are never made in any particular
order, anyway. Have him write these down as he calls them
off to you. After he has called about twenty of them, simply
go over your peg words for Monday (toes, tot, tin, tomb,
etc.) and call back all the Monday appointments. Do the
same for each day of the entire week. Or, he can give you
the time of day, and the day, and you give him the errand,
and so on.
Then give your friend a half hour to remember the same
list. The odds are he will fail miserably!

Power Memory (Part 21)

Amaze Your Friends

A 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, yon 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 him-
self by remembering numbers. He goes to lunch with a few
business acquaintances each day, and he invariably asks
them to give him any four or five digit number to memo-
rize. He usually has anywhere from three 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 re-
call the numbers, and, of course, he does.
I don't mention this because it's a big deal particularly,
but it is a good conversation starter, and it has accom-
plished a purpose for my friend. He tells me that everyone
in his trade is talking about him and his remarkable mem-
ory. I do mention it, however, to show you how people are
impressed with any sort of memory feat; only because they
feel that they could never accomplish it themselves. If folks
are so amazed when a man remembers a half dozen four or
five digit numbers, you can imagine the fantastic effect
upon them, after you've mastered the stunt contained in
these pages.
How would you like to be able to memorize this list of
numbers:
That's right! You can memorize this list of four hun-
dred digits, easily!! Not only will you know them in order,
but also out of sequence! The idea is to give anyone a copy
of this list, and have them test you on it. They may ask
you to give the numbers across for letter G, or the numbers
down, for column 4. They can ask for E7, and you will
immediately give them the number 6720. In other words,
you prove to them that you have thoroughly memorized the
list; and so you have!
My good friend and memory expert, Bernard Zufall, was
the first one that I know of, to use this type of stunt. He has
Amaze Your Friends 183
been using it for many years with three digit numbers in-
stead of the four digit numbers that appear here. He, of
course, utilized his own methods to memorize the list. I
will teach you here, the method that I use:--

You must realize by now that it would be almost impos-
sible to accomplish this without the aid of the phonetic
alphabet. Certainly, it would be definitely impossible to
memorize and retain the numbers without it. As a matter
of fact, this feat is so unbelievable to the uninitiated, that
you will find some people examining the list to find some
mathematical solution. Let them; since this is not based on
mathematics at all, they'll be more impressed and confused
than ever.

None of the four digit numbers in the list is repeated at
any time, each one is used only once. The numbers have
not been chosen at random, I've picked each one because
it fits into the system. And, here is the system:-- If some-
one were to call E7--here is the way my mind would work.
My Key word for E7 must begin with the letter E, and
it must have one other consonant sound at the end. That
sound (in this particular case) must be the sound that
represents #7, which is the k or hard g sound. My Key
word for E7 is "egg." Eggs come from chickens--and the
phonetic alphabet tells me that "chickens" stands for 6720.
If you'll check the list, you will see that 6720 is the correct
number!

If B5 were called, I would know that the Key word must
begin with the letter B, and the ending consonant sound
must be the 1 sound for #5. The Key word for B5 is "bell."
A bell rings. Rings--4270! Can you see the simplicity of it?
Don't get me wrong--it will take you a bit of time and
study to master all the numbers, but the system is easy.
Again, may I mention that this is not only a fantastic mem-
ory stunt, but a wonderful thinking and memory exercise.

Each time you master one of the stunts in this book,
whether you care to present them or not, you are improving
your memory, exercising that muscle and sharpening your
wits.
Well then, you know that each time a letter and number
are called, you must transpose it into a Key word. It doesn't
matter if the number is called first, the system is the same.
The letter is always at the beginning and the consonant
sound that represents the number is at the end of the word.
This Key word is correlated to, or associated with another
word; and this word gives you the four digit number, ac-
cording to the phonetic alphabet. If someone were to call,
"8C," you would know that the Key word starts with C and
ends with the f or v sound. The Key word is "cuff." Cuff is
correlated to trouser. Trouser--1404!
The entire list for the one hundred four digit numbers
follows here. After you have looked them over, I'll explain
some more about the presentation of the feat.

A1 -- ate-burped
A2 -- awn-sunshade
A3 -- aim-rifles
A4 -- air-vents
A5 -- ale-drink
A6 -- ash-cinder
A7 -- ache-limps
A8 -- Ave. -street
A9 -- ape-growls
A10 -- ace-clubs

B1-- bat-and ball
B2 -- bean-shooters
B3 -- bum-loafing
B4 -- boar-wild pig
B5 -- bell-rings
B6 -- - badge-breast
B7 -- bag oranges
B8 -- buff-luster
B9 -- baby-dimple
B10 -- bass-fiddles

C1 -- cat-felines
C2 -- can-crushed
C3 -- comb-baldhead
C4 -- car-cadillac
C5 -- -coal-burns
C6 -- cash-real money
C7 -- coke-tables
C8 -- cuff-trouser
C9 -- cap-covered
C10 -- case-crates

D1 -- dot-and dash
D2 -- den-wild lion
D3 -- dam -breaks
D4 -- deer-antler
D5 -- dill-pickles
D6 -- dish-cracked
D7 -- dog-canines
D8 -- dove-white bird

E1 -- eddy-whirlpool
E2 -- en-alphabet
E3 -- em-emperor
E4 -- err-is divine
E5 -- eel-slippery
E6 -- edge-border
E7 -- egg-chickens
E8 -- eve-evening

F1 -- fat-stomach
F2 -- fun-laughter
F3 -- foam-bubbles
F4 -- fur-bearing
F5 -- foil-tinfoil
F6 -- fish-angler
F7 -- fake-magician
F8 -- five-dollars

Amaze Your Friends 185

D9 -- dope-stupid
D10 -- dose-medicine

E9 -- ebb-falling
E10 -- ess-curves

F9 -- fib-fibbing
F10 -- fuse-blend

G1 -- gat-pistol
G2 -- gown-material
G3 -- game-football
G4 -- grow-flowers
G5 -- gall-bladder
G6 -- gush-geysers
G7 -- gag-comedian
G8 -- gave-donated
G9 -- gap-opening
G10 -- gas-tanks

H1 -- hat-bands
H2 -- hen-crowing
H3 -- ham-sandwich
H4 -- hare-rabbits
H5 -- hill-climbed
H6 -- hash-corned
H7 -- hack-driver
H8 -- have-ownership
H9 -- hop-skipped
H10 -- hose-nylons

I1 -- it-article
I2 -- inn-tavern
I3 -- I'm-myself
I4 -- Ira-Gershwin
I5-- isle-Manhattan
I6 -- itch-scratch
I7 -- Ike-Capitol
I8 -- ivy-cling
I9 -- (y)ipe-scream
I10 -- ice-buckets

J1 -- jot- write down
J2 -- John-Barrymore
J3 -- jam-spread
J4 -- jar-contain
J5 -- jail-prison
J6 -- judge-condemn
J7 -- jack-lifts
J8 -- jive-dancer
J9 -- Jap.-Japanese
J10 -- juice-rinds

You'll notice that there is only one slight exception in
the system, at 19. There is no word beginning with I and
ending with the p or b sound. So I use the word, "yipe,"
which serves the purpose just as well. Also, in every possible
case, the sounds representing the four digit numbers are
contained in one word. There are only eight instances where
I found it necessary to use a phrase of two words.
I'm sure that you all can see the simple associations or
correlations with each Key word. If you go over them once
or twice, concentrating on them as you do, you should re-
member most of them. Each Key word should lead you
logically to the associated word. Coke, for C7, is short for
Coca-Cola, which is usually found on dinner tables. En, for
E2, is just the name of the letter itself, which is part of the
alphabet. I don't think that any of the others need any ex-
plaining.
You must learn all these words thoroughly before you
can present this feat for your friends. After you've learned
them, practice the transposing of the associated words or
phrases into numbers. Once you can do that quickly, you're
ready to present the feat.
You can have the list printed on a card, if you like, so
that you can hand them out to your friends. Then after
you've demonstrated your fabulous powers of retention and
recall, you can let them keep the card as a souvenir. Let
them try to memorize it, if they can!
Aside from simply allowing your spectators to call the
letter and number, you can go further. They can ask you
to call out all the numbers diagonally from, say, A1 to J10.
All you have to do, is give the numbers for A1, B2, C3, D4,
etc. They might ask for row F backwards--you just give
them F10, F0, F8, etc. If they want the four digit numbers
backwards also, you can do that too. For example, you know
the associated word for F10 (fuse) is blend--instead of
giving the number 9521, give it as 1259! F9 is fibbing--
backwards the number is 7298, and so on.
If you're asked to give row #6 backwards, simply call off,
J6, I6, H6, G6 down, or up, to A6. I know that it is difficult
for some people to work backwards with the alphabet. I
can solve that problem for you, easily. You can learn the
representative number of any letter in the alphabet by uti-
lizing the first twenty-six peg words in conjunction with a
representative adjective. This is what I mean:--

Awful tie
Brave Noah
Cute ma
Damp rye
Excellent
law

Neat tire
Old towel
Pleasing
dish
Quiet tack
Red dove

Funny shoe
Guernsey cow
Heavy ivy
Idle bee
Jagged toes
Korean tot
Loud tin
Marble tomb
Solid tub
Tough nose
Ugly net
Virtuous nun
Wonderful name
X-rayed Nero
Yellow nail
Zig-zag notch
Notice that the adjective for the peg word for #3 begins
with the third letter of the alphabet (c); the loth adjective
begins with the tenth letter J, etc. If you make a quick pic-
ture in your mind of each of these, you will know the posi-
tion, numerically, of all the letters! Of course, you can
use any adjective you like, as long as it begins with the
proper letter. If you wanted to know the position, say, of
the letter "o"--just think of the adjective that you used:
old towel. You know that "towel" is #15, therefore "o" is
the fifteenth letter of the alphabet.
You can use this idea, or, elsewhere in this book (Chapt.
#12) you will find an idea of how to use the twenty-six
letters themselves in order to have a list of twenty-six sec-
ondary peg words. You can tie these words to your basic
peg words, and you will have accomplished the same thing.
You will know the numerical positions of all the letters.
Either one of these methods will enable you to use the
letters of the alphabet to a much better advantage. Just
thinking backwards from peg word #26 to peg word #1
will make it easy for you to recite the entire alphabet back-
wards. This in itself is a good stunt, since most people
cannot recite the alphabet backwards, without quite a bit
of effort. However, the important thing is that this idea will
be of use when you're asked to give a numbered row back-
wards^ or diagonally from J10 to A1, or J1 to A10.
After doing this stunt for awhile, you will find that even-
tually you will not even think of your Key words and asso-
ciations! As soon as a letter and number is called, the four
digit number will pop into your mind.
That is the beauty of mnemonics, it is just an aid to your
true memory. It is a means to an end, and once you've
reached or acquired that end, you can forget the means!!

Power Memory (Part 20)

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 for
the pencil which is usually perched behind your ear? Are
you the type that's always screaming, "But I just had it in
my hands a moment ago!"? Do you always hide your valu-
able trinkets so well, that you yourself can't find them?
Ladies; are you constantly late for a date because you sim-
ply 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, "Yes," 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 confusing absent-
mindedness 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. You've
all heard of the absent-minded professor stories; well, be
assured that in order to be a professor you must have a good
memory to begin 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 signify that they have poor mem-
ories.
I believe that you can cure absentmindedness with just a
little effort and with the tips contained in this chapter.
However, please do not feel that you can do it by just read-
ing it. You have to make it your business to use the infor-
mation supplied here. Then, and only then, will it help
you. I assume that many people will read through a book
of this type; never try to use the information given, and
then complain that this will never help them. That, of
course, will be true, if you just read through this book with-
out attempting to apply the systems. Many adults always
claim that they are too old to learn. I believe they mean
that they are too lazy to learn--no one is too old! E. L.
Thorndike, an authority on adult education, said that "age
is no handicap to learning a new trade, profession, or any-
thing you want to do at any time of life." The italics in this
quote are mine; if you really want to learn, you can; so don't
use age as an excuse.
Actually, absentmindedncss is nothing more than inat-
tention. If you paid attention to where you put your glasses,
naturally you would know where they were when you
needed them. The American College Dictionary gives "pre-
occupied" as one of the definitions of absent-minded, and
that just about hits the nail on the head. The little things
that we do continually, like putting down things, are just
not important enough to occupy our minds--so, we become
absent-minded.
It stands to reason that if you put things away without
thinking, or mechanically, you'll forget where they are,
because you never remembered in the first place. When you
leave your house, you usually worry about whether you
locked your door or not, simply because you locked it un-
consciously, without giving it a thought.
So, I've solved your problem! To avoid absentmindedness,
think what you're doing. I know, you're thinking, "I knew
that. If I were able to think each time I put something
away, or locked a door, I wouldn't be absent-minded!"
Okay, then, why not use conscious associations to help you
remember trivial things? You can, you know, and it's easy
to do.
For example, one thing that is annoying to all of us, is
forgetting to mail letters. You either forget to take them
when you leave your house, or, if you do take them, they
remain in your pocket for days. If you want to be sure that
you take the letter with you when you leave the house, do
this:-- First decide what it is that you do or see at the very
last moment upon leaving your house. I personally see the
doorknob of my front door, because I check it to see if the
door is locked. That is the last thing I do, so I make a ridicu-
lous association between doorknob and letter. When I leave
my house the next morning, I'll check the doorknob; once
I think of doorknob, I'll recall my ridiculous association
and remember that I must take the letter!
The last thing that you do before you leave your house,
may be entirely different; you may kiss your wife or husband
good-by--well, associate that kiss with the letter. Make sure
that your associations are ridiculous and/or illogical.
Now, how can you be sure to mail the letter? One way is
to keep it in your hand until you drop it in a mail box. If
you'd rather keep it in your pocket, make an association
between the person the letter is going to, and the mail box.
You might "see" him sitting on top of a mail box, etc. If
you do not know the person well enough to picture, use a
substitute word as you've already learned. If the letter were
going to the telephone company, you would associate tele-
phone to mail box, and so on. When you see a mail box, in
the street, it will remind you to mail the letter. (After all
that, I hope you remembered to put a stamp on the enve-
lope! )
This idea can be used for all the little things you want
to remember to do. If you keep forgetting your umbrella at
the office, just associate umbrella to the last thing you do
upon leaving the office. If your wife calls and tells you to be
sure to buy some eggs on your way home--associate eggs
with, say, your front door. This will act as a final reminder.
Instead of waiting to be reminded when you're home, asso-
ciate eggs to grocery store; then when you see a grocery
store, it will remind you to go in and buy the eggs.
Of course, all these are theoretical examples: you would
know just what to associate to what, in your own particular
case.
Now we come to the real petty annoyances of absent-
mindedness; such as putting things down, and then forget-
ting where they are. Well, the method applied to this is
exactly the same. You have to make an association between
the object and its location. For instance, if the phone rings,
and as you reach for it, you put your pencil behind your
ear--make a fast mental picture between ear and pencil.
When you're through with the phone, and you think of
pencil, you will know it's behind your ear. The same thing
goes for any small item or small errand. If you're in the
habit of putting things down anyplace, get into the habit
of making an association to remind you of where it is.
One of the questions usually asked at this point is:--
"Fine, but how am I going to remember to make these as-
sociations for all these petty things?" There is only one an-
swer to this question--use some will power at first, and
be sure that you do make the associations. When you see
the results, I'm sure you'll manage to keep it up, and before
you know it, you will have acquired the habit.
There is no doubt, by the way, that this system must cure
absentmindedness. The reason is obvious; the eyes cannot
see if the mind is absent--and your mind is absent when
you put things away mechanically. The very idea of making
an association makes you think of what you're doing for at
least a fraction of a second, and that's all that's necessary.
Don't Be Absent-minded 179
If you make an association between your key and your door,
as you lock the door--you are no longer doing it mechan-
ically. You are thinking of it; therefore, later on when you
wonder if you locked the door, you'll know you did. When
setting the alarm on your clock, make an association be-
tween clock and hand, or between clock and anything, for
that matter. It doesn't matter; the important thing is that
you're thinking of it for the moment. And, because you
did think of it for the moment, you won't have to get out
of bed later to check if the alarm is set.
I say that the association doesn't matter, and it doesn't.
As a matter of fact, if you closed your eyes and saw yourself
turning off your iron as you were doing it, you wouldn't
have to worry about whether it was on or off, while trying
to enjoy a movie. Closing the eyes and picturing the action,
is just as good as the association. It serves the same purpose;
that of forcing you to think of what you're doing at the
moment.
That's all there is to it. But I can't stress strongly enough
the necessity of using what you've just learned. Please don't
read it, nod your head and say it's a great idea, and then
forget about it. Put out the bit of effort necessary at first,
and you will be glad you did.
Captain of ship talking to sailor: "Don't you ever say 'the back
of the ship' again--that's the stern of the ship; and that's port-
side, that's starboard, that's the crow's nest, that's the gig, that's
the forecastle, etc.
"If you ever say 'back of the ship' again, I'll throw you out of
that--that, er, that little round hole over there!"
Just as absentmindedness is often mistaken for a poor
memory; so is absentmindedness often blamed for mental
blocks. Again, I don't think that one has anything to do
with the other. Having something familiar on the tip of
your tongue and not being able to remember it, is not ab-
sentmindedness. What it is and why it happens, I don't
know; but, unfortunately it does happen; to me as well as
to you.
There isn't much I can do to help avoid mental blocks.
There isn't any system I know of that can stop them. How-
ever, I can tell you that when it does happen--try to think
of events associated with the name or event you're trying to
recall. If it's the name of a familiar person that you can't
think of, try to picture the last time you saw that person,
where it was, what you were doing and who else was present
at the time.
The mind must work in its own devious way; more
often than not, just thinking around the fact you want, will
make it pop into your mind.
If this doesn't help, the next best thing is to forget about
it. Stop thinking about it completely for awhile, and the
odds are it will come to you when you least expect it.
That's about all the help I can give you when it comes to
mental blocks. Try my suggestions the next time it happens
to you; you may be surprised at how helpful they are!