It is very difficult to make changes in our life. Once we do master the required energy and motivation, we prefer to do dramatic actions. We may get a huge success, but then find it very hard to maintain this success for a long time. Small changes reduce the risk and increase the success rate. …
Grit and perseverance
Typically we describe visualization in the context of creativity and learning since this is a focus of our interest. Visualization is extremely useful in many other situations. Recently I noticed that many of memory masters are very good in activities that typically require grit. I think this is because of the incredible power of visualization. …
Revealing your state of mind by handwriting
Many memory specialists, including Anna and Anthony Metivier, recommend taking notes and writing flash cards using your handwriting. When we review our handwritten notes, we remember not just the information we needed, but also some information regarding our personal associations when writing the notes. While some of the cues we use are vague, some follow …
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Dual coding theory and practice
Classical dual coding theory involves simultaneous usage of visual and audio processing of information. It is practiced to improve our long-term memorization and creativity. This is a basic article that concerns any learning activity. I thought I wrote it ages ago, and I then could not find the text. So I will write a new …
Making your own story
A good way to generate long-term retention is building a great story. Our autobiographical memory is usually very good, and we remember the stories we own for a long time. This post has been inspired by this, this and this articles. Who should use it? Most of us can remember stories very well. Some of …
Productive failure
We are not as open minded as we would love to think. Sometimes only a resounding failure can trigger a learning experience. This and this articles inspired me to write the post. Learning is not always good. If we would learn and relearn everything, question any piece of knowledge we have, we would not be …
Increasing your creativity
What can I do to increase my creativity? Many people think creativity is some sort of magic skill: you are either born with it or not. The truth is very far from this misconception. There are systematic methods to increase personal creativity and anyone can learn them. Some components of creativity are psychological, some are …
Six types of socratic questions
We ask similar questions after each time we preread or read the text. The questions can be divided into questions building our curiosity so we can focus on the text and questions we asked in order to ensure we understood the text properly. This post mainly deals with questions of the second kind. If we …
Creative training vs grit
When we discuss superlearning training we emphasize two elements: creativity and determination. Both are necessary and supplement each other quite nicely. Our students are expected to do some computer training ~30 min per day and some reading for at least 60 min a day. After finishing the course the computer training is no longer required, …
Dreaming and memory
Long term memory is closely related to sleep. When we sleep our short term memory is basically copied into our long term memory. If somebody is not sleeping enough trying to prepare for exam, this a huge mistake. After several days everything will be forgotten and days of practice lost. There are ways of improving …