John’s Blog

I’m getting ready for a trip to Vietnam this weekend.

I was asked by the coach for the Vietnam memory team to come out and give a few talks to his students.

I’ve never been to Vietnam before (but I’ve seen a lot of Southeast Asia), so if you have recommendations I’d love to hear them (reply to this email).

Today, I wanted to give you a quick reminder that I always have to give myself:

“Enjoy the journey”

I’m a very ambitious person. I have goals for how much money I want to be making, training goals for memory events, goals and dreams of traveling the world, etc.

I think to myself that “you’re not there yet.”
I have this picture in my mind of where I want to be…
and all I can think of is “you’re not there yet.”

I have to take a step back and realize where I’m at in my life. Like, right now. Today.

I’m on a journey.
Today, I’m working on my goals.
I’m getting better today. I’ll get better tomorrow.
Someday, I’ll be “there”.

Actually. I don’t think I’ll ever make it “there.”

I’ll always want to improve more. To see more. To do more. To live more.

Heck, all I wanted was to win the 2018 USA Memory Championship for a while. Then I did it. Now I want more…

My point in all of this is to “enjoy the journey.”
Enjoy where you are right now.
Don’t get stuck thinking “you’re not there yet”.

Enjoy the things you’re doing right now, today. 
The future is unknown.
You can be ambitious and have huge goals.
But ground yourself in today. Make today count. 
Live the ups and downs of life.
Be grateful for where you are now.
The journey is where it’s at.

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People remember how you make them feel.
They don’t remember everything you do and say.

When I think back to high school (I graduated over 13 years ago), I don’t remember the history lessons, the science facts, the math formulas, etc.

I remember stories and emotional moments…and when I think back to any teacher or classmate, I can tell you how they made me feel.

Mr. Schroll, my biology teacher, wore a fish tie from time to time. He always burst into the room, first thing in the morning, with high energy and a loud booming voice to start class.

He loved science and was passionate about teaching us, so he made us all feel good. 

One time in Mr. Schroll’s class, we were dissecting tapeworms in the lab. The tapeworms were a couple inches long and soaked in formaldehyde. Nasty.

My friend Matt was dared by another classmate to eat one for a dollar. Yeah…

As an immature freshman, Matt thought that seemed like a good idea…and ATE one.

It made us all cringe and laugh. It was the talk of the school for a day. It was also they only time I ever remember seeing Mr. Schroll upset.

I’m sure if you think about any teacher or classmate (like Matt and Mr. Schroll), you could tell a story about them and the impressions they made on you. 

You could categorize them all as:
– Good teacher or bad teacher
– Fun or mean
– Helpful or backstabber

When you’re building relationships, think about this.
Everyone will remember you for how you made them feel.
They won’t remember the day to day conversations.

They’ll remember the energy you had. The emotions that they felt from you. The fun stories.

Make people feel good. Lift them up, make them laugh, be
more relaxed around them. They will remember that in the long run.

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Do a thought experiment with me, real quick.

Imagine right now that it’s December 31, 2019.
The last day of this year.

“Look back” through 2019 and imagine
1) the most impressive thing you accomplished this year and
2) the most amazing experience you had this year.

You can see these things happening, right?

That’s what I want to talk about….seeing your path in 2019.

2018 was one of the best years of my life. 
-2018 USA Memory Champion
-On national TV shows in Indonesia & Russia (twice)
-Got married 
-Finished 5th at the IAM World Memory Championship

All of this came because I had vision of what I wanted.
I wanted sooo bad to be the USA Memory Champion.

From January 2018 to July 2018, I could see this goal vividly with strong emotion. I saw myself winning over and over in my mind. I felt the trophy in my hand. My heart would race as I imagined all this.

The reason 2018 was so good to me was because I could see it. 

If you can see something, you instinctively know how to get to it…and you feel more driven.

Vision doesn’t make it easy.
But it’s easier.

If YOU can see your path in 2019 (your big accomplishment, your big experience) you’re well on your way.

If you want a better body, IMAGINE it. 
If you want to make more money, IMAGINE how it will happen.

I don’t want to sound like “The Secret” or anything. You won’t get a better body or more money by only imagining it.

BUT, your vision will lay down a path of action and give you a boost of motivation every time you imagine where you’re headed.

See the result you want at the end of 2019.
Imagine it, feel it, believe it.
Then start doing what needs to be done.
One day at a time.

I saw this on twitter this morning and couldn’t agree more:

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At the World Memory Championship, one of the Ukrainian competitors asked me how many hours I trained this year.

I stared at him blankly. I had no idea.

I told him that I don’t keep track of my training that way.

I said, I train at least 15 mins a day. 

During the week, that 15 mins sometimes turns into 30-60 mins and weekends I sometimes train 3 hours.

He got out his calculator and told me I trained roughly 660 hours this year. 

I said ok, but that doesn’t mean anything to me.

He wanted to know this number, because he was fairly new and wanted to know how to take his scores to the next level.

I told him he was looking at this all wrong.

Here’s what I said:
“If I told you you need to train 660 hours this year, you’d be overwhelmed. Instead, tell yourself you have to train at least 15 mins a day minimum. That’s it. Anyone can do 15 mins.”

“Normally, you don’t feel like training.15 minutes warms you up and most times you will want to continue. Then, that 15 mins turns into 1 hour.”

My new Ukrainian friend was really encouraged by this.
I could tell by his body language that he was inspired and confident with this new advice. He could see his potential rising.

I use this advice when I want to improve anything.
Don’t look at the big number. Break it down into small chunks.
Do 15 minutes daily. ANYONE can do 15 minutes a day.
ANYONE.

So…
660 hours or 15 mins? What is easier in your mind?

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Too many times I notice people (including myself) give up after 1 try.

Have you ever learned a new card game with friends and sucked the first time you played?

Have you tried a yoga class and struggled to do the beginner poses?

You think “I can’t do it. It’s just not my thing.”

That is the moment that defeats most people and filters them out.

The thing is, EVERYONE “sucks” in the beginning.
We all start at different rungs of the ladder based on our current abilities, but the first time you try something – that is the floor of your ability. Most people never try to reach the ceiling.

If you want to be good at anything in this world, you have to persevere. 

Everyone who is great at something, pushed through that initial sucky phase. They persevered. They wanted it.

You HAVE to want it.

The beginning is ALWAYS the hardest because:
-there are so many unknowns
-you have a pre-conceived notion of how it should work
-you get frustrated when your expectations aren’t met
-you get discouraged because you realize it takes hard work

Everything meaningful requires hard work.

There is no magic pill or hack that will make you great at something.

Adopt this mindset:

1. I accept that it will be hard.
2. I accept that it will take time.
3. I want it. I REALLY want it.

When you take on this mindset, you are going to persevere and grow. 

Most of us have dreams and goals and want to be great at something.

Do you really want it?

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Have you every played the Memory Matching game?

You know, the one where you have to turn over tiles and try to match the images. Like this…

These are the rules:

1. Mix up the cards.
2. Lay them in rows, face down.
3. Turn over any two cards.
4. If the two cards match, keep them…and go again.
5. If they don’t match, turn them back over. Now it’s another player’s turn.
6. Remember what was on each card and where it was.
7. Watch and remember during the other player’s turn.
8. The game is over when all the cards have been matched.
9. Whoever has the most matched pairs, wins!

Want to learn how a USA Memory Champion would use memory techniques to win this game? Memory techniques that you can do too…

Today, I try to help you master this game. 
I’ve been waiting for this question for a while now…

Reader Question:
My daughter is beating me on Memory Game (where you turn around cards and have to find identical pairs). Any suggestion to help me recover my dignity? 

My Answer:
Obviously, the more tiles you play with, the harder it is to remember all the tiles you turn over. Also, if you play multiple games back-to-back, that can get tricky for your memory too. Since previous games (and the image/tile locations) will all mix and blend together.

I have 4 tips that will help you win this game:

1) Mental Imagery, Actions, and Stories

In the picture, you can see ducks on the cards.
If you turn a duck tile in the top left corner, create an image and action to remember that that card is a duck.

Example: Imagine a duck walks up to that tile in the corner and starts pulling it away. 

Other examples:
If the tile is a tire image, imagine a tire burning rubber on top of that tile.
If a tile is a balloon image, imagine that tile floating away.

Of course, tiles that are on the corners and edges will be easier to remember than ones in the middle of a large grid.
To remember ones in the middle just create a simple story to remember the exact location.

For example: a ball image that is located 4 tiles down and 3 tiles across. Tell yourself a quick story, like: “the ball was thrown 43 yards”. 4 down + 3 across = 43.

2) Speed of Play

Making images and stories quickly takes some practice. Imagining ducks and balls being thrown 43 yards is slow at first, but you will get the hang of it…especially the more you play your game. You’ll learn all tile images really quickly.

So…

Until you’re proficient, play slower.

Flip over a tile and stall a bit as you make the image/story.
Pretend you’re really trying to think hard about the next tile you’re turning over…to buy some more time.

3) Strategy

MOST people who play this game will try to get lucky and take a guess on their 2nd flip.

I think this is sometimes a mistake.

Let’s say 1/3 to 1/2 of the tiles have been turned over. (That is plenty of information to play with!)

Flip over a new card for your first flip. If you know where the match is, flip the match over.
BUT, if your first flip reveals an entirely new card, DON’T guess on your second flip. Instead, flip over a card that has already been shown.

The reason you shouldn’t guess at this point in the game is because a) chances are you won’t get lucky b) the card you flip over 2nd will give your opponent new information that might lead to them getting an easy match.

Let your opponent guess and reveal new cards to you.

4) Sit in new spot

If you play multiple rounds of this game, the images and stories will start to blur together.
The best tip I have to combat this is to sit at a different angle each new round.
Example: Sit on the right side the first round, then sit to the left, then sit below…for each new game.
This will help you connect your stories to your specific vantage point for each new game.

Be sure to use these 4 tips to beat your daughter for a couple of games, then be a good sport and teach her what you’re doing too 🙂

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I received these reader questions on cards and numbers memorization systems:

QUESTION – 1 – FOR YOUR CARD MEMORIZATION – DO YOU USE PAO? (3 CARDS AT A TIME, OR BIGGER JUNKS?)

QUESTION – 2 – FOR YOUR NUMBER MEMORIZATION –  DO YOU HAVE IMAGES FOR 0 THROUGH 1000? 
DO YOU USE PAO FOR NUMBER MEMORIZATION TOO? 

I LISTENED TO YOUR YOUTUBE CREDIT CARD PRESENTATION (THANKS – I’VE JUST BEEN USING THE MAJOR SYSTEM WITH A CREDIT CARD PALACE BUT I JUST HAVE IMAGES FOR 0-100 AND DON’T USE PAO; SOUNDS AS THOUGH YOU MAY BE ADDRESSING THESE QUESTIONS IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.

My Answer
I answered a similar question a while back, but I have a lot of new readers so I’ll share it again 🙂

For those wondering what PAO is…it just means that each of the 52 cards in a deck is assigned a unique Person, doing an Action, using an Object. PAO = Person Action Object.

For example: the King of Hearts could be your Grandfather drilling a hole in a block of wood.
P = Grandfather
A = drilling a hole
O = block of wood.

The 2 of Spades could be Michael Jordan dunking a basketball
P = Michael Jordan
A = dunking
O = basketball

8 of diamonds could be Madonna singing into a microphone
P = Madonna
A = singing
O = microphone

To remember the order of cards (in groups of 3), you “mesh” the Person from card 1 with the Action of card 2 plus the Object of card 3…all into 1 mini story.

SO, to remember this sequence:
King of Hearts + 8 of Diamonds + 2 of Spades…
the story would be Grandpa singing into a basketball

I started by learning PAO in 2014 and used it for the first 2 years. It’s a GREAT system for beginners and advanced.

When I used PAO, yes, I did it in chunks of 3. Some people do 2 cards at a time in the form of PA (Person Action) or OA (Object Action).

Then, 2 years ago I “upgraded” to a bigger 2-card system. 
My 2-card system is the same system as my friend Alex Mullen (another 3x World Champ). It’s a combination of the Shadow System (innovated by Lance Tschirhart) and the Block System (Johannes Mallow).

The 2-card system consists of 1,352 premade images. Like my numbers system, it is based on the Major System phonetic code. Fellow USA national team member Lance Tschirhart wrote a detailed description here (https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/a-new-2-card-system/28633) (my system is Part 1 of his system). My system uses a variable number of loci each deck. 

Alex Mullen also does a really good job explaining it on his website. Here is his explanation (link: https://mullenmemory.com/alex-mullen-memory-sports): 

…and also in an interview with Nelson Dellis, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2P1JnSbTGs&feature=youtu.be&t=17m11s).

If you don’t fully understand it, that’s normal. I had to reread that post MANY times to understand it before I made it.

For my numbers system, yes I now have 1,000 premade images.
One image for each number from 000 to 999.
It is made using the major system (a phonetic system where each digit has a different phonetic sound.) 
For example:
1 = T
2 = N
3 = M

So the number 321 = M+N+T 
I combine the sounds to make a word.
For example: MNT = Mint
Then I use that image (Mint) to remember the number 321

992 of my 1000 number images are the exact same images as  992 of my 1352 card images. 

I used to have a PAO system for numbers. I changed my number system to 1000 images at the same time I changed my card system.

Number PAO is the same idea as card system PAO. 

For example: the number 83 could be your Grandfather drilling a hole in a block of wood.
P = Grandfather
A = drilling a hole
O = block of wood.

The number 23 could be Michael Jordan dunking a basketball
P = Michael Jordan
A = dunking
O = basketball

The number 70 could be Madonna singing into a microphone
P = Madonna
A = singing
O = microphone

SO, to remember this number 837023
the story would be Grandpa singing into a basketball

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Question from a reader:
I was curious how many memory palaces (or journeys) memory athletes have. How many memory palaces do you have? Thanks

My Response

I write down all my memory palaces in spreadsheets each year. Every year I make a new spreadsheet to track my scores that year and to prepare for that year’s competitions.

So I was able to go back and see how many memory palaces I’ve built over the years.

I started competing at the end of 2014. By spring of 2015, I had 21 memory palaces that I used for training and competition.

In 2018, I had 50 memory places for training/competitions.

By early 2019, I had 68 palaces.

THEN, by the end of 2019, I had 139 total memory palaces for training and competitions.

The reason I needed more and more each year (and especially for the end of 2019) was because my memory abilities and scores were getting better and better…so I needed more storage space for competition events.

I calculated that I needed 130+ memory palaces for the 2019 World Memory Championship…that’s why I built so many last year.

Another important note is that almost all (90%) of my memory palaces for competition have exactly 20 loci each. I started doing it that way early on and it worked well for me (consistency). The other 10% have 17 loci or 23 loci for different disciplines.

I also have 3 or 4 LARGE memory palaces that consist of 120 to 300+ loci each. These were used for the 2018 USA Memory Championship event “Long Term Memory”.
You can read about that event here: https://memoryjohn.com/2018-usa-memory-championship-recap/

So, in total I have between 3,000 to 3,500 loci (among 140+ memory palaces). That’s a lot!

To answer your first question about how many memory palaces other memory athletes have…I honestly don’t know. It depends on their level of ability. But I do know that most memory athletes do not have as many memory palaces or loci as I do.

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I received this question from a reader the other day:

Hi sir John,
I am your biggest fan and I read all of your mails but this time i am wondering how to really apply the memory palace in a specific way where you are studying theory.
I already know how to memorize lists. In fact, I have a record of memorizing 40 random numbers under 1:30 seconds but memorizing something like a book is difficult for me.
Here is picture of what I want to memorize:

I’m from Philippines by the way and I really love your mails. This picture is all about Philippine history. Thanks for reply I will really appreciate it and Godbless sir. 

My Answer

Thanks for your question. The Philippines is one of the few countries I have not yet been to in Southeast Asia. I would love to visit one day.

Using a memory palace to remember theories/facts from books isn’t too difficult. Here are some tips for how to do it.

1. Read 1 section or chapter at a time.

2. Highlight/underlinekey things you want to remember

You can do this as you read the first time through…or as you re-read a second/third time.

Simply highlight the parts you want to store in a memory palace.

Looking at your picture, it looks like you underlined a few facts:

• “Cry of PugadLawin”
• Supremo (leader) Andres Bonifacio
• August 3, 1896

3. Choose a memory palace that you want to use.

A memory palace is simply any place that you know well (your home, a friend’s home, a place of work, etc.) and can visualize walking through. 

Just pick a place you know well and “warm it up” by imagine you are walking through it a few times. Visualize the general layout of the place and all the rooms you know.

This process won’t be crystal clear in your mind. Just having a general understanding of they layout/furniture/rooms/decorations will be all you need.

4. Create a mental image(s) / story(ies) to represent each highlighted fact.

Get creative. Turn the information into an image or simple story. Use the first thing that comes to your mind. 

For example:

• Andres Bonifacio = a mental image of the San Andreas fault line cracking a bony face (Boni facio)
• August 3 = an auger drilling into a triangle (3)

You can use images that remind you of the word/information…or things that rhyme with it or sound similar to it.

These images will represent your information and help remind you of what the information is when you “see” it all in your memory palace.

5. Place these mental images/stories in different locations inside your memory palace. For example:

If you wanted to remember a book in chronological order, you would create a logical path (have a start and end…for example start at the mailbox, walk into the house and all the rooms. Then end at the back door) through your memory palace and place the images in order along this logical path.

That way when you want to remember the order of the book, you simply “walk” through your memory palace in your mind…in the same path/order…to remember the sequence of events.

If you don’t need to remember the book in order, but want to separate facts into different groups…you can separate your images into different rooms.

For example: Parts of the book that relate to names of historical figures you can store in the kitchen/dining room area of your memory palace. Parts of your book that relate to names of battles you can store those images in your basement. Etc..

6. Review

In order to retain this information long term, you need to review the images you made (and what information the images relate to). Spaced repetition is the most effective strategy here.
I made a video on spaced repetition you can watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUqcuJt8u3c&t

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How do you get back into something that you took time off of? How do you start something new from scratch?

After the World Memory Championships last December, I stopped memory training for 2 months. 

Mostly because I went home for Christmas and after that I got sick.

These things knocked me out of my daily training routine. I stopped training for 2 months (which is rare for me).

The thought of jumping back in wasn’t easy either.
I thought of ALL the things/disciplines I needed to train for….for my next competition – the USA Memory Championship.

Thinking about all the things I was behind on made me a bit overwhelmed. 

The thoughts in my head put me down:
“You lost all your progress”
“Your training scores are definitely going to regress”
“You’re behind”
“You have SO MUCH to catch up on”

And guess what…
This overwhelm kept me from training for another few weeks.

This made me more anxious and put me into a state of OVERTHINKING.

I believe overthinking is one of the worst things for any human being. Most of us have been in this situation: We think way too hard and way too much about something…and ultimately convince ourselves to not do anything. So no progress happens. Making no progress induces more anxiety and it’s just horrible.

So, what’s the solution?

Teeny tiny steps.

Like….really teeny steps at first.
Small actions over a few days leads to momentum.
Momentum leads to slightly bigger steps.
Bigger steps over time get us back into a routine.
Routine creates habit.
Habit of action is where you want to be.

Here’s what I did to get back into training every day:
I picked 1 discipline to do the first day.
I only had to do 1 minute memorization of that discipline. EASY.
*I realized my progress and scores hadn’t regressed like my overthinking mind had convinced me*
I did another 1 minute training the next day.
Then on day 3, I did a few disciplines for 1 minute each.
By day 7, I was up to 15 minutes a day of practice.
I feel so much better now. 
I also realized most of my “overthinking” thoughts were false or overblown.

The moral of the story is:
If you find yourself overthinking, realize that you’re stuck in your thoughts. Get out of your head. Do something small. Tiny even. Keep doing small actions until it builds.

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