CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

LOOK AT WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW!

So, I’ve given you the methods and you’ve put them into practice by memorizing shopping lists, to-do lists, your work diary, PINs and all the other things that you can use your memory for in your everyday life. With all those memory workouts going on, you’ve been giving your brain lots of essential exercise to take it to its peak performance.

Now it’s time to measure your progress with some further memory tests (see pp.196–201). The first two tests are similar to those at the beginning of the book, when you took your first baseline measurements. The purpose of these is to give you an idea of how much you’ve improved since those first scores, before you had the benefit of my techniques to work with.

To offer you some encouragement, and some belief in what you’ve learned already, I can tell you that once I’ve taught students (who range in age from ten to 17 years old) the Link Method, I see an immediate increase in their scores for word memorization. Once they’ve learned number–shapes, I see a small improvement in number memorization. But once I’ve explained the Dominic System and how to use it with the Journey Method, students make a huge leap, becoming able to memorize 80 or more numbers in about 15 minutes. Surprisingly, many of them start to achieve these scores after just a couple of weeks of training.

Remember, these tests are merely indicators for how well you’re applying the methods you’ve learned. I’m not aiming to teach you to memorize long lists of numbers or words, but to hand over methods for developing a powerful memory that you can apply in practical ways in all walks of your life. My students tell me that that’s exactly what they do – and they assure me that it works.

I hope that if you’ve followed the systems and become confident with each method before moving on to the next, you’ll see massive improvement in your scores – just like my students. This being the case, I also wanted to give you the opportunity to try some exercises that should really stretch you. So, after the measurement tests, I’ve given you three more exercises that are very similar to the heats in the World Memory Championships. Don’t be disheartened if you find these exercises tricky – they’re intended to be! My guess, though, is that with a little bit of practice, you’ll be amazed at how well you can do.

EXERCISE 15: Redrawing the Baseline

TEST 1: Three-minute words
Using the strategy that works best for you, memorize this list of 30 words in sequence (reading down the columns from left to right). As you did at the start of the book, set a timer so that you don’t have to clock-watch. You have 3 minutes for the memorization and as long as you need for the recall. Write the words as you recall them on a sheet of paper, then look back at the list to see how well you did. Score one point for each word in the correct order. Deduct a mark for words that are in the wrong order. Two words round the wrong way, counts as two positional errors, so deduct two marks, but then resume point-scoring from the next correct word. If you managed to memorize only, say, 15 items in the time, your maximum score is 15 (that is, don’t deduct points for words not memorized).

BISCUIT	SKULL	DIARY
TREASURE	WHEELCHAIR	BEARD
ICER	LADDER	TEACHER
HOUND	DRESS	ANCHOR
FLUTE	FLOWERS	WISHBONE
NICKEL	BABY	FILE
SANDWICH	LAWNMOWER	WHIP
TEASPOON	TARGET	CARTOON
ATLAS	IGLOO	BLOOD
SKI	ONION	MOTH

How did you do? Any score above 15 is great – and if you scored in the 20s, you should be really proud of what you’ve achieved. If you scored fewer than 15 – don’t despair. Your associations aren’t strong enough yet, and you just need to keep practising so that you make strong links that resonate deeply in your mind. Find ways to practise your memory techniques in your everyday life (see pp.164–73).

TEST 2: Three-minute numbers
Again, using any method you like, memorize the following 30 numbers, reading left to right, in 3 minutes. Score a point for a correct number in the correct position, and deduct a point for misplacing a number (again, two numbers round the wrong way counts as two positional errors, so you would deduct two points, and so on).

4	2	1	6	6	3	0	0	7	1
9	5	8	0	4	5	5	9	2	7
3	8	1	1	2	9	3	4	5	7

How does your score compare with your first attempt at number memorization at the beginning of the book? If you scored 15 or above this time round, you’ve clearly got the hang of how to turn lists of numbers into items that are more memorable. Keep going until you get all the numbers right. Again, if you didn’t score as well as you’d hoped – persevere. Perfection will come with practice.

Advanced Memory Tests

TEST 1: Five-minute words
You have 5 minutes to memorize as many words, in order (reading down the columns), as possible, and as long as you need for recall. Score one point for each word recalled in the right position. Deduct ten points for one error in a column; lose the whole column for two or more errors. A score of 20 is good; 30 or more is excellent. The best score for this test at the UK Open Championships stands at 70 points.

ZIP	BILL	CROW
INDUSTRY	ZINC	GLADIATOR
LATCH	AGRICULTURIST	AVENDER
BAR	CAMEL	MANOR
EXTINGUISHER	YEAST	PLINTH
COMET	STORK	AUTUMN
PETAL	COT	FALCON
DEGREE	FUNGUS	INTERNET
CART	APPLE	DOCTOR
HULL	COMIC	UMBRELLA
WASP	BANK	IMPORT
EXHIBIT	AEROSOL	ROULETTE
SPANIEL	ABBEY	TARPAULIN
TOY	EQUATOR	DIGIT
SPROUT	GUTTER	GEOLOGIST
PERSON	DOT	RAPIER
LOLLIPOP	TINSEL	GASTRONOMY
ASP	SILHOUETTE	HOIST
ARROW	NICHE	TEMPLE
MAJOR	MANDARIN	WOODPECKER

REMEDY	SOAP
ACCORDION	LASER
ROCK	GEYSER
BEAST	URN
FACT	OPAL
HARPOON	RHUBARB
INFLATE	PARROT
DACHSHUND	SUBMARINE
HORNET	TEETH
IMP	APOSTROPHE
POLL	AQUEDUCT
DIRT	PROSECUTE
DIAL	INTERLUDE
BEAVER	GERBIL
HANDKERCHIEF	COLANDER
INCA	SEWER
EXAMPLE	BULLDOG
ADDER	GARGOYLE
WEASEL	COMPASS
IGUANA	ILLUSION

Advanced Memory Tests (continued)

TEST 2: Five-minute speed numbers
You have 5 minutes to memorize as many numbers as possible, in order, row by row. Score one point for each correct number in the correct position. For one mistake in a row, deduct 20 digits; for two or more mistakes in a row, deduct the whole row. The maximum score is 440. A score of 20–30 is good; a score of 31–40 is excellent; more than 40 makes you a potential champion. The World Record stands at 405.

3483113958576785277315166472803506193597
8568460535612318285885650443574930160397
0201299684494050297137495382634239925031
0222998511384254462054729406940419746610
9129737504191396978730539092230622799380
9092362528653953465040767859913224218773
2378186451915862371308010060981440558660
7343715881026422753389451783556084214098
7344716588902698251514981078884112931387
2296991035285296954239671060215222257465
1625645367355344758406559777283540735635

TEST 3: Five-minute binary numbers
You have 5 minutes to memorize binaries, row by row. Score a point for every binary in the correct position (maximum 750). Deduct 15 digits for one mistake in a row; deduct 30 digits for two or more mistakes. A score of 30–60 is good; more than 60 is excellent. The World Record is 870.

111011100100110001011011110110 Row 1
110111011111111100101011111001 Row 2
010110100111001001000110001100 Row 3
000010111000010100010010111101 Row 4
011101111101000101011110100011 Row 5
111001010000100100011001010111 Row 6
111111111111000010110111110000 Row 7
101001100111010110001111100010 Row 8
011001010100011100011010001011 Row 9
101100111100001011000101000010 Row 10
100111000001110011001111101010 Row 11
110010101100101011010110000110 Row 12
101011001001000110110001111100 Row 13
010100011011111011110011111100 Row 14
111101100110110100011111101111 Row 15
111010100010000110011110101100 Row 16
000111000001110100000011111000 Row 17
100101111000001110000011111001 Row 18
000110010101110110011100101011 Row 19
000001100110100000000010111001 Row 20
000111111101100100000110011101 Row 21
010010100000101001101100001011 Row 22
100110100110100111011011110110 Row 23
101101000110110010001001111111 Row 24
010001001011110110001010110101 Row 25