Page 175 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

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-