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128 Power Up Your Mind

At a very practical level, the reason acronyms may be important to
us is that we can only carry a limited number of items of informa-
tion in our heads, unless we can write them down. Interestingly, in
some oral cultures there are no words for large numbers. In
Australia, it seems that the original aboriginal inhabitants of the
island only have words for the first six numbers. After that, there is
just one word for a number that is greater then six. Maybe our
minds are not naturally geared up to remembering more than seven
or so new bits of information—which perhaps accounts for the
prevalence of business books with “seven” in their titles or chapter
headings.

Do you use acronyms at work or at home? Are there important processes that you would
remember more effectively if you created an acronym for them?

THEIMPORTANCEOF WHEREYOU ARE

Place is also a powerful way of anchoring memories. For example,
many people can remember exactly where they were when impor-
tant personal, world, or sporting events took place. This may be
because of the emotions such events create, or because the events
are so extraordinary that they are surprising or odd when set against
the normal pattern of things, like walking on the moon or a terri-
ble disaster of some kind. This effect can be put to good use.
You can consciously seek to absorb the details of a place as
you experience something that you are determined to remember. I
find that this works well for me when I am in a meeting and want
to remember something in particular. In addition to my notes or a
mind map, I consciously connect the memory to the place I am in,
looking carefully around the room, so that I can recall the thought
later on. In these examples, it is likely that place is providing an
extra context to which your mind can “connect” a particular
thought. Some of the places also may act as emotional triggers.

Have you had experiences like this?