Page 74 - Use Your Memory

6 The Number-Shape System

In chapter 5 you learned the right-brained Link System, in which
you applied all the Basic Memory Principles with the exception of
number and order. We now move on to the first of the Peg
Memory Systems. A Peg Memory System differs from the Link
System in that it uses a special list of Key Memory Images that
never change and to which everything that you wish to remember
can be linked and associated. A Peg System can be thought of
much like a wardrobe containing a certain definite number of
hangers on which you hang your clothes. The hangers themselves
never change, but the clothes that are hung on them vary infinitely.
In the Number-Shape System, which is the first of the Peg
Systems covered, the number and shape represent the hangers,
and the things you wish to remember with the system represent
the clothes to be hung on the hangers. The system is an easy one
and uses only the numbers from 1 to 10.
The best system is one you will create yourself- rather than one
supplied for you. This is because minds are infinitely varied, and
the associations, links and images that you may have will generally
be different from mine and everyone else's. The associations and
images you generate from your own creative imagination will last
far longer and be much more effective than any that could be
'implanted'. I shall therefore explain exactly how you can con-
struct a system and shall then give examples of its practical use.
In the Number-Shape System, all you have to do is think of
images for each of the numbers from 1 to 10, each image
reminding you of the number because both the image and the
number have the same shape. For example, and to make your task
a little easier, the Key Number-Shape Memory Word that most
people use for the number 2 is swan because the number 2 is
shaped like a swan, and similarly because a swan looks like a living,
elegant version of the number 2.

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