How To Get Photographic Memory Instantly

Before you read this post I need you to make me a promise. I need you to promise that you will share this post with at least one friend if you are able to achieve something that you knew (believed) was impossible. Then, I want you to promise me that you will never again believe anything to be impossible, that you will commit to finding a way, no matter what.

OK, OK, it’s a big promise. But by the end of this post you will be chomping at the bit to share this with a friend, I assure you.

Ready? Here We Go. . .

Random Stuff For Photographic Memory

Do you have a photographic memory? Do you have the ability to perfectly recall a long list of random ideas, thoughts or things? If someone tested you right now, I would bet you don’t have a photographic memory. Actually 99.997% of the world population doesn’t have it, so I doubt you do. Or better said, I doubt you believe you do.

If I gave you 20 random items to remember – in order – could you do it? Let’s try it out. Read this list and try to remember all 20 items on the list in order.

1. Rusty razor blade, 2. Goalie mask, 3. Red VW bug, 4.Blender, 5. Coffee cup, 6. Brown paper bag, 7. Chess set with a broken white king piece, 8.Marble statue, 9.Megaphone, 10. Shower curtain, 11. Canopy bed, 12. Plaid wool blanket, 13. Pencil, 14. Salt shaker, 15. Wooden baseball bat, 16. Private jet, 17. White apron, 18.Button, 19. Superman costume, 20. Fluorescent light bulb

Now from memory, write down the seventh item on the list. No cheating! Next, write down the third item, then the 17th item, and finally the 12th item. If you’re not sure, just give your best guess.

How many did you get? None, right? (If you did get one or two right, you’re amazing! You should be a spy. Stop reading this post and call the CIA.)

The truth is, you DO have a photographic memory. You just don’t know it yet. And since you never believed you could do it, you probably never tried. And by not trying you have affirmed yourself to be right… that you DON’T have a photographic memory. But I am here to tell you, that you do.
There’s a method to help you unlock your natural ability to remember things photographically. If you follow this method, you will harness that power by the end of this blog post.

Mnemonic Memory

Mnemonic memory the key to photographic memory and total recall

First, you must BELIEVE that it is possible for you to have a photographic memory. More than that, you must BELIEVE that it it’s EASY to have a photographic memory – especially for you.

The trick is, your mind work best with pictures and associations, not repetition. So the first step to your new found photographic memory is to create an association of pictures. Start by memorizing an easy rhyming list of pictures for each number, one through ten. This will be your anchor list. Here’s what I use, and suggest you use the same:

1. Gun

2. Shoe

3. Tree

4. Floor

5. Bee hive

6. Pile of sticks

7. Heaven

8. Skate

9. Slime

10. Hen

Next review the random list of 20 random items below. Here’s the list I will use as an example for the rest of the exercise:

1. Golden goose egg, 2. Firefly, 3. Paint roller, 4. Diamond ring, 5. Stop sign, 6. Kitchen table, 7. Ticket stub, 8. Leather jacket 9. Ice cream cone, 10. ATM machine, 11. Scalpel, 12. Champagne bottle, 13. Stroller, 14. Couch, 15. Rose bush, 16. Swimsuit, 17. Rotting apple, 18. Candy cane, 19. Cowboy boots, 20. Train

Link The Anchor List To The Items To Remember

Now, when you look at the first item on the new list (golden goose egg), associate it with the first word from the anchor list (gun). For example, picture a gun shooting out a golden goose egg. Picture it in detail, your arm holding out a gun, smoke rising from the gun, and a golden goose egg shooting out. The more details, the better. The more color to your mental picture, the better.

Visualize a connection between the second word (firefly) and the corresponding word on your anchor list (shoe). Picture the firefly trying to carry a shoelace off the shoe. Imagine how hard the firefly is trying, how small the firefly is compared to the shoe, whatever detail you can conjure up to connect the firefly with the shoe.

Before you move on to the third item on the random list of things, recap the first two. What was the gun shooting? Right, the golden goose egg. How about the shoe? What was going on there? Right a firefly was trying to take off with the shoelace in tow. Then start on the next word. Keep doing this for the first ten items on the list.

Now stack the pictures. When you get to the eleventh item (scalpel), go back to the first image (a gun shooting out the golden goose egg) and add the scalpel to it. For example, you might have a scalpel stuck in the golden goose egg that is shooting out of the gun. Gross yoke nastiness flying out, just for effect.

Continue to the next object. For example, the firefly that is trying to pickup the shoe’s shoelace, now has to struggle with one itsy bitsy arm to lift the Champagne bottle he is carrying (Dom Perignon that he bought on sale, of course). Oh, the horrible life a firefly can lead. Follow this stacking method for the remaining objects on the list.

Congratulations!

Congratulations, you now have a photographic memory! Don’t believe me? Let’s test it out. Use your anchor list to guide you. I don’t expect you to have the rhyming down just yet, so it’s OK to look at the anchor list of above.

Let’s start with, hmmm, number two. Two is shoe. OK, what is happening with the shoe? Right! The firefly. OK how about number eight. Eight is skate, and what did you have going on with the skate? Excellent! Now number 11. OK the anchor for 11 was the gun. Since it is over 10, it is going to be the stacked image… OK, what was going on with the gun. Yes, the golden egg. And what’s stacked with the egg. YES! The scalpel. Try it for five, now. How about 18? How about ten and then 20? Damn… You are good. No, no. You are really good.

Surprised? Did you just achieve the impossible?

You’re welcome. Now share this!

BTW – If you are interested in learning more about the subject, read this book (my personal favorite): Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer

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Annabel, Florida

This has been amazing. My 12 year old daughter struggles with test anxiety and said she wished she had photographic memory. So I found this site for her. She aced the lists by visualization. Plus she was able to answer all you questions by linking both lists. She was so pleased and I was so amazed. Lifted her self confidence greatly.
- http://www.MikeMichalowicz.com/ Mike Michalowicz
  
  Annabel – That is WONDERFUL news. My daughter (she is 14) also uses this technique for school and has lifted all her grades. School (for better or for worse) focuses on memorization. Vocab definitions for example. Tell your daughter to look for pictures that she can convert the words into and then make that picture do the definition in an activity. The weirder the better.
  
  For example: Idiosyncratic
  
  You can picture an “idiot” in the beginning. And possible a kitchen “sync”. So the visual is an idiot with dunce cap and all doing dishes at the sync. And because the definition is someone or something that is peculiar… the idiot at the the sink can through the dishes on the floor and smash them everytime a dish is cleaned… which is very peculiar.
  
  Ironically the more detail you give to the picture the better. Try in your mind to give color, sounds, smell and touch. You (and your daughter) will be able to remember tons of stuff this way.
  - Annabel, Florida
    
    Thank you. I just asked her again today if she could recall the lists. She remembered all of it without review and it has been a few days since she last looked at the lists. Definitely proves to her how effective this technique will be for all her studies.
    - http://www.MikeMichalowicz.com/ Mike Michalowicz
      
      Hot dog! Tell her I am sending a big congrats from up here in New Jersey. Very nice to hear there is a memory genius in Florida. Keep up the great work!
BigDaddy

This is called word association and memorization and is NOT the same thing as eidetic memory (photographic memory). Please realize the difference.
- http://www.MikeMichalowicz.com/ Mike Michalowicz
  
  You are correct.
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Mimi

True that this is not the technique to gain Eidetic Memory and may not be applied everywhere.Like when you are trying to read some complex technical book and remember what you read in just one go,but still it is a great technique and nice post.It can applied when trying to remember simple stuffs and will be very useful for kids for increasing their memory and making their imagination more active.
So thanks a lot.
- http://www.MikeMichalowicz.com/ Mike Michalowicz
  
  Thanks Mimi. You are correct. I have found this to be a power first step to memory improvement. I think it awakens readers to what their real capabilities are. When someone reads this, my hope is that they are so inspired that they try the other, harder, memory techniques.
- Anders
  
  The article is on the topic of Photographic memory. The techniques discussed therein fall far beneath the article topic. It’s like saying “you want a photographic memory? here’s a paper and pen, write everything down! Tada!”. The title of this article is so far from the point it doesn’t do Mike justice.
http://www.facebook.com/brian.yun.509 Brian Yun

Even though it is not the ultimate way to gain eidedic memory, its a great way to start your first step to it. After practicing for few days, I can remember any list of 1 to 30 in less than 10 seconds and it lasts for hours to days.

Try to come up with a story that is funny, sexual, violent, anything that will stimulate the brain. I find that very helpful.
Mik

That was pretty awesome. Putting the whole is it photographic memory vs just an association tactic aside. It is a remarkable way to memorize things that have nothing to do with each other. But, what I also liked was that it helps you understand how the brain learns or remembers best. Not by repetition, but rather by association.

TIP: I would also try to memorize the rhyming list by association as well, I know it helped me memorize it quickly. Picture somebody shooting a block number “1″ block with a gun etc.