Look at the following words for a minute. Remember the words in the order given. Sea, dog, pen, flower, chair, car, shoe, watch, television, cat.

Cover the paper and write each word in the same order. After writing, count the number you wrote. How many words did you write? Accept whatever number for now. I've done this exercise with thousands of people and most get only a few correct the first time. Now let's see how you can remember all the words in order, easily, happily and quickly.

Link method

Look at the first and second words. "Sea and dog" - connect, these words in a humorous, colourful, action packed, emotional way. Create pictures, sounds, feelings involving the sea and dog in your mind. Read the following: Seeing, hearing and feeling what is described:

Sea and dog - You are at a sea shore. The sea is purple. Hundreds of thousands of yellow dogs are washed on to the shore. They are dancing and singing. Did you imagine this in your mind? If not do it now. See the purple water. Hear the dogs sing. Feel the humour….Keep reading.

Dog and pen - A red dog is dancing on a paper. His legs are made of two golden pens. The dog is small, the pens are big. The dog's legs (i.e. pens) draw cartoons on the paper.
Pen and flower- Think of a garden full of flowers. From every flower thousands of colourful pens are blowing in the wind.

Flower and chair- Imagine a chair at home. Instead of the chair, a large garland made of flowers is hanging from the ceiling. You sit on the garland and swing to and fro, smelling the fresh fragrance of the flowers.

Chair and car- You are standing by the road. There are no vehicles. People are moving along the road at high speed seated on chairs.

Car and shoe- A bright red shining car is parked in front of your house. You go to it and open the door. As you open the door, millions of shoes pop out from the car throwing you off balance. You are rolling in a sea of shoes.

Shoe and watch - Two large watches strapped to your feet. With every step you hear the scratching noise of the watch glass scraping the floor. You look down and see the straps tied very tight and you feel the discomfort in your feet.

Watch and television - Look at the watch on your hand, there is no dial. What you see is a very clear picture of your favourite television programme. You stop all work, lay back and enjoy the programme on your watch. You see the programme. You feel the joy.

Television and cat imagine - Imagine watching TV at home. Suddenly your TV has turned into a large purple cat with two yellow tails.

Take a blank paper. Write starting from the sea. Remember the colours, incidents, pictures. Start writing the words one after another. How many words did you write? If you are like most, you may have got eight, nine or perhaps all ten correct. This is the real ability of your mind. Whatever you see , hear and feel is registered in your mind. You can extract in no time. The link method helps you store it in a way that you can easily recall it out when you want.

Important points that help to link words

• Colour (yellow dog)
• Pictures, sounds, feelings, smell, and taste. Make pictures, characters, big and small (small dog with legs made of large pens)
• Movement (on opening the door, millions of shoes are pushed out of the car throwing you down)
• Humour
• Emotion
• Replacing one with another (cat in place of the television)
• Creativity (chairs travelling at high speed along the road)

Stop reading! Take a pen and paper. Write a list of ten words that come to your mind. Link them as above and write them again without looking at the list.

This is the amazing memory that lies within you. You can use this to remember any list. When you go shopping next, make a list and link each item in your mind. Go to the shop and try buying without looking at the list. Similarly use it whenever applicable. You can use linking to remember facts in a book, a lesson or remember key points in a lecture or a speech you have to make. If you are studying, select few key words or key concepts in a chapter of your notes. Build pictures, events and stories around each key word or key concept. Put them in an order best for you. Then, link the pictures and events in that order. Develop your own ways of linking.

Discover your personal learning styles and use them to learn fast and easy.
Dr. Priyanga de Zoysa, bestselling author and self improvement teacher.
www.PriyangadeZoysa.com