My credentials in the memory training world are:
Two Time USA Memory Champion
20 Years teaching memory seminars
Held the record for the fastest to memorize a deck of cards in the USA for 2 years
Sold over 50,000 copies of my memory training CD set, Memory in a Month
Written a book on memory training, How to Memorize Names, Numbers, Speeches, Playing Cards and Everything else
So how does someone with all my experience with memory remember where I park my car…..
Take a look…
So there you have it….with all my memory training…I TAKE A PICTURE ON MY CELL PHONE OF WHERE I PARK!!! 🙂
Now…with that said, before cellphones what would I do or if I just wanted some good mental exercise:
1. I would create a mental image for every letter of the alphabet
2. You are going to need a picture for numbers. If you really want an extensive lesson on how to turn numbers into pictures go here – how to memorize numbers
However, this could actually take you a few days or weeks to get a picture for every 2 digit number. So how about a short cut? In reality you don’t have to remember the EXACT parking spot but just get close (I mean if you know what your car looks like! ha!) So what I would do is create a mental image for every number on the 10’s. For example
00 = two donuts (what it looks like)
10 = bowling pins (10 pins)
20 = shot gun (20 gauge shot gun)
30 = bread line (depression in 1930s)
40 = bomb (World War II)
50 = Elvis (1950s)
60 = hippies (1960s)
70 = disco (1970s)
80 = Michael Jackson (1980s)
90 = computers (1990s)
Then as I am walking away from my parking spot I would select something that stands out to me. A light pole, my car itself, my front seat, my radio, a fire extinguisher or anything that is around my car. Then if I am parked in spot A 53. As I walk away I would see in my mind Elvis eating an apple on the light pole next to my car. As I walk to the airport terminal I would keep thinking of this crazy picture of Elvis eating an apple until I was satisfied that I remembered it. Remember the CRAZY the image the better. Then a week later when you returned to your car if the image was crazy enough you should remember Elvis eating an apple and this will get you back to spot A 50 and from there you see A 53.
Tips:
1. Review my pictures for letters
2. If you use a light pole on this trip to the airport the next time you park maybe see the image on your car. If you use the same light pole you could get confused between the trips and not be sure where you parked your car. Change up the location where you visualize the image
I once lost my car for 2 hours at the airport in North Carolina and the security guard had to drive me around for 2 HOURS while I clicked my keys to make the lights come on! So now I always take a picture or use this method…you don’t want to be driving around for 2 hours….trust me 🙂
So there you have it, this is how you remember where you parked your car if you don’t want to use your cell phone camera!! 🙂