Sometimes we place unrealistic expectations on books to make life-altering changes for us. I have often picked up a self-help book with that hope. Of course, that doesn’t happen. Reality check, please. Indeed I’ve gleaned many useful nuggets that I have been able to apply to my life from reading well-informed authors. I believe that if I can take away two or three tips and incorporate them into my routine, then my time is well spent.
Such was the case when I bought Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein – The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. I thought I would give my brain the gift of memory. Eagerly, I read page after page, holding my breath for the moment of enlightenment. Then I finished reading the book. Still the “Aha” moment did not come.
So I mulled over what I had read. Did I enjoy reading it? Yes, I did. Is there a takeaway for me? I thought about Mr. Foer’s journey from an ordinary person with average memory to winning the U.S. Memory Championship. He shared some of his memorization techniques. Example, “The idea is to create a space in the mind’s eye, a place that you know well and can easily visualize, and then populate that imagined place with images representing whatever you want to remember.” I tried that out. It worked. I loved the suggestion that the more ridiculous the images, the better you would be able to retain them. The problem was that the effort became too much for me. I have lapsed back to my usual forgetful self, but I’m learning not to chastise myself for not remembering.
The lesson: books can’t change me, only I can…sometimes with assistance from experts in their fields.
Labels: Books