Why do we find numbers so hard? Because a number is abstract. It has no shape, no colour and no sound that you can picture. And your mind remembers pictures.
So the answer, again, is to turn the number into a picture first. In Memory Power, I teach a way to do this with ten consonant sounds. When I demonstrate on stage, I memorise a hundred digit number forward, backwards, and by rows and columns. I use the same skill for phone numbers and bank account numbers. It is an advanced skill, so do not worry if it feels strange at first. Read this chapter three or four times.
The ten sounds
Each digit from zero to nine is given a consonant sound.
- 1 is T or D.
- 2 is N.
- 3 is M.
- 4 is R.
- 5 is L.
- 6 is J, Ch or Sh.
- 7 is K, hard C or G.
- 8 is F or V.
- 9 is P or B.
- 0 is Z or S.
It looks a lot to learn. But here is a pleasant surprise. You have already learnt it. Look at the skeleton files. Top, nose, mouth, ribs, liver, joint, cap, fibula, ball and sand. Their first sounds are t, n, m, r, l, j, k, f, b and s. Top is 1. Nose is 2. Mouth is 3. Ribs is 4. Liver is 5. Joint is 6. Cap is 7. Fibula is 8. Ball is 9. Sand is 0. Say your body files and you have the code.
Make a word
To turn a number into a picture, change the digits into sounds, then add vowels as you like. Vowels cost nothing. Only the consonant sounds count.
The book gives a good example. You see Exit 56 on a highway. Five is L. Six is Sh. So it is a leash. A dog on a leash, and you have the picture.
Here are some of my own pictures for two digit numbers from the book.
- 24 is Nehru. 32 is moon. 49 is rope.
- 04 is saree. 69 is jeep. 28 is knife.
- 40 is rose. 100 is disease. 94 is bar.
Spend a week making your own list from 1 to 100. If my picture does not suit you, change it. Your own picture is always stronger.
Two digits, one picture
Do not make a picture for every single digit. Break the long number into pairs. Each pair becomes one picture. Then join the pictures in a story.
The book takes a forty digit number, and breaks it into pairs. The first four pairs give Nehru, rope, moon and Kaif. Now see a story. Nehru catches a rope and goes to the moon. There he sees Kaif wearing a saree. She shouts. He jumps into a jeep, holding a knife.
The silly story goes on for twenty pictures, and you can walk it forward or backward. When I test you on it, you will say the whole number in either direction.
Do it everywhere
The best way to practise is to turn every number you see into a picture, instantly. A bus number. A house number. A vehicle plate. In the beginning you will go through the steps slowly. After a few weeks the picture is already there, and you no longer have to calculate.
This has many practical uses. The book lists phone numbers, product codes, bank account numbers, vehicle numbers, legal sections, historical years, population, areas, distances and boiling and melting points.
A five minute challenge
In the book, I give thirty five pictures and tell you to learn them in five minutes. They are nail, can, juice, moon, mail, match and so on. Together they hold a seventy digit number. Nail is 25. Can is 72. Juice is 60. Moon is 32.
Set a timer. File them on your files. Do not beat yourself up if you do not get all of them. The first attempt only needs to be fun.
Start tonight with your own phone number. Make three or four pictures out of it. Now you will never forget it again.
This is one idea from my book Memory Power.
