^Additional Exercises - Association of Ideas\

Now that you've been introduced to the principle of association, spend some
time practicing those mental pictures.  Make up a list of items, then
form associations between those items in your mind.  Remember that your
mental images should always be as illogical, crazy, and far-fetched as
possible.

The items you associate can be any everyday, ordinary things that you think
of. They don't have to be logically connected in any way. Start with a list
of ten items, then increase the list to twenty, or as many as you feel you
can handle at this stage. If you can associate a list of twenty items and
then recall the list both backwards and forwards, you are doing very well.

You can practice your association skills anywhere - on a train or bus, or
while out walking, or during commercial breaks on television, or during your
lunch break at work or school... any time you have a few spare moments.

Association forms the basic building block around which |all\ the Memory
Master systems are built.  The more time you spend practicing the creation
of those ludicrous mental pictures <now\, the easier you will find the rest
of the systems to learn.#

When you feel confident with your new found memory skills, get a friend or
relative to call out twenty items to you, or as many as you feel comfortable
with. Let him write down the items as he calls them, so that he can check
you later. If he doesn't write the items down, he won't remember the items
himself - unless he's followed the Memory Master course !

As he calls out the list, you associate each item in turn to the last one,
using the techniques you have just learned.  When he's called out all the
items, you can repeat them straight back to him. If you miss an item, simply
ask him what the item was, strengthen that particular association, and call
the list out in reverse !

To make sure you remember the >first\ item in the list, simply associate it
to your friend's head. If the first item was banana, see ^billions of
bananas\ come tumbling out of your friend's mouth.

Each time you try this exercise you will gain confidence in the Principle of
Association, and see that the system really does work !~