Your memory is interrelated to your attitude toward your memory

Do not believe people who say intelligence is a gift, that it is all in the genes. That memory is something you have or you do not. That you can learn a language or not based on your effort but on if you have a gift or not. I know one guy who had a 89 IQ. Yes, people called him a moron growing up. Well that moron, loved to learn and now after an MBA is fluent in 5 languages and speaks another 5 pretty well. It is truly amazing. I know another person who experts tested in grade school as “slow” and he should not go to normal high school but trade school. His parents never told him anything other than he was bright and gifted. He is worth over 10 million dollars now and on his way to a PhD. Yes these are true stories of people I know. Do you want to change your memory, then change your attitude toward learning. Here is some science to back my amazing motivational, but true stories.

Those who consider intelligence a natural gift—or the lack thereof the fault of bad genes—may have trouble recalling a fact they have just learned. On the other hand, those who believe that intelligence is something that can be acquired through dedication and hard work demonstrate more vibrant memories of things past. Jennifer Mangels, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Columbia University in New York, says that such flexible thinkers have better memories because they are less concerned about forgetting. “They look at a mistake at a more meaning based level, rather than superficially,” she says.

As a result, explains Mangels, the brains of flexible thinkers process information in greater depth, increasing the likelihood of memorization. These latest revelations stem from research done on college students, but Mangels says that the right attitude may help at any age. Citing a study that compared senior university professors to elderly retirees, Mangels says that academics retain better memory skills—no surprises there.

Read more about the science that motivates me to change my attitude towards learning and memory

Tags: genes, intelligence, IQ, languages, learn, learning, memory, technique