Let’s Talk About Mental Leverage, Pt. 4

Something called the Data Indexing Method

I think it was Einstein who said something like, “I may not know everything, but I do know where to go find it.” You really don’t need to be able to remember every single dot and point of all things, the where and how of gathering information is really all you’ll need. Even Einstein wouldn’t tell you how many feet there were in a mile, he refused to clutter his brain with impractical information.

There was a major newspaper some time ago that once printed an article on how Henry Ford was STUPID. Ford sued them over this. He forced the publisher to prove that he was as stupid as the printed article claimed. The lawyers surprisingly continued with this exercise and in court, they asked Ford many questions dealing with things that people are usually very familiar with, kinda like game show stuff, if you get my meaning.

Ford couldn’t answer many of the questions, President’s names, dates in American history, and the like. He told the court that although he couldn’t answer many of the questions, he DID have people who could look it up for him.

Ford and Einstein came to much the same conclusions and yet had very little in common (and there is a lot to say about that). But they did have one bit of intell that most people don’t, they were familiar with a rule of mental leverage:

It’s easier to remember where to get information when you need it rather than remembering that info yourself.

This is the basis for one of the most powerful memory systems ever devised. Most successful people use it, and conversely, most unsuccessful people do not.

In sales it is a common practice to jot down bits and pieces of information on each customer you deal with, so that next time you can pull out the info card just before you meet with them again and suddenly you remember little bits and pieces that make your customer feel wanted and familiar. It’s a nice idea and can be used also in educational ways.

If you are in say, college, and you have several difficult classes you are taking. It might be a good idea to make up little index cards with small bits and pieces of information from the notes you have taken each day and carry those cards around with you. That way, when you are stuck in traffic, or waiting in a bank line, you can pull out a few cards and bring ideas back into the front of your memory several times a day. Yes, this will result in lots of index cards, so perhaps a small pocket notebook would work just as well, but you’re a smart group out there, if you really want to do something like this you will figure it out. ;-)

But really, I am not trying to get you to use outside forces as much as the inside force of your own mind. I am mostly trying to show you how to use your brain as an index system. Think of it like the index of a text book. It can take up about three percent of the total amount of pages in a book. Thus, each page gives you access to about 33 pages of information. What would be easier, memorizing thirty three pages of information or one page of index? The index, of course. And that is why people who do great things in business, science and education, swear by the data indexing method.

What you really need, is not index cards, or a small notebook, but a realistic way to recall important information you pick up in your day to day travels. Used correctly, you should be able to recall information that is maybe two to three years old. You do this by giving information an interesting or unusual association.

More to come in part 5.