What experiences will stay with you forever? What images are still vivid in your mind? What films and books are still part of your repertoire? Exactly: the experiences, images, films and books that touched you. That triggered emotions in your soul.
Laughing or crying
It’s a fact long known that learning with the help of emotions has the best result. Funny mnemonics work better than boring ones. And will you ever forget the day when uncle Harry slipped and landed face first in the birthday cake? Laughing is a fist class teacher. But all other emotions work, too. Remember where you were when you were frightened by that enormous spider? And do you still know what you were doing when you broke your leg? You have visited so many places and you have done so many things, but shock and pain stuck those two experiences in your memory.
Laughing is the better choice
But although allemotions boost your memory, pleasant emotions work best. If a memory gives you feelings of fear, disgust or regret, you will try to avoid it. Was your gym teacher a tyrant? You will probably never forget… and hate physical activity for the rest of your life. It’s not all about remembering things, it’s about remembering them with pleasure. And acting on them.
Changes
Work is a place where there’s much to learn. Especially when things change. Reorganizations, a new director, new software, new rules… Situations that compel you to learn, but often generate stress, fear and uncertainty. Not the most enjoyable and effective way to store information in such a way that you will put it into practice with pleasure.
Make it better!
In my previous blog I stated that fear and humor are opposite forces. And this fact also applies when you have to learn something new. When you have a fear of the unknown or of failure, a laugh has the power to free you. Luckily I can help you to see the humor of the situation. And once you have experienced a good belly laugh at my cartoons, you will remember the new bits of information with pleasure andwill put them into practice.
