The School (Bus) Plane

I had an interesting dream today. In fact, I just awoke from it. I usually forget my dreams but for some reason, I remember this one.

I was walking down the stairs with two young women, both friends of mine. We were talking about important stuff and then the younger woman blurted out, "I want to get married."

3-Step Process to Writing Irresistible Stories

Have you ever participated in a tug of war? Did you enjoy it?

Two rival groups at opposite ends trying to pull each other over a line. As a spectator, how would you feel if one group pulls the other over the line with the very first pull?

Crazy week

I had an eventful week - quite unforgettable.

Earlier this week, I created my new blog Memstar. So far, I've been writing very short articles on learning. I really want everyone to experience the magic of Anki.

On Wednesday, I went to University Department to collect my examination pass. I got there and asked for it, fully expecting to get it.

To my surprise, the guy in charge checked and couldn't find my pass. He asked me if I owed the school and I replied, "no!" 

He checked on his computer and my eyes widened. I saw a huge bill and I said out loud, "interesting." I was being charged twice for the semester. Easy problem to fix right? Well...

I walked to the administration block but couldn't get it fixed. No problem I thought, I'll fix it tomorrow. 

Thursday, problem still remained. The people I met were nice but not helpful. I was told, "The person required to approve the change is not around. Come tomorrow." I went home.

Friday, same story as above.

Saturday, I woke up and didn't feel like eating. I went to school in the afternoon and got, "Come on Monday." 

I have a paper on Monday and so coming back on Monday was unacceptable. I started everybody in the admin block. And the problem got fixed. End of story? Not yet.

Got home by 5 pm. I still wasn't hungry but I knew my mom would be pissed if she ever found out that I didn't eat all day. So, I ate five bananas.

As it got dark, I had this uneasy feeling about my flight scheduled for later this month but cast my fears aside.

By 7 pm, I decided to cook because I didn't want to cook the next morning (today.) I hesitated until it was 9 pm. I put the stuff on fire and relaxed on my bed. 

Next thing I knew, I woke up with the room filled with thick black choking smoke. I ran towards the stove, turned it off immediately. I quickly poured some water into the charred pot.

I opened the windows to let the smoke out. And laid on my bed. The smoke made breathing difficult so I took out a handkerchief and soaked it in water. After that, I put it over my nose and mouth.

I spent thirty minutes completing the Anki flashcards on my phone. After that, I tried to go to sleep. My heart rate was normal but I couldn't fall asleep. 

I guess, the thought that I'd almost killed myself kept me awake. Either the smoke or the fire would have done the job. But if I had to choose, I'll pick the smoke.

As I watched the ceiling, I thought it funny that my landlord and his kids did not smell the smoke. How dead could their noses be. They were not only awake, they were just across the hallway.

By 1 am, the thick smoke was still visible in the room. And, I finally fell asleep.

I woke up by 4 am and have been awake ever since. There was still left over smoke.

By 6 am, the room was smoke free. However, my room still reeked of smoke. Even my clothes smelled badly. I have a massive amount of washing ahead of me. 

I didn't want to write about this but...

By 7 am, I heard a knock on the door. It was my landlord's son. He informed my that my landlord was going to increase my rent by 215%.

This last part is funny isn't it? Well, I'm glad to be alive. I thank God I am. Have a great week.

Two Basic conditions for success 2

If you haven't done so, read Two basic conditions for success Part One.

Answer these questions:

• How do wives get their husbands to do "difficult chores" like washing the dishes, taking out the trash...?
• How do parents get their kids to clean their rooms?
• How do teachers get their students to read?

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.

Others - friends, co-workers, family members, routinely make us do things simply by repeating their requests. Even we don't want to, we eventually give in and do it.

On the other hand, there are things we want to do but we keep on procrastinating. Do we need more willpower? Maybe not.

Here's how I used the power of repetition to create action.

A few months ago, I created an Anki deck with 30 great quotes. It took a few hours and I was done.

Before the quotes, I used to tackle my easiest decks first. However, after a few weeks of memorizing the quotes with Anki, I changed. I started doing the hard ones first and here's why.

One of the quotes I memorized was by Dale Carnegie, "Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs would take care of themselves."

I started to mentally hear this command, "do the hard jobs first." I wanted to ignore the voice and do the easy ones first but i couldn't. I had two choices:

1. Delete the offending quote
2. Obey and do the hard tasks first.

I chose the second.

I know it seems like a minor change in behavior and you may be right. However, it's awesome what repeatedly reading and reciting a few quotes through Anki could do.

In conclusion, if you haven't done so, download my Anki deck of success quotes free of charge. Start reviewing them daily. It only take a few minutes per day.

Next time, I'll talk about using Anki to remember what you read in articles. 

Two basic conditions for Success

Basic conditions for success

(Proverbs 19:8)  Do yourself a favor and learn all you can; then remember what you learn and you will prosper.

From the quote above, there are two basic conditions for success.

1. Learning all you can.
2. Remembering what you learn.

If you....

I've been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. 

In primary school, I'd read story books with my best friend Steven. We didn't have worries or responsibilities. Oh, those were the good days. I dreamt about owning businesses like Lex Luthor (the enemy of Superman). 

Secondary school.

Although I no longer had my reading partner Steve, I kept reading anything that interested me. Of course, I kept increasing the magnitude of my dreams. Now, I wanted to own cities - just like Luthor.

Just after secondary school, I read two books that changed my life forever. They were given to me by my Dad. He just came back from work one day and handed them over to me. He said, "Read them. We'll discuss them when you're done."

Read them I did. I carried the books along with me for chores, errands, even to the bathroom... until I'd guzzled them completely. I was excited. I could see myself succeeding if I just followed the principles I learned from the books. Dad didn't review them with me but I didn't mind.

University came - computer science at Covenant University. I kept on reading books. I remember finding a black-covered text book on Computer Viruses in my university library. I skipped a couple of classes, food, cartoons... to make sure I finished the book. 

It took about four days but I finally finished it. Oh... when I finished, the world looked different! Stories like how computer viruses spread through the air, or create  themselves... were completely false. 

I got confident, deleted my antivirus software and began successfully hunting viruses down. I got so good that I could tell if a computer was infected with just a glance at the screen. Cool right?

Now I've forgotten where I was going with this. I remember. 

My life hasn't exactly turned out the way I pictured it yet. It always bothered me. I began to question myself, "What if I don't become as successful as I'd dreamed?" "What if I end up jobless?"... 

For years, I did not have an answer. I had no explanation for why I couldn't develop the skills I needed. Now, I have a part answer to my questions.

I'd fulfilled the first condition for success - I learned all I could. However, I failed the second condition for success - I quickly forgot what I learned.

Forgetting the principles from the many books I read kept me in chains. It's like having a gun in my house but not remembering where it is. If an armed robber comes, well... use your imagination.

With many lost opportunities, my self-confidence suffered.

Yes, to forget is Human. We are not computers. We forget. I should have fought the forgetting curve by re-opening those books and spend countless hours re-reading. 

I don't know about you but, I really don't want to open a book I've just read. It's boooooring! There were so many books and too little time that I didn't want to spend any of it, rereading the old stuff you know?

So what can be done about this forgetting thing? Luckily, I have found a neat tool that helps me remember almost everything that I learn. 

If you know what SRS and Anki are, then congratulations. Good job. 

Otherwise, I'll continue this post soon. To my 2 visitors. Don't know who you are but I appreciate it. Thank you and keep visiting.