1. Personal Sanctuary
Learning is state dependant. Your emotional state is the connection between your conscious and subconscious minds. You can either learn the information in the same emotional state you need to recall in, like practicing sport under pressure to replicate game pressure, or studying under timed conditions to replicate exam conditions. Or you can take control of your emotional state when you are learning and recalling. This second option is our preferred because it means you can access your information at all times just by putting yourself in your chosen emotional state.

Use the Personal Sanctuary to control your emotional state for learning and recall. It's the fastest, most robust and effective tool I've ever come across for learning. Go to your Personal Sanctuary when learning, when studying, when recalling, and when being tested. It will open the channel between your conscious and subconscious minds to allow you easy access to your information.

2. Anchoring
Another super powerful technique to control your emotional state is anchoring. Anchoring is fusing an emotional state with a trigger. When they fire together, they become associated. Set up an anchor specifically for learning. Choose a trigger word, or special move.

Examples:
Clap your hands and say "let's go!".
Press your forehead like you're pressing record on a tape deck so all the info goes in, then press your forehead in the exam to access all the recorded info.

Simply fire your anchor every time you go to learn, and then fire your anchor every time you want to recall the info. (And fire your anchor again every time you're really in the zone to anchor it further!)

Here's some good news - the Personal Sanctuary is also an anchor for learning every time you use it.

3. Scents
This is another anchoring technique.
Either choose a scent for each subject, or use one scent for all learning.

Example:
Lemongrass - maths
Lavender - history
Rosemary - creative writing

Either burn that oil, or roll a small amount on your wrist or collar so you can smell it, or have a little scented wax block you can smell and then have within reach while you're learning and studying. Use it every time. (When you don't have it, imagine you can smell it to create the same effect).

Then dab it on your wrist or collar, or take your scented wax block into the exam to open the channel to all your stored info.

4. Memory Palace
This is the go-to memory technique.
Create your memory palace by memorising your house (or one you know well). It could also be a route you walk, or a favourite memory like walking through Paris and seeing all the sights. It's critical you take the same route through your memory palace each time. Each feature in the memory palace becomes a "hook" to place information on.

Example:
House - (going through each room in order, going left around each room) front door, then into first room on the left, bed, window seat, tv, wardrobe... then into second room..
Sydney Harbour - Opera House, Opera Bar, fountain in round about, fancy restaurant, jet boats, ferry terminals 1-5, Museum of Contemporary Art, overseas passenger ship terminal, park, Harbour Bridge.

You add information to your memory palace by giving each bit of info a symbol. Then you add each symbol to the "hook" by visualising them together in the most vivid, colourful, disgusting or memorable way possible! Don't hold back, make it stick!

Examples:
Remembering the major exports of a region
Symbols - sheep, cow, grain, wine, apple
Put one symbol per "hook". The sheep is enormous and is spiked on the Opera House with blood everywhere and the seven white spikes shining through. The cow is being milked in Opera Bar to make creamy cocktails for tourists, grain is shooting out of the fountain and injuring people, red white is staining the dresses of everyone in the fancy restaurant, an American is complaining loudly because the jetboats are made of apples...

Hot tip: go to your Personal Sanctuary to enter your Memory Palace to take it to the next level!

5. Visualise
- As you learn each bit of info, visualise recalling it easily in the exam, or wherever you need it.
- Visualise being perfectly calm as you wait for, and enter your test.
- Visualise saying "it'll come back in a sec" if you do happen to get a brief mental block
- Visualise all the info that's coming your way being filed and organised for you by your ever helpful subconscious mind, and presented to you whenever you ask for it.
- Visualise going to your Personal Sanctuary and instantly feeling calm and confident.

6. Use as many senses as possible
Whenever you are learning, use as many senses as possible.
See it, say it, act it out. Draw it, paint it, role play it. Record it, play it back. Use colours, use smells, even pretend you can taste what you're learning. You have a full and vivid imagination - put it to good use and it will reward you for it!