It occured to me today, that because of today's handhelds, certain things may become obsolute...for instance, MEMORY courses. (my apologies to Harry Lorayne, for whom I hold the highest respect)

But anyway, it used to be, that aquiring a super power memory was an excelent step toward personal success. After all, the person who remembers all his appointments, thus never being late, and remembers all birthdays, (for instance, the bosses daughter) stands out above the crowd and gets an easy leg up on success.

But with PDAs, you have the nearest thing to a photographic memory in the palm of your hand! Why would you need to take a memory course? The only thing you REALLY have to remember is to enter the important data, and look it up at the proper time.

If you get in that habit, you should never forget important information again.

Boring topic to many, I suppose, but it just shows how times have changed when man can carry his memory in his pocket..

And when you're trying to sell, say, an insurance policy to Seymour, and you call him Philip, you'll sure make that sale! When I asked the top CEO of a company if he used any electronic gimmick to list his appointments (other than his human secretary, who'd be fired if she or he didn't have the kind of memory they learn from me)he said "yes." I asked, "what would you do if you lost that gimmick?" He said, "I'd kill myself!" I asked, "What would you do if you could remember all your appointments without it?" His answer: "I'd walk on water!"
Oh, and when I teach corporate employees to remember their sales talks, speeches,names of potential or current clients, if I told them to use their PDAs, I'd be laughed out of town. It's interesting that I do more seminars for top corporations all over the world now than previously, and more individuals are interested in learning my systems for just that reason - TO BE BETTER THAN THOSE WHO RELY ON PDAs, OR ANY OTHER GIMMICK.
Want a piece of advise, DaffyDoug? Depend on your brain, not on gimmicks. You'll get much further. But you've made an interesting point. I've written this a few times: For every bit of progress, we take a step or two backward!! Best - HARRY LORAYNE.

Not to mention exercising the brain is just a good idea, eh?

I still want to improve my brain power by using Scott Cram's TYBE. Look out the battery on them PDAs - once my completely ran out and my data was not saved to my laptop and I lost everythin on my PDA...

Forget calling him Philip...as Harry well knows, pausing to check your PDA to see what his name is will blow the sale, too...as will holding up the meeting to check your electronic device for sales figures...etc. It's always good to have backup, but interrupting the flow of any personal interaction because you don't know your facts is a killer. And by "know," I don't mean "have access to."

I suppose it's the memory equivalent of something a terrific writer said about magic once...something about the audience shouldn't even SUSPECT, let alone DETECT, that you don't know (insert your favorite piece of data here, e.g. the guy's name, the sales figures, etc.) Great advice. Geez, what was that guy's name...

I agree with you on that aspect..that is, as far as associating peoples names to their face. That is definitely a yes. And I often apply Harry's systems for that purpose. But what I'm talking about is this: I have literally HUNDREDS of phone numbers in my PDA, as well as addresses along with their respective URLs and email addresses. Were I to commit them all to memory that would take a tremendous chunk of time, even with memory systems. But the part that makes it so hard to swallow, is that even then, I will STILL have to regularly take time to mentally REVIEW those scores of numbers, adresses, URLs and email addresses in order to keep them sharp. That requires even MORE time that I really, simply don't posess. No thanks. I'll let the handheld computer handle that ornery task. After all, isn't that what computers were designed for?

To boot, having hundreds of phone numbers and adresses dancing around in my brain that I will have to keep sharp by means of regular review is not exactly my idea of a fun time.

I think there are certainly priorities to take into consideration. You can't remember everything. But I store WAY too much stuff on my computer, PDA, and cellphone. I used to be able to remember fifteen or twenty important phone numbers. Now I have to work to remember five or six. My brain knows it has backup, and it takes real effort to get that lazy organ to do its job.

And - not that Harry needs any help promoting his business - but studies have shown that exercising the brain helps stave off the effects of aging and Alzheimer's. Besides Harry's memory course, working puzzles (crosswords and Sudoku and such), conversation, and reading have all been shown to keep the brain functioning at its peak. Videogames and regular physical exercise help, too.

Well, I play a lot of chess, and I solve puzzles whenevever I run into them..and I read voraciosly....so I guess have that aspect down pat. I just don't desire to keep scores of numbers sharp in my cerebrum.

LobowolfXXX- You've got it right! It's all, magic or sales, about interpersonal connections. He who hesitates is lost!

Joe