Research suggests: Handwriting is the most successful method for notes. This way you have to synthesize the information, because you don't have time to write everything down.

F.A.S.T. learning is the key concept for improving your brain performance.

F = forget what you know, your circumstances and limitations A = activate your brain by consuming less and creating more S = state is important, emotions create long term memories T = teach, because you learn it twice by telling others

Only 1/3 of our brain performance is determined. That means: 2/3 is in your control. There is nothing like a good or bad mind, only a trained and a not trained one. Learning how to learn is the most important thing in life. Unfortunately we are not really taught in school, how to do that properly. So we need catch up!

Quick recall can be trained with the MOM-method: Motivation, Observation, Mechanics. Motivation: If someone gives your 100.000 $ to just remember a name, you would do that, right? So recall is a matter of whether you want it or not. Check your motivation by asking WIIFN: Whats in it for me? Reasons reap results!

Observation: (1) Fight for your limitations and you get to keep them. (2) Its not your retention, its your attention. Leaders have a great memory because they care (e.g. Bill Clinton). Try not to listen in order to respond, but to understand. Quick recall via MOM – Mechanics (follows).

1. Good diet: You are, what you eat. 2. Kill "ants" (= automatic negative thoughts --> Dr. Daniel Amen) 3. Excerise: When your body moves, your brain growes 4. Brain nutrience (supplements) 5. Positive peer-group: who you spend time with, is who you become.

6. Clean environment 7. Sleep 8. Brain protection: avoid extremes (e.g. sports), your brain is fragile 9. New learnings: neuroplasticity possible even in older age; nutrience + novelty 10. stress manangement A lot of things are common sense, but not common practice.

Knowledge is power. Especially in the new knowledge economy we live in. The average CEO for example reads 4-5 books a month. Why? Because it gives him/her an advantage to non-readers. Leaders are readers!

To read 4-5 books per month like CEOs you don't even need to speed read (which is good anyway). Do the math: An average person reads 200 words per minute. An average book has 64000 words. Hence, you only need to read 45 minutes a day to complete that task. Just imagine whats possible if you are able to read faster ...

1. Keep a book list. 2. Start by testing your reading speed. 3. Keep in mind: You can finish a book per week by reading 45 minutes a day. 4. Schedule your reading time. Take your day peak as orientation.

Method for remembering names: BE SUAVE. B = Believe: Most people think they are unable to do certain things. That's the issue! All behavior is believe driven. "You cannot do it, YET!" E = Exercise: Practice makes progress. Bad news: It takes effort. Good news: Not so much :-)

S = Say it. Recall the name. U = Use it. Three or more times in the conversation. A = Ask. Talk about the name. Story behind it. Spelling etc. V = Visualize. Especially the face. E = End with their name. And they will remember yours as well ;-)

The average person reads 200 words per minute. Even with this tempo you could easily read a book a week by taking 45 minutes a day. But, however, this does not mean you keep in mind what you read. There are typical problems people have with reading.

Lack of skill: Reading isn’t something you can do when you are born. It’s a skill. So: When did you actually learn to read? In first class, right? Since then no one really gets taught how do it properly. So most people stay on that level of their ability to read.

Lack of focus: It’s a myth, that faster readers have less comprehension. It’s even the other way around. If you have no time for distraction, you focus more. Remember: Information combined with emotion becomes long term memory. Use a pen/finger as a visual pacer.

How do you recall a list of 10 random words? Test it. Read this list only once and then write down what you remember. Note: Its not about failure (which is good!). Fire hydrant. Balloon. Batteries. Barrel. Board. Diamant. Knight Rider. Ox. Tooth paste. Sign.

Now tell a story including these words. It doesn't have to make sense, just make something up (e.g. creative, funny, crazy). Now recall your story and write all the words down on a sheet. Did it work? You also learned the first 10 elements in the periodic table ;-) ...

Fire hydrant = hydrogen Balloon = helium Batteries = lithium Barrel = beryllium Board = borum Diamant = carbon Knight Rider = nitrogen Ox = oxygen Tooth paste = flour Sign = neon

By the way: Telling a story helps remembering things. Also does: primacy (first word), recency (last word), organization, emotion, outstanding things.

Subvocalization slows you down. Your brain can think faster than you can speak. 3 Hacks: 1. Strech yourself with getting used to shortcuts while reading. 2. Listen to music, because it may distract you from subvocalization (e.g. barock with 60 b/s). 3. Break patterns with humming, chewing gum or counting.

We forget 80% of what we learn during 48 hours. Thats tragic! What to do? The key is taking notes in a helpful way. How?

1. Be active in listening. 2. Know your purpose. 3. Textual hierarchy (e.g. highlighting or underlining) 4. Organize your notes. 5. Use your own words (verbatim note-taking is pretty useless!) 6. Create your own system (e.g. abbreviation, symbols) 7. Filter important information.

Method: Capture and create Take a blank sheet and draw a line in the middle. On the left side you capture all the info (imagine the left, logic part of the brain). On the right side you work with this info on your own, creating something important for you (imagine the right, creative part of the brain).

Method: TIP T = think about what to retain I = identify relevant information P = prioritize it

Kids raised to be pampered and spoiled don't really end up being good leaders. Leaders need to be independent minded and confident.

My stepfather introduced me to The London Library when I was about 18; the clientele has definitely changed since then, but it is still a wonderful oasis in the middle of London.

Singing really is acting. In a lot of ways, it's much more personal. I love music, and being able to work on that is amazing.

My memories are of denim. I remember being 12 in my Levi's. Wow!

Hair on a guy is something that attracts me first; if you've got a good head of hair, and you're able to style yourself in a way that's presentable, I think that's really important.

We need a few trusted naysayers in our lives, critics who are willing to puncture our protective bubble of self-justifications and yank us back to reality if we veer too far off. This is especially important for people in positions of power.

The fire of Purgatory is the same as the fire of Hell; the difference between them is that the fire of Purgatory is not everlasting.

Maybe I see myself with kids, given the right place and right moment, with the right person.

Dave Camp, in my view, made tax reform inevitable in the sense that he showed you could broaden the base and lower the rates and simplify the code and be competitive around the world and make it more understandable.

It is about this very abstract sense of displacement that he feels the moment he turns off the television.

I think baseball was really reality when I was a freshman in high school.

It's not the '90s anymore. I think the gay community is a lot more accepted these days.

Every woman should wear make-up. It takes years off. I'm wearing lots of false eyelashes today, and to me, lipstick is the best cosmetic that exists.

My life's been surreal from start to finish.

When you're a child, you crave formal recognition; you crave ceremony, celebration, certification of proof.

With Instagram and Twitter, you're constantly looking at other people and comparing yourself to them, and it's just not beneficial. There is always going to be someone skinnier or prettier or with better skin, and that same girl you're looking at is comparing herself to someone else.

It's harder to take care of kids than it is to make a movie.

The day will come, however, when they will truly know the Unification Church and me. The day will come when the truth will be known and the message of love will be taught. On that day, their regret will be deep.

The thinner a newspaper or magazine is - due to reduced revenue from advertising dollars - the less editorial content because of the standard ad-to-editorial ratio, and the less money there is to support investigative journalism.

Small businesses were slower than large businesses in adopting broadband. One of the reasons was they were concerned with putting their customer lists online or in the cloud.

You have to move in life, but the loyalty you develop in a community is always remembered. But if you leave, you don't pick it up in the next town. It's not an add-on, you know, because you lose what you had.

Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave when they think that their children are naive.

Every loss recapitulates earlier losses but every affirmation of identity echoes earlier moments of clarity.

What I like in comedies are really two things: stories that are character-driven and stories that are rooted in authenticity.