By Kim Johnson, Master Hypnotherapist

www.PerformanceHealingArts.com

(763)777-2553

It started in an office of a therapist. The client was always late on their Monday morning appointment. As usual they couldn’t find the keys to the car and needed someone to drive them. When they had gotten home and started their daily addiction the memory of where they had hid the keys reemerged in their mind.

This became the State Dependent Memory Learning and Behavior (SDMLB) model and with many studies over the years has been adapted as a model for improving human performance. Any memory or behavior is controlled by this simple equation, based on the state of the mind and body when information or performance is learned. An example evident in school is test anxiety. When an individual in a classroom learns information they generally are in a relaxed state. When the test day comes the state of mind can be one of stress. Now that the state of the mind is different than when the information was learned, the recall of that information is repressed. 

What you can do about it is the question to be answered. The method I use in the class room or studying is to create a consistent state:

I close my eyes, relax and tell myself, everything I read I will remember. What I have heard in class will be remembered relative to what I read. I open my eyes and begin my studies.

When it’s time for the test, regardless of how anxious I may be I close my eyes and relax. Now I tell myself, anything that I have read or heard in class will be clear. When I read a question it will be obvious as to what information is being asked for. The answers will seem clear and even in bold if it’s a multiple choice.

I open my eyes after I have recreated the state and start the test. It has improved my performance greatly.

When it comes to sports performance, “Practice makes perfect, if it’s perfect practice!” One of the top Olympic shooters made the comment, “If I’m shooting well in practice, I keep on shooting. If I’m not shooting well, I find some other aspect of training to concentrate on that day.”

If we are not preparing ourselves in the state that we will be performing in, when it comes to our performance it will not be our best. If our performance is under a stressed   condition (i.e. someone defending you from scoring) we should practice with this same level of stress or at least provide a set level of intensity to emulate this stress. Jogging through practice at half speed prepares you to play at half speed. It is ok to step through plays to create the memory of a pattern. To perform those plays accurately and at high level in a game setting, those plays need to be practiced with the intensity of a game setting.

Two ways in which we can improve our performance: 1.) Prepare a consistent state when you are learning material and when you need to perform what you have learned.

2.) Prepare at the level of intensity and stress that you expect to perform at.

Now, one more tip for memorizing material you have to know. This came from a Study at Stanford University and is related to SDMLB. You may know we remember things better when we have a strong emotional or physical response connected to an event or learning experience. That’s why we remember more clearly, a time you broke a bone, received a scare or an emotional traumatic event in your life. You can use this same principal to retain new information you read while studying.

Get a cooler filled with water and ice deep enough to put your arm in. Read the material that must be remembered in intervals of cohesive subject. Then stick your arm in the icy water until you feel the discomfort. Read the next material and again put your arm in the water until discomfort. This binds a physical state to the memory material and allows better access of the information when it needs to be remembered. It may sound a bit strange, but it’s very effective.

Good Luck enhancing your life’s performance!