7 Powerful Mind Mapping Examples For Better Method of Loci Success

| Memory

Mind Mapping Examples for better Method of Loci Results Featured ImageWe all know about mind mapping and the Method of Loci as independent learning and memory tools, but …

How many people use the mind mapping technique to help them use the Method of Loci better?

The answer is simple:

Not as many people as I would like!

Worse, some people struggle unnecessarily with how to find Memory Palaces.

They know they need many of them in order to get the Method of Loci operating properly, but they struggle to find enough of them.

Let’s put an end to this struggle right now.

On this page you’ll discover how they can work together to help you create dozens, if not hundreds of Memory Palaces by creating a simple Mind Map.

How To Get Started With Mind Mapping For Finding More Memory Palaces

If you’re anything like me, there’s only one frustration that comes with learning a new skill.

You want things to be perfect… instantly!

Seriously – who doesn’t?

Well, let me caution you that using mind mapping to help you benefit from the Method of Loci is NOT for perfectionists.

Be willing to drop your perfectionism and progress towards consistently becoming better.

Bring your flexibility, your willingness to “just do it,” and joyously make mistakes for the purpose of growth.

Mind mapping is not a final destination, a journey from point A to point B.

The Biological Secret Behind These Mind Mapping Examples

Instead, it is like a brain cell on paper, with multiple tributaries that radiate outwards from a central point.

It’s kind of like how rivers flow from lakes out into the oceans.

In other words, the answer to what is mind mapping is this: it is organic.

And the process is not a linear race to some end point. Rather, it is a process and a journey – not unlike the “journey method” of the method of loci itself.

Except, in this case, we’re “unlocking” as many journeys as we can assisted by mind mapping.

Understanding this concept is the first step to success. Then understand the process.

Why is this point so important?

Because as a lifelong learner, you will always be stepping into an unknown future.

But if you have a hyped-up destination in mind based on bankrupt ideas about how your brain works, you’re just begging for frustration.

Indeed, you’ll be paralyzed by inaction before you can even begin.

So just relax.

Take a deep breath. Put pen to paper.

The First Step In Mind Mapping For Generating Memory Palace Ideas

The starting point to creating an effective mind map, as taught by Tony Buzan in Mind Map Mastery is to have a large central image that uses at least three colors.

This central image should be inviting, one you’ll want to revisit.

You don’t have to be a great artist.

Once again, don’t overthink it!

Let your mind wander as you draw, but wander in a focused way. For more help, listen to my interview with Tony Buzan. It’s inspiring!

The First Mind Mapping Example: 
The Parthenon

To mind map the Method of Loci, for example, our central image could be a Parthenon-esque column to represent the origin of this incredible mnemonic device.

Mind Mapping Example with the Parthenon for Memory Palace Discovery

I chose the Parthenon due to an association with Simonides of Ceos and stories that link the origin of the Memory Palace with ancient Greece.

But you might choose something else, perhaps from even earlier in history based on Lynne Kelly’s discoveries about this technique in The Memory Code.

A Simple Process That Unlocks the Power Of The Method Of Loci

From that central image, we travel outward by creating a radiating tributary.

Then use a simple process of asking yourself questions. For example, ask:

Where do you spend a majority of your time?

What surroundings are most familiar?

What environment is the most recognizable?

For most people, the answer is home.

Memory Palace ideas for different homes unlocked by this Mind Mapping Example

How To Use Mind Mapping To Find Multiple Homes For Memory Palaces

Whether you list your childhood home, college dormitory, a beloved first apartment, or your current residence, “home” is a place that you know frontwards and backwards, inside and out.

List every “home” that comes to mind.

This choice already opens up so many possibilities for multiple Memory Palaces, doesn’t it?

Thank the Mind Map process. And this:

Magnetic Memory Method Free Memory Improvement Course

 

Why Mind Mapping Helps You Start Finding More Memory Palaces

Don’t worry. This is just the beginning of the ideas I’ll share on this page.

But it will help you even further if you understand why this process is so valuable to your progress.

Think of your brain as a garden.

You have this rich soil (your brain cells).

Let’s say that about 10-20% of that soil is involved in your spatial mapping and spatial memory abilities.

Well, without “excavating” more Memory Palaces from the soil of your mind, you’ll never have enough rows to plant seeds of memory using association-based mnemonics.

But when you get this right, you’ll have multiple perfectly tended rows to load full of seeds that will eventually create an incredible harvest every time you wish to remember new information.

More Incredible Mind Mapping Examples For New Memory Palaces

Consider the remaining blank space on the page with your mind map.

What other homes are you familiar with?

Friends’ homes?

Extended family?

Amazing “Virtual” Memory Palace Ideas You Can Experiment With

What about homes of fictional characters?

Aren’t we all familiar with Monica’s iconic apartment on Friends?

What about the Addams’ mansion, or the lush greenery of The Shire, home of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings?

Relax, extend, and cultivate to expand your mind map.

Then think about schools, movie theaters, video rental outlets and even think about how to increase memory by watching movies and TV series.

Mind Mapping Example using TV shows and movies to improve memory

The possibilities are endless for exploration.

Once you realize this fact, mind mapping lends itself to a natural flow.

The only warning I have is that you might need additional training so you know how to enhance your memory with Virtual Memory Palaces properly.

Branching Out Further For More Method Of Loci Tools

Once that flow has been created, get out of your own way.

You may associate home with your childhood home, then, in turn, your childhood years in general, which naturally leads to reminiscing about “school days.”

Given about seven hours a day, Monday through Friday, for over a decade were spent in school, this is another familiar place that can lend itself to a branch on your mind map.

Then there are churches, libraries, movie theaters. These are all big, grand, familiar places from which we can expand our web.

All of these places have specific areas inside of them, details that you can, and should, allow your mind to explore, and revisit.

Then use a central image and let the ideas flow.

How Mind Mapping Helps You Creatively Follow Chains Of Association

As you relax into the process, the combination of keywords and images will trigger memories.

For example, in your elementary school there was likely a playground, gymnasium, library, and cafeteria.

Thinking of your library may lend itself to thinking of your favorite books, then favorite authors, or favorite movies that were adaptations of those books.

Exploring the idea of your cafeteria may lead you down a path of your favorite lunch day, or a memory of your Batman lunchbox.

Where does that notion of the Batman lunchbox lead? Perhaps back to the early television series with Adam West, then back to a notable “home,” the Bat Cave.

How To Uncover Amazing Car Memory Palaces

You can also use cars. I have four that I use – the same four that I drove during high school and early university.

Mind Mapping Example of Finding 4 Car Memory Palaces

It’s pretty simple:

Just reflect back through all the cars you’ve owned.

You could also add cars your family members and friends have owned and potentially cars from movies that stand out in your imagination.

Use these places, these ideas that seemingly come at random and record them onto a mind map, taking note of how they weave together.

It’s just part of how to study fast. Fun, isn’t it?

How Mind Mapping Can Unlock Dozens Of Churches For The Method Of Loci

For example, I drew a simple cross to represent the idea of a “church.” This instantly led me to think of churches I’d been to as a kid and that I’d visited while living in Europe.

As luck would have it, the Kaiser Wilhem Memorial Church in Berlin (Gedächniskirche) leapt to mind. It’s a powerful Memory Palace!

Mind Mapping to find a Memory Palace for the Method of Loci from the Gedaechtnis Kirche in Berlin

With more practice, you’ll see that these ideas aren’t random at all. The mind mapping technique is helping you make better associations that lead to more familiar and powerful Memory Palace options.

Mind Map Your Body, Furniture, Musical Instruments & More

Yes, you can use your body as a Memory Palace.

Your guitar, your sofa, anything goes.

Mind Map Example Large Image With Many Memory Palace Ideas

The important thing is that you:

  1. Get out a large piece of paper.
  2. Create a central image that represents the goal: Identifying multiple Memory Palaces for developing your method of loci skills.
  3. Understand that the tributaries “radiate” outwards.
  4. Allow these tributaries to radiate further (i.e. from “home” to the homes of your friends, family and even fictional characters.
  5. Use both keywords and simple drawings.
  6. Relax before you get started.
  7. Focus on progress, not perfectionism.
  8. Draw each Memory Palace you identify.
  9. Use the Memory Palaces as soon as possible.
  10. Come back to mind mapping to find more Memory Palaces and get more out of the method of loci technique.

Summing up, the ideas I came up with this process were:

  • Homes:
    • All the homes I’ve lived in
    • The homes of all my relatives
    • Homes of all my friends
    • Homes represented in movies and TV series
  • Movie related areas:
    • Movie theaters I love
    • Old movie rental outlets (remember those?)
    • Film sets I’ve visited
  • Churches
    • From when I was a kid
    • From years of travel
  • Cars
    • Cars I’ve owned
    • Cars of family members
    • Cars of friends
  • Body Memory Palace ideas
    • My own body
    • Bodies of friends
    • Bodies of actors
    • Bodies of fictional characters
  • Furniture for small Memory Palaces
  • Musical instruments for use with music mnemonics

In sum, this amounts to seven categories and dozens of potential Memory Palaces.

The Mind Map Template That Never Ends

There is more stored in your mind than you might realize. Use mind mapping to tap into it.

It’s all there. Waiting to be retrieved. Waiting to be used.

Your brain really is the mind map template you’re looking for. You just need to exercise this powerful memory technique so you can use all other memory methods better.

Let mind mapping help you bravely tap into your creativity and revitalize your memory.

But your journey doesn’t stop there!

Just the opposite in fact.

This is truly just beginning…

To fully utilize these Memory Palaces mind mapping has helped you identify, use them a.s.a.p to store the information that’s important to you.

Need more? Check out these 5 Memory Palace Examples To Improve Your Memory Training Practice.

Enjoy the process as a practice to use again and again for life!

BONUS 1! Mind Mapping For Language Learning

If you use the mind map as a clock, you can create 12 Magnetic Stations.

In the center, place an image that represents the theme of the Mind Map. For example, this fish represents to me the theme of cooking:

Mind Map Example for language learning

A Mind Map Example for Language Learning

At the end of each of branch, you can place a keyword from the language you’re learning. Then, using the Major Method and a PAO (or something like the Dominic System) that allows you to have an image for every position.

It’s like turning your Mind Map into a clock. Allow me to explain more in this video:

 

BONUS 2! Mind Mapping Examples Unpacked Live

This blog post was originally created on a live stream with help from the Magnetic Memory Method Audience.

Feel free to watch the replay while you’re here:

2 Responses to " 7 Powerful Mind Mapping Examples For Better Method of Loci Success "

  1. Maricela says:

    Hi Anthony!

    For “Mind Mapping”, I just think of the spaces or the things I like.

    For example: gardens, dresses, shoes, views. Then it is easy to do a “Memory Palace” using those.

    If I have a lot information, I can use a flower with more petals or tree with more leaves.

    • It’s wonderful you can come up with all these ideas, Maricela. You have an “organic” sense of the technique and use the world around you very well as a result.

      I like too how you have incorporated trees in your Memory Palace drawings, which are kind of like mind maps themselves. That has been great to see.

      Thanks as always for posting and look forward to your next one!

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