Ed Cooke, CEO and co-founder of Memrise, has an unusual background for an entrepreneur. Forget business school or years as a consultant, Cooke spent most of his 20s competing in memory championships, winning competitions by performing heroic mental feats like memorizing the order of 16 decks of playing cards in under an hour.
Memrise的創始人兼執行長埃德·庫克(Ed Cooke)是一個有著不尋常背景的企業家。除去在商業學校上學和當諮詢師的年月，庫克幾乎花了20年參加記憶力錦標賽，以展現英勇的腦力特技在競賽中贏得勝利，比如在一個小時之內記住16副撲克牌的順序。
This experience might be well often the beaten path for most business leaders, but it's actually perfect preparation for Cooke's current role. Memrise, if you're not already familiar with it, is an amazing tool to help people learn anything from science facts to a foreign language more quickly using fun associations to make new words or ideas stick (I've used it personally and absolutely endorse it for memorizing new vocabulary especially).
對於大多數商業領袖來說，這種經歷太老套了，但是對於庫克現在的角色來說確實是個再好不過的準備。Memrise網站，如果你對它還不了解的話，是一個非常神奇的工具，它能幫助人們運用有趣關聯來展現新詞或者觀念導圖的方法來學習從科學現象到外語等領域的知識。(我曾經親自用過，特別贊同用這個工具來記憶單詞)。
The company's approach is science backed -- Cooke's co-founder is neuroscientist Greg Detre -- and draws on the latest research into learning and memory as well as Cooke's unusual expertise. The company is even currently running a test to discover which memorization techniques work the best of all. So when Cooke got in touch recently offering to share tips with Inc.com readers, I told him to send them on over. In his own words, here's what Cooke suggests if you want to sharpen your own memory:
公司所採用的方法是有科學依據的——庫克的共同創始人是神經系統科學家格雷格·霍格(Greg Detre)——並且將最新的研究還有庫克不尋常的專家建議加入到了學習和記憶中去。公司現在正在運行一個測試來檢測哪一個記憶方法最為有效。因此當庫克得知要與Inc.com上的讀者分享記憶貼士的時候，我告訴他將分享都發送過來。用他的話來說，如果你想迅速提高記憶力，以下就是庫克的建議：
1. Location is key
1. 位置是關鍵
Quite a common experience is for context to mess with memory in quite a severe way. For instance, you're in the kitchen, and you think "I must get my raincoat from the bedroom" and you head upstairs. Once there, you can't remember what you came for. You return downstairs, and immediately remember. You head upstairs, and again can't remember what you were looking for. I'm a memory champion, and I've been known to do three loops of such nonsense. The trick is to imagine what you're looking for in the location you're headed to. That way the new context will contain the memory of what you were looking for.
在某種情景下記憶力嚴重混亂是一個非常普遍的體驗。比如，你在廚房，想著「我要到臥室裡拿雨衣」，然後你上了樓。可以一到那兒，你就記不起來你為什麼上來了。你轉頭下了樓梯，突然之間你又記起來了。你又上樓，接著你又記不起來你到底要找什麼了。雖然我是個記憶冠軍，我也曾體驗過這種白痴似的三次循環。辦法就是你得想像你到你要去的那個位置到底找什麼。如此一來，新的情景中就會包含你在尋找何物的記憶。
2. Train your brain
2.訓練你的大腦
To keep the memory sharp, the same thing's required that will keep the mind sharp generally: lots of stimulation, keeping mentally active, learning new things. Whether it's doing the daily cross-word, conversing on difficult subjects, learning a language, or simply doing an interesting manual task, keeping active is at the heart of mental health, and the sine qua non of keeping on top of memory as you age.
保持記憶力的敏捷，同保持思維的敏銳所要求具備的東西是一樣的：頻繁的刺激，保持思維活躍，學習新事物。不論是做每日的字謎遊戲，討論困難的議題，學習外語，或是僅僅是去做一項有趣的手工，保持活躍是思維健康的核心，也是保持你所屬年紀最佳記憶力的必要條件。
3. Play mind games
3. 玩思維遊戲
Every kind of memory is different, so there's no general test for memory. But there are many specific games that can be played. For instance: Have someone write out a list of 20 words, give yourself a minute and then try to reproduce them in order. 14 is a great result. Have someone do the same for a list of 20 numbers. Do the same thing with a collection of 10 flowers and their names. Or faces and their names. Each exercise will specifically test your memory (at the moment) for these things. The more you practice any such task, the better you'll get at it.
每種記憶都不同，所以其實並沒有什麼通用的記憶力測試。但是又很多具體的遊戲可以玩一玩。比如：寫一個有20個詞語的清單， 給自己一分鐘，然後嘗試著將他們按照原順序再現出來。能寫對14個就是非常好的結果了。讓每一個人也同樣做一個有20個數字的清單。或收集10種花和花名。或是記憶人臉和他們的名字。每一個訓練都會專門檢測你對(有時候)這些事物的記憶力。這種遊戲你最玩得多，那你收穫的也越多。
4. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
4. 重複，重複，重複!
If you need to remember something, repeat it, test yourself on it, review it regularly. One great habit is that of "recollection". At the end of the day, reflect on all the things you did. That single repetition will be enough for memories not to slip through the gaps, and can give a general boost to your mental clarity.
如果你需要記下某事，就重複，檢測你自己是否記得，定期回顧。「回憶」是一個很重要的習慣。一天結束之後，回想一下你所做的所有事。僅僅重複進能夠助你無缺漏的記憶，提升你的思維清晰度。
5. Tell a story
5. 講故事
We're creatures of narrative, and our memories are especially pleased by anything that takes the form of a story. Turn shopping lists, intentions, even single facts into narratives big and small and you'll remember them much better. As a rule of thumb, we remember anything we pay attention to. How to pay attention? The answer is always to find what is interesting in what you want to remember. If it's a story, experience its meaning and enjoy it. If it's a conversation, try to immerse yourself in its meaning. If it's a fact, try to work out what would be interesting about it.
我們是敘事型生物，如果事物是以故事的形式來展現的，那麼我們的記憶也會十分清晰。將購物清單，願望，甚至是單獨的事件編成一個故事，你就能將它們清晰地記下來。一般來說，我們會記住我們所關注的事物。怎樣關注呢?答案就是要找到你想記住的事物中最有趣的部分是什麼。 如果是一個故事，那就體會其中的意義，享受其中。如果是一個對話，嘗試去理解其中的意思。如果是一個客觀事實，試著找出其中最有趣的是什麼。
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（編輯：何瑩瑩）