What makes your brain accountable to pay attention to what you need to remember to do?
NYC found a way to assure that their eateries won't forget to perform to the max. In an effort to make New York City restaurants accountable for cleanliness, the NYC restaurants must now post their inspection report cards - big and clear - in the window near the entrance. If they want customers to come inside, they had better have a great big letter "A" on the outside. I certainly wouldn't want to eat in an establishment that had anything less than an "A" in the clean department. Would you?
You can read more about the restaurant situation if you follow this link to an article in USA Today written by Sara Kugler, API writer but click on it after you finish reading the rest of THIS MEMORY ARTICLE. (I'll remind you in case you forget.) http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-03-17-nyc-restaurant-grades_N.htm
As for keeping yourself on the memory track, The School of Hard Knocks is certainly one way to get yourself to remember to pay attention. And I mean that literally.
I was climbing Camelback Mountain and got all the way up to the cages. Rather than cling to the cyclone fence on the left to help pull me up, macho me instead opted for the rocks on the right. Necessity made me lean low, almost on my knees, to scramble up the path. When the path seemed a little easier, I decided to stand up. What I didn't realize was that the boulders on the right had curved and were now hanging directly over my head. When I stod up -- OUCH - CRACK-SNAPPLE-POP. The noise in my head was SO LOUD. And it HURT. I was amazed that my head didn't crack open. I am amazingly lucky. No concussion. No blood. So I collected my senses, and despite the loud sound still resonating of hard rock plummeting into my head, I continued up to the point on the mountain where I draw my personal line, 
reflect on the fun, the view, the personal accomplishment, and I began my trek down.
On the right is me and my husband Steve at the cages, after I bumped my head.
On the left is Steve heading toward the point beyond which I refuse to go. The person above him is at the railing that I actually touched once in my lifetime - a few years ago. This is where I draw my personal line and know I need and dare not go higher. (Even a double-dog dare wouldn't get me to change my mind.)
No, that wasn't the first time I climbed Camelback. But it was the first, and hopefully the last time, that I banged my head on a boulder.
Q: So the question is, as you go about your daily life, how can you create warning signs like the NYC restaurants now have posted on their windows (i.e. "B" grade for cleanlieness, enter at your own risk)?
How can you make your self pay attention - before the fact - so you don't hit your head on a boulder, or forget to unplug the coffee pot before you leave your house, or forget to do whatever else that needs doing?
A: Mindfulness. Self-knowledge. Being present to the moment.
The self-accountability solutions are simple. But they're often hard to remember to do. Especially when you're rushing. Here's what helps:
- Pause between activities - at every intersection.
- Take a deep breath.
- Ask yourself what you need to do here.
- Reset your intention.
Self-accountability would have worked when climbing Camelback Mountain. Had I paused to really look at the path on my right, I would have noticed that the boulder began to jut overhead. I would have been aware of the potential danger and would not have stood up without looking up first.
Self-accountability has worked for me unplugging my coffee pot before I leave the house. Once having to call my neighbor to go in and unplug it was enough.
Self-accountability has worked for me to not lock my keys in the car. Once was enough.
If you think about it, it's miraculous how many potential mishaps we manage to avoid as we go about the business of ordinary everyday life. And, when we get into the habit of Self-awareness, Mindfulness, Being Present in the Moment, then we have a better chance of giving ourselves a warning notice before we misact, thus avoiding the pain of forgetting without having to experience the School of Hard Knocks.
Let's hear from you.
WHAT ARE YOUR "OUCH - I need to put more Mindful Habits in my life" STORIES? Blog on and share your LOVE Memory Method stories as well.
Blog on with your comments. And forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish. Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well.
(Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2010)**********************************************************************************************************
Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog. However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:
"Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog",www.memory-improvement-tipster.com Speaker, Workshop Leader, and Author of WHERE ARE MY KEYS?, Judy's blog features tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong."
p.s. I promised I would remind you: Here's the link to the NYC restaurant article in USA Today: NYC restaurants must now show their report cards. If this doesn't work, then just cut and paste to get to this article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-03-17-nyc-restaurant-grades_N.htm
