Ok, some of us have a little bit of trouble remembering things. It happens; we forget a name or what we ate for lunch. Its not worrisome, just annoying. Unless we are forgetting who our children or spouse are, or where we live; then we need to seek medical intervention. What does improving our memory have to do with achieving our other self-improvement goals? Simple, in order to accomplish most tasks you need to remember the steps you have to take in order to do the task. You use your memory to recall how to cook, how to dress, how to get to work or school. You would not be able to function very well if you had to relearn these tasks everyday because you forgot what you learned the day before. Everyone learns by remembering details. A baby learns how to make a toy make sounds by remembering what he or she did the first time the toy made the sound and then repeated that action. Even a dog remembers that if he sits when you give the command "sit" you will give him a bone. Part of completing the tasks we want to do is remembering how to do the tasks. This involves retaining memory. So, how do we improve our memory abilities?

1.We exercise our brain. Just like we exercise our arms and legs to improve muscle tone, we exercise our brain to improve memory. How do we exercise our brain? Good question! The best way is to USE it, stay active mentally. A brain is a terrible thing to waste. Do activities that require mental ability like crossword puzzles, playing cards, reading a book.

2.Practice improving memory by playing memory games like matching games where you have matching cards turned face down and you turn over two cards at a time replacing those that do not match and remembering where you saw each card so that when you find the match you can remember where the card is. Another memory game is played with two players, a paper and a pen. Player #1 says a list out loud (lists can be about colors, toys, states, etc) and player #2 has to write the list down 2 minutes after hearing the list. You test the memory of player #2 by increasing the size of the list and how many minutes between hearing it and writing it down.

3.A healthy brain functions better, so feeding your brain a proper diet, getting adequate rest and taking vitamins if you are not able to eat properly are all things that you can do to keep your brain healthy from the inside. Keeping your brain healthy from the outside requires protecting it from injury. You protect your head from injury by wearing proper sports equipment like football helmets and work helmets when in construction areas or by wearing a helmet when riding a motorbike.

Improving your memory and then continuing to train your brain to remember day after day, year after year will increase your chance of keeping your memory sharp. When you have the ability to remember things, you can use this ability to remember the task necessary to take in order to achieve your self-improvement goals.