Just a quick heads up. My contact form on my Contact page is acting a bit wonky and wont let me see the email addresses of people who have messaged me recently. So, for Scott, I'm assuming it's Scott Hagwood....in which case, thank you so much for your message! You are awesome and I hope to meet you some day! As for Lexi, I'd love to speak with you but I don't have your email. Email me at climbformemory@gmail.com. For all you memory nerds out there....I have been spending a ridiculous amount of times studying Abstract Images. I'm afraid of myself when I really focus on something. Holy cow. I forget how dangerous I can become when I really want to do well at something. Back in college, that's how I ended up with a 3.9 GPA in my Physics major. I would study so damn much. Never wanted anything but an A grade, I never got anything else. I'm rambling here, but what I have to say is important. Because of how well I did in college, a lot of people often say "wow, damn you must be really smart" or "you must be a genius"...a lot of people also say that now because of my memory skills. But it's all bullshit.
All I do is put forth a lot of effort (or "ass-time", as my friend likes to say - basically how much time you sit on your ass working on whatever it is you are trying to get better at is a good indicator of how good you will get). That is all. And it's no secret either. Look at anyone who is the best at what they do. No one just magically "gets" it overnight. It all comes with sweat and tears. I lost the US Memory Championship in 2010 when I thought I had it in the bag. So what did I do? I made damn well sure that I wouldn't happen the next year (and obviously it didn't) by working my fricking ass off thrice as hard.
This post went from talking about a contact form to persistence. Ha. Well bringing it full circle. Google the name Scott Hagwood. Here is a guy who worked his ass off in the most difficult of situations. He had thyroid cancer and pushed himself to train his memory while undergoing chemo. He won the USA Memory Championship 4 times back in the early 2000s. It all goes back to WANTING. If you want it, you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. And that includes the hard work.
So stop sitting on your ass and get to work on the things you want to do. I guarantee that with hard work you can play the violin like a true virtuoso, run a 4 minute mile, or even memorize a deck of cards in under a minute. Stop reading this and GO!
Cheers.