Dave Farrow: Mind Over Memory !

Dave Farrow broke the Guinness Book of World Records by memorizing 52 decks worth of cards with focus and memorization techniques. Late in 2008, Dave broke his record by memorizing 59 decks of cards. He had to learn to organize time, schedule time and trigger focus – it was 14 hours of straight memorizing for 2 days (with breaks for sleeping and eating). He was allowed to get some wrong, .05 percent. Out of the 3,068 cards he was allowed to get 18 wrong, and he only missed one. Dave wanted to prove that anyone can improve their memory, improve their reading and learning capacities. You don’t need special skills or abilities; these skills can all be developed. At the age of 14, Dave also was determined to overcome his learning disabilities on his own. He started studying memory techniques. This pursuit made him good at learning. When he was 16, a teacher asked Dave why he was trying so hard to learn because there was no point in it. This comment didn’t discourage Dave from continuing his endeavor. With the techniques Dave studied, there started to be improvement in his schoolwork. He would complete tests in 15 minutes and get every answer right. One of Dave’s teachers thought he was cheating and always had Dave take tests by himself in the classroom with his shoes off (the teacher thought Dave was writing the answers on his sneakers in code). However, some teachers supported Dave and took him seriously. Recently, Dave worked with a group of fourth graders. They memorized 15 objects a day for several weeks using Dave’s techniques. The children memorized 78 objects and wanted to keep going. Dave was not considered an intellectual growing up. In fact, he was told he was the opposite. At 14, he was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Dave’s mother, Virginia, has been a great influence in his life. Her great faith in God helped strengthen and encourage him through his turbulent early years.