Most people stop drawing at six years old and while still in school. Often, those stick figures are their only memory. It’s also why most of us draw like six-year-olds. To improve your memory, you have to reference something.

If you look at most celebrated artists’ work, they are not necessarily drawing from memory. When you look at the work of artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael or Van Gogh, you see oodles of referencing and, yes, copying.

Copying is the fastest way to learn anything, whether it be writing, drawing, or fixing a car. When you go through the stages of copying and referencing, you’re building a memory of a situation.

Let’s say you’re a salesperson in front of your first client. You have no memory of success or failure in the field. You prepare endlessly and give the client the exact information he needs. Inexplicably, the client brings up an objection that you can’t counter.

You’re flabbergasted and don’t know what to do next. However, by the time a person has met with two or three hundred prospects, a memory has started to develop. Your memory not only allows you to counter the prospect’s objection in a pleasing way but even sell the product solely based on the objections raised.

From: PsychoTactics