Powerful Student's Stories #12 - How One Student Hacked Their Memory with “Cringe Stories”

Forgetting what you study is frustrating. You sit down, read, maybe even take notes—and then, a few days later? Gone.

That’s exactly what one student told me. “I tend to quickly forget stuff, and I assume it’s also related to my ADHD.”

But before jumping to conclusions, I wanted to know more. What was actually happening?

1. Finding the Root Cause

I started by asking about focus. Could he play games for hours? Scroll endlessly on social media? No—he wasn’t a gamer or a social media addict. Most of his free time went into music and reading.

That already told me something:

➡️ It wasn’t a focus issue.
➡️ It was a retention issue.

Then, he told me what he was trying to learn—IT compliance laws like HIPAA and GDPR. He needed to remember exact wording and definitions for his team meetings.

That’s when I introduced him to a technique that completely changed how he studied.

2. The Memory Hack: Turning Info Into Visual Stories

Instead of just memorizing raw words, I broke HIPAA down into parts and linked them to things he already knew:

• Health Insurance? → “Think of someone in the health field.” (He had a friend in medical care.)

• Insurance? → “Picture a local insurance company.” (He thought of a company building from Silver Cross.)

• Portability? → "Portability what comes to mind" -> “Something easy to carry.”

• Accountability Act? → "Accountability Act.. what comes to mind" -> “A law forcing companies to follow strict rules.”

Then, we turned it into a ridiculous mental image:

"Your friend stands in front of a health insurance company. He lifts the entire building like it’s light as a feather. But as he balances it in the wind, his mom is behind him with a whip, hitting his arms left and right to keep him steady."

And just like that, he had a memory hook.

3. Why “Cringe Stories” Work

When he said, “I can see this perfectly,” I explained why.

Your brain loves weird, exaggerated, and cringey moments.

The stuff we feel embarrassed about? We never forget it. And that’s exactly why you can hack your memory by making learning feel absurd.

I told him: “Think of it like debugging your brain. Instead of raw memorization, create stories so ridiculous they stick.”

His reaction? “Whoa… that’s why I always remember cringe situations I’ve been in!”

4. The Key Takeaway: Learning Is a Game

Most people struggle with memorization because they try to brute-force information into their heads. But that’s not how the brain works.

Instead, make it visual, emotional, and weird.