The title is incredibly cheesy and the cover design doesn’t help. This is definitely a self-identified self-help book (you can cringe now). But regardless of how much I detested the way it looked, I picked it up and I’m happy that I did. Long story short: it works. Within a few hours of practice, I’m able to recall 24 randomized playing cards (number and suit) in the exact order just by looking at each card once.

It sounds pretty amazing and it’s definitely a nice party trick, but the theory behind it is quite simple. This brings me back to my undergrad days as a psychology major.

1. Memories with more links and associations are stronger than memories with fewer links because your brain has more points of access
2. Memories of people are usually stronger than memories of objects because people are animated and with each interaction associations are strengthened

So to not spoil the book too much, the author provides a series of exercises to strengthen memory links and sometimes it’s a little bit scary as to how fast memories can flood into your conscience. People, places and things that you haven’t thought about in years resurface and all of your memory becomes more vivid.

Of course it’s not all about real-world associations, but also about linkages that bend reality and this is where it gets interesting. Some exercises force you to think outside of the laws of nature. For example, imagine a leather basketball that feels like ice, sticky like toffee, smells like lavender, and pops like a balloon when you bounce it. When you’re reading this, you’re probably having a hard time grasping all of these concepts into one visualization because like I was, the description breaks all the conventional rules of how I identified a traditional basketball.

The purpose of these visualizations is to lower the confines of creativity and let outrageous linkages take place. And when you need to draw upon out-of-the-box thinking, new linkages will literally defy the laws of physics. And it was for this reason that really drew me to developing a better memory. As children, our creativity was limitless, but as we grew up, the rules of science, nature and society began to box in our creative abilities.

But don’t take my word for it, go get the book.

1. Business Analytics for the Masses

Analytics has always been intimidating to the average business owner, but since the introduction of Google Analytics and startups focusing small business analytics (e.g., Hubspot, Optify, Genius), harnessing the power of social media is no longer a daunting task. Going into 2013, we predict that there will be a host of software launched at integrating social media with on-premise and on-demand systems at the store or vendor level. Imagine flash sales dictated by Facebook likes or new weekly items commanded by Twitter.

2. Socializing with your TV

Last year, we witnessed the popularization of social media interacting with television shows and news broadcasts. From tweeting in your questions during the presidential debate, to voting for your favorite chef on Top Chef, to joining in the conversation on Oprah’s Lifeclass, social media has brought TV viewers back to the live TV experience. This coming year, TV will allow viewers more interaction with each other via apps like Zeebox and Miso. And with the recent partnership between Nielsen and Twitter, a new standard for Social TV Audience Metrics will soon be established.

3. The Validity of Mobile Advertising

Everything went to mobile in a big way 2012, but companies such as Facebook still struggled with monetizing mobile advertising. Yet, this space has been saturated with mobile ad networks such as Google’s AdMob, Apple’s iAds, and JumpTap, just to name a few. This new year will usher in real-time mobile ad bidding, hyper-local mobile campaigns, while predictive big data drive analytics will allow for smarter advertising. Imagine, push notifications for products and sales catered specifically to you as you enter your favorite store.