A simple trick to create and REMEMBER passwords.

Well, it’s the morning of my birthday and I decided to start this day by waking up at 5:30AM and not being able to go back to sleep. That wasn’t my choice, but I figured as long as I’m up, I might as well give presents to everyone…or at least this one pretty cool trick. An easy way to create and remember passwords!

The Problem

It can be tough for some people to remember passwords. Truthfully, I didn’t think much about this until someone asked me a question after I performed a mind reading trick. “If you ever forget your password to something, can you do what you just did to figure it out?” Even though this guy might’ve been joking, it really got me thinking about a creative way to remember passwords.

Now, one thing you should know about me. On a scale of 1-10, my nerdy-ness ranks in at about a 9. Because of this, I’m frequently called upon by friends and family to fix their computers. At some point during the fixing process, a password for something will have to be entered. Inevitably, that sends us into what feels like a search for the Ark of the Covenant. This trick I came up with has literally removed the problem.

Password Criteria

remember passwordsMost websites will give you a lot of requirements for your password.

Your password must be at least 8 characters long and must include one letter, one number, one upper case letter, a Japanese proverb, and the blood of a small goat.

In addition to those requirements, computer experts give 3 important suggestions. One, your passwords should not contain actual words. Two, use different passwords for everything. And three, don’t ever write down passwords. Ok, how is the average person supposed to remember 15 different passwords for all kinds of websites and accounts? Well, I’m going to show you something that will change your password life.  You will literally remember one password and it will be different for every website and account you use.

Website’s Criteria

– 8 characters or more
– an upper case letter
– a lower case letter
– at least 1 number
– at least 1 special character

Computer Experts’ Criteria

– no words
– different passwords
– don’t write them down

The Solution

1. Pick a phrase that contains at least one number: For example: The Grinch’s small heart grew 3 sizes that day.

2. Take the first letter of each word with all the numbers and all punctuation: In this case, it would be: TGshg3std.

Each capitalized first letter remained capitalized and all numbers and punctuation remained in place, down to the final period. Once you have this, MEMORIZE IT! We will call this your common password.

3. What are you logging into?: Facebook? Wi-Fi? Bank Account? Once you’ve established that, you simply replace the first 3 letters of your common password with the first three letters of the title of whatever it is you’re logging into. So let’s think about your Facebook login. We would take out the “TGs” of your common password and replace it with “FAc” and change nothing else!

Common Password: TGshg3std.
Facebook Password: FAchg3std.

BINGO! All criteria met! Notice how capitalized letters remained capitalized when they were replaced. Nothing else changed. Facebook now has it’s own password that’s different from every other password you have!

Wells Fargo: WElhg3std.
Gmail: GMahg3std.
Netflix: NEthg3std.

The success rate on this, with everyone I’ve shown it to, has been 100%. Remember one common password and it magically becomes an unlimited number of different passwords.

Other common password examples…

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Common: TJwtDoIoJ4,1776.
Facebook: FActDoIoJ4,1776.
Netflix: NEttDoIoJ4,1776.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
Common: Itb,Gcthate.G1:1
Facebook: Fac,Gcthate.G1:1
Netflix: Net,Gcthate.G1:1

Trust me, this is mind boggling when you see how well it works. And as a side note, on websites where there is a password strength meter, I never seen this system rank less than the highest strength level.

So with that, I hope from this day forward, all of your passwords are safe! Oh and one last thing. None of these are my password in case you were wondering.

I’m always looking for refinements to this system. If you have any ideas, connect with me on Facebook!

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