We all have more accounts than we can count, and remembering a unique, secure password for every one of them can feel like an impossible task. The good news is you don’t need a different password memorized for every site. You need one reliable formula you can rebuild anywhere, in about four steps.

Step 1: Create a Passphrase Base

Choose three or four words that are random and unrelated to each other. They shouldn’t form a sentence or mean anything together, and it’s worth avoiding names, song lyrics, or famous phrases. The less connected the words are, the harder the passphrase is to guess.

For example: carpet umbrella seven bridge. Pick words you’ll actually remember, since this passphrase is the foundation everything else builds on.

Step 2: Add a Symbol Between Words

Pick a symbol that isn’t a letter or number and place it between your words. Spaces count too. It’s worth avoiding the obvious ones like “!” or “?” since those are the first things a guessing program tries.

So carpet umbrella seven bridge becomes carpet^umbrella seven bridge.

Step 3: Add Numbers

Add two or more numbers after your passphrase. Choose something personal but not something a stranger could find with a quick search, like a favorite jersey number, part of a close friend’s zip code, or the year you got a pet. Steer clear of your birth year, your zip code, or your house or apartment number, since those show up in public records more often than we’d like.

Carpet^umbrella seven bridge becomes carpet^umbrella seven bridge 09.

Step 4: Make It Unique for Each Site

This is the step that turns one memorized formula into a different password for every account. Add two or three letters from the site or app name to the front of what you’ve built so far.

Outlook becomes Ot carpet^umbrella seven bridge 09. Google becomes Ggl carpet^umbrella seven bridge 09. You’re using the same formula every time, just changing the site letters, so you never have to memorize a new password from scratch.

The pattern is what you’re memorizing, not the password itself, so once it feels natural you can rebuild it anywhere.

A Quick Checklist

Before you consider a password finished, run it against this list:

• At least 15 characters long
• Three or four unrelated words as the base
• No names, usernames, or pet names
• Numbers that aren’t tied to your public info
• A unique prefix for every site

One More Thing Worth Considering

This formula is a real improvement over reusing the same password everywhere, and it’s genuinely useful for the handful of passwords you truly need to recall, like the one that unlocks your computer or banking site. That said, the best option overall is a password manager, which generates and remembers a truly random password for every site so you only have to remember one master password. This worksheet is meant for the situations where you still need something you can recall on your own, not as a replacement for a manager.

If setting one up feels like one more thing to figure out, that’s a completely normal reaction, and it’s exactly the kind of thing I help folks work through in a support session.

Subscribers can also grab the downloadable worksheet below and build your passphrase step by step on paper first, before you start updating your accounts.