Elite Trader Insights: William Lam
Episode 20: William Lam on Strategic Mental and Micro Behavioral Programming
Each week we try to unlock the collective wisdom of the Trading Elite. Strategies and unique insights from hours of interviews with top traders, sliced into bite-sized pieces and delivered to your inbox for your pleasure.
William Lam is a strategist specializing in mental and micro behavioral programming. With a background in computer programming and a profound understanding of neural linguistic programming, William founded UPGRD, a platform dedicated to helping elite investors, traders, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals optimize their mental efficiencies for optimal performance. His approach involves a unique blend of science-backed methodologies to harness the functionalities of the human mind.
Key Learnings and Takeaways from the Interview
1. The Importance of Designing Your Goals:
William emphasizes the significance of intentionally designing your life goals. He advocates for setting goals that stretch your imagination and challenge your current capabilities, as these lead to creative problem-solving and personal growth. "If we design more, we're going to find more and more of what we design show up," he explains, suggesting that proactive goal setting directs our subconscious towards desired outcomes.
2. Upgrade Your Mental Operating System:
Drawing an analogy from computer systems, William discusses the need to upgrade our mental operating systems to achieve desired outcomes. He points out that outdated or unoptimized mental frameworks limit our ability to achieve and sustain success. Upgrading this system involves reprogramming deeply ingrained beliefs and values that dictate our actions and reactions.
3. Focus on Positive Programming:
To combat the negativity often encountered in daily life and media, William advises actively focusing on positive outcomes and desires. By consistently directing attention towards positive aspirations, individuals can reshape their mental programming, leading to more optimistic behaviors and results.
4. The Power of Reward Systems:
William highlights the effectiveness of establishing a reward system to maintain motivation and enhance performance. He notes, "As we learn to reward ourselves, our unconscious mind trusts us more," which encourages consistent effort towards achieving set goals.
5. Desaturation of Negativity:
To avoid the pitfalls of negative thinking, William recommends 'desaturating' one’s mind from negative influences and 'saturating' it with positive thoughts and goals. This shift not only changes one’s focus but also impacts the neurology, aligning it more with success and fulfillment.
6. Long-Term Visioning:
Encouraging thinking on a civilizational scale, William challenges individuals to set goals that span decades or even centuries. This approach forces the mind to transcend ordinary thinking and embrace extraordinary visions, leading to unprecedented levels of innovation and strategic planning.
7. Handling Media Consumption:
Conscious media consumption is crucial, according to William. He advises limiting exposure to negative news, which often triggers fear and anxiety, and instead focusing on information that aligns with personal and professional growth goals.
8. Cultivating a Growth Environment:
Surrounding oneself with a community of like-minded individuals who are committed to growth and excellence can significantly influence personal success. William stresses the importance of being in environments that foster mental growth and support ambitious goal setting.
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9. Continuous Improvement through Mental Queries:
Asking the right questions of oneself can uncover underlying programs in the subconscious that dictate behavior. Questions like "When did I decide this limitation?" can help trace back to the origins of limiting beliefs and reprogram the subconscious for better outcomes.
10. Recognition of Unconscious Influence:
Acknowledging that much of our behavior is influenced by unconscious beliefs is the first step to change. William urges individuals to recognize this influence and take deliberate steps to make unconscious processes conscious, enabling more controlled and directed actions.
While I wholeheartedly agree with many of these concepts, this was a tough slog for my simple brain. Maybe I was just very tired when I listened to this!
There is definitely value in having an understanding of these concepts however; Unconscious Bias, Long Term Thinking, Positive Programming and Rewards systems.
Cheers
Marto