In This Episode
- Why you want to be like water
- How making a fist can help you change your subconscious
- The #1 reason it's so hard to reprogram your thinking
Negative Beliefs About Yourself and Where They May Have Come From
Everyone has at least a little bit of negative self talk. Others have a lot.
But where did that come from?
We talk about some of our past experiences with negative self talk, where they can come from and how to overcome them.
Walter also shares two tricks that you can use before you go to sleep and after you wake up, to reprogram your subconscious mind.
Read the Transcript:
Hugh: Hi, Walter! There are some things that I used to say to myself like, “That's not possible” or, “You are so dumb” or, I used to ask for permission a lot. I realized that I was programmed that way partially because I was telling myself that on a daily basis.
What were some of the things that maybe you were programming yourself with, just by your speech?
Walter: It's interesting. The way I see it is, I guess, you could say that I am programming myself but the way I see it is that I've had it's, kind of like water. So water will go down the path of least resistance. Like, down the side of a mountain and that becomes the river.
For everyone watching this, everyone listening to this, I think what happens is, you go down that path of least resistance. Where does that come from? It comes from your experience.
So it is exactly what you are saying, Hugh. It's the things that you've heard before in your family growing up and that kind of becomes what you say to yourself. In a sense you do program yourself but that comes from your experience.
Your individual experience growing up. Particularly the experience that you had with the important people in your life and the experience you had. The relationship you had with money, that to me, is what you are talking about. Does that make sense?
Hugh: Yeah, for sure.
Walter: So what you are saying is true.
Hugh: You are basically just perpetuating whatever was programmed into you.
Walter: Yes but I have a very subtle distinction because I agree with everything you are saying except I wouldn't say — just me — I wouldn't say, it was programmed into you. I would say you are like water.
We are like the water. I love this analogy. My friends who are into martial arts. They are like, “Oh, be like water.” Anyway, I wish in some ways, I was like a Bruce Lee and I am not. I should say Jackie Chan. I guess Bruce Lee is old. That dates me, doesn't it?
So what I would say instead of saying, that is what's been programmed into me, I would say what I found to be accessible. What is easiest for me to latch on. What is easiest for me to latch on to as a trader and as a person is what was around the house.
What are the things that I heard growing up. I'll tell you the big two for me were that, I mostly grew up basically in a single parent household. My mom had relationships and stuff but my father, I affectionately call my sperm donor because he was gone by the time I was five. So that was a big one for me.
I was trying to figure out, am I worth anything? If I was actually worth something surely my father would be around. He left so I must be worthless. So that's number one and number two, is my mom would always say things like, and my mom was brilliant. Trust me.
She did a great job with her kids. Unbelievable. This is nothing against my mom. I love my mom. She was literally unbelievable. The things that she was able to juggle at the same time, amazing.
What was interesting was that she would say things like, “You know we can't afford it” and especially “money doesn't grow on trees. Where do you think we'll get the money from?
So those two things kind of like a low self-worth and this thing about money which is like so hard to get. When in reality if you think about it and money is probably one of the most replenishable resources on earth. They’re literally printed out in thin air.
Hugh: Exactly.
Walter: Ask any central bank. So that was actually wrong in both things. I was wrong. The thing to do with my mother. My father had nothing to do with me and then the thing about money is that money literally is probably one of the most replenishable resources in the entire globe.
So that was for me. What I would say is those things, I use those things to program myself. I pulled on those things. They were so accessible because they just were easy and that was the path of least resistance.
To rely on those crutches and so I have to overwrite those. You can do that. Two ways. You can do it with logic and you can do it with simple like a motion or like psychedelics or subliminals or anything like that. Hypnosis is a little bit of both logic and emotion.
It's kind of an interesting way to say that you've been programmed that way. I would say we have the choice to program what we want. To me your subconscious is like a dog. Your dog can go and fetch that paper for you every morning.
Your dog can make sure that he does his business in the right corner of the yard, all that stuff. Or, your dog can attack everyone who comes to the door and can poop all over the place. That's your subconscious. You just have to train it the right way to what you want and that's what will work. That's how I see it.
Hugh: I believe that everybody's kind of programmed a certain way. I think it's kind of hard to get out of that. What do you think about that? Your innate personality you're born with?
Walter: In some way like in Psychology, they talk about internal locus of control and external locus controls. The people that say everything is due to them like, “Oh, I'm in this situation because of the world around me”.
And then there's those people who say, “Well, I'm in this situation but I've basically chosen this situation through my path. The decisions I've made in my life. If I want to get out of this situation, I’ve got to make other choices.”
So you kind of see that in people who say like they're stuck in a job or whatever. When really I think internal locus of control is more realistic and that you chose to go a certain way and got there. So that's how I would say even about your subconscious beliefs and those beliefs that are really kind of driving our everyday behaviors.
You're right. The reason why it's so difficult to reprogram yourself is because most people aren't aware. They're not even aware of the things they say to themselves. You know how they do like time management courses?
They'll say, “Okay, write down everything you did for a day or a week” or whatever and then you have a list and you go, “Oh my god! I'm wasting my time” Do you know what I mean? I never do work. I'm always on Facebook.
Hugh: Exactly.
Walter: Exactly. It's kind of the same thing with your subconscious. If you actually took inventory of the things that you say to yourself and the things that you think, and the thoughts that you think, you'd be like, “Hang on, so what's my driving belief system here? What's going on?”
Those will kind of come up in your self talk. You get a little tiny glimpse of that when you pay attention to your self talk. I think you're definitely on the right track. I think from my point of view anyway. Thinking that way but I think we just have to remember that we choose.
We literally choose which programs to run. How to run them and we can become aware of those. Another thing you can do is, when you wake up in the morning just start writing. Right when you wake up in the morning you are in the hypnopompic state.
Hypnagogic is when you are going to sleep. Hypnopompic is when you are waking up. You can literally, in either state, it's a little bit harder to do when you're going to sleep for obvious reasons. When you wake up, you can just kind of write in a stream of consciousness like in an emotional journal or something and see those things.
Likewise when you go to sleep, you can make a really strong fist. Really tight and then as you're falling to sleep, you'll start to feel it kind of relaxed and that's when you know you're going to sleep. That's when you know you should start thinking things that you want to sort of see your subconscious.
It might only be one thing. I take the best trading opportunities according to my strategy. I take the best trading upgrade or whatever you know. Whatever you are trying to. I attract money easily or whatever. You are trying to overwrite with all that stupid crap that we've accumulated over time.
Hugh: You are right. I think programming is in the beginning of your life basically. If you don't have the awareness to overwrite that, then it's going to rule your life. You are right. The awareness is important and you just have to overwrite that at some point.
Hugh: Hey there! I hope you find this episode useful. I just want to let you know that Walter and I give away something valuable every month that helps traders improve their skills. You can enter to win by simply leaving an iTunes review and leaving a comment on our YouTube videos.
At the end of each month, we'll look at the comments and reviews from the month and we'll pick a winner at random. Each comment and each review counts for one entry during the month that it's pitted. So, if you're interested in that, be sure to enter after this podcast is over. Alright, back to the episode.
Walter: I have to say it kind of makes me sad but where I live I have to walk by — in the States we will call it the projects but it's not. They call it something else here in Australia. I forget. where I live, I don’t have to but — a lot of times, I walk by.
I usually ride my bike and walk. I don't like to drive a lot and where I live you don't have to. Everything's right here. So I go by these projects and it kind of makes me sad because I see exactly what you are saying here.
I see people especially with their kids and stuff and the things that they say. I feel like man, it would be so easy to — not easy — but if they just had this one thing, if they just took stock of what they think and how that's driving their lives. That they could kind of just become aware of that and flip it. It would make a big difference. People just feel like they're stuck.
Hugh: I had a similar experience last week. This woman was in our neighborhood. She was looking for directions and she said, “Yeah, you're all the rich people but you know I'm trying to get back to the poor neighborhood.”
In reality these houses probably cost less than the ones over there where she lives but it's just that mentality of, “This is the rich people and we're the poor people.” So it’s just the thinking.
Walter: Yeah, so true.
Hugh: Okay, cool. Thanks, Walter
Walter: Thank you.
Hugh: All the information in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not trading or investment advice.
Enter the Monthly Contest
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