Stop Labelling Yourself

What you say to yourself will do more damage than anything anyone else could say to you because when someone else says it, it's just noise that you can either choose to believe or reject, but when you say it, it's a label.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it.”

Mike Tyson

STOP LABELLING YOURSELF

399 Words | 1 Min 27 Sec Read

What you say to yourself will do more damage than anything anyone else could say to you because when someone else says it, it's just noise that you can either choose to believe or reject, but when you say it, it's a label.

The thing is that labelling yourself is so easy to do. You’ll happily call yourself stupid, fat, or not good at something because you think that there are no repercussions, but that's where you would be wrong. The difference between someone else calling you fat and you calling yourself fat is that when someone else does it, you get to make a decision as to whether you agree with their statement or not and decide whether you let it affect you or not, but when you call yourself fat, you automatically believe that it's true.

You’ve now put a label on your own identity and have no choice but to carry that label around with you. Now you are confirmed fat, not because someone else said it but because you did, and it's incredibly hard to argue with your own beliefs.

For example, if you had been calling yourself fat for some time and then you had a gun to your head with the only way to stay alive being that if you were to truly believe you're not fat, you would pretend that you believe it, but deep down, even with your life on the line, you can’t change what you truly believe.

Thats just how powerful labelling yourself can be; once you do it, you believe it, and theres no getting rid of that just by thinking about it.

So, how do you stop labelling yourself?

The first step is understanding the power of labelling yourself. Once you know that for everything you call yourself, you’re putting a label on your identity that's not so easy to rub off, you’ll think twice before doing so.

Secondly, reframe the label. For example, if you truly believe that you’re fat and telling yourself that you’re skinny isn’t going to cut it because you know it's not true, it's okay to be truthful and say that you’re not where you want to be, but you’re working on becoming better. That contrary thought is what's imperative, as you’re telling yourself you’re going to become better, and with enough of that thought process, you will create your own path.

ACTIONABLE NEXT STEPS:

Work on reframing the label with something that you can say so you don’t feel like you’re lying, but you know you’re not degrading yourself either.

TAKEAWAYS:

What you tell yourself has more power than you could even believe; therefore, it's important to make sure what you do tell yourself is helping you become the best version of yourself.

BOOK OF THE WEEK ⤵️

The book of the week is ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight, the creator of Nike. The book is a memoir of the creation of Nike. It shares the journey and stories around the creation of Nike, including the setbacks and tribulations. Get it HERE.

CREATOR OF THE WEEK ⤵️

The creator of the week is @Danieldargan, a self-improvement creator who makes motivational, straight-to-the point content pretty much daily. He’s a refreshing voice for your feed, so definitely check him out.

LESSON OF THE DAY ⤵️

Treat entrepreneurship like a sport.

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