“Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.” – Les Brown

Don’t allow the label that someone else puts on you to determine what you’re capable of. The “label” you may have worn, or used to describe yourself in the past is no more valid now (or the moment you decide to leave it behind) than it ever has been. The fact is, you were made to achieve things far beyond what you may believe you’re capable of.

Friend, if you were a fly on the wall in any of the classes I attended in school growing up, you’d know that my “label” at the time was “not a good student” — to some it may very well have been “not very smart.” At an early age I was diagnosed with a learning disability in math. I’m still no fan of math I might add, but my life experience has shown me that doesn’t have to keep me from success in my areas of pursuit, because there are these things called, calculators, and accountants. Perhaps you have heard of them?

My point isn’t to diminish or down play my challenges growing up, rather I want to make the point that we all experience various degrees of adversity at different points in our lives. The way we work through them will determine our ability to overcome them, and succeed in spite of whatever might attempt to derail us.

Fortunately, for me I had the opportunity to see first hand that many of the “labels” I’d been given, and accepted weren’t correct. If you know my story, I had the opportunity to work in our family business just before I turned 16 years old. That real life experience, and the success I had in calling prospective clients was a stark contrast to the “label” I’d been accepting in other areas of my life.

That was a major turning point for me — because no longer did the opinions of others dictate what I believed about myself. I still very much experience moments where I allow “labels” to define what I’m capable of, but the difference is that I don’t remain stuck in them.

My hope is that you will go beyond whatever limiting beliefs may exist for you — shed the labels in your life that no longer serve you in a positive way and redefine yourself as the highly capable person you are.

-What labels have you allowed to hold you back from what you’re truly capable of? How did you overcome them? Share in the comments below.

It’s your life, LIVE BIG!
Josh Hinds

PS. If you enjoyed the above post, you’ll love my book, It’s Your Life, LIVE BIG! — get your copy here.