I’ve been thinking about labels.
1. The labels you use may hurt you more than they help you.
Would more people buy your course if you didn’t call it a course? Would more people subscribe to your newsletter if you didn’t call it a newsletter?
Probably.
2. Labels help people understand what something is by pointing out how it’s similar to other things.
But you stand out by being different than other things.
3. When you choose a label, you choose a comparison to other things with that same label.
Don’t invite a comparison you can’t win.
4. People look to labels to guide them.
A parental advisory label tells me it’s not for kids. A discount label tells me I’m getting a deal. A limited time label tells me to act now.
The problem is those labels often aren’t true.
The more things are mislabeled (intentionally or not), the less we trust their guidance and the less valuable they become.
5. We were all labeled by others from a young age.
You’re the funny one. Or the nervous one. The screw-up. The gifted one. The good one or the bad one.
Those labels influenced our trajectory – we tried to live up to them or prove them wrong.
They shaped how we see ourselves and how others see us.
I’m sure it’s easy for you to see labels you were given by parents, teachers, friends, bosses, clients, and colleagues.
But how true are they?
And how many of your decisions are still being driven by your desire to live up to or shed those labels?
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