Communicating well in any language is often rooted in one specific action. And it’s this:
Remember that film from the 80’s: “Honey, I shrunk the kids”,
where a scientist accidentally zaps his children with his state-of-the-art shrinking machine?
Pretty unbelievable, right?
Not so much.
Because we do it regularly.
We don’t zap our kids.
But we do zap our own ability and create a similar movie in our life:
“Honey, I shrunk my potential”.
How do we do that?
By sewing on labels to ourselves without realizing it.
Painful image.
And yet we do it regularly.
And that’s how we shrink ourselves.
To teeny tiny versions. Of who we could be.
Labels like:
– I’m someone who isn’t a good cook.
– I’m someone who’s bad at DIY.
– I’m someone who isn’t a “nature” person.
– I’m someone who doesn’t enjoy posting on social media.
– I’m someone who doesn’t share personal stories on a business platform like Linkedin.
…
These are all labels I used to wear.
– The FIRST one made me want to make the least possible effort in the kitchen.
– The SECOND one made me feel clumsy with a paint brush.
(I ended up knocking a tin of paint over to prove it. Our results often confirm our thinking.)
– The THIRD one made me not want to spend much time in nature. Because why bother?
– The FOURTH one made me hide away and limit the reach of my business.
– The FIFTH one made me only skim the surface in terms of connection with my audience.
All of the above are now old labels from the past.
Labels that I deliberately ripped off the fabric of my identity.
They had become uncomfortable.
Because they no longer fit.
I’m not sure they ever really did.
How do you rip off a label?
1/ YOU decide that the label is just that: a label.
Words on a support. That aren’t supported.
And labels can be removed. It’s a specialty of mine.
Because they’re not meant for people.
Only for cans, cases, clothes.
Then,
2/ YOU choose not to give yourself a label. At all.
No labels.
How freeing is that?
You could just show up and speak up.
Experiment. Play. Sculpt. With words.
And you’d be free to connect.
Because humans tend to connect with human.
In any language.
The words that matter most are the ones we say silently to ourselves.
Ditch the labels. ✂️
When was the last time you ditched a label?