STOP Letting Labels Define Your Self Worth

Don't let labels define you. Your standard is actually what truly matters. Today I'm going to talk about the labels that maybe your parents gave you, your teachers gave you, maybe you gave yourself, and how that's actually holding you back on having high standards. So let's get into it, guys. When I was in kindergarten, even first grade, I was labeled as having a learning disability. I was labeled as someone that had adhd. I was all throughout school, even in kindergarten, all the way up through fifth grade and even beyond, even in high school. All the things I was putting these special classes where they had to make me do, like these tests where I had to constantly try to read this thing. And they would score me like every single year. I'd have to go through this testing. And even all the way up through high school, I didn't have higher than a fifth grade reading level. I don't even know how accurate that is. It's probably even lower than that, but that's okay. But higher than a fifth grade reading level. And I think this is very important. I never really talked about this too much in detail, but today I really wanted to go over it and why. We've got to get rid of these labels that we were given maybe by the school system, our teachers, our parents, whatever. So number one, I was labeled always as that, like, imagine being kid and constantly hearing, you don't have higher than a fifth grade reading level. Up, you don't have higher than a fifth grade reading level. And imagine you being like 20 years old or 18 years old, I would say, because that's in high school, right? And you still don't have higher than a fifth grade reading level. How do you think that makes you feel? Then you get. I don't know if you guys remember this, but then you get in high school. By the way, my high school was a massive high school. It had over like 3,000 kids and there was 800 and something in the class. And I remember us taking these tests and then you get back on a piece of paper like how smart you are, ranking in your class. And I basically remember being. I think there was only 11 people that were not smarter than me. Out of 800 and something people, 11 were dumber. No. So whatever, you gotta get my point. Basically there was over 800 something people that were smarter than me in my grade from this test score. Just so you. From just freaking looking at a test score. Okay? And I remember seeing that in high school and thinking, yeah, I guess I am dumb. The teacher would call on me to read And I would run to the bathroom or act like, you know, my stomach hurt and I'd have to go to the nurse's station or whatever it would have been. I would get do anything to get out of reading out loud. I absolutely hated reading out loud. And all of this is because I was told stories. I have adhd, which is accurate, I would say it's very accurate. Okay. And I was labeled as that from when I was in first grade because my mom actually is an ADHD specialist and she was third grade teacher. And anyways, so she clearly knew the signs and everything. And I was put on Adderall and Ritalin and all the different things back then. Okay. And back then, it was really like a bad thing. Like, you had like this disease of, oh, my God, you're never going to make it, you have adhd. There's no way she can focus. And I remember thinking, cut to today. I remember looking back and thinking I just wasn't interested. And even in those moments, I just wasn't interested in reading a story. Taking a test on a story that is boring as hell. Why the hell would I want to read the story that I don't care anything about? Why would I want to sit down and read a book? By the way, I still have never read a book, ever. One full book. I've never read. Okay. Why would I want to do that? I am bored as heck. Of course, then I would have to read that line 3,000 times because I'm not interested. And my brain kept telling me, you're not interested in it. Think about something else. So I would. And I guess this is what they call adhd. And so I was a high level competitive gymnast. I was really good at sports. And, like, I made it to like level 8 and level 10 was Olympic level. Like, I thought I was gonna be the next Dominique Mucciano. Like, for real. I was about to go to Texas and go live with Bella Carola. It was like a whole thing. I. I didn't. But, like, my thing was, like, on athletics, I was very athletic and I absolutely hated sitting still trying to read something. It just seemed stupid. And frankly, it kind of was for me. But I look back on that and I'm like, all those things and every single thing that the teacher said, you're the 11th dumbest kid out of 800 people. You're, you know, you only have the highest fifth grade reading level. You have this disease of ADHD that's like, means that you are not going to make it. You're going to Suck at school. Okay. Took that all in. And throughout all the years, I just had to pivot and do things completely different than everyone else, which I realized, which actually made me the most amazing entrepreneur. So I'm thankful for that. But I didn't realize it at the time. And I think these labels really actually defined who I was, because I learned early on that I wasn't going to let those labels, even though they were told to me repetitively, stop me. And I just had a mentality of gonna show them. I'm gonna do it. Watch me. Learn from me. I'm gonna do it differently. I actually like being different. This is kind of fun. I'm gonna see if I can play the game because no one has betted on me. So you're kind of, like, always the underdog, that no one thinks you have a shot, like, at all. Somehow you just slither your way in and then you, like, make it. That was always me. Always. And it was really fascinating because it continued as I tried to get into grad school. I got. I went to grad school when you guys had to fill out, like, an application for each school, have a resume and application fee. There wasn't, like, this one full thing. So it was. It was. It took me, like, two months to do all this. It was insane. And I had to fly out to different colleges and anyways, it wasn't. It was a nightmare. I got denied from over 13 medical schools my first year. No one accepted me. Everyone denied me. And then I was like, yep. They said I wasn't going to get into school. I probably, this isn't for me. But then I was like, nope, I'm going to do it anyways. Watch me. There's got to be someone that's going to take me. I applied to the same schools again over the next year and had to sit out a year. And I was like, I'm gonna do this. And one school accepted me. And the only reason I know this, because I talked to the professor, actually becoming a really good friend of mine. I only know that I got accepted because I actually flew up from Georgia to New York. And he was like, I gave you an extra point because amount of effort that you came to look at our specific school. And so I let you in. I was like, thanks. And it was just very apparent that I had to put in more effort than most people. And I was okay with that because my whole entire life, because of the labels I was given, my whole entire life, I put in the most amount of effort more than anyone Else because I had to, to compete and be on the same playing field with them. And so I have taken that into entrepreneurship, which again, I think has set me up very well for entrepreneurship because I can compete with the best of the best because I've trained myself since I was in first grade to do it. And I think many people think labels are bad, and I at one point thought that too. But recognizing that sometimes these labels are your biggest asset or biggest superpowers, even though people look at these labels as a negative, you can change them into becoming, like I said, your biggest asset or your superpower and having the best freaking tools in your pocket because you had these labels. And these labels actually formed the standards that I have today. Meaning if I wasn't labeled of having a learning disability or 5th grade reading level or the 11th standard, stupidest person in my high school class, okay, I wouldn't have tried. I would have been like everyone else. I would have just gone with a pack. I would have just fit in. I would have just done things the same way everyone else does it because they, they checked the box. They got by. I couldn't do that. I didn't have an option. So my brain had to start processing and thinking things through differently, which now has created such high standards because I'm able to work at a level that most people cannot get to because they haven't had all the 30 plus years of experience of actually doing it and being with those labels I have, right. They, they haven't taken themselves to the highest standard because they don't know how to even do it. They haven't had the reps. They just because everyone thought you're doing good, you're getting that a. You keep going, Sally. It wasn't like that for me. So the labels actually created the standards that I have today, which is high standards. I always have high standards. I always charge the most. In my practice and in coaching, I am, I charge the most. And I am 100% okay with saying that because you're going to see the difference if you come on with me. You're going to see the difference of why I'm different than every other coach that you had. And I operate very differently and I'm proud of it. And yes, it's more work on my end, but I'm okay with it because I've trained myself to be okay with it. Does that make sense? I've trained myself to be okay with it, but I know the way I do it gets you the freaking results. The best results compared to most Coaches. And I'm proud of that. I really am proud of that. And I think it always goes back to when you have the right standards, you have the right people in your life. You're happier. If I had clients that didn't want to work with me and they just are like. Like, I don't want. I. I don't wanna coach them. I just don't. I don't want those people in my life. I want the people that are committed, that are serious. I wanna take things to the next level. And I think I'm able to demonstrate that because of the standards that I hold and the commitment that I hold. You know, all my programs are a year long because I need you to be committed so that we can get the outcomes. And if you're not committed, then it isn't for you, and I'm okay with that. So I don't have like crazy amounts of people in my program because there's very few that are willing to do it differently. And I call us the 1% of bosses because there's only 1% of people that want to be in this space doing the thing that we're doing, get the outcomes that we all say we wanted, but only 1% is. Only is able to step to the plate. And I love working with the 1% and the people that have the high standards. That's who I want on my team. That's who I want to work with. Because I know I'll crush it. And that gets me excited. And I don't know, I just think it's a really fascinating story how whatever you've been told, you can either let that define you or you can let that motivate you. And for me, I chose it to motivate the crap out of me and become the best. And what it's also taught me is every single weakness I have, I will become the best at it. I will. I absolutely hated social media like even three years ago, Just three years ago. I like zero following and I hated it. And I thought it was stupid. I thought everyone was fake. Some people are still fake on there. But, you know, I was like this, so dumb within three years, I now coach heavily social media. Three years ago, there'd be no way I'd be doing that. It's because I've learned it. Whatever the weakness is, I will make it my freaking thing that I go after and make it the thing that I'm hell bent on making sure I become the best at. And the only way I was I'm able to do that is because the labels that I. That they gave me when I was little, that's it. That's the fire. So you guys have a choice today. Use the labels that you are given. Whether or not you're more good enough, whether or not you're stupid, whether or not you don't look a certain way, whatever it is. Are you going to let that define you? Are you going to let that empower you? You decide.