Dakota Beerman

Imagine walking around Home Depot with a sign that reads “I am a liar”

This happened to a young boy.

His mom caught him in a lie and shamed him by having him walk through Home Depot with a cardboard sign reading “I am a liar”. A friend of mine told me this story and how his dad walked up to the boy and asked, “Why are you wearing that sign?” The boy told him, “I lied to my mom, this is my punishment”

The father wept. He knew the power of names and labels.

Names have power.

When you are in a group of people and you hear your name, what happens? You look.

Does your name have a meaning? How does that meaning affect you?

I find that we take pride in our name. We may like our name, we may hate our name, Regardless, we are given a sense of self from a name. All of this to say, names have weight, power, and meaning.

Labels, like names, hold power. If I believe I am kind it will affect my behavior. If I believe I am stern it affects how I communicate.

How do we take control of the labels and change them?

1. Self awareness
   • Use a habit of journaling or meditation to reflect on what label you carry. What things do I believe about myself?
   • Ask someone. Be brave and ask someone who they see you as. Good and bad.
2. Affirmation
   • Write out the labels you want to be true. An example might be, “I communicate well!”. Another example might be “I am a joy filled person!”
   • I have had the hardest time adopting affirmation because I thought they were silly. Then I remembered that my mind is made up of thoughts and the only way to change is to change the thought. Do you want your thoughts controlled by situation or intention?
3. Evidence
   • You may not feel confident, but if you behave confident, you start to believe it.
   • You may not feel generous, but if you start to give time and money you will start to believe it.
   • The point is, being action oriented changes your beliefs and gives you evidence for your new label.