Episode 60: The Problem with Labels

Labels on bins are great. Labels we give ourselves can be limiting. This week, Janine and Shannon talk about the problem with negative labels we apply to ourselves, along with the benefits of positive labels. We also discuss some of the labels  we're trying to shed in our own lives. Discussion topics include: • Words matter: By talking tendencies, not labels, we allow ourselves room for change • How Janine, who is naturally good at good enough, sometimes acts in a perfectionistic way • What should we call people who embrace good enough? (Good enoughers?) • That positive labels can be helpful, but negative ones are limiting • How our self-applied labels don’t necessarily reflect reality (Shannon had run three marathons before she would call herself a real runner!) • How Shannon overcame a swimming phobia as a gift to herself for her 40th birthday • Thinking about which labels can be useful and which aren’t helpful at all • The shift in Janine’s thinking about her self-applied “messy” label • Labels Janine and Shannon hear from their clients • Just-in-time productivity versus procrastination • How if your label becomes your identity, it’s something to explore (particularly if it’s holding you back) • Janine’s label as a “non-handy” person and her strategies for changing it • Shannon’s label as someone with a bad memory and how she’d like to change that Go to the show notes at www.gettingtogoodenough.com for links.