Remove Any and All Labels

Old habits of thinking stick around, often for an entire lifetime, largely because you create internal reasons to reinforce and maintain them. These reasons, which I'm calling "excuses," can become permanently lodged in your subconscious - they're labels you place on yourself that ultimately become your self-definition.

In the words of Soren Kierkegaard, the famed Danish theologian: "Once you label me you negate me." As you enter the Excuses Begone! paradigm, make a promise to yourself that you won't be labeling or negating yourself anymore.

My daughter Serena grew up labeling herself as "not athletic" or even "frail," a self-definition that morphed into a comfortable excuse whenever physical activity came up. My daughter's labels negated the real Serena, who could become anything or anyone she chose. By consciously making a decision to remove those labels and nothing more, Serena has gradually become a young woman who enjoys participating in athletic evens and who loves the positive changes in her body as a result of daily exercise.

Rather than saddling yourself with self-limiting labels, affirm: I am capable of accomplishing anything I place my attention upon. Make it clear to yourself that you can never negate the real you; you're an infinite being, and with God all things are possible. The corollary of this would be: with labels, most things are negated!

- Excuses Begone! by Dr. Wayne Dyer