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Labels and limitations

"When you label yourself you limit yourself." -FLO

People are always quick to apply a label to another person, I'm not sure why we do this but we all do. We call someone the funny guy, the movement guy, the sandbag guy, the party guy, etc. The list can go on forever. We label friends, family and anyone we come across. Do you ever recall saying, " Hey remember that guy from the party? You know the salsa dancer guy." ? And your friend would say, " Oh yeah, that guy.". 

There is both bad and good in labeling people. On the good side it makes it easier to remember people.  To me, the bad side is when we begin to label ourselves. I feel as people we tend to live up to the expectations that other people have of us. This can be good if the expectations are positive, but it can be really bad when the expectations are negative.  

In business, labels can be a gift and a curse. For example, if you are labeled the soccer trainer, how can you make money while your clients are in season? I often get called the "trigger point guy" or "the guy that uses TRX for rehab", but I do not allow any of these labels to define me. For my clients I use whatever it takes to get the desired results. To some I may be a life coach, and to others I may be a drill sargent.  It doesnt matter what they label me, as long as my purpose is met. One of the principles I apply to my training and also my life, is from Bruce Lee. On his emblem for his martial art it says,"Using no way as way; having no limitations as limitations.".  This is how I feel about labels and my training. There are no limits. I do what works. I don't think you should reject labels, I just feel you should never let them define you. 

This is a topic that I will need to explore some more, but I hope this blog gets you to start breaking down boundaries. If you only live up to the label your given you will never realize your greatness. 

-FLO 

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