We all live under labels that were given to us, and many we gave to ourselves. Some give us wings and roots! But, more often than not, they limit us and hold us tightly to far less than the possibility we have within us. It’s not as easy as simply saying, “Hey, I don’t think I’ll accept that label anymore!” When we live in a label for so long, getting rid of it is like learning a foreign language. In this show we get to the push and shove and challenge of really relabeling ourselves, and the massive power it can unleash.
Hello Inspiration Nation, welcome back to the Ziglar Show, this is show #394 and we have with us Carrie Wilkerson. Our topic? Labels. We all live under labels we’ve fallen victim to, given in to, agreed with, and even claimed. What have they done to us? What are they doing to us? What is possible if we understand and possibly alter them? It’s big medicine. And this is a big show.
Friends, our guest today is, of course…what you would expect. Highly accomplished. I’ll give you her bio in a minute. But from all she’s done, I was enraptured by a short video about labels. I knew immediately I wanted you to hear it, and for us to talk about it. That’s just what we’re going to do.
If you don’t know Carrie, here is her official bio:
A small-town girl who was able to think beyond the city limits, Carrie Wilkerson is a best-selling author, an international speaker, and a sought-after radio guest. Featured on CNN and Fox Business News, and named by Forbes as a top small business influencer, she's also consulted marketing and launch teams of Dr. John Maxwell, Zig Ziglar, Google small business, and other influential business leaders on business strategies and current trends.
However, Carrie mostly enjoys helping ordinary people lead extraordinary lives. She got her "big start" in high school bagging groceries for tips only, and she now makes her living by giving tips to over 100,000 men and women as The Barefoot Executive. She can help you build the business you need, so you can live the life you want, by connecting the dots between your WHY and your Do.
Carrie has paid off over six figures in debt, lost half her body weight (135 pounds), and run several successful businesses from home. She is the proud momma of four kids, ages elementary through college!
Carrie has set up a special webpage just for you Ziglar Show listeners, where she is giving you her 7 Day Business Blitz, a week-long video series to boost your productivity and profits, totally free. Go now to:
www.carriewilkerson.com/ziglarshow
I’m going to give you her message on labels right after thanking our other sponsor for this show…
OK, folks, here is the message from Carrie:
There you go. This is our premise, but it’s just the beginning. Now I bring you Carrie Wilkerson and Tom Ziglar, and we cover some life-changing ground in this show. Ready, set…let’s go:
Carrie, you and I met many years ago. You’ve gone on to wildly succeed in your business endeavors and have become a significant leader in the world of inspiration and motivation. It’s a complete honor to share you with the Ziglar audience today, thank you for being here!
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So, Carrie, you know the purpose of The Ziglar Show is to “inspire true performance.” How do you want to inspire true performance in our audience today?
>>Hear Carrie’s responses on the program
Carrie, you told me you learned about Zig in the 7th grade through his middle school curriculum, “I Can Kids” - it taught you about goal-setting. And you also bought some tapes on eBay at a really dark time of your life and had Zig's “voice in my head” for the first time. During this time and listening to Zig, what message was most relevant and anchoring to your healing?
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Carrie, I looked up your incredible book that everyone needs to go now and buy, The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss and Achieving Financial Freedom. The Amazon bio says:
Carrie is a wife and mom of four who is juggling life. Just like you, she has the demands of health, family, finances, and community. After finding herself over six figures in debt, overweight and overwhelmed, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Being denied for job interviews and feeling hopeless, she started her first profitable business at home.
With no official business training, two little ones at home, a husband traveling with his job and zero start-up capital, Carrie launched a small business that grew to six figures its first year. She has now founded and sold several companies, paid off every dime of debt, added two more kids to the mix, and believes you can create a part-time or full-time business on your terms.
I’m not going to talk about this book today, because our show is much more focused on the what and why than the how.
You recorded a five-minute video on labels that captured my attention, and all our listeners heard it just moments ago. In going from over six figures in debt, overweight and overwhelmed, to where you are now, I’m betting you overcame some labels. What were they?
>>Hear Carrie’s answers on the program
Then, I’m betting you ADDED some labels. Tell us about those.
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In your work, leading so many people, what are some of the most prevalent, limiting labels? When you are speaking to a crowd of aspiring people, what labels do you know a majority are under that must be removed if they are going to progress?
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In your work with people, which do you find the need to put more weight on -- denying, defining, and ridding oneself of bad labels, or pursuing, adopting, and claiming new, good labels?
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So, let’s talk about defying and denying labels and what that really takes.
Some folks have had blatantly hateful labels given to them by parents, siblings and family, school mates, so-called friends, bosses, co-workers and more. Literally hateful labels meant to harm. A drunk father who lashes out or a playground bully. While those are horrible, I wonder if they are sometimes easier to reject than the “softer” bad labels. The ones said by those we believe know us, and they are hard to deny, because we know there is some viable truth in them?
>>Hear Carrie on the show
So let’s talk about limiting, POSITIVE labels. And I’ll own this one. My parents absolutely did NOT give me any negative labels. None. I got positive ones. Positive affirmations. Support. Encouragement. They took the way I was naturally bent and blessed me with wind beneath my wings in those directions! However, I’m a people-pleaser, AND I really like to excel. So I took some of those great labels and imprisoned myself with them. I let them become my identity and, over time, I really lost touch with…who the real me was. Have you found this in others, Carrie? People who took a good label and let it define them to an unhealthy degree?
>>Hear Carrie’s responses on the program
So on desiring a label…this made me think of a vision. I want to see myself as something…new. Better. A character quality, for instance. But this right here is the essence of Zig’s self-talk cards. But to you, Carrie, do you see this more as taking a label and claiming it, or is it more of a prophetic naming and striving to become?
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What are some ways of going about it, taking action toward it?
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Let’s talk about some specific areas, goals. If someone wants to be…self-employed. Start their own business. What are some labels they will need to embrace and strive to become?
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How about changing one’s physical and mental self-image? You lost 135 pounds. What labels did you have to deny -- and embrace?
>>Hear Carrie’s responses on the program
So to wrap up, do you see this as a vital exercise in any personal development pursuit? To sit down with pen to paper and list out what labels one must deny and what labels one must embrace? And it’s not a cookie-cutter list, it will be unique for all?
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