9 min
I want to talk about labels today, but not the kind you’re thinking of. This isn’t about nutrition labels or reading ingredient lists. This is about the labels we slap on ourselves without even realizing we’re doing it. The ones we wear across our chest every single day.
We say things like “I’ve tried working out before, but I could never stick to it.” Or “I tried tracking my food once, and I’m just not good at it.” Or “I grew up not being an athletic person, so I’m never going to be one.” Every one of those statements is a label, and once we put it on, we tend to live inside it.
There’s actual research behind why this happens, and once you understand it, you can start using it to your advantage instead of letting it work against you.
In college, I was a criminology major, which is basically sociology with a focus on crime. That’s where I first came across something called labeling theory. The concept states that deviance isn’t something inherent to an act itself, but rather the result of society applying labels to individuals. In plain terms, when someone gets labeled a certain way, they tend to start acting in accordance with that label, even if the original behavior that earned the label was minor or a one time thing.
Think about it in the context of crime. A kid messes up once or twice, which is pretty normal for a kid. But if that behavior gets them labeled a troublemaker or a deviant, they often start to internalize it. The thinking becomes something like, “well, this is apparently what I am, so I might as well lean into it.”
Labeling theory points out that it’s society applying these labels, which means sometimes other people are the ones putting labels on us, not just ourselves. There’s a well known study that shows exactly how powerful this can be. Researchers Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson ran an experiment where teachers were told that certain students in their classes were “intellectual bloomers,” kids who were expected to show significant academic growth that year. In reality, those students were chosen completely at random. There was no test or method behind it. By the end of the year, the students who had been randomly labeled as high potential showed greater gains than their classmates, simply because their teachers expected more from them and treated them accordingly. The label itself changed the outcome, even though it had no basis in reality to begin with.
That’s the power a label can have, whether someone else puts it on you or you put it on yourself.
I’ve talked before about having ADD. It’s not a self diagnosis, it’s a real one. I went to a neurologist, got wired up for brainwave testing, went through a full screening, and the results were clear. These days, I actually view it as a bit of a superpower. It keeps things fresh for me and helps me stay engaged when I’m changing things up, which is a big part of how I coach and how I run my own training.
There’s a flip side to it too. I can get a little squirrely, always wanting to switch things up, and that’s not always useful. Sometimes I can be prone to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” and forget to preserve helpful things in the program. I can also get off task very easily. For this reason it has to be managed.
One area where this really worked against me for years was reading. I’m not a naturally strong reader, so I told myself the story that I just wasn’t good at it. I hated it, avoided it, and then justified the avoidance by pointing back at the ADD. “Why bother, this is just hard for me.” I leaned on audiobooks instead, which is a fine tool, but it meant I was missing out on books and resources that mentors and friends recommended that didn’t come in audio form. I’d hear about a great book and think, “damn, I really wish I could get through that,” and then just never would.
I wasn’t just avoiding reading, I was building an identity around not being a reader, and that identity was keeping the door shut. That’s exactly what labeling theory predicts.
A few weeks ago I decided to challenge it. I tried on a different label. I told myself I was going to be a reader, and then I started doing the things readers actually do. I found a comfortable spot to sit and read. I bought a cheap book light I could use in bed while my fiancee sleeps (or scrolls Tiktok). When I noticed my eyes were bouncing around the page and I kept losing my place, which is a common issue for people with ADD, so I started using a bookmark to keep my focus locked on one line at a time. It’s a small workaround, but it worked incredibly well.
I finished my first book, and now I’m most of the way through my second one in two weeks. That’s not a humble brag, it’s proof of how much a label can shape behavior in either direction. I embraced a new label that allowed me to find a workaround for something I had convinced myself I just couldn’t do, and now it’s become something I genuinely enjoy.
I did the same thing with staying organized. ADD does not naturally lend itself to that. Instead of treating disorganization as just who I am, I started using a Google calendar consistently, and now very little slips through the cracks. Same story, different label, same result. Embrace the label and you start to think of helpful solutions.
If you want to apply this to your own health and fitness, pick the identity you want, something like “I’m a fit person,” and then start thinking about and doing the things that fit people actually do consistently.
Fit people usually have music they like to work out to, so they build a playlist that gets them in the right headspace before they train. They follow an actual plan instead of walking into the gym and winging it, so they know exactly what they’re doing before they get there. They keep themselves accountable with something concrete, whether that’s a calendar, a class schedule, or a check in with a coach.
Fit people also plan around their day instead of hoping motivation shows up. If you know that going home first means you’re not going to leave the house again, then you go straight to the gym after work instead. That might mean packing a bag and keeping a spare pair of shoes in the car so there’s no excuse for missing your workout. These aren’t complicated strategies. They’re just the small, repeatable habits that add up to someone who consistently shows up for their own health.
You don’t have to become that identity 110%for it to be worth trying. Even if it doesn’t fully stick, you usually walk away with something valuable.
I see this play out in nutrition all the time. Someone tries going vegan for a stretch, and even if they don’t keep it up long term, they often end up eating more vegetables going forward because they found ones they genuinely liked during that time. Someone starts counting calories and even after they stop tracking daily, they develop awareness of portion sizes and what’s actually in their food, which leads to better food decisions going forward. Someone sets a cutoff time for eating in the evening, and even without doing a full fasting protocol, that cutoff gives them a clear mental stopping point, a sense of “I’m done for the day,” which takes a lot of the decision fatigue out of nighttime snacking.
It shows up in training too. Someone follows a bodybuilding style program for a while and picks up a real mind muscle connection, actually feeling the movement instead of just going through the motions, and that improves their form and gets better results with other programs going forward. Someone tries a running program like a couch to 5K style plan, and even if they never end up loving distance running, they might discover they genuinely enjoy how cardio makes them feel. They like having more energy during the day, feeling a bit leaner, a bit tighter, and that keeps a little bit of cardio in their routine going forward.
Every one of those is a case of someone trying on a label, not fully committing to it forever, and still walking away with a stack of good habits they wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. That’s a huge win. It’s a healthier lifestyle overall compared to never trying the label on at all.
Pew Research Center has tracked reading habits among U.S. adults for years, and their surveys have consistently found that roughly a quarter of American adults report not having read a book, in whole or in part, in the past year. That means a meaningful share of people simply never build the habit at all, which is exactly why even a partial attempt puts you ahead of where you started. The same logic applies to fitness and nutrition. Most people aren’t doing anything consistent, so even trying on the label for a while puts you in a smaller, healthier group than you might realize.
Be proud of what sticks. It’s easy to try a plan, fall off of it, and think “I just can’t stick to anything.” But if you’re eating more vegetables now, or you’ve got a cutoff time for eating at night, or you’re moving more than you used to, that’s real progress, even if the original plan didn’t survive completely intact.
That progress feeds itself. Maybe your next round of bloodwork looks a little better. Maybe a shirt fits differently than it used to. Those small wins reinforce the identity you’re building, which makes the next positive choice a little easier than the one before it. That’s the cycle worth falling in love with, because that’s genuinely how people get better over the long haul.
If you catch yourself saying something like “I’m just not a fit person” or “I’ve never been able to stick to anything,” stop and challenge it. Ask yourself honestly if it’s actually true, or if there’s a workaround you haven’t tried yet. If it’s a label that’s holding you back, you’re allowed to rip it off and replace it with a better one.
Try on a new label this week. Do the things that version of you would do, even if it feels a little unfamiliar at first. You might be surprised at how much it changes.
Chat with Coach Bryan to discover how our programs can fit into your lifestyle and help you achieve your goals. Let’s get you started on your fitness journey today!
