I was 

a shy kid who read a lot, didn't go out, and tended to sunburn.  I was so un-coordinated that my mom was telling people stories well into my teens. 

Psychological testing might have put me on the spectrum. 

Those labels could have controlled the direction of my life - but they didn't. 

Zero

Those labels have zero to do with where and how my life turned out. 

Today, I'm outgoing, writing more than reading, constantly talking with strangers, and love the outdoors. 

Oh and I'm always hungry for more adventures. 

Those labels were and are restrictive. 

For many people, their labels are bars on a cage - a chain to their freedom.

Maybe I'm lucky because my parents didn't believe in labels. They just told me to go do things with my friends. 

Role models

Maybe it was my friends who were  more athletic, more outgoing, and more adventurous than I was. Labels didn't matter if I wanted to keep up.  Those role models were more powerful than any label.  

You may have a label of introvert or ADHD or anxious or depressed or maybe it's "poor math skills" or "un-motivated". None of those matter. They were opinions by someone at a moment in time. You can create, wear, and earn new labels. It's actually easy. 

Look around and you will find people who went from couch potato to athlete, from un-coordinated to juggling, from shy introvert to extroverted public speaker or from academic failure to business tycoon. 

Can you find better role models?

Predictable

People like labels as a way to predict your future behavior. Read that again. 

Just how predictable do you really want to be? How trapped do you want to be in the box of labels? 

Perhaps my childhood rebellion is what started me down the path of ignoring labels. It certainly didn't hurt. I never felt that I had to conform to anyone's predictions for my future. 

Your freedom

is all in your hands. The real question is how much effort you are willing to invest to make it happen. 

Ignore the labels.