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When we look past accepted labels, suspend our judgment, and tap into our creativity… a real world of possibilities emerges. Consider the “Pink Bat” elevator example… and to think it was also considered a problem! Are you surrounded by “problems”… or are they unseen solutions, just waiting for you to see them? The world we focus on is the world we create. Have fun turning problems into solutions.

While labels simplify the world, provide context and help us organize our thoughts, they don’t define reality. In business, people are given titles to describe a role or position. These labels don’t describe who they are, or what they’re capable of doing. The same holds true with children. Have you ever heard a conversation along these lines?

“My daughter is gifted… she’s in all the advanced classes!”

“That’s wonderful, my son is LD… actually, he’s ADD… and in special classes.

“My oldest son is ADHD and he went on to college. My daughter is average… she’s getting by in regular classes… if she worked harder she could be in AP courses.”

On and on it goes, label after label, never recognizing that these limiting labels don’t define their children. These labels help institutions and adults organize, categorize and contextualize their thoughts and objectives. Furthermore, adhering to these labels is not only limiting, it can skew a person’s real potential. Embracing labels keeps the “experts” responsible for coining them in business. And this promotes more label making. Most “experts” have special titles themselves. These special labels are valuable to those who wear them. They say, “I’m qualified and smart”… regardless of whether it’s true or not.

It’s easy to be fooled by labels. We see it regularly in politics. Someone is labeled a liberal, moderate, conservative… and so on. But when you study their actions (not their words), you realize that many labels don’t align with reality. Regardless of the subject matter, once you start looking beyond labels and focusing on reality, the world appears very differently… and the door to new possibilities swings open.

In my book, “Pink Bat: Turning Problems Into Solutions” I discuss a psychological phenomenon we all suffer from called perceptual blindness. In essence, our mind filters the world around us… and what we let in becomes our reality. This is what makes labels dangerous… they can prevent us from seeing the big picture… the “real” world.

For the next few weeks, take note of all the words and labels people use to describe you. Think about the words and labels you use to describe yourself. Do the same with your children, family members and peers. Once you become conscious of labels, you will begin to see how limiting and often skewed they can be. Labels don’t define reality… and they certainly don’t define us… unless we let them.

Subconsciously, our brain selects what we believe is possible, plausible and “real,” while ignoring or blocking everything else. Have you ever been in a noisy room with many conversations going on at once when out of nowhere you hear your name mentioned?

That’s your filter at work. Since you consider your name to be important, your brain filters out the less important information and focuses on your name. It’s this selection and rejection process that establishes your sense of reality. It also establishes what you consider a “problem” and what you consider a “solution.”

Modifying our brain filter isn’t easy. It’s even harder when those around us share similar beliefs and expectations. It’s hard to see a new solution when it has been labeled and accepted as a problem… but it is possible.

Mislabeling happens everywhere. You can see it in business, education… actually you can find it in every aspect of life… once you start looking. When we learn to see beyond labels, new realities start to emerge. This is where enormous potential exists.

It’s difficult to find new solutions when we override reality with misguided labels and beliefs. It’s like being lost… yet continuing to follow a flawed road map. Sometimes it’s a good idea to look out the windshield to see where you really are… the map (and label) is never the territory. When we believe how things should or shouldn’t be, rather than how they are, we are living inside an illusion.

The more we accept illusions, the more we block out reality. Likewise, when we focus on problems, we block out solutions. We can become so focused on “problems,” we can’t see anything else.

Look at this series of geometric shapes:

At first they appear meaningless. That’s because most people focus on the black shapes and ignore the white shapes in between. When you focus on the white shapes, the black shapes become less important and suddenly, “SOLUTIONS” appear.

Many “problems” are mislabeled, unseen solutions… and at the very least, new opportunities just waiting for you to recognize them and take action.

This content is based on my newly released book: Pink Bat: Turning Problems Into Solutions, available at our store for a special introductory price of $12.

I’ve found kids labeled 'slow' or 'gifted' often travel in the same direction but at different speeds. 'Average' kids move in a predictable direction at a moderate speed… this makes them easier to teach.

Which Label Best Describes You?

Hopefully your answer is, “None of the above.”

Seeing this “Slow Children” sign inspired me to create a couple more. We each attach our own meaning to words and labels—symbols. While symbols often stay the same, the meanings we attach to them are continually changing. When I was a kid, the word “gay” referred to being carefree or happy-go-lucky.

The swastika dates from the Neolithic period and  still appears today as a positive religious symbol in parts of India. In the western world it has become stigmatized and even taboo because of its usage by Nazi Germany.

Without physically changing, symbols carry different meanings based on what we attach to them.

Consider these five points…

1. Symbols (words, labels, etc.) don’t define reality; we use them to try and express it.
2. Symbols don’t provide meaning; observers do.
3. All symbols continually change over time to serve a new purpose.
4. While symbols can be helpful, they can also block us from seeing reality, solving problems, and creating new solutions.
5. When it comes to kids (people), symbols (labels) don’t work so well.

Creating new solutions requires looking past old beliefs and representations of reality.