The Everyday Maverick: Rise to Distinction: June 2022

Power

/ˈpaʊə/ noun

Power is the capacity or ability to influence outcomes, shape identity, and produce change—whether through action, authority, or meaning. At its deepest level, power is not merely force, but the ability to define reality.

Understand the Power in Your Name

Power is often misunderstood. We associate it with control, status, or dominance. But some of the most profound power we will ever encounter is far quieter—and far more personal.

One of the earliest demonstrations of power recorded in Scripture is not an act of strength, conquest, or command. It is an act of naming.

Before Adam planted, ruled, or built anything, his first responsibility was to name the animals. This detail is not accidental. Naming was not admin work—it was authority. To name something was to recognise its essence, define its identity, and establish its place in the world.

That same principle is still at work today.

Naming Is an Act of Creation

Whenever you name something—a child, a business, a vision, even a problem—you are doing more than assigning a label. You are shaping perception. You are setting boundaries. You are releasing expectation.

Names carry meaning.

Meaning shapes identity.

Identity determines potential.

This is why words spoken over us in childhood linger long into adulthood. This is why labels—good or bad—stick. And this is why the names we answer to matter far more than we realise.

Your Name Is Your Calling

I am convinced of this: your name is your calling.

It is not merely tied to it—it is what you have and are being called.

Some people need to step more confidently into their name, to fully inhabit it rather than minimise it, mock it, or shrink from it. Others may need to seriously consider a name change—not as rejection of their past, but as an act of alignment with who they are becoming.

Either way, the truth remains:

What you consistently allow people to call you is what you begin to become.

We live in a world saturated with language, yet remarkably careless with words. We underestimate how deeply they embed themselves in the human soul.

The Weight of Words

There’s a widely referenced idea in psychology and communication that it takes significantly more positive input to override a single negative word. Some suggest it can take up to 17 affirming statements to counteract one negative label.

Let that sink in.

If one person repeatedly calls you weak, useless, difficult, or not enough, that word doesn’t just pass through you—it settles. And undoing that damage takes intentional, repeated truth spoken over time.

This is why joking labels, careless criticism, and “that’s just how they are” language can be so destructive. Words don’t just describe reality—they reinforce it.

The Inheritance Hidden in Names

Some people carry names rich with history, intention, and strength. Others carry names given without thought, or worse, spoken under pressure, pain, or limitation.

That’s not about blame—it’s about awareness.

Reclaiming identity sometimes means redefining what your name means to you. Other times, it means courageously changing it—legally, symbolically, or relationally.

Becoming Maverick begins when you stop living under names that were never meant to define you.

My Name, My Story

When I reflect on my own journey, I can’t ignore the connection between my name and my lived experience.

My surname, Nicholls, is rooted in meaning associated with conqueror or victory of the people. For most of my life, I didn’t think much of it. But looking back, I can see a clear pattern: resilience, endurance, and an almost stubborn refusal to quit—even when quitting would have made sense.

I’ve faced an unbelievable number of challenges. Some external. Some deeply personal. Yet overcoming has always been part of the story. In hindsight, I believe that identity—to conquer—has been quietly reinforcing my posture toward life all along.

For years, I disliked my middle name, Wayne. It felt awkward, unnecessary. But once I understood how names shape behaviour and daily posture, I began to view it differently.

And then there’s Steven—a name historically associated with leadership and responsibility. Perhaps that explains why leadership roles have so often found me, even when I didn’t go looking for them.

Coincidence? Maybe.

Pattern? Without question.

Becoming Maverick Means Choosing What You Answer To

An Everyday Maverick does not passively accept the labels handed down by society, culture, family, or history. We examine them. We challenge them. We decide which names we will answer to—and which ones we will no longer carry.

Because once you understand the power in your name, you begin to live with intention. You speak differently. You allow different voices access to your life. And you stop shrinking under words that were never meant to define you.

So here’s the real question:

What are you called—and who decided that?

Some of us need to step boldly into our name.

Others need to lay one down and choose a new one.

Either way, reclaiming your name is reclaiming your power.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, experiences, and stories around names, identity, and calling. Let’s keep the conversation going.

Shalom!