You Are Not a Label
“Who am I?”
This is a question I’ve asked myself throughout my life, and I’m always amazed at how the answer continues to evolve.
For the longest time, I believed I had to have one clear answer, a tweet-able one liner.
I am an entrepreneur.
I am an athlete.
I am an investor.
Indeed, modern society tells us, we must fit our identities into clean labels...
“Focus on one niche,” they say. “It’s good for business.”
However, the result of trying to squeeze myself into a neatly labeled box left me feeling woefully inadequate...
Because the moment I labeled myself one thing, another part of me immediately yearned to be something else.
‘Why can’t I be this AND that?’ I wondered, and reluctantly shut down the dreamer in me for the “practical” choice.
As it turns out, the practical choice rarely provides the long term fulfillment that the explorers, creatives, entrepreneurs, and builders among us crave.
By nature, humans are meant to grow and expand. We each have infinite potential if we simply allow ourselves to glimpse it.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Who could I be if I allowed my labels to fall away?
Who could I be if I allowed myself to unapologetically dream?
Who could I be if I allowed myself to finally go after what I’ve always wanted?
The moment I started asking myself these questions, I realized: Who I am and what I’m capable of cannot be defined by any singular label.
I am not my LinkedIn title, my Instagram bio, my salary, or my accolades...
While those things give an indication of the outcomes of my work, they will never fully express my spirit - a spirit that is creative, loving, curious, empathetic, passionate, at times insecure and sad, (and that’s ok too!), an amalgamation of past experiences and conversations and small moments that will never be highlighted in any press announcement.
Those are the things that have shaped who I’ve become, and none of that, none of me, can be put in a box, and that is what makes it so beautiful.
So I want to remind you…
You are not a label.
You don’t belong in a box.
And anything or anyone who tries to put you in one does not belong in your life.
You have more power and light within you than you could ever imagine.