Labeling Yourself is Keeping You Down, Do This Instead

Labeling yourself has risks. Give yourself space to change and grow.

Recently, after I gave a virtual presentation on my book Indistractable, a listener wrote something in the Zoom chat that drove me bonkers: “This is great but wouldn’t work for me. I’m a Gemini.”

Insert face plant.

You’d be surprised how often I hear this rationalization or something like it. Sure, only hard-core astrology followers would find any justification in that listener’s statement — but the sad thing is, to some degree, we all use a form of it. Most people hawk “This just wouldn’t work for me” as a valid explanation for not trying something new.

Ironically, the Zoom listener is right. If she thinks she’s incapable, she’ll prove it correct — whether it has anything to do with the stars and moon or not. Her inflexible self-identification denies her the chance to improve her life.

Another rationalization I frequently hear from people is, “I’m so OCD.” However, that’s both grammatically and literally wrong — and, if they haven’t been diagnosed by a medical professional, just plain wrong — because a person can’t be a disorder; it’s incredibly self-limiting.

That’s why we should stop defining ourselves as fixed identities, nouns, and instead start…