My three-year old does not like to be labeled, at all. If I call her anything but her name, she promptly replies, “No I’m not [insert descriptor here]. I’m just Anya.”

She does not like to be defined as anything other than just herself.

At first, I thought it was a little curious. I was then a bit concerned (she at times doesn’t like to be called “pretty” rather “just Anya”). But then I realized really how powerful her perspective is.

She does not want an outside force putting a boundary or perimeter around her. She can’t be described or limited by a singular adjective. She is a collection of attributes, characteristics, likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, fears, capabilities and inabilities.

No one thing defines who she is. She can be whatever or whoever she wants because she’s “just Anya.”

And she’s allowed to change.

When one word stops you

Contrastingly, I have a friend who feels very limited by one word – physicist. He’s trying to change his career (and life really). And he feels that that one word keeps stopping him.

He and I were at a national career fair a few months ago and he wasn’t having any success. As we chatted, he kept emphasizing that he needed to stop saying physicist in his elevator pitch to potential employers because that one word was turning them off. I gently tried to explain that it wasn’t the word but maybe how he made it a part of his unique and valuable story.

Unfortunately, he became rather downtrodden because he let one word, one label define him. He’s far more than a physicist but he couldn’t get past that and therefore, wasn’t able to demonstrate that to employers.

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He allowed himself to be limited.

What label is stopping you?

(Photo courtesy of partymonstrrrr)