Last week someone called me a journalist and it stopped me in my tracks.
I’m not a journalist, I thought.
I’m a founder who writes.
How many times has this happened before? Someone calls us something: funny, clumsy, difficult. Even the way they describe your profession: consultant, teacher, trainer, creator.
The label doesn’t match how we think about ourselves but we start wearing it like a hat. Now that someone sees us that way, we feel a duty to represent ourselves in that identity.
Until it becomes us.
And the more you wear the hats assigned by others, the less you wear the ones you want.
Journalist is not a hat I wear. It’s just a label someone else used.
Others might administer labels but only you can decide which you wear as a hat.
You’re in charge of your identity.
