I was watching a video yesterday about the future of photography. In there this person says that in the context of your work, you can be reduced to one sentence: Oh, he’s the guy that does (blah, blah).”

It occurred to me that this reductionism happens in life as well. “Oh, she’s the one who always complains.” “Oh, he’s the one with permanent rose colored contact lenses.” The descriptions can be as creative as you like but most of us can be reduced to a sentence – some positive, some negative.

The one sentence description is about the surface us – the persona we’ve adopted to interact with the world. What a limiting description.

Our depth cannot be described in a sentence; in fact, it can’t be described at all because it’s a feeling. I don’t know about you but I have yet to discover the collection of words that can describe a feeling.

Getting to your depth means getting past your labels. Your label is like the sticker on a box pretending to be the content of the box. You are not your label.

Perhaps you have a one sentence description of yourself. I submit that when you find it, you have found your limitation. Labels are limiting and take you in another direction besides depth.

Start noticing your descriptions of yourself. “Oh, I’m a person who . . .” Notice that your one sentence is a limitation and begin the process of not labeling yourself. Catch yourself in mid sentence and change course.

One phrase that will help you change course is one I learned about 25 years ago. It’s called, “In the past.” “In the past, I was a person who . . .” Once you notice you’re giving a limiting description of yourself, interrupt yourself and say, “in the past.” “I’m a person who’s always late” becomes “I’m a person who’s always (pause); In the past, I was a person who was always late.”

This interruption opens you up to options and the more options you discover, the more depth you’ll experience.

So if you’re hellbent on describing yourself, here’s a recommendation for a one sentence description that will lead you to more depth: “I’m a person who seeks more options.”

All the best,

John