Be Outside the Box
Recently, someone asked me whether I was a digital nomad? I was like "yeah, I mean, you could say that". Also, another person asked me are you a programmer, my answer was the same.
There are a bunch of things / categories I would satisfy but would not quiet make. It is fine with me. Actually I would be scared if I was deep into one.
It means: I am super flexible. I could quickly jump into something to be dangerous (productivity-wise :) ).
Through social conditioning and all of the pressure to fit in. It is very easy to force yourself into a box and stay there.
The pressure to put oneself in a box is so great nowadays. Terms like "Entrepreneur", "Software Engineer", "Marketer", "Designer" attract a bunch people, some even put their entire identity on them.
There is so much in a person. Just limiting yourself to one domain can be outright disadvantageous.
Limiting yourself to only one inhibits your growth in the long term.
From a technical view, we know that all "abstractions leak" then why would you constrain yourself in a limiting abstraction? It doesn't make sense.
Still, we need them because we don't always have 40 minutes to explain all the things we do, our inspirations and so on.
Then my personal take on this: to think "outside the box" being outside of one or many is sometimes a necessity.
Hi Mohamed,
Yeah your right.
We need to think differently and be more creative!
Thanks for the advice!
I couldn't agree more, it still irks me when people try to identify someone by their occupation, political affiliation, etc.
I understand that it helps people categorize individuals they meet for later reference but it really does a person's identity a disservice. Great post.
-O.T.
Thanks O.T.
I think that's why I try to asking alternatives to a straight out "what do you do?":
I'm usually a bit more aware of this one-on-one conversations.