Letting Go of the Labels: Who Are You Without the Name Tag?

Bonnie Strati
19 minutes ago
3 min read

"The moment you label me, you negate me." — Søren Kierkegaard

We love a good label.

Empath. Introvert. Enneagram 4. Manifesting Generator. Dog mom. Gluten-free goddess. They make life feel a little more manageable, don’t they? A little more defined.

Labels give us something to hold onto when life feels messy. They help us feel seen, known—even if just by a single word. They tell the world, “This is who I am. This is where I belong.” But what happens when the label stops fitting—or worse, starts limiting?

The Box That Once Felt Like Home

I once introduced myself at a workshop by rattling off a list of roles and titles that would’ve made a LinkedIn profile proud. Coach. Yoga teacher. Intuitive guide. Healer. Tea-drinker-extraordinaire. And while all of that was true, I walked away feeling... off.

Because none of it captured the whole of me. It captured the curated version—the version I had refined, rehearsed, and repeated. Not the wild, evolving, sometimes-contradictory human underneath. Not the me that didn’t have it all figured out. Not the me that was growing, shedding, questioning, and un-becoming.

Why We Crave Labels

Labels give us identity. They give us structure, a way to find our place in the world and introduce ourselves at dinner parties. They help us simplify the complexities of being human. And let’s be honest—they also offer a sense of safety in a world that constantly asks: What do you do? Who are you? Where do you fit?

It’s easier to say, “I’m a coach,” than to explain, “I help people remember who they are beneath all the layers they’ve been told to be.” But even the most empowering labels—“healer,” “lightworker,” “seeker”—can become another mask if we cling too tightly.

When Labels Become Limits

Labels start to hinder rather than help when:

You feel anxious or disconnected when you're not “performing” that identity
You resist growth or change because it threatens the label you’ve built your life around
You filter your intuition through the expectations of the role instead of through your truth
You judge yourself (or others) for being inconsistent with the “brand” of who they’re supposed to be

Here’s the quiet truth: You are allowed to evolve beyond the things you’ve called yourself. You can be an empath who also sets fierce boundaries. A yogi who loves tequila. A healer who still has meltdowns. A spiritual soul who sometimes swears at red lights.

You're not a contradiction—you're a whole person.

Who Are You Beneath the Name Tags?

This is where the real work begins.

Peeling back the name tags. Sitting in the stillness of not needing to be anything. Getting curious about the version of you that isn’t performing or people-pleasing or trying to live up to someone else's expectation of “spiritual,” “successful,” or “strong.”

Who are you when you stop introducing yourself by what you do? When no one is watching? When you stop checking to see if you're getting it “right”?

That’s the self worth getting to know.

A Practice: Label Liberation

Try this journaling ritual:

Write down all the labels you currently identify with (the ones you love and the ones that feel heavy).
Cross out each one, and after each, ask: Who am I without this?
Let your body speak. Breathe into the discomfort.
Journal what arises—truth, grief, laughter, space, silence.

Let it be imperfect. Let it be yours. Let it bring you home to yourself.

The Invitation

You are not your job title. You are not your Myers-Briggs type. You are not your trauma, your timeline, your curated online presence, or your favorite yoga pose.

You are so much more. A soul in motion. A being becoming. A work of art in progress.

So the next time someone asks, “What do you do?” You have full permission to smile and say: “I’m learning how to just be.”

Because in a world obsessed with clarity, productivity, and definition— maybe the most radical thing you can do is to allow yourself to stay undefined.

💛 Feeling boxed in by old labels?

Let’s explore what’s underneath. Book a soulful coaching session and reconnect with your truest self—no name tag required. 👉 Book Your Session or Learn More About 1:1 Coaching