Title

Do we need titles?

When I first started this website/blog/journal a month and a half ago now I was planning to just make a post every day or as much as I could without giving these posts titles except for the date and time of publishing. 

But then I thought it would be fun to come up with one word to try to represent each piece of writing I put on here. It also it made it easier to organize and keep track of all the posts I had made.

As I've been doing this writing on here sometimes I start out with an idea, or an agenda so the first thing I do is write the one-word title at the top of the screen and then go on to the typing. 

In this case the title influences what I write and I try to make sure what I'm writing works it's way into being a manifestation or an explanation of the title. 

Other times I just write what's going on my mind and I give it a title after. 

In this case I'm more relaxed, I feel a bit more free and loose when I'm writing because I don't have to worry about what I'm saying making sense to the title. But I find when I do it like this I always come to a succinct point or some agenda comes through anyways, I'm just less direct about it.

What about the titles we give ourselves? 

I've been working on my LinkedIn profile a lot recently and when asked to write a title or a headline for myself I struggled to know what to put. Coming up with a title for myself has always been a struggle for me. 

I'd like to be able to give myself a succinct title like "writer" or "student" or "sociologist" or "lifelong learner" but I don't feel like any of these things completely or accurately describe me. 

The nice thing about LinkedIn is you can list all the different jobs and educational experiences you've had so you can list a bunch of titles you've been given or you've given yourself in the past. 

But to come up with one title to summarize it all is a tough task for me. I have so many different interests and experiences it feels phony and uncomfortable to just label myself by whatever job I'm working or whatever word will make me seem most employable and noteworthy. 

That's why I've opted to just use locations where I've lived that have shaped me and general things I am currently doing as my headline on LinkedIn.

Even then there are so many other titles I have used for myself that don't have a place on a LinkedIn profile. I've taken all sorts of personality typing tests and I'd say the results I've received from them more precisely describe who I am than any job title or university program I've done: INFJ according to the Myers-Briggs test, 1w2 according to the Enneagram test, etc. 

But even these titles don't completely describe me. And just like how when I start off these blog posts with a title and write based on this title, when I give myself a title like this I start to try to live according to the title and believe I am limited by this title.

In other words, I think in-depth personality tests and the extensive analysis and forums available online about each personality type in these systems can lead to "self-fulfilling prophecies" (and it's easy for self-help/personality type gurus to market and sell products and services and analysis to you that will supposedly help you based on your inherent, fixed personality type - read The Personality Brokers by Merve Emre to get the inside scoop on how tests like these were created and how they are marketed). 

I still have found a lot of value though in learning about the Myers-Briggs theory specifically and my INFJ type because it helps to validate the traits I have that I feel are weird or uncommon and realize I'm not alone in having these kind of traits (the INFJ Reddit page and the site Introvert, Dear have been sources of comfort and validation for me).

So I still haven't come to a definite answer to the question I posed to start this post but I would say that titles can be useful but it's best not to worry too much about them or let any title define you or dictate how you live your life.