My advice to fellow attorneys: Never accept the labels others try to stick to you or other people. Here’s why overcoming labels is so important for personal growth and your career.
When I was three, I snuck into our pantry and scaled walls of shelves to randomly switch the carefully affixed labels on dozens of canned goods. I can’t say that this went over well with my parents, but I believe I understood at a young age that labels are overrated.
The world loves efficiency, and a label can feel very efficient. A single word, a prescribed category, a quick way to define — and often dismiss — someone or something. But labels simplify and generalize. And by doing so, they strip away the layers that make us all who we are.
Break Free From Labels and See How Quickly You Advance
You have surely been labeled countless times — by family, teachers, friends and even strangers. Some of these labels may have felt like praise; others, like chains. But all of them, no matter how well-intentioned, were reductions and a narrowing of who you are.
It is increasingly important for attorneys and legal professionals to reject labels and become skilled at seeing beyond generalizations.
Whether labeling yourself or others, labels can keep you stuck, unable to move beyond a particular perspective. How often do you hear someone described as “arrogant,” “weak” or even “toxic” and decide, without investigating for yourself, it must be true? Labels encourage you to stop looking — that you already know all you need to know.
It can be challenging to develop the discipline to withhold judgment. Most of us have been conditioned to make judgments on sight, and this tendency is deeply ingrained. Reserving judgment requires curiosity and a willingness to admit that your initial impressions might be wrong.
If it’s true that your identity goes far beyond any label, then the same is true for everyone else.
Stripping Away Labels Makes Space for Growth
The moment you accept a label, you risk shrinking yourself to fit inside it.
Maybe you’ve been called shy, so you start believing that speaking up isn’t for you. Maybe someone said you’re “too sensitive,” so you harden yourself against your emotions. These words stick like cheap name tags, peeling at the edges yet still defining you. The person who slapped that label on you wasn’t seeing you. They were seeing a fraction of you, an impression, a fleeting moment frozen and mistaken for the whole story.
Of course, you’ve done it too. We all have. You’ve met someone and, within seconds, assigned a label. Maybe they reminded you of someone from your past. Maybe they fit into a category you’ve been conditioned to recognize. Logically, we may know we are reacting to a label or stereotype, a projection of assumptions that may have nothing to do with reality. Yet we all still do it.
By peeling away the labels, you allow yourself to evolve beyond what anyone else (including your past self) has decided you are or should be. By refusing to accept labels for other people, you grant them the same freedom. You stop seeing them as “just” something and start seeing them as layered, complex and capable of change.
The real work — understanding, breaking free — comes when you refuse to accept labels. It requires curiosity. It requires looking below the surface and asking, “What else is true about this person or group? About me?”
Your Mind Can Be Your Jailor
The brain operates on prediction and confirmation.
When someone assigns a label to you — “difficult,” “shy,” “leader,” “failure,” “gifted” — and you believe it, your neural pathways strengthen around that belief, making it more automatic and reflexive. You will filter out evidence that contradicts it and reinforce evidence that supports it. This is called confirmation bias.
If you have been told you are “bad at math” since childhood, your brain is less likely to engage the prefrontal cortex — the area responsible for problem-solving — when faced with a mathematical challenge. Your neurons quite literally fire in a way that aligns with the identity you have accepted.
Likewise, once your brain categorizes someone as any specific characteristic, it stops looking for nuance. The amygdala, your Warrior, reacts quickly to these labels, triggering subconscious biases that influence how you interact. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex — your calmer, empathetic, reasonable Guru who thrives on complex thought — takes a back seat. This is why stereotypes persist.
Your brain, in its quest for efficiency, favors certainty over accuracy.
What Happens to Your Brain When You Reject Labels?
Neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to rewire itself — means that no label is destiny. The moment you consciously reject a label, you disrupt the neural pathways that sustain it. The more you question assumptions — about yourself and others — the more you strengthen the prefrontal cortex’s ability to override automatic biases.
Overcoming labels requires effort but also leads to a more adaptable, flexible mind. It allows you to engage with reality instead of reacting to outdated neural scripts.
Your identity is not fixed. Neither is anyone else’s.
The labels you have accepted are just mental shortcuts, not immutable truths. When you refuse to let labels define your perspectives, you train your brain to see with clarity rather than assumption. But by being like my three-year-old self, reveling in the excitement of rejecting labels, you will free yourself.
A Comprehensive Guide to Wellness in Law
The emotional health issues lawyers face are not due to weakness or failure, says author Gray Robinson, but are often due to failed training. In this new ABA book, he offers a holistic guide to lawyer wellness, using mental, emotional, and physical approaches to managing stress and anxiety.
