I was chatting with a friend about this the other day, and it gave me the idea for this post. It’s sort of a personal letter to myself, but it may be of use to others.

What people do is one of the most common traits with which they identify. Identification with a profession is taught to children very early on through the age old question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. As kids grow into somewhat-jaded-angsty-teens, the toils of school or an unfulfilling job are likely to cause identification with activities and passions, external to their ordinary routine, such as music, drawing, skateboarding, video games, studying obscure political theories etc.

This is usually seen as harmless (especially compared to other things people might identify with). However, I would argue the opposite, here are some reasons why.

Fragility of Self

If your job defines you, what happens when you’re laid off, or your company goes bankrupt? What about if you identify with playing the piano, and suddenly develop arthritis?

“But João” you exclaim “[insert random activity] is my life, that couldn’t possibly happen to me!”. This made up answer is obviously ridiculous, but it was chosen to show that a person who has tied their identity to their occupation becomes intentionally blind to the possibility of losing the ability to do it, because finding something else would completely uproot their life—which will actually happen if they lose said ability.

Social Isolation

When you do basically nothing else outside your little niche, it becomes very difficult to have a conversation someone. Quite frankly, the average person doesn’t really care about the memory allocator you’re writing, or the intricacies of Austrian Economic theory you’ve spent countless hours studying. You may tell yourself that normal people are just boring or stupid, but that kind of attitude just leaves you incredibly lonely, or with a social circle with whom your only connection is this one super specific thing—probably both.

Snobbery

Lastly, this kind of identification is likely to turn you into an arrogant, sneering individual, particularly towards others in your domain. This happens because viewing yourself in terms of your skill at a particular activity makes any indication of lack of skill extremely threatening. Such indication may come from seeing others more skilled than you, but also from equally skilled people that highlight the fact that you’re not as good as you think.

This will cause you to be resentful, look down upon people to feel better, dismiss peers because their success damages your self image and just be an overall stuck up snob.

Just Take it Easy

None of this is to say you shouldn’t do things you deeply enjoy and really dedicate yourself to doing them well, just don’t make the mistake of believing those things are somehow you. “You’re so much more than that” sounds kinda cringe but it’s true. You shouldn’t let yourself become pigeon-holed into one facet of life, make the effort to venture outside your comfort zone and pursue different things!

Always remember: stuff you do is just that, stuff you do, and nothing else.