Some Labels Make You Stronger
Most labels impair your thinking. A few provide a net benefit.
Researchers can teach people to be emotionally and mentally resilient. The problem is that the uptick in well-being gradually fades as people stop the exercises they’ve been given. We see this in dozens of studies. The exercises aren’t “sticky.”
The solution is an exception to the label rule, the idea that letting labels into our identity makes us stupid and prone to cognitive dissonance.
If we choose labels requiring regular resilience exercise, that demand critical examination of our thoughts, words, and deeds based on principles we agree with, and which are “sticky” over time, they can be a net benefit.
Therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) aren’t sticky enough. People don’t tattoo Aaron Beck’s name on their arm or call themselves CBTers. CBT therapy works, but its not an ideology that worms its way into people’s’ identities.
But you will find people branding themselves with the serenity prayer of AA, who tattoo Epicurus’s face onto their arm, or who actively proclaim themselves Stoics or Buddhists.
Philosophies with resilience therapy built into their practice, like Stoicism, work well.
If it’s also sticky enough to make you reread the foundational texts each year, it’s probably a good fit if it doesn’t impair your thinking.
So label away, so long as it leaves you smarter and more resilient.