What Container Are You In?

Sören Kierkegaard wrote, “Once you label me, you negate me.” That's the topic of this mini podcast. Find out how labels are limiting in finding out more about you or someone else.

Grasshopper Notes are the writings from America's Best Known Hypnotherapist John Morgan. His podcasts contain his most responded to essays and blog posts from the past two decades. 

Find the written versions of these podcasts on John's podcasting site: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1628038

"The Grasshopper" is the part of you that whispers pearls of wisdom that  seem to pop into your mind from out of the blue. John's essays and blog posts are his interpretations of these "Nips of Nectar." Others have labeled his writings as timeless wisdom. 

Most of the John's writings revolve around self improvement and self help. They address topics like:

• Mindfulness
• Peace of mind
• Creativity
• How to stay in the present moment
• Spirituality
• Behavior improvement

And stories that transform you to a wider sense of awareness that presents more options. And isn't that what we all want, more options? 

John uploads these podcasts on a regular basis. So check back often to hear these podcasts heard around the world. Who wants to be the next person to change? 

Make sure to order a copy of John's new book: WISDOM OF THE GRASSHOPPER – 21 Days to Creativity. These mini-meditations take you inside where all your creative resources live. And you'll come out not only refreshed but recommitted to creating your future. 

It's only $16.95 and available at BLURB.COM at the link below. https://www.blurb.com/b/10239673-wisd...

Also, download John's FREE book INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change. It's available at John's website  https://GrasshopperNotes.com

Transcript

What Container Are You In?

Have you ever been exposed to personality typing  programs that categorize your personality? There are a number of them, and two of the major ones are Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram. 

These programs assess your personality and in the case of Myers-Briggs, suggest different professions you would be a good fit for.

They’re quite useful in giving you insight into yourself and others.

But they’re just a starting point that gives you a thumbnail sketch of peoples’ personalities.

I like to think of them as containers.

Think of making Christmas cookies. You have your secret formula dough that you put into different shapes: snowmen, trees, elves, gingerbread men, reindeer, and Santa to name a few.

Your neighbor also makes these cookies around the holidays but with a different formula for their dough. They put them in the same cookie cutter shapes as you, but they taste different.

So snowman is the label we give to all cookies in that shape. But all snowmen are not alike – not even identical twins.

The caution here is to not be so quick to put someone into a box - a container. That won’t give you a full picture of them or you. 

“Oh, she’s a scatterbrain.” “He’s a know-it-all.” When you use these shortcut labels, you short-circuit your ability to go deeper with that person and find out more.

You may have heard of Dr. Milton Erickson, famed psychiatrist and the father of what I like to call “conversational hypnosis.” The founders of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), a people helping system, were Richard Bandler and John Grinder. They observed and modeled Dr. Milton Erickson and his ways of interacting with clients where he got amazing results, and they incorporated these findings into their work. 

Dr. Erickson when asked about what he thought of these two self-help pioneers and their findings said something to the effect, “They think they got the nut, but they only got the shell.”

Containers are helpful in giving you an overview of someone, but can cause you to overlook unseen qualities if you’re too quick to judge. This old axiom comes to mind: “When you label it, you limit it.” 

Before affixing labels, make an effort to go deeper with someone, and you just might find that your instant label was incomplete and dare I say, unkind.

All the best,

John