// original image via Dwell

After seeing the headline “16 Signs You’re a Little (or a lot) Type A” circulating around the Internet last week I finally decided to check it out. While I’ve always known I was a bit obsessive about things like lists and sometimes more aggressive than others, I’ve never thought about categorizing myself – at first I felt a bit relieved when I found myself nodding along with 15 of the 16 items on this list (minus the sleep part, there are zero troubles there), I then started to feel really self-conscious about it. Is this what everyone thought of me? Has everyone been labeling me “Type A” all along and I never realized it? I even went as far as to send the article to a few of my friends and family to get their input and the general conscious was, yes, that sounds about right.

But then I realized how completely silly this was – here I was, feeling both relief and stress over a Huffington Post article. How dumb. If I had gone almost 26 years placing myself into the “Type A” category, why was this going to be an issue now? Was there really any point in applying a label to myself?

I think we’re quick to share and relate to list posts like this because we feel it validates us. It makes us feel less alone – like we’re more “normal” if we’re able to check the box and nod along with the latest BuzzFeed or Huffington Post article. But you know what this actually does? It encourages us to conform – to be like everyone else (even if it’s in a bizarre or undesirable way) instead of celebrating the unique combination of qualities we’re all made up of.

So the next time I feel the need to categorize myself or attach a title to my personality traits, I’m going to instead take a moment and think about how I’m different, and I encourage you to do the same. Let’s all spend a little less time worrying about these things and a little more time focusing on who we want to be as individuals AND the steps we can take to get there.