Your Title Is Deeper Than You May Think

The old saying goes that you have three names: The name you were born with, the name you are called by others, and the name you call yourself. The next time you tell someone what you do, consider the deeper name, the inscription that sits behind your “title.”

I was speaking with a client the other day about her book and she’s in this phase, that’s so rich where a person really considers: what is this actually about? What is it? The book is in the proposal process, where you’re writing about writing, even harder than the writing itself. But that only brings up the question again: what is this really about? What is my big idea? The one I can truly deliver on? This is about the title of things. It’s about naming something.

Since I’m a bit of a word geek, in this conversation into titles, I got to looking up what the word title actually means. The etymology of title.

And this is what I found. Title actually comes from the word the Latin word titulus. And titulus actually means inscription.

Your title is an inscription!

And that is very rich because the title is not something that comes from outside. You might be called something. You might be CEO, you might be Founder or you might be director of such and such, but that’s a totally separate thing from your inscription, your true gift, the gift you’re bringing to the world.

And I think this idea of inscription, of medicine, of that inner title, is about finding and defining that that gift that you’re bringing that is very ripe for this time. So I want to support you and appreciate you and your journey to holding – not just that title that everybody calls you – but that title that’s a little quieter. That inscription, that inner writing that tells you not just who you are, but really that that title that sings whenever you’re doing the work to which you’re most called.