This sounds similar to another blog, but is a totally different idea and one that I think was fun to do (mostly because it was a lot of compliments to me). I texted 16 people who I felt knew me really well, a conglomeration of friends and family, and asked the first 3 words they thought of to describe me. I didn’t give anything else pushing them in a direction (I just told them to not think too deeply and that it was for a blog). I thought about adding something about not being afraid to go slightly negative or not in an all positive direction, but I couldn’t think of how to properly word it without essentially asking for a negative word, and I wanted it to be as instinctive of a decision as possible. After getting all the responses, I have it broken into 4 categories. The first category has the most words and I would say is the most accurate category to who I am, and each category has slightly less words and I would say is less descriptive of who I am, but these are 4 very *Spencer* categories regardless.
The first category is Relational words, essentially how I love, care, and show up for other people. This category is not only the biggest, but contains the only word said more than twice: loyal. There are few words, if any, that I would be more proud to have been called that many times. Pair it up with words like loving, kind, selfless, thoughtful, dependable, and so many more, and I am ecstatic that this was the category that defines me more than any other. Being someone who cares so deeply for those around me and puts a ton of effort into showing it, this little experiment helped show me that it was all worth it.
Relational Words: Loyal, Loving, Kind, Compassionate, Supportive, Understanding, Nurturing, Protective, Selfless, Thoughtful, Attentive, Emotionally Intelligent, Empathetic, Dependable, Steadfast, Humble, Intentional
The next category of words was social words. Ones that described me in social settings as a whole. There were some gimme words like conversationalist or friendly, but besides those this contained perhaps the two most thoughtful words anyone gave: Engaged and Connector. The person who gave engaged gave a reasoning as well, and that’s what made it mean to much. He told me I always seemed really into whatever I was doing, always had good body language, and always sounds interested and excited about what I do. This meant a ton as sometimes I feel like if I don’t give good energy it’ll bring the whole vibe down, so knowing that it helps is great. Connector was also a good one to hear, being seen as a sort of glue guy made me feel very seen, as I love bringing people together that I think would be good friends, as well as filling in the gaps of an environment to be what is needed at that moment. Also big shoutout to energy-matching, it was the only non-one word phrase I got despite not telling people it had to be 3 individual words.
Social Words: Friendly, Outgoing, Personable, Conversationalist, Connector, Genuine, Real, Energy-Matching, Excited, Engaged
Now for the third category, personality words. This is somewhat nit-picky to be separate from social words, but I felt they were more “who is Spencer” and less “what is Spencer” type words. Perhaps the best word anyone ever could have chosen was from my wife’s grandma, and that was handsome (and she said it face to face too). Other than that it was good words from people about who I *am* as a person in their eyes. There is a decent sized gaps between the first two categories and the last two in terms of quantity of words, but these all are still integral in the story of describing me.
Personality Words: Funny, Hilarious, Comical, Confident, Handsome, Adventurous, Baller
The last section is mental words. They’re all representative of the right brain side of Spencer; me when I am focused and working through a problem or answering a question. I would say they aren’t as prominent in my day to day and common personality, but are important to keeping me balanced and mature. I can be a bit whimsical or goofy at times, but I am able to reach the analytical or reliable or intelligent parts of me when I need them.
Mental Words: Intentional, Smart, Intelligent, Analytical, Reliable
This was an interesting thought experiment, not only in seeing how others see me, but in taking a step back and evaluating how I feel about the type of person I am portraying to others. My conclusion: I’ll take it.
Sunday Driving Pod 
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