Name tags won’t just change your life; they will affect everything around you.

Considering all of the elements in a name tag, changing your life is the least this tool will do. Name tags reach much further than just providing someone with your name. Adapted from Scott Ginsberg, here are just a few ways your life will change for the better.

“A name tag isn’t just a sticker; it’s a statement. It’s about friendliness, identity, culture and human nature,” Scott Ginsberg.

A Name Tag Is A Permission Slip

Wearing a name tag is an invitation to friendliness. It’s a way to open up to others and overcome your personal walls. Sigmund Freud discovered that a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. So, wearing a name tag means one less name people have to worry about remembering.

Because name tags are permission slips, they encourage engagement. Their primary function is to personalize and humanize each person. Inviting encounters is what they do. And you permit this change to happen every time you put on your name tag.

A Name Tag Is An Engagement Tool

The hardest part about conversations is getting the ball rolling. That’s why names are so great. They are the basic building block of conversation. The sooner you know people’s names, the sooner you feel comfortable around them.

And the sooner you let another person know your name, the better off you will be. Name tags provide that ice-breaker instantaneously.

A Name Tag Is An Equalizer

By wearing a name tag with just your first name, you make it easier for people to connect with you. Others are more apt at finding common ground. Everyone has a first name! When name tags are worn with just your first name, you successfully level the playing field.

A Name Tag Is Non-Threatening

Others can choose to ignore you, but there you are with your name out for all to see. Whether people say hello or just walk by, you’re still being friendly. In this sense, a name tag isn’t imposing on others. It is inviting them to get to know you. And it provides necessary change in your environment for others to trust you.

“Wearing a name tag hasn’t created my identity; it’s revealed it. The name tag excavated and amplified who I always was as a person. It enabled me to continue becoming the person I was in the process of becoming,” Scott Ginsberg.

A Name Tag Is A Sacrifice

Sure, you feel dumb when wearing a name tag. It’s uncomfortable. But think about how many people whose lives you just made easier. Like the guy who’s been working down the hall from you for six years but didn’t know how to spell your name until now. (Or) the shy person across the room who didn’t have the courage to walk up and say hello until now. (How about) the new yoga teacher who had thirty new students, yet only 29 new names to memorize. Whew! How are you practicing mini-sacrifices each day to make other people’s lives (even a LITTLE) easier? What comfort are you willing to forego?

Wearing a name tag stretches your personality. It makes you come out of your shell and your comfort zone. And, in turn, it helps others to do the same. Sure, it might be scary and uncomfortable at first, but think about the impact you have on others by immediately disclosing your name.