Introduce yourself to someone new and notice the first thing you mention. That’s what you think matters most about you.

What comes out first, when there is no time to curate it, is the thing you have quietly decided is your headline. It might be a sport, a job, a school, a family. That order is not random, and it is not always the one you would pick on purpose.

Next time you meet someone, listen to yourself for a second afterward. Ask whether that headline is still true or just left over from a year ago. If it is left over, try leading with something truer once this week.