I'm smart, funny, and attractive.
I'm romantic, thoughtful, and trustworthy.
I'm charming, passionate, and fearless.
I'm compassionate, honest, and friendly.
I'm humble, successful, and caring.
If I had a nickel for every time I saw what I call an "empty adjective," I'd be a very rich lady. What is an empty adjective anyway? It's a word that you use to describe yourself that can't be proven until someone gets to know you. In other words, it's subjective. For example, I might say that I'm funny, but I'm only funny to certain people (the ones who love puns and wordplay) but not to others (the ones with terrible taste, of course!). Or maybe my definition of honest is telling someone she has spinach in her teeth, but your definition is giving back the extra dollar if they accidentally give it to you at Whole Foods. A long time ago, I dated someone for six months who said in his online dating profile, "I'm really romantic." Was he? Not in the least ... unless you call putting the kibosh on a post-9 p.m. game of Scrabble because it's "too late" romantic. (Maybe that one still bothers me.) The empty adjective strikes again.
This is where the concept of "show, don't tell" really comes into play. For example, rather than saying that you're funny, say something that you find funny. That way, you're not only getting your point across, but you're differentiating yourself from everyone who simply states, "I'm funny," or worse, "My friends tell me I'm funny." The latter is just a way to say the same thing while attempting to be humble. Sadly, it doesn't work.
Let's think of a story for some of the adjectives above:
Friendly: I tend to walk into a room and immediately ask people's names _ the cashier at The Container Store, the doorman/woman at my building, the parking attendant at school. I may not remember them all, but I always ask!
Fearless: Despite my fear of flying, I knew I had to go to India for a business school project. I may or may not have hyperventilated a bit. And then I realized, "I can do this!" Since then, I've been to 12 countries in the last four years.
Trustworthy: It wasn't until many years after college that I realized everyone on my dorm floor had put me down as their emergency contact.
Funny: I'm a dog lover, especially when it comes to my wise old dachshund. Unfortunately for me, he doesn't enjoy dining out quite as much as I do (he likes the leftovers, though), he can't read the subtitles of the documentaries I watch, he can't help me with that pesky last letter of the crossword puzzle, and when it comes to dancing, well, he has two left feet ... literally.
Words like attractive, sexy, young-looking, and fit don't need to be stated at all because someone can decide that for him or herself simply from looking at your photos. Also, statements like "I look younger than my age" are both subjective and unnecessary. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and age in the eye of the birth certificate).
These empty adjectives will get glossed over and end up having the opposite effect of what you want _ they'll become meaningless. Remember: Be sure to set yourself apart and not get caught using empty adjectives when you could instead share something meaningful about yourself.
