You've heard it a million times; "think outside of the box." Maybe more would do that if the people asking were not invested in the box industry. I used to be more tolerant of the think outside the box admonition. But I've moved to a place where I stop the train if someone tries to put me in a "box" or any other confined category.
I spent a good deal of time in the banking world before moving onto my mission at Epic Living. I was successful in many eyes. And to this day, I still have people who think my life then was nirvana or even better, I should go back to it because I was so good at it. When I tell them how much I loathed it, the inevitable furrowed brow appears.
I no longer take it personally.
The biggest reason people want you in a certain box has very little to do with you. It really is about them. It's much easier to keep order and predictability when a friend or colleague stays the way they're perceived. When someone makes a move outside that zone it produces anxiety, fear and even loathing. Call it a move to protect what they perceive as safe and secure.