The next step in the Confidence-Building Morning Routine: Habit #4 – Wear Your Best. Dress for confidence!
Out of the loop? Read last month’s post to catch up on Habits 1-3…
Remember how confident Melanie Griffith was after she got her new look in the 1988 movie Working Girl? She struggled with confidence and had to decide over and over again to believe in herself. Dressing the part made that decision much easier. It was part of her “owning” her role and her ownership of that role is part of what lead her to success.
Remember your work performance only makes up 10% of your Personal Brand. Your Image is 30% of that brand and all the rest is based on the amount of Exposure you get. What Image do you have? What kind of Image do your clothes project? Is confidence part of your Image?
Pick clothes that are in good shape and make you feel good. Do not wear things you aren’t sure of just because you haven’t worn them yet or someone gave them to you. Do not keep socks with holes, shirts with stretched out necks or sweaters that are pilling and look old. Even if you love them, they will sap your confidence if their defects come into the spotlight somehow during the day.
Do one thing before the end of the week: throw out every piece of clothing that is ill-fitting, stained, smelly, has holes, or is thread-bare.
Dressing for confidence does not require a major overhaul to your wardrobe or an expensive shopping trip. It is as simple as trusting your gut about which clothes will make you feel good.
That being said, if you are energised to maximise the effect of this habit, you can make the process easier every morning. Invest a day or two to go through your wardrobe and get rid of all the clothes that you don’t love. A very helpful guide in this process is the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.
This book helped me not only pare down my closet, but also my whole household! After I followed Marie Kondo’s easy and precise method for clearing out, I felt immediately lighter and freer in my own home. Also, having just moved house last weekend, this book saved me hours of packing and unpacking. Now, when I chose my clothes in the morning it is much faster and easier and I always feel great!
For those of you who are looking to get tips on how to choose clothes that will make you feel great, there is help! It is important to know which patterns and colors are best for you and what styles will compliment your personality. You will enjoy a book that my mother recommended to me: Dressing Your Truth by Carol Tuttle. (Thanks, Mom!) I loved this book because I always used to feel lost as to which clothes to buy and which colors would work for me. Now I select clothing with confidence, knowing exactly what is going to compliment my style.
Even if you are not up to read books or make any drastic changes to your wardrobe, this step in the routine is easy and effective.Simply go with the clothes you know you feel best in. Stop wearing things that don’t make you feel good about yourself!
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