Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 286 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast!
I love that you’re here and I love that you’re listening because it means we have something in common, we love self improvement and we know that living a wildly successful life means constant growth and improvement. It also means showing up as the best version of us that we can muster up every single day and some days that’s gonna look like a hot mess but what we are working for here is for the majority of the time to be able to show up as the person we were meant to be. And that doesn’t just mean inside, it means how we present ourselves on the outside as well.
So how about that title? I don’t know about you but that don’t judge a book by it’s cover, When Im in a bookstore, I love looking at the covers and Im constantly judging a book by it’s cover, I will pick up a book based on it’s cool looking cover all day long, now after reading a bit, it might not be for me but it’s the cover that got me intrigued….. You can probably guess this is not an episode about book covers.
I have noticed a trend in our society, especially in America where some are trying to celebrate an “anything goes” lifestyle. Some people say “you can just show up however you want, wherever you want”. They say “people shouldn’t judge you on how you dress or how you present yourself’. And I gotta tell you, I just don’t buy into that and if you are really honest with yourself you know it’s not true, we love to make assumptions based on what people are wearing, the analalytics of my show tells me my listeners are about 85 percent women, which I love that I have all these friends out there, I wish I could meet each one of you, but you guys know Im right, because we are the worst about it, we check out other women all the time, especially if they are looking amazing and let’s be honest an atrocious outfit will get a sideways glance too. We all notice and respect when someone makes an extra effort to look amazing. I love to see it, it is so inspiring to me! When I see someone looking so good, It makes me want to step up my game too!
Eric and I have been traveling a lot lately, I think we are trying to make up for lost time. But nowhere is it more evident to me than when Im traveling. The airport is full of people that look like they just rolled straight out of bed. Please don’t be that person, and I don’t think you are. It is very rare anymore to see people who dress up to get on a plane. It’s pretty shocking to me what people will wear to go out.
And I know there are those that may get a little sideways with this idea, but how we present ourselves is as important as what we have to say, as what our message is, you know why? Your message may not even get heard if people can’t get past how you present yourself.
Because the reality is, whether you like it or not, people do take you more seriously when you show up looking your best.
Every single time I have an interior design appointment I get dressed for the part, for one thing, new clients Definitely are looking at how I dress thinking that’s indicative of how I’m going to design their house. Even if its not the case, they’re doing it, its human nature. The biggest thing for me though, is if Im not feeling confident and sure of myself, It is really hard for me to be creative and confident in the way I present my design.
There really is an art to living a wildly successful life and by art I mean it’s subjective and it’s going to look different for each one of us. I like to be fancy, I believe I get that from my grandmother who was fancy up to the day she died at 93. Now, I grew up in the country but I never really felt like I fit in, we didn’t have a lot of money but I knew I always wanted to dress a certain way and feel a certain way. So even when I was young, I innately knew it mattered. Don’t let anyone tell you it doesn’t. And don’t tell yourself if doesn’t either because it does.
I was listening to Tonya Leigh in the “Worthy Woman” workshop this last week, during the workshop she said “dress the way you want to be addressed”. It’s so true. When you show up all dressed up people treat you differently. They notice you. They are even more likely to listen to what you have to say. But, the biggest thing of all is the impact your dress has on YOU. You can dress in a way to fuel your insecurity or you can dress in a way to fuel your confidence. So take a look at what you are wearing today or what you plan to wear today…is your outfit building your confidence or is it helping you hide?
When you show up with a new hair do or a great new outfit that you feel amazing in, you act different. You attract different. You create opportunities for yourself that wouldn’t be there if you show up in sweatpants. I read an article entitled secrets flight attendants wont tell you: One of the number one things is you are more likely to get an upgrade of some sort if you show up dressed beautifully. Know that that is the case for other things too. Better table at a restaurant, better service in a department store. If you respect yourself, other people are more likely to respect you as well.
There’s a fancy store locally here called Oak Hall, they have lovely clothes and it’s super high end, one day Eric and I were going to the gym, so we were in our gym clothes and he said “let’s run in to Oak Hall, I was like There’s zero chance Im going into Oak Hall dressed in my gym clothes, not gonna happen and look I love to shop so it was BIG for me to say no to going in there, but I know, Im not even going to feel confident shopping in there dressed like that.
My whole point of this episode is to remind us all that even though we like to say don’t judge a book by the cover, we all do it and the biggest part of that is we judge ourselves. We think who am I to wear that sassy dress? What will people think? What if I stand out? Don’t fall prey to society’s encouragement of mediocrity. We don’t control a lot about the world right now but we can control how we show up, you don’t want to show up in the energy of mediocrity. Imagine what the best, most amazing version of you would wear for whatever you’re doing that day and dress like that. Of course it will look different depending on what you are doing. You will look different going to the gym, then you will going shopping. You’ll look different going to work than you will a fancy dinner. But the key is to consider how you want to present yourself in the best possible way no matter what you’re doing.
It matters. We all know it does, let’s not pretend anymore that it doesn’t.
My challenge to you today is to Blow people away tomorrow with the way you look at work or the way you dress doing whatever you’re doing, be the friend that always sets the bar high of how to dress when you go out. Start showing up like the wildly successful version of you and watch not only how it changes the way you feel and act but also the way others respond to you and doors open for you. Be the book cover that gets noticed….
I love you guys! I’ll talk to you in a few days.
