New Year New Me
The beautiful part of New Year resolutions is that I can wish you good luck a week in, because you’re still keeping up with them…right?!
Without sounding too pontifical, New Years resolutions often miss the point. This feels like a time to reinvent ourselves. Yet the constant reinvention leaves us disjointed and misguided.
Are you a wandering generality, or are you a meaningful specific? - Zig Ziglar
The New Year should be about rediscovering the true you and working on authentic ways to be more of that person in all aspects of your life. The Boomer generation was able to be one person at work and another person at home. (This may have led to some crippling dependency issues, but we won’t get into that, just watch Mad Men.) — How do we find the true you? Let’s examine the one thing you’ve consistently been doing for years; buying clothing.
What were your most worn pieces - much like Spotify, we can do an end of year wrapped. What piece(s) did you wear the most? A pair of blue jeans, a few shirts, a particular jacket?
What did you barely wear - your ties? maybe a style of dress, or even some shirts. Why didn’t you wear them? Did you buy them because you thought you should, because they were on sale, because you tried out a style? - write these down on a sticky note and keep it on your dresser. It’ll remind you of the pitfalls you run into when buying clothing.
What was a surprise to you - did you put together a combo that you were unsure of, and it started becoming a norm for you? What was one thing you started doing and ended up liking? Maybe ironing, or wearing jeans and a sport coat, or sneakers and a dress?
Plan a purge - 3 piles, Keep, Tailor, Donate. If you have pieces that don’t fit into those piles, do it again until they do.
Think about where you got your items and why - were they on sale, were they from a small business, were they made in some place you love?
Lastly, think about what people could be thinking about you when you wear this - it is a 100% guarantee that even on a subconscious level, everyone you interact with is making assessments of you based on your presentation. Do you think the person you present, is an accurate portrayal of the person you actually are? If not, how do we change that?
Today, with social media we collect friends, co workers, family, randoms, and our life is on display. We also have the ability to be who we want at our jobs. Meaningful occupations want to see some personality shine through. Our work and social lives often overlap. So let us start to consolidate who we want to be, who people think we are, and who we actually are.
You have the ability to be in control of your own narrative, instead of wondering what people think of you, start to show them what you are about. After that, your words and actions will reinforce their assumptions.
