10 No Cost Ways to Present Yourself at Your Best – #10 & #9

As I mentioned in one of my last blog posts, I have been doing a lot of networking in the past few months.  I always feel that my personal experiences make for the best inspiration for content – if I am noticing it – there is a reason.  And if I am pained by my observation, then there is a purpose lurking somewhere in my pain – it is just a matter of time before the purpose clicks for me.  Lately, I have had a lot of clicking going on.

I have decided to share a series with you about my observations that can provide some no cost ideas on how to present yourself at your best.  Treating yourself well matters because it is a path for allowing good things to come your way.  We attract what we put out into the Universe.  If we are not treating ourselves well then we are going to find hard times trying to get others to regard us or treat us well in return.  Minor changes can go a long way – so it’s in that spirit that I share my observations and ideas with you.

Mind you, I am not a personal stylist nor am I particularly into fashion and the latest trends.  But I know bad or inappropriate treatment when I see it and often we are our own worst offenders.  More importantly, I know what I think when I see it (I am human – I can’t help it – I make decisions about people when I see the way they look and I know I am not alone in this).  Of course, I consciously weigh it in with a lot of other variables like how they treat others, how they present themselves, their ideas/energy/chutzpah, etc.  But I cannot ignore it because I know it means something about how they value themselves – and how people value themselves matters greatly to me.

So I offer to you 10 no cost ways to present yourself at your best.  Every week – I will write about two things – counting down to the most important thing you can do to present your best self.  I hope they inspire you to treat yourself better and in return boost your confidence by demonstrating to the Universe that you take pride in your appearance and that you deserve to be treated well.

#10.  Make sure your jewelry is in good repair and clean.

Weather it is real gems, precious metals or fake costume jewelry, be sure that there are no missing gems and that it is clean.  There is nothing more unsightly than a necklace swinging around your neck over a white shirt that leaves a trail of dirt behind – it’s just dirty!

Consider that jewelry was originally invented to be a fastener for clothing and then evolved into a symbol of power, wealth or beauty and a source of protection or energy.  It’s even a symbol of spiritual or religious dedication.  Broken or dirty does not resonate as a worthy offering/dedication to any God nor does it say power, wealth and certainly not beauty.

Your options are easy on this one:

1. clean it
2. repair it
3. get rid of it – if it is fake – throw it away – don’t give junk away and perpetuate the problem of junk.  If it is real – sell it/melt it down – this is a great time to get rid of jewelry/precious metals you don’t want any more (and make room for new jewels to come into your life) ;-)

Jewelry in bad shape (real or fake) = junk.  Don’t declare to the world you are worthy of junk.

#9.  Don’t underdress.

Being underdressed seems to have evolved to a whole new level of “under” dressing.  I see people out and about in what looks like pajama pants to me – they look warm, comfy and they usually have some kind of repetitive graphic or logo on them.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good pair of sweats as much as anyone, but sweats in public that don’t look like you are in the middle of some sort of home repair (and you are in a hardware store) or that you are coming/going from/to the gym reads “lazy”.  Pajamas pants outside of a hospital emergency room reads – “I do lazy all day long”!

Beyond pajama pants in public, here are two more of my favorite sitings:

• Christmas (red-nosed reindeers, stockings, XMas trees – you get it – CHRISTMAS) sweaters, at career networking events that are held no where near the holiday season.
• Full blown sweat pants with sweat shirts for business casual days in professional workplaces.

Under dressing is simply a statement that what you wear doesn’t matter – it’s says “Who would notice me?”  You are noticeable and you deserve to look nice.  When in doubt about what to wear – dress “up” vs. “down”.

Practice these 2 tips over this week.  Next Monday, I will share 2 more no cost ways to look your best!