If you want to sell better, have people respond to you better, want to lead better, have people listen to you more the key is engaging, interacting and communicating with confidence. Don’t you find confidence attractive? When someone knows who s/he is and is not afraid of being him/herself, there is something very attractive about this, isn’t there?
I know, I know, you’ve all heard this spiel before, and you all know that confidence is a good thing. I also know that many of you reading this have NO problems projecting confidence. I also know that there are many of you reading (and I include myself on this list) that could always use a little boost in the confidence department. While there are many little and big things that you can do to boost your feeling of confidence, there is one thing you can do that I want to talk about today…
WEAR BRIGHTLY COLORED SOCKS!
Picture Credit: Andrew’s Style/Pinterest
There are a variety of articles on the web with science, data, analytics, expert opinion on how and why brightly colored socks can boost your confidence, so I won’t rehash all of what they say because I assume you have access to the Interwebs too. (=
What I will say though is that from an outsiders perspective brightly colored socks are different from the norm, and that helps you stand out in a good way. (Incidentally, this does not apply to wearing white athletic socks with your suits/dress pants. Michael Jackson might have been the only one who could make that look good!)
When someone sees that you’re wearing bright socks they think, “Hmmm….that person must be confident because s/he’s doing something not a lot of people do.” Or, “That person is willing to take a risk by sporting pink socks with his blue suit, I like that!” Whatever it is I can yell you by experience that people respond, and almost always favorably when I’m sporting the bright socks.
The other thing that happens is that when you know you’re wearing something that captures the attention of others, creates a sense of mystery, intrigue, or just happiness because someone loved the socks, it can boost your internal confidence.
Recently I had to decide on what blazer to wear for a speaking engagement. Because of the nature of this event my normal suit and tie outfit was replaced by blazer and jeans (which I love!). As I stood in the mirror I tried on both blazers- and while both were nice I eventually picked the one that I felt fit me better. The funny thing is I originally chose the tan blazer because I wanted to wear a light summer color for this event, but the navy blazer just fit me and the jeans I was wearing better than the tan blazer, and I knew I’d be self-conscious if I didn’t go with the navy blazer, so navy it was. It worked…BTW.
I’m not suggesting that bright socks are the magic pill that will boost your confidence all the time and in every situation, but it can help! So try it, and let me know how it goes!
