Changing Your Colours and Style to Bring Success
by Ronnee Ruselle
How we wish to be perceived is affected by the colours we wear and how those colours are used. For example, someone who wishes to be taken seriously in a business-like way will have more success by wearing a suit or well-fitting jacket, top and pants or skirt, closed toes, clean shoes and so forth. There will most likely be a predominant colour and it will have little in the way of embellishments or patterns so it would be likely to have a small pattern or a square-type of pattern such as a herringbone, check or pin stripes. The fabric of the suit is likely to be good quality and have a solid, long-lasting feel to it.
Someone who wishes to be seen as relaxed, comfortable or 'free and easy' will likely be seen that way in mid-tones such as soft blues, greens and natural autumn colours. The fabric is likely to be soft to the touch and in appearance and may be 'flowy', light and comfortable. Denim and leather is often favoured for this look.
If you wish to be seen as the life of the party - fun, bubbly, vivacious and exciting, you will be likely to be wearing bright, exciting colours such as fuchsia, yellow, red, electric blue, bright green and so forth. For daytime wear, this will often be accompanied with a bold, exuberant pattern. For evening wear, you will be likely to see spangles, diamantes, silks and satins.
If you want to be seen as demure, soft, sweet and non-threatening, you would have success with soft colours, pastels and white. The fabrics will tend to be soft and the style will be comfortable and not too 'flowy' and not too tight or revealing. The patterns will be soft and can be large or small, but they will have a soft overall effect. Males would do well in a soft blue or grey shirt rather than a bright red which could give a feeling of confrontation to those around them.
Changing your persona
How we dress and what colours we wear make a difference to how we are perceived. If you watch the Oprah Winfrey Show, you'll possibly notice that a lot of the professional women that come on the show will wear a red or black suit. Over the years, the number of audience members who wear a red or black suit have increased. As the red suit has become increasingly popular with professional guests, the number of audience members who wear red has increased.
If you wish to change your persona, look at someone who you believe is the epitome of the way you wish to be perceived. There is a lot to take into account, how they behave, how they speak, how they move and how they look. A person who wants to be seen as an up-and-coming professional will not walk around in trackpants and slippers. How you dress and the colours you choose will make a difference not only to others, but to yourself.
The change that you require will be a gradual thing. It won't happen overnight and that's good to recognize because it makes the goal attainable. It won't take one massive, difficult change to achieve what you need to. You need to make a small change each and every day and once you've started making that change, continue with it until it becomes a part of you and then move onto the next one. You will be amazed at how quickly it works. Our behaviours and how we look are learned. We can change them easily with a small amount of determination and the wish to make positive changes to achieve the goals we want.
Many people are afraid to change their style etc. because they fear the comments and reactions of those around them. The best way to deal with this is not to hide from it, but to be open and accepting of it and then others will be too. Positive change is a good thing and those who love you will accept you and applaud you. Those who do not, are more than likely to be the ones who envy you. They would like to make changes as well, but they convince themselves that they cannot and seeing the changes in those around them, makes them feel a failure so those people would not support your changes. Don't let that stop you. See that as a positive confirmation that others perceive what you are doing as being positive as well - and that's a sign of success!
It works - I've done it!
There have always been some things I wanted to change about myself. One of those things was my accent. I didn't like the way I pronounced a few of my vowels and as anyone who's heard the Aussie 'twang' would agree, it sounds dreadful. For many years I had intended to pay for elocution, but never seemed to have the money for it - there was always something else come up that needed the money more. One day it occurred to me that I didn't need to wait to change my speech. All I needed to do was to take careful notice of how a person that speaks very nicely sounds and learn to pronounce my sounds the same way.
I knew that my friends and associates would obviously pick up the difference and I didn't want them to think that I was pretending to be a snob so when I spoke to them, I told each of them what my intention was. I explained that I am not happy with my accent and are taking active steps to change it for the better. I told them that I will sound different, but it won't be me pretending, it will be me trying to improve myself. Before I did that though, I practiced with the speech pattern for two or three days to get used to it so that it sounded natural in conversation.
It will change more than you expect
I was surprised to see that nobody even batted an eyelid. They heard what I said, answered 'ok' and the moment they recognized where I'd changed my speech during conversations; I saw the recognition in their faces. I also saw consideration - some of them also started thinking of ways that they could improve themselves. They had seen how easy it really was and knowing that the fear was not real (as it didn't stop me) a lot of my friends and associates also started making positive changes. It was wonderful to see and pretty soon everyone was very proud and their lives had become even better than they already were.
For me, changing the way I spoke meant that people took me more seriously. I worked in the corporate world most of my life and as a clairvoyant, I have always dealt with people from all walks of life including celebrities, politicians, sports stars and more. I have always found it easy to build rapport with people, but even so, it was easier for them to connect with me when my speech improved because they felt more comfortable - it was what they were used to with professionals. Before making the change, if I'd ever mentioned it, people were quick to reassure me that my accent was fine and they genuinely meant it. They could not hear any problems. I made the change because I wasn't happy with it. It made me feel so much better as it was one less thing that irritated me about myself, but it made a difference to others as well. True story!! (smile).
So go for it...look at those you admire, those who are how you want to be and see how you are already like that person. Many people will automatically scoff at that comment and argue that they are not like that person, but if you weren't already like that person inside, in the most important ways, you would not have chosen him/her. Then you notice the things you like about that person that are different to yourself. All you need to do then is to change the other little things that make a difference. I don't mean plastic surgery - I mean style, behaviour, attitude, speech - things that you can easily cope with a step at a time. Not all celebrities are young with a fabulous figure and yet the older, voluptuous ones are equally as fabulous. Look to the other more subtle areas of yourself and your life to make changes and you'll soon see that it will change your life for the better.
Good luck with your transformation!!