The Power of Looking Good and Feeling Good.
In this article, we will share with you the importance of looking good and feeling good as well as their impact. Looking good can be grouped into 3 categories namely dressing, grooming and colour.
Dressing
Dressing refers to the clothing selections of one’s choice. This could range from well-fitted shirts to oversized dresses. In a corporate setting, there is a general consensus that one should wear well-fitted outfits to demonstrate professionalism. People perceive well-fitted and ironed clothes as a sign of confidence. Conversely, wrinkled and loose clothing may show your indifference to your appearance and as such, your attitude to work. As for accessories, it should be kept to a minimum level to avoid distractions when meeting clients and important personnel. However, some accessories such as watches serve as a status symbol and indicate an individual's wealth and taste. In business dealings, your dressing is crucial in representing the kind of professional image and message you wish to send to the other party.
Grooming
Frequently, sloppiness is a sign of disrespect for yourself and your job especially in the professional sector. Grooming includes small elements of appearance which many tend to overlook, yet they’re essential ones. Something as simple as not touching your face or hair during interactions, keeping your hair to natural colours and trimming your facial hair can heavily affect your professional image. The hygiene checklist also includes having your teeth clean and stain-free, and keeping
your breath in check. While seemingly menial, grooming plays a part in how others perceive you. For those who are conscious of their breath, a tip can be eating a mint or using a breath freshener spray.
Colour
Lastly, choosing the most flattering colours to wear that matches your skin tone best also plays a role in keeping up your professional image. This is absolutely applicable to both male and females. To start, you can identify your skin tone as “cool”, “warm” or “neutral”. If you have a cool skin tone, wearing more warm colours can evoke warm feelings in people. Conversely, if you have a warm skin tone, wearing cool colours may be more flattering. In the professional setting, wearing cool colours is more appropriate, but adding colours strategically can give your image the boost it needs.
Your skin tone can also help you decide what kind of jewelry to wear. If you are still unsure of your skin tone, you can do a vein test. If you have a cool skin tone, silver jewellery would fit you best. Alternatively, for warm skin tones, gold jewelry may be more suitable.
Feeling Good
Many would agree that dressing is of extreme importance in the aspect of building and maintaining your professional image. But what is the point if you look good but you don’t feel good about yourself? We all know the importance of showing your confidence in an interview, but there is more to ‘feeling good’ than that temporary facade for the 40 minutes of trying to show your best self to your next employer, or the 15 minutes of presenting your idea to your superiors.
So what is self-confidence? Self-confidence is about trusting yourself, believing in yourself, and feeling comfortable with yourself. Having self-confidence does not necessarily affect your skills and abilities, but it has an immense impact on the perception that others have of you. Similar to how we can tell fake smiles from genuine ones, we can tell when someone is merely showing confidence rather than actually feeling good. It is contagious and spreads to the people around you. Your energy and enthusiasm will be paralleled by your listeners.
Ultimately, dressing good and feeling good comes hand-in-hand in shaping your professional image. If you neglect your physical appearance and dressing, you will be seen as unprofessional no matter how confident you are. Similarly, if you dress and look well but lack self-confidence and do not feel comfortable with yourself, you will not be able to fully gain the respect and credit due to you.
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