Why wearing bright colors is at the top of my list for attaining and maintaining success in all areas of life.
I’m trying something new here. Whether you ‘like’ it or hate it will, in part, dictate where this leads (hint: if you like where this is going, like the post!).
Rather than speaking in general terms about things that I feel may improve YOUR life, I am going to get real and share with you some sure-fire things that have improved MY life. These are things that have brought me personal happiness, success and fulfillment in my business, life and soul. Mind you, I haven’t slept in nearing 48 hours and I’m typing this blog as I board a flight, so bear with me. Here goes nothing…
It took me 28 years to realize the importance of color. Since that awakening, my life has been forever changed. If you asked me to list my top 10 criteria for success in life, wearing bright colors would be somewhere at the top of the list.
Of note, I am generally drawn and prone to reds and blacks (hence the color theme of SheBytes and the red color of my last car and bike). Because wearing bright colors is against my nature and outside my comfort zone, it brings me tremendously positive results (any actions taken against one’s nature is a recipe for success). So if you’re someone who already loves and gravitates towards bright colors, the advice I am about to share won’t be as powerful, but still worth understanding with awareness.
So why my sudden love of color? It happened in a subtle way. After a long stretch of nothing but black (mood correlated), I tried occasionally to “get outside the box” and wear a bright color. Whenever I did, the compliments flooded in. Like Pavlov’s Dog, I was inclined to repeat. And repeat I did. Over the course of the following year, this is what I observed:
- Whenever I wear bright colors, I receive a lot of compliments.
- People perceive me as warmer, more open, and more approachable. I receive more hugs.
- Warmer people make me feel warmer myself. This makes me like people more. I give more hugs.
- When I wake up in the morning, if the energy is heavy (and even in many cases when it’s not), I’d reach for black clothes. Black is a comfort zone.
- My creativity is challenged in the morning. Selecting colorful clothes first thing in the morning is difficult, especially when there are “safe” can’t mess this up (black) options to choose from.
- If I remove all black clothes from my closet, I have no choice but to wear colors. More colors means more hugs. Hugs make me happy. I want to be happy.
- I can save myself creative frustration by picking a colorful outfit the night before, while I am still channeling the day’s creative energy.
- Bright colors make me more approachable in business. Even if I am really moody (or feeling sick, for that matter), if I am wearing a bubble gum pink blazer and green scarf, no one is the wiser. Being approached in a warm way lifts my mood; I respond in kind –a beautiful cycle!
- People are inspired by my ability to look my best when I feel my worst. If they’d inquired into my motives for doing so, the next time I’d see them, they’d usually be wearing color (and telling me so!). Color is infectious!
- Happiness is a choice. Wearing bright colors has become my barometer on which to contrast and “check” my own emotional state (to keep it high). Looking at myself in the mirror in bright colors lifts my mood. If there is an incongruence between my mood and a lime silk blouse with fuscia skirt combo, it is quickly apparent to me that my mood needs an adjustment!
If you’re not ready to relinquish your black (pun intended), you’ll be excited to know this works with bath towels too. Neon towels staring back at you in an AM mirror reflection serve as a quick barometer check of one’s happiness quotient. If you’re happy, you’ll attract more of the same. You should be happy 🙂
Modus tollens: hot pink towels = a more successful day.
Try it.
Let me know if you notice a difference!
Psst… if you let me know you enjoyed this post, I’ll upload a gallery of images of my life in color these past few months.
[Editor’s Note: as promised… image feed here: http://instagram.com/reneebytes]
