Stress Management: Am I Dressed for Success or Dressed for Stress?

I like to wear comfortable clothes, but sometimes I wonder if I look sloppy. When I dress dowdy, or my fashion is frumpy, I feel less confident, and that causes me to feel stressed in some professional settings, meetings, or important conversations. Maybe you feel the same way. So, the question is, are you dressed for success or are you dressed for stress?

Some have said that when you look good, you feel good. People who purposely dress down can sometimes lose confidence in themselves and that loss of confidence can affect anxiety and stress levels.

Dressing up a little can facilitate positive communication. Because of the power of first impressions, the way you present yourself with your appearance and clothing can affect your relationships with others as well as how you view yourself.

Dressing appropriately for the situation is a sign of respect for yourself and for the people around you. It makes it easy for people to give you compliments and treat you respectfully.

Dressing thoughtlessly, however, can create barriers in your relationships because of critical comments from friends or family, or under the breath remarks coworkers or strangers, or conversations concerning dress codes at work.

This isn’t about dressing up to cover up low self-esteem issues or call attention to yourself. This is about thoughtfully considering what you wear, so you can appear to dress effortlessly and always look somewhat classy, comfortable, and confident.

By consciously dressing to reflect the best of who you are, feeling put together and professional, gives you a boost of self-assurance and helps you feel positive about your ability to assert yourself.

Dress in a way that makes you happy and you will have an abundance of energy and strength to deal with stress.

Some claim that clothes make the man or woman, I don’t know, but I do know this: Dressing in clean, pressed, and appropriate clothes, can reduce stress by silently affirming your importance and self-worth.

If you need to find a keynote speaker, plenary speaker, breakout speaker, concurrent session speaker, seminar leader, or workshop facilitator who can deliver in-person, virtually, or via prerecorded session, Kit Welchlin, M.A., CSP, CVP, is a nationally recognized professional motivational speaker and author and can be found at www.welchlin.com or www.SeminarsOnStress.com.