Last week I wrote about reverse thinking…standing out vr fitting in. This week, I wanted to share a few more ideas on this topic since it I believe it is what keeps us stuck, unhappy, and playing small.
The more you are willing to step into your uniqueness (and stand out), the more fulfilled, free and FABULOUS you can be.
I can remember dressing like everyone else in my corporate job. Then one day I saw someone I respected and held in high regard wearing open toe shoes. Gasp!! My perceptive and world shifted in an instant. That was “daring to be different” and I loved it!!! Today’s world is about being bold and allowing your personality to shine. (let’s say goodbye to fitting in and HELLO world…I am ready to stand out and BE SEEN)!
Here are 15 steps to unleashing your brilliance so that you can be FREE to just BE the fabulous YOU that you were born to BE!!
1. Declare you are imperfectly imperfect
2. Step into your authenticity
3. Be grounded in your core values
4. Express your point of view
5. Cultivate confidence
6. Have a signature style
7. Be different because you ARE different
8. Be willing to take the lead
9. Challenge assumptions and perceptions (especially yours)
10. Eagerly share your gifts, talents and strengths
11. Take a bold stand for something meaningful
12. Listen to your intuition
13. Accept who you are – and who you aren’t
14. Bust through old beliefs
15. Step into your power and be a role model for others
A big sigh of relief (you are already YOU, no acting, practice, or pretending required)!!!
Wendi
P.S- Like free stuff? (me, too) Sign up for my free SUCCESS STRATEGIES e-book right above!!
Love the idea but a bit timid and shy to go to business meetings ‘standing out’ in less-than-traditional
business suit and pumps………….do I dare risk changing corporate ‘image’…………..
Marsha,
Great question. As a Speaker, Author and Business Coach I still maintain a professional look but with my own unique personal style.
For example, I love the color purple and just this past week wore a dress with a unique design with a purple wrap sweater and purple pumps. I looked professional but felt so ME in what I was wearing. In the past, I would wear a gray suit with black pumps…(oh and let’s not forget the white blouse and pearls). That was more about dressing just like everyone else so that I wouldn’t stand out.
Now I love being true to my own style which is a bit funky but still very professional too!! Thank you for your comment and I wish you much success being TRUE to YOU!!!!
Warm Regards, Wendi
how do you figure out what is unique about yourself? I have had a few experiences that very few others have had, but not the kind of thing others would understand or want to follow. In the mundane world, I am just that… mundane.
Jan,
Think about the things you loved doing as a child and then the things that when you do them now you loose track of time because you LOVE them so much. Each one of us has experienced a different flavor of life and one thing I know for sure…you are brilliant and special (not mundane)!!
Warm Regards,
Wendi
I love to be uniquely me, without disrespect to the cause. I am very short and high heels are the choice to reach near average height. Also, my legs get quite a workout from the added height.
Hi Wendi,
I just came across your blog via the Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals group on LinkedIn, and I’m so, so incredibly glad that I did. I loved this post and am going to tape your list of 15 steps up in my room at home in order to remind myself of them every single day! Each of the steps has already got me thinking and wanting to brainstorm a ton of ideas on how I can put them into practice. Regarding the tip about stepping into your authenticity, do you have any exercises or suggestions to offer as to how to discover what is most authentic about ourselves? I can think of several things that are unique about me, but sometimes struggle to determine how to best apply those to a business setting.
Thanks so much in advance!
Wendi, I ‘dared’ to find my unique-self and actually wore a dress instead of my business suit to a board
meeting and felt great…..that is the extent of my (very meek) step into self-authenticity…….I love my
feminine-self and refuse to continually stuff myself into a power suit all the time……… Thank you, Wendi
I have notice that if you stand out it can at time draw very negative attention from both men and women. It can be very difficult. I am not sure if this is true for men as I am not male. But women who do not choose to be wall flowers are attacked.