It’s common this time of year to review areas of our lives that we want to change or improve. One thing that impacts us every day is our wardrobe and personal image. It goes everywhere with us and influences how others perceive us and the skills we offer.
Try to be brutally honest as you work through the following steps to a refreshed wardrobe and personal image and take a candid look at the wardrobe choices you made this past year.
Before you go shopping, do an image review. If you’re active on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, there are probably many photos of you. What do you see when you study images of yourself?
– Do you love your hairstyle?
– Guys, how does that beard or mustache look? Well groomed?
– Does your eyewear flatter your face shape and is it modern?
– Ladies, is your makeup still looking fresh and current?
– Are you wearing your power colors, texture, print and shine?
– Does it seem like you are wearing the same thing in every photo? HINT: If you wear mostly black or gray it looks like the same outfit on social media.
While studying those photos objectively, ask yourself a few questions:
– Would I date, hire or want to meet that person?
– Then ask, what is that person visually communicating to me? Modern, confident, influential, relatable, friendly, fun, polished, sexy? HINT: You get to choose.
– Is it possible those photos are saying you’re tired, bored, stuck, frumpy and unrelatable?
Next is the wardrobe review. What do you find?
Do you have items that:
– Don’t fit well?
– You’ve never worn, with tags still on?
– You like but rarely or never wear?
– You put on but then change your mind and take off?
...
Finding Freedom
Career Change Takes the Cake — and Sells It
By Margaret Briller
Not everyone can imagine what’s beyond the horizon and make it a reality. Liz Rowan did and now enjoys the freedom and challenges of owning a business.
For much of her career, Rowan, 54, worked with a school system’s employees and students, helping manage their tech needs — database and equipment training for the staff, computer program lessons for the students.
In the back of her mind, Rowan knew she wanted to do something different — really different.
Rowan and her husband had talked for years about owning their own business, but the circumstances weren’t right for a change.
“Now, the timing seems to be right because our children are in their early 20s and moving into their own lives and getting less dependent on us,” Rowan says.
Hard Work, Sweet Success
“I wanted to do something that could use the skills I’ve accumulated through the years of working, being a parent, community member, etc.,” Rowan says. “Being my own boss and making the decisions for my business are important to me. I like having the freedom to be myself and to work as hard as I like and to see the results of that.”
In April, after months of planning and training, Rowan opened her store — a Nothing Bundt Cakes franchise — in Strongsville and never looked back.
She took a chance and embraced the freedom to make a change as an entrepreneur.
Assisting Rowan in growing her business is Dee Sweetnich, her bakery manager. Sweetnich helps her focus her energy on what’s most important at that moment when Rowan has 50 thoughts going through her mind.
“Dee has a different perspective on how things work, and that helps when I am looking at operational issues or how to handle guest service situations,” Rowan says.
...
Let Freedom Ring
Define Your Time
By Estelle Rodis-Brown
Ahh, freedom.
From the page of our nation’s Declaration of Independence to the pages of our lives, nothing’s quite so sweet as the intoxicating ring of freedom — the certain unalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Yet, if you really think about it (or read the full Declaration), you must accept freedom from something before you can pursue freedom to something better.
Stretching Limits
After midlife, we experience a cascade of new freedoms, if we can see change in a positive light. Whether it’s a newly empty nest, the absence of a partner, retirement or downsizing, each change represents a freedom from old obligations and expectations. This opens up new possibilities: freedom.
Suddenly, you find yourself with time and space that you didn’t have before. Don’t fritter them away on daytime TV and falling into the same old ruts left over from that previous life. Instead, satisfy old longings you never gave yourself permission to pursue before. Join that class you were afraid someone else would think was silly. Take that trip you talked yourself out of before. Paint your living room that bold color you always wished you could. Reach out for better relationships. Because guess what? Now you can.
Big Changes, A Life Redefined
Perhaps no one better illustrates the dramatic before-and-after equation of life than Brenda Formberg of Ravenna.
When midlife hit Formberg, so did a slew of unwelcome changes: She divorced. Her daughter left for college. There was a second cancer diagnosis, job loss, and the resulting need to find a new home.
Her outlook seemed hopeless as pieces of her once-stable life fell apart. Eventually, Brenda emerged with renewed vigor for the pursuit of life, liberty and, yes, happiness.
...
Recess for Grown-ups
Up Your Play Game
By Estelle Rodis-Brown
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
As it turns out, this old proverb rings true, far into adulthood. Too much work and not enough playtime can damage your attitude, your social life and — in full circle fashion — even your productivity. So put play to work for you.
Do You Play?
Our society tends to reject play for adults. Play is considered unproductive, petty, even a guilty pleasure. Adulthood forces us to get serious and set aside childish ways. Between personal and professional responsibilities, there’s no time to play anyway — or so we think.
However, play is just as important for adults as it is for kids, and it should not be neglected. Play brings joy and rejuvenation. It’s also vital for problem solving, creativity and relationships.
In that case, what qualifies as play? Kathryn Orantek is the personal training coordinator for health, physical education and recreation programs at Lorain County Community College. She says, “Play is any activity, structured or unstructured, that allows adults to let go of their inhibitions, forget about the outside world and just have fun.”
Considering her background in health and wellness, Orantek “would love to see people spend more time engaging in physical activity while playing, but I suppose you could apply it to games, coloring, puzzles and such.”
No Goal? That’s the Idea
Play is a state of being that’s purposeless, fun and pleasurable, psychiatrist Stuart Brown, M.D., says in his book “Play.”
The focus is more on the experience than on accomplishing a goal. Play can be art, books, movies, music, comedy, flirting and daydreaming, says Brown, who founded the National Institute for Play.
Ultimately, play is a process that stirs up surprise, pleasure, understanding and strength of mind, body and spirit.
...
Friend Power
Making Connections that Count
“True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. To find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.“
— Baltasar Gracian
Friendships define nearly every stage of life.
From playing with neighborhood pals during elementary school, to hanging out in junior high, to exploring adolescence through high school, and then branching out at college and at work, many of us can relate each era to a specific friend or friends.
As time, geographical distance, career choices, military service, marriages, families, divorces and other turning points make their marks, friendships can fizzle. While new situations offer opportunities for new friendships, sometimes it’s just easier to keep to yourself.
Do You Have Friends?
By the time people pass middle age, many find themselves friendless, isolated and lonely. Twenty-eight percent of people 65 and older live alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
About two-thirds of older men report not having a close friend, and 16 percent of widows have no friends. This can take a toll on one’s emotional, mental and physical health. Social isolation and loneliness are linked to higher risks of cognitive decline, depression, chronic disease and mortality in adults 52 and older, according to a study published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
If misery loves company, consider this: 10,000 people nationwide turn 65 or older every day. Locally, 282,513 people age 60 and older live in Cuyahoga County. Adults 60 and older constituted 21.3 percent of Cuyahoga County’s population in 2010. By 2030, this population is projected to grow to 31 percent, outnumbering those younger than 20, according to The Center for Community Solutions.
Taking into account this strength in numbers, this age group is in a prime position to reach out to friends — new and old — for meaningful companionship, support and human contact.
...
