This story originally appeared on the Gents Cafe Newsletter. You can subscribe here.
American Author Og Mandino once said “I seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.”
Most people think that improving your personal image is only about changing your attire but you can put a suit on a pig and it’s still going to roll in the mud. Improving your image starts with yourself.
The way you perceive yourself to where you want to be is where it begins. It’s not who you think you are but who you think you aren’t. Improving your personal image entails that you carry certain characteristics that you have to work on personally.
It is said that it takes 3 months to build a habit that becomes your lifestyle so we understand that this is not something you start today and it works miraculously overnight. It takes time and of course an amount of discipline.
Improving on your image takes a lot of Self Inspection.
This means that from today you’re going to keep check of the things you do and how you want to represent yourself. Example biting nails, picking your nose in public, cleaning your teeth with your tongue, and shaking your leg at the table while eating with others.
Things you practice at home comes out in public. You don’t want to forget yourself and do the wrong things in-front of the right people.
Consistency keeps you on your path. Become a man known for the things you do, always walk your talk. My friends call me Bruce Wayne (no I don’t wear a cape, or have a butler named Alfred) but I’m known for always dressing well, the go to guy when they need help, passionate about improving my community, always about my business, and yes I have an 80 Billion dollar net worth, well, at least I act like I do because that’s what I want for myself.
So don’t just talk the talk but walk your talk every day. Be the living example and you’ll see those things you want for yourself begin to naturally come to you.
Be Trustworthy. As you improve on your image don’t let it be as a mirage in the desert, the closer someone get to you it disappears. As you improve and people around you take notice you become an authoritative figure.
After people interact with you, you want them leaving with a lasting impression that you’re genuine and someone they’ll gladly tell others about.
Three simple character traits that every gent should work on developing daily to improve his personal image.
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