Inspired Style

Man, could anything sound better???  Aren’t we all striving to feel affected, motivated, or moved?  I love the part that says “to exert an animated, enlivening, or exalting influence on”—what else do humans want but to feel that way???  I think this crosses over into everything in your life.  If you feel inspired in your work, your relationships, your family, your goals–then you’re innately finding inner happiness.  If you can find a way to feel inspired in all aspects of your life, I think you are incredibly lucky and really living to the fullest.  I also think if you can feel inspired about your clothes, and your appearance, it’s adding to your happiness!  We’ve all stood at the closet and just slumped our shoulders thinking, “I’ve got nothing to wear!”  That’s not inspiring.  So let’s talk about how you CAN get some style inspiration, and a little more bounce in your stylish step.

For me, I live in fashion magazines.  I read more fashion magazines than I’d ever care to admit, even if I’m not out buying couture, I am drawn to the beautiful models and beautiful clothing like Martha Stewart is drawn to home products.  Kim Jarman gets tons of inspiration from seeing creative photography work that she respects, as well as talking to business people and girlfriends that she respects.  Our lovely intern Briana turns to music every time when she needs inspiration (actually, so do Kim and I, and if you’re ever near our office you will here so much music pouring out it’s ridiculous, usually with us dancing in our chairs and singing loudly).  So pinpoint what really gets you pumped up.  Is it church on Sunday?  Is it a book you can read over and over to get you in the mood to change your life?  Is it a long run?  Whatever it is that gets you going, really recognize it’s force in your life and understand that these are the things you can turn to to get your inspiration flowing.

Everyone needs a person to look up to, regardless of how old you are, and in all areas of your life.  I look up to my friend Nicole for her incredible style and beauty (inner and outer), I look up to KJ for her constant forward motion toward success, I look up to KB for her devotion to family, I look up to Mary for her strong faith, I look up to my mom for her resilience and constant love, I look up to my brother for his incredible humor and way of making people laugh, the list goes on and on and on.  You need to seek out these people!  Lately I’ve been looking at my life and trying to seek out relationships in areas I’m not so good at (for me, money flows out of my hands like water, so I’ve recently signed up for savings and investment classes for women, in hopes of finding a “money role model”).  It’s why working out with a friend proves so successful, and it’s why just about every single wildly successful person you hear of always recognizes someone who “got them there”.  Everyone needs role models, and this includes style role models!  You probably already have them, even if you don’t realize it.  That celebrity you are always drawn to, that singer you are always envying in pictures, that hairstyle you keep going back to that just happens to look just like that one movie star you wish you looked like.  We all have them, both famous and not-so-famous, the people we consciously or unconsciously copy and mimic.

Audrey (for everything), Kate Beckinsale (for hair), Kate Moss (for sex appeal), Katie Holmes (for perfection), Reese Witherspoon (not just style, her whole life direction and attitude!), the entire Gossip Girl cast (for trends), and Jennifer Aniston (for taste) are my style inspirations!

There is nothing quite like being visually prompted subconsciously daily to the goals you want to achieve.  It’s a proven fact, in a million studies, that if you hang a picture of what you want in a place you’ll see it every day, you are much more likely to achieve it.  You will start positioning your life toward that goal, even if you aren’t conscious of the fact that you’re doing things to get closer to it, just by seeing it every day.  So, knowing this, you need to make an inspiration board!  Articles, pictures, phrases, anything you can hang up in a spot you see daily to keep prompting inspiration and motion in your life.  If you’re not able to hang up in your office (as I’m lucky enough to do), then make it a collage on your computer desktop screen, a small version sitting on your desk, or dude just cover your car dashboard in it because you’ll see it every time you’re in your car!  After you take care of a spot for your work day, make one at home.  Plaster your refrigerator with images, your bathroom mirror, hang a bulletin board up in your office, whatever it takes!  I have phrases across my bathroom mirror, pictures I love on my fridge, and I’m making a corkboard wall (like the one I have at work) for my bedroom. It’s important, and the best way to start reaching goals, even if it’s as basic as “I want to look hotter in general”.  It’s attainable!  Just get that motivation to make the changes you need!

These people know how to make an inspiration board!  All shapes, all forms, all kinds of inspiration!

Hope I’ve inspired you today to get moving on this!

xoxox