How focusing on fashion can help you change your life

It occurred to me last Friday, that it was 2 years ago that I started this crazy adventure to change my life. In some ways it feels like it was only yesterday, but mainly it feels like it was a lifetime ago. I find it hard to get into the mindspace I was in at that time, and how much I was struggling with the incredibly simple concept of letting the world see me.Two years since it all started, a year since it all finished - what has really happened in my life and what was the impact of My Year of TED on that? I thought that this month I should reflect on these questions, maybe they'll help me get over my current block with finishing the book.30 days of fashionAs Julie Andrews says "Let's start at the very beginning, A very good place to start" (come on there have to be some other Sound of Music buffs out there??). Launch post - Reflection post - InfographicAs I've said, so often now, this was far more difficult than I imagined it would be and it showed a distinct lack of self-awareness that I didn't realise just how challenging this was going to be. For any new players here, I am an introvert and I had made an artform of using my clothes as a way to hide and blend in. Prior to this activity, my wardrobe was mainly black, white and grey, with only a few splashes of colour thrown in. Moreover, anything that I thought was slightly out of the ordinary, or only for good occasions, was also excluded from the daily dressing process.

   

Hopefully it's obvious to all of you the change in confidence throughout the process from the pics above.

The change

The change was significant because it was about so much more than my outward appearance. This was about allowing myself to stand out and be seen, something that I would push a lot harder in many activities throughout the project. This activity was the external manifestation of that change, and in hindsight it was the best way to start because it forced me to be out there for some of the less obvious challenges that lay ahead.

What would I recommend from this?I would still recommend that anyone who is conservative about their appearance, especially those of you who know you hide in clothes, watches Jessi Arrington's TED Talk, Wearing Nothing New. She is far more articulate and enthusiastic about all of this than I could ever be.

What I will say is that if you are planning on making internal changes to your life around confidence, courage, connection or trying to find your authentic self - making external clothing changes to your life is a must. It becomes a lot easier to tackle the internal changes when you are also changing the external person you show to the world.Tweetable - Step outside your comfort zone and be more visible to the world - be brave and add more colour today. You might even like itThe final wordMy wardrobe has not stayed as colourful as it was, but my clothing choices have still changed. I'm willing to take more risks in wearing clothing that makes me stand out, or is not the standard office garb. I find it important to continue to challenge myself in this way, so whilst there have been more neutral tones that have crept back in, there are a lot of styles that I would never have worn before.Combine that with the fact that I now make jewellery (part of the dinkylune product line) and wear a lot more of this myself, and I still think that Activity One was an incredibly important and successful start to My Year of TED.

How about you? Do you hide in your clothes? Do you have something you only keep for good and so it never gets worn? Are you willing to think about challenging yourself a little more with colour or style?

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