Don’t Be A Genuine Fake

A small shop selling leather accessories that mimic the real thing. My advice: refuse the temptation to buy items that are genuine fake.

A small shop selling leather accessories that mimic the real thing. My advice: refuse the temptation to buy items that are genuine fake.

As if I needed a “reminder-to-self”, while enjoying a perfectly lovely trip abroad, I got a clear message that I must refuse to be a genuine fake.  You should, too.

Now, I didn’t need to come to Turkey to figure this out.  But the concept of buying goods that are each brazenly marketed as being a genuine fake, struck me as a genuine affront to all that is good in the world.  For about twenty bucks apiece, I could have filled my wrists and arms with genuine fake brand name watches with nearly identical designs and appearances to the real McCoy’s.  I am sure we have all seen this before on Canal Street in New York, or by some street vendor off Union Square in San Francisco, or just about anywhere else.

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Working From Home In Sweats

Just now, while opening up my computer to write this post, I quickly realized that I am working from home in sweats.  I’m actually recovering from an acute case of food poisoning.  Fun times.  I’m not even back on solid foods, yet.  But while in the same sweats I wore to the urgent care doctor yesterday, I just had to write about the notion of working from home in sweats.

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True or False – Weight Affects Your Perception

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

It’s practically impossible to see New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on TV or in person without reacting to his obvious obesity, isn’t it?  At the same time, do you feel that your opinion about Governor Christie’s weight affects your perception of the job he does as governor?

A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Want to be CEO? What’s Your BMI [Body Mass Index]?” got me thinking about how weight affects your perception.

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People Think That Image Is Fluff

Many people think that image is fluff but they would be completely wrong.  Now I know that what people think when they take on this view is that it’s selfishly self-focused to be image conscious.  People think that image is fluff because it feeds the ego, that it’s a self-indulgent excuse to dress better, and to look like you’re showing off or that you’re trying to one-up someone else.

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At Last, Something Beautiful You Can Truly Own

This week’s “Mad Men” episode reminded me how people covet beauty in objects, and in others, often instead of truly owning one’s own beauty.  “At last, something beautiful you can truly own” was the slogan the fictitious advertising firm, SCDP, pitched to win the Jaguar account.  It was a great slogan for the episode. and one we can apply to ourselves and strive to live up to.

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Hoodie Hubris | Is Zuck’s Wardrobe Choice A Game or A Game-Changer?

As a long time image consultant, who mostly works with Silicon Valley based entrepreneurs and executives, I’ve pondered the brouhaha that erupted this past week everywhere in the media, even in Paris where I’ve been visiting, when Facebook C.E.O. Mark Zuckerberg showed up wearing a hoodie to meet with Wall Street investment brokers.

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Your Visual Appeal

Think about your visual appeal. Are you as appealing looking as an iPhone 4S?

There’s little doubt that when it comes to our technology toys, and even other high-end toys such as cars, design is all-important in making a purchasing decision.  But what about your own personal visual design appeal?  Is it as appealing to yourself, and to others, as it could be?

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Get the Right Mindset by Choosing the Right Clothes

It’s a big deal that your clothes impact or influence others.  But what about choosing the right clothes so that they best impact you?

A recently published study by two students of Northwestern University’s Kellogg Business School provides insights into how to get the right mindset by choosing the right clothes.  They created the term “enclothed cognition” to describe a process that affects your mindset based on the symbolic meaning and the physical experience of wearing your clothes.

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Defining the Concept of Image From Deep Inside

Every time someone contacts me because he or she is interested in improving their image, our initial conversations begin by defining the concept of image.  I ask each individual why he or she is interested in the possibility of working together.  Their answers play an important part in defining the concept of image.  Since image covers several fields of study, it’s important for me to understand how an individual is defining the concept of image.  Not only does it end up being the basis for how we may work together, but it helps people get clear about why this is an important pursuit and goal.

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