I’ve never been shy about my thoughts on appearances.
I hate them…
…with a passion. There are things we feel luke-warm about in life and there are things that make us want to spontaneously combust. This is one of those topics for me.
Fairly odd commentary coming from a “pageant girl” but make no mistake, I see this as more than universal intention in my life, to be born this way. Let’s not even get into the fact that I am of the generation that has witnessed insta-fame become a REAL thing.
However recently, I’ve crafted a new narrative on it all, that I intend on being my moral of the story moving forward:
They are both, equally, important.
You might want to record this day in history; this is a heart-felt, tectonic shift for me. I never thought I’d see the day where I would value appearances, but here we are, and here’s why:
In the world as we know it today, outcomes no matter how profound, get lost in the shuffle.
In the world as we know it today, optics will outlive outcomes in any test of longevity.
However, in the world we live in today, the two married together, are a rare breed and what I have learned true success stories, are made of.
Despite my new found clarity, I feel the need to make one distinction. When I use the term optics, I am not talking about any societal standards of beauty. I am talking about the energy you pour into your presentation. Do you spend as much time thinking about the look and feel of your resume, as you do the content? Do you spend as much time teaching your children how to take pride in what they see in the mirror as you do encouraging them to read, write, and play? The applications are endless and when you really start to probe yourself you will realize there are some areas of your life where you are too far on the optics side of the scale and other aspects where you are too far on the outcomes part of the scale. As with all things life, it’s not black and white, and there’s no formula.
But if you’re feeling like you’re continuing to get the short end of the stick, you might want to examine your beliefs around outcomes and optics.
I hope you find the sweet spot and never leave…and may you always feel that your outcomes outweigh the optics.
