The Gentle ART of Selling YOURSELF
You are your own finest creation, says our design critic, Stephen Bayley. Here are his tips for making the best possible impression
‘You do,’ someone once said, ‘a very good impression of yourself.’ Self-invented people are the most interesting ones of all. Believe me, I know. Technically, you and I are much the same: 96.2 per cent organic elements, including water, the proteins of RNA and DNA, lipids and sugars. Then there’s oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, calcium, sulphur and traces of chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, tin and zinc. The difference is in the intangibles of the personality we create for ourselves.
It wasn’t that bad for me. I grew up comfortable, but rootless, most psychologically at ease in the back of a car or in a restaurant. Actually, I am convinced my passion for modern architecture and design was based on a need to find substantial values in a shifting, temporarily Godless, universe. That was the beginning of my self-invention, but it is not just me. We are all at it.
It is important to understand how we make an impression. You give a first impression whether you want to or not, so best make it work for you.
‘You won’t be judged by your accent… but you will be judged by your shoes.’
We are locked in a game of continuous evaluation from which there is no escape to a value-free neutrality.
In all of this self-invention, confidence plays a part. The great thing about confidence is that it is self-perpetuating. Get a little and you will soon have some more. It’s a cumulative process; as people respond positively, your confidence builds. Sometimes, the most unlikely people lack the confidence trick.
It is said that we are all three different people: the person we think we are (the one we have invented), the person other people think we are (the impression we make) and the person we think other people think we are (the one we fret about). You could say it would be a lifetime’s quest to reconcile this battling trinity into a seamless whole. Maybe, but for the time being I am convinced that, in Kurt Vonnegut’s words (there I go, quoting again): you are what you pretend to be.
From: Life’s a Pitch… Via The Observer
Confidence springs from honesty and from being convinced that all that one stands for is right.
Pretending can not take one far, if one wishes to establish a long-term relationship, whether business or personal. Sooner or later, the pretences are bound to be discovered, howsoever hard one may try to prevent that from happening.
Agreed with Sidhu. Most self motivators, psychologists and presenters in a modern era talk about how to make a good impression and build a good personality. From clothing to a self confidence, yes it works, it works but only for a shortime.
As sidhu rightly mentioned there is a huge difference between a good personality and a good character, the actual emphasize should be on the character and that is what helps u on a long run.
i want a guy