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Dress up to take a step up

The way we dress affects how we feel, and how we feel affects our ability to get things done.lab coat

Say what you will about outdated dress codes, flip-flops versus loafers, t-shirts versus ties, but there’s scientific proof that when we dress for success, it actually works. Researchers call the link between what we wear and how we feel “enclothed cognition.”

At least once a month, sometimes more, I get asked about, sometimes razzed about, why I wear a suit and ties most days. I have an office outside my home that I go to every day, but I work alone for the most part. I’m out and about often though for client meetings, business lunches, bank trips and other various professional errands.

Bottom line is I wear a suit and tie because it helps me stay in the right professional frame of mind throughout the day.

A study published in 2012 by Columbia University business professor Adam Galinsky and Rice University assistant professor Hajo Adam helps explain, and prove, how dressing a certain way can make us feel and perform.

What they did was test performance on attention-related tasks while a student was wearing a doctor’s white lab coat.

Students who wore a doctor’s white coat to perform different tasks made half as many errors as students who wore regular clothes. Students who dressed like doctors were less likely to make an error — even though the tasks assigned in the study had nothing to do with medicine. Other tests in the study yielded similar results.

Being casual and approachable is important, but the way we dress matters, especially if you’re in a leadership or influence role. We get judged by the way we look, and that has direct bearing on how people work with us.

The study above also found that students just felt more alert and conscientious about their work when wearing a doctor’s coat. Sometimes the hardest part of any task is preparing mentally. Clothes can get us in the mood for the task at hand.

Our clothes affect us and those around us more than we think. Got a tough project ahead, meeting a new colleague or client? Go for the tie and jacket, or that extra nice blouse and skirt.

It just might help you feel better, and do better.

Have a great week.

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