Doing this ONE THING Changed My Life!

My name is Karin Nordin. I’m a mindset and behavior change expert, a PhD in health communication and the founder and CEO of Body Brain Alliance, where we’re on a mission to bring you self-help that’s actually founded in science. 

 

I’m also a person who works from home and who loves wearing pajamas. Comfy clothes? I’m there! Sweatpants and oversized T-shirts are seriously my love language. 

But recently I started getting dressed every single day and not just getting dressed in any old outfit. 

I started very intentionally dressing as if I was already my future self. I know what you’re thinking. “Wait, Karin, what is this future self thing you’re talking about?”

 

Well, my friend, it’s pretty simple. 

 

It’s the future version of you. 

 

But while most people go about their lives with a very vague idea of what their future self might look, dress and behave like… I like to make that vision super specific. 

By the way, we have a totally free resource on exactly how to cast your vision for your future self, and it’s linked right HERE you want to check it out. 

Clearly Defining My Future Self Was The First Step to Changing My Life:

My future self, for example…

• • Is a 7 figure CEO. 

• • She’s a tidy person who loves a clean home, an organized purse, a freshly cloroxed sink. 

• • She’s super intentional about her time, and she follows through on her commitments to herself and to others at an extremely high level. 

• • She works out on a regular basis, but she’s flexible about exactly how that looks. 

Everything started changing for me when I started asking myself, “What would that version of me dress like?”

Here’s why that’s so magical. 

 

Every day, there are going to be tons of moments where you look at yourself… You’ll peek at your outfit in the bathroom mirror, you’ll catch your reflection. 

 

When you pass the tinted windows of a store, that reflection has power. 

It has the power to enforce the you that you want to be. 

 

I want you to imagine that every time you caught your own reflection, you saw a version of you that was dressed like your future self.  

 

It would probably change your behavior quite a bit, right? 

 

For me, it changed everything. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I had a ton of resistance to getting ready in the morning. 

 

I felt like I didn’t have time, like it was useless because I had to work out later anyway… However, I used the change skills that I have to regulate my own behavior. 

Day after day after day, I chose to get up and get dressed.

That didn’t mean overhauling my wardrobe all at once. Some days it just meant wearing one of my normal cozy outfits, but adding earrings and mascara. 

 

It was a series of tiny changes that just made me feel a little bit more intentional about the way that I was showing up, and it had a HUGE ripple effect. 

 

I noticed that on the days I get dressed, I tend to experience less resistance.

 

I tend to make food and exercise decisions that are more aligned with the person I want to be. 

 

If I do wake up in a mood, feeling tired or cranky, taking that 15-30 minutes to get dressed has started to feel like a form of self-care. 

It felt like I was giving myself the attention and love I needed every morning before giving it to everybody else. 

If you want to try out this method of shifting your self-concept…

Here’s what I suggest you do: 

1. Do a closet pURGE.

Go in and ditch or donate the outfits that make you feel least like the best version of yourself. The ratty old t-shirts, the jeans that don’t fit your current body, the shirt you never liked, that’s been sitting in the back of your closet for ages. 

2. Find a way to upgrade a few of those comfy grumpy day outfits. 

Maybe that means getting some cute earrings and a claw clip to dress up that oversized T-shirt. Maybe that means investing in one good pair of pants that makes you feel awesome.

3. Challenge yourself for the next 7 days to spend at least 15 minutes getting ready every day. 

It doesn’t have to be full hair and makeup. It can simply mean washing your face, throwing on a nicer shirt, and taking the time to jam out to your favorite playlist while you do those things. 

 

Join The Discussion: 

Try this out, and let me know in the comments how it goes! Doing this ONE thing changed my life, and I want to know if you notice any connection between the way you dress and the way you feel too. I can’t wait to hear from you!

 

Thank you for reading, see you in the next one!.