Shine your shoes

Something I’ve held on to, telling myself, my kids, anyone around me is to “shine your shoes.” Try to look clean, professional; like you take care of yourself and you care about where you’re going. In ages gone by, men and women would take the effort to dress well, not wear pajamas everywhere they went. Men would shave, yoga pants weren’t par for the course; there was an etiquette to what people would wear outside. You look at old photographs, men wore suits, and they’d be on a train heading to work. Now you get on a train and you’re lucky to sit next to anyone who bothered to comb their hair. Now, it may be anecdotal evidence, but the people who dress well and put effort into their appearance tend to do well in the business and work endeavors. Just because you don’t have everything in the world doesn’t mean you have to dress like you have nothing. There’s little excuse for being disheveled. Taking that extra time to shine your shoes and put on clean clothes can make such a huge difference. You may not feel 100%, but if you put in that extra percent into looking fresh and clean, it’ll lift your spirits and elevate you beyond your internal recessions.

Effort is everything in this world. It’s a currency that can’t be measured by tangible means, but it pays in ways you’d never expect. Dress for the job you want, not necessarily the job you have. Every job interview I’ve been on, I’ve gone dressed like I wanted that job, like I belonged in that seat. I may not come home dust and dirt free, but I arrive on the job with shoes shined and ready to go. It makes a statement about the man underneath it all. If you’re the kind of man who goes to the extra effort to keep his outside clean, it follows that he tries to keep his inner workings clean, too. The next time you go outside, or go to work, go the extra mile to present yourself at your best, so others will see you can be the best.