How Many Hats Do You Wear?

There are periods in life when balls get dropped, some are more visible than others, and the regular readers among you have commented when it gets a bit quiet on the blog front – feel free to feedback any time - your views are always welcome!

 

My excuse is much the same as many - ‘too busy’, although given that some people manage to organise multi-million pound businesses and their families, it must be that my support structures are not sufficient or my organisational habits not up to scratch, as every now and then I drop a ball or two!

When your life is full to the brim, how many hats can you wear at once and who can you bring in to help you with a ‘hat’ which is maybe not your area of expertise?  

 

I’ve been heard to say that I can be 3 things, wife, mother and career woman.  But is that true?  Is it possible to do more than one thing at a time? 

 

The world of technology is clear that there is no such thing as multi-tasking – the concept of multi-tasking is merely an illusion created by the processors working so fast or in parallel that they appear to be able to do more than one thing at a time – a bit like an effective parent! 

But, when the systems get overloaded, the computer crashes!  When I try to take on more than my own capacity, something drops and nothing seems to get done effectively.   Bring in the cavalry – back up required!  This Blog gives some good ideas for reducing the number of hats you may be trying to juggle! Whether this is asking for help from a friend, hiring a PA, a team of staff or even outsourcing to a company, it’s possible, BUT a certain amount of organisation is required to get to that point!

Just as order and structure supports me in work, so it does in my home - everything in its place and a place for everything’ - thus, frustrations mount as the clutter increases with expanding work, school activities, birthday parties and the Christmas influx!  All the ‘places’ are full and ‘things’ start to pile up in the corners. 

Working mostly from home means my space needs to be organised and (subject to the limitations of having young children) relatively tidy; I walk around the ‘clutter’ and TRY to ignore it but notice how distracting it is.  I say ‘try’ because in reality mess has an adverse effect on me; tidiness leaves me feeling relaxed and able to breathe. 

But it’s more than tidiness - at a basic level, the areas of my home need to support ME, i.e. do the right job in the right way.

At House of Colour, we work to identify that your clothes do the right job in the right way, supporting you in your lifestyle.   Enter Rannveig (pronounced Ranvay), of Anna Stone Design, an interior designer who works with ‘space’.  Rannveig listened to what I was trying to achieve and my frustrations with it not seeming to come together.  Trained, professional and objective, her fresh eye, made my space work better for me just as I’ve helped people’s wardrobes work better for them.

My problem was reduced to about a quarter of its original size by reorganising 3 out of 4 of my downstairs rooms - space and energy is apparent!

After an exhausting but enjoyable day spent rearranging sofas, chairs, tables, toy storage and pictures, my home felt completely different.  With only Rannveig’s time as my cost, I was well on the way to solving a problem that had seemed insurmountable because it drained me of energy and I always had too many things to do.   I’m used to being brought in as the ‘cavalry’ but today I’d been the recipient!  

And the best bit?  Nobody noticed!  I’d say that’s because it’s right, it works - just as when someone is wearing the colours and styles which suit and flatter them, people notice the person not the clothes.

Green Fingers....or Blue?

I never did understand the phrase ‘green fingers’.   My Granny loved her garden and her plants and flowers always looked amazing.  But when she came indoors, from a spot of digging and weeding, her fingers were any colour but green!  

This week MY fingers have gone a shade of grey, again!  I KNOW the instructions say to wear gloves but that all seems a waste of time until the damage is done!   Since experimenting with a khaki jumper (which clearly didn’t suit me after all) by adding black dye (achieving charcoal) and the obligatory tie-dying at school, altering the colour of things to make them more appealing has become a minor hobby! 

I changed (uninteresting) cream bed linen to a darker shade of pink by mixing pink and red dye, it worked a treat.  The silk embroidery took on a different intensity of colour than the cotton fabric, which I liked a lot, I chose lavender and pink  for the extra pillow cases and with a lot of colour experience, but a relative lack of dying experience, created a beautifully coordinated bedroom! 

In the late 90s I remember the joy of discovering a pair of purple jeans on a holiday to San Francisco and the accompanying sadness when they died (pun intended!) a few years later.  In 2014 coloured jeans are more readily available but in the intervening years I’ve been known to buy jeans in the palest shade of stone wash, acquire some burgundy dye on the way home and introduce them to each other in the washing machine before wearing them.  The fabulous plummy shade that resulted was a joy to wear at a time when jeans came in any colour as long as it was blue!

Then there was my friend on a budget with what would have been a cool and comfortable skirt for the warm summer days - if she had been a summer.   Looking for something to go with it was her challenge so I suggested a cheaper alternative would be to dye the skirt terracotta to match the rest of her wardrobe.    

As one of her 2-star colours, that skirt has become a staple of her wardrobe, all year round rather than an occasional summer skirt which she only has 2 tops to choose from to go with it.
I would never have dared to suggest this without my understanding of the colour wheel, cool and
warm colours and how
                                                                       they befriend and
                                                                       alienate each other
                                                                       depending on their
                                                                       position on the wheel.

Shoes are not immune. A client with extra wide feet found a great style for her in the right size, wrong colour; applying a dark brown shoe dye took them into her season and gave her a pair of shoes that will form the core of her capsule wardrobe.

I decided my grey suede knee-length boots weren’t quite the right shade after all, 4 bottles of dye (£20) later and they became navy blue.  This has faded a little with time so this weekend’s playtime was to use another 2 bottles (£10) to freshen up, restore the depth of colour and give them a new lease of life; a more cost-effective route than purchasing a new pair, given the ones I’ve seen recently (navy having a scarcity value) range from £150-£395!

My nails and fingertips have nearly recovered!  Reminiscent of granny’s gardening hands, it’s just as well I’m working from home this week!

I just made my friend cry...

....all I did was ask her to put on a dress and then look at herself in the mirror – it’s part of my job!
 

Trying something that was at least 1 size smaller than she was expecting, containing colours she would never have considered previously and in a style far more revealing than she would usually dare wear (because it showed her figure rather than hiding it) enabled her to see the potential of how good she could look - for the first time since having her children.  I say she saw a glimpse of her true self coming back at her from the mirror, someone she had forgotten.

‘Telling the Truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie and making someone smile’.  

Paolo Coelho

Let your appearance tell the truth about who you are. I don’t always move people to tears but it has been known!  Susan Boyle has also displayed this skill of causing people to be moved! If you haven't yet seen her original appearance, it's a real treat.

Transformation: 
a complete change, usually into something with an improved appearance or usefulness (Bing Dictionary). 

Susan Boyle is also one of the most significant and public transformations that we've seen in recent years and what a difference it’s made to the way people relate to her?   Coming on stage everyone clearly assumed that she couldn't sing - and the main basis for that was her appearance.  Understandably she then went through a make-over and typically followed the public criticism.  It's not an easy journey to make at any time, never mind in the public eye.

Simon Cowell captured it well when he later said:

 “Focus yourself.  …come back as the person you want to be, not the person you think you should be"

True transformation; noone can deny how gorgeous she can look.  

Internal conversations and scripts prevent you looking our best often accompanied by not knowing what suits you, your body shape, proportions and your personality, our consultants at House of Colour are trained to help you with that change to transformation.

I once met a lovely woman wearing scruffy trousers, a grungy (sorry, but it was!) vest top, no make-up and her hair scraped off her face in a messy knot.  It was highly likely the colours weren’t her best either becaue there was nothing stunning about her.  Yet she was an amazing woman with a lot to offer and we had a fascinating conversation.  She was someone who looked for the beauty in everything and everyone.  For her, true beauty was about the personality on the inside, not the outward appearance.  Ironically, in my opinion (and having consulted over 500 people, I consider myself a fairly objective judge) she was beautiful - stunning eyes, facial bone structure that many women would pay for, a fabulous figure and had what I can only describe as a peaceful, serene energy around her.  At the time there was something amiss but it wasn’t until later that it registered - the misalignment between the inside and the outside meant that she was making people work really hard to see her beauty.  Why would you do that?

When you present yourself to the world as a true reflection of who you are, you make it easier for people to see you, get you, understand, relate to you and therefore make it easier for people to work with you. 

While the most obvious application for this is some kind of interview, be it sales or a new job, they are one-off events.  It’s the consistency over time which embeds the transformation. I clearly remember a client who discovered that business networking suddenly became easier, more effective and far more enjoyable when she was dressed in colours and styles that flattered her -  that is, showed off her best self to the world week in, week out. 

By coincidence HOC HQ posted this on our Facebook page this week: ‘You’ve been criticising yourself for years and it hasn’t worked.  Try approving of yourself and see what happens.’  Louise Hay

I believe the world would be a better place if we did!  What do you see is possible?