Ever wondered about valuable tips for becoming successful? Well, you probably would have come across a good number of these if you are in the business of becoming successful. However, you may not have considered that your image matters a great deal in the journey of success.
In this article, you will see the essence of an image of success and how it is as vital for success in men as it is for women. Continue reading below for more valuable insights.
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What is an Image?
Far from what you may readily accept as the definition of an image, a person’s image combines their own viewpoint and that of others. So, what is it, then?
Image is not limited to the presentation of your outward appearance. It is also a powerful visual communication tool. Remarkably, your image matters since the way you talk, feel, walk, look and think has a lot to do with your trail to success. Without arguments, the way you present yourself to others conveys the desired message to them.
In the real world, your image is the first thing that is readily available to others. When you approach someone, the first thing they do instantly is to evaluate and judge you by the way you look. Although you may genuinely think you care more for someone’s personality, values, and character nevertheless, you also judge others based on their appearance as well. It happens subconsciously and instantly. Actually, there is no rational reason for this action.
Why Your Image Matters to Become Successful
Kevin Samuels, a self-appointed image consultant, who is also a YouTube sensation in one of his broadcasts, expressed his views on why image matters. He proved beyond reasonable doubt that your image is very vital to how successful you become.
Your Image echoes who you are, not only your lifestyle and personality but also your goals and values. Your image says so much more about you than you may think. Think for a minute about your image…
- Are you easily sociable or rather to be eluded?
- Do you give the impression of confidence, or are you shy and timid?
- Do you look reliable or reckless?
- Do you appear skilled and shrewd or inadequate and irrational?
So, Who is Kevin Samuels?
Kevin Samuels is a YouTube sensation whose meteoric rise to fame on social media kicked off from his slick-tongued comments, which are alleged to be aimed at black women in particular. Remarkably, his counsel to the modern black woman looking out for a high-value man blends hard truths with a measure of entertainment.
Kevin’s platform reveals an opportunity for much-needed dialogues addressing women’s accountability in relationships. Nonetheless, his background is said to have originated from an imperialist worldview that imperceptibly buttresses anti-Blackness.
Just like so many other YouTube professionals before him, Kevin Samuels plunges headlong into the pain and defenselessness of Black women’s pursuit for love and acceptance while the world observes in delight.
On his platform, he claims his viewpoint represents the modern, high-value black man while subtly trying to dissuade the viewpoint of women opposing his view.
Interestingly, Kevin significantly joggled his interest from helping black women overcome their loneliness to counseling men on the importance of their looks and image.
Out of the tons of counsels that this image consultant hauls out to the world, he never fails to clarify his standpoint on the importance of one’s image. In order to buttress his points further, Samuels categorized an image into four distinct steps.
The Four Categories to Image according to Kevin Samuels
According to Kevin’s view, there are four categories to your image. Appearance, Behavior, Communication, and Digital Footprint—simply termed the ABCD classification to your image. Kevin went on to explain how these four categories of image help in boosting your level of success.
Appearance
We are presently in a world where people can make their own assessment of you in the first two seconds of their initial meeting. No doubt, the success of any meeting kicks off the very instant you lay your eyes on someone, even before any words can be exchanged.
You can liken an image to that of a painting where the body, in this case, is the canvas. In order to have a lovely painting, it is necessary, to begin with, a clean canvas. This is why good grooming and personal hygiene are essential.
What to Have in Mind When Working on Appearance?
Your appearance is mainly dependent on the weather, audience, event, and your own personality and style. A look should be styled out properly, bearing in mind these factors. Your wardrobe should not be limited only to clothes. A glance at your wardrobe should reveal shoes, bag, wallet, sunglasses, watch, and other accessories, which would easily enable you to put an outfit together.
You are permitted to have many combinations and blends with the same set of clothes in your wardrobe. All it necessitates you to do is put in some time and effort. Ordinarily, when you make an effort to put thought into what you wear, you are automatically putting thought into your day. This adds an innumerable measure of productivity to your performance.
Bottom Line
The very first step in building your image is your appearance.
Behavior
When people are under close observation, they tend to behave differently. What about when they are not?
There is really no need to get dressed up without putting the required thought into the outfit. As you were clarified earlier, putting thought into your appearance begins the stepping stone to putting thought into your day’s work. This is how you individualize what you adorn because you have successfully identified the reason for wearing the outfit and can easily relate to the feeling that accompanies it.
Aligning Appearance with Behavior
Alignment of appearance with behavior moves you to a different league. It is at this spot that confidence and self-esteem naturally step in. For example, a person who walks into a business meeting immaculately dressed in a business suit and a confident attitude is more likely to be convincing in his approach equated to someone who shows up in the same business suit but without these attributes.
How Does Behavior matter in success?
It should interest you to note that etiquette and manners are a part of societal fundamentals and the foundation of any human collaboration. Social and business manners never go out of style! This said, it’s not about faking ‘acceptable’ behavior. Rather it’s more about being authentic to your personality and learning to respect it.
Bottom Line
The second step to building your Image is Behavior.
Communication
When you come in contact with someone, how do you connect with them?
To connect with someone, some building blocks need to be employed: verbal and non-verbal communication skills. The way you dialogue, your tone, and pitch, closeness, body languages like posture or gestures, facial countenance, and eye contact are tiny details that work collectively to give you an advantage in your image projection.
How Communication Contributes to Success
Have you ever wondered how someone with limited technical know-how but unbelievable interpersonal skills, steals the spotlight from someone who is technically knowledgeable but unable to show up with the required level of confidence to highlight? An incredible communication is likely to get you contracts you do not deserve.
Ordinarily, when your appearance units with your behavior, a powerful communication tool is born.
Bottom Line
What you put on, how you act and communicate assists in conveying the exact message to the person you had set out to connect with.
The third step in building your image is communication.
Digital Footprint
Your digital footprint is just your online identity and personality. The digital footprint is really what makes you unique.
You probably must have heard it about a million times, but it’s worth emphasizing over again: Once you post something on the internet, it remains there for good. Have you ever tried a Google search for yourself?
It is not about screening your authenticity. Rather it is more about how you project a positive image of yourself out there. The contents—photos, status or comments, memes, jokes—you put out there in the digital world are believed to reflect your own thoughts and personality.
Remember, this is not about refraining yourself from doing it but just for you to be mindful.
But What’s So Special About Having an Online Presence in a Digital Era?
Your potential employer is observing you. No doubt, everyone wants to be well paid. Nonetheless, what gets you out there is what you have successfully projected as your image.
Employers, most times, resort to an online screening of the candidates, and on so many occasions, candidates also get shortlisted on this route. A strong digital footprint can showcase a person’s talent. This is a digital-first impression and is the stepping stone to get wherever you want to be.
Bottom Line
The prominence of a positive image projection is incessantly growing. You can determine the mile from where you are and where you want to be.
Your outfit decides your appearance (A); your etiquettes and values regulate your behavior (B), and your body language/gestures/attitude/speech rule your communication (C). Nevertheless, the ABC has a huge effect on your digital footprint (D) and thus completes your self-image cycle.
The fourth and last step to building your Image is Digital footprint.
What Now?
With all those explicitly explained, let’s look at why you need to improve on your image. It is also necessary to know the scientific hypothesis behind first impressions. This will help you have a more sweeping understanding of why first impressions matter.
Later in this article, we will also see how image matters to success even as a man. Hopefully, this will help you to contribute to raising an excellent community and a more successful You.
People Decide Who You are for Them in Seconds
A first impression is an opinion that people have about you. Whether this response is accurate or cynical, it goes a long way to decide your success in every phase of your life.
On meeting an individual for the very first time, their brain makes several snap summations and conclusions of you in a matter of seconds. Amazingly, most of these decisions are made even faster than we could ever imagine, as stated earlier.
These spur-of-the-moment judgments include the following features of you:
- Age
- Rank
- Social status
- Likability
- Motivation
- Academic achievements
- Health
- Affluence
The first image you offer to your audience binds you squarely on all other future dealings. There is always that new teammate in the office that you had an excellent connection with from the very first moment of the meeting. And also, you probably may have experienced that intense feeling of unease or dislike for that new manager you once had.
Reminiscing on the past, you are likely to find several life circumstances where your first impressions acted massively in the end result of the situation.
You need to know something else about first impressions, something we term the science of the first impression or the scientific hypothesis of a first impression.
So, what is the Scientific Hypothesis of First Impressions?
Humans are built to make a rash conclusion based on your appearance, taste in fashion, sobriety, and body language.
It is natural to depend mostly on your first impression of someone you just met, even if you get to study them much later. A first impression is the survival tool that has successfully kept every human up and active.
It sure gives some comfort to see that every human undergoes this unexplainable rash method of thinking.
Your Image Matters to Your Success
This write-up concludes that your image matters to your success. You should stop neglecting or underestimating the impact of your image on your success. Everyone has an individual image and a personal brand—be it male or female, and successful people are in total control.
You should be mindful of your personal image because it is crucial to your success—this cannot be overemphasized enough. In a competitive situation against other experienced and talented people, your image can be a true deal-breaker.
There is a likelihood that you have been present in a situation where you are made to weigh two equally good people against each other. Can you pin down the thing that made you choose the other person over the other? It obviously may have been just their personal image.
If you have been in such a situation, it is only reasonable that you make your personal image your priority. Put in some effort in getting it back on track, and you will be so glad you did.
How Does Your Image Matter to Your Success as a Man?
Most men believe looking good is only a woman’s duty. However, you should note that you are the first business card your company offers to a visitor as an entrepreneur or a corporate executive. And before anyone decides to do business with you, they first need to like you and trust you.
You would agree that no one goes about putting their trust in a man who looks like he couldn’t take total charge of his life. Now think about this, does your image and the first impression you make actually can entice people? Can it make them more comfortable around you or open up enough to actually want to spend time with you, have a conversation? How pleasant are you? How do people feel when they are around you? How do you want them to feel?
Image matters because it is all about trust. From the first impression you create, you take on the responsibility for the way you are perceived. And you, as a man, are the only person that is in total control of this. If your outer presence echoes your qualities, then it is enormously important that your appearance backs up the message of honesty, authenticity, and reliability.
Your image is like packaging for the product or service you offer. It is either attractive or discouraging. And before people move on to check what’s inside, they have to judge the product by the look it offers. It is left for you to have great packaging or a pitiable one. Now you can decide what you communicate through your image. This is why it matters.
Final Words
Naturally, when we discuss image, appearance, looks, the mind immediately moves over to women and their need to stand out in the crowd. Nonetheless, it is generally recognized that success has absolutely nothing to do with gender. If it is overtly accepted that great looks are necessary for success for females, it also applies to men.
As a man, your image and the ABCD of your Image connotes the level of success you would attain. There is really no one right image. There is no bad or good image. You can either have an image that supports or destroys your career and personal goals. Your image matters because it can help you fast-track in your professional and private life. It also matters because it is about You.
