Home
>
Success
>
Want To Succeed In Business, Social, Personal Life? Take Good Care Of Your Personal Image

Want To Succeed In Business, Social, Personal Life? Take Good Care Of Your Personal Image

Your personal image: It's the most important YOU asset you own.

Your personal image, the perception that people have about you, affects your success in every aspect of life - your life on the job, your social life, even your love life!

That is true because, no matter who you are or what you do, your success depends on what other people THINK about you - the image they have of you.

Your personal image has a number of elements. The way you dress, the colors you choose, the way you talk and the way you relate to others are some of the more important ones.

Some examples:

Personal Image And How You Dress

One very dramatic real-life example of how the way you dress can affect your success was recounted in the New York Times. The Times reported on what happened when two young men attempted to get an online service executive to give them $500,000 for their surfing website.

The young men bought new suits for the meeting and their presentation was equally buttoned up.

After just five minutes, the executive ended the meeting, saying, 'These are '#@%+! surfers?'

A couple of months later they came back for another presentation. How were they dressed this time? Like surfers - with Hawaiian shirts, shorts and sandals. For good measure, they acted the part in everything they said and did. But they didn't change their presentation at all.

This time, they walked out with the $500,000 order. Clearly, the way they were dressed made a huge difference. They now 'looked the part' and this gave them the credibility they lacked before.

'Looking the part, by dressing correctly has been proven critical to success in getting people to do what you want them to do.

In a famous experiment, two men approached 50 secretaries each in the same building to see which could best get past the secretaries to see the decision-maker.

Both used the same approach - but one man succeeded 24% of the time, while the second succeeded an astounding 60% of the time!

Even more astounding, they weren't two different men at all.

They were the same man.

The first time the man approached 50 secretaries he was wearing a black raincoat.

The secretaries perceived him as a messenger or delivery person -- someone who should not be allowed to get in to see their bosses.

When he approached the second 50 secretaries, he wore a tan raincoat. This time the secretaries perceived him as an executive, a peer of their bosses. So they granted his request to see them.

The clothes he wore and the colors he chose in each situation profoundly shaped the secretaries' image of him and made the difference between success and failure.

Personal Image And Your Conversation

Your talk (conversation ability) can be even more important to your success in business than your grades in school or college, according to a study by the Stanford University School of Business.

The study tracked the success of MBA's 10 years after they graduated. The result? Grade point averages of graduates had no bearing on their success -- but their ability to make conversation did.

The most successful graduates were those who could make conversation with anyone -- anyone from strangers to secretaries to bosses to customers.

Your image as being good in conversation helps you achieve success in social and personal relationships in two ways:

(1) Good conversation promotes 'liking.' We like to be around people who can carry on an interesting conversation.

(2) Good conversation creates an attractive image of wittiness, intelligence and self-confidence.

If you are able to carry on a good conversation, this makes people think of you as having more intelligence, wit and self confidence than those who cannot do so.

And, a university study showed just how important the perception of intelligence and self confidence can be.

In a study to determine the characteristics of the ideal male or ideal female -- intelligence and self confidence were rated as most important by 60% or more of respondents.

The message in all this for people who want to put themselves in position to succeed in their business, social and personal lives:

Take good care of your most important YOU asset - your personal image.

About The Author

Mr. Barton, an internet publisher and author of How To Be GREAT!!! In Conversation, offers a range of books to help 'sell yourself,' including personal image improvement books for both men and women. http://www.sellfire.com/persimage.htm.

move in cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

Kodiak Driver autonomous truck achieves perfect 98 safety score, matching top human fleets in groundbreaking AI evaluation by Nauto's VERA system.

New 401k catch-up contribution rules in 2026 will change taxes for high earners over 50. Learn how scammers exploit these changes and protect your retirement savings.

Kurt Knutsson's guide covers social media privacy protection through location settings, account privacy controls and two-factor authentication to prevent scams and data breaches.

Revolutionary retinal implant restores central vision in 80% of patients with advanced macular degeneration, offering hope where treatments once only slowed blindness.

Learn how to use passkeys on Windows and Mac computers without cameras or fingerprint readers. Discover secure authentication methods that replace passwords.

Tesla's FSD v14.1.2 update reintroduces Mad Max mode, enabling higher speeds and more frequent lane changes than the standard Hurry profile setting.

A phishing email scam targeting American Express customers shows how cybercriminals use fake urgent messages to steal personal and financial information.

Facebook's new Meta AI feature analyzes your camera roll photos to create polished collages automatically, but requires cloud processing and raises privacy concerns.

A New Jersey teenager filed a major lawsuit against AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. over ClothOff, an AI tool that created fake nude images from her social media photos.

Microsoft reports Storm-2657 cybercriminals sent phishing emails to 6,000 addresses at 25 universities to steal payroll credentials and redirect funds.

Astronomers have discovered asteroid 2025 SC79, a skyscraper-sized space rock orbiting the sun in just 128 days. the second-fastest known.

The Fox News AI Newsletter delivers the latest developments form the world of artificial intelligence, including the technology's challenges and opportunities.

A cyberattack on SimonMed Imaging exposed personal information of 1.2 million patients, including medical records, financial details and identity papers.

Spotify's managed accounts for kids under 13 now available in at least seven countries, allowing parents to filter and block explicit content and songs.

Friendly text conversations about BBQs and social events can lead to WEEX gold trading scams that target older adults with fake investment opportunities.

California company Skyeports creates self-healing glass spheres from Moon regolith that generate solar power and support plant growth for sustainable lunar living.

Cleafy researchers discover fake VPN streaming app Mobdro Pro that installs Klopatra banking Trojan, giving attackers full control over Android devices.

Police departments across the U.S. and Canada are adopting virtual reality training to better prepare officers for high-pressure, real-world situations.

House Bill 469 would prevent AI systems from owning property, serving as executives, or gaining legal personhood in Ohio under Representative Thaddeus Claggett's proposal.

Public voter records expose retirees' personal details to election scammers who create targeted cons using names, addresses, and voting history data.

Instead of fearing what comes next with artificial intelligence, think outside the box. Here are high-earning AI jobs that don't require a computer science degree.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says polite words like "please" and "thank you" cost millions annually, while direct prompts may improve ChatGPT accuracy by several points.

Chattee Chat and GiMe Chat exposed intimate conversations and photos, revealing users spent up to $18,000 on AI companions before the breach.

New Instagram parental controls allow families to manage teen screen time and content limits through the Family Center with stricter safety settings.

Third-party security breach at Discord exposes sensitive user information including government IDs, highlighting cybersecurity risks from external service providers.

Want To Succeed In Business, Social, Personal Life? Take Good Care Of Your Personal Image

Success