New Year, New You

by Lynette Allen

New Year…you either love it or hate it! If you love it, you'll be up partying into the small hours filled with hope, excitement and energy for the year ahead, a brand new sheet of paper, a clean slate, a vibrant new start. On the other hand, if hate it, you'll be more like to go to bed early with a cup of cocoa hoping to sleep your way through the fireworks and just keeping everything crossed that the year will go smoothly! However you choose to celebrate the night itself, it's the sentiment attached the New Year that's the important thing.

It's a chance to re-evaluate how you live your life, who you are, who you're perceived to be by others and if you like the 'you' that you turned into. It's about the passing of time and for some, it's about asking yourself a few probing questions. If the New Year didn't miraculously bring you Jennifer Aniston's hair, Julia Robert's thighs or George Clooney as you'd perhaps hoped, then you may choose to take this opportunity to ask yourself those questions and make a few changes. I'm not talking major surgery but this could be life altering nevertheless. What I'm talking about is your image.

I once asked a psychiatrist I was interviewing on radio, what he thought 'image' actually meant. He told me it was the reputation you have with yourself and others. Your image is the 'you' that other people see as well as the 'you' that you feel you are. The idea is to get the two to match. Without matching, you'll feel somewhat out of kilter, a little less like yourself than you should be and ultimately searching for something to make you feel better. In order to get the two images to match, I've developed a two step process... so if you're willing to take a chance and would love to have a complete image make-over, this is for you.

Look different - Your image wish list

Step One

Wish lists weren't just invented for children and Christmas, use this wish list to work out who do you really want to be. This is your chance to come up with an image that you love, one that you'd be proud of and want to show off to the whole world and their mother. If I were to ask you, what or who do you want to be? What would you say? Do you want to be sporty? Sensual? Sexy? Professional? If you look in the mirror and see a different image to the one you'd lost love, then, know this…you have the absolute power to alter it. You might have grown up children, you might have been through a difficult divorce or bereavement, you might have lived a little (or a lot!) but you certainly don't have to look lived in!

To help you with your image wish list, gather up a couple of your favourite glossy magazines and cut out the images and pictures of things that you love. It could be hair styles, clothes, shoes, house decoration, accessories, holiday destinations, perfumes, colours that inspire you, words that mean something to you. Next, get an A3 sheet of cardstock (legal size) and once you've cut out the images, stick them onto the card in whatever way makes sense to you. Make this your new year, new you wish list. It can be as crazy or adventurous as you like. Have fun with this, I've done this many times myself but also with clients and in workshops and not only is it fun, you could be quite amazed at the things you've chosen, they could be quite out of character for you. I've known people to fill both sides and even go on to two sheets - it gets quite addictive!

My top tip is to try not to 'select' too much and just choose the things or images that you like the look of instinctively, that way, you'll be coming up with the ideal you, really inspirational colours and pictures that'll fill you with excitement and that's exactly what you want!

When you've got your card take a good look at it. Your card is there for several purposes. The first, is to remind yourself on a daily basis of the person you want to become. It might be that you want to be more adventurous, more sporty, more intellectually stimulated, much fitter, more fashion conscious or even less fashion conscious! Put it where you'll see it every day to reconnect with that image. Once your subconscious mind has a firm idea of the image you want to create, you'll find that when you next go shopping for instance, your eye will be drawn to different things, colours or places, you'll find that you start to see things differently - you'll start to choose things that bring you close to that new image. It's subtle but in a couple of months you'll start to notice a difference in how you feel and what other people are saying to you.

The second purpose to your card is this, to choose one thing from your list that you're going to action today. It could be wearing perfume again, having a 'signature' scent, it could be wearing make-up, or wearing jeans/trousers more than the skirts you're used to. It could even be smiling more, walking taller or visiting different places. Choose to do just one thing in January that brings you close to your new image.

Feel different - Younger than your years

Step Two

I've never known any woman turn down the opportunity of looking younger! Again, no surgery needed. This approach is more about what makes a woman seem young. What do you think it is? Is there just one secret, cream or potion that does the trick? Probably not, but there are a few tips to looking young.

To discover these, we have to look at what young people do and how they act. They're generally energetic, smile and laugh a lot, they try new things, they're confident and willing to fail. Over the years, we forget some of these qualities. Aches and pains can make us less energetic, we may have lived through worries and stresses which mean we haven't smiled as much, we may have had our confidence dented and therefore feel less inclined to try different thing. All of these things make up the person you are now and are to be valued, but they needn't take away from the qualities of youth.

You probably know people in their fifties and older for instance who shine in a crowd, people you always love being with because their personality and aura makes them a joy to be around. That's what you can cultivate and that's the secret to appearing younger than your years in my opinion. Is there someone you admire for their young spirit and outlook? What do they do specifically that makes them attract young friends and a fun social life? Think of one thing that you can choose to take on and re-create as your own and then do it in January. It could be choosing not to let stress get to you, having a massage more often to release those happy hormones, it could be enjoying the company of others more, entertaining friends more often, it could just be smiling more or making eye contact more often. Whatever you think that person does, make that quality your own.

Even taking just one thing and making it happen, will make a difference to how you feel, how you're perceived by others and whether your 'outer' image matches the 'inner' one. Whatever you choose to do, do it with vigour, with energy and with style!

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