Many people don’t believe that they can ever be highly influenced by another person’s opinion, but the truth is that we can be. The formula for mass hysteria is simple. All you need is one dominate personality to have such a strong opinion about something that everyone else begins to believe it, see it, feel it, from that person’s passionate perspective. And presto, mass hysteria has begun. And let me prove it to you.

Picture this, you are working late one night at home and around 9:15pm all of a sudden there is all of this noise outside your front door. The door bell is ring off the hook. People are banging on the door to the point that you think the door will be broken in. People are calling your last name over and over again.

Eventually you open the door to find 20+ people with police on the way standing in front of you barking questions like,

“Are you the owner of the house?”

“Is everyone ok?”

“How many people live here?”

And when you ask, “What is wrong?” They accuse of you of hanging someone. Yep, hanging (as in murdering) someone!!!

Sounds ludicrous right? Well, I would think the same thing. If it hadn’t happened to me.

So how did all of this mass hysteria begin? Quite simply, you take one Justin Bieber cutout that was used in a training a video to represent the human need for giving leave it near a bathroom window for 2+ weeks and have a neighbor who all of sudden notices and presto you (or I for that matter) is accused of hanging themselves or someone else.

Now anyone with common sense or someone who has scene a few CSIs will know that a body hanging looks nothing like the shape of a Justin Bieber cutout. You see logic was no longer with this group. It didn’t matter that logically, there was many reasons why that this shape couldn’t be a person hanging themselves. But that didn’t matter anymore. They had made up their minds and that was that. No words or evidence could calm these people down or change their opinions (not even showing them the Justin Bieber cut out).

I tell you all of this because these seemingly well intended people had no idea about reality and when they saw the facts, they denied the truth. Why? They trusted their feelings and emotions over the evidence before them. Your clients and my clients can act the same way and at some point they will.

You see in the professional/ client relationship, you-the professional- are meant to be that dominate, passionate person that influences everyone around them. But too often many us surrender such control to our clients, the media, and/or our competition. In doing that, we run the risk that our clients will misinterpret our own (figurative) Justin Biebers.

The bottom line is that at some point mass hysteria will hit your business. The choice you have to make is that are you the one controlling the wave of emotions or is someone else.

I figured I’d teach you one of my favorite magic tricks: how to save money and look great at the same time.

Are you waiting for me to wheel out a “magic disappearing” box? Well, in a way, I am. Because one key to finding hidden gems in your closet is to make all the clothes that you don’t love (including the ones that don’t fit right, the ones that aren’t a flattering color, and the ones that are old and worn) disappear.

You probably have items you have long forgotten about that may not have worked before, or you didn’t know how to put them together, but they’re ready to work now. Before you head out to the mall for a new look, look inward, into your own closet.

Set aside a couple of hours (probably shorter than a shopping trip) and prepare to be amazed. Pull out everything that you have in your closet, dresser drawers, or still packed away in original packaging. I find that most of my clients stick with three to five outfits that they just constantly rotate. It is not because they don’t have any other clothes. A lot of them have closets packed full of clothes and therein lies the problem; they can’t see what they have.

By taking all of your clothes and accessories out and really looking at what you have, you will most likely discover new pieces that you totally forgot about. Introduce those “new” pieces into your everyday wardrobe. This way you have the satisfaction of “new” clothes, but it didn’t cost you a dime. Who wouldn’t love that!

Did you know its Women’s Self Defense Week? I’m wishing you ladies health and safety. Did you know that what you wear can save your life? It can. Ladies, you have so many options and some may not be what you would think of in an emergency, so let’s just consider a few things right now so if you should ever need them, these will come to mind.

Let’s start off with shoes. Most women would think that a safe shoe would be a sports sneaker. And they are correct. A sports sneaker could help you run away from a potential attacker more quickly. The only problem is that most of us don’t wear sports sneakers every day and don’t really want to. So the next best option is a high heel. Now whatever shoe you are wearing, the shoe should be comfortable and not inhibit you from moving, but when it comes to high heels, you could have weapons on your feet. Stiletto style heels could be used as a weapon a couple of ways. You could stomp on a perpetrators toes or kick him in the face or other vulnerable places with the heel. Women, remember your strongest weapon is your leg.

Besides the actual clothing you wear, having the right handbag can also help. Choose a bag that you can move around easy. As much as the larger oversized bags have been in style, if you find them cumbersome, don’t use one. Secondly choose a bag with strong handles. Consider even a possible chain detail. This way you can grab hold of the straps tightly and swing your purse as a weapon if necessary.

I would mention the value of carrying a weighty handbag to make it a more formidable weapon, but most women have apparently caught onto that idea.

The best self defense tip anyone can give is to stay aware, be vigilant, and be smart. Listen to your women’s intuition. If you sense “No,” don’t go.

Quick! What are you wearing? Do you like it, love it, or is it just okay? Is it downright hideous? If your boss, or your mother-in-law, or your number one client, or that client you have been trying to get, were at your door this very moment, would you be proud to answer the door? Would you pretend you weren’t there? Or would you answer the door and apologize like crazy?

If you didn’t answer, “Love it!” and “Proud to answer the door!” then the clothes you are wearing are obviously not reflecting who you are and how you want to be perceived. What is the big deal? Clothes are just clothes, right? Wrong! Clothes are an easy and fun way of showing the world who you are, and who you want to be, all without saying a word. They say that 93% of all communication is nonverbal. So then, what are your clothes saying about you? Are they communicating the right message?

If you didn’t like the message you’re sending right now, how do you change that? First off, what is your five-year goal? Have you created yours yet? If you have, brava! If not, simply ask yourself, what is the difference between your five-year goal and your current life? How would your life be different? It is in those differences that your true heart shows, and in turn, your way of dressing will emerge.