I’ve been thinking lately about how I get motivated.
A lot of the time, people try to push me by telling me what I should do. This actually has the opposite effect on me—when someone tells me what I should do or when I should do it, I automatically dig my heels in & say to myself, “No siree, I will absolutely not do that!” Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve never really been a rebel (PeeWee Herman is more of a rebel than I am, “I’m a loner, Dottie, a rebel”), & I’ve never really been one to push the boundaries of the socially acceptable (pink hair being the exception). I like to follow the rules. So much so that I like to make up my own rules to follow.
So that leaves me thinking about what motivates me to get going, to make changes, & to get things Done.
It’s quite simple, really.
Fear.
Fear gets me going. Not knowing how I’m going to pay my rent, not knowing if I’m going to be able to fit into my dress for the next event I have to go to, not knowing who’s going to help me move… they all kick my ass & cause me to Get. It. Done.
However, I know that fear isn’t healthy for me. Fear is the opposite of love, & one of my rules is that there is only love. So how can I get the motivation from fear that I need without feeling the actual fear?
I’m trying to figure it out. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far.
Charting my progress. There is something deeply satisfying about making charts & graphs to me. I blame it on working at Statistics Canada for six years. My weight chart fascinates me. I’ve been keeping it for six years now, & it’s really interesting to compare it to my journal! The effects of my emotions on my weight are clear. Any kind of chart works for me though. Even something as simple as not breaking the chain of tick marks on a calendar has a pretty profound effect on getting me to do things. Famously known as the Jerry Seinfeld method, this really works for me! I just started using the Lift app to track (mostly because mid-move I misplaced my calendar), & it seems to work pretty well so far!
Holding back. I find that when I have a new goal or idea that I want to do, really want to do, I go whole-hog right away & get burnt out super-fast. I’m trying to teach myself to hold that enthusiasm in a little bit. I need to constantly remind me that big goals are marathons, not sprints.
Vision boards. Okay, I know, so cheesy, right? So The Secret. However, Pinterest isn’t! I have a board on there called Dream Life, & every time I am starting to feel a little down about my goals & where I am going with my life, I find it helps to check those images out. They really help me spin up my positivity.
So that’s what does it for me! What about you, sweet lovely? How do you stay on track with your goals? Do you find people checking in & pushing you helps, or do you need to figure it out on your own? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
I was thinking about British fashion icons today (yes, you can blame the Olympics), & seriously you guys, Tilda Swinton. Yes, her fashion choices are polarizing. But you have to admire a woman who is not afraid to take fashion risks, yeah? Her sex appeal isn’t the common kind—in fact, some people find her rather jarring. But her wind-tunnel beauty & no-nonsense style really appeal to me. Because her looks are so interesting, she is also an excellent choice for character roles—roles I think are far more challenging.
Ugh, seriously, so good.
One of the reasons I adore Ms. Swinton’s style is that even though it’s always risky, it’s always cut impeccably, in colours that suit her. The fact that she’s risky hasn’t hurt her profile, either. She’s constantly photographed by the paparazzi in her outrageous outfits, & is an inspiration for magazine stylists everywhere.
I’m pretty sure Tilda Swinton was the first fashion-forward-thinking person to sport a modern under-cut. This is the haircut of the summer! You can’t go anywhere without seeing someone sporting it.
Her androgynous beauty & incredible acting talent have sparked rumours that she’s a favourite to play David Bowie in an upcoming biopic. Two iconoclasts—I really couldn’t think of a better fit. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s played a man, either. She played Mozart on stage, an Elizabethan nobleman in Orlando, & the androgynous Gabriel in Constantine.
What can we learn from Tilda Swinton?
I could literally watch this for hours.
For those in the know, Diana Vreeland is a huge source of inspiration. But she’s not exactly a household name. Not a traditional beauty, but her style is enduring & continues to influence fashion in fascinating ways. She had style in spades.
Mrs. Vreeland was born in Paris in 1903, & moved to New York at the outbreak of the first World War. She was discovered at a dance & started out as a columnist at Harper’s Bazaar. She later moved on to be the editor of Vogue. She coined terms like youthquake, & was chock full of witticisms. She brought many a fashion trend into the spotlight, most notably Yves Saint Laurent’s animal prints. She celebrated the uniqueness of the 1960s, discovered Edie Sedgewick, & wrote a brilliant autobiography, D.V. (quotes of which are featured prominently in the film To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar, which was my first introduction to Diana Vreeland!).
She was brilliant, with all the eccentricities that go along with that. She changed the pronunciation of her name—no Diana for her, it was to be “Dee-ann”. She obsessed over finding the right red. In fact, her apartment was completely decorated in lacquer reds, with scarlet floral wall coverings, & crammed head-to-toe with knickknacks & books everywhere.
Okay seriously how good is that three-booches/turban/manicure combo? SO GOOD YOU GUYS.
She wasn’t a flashy dresser, but was always dressed impeccably & stylishly. She loved simple, elegant clothing & beautiful accessories. There’s even a fashion legend that she asked Charles Revson to duplicate a bottle of her red Parisian fast-drying nail varnish, essentially becoming the driving force behind creating Revlon Cosmetics.
She is perhaps best known for her column Why Don’t You, which was published in Harper’s Bazaar. Some of the “why don’t you”‘s are completely ridiculous & over the top (“Why don’t you… own, as does one extremely smart woman, twelve diamond roses of all sizes?” Because who doesn’t own diamond roses?!), but the whole point of Why Don’t You… wasn’t a to-do list, but rather a way to help women just emerging from the Depression look outside of themselves & approach the world creatively. She didn’t just talk about fashion—Diana Vreeland spun a web of fantasy & inspiration.
Why don’t you…
