If you’re like most men, you probably have a strong dislike – if not outright hatred – for shopping
Part of it is because we’ve been told that being a man means hating shopping
But the stereotype exists for a reason and there really are a number of things to dislike about it.
Things like:
Not knowing how to find things that fit
Not wanting to be pressured by or even talk to sales associates
Thinking it needs to take hours and not wanting spend the time
Not knowing the right questions to ask to find what you want
Feeling frustrated that the models don’t look like you at all
Not wanting to spend money without knowing you’ll really love what you get
Fear of liking something in the store and then never wearing it once you pay for it
Dislike for the environment of the mall or stores
And a multitude of other reasons
But here’s the thing, you can’t buy clothes without buying them.
Sounds stupid, but you can’t get better looking, more stylish, more authentically feeling clothes without shopping for them.
Subscription boxes, stylists, or a woman in your life aren’t going to get you the results you want
Neither will waiting around for a bunch of free stuff after trade shows and 5k fun runs
I mean, I get offered free clothes every week and even I have to go out and buy stuff in order to get my style to be as simple and effective as I want it to be.
But when we dive down into the center of all of this, there’s only one real reason you have a dislike for shopping
Pressure
That perceived pressure may come from a bunch of different places – time, sales associates, your budget, not knowing what to buy, not knowing where to look, etc.
So here’s your challenge today
I want you to go do the equivalent of a sparring round
I want you to go shopping to try to piece together the personal uniform you created yesterday and not buy a thing.
All the pressure can be taken off because you’re not expecting the result of new clothes, you’re just getting more comfortable with the process of buying them.
Which means if you can’t find the right place, or don’t know the best questions to ask (just show them the photo from yesterday’s challenge), or can’t decide if it’s worth the money – you don’t have to.
You’re not there to actually buy anything.
You’re there to try on the ultimate version of what your personal wardrobe would be.
If you like the results, great! Pay for it and call it good.
If not, also great. The goal wasn’t to fight it was to spar.
Here’s one last piece of advice and it’s something I typically only go in on my
coaching clientswith:
Ignore the models, mannequins, and marketing of the various stores.
I can’t tell you how many clients I have who had never set foot into a J Crew, or Carhartt, or Nordstrom, or Urban Outfitters because the way these companies did their marketing didn’t fit my clients’ self perception.
But when they did go into one of these shops and learned they could use the various clothing in their own style, not just replicate what’s on the mannequins, a whole world opened up.
So not only do I want you to spend some time shopping, I want you to go into stores you’re unfamiliar with or maybe even a bit unwilling to try out.
Go poke your head around, try on a few things, and see if you can use them in your style – not copy the store’s style.
When you find a piece, or maybe an entire outfit you like snap a pic and post it up on Twitter with the hashtag #stylechallenge and tag @tannerguzy
I’m excited to see what you come up with!
