Rule 1 - Appearance and attitude matter; to others, as well as yourself.

My dad never worked in an office setting or held a political office. He was never on television that I’m aware of, or made any kind of official public appearances. But one thing I remember about Bud Wilson was that special attention to personal appearance was ingrained in who he was. As a child, I remember every Saturday night; he would spread a newspaper out on the floor, get out the shoe shine kit and shine his boots. (When we were children, he did this for us as well.) He would polish dress and work footwear alike, taking time to buff them to a brilliant shine.

Likewise, he made sure his pencil thin mustache, sideburns and hair were trimmed and groomed perfectly. From the time he rose and dressed until he went to bed, he never had a hair out of place. Even when he wore a cap, he was careful to put it on in such a way that it never messed his hair up. Some wear a cap to conceal a bad hair day- Dad never had a bad hair day. He always made sure of it.

While Dad wasn’t typically a ‘jacket and tie’ kind of guy, unless it was Sunday morning, he always made sure his clothes were neat and clean. Even when going to work at the factory on the ‘midnight shift’, he wore ‘dress jeans’ or slacks and a nice shirt, changing into work clothes at work, and back into what he would have called his ‘street clothes’ at the end of his shift. He never left the house without a clean shave. He was fastidious about his appearance and personal care.

Why was this important? Appearances matter. In the society we live in today, full of baggy pants and caps with the bill turned sideways, we don’t give appearance much thought. But it still matters. When you show up for a date, or a job, or just show up, personal care shows that YOU care. People will treat you different. Even if they don’t think they notice, they do. They always do.

Secondly, your appearance affects your attitude. As the old Staples Family song title says, you need to “Respect Yourself”. If you don’t, no one else will. If you dress like you don’t matter, you won’t feel as if you do. Treat yourself right. It will make a difference in the way others treat you and the way you treat others. I’ve seen it. Looking like a failure is like living in a self fulfilling prophecy.

If you are looking for a job, this goes double, especially in the difficult economy we face today. Take a hint from the Depression era folks like Bud. They lived through times tougher than this, with unemployment twice as high. They learned that appearance and attitude make a difference if you’re trying to land a job. Believe me when I say that a prospective employer won’t be impressed by your ear gauges or the trendy “tat” on your neck, but if you show up on time with a good haircut and a shirt that’s been introduced to a device called an iron, you are way ahead of the game.

About five years ago, I made a drastic career change that left me with the classic “over and under” problem; I was over aged and under experienced for the line of work I was entering. But even in a tough job market, I found that the right appearance and attitude would land me a job offer from nearly every interview I ever went on. I believe appearance and attitude were and are key.

Appearance affects your attitude by giving you a little thing called confidence, which is in fact, no little thing at all. As a boy, I watched my dad walk into any social interaction, whether business or casual, and he always exuded confidence. I know he still probably sometimes felt insecure, but he never let anyone see him sweat. Everywhere he went, he walked in like he owned the place. Confidence won’t replace competence, but it will take you a long way down the road.

That brings me to one final thought. If you are a child of God, you can walk into any situation like you own it, because by inheritance, you do. If you understand that, it will affect the way you dress, the way you act, and the attitude you have. You can try to slide by on that concept and take the easy way out, relying on the “greasy grace” of position by association, or you can take pride in yourself and who you are; become the man or woman that God expects you to be.  It’s up to you; you are the one that has to look at yourself in the mirror every morning. Do you like what you see?