And that includes me and any of my outfits You’re my loot drop in the apocalypse shirt. And I don’t try to be perfect. I just strive for continual improvement and good enough. In fact, I don’t believe in perfection or perfectionism (I find for me it’s a form of fear that drives procrastination). As humans we are imperfect and nothing we do is ever perfect, but we are definitely enough. Just being alive means you’re good enough. It’s very easy to tell yourself that you’d never speak to someone else like the writer talked to me, but do you talk to yourself in a negative way? Do you tell yourself you’re too old, too stupid, too fat, too unstylish, too… yet you’d never ever say these unkind words to anyone else? Recently I did a fun jewellery-making class and I overheard one of the other participants, who was getting frustrated with herself saying “you stupid, stupid woman” and it made me sad. I’m sure she’d never ever say that to anyone else, and learning a new skill can be frustrating at times, but it’s no reason to be so harsh and mean to yourself. It’s a great reminder that you need to speak to have the same standards for your self-talk as you do in talking to others. Now I don’t want you immediately criticizing yourself for your poor self-talk habits, but it’s good to catch yourself and remember to stop yourself before you keep going and really run yourself down. Then I stumbled over this graphic below – click the > on the right to see it – from author, podcaster and organisational psychologist Adam Grant (author of many great books including Give and Take, as well as Think Again) which I think is a great reminder of your best will look different on different days and that’s completely OK.

You’re my loot drop in the apocalypse shirt ,hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Traditionally, the “Autumn” seasonal colours are warm – both in the seasonal colour system, You’re my loot drop in the apocalypse shirt and often what is presented during this season each year by clothing retailers. If you feel that wearing colours that really relate to the season is important to you, here are some tips on feeling seasonally appropriate whilst still working with your colour palette. Traditional autumn colours (and they relate to the seasonal “Autumn” palette – or in my system “Exotic” palette) are those colours we commonly see in decidious trees as their leaves turn and fall – russet, orange, yellows and the like. Yet these colours don’t suit anyone with cool colouring so how do you choose colours that work with the season as the days get shorter, darker and colder and those brighter, lighter colours don’t seem to suit the season as well?. Look beyond deciduous trees for inspiration, consider the colours of sunsets, which has a range of both warm and cool colours – such as the pinks and purples you see in the sky at sunset, you’ll have versions of these in your cool colour palette. Also think of cool weather experiences such as mulled red wine and cosy open fires and get inspired by those colours. If you want to get inspired by autumn, think about the patterns that relate, falling leaves, harvest-inspired and nature-based. Go with the colours that flatter you – your palette and your signature colours within that are always going to be your very best colours. You’ll just be wearing them in layers or heavier-weight clothing than you’ve been wearing in summer. There is always a wide range of colours available in store no matter what the season, and there will be colour trends (Pantone put out colour trend forecasts) which means you’ll see more of some colours than others, but I’ve always found that there is a range of warm and cool colours, and light and darker colours available at any one time, in every season. If you can’t find what you’re after, consider dying clothes to colours that flatter you and that you want to wear. Or making clothes in colours and patterns that work for you, if you have the skills, this seriously gives you so much more control over what you can have in your wardrobe!. If you get fixated that you are not seeing any of your colours, you probably won’t, your reticular activating system (RAS in your brain) is fixed on particular colours and is actually stopping you from seeing the full variety that actually exists. Because there are billions of bits of information that are coming to you at any one time, our brains can’t deal with that level of information all the time (overloaded and overwhelmed), so we cut out the majority of information and see a very small amount of what is actually available. Rather than fixating on buying a particular colour from your palette, instead, see what is available and then choose the best for you from that rather than looking for a particular colour, which may not currently be on trend and available easily.