"We all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own." Yep. you guessed it. That's Marcus Aurelius again.
When I read the above quote, I stopped and thought "Why is that I wonder?" He is kind of correct there in what he says. We all, to some extent, love ourselves. There is something about each of us that makes us look out for our own self preservation. At the same time, many of us worry about what other people think of us. I've noticed that since I have moved away from New Jersey, I really don't care how people perceive me. I wear jeans and a t-shirt daily, and I rarely dress up. Back when I worked in New York, I wore a suit nearly every day. Every day when I was in the city anyway. Nowadays, I still wear a suit when I go into the office in New York. The question is why? My employer knows that I do good work for them. My reports rarely need major edits and everything is always in on time. If I went into the office with my full beard and in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, would anything really change? No. And yet, I simply won't do it! People have preconceived ideas about what an analyst looks like. They wear a suit, they are well barbered and they wear nice shoes and a tie. Nothing can be further from the truth though. For the past twelve years, I worked with hedge funds all over the east coast. What I noticed was that nearly none of the analysts and portfolio managers I met with wore a suit regularly. The first time I met them, they usually had a suit on. But after that they usually just wore a polo shirt and khakis (or something similar). These men are some of the top analysts and portfolio managers on the Street. And yet, they did not wear suits on a daily basis. To tell you the truth, I don't think many of my business associates would be surprised or shocked to see me in jeans and a T-shirt. I also don't think they would be surprised to see me with a full beard. So, if the top guys on the Street more often than not dress casually, then why is everyone so worried about suits and dressing nicely. It is because of how they want to be perceived! Not everyone is at a level where they feel comfortable not wearing the "uniform" of their trade. Many firms want their people to look professional... even though the top professionals, for the most part, dress casually most of the time. Don't get me wrong, they do wear suits... but just when they are trying to impress. Most times, when they are not expecting to be seen by people they don't know, they dress more casually. No matter how hard we try people, other people's opinions seem to matter to us. Particularly when it comes to their opinions about us. My advice: Love yourself. Respect your own opinion about yourself. And dress up when you feel there is a need to. The last time I dressed up was a few months ago for my friend's father's funeral. The time before that was in 2014, the last time I went into my office in New York. Some habits die hard!
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