More Faux Fur // Personal Power

Today – in addition to sharing my awesome new duds – I want to talk a little about personal power.

But here are the links (faux leather biker jacket with removable faux fur collar *you can get it for 25% off with free shipping on 3/1/19 if you sign up for H&M’s emails, AE’s dream jeans *on sale!, Free People’s gossamer sweater, cami, sunglasses *40% off today, Brixton Messer fedora) to these lovely pieces in case you’re not interested.  If so I’m not offended! Haha

People tell me I’m confident, but that has NOT always been the way I felt. I’ve even heard from some people that I strut when I walk. Well, when I walk I do hear a “Kate rocks” type theme song in my head (like Queen’s We are the Champions), but that’s a somewhat recent development.  I had to “fake it” at first and slowly convince myself that I am awesome sauce.

So what is personal power? Personal power is your fire, juice, your mojo – it’s what makes positive things happen in your life. Remember: you are the ultimate authority on you. The more confident you are – while being fully honest with yourself, the more you harness your power. However, it’s a limited quantity so it’s important to gauge how much of your power you’ve already given away to others. When you hold most or all of your personal power within you, you become unstoppable!

Think of it like this, when you need someone else’s approval then you have given them (some) your power. In order to reclaim it all you need to do is start measuring yourself against yourself…and leave everybody else out of it. Now I’m not saying it’s easy, but it is most certainly a worthwhile endeavor.

I realize now that my mom tried to instill this in me when I was younger. She was always trying to get my sister and me to believe in ourselves. But only through time and many experiences do I fully comprehend how important it is to hold yourself in high regard. Trust me, if you don’t others won’t.

I think at some point we all have to decide if we care more about how we feel about ourselves or if we’ll let the outside world determine our worth. For most of my life it was all about what others thought of me. I used that as a reference point and made pretty much all my decisions based on outside input.

If I wasn’t getting promoted for example, then it must be a deficiency on my part. Right? WRONG! I’ve been passed over for 6 positions over the last 10 years and I really took it to heart at first. Of course now that I have the benefit of hindsight I see that it was all for the best. I didn’t really want to be a supervisor or mentor at that particular company, but I felt I needed to move up to feel successful. I’m actually happiest coaching people one on one so I had to reevaluate what success would look like for me.

Once I learned not to should all over myself (heh) I realized that our own perceived value is of utmost importance. I realized that lasting happiness is not a result of accolades from the outside world. Rather, a happy and successful day is a day where I feel I used my skills to benefit the world. I’m “still” a coach so some might see that as a negative when viewing my resume or whatever, but I feel so blessed to have a fulfilling job that also pays quite well!

I have also been known to worry about what others think of me when it comes to the physical, like my weight. I’m not going to lie, not effortlessly maintaining what I consider to be my ideal weight is not super fun. It has gone up and down and has made me feel like a real failure at times. Especially since I’m a well-being coach!

I have often found myself thinking about people’s past comments about my weight and even felt some anxiety around what others might say about it. It’s draining. Everyday I get better about loving myself no matter what, but it does take effort.

My advice to y’all…own your power. Do not give it away willy nilly. Please know you are enough EXACTLY as you are right now. Remind yourself of this as often as necessary. Preferably in front of a mirror. If you can’t tell yourself “I love you” when looking in the mirror keep trying until you’ve convinced yourself. Then watch the magic happen.

We’ll always have more we want to learn or accomplish – how boring would life be if that were not the case? But life is a journey with no guarantees around length so I say try to enjoy the ride the best you can and let your freak flag fly!

Ok, onto the clothes!

I actually bought this jacket last year, but I see it’s back again. Grab it while you can! The lovely Kathleen from the blog Carrie Bradshaw Lied posted an outfit recently that reminded me a removable faux fur collar is AWESOME as you can use it on just about any outfit to add some visual interest and warmth. Score! As I’ve said many times, this girl loves versatility!

*Note: this jacket is way warmer than my other faux leather jackets due to the lining. It looks awesome with or without the collar; but it does take some time to remove it, so I didn’t take the time to show it sans collar. Sorry y’all!

This lace trim racerback cami from 1.STATE is a new favorite for sure. It’s so good for layering and is actually quite stretchy! This brand and I definitely have a future together lol.

I also want to highlight these ah-mazing jeans/jeggings! At first I thought the name “dream jeans” was a bit of a stretch…and then I bought them and found out they were 100% right! They are extra stretchy, have the perfect minimal distressing, and are the perfect shade of blue. I’ve been reaching for them over any of my other denim lately – and I have quite a bit. Yet again AE delivers!

In true Kate style I bought 2 of FP’s gossamer sweaters as the black was SO good I had to have the coral as well. Once they went on super sale of course. It’s only $58 right now at Macy’s with code REFRESH. I highly recommend it and you’ll likely see it featured here soon. They do run big so I got the black in M and the coral in S and they both are winners in my book.

How cute are these “Key Largo” sunnies from Express BTW? I love slight cat eye shape, the size, and that they work even with my high cheekbones!

I added another hat to my collection and I love it! Brixton makes such high quality head gear 🙂 I did size down on this one FYI and got a small.

Here’s a fav quote on the subject: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

XO, Kate

Photo credit: Leo Amar