You’ve said it before.

You’ve been at an event saw someone out on the street wearing something you found interesting, provocative or striking.

And you said something like this:

“Oh wow, I wish I  ________________________ to wear something like that, but ____________________________.”

• I wish I was brave enough …
• I wish I had the confidence …
• I wish I was bold enough …
• I wish I had the body (that’s one women say a lot) …
• I wish I had the face … the coloring … the head shape …

I could go on, but you’ve heard these things or have said them before, right?

And then there’s the “BUT” part:

• but I could never pull it off.
• but I could never get away with it.
• but I’m not that daring.
• but I don’t like calling that kind of attention to myself.
• but it would be too showy / loud.
• but I don’t have that kind of money (we’re definitely pitching that thought — more on this later)

I used to say a lot of those things, too, but with the changes I’ve made in my life over the past six years, it’s pretty rare that I’ll sideline myself like that, or it doesn’t last for long if I do — and not just with clothes.

With the way that I’ve created my mind and my life, I don’t shove things to the back of a closet these days.

I wear it out.

I style my life.

I strut my style.

I’ve consciously created a lifestyle.

For years, I sooo wanted to wear a beautiful and extravagant looking hat to The Kentucky Derby. I told myself that:

1. I could never afford that (by the way, read to the end to find out the truth about that).
2. I could never pull it off — I’d be too self-conscious.
3. Other people (whoever your “everyone” is — we’ve all got ‘em) would think I was trying too hard (“who does she think she is?”).

I wore that black and pink hat to The Kentucky Derby in 2014, and I loved every damn minute I spent in it.

It wasn’t just the hat; it was everything that had to do with the woman I’d become up to that point.

It was an inside-out makeover.

I began with awareness.

I set intentions.

I got very focused.

I became inwardly and outwardly declarative about the woman I wanted to be.

I practiced all of these practices over and over and over again.

What was happening inside of me came alive on the outside. I couldn’t help myself.

The color and sparkle couldn’t be contained, and so I intentionally wore it out.

I pulled things out of my closet that I was saving for “someday.”

I took more risks.

I got comfortable with being uncomfortable in terms of how I felt and looked.

I had fun. I did it for me.

The fear of “everyone” saying or thinking “who does she thinks she is?” became something I cast aside.

It also sparked some mischief in me, as in … “I know exactly who “she thinks she is”!

True story : )

I want you to find your “true story” and embrace your inner and outer sense of style. And I want you to wear it out.

Let’s leave “I wish ___________, but ________________” in 2017 and walk the runway into 2018 with intention, confidence, boldness and presence.

Make “someday” your everyday.