People. Image. Results

AS A MAN THINKETH...

Understanding the Power of a Positive Image

Fruition Image Consultants

DARE TO BE DIFFERENTNATIONAL INTERACTIVE YOUTH FORUM

“Give your career your all. Be ready to sink or swim with it. And be determined to excel and ensure you have

integrity.”

Chief Michael Ade Ojo, on his Celebration of grace at 70- Guardian on Wednesday June 11, 2006.

To be an inspiration, you must have goals. You need to have aspired to do something or be someone. As we grow, we discover and possibly develop certain characteristics that help us become who we aspire to be. We encounter experiences that shape our perception about yourselves, others and life in general, plan our future, identify and develop necessary talents and abilities to execute our plans and remove obstacles or avoid habits that will stop us from reaching our goals.

We all hope, with a few exceptions, that one day we will become a source of inspiration to other people.

It is this journey of becoming an inspiration that we are about to embark on... starting today!

Aspire today, Inspire tomorrow

The Johari Analysis

Perception is a confrontation between inwardly developed conceptions of external reality and an outwardly imposed realities of physiological and cultural transformation. Where these two clash and balance each other, is what we perceive.

“Perception is reality" is a simple and short way of saying that people do not react to reality, they react to their perception of it. Therefore if you control how they perceive reality, you can control how they will react.

This view of perception helps us explain the importance of portraying a positive image. Your perception of a certain situation may not be true but based on your observation and evaluation, your reaction will be due to the reality that your perception has formed. For instance, a marketing executive of a clothing company visits your organisation looking unkempt with unironed clothes, wrongly fitted pair of pants, a dirty looking sandal... You get the point!

Though there might have been several reasons why he/she would show up looking that way, your observation and evaluation of the person in comparison to what is expected guides you to form a perception that your organisation will not benefit from a relationship with this marketer’s organisation. This is your reality.

In summary, creating the right image for yourself can offer you the opportunity to be heard or betterstill, it will help you indirectly control how people may react to you in your professional and social lives.

Perception is Reality!

Perception is Reality

SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique for identifying Strengths and Weaknesses, and for examining the Opportunities and Threats organisations and individuals face. It is mostly used in the business context, however, more individuals are learning to adopt this technique to plan their professional and social lives.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats.

S.W.O.T.

Strengths:

When considering your strengths, think about them in relation to the people around you - for example, if you're a good orator and the people around you are equally good at speaking, then this is not likely to be a strength in your current role, it is probably a necessity.

Questions to ask to help you identify you strengths include;

• What advantages (for example, skills, education or connections) do you have that others don't have?

• What do you do better than anyone else? • What personal resources do you have access to? • What do other people (your boss or lecturer in particular) see as your strengths? • What talents do you have that other people admire and love to see?• What do you have to offer that no one else can?

S.W.O.T.

Weaknesses:It is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible. Ask yourself;

• What could you improve about yourself? • What should you avoid? • What things are the people around you likely to see as

your weaknesses?• Do other people perceive weaknesses that you do not

see? • Do co-workers, friends, class mates etc., consistently

out-perform you in key areas?

S.W.O.T.

Opportunities:

• Where are the good opportunities facing you? • What are the interesting trends you are aware of?

Useful opportunities can come from such things as:

• Technological, political, social (social patterns, population profile, lifestyle changes) and economic changes in the society;

• Changes in government policy related to your particular field (school, work); • Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.; or • Local Events that offer you the opportunity to develop your strengths.• Examining the possibilities of using your strengths to open up any opportunities• Also examine your weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could open up

opportunities by eliminating them.• Be open to the vacuum in the society and carve a niche for yourself. How do you

want to be remembered as an individual?

S.W.O.T.

Threats:

• What obstacles do you face? • What are the people around you doing that might give

them an edge over you? • Is your job, school (or the demand for the things you

do) changing or becoming more chalenging than you can handle?

• If yes, how does it or how will it affect you? • Is changing technology threatening your position? • Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten you

or over shadow your strengths?

S.W.O.T.

• Carrying out this analysis will often be enlightening - both in terms of pointing out what needs to be done, and in putting problems into perspective.

• This helps you to focus on your strengths, minimize weaknesses, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available.

• With a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities that you are well placed to take advantage of.

• By understanding your weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares.

When drawing up a SWOT analysis, consider all aspects from your own perspective as well as from the point of view of the people around you. This will help be more objective. If you are experiencing any difficulty with this, try writing down a list of your characteristics. It may be useful in pointing out some of your strengths and weaknesses.

S.W.O.T.The Essence

Turning Weaknesses to Strengths and Threats to Opportunities

The 93/7 ratio was propounded by Professor Mahabian, a Harvard Professor.

According to Professor Mahebian’s 93/7 ratio, an individual is accessed in the following way;

• 7% - Content• 38% - Presentation• 55% - Appearance

The 93/7 Ratio

– 5years

Your plan to become a better individual projecting the best possible image may be summed up in a short or long term plan. Whatever duration it is, this results of this plan should be easily observable and based on results.

– Eternity

Constantly planning towards making yourself a better person using timelines will eventually produce results and people are inspired by these results. The effect of these results provide a source of inspiration for other people and this effect has the potential to continue after you are no more on earth.

– The man in the mirror

Our plans and aspirations to be an inspiration to other people will come to nothing if we do not take a critical look at “the man in the mirror” and make relevant adjustments from time to time as we journey through life.

Personal image enhancement and development is a continuous thing, therefore you must constantly review your plans to enable you navigate life.

The Game Plan

A fit body is a fierce body and that is what makes fashion fabulous. In other words; diet properly, exercise regularly and pay attention to your health.

The whole nine yards; looking, acting and sounding the part

The Necessary Components

The Necessary Components

• Body Language• Attitude• The Handshakes and Hand Movements • Eye Contact: The eyes don’t lie• The Smile • Hygiene

The Necessary Components Acting the Part

Your Para lingo: This is the “how” when it comes to your voice.

• This arguably conveys more to others than the words that you use.

• How loudly or softly you speak and the degree to which you vary the volume conveys more about your confidence as well as your gravitas.

• The pace at which you speak sends messages. The lively fast-talker can come across positively as enthusiastic or negatively as nervous. Conversely, the slow speaker can seem either thoughtful or pedantic or, even worse, thick!

The Necessary Components Sounding the Part

The Necessary Components Sounding the Part

The Basis. The Basics

• Colour and Style• Your colour palette: depth,

clarity and undertone

The Necessary ComponentsLooking the Part

Procrastination, like all of our behaviours carries consequences. Whether your behaviour is conscious or unconscious, you will eventually have to deal with the effects. Below are some of the effects and dangers of procrastination

• Procrastination causes inaction on an individual’s part and this inaction will prevent you from being exposed to opportunities.

• Procrastination makes you less effective and less efficient in whatever it is you do.• When you procrastinate, believe will be led to believe that you are lazy or worse

that you have no interest in whatever it is you do.• A study conducted by Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl of Carleton University,

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada clearly shows that procrastinators are more prone to start other vices such as smoking or abusing alcohol. Starting new vices will further make it difficult for you to stop procrastinating and will further make your life miserable.

• Procrastination has both psychological and physical effects. The same study by Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl shows that college students that procrastinate in their schoolwork are more likely to have health problems such as suffering from insomnia, diet and exercise problems

Shifting the Goal Post;The Dangers of Procrastination

• Procrastination is a behavior that leads to stress, because it makes plans and wishes fail at what should be the point of fulfillment: event tickets and vacation packages sell out before procrastinators get around to calling or buying. Planes take off, deadlines pass, jobs go to other applicants--the ones who got their resumes in on time.

• Procrastination can affect a person’s happiness. “The Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Canada did an online survey. They received 2,700 responses to the question, "To what extent is procrastination having a negative impact on your happiness?" Almost one person in two (46%) said "quite a bit" or "very much," and around one person in five (18%) reported an "extreme negative effect.“” - http://www.successconsciousness.com/guest_articles/procrastination.htm

• Though procrastination is often trivialized, procrastinators suffer when their careers crash or when they otherwise fail to reach their potential. Long term and wide scale, "the big P" can become more than just a threat to personal health, happiness, and productivity of individuals: it can carry that threat into our companies and communities.

• Procrastinators avoid revealing information about their abilities, they make poor time estimates, they tend to focus on the past and do not act on their intentions, they may also prefer service jobs. These characteristics are linked to low self-esteem, perfectionism, non-competitiveness, self-deception, self-control, self-confidence, depression and anxiety.

Shifting the Goal Post;The Dangers of Procrastination

Procrastination, like all of our behaviours carries consequences. Whether your behaviour is conscious or unconscious, you will eventually have to deal with the effects. Below are some of the effects and dangers of procrastination

• Procrastination causes inaction on an individual’s part and this inaction will prevent you from being exposed to opportunities.

• Procrastination makes you less effective and less efficient in whatever it is you do.• When you procrastinate, believe will be led to believe that you are lazy or worse

that you have no interest in whatever it is you do.• A study conducted by Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl of Carleton University,

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada clearly shows that procrastinators are more prone to start other vices such as smoking or abusing alcohol. Starting new vices will further make it difficult for you to stop procrastinating and will further make your life miserable.

• Procrastination has both psychological and physical effects. The same study by Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl shows that college students that procrastinate in their schoolwork are more likely to have health problems such as suffering from insomnia, diet and exercise problems

Shifting the Goal Post;The Dangers of Procrastination

Fruition is Nigeria’s first and only holistic image consultancy, with a mission to

develop individuals as world class brands.

LOOK, ACT AND SOUND THE PART

… let your inner vision come to Fruition!

We have the midas touch and a proven track record, as our clients

include:

BT, Deola Sagoe, Mo Abudu on Moments with MO, ETC Lingerie store,

The Montaigne Place, Genevieve Magazine, Angelica Clothing store…

to mention a few.