As an artist we talk about developing a signature style. This is a style of our art that makes it easy for other to recognize us and know it’s a Katie Leigh original.
The more that I think about what my signature style is the more I see it spread into every area of my life. Like the other night when we caught the early shuttle back from a wedding in the mountains of California, the bride said to me “Katie, I love that you know yourself so well and stick to what you always talk about in taking care of yourself. I’m so glad you’re taking the early shuttle. It’s right on brand for you.”
This small comment filled me up. One because it was true, I’m not an evening person, and two because I felt seen.
The style of my paintings might be my signature style in art or how I design home decor, but my signature style in life is something totally different. It’s a message about putting yourself first (even when we were raised to think differently). It’s about rest, moving slow, and remembering to see the magic everyday.
Your signature style is knowing exactly who you are (and who you aren’t) and owning that. When we’re clear on our own personal boundaries, how we want to live, and what’s optimal for our own well being, so we can take care of others (like a solid night’s sleep), we’re creating a world of our own with our signature style all over it.
If I could give any piece of advice that applies to just about anything its this–Get to know yourself. Know what you like, know what you don’t like. When you build your life around that, it changes everything and it will seep into all that you do–design, style, career, health, you name it.
Figure out your signature style and then show if off.
Tips for Finding Your Signature Style
- Pull out a notebook and draw a line down the middle. Label the left side “love” and the right side “hate”. Throughout the day any task that you do, or think that you notice right down in the correct column to get an idea of the things you do and don’t like in your life. Keep this list going day after day and add new tasks/thoughts/things to it as you realized what you do and don’t like.
- Pull everything out of your closet and create a pile of clothes that make you feel like a million bucks, clothes that make you feel neutral (almost always neutral colored staple pieces you pair with other things) and a pile you know you feel frumpy in. You’ll start to see patterns like a style of clothes or a color palette that you love and hate.
- Keep a food journal for meals and after a meal write down in general (no details needed) what you ate and how you feel in your body afterward. Do you feel happy, hungry, angry, tired, headachy, energized, etc. Do this for at least a week to start picking up themes. I found out that white flour in the morning puts me to sleep the rest of the day and that my body really doesn’t like spicy.
- Figure out your core values so you can start living aligned with them.
- Tune in throughout the day to notice how you feel inside your body. Are you tired? Maybe take a quick power nap. Are you anxious? Try breathing exercises or going for a walk. Are you hungry? Go eat something high in protein to fuel you up. This constant tune in to meet your own needs goes a long way.
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