Recently, a friend told me that she wanted to buy one of my bracelets but didn't know which one to choose. She felt she didn't know her style. In fact, she felt she had no style.

Immediately I thought of which piece I wanted for her. It is my strongest bracelet because I associate her with a strong, intelligent (she's worked for NASA!), yet kind woman. She's one of those women I look up to and admire. She exudes confidence.

Would that piece of jewelry give her this confidence? No. But it's interesting how I associated that bracelet with this woman.

The opposite is also true. We make assumptions about people within seconds of meeting them. From the clothes they wear, their makeup, their jewelry, their shoes, the way they carry themselves, they tell a story about who they are. We associate what we see with who they are.

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_impression_%28psychology%29), research shows it takes just one tenth of a second for us to judge someone and make a first impression. And evidence suggests that people rely too much on appearance cues over actual information:

"When provided with descriptive information about a target, participants still rely on physical appearance cues when making judgements about others' personalities and capabilities. Participants struggle to look past physical appearance cues even when they know information contrary to their initial judgement". And "once formed, first impressions tend to be stable. A review of the literature on the accuracy and impact of first impressions on later-based assessments found that raters' first impressions are highly correlated with later scores, but it is unclear exactly why."

So, what is the story you are telling others about who you are?

My hope is that we, as women, will inspire each other to find that inner confidence and ways to express it.

Check www.otherwisejewelry.com how you can make your own style stand out