You know that song? That song that makes you swing your hips a little extra or makes you walk a little taller, head up high? You probably only listen to it when you're getting ready to go out on the town.
Yeah, we need to fix that.
Everyday Is A Hustle
The (somewhat sucky) truth is that everyday, even on our not A-game days, we're making impressions on people. The day I don't dress up all professional like, or am in a bad mood or I got into a fight with my mom before work - that's still a day I have to hustle at work. Shit needs to get done, meetings go on and I have to be, like, competent and with it. Well crap, what's a girl to do?
Find Your Swagger
I loved this quote I saw on Megan Greenwell's Tumblr: "Portray Kanye-type swagger (because we’re #1), but in a Will Smith way (approachable)." It's the social media philosophy for a major brand - but how brilliant is that!? It describes exactly how I want to feel when I walk through those doors at work every morning. I want to be the most confident person possible, no doubt, but I still want to be someone people want to work for or with. So how do you find your swagger?
Step 1: Open Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, iTunes - wherever you can listen to music.
Step 2: Rock. Out.
I often joke that all I listen to is dirty, Spanish rap music - and that's mostly true - but the reason has more to do with the beat than it does the words. Music can 100% set the tone of any situation, I mean, think of a dinner party. Music can amp your group up, chill them out or even indicate it's time to leave. (Cue the music turning off.) So why wouldn't we use music to instill a sense of confidence?!
Every morning I jam to dance, pop, rap, rock - whatever puts some pep in my step and encourages an "I got this" vibe. By the time I get to work I'm feeling pretty good, maybe even a little sassy. (Sorry work folks! Please don't hijack my playlists!)
So I asked folks on Twitter what their favorite songs to get amped to were, with an eye for non-Spanish rap music (I realize this isn't for everyone), and put together a Spotify playlist for us. There's 137 tracks, or about 8 hours of music, and arguably something for everyone. (There are some explicit lyrics in there, so best to put on your headphones before pressing play at work.)
[spotify id="spotify:user:frijolita23:playlist:03W17l1ZMzQHg1MqPeziJs" width="300" height="380" /]
But this is just the beginning! It's time for you to make a #GDS Swagger playlist for yourself and share it. (I know you can do it, you spent all that time making a break-up playlist...) If you have a link, share it in the comments, or tell me what your favorite song is and I'll add it to mine. In the meantime...
Photo credit: Alejandra Owens (me!).