I Owe My Success To… My Shoes

That’s right. It happened to Dorothy, so what’s to say it can’t happen to other people? Not the whole “tornado takes me to another land” part, but the “a pair of shoes can change your life” part. If I had to give credit to only one thing that has made me successful as a freelancer, it’s my shoes.

I’m sure all of my mentors are silently shaking their heads, but they also understand me enough to know that I am not giving credit to my shoes for what I can do, but rather, I give them credit for helping me get it done. Let me explain.

The brain reacts to external triggers that spark certain internal responses. (Pavlov had it about right.) When I switched from a job that required me to go out in public every day to a remote job, the temptation was strong to succumb to others’ expectations of how freelancers work (i.e. on the couch in their pajamas).

But I knew that without some external trigger, I would never get into a work mindset. So, for the past two and a half years that I’ve worked at home, I’ve always put on my shoes before walking into my office. Sounds simple, but oh my… Game. Changer.

Like the Ruby Slippers, I put on my shoes and I am magically transported to a land where productivity is the name of the day and the words simply fly onto the page. And if I have a meeting that day? You better believe I’m breaking out the business heels! Shoes focus me; they help me feel powerful and confident. And when I take them off at the end of the day, I know work is over and it’s time to relax.

Whether or not your shoes do the same for you, it’s still important to wear them when you’re working from home. Shoes provide support. Shoes protect you from foot pain. Shoes stop you from swearing on your Zoom call when you accidentally step on an errant Lego. Shoes are magical!

Be like Dorothy. Put on a new pair of shoes and see what land you are transported to. It could just be the land of success.