Dopamine Dressing Explained
Hello hello my fellow wanders! This week I had 7 days off in a row! It has been truly rejuvenating. No alarm clocks. No scrubs. No mysterious stains on my scrub shirt that I hope is from my lunch and not someone else’s. One week to be me. This week I got to keep my scrubs in the draw. I challenged myself this week to dopamine dress as often as I could.
Dopamine dressing is when one wears clothing that brings joy and elevates your mood. Think of when you are shopping you pass by a dress or a shirt that you feel a pull to. You fall in love with this one object because it triggers happiness. It may be colorful or a cool pattern. Something just pulls you to it. Then it sits in your closet for who knows how long because you have decided there is never an occasion for it.
Make the occasion for that fun outfit. Be the occasion. You won’t be overdressed. You will be the best dressed because it will bring a smile to that beautiful face of yours.
In nursing school, I would always dress up for exam day. Every test day I would put on a skirt or dress. I wore an outfit that made me feel adorable. My whole thought process was “If I look good, I will feel good, and if I feel good, I will do good” It worked, I aced most of my exams. It could have been my hours of studying that led me to passing the test, but I like to think that dopamine dressing elevated my confidence just enough that pushed me to stick confidently to my answers.
I am currently reading the book Atomic Habits by James Clear in an attempt to build better habits for myself. (Still a work in progress). He discusses how we must make habits more attractive in order for them to stick. Clear states, “ And whenever dopamine rises, so does your motivation to act. It is the anticipation of a reward - not the fulfillment of it- that gets us to take action.” So take the first step. Spike your dopamine and strut out the door and have a good day. Dress like your true self. It will bring confidence to your life you may not know was missing. If it doesn’t, at least you will look good ;)
