Why successful people choose to wear the same clothes to work

Some of the world’s most powerful individuals have viewed fashion as something not worth wasting any time on (Shutterstock.com)

Some of the world's most successful leaders have chosen to adopt a minimalist wardrobe to focus on decisions that really matter.

We’ve seen high profile personalities wearing the same clothes day after day. In fact, many of these guys have become known for their signature minimalist style.

Barack Obama sports the same blue or grey suit every single day. Mark Zuckerberg is known for wearing a grey T-shirt all the time.

If you’re wondering why, the answer lies in one word: decisions.

As the president of the United States, Obama’s days are centered around making decisions about how to successfully run the world’s largest economy. The same goes for Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Managing the world’s largest social media network comes with endless decisions. And at the end of the day, even if you’re the world’s biggest decision-maker, there is only so much mental energy you can muster in a day.

So according to these execs, deciding what clothes to wear every day is something not worth wasting any energy on. When questioned on his choice of clothing, Zuckerberg said, “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community.”

Obama shared the same sentiments: “"I don't want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing because I have too many other decisions to make."

Obama and Zuckerberg are not only high profile personalities who share this idea. Some of the world’s most powerful individuals have viewed fashion as something not worth wasting any time on: Take Karl Lagerfeld who wears the same black suit, white t-shirt, sunglasses and gloves. Dean Kamen, the inventor of Segway is always dressed in the same denim shirts, denim jeans and work boots. Steve Jobs wore a black mock turtleneck, blue jeans and New Balance sneakers. Even Albert Einstein had a signature outfit: replicas of the same suit.

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According to psychologists, when you make decisions you use the same willpower as you would when you say no to consuming sugar or drugs, or when you decide to go on an early morning run or hit the snooze button on your alarm clock. Your ability to make a call on say the right investment may be reduced simply because you used up some of that energy in the morning when you stood infront of your wardrobe deciding what clothes to wear to work that day.

Another reason some people have cited is less stress. This relates to stress you may develop during the day as you think back to your original decision. “Is this too formal?”, "Is it saying too much or too little?”, "Is it too short?” The minimalist wardrobe creates one less source of anxiety.

Read: When bad clothes happen to good marketers

So if you too are serious about building an empire and making decisions that really matter, perhaps it’s time you jumped on the bandwagon.