I used to think that I needed to look like some picture perfect dude from a magazine to be appealing to women. You know, the typical shit that basically everyone falls into. Abercrombie models are the dudes that women really want, etc.

Somewhere along the line I got into lifting weights. The first time I squatted 315, and I had an amazing realization: I was no longer getting validation from what others thought, I was now getting validation from my own accomplishments. Now things like: success in grad school, exceeding my own expectations in the gym, finishing the process of writing a song, etc are what give me the positive feedback I need. I'm a burly, bearded, bald white guy so I'm not every woman's cup of tea. And guess what? I legitimately don't give a fuck, and there's a lot of beauty in that because I know EXACTLY what it's like to feel like you are supposed to be some stupid fucking magazines version of "hot."

I can't stress enough the valuable lessons that strength training can provide to a person. Wish I could share it with everyone. So point being... Appearance is important, but it's about what YOUR appearance goals are, not trying to satisfy someone else's version of what they think you should look like.