Don’t Worry About Being Cute. Worry About Being Interesting

Adolescence is a tough time: you’re still navigating the road between child and adult, but with the added stress of new set of emotions, experiences, and social situations to tackle. Future colleges and universities expect your applications to be full of extracurricular activities and leadership positions, not just above average grades.

Then, in high school, there are the cute girls with their perfectly tousled hair, unchipped nails, and designer clothes. These girls are definitely popular and get the attention of not just our male classmates but also our teachers as well. (Does anyone else find it strange that some teachers seemed to be more focused on gaining the approval of the cute, popular kids over finding innovative ways to teach?) With all this noise, it’s no wonder you’re gravitating towards the benefits of being cute rather than focusing on all the other things that matter, like your grades and your hobbies. Don’t fall for that trap!

Instead of spending all that time worrying about being cute, spend it figuring out how to be interesting. Here’s why:

Being cute doesn’t get you into college or get you the job of your dreams.

What you look like is normally not a large part of the application process for college or for most jobs – at least not in the initial stages of application review or resume screening. Rather, building out a robust life with interests, hobbies, and exemplary achievements is much more important. It may feel like being cute is the most important thing in the world right now, but in just a few years you’ll wish that you had spent more time making yourself a whole person, with expertise in different things.  That depth is what will give you perspective to perfect your college application, or build an interesting resume that warrants a call back.

Worrying about being cute may mean you’ll miss out on important life experiences.

Focusing on being cute, and what you think comes along with it such as popularity, fame, and attention, will rob you of more important life experiences. Have you dreamed of experiencing new cultures, or hiking through nature to learn more about yourself, and discover new things? It’s hard to backpack through Europe or Asia with little more than two changes of clothes and no cosmetics when you’re worried about being cute. Are you a budding writer or musician? Distracting your mind with something that’s so fleeting will impact your deeper concentration and future success. Don’t miss out on the rest of life because you’re preoccupied with something that’s extremely short term and short sighted, like being cute.

Worrying about being cute may actually backfire, no matter how cute you are.

Why is being cute so hard to do? Because you have to do it effortlessly. It has to come naturally and you can’t show insecurity. If you’re preoccupied with being cute, and are constantly worried that you need to keep being cute, it won’t seem natural. In fact, you could come across as fake or insincere.

Your future life partner already thinks you’re cute.

Whomever you end up with won’t care whether or not you were cute before they met you. In fact, they already think you’re incredibly cute – just as you are. If you’re worried that you won’t be able to find someone because you’re not cute as you are, so you change yourself to fit an idea of what is cute, you just won’t attract the right person for you.

Why worry about something you already are?

You may not have noticed it, but you’re already cute! You have your own unique personality and qualities that make you who you are, and that is definitely cute. Don’t worry about trying to be something that you already are.

Featured photo credit: meikkis5/maria morri via flickr.com

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