For years in my teens and early 20s I tried to make myself the most attractive man I could to impress women.

I routinely purchased expensive clothes, spent money on dating app boosts, hundreds on professional photographers, dinner dates at nice restaurants which didn’t lead anywhere.

That’s just the financial cost.

I would spend countless hours swiping on dating apps, rewriting my profile, waiting for texts. Worrying about what to say next. Going to social events where I couldn’t even communicate due to the loud music. I would consume myself mentally worrying how to attract women and if I am putting enough effort in.

Now that I’ve given up on dating in my mid 20s, I feel a sense of mental ease. I don’t feel like I have to constantly be on this treadmill, and I feel like a weight has been lifted off me. I can still focus on self improvement but it doesn’t come with the desperation that I felt previously. I can put my money towards hobbies.