Thank you for the honest feedback. I knew I was always middle of the pack at best so your rating is not surprising or hurtful. Is it sad that I think 5/10 is not that bad?? Losing fat is now one of my main goals now that I've put on the mass. I'm like 5'11" pushing 190lbs so I'm not THAT tubby but my body fat is just settling in all the wrong places like my midsection. It's just so hard eating right. I ate 3 cookies when I got back from lifting today and I have no idea why, I'm just depression eating I guess. (Though when I'm talking to a girl I'd probably have a shirt on lol so I don't know how helpful this will be in terms of upping my game...)
I just don't think good looks and a nice body are enough, and they never were. "unsuccessful". That is a key word that you used. Ultimately the wealthy unattractive guy will have better odds than the poor attractive guy.
I think where my failures lie with Tinder is more my profile rather than looks alone. When I see women's profiles compared to my own I can tell what they're expecting and what I'm lacking. You need...
1) Photos taken by other people not just a bunch of selfies
2) Photos of you with other people. This like #1 shows to people youre social and have friends who you do stuff with yada yada yada
3)Photos/vids of you engaging in an activity or in a recognizable location, to give others a better idea of who you are and what your interests are.
4) To express humor either through a witty caption or a funny pic. This is probably the most sought after trait.
5) Showing you went to x university and have some flashy and high paying occupational title, like executive something or other. Success is what is mainly attractive for us.
When I compare my photos to the example of the model you provided, there are a few things that come to mind. Yes that guy has some handsomer facial features than I, hairline, eyes, jaw, chin. But that is a professional headshot taken with a high quality camera and the most optimal lighting lol. I only got myself to help me take pics of myself and the built-in iPhone 11 camera. obviously our results are going to be wildly different...
I think if that guy you provided, as handsome as he is, only had what I have to work with photo-wise and my same exact personality and occupation (none), he'd struggle with dating apps too. On there you are essentially "branding" yourself and selling that to other people, like a product or service. Which goes beyond just outward appearances.
Wow you did 5ks and 10ks? Impressive. It's been a very long time since I ran a 5k. A while since I've last run a mile (1.6km), very bad. Despite lifting like everyday I'm incredibly out of shape. Thank you for inspiring me to get after that again :)
Get a dose of reality. Make a profile on any online dating service with that picture or others of Jessy Mckinny, and just see how your world differs. Actually attractive men are their own class of citizen. Really do it. You'll see just how much of a misconception this is.
Ultimatly the weahtly unattractive guy will have better odds than the attractive poor guy.
Not in your age range. And money is conditional attraction. If that's what started your ideal relationship, you're going to have a messy divorce when you can't arouse and satisfy her sexually.
Ugh, this is going to damage any reputation my account can have on here, but I'm going to introduce you to some incel jargon. You are what's known as bluepilled. That's the beliefs that nebulous ideas around virtue and gallantry is what will attract women. It's NOT an accurate model of reality, but it is the most common one.
You've heard of Andrew Tate and maybe this "redpill" thing, that's a reasonable presumption for somebody your age. That's the idea of behavioral determinism; that your actions discern your dating prospects. It is associated with self-improvement.
I used to be in the whole PUA Pick Up Art scene when I was your age in the early 2010's. That was a waste of time. The courses were expensive grifts, and it was easy to note that the attractive tall guy who came clubbing in our cohort always left with early with a girl or two to take home. The blackpill is the idea of genetic determinism, how your looks are easily the most important component of yourself and is the first criteria women judge you on. It is how sex and relationships actually work.
If you want to improve your sex life, you are going to have to improve the way you look. Get to around 14% bf, you look 22%.
My advice for taking photographs would be to increase the focal distance by increasing the distance between you and the phone lens. You should look fine in natural lighting, but it's also very easy to set up a simple two point lighting similar to the lighting used in the example I shared.
I'm not trying to radicalize you, but do not listen to the other posters. Advice like that leaves you chasing your tail until you get dizzy and old. Especially the advice from women, because they are always dysfunctional platitudes. And take it from me, another average looking white guy, kid, you do not want to be heeding any woman's advice when it comes to what they think is attractive. I think I wrote this somewhere else on this forum, but people can lie, intentionally or not, and that is why behavior is observed instead. The truth hurts, but it's the truth.
A community dedicated to the discussion of looksmaxing, the art of improving your appearance to achieve your greatest aesthetic potential.
looksmax.org
That's where you can find "looksmaxxing" advice.
But to be brief, your natural limit will be found once you've "leanmaxxed", losing the fat. And I guess "gymmaxx", so you don't have inadequte muscles for a male.