You have entered your prime for dating. That's a good thing. I got laid more in my 30s than in my 20s. I dated women ranging from age 19-37. The best range to find your long term companion is age 18-23. Her lay count should be less than five. She also cannot be alpha-widowed. Once their lay count is higher than five and they've been alpha-widowed, their only use is a dumpster for your cvm.
This is probably secretly one of my biggest issues. How low is too low as far as looks are concerned.
You are the only one who defines that one. Everybody else's opinion on what she looks like doesn't matter. What matters is that you're happy with her. For me personally, she cannot be butt ugly. I have to at least find her face tolerable and she has to have a decent ass. There are a lot of things I prefer with my women: short, brunette, nice ass, nice face. I ended up with a woman as tall as me and blonde. However, she cooks me dinner, packs my lunch, is DTF whenever, pays for lots of stuff, and treats me like a goddam king. I can't get that with most short cute brunettes with a nice ass. Being treated like a king is more valuable than what I prefer in looks.
But i am brainwashed into thinking that i am "settling" so i am constantly looking to upgrade.
"Settling" is when you take something that's good enough. Men generally want a woman who looks magnificent, and anything else is "settling". IMO, you settle when you tolerate getting treated like garbage in order to have a nice piece of eye candy on your arm.
I'm turning 40 in less than a year. Fvck eye candy. I want someone to reward me for all my hard work. My 23 year old GF does that. She's not the hottest woman I've dated, but I have NEVER seen another man in a relationship get treated as well as I do. To hell with hot bytches, give me a woman who cooks me supper every night. As a side note, it's easy to avoid putting her on a pedestal because she's not the hottest chick I've ever dated. However, I'm all down for rewarding her for her loyalty, her commitment, and all the 5hit she does for me.
I rail against the hypergamous nature of the modern female, but here i am thinking i am too good to settle for a 5.5/10 who treats me very well.
I honestly don't think you're ready to settle down yet. You still have your 30s to burn through. Make sure your own 5hit is in order; your career, your home, your hobbies, and your health. While you're dating and fvcking these chicks, watch for things you like and don't like. Also, watch for patterns in the ones who really like you.
Thinking you're too good for a 5.5 means you're not sick of all the bull5hit yet. I was building a plan to just fvck at random and take care of my own 5hit when my GF (who was an orbiter for 2 years) just kinda fell back into my lap. I actually alpha-widowed her myself, and came back from the grave. She sees me as extremely high value and refuses to let go. How's that for an emotional imprint?
What is the lowest that you would go personally lol? Would you dip into 5/10 territory to get good behavior.
Depends on if I can stand looking at her or not. If she's just kinda average or plain, sure. If she looks like she tried to put out a forest fire with a screwdriver, hell no. But again, it doesn't really matter what I think, what matters is what I will tolerate.
I came to the conclusion that women age 18-23 with low lay counts are where my money's at when it comes to a long term companion. THAT is where there's value, not her looks. If she's young with a low lay count and not alpha-widowed, she's a contender. All these bytches who ride the c0ck carousel and have an ex-BF they can't get over are garbage. You'll never climb to the top of her high score list like the bastard who alpha-widowed her. She won't pair-bond for the long term, so your best bet is to pump her full of cvm and throw her away.
'Pick up' pretends to be about self development. Nope, it's just about how to lower your standards, and learn a skill set, to sleep with sluts. It is what is, not another thing. Meanwhile, the exceptional girl you may happen to meet, will write you off as a player.
I honestly have the opposite opinion. To me, "pick up" is about learning about what makes women tick, and using that knowledge to make her attracted. I don't see it as lowering standards at all. Lowering your standards is when you keep a chick around even though her personality was scraped off the underside of an old sneaker.
Women don't write men off who are players. That's what they say when they're not the ones who are getting attention from the player. They still want to sleep with him. My GF knew I was a player. Her best friend (who has known me for two decades) told her. That didn't stop either of them from wanting and enjoying my attention.