Isn't it possible that your increased options were a result of a variety of improvements as you got older and more mature? Improvements that included, but were not limited to, MONEY and STATUS?
I say this because when I got into my 30s, I started to see the kind of results with women that I was really wanting. When I started out dating, in high school and early 20s, I was an absolute mess. But I slowly was trying to improve my life, improving my social skills, my emotional maturity, my career, building my body, my skills, my interests. I don't think any one of those things was the magic bullet for me, it seemed to be the overall combination that had a positive effect. Everything was getting better at once, so it's hard to say exactly what was making the most difference.
I will say that when I started making good money, it was a big boost of confidence for me. Because when I was younger it seemed like most of my friends were making better money than I was, and I struggled to catch up. It made me feel like I wasn't as good. Men of my time took a lot of their confidence from how well they were able to support themselves - I get the feeling some of that has changed a bit. But when I was able to turn that around, it did a lot for my self esteem, because I had set some goals, and worked hard to achieve them.
