Everyone is cut out to be cute.  Men, women, gay, straight, young, old – doesn’t matter.  For some, it might take a little practice, but it’s totally possible for all of us.  And it’s much longer lasting, more versatile, and more universal than being hot.  When I’m 80 years old, I’m definitely not going to be hot.  I’ll have wrinkles and gray hair and skin that hangs in strange places.  But I surely plan to be as cute as humanly possible.

 

Cute also gets things done.  People don’t want to help mean, serious, grown-ups.  Being hot and sexy doesn’t always get you the help you actually want.  But pulling the cute card works universally.  If you step on someone’s toes – literally or figuratively – be cute.  If you are trying to convince the airline to get you on the next flight, be cute.

 

Here are some tips for bringing on the cute in your life:

 

Play like a kid.  Come on, let that inner kid out to play.  Being a grown up is boring, so take a break from it every once in a while.  Personally, I love stickers and doodles and heart-shaped hole punches.  I like passing notes to people during boring meetings, organizing the M&Ms on my plate by color, or stacking objects on top of each other until they fall down.  Loosen up, be silly. Talk in funny voices.  Stick your tongue out at people.  If you play, you can get other people to play, and the whole energy around you gets a lot more fun.

 

Be in your body.  Please believe me when I tell you that your body does not want to sit still for long periods of time.  Jump, skip, hop, sit with your legs folded underneath you.  Don’t be a lady.  Stretch in the middle of a meeting.  Do a little dance if you are happy.  Your body will tell you how to be cute if you listen to it.

 

Embrace your quirks.  If you like orange, make it your signature color.  If you like big scarves or long jackets or purple pens or little tiny notebooks, go with it.  Love your dog?  Talk it up and show pictures!  Hate your food touching?  Use a sectioned plate.  Quirks make you interesting, and they make you cute.

 

Charm and disarm.  This one may be the hardest to teach, but charm goes a long way.  At its core, charm is a way of making it fun for others to talk to you, and a way of inviting people to dance with you in conversation.  Try to talk to someone else’s inner kid, instead of their serious, intimidating grown up.  Part of it is about being genuinely excited about what makes you genuinely excited.  If you are SO EXCITED about databases, Law & Order characters, the last book you read, or seeing someone you haven’t seen in a while, go ahead and share your enthusiasm.  Part of it is about humor and an ability to laugh at yourself and life – and get others to laugh with you.  And part of it is the ability to playfully hit the ball back over the net throughout an interaction with someone.

 

The best thing about a cute strategy is that it encourages you to see the cuteness in others.  Seriously folks, humans are ADORABLE with all their strange, quirky, human ways.  I have friends who are 22 and 62 and completely equal in their level of cuteness.  It’s universal, long-lasting, and makes life fun.