I remember as a kid watching Johnny Bravo, I at some point wondered, how come, when Johnny approaches a new girl, it is as if he has never been rejected before. You would think that his energy and his confidence would diminish after every rejection. But that is not the case – he is unfazed by the rejection. And I never understood why that is, when I was little.

But now… sitting back reminiscing… I understand why that was. Johnny’s confidence and his self-esteem never took a hit after continuous rejections, because his confidence and self-esteem never came from outside sources. ‘If they didn’t make you, then they can’t break you’. So because his confidence came from within, he never took rejection personally, and he never internalized those rejections. That is why he never changed how he approaches women. His mentality was very much ‘Alright, I am not for you, but the next girl might get me’. And that is why he stays true to himself. So what can we learn from Johnny? Don’t seek outside validation – don’t allow outside forces to control how you should feel about yourself. And to quote the great Katt Williams: “It is called SELF-ESTEEM, it’s an esteem of your MF self! How the f**k can I f**k up how you feel about yourself!?”

Another great quality of Johnny Bravo is that he treats people as individuals. Though he is a womanizer, he somehow still perceives women to be individuals. If that wasn’t the case, he would have changed how he approaches them. Yet he did not do that. And that is because he does not perceive all women to be the same. This is probably also why he didn’t evolve into a woman-hating incel. That is because he doesn’t generalize them. If he did, again, he would have changed how he approaches them, until he finally got someone’s number. So what can we learn from Johnny? We can learn to remember that people are individuals. It is very easy (because the brain is lazy and wants shortcuts) to generalize people, but we have to become mindful of our biases. And just because you have had a certain experience with a specific group, does not mean that you can generalize and expect that entire community to act the same. They do not represent their community; no one represents a community. People are individuals, and only represent themselves; be mindful of that.

Another admirable quality Johnny has is that he takes pride in his looks. You can tell he is the main character because he looks the part. Have you ever heard the phrase “when you look good, you feel good”? That is actually a scientific fact.

So to sum up, be like Johnny:

• Don’t internalize rejections
• Don’t let outside forces be the source of your self-esteem (if they didn’t make you, they can’t break you)
• Be mindful of your biases (people are individuals)
• Take pride in your appearance – if you look good you feel good
• Be optimistic

https://revivalldn.com/blogs/news/the-science-behind-look-good-feel-good#:~:text=When%20we%20feel%20good%20about%20our%20appearance%2C%20our%20brain%20releases,reducing%20stress%20and%20anxiety%20levels.