There are not many words that make my skin crawl.

Cute is one of them.

The only things, in my mind, that can be considered “cute” are small animals, small children and maybe a smile with dimples.

You know what’s not cute?

Me.

My goals.

My work.

None of that is “cute”.

I get that you may have used the throw-away word to give a compliment. To fill in the awkward pause. But, you did exactly the opposite.

My hard work isn’t “cute”. My hustle isn’t something that needs your approval. My goals don’t need to be validated by you. They don’t need to be brought down to the level of a dog chasing it’s tail.

Tina Fey talks about this in her book, Bossypants, when she talks about Amy Poehler’s first appearance on a late night show that :

“Amy made it clear that she wasn’t there to be cute. She wasn’t there to play wives and girlfriends in the boys’ scenes. She was there to do what she wanted to do and she did not fucking care if you like it.”

Just like that. I’m not here, blogging, cheering, rooting for you just to be cute.

I’m here because I believe in you.

I’m hustling because I KNOW you can do it. I know you can do it, because I went through it. I’m not here to just sit on the sidelines and let someone else dictate what is going to happen in my life. I’m grabbing each opportunity by the damn collar and making things happen.

There is a lot of sweat, a good amount of tears and a little sprinkling of blood that goes into my life… and none of that is “cute”.

Call me a badass. Call me strong. Call me stubborn. Call me whatever you want to call me.

But don’t you dare call me cute.

<3

The Sweat Life