I really like the way my goatee looks today. Shaved the rest of my face. So the goatee stands out even more. Usually, if I fail to shave for a few days, I start to hate the way my goatee looks. I start to get thoughts of hacking the thing off. I don't like that the sides of it grow faster than the middle. It feels uneven. But once the rest is shaved, it stands out and looks good I think. And the desire to cut it off fades until I again get too lazy to shave the rest of my face for a few days.
I don't really think the goatee makes me look distinguished, or older, or really all that better looking. But it's something different. Not that different, I know. A fair number of men have longish bushier goatees. But the percentage is still quite low. At work, I am the only guy who wears one like this.
More or less I've had the goatee for 3 or 4 years now. Started growing it because I don't like the shape of my chin. It's longer on one side. I know that imperfections like this are normal. And in fact, unless you look closely, most people can't tell. I also wish to have a more defined jawline. I love a strong jaw line (women with beautiful well defined jawlines make me sweat). While the beard doesn't really give me a better jawline, it extends my chin out and makes me feel like I do. Although I've seen profile pictures and I know that isn't really the case.
Twice I've attempted to grow a more substantial beard, but I've become dissatisfied with the look and shaved it off. Occasionally I shave off the goatee, because it starts to grow unevenly or something like that. Usually I keep it trimmed to ¼ to ½ inch. But since December, I've been growing the beard longer. Trimmed it down to ¼ once cause it was growing unevenly. But I like the look, and I fight the urge to cut it.