For this edition of our Everyday Carry series, Ashley sat down with her friend, Ty Severe, to discuss his go-to EDC items and what helps get him through the day as a successful menswear and lifestyle influencer.
Thanks to Ty for joining us for this video and thanks to IWC, one of my favorite watch brands of all time, for helping make this video happen!
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A good nighttime routine is much more than just grooming, it sets you up for a good night of sleep. You can’t understate how important getting a restful night’s sleep is to your productivity and overall health. A good night’s sleep starts with a solid nighttime routine and here are our favorite tips to set you up for a relaxing night and a great night’s sleep.
We’ve discussed before, but having a solid, regular nighttime grooming routine will help you feel better and train your brain to know it’s time to wind down.
Whether it’s getting off social media, reading, or listening to music, disconnecting from your phone and laptop are crucial for a good night’s sleep.
Find what works for you and your comfort; invest in some good bedding and a few bedroom upgrades, it will go a long way in creating a relaxing, comfortable sleeping environment.
Make it a habit of turning all your to-dos and worries into notes, it will help you let go of the day’s events and tomorrow’s challenges for a relaxed, stress-free mindset.
Whatever it is, it’s different for all of us. From reading to listening to a podcast to other relaxing entertainment, experiment and find what’s best for you.
The right tattoo can be an amazing way to express yourself, and as good as they can be, the wrong tattoo in a terrible place can be a huge mistake. Ashley sat down with our friend, and amazing tattoo artist, Romeo Lacoste to talk about the 5 worst places to get a tattoo.
All jokes aside, a single lower back tattoo is never a good spot for a man to get a tattoo. Don’t be that guy with a tramp stamp.
Sure, there are great ways to get your bicep tattooed, but as far as having a high probability for cheese factor, the bicep ranks very highly.
Pain varies from person to person but these three places are definitely on the most painful places on your body to get tattooed, so make sure you know what you are getting in to.
Again, there can be some good options here but ultimately I just feel like this is a bit too feminine a place or a man to have a tattoo.
Many people do like these areas, but you have to be realistic about these locations given your professional life and the commitment they require. They are quite hard to cover up properly so make sure you know what you’re in for.
Extra special thanks to Romeo and California Dream Tattoo!
For more, check out Romeo’s channel and Romeo’s Instagram.
Some people are born with it, some people aren’t, but confidence is definitely something that anyone can have. It just takes some work and a positive attitude. Confidence can help you in all facets of life, from dating to professional settings, so that’s why we’re sharing a few tips on how to be more confident.
Whether you work through it on your own or with a professional, getting clarity on where you lack confidence is an important step in changing it. Whether it’s facing your fears or understanding where negative thoughts come from you’ve got to know where you stand to improve.
We all have self-doubt, it’s part of life, but confidence starts from the inside out, and working on loving yourself and recognizing your own great qualities is a key point in becoming more confident.
This might seem a bit weird at first but it really works. It can take many forms from mantras you say to yourself at the beginning of the day to just giving yourself a pep talk before a big date or job interview, putting yourself in the right frame of mind can really help you feel more confident.
Confidence takes practice. From consistently working your own processes to just interacting with people on a regular basis, practice makes perfect. The more you work on it, the better you’ll get.
Confidence also starts with a positive outlook. By cultivating a positive outlook on life, social interactions, work, etc. you’ll be able to focus on being genuinely happy with yourself and others
One final point, know the difference between confidence and arrogance. There’s a fine line between being confident and cocky. Confident people are engaging and fun to be around, arrogant people come off as disingenuous and rude. Yes, it’s important to know your worth but you never want to think you’re better than anyone, projecting the right type of confidence will bring people to you whereas arrogance can just turn people off.
Whether it’s in a dating scenario or socially at a party or event, small talk and conversation skills are things that take practice to master. Outside of feeling comfortable with yourself, knowing what not to talk about is super important if you’re going to hit it off well and just generally be someone fun and interesting to be around. So do yourself a favor, make sure you’re not bringing up any of these major no-no’s when chatting up the next women you meet.
Let’s not sugar coat it, we’re living in divisive times and no matter what side of the fence you’re on, bringing up politics on a first date or in a social setting is an absolutely huge “NO”. Just don’t do it.
No matter what type of dating scenario you’re in when you first meet someone, no woman wants to hear you go on an on about how great (or terrible) your ex was. Yes, there’s a time and a place to discuss past relationships but the first few dates or conversations is definitely not one of them.
Just like politics, we’re living in complex times and religion can be a very personal thing. You want your social and dating conversations to be light, fun, and interesting, not heavy and serious. Hold off on the religion talk until well into a relationship.
Yes, of course, talking about what you do for a living is perfectly normal and natural. BUT, a minute or two is enough! We don’t want to hear you go on and on about your job, how you “crush it”, “close deals” or whatever else, it’s boring, move on.
Yup, I said it. So yes, talking about yourself in the right way is critical, but it’s how you do it that matters. Do we want to learn more about what makes you unique and cool? Yes, absolutely. But do we want to hear you go on and on about your car, how much money you make, or how big your house is? Hell no. Confidence is great but being self-involved and arrogant is a huge turn-off.
It’s back to school time again, so we thought we should share a bit of advice and wisdom for all you students out there. School is a time for fun, sure, but it’s also time to start thinking about and working on your future. So with that in mind, here’s some of our favorite advice that every student should know.
The pressure you’ll feel is self or community imposed. All the decisions you think are completely life-changing are easily fixable if you keep your head about you and don’t fall for the trap that the major or direction you choose now is what you have to do for the rest of your life. Take your time, you don’t have to figure it all out at once.
Good habits will absolutely carry through long past graduation day. So start taking your mental and physical health seriously. Work on things like eating better, getting enough sleep, reading more, and putting a productivity workflow into place (check out GTD, Pomodoro Technique, Bullet Journaling). Learn how to find your motivation and use it.
This skill is something that will be useful for the rest of your life. Be genuinely interested to learn about other people. Whether you’re making new friends or using your conversation skills for networking, being confident and comfortable making conversation is really important.
If you’re in college, even as a freshman – start looking into company internships NOW. They will show you what it’s really like to work for a certain type of company or industry. Use these as a try-out for potential careers. You can also talk to your guidance counselors and career centers and ask if they have any specific programs for this.
While it’s not taught in most schools, learning how to budget is huge. Look up personal finance (try Reddit) and how even putting $20 or $100 a month now will give you financial freedom much earlier in life – even if you’re working in a low-wage job. Don’t take on unnecessary debt. It’s easy to get sucked into putting things on a credit card, so don’t do it unless you have the means to pay it off everything month. Also, build credit as early and quickly as possible by getting a credit card and only adding 1 autopay item to it that you automatically pay off each month. If you’re worried about yourself, send it somewhere – parent, friend, etc. – if you’d be tempted to use it for unnecessary spending.
Think hard, do you actually need to be in school right now? Trades pay incredibly well and most don’t require college degrees. Your late teens and early twenties will see lots of changes. Not sure if school is for you? Take a gap year and go explore career opportunities! Education is important but school will always be there for you when the time is right.
You don’t get to blame your parents for your problems anymore. As you come of adult age, it’s time to be responsible for your thoughts and actions. You can’t blame anyone else for what happens to you from here on out. It’s up to you now to make your life as good or bad as you want it. If things aren’t going well in your life, start with numero uno and figure out what’s happening before jumping to blame outside factors. You dictate the way your life goes and you have the opportunity to make it what you want. The world doesn’t care about you enough to cause you to fail.
The friendships you make during your school years will often impact your life in negative and positive ways you won’t foresee now. Toxic people can hinder you from being the best version of yourself and we talked about taking responsibility for everything earlier. Now it’s time to let that also dictate who you surround yourself with. As the saying goes, you’re the sum of the 5 people you hang with the most. So surround yourself with only good people.
Saying inappropriate things to people is something that’ll be harder to shake as you get older. Follow the 2-minute rule. Listen for approximately two minutes before interjecting into a conversation. You convey tact, have context of the subject matter, and understand the contributor’s style. Tact is a huge part of those conversationalist skills we mentioned earlier.
In your later years, good relationships with professors can lead to recommendations, research, and job opportunities. Don’t think your adjunct professors can’t help you, too. A lot of them actually work in the industry you’re interested in and teach as a side gig. Most faculty members are delighted when students visit them to ask about the readings, the course topic, or just to get to know them. Professors are required to hold office hours for students: your tuition is paying for that kind of contact. So use it!
You’ve entered an exciting and formative time in your life, so make the most of it! As we said, setting yourself up for success in the future starts now.
Getting your first tattoo is a big decision and to make sure you’re prepared we sat down with our friend Romeo Lacoste to discuss 10 tips you should know before you get your first tattoo!
We’ve talked about the importance of home upgrades before and no matter where your relationship status is, having an inviting bedroom environment is important for every guy. Here are a few of our favorite easy upgrades and crucial items that every man should have in his bedroom.