Disclaimer

Before you even start reading this, keep in mind that this is just a work-flow, I'm not giving you an exact guide of what you should buy nor I feel you should ever follow that advice for the exception of some cases but this is a guide on being smart with your money while finding your style.

Looking good sometimes can be expensive. Maybe it's because of the volume of clothing that we buy just so we can get as many outfits as possible or we can go with brands that are looked at as expensive and just try to get everything from the new collection. This is the wrong way to go.

In these 5 steps, I will show you how to become a more intelligent buyer with your clothes, this will not only help you a few bucks to grab that beer you wanted with your friends but it will also help you care about the world. Not everybody knows that fashion is the second biggest cause of our global warming decay in the last decade. Millions of fabrics are thrown out every day after one use cause Zara and Primark are cheap and "you could just get another one, right?". We can't allow ourselves to fall into this mindset, especially if you're a man.

Let's begin with knowing what you're going to buy. You just can't go to a store and pretend that you will get everything you need and it will suit your style. If you only shop in Zara, you have every 16-25-year-old style. This may be good for someone who isn't bothered by seeing a kid using the same clothes and that other people recognize that you don't really spend time looking after yourself.

Who would you like to look like:

Alright, grab your favorite 3 actors, musicians, or any celebrity which has the style you'd like to be seen as. Some examples are Justin Bieber, Any youtuber, look at what celebrities are wearing. :)

Investigate:

Don't worry if you can't afford the $2,000 jacket that Zac Efron is wearing, think about the options, and ask yourself the following questions:

Do I like the color or the design?

If you like the design, Do you know the name of the design? Look into other options

You like the colors, go to Pinterest, and search "Insert Color" men's fashion. Voilá

By now you should already know what you like or what you would like, now let's talk about business so put that suit on...

Market Research:

There are millions of brands that design the exact same jacket, yeah they might say it's an original design but unless you're shopping by designer, most of the brands have similar patterns and shapes it's just a matter of looking at what's out there. I would recommend using the following:

Google Pictures Search

Looking for the piece and color you want on google and a bunch will appear on the site.

Search for online thrift stores if you're too lazy.

Get those looks:

Look at you, you've not only found your style but saved money in the process, I'm proud of you.

From this point going forward, you have established a guideline for your style and the best thing is you can change it whenever you like. Not into bikers anymore, get that oversized windbreaker with the exact same process ad you will find the one that suits you best.

Donate or Recycle:

Okay people this is super easy, If you live in any big city... You can simply google clothing donation on Google and you'll find a bunch of options. For smaller cities, it's usually in the bad areas of the city, or at least it was growing up in Bogotá.

I haven't been there in years so I've missed a bunch of how the country is moving one with the world, but that's a sidebar.

If you can find any, I would go to any foundation and simply donate my clothes to people less fortunate than I am. This probably will be way better than just throwing it away.

Earth is in a critical point right now and we need to be more caring about the spaces we share.

Ever since I moved from Colombia to Spain, my life has gone into these mini routines in which I showcase a part of my personality, and I mean, that's life isn't it?

I guess it is but now in 2020, and the world on the verge of the apocalypse, the alone time from quarantine  has helped me realize that I'm not acting my age.

Yeah, I'm 22 but I save money, help my family out, pay for my own university, and daily life. I'm not saying these things are critical, but why do I worry about all of this? Maybe it's the fact that money is a tool for freedom, the idea of doing whatever you want as long as it's legal seems like the life most of us want.

But finances are one thing, now let's talk social. Most of my friends are more down to earth, plan for a normal life with being employed, and just getting to married someday. I can understand how they feel, not everyone wants to be a leader and some life experiences have knocked them off their dreams to fall under this life path but I don't resonate with it.

I just don't want to fall under the feeling like I'm not in control of my life and it seems as if by trying to get away from that life, I'm being surrounded by people that live in that state of mind. Am I going crazy about this?

Finally, I think we can agree that moving to a new country opens up so many opportunities, friendships, and experiences that maybe the problem is just in being a workaholic. Studying and working makes you have a fast-paced day all the time, plus adding friends, relationships, hobbies, and sleep make it a real task.

¿What's the point of this post? I want to announce more of my journey, about my thoughts in life and about my hobbies. Here I'll be able to tell you how I achieve my dreams and give you some knowledge or advice you haven't had before.

Today from Madrid, A.P.C

Quarantine has been hard on sport-lovers. By now we should be in the last stages of basketball and football, but all of a sudden the idea of seeing any team being a champion seems like the least of our worries. There's one sport though, MMA or as most people may recognize it, UFC.

Today UFC 249 is taking place, one of the most anticipated fight cards for a lot of fans as it includes top-level fighters and incredible match-ups which heavily affect the direction of the promotion. But you may be asking yourself how did they pull it off and what does this mean for the future?.

Originally, this event was set to take place back on April 18th at the Barclays Center in New York. Later, it was moved as to the heavy corona outbreak in the US. 

But almost one week and a half before the event ESPN, Disney, and the California state asked the promotion to move the date to a more convenient time.

The procedures by UFC have definitely been risky, we're talking about the most in-contact sport that there could be, and after requesting and implementing 1,200 tests for all 300 participants of the event, we have seen that still fighter Ronaldo Souza as well as two of his cornerman, tested positive for the virus.

Obviously, the situation is quite worrying, especially cause the fighters and many other parties have been sharing some of the same spaces. There's a possibility that tomorrow, once the event is done, we could be seeing news of more participants being positive for the virus, and because of that, we can only wait.

Now, what can this shed some light on our day to day living?

We are not getting a cure for the time being and if we want to start moving back the economy, a lot of people and companies will opt for measures just like the UFC did. Actively testing their employees and acting sensitively towards medical conditions to now affect other workers, this is almost a guarantee that a facemask, gloves, or even protective glasses will be part of our daily lives.

After all this time, I've come to the conclusion that dating does have an instruction manual, let me show you how I think. Dating is easy, or at least it has always been easy for me and if I'm attracted to someone, there's a way to make it happen by following some simple steps, this is why I've made this little guide as to my minimalistic approach to dating. You follow?

Step 1: What's going on in your life?

The first rule to dating and this includes everyone, is learning about yourself. You need to have personality, find a passion, or a mantra that defines you but doesn’t put you in a box.

Because of the quarantine, I would go for something knowledgeable. Learn about wars, kings, pirates, or go with a business mindset and read start-up stories. We are so lucky to live in the age of the internet, anything you want to learn is available on your phone.

Step 2: Who's around you?

Alright so now you need someone to date, don't you? Who’s around you? These are some questions you need to ask yourself at every step in your life as the people around you are your reality. Now, this is an extension to step 1, if you start hanging out with different people because of your passion or hobbies it is more likely that you meet someone you would enjoy dating.

Look for someone you genuinely like, not just the first person you meet. People might resonate with your goals and you can find a good partner.

Step 3: You found them?

Alright now, when I usually tell my friends that I can get anyone I like they ask me how, and here you will find the insight. 

Guys, there are 3 things to keep in mind as everyone is doing them. Start communication through music, food, or memes, maybe send her a song that you think fits her aesthetic or send a meme that reminds you of him.

You must flirt a little. Relax and see what happens most people will flirt back or laugh, just be playful.I've tried from complimenting someone the first time I talk to them to build a friendship before dating.

This is just one example, but you get it. Find common ground and if there's none, just move on to someone else, millions of people are out there waiting for you to meet them.

Step 4: Repeat?

Let's be real, someday it can end, and luckily you can simply start all over again. Love can be complicated and not all of us are good at it, so try these tips out and keep in mind that if you do new things in your life, you'll know exactly what you want from it.

I've noticed two different types of guys. Which one would you describe yourself as? First, the ones that take the pandemic as a vacation, playing video games all day and doing meaningless stuff, which are just ways to waste their time. Now the second type. They completely focused on one thing like work or at school. You will find them working all day with just little breaks to eat or have a smoke. Listen, they don't even know the difference between home and work anymore.

I used to be a workaholic, just like the second personality before quarantine, but knowing that the time spent inside is not a vacation nor a pending task. In my head, these months consist of the world giving us a break to slow down and take a deep breath.

Right now there seems to be only to options, plan for what you want or, if you already have a plan, start taking action. As once said by Rosa Luxemburg “Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.”. So remember to not abuse of leisure and you shouldn't be drowning in stress if you still have a job.

It's really that simple you know, grab a piece of paper and a pen and write down what are your goals. Once you have that, think about ways to achieve your goals faster. Maybe you can even start thinking 5 years from now. Some examples of ways to get your goals faster can be habits, such as meditation to calm you down, workouts to get off some steam, or creative work if you want to show yourself to the world.

Now, what if you already have a plan? Let’s start with the simple what tools do you need? Organize your home in a way to get inspired, this all comes down to consistency which means that you have to set daily actions, if you set things that will remind you of a task, it is more likely that you do it in the first place. It could be things like laying your workout clothes the night before so that it’s the first thing you do in the morning. it can be things like setting your notebook on top of your computer to remind you that you need to write. Find it and then start becoming the person you aspire to be.

Guys, we can easily get distracted and spend too much time just out of reality, but if you're scared or simply bored, try to consider your life open-mindedly. You will have a better understanding of what you need to do and be fulfilled.

Recently, I`ve been hearing this sentence from a lot of friends, family, public figures and social media, and if you hear their reasons it makes a lot of sense. Artists are the social outcasts, the ones that put every type of media we digest every day but have you ever thought about how can they achieve the emotions. The unwritten job of a creator is to make you feel something, and if they don´t, they have failed. The good artist is the one that can get so deep into and emotion that the execution of their project just comes alive in the people that are seeing it.

Somedays we are messed up, struggling with our own lives and feeling unmotivated, but in my experience, the most depressing moments are the ones that make the projects click. How can you express happiness if you don’t desire it or appreciate it? or, how can you portrait a love story if you haven’t been in love?

Now think about your favorite movie or song, ¿what’s the thing that makes you like it so much? In my opinion, the best pieces of work are the ones that dragged me into happiness, inspiration, depression and even self-pity. The artist felt all of them before putting his work out there.

Happy Monday!

I’d always thought that my introduction to blogging on my own would be something grand and epic as if I was finally going to write about things that drove me or that happened in my regular life. However, this is not the case and I feel like this is finally the chance to dump everything I’ve been thinking of in a written form.

This is an introduction post, not an actual blog post so I’m going to explain really briefly how this blog is going to work.

In AaronIsNotReal we’ll talk about arts, fashion, books and generally my self-development journey. I’m quite an artsy guy, looking into stories and the reason why many pieces of art. Here I can give you my opinion on certain topics and also inform you about the classic and contemporary world of the arts. I think that’s a fair deal, isn’t it?

In Coffee Corp, we are going to talk about my thoughts on life, how I see the world and the people that surround me. I will tell you my life stories as well as my thoughts today's society. It will be a coffee break with me in which we can relate to our experiences.

I will be getting new posts for you every Monday (at the moment) and every Friday. Every two weeks you’ll have a podcast with my friend Sariley which I’ll make available here. So you’ll have quite a bit of content to pass your quarantine with.

Lastly, I just wanted to thank you for being here, these times are quite uncertain and I feel like the only way we don’t go insane is by being there for each other.

Stay Safe