Author / Nathan Coumbe

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Posts by Nathan Coumbe

My mission is to learn, inform, inspire, and improve. I am a passionate teacher, an avid writer, a leader of people, and a strategic thinker. Wherever I am, whatever the work I am called to do, my goal is the same: make my little corner of the world better for everyone in it. To do this, I ask better questions and solve more interesting problems for those I serve. Think deeply. Think often. Keep exploring. Always be curious.
by Nathan Coumbe

Would you sign your name to it?

There’s a great episode of Parks and Recreation where Ron Swanson gets a typewriter. Throughout the episode, he writes multiple open, honest letters to people and organizations whom he disagrees with. 

At the end of the episode, you find out if he’s been signing his name to all these letters. He believes that if you believe in something strongly enough to write about it or say it to someone, you should stand by it.

Openly. Honestly.

The Internet, especially social media, is giving us the ability to do everything and say anything we want anonymously.

We can blog or create YouTube videos under a pseudonym. This can be a great thing for decent people trying to make things better but who are afraid of putting their work out under their real name. 

But instead, this option has been abused by people who just want to vent, criticize, and abuse rather than help, serve, or improve. It’s created a growing group of people who just want to watch the world burn. 

So today, I’m begging you: take a lesson from Ron Swanson. If you wouldn’t sign your name to it, you shouldn’t post it. 

by Nathan Coumbe

Forgetting to enjoy music

Have you ever gone a really long time without listening to music?

Doing it again almost seems like a chore until you start listening. At that point, it becomes the most pleasurable activity imaginable. 

When you’re studying music professionally, it all becomes so clinical you forget how to enjoy it. 

It’s like studying the human body for medicine and somehow losing the ability to appreciate its beauty. Instead, you see chemical reactions, a skeletal structure, and an organ meant for feeding. 

Studying music can have the same effect. Only when I stepped away from it for a while did I learn to enjoy it again.

by Nathan Coumbe

What to charge for & what to give away

Musicians are known for being asked to do work for free—possibly more than any other profession I’ve ever encountered.

For some reason—maybe because it’s intangible—people feel as though they shouldn’t have to pay for most things musically related. 

Maybe some of the blame could be put on the radio or Spotify, both of which have led to the idea that music is free (it isn’t). 

But this is especially true when it comes to paying for real musicians to play at events. 

In one recent instance I know of, a musician was hired to play at a wedding. But after getting the deposit and preparing for the service, this person was asked to create a personal recording of a specific song for the newly engaged couple. 

And they expected it for free.

Nowhere in the contract was that stipulated, and any sort of personalized experience of any kind costs money (think photography, art, software, or consulting service).

But they expected a freebie. 

This is a problem for a number of reasons: one of which, it isn’t as simple as turning on your iPhone camera and playing for 3 minutes. It takes a lot more time, work, and equipment to do that right. 

For another reason, there have been way too many instances where people have taken a recording from someone’s social media page or YouTube channel and played it over a speaker. Without the musician’s permission and without paying. 

In a number of instances I know of, they canceled the musicians and used the recorded music instead.

This is something that’s just not done. 

You also don’t expect a photographer to work your wedding for free. And if you want a sample, what do you do? You go to their social media page. It’s always there and always free. 

You also don’t ask potential employees to do a project for free before you decide whether or not to hire them. Give them a spec project, sure. But pay for the work. 

Imagine you were walking through an open food market. Would you walk up to a fruit vendor and demand to eat an entire apple for free to determine whether or not you wanted to buy a bushel from the stand? 

Absolutely not. You’d expect to pay for each piece of fruit consumed. 

So what to do about these expectations of free? The solution, I’ve found, is simple: 

  1. ALWAYS charge for what you charge for
  2. ALWAYS give away for free what you give away for free

And NEVER compromise on either. 

If you want free music, check out the artist’s Spotify channel, their YouTube videos, or their social media pages. You’ll find all sorts of free music there. And it’s ALWAYS free.

But if you want something personal and specific to you, that costs money—ALWAYS.

If you want free marketing advice from me, check out my blog, There are hundreds of articles to help you. 

But if you want a consultation or some copy written, that’s gonna cost you money. 

If you want a free email marketing service, sign up for HubSpot Free. You get everything you need to start building an email list. But know you only have a 500 subscriber limit before they start charging you massive amounts of money.

If you want free, you get the same generic, free stuff everyone else does. But if you want personalized, custom, special experiences, you’ve gotta pay for it. 

Accept this as the reality of a free market.

And for God’s sake — stop asking musicians to play for free! You don’t ask it of any other profession. Why do you still do it with musicians?

by Nathan Coumbe

The master in the art of living…

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from James Michener:

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.

He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.

To him he’s always doing both.”

by Nathan Coumbe

Better to try and fail? (Or never try at all?)

In the movie Lions for Lambs, Robert Redford’s character asks his professor a poignant question:

“Is there any difference in trying but failing, and simply failing to try—if you end up in the same place anyway?”

Of course there is. 

If you try to do something, you at least have a chance at succeeding, however small it may be. 

But if you don’t try because you’re too scared of failing… Then you’ve already failed. In that scenario, you’ve guaranteed your failure. You’ve taken possibility and luck out of the equation.

If everyone adopted that nihilistic attitude, then nothing would ever happen. Our lives, businesses, relationships—literally everything—would come to a screeching halt. We’d be living in entropy, slowly withering away to nothing. 

Our lives are built on failure. The striving for worthwhile goals is what helps us grow, not the achievement of those goals. 

So if you have a choice between trying and failing, or not trying because you’ll end up in the same place either way, make the choice to try. 

by Nathan Coumbe

What could you do with 30 minutes a day?

Here are just a few things…

  • Read 20 books a year
  • Build a strong, resilient, powerful body
  • Cook a delicious and nutritious meal with your partner
  • Write three pages of something… or finish a book in less than a year
  • Learn a new language
  • Develop a new skill like drawing, dancing, or public speaking

Where does this time come from?

By saying no to a few minutes of social media each day. Or watching one less episode of your favorite show. 

That small sacrifice can pay enormous dividends in your future, and your life satisfaction in general.

by Nathan Coumbe

People stay where they grow

This is one of my favorite lines from Zig Ziglar. 

But I want to talk about my own take on the idea:

People stay where they are nurtured. 

A garden, when it’s planted, will only grow if regularly tended, watered, fertilized… In short, when it’s shown love and care.

People are the same way: 

  • They’ll stay with employers who help them grow
  • They’ll stay with partners who love and cherish them
  • They’ll engage with parents who show unconditional love and affection

But unlike plants, we have the ability to move on. 

Plants, if not nurtured, wither and die. They’re stuck where they’re planted.

But humans can move on. We have the ability to uproot ourselves and move to more fertile ground if we aren’t getting what we need in our current situation.

We need to remember this when thinking of our relationships with others.

by Nathan Coumbe

The first thing to do when you get laid off…

I lost my job yesterday – nothing to do with me. Something happened with the company, and I was one of the casualties.

There’s nothing I can do about it but to accept the reality of the situation and figure out how I’ll respond, rather than react, to this setback.

And the first thing I did?

I went for a walk.

Even though I really didn’t want to. I did it anyway – and I felt better for it.

When something like this happens, the best thing you can do is to get in some movement. Any form of exercise will do:

  • A long walk
  • A few laps at the pool
  • A great strength session

Get the heart pumping, the blood flowing to your brain, and the endorphins storming throughout your body.

There’s another thing you need to do, too—take your daily dose of motivational vitamins.

I love to listen to Seth Godin and Zig Ziglar on a daily basis – the same messages over and over again until I can repeat them verbatim. Why?

Because when I start repeating what they say—when I can finish their sentences—it means I’ve changed the way I talk to myself. Their messages of hope and success become my thoughts on the same topics.

So, if you’re about to lose (or already have lost) your job, take these two steps immediately.

  1. Get in some exercise (and do something physical EVERY SINGLE DAY)
  2. Take your daily motivational vitamin

By the way, here are two great recommendations from Seth & Zig to get you started:

P.S. Check out my cute little video talking about this very topic.

by Nathan Coumbe

Improvement is ugly

One of my favorite quotes from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way is this:

“It is impossible to get better and look good a the same time.”

Often, how we think others view us stands in the way of making progress. 

If we’re worried about what others think, we’ll pretend to have expertise we don’t—and often make ourselves the fool we were so worried of being. 

Or we’ll fall to braggadocio instead of humility when faced with someone who can actually help us improve.

She continues:

“Give yourself permission to be a beginner. By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one.”

Keep a beginner’s mind as much as possible. You’ll go much farther and faster if you do.

by Nathan Coumbe

We don’t write eulogies for intelligence

Kindness matters much more than cleverness.

The world at large might remember you for your brains if you’re an Albert Einstein or a Katherine Johnson.

But the people who actually matter to you will remember you for how you made them feel. 

Honestly, how many eulogies are written about a person’s brilliance? I’ve rarely (if ever) heard one.

At a funeral, loved ones share funny stories and tell of how they were loved and treated by the deceased.

Keep this in mind as you think about what’s truly important today.