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

We ask more from our work

Millennials and Gen-Z-ers are often mocked because we want more from work…

We want more than just a paycheck and health insurance (a statement usually said in derision by older generations). We want meaning and impact in our work.

OF COURSE WE DO!

We spend the majority of our lives at work. 

40 hours a week (if we aren’t forced to work overtime)…

50 weeks a year (if we’re lucky enough to get a 2-week vacation)…

For 40 years (probably longer with the way things are looking)…

On the low end, that’s 80,000 hours of lives.

We spend more time at work than we do with our spouses or children, who are supposed to be the most important part of our lives. 

If we are to spend almost all our time on this earth toiling away, shouldn’t it also be the thing that brings us meaning and fulfillment? Shouldn’t it also impact the world in a positive way?

What’s wrong with that?

by Nathan Coumbe

A Carbon Almanac for kids

We launched our eBook for children!

All the generous volunteers over at The Carbon Almanac have been working extremely hard to put together an easy-to-read and beautiful almanac for children.

It’s meant to help spread the facts about climate change and give them an opportunity to contribute to the work of making things better.

Also, we’re planting TEN TREES for every one that’s cut down to print our books and we want YOUR kids to name them for us. 

Get your free eBook and check out all the details here.

by Nathan Coumbe

There is no such thing as failure

There is only feedback. 

People who develop a growth mindset view every failure as a learning opportunity, not an end result. 

Either you succeed or you learn. But you never fail. 

Of course, something might not work out like you planned. But as long as you learn from the incident and improve, did you really fail?

by Nathan Coumbe

Change your story, change your results

Each of us has an internal narrative constantly chattering about who we are. 

But what we don’t always realize is that internal narrative influences how we behave.

If you tell yourself the story that, “Overeating makes me feel happy,” that story might be a stand-in for the real story—“I’m unhappy with different aspects of my life and overeating gives me a small dose of pleasure.”

Until you realize this, you’ll continue to overeat and live on greasy fast food multiple times each week.

(I know this because it’s a story I’m trying to rewrite myself). 

If you tell yourself a story that says, “I’m not skilled at sales or business,” you might never realize your unresolved dream of starting your own venture and working for yourself. 

The first step to overcoming many of our chronic issues is to start telling ourselves a different story. 

Changing what you do starts by changing your identity—who you believe yourself to be. 

Change the story, change the person.

by Nathan Coumbe

The Carbon Almanac (your chance to make a difference)

I’ve been volunteering for a fantastic project: The Carbon Almanac.

We’re on a mission to spread the SCIENCE behind what’s happening to our planet—without bias, without news media spins, without politicians arguing over what’s true or what needs to be done.

This is real, it’s serious, and it’s happening now. And all the proof you need (as well as the difference you can make) is in this book.

Buy a copy (or 10). Give it to people you care about. Send copies to your elected officials. Hand them out at work.

Help us make a difference so that we all have a safe, healthy place to live in the next century.

Learn more here.

by Nathan Coumbe

Plant a new tree every 11 days

You’re a dedicated internet user, which also means you’re an experienced “searcher.” 

But what if those searches could help make a dent in our little carbon problem? 

You can take a tiny action today and switch your default search engine over to Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees. 

For every 45 searches you make, Ecosia’s team will plant a tree where it’s both needed and will thrive. And it’s powered by Bing, so your search result quality won’t change at all!

According to HubSpot, the average person makes four searches each day. That means if you switch, on average, you’ll plant one new tree every 11 days. Imagine the difference that could make to your carbon footprint.

Make this one small change. Click here and start planting trees now.

by Nathan Coumbe

Life is a miniseries, not a one-off movie

Most of us feel like we’re living out the movie of our life with expectation of some grand finale… A giant dance number at the end to celebrate all we’ve done or accomplished.

But at the end of the movie, don’t you feel just a little bit empty? A little lonelier because it’s finally over?

But life isn’t a movie. If anything, it’s more like a mini-series—multiple episodes and multiple seasons. And each one has its own stories, cliffhangers, and resolutions.

When you finish an episode of a mini-series, there’s anticipation and excitement for what comes next.

We should think about our lives in the same way.

When one story in life ends—when the credits start rolling—start working on a sequel immediately. Start filming the next episode or risk feeling lost.

by Nathan Coumbe

Who’s your Zig Ziglar?

Zig Ziglar (a native of my very own Mississippi) is practically the grandfather of all motivational speakers. 

He spent years of his life giving incredible speeches on stage. But he also recorded dozens of audio programs to help people change their mindsets and learn his signature theme:

“You can have everything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want.”

Seth Godin used Zig Ziglar as a mentor when he started off as a book packager in the 1980s. He had multiple Zig Ziglar audio programs that he listened to on repeat for 3+ hours a day. And it helped him overcome 900 rejections in a row!

Seth is a huge advocate for listening to the same people over and over again as often as you can.

But it’s not necessarily because “positive thinking” can help you get everything you want in life.

Instead, it’s to help you rewire your self-talk so you can…

  • Be more effective in your daily life, 
  • Overcome obstacles and setbacks
  • Be positive when the bad stuff inevitably happens

His advice: find someone who speaks to you in the right way and listen to their messages over and over again… Until you come to believe it yourself. 

Seth Godin is MY Zig Ziglar. 

  • I’ve listened to all of his podcast episodes (200+) at least twice, if not more
  • I’ve watched all his TED talks multiple times 
  • I’ve tried to find every podcast he’s ever been a guest on
  • AND I own just about every one of his books

I wonder: who’s your Zig Ziglar?

Who is someone whose message resonated so much with you that you can’t get enough of them? 

If you’ve found someone like that—in a podcast, audiobook, TED talk, or YouTube channel—I urge you to put them on repeat and rewire your self-talk. 

And if you haven’t, find someone who could do that for you… Seth Godin. Zig Ziglar. Buddha. Tony Robbins. Robert Kiyosaki. Jesus.

The “who” doesn’t matter all that much.

Just find someone and adopt them as a mentor from afar.

by Nathan Coumbe

Fix your complaining

I learned a great technique from Dr. John Berardi which has really helped improve my outlook on life. 

Here’s what I learned from him:

“It feels silly, but every time I find myself complaining, I immediately stop and list off three good things about my day.”

Read the article about this gratitude technique here, then try it for yourself and let me know how it goes.

by Nathan Coumbe

The road is better than the inn

Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote) once said this:

“The road is always better than the inn.”

The journey we’re on is always more interesting and more satisfying than the destination to which we’re heading.

What happens when we get to the end of the road anyway? Inevitably, we think, “What now?”

Soon after, we decide on another goal to achieve. Another trip to take. Another journey.

We’re like a dog chasing a car—we wouldn’t know what to do with it if we finally caught one. 

Enjoy the journey, however bumpy it is. The destination is never all it’s cracked up to be.