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

You are already successful

There is one particular Buddhist philosophy I’m particularly fond of:

Define success as what you already have right now.

So what do you already have that makes life worthwhile?

A loving spouse or partner?

Healthy relationships?

A car that runs?

A roof over your head?

A job that keeps you fed?

It’s even possible for those that have little or nothing. Because as the Stoics would say, you still have your mind—the one thing that cannot be harmed…

That thing that lets you make choices… Or take action.

Some of us—living in war zones or on the street—have lost everything. Even a sense of hope or safety. That cannot, and should not, be minimized.

But where there’s a mind, there’s a spark of potential.

by Nathan Coumbe

If you’re surviving, you’re succeeding

Every day that you’re still “playing the game“ is a day you’re moving closer to achieving your goals. 

If you’re still in the game (whatever that game is to you), you’re succeeding. 

You might not be moving forward quickly. In fact, you might be standing still. 

Sometimes, literally surviving—keeping your head above the water—is all you’re capable of doing. And that’s enough. 

Because until you quit, there’s still the possibility of winning. 

Staying in the game the first, and most important, part of playing the game. 

But once you’re out, there’s no longer any possibility of winning. 

by Nathan Coumbe

Anything you do will be criticized

Creators will be judged no matter what they do. 

Writers…

Musicians…

Entrepreneurs…

Anyone who creates anything for a living faces judgement. And usually criticism. 

But you’ll also get judged for doing nothing. 

“If you could have, why didn’t you?” is the other question we all face. 

You’ll get judged for doing nothing. You’ll get judged for doing something. 

So you might as well do SOMETHING.

by Nathan Coumbe

The shortcut to mastery

There isn’t one…

“There are no shortcuts to the creative process…the very impatience that drives you to desire shortcuts makes you unsuited for mastery.”

—Robert Greene, The Daily Laws p. 84

Do the work. Trust the process. It will be tough to master anything.

But it’s so worth it.

by Nathan Coumbe

Have mercy on the critics

Julia Cameron writes that every critic she’s ever met was, in reality, a blocked artist who couldn’t bring him- or herself to create art of their own…

So they tear down other people’s work because that’s what’s easier.

I remind you of that to say this: absolutely, let’s hear it for all the amazing and brave creators…

But also have mercy on the critics and encourage them to create something of their own.

(Also, make sure you go through The Artist’s Way at least once in your life… It’s truly life-changing for creators of all sorts).

by Nathan Coumbe

Get good at being bad

One of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes of all time…

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing… poorly!”

You will never be great when you’re learning something new. Take the time to suck at it on your way to getting better.

by Nathan Coumbe

Judgement is the enemy of creativity

We kill most of our great, wonderful, creative ideas before they’re ever born.

We write them off, dismiss them out of hand, smother them…

But we can’t know if our ideas are good—if they’ll work or cause the change we seek to make in the world—until we publish them.

Only by letting our ideas engage with the market, the world, or our audience can we know if it’s good.

If you judge every idea before you try it out, you’ll never be creative.

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by Nathan Coumbe

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly

You’ve been told your entire life you should do things well.

Perfectly.

Like an expert.

And if you can’t do it well, you might as well not even bother to do it at all.

That’s wrong. You can’t instantly be great at doing ANYTHING.

The only place to start is at the level we currently are.

The always relevant, and sometimes irreverent, Zig Ziglar said one of my favorite quotes of all time:

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly.”

What did he mean?

Simple: anything worthwhile requires that we start as a beginner.

Golfing, tennis, writing, painting, jazz improv… It doesn’t matter what it is.

If it’s worth pursuing, you owe it to yourself to be bad at it. And then get better at it every single day.

He uses the example of someone learning to play golf: if everyone could join the PGA Masters tour after a couple of lessons with the local pro, there’s no reason to do it.

Give yourself time to do things badly…

On the way to doing them well.

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by Nathan Coumbe

Choices

Almost everything that’s ever happened in your life has been the result of a choice.

A lot of it has happened because of your own personal choices.

But even those things that have happened to you completely and totally outside of your control have usually resulted from a choice…

Someone else’s choice in that case. And it created circumstances, good or bad, that affected you.

Interesting, and quite sad, to think about.

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by Nathan Coumbe

What single superpower would you want?

As you can tell (because I keep quoting it), I’ve been reading and re-reading Seth Godin’s newest book.

Here’s the latest one that’s had my brain buzzing:

“The problem with the model of the well-rounded superhero [talking about Superman being able to solve any problem] is that there are very few well-rounded superheroes. It’s much more likely that we’ll succeed by overinvesting [emphasis added] in just one or two skills.

He continues by giving us a challenge:

“The challenge, then, is to have one superpower. All out of balance to the rest of your being. If, over time, you develop a few more, that’s fine… [But] begin with one.”

My first thought was: “I don’t know what superpower I want to invest all my time in.”

And then it came unbidden: writing.

So what about you? If you could only choose one, what superpower would you want to invest in?

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