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

What if we have tutoring wrong?

Why did tutoring become something other than exploring one’s curiosity? According to Wikipedia, “Tutoring began as an informal and unstructured method of educational assistance, dating back to periods in Ancient Greece…[where] the main goal of the tutor was to impart knowledge to the learner in order to help the latter gain proficiency in the subject area.” They did not exist to help students who were struggling, but instead served as teachers who passed on knowledge and wisdom to pupils to make them better citizens of Greece. 

At some point, tutors became a tool for anxious parents concerned about their student’s falling grades, rather than a source of information and inspiration to satisfy a student’s curiosity. Now, the thought process is, “I’m struggling and need to get my grades up, so I should hire a tutor” rather than, “this subject is so fascinating to me that I cannot get enough information at school and must learn more. Who can help me?” 

About the only time this actually seems to happen is when a student seeks out a private teacher in a creative field, such as music or art. You don’t go to a private music teacher because you’re doing poorly in band; you go because you are so invested in your craft that you want to master every aspect you can.

(You could argue that SAT/ACT tutors also don’t help you when you are doing poorly, but I have yet to meet anyone who is passionately interested in standardized tests).

What is tutoring for? What could it be for?

by Nathan Coumbe

What if we all just stopped?

Is every single person born with the potential to be creative?

Yes.

So if we are all creative in some unique way (and we are), what would happen if we all stopped working in areas or jobs in which we felt obligated, and we all started working in our own areas of creative genius?

Does each of us have the potential to succeed in our unique creative gift? Is it that many of us never get the chance because of environmental factors or fear?

Could the marketplace support 100% engagement by all creatives? I think so; creativity doesn’t have to be writing, art, or music. Some people are creative in areas of building, business, leadership, plumbing, carpentry, or any other area that a modern society needs in order to thrive.

Food for thought.

by Nathan Coumbe

What are you afraid of?

Why haven’t you started yet? Why have you not launched your side-hustle? Or started tackling that new skill you need to get a new career?

Is it really the fear of failure? If you start a side-hustle and it fails, who cares? You didn’t lose your job. You aren’t out on the streets.

If you try to learn a new skill and find that you are completely uninterested or you don’t have a knack for it, why does that matter? What has it cost you? Absolutely nothing.

So is it failure that scares us, or something else?

Maybe the reality is we don’t feel like we are good enough. We feel like phonies, that if we put something out there, people will see us as such – that we are not experts. We are simply amateurs, and they might scoff at us.

Or maybe it’s the actual shipping of your idea or work that scares you. Because in order to make it work, in order to get it started, you have to tell someone about it. You have to try and get someone to bite.

And they might say no.

Why does this terrify us? It’s just one person, or two, or ten. But you only need one person to say yes in order to get the ball rolling.

And if no one says yes, then make better work, make different work, until someone says yes.

Ask yourself today what you are really afraid of, then see it for what it is and act.

by Nathan Coumbe

What is a teacher’s purpose?

Is it to impart knowledge and information? We have Google for that; it’s easier than ever to acquire both.

Is it to lecture and teach the right answer to put down on a test? What happens when a question or problem has multiple possible answers? Or no right answer?

Education, and by extension a teacher’s job, is meant to teach students how to think critically, to judge the truth or fallacy of an argument or piece of information, to garner understanding. It is not to answer the student’s question, “will this be on the test?”

At the most fundamental level, a teacher’s purpose is to teach her students how to learn and to nurture a life-long love of learning and creativity. It is the job of a teacher to ensure that, when her students have left her tutelage, the students will be able to read, watch, or listen to something; gather correct information from the material; synthesize it into their own understanding; then utilize the knowledge or skill learned.

Let us all remember our true purpose each day.

by Nathan Coumbe

Be my eyes, Harry!

I’m on a Harry Potter kick, it seems, but I love well-written literature…I can’t help it. When I was reading the other night, I was struck with the thought of how Harry serves as the “eyes” of us non-magic folk in discovering the wonderful world J.K. Rowling crafted for us. Instead of telling us a story, she let us live it out through Harry.

Think about it – had Harry grown up in a magical household, the Harry Potter series would have been quite boring to read. For instance, remember the first time in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Harry (and us, the readers) hears about “splinching”, a situation in which part of a witch or wizard is left behind when they disappear from one place and reappear in another? Had Harry been brought up with this rather common knowledge, in the wizarding world at least, Arthur Weasley would not have explained it to him, which allowed us to learn about it by extension. J.K. Rowling would instead have had to break from the story, become a narrator, and say something along the lines of, “Oh by the way, reader, ‘splinching’ is…” By writing Harry as a newcomer to the wizarding world, one character explains it to another character, and we as readers never have to come out of the magic that occurs when we lose ourselves in an excellent story.

Rowling crafted a useful literary tool into her story by using Harry as the window into the world of magic, rather than simply telling us a story. It’s never too late to appreciate an artist’s ingenuity.

by Nathan Coumbe

The Weasleys: two sides of the passion coin

One of my all-time favorite literary creations is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. It is a story that grew up at the same time I did, and it still brings me great joy today. Because I know it so well, and because it doesn’t overstimulate my mind as I am trying to wind down, I tend to read it before bed. While reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I was struck by the inadvertent focus on passions in the first few chapters.

Two different ideals on passion are illustrated in the book. Arthur Weasley, the father of all the red-headed Weasleys, is obsessed with all-things Muggles. He “collects plugs,” and his wife thinks him crazy for it. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, are known far and wide for creating mischief and mayhem wherever they go. I want to unpack this a bit more.

Arthur Weasley has followed his passion (non-magic people) and made an entire career out of it. He works for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in the Ministry of Magic, protecting the Muggles he loves from witches and wizards who would do them harm. His hobbies at home are all based around Muggle items, from cars to plugs and electricity. And yet, even though he has followed his passion, his family is impoverished.

Throughout the series, we are constantly reminded how little the Weasleys have because their father seemingly has no ambition. I don’t believe this is the case; he simply followed his passion down a deep rabbit hole without ever paying attention to how he could monetize his curiosity.

Career coach Dan Miller often talks about the three-legged stool model of work: for it to work well, there must be passion, talent, and a way to make money from it. Arthur has failed to build that third leg of the stool, and his family has suffered from it. This is by no means a warning against following your passions and talents; it is simply a reminder that you must pay attention to how you can make a living from them, or else you simply have a hobby.

Now let’s turn our attention to the Weasley twins. There is no doubt that they are brilliant witches and wizards. They hold their own plenty of times against other witches and wizards in combat. Not only that, but Hermione Granger herself comments at one point on how impressive and advanced their magic must be for their magical gag products to work.

They are obviously immensely creative and talented in their passions, which seem to be mischief-making and comedy. Yes, it gets them in trouble at school, but only because their school, like our own modern educational system, is a place to sit quietly, obey, and pass the end-of-year exams. Their mother, Molly, is constantly chastising them about not getting enough high exam marks, about causing too much trouble, about not being ambitious like their father and choosing comedy and invention over working for the Ministry.

How is that for irony? For one, government work, whether magical or not, has never been the most creative of workspaces, nor, in my experience, do many people in government tend to be overly ambitious and concerned with making a difference in, or leaving a mark on, the world. I find it fascinating how closely this relates to us in the real world. Our schools stifle creativity and individual differences among their students; we encourage them, not to pursue what they excel in, but to pursue what will pay well and be the “secure,” as if such a thing even exists anymore in the information age. We focus on improving everyone’s weaknesses to make everyone more like the average student, rather than focusing on strengths so that we can all stand out and achieve our unique purpose.

If the Weasley twins had followed their dad’s example, or their mother’s advice, they would never have lived up to their true potential. By book six, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the twins succeeded in creating Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, opening up a highly successful magical joke shop, and becoming fabulously wealthy in the process.

Let’s take a lesson from the Weasleys today. Have the focus of Arthur Weasley, but the ambition of Fred and George. I strongly encourage you to follow your curiosity wherever it leads. Ignore the naysayers, but keep in mind the idea of the three-legged stool; all three legs must be present or you only have a hobby, like Arthur Weasley. Find a way to monetize and maximize your obsession, and you will be successful beyond your wildest dreams.

by Nathan Coumbe

Reaping excellence

I came across a little maxim yesterday that got my mind going, so I wanted to share.

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

There is also a quote that pairs nicely with this maxim:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

– Aristotle

What is it that you repeatedly want to do? If you did it often enough, do you believe you would truly develop excellence in that habit?

Perhaps you should ask a related question: if what you are doing now isn’t something in which you want to develop excellence, what do you repeatedly think about? Once you have an idea in mind, you can then apply it to the maxim.

For example, let’s say that a person is constantly thinking about art, but only thinking, never creating any herself. We’ll start there.

“Sow a thought…” she is constantly thinking about and admiring the artistic work of others.

“Reap an action…” the aspiring artist decides to take drawing lessons and vows to draw a little bit every day, no matter how small it might be.

“Sow an action…” drawing each and everyday becomes second nature.

“Reap a habit…” she no longer even thinks about if she will draw today; the only thought on her mind is what to draw. A habit is developed.

“Sow a habit…” drawing has become second-nature to her now. It’s as habitual as brushing her teeth or eating.

“Reap a character…” she has become, intentionally or not, an artist. It is now who she is, a fundamental feature of her character. She is now one of the people she once admired.

“Sow a character…” you can see the rest. Her destiny is whatever she decides to make it at this point. She has already developed the skills and habits needed to carry her far down the path of artistic success, whatever she decides that looks like for her. Perhaps it is a career in art, or perhaps it is just a wonderfully enjoyable hobby. But it is now who she is.

So, what is it about which you constantly think? How can you turn those thoughts into action, and then practice those actions often enough until habits form and a certain character you want develops?

“We are what we repeatedly do…”

Decide and act on that in which you strive to be excellent.

by Nathan Coumbe

Become an apprentice

During the Renaissance, it was common for an artist or craftsman to apprentice under a master for a period of seven years before she set out on her own as a journeyman, plying her trade. The Renaissance may be over, but it is easier now than ever to become an apprentice to one of the many masters of whatever craft you are pursuing. Most of them are just an email, blog post, podcast, or book away.

It is unlikely that you will be able to spend seven years in an office or workshop with your favorite writer, musician, or thought-leader while attempting to learn at his or her feet, but you don’t have to do that anymore. I will illustrate the point with my own journey:

I have had a number of pseudo-mentors over the years. The first that I remember was Mark Verstegen; at a time in my life when I was passionately consuming all the knowledge on athletic performance and nutrition I possibly could, he was the paragon to which I upheld others in the field. He was a scientist, trying to find new and better ways to improve his craft, a writer, a coach, a teacher…I consumed every video I could find, every article he wrote, every book he authored.

The next mentor that truly stands out to me is Dave Ramsey. By age 26, my wife and I had accumulated close to $90,000 in combined consumer and student debt. We were drowning and didn’t know it. At some point, I had this middle-aged hillbilly (his words) yelling at me over the radio, telling me how stupid I had been and what I needed to do to fix it all. It was just what I needed. Not only that, but due to his recommendations, I started consuming leadership and business material by great leaders in those fields. Dave’s book-lists and constant radio show guests continued to fuel my passion for learning by giving me an unending education.

Also thanks to Dave, I discovered Dan Miller, who has become (again from afar) my life and career coach. Even now, he is teaching me how to live a fuller life; to set goals and achieve them; to redefine what work can be.

Dan led me to Seth Godin. My latest and most influential mentor, Seth is the reason that I write this blog post everyday. His constant assurance that we are all artists, regardless of the medium, as well as his passionate defense of realistic education, has put me on the path to writing each and every day about how others can continually improve themselves. He reminded me of my passion for education, real education that makes a difference in people’s lives and in our culture. I have read nearly every book he has ever written, hundreds of his blog posts, listened to his podcasts twice through already, and am saving up the money to sign up for some of his Akimbo workshops as well.

These people have all been mentors to me, even though I have never met a single one of them in person. The internet makes apprenticeship easier than ever. Being an apprentice to someone is simply observing what they do, consuming any and all lessons they offer, imitating them, and synthesizing the information until it becomes your own.

Sometimes it’s free; at the most it only costs what you have to pay for a book. Find someone that inspires you, who sets your heart and mind alight. Read, watch, and listen to everything you can as often as you need until you learn it. This is the essence of an apprenticeship. It worked for Leonardo and Michelangelo; it will work for you, too.

Also – make sure you thank them for their impact. Let them know that you were a good student.

by Nathan Coumbe

Luck happens

Sometimes, it comes down to sheer luck.

You’re sitting in the right booth, reading the right book, and someone notices.

She comes over and asks what it is that you do; you proceed to tell her how you help people. Eyes light up, connections are made, recommendations are given to you about who else you can help with your craft.

What a lucky meeting!

And yet…if I hadn’t been working so diligently for months on my new endeavors, this lucky encounter never would have occurred. Had I been sitting in the booth watching Netflix, she would have walked right past me.

So yeah, luck happens, but it still pays to prepare and practice your craft so that you are ready when the lucky moments occur.

I’ll take slow, persistent effort sheer luck any day.

by Nathan Coumbe

Working your brain

I am exhausted. Truly and totally exhausted. This week has seen numerous late nights, one of which did not end until 5am the next day; it has featured little sleep, long days at work, and even longer days at home in my personal time. That last bit is of my own doing.

Reading – deep reading with the goal of analyzing and validating information, premises, and arguments – is like strength training for the brain. Combined with the mental exercise required to function in a typical day job, it is easy to overwork this organ.

It’s pretty common knowledge today that you shouldn’t strength train 7 days a week; strength training should be interspersed with active recovery, lighter exercise of different types, rest, recuperation, and restoration. You also need to get plenty of sleep so that your muscles can repair themselves.

The brain is no different; strenuous reading and self-education combined with long, stressful days at work, with a little sleep deprivation sprinkled in, makes for a drained individual who will not be able to comprehend or retain much of the information being studied.

As important as self-improvement and mental growth is, it is as important to make sure you are approaching it the same way you approach training your body. Take the time to rest, especially if you are just starting out on a course of rigorous reading or coursework. Perhaps only read for 30 minutes a day, three to four times a week, much like a novice would approach a new exercise regimen. You can always increase the length and frequency later. Just like exercise, the habit of mental growth and development is more important in the beginning than how hard and how hard you push yourself.

Study hard, then rest hard. That’s what I’m doing for the next few days.