Category / learning

by Nathan Coumbe

My math teachers lied to me

All my math teachers told me growing up that I had to learn arithmetic, algebra, geometry, all these formulas… but for what? 

Their sole argument when I pressed them with “why?” Because I wouldn’t always have a calculator in my pocket.

Well, the joke’s on them. Not only do I ALWAYS have a calculator on hand (sometimes literally in the case of my smart watch), but it can do a lot more than basic arithmetic. 

The phone in my pocket, the watch on my wrist—both of these have scientific calculator qualities (real TI-84 stuff) built in. They can do just about everything but graph. 

But you know what else? I’ve never had to use that power for anything in the real world.

I’ve never once had to calculate the slope of anything. I’ve never had to use linear equations for my job.

What I have needed to do was quickly figure out percentages in my head to help a customer.

Use probability to make a decision.

Measure off a table and do complex fraction stuff to get the merchandising in an Apple Store as close to perfect as possible. 

None of this was learned in a classroom. I learned it all doing work in the real world. That’s why I always ask, “What’s the project?” when learning something new.

(And I still have that calculator in my pocket. I wonder what they tell students nowadays why they have to learn those seemingly abstract facts?)

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by Nathan Coumbe

Art hardens you against feedback

I spent years of my life being criticized (often brutally) by teachers and peers during my time as a musician.

It hurt—a lot. For a while, anyway.

Eventually you realize something:

It’s not about you. It’s about the work.

Even when the comments seem personal or exceedingly harsh.

You realize there’s this other thing you’re trying to bring into the world (in my case, a piece of music). And there are ways to do it that are creative and wonderful… And ways to do it that are just plain wrong.

At some point, the musician realizes that the people they’re making art with all have the same goal: to bring to life a beautiful piece of music in the way it needs to be.

And when you’re all working toward that shared goal, it makes the feedback easier to bear. You learn to separate the self from the art.

It’s not about you—it’s about the work.

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by Nathan Coumbe

If you don’t know, it helps to ask

I was roasting alive at a book festival last week. 100º temps, no cloud cover, no breeze. 

I needed to know why! WHY, when Mississippi has such mild autumns and winters, did the organizers insist on hosting the festival in the hottest part of the year? Every year for 9 summers.

In sheer agony and frustration, I said aloud, “Why do they do this?”

And I got an answer from someone much more knowledgeable and pain-tolerant than me:

This is the only time when the Mississippi Congress is on vacation during the year. The State Capitol is empty and available for use.

I asked and got a reasonable answer. Of course there was a good reason for the decision they made.

Most things aren’t done as mindlessly as we might assume. When you feel that way, it helps to ask some questions.

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by Nathan Coumbe

What’s the project?

Go ahead: read the books, watch the videos, and take the courses. 

But at the end of all that, you need to take action. And the best way to do so is to have a project. 

I don’t mean a 3-panel trifold board school project that you dread so much you put it off until the night before it’s due. 

I mean a project that puts into action the stuff you’ve just learned. Something that fires you up. And lets you use your new skills in a way that will let you experiment while also helping others.

Maybe that’s:

  • Writing and submitting an article to practice your research skills
  • Building a website to practice your design abilities
  • Creating a YouTube video “lecture” to teach someone what you just learned
  • Playing a solo for friends and family (or dare I say, other, more critical musicians?)

When I was working and studying as a musician myself, I learned this was an unspoken rule of improvement. 

Everything you learned had one goal attached: perform what you learned in front of someone else.

That pressure to perform led to vast improvements in my playing abilities, especially my weekly recurring jazz trio gig. I had to be laser-focused on putting newfound abilities to use on a regular basis. 

My unspoken mantra became: “If I can’t use this tonight, I haven’t really learned it yet.” 

Until you can use what you’ve “learned” in the real world, nothing has happened. 

Human beings are artisans and craftspeople: your brain is wired to make things and do something with what you learn. Not just have it marinate in your mind after reading a book or watching a video. 

Making, performing, creating, teaching. These acts put our knowledge to use… and make us feel useful. Like the masters of a craft that we all have the ability to be. 

So, you need projects. 

They’re the key to learning new things. But they’re also the key to fulfilling work and a meaningful life. 

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by Nathan Coumbe

I can’t do that…

…right now.

Those are the two missing words in that all-too-common statement. 

  • I can’t play the guitar
  • I can’t hit a baseball
  • I can’t write good content
  • I can’t speak Spanish
  • I can’t dance the salsa

…right now.

Because you can learn how to do just about anything. And I don’t mean that in some fantastical, “you can do it”, Disney-movie sense.

Because it won’t be easy. It might feel painfully uncomfortable. In fact, it definitely will. 

But the human brain is capable of learning anything with enough time and deliberate practice.

But if it’s a skill, meaning it can be learned and isn’t some genetic issue (and most skills aren’t), it can be done. By you. 

The question becomes whether or not you 1) have the time and 2) want to put in the effort.

But if the answer is, “No, I don’t want to do that,” then fine. No harm, no foul. Don’t worry about it. 

But change the language. “I don’t want to…” is much different than “I can’t.”

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by Nathan Coumbe

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing slowly

Rapid results rarely last. Everything worthwhile takes time and patience.

  • Parenting 
  • Marriage 
  • Reading a difficult book 
  • Getting a degree 
  • Learning a new skill 
  • Building a business 

Rapid weight loss is dangerous and usually leads to a reversal.

Speed reading might let you get through more books… But more books isn’t the goal. 

The goal is mastery, not rapidity. Deep understanding, not casual interest.

In a world obsessed with speed, be a tortoise.

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by Nathan Coumbe

Every day is New Year’s

Today starts a new year for me.

A new year of Precision Nutrition coaching, that is. 

I’ve done it three times now, and each time I’ve had a different (yet fantastic) experience.

But as I was completing my lesson for today, I realized that it isn’t a New Year in the normal sense. It’s the middle of 2023. 

The thought hit me: you can have that New Year feeling any day you decide to commit to something or make a new decision about how you want your life to look.

But there’s an added benefit to starting something new in the middle of the year: it doesn’t feel new.

It doesn’t feel like a New Year’s resolution—that feeling of anticipation mingled with dread. Because you know those resolutions only work for 3% of the people who set them. 

Instead, starting something BIG in the middle of the year (or on a random Wednesday in April) feels like… just another day. 

That overwhelming feeling of, “I don’t know if I can do this,” shrinks a bit. Or goes away entirely. 

Because it’s not a New Year. It’s just a different day, and you’ve decided to try something new. 

How can you make a new year for yourself starting today?

by Nathan Coumbe

I don’t like the word “talent”

“Talent” is something you’re born with… It’s innate, unchanging, and implies that if you don’t already have it, you never will.

“Skill” is a more accurate term. Skills can be learned, and most everything we consider to be talents are actually skills.

  • Musical abilities
  • Public speaking
  • Leadership
  • Writing
  • Painting
  • Inventing
  • Salesmanship
  • Teaching

People aren’t born to do these things. They try them out and persevere through the poor quality and failed early efforts until they get better.

Calling a musician “talented” might actually be an insult. Why?

Because it dismisses all the hard work they put in to develop the skill of musicianship.

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

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.