by Nathan Coumbe

The “Slip Box” method for career planning

Modern science texts tell high school students that they must first formulate a hypothesis and then conduct experiments to determine whether or not that hypothesis is true.

But that’s the opposite of what Charles Darwin did. He didn’t start out with a developed idea for the theory of natural selection. When he set out aboard the S.S. Beagle and traveled to the Galapagos Islands, he had no hypothesis.

Instead, Darwin set out to observe and collect notes and ideas.

The accumulation of these observations, learnings, ideas, and notes led to the formulation of a hypothesis and the subsequent development of the theory. He worked from the ground up, not from a hypothesis backward, like the “slip box” note-taking approach explained by Sönke Ahrens in How to Take Smart Notes.*

Cal Newport’s advice in So Good They Can’t Ignore You seems similar in this regard. Common career advice is to find something you’re “passionate” about and find a way to make that passion fit a job or career. But he argues the opposite—passion comes after someone develops experience in a job, skill, or career path. It’s not the catalyst (at least not in most cases).

One could argue that the “Slip Box” approach taken by researchers and scientists—gathering lots of ideas first, then developing an argument—would similarly benefit career planning.

Don’t start with a predetermined passion or career path. Instead, begin with exploration, discovery, and experimentation.

The result will be a fully fleshed-out and rewarding career with passion as the byproduct.

*Ahrens’s book is one of my favorites and directly responsible for my ability to write as much as I do.

The premise is simple to understand: collect ideas and write notes to yourself about your thoughts when reading, studying, or observing without worrying about “what it’s for. Over time, you’ll have collected so many ideas and come up with so many original ideas that different arguments and hypotheses will form almost of their own accord.

by Nathan Coumbe

Atomic writing

Atomic Habits by James Clear consistently tops every bestseller list.

And for good reason: if you follow the ideas, you’ll improve your habits. Improve your habits, and you improve your days. Improve your days, and you improve your life.

What’s the saying? “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

Emerson definitely said it better than I. But it means the same thing: your daily habits lead to your lasting legacy.

Which brings me to an idea I presented to someone the other day.

A friend told me he wanted to write. And he’d considered going the “Stephen King” route, writing 2,000 words a day, but he seemed daunted by that prospect.

I agreed. That’s a lot to commit to at the beginning. So I suggested he go the Atomic Habits route instead.

What’s the smallest version of that habit he could reasonably commit to?

My idea: write one sentence every day. Then don’t break the streak.

I find it hard to believe that anyone reading this can’t come up with at least one original thought every day.

It doesn’t have to be brilliant. In fact, I guarantee that 50% of your ideas will be “below average.” But so what? Half my blog posts are below average—that’s the definition!

It doesn’t have to be brilliant—it just has to exist! Do that for 30 days, and the 31st sentence will be infinitely better than the 1st one.

A writer writes. So be a writer and start writing!

by Nathan Coumbe

The greater the risk, the greater the reward

I often ask (and I’m sure you do too) why all these brilliant “bad guys” in the world don’t put their skills to use for good?

Oddly enough, I found an answer in an unlikely (or, depending on your worldview, very likely) place: investing.

Scott Galloway, in his book The Algebra of Wealth, discusses the ratios of risk to reward in the stock market. For many high-risk investments, the reward is outrageous, but the risk is destructive.

So the obvious answer to the question is that bad guys make more money via crime than if they put those same skills to use for a legitimate employer.

They have massive potential upside, potentially millions of dollars.

But the downside is worse than what most are willing to pay: risking lengthy prison sentences isn’t appealing to most people who would also love to make $50 million in a few hours. But for a select few, it’s the lifestyle they want.

So, you probably already knew this, but some things are worth putting into words.

by Nathan Coumbe

Happiness is a by-product

It is pursued and obtained indirectly by doing things—consistently, deliberately, and long-term—that may not always be physically enjoyable in the moment but inevitably result in a feeling of happiness.

Instead of trying to will happiness into existence, focus on the conditions that bring about happiness—sound mind, healthy body, meaningful work, deep relationships—and perhaps it will emerge. —Clay Skipper

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by Nathan Coumbe

Generosity is the antidote to fear

Instead of focusing on how risky something feels, focus instead on how generous you’re being.

H/t to Seth Godin

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by Nathan Coumbe

How would you coach them?

Pretend for a moment that you’re a coach and someone approached you with an issue.

How would you help them? What would Coach You tell that other person?

Now, with that same mindset, imagine that you are the client with the same problem. Why would you tell yourself anything different?

Be the same coach for yourself that you would be for others.

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by Nathan Coumbe

Two ways to have more

The first way is the one we most often focus on: earn more money.

Get a higher-paying job to buy a nicer house, go out more, and live a life of luxury. In short, you want to earn more money to have the freedom and flexibility to live a better life.

But there’s an inverse to this idea: needing less.

Lower your expenses by moving into a smaller home, downgrading to one car, or making more meals at home. Decrease what you need money for, and you get the same effect: more freedom and flexibility, but with the money you already make.

One isn’t better than the other, but one might be easier to obtain.

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by Nathan Coumbe

AI and job hunting

Here’s an idea:

Copy all the details from a job description on LinkedIn, then plug them into an AI (Claude is the best).

Then ask Claude, “Based on the information in this job posting, what can you tell me about the company and what I could expect from the role?“

You’d be surprised at how much you can glean from the answer.

Take it a step further: have Claude create a tailored resume specifically for this job based on your LinkedIn profile or a description of your work history. No need to spend hours on each job posting when your assistant can do it for you.

While you’re at it, why not ask Claude to help you decide what steps to take to ensure you’re a standout candidate for the role? He might suggest training, courses, or a certification you need to obtain for other roles like this.

You might even ask him to lay out a roadmap for engaging with people at the company, making connections and first contacts so that you aren’t just a faceless resume in the pile.

They are already using AI to screen everyone out without so much as a second thought. Why not use it yourself as your personal agent?

Movie stars have them; now so do you.

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by Nathan Coumbe

Don’t go to college (maybe)

As I look into graduate degree programs, a couple of voices are bouncing around in my head.

One belongs to Cal Newport, who regularly advises knowledge workers not to get graduate degrees with two exceptions:

  1. You want an academic career and are therefore required to have a doctorate
  2. The specific job you’re trying to obtain requires a certain degree or a graduate degree (e.g., engineering, law, medicine, other professional fields, etc.)

Then there’s the advice from my late mentor Dan Miller:

If you are going to get a degree so you can get a better job – you’re likely to be disappointed. If you are going for the personal development, the social connections, and the broadening of your options, you’ll always see yourself as more prepared and having more options.

What both of these thinkers agree on is that there must be clarity about your end goal.

If you’re going to school (or back to school, in my case) because you’re bored, miserable, burnt out, or feeling lost, it’s quite likely you’ll still be all those things after you get the degree. And if you aren’t careful, you’ll have a mountain of debt added to your list of problems.

Begin with the end in mind. Know what you’re trying to achieve and what’s required to get there. Have an idea for your life planned out before you make a major decision like this.

And if you aren’t sure what you need for the career you want or the lifestyle you have in mind, start asking people who are already doing it.

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by Nathan Coumbe

The worst of times?

I’ve heard it thrown around quite a lot recently that it’s the worst time to be alive in America. Part of me is inclined to agree.

But is it?

You could have lived during the American Revolution, our first civil war, when neighbor fought neighbor and disease ran rampant. Or you could have been a soldier in the (real?) Civil War, dying from sepsis after having your wounded leg sawn off with no anesthesia.

You could have lived through Andrew Jackson’s era of corruption (which is eerily similar to today’s political landscape).

You could have been a black person at any point in our nation’s history: enslaved for the first half or denied dignity, humanity, and basic rights throughout much of the second.

None of that is to negate the horrors and wrongs of now. Yes, in many ways, today you do indeed have it worse now than your parents and grandparents did. 

Instead, I use them to point out that it’s always been this way. There have always been power-hungry demagogues. There have always been enablers and toadies looking to get a little for themselves.

Let that serve as a reminder to act. To stand up. To do something. To participate in the civic process rather than sit idly as a spectator. 

Be a citizen.

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