by Nathan Coumbe

Freedom, self-discipline, and responsibility

Contrary to what some people believe, freedom doesn’t mean you’re allowed to do whatever you want, whenever you want. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s philosophy was that freedom is the opportunity for self-discipline. 

Give a child total freedom and what happens? They live on ice cream and candy bars, set fire to the yard, and traumatize the pets and neighbors. In short, they become the quintessential “hooligan” so many suburbanites fear.

That’s why we have to instill external discipline in them at first and help them internalize it. That’s the only way they can become free without our oversight.

The same is true for adults, especially in our roles as citizens of a state or nation. They must learn how to use their freedom responsibly before they can truly call themselves “free citizens.”

Viktor Frankl said the United States should have set up a Statue of Responsibility on the west coast to compliment our Statue of Liberty on the east coast. He knew you couldn’t really have the latter without the former. 

And to paraphrase Uncle Ben from Spider-Man: “With great FREEDOM comes great responsibility.” We seem to forget that because we’re free, we are responsible for using that freedom in a disciplined manner. 

The late, great motivational speaker Zig Ziglar had a saying:

“Take a train off the tracks, and it’s totally free… But it can’t go anywhere.”

Take whatever meaning from this you will. But I know what it means to me. 

by Nathan Coumbe

There are no good pharmaceutical ads

I saw a commercial for a new drug the other day… And I have to say it was one of the worst attempts at advertising/marketing a product I’ve ever seen.

But then I realized—they’re all the same. There are no good commercials for medications. 

Setting aside the fact that I genuinely believe Pharma companies should not be allowed to market products to the public—(isn’t it a doctor’s job to have those conversations?)—how can these companies make so much money and yet create such terrible videos?

Here’s how it plays out:

Picture some generic guy riding a horse, rock climbing, skydiving, or walking across hot coals—that’s how they always open. And you can’t relate because 99% of us don’t do the things these companies claim are the “normal” their meds will get you back to. 

The “normal guy” turns to the camera and says, “I have moderate to severe tuber-itis-osis.” Because, of course, that’s how we all talk. Whenever someone asks us what’s wrong, we label it “moderate to severe.”

Then they tell you about this great new medicine to fix the problem… Except NOTHING in these commercials tells you anything about the benefits you can expect from the drugs.

Instead, you’re treated to a 90-second monologue about all the grave, even deadly, side effects this “breakthrough drug” might cause, which plays over a backdrop of iMovie edits of random people walking through deserts or the Grand Canyon.

This violates every rule of marketing—there are no benefits to us and nothing but drawbacks are ever mentioned. It’s too long and drawn out, never gets to the point, and doesn’t answer “what’s in it for me?” What school did they go to?

Then, they wrap up by telling us to “ask our doctor” about this new medication. Nope—I’m not doing that.

It’s the doctor’s job to stay current on what works best, not ours. We don’t have a medical degree or the domain knowledge to make suggestions to our physicians.

Imagine the millions of dollars wasted each day these ads run. Money that could be spent making better meds, doing more research, or put to any number of better uses. 

Maybe Big Pharma should market to the doctors… And let THEM have these conversations with us. 

It’d save them a lot of money and the viewers a lot of boredom.

Get new posts delivered directly to your inbox:

by Nathan Coumbe

2 hours a day

What would your work day look like if you compressed everything into just two hours? Well, I tried it.

I gave myself two hours to complete a project that I was sure was going to take all day to finish. You know what happened?

I finished it in two hours.

Most of the projects (work or otherwise) take much longer than they should. And I think the reason is because we spend so much time working around them instead of on them.

We check our emails. Look at text messages. Do a little work. Check the news to make sure we didn’t miss anything important (we didn’t). Maybe do a little more work.

If only we could more reliably put our heads down and sprint through the project at hand. We’d create so much extra margin in our personal lives.

If you could give yourself only two hours to get your most important, what would that look like? Could you keep your job that way?

(h/t to Tim Ferriss for the nudge in this direction)

Get posts delivered directly to your inbox:

by Nathan Coumbe

Wash dishes. Fold laundry.

It’s the modern-day equivalent to “Chop Wood, Carry Water”. A way to find Zen in the mindless, repetitive tasks we must do each day.

Over and over again with no end in sight.

(There’s never an empty sink or laundry basket in my house. Ever.)

But I take them to be signs of life—a family going through the motions of good living.

Dirty dishes mean home-cooked meals and conversations at the dinner table.

Smelly laundry means people played outside, moved their bodies, and had fun.

And if finding Zen in those chores isn’t your thing, you can look at them as a chance to do something else.

Like connect with your kids over the dishwasher.

Or listen to your favorite album.

Or stay abreast of new developments in your industry.

Or practice your Spanish.

Wash dishes. Fold laundry.

Get new blog posts delivered to your inbox:

by Nathan Coumbe

Selfishness vs. prioritization

Asking your spouse to watch the kids for 4 hours every Saturday so you can get your research done…

That’s not selfish. 

That’s self-prioritization. And it’s the only way to get important things done. 

It may feel selfish. Other people might TELL you it’s selfish. 

You’re wrong. And so are they. 

We have to be willing to ask people to take things off our plates so we can take care of the “Big Rocks” in our lives. And reciprocate in kind when the same is asked of us.

Knowing, and asking for, what you need to be your best self makes things better for everyone you influence.

How is that selfish?

Get new posts delivered directly to your inbox:

by Nathan Coumbe

Monopoly jail

Think about how the “going to jail” feature works in Monopoly. 

You’re sent directly to jail if you draw a bad card or land on the wrong space. 

And you’re stuck there. You can roll doubles with the dice and get out quickly—sort of a “parole” option.

Or you sit and serve out your sentence. And with that comes numerous additional punishments we often don’t consider. 

You don’t collect $200 dollars from moving around the board, so you’re worth less with each successive turn. 

And you can’t keep up with the other players. They quickly get ahead of you in terms of cash, properties, rent, and overall wealth.

When you finally get out, you’re just expected to pick up the game as if nothing ever happened. But in reality, you’re starting from a severe disadvantage compared to the rest. 

It’s not unlike what real former inmates face when they’re finally released. They spend years or decades isolated from the rest of the world, and when they finally get out, they’re expected to “figure it out.”

Get a job, even though no one will hire them. 

Find a place to live even though they’ve gone years without the ability to produce income. 

Sometimes, the games we play give a glimpse into real life.

Get new posts delivered directly to your inbox:

by Nathan Coumbe

Music in restaurants

Every single restaurant that you go to has music playing in it now.

Have you ever thought about that? 

And not just background music. Or elevator jazz. That would be subtle. 

No — I’m talking full-blown classic rock cranked up to 11. Or top 40 pop music blaring at dance club volumes. 

For thousands of years, humans used meals to bond with friends, connect with mates, and recover from the day. 

That’s not so easy to do when you have to shout at your husband from across the table. 

What’s the music for?

Get new blog posts delivered to your inbox:

by Nathan Coumbe

Drowning it out

Maybe that’s what it’s for. 

The endless hours of “Seinfeld” reruns…

The mindless doom scrolling on Instagram. 

There’s something inside you that wants to get out—an idea, a business, a work of art. And it’s just too difficult to get started.

Not difficult — terrifying. 

So you choose to drown it out. 

Is that fair to the rest of us?

What’s the first step?

Get the latest blog posts in your inbox:

by Nathan Coumbe

Helping people get what they want

Zig Ziglar had a saying:

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

And as many times as I’ve heard it, it’s always meant, “help people get more stuff.”

That’s what 150 years of industrialism has taught us—what people want is more stuff. And that’s what we’ve built a lot of our businesses around. 

But I’ve realized his saying can (and does) mean so much more. Think of all the people who don’t want “stuff”. Instead, they want:

  • Clean water to drink
  • Access to quality, useful education
  • Freedom from fear
  • An end to diseases that plague them
  • Roofs over their heads
  • Fewer catastrophic effects from climate change
  • A way out of insurmountable debt
  • Hope for their futures and that of their children

What if we focused entrepreneurship on ideas like those instead of selling more stuff?

What would a business like that look like for for someone like you?

Subscribe to get the latest blog posts:

by Nathan Coumbe

We aren’t trying to save the planet…

There are those of us working hard to stop and (hopefully) reverse climate change.

You know—that exponential increase in carbon in the air? You might prefer to call it atmosphere cancer instead (h/t Seth Godin). 

Well, here’s the thing:

We aren’t trying to save the planet. 

Planet Earth doesn’t need our help. It can take care of itself.

Mother Nature is a powerful force. The Earth (and life itself) was here long before we were… And it will be here long after we’re gone.

We aren’t working to save the planet.

We’re trying to save humanity. 

The next generation, all future generations of the human species, are in danger from the changes coming from atmospheric carbon build-up. 

  • Famine
  • Flooding
  • Droughts
  • Extreme weather
  • Massive population displacement.

Those are the dangers we’re facing and fighting.

So maybe the problem is one of semantics (the meaning of our words). 

Maybe we need to stop talking about “saving the planet.” Because nobody really seems to care.

But people do care about themselves and their own survival. It’s human nature. And the words we use matter, especially when we’re trying to change minds (or the world). 

So, just remember, when someone talks about saving the environment, what they really mean is this:

“I’m trying to save the human race.”

Make sure to check out all the awesome work the volunteers are doing over at The Carbon Almanac to keep the world habitable for future generations.

Subscribe below for new posts: