Tag / service to others

by Nathan Coumbe

You don’t have to help everyone

But you can help the person in front of you. 

We often get overwhelmed when we see a problem. “There are so many people suffering from this. I don’t even know where to start.”

That thinking paralyzes us from taking any action. Because we can’t understand how we can possibly solve the big issue, we do nothing. 

The solution is simple: help the person in front of you. Right now. In this moment. 

Then, when the opportunity presents itself again, repeat.

One thing, one person, one idea at a time. 

It’s a lot better than nothing at all.

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by Nathan Coumbe

Are personality tests preventing you from being yourself?

If you’re like most people in the United States, you’ve taken at least one personality assessment at some point in your life.

DiSC. Myers-Briggs. StrengthsFinder. Enneagram. There are too many to name, but I’ll bet you’ve taken at least one.

On the DiSC profile, I’m a CSI, with an extremely high C. That means I tend to be:

  • Analytical
  • Slow to make decisions
  • Precise & detail-oriented
  • A rigid rule-follower

And I can attest that all of those things are 100% true about me.

But because I’m so rigid, I tend to take everything that I learn as a rule that can’t be broken.

For example, when I get “career results” back about what I’m ideally suited for, I instantly assume those are the only jobs I can do. It’s how my personality works.

So when the field of marketing was nowhere to be seen in my “ideal” careers, I immediately wrote it off as something not worth looking into.

Even though I was fascinated by marketing…

Even though I wanted to learn how to do it ethically, with a service-oriented style…

Even though I could use it to help make the world a better place. To help other people start and grow successful businesses…

But I couldn’t! Because a personality test told me so.

Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?

Personality tests are great for:

  • Developing self-awareness
  • Understanding your natural tendencies
  • Learning about your strengths and weaknesses
  • Discovering how best to relate to other people

But they do not define who you are or what you can do.

If anything, they help you learn how you would do certain things.

So now, years later, I’m involved in marketing—doing it and teaching it to others on a regular basis. And I do it in an analytical, detail-oriented, service-to-others way.

Remember that personality tests are tools, nothing more. One of my mentors, Ashley Logsdon, put it this way:

“Never make the profile bigger than the person.”

They aren’t supposed to define what you do, but HOW you do them.

This is just one of the many conversations going on in the 48 Days Eagles Entrepreneur group during our Monday Mentor Calls.

If you want to get into the right network to help you level up your relationships and career, join us now!

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by Nathan Coumbe

Lack of work might be making you unhappy…

Feeling unhappy? I can probably guess why…

You don’t have a project to work on.

“Prod any happy person, and you will find a project.“

—Richard Layard, economist

I don’t mean a project at work: one of those mindnumbing, agonizing, tedious, pointless tasks you’ve been given by your boss just to look busy.

I’m talking about something that matters: a project that makes you happy. A project that makes a difference. A project that changes someone else for the better.

Seth Godin would call that kind of project “art.” And it doesn’t have to be a painting, song, or movie. It just has to matter to you. 

And it helps if it makes the world a better place.

A quick way to find real happiness? Start working on a project.

(If you want to learn more about this argument, check out Layard’s book Happiness: Lessons from a New Science)

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by Nathan Coumbe

Why Do We Say “You’re Welcome”?

When you think about it for any length of time at all, it’s utter nonsense.

“Thank you,” says your customer.

“You’re welcome,” you reply.

You’re welcome….to what? You’re welcome to ask for help again in the future? You’re welcome to more of the same?

Why aren’t people shouting, “What am I welcome to?!”

There are so many options available to us other than an automatic “You’re welcome.” The phrase is automatic and useless. I’ve always wondered why we use it.

We can say, “It was my pleasure,” implying that you genuinely enjoyed helping them. Chick-fil-A’s employees are getting it right. (And yes, I realize it’s engrained in them and automatic, much like “You’re welcome.” It may not actually be their pleasure to help me. That’s a subject for a different post.)

Or my favorite: “I’m happy to help.” When I say it, I genuinely mean it. And by saying it, I actually feel happy that I helped that person.

It’s time to do away with this nonsensical phrase and replace it with something genuine and meaningful.

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