Meet Daniel Jackson

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Jackson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

That’s a tough question. I think that we first need to establish what purpose is. Is it a mission someone gives you? A life’s goal you give yourself?

I’ve always wondered why people ask, “What’s your purpose?” I think the better question is, “What are your purposes?” Like why just limit your incredible self to one purpose? Sorry for getting nerdy and philosophical here (I can’t help it!), but humans aren’t one-dimensional. What our hyper-capitalistic economy has done is almost forced people to become so specialized, so one-dimensional, that this mirage of a “single purpose” in life has become the norm. But look at our brains! Look at the great things we’re capable of! We’re capable of creating beautiful art on a blank canvas using nothing but imagination, brushes, and paint—and we’re also able to lead social efforts to induce positive change in the world! You can and should do both! To think that we are limiting ourselves just to one measly purpose is depressing!

But I’ve strayed too far from the question. So, what are my purposes and how’d I find them? Well, one of my purposes is definitely doing everything in my power to conserve and protect our environment. The summer after my freshman year in high school, I was lucky enough to stay in Estes Park, Colorado: home of the Rocky Mountain National Park. The meandering streams, the aspens and sweet-smelling pines, the crispy, icy air, the encouraging mountaineering culture—I fell in love with this transcendental place on the spot. I knew I wanted to protect Earth’s pristine wilderness until my last breath. Earth gave me the gift of life—why should I let it suffer at the hands of its children?

I then discovered philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. His poetic prose, the way he somehow, someway put down what I felt exactly on paper—he translated emotion to ink in a way no one else could. For those who don’t know, he was the father of the Transcendental movement—one of the first truly American philosophy movements that was mostly independent of European thought (though of course it had some roots there). Please read his essay called Nature if you haven’t already! It will change your life.

If I had to give advice on what to do to find one’s purposes, I’d say engulf every book, every idea, every experience you possibly can—especially books. Did I mention books? Read more books! Hemingway, Emerson, Thoreau, Orwell—the greats offer us so much wisdom, so many experiences and ideas that we’d never think of or get to experience ourselves. Like I’d never get to experience Paris in the 1920s. Yet I can, through Hemingway’s Moveable Feast. Books and my experience of the sublime in Colorado are how I found my main purposes.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m the founder of two social ventures: (1) The Noble (bethenoble.com), which is an online journal focusing on philosophy, politics, and the flaws of the environmental movement (and how I think we could rectify those wrongs), and (2) The EcoBike Club (ecobikeclub.org), which is an environmental organization that connects young men with nature through biking!

I could go on for ages about each of them, but I’ll choose one exciting thing about each. Being the editor-and-chief of The Noble, I get to review student works and write my own pieces. Reading over the writing of brilliant students is so inspiring, and it makes me really hopeful for the future. These days, it’s easy to look around and see people doom-scrolling or using AI to cheat on everything, so working with creative, hardworking people is a blessing and makes me think our future isn’t as bad as it may seem. Composing essays as a writer is also something I find really exciting—especially when I write about politics or my views on environmentalism. My opinions are sometimes controversial, and that rush of adrenaline when I argue with people is awesome. I also love playing around with diction, phrasing, and narrative. Basically, I love molding language in beautiful ways.

The EcoBike Club is another important project of mine, and it may be even more enjoyable than running The Noble! Really long story short, EcoBike is an organization I founded to attract more young men to environmentalism. You can find more about the club and why I founded it here if you’re interested: https://ktb.org/ktb-blog/where-are-all-the-guys/. I love mountain biking with the boys; it’s the best feeling in the entire world. If you’re in DFW hit us up and join the group rides and cleanups!

Things to look out for: new articles weekly! We have over 12,000 viewers and 400 email subscribers, with over 138,000 impressions on Instagram! Join the viewership and get all those juicy philosophical insights in your inbox. For EcoBike, we’re just going to keep doing our weekly (and sometimes biweekly) group rides and cleanups. Check out both our websites for information on that.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I’ll keep this answer short. The three most important qualities that have been most useful in my journey are determination, kindness, and persistence. I think these three qualities can be generalized to a lot of different entrepreneurial ventures, but I’ll succinctly explain how each quality benefited me.

If you don’t have determination, it’s difficult to succeed in, well, anything. I know it’s cliche, but truly believing in the cause you’re fighting for is the only way you’ll stick through with your project until the end. It’s pretty self explanatory.

Kindness is what allows you to make genuine, lasting relationships with people. No one wants to work with someone who doesn’t care about their partners or employees. Being kind to everyone you meet—whether it be your local fire department, or the woman in line in front of you in the grocery store, or your librarian—will not only make you feel good about yourself, but will make their days better. They won’t forget that. Karma is real! Be nice, be kind to everyone.

Finally, persistence. Again, really self-explanatory. Dedication and persistence go hand in hand. If you only have one without the other, your business or project probably isn’t going to work out unless you’re really talented and lucky. Being persistent literally means sticking it out through the problems and seeing the project through until it’s just the way you want it to be. No matter what.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

Almost instinctively, my mind races to Moby Dick or Socrates’s Republic or Emerson’s Essays because those works contain some of the best phrases in the English language–beautiful semantic sequences that make you so grateful for being a human who can understand those messages. But for this interview I’ll keep it valuable for the hyper-pragmatic entrepreneur. That said, my favorite nonfiction book is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This book changed my life; it made me a more attractive person to be around, and by using the tips Carnegie provides, I was able to expand my network like never before. Dealing with lots of people—which is maybe the most important thing to be good at when you’re an entrepreneur—and expanding your network will open so many opportunities that wouldn’t have otherwise been available to you. His book teaches you how to build that network in a genuine way. 10/10.

A tip I’d give is SMILE. Show those pearly whites! Doesn’t matter if you have braces (like me, which make me look like the picturesque nerd) or if you have what you think are “bad teeth.” There is no such thing as a bad smile. Just smile more and be kind to people! You’d be surprised at how huge of a difference those two things can make in your life if you commit to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: bethenoble.com, ecobikeclub.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_noble.philosopher/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-jackson07/
• Other: Please feel free to reach out to me! I love (not a hyperbole, I really do enjoy) talking to people and meeting new friends! I’ll leave some other contacts here if you would like to come on the podcast as well to get your name out there.

  Email me at [email protected] to collaborate, or check out my personal portfolio at https://danieljackzz.github.io/personal_portfolio.html for more details about me. Thank you so much for reading!