When I started this blog, I made sure I was very intentional about what I wanted this blog to be. I even dedicated the title of this blog to that idea. LYEATT: Leave Your Ego at the Threshold (Door). I don’t know everything. Heck, I don’t know a lot of things. In all the time I have spent thinking, I have come to only one single idea that should be universally embraced by everybody: we, individually, have no way of possessing all the knowledge in the world. That may seem obvious, but I’m convinced that this lies at the heart of almost all the world’s problems. Our narcissism leads us to craft our own narratives and focus on that which appeals to and feeds that narrative. If you think I’m talking about religion or social matters, you’re only partially right. But really, this applies to everything. It is EXTREMELY applicable to the business world, too. Because what happens when we fixate our minds on a single idea?

One of the things I hear most often in the Christian community is about “God’s plan”. Stuff like… This went well because it was in God’s plan. I’m not doing this or that because I’m waiting for God to reveal his plan for my life. My parent getting cancer and dying must fit into God’s plan. We act as if God has laid out a single track for our lives that we are supposed to follow. That, somehow, he will divinely inspire us to follow this single track, and we will live happily ever after. The end. But how right is that thinking?

I’ve not let on in any of my posts so far, but I am a big tech fan. I own pretty much every piece of technology you can think of, and I also regularly follow technology blogs and tech YouTube channels. (My favorites include MKBHD, TechnoBuffalo, and The Verge. Check them out!) Just earlier today, Apple sent out invites for their next keynote event where they will most likely unveil the next iPhone. The most daunting prediction is that the next iPhone will do away with the 3.5mm headphone jack, and a lot of people have mixed (read: negative) feelings about that. I’m not here to give my own opinion on that specific rumor (partially because I don’t have one). More so, people have been critical that Apple has not been innovative with their product lines recently, especially when compared to other companies like Samsung. But the underlying idea behind this criticism is that people are expecting the next big thing to be another iPhone. Well… it won’t be. And here’s why.

For those of you who haven’t known me that long you may not know I have not always been as thin as I am now. From January 2015 to May 2016, I lost 100 pounds. The picture below is me before and me after. I can literally do that thing where people put on the pants they were and hold them out to show how obnoxiously big they are on them now. (I should go look for those pants…) If there’s one thing I’m proud of, it’s this. Sure, I have a Master’s degree and a billion (read: 5) certifications, but academic things are much more my strong suit. This was NOT an easy journey for me. Here was my life prior to my weight loss journey: eat snacks, drink a ton of Mountain Dew, eat a ton of pizza and cheeseburgers, play video games, work, sleep, repeat. No working out, and apparently I was allergic to healthy eating. The academic life was very forgiving of my former lifestyle. I didn’t have to eat healthy to read a book. Losing weight was a total lifestyle change for me. (And NO...

For those of you unaware, Frank Ocean dropped his new album, Blonde, independently, free from record labels as he has done in the past. Moreover, Ocean has made an agreement that the music streaming service Apple Music currently has the exclusive rights to stream the new album. As The Verge is now reporting , one of the most major record labels, Universal Media Group (UMG), is now reporting that they will no longer allow exclusive deals with any music streaming services. The Verge ends their article with a very appropriate question since it was one I was asking myself the entire time... Why do recording artists even need a label anymore?

Hey folks. Short post today, but it's something that's had the gears turning in my head all day. I was listening an older episode of The Tim Ferriss Show  podcast with guest Seth Godin. (You can find it linked here or on iTunes.) The whole episode was really great and well worth a listen to. There was one quick metaphor that Seth brought up mid-conversation that really stuck with me. I can't remember it word-for-word, so I've paraphrased it below: As an experiment, anonymously place a $10 bill in your neighbor's mailbox today. Do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next day. After a few days, go ring her doorbell and reveal you've been the one leaving the $10 bills in her mailbox each day. Then, offer to sell her another $10 bill for $1. If you had gone up to her to her and tried selling the $10 bill for $1 on the first day, she probably would not have purchased it. But since you have established already that you're crazy enough to ...

Think about your favorite product. You know, the one you use every day. It might be your iPhone. Your car. Your favorite makeup. Your shoes. Now, grab a piece of paper. Spend a few minutes and write down everything you can think that would improve the product. What did you come up with?