How could I forget about the greatness of Jay-Z?

A while back, most of Jay-Z’s songs were removed from Spotify in a move to promote a competitive music streaming service.

After the initial disappointment of losing him on Spotify, it became out of site, out of mind. When Jay released a new album, it was again a minor inconvenience, but I found ways to listen to it without signing up for the new service (YouTube - ugh).

A few days ago Jay-Z made a glorious return to Spotify, and it’s been the only thing I’ve listened to since it happened. I forgot how much I appreciate his songs and the absence has me in full Hova mode.

I get the marketing and promotional reasoning behind it, but it was painful for me as a connoisseur of the jigga-man. Maybe it was a home run for the competitor, but I’d much rather see deals that are good for all parties involved. Figure out ways to make it a win for the fans, the artists, the streaming services, the labels, everyone.

Anyways, it’s good to have Jay back on Spotify where I can once again admire all the greatness that he has created.

Isn't blogging dying?

Probably, yes. It certainly feels like blogging is becoming a fossil of the days of internet past.

And I kinda like it even more for that.

There's arguably much better methods of marketing online these days. There's better ways to get content distribution. There's better ROI out there for getting eyeballs to see your message.

But.

I'm not writing again for page clicks. I'm not building an audience to monetize. I'm writing consistently again for these reasons (in order):

1. To clarify and simply my own thinking and understanding of things that are important to me
2. To establish a creative outlet for asking and answers powerful questions that are fascinating to me in the moment
3. To create a historical record of my own growth and development over time (some of those original blog posts are super cringeworthy)
4. To have something to share with people when these questions come up in coaching and leadership conversations when there's a desire to dig deeper

Any other benefits from publishing these posts consistently again feels like a bonus. And, since I'm on the subject, I'll share a few other random thoughts about what I'm doing here.

• I've decided to follow a Q&A format for these posts. I love questions. So each post will be a question that I've been thinking about, that comes up in meditation or conversation, or a question that I've answered too many times ;)
• I've decided to have a mailing list for this simply for ease of use for people who want to consume this content but don't enjoy the inconsistency of my writing times (I'll send out a weekly email with a summary of all of the posts for the week)
• I am always open to new questions or topics. If there are any specific requests, send them over and if they fit roughly into the intersection of leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship I'll do my best to simply my thoughts for you.

While blogging and short to medium length content is quite what it used to be, it all depends on what you are looking to get out of it. For me, it's the perfect format for clarity, simplicity, creativity and documenting my thoughts.