In this episode of the Empower You Podcast Authorship Series, host Kenston Henderson interviews Dr. John Tyus, a pastor, professor, speaker, and founder of the ID Movement. Dr. Tyus shares his background—bachelor’s in business, master’s in pastoral counseling, and a doctorate focused on mentoring fatherless Black males—before introducing his self‑published book Mind Elevation: A Guide to Improving Your Mental Diet in 30 Days. The book is structured as a 30‑day challenge, featuring 30 original quotes each paired with daily applications designed to elevate the reader’s mindset. Tyus explains that the idea stemmed from years of posting inspirational quotes on social media, which prompted a friend to suggest compiling them into a book. He describes the audience he aims to reach—college students through people in their 20s‑40s, especially millennials navigating career changes and self‑discovery. Listeners report the book is easy to read, digestible, and impactful. Tyus discusses common writing obstacles such as writer’s block, sustaining inspiration, and the business side of publishing, emphasizing that the hardest part is starting and finishing. He offers a key piece of advice for aspiring authors: everyone has a story worth sharing, and publishing preserves one’s thoughts beyond a personal voice. Finally, he provides purchasing information: the book is available on his website (drjontyus.com) and on Amazon under his name. The interview closes with gratitude and well‑wishes for Tyus’s future endeavors.
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Hello and welcome to the Empower You Podcast Authorship Series brought to you by Live of Life. In each episode, we interview a self-published author to talk about their journey to becoming an author and to reveal tips to help future authors release their story to the world. I'm your host Kenston Henderson, Chief Empowerment Officer of Live of Life. In today's episode, we have as our featured author Dr. John Tyus. Dr. John Tyus was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Uh, Dr. John Tyus has a true passion for developing and inspiring others. He has earned his bachelor's degree in business administration with a dual minor in marketing and management from Franklin University. He also has his master's in pastoral counseling from Liberty University and earned a doctorate from United Theological Seminary, where he is— his dissertation was Designing a Mentoring Program for Fatherless Black Males in a Postmodern Era. He is a pastor, life strategist, professor, speaker, speaker and author. He's also the founder of ID Movement. So Dr. John Tyus is the author of the book Mind Elevation: A Guide to Improving Your Mental Diet in 30 Days. Welcome, welcome, Dr. Tyus.
Thanks for having me. I'm so excited about being here. This is an honor to be here for sure.
Listen, listen, I'm excited that you're here. Great man, great friend, great brother. And, and so, you know, this is the authorship series, and I want to talk to you about Mind Elevation. Tell our audience, what is "Mind Elevation"?
Well, "Mind Elevation" is a book that I created some time ago, maybe about 2 years ago. At least I had the idea around that time and put the book out. The book consists of 30 quotes that are all originals and application of how to apply that quote to your life each day. It's like a 30-day challenge type of ordeal.
Right.
So you read a quote, original quote, you have the meaning of that quote, and then you have daily applications of how to apply specifically that quote to your life that day with the goal in mind that over the course of 30 days, your mind will be elevated to a different level.
For sure. That's deep. That's deep. Yeah, I like that. I mean, what inspired you to write this book?
Like, what inspired me, man, was honestly, I drop a lot of quotes on my Facebook and Instagram and Twitter pages, and for years I've been doing it. So whenever I feel inspired inspired about dropping something, I just drop something. And people usually— I usually get a very good response. So one of my best friends told me, hey man, you should put that in a book. You have like so much content. And so that kind of nudged me to actually make that type of move in that way. So yeah.
So now, have you, you know, how have people been impacted by those quotes? Do you know anybody personally that came back to you like, hey, listen, it was that quote that I did something different?
Yeah, yeah, no, I actually have gotten reached out to from people from around the country, people that I had no idea was purchasing the book. So people from Georgia, people from different parts of Ohio, different parts of Carolina, the Carolinas, and Florida, and all around the country I've heard different people say, yo, this is an impactful book, it's an easy read, it's easy to digest, and yet it's inspiring and eye-opening. So So I've had people tell me that. So I'm just happy that I was able to help somebody.
Wow. I mean, audience, if you are listening, like, this is the reason why you got to get your book out, because we never know who is going to influence. Like, we going— we go on— my brother going around global because he said yes to the process. And so that is— that is so awesome. Now, Dr. Ty, is there a certain audience you're trying to reach with this book or Yeah, yeah.
So specifically with this book, I was aiming towards college students up to your probably your 40-year-old age, so you're probably 20s and 30s, um, people that are trying to make that career change, not quite sure where they are in their lives, um, really need some direction. So that's really the age group I was reaching out to. So I guess you would call it the millennials, um, and, uh, people that are at this point starting to discover themselves and some not quite sure where they're going. So I wanted to kind kind of give them a little bit of a nudge because it starts with the mind and it starts with what you, you put inside your mind. And, you know, we are what we eat. And so that's what the whole thing of this book was.
That's good. That's good. And listen, we're not going to discourage anybody else who's not in that, that, that age range because everybody need to get that mind right. OK, so get it right. As far as your, your book writing process, you know, what is some of the barriers that you faced when trying to write this book, trying to complete it?
Writer's block, inspiration, everything that everyone goes through, right? So I think people have to understand the process is the same for everyone. The only difference is people push past it and finish it. So as you, I'm sure you know, the process sometimes can be exhausting because you're like, okay, I need my inspiration. Where's it, where's my next thought coming from? Um, and then sometimes the process from the business side is, is difficult too, but you got to go through it, right? You got to finish the process. The hardest thing is to start, and the second hardest thing is to finish. So that was really what it was for me.
Yeah, that's good. That's good. And so, you know, what is, what is one of those one gold nuggets that you, you could give to someone who's, who's wanting to release their story, but they're, they're kind of on the fence on how and which direction they should take? Um, You know, what is something that you could share with them that can help them say, you know what, I need to finish this?
So what I would tell them is that I believe everybody at least has one book in them, in their life, uh, because your story is, is needed. Your thoughts are needed. Um, your book will go further than your voice will in a lot of cases. And I think you need to be open to believing in what God have put inside of you in order to release that to the masses, right? So you don't want to rob the next generation of your thoughts. So my thought is I want to give as much content out as possible, because when I'm dead and gone, my thoughts will still be here. And so I want people to be able to take advantage of that.
That's good, that's good. Y'all, y'all hearing these nuggets now? He didn't drop a few amazing nuggets that you hold on to. I'm not gonna add any more to it. And so, uh, you know You know, one question left is, you know, where can people purchase your book at?
Yeah, so they can go to my website, drjontyus.com, or they can go to amazon.com and type in my name and all of my content will come up. So just go to amazon.com, type in John Tyus or Dr. John Tyus, and my books will come up for sure. So that's the way to get it.
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well folks, uh, there you have it from, uh, Dr. John Tyus, this amazing man. Um, thank you, Dr. Tyus, for spending this time with us. Us. And, you know, I wish you the best in your future and all the amazing things that you're going to do in 2021. Um, and I speak blessings and favor over your life, man.
Thank you, man. I'm so excited about being here. Thank you for having me.
