Creative on Purpose Live with Scott Perry

Bites. And just like that, we are live on LinkedIn, my Creative on Purpose Facebook page and YouTube channel. Well, miracles never cease. And of course, I pulled up the wrong script for my introduction. So we're just gonna wing it. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Creative on Purpose Live. These broadcasts are about flying higher and the difference only you can make. My name is Scott Perry. I'm the author of Onward and also Chief Difference Maker at a brand called Creative on Purpose, where we help people like you Develop, define, and deliver the difference only you can make. If you are finding dialing in the difference only you can make difficult, if you are suffering from burnout, overwhelm, or indecision, go to creativeonpurpose.com and sign up for The Burnout Solution. It's a free 3-step process that's going to get you going in the difference only you can make. I am so thrilled to be here today with my friend Stephen Desue, and we are going to introduce him right now. Stephen. Welcome to the broadcast. Please tell our viewers who you are, what you're up to these days, and where can people go to learn more about you and the difference you're making?

Thank you very much, Scott, for having me. Personally, Scott, before I even dive in talking about myself, I just want to thank you for this opportunity for having me on this platform. I'm a firm believer that everybody that takes a stand to take somebody's message and put it across the world, that person is to be praised. So Scott, Great, awesome job for what you're doing, and I'm very much excited for what are we going to be sharing with your audience tonight. Well, my name is Stephen Dosu, and I'm originally from Togo, T-O-G-O, West Africa. That was where I was born, and that was where I was brought up until the age of 18, until I left. And that story is going to come very soon. But what I do now, I'm a TEDx speaker, transformational coach, co-founder of Leadership University, and founder of Salesforce Catalyst. I'm also an author. I've written the book, Be Transformed: A 10-Week Journey to Your True Self. What I do, I work with companies. I work with people that want to transform, take their life and business to the next level. If you want to talk to me, simply go to www.stephendossou.com or go straight to my Instagram page or my Facebook page, Stephen Dossou, D-O-S-S-O-U, and you get reach out to me and we get to have a chat.

Fantastic. Thank you, Stephen. So, I've taken some time to peruse your site and look a little bit at your backstory. And I'm always interested in how people got to where they are right now. So I would love if you would just, if you don't mind, share a little bit of your origin story. How did you get to where you are right now in this work of transformation?

Thank you so much, Scott. Well, my story starts, like I said in my introduction, my story starts in Togo, Togo. I don't want people to confuse it for Tokyo because when I say Togo, people say Tokyo. Okay, so it's not Tokyo, it's Togo. It's a little country in West Africa. North to the south is 600 kilometers, east to the west 180 kilometers. There's about 6.5 million people in there right now. And that was where I was born, in a 2-bedroom house with 9 siblings. I know what it is to share 1 bed with 5, 6 siblings. I know what it is to have just 2 meals a day. But growing up there and walking about 10 miles every single day to go to school and then walk back, and being in a family where my father, by the way, Scott, my father was and he still is polygamous. Okay, it means he has two wives. Okay, so I'm basically from what you call humble beginnings. Now, up till today in my country, the basic salary in my country, Scott, is up to $50. And that means people still live there under less than a dollar a day. Now, growing up in such conditions, Scott Perry, I don't know why and how, but there was just something deep in me that kept telling me every single day that I could be more than that. So after high school that I finished at 15, I went to university, studied economics, and then I did a projection of my country for the next 10, 15 years. What would my country be then? And I was like, look, these are my dreams, these are the things I aspire to be regardless of whatever my circumstances are telling me. If I stay here, would I really be able to achieve those dreams and goals? And the answer was no to my question. So I was like, hey, look, where would I go? What's the environment that I can throw myself in that can allow me those opportunities? I tried Europe, visa was denied. I tried America, it was a no-no. So I was like, look, I'm gonna take my chances and go to South Africa. And here's the thing, back then, to fly from my country to South Africa, to save for a ticket, it was gonna take me about 10 years. And I was like, look, my backpack, few clothes in it, less than $150 in my pocket, and I was like, boom, you know what, I'm gone. I'm gonna go and make a future for myself. And that journey took me about 18 months to go from one side of the continent to the next. And during that journey, my family thought I was dead. Now I arrived in South Africa, but the truth is it wasn't as I thought. It wasn't as glowy as I thought it would be. On that journey, Scott Perry, this came where I had no food to eat. This came where I had no shelter. This came where there was nobody to call my own or nowhere to call home. This came where I suffered racism attacks from left to the right. But I held on tight to my dream. And after that, I got an opportunity to work as a sales consultant in an organization. Now, when I say sales consultant, it might sound fancy, but the truth is my job was to sell vacuum cleaners. Now, Scott Perry, the truth is, back then I had never even seen a vacuum cleaner in my life. I had to sell those things. I had never seen one. Now, I was given a sales script, like, look, here's what you're gonna sell, here's the script, go home and study and come back. And the following day I came back with that script memorized in my head, with a bit of enthusiasm, and I worked from that day for 3 years non-stop, 7 days a week, 13 to 15 hours every single day making sales. Now what I love about sales, Scott, is that money talks. When you put the numbers on the table, people notice you. So I got noticed by the people upstairs that, look, we love what you do. How about you come and do the same thing but do it on a bigger scale? Go and manage a team of 60, 70 people, become an area manager. And that's what happened. And I kept the consistency. And 6 months later, I became a regional manager. And 6 months later, I got promoted again. And now I was handling a team of over hundreds of people accounting for over millions of dollars every single year. But look, the drive in me was much deeper. And I left my corporate job and I went to start my own company that I ran about a year until it crashed. And when it crashed, I was back to zero. Sold my house, sold my car to pay debt. And then I was, I was literally back to where I started from. Now the question arose, where to go from next? So I look back, I look, look, What really made me successful thus far is my ability to lift people up. What made me successful, even though I was the youngest senior manager in the company, even though I was one of the youngest with all the limitations that I had in me or against me, what made me successful thus far was my ability to motivate people, draft people, lift them up. If anything I understand the most in my life is motivation and transformation. So I was like, look, I'm gonna dive into this fully and basically embrace my gift and fulfill my life purpose. And that was when— that was about 4 and a half years ago. Then I left South Africa, moved to Asia. I lived almost pretty much everywhere in Asia. And that's what— that was when I started building my career as a speaker and a coach. And I can pride myself that today I've written over 4 books, I've spoken in over 15 countries, and my influence is still ongoing. Big time.

That's really fantastic. So much juiciness in that story. But the thing, the theme that really leaps out to me, Stephen, is you, you had dreams and aspirations, as we all do, but you actually had the courage and the conviction to make transform— transformation happen. You transformed yourself from a person that lived in Togo to a person that lived in South Africa to a person that lives in the United States, Europe, Asia and became very successful working in other people's businesses and also in your own. What's— what do you credit for? Where do you— where does that courage come from? Where did the willingness to actually trust yourself and invest in your own worthiness and take the chances that you took— where did that come from?

Yeah, very good question, Scott. You know, Well, first of all, I want to give credit to my parents, okay? People that gave me life on this earth. I mean, one of the greatest books that I've ever read says that honor your parents and, you know, life shall reward you for it. I want to honor my parents because, look, yes, it took my own personal resilience. Yes, it took deep down for me to keep swinging even when days were dark. But the truth is, if I look back on how I was brought up, I mean, I remember back then I was very, very unhappy with how my father did things. But my father was a really strict person. I remember we literally only watched TV once a week and for like 3 hours. That was it. All right, so all you have to do is you got to do your house chores really well, you got to study, and that was it. You don't talk back. Okay, so there was already a very serious sense of discipline that was cultivated from a young age. But here's the thing. What really keeps me going every single day, Scott Perry, is that faith in me. And that faith in me comes no more from my belief and my perception that I personally, I am created at the image of God, and everything that I touch can turn to gold, that everything that I hold can go from impossible to becoming I am possible. So that faith comes from the image I have of myself. And that is what keeps me going every single day.

I love that. Really appreciate that. We all, you know, for those of us that are blessed to have parents that are supportive and encouraging, can be a fantastic asset. And even when we don't, it can become— there's still the fact that, that we're here because two people decided to get together and bring us here. And so just love that you're honoring your parents in that response and just applauding again your courage to do really hard things. I think taking the chance on moving across the world many, many times is something that really should be applauded. And one of the things that I noticed in your messaging and in your introduction is that transformation is really important to you, that you are— that's the promise that you're offering the people that attend your your TED Talks and that work with you. What does— what does— what do you mean by transformation? What is it for people that think, well, that sounds good, but I don't know exactly what that means? What does transformation mean to you?

All right. So transformation, Scott Perry, I define transformation as the change of one's outer world from one which it was to another, which is the result of an inner change. Okay, let me repeat that one more time. Okay, so transformation is basically defined as the change of one's outer world from how it was to another, which is the result of an inner change. Now, when I talk about transformation, uh, Scott Perry Perry, is that I'm a firm believer that in every single person that is on this earth There is an area of our life that we deal with what I call the three toughest demons of mankind: fear, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. In my book, Be Transformed, I talk about the Ablapho Zone, which is basically a synonym to my transformation zone. The Ablaphos, Scott, are those warriors that were known in the 14th centuries of Africa, and these Ablaphos were known to go to war with no weapon at all, and they were known to always bring victories back home. Now, what was practical about these Ablafos was that they only served royalty, and they were only chosen by nature, and they only went to war, like I said, with no weapon at all. And what was even much greater about them was that they didn't deal at all with the three toughest demons of mankind that are called fear, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. Now, notice that every single thing you go through in life it only ends up on two paths. You either grow confidence in that area of your life, or you either deal with those three demons in that particular area of your life. Now, transformation— when I talk about transformation— is being able to take one step above and being able to overcome those three demons and then step into your bluff zone, where you are able to stand confidently free of those three demons. I say it again: fear, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. I, I don't care whatever business you are in, Okay, but the chokehold of any business is the leader of that business. And usually when the leader hit the point where he's dealing or she is dealing with those 3 demons, that is when you see the leader start procrastinating. That's when you see the leader does not motivate his team anymore. That's when you see the leader does not want to innovate anymore. That is when you see that the leader does not want to do things that will take him from where he is to where his vision was set for him. So transformation basically is stepping into a zone where we are able to break away from that mindset of lack that holds us back in everything we do in our lives and businesses.

I love that, uh, really, really powerful. And what I'm hearing is one of the things about transformation is you're stepping into your potential, you're, you're accepting your worthiness, and you're trusting to step into possibility. And in the language that we use here at Creative on Purpose, the difference only you can make to realize your potential, to deliver on your promise. And I think that's really powerful. What I'm hearing too is this sense of inner— this willingness to accept responsibility for your journey, agency, and to see, acknowledge, step into, stay in, and share your power. To make change worth happening happen. And I just think that's incredibly powerful. So, and you talked about the 3, you know, the 3 obstacles, which I think are spot on. And there's also, I'm wondering, you know, for people that have just heard your inspiring words and say, yes, I am ready to sign on and enroll in that journey. Are there some, you know, sometimes we, we, we see change happening in the world and it looks like it happened all at once, like somebody swung for the fences and they hit a home run on their first at-bat, but we never really see the, the daily discipline and sequence of small steps that got people from where they are to where they, you know, where we caught them. What are some, some basic principles and practices that you've uncovered that can help someone start to dip their toe in the water and take the first necessary small step into their potential and transformation?

Yeah, look, Scott, I love— first of all, I want to say that I love the quote that says that the greatest tragedy of life is not death, but is to live a life without a purpose. Okay. And that's why when I saw the title of your show, I'm like, come on, I gotta be on this. It's a quote by Dr. Mas Munro says that the greatest tragedy of life is not death, but it's to live a life without a purpose. Okay, so, so, so if somebody has heard me right now and you say, look, yes, I want to jump on this journey, then I'm gonna take one second and then say, whoa, hold on. Okay, before you even talk about jumping on this journey of transformation, I want to know what is your why. I want to know why do you do what you do, and why at the first place do you even want to jump on this journey of transformation? What is your purpose? Because look, Friedrich Nietzsche says that a man that knows his why can bear any how. Now the reason why it's so important for you to know your why is that even when you jump on this journey of transformation, days will come where it's not going to be as glowing. Even, even if I give you all the tips and tools of this whole wide world, days will come when you feel like, no, I want to throw the towel. Days will come where you feel like, look, This is over for me. This transformation journey, I don't want to do it anymore. It's too hard. But what keeps you going is your why. So the first step is I want you to know your why. Then when you know your why, what I want you to do is to start cultivating habits. Okay? I love the quote that says that we do not decide of our future, we decide of our habits, and our habits decide of our future. So what are the habits that you are adopting on a daily basis? Every single day without fail for the past 10, 11, 12 years, Scott Perry, when I wake up in the morning, I do 150 push-ups, 70 sit-ups. I read at least 10 pages of something positive. I listen to at least 1 hour of positive message, and I pray every single day without fail. If I hadn't done that, then the day is not called Monday or Sunday, you know what I'm saying? So, so what are the habits that you are adopting on a daily basis? That are going to create in you habits that will decide of your future. He said that we become slaves of our habits. So habits are extremely important. Now, after you've cultivated some winning— now, those habits that I've spoken about, Scott, I call them the game-changer's habit, okay? The winner's habit, the overcomer's habit. Because guess what? When you cultivate those habits on a daily basis, when that time comes and you start hearing those voices, you know, in your head of fears, of doubt, or low self-esteem, they get— the volume of those voices gets shut down very quickly because you've created in your mind, soul, and spirit a program that can neutralize those voices, right? So it is very, very important that we develop those habits. And then next, I want to talk about I want to steal these words of Les Brown when he says that, you know, OQP, only quality people in your life. Now, these things that I'm talking about might sound to some other people like a déjà vu, but since this is an interview, I want to give you something that if you change today, your life can change forever. OQP, only quality people. Who are the people that you're letting in in your life? Who can you count in and who can you count out? The people that you let in your life, are these the people that see you as how you could be, or they only see you as how you are right now? They say that see a man as how he could, and he will do all his greater effort to become that. But see him as he is, and you leave him stuck. So the people that you let in your life, are they the people that even when you're a seed right now, they see you as a tree from which other people get fruit to feed themselves, or they see you that you'll be a seed forever. So what people are you leaving in your life? Are those the people that will encourage you, motivate you, inspire you? Are those the people that when the times are hard, they will step next to you and say, come on, let's go, let's fight one more time? What are the people you're letting around you? And then what skills are you learning today that's going to make you thrive for tomorrow? Look, I don't care whether you're a socialist or whether you're a communist, whether you're capitalist. But the truth is everybody wants to feel worthy. Everybody wants to contribute. Everybody wants to serve. Everybody wants to do something that's meaningful to them. So what it is that you're working on right now, is that aligned with what we can call your area of gift and with what we can call your passion? Or some people call it your one thing. So choose that area that is aligned with who you are. And I believe that if you can adapt all these steps that I've just taken, I've just given to you, already transformation starts happening. In the book of Mark Fisher, he says that, that you do not become a millionaire when you see the digits on your bank account. No, no, he says that the millionaire moment starts the very second time that you make that decision that today I am going to be a millionaire, and you commit all the cells of of your body into it. So what is the commitment that you are making right now? What a decision you are making right now, today, the moment— that is when the transformation happens. And when you follow it through, when you pursue it, when you make it a daily habit, that is when you start seeing the fruits in your life.

Yeah, well, I, I love what you're saying. At Creative On Purpose, we talk a lot about the routines and relationships. If you want to make meaningful change for the better happen, you need to take a look at your routines and relationships. And the quote that you shared reminded— by Nietzsche— reminded me of the Aristotle quote about habits. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit. And then I think it's Goethe who said, tell me with whom you consort and I will tell you who you are. So it's about you get to decide. And that was another thing that you were just touching on that I think I'd love to, as we're kind of coming toward the end here, end with, which is the importance of, you know, you're going to make a better, a bigger difference by making better decisions, decisions about where you do spend your time and where you don't spend your time, who you spend your time with and who you do not spend your time with. And it all begins with, as you were saying about the millionaire moment, it's when you decide that that's the path. It's not the outcome that matters. It's the effort. It's the journey. It's the process. It's the daily habits and relationships that you establish for yourself. What do you do to try to help yourself make better decisions?

Well, like I said, the decisions are almost everything, right? We decide and we decide and decide again. Now, there are days or times, I must say, that everybody is you know, it's bound to make wrong decisions, and sometimes we learn from bad decisions. But it's also very important to know that the little decisions that you make contribute to the life you create, basically. So it's also very important that you win a lot. If you make 10 decisions every day, then you wanna get at least 8 right or 9 right. Now, obviously, over time, you get to develop an instinct that allows you to, you know, an intuition that allows you to make the right decisions. Over time. But from the start, to get really great at decision-making, my first advice will be that take a moment. Okay. It doesn't have to be decided right away. Okay. Look, nobody's dying. Okay. Like take a moment and take a stand back and look at the situation as if you were not in it. Now, because, because when you take a stand out of a situation, you become more objective. You become more clear. When you don't take it very personal, you, you, you tend to make, you know, much better decisions than when you involve your emotions, right? So, so I would say that objectivity is very important, and that's how I do it. I take myself out of it and look at it from above, or from outside if you may call it, and I think on it. What are the pros? What are the cons? Okay, if I take this decision In 3 years from now, what will be the impact? In 10 years from now, what will be the impact? So basically, I do a projection in the future. What will be the impact of these decisions for me? There is something I talk to my friends about. I call it the God's level. Okay, so the God's level, Scott, is basically a level that I believe that where you are able to even predict things that can happen 100 years from now. You know, I read the book where he says that the Rockefeller family, they had a 100-year plan for their family, even, even during the time of revolutionary— I mean, Industrial Revolution already. So, so these guys, they already know what's going to happen for their family 100 years from now. Okay, so, so now I'm not asking you to think that far, but, you know, do a little projection in the future to see what that little decision that you're making right now, what is the impact of it in 10, 15 years comes. And if it's not good, then don't make it, okay? But if it's good, if it sounds really lucrative, then jump on it and make it happen. That is basically how I make my decisions.

I love it. That's really, really— you actually just shared the first step of the Burnout Solution, which is take a look at your situation objectively without value judgments and strong emotional language, because that's just going to get in your way. And decisions are not outcomes. Decisions are just decisions. Decisions are rarely fatal. Make a decision, do it. You're in a new opportunity to make the next best decision. So really, really profound, Stephen. As we're coming to the end of our conversation, I always ask my guests at the end for just one final insight, one reflection, one question. What would you share with someone who, like you, wishes to step into their potential and step into possibility and the difference only they can make. What's one piece of advice or one principle, practice, exercise, quote that you would give someone that aspires like you to fly higher and the difference only they can make?

All right. So first of all, I will tell you to go to be transformed now.com. Okay, you go there, you get my book for free, just cover the shipping and handling. And I will send you a copy of my book, which talks about the journey that I've been through, how I was able to break myself away from the mindset of lack, and how I'm able to wake up every morning and go after my dreams and goals. Now what I want you to do as well is don't be shy. If you want to chat, just go on Instagram or Facebook, Stephen, S-T-E-V-E-N D-O-S-U, D-O-S-U. There's Stephen_Dosu on Instagram. Reach out to me, let's have a chat. I love connecting with people. Now my last word to you is this, okay? Live a life free of fear, self-doubt, and low self-esteem, and long to serve. Look, any tree that is in this world, okay, one of the greatest books I've ever read says that the tree will be judged according to the fruit it bears. And any tree in this world never ever eats its own fruit, never ever sits under its own shadow. My gift of speaking and coaching is not for me, but it's for to serve the world out there, to serve people, to lift people up, to make them believe that they can be great, to make them believe that they too are awesome, to make them unleash or unlock the potential they had deep within. And every single one of us has a gift within that allows us to fulfill our purpose. So my call to you, that the time is right now, the time is today to step into your area of gifting and start fulfilling that purpose that is written deep in you. The time is today. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind today. I love it.

Now is the time. The time is now. Fantastic. Well, thanks everyone for tuning in. Stephen and I really appreciate you lending us some valuable time and attention. And we hope that today's broadcast motivates you to lean into an endeavor that matters with greater curiosity and courage. You can learn more about Stephen Dessous at stephendessous.com. And of course, it's always great to see you at creativeonpurpose.com. Now, take the insight and inspiration from this conversation and go ahead and fly higher in the difference only you can make. Stephen Dessous, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and insight with us today.

Thank you, Scott Perry.