Day 264: Sean Stephenson

June 21, 2010 at 9:25 am, Category: Inspiration

“I believe when you’re in the environment, you become the environment.  I don’t believe in willpower alone.  I believe the imagination is way, way stronger as well as, you know, the people we surround ourselves with, so I’m constantly making sure my imagination is actively looking at what I want …”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Sean, for agreeing to be part of this Project, and before we begin can you please introduce yourself?

Sean Stephenson: Sure.  My name is Sean Stephenson.  I currently reside in Chicago, Illinois, where I am a Board Certified Therapist as well as a professional speaker, and I’ve spent the past 15 years traveling the world helping rid this planet of insecurity.

Toni: That’s a pretty big job, I would imagine.

Sean:  We have a lot of clients.

Toni: Yeah, I’m sure you do.  Sean, let me ask – it’s a great lead in to the first question – when  you think about who you inspire, who is that, and how does that happen?

Sean: Well that’s basically a several-fold answer because it’s an evolution.  I started inspiring kids by speaking to elementary schools and then to junior highs and high schools and then on to colleges and then corporations and federal associations and federal government agencies, so it’s evolved over the past 15 years that I’ve been inspiring professionally.  Personally I feel, and some believe that I can say this, that I inspire all those who see the way that I live amidst the circumstances that I’m dealing with.

I’m only about three feet tall and I’m in a wheelchair for physical mobility.  I have a rare bone disorder that causes the bones to be extremely brittle and I’d fractured over 200 times by the age of 18, so when people see that and yet they see my list of accomplishments such as working in the White House for the President, writing four books by the age of about 28 at the time, to working with people in audiences sizing, you know, thousands of people in a room at a time around the world, a lot of people see those accomplishments amidst those challenges and it really is a wake-up call for what are you doing with your life.

Toni: I would imagine, and can you give an example, Sean, of how someone has come back to you and said this is what’s happened because of you?

Sean: Sure.  Well, I see that a lot more in my therapy practice because in speaking, you know, we have thousands of people each year that see me present and sometimes they’ll shoot me an email, but I think the greatest inspirational returns, if you will, would be from some of my breakthrough clients, my therapy clients.

I had a young lady who was 25 at the time that she came and worked with me and after the … well, when she came to see me she was addicted to crystal meth and cocaine and marijuana and alcohol.  She had a young eight-year-old daughter that was going to be taken away from DCFS if she couldn’t get her act together.  She actually got so bad that she was into escorting herself to afford the financial commitment of her addictions.  This was a very, very bad scenario, and after working with me and not only, you know, taking part in the therapy side of it but also seeing how I live my life, she had a massive turnaround and now it’s been three years she hasn’t touched a single ounce of alcohol let alone any of the drugs.  She is no longer escorting.  She is a phenomenal mother holding down a reputable job and completely owes it to the work that I did with her.  Now, I think she’s not giving herself enough credit, but I’m constantly blessed to see stories of people who come into my life and through my personality as well as my training, their lives are never the same.

Toni: These examples that you must face within your practice but also the stories I’m sure that you hear after people hear you speak, how do you think that it helps people then to explore their potential?  You know, I mean, it may not be someone that as an example is going to … that they’re on their lowest point and they see you and change their life which is what happens.

Sean: They may think it’s an average life.

Toni: Right.  Let’s say it’s just, you know, someone that …

Sean: That’s the majority of people.

Toni: Yeah.  How does that happen?  I mean, how do you tap into their potential and help them to explore that?

Sean: Sure.  Well, I believe that I can’t change anyone, I cannot, and I believe I can only influence change, and the way that I’ve influenced a human being to want to stretch their potential is use my own life as an example.  So I have a massive set of goals that I’m constantly achieving and then sharing in my books, the stories of what I’ve gone through and what I’ve gone on to achieve and then I share those stories on stage.

When people see me, they kind of have almost like a mythical character who is living the dream amidst tremendous challenges and makes them question themselves and think “What am I doing with my life?”  Then I give them a very simple set of plans, you know, I call it the GPS.  I tell people “You’ve got to set a goal, which is you’ve got to know what you want.  You’ve got to set a purpose, which is why do you want it that’s going to fuel you on the days that you want to quit,” and then “What are the steps that you’re going to have to go get?”  That’s their actions.  So the goal, purpose, and actions.

Most people just want to know the actions.  They say “Get me rich quick, get me thin and sexy, get me the love of my life,” but they don’t know what that looks like, they don’t know why they even want it, and so then they fall short of the mark.  So I use myself as an example, and then I also give that among many other strategies to making sure people set their goal, they have their purpose, and they have their strategy.

Toni: Sean, what inspires you?

Sean: What inspires me is seeing human beings doing good for others even if they don’t get anything in return.  You know, I just love seeing people who have anonymous acts of kindness, you know, when people do things and want no credit.  That really brings tears to my eyes when, you know, when good is done on behalf of humanity, and we don’t know where it came from.  That just really moves me and makes me want to, you know, continue to make large sums of money and donate them anonymously.

I’m very much inspired by my parents, who have just done a phenomenal job of raising myself and my sister, and I’m inspired by people who set out to achieve massive goals when everybody else tells them it’s not possible.  With faith alone, with belief in themselves, they move forward and make things, you know, that were impossible at one point to possible.

Toni: I have to … I relate to a lot of what inspires you, so that’s … those are pretty cool things.  Do you find yourself reaching for the same type of tools or resources when maybe you need to be inspired yourself and you need to fill back up?

Sean: Sure, absolutely.  Well I believe when you’re in the environment, you become the environment.  I don’t believe in willpower alone.  I believe the imagination is way, way stronger as well as, you know, the people we surround ourselves with, so I’m constantly making sure my imagination is actively looking at what I want, as opposed to what I don’t want and making sure that I’m surrounded with people who, you know, on my bad day are still going to lift me up.  Their default is still extremely positive.

I’m constantly reading books, listening to audio programs, watching movies that inspire me.  I barely ever watch television, because I find the majority of it just sucks the life out of me.  And so, you know, when you look at my life, there’s not a day that’s gone by in probably 15 to 20 years where I’m not doing one element of personal growth.

Toni: And how did you become so brave?  How did you know?  You talked to the people you work with about purpose, and that’s … you know, in the Get Inspired! Project we’re up to almost 260 interviews this year so far, and that comes out a great deal – finding your purpose, working your purpose, but a lot of people don’t know what that is.  How did you get there?

Sean: Well, you know, I think the way to find your purpose is to find what lights you up, what makes you happy, and then figure up a way to put a revenue stream around it so you can do it for a living and not go broke.  So I would say make, you know, make sure your passions are profitable.  And so for me, what I became passionate about was sharing a message that looks … you know, “Anything is possible, look what I’m doing with my life,” and then it branched out from the traditional motivational inspirational talk to “Well, let me give you some systems and strategies to deal with your struggles and your pain.”

And so that led me to becoming a therapist after five years of becoming a speaker.  I knew I needed to have more tools, and so I became a therapist.  I followed the path of what made me happy, and then I realized that what made me really happy was reaching people even if I wasn’t there, so I knew if I wrote a book then I could literally be on nightstands all around the world and, you know, I could be dead and I’m still helping people.  And so that inspired me, and so I followed that.

So I tell people, you know, “If you want to have the courage, if you want to have the passion, you have to know what lights you up and then figure up a system that allows you to get paid for it so they don’t take away your furniture.”

Toni: Yeah, no kidding.  How do you continue to explore your own potential?

Sean: Through my mentors.  I believe that you’re only going to be as amazing as the set of mentors that you have in your life, and I’m constantly adding a new mentor, people that … and a mentor in my opinion is just somebody who has what I want — whether it’s a behavior, an attitude, a belief system, a financial set of circumstances, types of cars, homes, whatever it may be; integrity.

When I look at these people that have what I want, I immerse myself into their life and I figure out how I can bring value to their life, so that then just by being in their surroundings I can see how they live, how they think, what gets them out of bed, what is the internal dialogue that they have each morning when they wake up and when they deal with challenges.  So the biggest thing that refuels me and moves me forward and allows me not to quit on myself is to have mentors that just wouldn’t allow that.

Toni: I guess that is really where it’s … the reciprocity around this is enormous, because what you look for is what you give.

Sean: Yeah.  I look at it as if you, you know … one of my mentors, Eben Pagan, taught me, he said
“If you want to get what other people have, give them more of it.”  So, you know, if you want to get wealthy and, you know, help pay a coach who can teach you how to get wealthier, so now you’re bringing more prosperity to them so they can then give you the knowledge to add more prosperity yourself.  And I’m constantly figuring out “What are the people that I admire need, and how can I bring them more of that?”

Toni: Well it sounds as though you’re doing that and the fact that that is your purpose, to, you know, help people to be better, be the best that they can be really, you know?  As you said early on, it’s to rid the world of insecurities.  Is that not what you said your mission is?

Sean: Yeah, absolutely.  Insecurity is just that tiny little voice that tells you that you do not have what it takes, which is not true.  And I’m out there educating the world both through my life experiences and the way I’m living my life as well as the strategies that I teach that you are enough and you do have what it takes.

Toni: Do you ever have to switch it up with someone and say “You may not have the skills it takes to do this, but you have what it takes to do that?”

Sean: Sure.  Well, you have the innate ability to handle whatever is thrown at you.  You may not have the skill sets to know how to handle it, but you have the innate energy once you get those skill sets.  So it’s really just a matter of getting the education and understanding – but education alone is not enough, you have to have that faith in yourself.

Toni: You have given just so much information in this short amount of time.  It’s incredible, and we thank you so very much, Sean, for being part of this Get Inspired! Project.  It’s important, and the work that you’re doing is important, and I am absolutely so appreciative that you showed up today.

Sean: Thank you.  Thank you so much for what you’re doing on this planet, and I admire you as well.  Thank you.

Toni: Take care Sean.

Sean: You bet.

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For more information about Sean Stephenson:  www.timetostand.com

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