Interviewee Name: Mike DeSousa
Website: http://www.mikedesousa.ca
Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Mike DeSousa: I am a Career Social Media specialist who helps recruiters & employers find superior employee talent FAST using Social Media. As well, I am a Public Speaker who trains Non-Profit Agency staff on how to market their job-seeking clients, helping them to find work FAST.
Avil Beckford: How do you integrate your personal and professional life?
Mike DeSousa: My work is based on the personal aspects of my life; I see them as both revolving around helping others. I consider myself the same person in my personal life and in the other aspects. I actually seek to integrate them together, which my wife doesn't appreciate — she looks at work as something she does outside of her personal life, and believes in keeping them separate.
Avil Beckford: What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?
Mike DeSousa:
- Work your buns off
- Give yourself a lofty, challenging goal — don't set the bar too low
- Out-strategize others
- Ask more of yourself & set tight deadlines
- Tie in your daily activities towards your long-term goals & reward yourself each time you complete a tiny step
Avil Beckford: When you have some down time, how do you spend it?
Mike DeSousa: Reading, learning, surfing the net, working on my passion (“Public Speaking”). No ‘downtime' for this guy. Sometimes watch some movies, though I'd rather do something active than escape to the “mind candy of TV”.
Avil Beckford: What process do you use to generate great ideas?
Mike DeSousa: I make connections between different areas that I read; stream-of-consciousness thinking. Forced Morphological Connections — generating categories of aspects of different things & recombining them into something new.
Avil Beckford: What’s your favourite quotation and why?
Mike DeSousa:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
It reminds me of our decision-making process for life “decisionism,” and reminds me of the life decisions that I've reached… Being a contrarian, I also choose to take the path that “was grassy and wanted wear”. Given that Robert Frost also suffered with depressions, it feels that both him and his words speak to me. Personally, I rhyme like Dr. Seuss!
Avil Beckford: How do you define success? And in your opinion what’s the formula for success?
Mike DeSousa: My definition of success is making a difference in others' lives, reaching your personal goals, making the world a better place, and working towards the flexibility to make your own choices through financial independence. The formula for success? No one has the same formula — each one has to find their own personal formula based on their strengths, needs, interests, etc. My personal formula entails hard work, strategic thinking, creating value for others, having an unquentionable thirst for knowledge, discipline, pursuing your passion, and following your strengths.
Avil Beckford: What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
Mike DeSousa: I used an existing media (Social Media) and apply it into a new arena. I researched and ‘power-learned' this new area, developed innovative workshops, my Brand, started presenting at Conferences, building relationships, and helping others. I'd find opportunities found me in proportion to the amount that I helped others and took a sincere interest in them, giving without expecting something in return, listening to others with my Heart/Brain/Gut/Soul, identified areas of value & gaps for them, offering them solutions, and tieing in my Value Proposition to their needs while focusing on the benefits for them.
Avil Beckford: What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?
Mike DeSousa: Identify exactly what you want that is “play” and fun that also pays the bills (your end goal), help others achieve theirs, wake up early to work towards your goal, tie in your daily goals to your end goal, become an expert through reading/watching YouTube videos/doing, market yourself, and have fun. Do what you love that also pays the bills or that can help you pay the bills.
Avil Beckford: If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?
Mike DeSousa:
- Jesus Christ: I'd say “teach me”
- Alexander The Great: “What was your secret to getting men to follow you?”
- Winston Churchill: “What led to your greatness as a speech-writer and orator?”
- My (recently deceased) Dad: Tell me your life story and that of our family
- Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Pierre Trudeau, or Brian Mulroney: What were your secrets to winning in politics?
Avil Beckford: Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?
Mike DeSousa: Either of the following three…
- The Bible (no one single story — the impact of cumulative parables, interlinked for a common message of Love
- The Little Prince, for its simplicity and many parables, that takes on new meaning with each life event that you experience
- The Art of War, on winning, outworking, and out-strategizing everyone.
Avil Beckford: You are one of the 10 finalists on the reality show, So, How Would You Spend Your Time? Each finalist is placed on separate deserted islands for two years. You have a basic hut on the island and all the tools for survival; you just have to be imaginative and inventive when using them. You are allowed to take five books, one movie and one music CD, and whatever else you take has to fit in one suitcase and a travel on case. What would you take with you and how would you spend the two years? T he prize is worth your while and at this stage in the game there really aren’t any losers among the 10 finalists, since each are guaranteed at least $2 million?
Mike DeSousa:
Five Books:
- One of Winston Churchill's
- Compendium of Marvel Super Heroes origins in English & Spanish
- Learning Mandarin/Cantonese
- Learn Yoga & Chinese
- Some comedy book
- Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
- Music CD: With my MacBook & iPhone with satellite capabilities & iTune, I'd download unlimited music selections
- One Suitcase: Sunlight-powered satellite MacBook tripped out with a lot of software titles to learn, laptop with extended battery life, mosquito net, mosquito-free clothes, solar-powered iPhone with satellite wifi connectivity, soccer ball, weather-appropriate clothes
- Travel on case: Soap, Razor, nail clipper, nail file, pen, anti-mosquito device
For the two years I’d spend the time learning (languages, tai chi/yoga, history), playing soccer, dancing, listening to music, playing music (forgot to mention a harmonica & a flute), Skyping/Google Circling Friends, contacting Invisible Mentors, journaling, developing a portfolio of products & services, reading comic books, becoming an expert on investments… I would be doing what I love to do, rather than pandering to the audience of viewers; one must remain authentic. “To thy self be true”.
Avil Beckford: What excites you about life?
Mike DeSousa: Being of service to others. It makes me so happy to know that I have helped to “unstick” someone from a state of complacency or a limiting belief, and that I have given them hope, taught them new knowledge, and motivated them to develop new skills and use one of my ideas to propel themself forward in life.
Avil Beckford: How do you nurture your soul?
Mike DeSousa: I learn, help people, speak professionally, listen to music, think, feel, swim….
Avil Beckford: If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for?
Mike DeSousa: 1,000,000 more wishes, of course!
Avil Beckford: Complete the following, I am happy when…..
Mike DeSousa: I use my strengths to help others discover and act upon their talents and strengths.
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