The Indefatigable Giant
- Expat Scribe
- Sep 26, 2021
- 8 min read
Improving Lives from a Wheelchair, Millions at a Time
Dr. Sean Stephenson, In Memoriam (May 5, 1979 to August 28, 2019)
“My physical condition does not own or define me. My level of energy and happiness is a conscious decision I make by focusing on constructive and exciting thoughts.”
Dr. Sean Stephenson, psychotherapist, self-help author, and motivational speaker, emerged into the world fighting to survive. When he was born, doctors told his parents he wouldn’t survive the night because most of his bones were broken during delivery due to osteogenesis imperfecta, aka “brittle bone disease.”
This rare disorder stunted his growth (he stood two feet, eight inches tall) and made his bones extremely fragile. As a result, by age 18, he already suffered more than 200 bone fractures, which confined him to a wheelchair. Worse, he fractured his skull when he fell off his wheelchair while walking his dog.
Accomplishments at an Early Age
Despite his disability, he graduated with a political science degree and a doctorate in clinical hypnosis, interned for Congress and the White House (serving former President Clinton), and became a board-certified psychotherapist with his own private practice.
Stephenson was a leading authority on the deconstruction of self-sabotage. He provides his clients a unique therapy called “Breakthrough,” which enhances confidence and speaking ability. This treatment intervention is meant to be completed in only one day but lasts up to 15 hours.
He delivered speeches at media appearances and live events in 48 states and 16 countries over 25 years. He shared the podium with celebrities, captains of industry, billionaires, world leaders, and other VIPs, including Richard Branson and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
He appeared in numerous TV shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! In 2009, The Biography Channel broadcast “The Three-Foot Giant,” an hour-long feature on his life. His online videos generated millions of views.
He has motivated both local and international audiences through his books, speaking engagements, online videos, and audiovisual programs delivered through his website.
To witness his effectiveness at inspiring people, watch his TEDx talk at Ironwood State Penitentiary titled, “The Prison of Your Mind.”
His Legacy to Youth
Sadly, he is no longer with us, but he has proven his physicians wrong by living up to age 40. In that short time, he surpassed societies’ limited expectations of him by being a trailblazer his entire life, serving as a role model to youth around the world.
His message for teens and young adults in his 2001 book, How You(th) Can Succeed!: Transforming Dreams into Reality for Young Adults, was: “Success is internal, not external, and most human suffering is completely unnecessary.”
His 2009 international bestseller, Get Off Your “But”: How to End Self-Sabotage and Stand Up for Yourself, was a motivational manual that related his life story and those of others. It was released in more than 12 languages. His mentor Tony Robbins wrote its foreword.
Why He Chose Psychotherapy
Over Politics
If one looks back at Stephenson’s early years, it seemed as if he was on the road to a career in Washington DC. However, he chose the healing arts to fulfill his destiny of helping others.
It was because of a recurrent event every time he ended his talks. People often asked him for personal advice after his speeches. At that time, he felt he didn’t have the adequate credentials and resources to help them. So he embarked on postgraduate studies to become certified as a therapist.
He first took courses at Bennett/Stellar University, a specialist in hypnotherapy and neurolinguistic programming. Then he obtained his Doctor of Clinical Hypnotherapy degree from Kona University (formerly American Pacific University). Afterward, he operated a therapy practice in Illinois.
He said of his calling: “I’ve made a pledge as a therapist to love everyone regardless of what they’ve done because I found that every human being just wants to be loved.”
What Can We Learn From Dr. Stephenson?
Few of us can effectively grapple with the stresses of everyday life with all our faculties intact. Stephenson did so with positivity and garnered acclaimed successes despite multiple medical issues, constant pain, mobility challenges, and the loss of a significant portion of his skeleton.
He endured a lifetime of suffering. He had metal rods pulled out of bone marrow while he was awake. He had jaw infections that rendered him unable to chew his food. So his teeth had to be extracted. His tongue jutted out because it was too big to fit in his mouth.
Every day, he was dependent on another human being for activities of daily living, like showering. He had to bear all these indignities his entire life. How would you feel if you woke up one day and found yourself totally incapable of fending for yourself? What would that do to your ego?
Fortunately for Stephenson, his parents were there to care for him until his wife took over.
So if we find ourselves overwhelmed at work, drowning in financial troubles, or devastated by a family tragedy, we can reflect on Stephenson’s life and follow his example in cheerfulness, enthusiasm, optimism, and determination.
Ms. Fitness Universe Kary Odiatu does this exactly. She wrote in her foreword to Stephenson’s first book: “To this day, I carry a picture of Sean in my day planner to remind me to keep pushing forward—do the things I believed I could not do. I often use Sean’s story to inspire others.”
Likewise, our team has picked up nuggets of wisdom from his speeches. These are some of his best quotes that resonated with us:
✓ On Curbing Negativity
Stephenson said that how you feel is the direct result of your thoughts, which are either a key to unlock the door to happiness or a shovel to bury you in loneliness.
You have a choice: wallow in your brooding or be the master of your thoughts. If you choose the latter, you will never be enslaved by your thinking.
He told his inmate audience at Ironwood State Penitentiary: “Salvation is not outside these walls. Whether you’re sleeping on a prison cot or in a mansion, whether you have food in your belly or don't know when your next meal is coming, when you learn to love yourself and master your emotions, only then will you be truly free.”
He concluded: “The real prison does not have guards. It is not surrounded by barbed wire or electric fences. It is in the mind.”
✓ On Gumption
Stephenson learned early on from his mom Gloria and dad Gregg to focus on what he can do, not what he cannot.
He said the kind of challenge you face doesn’t matter. “When you focus on what’s possible, you make dreams come true. Anyone can live a giant life.”
✓ On Our Purpose in Life
“I’ll tell you why I was born,” he confided. “And I hope it inspires you to find out why you were born.”
Sean said in The G.O.A.T. Show in 2018 that if you are clearly aligned with your purpose in life (you know the reason for your presence on earth), “you will get out of bed with an energy that I call ‘God’s caffeine.’ As for me, I get out of bed not just for me but also for the human race.”
He said his life’s purpose is “to rid this world of insecurity. Because when we are insecure, we do stupid stuff. When we feel like we’re not enough, we chase validation and external objects to assure ourselves. Do not pity yourself. You are enough.”
✓ What to Do When People Put You Down
Stephenson recounted his birth during his TEDx talk. “When I was born, the doctors told my parents I would be dead within the first 24 hours of my life. Thirty-five years later, all those (physicians) are dead and I’m the only doctor that remains.”
So… “Never believe a prediction that doesn’t empower you. If you do, you will wither away and die spiritually and physically. You must only listen to that which empowers you.”
✓ On Self-Worth
Stephenson urged us to believe that each of us brings value to the human race, no matter what our current condition, title, or stature is.
He emphasized the importance of knowing oneself. “I am only an expert in one thing: that is, how to be me. And I do it well.”
✓ On Disability
Stephenson, being human, has gone through many years wanting to trade his physical condition for a normal one. But one day, he realized that his biological challenge was a blessing, not a cross to bear. He quit ruminating on what he didn’t have and focused on what he had—“the ability to inspire, energize, and educate.”
Stephenson found his calling quite young—to help people overcome obstacles and maximize their potential. When he realized that each person is a living billboard, he vowed that his billboard would post inspirational messages to others. So at age 17, he delivered his first motivational talk.
When he was 19 years old, he met his hero, motivational speaker Tony Robbins through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Through Robbins’s mentorship, he changed his lifestyle, which improved his health.
By age 20, Stephenson had already delivered speeches to hospitals, foundations, schools, businesses, and government agencies (including the US Senate and the Federal Aviation Administration).
Upon being asked how he maintained his energy, motivation, and high spirits despite his challenges, he replied: “My physical condition does not own or define me. My level of energy and happiness is a conscious decision I make by focusing on constructive and exciting thoughts.”
“If I believe I am disabled, I would wither up. I would be shy, insecure, afraid, and act like I need your help. But I choose to be a leader with words to move this planet. If anyone pities me, they are wasting their time because I have chosen a life of strength.”
He urges people with psychical and psychological challenges to do the same: “You are not your condition. The only disability is your refusal to adapt.”
✓ Unusual Circumstances Don’t Mean Giving Up on a Conventional Life
Let’s be honest. Many would probably look at Stephenson and think, “No way is he going to have a ‘normal’ life. Will he ever get married?” In our superficial society, which values physical beauty and youth over experience and wisdom, is it any surprise if we wonder if anyone can fall in love with someone like him?
Well, somebody did—Mindie Kniss, herself a motivational speaker. The couple met through a friend in 2009. He proposed to her in 2011 and they got married the next year. Kniss initially moved to Chicago to be with him, then they relocated to Arizona.
They had seven fruitful years together before he died. In 2017, Stephenson joined his wife as co-owner in her company, Lucra, which provides motivational material. Together, they conducted numerous speaking engagements, seminars, and shows.
Kniss, in an interview with the Daily Mail, said that most people assumed she must have looked past his disability (to be able to love him). Not so. “His physical differences are clearly obvious, so there is full acceptance,” she declares. “All of us have challenges. It’s just that his are visible.”
She added that she dated others in the past with internal issues, which (in comparison to her husband’s external physical disability) were more difficult to deal with.
The Consummate Exit
On August 28, 2019, Dr. Stephenson, age 40, was invited to his most prestigious keynote speech—the one taking place in the greatest auditorium in the sky.
As he lay suffering from complications after a traumatic head injury (that ended his battle with his disease), he whispered to his wife: “This didn’t happen to me, but for me.” Famous last words from our favorite giant. Even at the brink of death, he chose to accept his final earthly experience positively. He is survived by his parents and his wife.
Sean’s legacy endures through his website, social media posts, TV appearances, and countless videos still in circulation today. He left the planet the same way he came in—with aplomb and unmatched ferocious grit.
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Sources:
Stephenson’s books, seminars, videos, social media posts, and websites
His TEDx talk, “The Prison of Your Mind.”
The G.O.A.T. Show 020: Sean Stephenson, aka The Three-Foot Giant, and His Incredible Journey
Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia
Photo Credits:
Main—Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License (CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Stephenson with his wife—Matt Corbisiero
Microphone—Free Stocks
Follow your dream—Rahul Pandit
Toddler and father—Tatiana Syrikova
Key—Alexander Grigorian
Gold apple—Engin Akyurt
Crystal ball—Mikhail Nilov
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