← The Code To Winning
The Code To Winning
WALK THE DISTANCE TO GREATNESS: STRENGTH, PURPOSE & TRANSFORMATION || DR JAMES E DIXON ||EPISODE 082
01:13:14
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- [00:00]
A
I was born in a small town. Go to Anderson, Indiana. The people that were around me were unaware of what to do with a child with disability. I'm talking about mom, dad, relatives. No one in my family, no one in my bloodline, mother, father, side, had ever had my disability. Being born with something where one leg is shorter than the other. And the right side of me began to die at birth. They began doing surgeries from the time I was three months of age until I was 11. It wasn't until I was 11. That's every six months I had a surgery until they had no other choice but to send me to Chicago to see if they get a second opinion. And when I got there, they said, the only thing we can do is amputate his right leg and see if that works. Well, there's two things that happen. There are two images that I have, like a coin. Here's my currency. One side of me, I have my grandmother filling my head with your Superman. From the time I was born, always telling me that there's all my childhood pictures. There's a Superman symbol, Superman this, that, and the other. My prosthetic has Superman on it here. And then not only does it have it, but it also has a bible verse, Philippians 4:13. It's, I can do all things that's going into my head. Now. On the other side, I have the tail side. That's the body, and I have a body of work telling me that you can't do this. You won't do this. My grandmother's filling my head with. You don't have a. You're not crippled. You have kryptonite. The moment you overcome that thing, you'll become everything.
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B
What was the hardest part about learning to love yourself again after years of just feeling different?
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A
Wow. Let me say two things. I don't believe in the Supreme Being. I believe in God. I believe not only his father is. You talk about God being a father to the. The fatherless. I've seen him be for me what I didn't have. Learning to love me came through learning that he loved me in spite of what I didn't have. My father not being there ended up most a struggle, feeling rejected. But then when you find out that sometimes the removal is for your good, because had that person been there, the things they would have passed on to you would have been horrible.
- [02:09]
B
You also have two options in life. You can either be a victim of your circumstances, or you can be a victor by overcoming and doing that. Has there ever been a time when you Felt like you're doing so much in those situations where you showed tenacity and it just was not enough.
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A
No, never. Let me give you why. Most people give you an option between victor and victim. That's not true.
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B
The code to winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Today we actually have an amazing guest, a very special guest. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to interview him today right here in Salt Lake. He's a keynote speaker, visionary, and also legacy builder. We're going to talk a bit more about his journey and also his mission as well. So without further ado, Dr. James Dixon. Welcome, sir. How you doing?
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A
Excellent. Thank you for having me. One of the greatest things I think there is is the fact that you have a chance to talk with other people. Iron sharpens iron and you've been doing that constantly. The education is kind of like Napoleon Hill's interview of people. You're just accruing knowledge and power and putting right people together. So thanks for having me and added me to that collection.
- [03:22]
B
No, I appreciate that. It's a great honor to have you in the studio. So I'm glad you actually even spoke about Napoleon Hill. I've watched a lot of the think and grow rich. I've read the books and stuff like that, and it's just so inspiring. This started off as just like a hobby. I first did an internship in New York with Bloomberg, and obviously coming from a university, I felt very intimidated by seeing most of the kids that were going to more of Ivy League schools within the East Coast. And so obviously when you start there, you're like, oh my gosh, maybe you're in the shadows. You feel a little like, oh, I'm not really like a Yale or Harvard or nyu, even though it's not necessarily within the realm. But among those 40 kids, I felt like I had the passion enough to be able to network, to meet at that time, like the. The Mike. Mike Bloomberg out of the only interns among there as well. So that's when I decided to start the podcast to actually continue to network and just come across visionary people like yourself and in many successes in many realms in life as well. So I'm grateful you actually made that, that, that similar to an example.
- [04:28]
A
You know, I was just thinking about that. You mentioned the word intimidation. Sometimes you meet people from Brown, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, whatever. And it was because of the association. We. We ascribe to them values or strengths or abilities that the rest of us don't have. And then you realize when you come to competing whether it, whether it be for professional job, whatever it might be, that it's not where you're from, it's who you are. Right. Because what they may have in family association you can surpass with sheer determination. And there are things that comes with a sense of entitlement with that because my dad knows the guy, I'm going to get the opportunity. And so the grind isn't the same. But when you are, have a legacy, when you have the understanding that I represent more than myself, you're talking about you have South Africa to represent. And the idea that you would go and give them an impression that you were less than you can't allow. You must give more as a result of it. You surpass people who should have, should have flown way over the radar, but instead the only thing that shows up is you.
- [05:41]
B
I'm grateful. Thank you for that. No, that's, that's very inspiring. I, I love your journey, your upbringing and obviously using the born different as. As an opportunity to be able to share to the world that it is a privilege at times to be able to be born differently as well. Can you share a bit of your journey for our listener?
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A
Oh, I will. You know, I was born in a small town. Go to Anderson, Indiana. The people that were around me were unaware of what to do with a child with disability. I'm talking about mom, dad, relatives. No one in my family, no one in my bloodline, mother, father, side had ever had my disability. Being born with something where one leg is shorter than the other and the right side of me began to die at birth. They began doing surgeries from the time I was three months of age until I was 11. It wasn't until I was 11. That's every six months I had a surgery until they had no other choice but to send me to Chicago to see if they could get a second opinion. And when I got there, they said the only thing we can do is amputate his right leg and see if that works. It wouldn't have been bad if that was the conclusion of my story. But since I didn't know that was going to happen, I went to sleep and woke up and my leg was gone. No explanation, no family, no one to explain, no one to apologize. And the emotional atmosphere around me was unique because I had a friend who was on my right side, eight years old, die in the room. And on my left side, I have a 12 year old who's paralyzed from the neck down and saw his mother give up her parental rights in the room. And so in that case, I was sitting there before the day I lost my leg. Friend dies and another loses his parents. And now I wake up and my leg is gone. Felt like betrayal. Oftentimes loss can feel like absolute being obliterated by life and God himself. But for me, it led to my grandmother stepping in even more so. And when my grandmother stepped in, she became light life. And then she became the example. And she expected me to live up to that example. And so for me, growing up, the challenges of being rejected, of being on the wheelchair, not walking, taking my first steps at 11. Most people have their children step at 9 months, 11 months a year, maybe a late bloomer at 15 months, but me, 11. But now I look back over it and the thing I used to ask is, why? Why would God do this to me? Why me and no one else? Why is it that my neighbors can walk and run? Why is it my friends can do everything? Why is it my family can do everything, but I can't? Not realizing the wrong question was being asked. It wasn't why, it was when will it all make sense? And by the time that I finally figured out that that was giving me a superpower to overuse. Something that is often said is, you know, I was called crippled as a kid. Crippled became disabled, right? Became the terminology used. But I love that someone added a go in front of disabled and turned it into God is able and learning that, that I could change, I could transform, I could do things, I could play sports, I could get a scholarship playing basketball, even though I just learned to walk. You see, that is the possibilities of when why meets your win.
- [09:37]
B
That is so powerful. And I think, I mean, just going back to it again. Sometimes when your why is bigger than your why not and you have a purpose and you understand, like your mission and your calling in life, it just changes the paradigm shift and the perspective as well. And I think the more I hear about your story often, like, you know, we all are faced with challenges and tribulations in our life, but sometimes most, like some people, don't overcome them. Do you know why people aren't able to actually overcome the trials that are faced before them?
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A
That's a great question. Let me give you an answer that I know will will probably resonate with most people. Life is often like those, like a street light, right? You have stop signs that come up, but then you also have red lights and everything tells you to stop. But what if you get there and you find out that the light is broken? You've been sitting there 10 minutes and there's no traffic. It's midnight. You look around, you're like, I think I'm just going to chance it and go through it. Most people believe that you need outside validation to tell you you can go forward. And as long as you look for that outside validation that one day somebody will give me a green light, you'll never have it. There are moments that come up in everyone's life where you get stopped or something gets in your way. And when that shows up, you have to finally get to the point and say, I'm not waiting on the outside, but internally, I'm going to go ahead. Even though everything says stop. I think that's why.
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B
Wow, that's actually a very good analogy. You know, I'm one of those people, when people give analogy, I literally paint a picture. So that's why it took a lot of time for me to give an answer.
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A
That's good.
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B
I want to know, how did being an amputee at 11 reshape the way you saw yourself and the world around you?
- [11:31]
A
That's great. Well, there's two things that happen. There are two images that I have, like a coin. Here's my currency. One side of me, I have my grandmother filling my head with your super. From the time I was born, always telling me that. There's all my childhood pictures. There's a Superman symbol. Superman this, that, and the other. My prosthetic has Superman on it here. And then not only does it have it, but it also has a bible verse, Philippians 4:13. As I can do all things that's going into my head now. On the other side, I have the tell sign. That's the body. And I have a body of work telling me that, you can't do this, you won't do this. But my grandmother's filling my head with. You don't have a. You're not crippled. You have kryptonite. The moment you overcome that thing, you'll become everything. So I've had this challenge of these two different conversations. The one thing about it, though, when I called it currency, until you're willing to cash that in instead of bury it. So if you bury it and say, I can't do it, I believe it. There's nothing to it. You do lose. But if you can find a way to put that currency into a bank, and you bank on the fact that I am capable, I am able, I am this, that, and the other, and then you find out your value in a marketplace that my loss made me so special, it Gave me resiliency, it gave me strength, it gave me a chip on my shoulder that I needed so that even when it came to sports, I would see a kid with both legs out there. And I'll just say this. One of the most popular messages that I have came from being 12. I wanted to try out to a basketball team because I wanted to prove I could do everything that every able bodied kid could do, and I couldn't. But there was a difference between me and them. When I tried out, I found out my limitations. And the coach said, if you could have run under six minute mile, if you could have done this lateral movement, I would have kept you. So every morning I got up at 4:30 without an alarm, I was always up by 4, got up and I would run and touch a building because it had a marker that said one mile away from my home, from a billboard, I'd go touch that building and I time it until I got down to six minutes. So next year we try out, I show up and I can do all the things he said I couldn't do the year before. And so he goes, man, listen, if you were year younger, I keep saying no, you see, coach put me in the game. And he was like, nah, you know, Dixon, I can try as a coach. I don't care if they're stronger, bigger, faster, with better genetics. Put me in. I promise you, no one will give you as much as I could. And so the coaches gives me all of these excuses and I refuse to. I went to the athletic director and said, all I'm asking for is force him to give me a chance against them. And so I took that chip and I compared myself with those kids who were both limbs. Some of them were taller, stronger, faster. But you cannot beat tenacity. When they would lean over to pick up a ball, I dove on the ball. When they would jog, I sprinted. When they rested, I stood up. When they went and got water, I just stared at the coach and was like, what's next? That's what takes life. By the currency piece, you become so valuable that people can't deny you. With all your chinks, with all the dust that might be on you, whatever it is you got to go through, if you find a rare penny, even it's worth more than a penny.
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B
Wow. And you know, every time I think of that story, sometimes I want to try and like, link in the fact that sometimes, sometimes in situations, regardless of circumstances, upbringing, shortcomings, our situations are all different. But you also have two options in life. You can either be a victim of your circumstances, or you can be a victor by overcoming and doing that. Has there ever been a time when you felt like you're doing so much in those situations where you're showing tenacity and it just was not enough?
- [15:52]
A
No, never. Let me give you why most people give you an option between victim and victim. That's not true. That's an overused cliche of what it is. It's never been that easy, you see, because even in being a victim can give you tenacity, victimization can truly happen. Child is 3, 4, and an older relative that shouldn't touch them, touches them. Are you a victor or victim? You've been victimized. But there is something else that it is. You have now been giving something that is so unique, you've got a reason to overcome. You have an anger now. You have a passion against it now. And what makes you victorious is the fact that you have been victimized. If we hadn't gone through something, you don't turn into something. It is the challenges, it's the shortcoming. It's the loss of a loved one that then gives you passion. You and I, we're sitting here talking. There's someone we both have lost close to us that means the world to us that changed our world, Right? We've experienced those type of losses. But then you come out of it and you're like, now I've got to live big enough for the both of us. Now I have more. The pain that we go through during the victimized stage is what makes you worthy of having a victory. If you got the victory without the victimization, you would never be able to appreciate it.
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B
Wow.
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A
So you have to go through it.
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B
Wow. You know, I love that perspective. And it's true that it's a cliche. That is we often hear a lot as well. But there's often, you know, deeper meaning to it as well, because it is true. Sometimes pain does turn to passion. Oh, it does in our situations as well. And I think sometimes that's why, like, your why is just so big. You're like, listen, I cannot give up now because we've come this far. I've come this far and I'm going to do it for us as well. So I'm grateful you got to share that. I know there's a period in your. In your life and time when you often. I don't want to paraphrase it, but you realize that, hey, listen, kids or children can die as well when somebody close to you, one of your best friends passed on, which kind of reshaped a certain point in your life. Can you just share that story again for our viewers?
- [18:14]
A
There was, when we were talking about it, growing up, I was always isolated, felt alone because I was always on the porch. I had my grandmother as my best friend, not kids my age. I was the crippled kid on the porch. And so finally, when I'm in the children's hospital, there are kids my age, there are kids who are going through things. And then I found out there were people who go through more than I had a paralyzed kid who was thrown off of a building, left him paralyzed from the neck down. Great personality, outgoing, loving. And on the other side, you have a kid who has both parents in his life, which is unlike me or the kid beside me. So we have these two people. You have Gilbert, you have Matt. Matt's mom and dad were the most loving. The first time I'd seen a mom and dad work together. And all they did was build confidence in this kid, build on him, love on him. But he had such frailties. He was 8, but maybe the size of a toddler. His body all distorted because of his disabilities. And when they took him in for surgery and they came back and he was gone, his mom and dad gave us his toys and they were like, matt's gone home. And I was like, he didn't say bye. You see, I didn't understand that going home didn't mean he was going home with them. Right. And so mom and dad, imagine all you do is you spend your time at the hospital, you have no other children, you have this one kid, that's it. And you've got this fear that if I have another kid, the same thing could happen. So this one kid, you're pouring everything in and it goes into surgery. And every surgery was the idea that your kid's going to come back, have injury, heal, and then recovery and be better. But what happens when it goes in and the small chance that the old child could die becomes the only reality. And when they came back, all they could do is look at the toys and the stuffed animals they had for him, look at us and give those gifts to us and then thank us for being his friends to the end. But now I've got a gap. When they remove that bed, that empty spot becomes something totally different. That's my friends there. But also the idea that maybe this could happen to me. And with no adult to come in and tell an 11 year old that don't worry, this is not your situation or Even walk me through the emotions. The death of a friend, the goodbye of his parents, or the holding on to his teddy bear and crying at night. And then I have a kid on the other side of me who can't move at all. And so we communicate through a mirror on the ceiling. We talk all the time. We're talking, we're ministering to each other. But he gets excited, gets hopeful because he gets word that his mom's coming. You see, mom is all he ever had. He had been waiting on her. And when she shows up, man, he was so excited. They took him out of the hospital clothes, dressed him up, prepped his hair and propped him up. And mom's coming in. And then she says, listen, they tell me you'll never walk again. And since you won't walk again, I'm too young to worry about this, so I'm giving you away. And when he began to beg her, he's like, mama, don't. I won't be bad no more. I won't do anything. Mama, please. And she said, you're making this too hard on me. And the kid had to suck it up and not say anything else to his mother. When she turned to walk away out of the room, he yelled out the first time, this word I'd never heard before to him. And he said, have mercy on me, Mama. Mercy that's beyond begging. Mercy is a gift. He was asking for that from her, just that final gift, Mama, please. And she waves her hand. I remember it like, ah, enough. And walking away. And then seeing this kid who had been vibrant, great personality, become non verbal. Now I'm sitting in the room and one's gone and one won't talk. You see, when you're in those situations, those things have broken many a people. And I myself was that close to have been broken. But I had a lifeline come in by the name of Grandma. If it wasn't for her presence. And the presence is not just showing up. I'm talking about the presence, the gift of love, the gift of adoration. Building confidence, instilling confidence, holding me accountable to be something that she would never see fulfilled.
- [23:13]
B
It's so hard, you know, every time you hear stories such as that. Because sometimes in life we just live with these blinkers without understanding that there are certain trials. And my belief of. Of course I feel like Heavenly Father or a supreme being doesn't give us trials that we cannot overcome. I feel like Heavenly Father has, you know, put us on this earth, but everything we face right now, he knows that we are capable of overcoming that because we are, you know, his children as well. And. Which. I'll talk a bit more into your ministry. But what was the hardest part about learning to love yourself again after years of just feeling different?
- [23:56]
A
Wow. Let me say two things. I don't believe in the Supreme Being. I believe in God. I believe not only his father. You talk about God being a father to the fatherless. I've seen him be for me what I didn't have. Learning to love me came through learning that he loved me in spite of what I didn't have. My father not being there ended up mostly a struggle, feeling rejected. But then when you find out that sometimes the removal is for your good, because had that person been there, the things they would have passed on to you would have been horrible. What God did is he put me in a cocoon, if you will, so that I could grow. And anytime kids made fun of me, I had Grandma there to speak life over me. And there were things that quotes she would say, things she would say that didn't make sense then, but it makes sense later. Like she would just say, baby, just keep living. You'll see. What she's saying is that life will show you that the things that I've been telling you are absolutely right. And that most people, you know, hide their insecurities behind their insults. And what is it about you that threatens their sense of self so much that they have to constantly remind you of something you already know about you? So learning to love myself was a long process because I thought, one, I'd never be loved. Two, didn't think I was worthy of love. But when I found out that God loved me as I am, in fact, that from the foundations of the earth he planned and organized that I would be curiously and wonderfully made disabled. But the disability made me unique. We struggle all this time wanting to be like everyone else. If I could just be like everyone else. But if you were, you'd be unnecessary. You'd be a carbon copy of everything you've ever seen and never be original. You had to come from South Africa to come to BYU to grow, to develop. And then put you in an atmosphere where you'd have the ability to accumulate knowledge, skills, relationships, proximity, all for a bigger purpose than conversation. There must be an action. This will lead to events. Events will lead to evolution of people, growth, things. Stuff will happen. It will lead to economics. That will change for you so that you can go back and change a world. You and I were talking. It was like, man, you did a Two year mission. That's not true. The two years were just growth period. It was a planting of a seed. Your mission didn't begin until you left there. Now you get to put everything you said you believe, every door you ever knocked on, every conversation you ever did, every blessing you ever give. Now you get to put that into practice and manifest that every single day. The prime of your walk has never been that. It's now.
- [27:31]
B
And obviously, when you speak about your experience, a follow up on that, how God has loved you and you felt the love of God in overcoming the trials that you faced. Was there ever a time? Obviously right now, you know your faith runs deep, your experience as a pastor and all that. But was there ever a time you ever questioned the love of God? And how was that when you brought it back if there was a case?
- [27:55]
A
Oh, I'll give you this. Here's a big moment for me. When I was 8, I remember my grandmother going to the hospital. And while they were taking her by ambulance to the hospital, while they were getting her together, they were inside. I remember the first time I prayed on my own to my walker. I went up to the front of the house and I wanted to pray. And I don't know why I felt the unction, but I prayed for my grandmother then. And I was like, God, I need her. The prayer that I had was based off the prayers. Every night before bed, she prayed with me. And now here it is. I'm afraid of losing her. So I go out and I pray. Don't know why I felt the unction to, but I could remember asking God, please give her more time. I need her. She goes in the hospital and there's probably three other occasions, but I'll answer your question with the last occasion. Second time she goes into the hospital, I'm like, God, you know, everybody's like, hey, be strong. Granny isn't doing well. And I go in and I just break down. And she's like, maybe thank you for loving me that deeply. And I would say, I need you to get better for me. And I saw my grandmother come out of the hospital that time, about 16 this time. And then when I was 24, my grandmother gives me a phone call. And it goes back to when I was 8. She was like, do me a favor. Promise me you'll never let them put me in a nursing home. And I said, I promise you. She never asked me again, never brought it up again. There's no other promise I ever made in life. 24, I get a phone call. I'm living in New York, and I get the call. And she said, baby, remember what you promised me? And I paused for a moment. You talking about the nursing home thing? She said, yeah. I went into my boss and I said, listen, I need to leave. And he's like, okay, when will you be back? I said, I'm not coming back. Can you transfer me from New York to Indiana for this company? If not, I'll just find a new job. Was the number one salesman in the corporation. So they were like, we'll find a way for you. And I was like, plus, I'm going to work from home. I will not work in an office. And they had never done that before, but they made these concessions, and I am there now. I got in my car and 17 hours later, I was there with my grandmother so that she never went to a nursing home. Now I'm confident in this, that it's my responsibility to make sure she's all right. And I knew God, if I dedicated myself to you, if I sought you out, if I spent my time, if I dedicate, if I live for you, I could trust that you were going to guide me to direct. And if I ask, we have not, because we ask not. I believe all these things. And then all of a sudden, my grandmother falls in the driveway of my home. And when she did, she went to the hospital and never came home. You asked, did I ever question. I questioned God when she died because I was angry with the idea that I asked one thing of you. It was it. I dedicated my life. I've endured certain things. I've gone through this. I've gone in settings where I'm the only person of color and never saw color. I went in feeling intimidated because of where they succeeded, where they came from. I didn't have that yet. I overcame. If they were good, I went after being great. I did all those things, O you, Lord. But I asked one thing. Don't take her. And when she died, I felt he did. And so I struggled with that. But then I understood later that he didn't take her. He deposited the best of her in me first. You see, I can hear her voice while I'm talking to you now. And though we say grief is something that we should not carry, I do. I carry like a boulder in my right pocket. But after a while, it doesn't feel like a boulder. It's just every day to me. But it is also the thing that has made me stronger. So every time I take a step, the boulder has gave me the power to just Push through things that have stopped other people. It's fueled me. And so when you asked, did I ever question, I questioned him for the loss of her. And then I later understood that she was only on loan and that the deposit she made, God's counting on me for the withdrawal, to withdraw from every excuse, to withdraw from every frustration, withdraw from pain, and use it for purpose.
- [33:11]
B
And one of the things I love that you talk a lot about is, you know, survival. But what does survival not, you know, mean to somebody that is not only, you know, building or rebuilding their body, but also an identity? How important is identity?
- [33:27]
A
Wow. Finding out who you are is everything an identity is like. It's identity and roles. Roles. You can be the CEO of a company. That's a role that can be taken from you. But identity, it is who you are. It is the core of what you are. It is the thing that you are in spite of any role. Son, that title can be taken, father. That can be taken. But your identity is who you are. When you're all alone, those thoughts that come to your mind when you lay in bed and you're looking up at the ceiling, when you've got all that mental traffic taking place, that's your identity. And now how do we invest and improve in that? You have to instill confidence in that identity. You just have to get historical. Often, how many times have you won in life? It's to keep records the same way David did. If I can fight a Goliath, I can fight him, because I fought a bear before, and a bear is much more ferocious. If I can chase off something that can, and I can protect sheep, surely I can protect my faith, I can protect my family. And then you have to be willing to be so confident in that identity that even when people are close to you, like his brother Zach, you just wanted to be seen. The only reason why you came up here is because you want to be nosy. People will always attribute things to you that are true of them. And if you spend the time defending that, you'll lose time focusing on what you're really here for. So when David said, no, no, there's a Philistine over here, he didn't even address what they said about him. What I do love is the fact that when he tried on someone else's armor, this goes back to identity. If I try to fight, even in a king's wardrobe, it won't fit. If I try to fight like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, if I try to fight like my father or grandfather or anyone else, you still have your own identity, even if you look like someone else. And finding that superpower that you have is different. That's where the confidence part comes from. Being historical about the things that I won when I did this, I wonder that reminding yourself you are a winner even when you've lost, you learned.
- [36:01]
B
But how do you develop that? How can one start that? Because if you lacking confidence and that identity, what's the first step that one can do today to try and, like, start developing those habits?
- [36:11]
A
Man, you got to realize there's too many hands been put on you. Let me give you what that, what that looks like. If you were to look back over your life, there's different people whose hands have been placed on your back to push you forward. Whether it be a teacher, grandmother, father, wife, whoever it might be, who has pushed you forward at different times, when you were down and you look back and like, why would they all invest in me? Because there's something that is better in me than I see in myself. And if I can get historical and remember why I represent. It's not just about you. Your identity is tied to the dent that has been placed in you by them. The indentured aspect of serving other people. The dent of the idea that they press their hands on your back. It's like kids putting their hand in paint and then putting it on a piece of paper. You see the imprint on it. That's what's on the back of every one of us. And so when you were like, how do I win when I don't see it? Stop seeing just. You see it bigger than you see the whole frame of what it costs to become you. How many people had to come together being black? I've always had people come to me and they're like, well, how do you feel about slavery or some aspect of it, or surviving that or what's the mindset behind it? And I end up always answering it. Different than what they anticipate because I say, I do not come from slaves. I come from a long line of survivors. People who overcame that. Slaves died. Survivors overcame. There is no one in my bloodline that did not overcome it. In order for me to be here, the strongest of them had to be here. The determination. And when I look at my identity I come from. That's what I mean by getting historical. Go back and see all the stuff it took to make me. And for that reason, I have to be a winner. And then when we get to that identity aspect of it, you realize I was born to win, built to Win even when it looks like I'm losing.
- [38:27]
B
Which kind of segues to this question, which I wanted to actually read because I like how I wrote it down. But it says when life tests you. Now, whether it's business pressure, critics, or even self doubt, how do you ground yourself and reset?
- [38:41]
A
Oh, man, computers have that. Remember, you can control, alt, delete to start over. Oftentimes you have to do that even when they've lost everything. If someone is watching this, say, perhaps business deals have gone bad, partnerships have gone bad. Perhaps you're in the if and when, when will this check come? If that closes, you're in that if and when time frame. Here's how you reset. You realize that all the stuff you have learned has made you valuable. If I had nothing on this earth, I've lost everything but what I know, I'd be able to rebuild so much faster. Because of what I know. I know where to begin again, how to start over again. If they took you and I and they dropped us anywhere on God's earth, I don't care what it is, and they said all we're giving you is a pair of underwear and a T shirt. Start from there, one way or the other. I believe that if I had the control start over with that delete button, everything else is gone. I'd still win because the first thing I know is to go find a thrift store. I'd find a lost and found somewhere, find some pants, find some shorts. I would go find me a place where I could work and get food. I would find, I would find a way. If I could start from that, I can start from anything. And I'm just giving you the worst case scenario. There's a way to build back from. So the message to people, if you have to start over, at least you're taking your knowledge with you. And if you have that, you've got a blueprint for it. But if you have knowledge, your personal experience. But then if you throw in your faith, yeah, you see that thing there, more than anything will alter how you see yourself. I'm never without anything. If it's me and God against the world, I'm in the majority. So if you got to start all over, start with this, your faith first, and then putting forth the effort, because hard work is the only way you get anything.
- [41:07]
B
Your YouTube channel obviously has been blowing up over 105 million new views per month. And I know you're not really chasing the necessary accolades in terms of viewship as well. For someone like myself, whose channel is growing at a trajectory as well. What advice would you give someone like me or someone out there that's trying to get more exposure and more reach as well? Whether in my situation of upscaling and for others that want to just start and build as well.
- [41:36]
A
I'm going to give you something. It's just true. The first thing it is is this. Understand that people are looking for how to's. It is the number one search thing. Young men, young women search how to, how to overcome, how to become. Words like legacy, education, entrepreneur, success, finances, growth, development, keywords, search engine optimization, this happens off of that. And so the market is asking for that more than ever before because the number of people that don't have fathers in the home, all of those things where they learn. Young men learn to tie ties off of YouTube, not from fathers. Now, since people are going there for knowledge, you have to always be answering the question that they are asking without knowing how to ask it. For example, if I'm going to speak to women and I want to reach a women's audience, my conversation isn't, you know, I get up and I say, well, I'm looking for a woman to say these things. So it'll appeal to women. No, I can speak it myself, but I speak to that audience. So let's say if you wanted to speak to entrepreneurs, you don't talk about sports, you talk about how to start your business, how to start from nothing. If I really wanted to draw some people, let's say I want to talk to starting 2026 the right way. I was like, instead of setting a New Year's resolution, get resolved. Get so resolved that you're going to accomplish it that you're not waiting until January to start. It starts today, November 3rd. I am going to begin to build in such a way that I'm already in 2027 because I'm planning the year out now. How do I plan it? I start with the end that I want and I plan playing it backwards. I set a shot clock, that's how much time is there. And then I set up when am I taking my shots, when am I willing to, what am I willing to invest? Who do I need to be around? You give people the how tos by building it backwards. Rather than giving people, say five years from now, where do you want to be? And people will give you this long term thing, but it's from here to there. You actually plan from there to here. And so same thing applies to YouTube social media development. You find out what it is that people want they need how tos answers. You provide those answers to different segments, not just one. You begin to give them pieces and portions. You give them clips that they can operate off of. I just gave you one. If I'm going to talk about New Year's is coming up, then I do that. If I'm going to talk about Thanksgiving, I don't wait till Thanksgiving. I do it in the lead up to it. If I want to speak to the gym, bro, I'll talk about is not what you see in the mirror. It's what you reflect when you leave the gym. Right? It becomes a sound bite. They turn that around and they use that this way. I'll give you another tip. Oftentimes we'll say something and people will steal your concepts and ideas. Even your speech can be taken. AI will mimic and things right? But it can't if you take and copyright it. How do you copyright your speech? He said you can't. You can if you turn your speech into a song. Now you can. You see, it's thinking your way through the game in such a way that you're not the same as everyone else. I'm fortunate that I have not only a supreme partner, but a teammate in my wife that can build this thing, teaches people, shows people how to do so. And then she did it for me. I used to go to people I thought were experts, paid a lot of money for people to build a presence for me and then realize all they were doing was capitalizing off of my back. You know what a remora is? Are you familiar with that fish?
- [45:35]
B
No, sir.
- [45:36]
A
All right, you're going to love this. So we're sitting here, we're talking. Your skill set has made you a shark. You can go in anywhere and survive. You will find something. You have power, you have impact and influence. You have all those things. You were born to be a shark and you are. But a remora is like a leech. They are small skinny fish, but they can be four feet long. And they just sit around and wait till a shark comes by and up to four of them will jump on the shark and they will suck off of him and just eat off of him. The leftovers of him. They can never direct or take him anywhere, but they can only leech off of him. They have no value to the shark. Most people don't make it in growing our developing our social media and all those things because we keep finding remorse. People tell you they can build it. We'll show you how to scale it right here. Get your blue check Mark all these things, they tell you all these shortcuts, and you start paying them and they become remoras and they strain you. And then you find out they didn't develop you. They'll tell you, go buy bots and fake followers and all those things. And then you can't get sponsorships or anything because they're not valid. But when you're a shark, you'll go after it on your own. You'll find the right people, and sharks will swim with other sharks. And then the proximity, we begin to refer people to each other, and we build these ecosystems that make us both bigger. And so the connection, the affiliation, make us most powerful, and the remorse, we realize others can bite them off of us, get rid of them, because they can spot it. What you can't, they can reach what you can't. And so I'm telling you, the reason why some of the things haven't happened is because you've had way too many people who will come take from you rather than to give to you. Surround yourself with people with proximity who are truly growing, who are authentic and accountable, and that will share their knowledge because you are invested in them. That's not transactional. That's relational. And so that is how I've done it. I've been authentic. I'm very vulnerable. I give that vulnerability away. And then I constantly evaluate myself and make sure that am I speaking to an audience and who. Whatever I'm feeling in emotion at moment, that's what I speak on, because there's someone who lives on that. Wow.
- [48:04]
B
Wow, man. And I think especially I'm glad you kind of made that example. And I was discussing that with one of my producers yesterday, that it's. It's so hard to try and, like, see, then see those people that are authentic and genuine and those that. That are among the. The guru culture that are always just like, teaching and preaching, but their entire income or revenue comes from these courses. And what they.
- [48:31]
A
That's right. It's nothing they actually do. It's the people that end up believing them. Right.
- [48:37]
B
Especially when you don't know what they do. And it's one thing that's crazy. It's becoming ever so popular in this great state of Utah where you get all these people and I'm like, what do they even do? Like, what's. What's your job in living? You know, you have all this money, you have all these fancy cars, but you can't just say, like, yeah, you're an entrepreneur. Like, what?
- [48:55]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just I became this one verb, and that just did it. You start to find out that some people have benefited off the tears of others. I've seen people say, you want to write a book? Like, yeah, I would love to write a book. Great. For just 35,000, you'll be able to write this one chapter in my. Well, I don't have 35,000. You have a home. Get a mortgage on. Take that money out, give that to me. And then the person will invest in all these things because they think they appealed to the person's vanity and these dreams, this grand thing that you thought you were going to be. All you needed was the opportunity. And you believed and looked at their lives. You looked at what they marketed, and you're like, man, I can do that. I had a guy who came to me and he was like, james, I love your story so much. And I was like, man, I was flattered because of who he is or what I perceived he was.
- [49:52]
B
Precisely.
- [49:54]
A
And then he said, you know what? It's only going to cost you 75,000. And I was like, for what? He said, for me to help you with your life story. I was like, really? Okay. He said, the only thing, I think it would go better if we made it a white kid from Kansas rather than you. I think it would sell better. And so I would pay you 75,000 for you to turn me into a white kid from Kansas and. And just take my story. And he's like, ah, it'll sell so many millions of copies. I've done such and such. And it just so happened as I was sitting, I was like, I don't want to do that. I end up meeting his business partner. Two of them had had a disagreement, separated, and the guy goes, you know how he sold so many millions? I said, no. He said, well, a company in China wanted to study Western culture, paid him $100,000 for the rights to everything that he is. And then they made it part of a curriculum in China. So millions sold, but he got nothing for it. You see, he sold his birthright for 100,000. But he has the perception that he sold millions and people celebrating for the millions, not knowing the. The truth is, he doesn't even have a million. The hundred thousand is already gone, so he needs your 75 so he can keep the image alive. And so I realized that he didn't score the hundred points. He just held onto the paper, the image of Wilt Chamberlain. He only holds the paper he didn't score. And so I'm counting that he could Help me score when he can't score for himself. And so when I learned that, I was like, perception can often hurt you. You have to learn the reality of it. And so then I just, by holding onto my story, now look what it's doing, right? That I could write the book myself and become a bestseller on my own. That from that. That an agent for innovative artists could discover me. And same one that all these household names and big actors are with represents me that I could, from my own mouth. Not my leg, but from my mouth, from my pain, becoming the fuel for me to speak with purpose. And the fact that I didn't learn the culture of how to be a motivational speaker, I just became. I became more vocal because I saw that people were on mute in my community, and I thought I was speaking to amputees. And then I realized that everybody suffers loss. It may not be a limb, but there's something attached to you that isn't working. Maybe the branch of the family you've been part of has pruned you from it, and you feel isolated and alone. You can connect with me. And then the more that I began to speak there, and the more I began to be resilient, I began to speak on those things. The job I wanted to quit when I was at GM because it was hurting my leg when I worked it, but I had to push through it because I had a family to provide for. And then finally I ended up being able to leave it because I worked myself in such a way of serving people that people began to ask for me and started paying me more to go speak. And then finally, I spoke for the same company, gm. They paid me more for for an hour of a speech than they would pay me for a year of working for them. And I realized being authentic is a superpower. The pretense will only lead to people looking to see what's under the hood and being disappointed. The same guru who was telling me about him selling millions, I run into him now, and when we look each other in the eye, he has to look away because I know the story. And without confidence, the confidence leaves the moment. I've seen him get up and try to tell people about what he could do for them. If I'm in the audience and say, I don't want to feel the sense of shame, I'd rather go ahead and build my name on what I've become. I overcame. I found out, and then I found out what works, and then an audience followed it. And now I can build other people into superstars just by bringing you onto my stage, bringing you into my world, because those people have already been looking for that. And then the testing, you know, we had grown YouTube to a million and a half subscribers. I had some partners with me. I trusted them for their technology, their skill sets and all those things. Next thing I know, I find out that they weren't operating with integrity at all. That the numbers they were showing me were like fool's gold. It wasn't real. They had given me imagery and all these things. They had paid for different things to put on pretense. And when we went to go get paid for these things, I was limited because of what they had done. What I didn't know did hurt me. And then I said, let's go out and build this thing from scratch. And so I realized I had begun bigger than the brand I was affiliated with. And so my name by itself was strong enough. Started building just me instead of saying, hey, I'm a part of this team or this team or that team or whatever it is. I didn't need this guy who's a motivational speaker. I didn't need his endorsement. I don't need connection that the pathway that used to be where you had to go and go. I've been taught by such and such. I'm certified, I'm one of his people. And now he's kissed my. I've kissed the ring and now he gave me a ring and now I'm that guy. I don't have to do that route. No, man. I started from the ground up, but that's the right way. Because when I started the ground up and put me on the door to door Plath, and every time I knocked on the door with my videos and messages and people discovered me, they would share it and bring it back to other people. And all of a sudden you've built up something so big that you never even know about the guy who has the ring anymore.
- [56:27]
B
Isn't that crazy?
- [56:28]
A
Yeah.
- [56:29]
B
No, and I'm glad you mentioned that. So it's just been very eye opening this week. Like I said, I've been Arizona, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and then Vegas yesterday. Matter of fact, I just arrived in Utah this morning. Three hours sleep. That's all I need. The passion is, is far greater and the mission and purpose. But throughout that journey as well, it's just been eye opening and sad because some of the people that I perceived, you know, to be something better, you know, you. You pay to be in these rooms. And then it's one thing, it's another upsell and another upsell. And, yeah, so I'm like, how much more am I going to be able to pay you? And then before you know it, it's like, now that you're in there, it's like the treatment's a little different. It's like, you know, so then it's just you start questioning all these different things because you keep chasing a way to try and be able to find those right connections. Because I just genuinely have a burning fire to want to learn. I genuinely just want to learn.
- [57:23]
A
Let me give you. I'm going to affirm you in some things. Everyone I know that is great sleeps like that, that you're not alone. All the greats do. I do not sleep eight hours. I don't know anyone who's doing something great that has that luxury. Because there's more on you, there's more in you. Purpose wakes me. My mind goes to work. And they were like, calm yourself and do this. Do chakra. I'm not doing any of that. God gave you the power and the ability, and he gave you. Now. You will not burn out because the wick is not based on you. And so what happens is that you get in these rooms and you're learning. And yet that desire or that thirst for something authentic and to learn and to be around people, that is great. It's seeking knowledge, learning knowledge. And whether you realize it or not, for every one of those rooms that you and I have ever paid to be in and got disappointed and anyone that is watching, you paid for an education. And you walked out of there with more knowledge than you realized. You learned what not to do. You learned that the wizard isn't as big as you thought he was. That when the curtain came down, it was a timid old man that was all image. And so then you relieve there and you're like, I am now. More firm than ever, that I am enough as I am. And then you go out with that same fervor. And all of a sudden, you can't be denied, brother. I have had speakers who I looked up to. Couldn't wait to meet them, man. You know, when I worked in a factory, I have them on headset listening to them. And then when I got to meet him, I was like, man, I wish I'd never met this guy. Because he's nothing like that, right? And it's not just that they're different behind the scene than they are on the scene. It is the fact that there's a team writing everything that they say and they are just the actor you see with me. Everything that I do, even when it comes to interview, I don't need prep, I don't need questions, I don't need you to tell me what it is about. I'll speak from the heart to the heart every time, all the time. Because I was born that way. And as a result of it there are things that come my way and I get into a setting, I just, I am led by that. And when the spirit bears witness with itself, it opens doors for you. I've been protected at times and other times, even when folks have tried to take advantage of me, I kept growing. So they end up coming back. I've had some of the gurus come back to me and ask me how to. Because I did it legitimately and, and then they were like, how did you figure it out? And is that because I was left out?
- [60:17]
B
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm glad you shared that. And, and it's true. And I think my, those experiences, the best experience was the people that were in my situation and the networks and the connections that were made there rather than an actual potential guru or person that was know hosting that as well. Because I'll never stop but like it's something, I just feel like it's all I've always had and like the more I keep learning, the more I want more the one, the more I get fed with more knowledge, the more I grow, the more understanding I get. Like the more every time somebody sits there I have to try and get something out of it. Like it's, it's a weird obsession. Not even an obsession. Like after this interview, once it gets edited, like I rewatch it and listen to it then after, then you know, critique myself because I keep telling myself listen, I, I love the questions that come up with but I need to be better at follow up questions. I need to be better at, at engaging a bit money to be better guess and getting something more personal rather than just like listen, tell me about yourself. You know, so it's, it's all these different things and then I have an editor will edit a certain way who has the same passion as me and then he does these edits and I get so excited I'm out there at 3 o' clock in the morning, I'm like good job man. Our year's a good bonus. You know, you know all these different things because it's not even about that. It's the fact that when people are aligned and they have the same vision and passion with you it's just a different kind of feeling rather than you just feel like sometimes it's just passengers that are just along the way.
- [61:42]
A
Well, I want to tell you this. Along the way, the more you climb, the greater you become. The more skilled you become, the more you polish yourself, you will lose more and more friends. It comes with it. You will not gain friends, you will lose friends. You will gain influence, you'll gain associates, you'll gain people who will want to be around you as you climb. But the moment that you can't serve them, they leave. It comes with it. But the great thing about it is this. You also get to separate those remorse from you. They drop off as you move up each level. But with that level, you'll find people who are more authentic. And as a result of it, the herd gets thinned out, pruned out. It comes down to just the certain selection. And the breeding is better because you'll be around people who are just on the same wavelength. It's just that they are rare. But that's the way it's built to be. You'll go from 25 people who are always around you, available to you, to 10. From 10 down to 3. It's biblical. Christ had the disciples at 12. Within the 12, there are 3. Within the 3, there was one, you see, and even in the 12, there was a betrayal. It comes with it. Now you say, why would Christ only have these small amounts when there are millions of people available? Because it's not about the crowd. It's about the core. And the more you sharpen that skill set, the more you'll be able to recognize there are very few like you.
- [63:33]
B
As somebody watching right now, and is has started their business and wants to, you know, upscale, wants to find the right people, is kind of feeling a little overwhelmed and alone. From your experience in business and in life, what advice would you give those people?
- [63:53]
A
You got to get in a room with people who have the same mindset, with a sense of purpose, with a sense of passion and accountability. And they want relationship. Before they ever ask you for a transaction, you have to surround yourself with other sharks. You will learn from each other. You'll sharpen each other. Swords will clash. You'll have conflicts and conversations, but you will improve. But it will also cause you to realize. It will give you confidence. You'll be around some people you think that really got it together, and you'll be like, wow, I didn't see anything that they have that I don't. It gives you confidence. It's like Finding out. You get on a track and you sing with someone and you end up sounding just as good as your idol. Imagine that, right? Get around people who have similarities to you. Stay grounded in your faith, though, because I don't care who you are. If you won everything, if you got all the money, if you got everything and you didn't have faith, you lost everything. I was around. I went to lunch and met Mr. Spencer Echols, if you know him, right? So when you see Eccles Theater, Echols, is all the stadiums named after him. He has a lapel pen that says 110%. He stopped. He was talking to my family. He's talking to my sons especially. And he asked their names of me. I talked to them and he was like, with all that he's done, he was like, the best advice I can give you is give 110%. 100 is not enough. People always think that. 100, that's it. There's nothing beyond that. But there's always the extra. The extra becomes this way. You can do a podcast or you can build relationships and realize that you're not talking to me, you're talking to an audience that will see us later. It's the reason why we have to make sure we don't talk about what the weather's like today or something silly, because we created. We stop it from being an evergreen. This can be shown five years from now if we don't put a time frame on it. Right? We can speak in such a way and do such a thing, and then it goes. 110% is to make sure that you ask the questions, you get information out of people that will translate long beyond that moment. You ask me, what do I say to those entrepreneurs? Find people who force you to grow, and for that reason, you grow. Somebody has to be bigger than you. Somebody has to be stronger than you. Get in the arena with them and find out what it takes. It's like no different than mma. You've got to go in and spar with someone who will beat you up the first time. And then you find out you. You're learning the tactic and that you do heal. And if you can't take criticism, you can't grow. When you and I sit down, it's small things, like talking about a business, but then we start talking about reality stuff and about relationships and overcomer. We talked about race in this thing. We talked about faith in this thing. We talked about entrepreneurial aspects in this, about growing your social media, developing it, getting rid of people who hang on and collecting yourself around people who actually do it. I would gladly pay for someone to show me to do it the right way than for me to keep making the mistakes or try to grow using ChatGPT.
- [67:32]
B
Wow. And what does resilience look like for you now after all the storms that you have survived?
- [67:40]
A
Oh, man, for me, man, it looks like this. It looks like the people who come after me. Now, starts off, maybe it looks like my son, because in him, kids born on these roads of success often take detours, and it's important for me to make sure that he doesn't take those. I've got to force him into some hard stuff. Sally Dieterlein said that the best thing about having kids is to raise them with a little bit of neglect. They must have their own struggle, save some fight for them. And even though we can employ him and take care of him and pay my son thousands a month at 19, I need him to go flip some burgers, cut some grass, rake some leaves, get some calluses, earn his rights. Otherwise, I've left nothing for him to do to build character. And so now for me, it looks like the people in the audience that take what I do and expand it for they expand my purpose and they validate it as well. It's legacy time. I'm looking for now, speakers who, who I can put on stage with me. I can take them around. I can do certain things. I've got a movie coming out about my life with Angel Studios. I've got all these things we're working on. My name will be bigger in the years to come than it ever has been, but it is because I did the groundwork. Now I know to take the short, how to give other people the shortcuts to it, but the only path they have to do is they got to find their way to me, because I won't go searching for them.
- [69:28]
B
Second last question, sir. How do you define greatness, knowing that you've lived through a lot of hidden pain and public success?
- [69:39]
A
Oh, I love how you said it's ness. You know, it's one thing to be great. You talk about greatness. Nest is like a nest. It's something you can sit in and others can find it as well. Greatness for me is to find purpose and to show appreciation to what sacrifices were paid for me. You and I sit here on the back of a whole lot of people, the shoulders of very few, and with others that we will meet, that we will have to do the same. For if all I do is leave a name in this Generation, I felt, because the time would come when no one knows this version of Moses Zig Ziglar in all that he did. His name doesn't ring bells today to people. You'd have to tell people who he is. And so greatness to me is when you can live beyond your generation, by the way you recreate yourself in the lives of others. So I leave a nest that others can fly out of, but it still comes back to my nest.
- [70:51]
B
The code to winning. Usually everyone has their own definition of winning. And I think in the beginning, I kind of stressed, like, that's why I kind of chose that title, because I feel like winning is defined differently for different people in different, you know, areas in life, different perspective as well. This very powerful interview. I want to know, for Dr. Dixon, our last and final question. What does the term winning mean for you?
- [71:19]
A
Oh, man. Winning for me was getting my degrees for my grandmother. She didn't get a chance to get her education. She sacrificed a lot. Winning for me was understanding that there's a legacy. Winning for me is to add things that will go in my obituary that are beyond what I did. Winning for me was finding love. Winning for me will be the day that I die. And I have emptied myself. I didn't have anything left to give. I wronged out every part of the talent that was given to me. Winning for me was leaving the inner city. Winning for me is forgiving the person who murdered my brother. Winning for me is the fact that I built a friendship with you. Now that is my win.
- [72:22]
B
Wow. Powerful. If you could let our viewers know where they could get a hold of you if they want to be able to, like, learn from you, book you.
- [72:30]
A
Ah. Listen, if you want to connect with me, if anything that I said resonated with you, if I spoke to your heart from this, all you have to do is look at. Elevatethevoicesofficial.com Elevatethevoicesofficial.Com it is a website. It leads to everything else that we do, but it is how we teach people to become legendary with what you do. I'm looking for voices that stand with me, help me change the world, leave a legacy.
- [73:02]
B
The code to winning. Insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Dr. Dixon, thank you so much, sir.
- [73:07]
A
Appreciate your time. Honored.