Segment:- Mindset Mastery: Principles Over Desire.

What if the difference between noisy ambition and lasting success is a single choice: principles above desire? We sit down with a founder whose path runs from hard street lessons to graduate classrooms and into a self-funded foundation impacting youth, women, and health across Ghana. The conversation moves fast—from why he started giving decades before big money arrived, to how “one plus one is three on the street” captures leverage, humility, and the will to win without losing your soul.

We unpack a practical framework that keeps momentum when life gets noisy: the street for grit and respect, the book for tools and language in a global economy, and God for meaning and moral direction. He explains why philanthropy must come from within to be sustainable, and how mindset beats handouts every time—teaching young people to handle 100 cedis, define profit, read their environment, and build discipline that sticks. You’ll hear the systems that kept him grounded even after he had millions: 3 a.m. study sessions, strict time anchors, ruthless environment design, and public accountability that makes quitting expensive.

There’s power in returning to school after forty, with money in the bank, simply to avoid being shortchanged and to set a standard for children and the broader community. And there’s honesty in saying success without history isn’t success at all—wealth should carry scars, lessons, and a story strong enough to guide others. If you’re ready to replace shortcuts with structure and turn generosity into long-term impact, this conversation will sharpen your mindset and your mission.

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Host: https://www.instagram.com/derrick.abaitey/

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Well I mean we we we belong to a world where we are

(00:05):
ahead of what we our persona isis is is ahead of the things we
do.
It's all had to do with desire.
But as a young man, young womancoming up, your principle should
have principle.
Your principle should be aboveyour desire.
What would you say yourprinciples has been?

(00:26):
Always above my desire.
That makes you think.
That makes you resilient becauseevery young man you must have a
prize.
And that is your principle.
And your principle must be aboveyour desire.

SPEAKER_00 (00:41):
It's exciting to see that even at your level, I can
still see so much resilience andhunger.
Like speaking to you right now,I can still see and I can still
feel it in your voice thatyou're still really going hard,
you know, for what you youreally want and how you want to
impact people.
Yeah.
Because and and just today,these young people were asking

(01:03):
me, how come there are peoplewho make money, they wait at a
later stage in their life, maybeyou know, 70, 80, then they
start, you know, philanthropywork.
And there are people they startvery young.
What do you think the differenceis?

SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
This is a very important question.
You see, giving must comefreely.
I started doing charity 20 yearsago.
I didn't start yesterday.
The little I had, I shared.
You can you can check some ofthe features, the videos, and my
part.
Before, I was doing it low key.

unknown (01:36):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
I 20 years ago, at least actually 23 years ago, I
was doing it very low key.
But it gets to a point you can'tcontrol how you give anymore.
And it is very difficult to dophilanthropic work here.
If you do it for sure, you can'tcontinue.
It has to come from within.
We have been very consistent.

(01:58):
We have one, we have the biggestfoundations in Ghana.
A lot of people don't know.
Is it self-funded?
Self-funded or self-funded.
I mean, a percentage of uh whatcomes in, we use it for the
foundation.
And it's all about impact.
Why do you think it's importantto give?
Even at like at a scale that youare given.

(02:21):
It's why is it not important togive?
It is important to give.
Look, look at the environmentthat we live in.
One day, if we don't give, itwill all turn back on us.
We are living in a very toxic,serious environment whereby we
have to give.
For me, giving back to the youthis not really the goodies.

(02:43):
It's not really the things I dofor them.
It's all about mindset.
That is why the connect, theyouth connect, and the
entrepreneurial challenge.
Apart from that, you can see wehave different sections, health,
uh, women, especially.

(03:05):
It's all about empowerment, buthow to change the mindset of an
ordinary youth on the street.

SPEAKER_00 (03:11):
Do you think a change in mindset would help
build people's livesfinancially?
That is all that is about.
How do you create thatconnection?

SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Well, I'm not the kind of guy that gives.
I give, I teach, I show theyouth how to fish.
It's all about mindset.
You know, we cannot go aboutgiving fish.
We have to teach them how tofish.
So it's all about the mindset.
How do you understand if youhave 100 cities?

(03:43):
How do you think you'll bedisciplined to spend it?
At the end of the day, evenmaking profit, you have to
understand what is profit.
You also have to understand yourenvironment.
So if we, those who are one stepahead of the rest, can sacrifice
some time and bring these youthtogether to tell them that look,

(04:07):
you have to understand thestreet, the book, and God.
You should know these three cometogether in our ecosystem.
The street?
The book and God.

SPEAKER_00 (04:19):
Okay, let's take streets.
Yeah.
Why street?
Because I know you be you youwere a street boy.
Yeah.
What values did the street teachyou that has been valuable in
your business dealings today?

SPEAKER_01 (04:32):
Well, you know, hunger, you know, the street
taught me how to fight.
The street taught me how to win.
The street taught me how torespect and subject to
authority.
In those days, I mean, youyou're rough, but you should
know you are see you haveseniors.
You have to have principle howto go around your seniors.
You have to fight.

(04:52):
I had I had a herself rest inpeace.
I had an illiterate,well-cultured African woman who
was my mother who taught me thestreet.
My mother taught me how tosurvive.
You won't go out and cry home.
When you cry home, she'll beatyou and go back and come home
smiling.
That was my mother.
So that's the street.
And the street also teaches youthat one plus one is not two.

(05:15):
One plus one is actually threeon the street.

SPEAKER_00 (05:18):
Wanna break it down for me?

SPEAKER_01 (05:21):
You know, you you gotta win.
Whatever you do, you gotta win.
But a lot of people don't knowthere's a lot of humility to
learn on the street.
The streets can humble you.

SPEAKER_00 (05:32):
So, me, I'm not from the street.
So if you're teaching me themindset of the street, what
would it, what would you teachme today?

SPEAKER_01 (05:39):
Go and get bruises and come back.
Okay.
Go and get bruises and comeback.
There's a lot of fellows.
You know, our life, theecosystem that we live in today,
right?
We have to understand our ownenvironment.
We have to understand how yourstreet might not be my street,

(06:01):
your street might be anotherstreet.
Your street might be not givingup and whatever you touch.
Rather you're a successful youngman, maybe the next thing is to
buy a private chair for yourselffor yourself.
You understand.
But what do you how do you wantto succeed?

(06:22):
How do you want to try?
Do you see you just you justquit?
Or do you just say no to what isdifficult?
How many times do you come back?
Those are the things on thestreet.

SPEAKER_00 (06:34):
So now let's talk about the books.
Yeah.
Why why are the books importantfor success?

SPEAKER_01 (06:39):
You know, the world is changing so fast, and if you
don't go by the book, you won'treach far.
The world has become a globalvillage.
You have to go to school, pick adegree, and pick another degree,
and pick another degree.
You know, you you you need tomove.
I dropped, I was a dropout fromschool.
I got to know the university.

(06:59):
I was dropped out for 15 years.
I was at 15 years.
I went back to school to pick mydegree.
I came back to work and wentback to pick my master's.

SPEAKER_00 (07:07):
Which at that point, I think one of your interviews,
you said you had over 30million.
40.
I had some good money.
Good money in your account.
Some good money.
Why did you use why were youstill able to maintain the
composure to, you know, go backto school and sit in a classroom
for how are you able to do that?

SPEAKER_01 (07:23):
You know, as you move in life, there's something
called self-actualization.

unknown (07:28):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (07:28):
You need to get to that level that you will not get
shortchanged.
At least I did it also for mychildren.
If daddy can go back to schoolafter 40, what excuse do you
have?
I did it for the youth of today.
If the youth of today can readmy book and say, okay, Macaulay
went back to school after 40.
I was one of the best students.

(07:48):
Made time.
Still, you know, it is difficultto have money and be
disciplined.
Talk to me.
It's difficult to be sitting ongood cash to be disciplined.
So how do you compose yourself?
You know, there's somethingcalled attitude.
Attitude has been embedded inyou.
Just imagine you're waking up at3 a.m., 4 a.m.

(08:12):
sit by a book, learn till 7 or6, move to the office, work,
check your time, 4, 5 o'clock,you're on a motorbike, to
classroom for a quiz.
After quiz, you get back to theoffice.
After school, you get back tothe office.
And from the office, you gethome around 10, 11.

(08:34):
You need you need discipline.
You need to be disciplined to dothat.
Meanwhile, you have money.

SPEAKER_00 (08:41):
It's not an easy journey.
I think a lot of the time, youknow, we speak about have
discipline, have composure.
You know, especially on thetopic of discipline.
Yeah.
We say this a lot.
But what systems do you have inplace to make sure that you do
what you said you want to do?

SPEAKER_01 (08:57):
Everything has to start with you.
It's you, it's it's nobody else.
Discipline starts with you.
And if you want to besuccessful, very successful, you
have to be disciplined.
I always talk about disciplinebecause the next the next world
is discipline.
Look, you can be as successfulas you want to be, but when you
are not disciplined, that'll bevery difficult.

(09:18):
I always say that a successwithout story is not a stuff.
It's not success.
You can't just get up and say,I'm a billionaire without a
story.
You should have history.
You cannot be rich withouthistory.
You can't do what you want to dowithout proper history.
There must be history in yourworld.

SPEAKER_00 (09:36):
Let me stop you here for a minute.
We are on a journey of changingthe minds and the lives of
people.
So if you haven't subscribed andbecome part of the family,
please hit the subscribe buttonand turn on the notification.
Thank you.
Now let's carry on with theconversation.
Wow.
So we're gonna go back to howyou made your first million.
Love it.

SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
Connected Minds Podcast.