Journeyman Stories

My Journey to a Windy Week-end

2012-03-05T13:05:00.001-05:00

If you are here in Toronto, you know what I am talking about. Was it a storm or what? I thought our house was going to be blown away this week-end (but nothing compared to what happened down South in the US).

With such wind blowing all over the place, no way I would go out. Good thing I did not have any appointment or meeting booked (a rare thing). What do you think I did? I watched as many TV shows as I could (in between my wife's favourite Nigerian movies). Thanks to Rogers' “On Demand”, I was able, not only to catch up with “The Mentalist”, “The Big Bang Theory” and many others, but I also discovered new shows I did not know about, like “The Finder” (a good one as a matter of fact). Do you think I will get some advertising fees for promoting these shows? I hope so.

One of the shows I liked the most this week-end was CBC's “Dragon's Den”. My friend Jim always talks about this show that I was curious to find out what it is about. I was not disappointed at all. The show is about a few investors who are judging business ideas from different people who come to pitch them for a potential partnership. It is a great concept and people sometimes come up with crazy ideas.

Towards the end of the show, a guy came up with a couple of good looking ladies wearing bikinis (I almost changed the channel. Just kidding). Do you know why they were waring bikinis? They wanted to show their abs. This guy wanted to show to the investors a product that he had created. According to him, once someone drinks his product, he/she will get abs in a very short time (hence the presence of the bikini ladies). I was like “I need this product” (my search for a six pack abs has taken me a lifetime and I am now losing hope).

The investors started to ask him questions in regards to his product and all the great stuff about return on investment. I was hoping he gets the money for the product to be on the market as soon as possible (that's how desperate I am). He ended up getting nothing. Do you know why? One of the investors asked him a simple but yet profound question to which he could not respond. The question was: “Can you show me your abs?” The guy couldn't do it simply because he hadn't any. Can you believe that? This guy was convincing investors to invest in a product that he hasn't successfully used himself (maybe getting abs was not his cup of tea).

It was so funny, but it was common sense at the same time. It got me thinking though. Do you know what I was asking myself? Guess!

I started thinking about my product. I teach people to achieve their goals (and with great results most of the time). But, am I achieving mine? That's the question. This year, I haven't achieved mine yet, but I am on my way. The good news is that it's all about the journey, not the destination. It's not always easy but I will hang in there. I heard someone say “don't wish it could be easy, wish you could be stronger”

Moral of the story? Do you want to have great abs, find someone to show you how. It won't be me.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Week of Celebrations

2012-02-27T16:01:00.001-05:00

It has been a week of so many celebrations in so many areas. For movie fans, the Oscars took place this past Sunday, for Basketball fans, it was the All Star Week-end festivities, and for me, it was my turn to celebrate the Black History Month ( I was the Master of Ceremony at an event this Saturday).

This is the seventh time I have offered my services as an MC at the same event, and in each year it gets better and better. This year, my good friend Nicolas was performing and, as usual he did his thing and we had loads of fun. But for me, as you all know, the most important thing was....food. I pretended that, as the MC, I was very busy so as to avoid lining up for the food. Needless to say I was among the first ones to eat lol.

By the time I got home on Saturday, I was so exhausted that I woke up at noon on Sunday. Good thing that I had no other engagements for the day, except watching the NBA all star game and the Oscars back and forth. By the time I woke up today, I was ready to go to my workshop at 9 am.

On my way to the workshop, I started thinking about all the festivities of the week-end. The Oscars were celebrating the best in the movie industry, the NBA was celebrating the best in the game, and the whole month of February we are celebrating Black culture and heritage. Isn't that wonderful?

I started dreaming a little bit. How about celebrating every day? Celebrating what? You may ask. Celebrating life itself. In my opinion, life is a miracle. We really don't know what will happen to us tomorrow. How about ten minutes from now? Do you know what will happen to you? It could be something good or bad, but the fact is, we really don't know. Every second that we live is a precious moment. How about celebrating it? It doesn't have to be a big celebration, but I am learning to live my life, experiencing every moment as it comes.

Moral of the story? Do you want to fully celebrate your life? Just have some food and invite me, we will celebrate together.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a New Season

2012-02-20T12:38:00.001-05:00

It has been a wonderful TV week lately. Between the “Linsanity” taking the sport world by the storm (and in the process crushing my Raptors) and Tony Robbins being a guest on an Oprah show, I had a blast.

For those of you who are not Basketball fans, maybe it is your first time hearing about the term “Linsanity”. It is simply a word that fans created out of the insane few weeks that the new Basketball sensation Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks has been having. This kid is something. It's nothing short of a miracle what is happening to him.

Out of Harvard (which is not a great Basketball school), Jeremy tried to find a professional team that could use his services. Luckily, the Golden State Warriors took him, but only for a short period of time. He got let go, and Houston took him for a while before cutting him as well. Out of desperation because of a lack of point guards, New York picked him for a 10 day contract, but sent him to the development league where he played just one game. He was called back by New York because of the tons of injuries in the team, the New York coach took a chance and gave Jeremy an opportunity to play. Oh boy, the kid became an overnight sensation leading New York to 7 straight wins, including a 38 points game against Kobe and the Lakers.

At this time, you must be asking yourself if you are reading a sport column or something. Enough of Basketball now.

Two days ago, I received a text from a good friend of mine telling me to watch Oprah's network on Sunday at 9pm. According to my friend, Oprah would have a friend of mine on her show. I started asking myself whose friend it was. I laughed so much when I found out that the guest would be Tony Robbins. My friend knows I am a big fan of Tony, so she made sure I watched the show.

After begging my wife to not watch her favourite show on Sunday, she agreed to let me watch Oprah at 9 PM. I have watched Tony so many times, but every time I get a chance to listen to him, I always learn something new . He is a powerhouse speaker with lots of energy.

He mentioned something on the show that caught my attention. He said that in life there are seasons. And every season is here to come and then to pass. Nothing is permanent. Oh boy, I needed to hear that. I am in a new season, and it is not very comfortable all the time. So to be reminded that this is not permanent was music to my ears.

Think of Jeremy Lin for a moment. He was let go by two teams, to be picked up by New York for just 10 days (talk about insecurity right there), which at first sent him to the development league, and called him back to the main team because of injuries to some players. Jeremy did not know that he was about to start a new season in which he would be a worldwide superstar. What a story!

So, if you are going through tough times, just know that it is for a season, they will come and they will pass. A new season is about to start, and everything you went through will be lessons you had to learn to go to the next level.

Moral of the story? Do you want to start a new season in your life? Just watch Basketball and Jeremy Lin will inspire you

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Meeting with an Eleven Old Genius

2012-02-13T17:00:00.001-05:00

This time I did not need Jim to remind me about writing my blog. I knew exactly what I was going to write about. But I took some time to process my thoughts. I can't stop thinking about Whitney Houston passing away. The world just missed one of the best in the history of entertainment. That's my opinion.

It's been quite a week! We attended a networking event last Tuesday, and a number of people we met showed interest in what we do and wanted to attend a series of events we had scheduled. Actually, I just returned from one of them and oh what a fun time I am having delivering the presentations.

Last Saturday, Paul, my friend Bonnie and I had an event early in the morning, and it seemed like the weather was not going to work with us. Nevertheless, we had a packed house in spite of the snow.

On our way to the event, Paul decided to go to the store and buy a light bulb and an airplane (not a real one of course. It was a toy). In my mind, I was like “what in the world is he going to do with these two items”?

Off we went to our meeting. After a few words by Bonnie and myself, it was Paul's turn to speak. I wanted to see what he was going to do with the two items he had bought. It looked like a slam dunk contest at the NBA All Star Game with players bringing their own props.

Paul asked us to go back into our past to when we were very young, let's say 11 years; (I won't tell you what I was doing at eleven...). Here is how his presentation went:

“Imagine you are eleven years old and you are in school. The teacher comes to you and ask you to pack your stuff and go home. He tells you not to ever come back to class again because you will never amount to anything. How would you feel?” Above all, how would your mother react?

Paul let us say what we thought and then went: “Do you know that Edison experienced something similar to this: when he was seven years, after spending about 12 weeks in school, Edison's teacher lost patience with him and called him addled. In other words, his teacher basically implied that Edison was very confused and would probably not amount to anything. Remember, he was only 7 years? But this did not stop Edison from being credited for inventing the first practical light bulb...” Paul then showed us the light bulb that he had bought from the store.

I knew about Thomas Edison's story, but the way Paul put it made us all really think and put ourselves in a similar situation. Kids are so fragile at a young age, and they all believe what we tell them. His teacher was wrong, but his mother was right. Yes, his mother believed in him and encouraged him to go after his dreams. We know that he failed so many times before inventing the first practical light bulb which he did by improving on a 50 year old idea. It's a good thing he followed his dreams - can you imagine if he didn't and you had to read my blog in candle light.

Now my question to you is very simple. Who are you listening to when it comes to your dream? Do you believe those who say to you that you will never make it? If that is the case, please stop and just listen to one person and one person only. Do you know who that person is? Can you guess? It's....me! Yes. Please listen to me. If you have a dream in your heart, please pursue it. Don't stop believing even when it looks like there is no way out. Keep going and you will get there. That's the Journeyman's prediction.

Moral of the story? Do you want to make it in life? Keep listening to me and you will buy a light bulb

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to an Almost Forgotten Blog

2012-02-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

I am heading to a meeting with our new business partner, my mind is already on our tomorrow's event (a big one), and all of sudden I hear my phone beeping. It's Jim. And I read: “are you posting your blog today?” Shoot. I had completely forgotten about my blog. Thanks to Jim, you are now reading today's blog. I texted him back saying that the blog would be ready in 45 minutes. That was before noon. Now it is almost 10.30 PM and the blog is not finished yet. That how busy I was today.

I must admit that I would have finished the blog earlier, but my wife found a way for us to watch back to back episodes of “The Mentalist” and I am writing during commercial breaks (yes I can multitask...). Plus, the Raptors are playing double overtime (and just lost)...

The good thing is that, along the way, I got inspired and now know exactly what I am going to write about.

After my text to Jim, a friend of mine (freshly arrived from Burundi) came at our house with a package for me, sent by my mom. I wouldn't say that the package was for me as 90% of the stuff were things that my mom sent to my wife. I am jealous now. I used to be the only one receiving stuff, now I am back to the bench (just like my Basketball years lol). My wife was happy, so I guess I am happy too.

As I was saying goodbye to my friend, he agreed to give me a ride to pick up some Goal Achievers promotional materials. On our way, he told me what he has been doing in Burundi (outside of his business activities). Just for the record, my friend is a very successful business owner, but above all he has a very big heart (no wonder he is succeeding). Do you know that for the last 4 months or so, he has been sending food to sick people in hospitals? He also has been paying for hospital fees for those who couldn't afford it. All of that using his own money, paying people to go to buy the food and cook it. I was like. Are you serious!!!?? Boy I was inspired.

I was aware that in Burundi, most of the times people who cannot pay for hospital fees are obliged to stay in hospital (even though they are no longer sick) until they can pay them. Some of them stay in hospital for months before they get out. Yes I know. It's crazy, but that is the reality. And my friend has been helping hundreds of them anonymously. Now he is at the point where he cannot continue to do it alone. He needs help because there are hundreds of people who need help.

We agreed to meet another time so that we could brainstorm on ideas of how we can get more people involved in this. Before I said goodbye to him, I asked for his permission to talk about this in my blog, maybe somebody would like to join us. He said yes, and here it is. Please do e-mail me at patrick@goalachieverscanada.com if you would like to join us and make a difference.

Moral of the story? Do you want to make a difference? Just give me a ride and I will mention you in my blog

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey Back On Stage

2012-01-30T15:36:00.002-05:00

After a busy month, things are getting back to normal. Our house is starting to look like a home (much less than a warehouse lol).

I had a great day today. I was back on stage delivering a half an hour presentation (the first of a series of four presentations) and I had so much fun. I am speaking again tomorrow with my friend Jim, and on Friday I will be facilitating a Mastermind session hosted by my friend Bonnie.

After my presentation, I went to say hello to my former co-workers; it was really great to see them again. As I started to joke with them, one of them came out of the meeting room and asked me not to speak loudly as they were shooting a promotional video for their Black History Month event (I heard they will have a celebrity as their MC, I wonder who that person is...). Guess what? They asked me to be interviewed right there on the spot (good thing I was already dressed for success from my presentation earlier on). What an experience!

As I began my 4 hour meeting yesterday with Paul, he said something I longed to hear for years. He said “I can see you lost weight. Congratulations”. Oh yes I did. No, sorry, I didn't. My wife did it. Man!! It's been a month of serious eating discipline for me. And you know, in terms of food I am always open to opportunities. Not having that extra slice of bread in the morning, asking permission to include ketchup in the groceries list (and justifying that it's for our guests lol), not including Tim Horton's iced cappuccino in my thoughts...has been a tough exercise for me. But hearing that comment from Paul (who has been teasing me for years about my weight) was worth all the pain and misery I have been through for the last few weeks lol

Seriously though, I promised my wife to lose weight and she has been holding me accountable ever since. I am so thankful that she is there to remind me of my goal (and I can tell you that she is doing a great job).

How many times have we decided to do something and later on found ourselves falling back into our old habits? Having someone to hold you accountable can be of great help. At Goal Achievers, we have a great system which does just that for our clients! For the last eight months we have tested it and we have had great results. Now let me be honest with you, it isn't comfortable but it brings out the best in you giving you that great feeling of accomplishment.

My challenge to you is to find someone who can hold you accountable in whatever you chose to do, someone who can tell you the truth regardless of how you feel about it, someone who cares about you enough to push you over your limits, and you will see how your life will change in a matter of weeks. The secret is to create new habits long enough so that they become second nature. Now, I don't think so much about eating out or having that extra slice of bread in the morning. I am now starting to have fun with it (especially when I start hearing good comments like Paul's).

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Planned Week

2012-01-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

Don't be fooled by the title of this blog. Just the other day, as I was starting a meeting with Paul, he asked me how was my day. I told him that everything was going according to the plan, but not my plan. He laughed so much but it was the truth.

It's been one of my hectic months in years. It's crazy man. Just to give you an idea, my wife came on Christmas day, and at that time I was still living with my friend. On Christmas eve, I learned that I won't get the apartment that I wanted (24 hours before my wife's arrival!!!). Guess what? I took a hotel for a few days (for many reasons as you can guess lol).

After four days in the hotel, we moved to my brother's place for a few days, just to give me a little bit of time to find a place. Did I tell you that I booked 2 apartments in a week, just to learn that they were taken while I was going to sign the lease? Crazy hey! Anyways, after a week at my brother's place (by the way, him and his wife have been so amazing to us), I finally found a place (few minutes away from the one that I missed on Christmas eve). Great place.

Then it was time to move, buy new furnitures, do something about the empty fridge and all that fun stuff. You may be asking yourselves why I did all those things at the last minute. That's a fair question. The thing is that I did not expect my wife to get the Canadian visa that quickly (I guess I have to believe more in my prayers...). We bought her ticket 2 days before her flight (that is an other story by itself). I was not ready at all for all these sudden events, and I didn't want to be one more day (if not one more hour) in a long distance relationship (I think now I have a PHD in long distance relationships lol)

Back to my story. I went to buy new furnitures and they told me that they would deliver everything in the next two days. They actually did, just to find out that the sofas could not get through the main door! Are you kidding me? Don't think that I live in a cave, but I was starting to get frustrated. I had to call the furniture store, and $400 extra later, they agreed to send me new sofas. I will get them this week, but the coffee table will only get here next week (another delay).

The list can go on and on. It was delay after delay, to the point that my wife was wondering what we did to deserve all this. Did I tell you that, in the process my phone got disconnected? I did not even have a minute to go downtown to pay the phone bill. Yes it has to be downtown as we moved in a new area where the phone company does not have any store yet.

Finally, I went downtown to pay my phone bill to find out that there was $10 less on my bill. I could take that. And I mentioned to them that my wife is new to the country and is looking for a phone. Guess what? They gave me a free phone for her, one month free, and as I brought them a new client, they gave me a free month as well. Not only that. As I went to my new mailbox, I found that I am eligible for a deal with Rogers that gave me free Internet, home phone and cable for the next 3 months. I can take that too.

All of a sudden, I forgot all the delays we went through the last few weeks because of those deals

Do you know what I learned in the process? I learned that have great friends (and one of them did not want me to mention his name in my blog, but I know that he is reading it now). They showed up and gave us a good and needed hand.

As I was reading Napoleon Hill's book “Think and Grow Rich” yesterday (for the thousand time), I read that one of the causes of failure in life is the poor choice in finding a marriage partner. I got covered on that one. My wife has been of an outstanding patience through the whole process it's unbelievable. I cannot take credit for that one. Gladys my sister in law is the one who deserves a standing ovation (please stop reading this blog and applaud her for a minute)

I also learned that delays are good. They are there to teach us patience, but also, there are things that are happening behind the scene that we are not aware of, if we can wait long enough we could benefit from them (how about the phone deals for my wife?!). If I had paid my phone bill a day before, I would not have gotten the deal, as it started the day I went downtown to pay.

So, if you are experiencing delays in whatever you are doing, just take a breath and wait a little bit. Something good is going to get out of them. Be a little bit patient

Moral of the story? Do you want to get great deals on your phone bill? Just marry a great partner and you will move to a new place.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to My new Home

2012-01-16T12:24:00.000-05:00

We finally settled in our new home a week ago now. There is still much to be done, but at least we have a home. The process took longer than expected, but we like what we have now.

As you may know, my wife landed in Toronto on Christmas day. What you may not know is that she showed up wearing just a T-Shirt and a light jacket in her hands. I was like, you got to be kidding me! I asked her if she had brought any bigger jacket, to which she said yes, but it was in her big locked bags. I offered to give her mine but she refused, until we got outside of the airport buildings. Her first comments were “do you guys live in a morgue?” We all laughed. So I said to her: “This is nothing. Wait until it gets really cold”. She couldn't believe it would get colder than that.

The first four days were harder for me than for her. Do you know why? She would go to bed at 6PM, Toronto time (which is 1AM in Rwanda) and she would get up at 3 AM Toronto time (10 AM Kigali time). Those were her normal hours back home. The problem with that was that she would shout loud in my ears: “it's time to get up!!”. I was like, at 3 AM??? Are you kidding me?

It was not easy for her to adjust to everything. The weather, the big city and other stuff. The biggest adjustment for her has been the food. No chance for her, as you know, I can eat almost everything lol. She has seen me eat stuff that she did not like at all. My comment is always the same: “Let's agree to disagree” lol. At least for the food. For everything else, she has the final word lol.

I saw a little bit of light when she said “can you please bring me that Tim Horton's latté? I like it”. At that time I knew she was in the process of being “canadianized”. Hopefully soon we would be sharing my usual small iced cappuccino (sorry Jim, I know it's against your rules).

Finally the breakthrough came two days ago. As Toronto was freezing like crazy, she wouldn't even go in the living room. But she told me that she was hungry, so I convinced her to go out and eat. There is a small Greek restaurant not far from where we live. I told her that the food was nice. Hoping that she would like it (unlike any other food she had eaten so far), we went out. She decided to order a well done steak with potatoes and Greek salad. Right away, she fell in love with the salad. By the time she finished her dish (almost in 5 minutes), all she could talk about was Greek food (maybe she has Greek ancestors). I almost became jealous as she had never used those words to describe...me. She was so in love with the food.

She was so glad she went out regardless of the weather, and that she finally found a dish she loves (too much, if you ask my opinion). And before going to sleep, she said to me. I am glad I am here now. And I want to tell you that I love you. In my thought, I was like “take that Greek food! She loves me more than she loves you”. Lol

All the way through her settlement and challenges, I knew she would be OK. It was a matter of days. Do you want to know why I knew it? Because I went through that myself. When we go through challenges, it's for us to learn something, but it is also for others who will eventually go through them and who will need us as mentors. We can confidently say to them: don't worry, you will go through that. I've been there.

So, if you are going through hard times, all that I know is that it's for a season, and they will soon be teaching materials for you.

Moral of the story? Do you want to be a Canadian quicker than you think? Just go to Tim Horton's and you will also like Greek food.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a New Year's Resolution

2012-01-09T11:03:00.001-05:00

I spent a very quiet New Year's eve but it was a very nice one. As we were watching the countdown on TV, I couldn't stop thinking about the things that I accomplished in 2011 (I am going to come back to this; please do remind me) . It was one of my best years. It's funny how great things are often linked to great challenges. I heard somebody say that your greatest struggle will be your greatest victory. I couldn't agree more.

Did I achieve everything I wanted to achieve in 2011? No, not at all. But I am so thankful for what I have done.

Those of you who have seen the movie “Peaceful Warrior”, you probably remember a scene where “Socrates” the mentor said to the young Dan Millman “Your training is now moving to a whole new level. I am going to teach you how to find your answers from the inside” (I am paraphrasing).

It was a brand new perspective for young Dan, and usually any new experience or change tends to make us initially feel outside of our comfort zone. He was used to “making things happen” using his own strength, and now he was learning to “allow things to happen”, by freeing his mind and living his life in the "Now" . I won't share the entire movie, but it is one of the best I have ever seen.

Do you know what is my New Year's Resolution? I want to be like Dan.

Remember I asked you to remind me of something? Do you remember? Now, you don't have to remind me because I remembered what I wanted to share. Let me first repeat the sentence already mentioned in the first paragraph, which was “I couldn't stop thinking about the things that I accomplished in 2011”. Now, what's so special about this sentence? Nothing, except that I was taking credit for what was done in 2011. That has been my biggest mistake. I always want to make things happen, with my own strength. I often do succeed, but at what cost? I am still paying for most of the stuff.

I am learning now to let go and let God, to allow things to happen instead of me trying to make things happen using my own limited mind and strength. Do you know what? At first it is so scary. It takes ABSOLUTE trust in the invisible, especially when it seems like there is no where to go. The hard part is trusting God's timing. His timing is not necessarily ours, and when you lack patience (like somebody I know lol), man it can be so scary. That is the test I have to pass. On the bright side, I have never prayed the way I do now. It is a very humbling experience. Sometimes, I find myself trying to return to my old ways, but I always do my best to remain calm in the middle of the “storms” and keep trusting that all will be fine.

Everything takes practice and with time I will get better at it . I am still making tons of mistakes but that is part of the process. It takes a lot of faith, but that is my resolution for this year and the years to come. I am going to rely on God and share what He is doing in my life. I thing that I have already started, don't you think? There is a lot to share, so stay tuned.

Moral of the story? Do you want 2012 to be your best year? Keep reading my blog and you will lose patience lol

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to Division One

2012-01-02T16:50:00.004-05:00

What a week! I don't even know where to start. It seems like I am watching a movie about me.
All I keep thinking about is my Basketball years in Burundi. I will explain why.

I started playing Basketball at a relatively young age (I won't tell you the year, but I was about
12 years old). My classmates would teach me the fundamentals of thegame, and years later we started our own team. It was so much fun. I was not among the best players but I hung in there.

I remember spending an entire summer working out in a gym with my friends, getting ready for
the new season. We would run long distances on Saturdays and at that time I was among the best runners (I couldn't beat Patrick our captain who was running like crazy). Did I mention that we were still playing in Division two? ( the Junior division).

After our second season (the first one was a disaster lol), we started getting better. Still playing in Division two, our captain was selected to represent our country with the Senior National Basketball Team (that how good he
was). They spent a month in the US playing with College Basketball teams. We were so excited for him.

When he came back from the US, he mentioned to us (with a few other players) that he was done
playing for Division Two. His experience with the National Team was enough for him to start playing with the big boys. It was quite understandable but I was devastated to see him go.

I stayed in Division Two for one more season (I wasn't that good), until I finished high school. I decided to join the University team the next season. This was Division A. Was I ready? Not really. But I took my chance and decided
to work hard for my spot. Was it hard? I wanted to give up every single day. I wanted to go back to the Junior team at the end of each practice. Was I still among the best at running? By the time I arrived, all the other players were already rested. Did I get a chance to play? I was not even on the playing list my entire first season. That how hard it was.

I hung in there though.Eventually I got my spot...on the bench. I played for the University team for the next three season, ended up being their Head Coach for one season before starting coaching “Les Gazelles”, a ladies team that I led to 15 trophies in 7 years (standing ovation for me please...).

Why did I tell you all of this? Just to let you know what a great coach I was. Just kidding..

All I know is that, I would not have been a good Basketball coach if I hadn't gone through all
the “struggle” learning how to play, or spending most of the time on the bench. Life has a way of teaching us lessons that are not very comfortable for us at the time that they are happening, but at the
end, we always win if (and only if) we don't give up.

Yes, this last week was a week to remember for me as my wife finally landed to Toronto, but it
was also a week of growth as well. Growth is always outside of our comfort zone, but it is necessary if we want to go from Division Two to Division One in life. The best is yet to come. That is the truth.

Moral of the story? Do you want to win big in life? Just be the last in running and you will be
a great Basketball coach. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to my best Christmas Ever.

2011-12-26T14:00:00.001-05:00

Please ask me how I spent my Christmas this year. I am serious. If you do not ask me, I won't tell you. My bad! Let me rephrase my question. Please do ask me with WHOM I spent my Christmas.

You are so right. She is finally here. I did not want to tell you that before she comes just to avoid the paparazzi at the airport. I am talking about my wife of course (I know you were thinking that I was speaking about Angelina Jolie).

Yes, this Sunday December 25, 2011, my wife finally landed to Pearson Airport at exactly 12.49 PM local time (I was so mad the plane was 4 minutes late lol). Do you remember our small wedding ceremony last year? It was on December 27. If you can count, you can realize that she just came to Canada two days before our one year anniversary. What a timing!!!

It is simply a divine blessing to finally see her here. I am so happy about that, but I know someone who is so mad about this news. I am talking about the guy who owns a convenient store where I used to buy my calling cards. He told me the other day that he will have to shut down his business lol. I told him not to worry because I call my mom every Sunday (not as frequent as he was hoping).

Do not be surprised to see that this blog is the shortest I have ever written. It is simply because I am kind of busy now (showing her around. What did you expect? Lol)

Just the other day I was with my friend Kijanya and we were talking about how 2011 has been a year of so many blessings for me, and he just said to me. My friend, you should start praying now, thanking God for what he did for you. I told him that he got it all wrong. All of this happened because I started praying and thanking God BEFORE all these things started to happen. He just said: “I would like to pray to the same God that you pray to”. Then I thought: “He is the same yesterday, today and forever”.

I told you I would write a short blog, but I am thinking about writing about what I have experienced this year (there are so many stuff that I haven't shared yet). Stay tuned. One more victory that I am now waiting for and you will get the whole story, uncut with special features lol

I got to go. Someone special is waiting for me.

Moral of the story? Do you want to spend you best Christmas ever? Just go to the airport and someone you love may show up.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to Newmarket

2011-12-19T09:41:00.001-05:00

As my friend Jim is driving me to my speaking engagement in Newmarket, he just says: I think your next blog should be “My Journey to Newmarket”. And here it is Jim. I kept my promise.

I like to be around Jim, who has now become my speaking buddy. Whenever he is asked to speak he often invites me to go with him, and I have learned to do the same. Boy are we having fun together.

So, on our way to Newmarket, he asks me: “What are you going to speak about?” , to which I responded “I don't know!”. He laughed so hard at my response, but it was the honest truth. I have been speaking a lot the last few weeks that sometimes I find myself in front of the same people who are attending the same events I am attending, so I don't want to repeat the same speech they have heard many times. Good thing that I have so many stories to tell, all I have to do is remember one of them.

And it happened. By the time we got to Newmarket, I saw a number of familiar faces that had seen me speak before, so I had to find something else to speak about. Here is a small segment of my speech in Newmarket. Hope you will enjoy it: Click here to view it

Did you have fun with it? I hope you did

I heard once Bob Proctor say (and I am paraphrasing here) that if you miss your goal, don't change your goal, change your action plan. It is such a powerful statement. Guess what! I missed my goal for the month of November. So, I had to change my action plan. Do you know what I came up with? You won't believe it. I said to myself: what if there could be a way of achieving more by doing...less (it sounds crazy, doesn't it?). But I had to try it

So, for several weeks now, all I do when I get up in the morning, I write down my to do list and then I do...nothing. I pick up one of the books that Jim gave me and read it, or if I am inspired to watch a video, I do so. I most of the times even forget about my to do list (except of course calling my wife lol).

Do you know what happens at the end of the day? I go back to my list to find out that I have done everything that is in there without knowing that I did it. I sounds silly but that has been my experience. I do things that I feel I am inspired to do, and I am having fun along the way. And I have achieved so many things in this month it is not even funny.

One of the great things that are happening is the people that I am meeting now. It is crazy. Just yesterday, I had a meeting with Jennifer Beale. If you haven't heard of Jennifer Beale, maybe you do not live in Toronto. She is a powerhouse lady. I have heard of her so many times that I was so excited to finally meet her (thanks to my friend Paul). From our discussions I could tell that we are all motivated by similar reasons and that is to achieve our dreams and goals in a manner that benefits everyone, the city, country and world. I was really inspired by Jennifer's goal for 2012 especially because changing and impacting Toronto is something that we both aim to do. So the opportunity to team up with her just adds to the excitement.

Do you really know the funny part? Do you really want to know? Ok, I will tell you. She is putting together an event on December 28 and 29, and the theme is “How to Achieve your Goals in 2012”. I don't believe in coincidences. I mean, what are the odds!!! The really amazing part is the workshop retails for $495+ and it’s only $70 per person . . .

Guess what! There are some spots left for the event. Click here if you would like to attend (and I highly recommend you do)

Achieving more by doing less? I have tried it, and it seems to be working for me

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The best is yet to come (especially if you attend Jennifer Beale's event lol).

Moral of the story? Do you want to achieve more in 2012, Just decide to do nothing lol

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com
www.goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to My Friend's Wedding

2011-12-12T09:52:00.003-05:00

I must confess. It is really hard to write this blog while watching “The Big Bang Theory” at the same time. This show is hilarious. Add to that my texting back and forth with my friend Tamsir who is learning my native language and wants to impress me with the few words that he now knows...

Talk about a missed opportunity. For weeks I have been waiting for this special day for my friends Nicolas Peks and “Summertime” (that's how I call Nicolas now wife). I don't want to mention her other nickname that I gave to her...

Where was I? Oh yes. Missed opportunity.

I went to their wedding this Saturday, got there 45 minutes before the ceremony (I told you there was NO way I could miss this one). It was just a civil wedding (a small ceremony). The big wedding ceremony is going to happen next year.

Anyways, after the ceremony, I headed to the Italian restaurant where the reception was going to take place. As it was mentioned in the invitation, the restaurant was not going to take debit or credit card. I had to go out to the bank machine to get some cash (there was no way I was going to miss the nice food I saw on the menu).

Here I am, out in one of the coldest nights of the week, going to the bank machine, just to find out that I did not bring my wallet! (what a shame!). Good thing that it was not away from home, I could run, get it and come back to eat the good food on the menu. So I did. As my phone battery was down, I thought I could take a few minutes to charge it(while watching some sport news on TV) before I head back to the restaurant. Guess what! I fell asleep on the couch while watching TV and when I woke up, well....it was too late to go anywhere. Can you believe that? I missed the wedding reception of my friends!!!!! (I am not even mentioning the nice Italian food....). By the way, I can't stop laughing at Sheldon Cooper's punch lines. What a nerd!

Can I really focus? Now it is the CNN Heroes Show with Anderson Cooper. I will get back to you when the show is over. I have to watch it as I will soon be one of the future recipients of that award (why are you laughing?)

Here I am back. Did you miss me? Don't lie. I know you did.

I was talking about my friend Nicolas. I know Saturday was one of his best days ever, but the world has not seen him yet. He is one of the upcoming Superstars. I am telling you, this dude can sing and entertain. When he is in front of a microphone, or behind his DJ desk, this guy can do wonders. He can sing “Let's get it on” better than Marvin Gaye, he can do an entire show with no instrument at all. If you have not listened to his latest Mix Tape “Akantu Kumutse”, I won't say shame on you, but you are missing a Masterpiece.

I have known Nicolas for years now. I can tell you that as talented as he is, with so much potential at hand, there is no way he could have done what he has done without his wife. I had never seen this guy with so much focus. That is what a wife can do in one's life (Diego, I am not pressuring you to get married lol).

Last year I had the privilege of coaching a little bit Nicolas to get his album done. At our first attempt, for some reasons, we did not succeed to make it happen. But when “Summertime” moved to Toronto, Nicolas came back to me with determination to succeed. The three of us had a half an hour conversation over a cup of coffee, I did my magic, we came up with an action plan, and less than a month later, his album was done ( a round of applause for me please...lol). Seriously though. I will never forget what “Summertime” told Nicolas at that Starbucks. “Honey, I want you to make it. I will never be a distraction for you. Go out and do it. If you need anything, I will be there to help you” she said. What a partner!

Congratulations my man! You got what you deserve. Now she is all yours. Enjoy my friend. One quick favour Nicolas. Can you and “Summertime” organize another wedding reception? This time I won't miss it, I swear.

By the way, here is Nicolas Facebook page click here

Talking about my coaching, I just got an awesome plug from my friend Motivatorman. Click here to read his blog about me

Moral of the story? Do you want to make it in life? Just hire me as your coach and you will get married with an awesome partner

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Saturday Event

2011-12-05T12:20:00.001-05:00

Just few weeks ago at one of our Goal Achievers meeting, we were talking about doing an event before Christmas at which each one of us would get a chance to speak. While debating if we should do it or not, our own Jim stood straight and looked in our eyes and said : I am going to make it happen.

I have known Jim for a while, but that was the first time I saw him with such confidence. Right then I knew he would do it. He in fact did, and in a big way. He managed to find a few partners to help him promote it, he even secured a venue five minutes away from where I live with great food on the menu (how could I resist this?), and the event just happened two days ago.

We had amazing guest speakers and the audience did respond greatly to our presentations

I remember few months ago when I met Phil Taylor the founder of Goal Achievers International. I told him before I joined the group that my goal was to become a professional speaker and coach. At that time I knew what I wanted but it was not enough. I had to find my audience, and (especially) my topics. After few months, and with the help of fellow Goal Achievers members, I knew I would devote the rest of my life helping people achieve their goals. Since then it's been a fun ride (including me ending up being the President of Goal Achievers Canada).

I have found that the best way to help others achieve their goals is to achieve mine.

When I was in Burundi, I was invited by one of the TV stations down there to talk about my journey. Since then they have aired the show three times (I think I did good, what do you think?). Ever since people saw the show, I have received tons of e-mails congratulating me and, sometimes asking for my help. All I did was talk about my journey and a few goals that I had achieved

Achieving one's goal is one of the beautiful things in life. But the journey to get there is what I found the most interesting.

Sometimes on the journey to our goals it looks like nothing is happening. Believe me, it's one of the toughest moments when you don't see how you are going to make it. But trust me, it's happening even though we don't see it. It's like a farmer planting grains of corn. When the seed is in the ground, for a number of weeks nothing appears on the surface but the roots are taking forms below the surface. The farmer knows this is happening, so he doesn't worry if the crops are growing or not. He just knows when the time is right he is going to harvest what he planted.

Dreams are the same. They are like seeds planted in our heart. I heard someone say that in the vision there is provision. All we need is keep believing without seeing and the dream will come to pass like the seed in the ground that will become one day a crop to harvest.

So, my friend, don't give up when you don't see your dream happening. It's happening below the surface. Keep believing. It will come to pass.

Moral of the story? Do you want to invite me to speak at your event? Make sure you bring nice food at your event and I will help you achieve your goals

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey with an Upcoming Star

2011-11-28T09:25:00.002-05:00

This is the second week that I am speaking about stars (trust me, I am not speaking about me lol). I heard someone say that stars are recognized in the ring but are made in the gym (I made that up).

If there is one thing I learned from coaching Basketball, is the ability to spot potential in people before anybody else. I remember saying to one of my players that she would be one of, if not THE best point guards in the league for years, and she laughed at me. Looking back, I truly understand why she laughed. She was just learning how to do a lay up and I was talking about being the best of the best. Guess what! As I predicted, she ended up being the best point guard for years (am I a psychic or what!). Or maybe she had a great (and yet modest) coach.

I can't even remember why I am talking about Basketball. Oh yes. Potential...Let me get to it.

It took me two years to write about this guy. Every time I wanted to write a blog about him, he always said no (for two years!!!!). With respect to his low profile, I persisted and he finally agreed to my request.

His name is Diego Ndikumasabo but his friends call him DJ. In fact, he has been a DJ for over 14 years (and a very successful one indeed).

He came to Canada at a young age, and his main priority was his studies (good choice). I first saw his leadership skills back in 2003 when he was running the Burundian association of Toronto with his best friend Christian B. There were times between 2005 and 2009 where I saw Diego attending University full time, working at Citibank Canada and on week-ends, he would would work as a DJ (What a hard working young man!!!). Did you know that he has been organizing Caribana Events for nine years in row? Tirelessly ambitious, his goal was always to open a place “to serve his community” as he always says.

Life has a funny way of making dreams come true. Sometimes dreams happen in a disguised way that it's hard to see them. While my friends (Diego and Nicolas) were working at a place called Nile in downtown Toronto, its owners decided to shut it down without notice. No more work for my friends; or was that really the case?

Instead of finding another place for work or blaming the owners, Diego got this crazy idea of buying the closing business. Why crazy? You may ask. Simply because he was still a student, two months away from graduation day and he did not have enough money to do it. But as they say, where there is a will there is a way. I don't know how he did it, but he found a way to set up a corporation, secure the business, put a team together and Ngoma Lounge was born.

Buying the business was not the hard part (even though it meant putting other projects on hold). Instead, it was keeping it open which proved to be one of Diego's biggest challenges . Soon after buying the business, he thought it would be a piece of cake to run it. Guess what! It took 8 long months for the government to issue a license for Ngoma Lounge. Getting the liquor license and all those other stuff you need to open a bar took so long that my friend wanted to give up thousands of times. Did I mention that he was paying the rent for a place that did not make him a penny? Try that one.

On November 30, 2009, Ngoma finally received permission to open. We were all there to witness the grand opening on December 25th, 2009. His dream was coming true (so he thought). But in order to run Ngoma, he had to quit his daily corporate job at Citibank (hey peeps, do not try this at home. Lol)

Do you know why my friend did not want me to write about this story for the last two years? Because it has been two years of constant struggle to keep Ngoma open. I have the opportunity of being one of Diego's closest friends and I knew from the beginning that he was going to make it even though I knew it was not going to be an easy task. He spent (and still does) many sleepless nights to keep the place open so that he “could serve his community”. Trust me when I say that he DOES serve his community. Now Ngoma is the reference for the African community in Toronto, thanks to the winning team of: Diego, Nicolas, Kijanya, Umwali, Jehann, Nounou, Faustin and his wife.

It has been a constant battle for Diego, mainly because it was his first business venture and also because he started with very little capital. But he has a heart of champions. He is a champion and one of the upcoming Superstar entrepreneurs. Against all odds he kept his dream alive and the best is yet to come. I just know it. Happy 2nd Anniversary Ngoma.

Hey, Diego, two years of my free Sprite at Ngoma just made you a Superstar. You are featured on my blog. By the way, what's the next move? Let me guess, taking over the STOCK MARKET? lol

Moral of the story? Do you want to make a difference in your community? Just ask those customers who have been visiting Ngoma lounge every weekend for the past two years.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey with A Rising Star

2011-11-21T11:07:00.001-05:00

His name is Jean-Pierre Nimbona and he is known by the name of Kidum. By far he is the greatest Burundian superstar singer of all times (that's my opinion). He has been to a place no other Burundian artist has ever been. He was elected the best male artist of the year in East Africa in 2011 and he recently finished his first Canadian Tour which included performances in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal (twice), Calgary and Edmonton.

He happens to be my wife's family close friend (I can now get inside information about his career lol). He is about to fly to Switzerland for one concert, then to Sweden for another one; after that he will return to Zürich for another concert. He will end his European Tour with a concert in Belgium before heading back to Kenya (where he lives) for only five days. After, he will head to Rwanda for a concert, plus play five concerts in Burundi before flying to South Africa. After the African Tour, he will go to the US to perform 30 concerts! Did you hear that? 30 concerts in the US. I am tired from just writing the number of concerts he will be performing at over the next few months. It's crazy.

I have seen him perform in Burundi a couple of times; he was once my guest at the radio station when I was still in Burundi, but at that time we were not really close friends. Now that my wife has introduced me to him, I have had the opportunity to be with him one on one a couple of times while he was here in Toronto. What a blast! The guy can produce hit after hit. At his concerts, all he has to do is start a song, then the public takes it from there and finishes it. He is such a talented artist.

I was with him yesterday at Ngoma Lounge here in Toronto where he came to say good bye to his fans and offer free drinks (I was there just for that one lol). He got to perform with my boys Kijanya, Nicolas and Tamsir Seck. It was a joy man. We had so much fun.

I had another chance to speak with Kidum once more. He told me his story. He fled from Burundi during war to live in Kenya where he started his career as a musician. The first years were so hard that he wanted to give up numerous times. He started regretting why he had left his home country, but he couldn't return as the war was still on. He started playing in bars and getting a little bit of money here and there.

Then came the song “Yaramenje”. That song took the whole region like a storm, and the rest is history. Looking back at his tough times, he doesn't regret anything at all. Now he can really enjoy his success as he knows that it came by working hard and never giving up. Do you know what is his goal now? In his own words: “I want to leave a legacy. I want to go to places where no other artist has ever been, so as to be an inspiration to other African Artists”. I guess he is on the right track.

I am glad I was there to hear that. Most of the time, we see people at the top of their careers and we have no idea about what they went through to get there. I believe talent alone is not enough. It is about persistence, believing without seeing, passion, determination and above all, doing what we love to do. The rest is in God's hands.

Moral of the story? Do you want to spend time with a superstar? Just marry someone who knows people at high places, maybe he/she will happen to know me.

Always a pleasure

Patrick

The Journeyman

patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Late Blog

2011-11-14T23:41:00.002-05:00

Talk about commitment! If I did not know you were anxiously waiting for this blog, I would have posted it on Tuesday. I am writing it at almost 11PM on Monday. Why so late you ask? Well it's because I just got in and I am so very exhausted!

What a week! I think it was my busiest week since returning from Africa. But it was for a good reason. I was busy helping organize a two day seminar which runs today (Monday) and tomorrow. Now, usually I am used to being the one speaking, however, this time I worked from behind the scenes to make sure that the seminar is a success. Today was only day one and we have already started off with a home run; people are pumped and excited about achieving their goals.

Being full time in business is quite a thing. Knowing that it is all up to you can be both challenging and exciting. What a better way to deal with the unknown! You know there is no pay cheque waiting for you unless you go out and perform. And as you all know, things don't alway happen the way you thought they would; but that's ok because it's all part of the journey (aren't I the Journeyman ? Lol)

Just the other day, I was trying to figure out what would be my next step (sometimes it's not that obvious), so I did what I normally would do when in these situations. Once I don't know the answer, and it doesn't seem to come as fast as I want, I just let it go. I know that it will come at its own time. And sometimes the answer comes in a funny and unpredictable way.

I went to visit my brother yesterday. It was an opportunity for me to collect some stuff that I left there before my trip to Africa. Among the stuff was a book I forgot I had. As I read it on my way back home, I came across the answer! It came from the book. The name of the book is “The Fred Factor” by Mark Sanborn

Here is what I read:

“The trick is to replace money with imagination, to substitute creativity for capital”

That little sentence hit me like a brick. And I should have known better because I always tell the people that I coach that money is not the main thing. When you do what you are supposed to do, money will come. But how many times do we think about a project and decide not to start it because we do not know from where the money will come? How about using our imagination and creativity instead?

Do you know the funny part? Well, that's exactly what was covered in the first part of the two day seminar: How you can get your marketing cost paid by others. How about that!

Let me use that advice and see what will come from it. Of course I will share that with you as the news comes out.

Moral of the story? Do you want to be creative? Go and visit your brother and you will get a brand new idea

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Wonderful Year

2011-11-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

I know, I know...The year is not over yet. But I am telling you, what I have experienced this year is simply out of this world. I don't even know where to start. Was it easy? Not at all. But I know I am living a life that I have chosen. The choice is mine and nobody else's.

Something weird happened today. As you all know, when I returned from Africa, I lost all my phone contacts (I know you remember my story of 4 phones in 5 days). Even now, there are many friends of mine whose numbers i no longer have; so if I haven't called you yet, hopefully you have a chance to read this blog. Today I felt that I wanted to call a lady who I was coaching before I left. I asked Paul (by now I think you know who Paul is, right?) for her phone number so that we could get back in touch. I sent her a text message mentioning that the Superstar was back in Toronto. Thirty seconds later she called me. Guess what! She had been calling my old phone number (by the way, my new phone number is still for sale, but for a limited time only lol). She wanted to talk to me today as well. I guess we were meant to talk today; what do you think?

Would you like to know why she wanted to talk to me? Well, she wanted to tell me that the system which I taught her works. Now her business is booming! How cool is that. Let me tell you that she made my day!

At the beginning of this year, I wrote down what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to be in full time business by the month of June, then go to Africa for 4 months, get married in August, come back from Burundi and work from home with my wife. There are other goals that I wrote down, but these were the main ones. Guess what? June 14 was my last day at work; I spent 4 months in Burundi (where I met heroes of mine), got married on August 6, got 4 contracts while in Burundi, got back to Toronto in October (and got offered a new contract even before I landed at Pearson Airport). Now I am working from home and my wife is coming here in just a few weeks. Did I know at the beginning of the year how all these things would happen? Can you guess? Did I have the money to do it? I will let you figure that one out lol.

To top it all off, two days ago, I received a phone call from a business partner of mine who just returned from Europe, asking me to join him in a new venture he just started with his multimillionaire mentor. I am still in shock. I can't believe this is happening to me! And...I will be mostly working from home!!! We are putting together an event this month which will revolutionize (and I am not exaggerating here) how people do business. I can't believe I am part of this. And the year is not over yet (that's crazy, isn't it?). There is one other big piece of news that I am holding off on telling you for now.....(suspense!!!!)

A few years ago I went through some serious challenges that I thought would never end. It was so difficult and it took a huge commitment on my part to learn what I needed to learn in order to get what I needed to get out of it. I did not know that the work I did would pay off one day, but I paid my price (still do in some ways). I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Those were humbling moments, and I got really close to God (the only hope left for me at the time, and still is). I am thankful I went through those moments because I now know from where everything comes. It helps me keep things in perspective so as to not let my ego ruin everything.

I am not where I want to be, but today I felt that I deserve to celebrate what has been done so far. Do you think I am writing this blog for you? Come on man! I am writing this for ME, so that when my head is spinning around with new challenges, I can go back to it and read it again. It will be my reminder that I have to be thankful for what I have. You can do it too. Ok, ok. I am writing it for you as well (I know you were starting to get mad at me!). I am so excited man!

Moral of the story? Do you want to accomplish great things this year? Just get married and you will work from home

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Radio Interview

2011-10-31T12:18:00.001-04:00

Just finished an Interview on Goal Achievers International Radio Show. I am used to be on the other side of the microphone, now I was the one answering to the questions. I guess that's what happens once one becomes a Superstar lol.

What an exciting week! After my meeting with Yvonne Chaka Chaka, it was a pure joy to go to two amazing events. One with our beloved East African Superstar Kidum who had his concert here in Toronto (I got a chance to meet him one on one for hours too), and a very amazing Broadway show with FELA last Tuesday (I am part of a team that is promoting this show). I was sharing this with my wife who told me that I had become a “Mayibobo” (street kid) as I am always out.

It has been nearly three weeks since I came back from Burundi. Even though it's great to be back here, I was feeling empty in the inside for quite some time (missing my wife maybe). I had lost my drive and sometimes it was a little bit scary given the sense of urgency of the moment (that's another topic for another time...). Something was missing and I did not know what.

Fortunately, being with friends such as Jim kept me going. It's great to have friends like Jim. He is so generous (he gave me two DVD's that got me excited) and he is out there meeting people. He asked me to go with him a couple of times and I did it with pleasure. I met great people, still, something was missing. I did what I love to do, like the two business owners that I am now coaching, but I did not feel the drive I had in Burundi when I was working on Lake Tanganyika project.

That was until I met my business partner Paul on Saturday. Man I needed that meeting. We were putting strategies in place for our company and we were so excited about that. All of sudden, I became alive. I got so excited that now I cannot even sleep. Do you know what was missing the last few weeks (not including my wife)? I had no goal to shoot for. I had no objective, I was living my life as it came. And my life was lacking energy .I was sleeping for 10 hours, including naps in the afternoon (can you believe that?)

Of course I did what I needed to do for the contracts that I have, but other than that, I was just watching TV. And that is not was I am used to.
Not anymore. I am now excited about my next goal (of course I won't tell you what it is, but stay tune for the next blog posts). Boy I am excited.

As I learned from Napoleon Hill's book “Think and Grow Rich”, I have burned all bridges behind.. Have you heard the story about burning bridges behind you? Not yet? Come on, please don't tell me that you have never heard that story.
OK, knowing that you will all pay me, I am going to tell you the story of the burned bridges. Of course I am going to paraphrase.

There was a general who brought his army to fight against another country whose army was the double of his soldiers. When his ships got to the shore, he asked his soldiers to burn them. They burned their own ships!!! Can you believe that? Now there was no turning back. Either they win or they die. Guess what? They won.

I have used this principle over and over again. Before I do anything about my goals, I always burn the bridges behind me. There is no Plan B involved. And I can tell you that it's scary. It takes a lot of faith, but it is the only way to get that burning desire that Napoleon Hill talks about in his book. The goal has to be an ABSOLUTE MUST, otherwise we will give up. I don't even know how I am going to accomplish it but I really don't care. All I know is why I want to have it, the rest is in God's hands (that is how I do business with Him and he is a very reliable business partner lol).

I did it two years ago when I wanted to move downtown (I longtime dream of mine). I gave the two month notice to my landlord without knowing where I would be going, without even having enough money to pay the (expensive) downtown rent. There was no turning back. Did I succeed? I had no other choice. I figured it out.
That's my challenge to you today. Find something you want to shoot for, burn your bridges behind you and go for it with all your heart. You will make it if you don't give up.

Moral of the story? Do you want to accomplish your goal? Burn all your bridges and you will sleep for 10 hours

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a second meeting with the Princess of Africa

2011-10-24T11:33:00.002-04:00

She is a friend of Nelson Mandela and Bono, she has met the Queen of England, Michael Jackson and many other celebrities and world leaders, she has been at the White house, she has received many awards, she is a superstar and humanitarian, and now she is a friend of mine. How cool is that! I am talking about Yvonne Chacka Chaka also known as the Princess of Africa.

I met her for the first time in Burundi last July and we kept in touch ever since. At that time she told me she would be in Toronto in October. Guess what! She was here for four days. She came here to receive the Development Award from Planet Africa, for her Humanitarian work as UNICEF Ambassador and Humanitarian.

I called her as soon as she got here and we agreed to meet at her hotel (beautiful hotel by the way). I went there and met her and her humanitarian assistant. What a delight! I got the opportunity to hear her new song (not released yet) that she sung with Senegalese Superstar Youssou N'Dour. Wow! A masterpiece. They are releasing the song this week in Kenya.

As she was getting ready for the award ceremony in the evening, we agreed to meet the next day for lunch, and she would introduce me to the guys at Planet Africa. Of course I was there the next day. They came to pick us up in a big SUV (I thought I was the President or something), and off we left. We went to a place I had never been before. Really nice place. We met great people and all the time Yvonne was saying “this is my friend Patrick”. In my thought I was like “I am going to put that one on my resumé”.

We had great time (when I mention great time, you already know that food is involved), and even danced a little bit (Chaka Chaka music of course). I got to meet the guys at Planet Africa. I was impressed by what they have accomplished so far.

Then, around 6PM, Yvonne's humanitarian assistant came, and we started talking. This guy is something. He has humanitarian work in his blood. He works in over 15 African countries, all over Asia, and he is on the Board of so many humanitarian organizations it is not even funny. I asked him where was his office and he just went:”my computer is my office”. He told us the kind of work they do, and I was so amazed by this guy. I kept asking him questions, (I just want to know how the industry works). Do you know what got me the most? The guy is not even paid to do that. I was like What!!?? He just said to me: “I just do it because it is the right thing to do”. I was speechless afterwards.

I learned my lesson. Here am with Yvonne, a world class superstar with his world class humanitarian assistant (I know I am a world class bloger, but..lol), amazed with who they are. Do you know what is common between these two people? They just do what they love, and they do it because it is the right thing to do. If I want to be like them, I just have to do what they do. Do what I love to do and do it because it is the right thing to do. How cool is that? You can do it too.

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet a world class supertsar? Do what you love to do and you will meet...me

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a meeting with Denise

2011-10-17T12:27:00.000-04:00

It's been a week now since I came back from Burundi. I am getting used to my new world (if I could call it that way). Do you know what excites me the most now? It's when I hit a button on my computer and the Internet opens up right away. I was used to wait for a few hours before the page opens up lol.

I had so much fun in Burundi that now it is hard for me to not think about it all the time, especially when I remember that we did something that has never been done before. It was a pure joy.

I promised to tell you a story about my new friend Denise. I know you have been waiting for that one for a long time. Here it is.

We were busy going out there looking for sponsors, and as I was talking to one of our partners, he suggested that I talk to one business owner who could help. We called him up twice, but he was busy all the time. He suggested I speak to Denise his assistant. So I did. An appointment was booked the next day at 9 AM.

I was there ten minutes before my meeting. I waited for her for about half an hour but she was not there. They told me that she was stuck in traffic (you have no idea how Burundian traffic can be hectic at certain hours). As I had another appointment at 10 O'clock, I had to leave without seeing Denise. However, I left a one page note of the project we were working on as well as my business card.

The next day I called her up so that we could fix another appointment. She was so nice on the phone and we agreed to meet the next day at 9 AM. But before I hung up the phone she just went: “Are you the one who left a note and a business card?” I said yes. Then she said: “I just want to let you know that you are a messenger from God”. I was like what?!!! She just said: “I will explain all of this to you when we meet.

As a messenger from God, I made sure not to be late lol. I also made sure not to have any other appointment that morning.

I spent three hours with Denise and I was blown away. She told me her life story and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This lady has been a preacher for years and she lives her life by faith. She does not accept to be paid wherever she works. “I just pray and God gives me what I ask for”. She said.

She told me about how she used to live in a tiny room that she did not like. She then prayed asking God to give her a nice and big place, with a nice garden near the lake. Guess what! She now lives in a nice 8 bedroom villa, with a nice garden near the lake (I saw the place later on). Do you know what else? She doesn't even pay the rent and the food is provided as well. How about that!!! Somebody gave that to her as a gift.

She told me dozens of stories and I was blown away by her faith. It was incredible. I was stunned by her stories. After hours of incredible conversation, she then told me why she told me I was a messenger from God (I kind of knew that I was special, but I wanted to hear her version of the story lol).

Denise told me that It had been more than two years that she was praying about Lake Tanganyika. She asked God if He could send people who would save the lake because it was dying (did I tell you that it was exactly the project I was working on?). So, when she saw my note and business card that I left the day before, she knew it was an answer to her two year long prayer. How about that?! She was just waiting to meet the person that God sent for that matter. It happened that the person was....me.
She then said to me.”Do not worry about anything. Your project is a noble one, and God will provide everything you need. Because every time that I pray, God always answers to my prayers. So, go in peace and do what you got to do”.

What else could I say after that? I was speechless. When I met my team in the afternoon, I told them what happened to me and they were all stunned.

So, believe me when I say to you that I am special. It am just telling the truth lol

Seriously, what can you say after that? Now Denise is a friend of mine and we are working on a fabulous project. She came up with the idea and I was like “count me in”. It is something that will take a lot of faith, but Denise has some to spare, don't you think?

Moral of the story? Do you want to be sent by God? Just help me save Lake Tanganyika amd I will introduce you to Denise

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a two year anniversary

2011-10-11T15:43:00.001-04:00

First of all. Have you noticed that I did not post my blog on Monday as usual? I do not have any excuse. I know that you were stuck on your computers waiting for the delivery of your beloved blog. As they say, better late than never.

The last four days have been crazy. I took my flight back to Toronto on Thursday (yes I am back), we flew to Nairobi-Kenya, then Addis Ababa-Ethiopia, from there, we flew to Rome-Italy, then to Washington DC, finally we landed in Toronto on Friday. To say that I was exhausted could be an understatement. While waiting for my flight at the Washington DC airport, I lost the plug of my Lap top. I thought it was in my bag but it wasn't. When I got home, I used my computer to charge my phone (that I did not use for four months), then the battery of my computer went down.

The next day, I decided to go to the phone company to reactivate my phone to find out that they gave my number to somebody else (lucky dude. He got a number of a superstar lol). OK. I kept my calm as usual and asked for a new one (which I won't tell you unless you pay for it lol). I kept my old phone with a new number. When I arrived home, my old phone decided to shut down for good. I lost all my contacts. All of them!!!. On Sunday, I went back to the phone company to ask them if they could fix my phone. They referred me to another office. I went there, but they couldn't do anything. They decided to give me a new one.

I got home excited, I called up a few friends whose numbers I could remember. In the evening, the new phone decided to do his things as well. I could hear the person on the other side of the line (if we can call it a line lol), but they couldn't hear me, unless I used my speaker phone (try to speak to your wife with the speaker phone on. Can you do that when people are around? I don't think so). So. I could not use my computer, and I could not use my phone. To top it all off, Monday was off (yes, it was the Canadian Thanksgiving!). I could not fix either my phone or my computer. Did I tell you that I was sleeping crazy hours as well? I was going to bed at 6 PM Toronto time (which is midnight in Burundi) and, by 1 AM I was done (which was 7 AM in Burundi). From then on,it was TV time. What else could I do? I couldn't even call my wife as my phone was unusable (is that an English word ?).

The only thing that got me excited was that now I can watch my friends Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart on TV (oh yes, I forgot about Tim Hortons' Iced Capucino as well).

What a relief when I went out to fix my computer and got a new plug today! Then the phone company gave me a new phone (I used 3 phones in 4 days. Can you believe that?)
That is the best way to celebrate the two year anniversary of something amazing. Do you know what it is? I will let you know. On October 16 (which is coming up quickly), I will celebrate two years of....my blog! Aren't you excited? You should go out and buy a bottle of champaign. Aren't you glad that I did not stop writing? Just tell the truth to yourself. You know that you are glad.

I want to thank all my blog fans. We made it together. In two years, over 10 thousand hits on the blog, I should be proud of my work (and I am).
I am back in Town, ready for a new adventure after 4 months in Africa. What a ride it has been!

I know I promised to tell you a story about my friend Denise. That will be for next week. Her story will rock your world.

Moral of the story? Do you want to use three phones in four days? Take a long trip and you will celebrate a two year anniversary of something.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a week-end in Kigali

2011-10-03T06:41:00.001-04:00

Just came back from a quick week-end in Kigali to visit my in-laws before I head back to Toronto. To say that I am tired is an understatement. I left Burundi at 7 AM on Saturday, and here I am, on Sunday evening writing this blog in my home in Burundi. A round trip to Kigali in less than twenty four hours is not an easy thing to do, especially when you had little sleep (I will blame my friend and best man Jeff lol)

The trip was like an escape for me. The last few weeks have been so crazy that I needed some space to think about different topics (could I really?). On my way to Rwanda, I had a note pad and a pen, just in case an idea could come into my mind (I know, I am just like that. My mind cannot stop thinking).I did not want to miss a G-mail (God Mail as my friend Barry likes to say).

As I was thinking about what the last four months of my life have been, I couldn't help but smile. Seriously! Every day when I wake up, I don't really know how things will unfold. Every minute is so exciting. I like to live in the unknown and let go and let God. It's quite an experience.

Do you want to know the details of the project I have been working on? Do I really have to insist or do you want it so bad. It's up to you. To tell the truth (not that I was lying before), I will tell you whether you like it or not.

I was hired to develop communication and fund raising strategies for an Environment Foundation, whose president is former Ambassador Albert Mbonerane. Many of my country fellows know this man because of his work to protect the environment. I knew him but had never met him before. I believe that my meeting with him was by God's design. I needed such a man in my life (by the way, he has agreed that I could write his biography. It is such a great honour for me). The Foundation wants to save Lake Tanganyika which is now getting polluted like crazy.

Anyway. What I did first was create a team that I would be working with. I called up my friends Machado (a great radio journalist), Rickie-Nelly, an independent journalist (who used to play in my team) and my great friend Richard (there is no way I could work without his help).

For three straight days, we put together a strategy and action plan that we would present to the Foundation. It was quite simple. First, have the media as partners of the campaign. It worked like magic. They all agreed to work with us for free. For three straight weeks, we did a media tour (if you did not hear us or see us on TV, I don't know where you were lol). Even now, the spots are still running. The Media has been unbelievably supportive.

Meanwhile, my team grew. We added JP for our documentary, Daniel-Cédric for our promotional tools and Annick for mass mobilization. It is now a dream team.
Do you know what happened next? Do you really want to know? Ok. I will let you know. I got a brilliant idea (from a brilliant man, it is not really surprising lol) of having Intercontact Services as our partner. For those who do not know, this company has been around for over 29 years and they are specialized in public relations (among other things). They agreed to work with us and book appointments for us with business owners (I am talking about CEOs of big corporations). In less than four weeks, we visited over 60 companies, asking for sponsors and support. The responses were simply phenomenal. I can't just believe how things are falling into place.

Next phase was to meet people with influence. We met organizations such us Rotary Club, pastors and priests, Union representatives and many others. All of them agreed to support the Foundation. Last Friday, we started the last phase of the local campaign which is to talk to the masses. We organized an open house and information session for all the population of the city and invited them to voluntarily contribute to the cause. In a few hours we gathered over 600,000 Burundi Francs. And that is only the beginning.

There have been a few challenges here and there, but over all, I feel so proud just to be part of this. Staring from next week, my job will be to ask the International community to join the movement that we started locally. Is that cool or what! Oh, I forgot something. A few weeks ago, we invited 13 CEOs of big companies for a dinner during which I conducted a mastermind session with them. Ideas that came from the session were out of this world. And I did it with flu symptoms. I felt that I was like Michael Jordan lol.

Man, you have no idea how I feel now. The great accomplishment in all of this is to have my wife supporting what I do. This was supposed to be our honeymoon. Instead, we are saving Lake Tanganyika.

During this campaign, there have been some defining moments. One of them was my meeting with a lady named Denise. I will tell you the story in my next blog post. Stay tuned, otherwise you will miss a great opportunity to read about a great Faith story.

Moral of the story. Do you want to work on a great project? Just get married and miss your honeymoon.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a week-end off

2011-09-26T13:48:00.001-04:00

After a long and busy week, I decided to take the week-end off. I am taking the credit but it's my wife's idea. I thought of a place we could go, and then I remembered visiting a resort not far from the city. Pinnacle 19 is the name of the place. His owner is a Canadian citizen who built the place over fourteen years ago.

The place is a beauty. It's on the Lake, the owner has planted thousands of trees, the electricity is generated by a solar system that he put in place (there is no power shortage) and the rooms are not that expensive. Did I mention that there is a sauna, and if you want a massage, it's a done deal

We got there at noon on Saturday and decided to go on the beach right away. After a few drinks, it started raining hard. Good timing to go to the sauna for some time followed by an hour long massage. Do you get the picture? I think I will think twice before coming back to Toronto (the paparazzi can wait lol)

The rest of the schedule? You won't get the details. It's classified lol
The next morning, we went down to the beach again. The water was so calm. It was so resting. Then, something amazing happened. A bird was flying over the lake, and then suddenly it decided to dive deep in the water to catch a fish. It was an amazing view. How in the world was it able to see the fish down in the water while flying over the Lake? Is it the same way I manage to smell the food miles away? Lol

Do you know what I thought about when I saw the bird diving for food. Try to guess. Do you get it? I can't make you wait longer. I will tell you. I thought of this:

Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Matthew 6:31-32

The funny part is that my wife got the same thought as well. Why do we really worry when we know that everything is provided (like the bird finding food in the lake). All we have to do is ask and believe that what we are asking will come to us at the perfect time if we are willing to wait.

So, let just relax and enjoy life, knowing that everything will be fine. We won't lack anything.

Moral of the story? Do you want to be inspired? Just go for a massage and you will see birds flying.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a meeting with Gandhi

2011-09-19T15:46:00.001-04:00

You must be thinking that I lost my mind when I say that I met Gandhi. Don't worry. I am doing fine. I met him only in a story that I heard. Do you want to hear it? I know you do. So I will tell the story

Long time ago, there was a lady in India whose son was eating too much sugar. She tried so many times in vain to ask him to stop eating sugar. After a while, she thought that Gandhi could help. She took her son to Gandhi and begged him to tell him to stop eating sugar. He carefully listen to the lady, and then went: “Please come back in two weeks, I will be able to help you”

Two weeks later, the lady came back to see Gandhi. The Mahatma looked in the young boy's eyes and told him: “Please stop eating too much sugar”. That was it. The lady could not believe it. “Do you mean I had to wait two weeks for you to ask my son to stop eating sugar” she said. “Why couldn't tell him in the first place?” Then, Gandhi simply said: “You see madam. Two weeks ago, I was still eating sugar. I could not ask your son to stop eating sugar while I was doing the same. I had to stop eating sugar myself so that I can ask your son with authority and integrity to stop eating it”

How incredible was that!

You may ask yourselves why I shared this story with you. It was just to find what I could write about. What do you think? I am not always inspired to write something. Just kidding! My inspiration is still there (more than ever). So relax, I will tell you why.

Few months ago, I received a call from a lady that I was coaching. She was so excited on the other side of the line. She emotionally said to me that, thanks to my coaching, her company would be making half a million dollars by the end of this year. Are you kidding me!!! I was so excited for her, but I was also mad at me. Do you know why? How in the world can I coach somebody to make half a million dollars while I don't have that kind of money myself? That would be like Gandhi asking the young guy to stop eating sugar while he (Gandhi) was still eating it.

That was few months ago. I then decided to change the way I do things. My decision was, first, test my own coaching, see if it can work with me before I can coach anybody else. I had to put myself on the line, go out there and create the life I want. If I succeed....No. I have to rephrase that. WHEN I succeed (because there is no other choice), I will then go out and teach others to create the life they want. Does it make sense? I know it does

I then decided, after 7 years working for a wonderful place, to send my resignation letter. I was done. No turning back. Now I had no other choice that create my future as I go, doing the things I love to do. On top of that, I had my wedding coming up. Do you think it was scary? Yes it was. But there was no turning back. I had to take my own coaching, live by it, use it and succeed before I could teach anybody else (like Gandhi with the sugar).

Guess what! It worked. And still does. I was able to find contracts in Burundi, using my own system, after nine years of absence in the country. Now I am coaching people, but most of all, I am working on a wonderful project that became a labor of love. It is so great to live the life you chose, a life you know that you have created. And the beautiful thing is that anybody can do it. It is not something that only superstars like myself can do lol. You can do it too. It takes a leap of faith, courage and determination, a little bit of luck (even though I don't believe in luck) and a lot of love from your wife (that is my case lol). Challenges will be there (I am still facing them), but you will be able to overcome them if you don't give up

So, my friend, create your life and go out there and live it. You can do it

Moral of the story? Do you want to live the life you want? Just get married, and you will work on a wonderful project

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a meeting with Maggy

2011-09-12T01:08:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine told me once that if you want to eat an elephant, the only way you can eat it all is one bit at time (of course if you are an elephant eater). That is how I see the project I am working on. Each and every day, my team is working tirelessly to make the project a success.

Do you remember last week when I told you about a place called “The Tanganyika Blue Bay Resort”? I hope you did not forget about it. This time I went to see the opposite. A place they call “ku Mase” near Lake Tanganyika.This place has been polluted it is not even funny. The once upon a time blue water is now black. I won't describe it so much, maybe the documentary we are shooting will show it better than me. It's unbelievable.

It has been a week of mixed emotions. I always do my best not to listen to the news (and I am a journalist. Go figure). It is a decision that I made over ten years ago, just to protect myself against any negative energy (have you heard how news are so negative?). I carefully choose what I listen to or watch. However, sometimes it is not that easy. News (especially negative news) travel so fast that you can help but hear it.

That was the case this week. I won't tell you the news I heard just because I don't want to spread it. But, as someone who loves his country, I could not resist being sad, upset and angry (that is why I do not listen to the news, they always upset me....).

I was still upset, until I met Maggy. This lady is just a gift from God. Please do a Google search and look for “Marguerite Barankitse”. Boy, this lady is something. She created “Maison Shalom” many years ago to help orphans, and what she has done over the years is simply amazing (please click here: www.maisonshalom.org)

Marguerite, called Maggy is one of the characters in our documentary. I had met her before in 2002 and she told me what she was doing and I was speechless. Nine years later, I am still speechless. All the negative news I had heard before simply disappeared when I said hello to Maggy.

This is how it went

Patrick: How are you Maggy? (with a hug)
Maggy: I am doing great Patrick. I have chosen to be a light in the middle of the darkness. You can do it too
Patrick: Speechless...

It was as simple as that. The rest of the time I was just listening to her. We promised to see each other in October when she will be in Canada. I was with greatness (and I guess she was too lol)

You know what? If we all chose to be the light in the middle of the darkness, this world would be a better place to live. That is my opinion (sorry, Maggy's opinion lol).

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet Maggy?. Just shine in the middle of the darkness and you will meet...me. I will then present you to Maggy.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to Tanganyika Blue Bay Resort

2011-09-05T00:56:00.001-04:00

For those of you who are NBA Basketball fans (and those of you who are not, what are you waiting for? Lol), you might remember Isiah Thomas words when the Pistons won their first championship (many of you were not born yet lol). He said “Heaven might be like this”. That's how I felt this Sunday when I arrived at Tanganyika Blue Bay Resort. This place is just heaven on earth(click here: www.tanganyikabluebay.com)

I had heard of this place, but it was my first visit there. I went there because I'd heard that the paparazi won't follow me there. Just kidding. It was a surprise to my wife that I secretly planed few days ago with my friend Adrian. My wife couldn't believe it. All the way from Bujumbura to Rumonge (where the resort is located), all she could say was singing Steven Sogo's song “Il est beau mon pays” (My country is beautiful). The funny thing is that she was singing about Burundi and she is from Rwanda. Go figure lol

At her place, I would do the same. Boy this country is beautiful. The last time I went to Rumonge was in 1992. Can you believe that?

What a week! This week alone, four of my dreams came true. I conducted my first workshop in Burundi (man, it was fun), I met former President Buyoya (I really respect this man and I wanted to meet him for a very long time), I went to Kidumu's concert (this guy is just a huge superstar in the making) and I was in the news all week long. That's just only the beginning (I am just modest as you can see...). To top it all off, my visit to the Blue Bay Resort. Toronto can wait just a little bit.

Do you know the cool thing? I met the boss of the Resort and, guess what? He gave us a complementary room my wife and I for next week-end (please do not call me next week-end, my phone will be off lol).

Even though this week was really cool (and very busy), my friend Adrian is the one who made it complete, for many reasons. First of all, he is the one who got the idea of going down to the resort. Second of all, while having a drink on the beach, he shared with me his dream and he rocked my world. This guy has some serious dreams man. I just want to be part of it.

On our way back to the city, we met a group of young fellows who were with us at the resort. It seemed that they had some car problems. My friend Adrian decided to stop and give a hand. Their car could not move. We were so many miles away from the city. Adrian decided to cut the seating belt of their car and use it to pull their car with ours. We drove for hours, pulling the other car behind us until we got to their home (and it was getting dark). The young fellows, and myself could not believe how generous my friend Adrian is. He always put others first, and what he did for those kids was just unbelievable. Guess what, that is how Burundians are. We had our share of problems in the past, but we are generous people in spite of all. Something the world may learn from us

Moral of the story? Do you want a complementary room at a resort? Just be in the news and you will be in a concert (I don't even know what I just said, but who cares lol)

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Campaign

2011-08-29T14:57:00.000-04:00

Guess what! I am staying one more month in Burundi (I know you know that already, I just wanted to remind you).

I also know that you are dying to know the reasons why I am staying. The news is for sale. I am going to give you my bank account for you to deposit the money if you want to know the information

But before anything, a plug for my friends Freddy and Caitlin for their awesome wedding ceremony last Saturday. I heard their MC was like a Rock Star (I am wondering who he might be...)

Coming back to me staying one more month (I wish it could be more than that), I will be working on a major fund raising campaign for a foundation named “Fondation Roi Mwezi Gisabo” (King Mwezi Gisabo Foundation) whose president is Ambassador Albert Mbonerane (he is the Martin Luther King of the environment here). What a blessing! Our goal? Saving Lake Tanganyika.

For a long time considered as one of the best national touristic attractions, the Lake Tanganyika is not what it used to be. Not long ago, its water was clear, people could swim in it, or learn to swim (that's my case), a surprising fauna developed there. Today, the lake is dying, more and more polluted and exploited. Somebody has to do something. I am glad I am part of this.

When I was given the contract to run the campaign, the first thing I did was to put together a team of people who I thought could help me (if I did not call you, be patient. I will do it soon). We have been working for a week now and, boy are we having fun. We believe in the project and we are not scared about the goal we set (which is really high)

I am now writing this blog near the pool at Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika, near the lake. Boy, this place is gorgeous. This hotel used to be one of the best we had in Burundi. The war destroyed it in the nineties and somebody took over the ownership of the hotel and started everything from scratch. Now the hotel is like a paradise. I think we can do the same for the lake

Maybe you have ideas of how we could save our Lake (I am talking to my fellow Burundians, or anybody who has the environment at heart). You are welcome to give a hand (I promise you to be your friend if you do). I will keep you posted on how things are rolling down here

Now it's time to eat. I better go. Between you and the food, my choice is clear
Moral of the story? Do you want to save Lake Tanganyika? Just send me your ideas and I will be your friend forever (first come first served)

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalacgieverscanada.com

My Journey to one more month in Burundi

2011-08-22T04:08:00.000-04:00

Guess what! I am staying one more month in Burundi (sorry Toronto paparazi)
Have you heard the phrase “be careful what you wish for because you may get it ”? It just happened to me.

As you have all read in my last blog (and I know you have), I was talking about making a difference in Burundi. I guess somebody was listening (or reading). For one month, I will be working on a project that I cannot mention for now (the papers are not signed yet lol). But stay tune to your local TV station you are going to hear about it. I can't wait to start.

It has been a wonderful experience down here at all levels (getting married being the best one). God has granted me (and I am saying this with all humility) the capacity to help people get or accomplish a dream. And once it happens, I cannot tell you the joy I feel to see somebody's dream come true. And for some reasons, those people seem to find me

Just the other day, a good friend of mine came to see me asking for guidance. She knew that she had a dream to help people, but she did not know where to start or who to help. After about half an hour conversation, all was clear and she was ready to start. She took action right away. I saw her two days ago, and she told me that she has found her dream. Guess what! Somebody just promised her 500,000 Burundi Francs so that she can start working on her dream. Is that cool or what?

I heard someone say that in the vision there is provision. Most of the time we don't start doing anything because we don't see where the money is going to come from. I have never started anything knowing where the means would come from. Money always finds me working towards my goal. Starting anything almost cost nothing. It could be planning, it could be talking to people about your dream, it could be asking for advice, but action is required to accomplish anything

So, please don't wait. If you have a dream, start where you are and move towards your goal. The provision will find you busy working. I read in a very good book that when we ask it is always given. So, why not ask for more, and while waiting for it to come, keep being busy and we will see you at the top (that's the Journeyman's wisdom)
Moral of the story? Do you want your dream come true? Keep reading my blogs and somebody will give you 500,000 Burundi Francs.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to My Birthday

2011-08-15T05:23:00.001-04:00

As you are reading this blog, it's a national holiday in Burundi. Nobody went to work today. Do you know why? Because it is my birthday (and I am saying this modestly)

This date also marks the anniversary of my third month in Burundi. I have enjoyed every moment of it (most often leading to going to bed at 3 AM). I have met longtime friends, I have made new ones, but most of all, it is the first time I am with all my brothers and my mom since 2002. What a joy for my mom to have his two sons getting married just one week apart! It is a month she will remember for a long time.
While working on my wedding, I found time to meet business owners, government officials, superstars (at least one: Yvonne Chaka Chaka) and other service providers.

Out of the blue, one prominent figure here in Burundi called me a few weeks ago and asked me if I could help his organization achieve one of its goals: financial autonomy. I was both honoured and pleased to give a hand.

This last Friday, I found myself speaking to his staff members and partners about a system I have been teaching for years now. I had been used to this presentation, but this time it was like magic. I could see the light in their eyes. All of sudden, nothing was impossible for them anymore. After my presentation, they couldn't let me go. They started talking to me about their personal dreams, what they have achieved in the past, and so on. It was a blast

Suddenly, what I thought was a simple system turned out to be a solution for my country. Can you imagine if everybody was working on achieving their goals and dreams? There would be no time for fighting (that is my opinion). Man, I couldn't sleep that night. All that I was thinking about was to find out how my system could help as many people as possible. Before you knew, I called out my friends Machado, Nana and Adrien (and what a joy to see my wife joining in the conversation!) for a brainstorming session. Ideas started to flow like crazy. We are ready to make a difference in Burundi.

What I did not know at that time was that, behind my back, my wife was organizing a surprise birthday party. Boy she did surprise me. She had invited over ten of my good friends, two of them drove me away from home while the others were coming. Long story short, at 2 AM we were still talking, drinking (soft drinks for me lol) and singing. We are still laughing at my friend Kijanya's jokes. He is a crazy dude.
Moral of the story? Do you want a surprise birthday party? Just call out your friends for a brainstorming session and you will make a difference while having fun at the same time.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to the finish line

2011-08-08T03:24:00.000-04:00

What a week! I don't even know where to start (should I stop here then?)
Were you watching TV this last Saturday? I hope you did otherwise you missed my wedding. There is still hope though. Next year, August 6 will be a national holiday for our one year wedding anniversary, and there will be tons of reports and documentaries about it. Then you will get a chance to see what you missed.

Seriously. I don't know how I would have made it without my friends and family. I am still amazed how people spent sleepless nights just to make the event a success (I am still wondering how I am going to thank them). Once again, my wedding reminded me that the best investment we can make is to invest in people.

The event took several months in the making. There have been some ups and downs, but we made it. The whole story is a book by itself. Things went exactly as planned (in terms of dates), but the path to get there was a learning process for me. I cannot tell you that everything was in place to make the event happen. It took a lot of faith, sacrifice and commitment, but I do not regret every single moment of it.

Twenty four hours before the wedding, I was still running all over the place, more than once, I had to expect miracles to happen. Early in the afternoon, I came to a place where I had no options at all. I had to find a solution quickly or there would be no wedding. You know what I did? Can you guess? Ok, I will give you the answer. I did....nothing. Instead, I went to the beach to relax with my Best Man. I knew the solution would come to me at its own time. Looking at me, you would have thought that there was nothing to get done, even though the time was ticking.

Do you know how the solution came? Not the way I was expecting (That is always the case). I got a call from my mom asking me about a small detail about the event, I promised her to make some calls and I would get back to her shortly. The first phone call I made was to a family member. Everything went fine, but at the end of our conversation he just went: “there is a voice that tells me that you are worried about something. What is it?” At first, I wanted to deny it, but, I thought that it wouldn't help.

I decided to tell him the story, and guess what, he gave me the solution I was looking for (and there was no way I could do it by myself).
I have learned that when we fight against what is happening to us, the situation tends to persist. But if we accept things as they are and go with the flow without stressing, the solution always comes naturally at its own time. I know that it is easy said than done, but trust me, it works. It doesn't matter what the problem is, there is always a solution.

Moral of the story? Do you want to get married? Just go to the beach to relax and the solution will come to you.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a meeting with the Princess of Africa

2011-08-01T17:44:00.002-04:00

Can you believe that I am writing this blog on Sunday? Most of the times, my blogs are ready by Thursday, and then I post them on Monday (knowing that you are all sitting with great anticipation at your computers waiting for them)

It's been a busy and eventful week. Did you read my last blog? I hope you did, otherwise I won't continue writing this one. The event that I was talking about did in fact happen. She was here! And it was an honour and pleasure to meet her, talk with her, have lunch with her, joke with her, meet government officials with her, be her interpreter and the MC at the event in which she was the guest of honour. She is called the Princess of Africa (and she really is). Her name is Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yes I was with her. I was with THE star of African music for an entire day and evening. I was with greatness. Check out her official website: http://princessofafrica.com/

Chaka Chaka was invited by an organization of which I am part; and she was here in Burundi mainly because of her work with the United Nations in the fight against malaria. She is a true humanitarian and she has Africa in her heart. She was not supposed to sing at our gala, but what she did not know was that my boys Nicolas and Kijanya were planning to make her sing at all cost. Boy, it was magical to see my men sing with her!! They planned it so well that she could not resist. And when she hit the microphone, the crowd was at her feet. It was like a dream to see the Ngoma boys share the stage with Chaka Chaka, singing “Stand by me”, a song that she performed in the past with Bono of U2.

The gala was a huge success. Nobody wanted to go home. But it was mainly a huge relief for the organizers who put together the event (with so little help) and made it happen. I was with them, I saw what they went through to make it happen. I offered a little bit of help but the merit goes to them and they deserve it. Nana, Adrien and Machado, you are my heroes and the country should be proud of you (Nadege and Pamela, don't worry I did not forget you. You did a great job too).

I have been organizing events for quite some time and I know what it takes to make them happen. It takes serious commitment, dedication, faith and a lot of lack of sleep (lol). People who attend events just see the finished product but do not realize the amount of work that goes on behind the scene. It is so easy to see what went wrong at an event as a spectator and criticize, but the real challenge is to make it happen and very few people are willing to go the distance. Isn't that the same thing with success? We see successful people, admire them (or hate them), but we do not know what they went through to get there and the price they paid to be at the top.

What I have also seen is that, when you finally hit the goal, you don't even remember the pain you went through to get there (like a mother giving birth to a child). You want to do it again. That moment was this Friday when I saw Chaka Chaka on the stage singing with my Toronto friends, here in Burundi. Man, it was so great. I am sure Kijanya and Nicolas won't forget it too (for a long time)

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet a superstar? Just be one and you will meet the Princess of Africa.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a great event

2011-07-25T01:26:00.000-04:00

It's been more than a month that I am here in Burundi (away from North American paparazzi lol). So far, I have not had time yet to see all my friends , but I am having a great time. I have been to the airport twice and it was nice to see some fellow Torontonians coming down here.

My time has been mainly devoted to my upcoming wedding (we are only two weeks away, stay tune to a TV channel near you), but I have been involved in some other stuff as well. I am part of an organization called Heart of Africa Alliance based here in Burundi, and for the last two years, they have been doing some cool things. Heart of Africa Alliance is an organization that was founded by journalists and former journalists who are still working in the communication field, and its main purpose is to promote excellence by giving awards to people who have been working more than others in different fields. Last year was about rewarding those who have been involved in the children rights, and this year it will be about the environment.

Last year's event was so great but I did not get a chance to be there (I only sent a video). But this year, not only will I be there, but I will also get the opportunity to see my friends Kijanya and Nicolas from Toronto perform at the event (after so many years away from Burundi). We have a few other high profile guests (other than me of course), and the big announcement is a few hours away.

As the event is a few days away, we have been running all over the place talking to different businesses and organizations asking them for sponsors. I was amazed by people's generosity. Everybody wants to be part of it (who wouldn't? The fact that I am part of it is enough to bring sponsors, and I am saying this with my legendary modesty lol). Just kidding.

At some occasions when we meet business owners, I get a chance to tell them what I do, and I can see that in a near future I will be working with some of them. It is great to see young entrepreneurs taking big steps and making things happen. How pleasant it was to see one of my former students running a great organization helping others to achieve their dreams! I was like, either he was a brilliant student, or his teacher was brilliant . After a few thoughts, I am saying that he was a brilliant student. He made me so proud.

There are so many great things happening here, but it is sad to say that we do not have enough opportunities to hear about them. I purposefully do not listen to the news (that so often are saying that the sky is falling down on us), and have decided to focus on the good things that I see. And you know what? There are plenty of them. This is another proof to the saying that goes like “energy flows where attention goes”. If our focus is on the good things, guess what? We will see more good things and more good things will come to us. This is the Journeyman wisdom and it is free of charge.

Moral of the story? Do you want to see more good things coming to you, just keep reading my blogs and you will be invited to a great event

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to the Mountains

2011-07-18T02:49:00.002-04:00

What an adventure I had last Sunday! In my quest to be back in shape (I really need it lol), I accepted an invitation for a hike. It's a club that has been doing it every Sunday for thirty two years now. I grew up seeing them every Sunday walking the streets of Bujumbura but I had never been part of any of their activities.The club name is "Les Amis de la Montagne" (Friends of the Mountain)

I thought it would be a piece of cake. Come on, I have been a Basketball champion (at least as a coach lol), I have climbed the CN Tour four times,so walking should be easy. What an illusion!

What I did not know was that, whenever I saw them walking, it was just a forty minutes warm up. After the walk, they go for a hike in the mountains, and that, my friends is something. I learned my lesson. For about half an hour, we were just walking, and I was chatting with longtime friends of the family who are part of the club, and they were explaining to me how things work in the club. I was very much impressed.

They told me that, after a while, there would be separate groups who will take different routes according to the degree of difficulty of the hike. I thought to myself:I will certainly be in the elite group.Remember, I have been a Basketball champion.....you know the story. Then we got to the hills; the leaders showed us the way for the different routes. A and B (the tough ones) would go this way, and the C would go that way. I was definitely an A.

Off we went, A and B together. After about ten minutes of walking, I was sweating like crazy, almost lost my breath. Then something happened. We stopped. I was like, it was high time we stopped. The leader then said: Group A you go this way, and group B you go that way. This time, there was no way I would go with A. No way

Group B took off. Man, it was crazy. By the time we got to the top of a mountain, there was another one to climb. And I was like, what in the world did I get myself into? I wanted to call my wife, my mom, God...., anyone who could help. Needless to say that I was the last one in the group. And all the time I was thankful that I did not go with group A. I would have been dead by this time.

At first, the group members wanted to wait for me, but I told them to keep going because I didn't want them to loose their momentum. I was hopeless. I was stopping every two minutes. I started asking for directions from the people who live there. I was asking them if they saw any men and women with white T-Shirts (that is the club uniforms). They gladly showed me the way, but after a while, there was no way I could get to them. I was done.

Then, a young boy offered to help and show me my way back by taking a shortcut to the main street. I thought it was a shortcut. We walked for half an hour before getting to the street. I was so exhausted man. By the time I got to the main street, I met a club member who took the shortcut as well. He had a meeting to go to, that is why he did not go all the way. I asked him where were all the others and he told me that they were still climbing. I was like, are you serious???!!! These people are machines

I will be honest and tell you that, for years, I thought this club was for old people who could not practice any other sport. How wrong was I! I have never been in any basketball drill that was this hard (maybe it's my age as well). Compared to this hike, climbing the CN Tour is a piece of cake. And these people have been doing it for over thirty years!!!!! That is impressive

How often do we judge people at the first sight without trying to get to know them? So often, we are quick to judge and have an opinion on everything without even trying to understand that person (at least that is my case). After last Sunday, I had a whole other view of the club. It was respect. I had also a great respect for the people who live in those mountains and who, day after day, come down to the city to make a little bit of money and return home, sometimes with nothing for which to show. They are at the heart of our economy (the food we eat comes from there). I learned my lesson

Moral of the story? Do you want to learn your life lesson? Just put on a white T-Shirt and go for a hike in the mountains and you will take a shortcut

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman

My Journey to a cool week

2011-07-11T01:19:00.000-04:00

After a few days in Rwanda, I returned to Burundi with no other plans to travel. I have to prepare for the main event in August (remember to watch CNN that day). However, that alone cannot take all my time. I still have time to relax, visit friends, do some Goal Achievers Work, play some Basketball and run in the morning up the hills surrounding the city. I have also had the privilege to meet some government officials and top business owners so that I could have an idea of what's going on in the business world down here. I visited my former high school, my former place of work, and Le Maquis, my favourite restaurant. What a blast! Their chicken is still the best after so many years (or was I just hungry?)

Just two days ago, I decided to stay home all day, no computer, no work, no TV. It was awesome! All I did was read my book, listen to some audios and rest. I cannot remember a day where that was all I did.

My friend Jeff came over from Rwanda last week-end and spent three days with us. I grew up with Jeff in Ngagara, one of the nicest places here in the capital city. We decided to go back there and visit. It was an awesome experience. I could remember all the houses, friends who use to live there, some of them are still there. It was like returning to my roots. All the people I met brought back great memories from my childhood.

As I was reading my book, suddenly an idea came to me. I called up my wife who was watching her favourite movie (I think she should be an actress. She watches so many movies). She thought it was something serious I wanted to ask her. I then asked: “Can you tell me ten things for which you are thankful? (I thought I would be the top one lol)”. She looked at me and said: “these books that you're reading are driving you crazy. Why are you asking me this?” But she saw that it was a serious question. And my charms were enough to make her respond to the question (at least that is what I tell myself).

We started counting our blessings. At first, I didn't know I could find ten things for which I was thankful. But as we kept counting, we couldn't stop. It's funny how we never stop and think about these things; and there are plenty of them. Once we start to focus on the good things, we begin to realize how we are just blessed to be alive and surrounded by our loved ones. I heard someone say that energy flows where attention goes. Why not focus all our attention and energy on the good things that are happening in our lives all the time? That would be a cool thing, don't you think? You know what? When we do so, our so called problems seem to disappear all of a sudden. Let's just make it a habit to count our blessings on a daily basis, and our lives will never be the same. That is the Journeyman prediction's.

Moral of the story? Do you want to have a problem free life? Just count your blessings and you will read cool books.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey back from Rwanda

2011-07-04T01:05:00.001-04:00

It's Monday morning, I know you will read this blog a week after I had written it, but I couldn't wait to write this one, as I know you couldn't wait to read it. This reminds me of a story of a guy who was writing a letter so slowly that it started to bother his friend who was with him. When asked why he was writing that slowly, he simply said: it's because my friend, who will be reading this letter, is a slow reader. Go figure!

I was in Kigali for both to see my in-laws and for the traditional engagement party before the William and Kate like wedding day on August 6. You are all invited, but if you cannot make it, just watch it live on CNN.

The party was simply amazing. I was in a traditional outfit that made me look like Eddy Murphy in Coming to America. I was the Prince of Zamunda. It was a learning process for me as Rwandan tradition is a little bit different from ours in terms of the engagement party process. They even had to find somebody from Rwanda who would represent our family to deliver the speech (we did not want to mess things up, otherwise I would go home without my bride). What a good surprise when I met our representative. It turned out that he is the father of a longtime friend of mine and classmate! It is really a small world.

I arrived in Kigali on Thursday, before my family and friends who were coming the next day from Burundi. I had to meet Jeff my Best Man, and go with him to visit my in-laws where we watched a DVD of a previous engagement party (not mine of course lol), so that I could have an idea of what would happen in mine. After watching it, I had a broad picture of the process.

Now that being said, the day of the party, I couldn't remember everything. It took somebody like Jeff, who is familiar with the complete process, to guide me every step of the way. Even my bride was whispering some stuff in my ear (which I didn't mind lol) just to let me know what was coming up next. In the end, it all worked out fine and the party and after party was great. And just in case you were wondering about the after party.....well yes, I entertained the guest with some of my moves to a great selection of music.

I am trying to figure out why I am telling you all this.

Oh, it just came to me! You are all lucky that I did not lose my inspiration. Maybe it's the nice smell coming from the kitchen. It looks like I will be having a great lunch (there is no way I could cook this good)

Back to my story. For me, the whole thing looked like achieving any goal. We need to see the broad picture of what we want to achieve (me watching the DVD before my party), but most importantly, we need to have mentors who know the process and who can guide us in achieving our goal (Jeff, my Best Man was my mentor). We may stumble in the process, but if we trust our mentors and keep the big picture in mind, all will work out fine at the end.

My challenge to you is, if you have any goal in mind, or if you are working on something that you have no idea as to how you will achieve it, how about finding a good mentor who has the experience of already being there and who knows what to do? That would make the process easier for you, and maybe cut in half the time it takes for you to achieve your goal.

Moral of the story? Do you want to find a good mentor? Just have your traditional engagement party and you will look like the Prince of Zamunda.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey back to Kigali

2011-06-27T00:13:00.001-04:00

It has been now more than a week that I am in Burundi. I am getting used to everything. I am getting used to eat (very) nice food that I did not cook myself (lol), I am getting used to being mistaken by childhood friends who do not recognize me at first (extra pounds I guess), I am getting used to speaking my broken and almost forgotten Swahili (yes, I am multilingual), I am getting used to meeting my friends and laughing so loud, leaving our neighbours wondering what's going on, and I am getting used to having my afternoon nap (what a delight!).

I am also getting used to changing my relationship with time (half an hour meaning two hours lol), and also having my to do list broken by half as everything is slow. Maybe things are not slow here. I was used to the fast North American pace, but sometimes it's good to get things done quickly than wait longer. That's my opinion.

I am now heading to Kigali to meet my family-in-law. I can't wait. What a great family! Please don't think that I am being biased. These folks know how to enjoy life. The last time I was with them, I laughed so much that I could not sleep in the evening.

I am dreaming of a place that could take the positive aspects of both African and North American cultures and merge them into one. What a perfect world it would be! That would be living the American dream with a sense of community (the African way). It would be like driving a huge school bus with a Ferrari engine. Yes, we will certainly get there faster, but will have a great time along the way as a group.

Down here, it is like a big family. Everybody knows everybody. You go to visit your friend, you find him having his lunch and needless to say you are automatically invited (and you know that is my favourite part of our culture). People don't have to call you before they visit. They just show up and you share what you have.

Today, I witnessed something amazing. Two young guys were trying to rob a lady in her car. Too bad for them. Somebody saw them before they were able to escape. Did he call the cops? Not at all. Instead, the entire community came down to chase after the two guys. Simply put: If you try to rob one person be prepared to deal with the community.

Am I missing some North American stuff? I think having faster line ups would help a little lol, and 9 O'clock meaning 9 sharp would help a brother lol. Other than that, I am really having the time of my life, especially when I think that this was a goal of mine at the beginning of this year. It's like living in a dream that I have created myself. Sometimes we tend to forget that we have the power to design the life that we want and go out there and live it. All we have to do is think outside of the box and decide what we really want. The rest is not even up to us. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Moral of the story? Do you want to live a dream life? Just create a school bus with a Ferrari engine and you will eat food that you did not cook yourself.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to Burundi

2011-06-20T02:17:00.004-04:00

You knew this one was coming. Some of you were stuck on the computer waiting for this one to come out (at least that is what I say to myself). I made sure I wrote it on Saturday so that I could post it on Monday (the Internet here is that slow). Now I call my home Internet “my school of patience”. But I am loving it!

I landed on Thursday at 1.30 PM local time, after a trip that took me from Toronto to Washington DC; from there I flew to Ethiopia, then Kenya, and finally to Burundi. It was a long flight and I had to be at Pearson Airport at 3 AM on Wednesday to catch my first flight. When I finally went to bed on Thursday, I had spent more than 48 hours without sleep ( I think I am Superman, what do you think?).

Some days are more symbolic than others. June 15 was one of them for me. One of the things we do at Goal Achievers (yes, that is a plug for my business), is we ask people to set goals and attach a date to them. June 15 was my date that I had set in January of this year. My goal was to fly to Burundi and spend three months there. Did I know how I would do it? The “How” is rarely in my thoughts. It always shows up when needed.

How things unfolded is really like a movie. Somewhere in the middle of April, Phil Taylor, the founder of Goal Achievers International asked me to take over the Canadian division of his company. You know what was the result. I said yes, but it took some, I would say, serious investment in terms of cash. Next thing you knew, it was time for me to send some money back home (yes, weddings cost a little). Three days after, my friend and mentor that I call JG agreed to be my business partner (after me begging him lol). That too took some more monetary investment (don't ever think I am Bill Gates lol)

I also found out that JG's wife is a flight concierge. He said "She can take care of your flight to Burundi” and I in return said "Sure! Bring it on". Did I think about my bank account at that moment? Well, just a little (if you know what I mean). Kerri is super amazing! In her concierge business she aims to take care of you every step of the way and that is truly what she did for me. She found me a deal that I could not let go. She is just a genius. However, I had 24 hours to pay for the flight otherwise I would have lost it. I said to her: No worries, it will be paid on time. Did I know how? Well the "How" is rarely, ...I guess you know it by now.

Long story short, the ticket was paid...5 minutes before the deadline, and guess what? Are you ready? Do you want me to wait and tell you the story in my next blog? I guess this would be a great time to go for a commercial break....if my blog was a TV show. But it is not, so I will tell you the story for free. This is what happened: The ticket was given to me as a gift. Yes, you got it right. I did not pay for it. Somebody did. The gift was given to me, check this out: 5 minutes before the deadline. How about that? Did I tell you that that the “How” is rarely..., now you know it by heart

Those of you who are planning to fly somewhere, please check out Kerri's company at: www.kerriholley.com. She is the real deal and she is way more than just a travel agent. Trust me when i say she will take care of you every step of the way.

This was just one story among many that I can tell you. June 15 was really a symbolic day for me. Stay tune for many stories to come.

Moral of the story? Do you want to achieve any goal you have? Just set the date and you will get stuff for free

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

P.S. Get my $295 - 8 Lesson Goal Achieving Audio Program for FREE
(limited time, limited quantity)"
http://goalachieverscanada.com/free-8-lesson-audio-program/

My Journey to an emotional week

2011-06-13T12:02:00.001-04:00

What a great way to finish the week as I am watching the Dallas Mavericks win a well deserved NBA championship. I guess they knew I was about to leave North America, and they did not want me to miss game seven.

I had a very emotional week at many levels. It was my last week at my job as I am transitioning into being in business for myself full time, and I am about to go back home to spend three months with my family and live the married life. What a dream come true!

It's a new beginning for me, but things have not been that easy as I have been struggling for years to finally live my dream. I had to overcome a number of obstacles, but there is a lot to celebrate (boy I had so many things to change on me!). What a journey!

I remember telling a friend of mine in 2002, freshly new to Canada, that I will be a millionaire in three years. I am glad she did not ask me about it in 2005 (when I couldn't even pay attention lol). Was I naive? Maybe. But I am glad I did not give up on my dream. As I look back now, I wanted to succeed, yes, but it was for wrong reasons. I was driven by self-promoting ambitions to prove to the whole world that I was the man, that I could do anything.

Here I am, nine years later! Am I a millionaire yet? Not at all. But my mindset is different. I want to succeed by helping others. I had to go through a lot of painful pruning to become who I am today. Now, I understand that it is all about the journey not the destination. The hard times were for me to get rid of what was preventing me from succeeding. I had to learn to be patient, to get rid of my anger, to stop trying to look good, and accept to be myself no matter what.

It was humbling to hear what my boss had to say about me at my farewell party at work. I thought she was talking about Oprah. The gifts I received from my co-workers, the financial contribution I received from my community and friends, and the words of encouragement from my business partners were just unbelievable. It has been a while since I had cried this much. I really did not know what I meant to people around me. It is really humbling. I kept asking myself: what did I really do to deserve all this? I can tentatively say that, maybe it is my decision to be a servant of God and help my fellow citizens of the world.

The focus is not on me anymore. I have learned so much in my nine years in Canada that I think it's time for me to share it with the world. I remember reading and finishing five books in a week, listening to 33 Cds in 3 days, going to sleep at 3 AM night after night while studying the Bible, getting home at 1 AM every night, traveling every three months to go to conferences and seminars to learn from successful people, spending days without eating as all my money was going into my education. You know what? If I could do it all over again, I would not hesitate a second. The peace of mind I have now is worth the whole world. I think I have invested in my biggest commodity: Me

I came a long way, but what lies ahead of me is something amazing. I just feel it. My biggest celebration now is to go home and see my mom living her dream as her two sons are getting married at the same time. She is a hero of mine. She went through a lot as a single mom raising three boys, one of them being a brilliant, intelligent and yet modest blog writer (why are you laughing?).

I am staring a series of FREE lessons that I will be posting on my website. The first eight lessons are already available. You can check them by clicking here: http://goalachieverscanada.com/free-8-lesson-audio-program/

I am so excited to be posting my blogs in the next few months from the sunny and beautiful Burundi in a very good company (if you know what I mean).

Moral of the story? Do you want to enjoy a trip to Africa? Just keep reading my blog and I will update you on my adventures

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalchieverscanada.com

My Journey to San Diego

2011-06-07T00:14:00.002-04:00

I did not go to San Diego (I wish I did), but every time I speak with Jeanine or Lara, I feel I am in San Diego. Hey, Jeanine, now you cannot brag about the beautiful Californian weather anymore. It's nice in Toronto as well.

Jeanine lives in San Diego and Lara is her friend. Lara, I hope we will get a chance to return to Ngoma before you head South of the border.

Have you heard of BFI (Burundi Friends International)? If you are a true follower of my blog, you would certainly remember my last trip to Montreal where I met Jeanine after decades without seeing her. That day she shared with me BFI's mission which is to help fight poverty in Burundi by providing education, healthcare and self-sustaining enterprise opportunities on a village-by-village basis.

Quick question for you: who wouldn't want to be part of this? Especially when you were born in Burundi (by the way; can't wait to be there in a few days), or if you are a person who loves to give a hand.

After my first meeting with Jeanine, we kept in touch regularly and I was made aware of the various activities they were doing in Burundi. I tried to help as much as possible. A few months later, I received a call from a woman named Lara who introduced herself as Jeanine's friend. I could hear the excitement in her voice. Do you know why she was excited? Well, she had just returned from her first trip to Burundi and with that she told me: “Oprah needs to go to Burundi. This place is so beautiful!Oprah could spend a year meeting and interviewing one Amazing and Inspirational "hero" after another.. Plus, yes, the place is magically beautiful!” Of course I couldn't agree more. However, while we wait for Oprah's visit, another superstar will be there shortly: Me. Lol.

A little while after, a funny thing happened. Lara told me that she was attending an African fashion show in Toronto and mentioned that maybe we could meet there. Well, guess what? I was the MC of the event (do you remember my meeting with Pathe'O?). Since then, Lara and I have become good friends.

Let me be the first to tell you, if you didn't already know, that there is something truly special happening at BFI. They seem to attract the right people at the right time (this time I am not talking about me). Things are rolling down in San Diego. Can you believe that a BFI supporter donated a 40 feet container to be shipped to Burundi? All they have to do is fill it with medical supplies for clinics and hospitals; and books and clothes for orphanages. How about that! That's not all; money has been raised to pay for the shipment to Burundi. Is that cool or what!

Sometimes opportunities may come with new challenges. Now BFI's challenge is to find people who are interested in helping others by donating the things they need to fill the container. Would you join me in helping them? It could be ideas, contacts or even a word of encouragement. These people have their hearts in the right place. What a commitment! They have trusted me and made me part of the BFI family and now I would like to invite all of you my Journeyman followers into my new family! In fact, consider yourself already part of the new family for just taking the time to read this blog. You can get more information on this great organization by checking out www.bufri.org. You can also see this video of one of BFI partners.Simply amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65OJrXqG10

Moral of the story? Do you want to take a trip to San Diego without flying in an aeroplane? Just talk to BFI people and they will get you there. You may be on your way to Burundi.

Always a pleasure

Patrick

The Journeyman

patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to Saint Joseph Street

2011-05-30T16:44:00.003-04:00

I remember the first time I went back home after six years in Canada. It was quite something. It looked like the place had changed a lot. But it didn't. I changed. It was a strange feeling.

I had the same reaction last week when I went to 6 St Joseph street downtown Toronto. For over six months I have been to this place literally every Sunday. And every Sunday, it is the same quiet and clean place where everything is where it should be. I noticed though a number of inspirational quotes everywhere in the room.

What a surprise when I went there during the week! It was like I had never been there before. You know me well now. The best way to catch my attention is to give me free food lol. They sure did. This place is unbelievable.

Now you are asking yourselves: what the heck is he talking about? That is a good question.

I am speaking about 6 Saint Joseph House where Goal Achievers meetings are held. When I joined the group, they were meeting at this place, and I did not ask any question about it, I just knew that it was our place of meeting. When Paul and I took over Goal Achievers Canada, I thought maybe I should try to learn more about this place. I thought, why not pay them a visit? So I did.

Oh boy. The place was packed. There were activities going on everywhere. The lovely Darlene offered a tour of the place while explaining to me what they do. By the way, every Tuesday and Wednesday they offer free lunch (for this only reason you should check them out).

6 St. Joseph is a community that supports people who are taking a step up from livelihood challenges, while connecting them to a “home” and a community of people ready to help others. Many of its activities have the potential to serve as a model for outreach programs at other neighbourhood centres.

Located in downtown Toronto near Yonge & Wellesley St., 6 St Joseph House is a creative resource centre where everyone, no matter what their circumstances, has an opportunity to contribute their talents, feel a sense of belonging, and receive support from one another.

It is a place where positive life-change is a realizable goal, and where people of all backgrounds pitch in to lead the programs & activities. From the beginning, their goal has been to invite people from diverse backgrounds to work together and support those taking positive steps out of addiction, social isolation, panhandling, and homelessness.

Of all the things that they told me they did, do you know what part got my greatest attention? Well, it was the part where they told me that the centre functioned mainly because of people's donations. There is a such a positive and embracing energy you feel when there that it makes you want to be part of what's happening. I paid them a visit the next day, and David explained to me in details what they do. Guess what? They have other locations in the city as well.

Here is my shout out to you (yes you my beloved blog readers). I know you want to make a difference; I know some of you are even looking for a purpose in life. Why not starting by giving your time or even your money to a place that is worth it? 6 St. Joseph Street is the real deal. Check them out at www.6stjoseph.ca

Moral of the story? Do you want to make a difference in your community? Just visit 6 St. Joseph Street and you will get free food (only if you get there before me lol)

Always a pleasure.

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to the NBA Playoffs

2011-05-23T23:10:00.002-04:00

By reading the title of my blog you may think that, I am either an NBA player, or I went to watch those games live. I wish.

It seems though that I have been doing both. I won’t tell you my age, but I started watching NBA games in 1986 (I know, some of you were not born yet lol). We used to go to my friend Alex’s place to watch games on VHS tapes (I hope you know what those are), and we knew all the good players (Jordan, Magic, Bird, Ewing…).

I became fascinated by the game (almost addicted); to the point that now my schedule goes around those games, especially during the Playoffs.

For me, sport in general, and Basketball in particular, is a school of life. Think about Michael Jordan for a second. He is making over forty five million dollars a year and he has been retired for year. I believe he put the NBA on the world map. Now every kid wants to be like Mike (I wished they wanted to be like the Journeyman, why not?)

Do you know that it took eight years for MJ to win his first championship? Eight long years!!! He was the best player, the best scorer, the best defender, the best competitor (that’s my opinion of course), but still, no championship ring on his finger.

Then, a series of things started to happen. Scottie Pippen came over, then Horace Grant and the other guys. Finally, the Zen Master Phil Jackson took over as the Bulls head coach (some of you are now saying “who the heck are these people”? Don’t worry, they are all friends of mine, I will introduce them to you).

Phil Jackson introduced Tex Winter’s triangle offense, and then convinced Jordan to share the ball with the other guys, waiting for the fourth quarter to take over the game. Guess what! It worked. In 1991, the Bulls won the first championship, and went on to win five more over the years.

Why did I say all of this? Just to convince you to give up hockey and watch Basketball instead. Just kidding.

What I am trying to say is that when we are pursuing our dreams, they may not come as soon as we want them to (8 years for Jordan). Maybe it’s all about timing, or there are things we need to learn first before we achieve our goals. It could be having good mentors (Phil Jackson), it could be having a team around us (Pippen, Grant…), it could be letting go of our old way of doing things (sharing the ball with others), or anything.

However, when we wait long enough, when we keep working at it and never give up, the victory will be sweeter than we thought in the first place. In case of Jordan, he did not win one, two or three championships. He won six of them and in the process became a world Icon. Now he owns his own team. How sweet is that!!!! (I believe he stole that idea from me lol). I heard someone say “your biggest struggle will be your biggest victory”. So don’t give up my friend. Victory is on its way.

Moral of the story? Do you want to live a victorious life? Just give up any other sport you are watching or playing, and focus only on Basketball.

Always a pleasure

Patrick

The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Breakfast

2011-05-16T20:28:00.006-04:00

I remember the last time I was in New York, a friend of mine came into my hotel room with lots of food. I thought it was just for her, but she brought some for me too (how could I refuse). I asked her why she had brought food me, to which she replied: “I read you blog. I know that when it comes to food, you are always open to opportunities”. Somebody is reading my blog....

I shared the story with our guests at our seminar last Saturday and I told them that it was my time to give back. I offered to pay for breakfast for those who were interested in learning more about what we do at Goal Achievers. I had 7 hungry (lol) people at our first breakfast and it looks like I will be doing it every week-end (are you interested?). It was awesome (I mean the food lol). I will get back to the breakfast story in a second. They are showing Derrick Rose and the Bulls on TV. What an impressive win over Lebron and company!

So where was I? Oh yes. The breakfast thing. It was magic. People who thought that their goals were out of reach went home so excited and with an action plan in hand. Some of them had some audaciously big goals. My friend Motivatorman wants to be on Oprah's last show on May 25 (a longtime dream of his). To tell you the truth, I think he is close to his goal. Check out his blog here:http://bit.ly/kl5hOL

I have attended lots of seminars, I have read many books, I have taken lots of courses, but never had I experienced what I am experiencing now with our Mastermind group. It's crazy! Things are happening so quickly that our biggest challenge is to keep up with everything that is going on (how about co-authoring a book with the Canadian bestseller author, in less than a week! Are you kidding me!)

Jim Pagiamtzis, one of the members of our team, is a published author, speaker and entrepreneur . He is the founder of Get Connected Make Wealth Happen! It has been a privilege to share my life journey with this guy! I call him Mr. Connector because that is exactly what he does. Do you need anything? He can connect you with the right person in a few seconds. Jim is so committed that he doesn't mind picking me up at 5.45 AM so that we can ride together to a workshop sponsored by Goal Achievers. Wow!!

Let me take a short break here. I need to call Kigali...

Okay, am back; but now I can't recall where I was in my story. Sorry guys. I will have to write another one next week.

Have you seen the movie “The Ultimate gift”? Not yet? What do you mean? I have mentioned this movie many times in my blogs. Please take action and watch it (so that I can get my commission from the producer lol). Anyways, a guy in the movie was asked to talk about his dream. After thinking about it for a while, he responded: “I don't know what my dream is, but I can certainly help others achieve theirs”. Wow!

I am experiencing the same thing!

Moral of the story? Do you want to have your dream come true? Just read my blogs and you will offer me free food.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
patrick@goalachieverscanada.com

My Journey to a Seminar

2011-05-09T21:37:00.001-04:00

It has been a while since I had an entire day to rest. On Saturday I went to bed at 9 PM (I think it is the first time I ever went to bed this early). I was so exhausted that I couldn't stand (which leaves me wondering if that is the reason why my Lakers lost on Sunday?).

Saturday was a dream come true for me. I have spoken in front of hundreds of people before, but this particular event had something special to it. We had a line up of amazing speakers, guests showed up as expected and I had so much fun being on the stage sharing my story. I had great feedback and many of our guests expressed interest in meeting up with me so that I could share with them what we do at Goal Achievers.

It was eight years ago that Paul and I used to meet for breakfast almost every Saturday to talk about what we wanted to do in the future (one of them being Paul paying for the breakfast lol). As I was waiting for my turn to speak on Saturday, I couldn't help but notice the smile on Paul's face. He did not have to say much. I knew what the smile meant. “Yes we made it”. Who knew?

These are the finest moments of my life as I am getting ready to go back home to Burundi for three months, and return to Toronto to run Goal Achievers Canada full time. Yes Torontonians, June 14 will be my last day at my current job (a job that has been a blessing to me for almost 7 years). I am dedicating the rest of my career to help others achieve their goals, doing what I love to do: writing, coaching and speaking.

Sometimes we do things or things happen to us that we do not realize their impact on our our life until we share them with others. As I was talking with my good friend Jeff, he couldn't believe what was happening to me. I mentioned to him that all these good things started to happen to me since I got married (I know I am getting too personal here lol). It doesn't seem to stop (and I don't want it to stop lol). I will always give credit to God, but my wife is playing a big role in my life (I hope she will read this one lol). She just allows me to be...me, and she is with me every step of the way (even though she is miles and miles away). What a blessing.

My friend Barry said at our seminar “if it is not my genius, it's not my job”. How true it is! Once we find what we are supposed to do on this earth, the rest is not even up to us. We enter in a flow that allows us to reach our goals effortlessly, the right people seem to show up at the right time, and even challenges don't seem to affect us anymore. We know it is part of the process.

My challenge to you all is to find what you love to do, and then do it. Something that you feel you could do for free, something that you fall in love with, something you are so passionate about that you can't wait to wake up in the morning so that you can do it. When that happens, just watch how things move so quickly that your next challenge becomes finding a way to manage them. It takes faith to take the first step, but once you take the step, the rest will fall into place. Remember you have to plant a seed first before it can grow into a tree. But, please do not forget that it is all about the journey, not the destination. That is the word from the Journeyman.

Moral of the story? Do you want to enjoy your life? Just find what you love to do and my friend Paul will buy you breakfast.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to a Meeting with my Publisher

2011-05-03T07:40:00.002-04:00

For the first time ever in almost two years, this is the first time that I forgot to write my blog on Monday. Can you believe that? Please don't boo me. I know you couldn't sleep last night waiting for this week's blog in vain. I have to apologize, but once I tell you the reason why, you may forgive me (if I forget again, I will all buy you diner. Hope you won't be so hungry).

My Publisher happened to be in town and he was conducting a two and half day intensive workshop called “Publish your way to profit”. Do you think I was going to miss this one? No way. When I said “intensive”, it is an understatement. It was so intensive that I forgot to write my blog on Monday. Do you forgive me now?

What a week-end! Everything I wanted to know about publishing a book was covered in the workshop. Do you know the best part? I am glad I am THIS attractive (why are you laughing? Don't you find me attractive?). It happened that, in the audience, there was Canada's most successful bestselling author Barry Spillchuck who authored Cup of Soup for the Soul (A Chicken Soup book). Not only this guy is so successful, but he is also so funny. Guess what! Your Journeyman is co-authoring a book with him!!
Can you please read that again? Yes, you got it right. I am co-authoring a book with Barry (talking about being at the right place at the right time). The book is going to talk about the power of mastermind (coming soon in a Theatre near you). What a blessing!

When I arrived home after hearing the news, a friend of mine called me and said: “please watch CNN. They are about to announce a big news”. I thought to myself: “how in the world does CNN know that I am about to co-author with Barry Spillchuck? I didn't tell it to anybody!!”. As it turned out, Obama was announcing....I guess you know what! Anyways. I couldn't sleep that night (like you did while waiting for my blog lol).

When Barry told me that he wanted to co-author with me, all that was going through my mind was the book “The Alchemist”. Paulo Coelho said in the book (and I am paraphrasing) that when you really want something, the whole universe conspires for you to get it. How true is that! All I want is to influence the world by my writing, and I happened to be in the right workshop with the exact people who are going to help me fulfill my dream. What are the odds?

As I am catching up my breath, now comes another exciting event this coming Saturday as I will be sharing the stage with Gerry Robert (are you kidding me!!!).

All I got to say is, please do follow your dream. It may be hard, it may be scary at moments, but all we need is take the first step and the rest is in God's hands. I can't say that I thought about quiting when it was hard, but it was so hard (and still is) to keep going without seeing any results. But if we don't give up, there is a prize at the end. Barry Spillchuck was my prize this week-end.

Moral of the story? Do you want to make your dreams come true? Just keep reading my blog and you will also be attractive.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to a Great Partnership

2011-04-25T15:59:00.001-04:00

What a week-end!!! I don’t think I have done this before. I left on Friday for Buffalo New York for a book launch (an amazing event by the way), came back the same day and got home almost at 1 AM. At seven in the morning on Saturday, I hit the road again for a four hour drive to Ottawa. We got there around noon and I played two Basketball games (that we lost) and went out with most of the players for the reception. I went to bed at 1 AM and I was on the road back to Toronto at 9 in the morning on Sunday, another four hour drive.

I got to Toronto just in time for a Goal Achievers meeting at 4 pm, and then I went to another meeting. By the time I was done around 9.30 pm on Sunday, I couldn’t contain my excitement (I couldn’t even feel that I was tired). Please don’t think that I am on drugs lol.

In his classic “Think and Grow Rich” Napoleon Hill wrote: “There can be no richer man than he who has found a labor of love and who is busily engaged in performing it, for labor is the highest form of human expression of desire. Labor is the liaison
between the demand and the supply of all human needs, the forerunner of all human progress, the medium by which the imagination of man is given the wings of action. And all labor of love is sanctified because it brings the joy of self-expression to him who performs it”

I have found my labor of love. It’s called helping others achieve their dreams. And when I am doing that, time seems to fly and I don’t even feel that I am tired. Funny enough, out of the blue, people seem to come from nowhere to help me achieve mine. The last few weeks have been unbelievable. From acquiring Goal Achievers Canada to having great business partners, it doesn’t seem to stop.

Just yesterday, I was talking with Jean-Guy Francoeur (my new business partner and mentor) and what he was telling me got me so excited that I couldn’t sleep last night. He painted my future in such a way that I was thinking “what did I do to deserve all this?”
These kinds of moments make me remember all those days and nights (even now sometimes) when I was working hard with nothing to show for, hoping that one day I will see the end of the tunnel. Jean-Guy showed it to me yesterday. It is going to be a fun ride working with him.

For those of you who e-mailed me last week, on May 7, you will be there for a treat. Do you know why? Jean-Guy is one of the speakers. He has a solid marketing system, when put in place, can rock your world (as it did with mine yesterday). By the way, I have 2 tickets left to give away for free ($300 of value) to my blog readers (first come first served). Just e-mail me at pbizindavyi6@gmail.com and we will have a chat. For the details of the seminar, please go to www.theprofitleaders.com

I am going to leave you with this cool message I got today from Mike Dooley. I really loved it

“Even though you can't physically see a tree growing, it doesn't mean it's not. Right?
Same with the world spinning? Gravity clinging? So next time the masses are huddled at your feet, pining about dreams they claim are not coming true, you might remind them of this. Every day you get closer”.

Moral of the story? Do you want to lose some basketball games and still be excited? Just e-mail me, I will tell you how

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to one of the busiest Months

2011-04-18T16:26:00.002-04:00

It is rare that I cancel any of my appointments, but today there was no way I could go to my meeting at 1PM. I called my friend and asked him if we could reschedule for next week. I was so exhausted. Luckily, my friend agreed to my request, and I went straight back to sleep.

I had numerous meetings and commitments last week, but nothing compares to what is coming up this week. Let's see. A General Assembly of our non-profit organization this Monday, then a few meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, a three hour workshop that I am conducting on Thursday after a meeting, Friday I will be in Buffalo to host a book launch, Saturday morning I will be heading to Ottawa for a basketball game (we are having our own play offs lol), and then I will be back in Toronto on Sunday...(my theory is that when I am busy, I don't have time to sin. So, I will definitely go to heaven).

I am both busy and exited. Being part the Goal Achievers Group has brought me to heights that I have never been to before (or you can use "that I have never experienced". These guys are serious players on the market place. Just a few weeks ago, we had an idea of putting together an event on May 7, and before we got home, the website was already done. Are you serious??!!! (did you check www.theprofitleaders.com yet?)

Before we took our breath, another guy came back with two HUGE pieces of good news. The first one, is... (I am holding my breath here), the great Gerry Robert is coming to speak at our event. Are you kidding??!!! Do you mean, I will be sharing the stage with Gerry Robert? This time I won't be the one signing autographs, I will be the one chasing autographs. I was so excited when I heard the news man!

I have seen Gerry once on stage with Bob Proctor, and now not only am I meeting him, but I will be speaking on stage with him!!!

Gerry Robert brought himself out of poverty to earning over $1 Million in a single year. Now he's a mentor to some of the highest income earners in numerous industries. He is a bestselling author, columnist, speaker and consultant operating throughout North America and Asia. Gerry has spoken to over 3 Million people from around the world (I am not speaking about me here. I am not there yet lol).

Do you remember that I told you that there was two pieces of good news? You will be excited when I tell you this one. OK, take a few minutes, relax a bit and come back when you are ready to hear this. I will be here waiting for you when you return...

OK, now that you came back ready to hear the news, I am going to give it to you. I have a couple of FREE tickets to give away (shhh!! Please don't tell everybody). Yes. You got it right. We have been able to secure a sponsor who agreed to pay for 50 people at the May 7 event. I am one of the speakers, so I am holding a few tickets (I won't tell you how many) worth $299 each. Since you are reading my blog, you are the chosen ones (I have another chosen one who is in Kigali, but that is another story lol). Just e-mail me at pbizindavyi6@gmail.com, and I can reserve a seat for you (first come first serve as the tickets are limited). You will have a day that you will never forget. You will finally get to see me do my thing on stage (please don't say that you will only come because of Gerry Robert).

Before I let you go, I have to tell you that I had such a humbling experience yesterday. For those who don't know, I am heading to Burundi this coming June for my wedding (to the same wife I married in December lol). This time it is the religious wedding where family and friends will be gathered to celebrate with us (William and Kate? Lol).

A couple of friends came together and put together a fund raising event for my trip and the community responded in ways that brought tears in my eyes. Thank you guys. What a great tradition we have!

Moral of the story? Do you want to attend a great meeting for free, just e-mail me and you will be chasing autographs. But this time it won't me mine.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to a Great Conversation

2011-04-12T00:18:00.003-04:00

Do you have a friend that, after you talk to him or her you feel better than before your conversation?

I have such a friend. Every time I talk to her I feel like a million bucks (I guess that is how she feels as well). Do you know the funny part? The last time I saw her was over 15 years ago. We only talk over the phone, but sometimes the conversation can go over two hours. Can you believe that!!

Our conversation is not serious all the time, but most of the time we find ourselves sharing what we have been reading, who is our favourite speaker, or just memories of the past. It is always a fun conversation.

Just yesterday, I called her to say hello, and two hours later we were still talking. I shared with her how;a few years ago I went through some tough times where I couldn't even pay attention lol. She laughed a lot and she started sharing with me what she went through as well (how about both empty wallet and empty fridge lol)

Then the conversation became very interesting. She started telling me how money has been coming to her so easily that sometimes she can't believe it is happening to her. I wanted to know her secret. Do you know her secret? It is simple and now that I know it, I am going to sell it to you (hey, I am a business man, so now that I got it for free, I am going to sell it at a high price). Just kidding lol

Guess how she got out of her tough financial times? That's right. By....giving. Yes, you got it right. She gave her way to financial abundance. I heard it many times, but when she told me one of her stories, I was blown away.

A few years ago, on her way home, she was complaining about her constant lack of money and that she was going home to find her fridge empty. She only had two dollars and fifty cents in her pocket (enough for her to get home) and nothing in her bank account (I know how this feels seeing that I had been there so many times)

As she was about to pay her ticket at the subway station, a guy who was behind her was rushing to go to work. He had a twenty dollar bill and he was looking for change to pay the fare. He asked my friend if she had change for a twenty. What do you think? She had none.

Then, an amazing thing happened. The guy simply told her: “I am rushing to work, I don’t have time to go for change, can you take my twenty and give me your two dollars and fifty cents. You can keep the rest for you.” How about that! Do you think my friend refused the offer? (Would you?). I think that was enough reason for her to stop complaining.

The story doesn’t stop there. On her way home, she thought: “I had two dollars and fifty cents, now I just got a twenty. What can I do with this money? I think I am going to give it away”.What??? Are you serious??

Yes, she gave the money away. She donated it to a ministry that she liked. Guess what! By the time she got home, there was an envelope waiting for her. Her school decided to give her money back for the tuition that she paid years prior, but did not take the courses. Ask me how much the cheque was. How much? No, higher than that. How much? No, please. Higher than that! Yes you got it: $5020

Imagine you leave your office with $2.50 (just enough to get you home), and by the time you are about to take the train you get $20 that you decide to give away; and then you get home to find $5,020. I think that's what I call having a great day, wouldn't you?

I think we can all use my friend’s secret. We can give our way to financial abundance.

Moral of the story? Do you want to be rich? Just give me all your money and I will write a blog about you lol

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to a Great Meeting

2011-04-04T18:18:00.002-04:00

Imagine you go for a meeting and you find yourself in the presence of a group of people including an author whose book will very soon be in the hands of one million people, a web guru who is helping thousands of people to market their businesses online, a marketing genius whose business portfolio is about to reach ten million dollars, a black belt Karate instructor who is talking about another couple of properties he just acquired and who is an expert in financial fitness, a guy who is making tons of network connections in a heart beat and a sales expert who, by the end of this year would have delivered over 80 keynote speeches and presentations to sales executives. Wouldn't it be nice?

Guess what? I have been part of such a group of people for the last five months . Every Sunday afternoon, this mastermind group meets for about one hour and half to talk about our goals and how we can help each other achieve them. This group is called GoalAchievers International founded by a great friend of mine and mentor Phil Taylor.

A few months ago, I was speaking at a Toastmasters meeting and Phil Taylor happened to be in the audience (maybe he knew there was a celebrity scheduled to speak that day lol). We connected right away, and long story short, I found myself part of a group of powerhouse speakers.

Do you know what I like about the name “GoalAchievers International”? It's the word “International”. Phil Taylor has a vision of having his group in every continent. As he shared his vision with the group a few months ago, he mentioned that he would be moving to the US to expand GoalAchievers International. I was so excited for him but a little sad as my mentor would be going away.

Phil is such a great servant and he has a big heart. I have no doubt that very soon, every city in the US will hear about GoalAchievers. What a great surprise when Phil asked your Journeyman if he would be interested in taking over and becoming the President of the Canadian branch of GoalAchievers International. Are you kidding me!!!?? Talk about a humbling moment. As I lead the meeting yesterday, in the presence of greatness (these people are unbelievable), I couldn't hide my emotions. It is going to be a fun ride I am telling you. It's a dream come true.

It couldn't be better. Next month, we are organizing a one day seminar where each of these speakers will be speaking on his area of expertise. Get ready to be empowered by amazing trainers. For the first time in ages, I won't be the only celebrity in the house lol

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet great people? Keep looking good and you will attract them into your life

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to a Retreat

2011-03-28T22:31:00.002-04:00

The time is March 2009. I am in a coffee shop with a friend of mine. We are talking about dreams and goals. My friend starts to talk about stuff that I have never heard before (I thought I knew it all lol). I ask her where she gets all of this stuff. She tells me that she gets all this stuff from a three day retreat that she did eight years prior to our meeting. What do you think I asked her? That's right. How can I be part of this?

Long story short, I did the three day retreat and my life has never been the same – and I mean in a great way. In the last two years alone, I moved into a condo in downtown Toronto (a long time dream of mine), I did a project to help kids in Mali (how can I forget this one?), I produced a documentary movie, I started a blog that is now read over five continents, I created a communication company that has allowed me to speak to hundreds of people, I wrote my first book, I traveled all over the US and Canada, I met celebrities and....I got married (another long time dream of mine lol)! Also, I am working on a deal that if it goes through, it would allow me to expand my business all over Canada - so hopefully it goes through. And finally, I am talking with a distribution company about helping them expand their business into East Africa. Pretty cool I think (don't you think?).

All of this because I learned during the retreat that I can create the life I want.

A few weeks ago I thought to myself “How about I do the retreat again? After two years, I probably would get a different perspective and maybe even create a new chapter of my life”.

This last week-end was the one. No phone, no TV, no Internet, no food (no way! Just kidding) for three days. The only difficult part was the “no phone” commitment (my only link to my special one in Kigali). She has been amazing. She allowed me to go even though she knew it would be hard for her (did I hit the jackpot or what?)

After these three days, I have this story to tell you.

A few years back, a young boy was about to finish grade school and he thought: if I get a chance to go to THAT high school I would be happy. He went on and attended the school he wanted and he was happy for a while. Then he thought: if I can make the school Basketball team, I would be happy. He ended up making the team but he was unhappy as he was on the bench most of the time.

In the final year of high school, he thought: if I can make it to University I would be so happy. Guess what! He made it and was happy for a while. Then he thought: if I can make the University Basketball team, I would be so happy. It took him three years to make it but he was on the bench most of the time, so he was not very happy.

As he was about to finish University he thought: if I can be an English teacher I would practice my English better and I would be so happy. He became a teacher and was so happy. Then he thought: teaching is good, but I would like also to work in a radio station. If I could get a job in a radio station I would be so happy because radio is my passion.

Guess what! Yes. He got the job and he was also a Basketball coach as well. Then he thought: if I could win a few championships as a coach, I would be so happy. He did in fact win over fifteen trophies in less than seven years as a coach. Then he thought: I have no more challenges now. I am not happy anymore. Maybe I can go abroad. If only I can go to Canada, this time my life would be complete. I would be so happy.

Funny enough, in 2002, he landed in Toronto. Then he thought: if I could get a job in a radio station, man, I would be so happy. I would never ask for anything again. My life would be complete.

Do you get the picture?

Or by the way do you recognize this guy?

Can anybody relate? We think that when we get THAT thing we have been working so hard for, we would be happy. Guess what! Happiness comes from the inside. How about being happy NOW in this moment regardless of what we have or don't have. And if you have absolutely nothing to be happy about, then be happy to be alive. This is what I came to realize after three days of being away from everything.

I am not where I want to be, but I am now happy more than ever because I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now at this moment. It is a great feeling. And it was great to be back on the phone again after three days of silence. My apologies to the 23 people who left me messages when I was away. Kigali had to come first. I will return your call in five days after I am done with my conversation with “The chosen one” as my friend Tony calls her.

Moral of the story? Do you want to be happy? Keep chasing your dream and you will spend three days away from your significant other.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to Moments of Gratitude

2011-03-21T21:27:00.001-04:00

Where do I start? Really! This is one of those weeks where I don't even know where to begin writing since so much has happened in a short space of time. But I will try.

A few weeks ago I attended a communication course that lasted two and half days. Oh boy did I need it. It was an opportunity to take a serious look at myself and identify what works and what doesn't work in my communication with others. I went there with an open mind (I heard that the mind is like a parachute; it works best when it is open lol) and I was ready to do what ever it took to learn what I needed to learn.

What did I discover about myself? Do you want to hear it? Well first of all I am a business man so I don't give my stuff out for free.....however............because it is you I will tell you. So do you want the long or the short version of the story? Actually, let's go with the short version and you can let me know what you think.

It is the year 2001 and I am in Burundi my home country. I have a big goal that I want to accomplish and I share it with a very close friend of mine. He laughs at me and says that I am such a dreamer. I don't say anything, but deep inside, I am burning to prove him wrong. The days pass and he keeps on teasing me, so I decide that I will NEVER share my goals with anyone ever again.

Guess what! Ten years later, I am still the same! I have that wall between me and others in regards to sharing my goals. I prefer to talk about it when it is complete. Do you know what? With close friends, my method doesn't seem to work. They feel like I don't trust them (and I can't blame them, I would feel the same). However, I was not doing this on purpose (you don't know, what you don't know until someone shows you.)

Do you still have a minute? I can share another thing or two with you.

I discovered that my whole life has been about giving (which is not bad at all), but I have a hard time receiving or asking for help (do you know anyone like that?). It takes all the courage and vulnerability in the world for me to ask for help. I want to do it myself. But, YOU ask me for my help? I will move mountains to help you get what you want (sometimes even forgetting my own goals).

So I decided to change. I decided to allow myself to be vulnerable and ask for help and feel OK about it. Oh man! It was like there was someone out there saying “why did you wait this long?” Since I allowed myself to do this, things have been crazy.

Let me share this with you.

Last week, I asked two friends to donate money for my trip to Africa coming up in a few months (that by itself is a huge breakthrough for me: asking for money.). Anyways, the two friends saw me two days later, and one of them said: “Oh Patrick, I have your money. Here it is”. The second one went: “Oh yes, me too. Here is the money that I promised you”. Not far from us, another friend was watching all of this, and she came to me and said: “I don't know why these people are giving you money, but it must be for something good. Here is mine too. You can have it. Now, can you please explain to me: Why are all these people giving you money?”

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!!!??

All I had to do was....ask!!!!

A few days later, people came to me with GREAT business opportunities which made me feel as if I was a magnate!

Do I have everything in place for my trip to Africa? Not yet. But I know I can ask for help. Funny enough, I am receiving help and people are feeling good about it (I guess I have been sowing enough seeds in the ground).

I am so grateful to everyone. It is beyond imagination.

Oh, I forgot to tell you another thing. I was approached by a newspaper last week, and they want to write a profile about me! (are you serious!!!). I met the journalist, we did our interview and she sent me her first draft of the article. When I read it, I was like “are you kidding me? Is this me, really?”.
Now, everywhere I go, I take my pen with me. Hey, you never know someone may need my autograph lol.

What a week!!!

Moral of the story? Do you want to take a trip to Africa? Just ask for help and you will find yourself signing autographs.
Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to a Meeting with a World Changer

2011-03-13T14:17:00.003-04:00

It is a Friday evening, I am with my friends “Choulec” and Che who are teasing me on my blog, and I promise them that I won’t talk about it (and here I am, breaking my promise lol). We are all heading to an event of which I am part. The event is about Black romance in the 21st century and I am one of the four speakers on the panel.

The event is a great success and people love it. I would like to think that I in some way helped with this success. I go home satisfied with my part in the event.

Two days pass and I receive a friend request on Facebook from a lady named Christina. I gladly respond to the request (I usually do. Now that you know, you can send me yours too).

After accepting her friend request Christina sends me an e-mail telling me that she was at the event I was part of and that she would be glad to have me at her book launch in Buffalo next month. I say yes and we agree to speak on the phone.
After a few attempts back and forth, we finally speak on Monday. WOW!!!!

The conversation lasted for half an hour, and all I was thinking of during this time was:

“We are in the sixties. A lady takes the bus as usual, but this time she decides to sit in the front seat knowing that she is not “allowed” to because of the colour of her skin. She is asked to move and she says NO. The rest is history”

That is the story of Rosa Parks. It takes someone with faith, conviction and determination to change the course of history. Christina is of that caliber. She is a world changer. Her stand for her community and her desire to make this world a better place to live, her story of surviving hardship with an unwavering faith and a strong desire to succeed is the basis of her upcoming book “Restoration: In the Words of a True Lyricist”. Her author's name is Chris C. Black.

Do you know what is the cool part? She is only 23 years old (just 2 years younger than I. lol).

And do you know what is the other cool part? I am the guest speaker at her event. According to her, I won’t be the only celebrity there. I was thinking: “Am I finally going to meet Denzel Washington?”

Watch out world; Chris is coming.

Moral of the story?

Do you want to write a really cool book? Just send me your friend request on Facebook and you will meet celebrities.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to my second meeting with Bob Proctor

2011-03-06T22:51:00.000-05:00

He is the master of the Law of Attraction and that is why he is attracting me in his life (or is it the opposite?). For the second time in two weeks, I had the opportunity to be with Bob Proctor. When he saw me again he jokingly said “This is the second time I have seen you Patrick. Will you finally get it?”

Not only did I meet Bob Proctor, I also met his wife. She is also a successful business woman.

This time I was with Paul my business partner. Of course I introduced Paul to my good friend Bob lol. Man, this guy is a genius. He told us a story about how his housemaid once asked him to buy a lottery ticket. Bob just said to her: “I would rather earn the money”. He went on to say that, in fact, he earned one million dollars just sitting in his kitchen meditating on great ideas when the one million dollar idea came to him. I said to myself "Well, I am going to sit in my kitchen everyday" lol.

Two weeks ago when I met him, I was so much in admiration of him that his message was not my main focus. This time, I felt a deep conviction that I can do what he did and what he continues to do everyday, even when he is asleep. In fact, what he did is so simple that it seems too good to be true. He just followed what Napoleon Hill said in his book “Think and Grow Rich” (Guess what I am reading now? Lol).

After his presentation, I approached him while he was chatting with a group of ladies. I was there just to listen to the wisdom that was coming from his mouth. Let me paraphrase what he said: “There is a law of polarity. This law says that everything has its opposite. So, if you feel you are not successful, there must be an opposite side to that. Take a piece of paper and write down everything that you do not like in your life. Then, on another piece of paper, write the opposite of what you have just written on the first piece of paper. Once you have done that, focus on the positive side by being grateful that it is coming into your life. Read the paper over and over again until you believe it.”

After this conversation he turned to me and started asking me a few questions. He asked me how in the world am I so good looking. Just kidding!!

Actually, he asked me what I do and I told him. I also told him that I wrote a blog about him and that I am about to publish my first book. I mentioned to him that I attended the same professional public speaking training as he did. He looked into my eyes and just said: “Patrick, you are on the right track .” YES SIR! That was exactly what I needed to hear.

I am about to speak to one of his business partners. Who knows what will come up?

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet Bob Proctor twice in two weeks? Me too.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey back to Ottawa

2011-02-28T07:53:00.002-05:00

It's crazy how time flies so quickly. I can't believe it has been almost a year since I was in Ottawa. And now I am back there again. Same hotel, same people, same food. The only thing that changed is me (I think I am better looking now lol)

Because I arrived on the same day as our meeting I did not get a chance to meet as many people as I did last year. But I made sure to visit my friend Abdou and his wife (was it for the Raptors game we watched together, or was it for the amazing food?). It was also great to see my old friend “Black” Elvis. We had a nice chat.

I was in Ottawa for just a few days, but I really needed it. On our first day I went to bed at 7pm. I can't even remember the last time I went to bed before midnight. For the first time in months, I spent my evenings doing nothing (of course if we don't include eating, my favourite hobby). As I am writing this blog, I am on the train on my way back home. I made sure to bring my audios to keep me company during the four hour trip.

Talking about audios, a few weeks ago I bought an audio book by the great Mike Dooley (from the movie “The Secret”). This guy is a genius. He knows how to talk about complicated stuff in a simple way. In three days, I listen to the entire book. In one chapter, he said (I am paraphrasing here) that if we feel uncomfortable, it is a sign that we need to change the way we have been doing things. Oh boy I needed to hear that. But my question was “what do I need to change?” I was clueless.

After a few days, I finally got it. Do you know how it came to me? I just remembered “Peaceful Warrior” one of my favourite movies. I won't tell you the story as I want you to watch the movie. There is a part in the movie when Dan's mentor tells him that he was going to teach him how to get everything he needed from the inside. According to Dan's mentor, all the solutions to our problems can be found on the inside of us. All we have to do is...listen. What a concept!

I decided to give it a try. Why not? I had nothing to loose. This year, I have goals that are way over my comfort zone. If I want to reach them, I will have to change the way I do things otherwise I will get the same results. I heard someone say that we cannot solve any problem with the same mind that got us into them. Something has to change.

I have found my new way. It is so cool. It is still too early to tell you now (as I want you to keep reading my blogs). What I will tell you is that I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am so excited. I will keep you posted as the results will keep coming (they have already started). I feel like I have replaced Ryan Seacrest on American Idol. You will get the results after the break .......

Moral the story? Do you want to find a new way to reach your goals? Just go to Ottawa and you will eat amazing African food

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to my meeting with Bob Proctor

2011-02-21T17:22:00.005-05:00

He is a hero of mine, I have studied his material for years, I had met him once and at that time he even signed one of the books he gave to me. But, spending three hours in an intimate setting, hearing him calling my name, him talking to me from a few feet away was just a dream come true.

Bob Proctor is simply a genius. He has been studying the laws of success for over fifty years, but he has a simple way of explaining things that I found myself saying “wow” all the time. I have listened to his audios, read his book and saw hundreds of his videos. It has come to the point where I can finish his sentences before he finishes them. But seeing him live telling his story is another thing.

Call me crazy, but I just believe that I will end up working with him. I don't know how or when this is going to happen, but I know I will. It is with the same belief that I know I will one day meet Michael Jordan and Nelson Mandela (being with Pathe'O few weeks ago made me feel I am not that far from it happening).

How did this happen? How did I end up meeting Bob Proctor? I just knew his phone number lol

Seriously. Last December when I returned from Africa, I knew my life would never be the same. I was married (just the thought of it makes me say “are you kidding me!!?”). I came back with a laser focus to make my life better. I knew I had to change something (less travelling?). I just wanted to give my wife the lifestyle that she deserves, but it required me to do things I had never done before.

So, I decided to look for opportunities to improve what I was doing and also to add new opportunities that were not there before. I started looking around and the first thought that came to me was my friend Dom. I remembered him telling me that he was part of something special. He did not tell me what, but I finally went to him and said: show me what you're doing. He did, and he also told me that Bob Proctor would be speaking in February for his organization, if I buy the ticket I would get a chance to meet him. I bought the VIP ticket of course and from that moment I started counting down the days.

I am glad I made that decision in December. Just a few days ago, I was invited to be part of a group of panelists to talk about Black romance in the 21st Century (I think I am qualified to do that lol). What a group of people! I found myself with authors (one has published 40 books !!!!!), movie producers, journalists, poets, movers and shakers in our community. Just a little blog that I started a few months ago is now opening doors for me in new arenas that I never thought I would be in. Now I am chatting with Bob Proctor. Are you serious!!!??

At the end of the meeting, I went over to Bob Proctor for his autograph. I had in my hand a book that he recommended in one of his programmes. It is “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D. Wattles (call me crazy, but any book that Bob recommends , I read). Anyway, I asked him to sign me an autograph on the first page of that book, and he looked at me and said: “Read the first page of chapter seven of this book. It talks about gratitude. Whenever you feel stuck, just thank God for the life that He gave you and the problems you have will just disappear .”

Mind you, I have read the book ten times before. But when Bob told me to read chapter seven, what do you think I did? You're right. I have been reading that chapter over and over again. Wow! It is like I had never read that book before! It is simply humbling. This little boy from Ngagara and Mutanga Sud is now Bob Proctor's friend (that is the new title that I just gave to myself). It's just crazy.

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet Bob Proctor? Just get married and you will be talking about romance in the 21st Century

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to my meeting with Pathe'O

2011-02-14T09:18:00.004-05:00

It is a Saturday night, I am heading to a fashion show in Toronto to promote my work. As I am about to finish getting my stuff ready, a guy comes with flyers promoting his own event happening three weeks from then. I know the guy, but he doesn't know me. I even know that he is the guest performer for our Black History Month event that we are organizing.

As he passes me by, I just say hi (that is my marketing strategy). He says hello back and I tell him that I have a radio show that can promote his event (now I become interesting!). We exchange our numbers and we agree to meet. Three days later, he is the guest of my show. As I am closing the interview, I inform him that I will be the Master of Ceremonies at the Black History Month event scheduled for the end of the month (now that you know, you have no excuse for you not to be there and to get my autograph). He tells me that he is looking for a Master of Ceremonies at his up coming event, an African fashion show whose main attraction will be the one and only Pathe'O. I said yes bien entendu, as we say in French.

I did not want to look stupid and say I did not know who Pathe'O was (that was the first time I heard about him), so I went on his website. Oh boy! This guy had designed clothes for a dozen of head of states, multiple African superstars and he is the official designer for Nelson Mandela. I was shocked twice. First, how come I did not know this guy and second, how come this guy did not know me lol. (I am the only superstar not wearing his stuff!!).

Long story short, I ended up spending two hours with him on Friday in a meeting: a one on one conversation with him on Saturday, and to top it all off, a two hour head to head meeting with him on Sunday during which he gave me an exclusive interview for my upcoming radio show! What a man of wisdom! He is knowledgeable, he is funny and he is so humble (he didn't even want to come on stage on Saturday when I invited him to speak to the audience who came to admire his out of this world fashion creations).

Of course I asked him tons of questions including how he met Nelson Mandela. He shared with me many funny stories that I won't mention here, unless you pay me a lot of money. During my interview, I asked him if he had any advice he could give to young dreamers out there who would like to have his kind of success. He just said: “Be willing to work hard and for as long as it takes”. He told me that it took him fifteen years of hard work before he could open his first store. Now his stores are all over Africa, Europe and North America. I felt privileged to be in the presence of greatness.

Check this out:

1990: Mandela is released from prison

The great African singer Myriam Makeba decides to offer Nelson Mandela a special gift: 5 shirts designed by Pathe'O

Mandela loves the shirts and sends a hand written letter to Pathe'O

1998: Pathe'O meets Mandela for the first time

Mandela visits France for the first time and is asked where he gets his shirts; he mentions Pathe'O

After Mandela mentioned Pathe'O's name, his phone explodes with calls from all over the world and his life will never be the same

2011: Pathe'O meets the Journeyman for the first time and the rest is history lol

Why did I mention all these events? Very simple. When we are pursuing our dreams, we will meet the right people at the right time to put us where we are supposed to be. Pathe'O was successful before he met Mandela, but after his meeting with him, his business went to the roof and now he is a legend. I was very successful before I met Pathe'O and then....I am just watching the Grammy Awards...(but who knows)

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet a legend? Just show up at a fashion show and you will love the MC. Hopefully, it will be ME.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to my eighth trip to New York

2011-02-07T19:33:00.002-05:00

This is one of the most difficult blogs I have ever written. Do you know why? Because I am sitting on the back sit of a car going almost sixty five miles an hour in the streets of New York. Every time the car hits a bump in the road, I just stop writing. So, bear with me if you find yourself reading it slowly, it's because it took me a long time to write....

Here I am again in New York for the eighth time in the last ten months. Isn't it crazy? Never in my wildest dreams as a young boy had I thought I would travel this much. Let's see. Since July 2005 I have traveled at least once every three months. I have been more than ten times to North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and once to Dallas and to Vegas. You can add to that a trip to Mali, France, Burundi and recently to Rwanda (how can I forget this one?).

This trip was very emotional for many reasons. I made sure I appreciated every bit of it, because I am now turning the page. No more excessive traveling. In fact, this is my last one (don't worry, my name is still Journeyman). Did I say my last one? I was wrong. I will be in Ottawa in two weeks, and that will be the last one.

Why such a sudden decision, you may ask? Only because I want to change my name and be called Family Guy. My recent change in marital status made me realize that I can no longer live the life I was living (now I have good enough reasons to stay home if you know what I mean). That is not the only reason though. Almost all my trips, I have been going to conferences to listen to great speakers, coaches and trainers. I even had one on one conversations with celebrities and world changers (no wonder I am one of them now lol). All of them have made such a huge impact on my life. Even though I have been living on the edge and made sacrifices for this long, I won't regret any moment of it. I really learned from the best.

I am now starting a new chapter of my life. All these years, I have learned a thing or two. I have applied some of them in my life and made things happen when there was no way they could happen. It's time for me to share them with the world. I am going to dedicate my life to be of service doing stuff I love to do (there is no higher purpose). I have started coaching a couple of business owners, and my intention is to continue to do so. My blog is now read all over the world (a shout out to my new friends in New Zealand), I can now produce my radio show from home and I am about to publish my first book. Very soon, I will be leading my own seminars. What else can I ask for? Of course I have my own challenges, but I embrace them as they come, cause what doesn't kill you makes you stronger as my friend Kanye West stated it in one of his songs.

I really believe we can create our own lives and live by design. I have seen enough to believe so. All that it takes is a leap of faith and trust that there is a Guy Upstairs watching us and guiding us whenever we ask. I heard a guy saying that in the vision there is provision. Just go out and live your dream even when you don't know how it is going to happen. There is somebody who knows and He will make sure that you get it if you really want it so badly and don't give up (have I been listening to Jimmy Cliff or what?)

Moral of the story? Do you want to travel a lot? Just watch Family Guy cartoon and listen to Jimmy Cliff and you will go to New York.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to my mailbox

2011-01-30T20:16:00.002-05:00

So far this week has been quite busy and I know the weeks ahead will be even busier with a return trip to New York and another one in Ottawa (Journeyman is my name lol). But don't worry because I make sure to relax and have fun sometimes (which means going for my free Sprite at Ngoma Lounge).

Talking about Ngoma Lounge, I was there a few days ago and I was pleased to meet a long time friend of mine. He has been in Canada for over 16 years (mainly in Toronto); I have been here for almost 9 years and it was the first time we met each other. Do you know when was the last time I saw him? Guess? No, you guessed wrong. It was longer than that! We were in grade 5. I won’t tell you how many years it has been (I know you still think I am 21). We had so much fun together as we reminisced about all the fun years.

I went back to Ngoma again yesterday (as I received a text from Diego mentioning that there would be food). I thought it would be for a short while (I eat fast). Guess what! I got home almost at 2 AM (can you believe that?). The live band was making things happen!

I was exhausted when I arrived home, but the package that was waiting for me in my mailbox got me excited (at first I thought it was a bunch of cash in the brown envelope. Why not?). As it turned out, it was a book. Do you know what the book is about? It contained information on what we need to publish our own book. Funny enough, the last few weeks I have been working on the final touches of my book. What are the odds!!!! Now I have access to all the information that I need (I think there is someone upstairs looking after me)

When I saw the book, another book came into my mind. I know you know which one. Good guess! It is “The Alchemist”. There is a passage in the book that says: “God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.”

The omens are those little signs that show you that you are on the right track, or that little help that comes to you at the right time exactly when you need it .What are the odds of me receiving a book about publishing your own book, exactly when I am about to do it. The funny part is that I don’t even know who sent it to me! There was no name of the sender on the envelope!!

When we are following our dreams, all we have to do is notice the little signs and listen to the little voice inside, and we will get there!

Moral of the story? Do you want to receive a surprising gift? Go out, have fun and go home at 2 AM. It will be waiting for you

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to my wedding Part 1

2011-01-24T09:56:00.002-05:00

Are you surprised by the title of my blog? Didn't you read about my wedding before? Why then Part 1 instead of part 2?

This is the story before the story.

I remember the first week I returned to work after my wedding. They surprised me with two cakes (they know that I am always open to opportunities when it comes to food). They asked me to give a speech (even though I was speechless because of the cakes). I told them that I was as surprised as they were about my wedding because things went so fast. They all laughed; but it was true.

About a month later, everything seems to be back to usual; but not really. When I think about it, my journey to my wedding really started in late October 2009. I was on the phone with my coach at the time, Sandy . She has made a huge difference in my life. After a short conversation in which I told her my usual thing “everything is fine there is nothing to worry about” (what a lie!!), she finally “gave it to me”. She spoke straight from her heart and told me what she really thought about me. I won't tell you everything she told me (you will have to pay for that, and of course with a commission for Sandy), but she mentioned one thing.

This is what she said (I am paraphrasing): “I like everything about you, but you have to know that, as a single guy, no woman will like to be with you if you don't want to open your heart and say really how you feel. You have to accept to be vulnerable and to admit that sometimes you are down. You are a human being like all of us”.

My God she was so right!!! Throughout the entire conversation, the thing that got me the most was “no woman will like to be with you” (who wouldn't be terrified, especially when that comment comes from a lady?)

I had to change.

Fast forward. This is what happened a year later:

One day in October 2010, I was heading to Montreal to attend my best friend’s wedding. I was on double duty as the best man and master of ceremony. The six hour trip from Toronto to Montreal gave me a lot of time to think (luckily I wasn’t the driver).

During the trip, I thought about my relationships, or lack thereof. I had asked out a number of people (not many, I must confess) and all of them had politely declined and offered to remain friends. When you consistently get turned down and all you ever are is a friend, I think it's time for a check-up from the neck up.

Here is what I found out during my check-up. My vision of the “right” woman for me had become a checklist I used to measure everyone I met. Only if she had seven out of ten on my checklist could I envision a chance for us to be together. As for the three remaining criteria, I thought I’d have enough time to change and mould her into a ten out of ten. Did my method work? I will let you figure that out for yourselves.

By the time I arrived in Montreal, I realized that my approach was not working and decided to turn to God. My prayer went something like “dear Lord, now the relationship thing is in Your Hands. I don't know where she will be coming from, when, how and who. But whoever You will send me, I will love her the way she is without trying to change or judge her”. After that, I went and lived my life peacefully knowing that I had put my situation in good hands.

That was my prayer on October 10, 2010. Just twelve days after my prayer, I met somebody in a very mysterious way (I think I have heard that God works in mysterious ways). We became friends and only two months later we were… married. Yes, you got it right. I am now a married man and I have never been happier.

My coach Sandy was right. I had to accept to be vulnerable and to be willing to be heart broken. Luckily, it was not broken.

Am I a bad student? (it took me an entire year to find the love of my life after my conversation with my coach). I don't think so. All that I know is that I am a very happy man.

Moral of the story? Do you want to get married? Just take a trip to Montreal and you will have a prayer.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

My Journey to a meeting with Tom

2011-01-17T09:56:00.001-05:00

The last week or so I was speechless twice (it is rare that I have nothing to say about anything). First, it was when my co - workers surprised me with two cakes at our staff meeting (they got me good on that one), and the second time was when I met Tom Cunningham.

Who is Tom? I will tell you but I need you to be patient with me for now.
For the last three months or so, I have been part of Goal Achievers International, a company that helps people achieve their goals (I am part of the Speakers group). We meet every Sunday to discuss how we can achieve our goals and brainstorm on how we can help each other and hold ourselves accountable.

Last Sunday, we welcomed our new member. When his time came for him to introduce himself to the group, his speech moved all of us to tears. We were in the presence of greatness. Please take some time to see for yourself who is Tom. This is what he says about himself on his blog at

http://www.tom2tall.com/Napoleon-Hill-blog.html

“Despite having Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) since age 5 and having had 4 hips, 4 knees and 2 shoulders replaced and being in hospital about 40 times, I have always had a positive attitude. My arthritis has affected every joint in my body from my jaw to my toes. Many of my joints have severe range of motion restrictions or are totally fused and unable to move. The worst surgery I have had to recover from was an ankle fusion that forced me to have about 5 posts sticking out both sides of my ankle area for a number of months. I also developed cataracts at the age of 12 due to high daily does of the oral steroid, prednisone. Later, at around age 25, because I was unable to reach with my hands and elbows to put contact lenses in any longer, I had intraocular lens implants. This surgery involves inserting a contact lens like device behind your eye while you are awake. Prednisone also stunted my growth and I stand 5'. »

What could we say after that? The only question I had in my mind was “what is my excuse?”

I cannot wait for this Sunday to meet the group again. Not only do they help me to stay focus on my goals, but I always go home so inspired to continue working on them.
Talking about goals, one of my goals this year is to reach 1 million people through my blog. Is it possible? You bet! With the power of social media, it is more than doable.

Here is what I found about my blog. So far I have over 4000 hits and my blog has been read in over 10 countries including Canada, the US, France, United Kingdom, India, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Burundi, Rwanda, South Africa…

What a blessing! When I started writing, I did not know that people would even read my stories. It is so humbling.

I would really appreciate your help and suggestions on how I could accomplish this goal. It has been a long time dream of mine to spread a positive message all over the world and your feedback has been so uplifting .

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet great people? Just get married and you will receive a cake from your co - workers like I did (I know it does not make any sense, but who cares lol).

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter @journeymanstory

My Journey to a Jump

2011-01-10T14:38:00.000-05:00

Before anything, I would like to thank you all for your wishes. I was overwhelmed by your support for my wedding. It is starting to sink in that I am actually married! It has been a fun ride.

It took me a while to get back to normal after a month of December full of emotions. Do you know what I was thinking about all the time? I was thinking about…swimming. How so?

I will respond to it by asking you a question: "How do we learn to swim?" For me, there are two options: you can take swimming lessons, or you can just jump into the pool without knowing how to swim. Either you die, or you learn how to swim as quickly as possible (it becomes a survival situation …).

Although scary, I am a fan of the second method. I like to jump without knowing how I will survive. With my back against the wall, I have to produce to survive. Do I succeed all the time? Not at all. Do I learn something in the process? All the time.

The scene is scarier for the one who is watching than for the one who is jumping. Do you know why? The person who is watching has no idea about what’s going on in the jumper’s mind. For me, it is easy to jump because I have been jumping for years. Now I am used to it. Am I afraid when I jump? Of course I am. But fear does not stop me from jumping even though sometimes I fall flat on my face (I think I would be better looking if I was not jumping all the time lol).

Okay, enough about theories. Let me share with you what I want to share.

We are in 2004 and I have been without a job for six months. I have no money at all. I mean nothing. I am working on a big project, looking for sponsors, but no one wants to hear my story. I am hopeless.

On this Monday, I wake up in the morning to go downtown, but I don’t even have a bus ticket. Either I stay home, or I find a way to go. I decide to go. I take my shower (yes, empty pockets but looking good), I put on my finest (and only) suit, and here I am, outside going…downtown (which was a one hour bus drive from home).

I am walking down the street; I pass the first bus stop and the first bus passes by. I am still walking; I pass the second bus stop, the third, and the fourth. By the fifth bus stop, I see a gentleman who looks familiar. Yes I know the guy. I approach him to say hello, and he has his hands in his pockets. As he takes his hands out of his pocket to greet me, he looks surprised. He just found out that he has two bus tickets in his pocket. He just exclaims: I just realized that I had two bus tickets in my pocket. Do you want one?

You might think that I am making this story up, but it actually happened! I jumped and went outside without knowing how I would get downtown. I have been jumping ever since, and that is how miracles have happened to me. But it started with a bus ticket (which was, at that time only two dollars and twenty five cents).

As I am writing this blog, I am in the water already. I have already jumped only this time it is not for a bus ticket. It is for something bigger. I will let you know about it when I am on the other side of the shore (hopefully very soon, otherwise I will drown lol)

Moral of the story? Do you want to learn how to swim? Go downtown with no bus ticket and you will meet a friend of yours. Maybe me.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
Pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter :@journeymanstory

My Journey to my wedding

2010-12-31T15:28:00.003-05:00

Where do I start? I don't really know. As I am waiting for my flight at Kigali airport, with tears in my eyes, I am thinking about the last few days. There are no words that can explain what I have experienced in this month of December 2010. As Phil Collins said, it's another day in paradise.

The person who said that words are powerful was so right. It took a few words from my then girlfriend, now wife (are you kidding me!!!!), to start a series of events that led me to this moment. She just said: “Honey, this long distance thing is killing me”. Having been in a couple of long distance relationships, I knew what she meant. This time, it was different. I had to do something, otherwise, this relationship would end up like the other ones. I had promised myself to do whatever it took to make this one work.

As I hung up the phone, I thought I had to move mountains. I had to find a way to meet her. Originally, my intention was to visit her in July 2011, however, this felt like a century away. I picked up the phone and called her to let her know that I was going to come visit her in the month of May instead of July (now, there was progress).

As I was sharing this story with Paul, my business partner (who knows a thing or two about long distance relationships), he just said to me: Why wait for May? Why not this Christmas? I was like, are you out of your mind? There is no way I can go because it was not something for which I had planned. It was out of the question or so I thought).

As Paul left, I thought: why not? I have learned that with God all things are possible. Why not put this project in His hands and let Him do His thing? Did he deliver? Big time!!! Things went so fast that I did not even have time to call close friends of mine. I hope they will understand.

I learned from Napoleon Hill that if we want to succeed in anything, we have to burn the bridges behind us. By so doing, the only way to go is forward. There is no turning back. How did I do it? I told my girlfriend that I was coming for Christmas. Now there was no way for me not to go. I gave her my word and I did not want to look bad. Did I mention that I had previously booked my flight to New York? The plan was to fly to New York, spend three days there, then return to Toronto to take my flight to Kigali to see my girlfriend. What about the means to do all of this? I will let you figure it out, but you need to know that even then I had no idea how all of this would play itself out.

The first thing I did was to request some time off at work. I got them right away. Not too long after a friend of mine suggested that I should use this opportunity to get married? I thought he was from another planet. Are you serious? No way. The flight alone is crazy enough, now you are talking about getting married? You must be out of your mind. As my friend was leaving, I thought: why not? I have nothing to lose. A quick phone call to my girlfriend and the deal was sealed (crazy, eh?). In fact, both her parents and mine were also on board with the idea.

With all the minute by minute developments I needed a place to stay. I am happy to tell you that my best friend in Montreal was of tremendous support. His sister, who lived in Kigali, was willing to host me (what a house! I thought I was in a palace). Also, by just spending a few minutes online I was able to figure out how to get a visa to Rwanda.

I called another friend who told me he could get me a good deal for the flight and needless to say I purchased the ticket. All these things I have told you happened in the space of two days after my decision to fly to Kigali. TWO days!!!! And I was not done yet.

I made a quick phone call to a great friend of mine in Calgary to let her know about the news. She was very excited and told me that she was sending me a package by Fedex and that it should arrive the next day at noon. Of course, I was home at noon. I opened the package. Guess what? She sent me, as a gift, the engagement and wedding rings, as well as my girlfriend shoes for the ceremony. Are you serious!!!! The surprises did not stop there. When I called to thank her, she said: My aunt has a business back home where she sells wedding dresses. I called her and there is one, already paid for, when you get there. She also sent me some cash as well. Yes, I know that this time you are all thinking that I am making this all up. She paid for everything!!!!

I made a quick phone call to my friend Richard, who had all the necessary connections to make the wedding happen. I told him that it would be a simple ceremony because this wedding was not initially planned. He told me not to worry about anything.

Check this out. Before flying to Kigali, I met on Facebook a longtime friend of mine who happened to be living in Kigali. What are the odds? He told me that he was on vacation and was more than willing to give me all of his time and to drive me everywhere.

After two amazing days in Kigali where I met my future family in law (these people are out of this world!!! Talk about a divine connection. I am simply blessed to have them in my life now), I took the bus with my fiancé (we were now engaged) to Burundi where both my mom and my friend Richard were waiting for us. Richard had found a hotel room for us. As we were checking in, Richard told me the name of the owner of the hotel. He was a close friend of our family.

On the day of the wedding, I woke up early, as I had to go out with Richard. At the hotel lobby, I met with the hotel owner who was so glad to see me after so many years. I told him I was getting married and he was happy for me.

The wedding? That is another blog

As I was returning to my hotel room after the wedding, the receptionist told me that the hotel owner wanted to talk to me. He left his phone number. Guess what? He told me that my stay at the hotel was free. No charge at all (at the expense of the Boss). I was speechless! Leaving the whole thing in God's hands was the best idea I had ever had. This was too much!!!

Do you want me to continue? The blessings did not stop there. Stay tuned.

Moral of the story? Do you want to get married? Start a long distance relationship and you will fly to Kigali.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to Kigali

2010-12-25T04:56:00.000-05:00

As I am writing, I am sitting in a luxurious living room in a nice villa, after a few minute walk in the garden. All I can hear are the birds singing and a few cars passing by. It was just yesterday that I landed in this beautiful country of Rwanda. What a week! Friday afternoon, I flew to New York, Sunday night I flew back to Toronto, the next day I was at the airport to catch my flight to Kigali via Brussels.

Wait a minute. They are calling me for breakfast. I will get back to you in a second.

What a delight! Where was I? Oh yes. My flight.

I landed at Kigali airport eager to be there. More than anything, this trip has been a confidence boost for me. I wanted to prove to myself that what I have been learning all these years works. I can do anything if I put my mind into it. The last few days have been surreal. What was I waiting for?

In a few moments, I will be with my childhood friends Jeff and Pacome. It's like a dream. I can't believe it. And tonight I will meet for the first time my future family in law (for many of you, this is a scoop). Stay tune for the upcoming attraction in a Theatre near you.

As I couldn't sleep last night, I found myself listening to audios by John Assaraf, a very successful business man and coach. Last month, I subscribed to his coaching programme, and the results are simply amazing. What I have learned is that the best investment that one can ever make, is the investment in ourselves. The outside world is just a reflection of what is going on inside of us. And if we want to change the circumstances of our lives, all we have to do is change on the inside. It is as simple as that. It may sounds too good to be true, but it is the truth. The beauty of all this is the peace of mind that you get. It is priceless

As my goal here is to relax, I won't take so much time to write. All I can say to you is that if you have a goal, go for it. It may seem impossible at the beginning, but a simple plan and and unwavering faith will get you there. Starting from next year (which is in a few days), I will share with you the action steps I took to make things happen, if that may help. It is a plan that I am going to use from now on, and the goals I want to achieve for next year are way over my comfort zone. Do I know how I am going to get there? Not at all. All I know is that I have a system that works. The proof? I am in Kigali, a trip that I made happen using the system I am talking about. For most of you, a trip is something simple. But for me, it is about how it happened. That is another story.

Moral of the story? Do you want to make things happen, take a trip to Kigali and you will enjoy a nice breakfast.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a new commitment

2010-12-20T07:44:00.002-05:00

As the year 2010 is slowly but surely ending (is it really slowly?), for most of us, it is the time to reflect on what we have accomplished and what we would like to see happening in the year 2011

As far as I am concerned, 2010 was THE year. I learned so much, but I was also challenged a lot (thus the learning part). During this year, I finished writing my first book (the editing process is almost over), and I shared my stories with you blog fans with passion and sincerity . In the process, my Facebook friends went from 300 to over 1600 in just over a few months. Now I am always walking with my pen in my pocket just in case someone asks me for my autograph.

By the time you start reading this blog, I will already be in the sky flying to my motherland, after spending an amazing week-end in New York.I wanted to surprise my mom on her birthday, and to also spend Christmas with her.

Many of you will be surprised (maybe even mad at me) that I am flying to Burundi and did not even tell you. The truth of the matter is that I am more surprised than you are (how can that be?)

I have been coaching people, and some of them are experiencing great success in their lives that have left me speechless. I found myself asking this question: Did I really contribute to this person's success? Of course, I am very proud of this accomplishment, but it also made me reflect on my own life as another question came into my mind: Why am I not getting these kinds of results?

So, I decided to take my own coaching and make things happen. I made a decision that I will go back home for Christmas. As this trip was not originally planed, it was a kind of stretch for me. Using my own coaching, I made it happen in just four days!!!! How did that happen? Well, that's a story for another day.

In the process, I kept asking myself this question: How wise and effective is it to share one's goals with others? My response is that, unless we share our goals with others, we won't make them happen. It is that simple.

Therefore, my commitment for the next year is to share my goals with you. I will open my heart to all of you and at the same time allow myself to be vulnerable. In the last few days, I went way beyond my comfort zone and did things that, according to the norm, would be considered crazy, but I am glad I did. A hint? My trip is not only for my mom's birthday! That makes you wonder, eh?

Stay tune. I will share the rest of this story with you in the next year.

Moral of the story? Do you want to make a new commitment? Make sure you walk with your pen in your pocket because you may need to sign a few autographs.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to the next step

2010-12-13T23:27:00.001-05:00

Where do I start? I don't even know. It's been crazy the last few days. Now it's almost 1.30 am and I can't sleep. Do I know why? I don't think so.

Do you remember reading my blog “My journey to an amazing feeling”? If not, please read it before you proceed with this one (this is my plug for you to read my entire blog posts). Okay, are you ready now? Do you mean you did not read all of them? Come on! Go back and read. I have all my time. I can wait for you.

All right. I am glad you did.

There is something I said in my keynote presentation few weeks ago that keeps coming back to my mind. I said that all we need to know is where we're going, the rest is to figure out what will be our next step from where we are right now. It is a great concept, except that I was not using my own coaching. It is fun when you tell others to do something whereas you are not doing it yourself (I guess it came from the years I spent coaching basketball)

The last few weeks were almost boring for me. I felt I was going through the motion without any excitement. I didn't know why, until Paul my business partner challenged me to start a crazy project that is way outside my comfort zone (I won't tell you what it is, but stay tune, I will let you know few weeks from now...).

At first, I thought Paul was crazy. Then when he went home, I thought: “why not?. I have nothing to lose. All I have to do is to take the next step and see where it goes”.

All of sudden, I became alive! The energy went up (no wonder I can't sleep now). I took on this “next step” thing, and life became fun. Every time I go to sleep, I am just excited because I know that the next day will be full of surprises about what would be the next step of my project. Sure enough, the next step shows up (sometimes in an unconventional way). It is so cool. People often come out of nowhere to give me a hand (could it be a contact, an idea or just a few words of encouragement)

The project that I started just few days ago is about to be successfully completed (I can't wait to share it with you, and it will be free of charge). It is true. All we need is to live in the moment, just waiting for the next step to show up. And when it does. Just act and leave the rest to the Big Guy Upstairs. He knows where he is leading you. And the secret? I just let one of my mentors Mike Dooley (even though he doesn't know that he is my mentor) express it himself. He said: “Be careful of what you wish for, Patrick, not just because you might get it, but because in the wishing, you may reinforce its absence in your life. Better to give a great, BIG "Yeehaa! Thank you! Whoohooo!" in advance for having already received it, and act as if you already have. Whoohoooo!”

Moral of the story? Do you want to know what your next step is? Read my entire blog posts before you read this one. Too late, you just read it.

Always a pleasure

Patrick

The Journeyman

pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to two stories

2010-12-05T14:04:00.001-05:00

I participated in a communication's course last week-end. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. It was unbelievable! Do you know what was the emphasis in the course? Guess! It was communication in relationships! No comment! Lol

During the course, I reflected on two stories that I would like to share with you (free of charge of course). Here they are:

There was an old guy who was sleeping in his couch. His grandkids came over while he was sleeping and placed a piece of cheese under his nose. Soon after, the guy woke up and exclaimed: “this room stinks!” He went into the kitchen and said again: “This kitchen stinks as well, maybe I should go outside”. He went outside, but still the same smell was around. Finally, in disgust he shouted: “The whole world stinks”. Little did he realize that the scent came from the cheese that was under his nose.

Did you like that story? If not, I won’t share the next one. ..........Okay, okay, seeing that you insist, I will tell you the story.

There was a guy who had a dog that he liked a lot. One day, the dog was crying and making a lot of noise. Despite the dog's obvious discomfort the dog's master did nothing to calm the dog down. Not too long after a friend of the dog's owner came over and asked him why the dog was making so much noise. The dog master replied: “Oh, it’s nothing. My dog is just sitting on a nail”. His friend was shocked. He couldn’t believe it; so he asked the dog master: “why doesn’t your dog move away rom the nail then?” The dog master simply said: “Because it obviously doesn’t hurt badly enough”.

Let me guess, you're probably wondering why was I thinking about these two stories? Do you really want to know why? Well, because there have been some areas of my life that continually seemed to be not going the way I would have liked and because of this I blamed the entire world (like the guy with the cheese). The truth is that I needed to make certain changes in my life in order to see positive results in these areas. (unlike the dog sitting on the nail).

So I did, and one of the results was my change of status on Facebook. Did you see it? Lol

Moral of the story? Do you want to make significant changes in your life? Make sure there is no cheese under your nose when you wake up.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to an amazing feeling

2010-11-29T15:04:00.002-05:00

As I search to find the right words to express what I am feeling, one song comes to mind. Do you know which song? Take a guess! No, it’s not that one. Try harder! OK, it's Bob Marley’s song “Is this love” on auto replay in my mind. Stay tuned for the upcoming attraction in a theatre near you.

This week has been one of the busiest yet most productive weeks in a long time. Things that historically never moved are now moving. I had a meeting with Paul my business partner where I pointed out to him that we’ve been thinking about doing a lot of things instead of just doing them. This statement cracked him up but we both knew that it was true. So, since then I have been in action.

Last week I delivered a keynote presentation to an organization that provides assistance to new immigrants to Canada. This was my third time presenting at this organization, and I have to tell you that each time I am always amazed at the work they are doing. As I was doing my thing, I couldn’t help but think about the movie “The Ultimate Gift” (great movie by the way). There is this part in the movie where someone says, “I don’t know what my dream is, but I know that I can definitely help others achieve theirs” (I am paraphrasing here).

During the presentation I almost came to tears as people shared their dreams with me. As they opened up about their dreams I could tell that they were mentally ready to do great things for their community and for the world. It’s a great privilege for me to do what I do. Thanks to them, I am living my dream as well.

My two business partners were in the audience, and I couldn’t wait to receive their feedback at the end of the presentation. It wasn’t long before I got to hear what they thought about the presentation. “I’ve heard good things about you, but tonight you blew me away”, were the words expressed by our newest business partner, someone whose opinion I respect immensely. She made my day!

It is a great feeling to do the things you love. The good part about it is that, the more you do the things you love, the more excited you get and if you give it time the results always follow.

Now I will ask you the same question I asked the participants at my presentation: If you had all the money you ever needed and did not have to worry about working to pay bills and if you had all the time you ever needed, what would you do? If you find the answer to this question, you have found your dream. It is something you would be willing to do for free and still enjoy.

Now, I went from “Is this love” to Michael Jackson’s “This is it” lol.

Moral of the story? Do you want to feel great all the time? Keep reading my blog and I will keep you posted on my relationship status.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to an amazing week

2010-11-22T17:20:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt like you are living in a dream where every moment seems to be perfect? You meet the right people at the right time, you get the answer to your questions effortlessly, your work is getting done, and doors that were locked for a long time are now opening for you. I am hooked to Louis Armstrong’s tune “It’s a wonderful world” (or so it seems).

That was me last week. I didn’t want to wake up from my “dream” because it felt so ideally perfect. What a feeling!

The “aha” moment came a few weeks back when I was late for a meeting. I am rarely late for anything. Although I said I was late, I arrived for the meeting 15 minutes before it started. But for some odd reason I managed to get IN the room late. I had to explain why I was late. I had stepped out of the room help someone I knew not realizing how long it would take. I rushed back into the meeting’s room, and found everybody waiting for me (talk about an embarrassing moment).

Then came the coaching! It was a tough pill to swallow. Through the conversation with my coach, I realized I was late for the meeting because I chose to be nice. I had to step outside my comfort zone to lend a hand to someone, but doing so jeopardized my commitment to attend my meeting on time. The coach asked a question that made me reflect on my life as a whole. He asked “where else do you see the same thing happening in your life?” It was a slap in the face to me. I saw a clear picture of my entire life. So many times, I have chosen to be nice rather than committed to my goals. And so many times I was left wondering why I wasn’t attaining many of them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to be nice but at the same time it also needs to be put into perspective. I had to think in terms of priority. Everything has its place and time.

Yesterday, I heard a great entrepreneur say “If you are interested, you will do what is convenient, but if you are committed, you will do whatever it takes”. There is so much truth in this statement.

So I chose to be committed. All of a sudden, there was more time for action. Now I am delegating some of my work. It’s unbelievable! And it feels good. There are other areas of my life in which I am getting HUGE returns (stay tuned for the press conference). If you can read between the lines, the “I” will soon translate to “we” (please restrain from calling the paparazzi! My privacy is precious lol)

Moral of the story? Do you want to spend a utopian week? Just be late for your meeting, but only once.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to great and not so great moments

2010-11-15T18:33:00.001-05:00

One of the things I enjoy about my trips to New York is coming home from New York (I am not even sure if I understand what I just said). Maybe I can explain.

For me, going to New York is like a car going to the gas station with an empty tank. It comes out topped up with energy, ready to hit the road with more power. That’s how I felt on Monday when I returned home to Toronto. I was ready to take on the world. There are so many projects on which I am working and I am super excited about all of them. My friend, Mike, and I would like to launch an online TV show (a long time dream of mine). What else? I would like to see and help my friend “Summertime” achieve her dream of building a hospital back in Burundi (her longtime dream). And together with another guy I met a few weeks back, I would like to build the first African Cultural Centre in Toronto. Isn’t that awesome? The funny part is that I have no idea as to how all of these things will work out. But I am excited regardless.

This is what my days have been like lately after my trip to New York. Meetings after meetings. When I get home, I am both exhausted and excited.

Yesterday was one of those days where you ask yourself “what in the world just happened”. I had a meeting at work that went until 4:30 pm while my best friend and his wife were waiting for me outside. We were supposed to go out shopping for suits (I know I am good looking but there is always room for improvement).

So off we went. When I laid my eyes on “my suit” it was love at first sight (maybe I need more of that in other areas of my life, if you know what I mean lol). But for my friend, he needed more time to pick the right suit. We did enjoy the “outing” and we had a great deal of fun laughing and joking. After that, my friend dropped me off at the location of my next meeting (yes, I know, I could use some rest). We said our goodbyes and promised to meet up today to pick up our suits.

My meeting was great and productive. Then it was time for my coaching call (yes I do that too). The call was great, however, a short time after I received another call. It was my best friend’s wife on the other line (remember the couple with whom I went shopping). She was in tears. She just said to me: Can you come over please? My husband’s mom just died. I was caught off guard and all I could think was “are you serious?”. A few hours ago, we were joking and laughing, and now we get hit by this kind of news? I couldn’t believe it.
Needless to say that I stopped all that I was doing and headed to their place to be with my friend. There was not much I could say when I got there. I ended up crying the entire time.

What did I learn? Life is precious. Let’s enjoy the most of it, living the present moment like there is no other. Let’s share our passions with the world like our lives depended on it. Let’s make this world a better place to live with our loved ones and cherish every moment we spend with them; because they may not be here tomorrow.

Moral of the story? I think I made a good point. Don’t you think?

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey back to the Big Apple

2010-11-08T15:00:00.003-05:00

This is one of those blogs where I am going to use my time travel machine. I am writing it on Wednesday, you will read it on Monday, and I am talking about a trip I am going to take on Thursday (go figure).

Another week-end back to New York, I am very excited about it. I will have the entire day of Friday for myself, and frankly I don’t know what I am going to do with all the extra time (how about an NBA game at the Garden? That would be nice).

This week my friend Motivatorman is celebrating his 400th blog. What an accomplishment! He has been my friend and mentor for a while now. He is the one who introduced me to the world of blogging and now I am a self proclaimed Superstar (round of applause please). Do you know what he says about my blog?

In his own words: “Ever since I have known Patrick he has told stories that have astounded and inspired me deeply. His are stories of real-life successes that helped me see that I could overcome my own challenges and achieve my dreams. Patrick is a powerful storyteller and his superhero name is Journeyman!”

Quite frankly, I never thought this blog would last this long. I didn’t know I would have stories to tell every week. And here I am, a year later, and I have never missed a week. I think I can retire now and return eighteen months from now (why not? Just like Michael Jordan). Don’t worry, I am here to stay (yes, I kind of sensed your disappointment).

What have I learned this week? A lot of things, but one thing sure stayed on my mind. I was watching a video about healthy eating habits (and I was hungry while I was watching it). Two guys were discussing about a diet program and why people don’t commit to keeping the discipline of eating healthy and exercising (and they were pointing at me while saying it).

At the end of the video, one challenged the other to eating healthy for 90 straight days. According to him when we do something for 90 days we create a habit that we won’t lose easily. During the course of the challenge, if he fails one day he will have to start from scratch. And for every time he misses his goal, he will give $5000 to charity. Do you think he can afford to miss a day? I don’t think so.

After watching the video, I asked myself this question. How committed am I to my goals? I can outline whatever I want to accomplish, but until there is enough actions behind it, it will still be a wish. Am I willing to pay $5000 every time I don’t do what I said I would do? First of all, my goal is to have that kind of money available anytime lol. It really takes commitment. To tell the truth, I am not at that level yet. But I am willing to try. I learned that until we have something to lose, it is hard to commit at a high level.

Now I am thinking about something I can give when I miss a thing on my to-do list. Any suggestions?

Moral of the story? Do you want to eat healthy? Just watch a video when you are starving and you will commit to your goals at a high level.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to the top

2010-10-31T15:45:00.002-04:00

I just met an amazing person. This man is almost 76 years old and his name is Jack. He is such a funny character and above all he is an incredible performer. He climbed the CN Tour in less than 33 minutes and 23 seconds. Why do I mention this specific time? Simply because that was the time it took me to climb the Tower (in other words, Jack was faster than me!!!). This thing is HUGE. It’s 1776 steps, over 150 floors. What a challenge!

This is my forth time climbing the Tower as a fund raising event for the United Way. For the second year I was the team captain (I guess I was not chosen based on performance). This year was the year of all the records. We had a record breaking 22 members on the team, we raised over $2000 (for the first time) and the fastest member of our team made it to the top in 15 minutes and 6 seconds (another team record, obviously not my record). To top it all off, we had Jack as a team member, 76 years old! We thought he was the oldest guy in the entire event until he met an 83 year old man at the top of the tower. That was incredible. Jack’s secret? In his own words:”It was nice seeing all these young ladies passing me while I was climbing. But please don’t tell my wife” (I hope his wife is not a fan of my blog).

After the climb we took pictures and had fun together. As we got close to end the day, I took a moment to chat with Jack. He said the last time he climbed the CN Tower was 20 years ago. I asked him if he exercises a lot, and I was stunned to learn that him and his 73 year old wife walk an average of 3 hours a day. I learned also that Jack and his wife are vegetarians. Right then I had plans to go to Swiss Chalet (my favorite restaurant) for my usual quarter chicken dinner with fries with a Pepsi (and Ceasar salad on the side). Then I changed my mind.

As I mentioned, we had new members on our team and many of them were climbing the Tower for the first time. We met early in the morning, and I could read both excitement and a little bit of fear on some of the faces. Were they up to the challenge? Were they going to make it? For others, it was about breaking the records. For me it was about....going to Swiss Chalet afterwards.

Once at the top, the facial expressions changed. It was all about excitement. We all made it. Some of our family members were there as well (a trip all the way to the top by elevator. How lucky!!). It was a moment of celebration. Jack was in heaven (literary speaking as we were all in high altitudes). When I asked Jack about his experience, he just said:” It’s all about doing what I love to do. If it was not this fun, I wouldn’t do it.” I thought I was hearing Michael Jordan in his peak years.

Many hours later, as I am writing this blog, I can’t stop thinking about Jack’s comment:” it is all about doing what I love to do. If it was not this fun, I wouldn’t do it”. How many of us really think like this? Do we all really love what we do? Are we really having fun doing what we are doing? If the answer is no, then we should think it over and find our passions. It’s a life worth living. Trust me, the expression of Jack’s face said it all. He is alive as ever. And he has plans as well. He wants to speak about living healthy and long. Why not. He is a living example of what he wants to speak about. Today, I was the first member of his audience and he did good. Do you want proof? Well I skipped going to Swiss Chalet.

Moral of the story? Do you want to live long and healthy? Go and climb the CN Tower and you won’t go to your favorite restaurant.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a week of mixed emotions

2010-10-24T11:37:00.000-04:00

I am sitting in front of the TV watching an old movie featuring Steven Seagal but my phone keeps beeping and interrupting me. I have no choice but to stop the movie and see why the phone keeps going off. You see, I have turned my phone into a tool to remind me of what needs to be done and when. Every time the phone beeps, I know something requires my immediate attention, so I make sure to check to see what it is and then proceed to do it. It could be a phone call that I need to make, or just a reminder that I have to write my blog (see, it’s working. I am writing my blog now). Hold on, this movie I am watching is getting really interesting. I might have to get back to you later.

Wow! What an intense movie! Well, where was I? Oh my phone. It had to come down to that. I had so much to do last week that I missed a bunch of the things with which I had tasked myself to complete. I ultimately had to come up with a system to remind me of what needed to be done. My phone came in handy. Now it’s got a double function, I am using it as a phone of course but also as a reminder tool. So far, it’s working and I hope it keeps on working.

By the way, the movie is finished and I am now watching Lopez Tonight. Just thought you would like to know. Gosh, I can’t wait for the NBA season to start...Mario Lopez is predicting the Lakers to win again. Couldn’t agree more (no offense Bertrand).

I had mixed emotions this past week. First of all, I received pretty much great feedback both on my work as an MC at two events and on my blog from people who had just discovered it for the first time.

At the same time, despite these positive aspects, I felt empty inside for some reason. At first I thought it was due to my tiredness so I made sure to put in some extra sleep, however, it still didn’t solve the issue. I was like “what’s happening to me”?

Then I remembered one of my coaches telling me that our feelings have nothing to do with our performance. I could very well feel empty but that doesn’t have to affect my work at all. It’s like driving a car. Once we stick the key in the ignition and start the car, all we have to do to get the car to move is press on the gas pedal. The car will move regardless of how we feel (what a great expert I am!!! I don’t even have a valid driving license lol). Feelings come and go. It’s called being human. There is not much we can do about it. I am learning to keep on going and to not let how I feel affect what I do. Of course I wouldn’t mind feeling good all the time, but when that doesn’t happen I am not going to stop what I am doing because this too shall pass.

The funny thing is that when I am in action, the good feelings always return.

At the end of the day, as mentioned in my last blog, I am focusing on the good stuff: that people like my blog and that I exceed everyone’s expectation as an MC (and above all that I am very modest about it).

Moral of the story? Do you want to feel good all the time? Just turn your phone into a reminder and you won’t forget to read my blog.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey back to Montreal

2010-10-18T18:37:00.002-04:00

What a month of travel! This has been my schedule for the last three weeks: Three days in New York, one day in Niagara Falls the following week, and three days in Montreal last week. In a few weeks I will be returning to New York. The trip is already booked . My manager at work told me that if I keep living the life I am living now, there will be no space for a wife (I am hoping to meet my future wife on the road lol).

Talking about marriage, I was in Montreal performing double duty in a wedding (as the best man and the MC). I guess it is the next step before my own wedding, don't you think? Johnny, my best friend was getting married to another best friend of mine (I think they were made for each another. They are both my best friends). Johnny is lucky to have her as his wife. She is an amazing lady. I know she is lucky to have Johnny in her life too. It was both an emotional and great event. I was there when the relationship started and I was there to witness the beginning of the next phase of their journey.

As I mentioned, before my trip to Montreal, I was on the road for long periods of time. I had about an average of four hours of sleep per day. On Friday, I finished what I was working on around 1AM, and then I went to my friend's house in the East end of the city so that we could travel together the next morning. I went to sleep around 2.30 AM, and I was ready to hit the road at 6.30 in the morning. By the time I got into the car, I was done. All I needed was sleep (and I can sleep anywhere). I was traveling with two very good friends of mine (and I was not the one driving. Lucky me). One of them got this bright idea of bringing a pillow (whoever invented this item should get a Nobel Prize).

We chatted for a while, and then I was gone. Maybe I snored, I don't know. All I know is that I slept like a baby. And then something happened. I don't know if I was dreaming or not, but I started hearing some music. It was beautiful music. No, I was not dreaming. It was real music. I woke up on “Hotel California” by the Eagles. That is my favorite band of all times. I started singing (I know almost all Eagles' songs). The next thing I realized was that I was no longer tired. I was alive! These guys can really sing. I am glad my friend (the one with the pillow idea) was playing this CD.

With all the week-end festivities, I was exhausted by the time we hit the road on our way back to Toronto. But I didn't even think about sleeping in the car. I was still with my two friends, and we added Nicolas and Diego, the two DJ's. What a great delight! There were plenty of jokes, and then came the music, the Eagles of course, and we ended up with Bob Marley. Now all the five of us were singing. Was I ever tired? I don't think so.

It's funny how a little thing like music can change my mood and make me forget that I am exhausted. You know what I learned in the process? It's really about what I am focusing on. When I thought about me being tired, that was all I experienced: more tiredness. But once the music became my focus I no longer felt tired. I was alive!

Let's think about our lives for a moment. Good things and bad things happen to us all the time. What we choose to focus on makes all the difference. I know we can find good things in all that has happened to us. Once we make a decision to focus on the good stuff, that is all we will see. Isn't that great? It is a simple but effective decision. Let's try to see the positive side in all things. Next time you feel tired, just play some good music and you will be fine (I hope it will be the Eagles). But don't forget to sleep as well. It might help (it has been my main activity the last two days).

Moral of the story? Do you want to feel alive? Just listen to your favorite music and you will later have a good sleep. Hope it won't be in your office.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to the Gym

2010-10-12T14:13:00.001-04:00

I am glued to the TV zapping between two channels watching both the Colbert Report and the Cosby Show. I am also trying to finish some work from last night (talk about multitasking). To my great surprise, as I flip back to the Cosby Show, guess who I see? Myriam Makeba, the late great singer from South Africa. She was playing herself on the Cosby Show. Needless to say the Colbert Report had to wait (good thing I was able to catch the same episode last night).

Of course I am a big Myriam Makeba fan (and so seem to be all the people on the Cosby Show). She started to tell them how beautiful the continent of Africa is. She described Africa in such a poetic way that made me a little teary. Oh how she made me miss home! All I could think of was “why did I leave my country?”

In my eight years in Canada, there has been a few times where I wanted to pack and go back home for good. Funny enough, those moments hit me when I don’t seem to see any results in what I am doing. Chasing the American dream can sometimes be heart-breaking, especially when you want it so bad. Whenever that happens, all I have to do to get back to my senses is go to the gym and play basketball. That’s exactly what I did yesterday.

Talking about going to the gym, my getting back in shape thread I started a while ago is almost at its full swing although I didn’t make it to the gym or to my basketball games for a whole week after my trip to New York. I went back to the gym on Monday. I was so excited to go back, but sad to learn that my gym is closing for three long months for renovations. That’s not right. I only have three weeks before they close. Does that mean I am putting a hold to my dream of converting this one pack into a six pack? (I am aiming to be like “The Situation” lol).

The only thing I did at the gym on Monday was running on a treadmill. I kept adding resistance until it was almost impossible for me to run anymore. Sweat was dripping off my entire body like crazy. And then when I took a break, a thought came to my mind. Do you mean all I need to do to get back in shape quickly is more resistance to my treadmill and lift heavier weight? If that is so, then resistance is a good thing. Resistance is a sure sign that I am on the right track. What a relief! Before this I had been battling for a week as I experienced set back after set back in everything I was doing. Isn’t that funny? Resistance became my best friend since then.

If you ask anyone who made it big, all of them will tell you they made it while facing major resistance, some of them risking their lives. Einstein said that we can’t solve any problems with the same mind that got us into them (I am just paraphrasing). Change is never easy. We have to get outside of our comfort zone if we want to make it. It is easier said than done, but it sure was a huge relief for me when I remembered it. We can get inspired anywhere, including at the gym.

So my dear friend (yes I am talking to you), if it seems to you that you are not getting ahead in what you are doing, if it looks like it is so hard for you, you should be excited because the same situation that is driving you crazy is the one thing you need to be strong. So face it with joy because it is a good thing. Embrace it.

Moral of the story? Are you facing some resistance right now? Just catch your favorite TV show and you will see a superstar. It may be me.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a Great Discovery

2010-10-03T17:45:00.000-04:00

I remember writing my first essay ever way back in Grade 10. The essay topic was “life is a journey”. Did the teacher know at that time I was going to be The Journeyman? I doubt it. I don’t even remember what I wrote but my teacher’s remarks were that it was too long.

Life is really a journey and it is up to us to decide how we are going to take it. The good thing is that life has plenty of surprises. Throughout the course of my life I have learned to let go of expectations of how life unfolds and live in the moment.

Do you remember my blog from a few weeks back where I mentioned the movie “Evan Almighty”? I kept thinking about it since then. In the movie, Evan, a newly elected congressman, based his campaign on his slogan “We’re going to change the world”. Because people needed change, he got elected. He thought being a congressman was going to be a piece of cake until he started facing real challenges. It takes a great deal of work to change the world.

I took time to reflect on a few things when I was in New York last week (when I say time, I mean 20 seconds lol). At numerous occasions and in so many ways I have said yes to things without knowing what it will take me to accomplish them, and what it ends up costing me for being involved. Quite frustrating at first, but I have now learned to go with the flow although it might seem easier said than done.

Take the publishing of my book for example, I never had an idea of what it takes to publish a book. When I first had the thought of writing a book I thought it would just be sitting in front of a computer and writing my stories. I did that and a hundred pages later, I was done. I was pumped and super excited about letting it out in the world so people can read it, until the editing process started. I was like “are you serious??”. Does it really take this long? Yes it does. I have an amazing team of editors and we have fun doing the work, but we are not done yet. The good part of the story is that every time we go through it I just realize how great this book is (I say that because the author is a good friend of mine lol). Can’t wait to make it available.

This is one of the many examples of things I started without knowing what it was going to take to fulfill them. I must admit that at times I gave up because either the situation became unbearably hard to endure, or things turned out in a way I hadn’t predicted. Do you know why I failed? Because I was not committed enough. I had a back up plan in case things didn’t work. However, when I seriously commit to something, there is no way I am quitting. It may take years, but I will keep pushing until I get it done.

I started a business with my friend Paul in 2003. It has been 7 years with “no major results” but we kept working. For this particular instance I had no back up plan. I have to make it. Seven years of hard work (without any results) are about to pay off. I just know so. I can feel it. Do you know why? Let me tell you why.

Yesterday I went to deliver a speech on behalf of United Way Toronto. It was during a meeting of one of the top financial institutions of the country and the “top dogs” were there. To my great surprise, when I got there, they told me that they had made a specific request to United Way that they wanted ME as the speaker. How they heard about me, I have no idea. Good thing they mentioned it to me before my speech. I made sure not to disappoint them, and I did not (do you want my autograph?).

That made me realize I am on the right track. My name is getting out there.

My discovery is that when you set a goal for yourself and burn all the bridges behind you, you will eventually make it. There is no other choice.

Moral of the story? Do you want to make it in life? Just write a long and boring essay.

Always a pleasure
Patruck
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to Another trip to New York

2010-09-27T00:02:00.000-04:00

Here I am again in New York. I just started another series of four trips in seven months in the Big Apple. If things go as planned, I will add another trip to San Diego in February, a trip that will come handy as it will be freezing in Toronto (I would make an excellent weatherman).

We got to New York early today, and boy is this city alive! The traffic is crazy and people are everywhere. Our room will only be available at noon and my fellow travelers are going for breakfast. I decide not to go so I can write this blog. You blog readers are so important to me that I can afford to skip breakfast (you don’t see me, I am writing so fast so I can join them before I die of hunger lol)

This trip comes at the right time for me. I needed an escape. Although I know it will be a busy week-end, at least I know I will be focused on one thing. The last few weeks felt as though I was part of “Cirque du Soleil”, overwhelming but fun week indeed. I made sure to keep my commitment about being in shape (twice a week in the gym and basketball on Tuesdays).

I thought I was doing good regarding my “back in shape” program until I met a great friend of mine in the subway yesterday. He gave me a 15 minute lesson on nutrition. I am far from being a healthy eater and my friend’s lecture made me feel like a loser. When it comes to eating I am always open to opportunities. A few times ago, pizza deliverers were my best friends (I think I know all of them by names lol). I know all the Chinese restaurants in my area (and they deliver too lol). I know it takes a commitment to get back in shape but I am up to the challenge. I am afraid my pizza friends will feel like I left them hanging, but they have to look for other customers.

What was funny about my conversation with my friend is we never talked about nutrition before. We grew up together, we went to the same high school, we were on the same basketball team, then we met again here in Toronto. Every time we meet, our conversations are always reminiscent of the great memories we share. Why was this time different? I didn’t even know he was an “expert” in nutrition.

Then I remember reading somewhere “when the student is ready, the teacher will show up”. I bet I wouldn’t have met him, had I not made a commitment to get back in shape. He was there to bring me up to speed and I understand now that exercising without proper nutrition is almost a waste of time.

Think about your own journey when you met the right person at the right time? People who were there just for a purpose. I am sure there are plenty of them. Were they there just by coincidence or have you “created them? I may be wrong, but I think there is a Big Guy upstairs who is waiting for us to make a decision so He can put those kinds of people on our path. My daily prayer is to be one of those people that He is sending each and every day so that YOU can achieve your goals.

Do you want to hear a secret? When I started to write this blog, I had no idea what I was going to write about. Words and ideas started pouring as I was writing. Isn’t that cool? I think I did OK, don’t you think?

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet the right people at the right time? Start ordering pizza and they will show up.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a Cool Realization

2010-09-19T13:43:00.003-04:00

Last week-end I took some time off. It was so cool to relax and do nothing (if you call “watching movies” doing nothing).

On Saturday a great friend of mine came to visit me and we spent many hours together. When I told my sister in law who was coming, she laughed and said: “it is going to be a great meeting between two intellectuals.”. I laughed a lot and I was also honored as my friend is such a brilliant guy. Every time I am with him, I always learn something new.

As it has been a long time without seeing each other, we took time to catch up a little bit and he asked what I was up to. He knew almost everything about me as he is a great fan of my blog. There was really nothing new he was going to learn from me.

However, as I was telling him my stories, I realized something. I have been creating my life the way I wanted it without even noticing. Here is an example

1.In 2008 I decided I wanted to be a professional speaker

2.The same week, my coworker introduced me to Toastmasters (she did not know about my decision to become a speaker)

3.Two weeks after, another coworker told me that United Way Toronto was looking for speakers (since then, I have made over 45 speeches for them)

4.Through Toastmasters, I was connected to a company that trains people to become professional speakers (I went for a training in Dallas Texas in March 2009)

5.My very friend who visited me on Saturday asked me to be the MC at his wedding last year

6.The cameraman at this event saw me do what I do best and asked if I could be the MC at his engagement party

7.Three other invitations to be the MC came from people who were at this party including two for fundraising events

8.From one of these events, I was connected to BANA, the organization that put together the convention in Montreal this year (I guess you know who was the MC at this event too)

9.Few weeks ago, I met Phil Tailor who is the founder of Goal Achievers International. He works with a group of professional speakers and helps them to achieve their goals (I officially joined the group last week)

10.The list goes on and on

I just realized that me deciding to be a speaker made people and circumstances align themselves to help me achieve my goal. Wait until my book comes out. You will read plenty of these kinds of stories.

Moral of the story? Do you want to achieve your goals? Just set your goals on what you want to accomplish and you will be invited at weddings.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a commitment

2010-09-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

One of the commitments I made and that I need to accomplish before the end of this year is to get back in shape. I think it was about time I do something about it. I have been in Canada for 8 years and in those 8 years I have gained 55 pounds. Don’t you dare laugh at me. It sure isn’t because of lack of discipline, besides I have my reasons, number one being my retirement from the game of Basketball lol (see Charles Barkley).

I remember sending a picture to my mom two years ago and she couldn’t tell which one is her son (I was with some friends in the picture). Funny moment. She sent me an email the next day saying “That’s a nice picture. You must be the one who took it because I didn’t see you”. I had to explain I was the one on the far left side, she couldn’t believe it.

I had hoped that working on my book would make me shade a few pounds (by the way, my editors and I are putting some serious work in this. I never thought it would take this long). What an illusion! My best bet is hitting the gym now that my shortcut plan failed. Fair enough I have access to the gym in my building but hardly ever make it there.

I started gradually by playing some soccer games. I scored 4 goals in my second game (should I join Chelsea or ManU? You decide lol). Two days ago, I played some Basketball and I did some walking yesterday. In October I will climb the CN Tower, and in December I am running an indoor marathon (check me out in the 2012 Olympics in London).

I made these kinds of commitments in the past but it didn’t work out. Do you know why? Because I was not accountable to myself and I didn’t have anyone to be accountable to. Things have to change now.

It has been two weeks that me and my friend Diego have started a cool system. From Sunday to Thursday, we call each other at 10pm everyday with a list of things we have to do the next day. Then the next day we have to report to each other that we did every single thing on the list, and make another list for the following day. We committed to each other to make no excuses and be sure to accomplish what’s on our “to do list” on a daily basis. I have to tell you it’s working fine.

We have accomplished so many things in just two weeks it’s not even funny. One of the things on my list today is writing this week’s blog. Good thing I am doing it, otherwise Diego would kick me. At the same time you are benefiting from it as you are reading my blog.

I figured that having someone, a friend, a coach or any other person to report to is very helpful. Otherwise we would all be part of the biggest nation in the world. It’s called procrastination.

Moral of the story? Do you want to achieve big goals? Find someone to be accountable to and you will lose weight.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a last minute speech

2010-09-04T22:04:00.003-04:00

If I were to choose a theme for this week, I would call it “last minute week”. Everything was done at the last minute this week. . I had been planning my days so well for quite some time now, but this week has been quite an experience
Yesterday I had no idea what the topic of this week’s blog would be, and my very efficient editor (whose name I won’t mention because she likes to keep her privacy) sent me a reminder that it was the blog. I was honest with her that I had no inspiration at all. A few suggestions from her and I was ready to go. However, I did not get to work right away so my ideas flew thick and fast and I ended up losing them.

Today was another “last minute” event again. I was scheduled to be the chair of the Toastmasters meeting, and 24 hours before the meeting I was not ready with my agenda (what a well organized chair I was!).
Fortunately the president of our club came to my rescue. She agreed to be the chair provided I be the speaker. I immediately said yes, but still had no clue what I was going to speak about.

Our Toastmasters meetings run every Thursday from 1 to 2pm. Up until 12:30 I had little to no idea what would be the content of my speech. All of a sudden an idea hit me and there I was, a few minutes later, speaking in front of an audience.

A few minutes before our meeting, I noticed a new guest at our club. I went to him and said hi. Right away, I knew he was not an “ordinary” guest. There was something special about him that I can’t describe. He had laying on the table in front of him a book titled “Set Yourself on Fire: How to ignite your passions and live the life you love” .The title caught my attention and I asked if I could have a look at it. He said yes. Guess what! He was the author of the book. What a great surprise. Of course I bought the book and he signed it for me.

As we were about to start our meeting, I asked if I could speak to him after and he agreed right away. I went on to deliver my speech and our special guest was both impressed and inspired (his own words).

It turned out our guest was none other than Phil Taylor. Phil Taylor is a multiple-award winning speaker, trainer, and internationally recognized authority on communications; sales, team performance, entrepreneurship and goal achievement (don’t think I am describing myself. He is another fellow celebrity). He is also the founder of Goalachievers International Inc., a global organization devoted to empowering individuals and organizations to achieve extraordinary results in all areas of one’s personal and business life. On top of all this, he is running for Mayor of Toronto (too bad I had no camera on me. I wouldn’t mind having a picture with him lol).

Didn’t I tell you I knew there was something special about this guy? As we wrapped up our Toastmasters meeting, I had the privilege to talk with him for about 15 minutes. He asked me a question I was eager to hear “tell me about your goals in life, and how can I help you?” I said to him “I am glad you asked...”. Guess what? He is going to help me achieve them. Him helping me will be a no brainer as I am working on doing exactly what he is doing right now, except running for Mayor (if I do that, there will be no competition at all lol).

Moral of the story? Do you want to meet a world class achiever? Do everything at the last minute and you will meet...me.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a Great Opportunity

2010-08-30T09:54:00.002-04:00

Have you ever been in a meeting but not fully present because your mind is wandering somewhere else? Don’t you dare lie because I know it happens to all of us lol.
Today I attended a workshop for speakers, and for about five minutes or so I was thinking about ... a movie. How pleasant is this!

You may be wondering what movie? Bare with me, I will get back to it later (this is my trick to get you to read till the end lol)

For about a year now, I have been working on a project that is a little outside of my comfort zone. During the course of the project, I experienced some ups and downs (more downs than ups if you know what I mean). The project has been demanding and required a lot of prayers too because most of the time I was left wondering what to do next. A little boost from the Man upstairs causes no harm.

With everything that’s been going on throughout the year, one question kept coming back in my mind. Why does it seem that every time I pray for something I end up with the opposite (at least in the short term)? Is the Man upstairs playing tricks on me? It is only today that I finally landed on the answer I have long been looking for, and fair enough it came from the movie I was thinking about.

Since you’ve made it this far, I will share with you the name of the movie. There is no turning back now, you are going to read the whole story (at least I hope).

The movie is “Evan Almighty” starring Steve Carell, great comedy with lots of lessons to learn. Evan, a newly elected congressman, was asked by God (Morgan Freeman’s character) to build a boat because very soon there would be a flood in the city. The boat would be used to save lives of animals and human beings. Did I mention this was during a blazing hot summer? No rain to be expected.

Evan was the joke of the whole country. Nobody bought the idea of a flood in the mix of summer, above all no one believed God was speaking to him. It got to a point where his wife (who at the beginning of the movie was praying for family unity) and kids left him because they thought he was going crazy.

The most interesting part of the movie (at least for me) is Evan’s wife meeting God. Of course she did not know she was talking to God. Here is what God said to her:

“If someone prays for patience, do you think that God will give him patience or does He give him the opportunity to be patient? If someone prays for courage. God gives him the opportunity to be courageous. If someone prays for his family to be closer, do you think God will give them warm fuzzy feelings or does He give them the opportunity to love each other?”

Do you remember the woman’s prayer at the beginning of the movie? Of course you do (because I told you about it). After praying for family unity, she found herself separated from her husband, the exact opposite of her prayer request.
After she talked to God and understood how God works in answering prayers, she went back to her husband and they finished the project together (great ending by the way).

Now, back to my story (I should get paid for promoting this movie). When I started the project last year, I prayed for faith and creativity. These two are the main requirements for me to accomplish the project. It has been a year of setback after setback, sometimes I even laughed about it. It’s been crazy hectic.

My “AHA” moment finally came today during the workshop. All the setbacks I experienced the last year were not really setbacks! They were my opportunities to use faith and be creative. Isn’t that beautiful? Now I am excited and focused on taking the project on to the next level. I can use the faith and creativity I acquired (although I learned the hard way, and still learning). The change of context is such a powerful thing, don’t you think?

Moral of the story? Do you want to be excited about whatever you are doing? Just go to a meeting and think about something different.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to Another New York Story

2010-08-23T10:39:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine was writing a letter and something strange caught my attention. He was writing so slow that it seemed everything was in slow motion. I went up to him and asked “why are you writing so slowly?” His response was “I am writing so slowly because my friend to whom I am sending this letter is a slow reader”. Go figure

I hope you read this one slowly.

In March of this year I enrolled in a program that trains people to become leaders (Yes we can!). My friend Jeanelle told me that although the program is free it will cost me everything I have. I will have to give up all my old thinking and my old ways of doing things (I hoped I could keep my clothes on lol). That was an understatement.

The program was designed to last seven months. During those seven months I would attend four training sessions in New York. I liked that (I was hoping to meet other Superstars like me). In addition, I was given a coach who would hold me accountable for what I promised I would accomplish. So far so good.

During the first few weeks of the program I thought I was in a military training but there was nothing physical about it. I was so confronted that I thought “what in the world did I get myself into?”. That was before my first trip to New York. Fortunately I have a good coach who has always been there to guide me. I met real world changers in New York and I knew I was at the right place at the right time. The training was so intense but I kept going.

Fast forward. Here we are on the fourth week-end in New York. Not only did I survive the training, I am now among the top achievers (standing ovation please). I am humbled by the whole experience and I know I couldn’t have done it without the help of so many. When they called me on stage, I was so moved and filled with emotions that I couldn’t hold my tears (thank God there was no one taking pictures).

Before our lunch break, I approached one of our trainers. I had one question for him. How in the world are you able to do what you do? This guy is my hero. He has accomplished so many things (and still is) and I wanted to pick his brain. Here is how our conversation went:

Me: How in the world are you able to do the things you do?

Him: Because I say so. I do not look at my circumstances. I decide what I want to accomplish and I make it happen regardless of the obstacles. I create my own reality.

Me: Wow!

Him: Tell me Patrick. What would you like to accomplish in the world?

Me: I would like to help my home country

Him: How?

Me: By building schools for under privileged kids

Him: How many schools, where exactly and when?

Me: I don’t know yet

Him: That is why you are not doing it yet. It has to be crystal clear in your mind and you have to decide by when you want it to happen. Then create a plan to make it happen.

End of conversation

I am going to follow his plan; hopefully are you willing to do it with me.

Moral of the story? Would you like to have a cool conversation with a world changer? Just come see me and I will talk to you lol

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to My Fourth Trip to New York

2010-08-15T09:53:00.000-04:00

Here am, sitting in the lobby of the New Yorker Hotel, and all that I am thinking about is going back to Toronto as soon as possible. Don't get me wrong; New York is a great place, but I feel like I am ready to take on the world and to make things happen NOW! I think my last name should be “Superman” (at least that is how I feel now). The conference I went to was so awesome.

A couple of great moments happened to me in New York. This is my fourth trip to New York since the month of March of this year. The last three times I came here, I was so eager to learn, and I was so focused on what I was coming for that I did not get a chance to visit the city. This time, it was different. I felt more relaxed and I had enough time to visit a few places before our conference.

We arrived at the hotel on Friday at nine o'clock, and we were told that our rooms would only be available at 2 pm. So, one of my friends suggested that we go on one of the sightseeing tour buses. What a great idea! For two hours and a half, we were on the bus discovering New York. This city is so huge! Prior to that trip, the only time I saw New York like that was in the movies (especially Eddie Murphy's “Coming to America”). In my mind I was reflecting back to a time when I was a kid growing up back home in Burundi. I never imagined that one day I would be visiting the capital of the world and having so much fun. It was a surreal moment.

On Saturday evening, I had to meet my friend Abdel. He is the president of BANA, the organization that put together the event in Montreal I talked about in one of my blogs. I met Abdel only once before in Montreal, but when we met in New York, it felt as if we grew up together. He is such a great guy and we had so much fun together. He brought me to Times Square and the only word I could say was “wow!!!”. I never took so many pictures. That place is alive!

Abdel invited me to one of the pubs next to Times Square. It was such a beautiful place on the fifth floor of a great building. The place was packed. We ordered our drinks, and to my amazement, a glass of Coca Cola (yes a glass) cost eleven US dollars!! Are you kidding me? (that is the cost of two plates of delicious food at a Chinese restaurant lol)

I spent almost four hours with Abdel. Do you know what we were talking about? We were sharing the great memories we had back home in Burundi. Hold on a second! Here we were, in a city that many people only dream to visit one day (at least that was my case), and we were talking about the greatness of our home country! What a contrast! And to tell the truth (not that I was lying before), I would give anything to relive those moments when I was younger. If that was possible, I would live them fully not taking any moment for granted.

Isn't it funny that sometimes we think that when we “get there” we will finally be happy? Let me share a secret with you (you are my confident but do not tell anybody else). Once you “get there”, you will be like “is that it?” And you will want to get to another place, and then another place, and then another place… (that has been my experience). Now, don’t get me wrong. Striving towards achieving our goal is good. However, life is about achieving a balance (that is my theory). Achieving a balance is when we are able to reflect and learn from the past, plan and be excited about the future, but experience every moment in the now.

I have a suggestion. How about deciding to put more emphasis on living in the present moment and less on spending every moment of our life striving to get somewhere we think will bring us ultimate happiness. Instead, let’s try to be happy with who we are, where we are and be thankful for what we have whether it is a lot or a little! I really believe, based on my experience, that if we can all do this we would see that the world is a great place to live regardless of what is going on around us (that is the Journeyman Theory and it is a Trade Mark lol).

Moral of the story? Do you want to be happy? Just go to New York, you will have an expensive drink and you will miss your home country.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
Pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a priceless moment

2010-08-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

I have so many things to be thankful for this week and some of them took my breath away as they unfolded. I once heard somebody say “be careful what you wish for, because you may end up getting it”

I was at Ngoma Lounge last week (for my free Sprite of course, among other things), I was talking with my friend Kijanya. I mentioned to him I was interested in learning how to play music, starting with the keyboard. He laughed obviously thinking I was joking.

The next day, while helping a great friend of mine who was moving he asked if he could leave his two keyboards with me (you heard right...two keyboards). He didn’t think he would have enough space for them at the new place. I thought to myself “Are you kidding me?” I then started reflecting on the conversation I had with Kijanya the previous day. Who do you think I called to announce the news? You guessed right, Kijanya himself. He thought I was playing tricks on him still going at it with my joke. He just couldn’t buy it. Then he said to me “I would like to pray to the same God you pray to” lol. So needless to point out I will soon be taking lessons and my instructor will be...like you guessed...Kijanya.

This was a great moment; however what happened the next day was just priceless (I don’t think there is a better word to define it). For almost a year now, I have been helping a client to achieve his dream. He is a musician and for more than five years he has been playing in bands, working for other musicians. He would sometimes get contracts here and there, but that was not his ultimate dream. He told me his dream is to have his own not for profit organization. His aim being to promote his music, as well as other African musicians, by organizing events and workshops all over North America.

So we went to work. The first thing Paul and I did was help him register his organization. We did it successfully in January of this year and went on to develop a plan for him to host an event this summer. Later we worked on securing government grants to finance the event. We also went after private sponsorships in case we did not qualify for government funding.

I must confess that it was a learning process for us as well. My client had such a positive attitude even in the most difficult of times. Instead we kept working and sometimes for as long as ten hours a day. Two weeks prior to his event, we had a few sponsors but not enough to cover all the costs. Nevertheless my client remained optimistic and kept believing we will get it done.

Then something amazing happened! I had an appointment with him to work on securing some last minute sponsorships. It was one of those days where I didn’t feel like working at all. I almost called off the meeting I had with him (I am so glad I didn’t). He showed up half an hour before our appointment. He was very calm so I thought maybe he was tired. A few moments later he said “I just received a phone call. We were approved for the government grant”.

We stared at each other for five good minutes without saying a word. Then, he broke the silence with tears. He cried like a baby. Guess what? I got emotional too (not a nice scene). The hard work had finally paid off. All this happened a few days prior to his event.

Trust me when I say I would give anything to live a moment like this again. Knowing that I helped contribute towards making someone’s dream a reality fills up my heart. It is truly a priceless moment! My only regret is missing his event. I will be in New York City, but Paul will be there and I know he will represent our company with pride.

Moral of the story? Do you want your dream to come true? Come see me, and we will cry together.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to another blog

2010-07-31T14:43:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Serendipity”. It is a great romantic comedy (If I were an actor, this could be one of the movies I would play in).

Before I watched the movie, I did not know the meaning of the word “Serendipity”. Here is one of the meaning of Serendipity: “the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated”.

Such was my experience a few weeks ago in Montreal. As I mentioned in one of my recent blogs (I hope you got a chance to read it, otherwise go back and skim through it before you carry on with this one. That’s my assignment to you and there might be a quiz afterwards lol), I was in Montreal hosting an event, and I “accidentally stumbled upon” one of the guest speakers. What a fortune accident!

The last time I saw Jeanine, I was a little boy. We lived in the same area (our moms were great friends) and we attended the same high school. When she left to pursue her studies in the US, I think I was in grade 7. She did not remember me when we met in Montreal, but I remembered her very well.

After her very inspirational speech, we talked for a while and she told me about her work back home through her organization BFI (Burundi Friends International). I asked for her business card and we have kept in touch ever since.

You know what else happened? Jeanine “accidentally stumbled upon” my blog and this also turned out to be a fortunate accident. She asked if I could start a blog for BFI, I felt honored. In fact I did not think twice, I jumped right on the opportunity. They are doing an amazing job helping people mainly through education and health care. The more she talks about her projects, the more excited I get. I want to be part of a group of people who strive to make a difference.

Do you know what else Jeanine told me? She lives in San Diego (she is continuously bragging about how sunny it is all year long) and of that I am very jealous. Don’t get me wrong, I love Toronto, but my love for Toronto is not the same in February (talk about unconditional love lol).

This is the reason why I am committed to writing great blogs for them, hoping that I get my special invite to San Diego lol (she knows I am more inspired when it’s not too cold lol). In the meantime I will content myself with their website (www.bufri.org); hopefully I will see some pictures of sunny San Diego.

Moral of the story? Do you really want to meet cool people? Go to Montreal and you will start a new blog for them.

Always a pleasure,

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a great deal

2010-07-25T07:47:00.001-04:00

Back to normal life after a few busy weeks. It's great to wake up in the morning feeling rested and ready to go (yes, Ama. Hoping you won’t ask me to get a life again lol).

Two weeks ago, somebody told me: “Patrick, you are a doing machine. Find some time to just be”. I laughed so much, but I came to see that she was right. After much consideration, I took last Monday off. All I did was respond to a few e-mails, some of them to friends who were just discovering my blog for the first time (Vanessa, I am not trying to name any names lol, but your comments were so great. Thanks a lot), some others were discussing with me about an opportunity of me blogging for them (I really felt honoured, so I said yes. Stay tuned for more on that).

I was again the MC of an event a few weeks ago. Despite my team losing at the Basketball game prior to the event, I had great fun. I guess now the Lakers are having second thoughts about signing me to that contract I have long waited for. If that doesn’t happen, I will be just fine with the Miami Heat.

Coming back to the event I was hosting, my friend Diego received an award given to a successful young entrepreneur. Although he was caught by surprise, I personally think he deserves it.(I am not saying this because he is the main sponsor of our Basketball team). He really is deserving of being the recipient of such an award.
I've known Diego for a while now and we have developed a great friendship which started with sharing books we read. But since he started Ngoma Lounge, our friendship has grown stronger and deeper (could it be because of the VIP treatment I always get when I go to his lounge, yes the free Sprite I get every time says it all. Now how great of a deal is that?)

A few months ago, I met Nicolas and Kijanya, Diego's long-time friends and business partners. They told me about a great opportunity that had presented itself. They could finally settle down and have a place of their own after years of going from one place to another while showcasing their talents. All they needed was some extra money to add to what they had at that time and they would finally own the place. We made a few phone calls here and there and the deal was sealed. Ngoma Lounge was born.

What seemed to be an easy deal turned into a nightmare for my friends. For 8 long months, there was setback after setback, and Ngoma could not open. But Diego never lost hope. He was close to the Promised Land and there was no turning back. He really inspired me. In a hopeless situation, Diego kept his smile. He knew one day he would get there. Finally, it happened. On Christmas day of 2009, Ngoma Lounge opened its doors for the first time. It was a huge victory for Diego and his friends. And they never stopped expanding. It’s gotten to a point where I have to come early if I want to get my free Sprite (or just get in).The place is always packed. It's a great lesson of perseverance and faith in the face of adversity.

How about my friend Diego? Did he change? Not a single bit. He still keeps his low profile, always serving his community and still quoting our favourite movie “Peaceful Warrior” by saying to his loyal customers “Thanks for stopping by”. No wonder they keep coming back.

Did I mention they also have a cool website? I recommend it, great piece of work too. www.ngomalounge.ca

Moral of the story? Do you want to be successful in your business? Just offer me a free Sprite and you will receive an award.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a new relationship

2010-07-17T15:25:00.002-04:00

I just started a new relationship. It is an amazing one. I really love this person so much that it takes a song to describe it. I thought of a great romantic song and I came up with Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All.

Here is how it goes:

“I found the greatest love of all inside of me.The greatest love of all is easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself It is the greatest love of all”

Yes. I am learning to love myself (I know you were expecting me to say something else lol). It is not as easy as it seems. I must admit that it took me a great deal of courage to face...me.

I once heard a speaker say that when you seem to get stuck over and over again in some areas of your life, check up from the neck up. That is what I did recently. I took a thorough and honest look at the man in the mirror (I think Michael Jackson’s song came in handy). What I saw was not a pretty picture (but I am that bad either). There were things I had to face, and my coaches (yes I have many) helped me a lot.

Here are some of the things I found out about me. It has been really hard for me to open my heart to people around me, especially when I am facing a challenge. Being vulnerable and asking for help is not my forte. The impact is that very few people get to know the “real” me. I am a positive guy most of the time (and I don’t think I fake it), but I had to face the harsh reality that I am not Superman (I think I am close lol). It’s ok to fail, make mistakes and admit it.

As I said, letting it sink in wasn’t easy but it was even harder to admit it to people around me (especially to my coaches). I had always told them what I thought they wanted to hear, but it was not always the honest truth (I think it was my desire to look good in their eyes). However, I could not hide the results that showed up later in my life.

What else did I find? (Yes, I am opening up). I found that I am so much result driven that I forget it is all about the journey (am I really the Journeyman? Lol). And when it occurs that I don’t get the result I want, I blame it on myself and don’t communicate at all (I remember once my friends spent 3 days looking for me as I had disappeared without saying a word).

I found out a few other things, but those I just shared were the ones costing me the most. My resolution has been that something got to change. If I really want to live the life I am creating and live it fully, I have to live an open glass life and allow people to get access to the “real” me. I must accept that there is nothing wrong with me, I am who I am and I am just as fine. It is ok to be vulnerable and get my heart broken sometimes (hopefully not so often lol).

So, for the last few days, I have been on the phone or meeting people, cleaning up a few messes, asking for forgiveness for the broken promises, and I will keep doing that until all the mess is clean (at least the mess I know of lol). It is not an easy thing to do, trust me. But I really want to live a life of integrity and enjoy every bit of it. I never thought I would someday share with the world this much about my life, ever! There is always a first time for everything. You know what? It feels good already. Now I have a great relationship with myself and I am embracing and accepting the good and the not so good about me.

Moral of the story? Do you want to really fall in love with yourself? Learn to sing some romantic songs.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
Pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to Montreal

2010-07-10T12:40:00.000-04:00

I have been to Montreal a couple of times, but I cannot say I know the city well. Of all my trips there, the longer I have stayed is 3 days. I usually go just for a week end. On every occasion there is somebody to pick me up either at the airport or bus terminal, I just have to show up.

This time it was different. I knew I had to go to Montreal (I was the MC of an event taking place there), but I had little time to prepare as I was on the road for the most part prior to my trip. A day before my trip, I had no idea how I would get to Montreal and where to stay. Because I had been away for a while, I did not get a chance to talk to the organizers of the event about the logistics of my trip until only a day before (what an adventure!). But...a quick phone call to my friend Emery and there was a place for me to stay. I guess that’s what friends are for.

I then decided to take the Mega Bus. Good decision. The bus is so comfortable and makes it feel like you are flying. Plus I had access to the Internet (free advertisement for the Mega Bus people). Now I only had Emery’s phone number and he told me to call him once in Montreal.

Here’s the funny thing about this. During the six hour drive to Montreal and after the battery of my laptop died I started reading a book.The book was saying that all we need to know is where we are going. How to get there is none of our business. We just have to take the next step. I started laughing thinking of how it linked to my situation. I was going to Montreal with only a phone number as my back up. That was all I needed at that time. Once I get to Montreal, the next step would be to call my friend (I didn’t even have his home address, is that good stuff or what!).

I then decided to make my trip to Montreal about knowing the next step. It was a fun experience. Friday was great. My friend Emery told me how to get to the venue, and here I was wandering in the streets of Montreal not knowing exactly where to go but having fun nonetheless. During the event, I met a good friend of mine who was going in the same direction after. So he gave me a ride (I was like, this ‘next step’ thing is cool).

Saturday was the main event (simply so because it was the event I was hosting). I had to meet with the organizers at noon for the last touches on the schedule. My friend Emery was still sleeping when I left. I stepped out without even knowing where the bus stop is located. I was living in the moment just waiting for the next step (could it be a taxi, bus or even a ride). I wasn’t worried about the next step; I knew I would get there regardless.

All in all my stay in Montreal was awesome. I enjoyed the festivities and met people I hadn’t seen in a long time. I kept asking myself how life would be like with no worries about tomorrow, living in the moment just waiting for the next step to show up? Looking for nice things to happen of course. Wouldn’t it be nice? My guess is that’s really how life is (if we choose to live it that way). All I have to do is know where I want to go in life, live in the moment and let life take its course by showing me the next step.

Moral of the story? Do you want to live a worry free life? Just go to Montreal with just a friend’s phone number as your back up.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a life on the road

2010-07-05T11:08:00.000-04:00

Back to Toronto after a week on the road. The last few days have been amazing. I left on Thursday for New York City, came back on Monday morning (5am to be exact), then headed to Buffalo New York the same day, and by 1am I was back to Toronto saying to myself: “This is crazy”. Hold on there is more. On the next day, I was back on the road again this time going to Brantford Ontario and came back to Toronto around 11pm. Two days later, here I am on my way to Montreal for a week-end of festivities. In a few weeks, I am heading back to New York and if things go according to plan, I may go to Africa later this year (crazy isn’t it?).

As I am writing this, I am amazed at how my life has turned out. Never in my mind had I thought I would travel this much. In fact, since July 2005, I have traveled at least every 3 months. On my way home from Brantfort, I was thinking a few years back about what my mom said to me when I was coaching Basketball. She said “when are you going to have a life?”. And my response was “Mom , this is my life”. She said this because I was gone all the time.

As years went by, my mom’s question kept bugging me. When am I going to have a life? I asked myself this very question before last week in New york City. In one of the sessions at our conference, during a panel discussion, one of the speakers was asked how he has been able to manage family life with his many trips around the world. The question caught my attention (maybe I will get something to tell my mom lol).

He then said (I am paraphrasing): “Can you give me the definition of a good father or husband? Yes I travel 3 weeks per month, but my family never misses me. And I never miss them. We have agreed on how we are going to live our lives regardless of how society says a family should live. We can create the life we want, and we can create great memories along the way.”

I felt a sense of relief after I heard this. In fact, I have created great memories with my trips. I will never forget how emotional my trip to Mali was. The moments I lived were priceless. This is an opportunity that is not given to everybody and I won’t take it for granted (and I like to travel. Every time I go somewhere, I am doing things I love to do. What more can I ask for?

Although my mom’s question is still valid (and I know she asked it out of love), I think I can create a family life that includes a lot of travel (how about a trip to Hawaii with my loved ones? Wouldn’t that be nice?)

We can create the life we want, how we want it to be and still enjoy it. That is my new mission. I am inviting you to do the same, and the world will live as one (as John Lennon said).

Moral of the story? Do you want to have a great family life? Start traveling a lot and your mom will ask when you are going to have a life.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
Pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey back to New York City

2010-06-29T14:18:00.002-04:00

Living in downtown Toronto is really something these days. I have never seen this many police officers in the city, ever. And they are everywhere.

At first I thought that me being a superstar had drawn the people’s attention and the city saw that I needed bodyguards (but not this many). I wanted to let them know I was about to leave the city for 3 days, but they were not open to conversation. So I had to let it go. Good thing I did not talk to them because as it turned out they were there for my friend Obama. He has a meeting with 19 of his fellows in what they call G20 (I know he’s going to miss me as I will be away).

So here I am, back to New York City again (I am about to leave in a few hours). The only question I have in my mind is this: Is New York as pumped as Toronto about the soccer World Cup? I witnessed the World Cup fever myself, today as the Netherlands won again (I am writing my blog on Thursday evening). Soccer fans were chanting and cheering everywhere in downtown Toronto. Would you say the fever has something to do with the earthquake that hit our city lately? We never know. It could be the power of the vuvuzelas.

A couple of things happened to me this week. On Tuesday, as I was talking on the phone with a friend of mine, I was also drinking a very tasty juice (yes, I am a master at multitasking). After I was done with the juice, I kept playing with the bottle stopper in my hands, and something caught my attention. At the bottom of the stopper, it read: “You will be traveling and coming into money”

Here I am two days before my trip to NYC, and I read this strange message. I thought: that would be nice.
Then I started to think. What would life be like if there was no limit at all to what we can have? Wouldn’t it be great? Think about that. We would be free to go wherever we want to go, do whatever we want to do, no strings attached. There would be no worries about tomorrow because tomorrow would take care of itself (I think someone said that over 2000 years ago). It would be a dream life.

Something shifted when I started to think about those things. I said to myself: You know what? There is no limit at all. We can have it all. The only limit there is is in our mind. So I chose to believe that the message “You will be traveling and coming into money” was true. It became a reality. I made a conscious decision to live a limitless life (it sounds insane, but it feels good). This new context excited me. I was jacked up! All of a sudden I felt a joy that I had never experienced before (although my pocket book did not change at all lol).

Guess what! Things started to happen in my life. Work that I was struggling to finish for weeks was done in two days. I spent 3 days going to bed at 2AM and waking up at 6:30AM to work again and I was excited to do it. And yesterday, as my friends and I were struggling to find rooms in NYC hotels (they were all booked), someone offered us a place to stay...for free. Are you kidding? This is cool. And I feel that the best is yet to come. I can’t wait to share this with my friend Paul. By the way, did you see how good looking he is in the video? If not check the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I64c8RMC9E
And ladies, he is not taken yet (don’t tell him I told you so).

Moral of the story? Would you like to live a limitless life? Just drink a tasty juice while you talk to your friend on the phone.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to the good and the bad

2010-06-20T22:57:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been in a situation when nothing seems to work? That was my life for the entire of last week or so it seemed.

First of all, my home phone and internet service died the same day. Now to many this may seem like not a big deal. Heck, it was only ten years ago when most of us didn’t have any cell or home internet service. But a significant part of my business involves the use of the internet and the phone. Because of this a number of my projects were delayed.
If that was not enough, I experienced a number of delays in publishing my book and to top it all off, I got injured during basketball practice (I guess the Lakers will have to wait before they can sign me to that 3 year contract). For three days, I couldn't move, and I had no connection with the world.

All right. Something had to happen here! This was not the way I had planned things. It took me a few days to figure out that this was a wake up call. How? You may ask. This was a message to me that I needed to take some time for myself. I had no choice. In hind sight I am glad this happened because up until then my days were ridiculously busy. So, like you probably guessed, I decided to take some time off. What a joy!

The first thing I did was to find out what I was thankful for inspite of all these challenges. Let's see. In the same week when all these things were happening, I received a reward (for the second straight year) as the best speaker at Toastmasters International (The Members Choice award). On top of that, I was elected as the funniest speaker. I have to tell you that these two awards came as a surprise. I really was not expecting to win anything.

Now the surprises didn’t stop there; last week an organization asked me to be the Master of Ceremonies of an event to be held this summer. Yes, this will be another one of the many events that I would have had the opportunity at which to speak. However, this one will be unique in that the people attending will be from all over North America and even as far as Europe. And the story continues because that same day, I was also asked to join one of the top personal development training organizations in the world. This also came as a surprise, and on a day in which I needed good surprises.

The good news did not stop there. I was invited by CBC radio to be part of a panel discussing the World Cup of Soccer. What do you think I said?. ...... YES, of course! Also, did I mention to you that they would like to work with me on a very cool project?

In the middle of all this, I learned a couple of things. First of all, I learned that I am the type of person who likes to be in control and to have things go my way and happen within my timeframe. Well, guess what? After all of last week’s events I learned that I have to let go, believe and allow things to unfold in their own time (I must confess that this is easier said than done). I also learned that I have a choice of what I can choose to focus on. When I perceive that bad things are happening to me, I now choose to focus on the good things that are occurring at the same time; and as I found out last week there can be many.

I also learned that delays are a good thing. I had to change the conclusion of my book (thanks to Paul and his sister's suggestions), and now I am more excited about it. I decided to expand on the conclusion of my book to include a one on one conversation with you my blog followers. All of my blogs have been about sharing my experiences with you, however, in this book I felt that there was one part missing from the conclusion. I am happy to say that I found it! This additional part is not about me but about you. Yes you! What? You ask. Well, if I tell you now it would spoil the surprise.

So back to what I learned from all the events of last week; well, I learned that sometimes, it's good to take some time off and enjoy life.

All right, I know you have been waiting for this. Did you forget? Last time I promised you to show you a video. Here it is, and I know you will all enjoy it

Just use the link below and you will be able to watch it. That will be the moral of the story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I64c8RMC9E

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
Pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

.

My Journey to a TV studio

2010-06-16T23:43:00.000-04:00

What can I say? I think I need a 25 hour day (maybe 30). But I love it. My take is that when one is busy, there is no time to sin (so, I will go to heaven. Anybody wants a ride?).

Working on the book has been a fun ride. I can’t even remember all of the people who have been involved in the process. It is unbelievable the help I am getting.
On Sunday, we worked all day, then on Monday I had to do a presentation in the afternoon (great workshop and great feedback), after which I had another meeting. On Tuesday I had a conference call with a marketing company, and then went to a studio to record a promotional video for the book (my friend Paul’s idea).

I was amazed at all the different types of equipment at the studio. For those of you who have been with me since day one, you know about the guy I talked about in my blog “My Journey to Understanding” (if not, please go back and read it. I am waiting for you).

Are you done? Good. I almost became impatient.
Well, I was in his studio and I couldn’t believe he was doing this for free (and he was excited about it). On our way home, Paul asked me: “Do you know how much money we would have had to pay to get this done?" That was a blessing. That’s all I can say.

Okay. Let’s talk about the video. Do you want to see it? I can’t hear you. Do you really want to see it? All right. Now that you insist. I am going to show it to you.
Stay tune. You will get it soon. And that will be the moral of the story

Always a pleasure.

Patrick
The Journeyman
Pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to what drives me

2010-06-06T17:32:00.003-04:00

For those of you who love sports, I know you are having fun. We’ve got the NHL finals going on, the soccer world cup in a few days, we just finished watching the French Open (congrats to Nadal), and of course Kobe is going to win his fifth title (sorry Bertrand).

Speaking of the NBA, two stories caught my attention this week. First there is this story about three players of the Orlando Magic who had a strange bet. They challenged one of them to spend the entire season without cutting his hair. And guess what! He won the bet and went home with over $17,000 in his pocket. These guys have money to spare; it’s not even funny.

The second story is about my fellow Canadian Steve Nash (I am not the only Canadian superstar as you can see). This guy is a fighter. He lost to the Lakers despite doing everything right to win. I have never seen him play this hard. Today, I saw a clip of him crying in the locker room after the game. It was my first time seeing him that emotional. Although I was happy for the Lakers, I felt really bad for him. He was so close to his goal.

Here is a guy who has almost everything. He has all the money in the world, a beautiful family and all the things one could want, need or desire, and yet he was crying for not winning the big trophy. This is what drives true champions. It’s not about the money (I won’t say no if they gave it to me though).

After watching the clip, I started asking myself: What really drives me? That’s a good question to ask. Once we find out what drives us, dealing with different challenges becomes easy. It helps us to keep our eyes on the big prize.

I found out that making a difference in people’s lives is what really drives me. It is my fuel. Yes Samia, I was moved by the message you sent me (I told you I would write about you lol). It is unbelievable the responses I am getting from my blog’s readers. It’s like I am in a dream, everything looks unreal and I don’t feel like waking up.

Today, I shared a passage from my book with my four best friends whom I had great moments with back in the days. They were so moved by the message because it brought back great memories. On that note, I am going to share that passage with you. It’s the only passage that I will give away. If you want to read the rest, you only need to buy the book lol, which is being edited as we speak (I am a great salesman too).

Enjoy this passage; unfortunately, there won’t be any moral of the story lol

“I can't remember when I started to dream about working in media. All that I can remember is that in 1994, four of us, Aimé-Jules (also known as Demesure, a name we gave to him because he was very handsome), Tony (we called him Montana), François (also known as Kissa) and I (I had no nickname. There was none for brilliant people lol), started talking about owning a radio station. The dream was so vivid that we even had our roles chosen before even starting anything

We all played for the University Basketball team and our world was around Basketball, a little bit of soccer and for Kissa it was beer and girls (don't blame me Kissa, I am only telling the truth). Kissa was the most talented of us (Basketball wise and in school). He told me that he had been writing books. I didn't believe him until he showed me one of the books he had written. I was amazed! He was unbelievably talented. He did not publish any of them, but I knew that one day he would (and he did).

Aimé-Jules was the funniest of all of us. This guy was so nice (he still is). He made us laugh so much. Later on he became my inspiration when he started to work for the Chamber of Commerce radio station. I couldn't wait for 1 pm so that I could listen to him present the sport news on the radio

Tony was the calm guy. He is one of the most loyal friends I have even seen. We always teased him because he was the guy who showed no emotion. We were a band of brothers.

During the soccer world cup in 1994, we decided to start a sports newspaper which we called “Le Joueur” (The Player). We published it only four times. Even still it was a great experience.

A year later, Kissa left for his native Rwanda where he started a newspaper and ended up being the president of the Rwandese Journalist Association. Aimé-Jules started volunteering at the radio (and later on he was hired). Tony and I were the only ones left not working in media. But we never lost hope.

In the mean time, Kissa left for Canada, and a few years later, Aimé-Jules joined him. Tony replaced Aimé-Jules at the Radio station, and all of a sudden the four of us were working in the same field (as I got my job at Bonesha Radio station). Did I mention that not one of us went to school to study media? Kissa studied Law, Aimé-Jules and Tony studied French Literature and I was in the English Department. Our common passion led us to work in the field of our dream.”

Always a pleasure.

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a higher service

2010-05-30T16:02:00.002-04:00

One of the best movies I have ever seen is “Peaceful Warrior”. It is such an inspiring movie that I’d like you to see it. I promise not to give the movie away and I won’t talk about it for that matter. The only thing I will mention is the part in the movie where they say: “There is no higher purpose than service to others”. I couldn’t agree more.

I did one higher service without even noticing. I coached Basketball (did you expect something else?)

Just this morning, I was thinking about my former players and what they have become. Let’s see. We have a journalist in South Africa and she is with our team captain who now works for the UN. We have a Doctor in Germany, another one finished her studies in China and the list goes on and on. Many of them are wonderful mothers and wives (Ama, I am not naming names lol). Was I not a good coach?

I am very proud of all my players. Really. However, there is one who deserves a standing ovation. Can you do this with me? Thanks for your applause (I hope you included me in your cheers).

This player is one of the founding members of the team. For a number of seasons she was our best player. Her two sisters also played on the team.

And then tragedy struck. Her dad (a single parent) died while she was in high school.

She had to find a way to raise her younger siblings (the two sisters and two brothers).

Did she give up Basketball? Not a bit. In addition to raising her siblings, she kept playing and she kept going to the Scout meetings while working a job (yes, she gave up her studies). She was my hero.

That was over 10 years ago. How about now? Let’s see. One of her sisters finished university and worked in the media field, worked for the UN and is now working as a consultant. One of her brothers is in France studying. The younger brother is now a happily married man and works in the hotel industry.

Do you have a day or two? I can talk about her youngest sister. She is an actress, a radio host and a top model. To top it all, she just got her degree in TV production. How about that!!! Now you get why I was asking for a standing ovation. I am not saying she did all that because she had an amazing Basketball coach. Maybe I might have something to do with it. Standing ovation for me too, please.

When I went home in 2008, I visited them. What a joy. We talked and laughed, it was so great.

Then, the younger sister (do you remember the top model?) told me about her dream. Now you see where this is going, don’t you?

Yes. She just wrapped up a documentary about the life of former refugees in the South of the country (Burundi). She was enormously moved to tears throughout the making of this documentary and she wants to do something about it. She wants to make a change using her talents as a movie producer.

Upon hearing this I had to do something. I felt the urge to help although I still had to figure how. Then the thought came to me that I could raise money to offer her a scholarship and bring her to Canada for training in Film production. Isn’t that a great idea?

I found one of the best institutes in North America and registered her in that program. It’s now down to finding the money to pay for the tuition. I would like her to produce the best movies possible about issues of poverty, hunger and other issues facing my country (and other countries around the world). I want her to raise awareness about what these countries are going through. Above all, I want to pay tribute to my player who succeeded in raising her siblings through tough times. She deserves it. Would you help me accomplish that mission? Here is how.

In a few weeks, my book will be out. Not only would I like you to purchase a copy, but I would so very much appreciate it if you could promote it to your friends as well (didn’t I tell you I have started a movement?). Can we do this together? Would you join me? A big part of the money will go towards my friend’s scholarship. And then, I want to go back to Mali next year to pursue my mission of helping kids. If there is any money left, I will treat you all to lunch in your favourite restaurant lol (hope you won’t be too hungry).

Moral of the story? Do you want to be of a higher service? Just coach Basketball. If you’re lucky you will meet a top model.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a dream fulfilled

2010-05-24T22:21:00.003-04:00

A funny thing happened to me when I was in New York a few weeks ago. It was on the Saturday and we were enjoying the great conference we had been attending. In the afternoon during our 15 minute break I went out into the street to enjoy the great view of New York City.

It was a beautiful and sunny day. My friend Mike joined me outside. Off we went down the street to the building across the Madison Square Garden (I think it is the post office)

We then sat down on the stairs watching the crazy traffic in the streets of Manhattan. I started telling Mike how big a dream it was for me to just be standing outside the Madison Square Garden. This brought back memories of the sleepless nights at Kennedy’s place watching the NBA playoffs until 3 am due to time zone difference.

Then, just to relax, I decided to take my shoes off (I knew I had no holes in my socks lol). All of a sudden, Mike decided to do so. Before we knew it, another classmate joined us and did the same. Some other guy we didn’t know joined us and took off his shoes too (I guess I started a movement).

I looked at Mike, he looked at me, and we all laughed. Mike then told me: “See? You did that. You inspired all of us to do so”. It was so funny.

Fast forward. Just yesterday, I was thinking about what I should write about this week on my way home (yes, sometimes the inspiration can decide to go on vacation). Then I remembered my funny story with Mike in New York. I thought it would be a good story (at least for me).

The first thing that came to my mind was the movie Gandhi (a great movie by the way). There is a section in the movie where Gandhi decides to walk through the entire country mile after mile from coast to coast. No one knew why he was doing it but in every village he went through, people decided to join him. In a few days, it had become a movement. Not even the English people , in India, knew how to handle this.

When he reached the Indian Ocean, he went deep into the water and grabbed a handful of salt. He then said: “We have our own salt. Why do we have to import it from England” (I am paraphrasing here). From then on, Indian people started to use their own salt, negatively impacting the entire England salt industry. This was so inspiring.

When I got home, I thought I could start a movement too (why not). The more I thought about it the clearer it became. Here is the story.

When I went back home in 2008, I visited a number of friends. We had a great time. I shared with many of them what my life is like after spending 6 years in Canada (I told them it is a cold country, eh!).

One of my friends was inspired and told me about her dream. Then I got inspired (I am always inspired by people who have dreams so big that they don’t know how to fulfill them). After listening to her, I decided to give her a hand. I didn’t know how, but I knew I had to at least try. The funny thing is, by helping her, my dreams are coming to pass.

I kept in touch with her after I returned to Toronto. The more I talked to her, the more I liked her dream. In fact, it was like her dream became mine. All of a sudden, I started to think about it all the time.

One day I called her and said to her, “Let’s do this”. Let’s even put a deadline to it. But the thing is, I had no idea how we would do it. She had no clue either (but that is the beauty of it). Now we are almost at 90% towards achieving it. I can’t wait to see my friend achieve her dream.

For all you fans of the blog, I have two requests. Would you like to join me in making her dream come true? If yes, please let me know by sending me an e-mail at pbizindavyi6@gmail.com.
I will give you all the details about the dream and how we can do it together.

The second request is this: Find someone (it could be a friend or not), ask him/her about his/her dream and help him/her make it come true. By so doing, yours will come true as well.

Moral of the story? Do you want to make someone’s dream come true? Just go to New York City and you will take off your shoes.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to a Resort

2010-05-16T12:47:00.000-04:00

Talking about two extremes, I came from New York City and the next thing you knew I was in a resort in a city called Nottawasaga. I didn't even know what was its exact location. What I did know was that it was a one hour drive from Toronto. It was a beautiful resort, away from the hectic traffic of the big city. There was a golf course, a swimming pool, a spa facilities, a gym, and a lot of other good stuff.

I came here for a three day conference. The great food I ate and all the other good stuff I mentioned before were included in the package. There was also a show, put on for us, with a DJ that did his thing (so that I can do my thing...you know..show all my great moves...)

However (yes however), even though I was happy to be there, I wasn`t really enjoying all the fun activities. Trust me, it’s not because I don't like having a good time. From my previous blogs you know I like having a great time, however, this time was different . I had an urge to finish something.

The conference was great and the various workshops were very helpful. But as soon as we had a break, I ran to my room to work on my computer. Yesterday, I went to bed at 1:30 AM and woke up at 5:30AM to continue working. Its been quite a long time since I have been this excited about doing something.

You are probably asking yourselves what in the world is this guy doing to not even be enjoying this wonderful resort. Don’t worry, I will tell you.

The reason why I wasn't fully enjoying myself, not to mention not sleeping much, was because I am writing a book...my book..your book...our book.

When I was in New York city, I was so inspired that I decided to use my book for a good cause. A portion of the book sales will go towards helping kids in different countries. I was very much inspired by our project in Mali that I decided to donate a portion of the funds from my future book sales to support projects similar to the one in Mali. The remaining portion will go towards my bank account lol (I have a special thing that I intend to accomplish, but I won’t tell you what it is...but stay tune for its breaking news!)

Ever since I got this idea, it has been difficult for me to sleep. I am just so excited about it. I find myself writing all the time. I wrote while traveling on the mega bus that brought us here and during my breaks. I couldn't stop thinking about writing while attending the workshops. It has simply been unbelievable. I am really enjoying the process, so much so, that if there was only one copy of this book I would be the one to buy it.

I am now on to my eighth chapter and the goal is to finish the book by the end of next week. I can’t wait for it to be published. It contains some really good stuff (much of which have been more difficult for me to write about because they are very personal stories. Nevertheless, I will share them with you).

Remember, It is not too late for you to send me your favourite blog posts. Thanks to all of you who have sent me your comments, I made sure to include your names in my book.Again my e-mail is: pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

Moral of the story? Do you want to have a dream that will keep you awake all the time? Go to a nice resort, but you won’t be allowed to have fun.

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

My Journey to New York City (Part two)

2010-05-10T04:23:00.002-04:00

I didn’t know that I could time travel. Now I know. Put it this way. I am writing this blog on Thursday about a trip I am taking tonight and you are reading it on Monday about my experiences of a place in which I am yet to arrive (this does not even make sense to me too, so don’t worry if you don’t get it lol)

First of all, a big thank you (I mean big one) for those of you who sent me your e-mails (or texts). I was overwhelmed by the number and the content of your messages. Some of the messages were coming from people that I did not even know were reading my blog (I won’t mention names that is why I won’t say I was surprised by your message Lionelle lol).

My e-mail is still open for your suggestions (pbizindavyi6@gmail.com)

All right. I am heading back to New York City . Again I don’t know what to expect. All I know is that I need this trip for many reasons. I have been playing fully (even though I feel I did not give my 100%), and I am feeling empty. I need a refill (I guess New York City has become my gas station). I hope to return with a full tank.

This reminds me about a message I listened to a while ago. The guy was explaining that if X is where we are and Y being the place we want to be, Y is always outside our comfort zone (he was so right). He also said that on our journey from X to Y, sometimes we will feel like we want to give up because we may be in a uncomfortable spot. We want to return or to remain with that which is familiar to us. It is at this time where we need to fight on and keep going because the breakthrough is near (even though we don’t see it yet). I hope the information I will receive in New York will take me to my Y

I learned so much in the last few weeks. I learned that everything is about making a decision. Once that decision is made, the details will take care of themselves (even though sometimes it requires miracles for them to happen).

Last Thursday I was so busy that I didn’t even know how I would handle my day. I had to give back my friend Kijanya his guitar, go to the post office to pick up a dvd (it was the last day to pick it up otherwise it would be sent back to the US ), and then go to my appointment at 5.45 PM. There was no way I could manage all this (on top of what I was already doing).

Then I received a call from Kijanya. He was downstairs at my office (first miracle). It was 30 minutes before my appointment. There was no way I could go home to give him his guitar (he had to give guitar lessons that evening). Then his student called (second miracle). He was not far from us. He came over, gave us a ride to my home (third miracle), I picked up the guitar, then he drove me to the post office (fourth miracle) and I picked up my dvd (5 minutes before they close: fifth miracle). The
dvd was so great. It had all the information I needed to take my business to the next level (I would have missed out on all this great information if did not get to the post office in time)

I learned a valuable lesson. All I have to do is to plan what I need to do, and not to worry about the details on how they will happen.

Moral of the story? Do you want to go outside of your comfort zone? Take guitar lessons and you will get a ride when you need it

Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman
Pbizindavyi6@gmail.com