Skip to main content

My Journey to Burundi

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/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Journey to Orillia

We drove a little bit late at night. I had been to this place called Orillia before, but it was about ten years ago. I didn’t remember much about it, other than it was beautiful. Here we were on the road, and there was not much we could see, except a signal on the highway that said “beware of cattle”. We thought it was funny.   By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was almost midnight. I went straight to bed. We had to wake up early in the morning as breakfast was scheduled to be served a six O’clock. There was no way I was going to miss out.‎ You may be wondering what was happening in Orillia. I am glad you asked. A number of months ago, Paul, my business partner, got this brilliant idea, and once he shared it with me I was totally on board. He realized that for us to do what we wanted to do, we must work with partners. These may be service providers, or simply other business owners with goals similar to ours. Paul decided to go out and attend different netwo...

My Journey to my wedding

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 cent...

My Journey with a Bestseller

Two weeks away from writing (among other things) are now enough. I am back to you… I am getting into the podcast listening world and I am really mad at myself. How in the world was I late to the party? There are powerful podcasts out there, and on various subjects. It is like an all-you- can- eat buffet (you know my well-established relationship with food).  Just last week, I was into productivity podcasts and what I learned was so valuable that I now feel I want to turn my life upside down and start everything from scratch (maybe it would be unproductive but it is worth the try). Anyways… I am here to talk about something different. I can now brag and say that I have a bestseller friend. You don’t believe me? Here is the proof: Bonjour Patrick, J'ai écrit le livre "Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search". Il est devenu #1 sur Amazon pendant le premiers 10 heures et a reçu le statut de Bestseller le 1er Juillet That is a...