Skip to main content

My Journey to a Meeting with an Eleven Old Genius

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

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...