Category Archives: Patrick Souiljaert

I feel numb

This is not an extract from my book. It is what I’m feeling here and now – and written on the spur of the moment.

I can deal with just about everything in life – with the exception of when it comes to the consequences of building a meaningful friendship/relationship with a woman. Communicating via email can cause misunderstandings – and my fear of rejection can cause me to self sabotage the situation (just in case there’s a chance that I could get rejected). I end up hurting myself much worse.

I would like to meet a woman who has the compassion and who understands why I do these things. To build any form of a relationship I need to take baby steps to get to know and trust the person slowly

I’ve met – and been rejected by – so many women over the years – but the pain of rejection never gets any easier every time it happens.

People are inspired by seeing how well I cope with life physically – but they don’t see the emotional pain I endure. It is by far the hardest thing in my life to deal with.

The most basic human emotional is to love, and to be loved – and to share life with someone. This is something and probably someone I have yet to meet.

I prefer trying and not succeeding – than not trying at all to build, the beginning of a strong and meaningful relationship with a lovely woman who inspires me.

Mentally and physically I am very strong but emotionally I’m fragile.

All I would like is to be given the opportunity, to slowly get to know and trust someone special.

I’m only human – and make some mistakes.

 

The first 4 minutes of my life

I currently have 22 pre-orders for my book. My target is 534.

This is the first extract from the book – and where better to start from than the very beginning of it.

2nd December 1973 – that’s the day I was due to be born. But there were complications. A couple of weeks before I was due my mum wasn’t feeling well so she went to the hospital to get checked over. Upon being examined, she was told “There’s a problem. You’ve got extremely high blood pressure and we need to induce the birth immediately.”
I entered the world on 21st November 1973 at Masons Hill Maternity Hospital in Bromley, Kent. It’s the only time I’ve arrived early for something in my life!
The umbilical cord had gotten twisted and was wrapped around my neck, causing me not to breathe for the first four minutes of my life. After which point I gave out a little cough and I started to breathe normally.

As I don’t have any baby photos of me to hand, for the purposes of this blog update, here’s another baby boy.

baby boy

The midwife said to my mum “Your son is fine but he might have some learning difficulties.”
It was only when I was nine months old – when my parents realised I had difficulties sitting up properly – that I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP).
I reckon I have a recollection of a few minutes just after I was born. All I remember is, bright lights (like in an operating theatre), being wrapped in a white blanket and then being placed in a see-through container, which had a lid on it (what I once described as a breadbin!). Who knows? Maybe the starvation of oxygen made my brain really alert.
When I was about eight years old, I told my mum about my recollection of the few minutes after I was born. She replied “Nah, you must have dreamt it”. But she then said that the white blanket and being placed in an incubator sounded about right.

You can pre-order Stairs For Breakfast from the top right-hand side of this page.

Rotary Club Lunch

On Friday I was invited to speak at the Shoreham-by-Sea Rotary lunch. I spoke for a few minutes, to an audience of 14, on how I got into sailing and about Sailability. I did extremely well and it was a good first step into public speaking.

Patrick Souiljaert at the Rotary Club lunch

Patrick Souiljaert at the Rotary Club lunch

Everyone was asked to bring and wear a hat to the event. They are a nice team of people.

Thank you very much to Les Baker for pre-ordering a copy of Stairs For Breakfast.

Where the title STAIRS FOR BREAKFAST came from

Here’s a 2 minute video for you.


It’s getting exciting now.

I’m in conversation with someone I’ve known for years who can edit my book. It’s important to me to work with an editor who can see the full potential of me and my book

On Friday I was invited to speak at a local Rotary lunch. I spoke for a few minutes, to an audience of 14, on how I got into sailing and about Sailability. I did extremely well and it was a good first step into public speaking. Everyone was asked to bring and wear a hat to the event. They are a nice team of people.

Patrick Souiljaert at the Rotary Club lunch

Patrick Souiljaert at the Rotary Club lunch

Thank you to all of the people who have already pre-ordered my book. Every one of them counts. With each pre-order I become even more determined to get my book published.

So far, I have received 17 pre-orders. My target is to get 534 pre-orders (534 is based on the highest quote I’ve got to have my book edited and self-published). Often it’s more productive to think big, rather than small.

It is a bit of a mountain to climb but I KNOW I can do it.

It’s about producing quality promotional material and reaching as many people as I can.

I am going to continue to promote Stairs For Breakfast by blogging extracts of the book and making short videos.

You can pre-order YOUR copy of Stairs For Breakfast TODAY, here on the right hand side (scroll up!). When you register your name and email address I’ll email you an inspirational poster.

Please feel free to leave me a comment.

What an incredible journey…

Four years ago, I had a job-for-life as a software developer but after ten years in the job, I was getting bored of it. By chance, I was invited to a property investment networking event. I found it fascinating and started learning recursive strategies of making money from property.

When you register your name and email address (here, on the right), you’ll receive an inspirational poster.

When I left my £30K job in 2011, I knew I was taking a chance and setting myself a challenge – but I’m not someone who gives up. In the space of a year I bought 2 buy-to-let flats – but I was eager to find a recursive strategy which suited me – so I spent the following year running around like a headless chicken, trying to find said strategy (and viewed over 50 properties) – only to then find that I don’t enjoy looking at properties, dealing with tenants or maintenance issues! I had to find myself a different niche.

I thought ‘There must be a way I can make money using my laptop’ – and I found Chris Farrell Membership. I thought ‘This is it…’ and I spent a few months learning internet marketing.

I now understood how to market a product – but I didn’t have a product to market!

Ever since I started going to property networking events (and writing blog updates) in 2010, people began calling me an inspiration. At first, I found it strange because I think I’m just a regular guy. As time went on I realised that I have a gift – I inspire others by being myself and doing the things I do.

People kept suggesting that I should write a book about my life.

The more I thought about it, the more my book Stairs For Breakfast became a reality. However I wasn’t getting anywhere by just thinking about writing a book! Focussed action was required!

One day in 2013, I just made the decision to write my book – and for the next 15 months, I lived and breathed Stairs For Breakfast. On average I wrote 700 words a day. When I wasn’t on my laptop, I was thinking about what I was going to write the following day.

When I had finished writing the book, my mentors Glenn Armstrong and Paul Ribbons advised me “To cover the cost of publishing your book, create a webpage so people can pre-order your book”.

They both said it as if building a webpage was a 5 minute job. It has taken me 3 months! I’m not an arty person but I was determined to build a good website.

It’s simple to learn how to set up a WordPress blog – you can do it with little more than a few mouse clicks. However to then turn it into a good looking website it helps to know HTML/CSS coding – and of course, creating good imaging. I found it tedious!

Never have I worked as hard as I have in the in the last four years. I have leant so much about success and I am proud of Stairs For Breakfast. I have written a unique book, which I know will help and inspire people.

I feel a bit tired at the moment! However I’ve got a good idea how to promote my book and about finding a good editor/publisher.

Like all skills in life, internet marketing takes practice – and I know that all skills are learnable.

Please feel free to pre-order Stairs For Breakfast http://stairsforbreakfast.com because it will help to have it published.

Thank you
Patrick