To day I share my thoughts on great expectations. In this blog I share a little twist of fate on how agreeing to do a presentation on Bitcoin for one of our Top Banks may blossom into much more than I expected. Great expectations for achieving your dreams is about the power of believing in yourself. It is about walking away from naysayers and not allowing your fears to stop you.

1. “In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing
what I knew to be wrong.” ― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Happy Family Day!
I am confident that that in each and every one of you there is an innate desire for you to achieve your
dreams. If I can do it, you can do it too. On Thursday, I will be doing a presentation on Bitcoin and the
implications for regulationat one of our Top Canadian Banks. Bitcoin as you may know is a virtual
currency being used on the Internet.Few months ago a representative from the bank called to request
that I do a presentation for the staff in one of the bank’s compliance and risk division. From all
indications the staff are very excited and a lot more of the bank senior employees than was initially
anticipated will be participating in the workshop.
When I agreed to doing the presentation I did not know that Jim Flaherty, the Federal Minister of
Finance, was going to announce plans in the 2014 Budget to explore implementing laws to regulate
Bitcoin in Canada. Bitcoin is a relatively new phenomenon and recently it has caught the attention of
lawmakers not just in Canada but globally including Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of New York
Department of Financial Services. When I agreed to do the presentation never in my wildest mind could
not I have predicted that just over a week ago two major Bitcoin exchanges, specifically Mt. Gox and
Bitstamp, would have experience disruption of trades causing concerns among Bitcoin users.
Why have I shared this with you? I share it with to you because I truly believe you can achieve your
dreams. If I can do it, you can do it too. You never know where your next opportunity will come from all
you have to do is set your goals and take actions to Exceed Your Potential,Create Opportunities and
Make the Impossible Possible.
In our lives everything starts with a dream. However, it takes courage and perseverance to turn dreams
into reality. I have been inspired by Elon Musk, of PayPal and SpaceX. Elon Musk wants to colonize Mars
with 80,000 people. I ask myself the question, if Elon Musk can dream of colonizing Mars with 80,000
people, what more can I dream of? What more can I accomplish?
The truth is I can dream of muchmore and I believe you too can also dream of more. I also know that if I
have the courage to take action and the will to persevere I will accomplish my goals long before Elon
Musk create the technology for people to travel to Mars. What can you accomplish by the time Elon
Musk succeed with is lofty goals?
Motivated and inspired by Elon Musk’s lofty goals I have committed to using my time and skills to help
bring awareness to the homeless and needy in communities across the Greater Toronto Area.
Consequently, in blog 5 Tips to Be Extraordinary I committed to walk/run approximately 50K during the
month of February. So far, I have walked and run approximately 20K and in the process feeling physically
healthier. I have also committed to spending the entire night of February 22, 2014 outdoors in solidarity

2. with the homeless. My goal is to raise $2,000 for Regeneration Outreach Community of Brampton’s
Coldest Night of the Year.Regeneration Outreach Community of Brampton has a wonderful program
that provides breakfast and care for those who need food and care. To this end, I seek you kind support,
sponsorship
and
donation.
Click
here
to
sponsor
my
walk/run.
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=2213159&langPref=en-CA.
Please come out and walk with me on February 22, 2014. You can also bring me a cup of coffee or
something for me to stay warm or even just stop by to chat and keep my company. To the best of my
knowledge even the weather is being supportive. The forecast Saturday seem to suggest favourable
weather conditions for me to survive outdoors.
One of my key take away from Elon Musk’s goal is that there is absolutely nothing wrong having great
expectations or high goals.Our expectations are based on our dreams and dreams are limitless. Dreams
are not impossible. Eleanor Roosevelt said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of
their dreams.”Dreams do come true when you demonstrate courage and perseverance to chase them.
My daughter, Marchelle is three months away from graduating from her training to be a pastry chef and
my son Malcolm is completing his first year at the University of Ottawa. I usually tell both Marchelle and
Malcolm to chase their dreams. I tell them they have to want their dreams so much that it feels like
being in the deep ocean desperately trying to take keep on breathing.
You have to want your dream more than anything else and you have to be willing to do whatever it
takes to make it come true. For Elon Musk, success is not just when the first person arrives on Mars. The
path to success is a journey with small accomplishments. For Elon Musk, is will be his contribution to
technology, communications, science
@Dhindsa_04 and @680News which indicates that others are helping to bring awareness to the issue of
homelessness in communities across the GTA. It indicates to me others are also getting involved. It is
about the email I received from my friend Lawrence Scott who wants picture of me sleeping outdoors. A
picture tells the story of a thousand words and for me key is to bring awareness to the issue of
homelessness. To date I have raised $100 and I I am confident with your support I will achieve and even
surpass my goal of $2,000.
Here are my tips for having great expectations:
Believe in yourself
Success is about believing in yourself and believing you will succeed. It is like a prophecy. Read my blog
about the power of believing in yourself.
Walk away from Naysayers
You have to maintain a believe system that empowers you. To do this walk away from naysayers and
pessimists. Don’t let anybody take your power away. At the same time don’t be too critical of yourself.
Recently in a conversation with my friend JeetTulshi I told him one of the keys to success is being soft as

3. sponge to absorb positive encouragements while having the shell of turtle that let negative vibes just
slide right off.
As long as you are able to stay away from naysayers and maintain the belief system that empowers you,
you get back up from your mistakes. You will have the courage to keep on taking action as well as the
strength to persevere and eventually succeed.
Don’t let fear stop you
The most common excuse I hear to setting high goals is, “But what if I fail?”Never let the fear keep you
from take action. True failure is when we fail to take actions. Accept that you are going to make
mistakes.
Michelangelo said: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling
short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” Look at Elon Musk he has very great
expectations and he is not afraid to go after his dreams and goals.
Why should you be afraid? Why should I think I can’t help to bring awareness to the issue of
homelessness in the Greater Toronto Area?
What are your dreams? What are your great expectations?
Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well
as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor. He can be contacted by
email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog
http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter
@mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.