PDM 001: Power of Connection, Friendship, AND a Dream

Narrator: Welcome to the home of Project Dream Mastery. Here at PDM, we are challenging the status quo of what it means to follow your dreams, and how to unlock the power those dreams will bring to your life. The show experience will be unscripted, authentic, and transparent. So now sit back, relax, and get inspired with your hosts Lucas Johnson and Patryk Labuzek.

Lucas P. Johnson: Wow! What an intro to start the show off with, am I right, Patty?

Patryk Labuzek: That's right, Lucas.

Lucas P. Johnson: I feel inspired, I feel ready, I feel pumped to get this show started. So first off, hello, and welcome to the first episode of the Project Dream Mastery show. Episode one is all for you. It will help you get a feel for the show, what the PDM movement is all about, who the hosts are, and expectations for the future. My name is Lucas P. Johnson, based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, and I am one of the two hosts here at PDM. The other man behind the mic, and also one of my best friends, business partners, co-founders of PDM, and co-hosts for the PDM show, Patryk Labuzek. Can I mention that he's based out of Ireland and was born in Poland? How cool is that? How are you doing today, Patryk?

Patryk Labuzek: Very good, Lucas. how about yourself?

Lucas P. Johnson: Hey. No complaints. I'm here with you today, so it's going to be exceptional.

Patryk Labuzek: As always.

Lucas P. Johnson: Are you excited? Are you ready to go? You get those last minute jitters out?

Patryk Labuzek: Super pumped. Yeah. Yeah. Completely, yeah.

Lucas P. Johnson: What they don't know is this is actually our second take for this first episode, which is, it's supposed to be unscripted, but this first episode just has to be perfect. So I'm excited. That brings us into the topic of our show today. We will be focusing on the power of connection, friendship, and a dream. Only feels right to help you understand who we are and what PDM is all about. For transparency, as you may already be guessing, that was all scripted. But the rest of the show will be full of amazing content, real life stories, and insane value. So let's jump right into our stories. Who we are, what we want to help you with, and how pumped we are to have you listening to our show right now.

Lucas P. Johnson: If you made it this far in the show, then you might as well subscribe right now so you have instance access to future releases, because this show going to be epic. That was just the beginning. I mean, seriously, that was just a show intro. You definitely do not want to miss out on some of our crazy travel stories, and I mean, they are wicked awesome. So let's jump right into our conversations or are stories, and this is really supposed to be informal, this is supposed to be just a chat. So Patty, I want them to know. I think this is really crucial. How did we meet?

Patryk Labuzek: Oh, this goes way back. I mean, it feels like it's been years and years since we met. But in reality, it's been only two years. 2018, which was probably the best year of our lives, that we can probably agree. Yeah.

Lucas P. Johnson: Yeah. It was simply one of the best years, probably of my life so far. But continue.

Patryk Labuzek: So far, definitely. Yeah. So we met in the most distant place in the world we could possibly think of going, which was Sydney, Australia. Half a world away, and so we went for student exchanges. You from the United States, me from Ireland, and if I'm remembering correctly, I think we met somewhere on the beach.

Lucas P. Johnson: I think if I recall correctly, that sounds somewhat right.

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah. So you know everything started on the beach. So, yeah it's perfect.

Lucas P. Johnson: So before or after the tequila, I can't remember.

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah.

Lucas P. Johnson: So Patty and I, it was really interesting just kind of the story and the foundation of how we met because we both arrived two months before our exchange program was supposed to begin. It's not really every day that people show up two months before a program starts, because I mean, most folks, they don't want their kid going and partying too much.

Patryk Labuzek: That's right.

Lucas P. Johnson: Patty and I, one of the guys that ended up joining the group, he actually built a really large Facebook group, and kind of makes me think about how a dream can come to life. I had this vision for what Australia was going to be, and Patty and I, you did as well. What was your vision? What did you think Australia was going to be, and what did it turn out to be?

Patryk Labuzek: Well, first of all, I always dreamed about going to Australia, so it was a big wish of mine to get at some stage from, as we all know, Europe is a pretty small place compared to a lot of other countries in our world. So I traveled far and wide across Europe, because you know me, Lucas, I just love traveling. I can't stay in a single place for too long. So there I was, going around the place, I heard of a possibility of doing a student exchange to anywhere I wanted to go in the world. So this kind of became my ultimate goal, at the end of the day, to get my grades, do what I have to do, to go to a single country that I always wanted to visit, which was Australia.

Patryk Labuzek: There I was. I'd say three months after I made that choice, I filled out all the paperwork, and submitted my grades. Picked my university in Australia, all my courses, all that kind of stuff. I was accepted, and as a matter of weeks I was flying to Sydney, which just seemed surreal. Then going back to your question, sorry, what I thought of Australia before even getting there, was I didn't think much. Honestly I just wanted to have fun, in my family I'm one of the youngest. So all my cousins were already finished with their university degrees. They're like go on exchange.

Lucas P. Johnson: Oh, is that right? All your Polish family, right?

Patryk Labuzek: That's right, all my Polish family who've been on exchanges themselves, they were saying, it was their time of their lives. They had so much fun. It was a great opportunity for them, and they were like, "Go, explore, meet people, and do all those crazy things you wouldn't get to do at home." Then I took that aboard, and I went into Australia completely by myself. I didn't know a single person. I didn't know where I'm going to live. So that was an adventure straight away, from the minute I walked into Dublin Airport-

Lucas P. Johnson: You showed up. You had no idea where you were going to live.

Patryk Labuzek: I had no idea.

Lucas P. Johnson: You were still saying that when we met. You were like, "I haven't really found a place yet, but I think I like this one." I'm like, "Dude, you've been here for what? Two weeks now."

Patryk Labuzek: That's exactly right. So I wasn't sleeping on the streets or anything like that, because my cousin, one of her best friends had moved to Australia a few years before we went there, and she kind of hooked me up with him. I had a nice shack, and he was like, "Look, man you can sleep on my couch until you find a place." He lives in the prime spot of Sydney, right just by Bondi Beach. So I love the view. It's just right there. I actually admit it, I kind of arrived to Sydney and took an Uber to my new accommodation. I was like, "Man, I'm going to Bondi Beach" and that's where I spent my day. Before actually looking for a place. But I eventually, things work out. I found the right spot for me. It was great.

Lucas P. Johnson: So your dream came to life. What this show is all about is talking about how your dreams can come to life. I know for us, we both had some amazing and incredible journeys throughout the last, what was it, two years now, man, since we met?

Patryk Labuzek: Crazy.

Lucas P. Johnson: We do reunion trips. So when I said in the intro that there was some serious travel stories, I wasn't joking. I mean, there's a lot of crazy things that have been done in numerous countries. The fact is, we had a dream to start a show. I know that we're far off from Australia right now, but it brings it back to Patty having a dream. He wanted to go to Australia. Me, I had this dream to go to Australia. I never thought I could afford it. I never thought I was going to be able to go, and in fact when I asked to be able to do it, I already knew the answer's going to be no, so I applied anyway, and I was hoping I was going to get a scholarship. Then my parents said, "No, you can't go."

Lucas P. Johnson: Can't go. So two months go by. The earlier program that I was accepted to, which means I would have never met you, I was planning on going. That was the one my parents shot me down for, and then I missed the deadline. So two months go by, they go, "Hey, we've really thought about it. We've tried to figure out how you could go. Is this something that we can really do as a family?" I have a middle class family here in the United States, and again, this is really unique for us to meet and even have what we're having right now. I mean, Project Dream Mastery. I mean, this show itself is unbelievable because Patty's based in Ireland. I am based in eastern United States, and two different worlds. We're a world apart when you think about it. Especially in COVID-19. I mean, crazy times.

Patryk Labuzek: That's right. Isolation. But yeah, you're right, Lucas, it's crazy thinking that two, I'm going to say different kinds of people, because we have a lot of things in common, more than a lot of people can actually think.

Lucas P. Johnson: Two different worlds, though.

Patryk Labuzek: Two different worlds, that's for sure. Europe and United States. We would definitely not have met if it wasn't for Australia. That's obvious, and so yeah. It was Australia that gave us the opportunity, it was my dream going there and your dream going there, our dreams that then allowed us to do what we love to do, and that's this, and travel together, and having all those adventures and crazy stories to tell, the experiences that we have.

Lucas P. Johnson: Patty, I remember looking at my phone, and all these random people are texting me that I've never met in my entire life. I am an extrovert by heart, okay. So this is something that I can relate with. I can see these people messaging me, and I'm like, all right, yeah. Let me hit them up. Started this group with Grant, and this group just turned into 500 people overnight. You're like, whoa. How many people are in our exchange program? But there was seven folks that were actually in town, and one of them, I told her, I was like, "Oh, you don't want to hang out with us? Whatever." She ended up being one of our best friends too.

Patryk Labuzek: That's right.

Lucas P. Johnson: Amazing. But it was really incredible how things come together. Because when I first got there, I was worried about making friends. I went with a group. I went with, I don't even remember what it was called. Semester in Australia or something like that. I went with an organization, and they had a group, you met those people. But I was one of the only folks that were staying in Sydney, Australia. So when I had the chance and opportunity to meet you and the rest of our crew, that we liked to call the goon squad, because our adventures were just insane. My dream came to life. That is exactly what I am so pumped about. Even now, two years later, the fact that I have these lifelong friends. These people that I can count on, rely on.

Lucas P. Johnson: I mean, Patty, me and you talk, what? Once or twice, maybe couple times a month, and maybe sometimes more?

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah, yeah, if we don't video call, we always chat anyways, so message. So we're constantly in touch.

Lucas P. Johnson: It's just really incredible how things come together, and that's why I'm excited for this show, because we're focusing on topics that relate to mastering your dreams, and what makes us be able to, what experience do we have to be able to say, "You can master your dreams." I'm going to start off with this one. I have constantly been someone that has been seeking out my dreams, and actively pursuing them. I'm an entrepreneur by heart. Now, I work in a career that is somewhere entrepreneur-y, whatever the word I just used. Somewhat a career in that. But the thing is, I've just always wanted to achieve them.

Lucas P. Johnson: I received my bachelor's degree from Penn State University, in business management. I received a minor in global and international studies. I've started off in, some folks would call a dream job. I think Patty and I both have a dream job, but sometimes you want to go outside your boundaries and pursue your dreams too. I think from my point of view, we have so many things to offer from out experience over the last 23, 24 years. I don't know. This guy over here's a little bit older.

Patryk Labuzek: 24, yeah. My birthday was just yesterday. So there you go, the clock is ticking. Yeah, Lucas, that's right. I think it's important to highlight here that it's important to follow your dreams because that's what he did at the end of the day. That's what got this whole thing started, was our dreams and trying to achieve them, and taking step by step, and eventually here we are.

Lucas P. Johnson: Eventually we are right here.

Patryk Labuzek: We are right here, and that's just great.

Lucas P. Johnson: Patty, we have done a lot of crazy things, and I would like to say that's what could help us kind of relate with people. We're on our own dream seeking adventure. I mean, we are. I mean, Patty's got an amazing blog, and he puts up some really awesome stuff. Quick plug, go ahead.

Patryk Labuzek: Thanks, Lucas. Yeah, just like try. Yeah, my blog, which actually started just after Australia because we experienced some incredible things. Incredible, like, my words cannot describe what we been through, what we saw, what we did, was just insane and wild time. So I thought the best way to, not even put it out there, but to kind of have a permanent souvenir for myself was to write it all down. I'm not a writer by any means, or a creator, or a professional in art blogger or influencer, anything like that. I graduated with a computer science degree. So they asked me to build my own websites. That was easy. That is what I've been taught from the start.

Patryk Labuzek: So I decided to put all those things together create a blog, alwayssomewhere.net.

Lucas P. Johnson: You heard it here first, folks.

Patryk Labuzek: Alwayssomewhere.net. It's a travel and lifestyle blog, and recently merging with videography. But I'm a photography amateur, so the things you see in the background there, for example, that's one of my photos. I tried to just create quality content, something inspirational. Something that people can read, think about, and just get motivated to follow their dreams. Because I have a feeling that a lot of us are kind of, what you call it?

Lucas P. Johnson: Stuck.

Patryk Labuzek: Kind of held back by a lot of things in the times that we live in right now, whetter that's financial situation or family situation or right now, the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, just a lot of things that are pulling us back. But I think we have to try and move forward. At the end of the day, try to achieve our dreams, to be happy, and yeah, to be happy. I think that's what anybody, any human wants happiness.

Lucas P. Johnson: Patty's being a little bit humble. I really do appreciate that. You're being significantly humble about your photography skills. Patty is one of the best photographers that I know, and I've seen all of his work. It's really hard to brag about yourself when you need to, but in reality, Patty has an incredible collection. We also have something brewing, it's called PL Studios, but that's not what today's show's about. Patty, I'm really grateful to have you as a friend. I'm really grateful to call you one of my best friends.

Patryk Labuzek: Likewise, Lucas.

Lucas P. Johnson: I was just saying to Patty yesterday, Patrick, Patty, whatever you want to be called. I was saying to Patty yesterday, some people bring out the worst of us, and some of us, we don't realize it until it's too late. I realize that Patty brings out some of the best possible me, I don't even know if I said that right. The best possible me that I can be. That's right, that's how you say it. It brings out, It brings out.

Patryk Labuzek: That sounds great.

Lucas P. Johnson: Yeah. It doesn't matter. It works. Unscripted, right?

Patryk Labuzek: That's right.

Lucas P. Johnson: So I was saying that to him yesterday, just because he makes me think about the things about that others don't. For the longest time, I've been surrounded by a lot of great people. I always try to find a great network, a great circle. But when I have chats with Patty, my mind just starts spinning. I start thinking about things in a lot more depth. He is a perfect complement to the show, perfect complement to PDM, Coaching Tin, all these things we've got brewing. He is a perfect complement because we bring out the best in each other. If you're going to take one thing away from today, is don't get stuck. That's kind of the words of Patty. Don't get stuck and have these things in your life where you think you can't overcome them. Whether it's your friends. Whether it's the people that surround you. Or your family or your expectations people have on you, or the dream you have.

Lucas P. Johnson: Don't get stuck believing that you can't do something because things can become a reality just in the flick of a finger. That's life. That's life.

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah, exactly. We just have to go for it. At the end of the day, that's what you have to do. Our dreams of going to Australia, if I could add something to that, at least for me, there was a lot of obstacles on the way. Obviously, one thing is the distance, Australia's a world away. Secondly, are the costs. Australia being one of the most expensive countries in the world to live. I'm not talking here about going on holiday to Australia for two weeks. I'm talking about living solely in Australia for six months. That is an undertaking for anyone, a costly undertaking.

Lucas P. Johnson: Especially if you're drinking. I mean, cough, cough.

Patryk Labuzek: Yes.

Lucas P. Johnson: Okay, continue, sorry.

Patryk Labuzek: Exactly.

Lucas P. Johnson: You want a schooner with that?

Patryk Labuzek: So yeah, that's two obstacles already in the way of getting there. The third that I can think on top of my head is we applied to one of the prestigious universities in Australia. The University of New South Wales, and hard to get into. Very hard to get into, and one of the only few schools in Australia that kind of accept international students, that big scale. So what I'm talking about here is the obstacle of, at the end of the day, just trying to get those grades to get into Australia. You know what I mean? So that's one, gathering that lump sum of money to be able to live, eat, socialize, and go on a few trips here and there. Not in our case, we have done more than a few trips. But-

Lucas P. Johnson: Yeah, something like that.

Patryk Labuzek: But all those obstacles, and I'm sure you had same kind of things going on in your life, they didn't stop us. I think they didn't stop us because we were determined, and we had the opportunity to do what we wanted to do, and this motivated us to get it done. Whether it was get those grades, you got those grades. I had to work two years at a low paying job, saving up as much as possible to go to Australia, and paid off. Paid off big time.

Lucas P. Johnson: Crazy opportunities, man. It's really crazy how things come together when you least expect it. I mean, if you keep your expectations low, then you don't really have anything to miss. For me, I try to keep high expectations, but at a middle ground. That way I don't set the bar too high, and I don't set it too low. But for me, Australia, it far exceeded my expectations. Here in the United States, I think we really put a focus on expectations. I mean, families, they want you to go to college. They want you to have the best possible job. They want you to do things that are going to advance your future. Everyone has expectations that puts so much damn stress.

Lucas P. Johnson: I'm sure it's the same way in Ireland. I had that opportunity to experience that in action. I mean, even whenever we went to the pump, and there was stuff going on there. You can see how expectations are being [play 00:22:23], just by going to that pub. Or going to one of your buddy's colleges. Colleges, right?

Patryk Labuzek: Colleges, yeah.

Lucas P. Johnson: College, yeah. That was really, really cool. University, college. All the same thing here. It was just really cool to see how people have these expectations they put on you. We had expectations when we went to Australia, and we traveled to all these places. Our families had expectations, and one thing about this show is we're going to lay down the foundation for why you need to defy those expectations. Why you need to come out of your comfort zones, and do the things that make you happy. Defy those damn expectations, dream big, and love deeply. That is simply what Project Dream Mastery is all about. We have all these things that are brewing up in us, and around us, and this is a great opportunity for you to have somewhere for you to cool down and focus, and have that opportunity to really think about what's going in your life.

Lucas P. Johnson: We want to help you along that journey. Patty and I have some really unique stories, travel, even in some of our personal stuff that Patty and I may have not talked about, we really want to unravel all of that for you here on the show. So that kind of brings me back to what you were saying, your previous comment there, is about being stuck. Have you ever really, I mean, outside of travel, have you ever felt like you were just stuck, and you couldn't get past this barrier or this challenge or this obstacle? Where you wanted to do something so bad, and you just knew you couldn't, but somehow you ended up persevering through?

Patryk Labuzek: That's a very tough question to answer because I feel in our lives there's been so much of those kind of moments, where you feel stuck. So I think it's hard for me to pick out a single one. But-

Lucas P. Johnson: You want a minute to think? I can tell one of mine.

Patryk Labuzek: Go on. If you have something then go ahead.

Lucas P. Johnson: All right. So I have a lot of crazy things that have come together with Patty and I. But outside of that, there's been a lot of things that just have happened in my personal life that are like a dime in a dozen. I mean, even almost getting struck by lightning. When I was 17, my house caught on fire. I mean, this isn't the one I was actually thinking of. But it all kind of went together. When I was 17, I was junior year of high school, I was at my house, and all of a sudden, we had an electrical fire. I was downstairs, and I was in the basement, and the electrical box was in the other room.

Lucas P. Johnson: Luckily, I closed the damn door because that room scares me. I always thought there was ghosts and stuff in that room. So luckily I closed the door. So I was down there for about an hour and a half while this fire was slowly cooking its way up. It was slowly starting to bring itself to a full on fire. The power went out, and the internet was in that room as well. Everything was in that room. Nothing really valuable, besides for some pictures and boardgames and stuff like that, and DVDs, and VCR tapes. So I mean, all that stuff, it can be replaced. Luckily no one's life was ever injured, or anything happened from this. I'm going to say that from the get go.

Lucas P. Johnson: But I was down there for an hour and a half while this was cooking. I went up the stairs, I had no idea it was happening. Then I worked my way upstairs. Like, "Hey, mom. Internet's out. I need to submit a paper before I got to football practice." Well, all of a sudden, I come back down, I go, "Hey, I'm going to go reset the internet." I'm swearing at this point. I don't usually swear, but I had so much stuff on my plate that day, and my mom was finishing up with clients. She works in healthcare, so she was taking care of that.

Lucas P. Johnson: All of a sudden, we start seeing smoke. The client left. My mom starts seeing smoke. I can't smell at this point. I had all these things wrong with my nose, and I just couldn't smell smoke. So I'm getting ready to open up the basement door, and all of a sudden, before my eyes, my mom starts screaming. Don't open that door. Patty, I'm just going to say this. This is one of the scariest times of my life, when I felt like I was stuck. I feel i'm this conqueror, I feel like I'm this hero. I'm going to go down and figure out what's going on. I'm going to take the little tiny fire extinguisher down. I'm going to put out this fire, if there is one.

Lucas P. Johnson: I've only seen them on TV. Let's be real. I've only ever seen something like that on TV. What was in front of me was a choice. Do I open that door or do I listen to my mom and call 911? Luckily I didn't open the door, and that's where I said no one's life was hurt. But the next day the fire marshal came and said simply, and there's a lot more to this, they said if that if I would have opened that door, I would have fell onto a super hot burn. I would have not made it out. After that, that scars someone.

Lucas P. Johnson: I ended up in the hospital. One, because my house just burned down. The interior of my house was just crushed. Luckily the exterior was still there, so we were able to recover that, but everything in the house had to be thrown out. I mean, I was stuck. I was in a point in my life where everything, it wasn't great. I never drank before that. So it was 17 when I really drank my first beer. Let me just say, when you are in a place where your life where you just feel stuck, and you turn to things that you otherwise wouldn't, that was a huge leap for me.

Lucas P. Johnson: I mean, I felt stuck, and luckily I had an amazing group of friends that helped me get out of the rut, and yeah, I drank a beer. I drank a couple beers. But then I realized that life goes on, and all those memories and all those things, they could be replaced. I'm just so grateful to have the opportunity that one, I got to go to Australia. All this stuff led up to another thing and another thing. There was a bunch of stuff that was all happening in that rut.

Lucas P. Johnson: But when I turned 18, and I graduated, it was like, all these things are coming back together. Then going back into college. There's just so many things that happen in your life where you feel stuck, and you have to have the right people in your life. That circle, that really helps you overcome that. So that's my, I tried to keep that as short as possible. There's a lot of detail that goes into that, so if you have questions, feel free to comment on this. I'll be happy to answer some of that. But that's really deep for me, and I just kind of put that out there.

Lucas P. Johnson: For Patty, did you have time to think of anything?

Patryk Labuzek: I was just so engaged in your story, honestly. You've told me that before, but it's always fascinating to here how a single moment in our life can change and impact who we become in the future, and it's very powerful. A moment that I was stuck. I think this goes back to the expectations you were talking about earlier. The expectations from parents, the expectations from your family, the expectations from teachers.

Patryk Labuzek: If I ever was stuck, I felt like I was stuck in the first year of my degree. That's because everybody, yeah, I'm not bragging about it, but I went to a prestigious school here in Ireland. I was lucky enough to get there, that's the number one thing. Once you get there, once anybody there, there's certain expectations. You have to keep up. You have to act in a certain way. You have to represent the university in this way or the other. There's a lot of things put on top of your head.

Patryk Labuzek: Computer science itself, in Ireland at least, is one of the harder degrees to pass. What is harder is 250 of us, now only a bunch graduated. So just last year. So that that's kind of otherwise, those expectations that are put on your shoulders. So getting back to the expectations was to study, study, study. Get your grades. Not as much about going out of the comfort zones. Experience who you really are, what you want to do. I feel like a lot of people would say that, "Oh, you've picked your degree. That was your choice. That's exactly what you wanted to do, so now study for it."

Patryk Labuzek: I completely understand that, you do have to put in the work, and all that kind of stuff. But it makes you kind of, you're being stuck in that place. You're not really moving forward. You're not finding out what you like, what you like to do. You're kind of just working. 24 hous, seven, you're thinking, you're working. You're waking up, you're going to college lectures. You've got projects on your head.

Patryk Labuzek: It's not until I went interrailing. So for any of you who don't know, interrailing, it's quite famous in Europe. It's essentially backpacking through all the European countries by rail. So crazy experience, and we meet, three of our friends. We had no idea where were going. We bought a ticket, we jumped on a train one summer, and the next day we ended up in France, Italy, Croatia. All those different countries meeting all those different people.

Patryk Labuzek: Those people that we met on the way kind of opened my eyes to what we can do. We don't have to be stuck in this place. We can work very hard to defy expectations, and to do what we really want to do deep down. So I got inspired by people that I met on the way, and mostly by people from New Zealand that I met, and Australia, crazy enough. I met a very cool guy, Harry, typical Aussie. Very laid back. We had chats with everyone, as you do socialize. They'd be telling me that some of them were, for instance, this one French guy, he used to be an atomic plan engineer. Think about it. Work in an atomic plant. That's a crazy job. Crazy job.

Lucas P. Johnson: That's crazy.

Patryk Labuzek: Very well paid. He decided to travel all over this town, and just go. Pick a bag and just go, explore the world, do what he wanted to do, just be free. Without all those expectations people have, and just wanted to do his own thing. I was inspired by their stories. I was inspired that they can do whatever they want to do, kind of opened this door, that shit, I can do whatever I want to do. Yes, I'm in college. I study, and this super crazy, difficult course. But I can still travel, and that kind of was like, okay. How can I do that? One of those ways was the international exchange.

Patryk Labuzek: So I feel like that was the moment in my life, first year of college, that I was stuck, and just because I was inspired. What we're trying to do essentially here right now, inspire other people to defy expectations, dream big. That was part of my story. Defy expectations and moving forward, experiencing new things, and going out of your comfort zone.

Lucas P. Johnson: So Patty, would you say that being stuck, and these expectations had in your freshman year of college, uni, did that kind of shape what you saw your future and how you saw your future? Travel, I mean, I didn't realize I wanted to travel until I was, I don't know, 17 or 18 years old. I got a lick of it, and I said, "Hey, I want to travel." But how did that come about? I mean, this seems like it's all kind of interlinked. I mean, you saw someone that said, "Hey, I want to go there," to let's throw a dart at the map and see where it lands, and that's where I'm going. If it lands in the ocean, I guess I'm taking a cruise ship, okay. How did that come about for you?

Patryk Labuzek: That's exactly it. How that came for me? Well, see, what was the question? Sorry, there is just so much going on in my head.

Lucas P. Johnson: You got to love this remote podcast because the connection, it jumps.

Patryk Labuzek: A lot of stories. It's, yeah. Can you hear me okay?

Lucas P. Johnson: Yeah, yeah, no, we can hear you. You're good. Go ahead, Patty. Sorry about that.

Patryk Labuzek: Was the question again there?

Lucas P. Johnson: It's kind of about finding, how did you find your passion for traveling, after being stuck?

Patryk Labuzek: Well, so for a lot of people, traveling, I feel, is going to a different country, seeing that country, having fun there. But after that interrail trip, I realized that traveling is something more than just going to a nice beach, looking at nice stuff. It was learning more about yourself, different cultures, and all these different side effects these cultures have on you. You kind of experience how lucky you are, how the opportunity that you were given to be in that place, and to be in that moment, kind of taking that moment in.

Patryk Labuzek: So while traveling Europe, I learned, I would say, I just scratched the surface of it. I'm still learning all the time, but to live in the moment. That was the big thing. Don't think so far ahead of time. Don't be like, "Oh, I need to do this. I need to do this. I need to do that. I need to rush there. This has to be done. That." This whole plan for your life. After that trip, honestly, that really changed. I was like, okay, this is me now. I need to get better at this and that, and that's what makes me happy.

Patryk Labuzek: So I followed all those things that make me happy, and that trip kind of changed the way I look at things. Essentially, that's why it pushed me to go to Australia.

Lucas P. Johnson: No, that kind of brings it altogether. That's where I was, I was going to lead on to Bali. I mean, that's exactly what I was thinking about as you were saying that. I mean, Patty, when he was Bali, he was, "Oh, hey, let's go do this, let's go do that. This is going to be amazing. I love it. I love it." So when we were in Bali, he decided to climb a coconut tree to get a coconut. Then he realized that it's pretty high up. So finally the housekeeper-

Patryk Labuzek: The house caretaker.

Lucas P. Johnson: Caretaker, I think that's what he was.

Patryk Labuzek: Caretaker.

Lucas P. Johnson: He climbed the tree and brought all these coconuts down because this guy right here, Patty wanted coconuts. So it's really funny to see how things come together when you really just let yourself live. You let lose, and you just go out, and you do what you really want. I mean, it's just, I don't want to make the show too long here today, but I will say there's a lot of things surrounding confidence for people. I think that's a topic we'll go into here later on. I have something. Patty, I don't know if I've told you this yet, but I have the dream wall. The dream topic wall. Every time I have an idea, I write it down on a Post-it note, and I throw it up there on the wall that's behind the camera. It's all these topics that I think are going to be really amazing for this show.

Lucas P. Johnson: One of them, which I think we'll probably go into in our next show is about, we've kind of talked about it briefly here today. Is homework. That's a simple one word. But the sentence comes together and says, why do you stop learning when no one gives you homework? If you don't receive homework, you're not going to go out and learn. You're not going to go out and do it by yourself. You're not going to do something that you're not passionate about. You might go and learn something that you're passionate about. But how about those other things that are important? That's what we're going to think in the next show. We're really going to dive deep into.

Lucas P. Johnson: So Project Dream Mastery. There is so many different topics we're going to help you navigate, and we're going to help you understand where your future could be. So let us take you along this journey. Let us take us through the water. Hold your hand and bring you out a better person, allow you to find your circle. I know for myself, and I'm sure, Patty as well, we're so excited to have you on the show. This first episode in the Project Dream Mastery show. This is just so exciting to really have this finally kicked off. Patty and I have kind of been thinking about this for two years, and I think finally we got our grind.

Patryk Labuzek: We got it going.

Lucas P. Johnson: It's so exciting, man. But with that, I'm going to close the show. Please take a look at our website at projectdreammastery.com, as well as subscribe to this show today so you can have instance access to our next episodes and so forth. There's also going to be great content on our blog, that actually has more of the stories that we talked about today in the content section. So feel free to check those out. Feel free to give them a comment or a like, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Again, we are in two different time zones, so just be notable of that. So. Patty, is there anything you want to add before we want to close up today's show?

Patryk Labuzek: Honestly, I think that wraps up everything, Lucas. Can't think of anything on top of my head right now. I think that was well said.

Lucas P. Johnson: This was really great. So these shows are unscripted. First off. I mean, the beginning part of this show was, just because I wanted to make sure that you were able to capture everything that this show is going to encompass, and we really want you to understand. But most of these shows, I'm going to say, actually, all of these shows. They are 100% unscripted. Patty and I, we could talk for days. I mean, we went on a trip, like I said, there's a bunch of travel stories. We went on a trip for 21 or 23 days-

Patryk Labuzek: 23 days, I think it was, yeah.

Lucas P. Johnson: 22 days. We stopped in 19 states and the District of Columbia. That's when Patty came here. In 2019, he came in the summer to explore, and we literally camped out in the woods because we were trying to keep it cheap. I mean, we were still on a budget. We didn't have our adult jobs yet. Luckily graduation present was a few nights in a hotel, which were great because-

Patryk Labuzek: Were great.

Lucas P. Johnson: Especially in Colorado, man, that would have been awful, snowing.

Patryk Labuzek: It was freezing. Freezing, yeah.

Lucas P. Johnson: 11,000 feet in the air. Hoo!

Patryk Labuzek: Going off to the Rockies. That was something.

Lucas P. Johnson: So Patty and I can have chats for days, and we're really excited to have you join us today. So with that said, I'm going to close the show with this. Feel free to give us, subscribe to our show, and we really look forward to having you on the next episode of Project Dream Mastery. With that, I'm going to say, have a great, great day, and we looking forward to seeing you on the next one. Talk to you soon.

Patryk Labuzek: Yeah, bye.