Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

Here’s a story you may find entertaining. I share it because it provides an excellent multi dimensional example of how the creator can lead you to meet people who have answers to your needs, when you least expect it.

19th January 2014 Was A "Sunday" of Multiple Uncanny Coincidences!

If you’ve been reading this blog a while, you most likely know I intend to open a Home Based Farm Products Brew Pub here in Cotonou. The target I’ve set for myself is to find and rent a suitable place and get something started in it before the end of March 2014.

Not an easy task, as I’ve discovered. I only returned from the end of year holidays with my family on Saturday – with half of the month gone. And I have a backlog of tasks – including an international competition I have to enter my Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator for – to deal with.

That awareness was what drove me to go walking around the neighbourhood where I live, in Barrière, here in Cotonou, on Sunday morning. I was hoping to find and speak to any property owner with the kind of place I was looking for available to rent.

In case you’re wondering why I didn’t just check with Estate Agents, it’s because I’ve never had a good experience with them – in Lagos, or here in Cotonou. They just make me spend lots of money. Most times I end up having to find what I need by myself. That’s what happened with the room I live in now!

I Was Walking “Almost Aimlessly” Around, Looking Buildings Over, When I Saw a New Looking Bar

It was just like I’d imagined mine would be. The owner lived in the building behind, and setup the frontage to be the bar. The open space provided extra room for plastic chairs and tables to seat guests. Whoever this person was, I was sure he could help me – in more ways than one!

The time was about 10.30 a.m. It was rather early on a Sunday. Most people would not agree to me with a stranger at that time of day.

But I always listen to my intuition. And it rarely steers me wrong.

This time it told me to go in and ask for the owner. I walked in and asked the young attendant cleaning the floor if I could speak with the owner. He gave me a guarded look and asked me why. I promptly told him exactly what I had in mind.

Surprise, surprise! The young man nodded in understanding, and pointed me to an open door saying, “If you go in there, you’ll see him. Try and see if he’ll agree to speak with you.”

Thanking him, I walked to the door, and soon found myself staring at a bespectacled man in his late 50s or early 60s, with hair greying at the temples. He was slim, and from his seating position, obviously tall.

He asked what I wanted. Again, just like I’d done with his attendant, I went straight to the point.

With a puzzled expression on his face, he asked “Qui t’a envoyé ici?” (Who sent you here?).

He asked how come I knew to come to his place, and not elsewhere, to make my enquiry.

He said “Setting up restaurants is my specialty. How is it that you managed to find your way to me in this manner? It’s just too strange!”

He began asking more questions. I kept answering.

As we talked we discovered more coincidences in other areas of common interest, including using MS Excel to prepare records and reports for restaurants.

He kept saying it was strange that I just walked into his office saying I needed help finding a property to rent for use as a home based restaurant, when in fact THAT was a core aspect of his new consulting outfit.

I Told Him I’m Often Guided by the Creator, to Meet "Helpers" That Way

And that was the truth. I’ve had the experience countless times, so that I’m no longer surprised. I understand why it happens.

It’s how I got myself well known in the Nigerian embassy, for example, by top officers, even though I had no initial contacts in there when I arrived Benin Republic.

You see, back in April 2013, I met a total stranger, who gave me contact details of the top embassy officials (including the ambassador himself) – phone numbers and email addresses – before I ever met them. That enabled me access them, and not get blocked by secretaries, personal assistants etc.

A total stranger…in under one hour of meeting me, did that. Now, how uncanny is THAT kind of coincidence?

Still he said "Mais c’est bizarre." ("But it’s strange")

We went on to spend about 6 hours (11a.m till about 5p.m) discussing. He turned out to be widely traveled internationally as a Chartered Accountant/Auditor (in the Hospitality Industry), and retired about 6 months ago to open his home based restaurant.

By the time I told him the kinds of light/quick meals/snacks I plan to offer in my pub, he called up an Excel workbook and showed me his restaurant’s menu with much similar contents.

“Yet another coincidence. We have so much in common!” he exclaimed.

Soon he was showing me all the spreadsheets he uses to track sales/expenses, and over 4 wonderful business idea packages he did not realize he could sell as information products …until I told him.

By the time I showed him how his manual Excel records could be automated using Excel VB, he took me into the restaurant and bought drinks for us as we continued talking.

At a Point I Recalled I Needed a Tailor Urgently…

At a point I told him I needed to find a skilled tailor to sew an outfit I would be wearing for my Dad’s 80th birthday celebration coming up on 4th February.

Amazingly, another coincidence occurred…

He announced that just next door was his brother who ran a fashion design business. We simply walked over!

By the time the brother was taking my measurement in his studio, after we’d settled on nice embroidery to be done, I noticed a large photograph on his studio wall.

In it he (the brother) was receiving a plaque from, and shaking hands with a big and tall man that I thought I’d seen on TV and billboards a number of times since getting here.

But I felt it was unlikely to be the same person. Out of curiosity, I asked the brother who the man in the pix was. He looked at me then smiled knowingly, saying, don’t you know him? Take another look.

I said "Le Chef de l’etat?" i.e. "the head of state?"

He nodded to confirm it was President Yayi Boni!

Apart from that photo, this chap had other award plaques on his wall. As you can imagine, I began sweating when I thought of how much a person like this was likely to charge to sew an outfit like the one I’d chosen…lol

Luckily for me, he gave me a very pocket friendly bill (15k FCFA), explaining that he could not do otherwise, because I was his restaurant-owner brother’s friend.

Phew…what a relief that was…lol

PS: There Was One More “Coincidence…He Bears a Yoruba Surname!

Yep. Their ancestors are Yoruba from Nigeria, who emigrated and settled in Cotonou. His kids even attend Nigeria International School here. But neither the kids or their parents speak Yoruba. Small world indeed!

I mentioned that the school’s supervisor is Nigerian embassy’s Mr Kakshak (minister for political affairs and education). And that he knows me well because of my pineapple peel products. My new friend promptly called his daughter into the office and asked here who their supervisor was.

She mentioned the same name. So that gave me even more credibility as you can imagine!

But Here’s the Best Part of It All….

It looks like we may be doing some big things together.

If our discussions go according to plan, my new friend may engage my services to develop a web marketing system and/or an Excel-VB restaurant management software for his consulting practice.

On my part, I’m planning to engage his services to help me with setting up my Home Based Restaurant. I foresee us doing some barter exchange at some point to make some of this happen.

Amazing isn’t it, how it all seems to fit?

We’ll see how it goes…maybe he’ll be my first Beninese client!

But wow…that was one great Sunday…and we did not even go to church. He and I discovered we both do not do "religion". We share the same belief about having a direct and personal relationship with the creator!

Final Words

Hopefully, you’ve been entertained by my story.

However I would not want you to miss my core message, which is that:

You can have anything want by thinking about it with faith that you already have it, even before it arrives.

You only need to have absolute and unquestioning faith that help you need is on the way.  As you’ve learnt from the story above, that help can sometimes come in form of uncanny coincidences.

With time you’ll learn to recognize them as what they really are:answers to your heart felt desires that you expressed to your creator.

In the case of most of us who subscribe to the Science of Getting Rich philosophy – whose author predicts the coincidences as reward for diligent adherence – we do our asking ("praying") silently, most of the time.

Our successes prove one need not scream or shout to get the creator to listen and respond to us!

To learn more about the above mentioned concepts, Google “Science of Getting Rich”. Then download the FREE PDF e-book and read it from cover to cover, until you internalize the concepts, as the author recommends. Soon, you’ll start experiencing your own wonderful coincidences!