"Be an Eagle, Not a Duck"

Written Podcast By Dr. Wayne Dyer....

"If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you will rarely disappoint yourself. He said, stop complaining… differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck! Be an eagle! Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd."

"Years ago my friend Harvey McCay told me a wonderful story about a cab driver.

Waiting in line for a ride at the airport, a cab pulled up. The first thing Harvey noticed was that the cab was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a clean white shirt, a sharp tie and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out, and quickly rounded the cab to open the door for me.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said,

“Hi, I’m Wally. While I and loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.” Taken aback, Harvey read the laminated card that said,

“Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.”

This blew Harvey away, especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside — spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos — one with regular and one with decaf”

My friend said jokingly, “No. I’d rather prefer a soft drink.” Wally smiled and said, “No problem, I have a cooler up here with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.” Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.” Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times, Sports Illustrated and USA Today”

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, “These are the stations I get and the music they play. If you’d like to listen to the radio”

As if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the air conditioning was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights — or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts. “

Tell me Wally, my amazed friend asked the driver, “Have you always served customers like this?” Wally smiled into the rear view mirror, “No, not always. In fact it’s only been in the last two years. The first 5 years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard this personal growth guru Wayne Dyer on the radio one day. He had just written a book titled, You’ll See It When You Believe It.

Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you will rarely disappoint yourself. He said, stop complaining… differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck! Be an eagle! Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.

“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The other cabs were dirty. The drivers were unfriendly and the customers were unhappy. So, I decided to make some changes.

When my customers responded, I did more.

“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said. “It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal! He was running a limo service out of a yellow cab! I’ve told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities. I give them a call. The rest of the cab drivers quacked like ducks and told me all of the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the cab driver made a different choice.

He decided to stop quacking like the ducks and started soaring like an eagle."

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I am guilty of "dreading" certain days and find myself longing for the weekend to have the family together. I made the "mistake" of telling my husband this story and he happily called me out already on me quacking like a duck for a minute. I needed it! I thanked him! (So glad I married a natural born eagle) We all need that. We all need to be held accountable for our thoughts and words and importantly, our actions. Eagles don't wait for things to happen, they are busy MAKING things happen. They don't long for weekends or for summer. They enjoy every second of the present even when its not all fun and games and things are tough. They still SOAR above everyone else.

When you wake up in the morning, choose to be an Eagle. Not a duck!

XO

-MB