The Pet Store and the Squirrel Monkey

You Get One Life. Live It!
By Darryl L. Mobley

As I spoke with my children on how best to reach their goals in sports and academics, I was reminded of my story of the pet store and the squirrel monkey. (I actually had squirrel monkeys for pets when I was a teenager. My mother decided to feed them scrambled eggs and bacon. What happened next would bring a tear to your eyes. But that’s another story for another time!)

I thought I would share my story with you.

A man was walking downtown and passed a pet store. As he looked in the pet store window he saw a large cage filled with some really cute squirrel monkeys. Like me, he had always liked monkeys and so he went into the pet store.

As he looked at the five little squirrel monkeys he noticed the price tags on the front of the cage. $75. $75. $75. $75. And then, $500.

He was intrigued by the large price for one of the squirrel monkeys – even though they all looked exactly the same to him.

He asked the pet store sales clerk why one of the squirrel monkeys was priced at $500. The sales clerk told him that that particular squirrel monkey could talk. So, of course it was a bit more expensive than the other “regular” squirrel monkeys.

The man was excited and told the sales clerk that he wanted to buy that talking squirrel monkey right away. The man paid for the talking squirrel monkey, purchased an expensive monkey cage, and took it all home.

The next day the man returned to the pet store, found the sales clerk and told him that the squirrel monkey had not talked.

A Multicolored Ball?

The sales clerk asked the man, “Have you given the squirrel monkey a multicolored bouncing ball? He loves to play with the ball. The happier he is, the more he talks.”

The man said, “I don’t have a multicolored bouncing ball. Can I buy one from you?”

The sales clerk said, “I have one right here that I can sell to you for $21.95.”
The man grabbed the ball, paid the clerk and took off back home.

The next day the man again returned to the pet store, found the sales clerk and told him that the squirrel monkey still had not talked.

Shiny Silver Chair

The sales clerk asked the man, “Have you read to him from his favorite book, ‘Planet of the Squirrel Monkeys’? It’s a special edition with very nice colored photos and a hand-written note from the author. The talking squirrel monkey loves that book and discusses it after every reading.”

The exasperated man said, “I don’t have the ‘Planet of the Squirrel Monkeys’ book. Can I buy one from you?”

The sales clerk said, “I have the one I read to the talking squirrel monkey right here. It’s my only copy. But, I can sell to you for just $84.95. These books are very rare.”

The man glared at the sales clerk. But, he took the book, paid the clerk and hustled out the door to go back home.

The very next day the man burst though the door of the pet store, saw the sales clerk and yelled that the squirrel monkey still had not talked.

The sales clerk asked the man, “Is the talking squirrel monkey sitting in his shiny silver rocking chair? He just talks up a blue streak whenever he gets to rock in his shiny silver chair. I have the very chair he used to sit in right here for just $395.”

The man was furious but he really wanted to see just how far this sales clerk was going to take this talking monkey tale. So he grabbed the offered shiny silver chair, signed the credit card charge slip and sped out the door.

Talk, Talk, Talk…

The next day the man – looking depressed – walked slowly back into the pet store carrying the multicolored bouncing ball, the special edition ‘Star Monkeys’ book, and the shiny silver rocking chair.

The sales clerk saw him and asked, “What’s going on? Didn’t the talking squirrel monkey like playing with the multicolored bouncing ball? Didn’t he like it when you read to him his ‘Planet of the Squirrel Monkeys’ book? And didn’t he enjoy his shiny silver rocking chair?”

The man said that, “Yes. The talking squirrel monkey loved playing with the bouncing multicolored ball. He also really seemed to like the special edition ‘Planet of the Squirrel Monkeys’ book when I read it to him. He even perked up when I gave him the shiny silver rocking chair. In fact, the minute I put the rocking chair into the cage with him, he put the multicolored bouncing ball down, closed the special edition ‘Planet of the Squirrel Monkeys’ book, sat in the shiny silver rocking chair and began rocking. He then slumped forward with tears running down his hairy little face – and before he passed away – the talking squirrel monkey said to me, “Don’t they sell squirrel monkey food at the pet store?”

What’s the message in this little story? (You knew that I had one!)

The message is to make sure that you are focused on the right things when you are trying to achieve your goals. It doesn’t matter what your goals are – health, business, family, education, relationships, parenting, career — whatever!

Make sure that you are spending your time and money and energies on things that really matter.

Don’t Be Seduced!

Don’t be seduced by the shiny, sparkling things that most often will NOT help you, your children, or your family — achieve your dreams. These things are dream-stealers.

You and those you love must master the fundamentals.

One of my football coaches from back in the day told me that the teams that win most often are the teams that do the best job of blocking and tackling.

My college basketball coach told me that the teams that win most often are the teams that do the best job of rebounding and shooting free throws.

My college volleyball coach told me that the teams that win most often are the teams that do the best job of serving and setting the ball.

Check it out. They were so very right. The seemingly most basic things have the biggest impact on success or failure.

Blocking, tackling, rebounding, free throw shooting, serving and setting are not very sexy. But they are essential if you want to win. Being great at them requires focus and hard work.

Are you spending your time, effort, and money on those things that mean success?

What are you doing with your time and energies?

Remember – You DO deserve to live a great life.

Enjoy Life!

About Darryl L. Mobley
You may email Darryl at Info@CoachMobley.com. Known as the “Bulldog of Work-Life Balance,” Darryl Mobley is a top Life Coach, an in-demand Executive Coach, a Business-Growth Consultant, a Professional Speaker, and host of The Darryl Mobley Show: Your Life Coach On The Radio. For info, visit www.CoachMobley.com. Darryl is also president of the Association of Small Business Marketers. For info, visit www.BusinessGrowthAce.com. © 2010 Darryl L. Mobley

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