Lessons From an Uber Driver – Always Look For the Good

Recently I used Uber for the first time and met a man who inspired me. Aman, my Uber driver has never read a self-help book or done a personal development course, but he has learnt the secret to being happy and successful is to look for the good.

Aman came to Australia from Somalia 28 years ago. His father was an uneducated man who lived in a poor village in the bush, so when his mother died and he was only three, his uncle offered to raise him so he could receive an education. Aman said how grateful he was to his uncle for doing this.

When Aman first started working in Western Sydney he was the only black man in the area. I thought he might have encountered some prejudice, but Aman soon told me that it was one of the best things to happen to him as everyone went out of their way to help him. As well as teaching him work skills his first boss taught him to how to drive then lent him the company car to use on weekends.

His boss constantly told him to buy a house but being young and carefree he ignored that advice. It was only when he was married and had five children that he realised that he needed a home of his own. As house prices in Sydney were beyond his means by this time he went to Melbourne to look at new developments. While talking to one of the developers he told him his story and the following day the developer drove him all around Melbourne showing him where to buy and telling him what he needed to do to make money out of property.

Not long after Aman bought a block of land and built a house, total cost was $350,000. Five years later that house has more than doubled in value. He is now moving his family back to Sydney as he will soon have three children at University here. He plans to rent out his Melbourne house and buy another in Sydney, something I have no doubt he will do.

When we got back to the subject of work Aman said he makes so much money as an Uber driver as he never has to wait more than two minutes for his next customer. I expressed concern that he didn’t have another job as we drove down my street and he laughed and said he will just drive around if he has to, but he expected to get one. Lo and behold as we pulled up in front of my house another job came in, just two minutes away.

Aman is someone who makes you feel good just by spending time with him because he is always looking for the good.

When you look for the good your body produces  DHEA, a performance enhancing chemical which inhibits the production of cortisol (a stress hormone), and this feeling of wellbeing can last in the body for hours. The signals travelling from the heart work at optimum levels, this means that we think clearly, our memory improves and we make better decisions. And have you ever noticed that when you feel happy that other people respond to your energy and want to spend time with you? Do business with you? And help you get what you want?

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in doing everything perfectly when all we have to do is relax and look for the good and allow life to unfold.