Service to Humanity is the best work of Life.

“You Can Have Everything In Life You Want, If You Will Just Help Enough Other People Get What They Want.” – Zig Ziglar

Mother Theresa once said,”‘I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” When I was an undergraduate, I became a Jaycee. Junior Chamber International (JCI) is a worldwide federation of young leaders and entrepreneurs between 18 and 40. One of the JCI Creed/Values is”Service to Humanity is the best work of Life.” what an insightful and very true statement.

The above motto has been at the core of almost anything I try to do, and I also try to heed the advice of Zig Ziglar, who said: “You Can Have Everything In Life You Want, If You Will Just Help Enough Other People Get What They Want.” I have realized that giving back and having a sense of service is always rewarding and fulfilling. Anyone you see making a lot of wealth has been able to render his/her service to many people.

One of my favorite sayings is, “It cost a candle nothing to light another candle”; as you light other people’s candle, you are invariably lighting yours too. Be of service to humanity, your community, your society, your immediate and larger environment. I found the service orientation to be very true because when you lose yourself in the service of others, you get an unreplenishable reward in return.

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

On January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered his inaugural address wherein he charged Americans on civic action and public service. He said: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

Go the Extra Mile

In Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success: The 17 Principles of Personal Achievement, he advised going the extra mile by rendering superior service in the right mental attitude.

Render more and better service than you are paid for, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest from your investment. It is inevitable that every seed of useful service you sow will sprout and reward you with an abundant harvest.
Going the extra mile is not the sort of principle that can be put into practice in a few easy steps. Instead it is a state of mind that you must develop, so that it is a part of everything you do. There is a subtle, but powerful, mental attitude connected with it.

“The Extra Mile Formula”

C = Q1 + Q2 + MA

“Q1 is the quality of service rendered.
Q2 is the quantity of service rendered.
MA is the mental attitude in which it is rendered.
C is your compensation.

Compensation here means all the things that come into your life: money, joy, harmony with others, spiritual enlightenment, faith, an open mind, a sense of tolerance, or anything else worthwhile that you seek.

“Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.” – Albert Einstein

Author and Speaker, John C. Maxwell, in his book “Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work.” writes:

“It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success.” George Washington Carver found more than success. By thinking beyond himself, he discovered significance.”

In Bringing Out the Best in People, Alan Loy McGinnis remarked, “There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being—to help someone succeed.”

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” – Woodrow Wilson

In her 2012 Spelman College commencement speech, Global media mogul and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey shared the following insights on service:

You must find a way to serve. Martin Luther King said that not everybody can be famous, but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service….We admire people for just being famous., we think being known brings us value. The truth is, all of that will fade in time….The real truth is that service and the significance that you bring to your service is that which is lasting.

If you look at all the successful people in the world, whether they know it or not, they have that paradigm of service….I made a decision that I was no longer just going to be on TV, I was going to use TV as a platform, as a force for good, and not be used by the TV. Using television for service changed my career exponentially. When you shift the paradigm of whatever it is you choose to do to service and you bring significance to that, success will, I promise you.