032400 Some skills to win a more successful and happy life Tiffany Chang In this wealthy generation and society, we need economic growth, but we need also growth in rich ideals , in justice and compassion, in service above self, and in action of love and moral courage. Some people are of the "tell me what you wear, tell me what kind of car you drive, tell me what cards you carry, and I'll tell you who you are" culture. What do the people we should admire have in common? These individuals have a faith that miracles can happen -- a quiet, clear understanding of what can be. In the persons whom we respect we see love, unabashed love. Love always transcends self. In its purest form, love is unconditional and an appreciation. The Greeks had a saying: "People are known by the heroes they crown." Tell me whom you admire, and I will tell you who you are. Your choice of heroes reveals your personal traits. "By the very doing of the act of love, we are enriched. Love in action is service above self. Make service a part of your character and experience the abundant reward that comes from serving others. Let your heroes be the great servants who have given all for the betterment of others' lives. Let your candle fuel a fire that will fan out in ever-increasing circles. With these circles together we can close our eyes and envision a community that is safe, peace, and healthy. This is why I used to point out that, knowledge calls, ultimately, a life of service." said President of Washington Business and Technology Institute, Dr. Tony Lei. We can work alongside each other. We can absorb each other's energy and discipline and commitment to inspire us and motivate us. Service beyond self is love in action. This is our creed and our calling. We stumble and splinter when we forget that goal. We unite and prosper when we remember it. There are three major drives pushing and pulling us into the 21st century. (1) The necessity and speed of change: Change is unavoidable for improvement and innovation. Most of the changes we face are permanent, pervasive, and profound. It is permanent, because few of us would want to uninvent microchip, to use a train instead of an airline as a business transportation from Los Angeles to New York, or abandon the medical advances that have extended and enhanced our lives. It is pervasive because the information highway has changed our lives. Few parts of the way we live and work have escaped the effects of change. It is profound because we must reassess the sharing of our planet's resources. As individuals, we must reassess our values, ideals, and prejudices. As associations we must have effective actions to decrease the force of resistance-to-change in order to implement a change successfully. (2) Emphases of partnerships and alliances: Highly successful organizations have become circular instead of flat. Each function is a link in a chain whose strength depends on the whole. Each is an alliance or partner with all the others. We need strong, supportive alliances because we need quick access to resources whether they are human, informational, financial, or material by nature. (3) Member service to member focus: "One of the important purposes of an association is all about having satisfied, happy, loyal, referral-bearing members. Our members' success is our success. We should put attention to the three areas of members focus. The first one is member servicing, which is the operations part that we should do the task well. The second one is member relations, which is the human part that we may be better to have the one-on-one actions. The third one is member development which is the coordinating and retention part that brings satisfaction to every activity," said Dr. Lei who is also Executive Vice President of Seniors United. There are two principles at the heart of the positive thinking road map. (A) The first principle is truth in thinking. Truth is thinking enables you to uncover and eliminate self-limiting belief and attitudes. We need to establish "truth in thinking" by focusing on the facts and avoiding negative self-talk. Challenge our unrealistic belief by reorienting them in a more realistic, positive manner. We will think, feel and act more confidently, thereby increasing the likelihood for success. (B) The second principle is the 12 positive thinking traits. "The following are 12 traits that characterize a positive thinker: (1) Optimism. (2) Enthusiasm. (3) Belief. (4) Intelligence. (5) Courage. (6) Integrity. (7) Confidence. (8) Judgment. (9) Persistence. (10) Liveliness. (11) Vision. (12) Desire to excel. Each trait, when leveraged properly, produces powerful results to achieve our goals. These traits, when diligently and wisely applied together the truth in thinking, allow us to overcome obstacles and challenges in a positive manner in our lives for accomplishment," Dr. Lei points out. "Develop a clear vision of our preferred future, then get focused on key activities and efforts that take us in that direction. We shall see performance gains, achieve our goals and have a happier, more successful life. By pursuing our own personal strategic plans with love and service, we will increase our energies, motivations, satisfactions, happiness, and the worthy value of our lives."