If you want to have a positive impact you have be consistent, reliable, and treat others with dignity. In other words you need to have integrity and a strong moral framework. Otherwise, you will drift with the cultural wind or join in whatever is popular with the crowd. Drifters never make an impact.

Many people shut down and go with what they already think they know. Yet, circumstances and conditions are always in a constant state of change, and what might have been correct yesterday can be disastrous today. It requires active participation to make sure you are still learning. Do not trust just one source, one opinion, or one ideology.

Draw on your own pain to relate as best you can to the pain of others. Open up your heart and your mind to their needs. If you understand them, then you can help them. And ultimately, you can lead them.

Ego can wreck even the best plans and intentions. Don’t focus on recognition, but rather on moving the mission forward. This is something that most will never be able to accomplish because it is against our nature and training to accept zero recognition for our achievements. Yet, if you master the ability to sit in the shadows as you watch your work blossom, you will soon learn that no deed goes unrewarded no matter how small.

Creating the type of change you wish to see is serious and tough business. You fail far more often than you succeed, and those with weak spirits will not last long. Stay focused on the finish line and whatever you do, find the inner strength and conviction to keep moving toward it.

Change involves moving out of our comfort zones. It takes great courage to stand up, stand out, and go. It takes even greater courage to have the conviction to remain steadfast after experiencing failure. Change will always be resisted and reviled until it is proven to be a better option. To get to that point, courage and conviction are of utmost importance.

Giving should always be our primary focus. We should have things we wish to do in our life but can’t because we give away too much. The world is full of those who will take. Positive change requires sacrifice and giving hearts. Give of your time, your talents, your blessings, and especially your love. In this way alone, one man truly can change the world. A simple gesture of kindness to a person in need creates ripples of change that spread far and wide.

At the end of the day, follow the call God has placed on your heart and trust Him. You were created for a purpose. You were created to love and serve others. Walk confidently in that promise.