Old timers around the campfire will often tell you that service is not what it used to be. Service, long ago, was the product of genuine care and concern for consumers as people. Sometimes, service meant giving away a product, or offering to spend extra time with a customer or person in needs. Other times, service meant trying new things to solve individual problems, and going out on a limb without a guarantee of reward. Either way, the general consensus around the campfire is: "Service ain't what it used to be."

Chances are good that you patronize places that make you feel good as a consumer, places that respect you as an individual, and they may even remember your name. These people and businesses thought about what you needed as a consumer and before you asked knew what might be of service. They thought about you when you were around, and when you weren't. Good doctors have it, good lawyers have it but what is the service mindset?

The service mindset is the result of internalizing three basic truths. Once inside, they become part of who you are like language. These beliefs, like all beliefs, influence and inform everything you do. Looking around at the public servant professions, exempting politics of course, you can see your librarians, police officers, firefighters, social service people, and volunteers exemplifying the service mindset. What are the truths that lead to the service mindset?

Truth #1: You aren't alone in life AND no one else is either
Look around you. Life abounds. All creatures and plants share the same quality of being alive as you do. You share this same quality with every other living thing. People around you are alive, embroiled in the dramas of their own life. The quality of being alive puts us all "in the same boat" so to speak. Being alive means you aren't alone every other living thing is experiencing life, just as you are ups and downs, turns and shifts.
People often look for what makes us different rather than what makes us the same. Differences between people create uniqueness, but they also create isolation. Celebrate what is the same in you, as in everyone else. Being in service to other people, and other living things, requires an appreciation of sameness.

Truth #2: You need other people AND other people need you
If all living things have life in common, then they all have needs in common as well. Basic biological needs like food, safe environment, and resources exist across all domains of life. Even

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