Looking for motivation to make a change? Here are some recommendations from the book “Be the Change! Change the World. Change Yourself.” (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $14.95), straight from people who’ve done it:

“Don’t get frustrated if your first service experience is not an overwhelming, tears-in-your-eyes event. Your work is still important. If you keep going back, you will have that kind of experience. I’ve been doing community service for years, and a recent experience was one of the most touching I’ve had. I helped build a ramp for a disabled senior citizen, and I will never forget his face. When we completed the ramp, he said nothing, but he had a big smile. For the first time in a long time, he could walk out his back door onto his lawn with his walker. Talk about impact; talk about tears in your eyes!”

“Never lose sight of the influence you are having. At a shelter where I tutored, one of the other tutors was working with a really young kid who kept talking about ‘when I go to college.’ We were amazed that this child, who barely knew where his next meal or bed was coming from, was be so certain that he would one day go to college. That impressed me and reminded me that we really were making a difference. We were helping these kids believe that they could become whatever they wanted!”

“There’s a saying in Judaism: ‘If you have saved one person’s life, it’s like you saved the world.’ Whenever I get discouraged, or feel like what I’m doing doesn’t matter, I try to keep that saying in mind.”

“I keep myself motivated in service by breaking down enormous tasks into small, workable parts. When I was working at Suited for Change, which pairs donated suits with people who need them for a job interview, I would stare at the huge pile of suits and think, ‘I’m never going to be able to sort through all of this!’ But then I would tell myself that even if I got one-eighth of the way through it, at least a few people would get the right clothes for their interview today. That kept me going.”

— Tamika Brown, Atlanta
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“You just have to work to the best of your ability. Whenever I get sad about the people I’m helping, I think of volunteering as firefighting. The firefighters can see a fire and either think about what it’s doing to the people’s house and their belongings, and how sad and horrible it is, or they can jump in and fight the fire. That’s all you can do—and that’s a lot! Jump in.”

Hundreds of Heads Books’ survival guides offer the wisdom of the masses by assembling the experiences and advice of hundreds of people who have gone through life’s biggest challenges and have insight to share. Visit www.hundredsofheads.com to share your advice or get more information.