How to Win Friends and Influence People is a book which was originally published in 1936. Even after eight decades, the lessons taught by Dale Carnegie are still as invaluable and relevant today as they were during the Great Depression. As the pioneer of personal skills development, Carnegie's advice has stood the test of time as the go-to reference for human relations. You would be hard-pressed to find a business convention that doesn't mention Mr. Carnegie's principles and the word "success" in the same sentence. 

But this book is not just for business owners and entrepreneurs, anyone looking to improve their human relation skills will leave this reading with a greater sense of confidence. Not many other books evoke so many “aha!” moments from start to finish.  Along with being packed with useful information, Carnegie’s conversational writing style welcomes a wide audience, and with over 15 million copies sold in almost every known written language, you might be one of the few people who haven’t used Carnegie’s advice to improve your work, relationship, and personal lives.  Don’t be left behind.

Human relation skills are especially important for libertarian and conservative students who often find themselves having a difficult time communicating about the important issues, from health care to fiscal and foreign policy. If you have experience in activism, you understand this dilemma. This is why the libertarian and conservative movement must reevaluate the way they communicate and look for ways to more effectively influence people to their way of thinking, e.g., liberty and freedom. America’s future depends on it.  If we are serious about changing minds and winning hearts, we need to look at Carnegie's principles of human relations as a cornerstone of our communication techniques. 

Throughout our lives, we are told many things about how to live our lives. "You should live for your country!" say some. Others say, "Your goal in live is to serve the 'common good'!" And the examples merely continue from there.

But these things fly in the face of all rationality. They man that his life is not really his own, but instead he is born indebted to some other entity. The individuals supporting such doctrines treat man's life as a blank check for anyone and everyone else to fill except himself.

This is not how man should live. Man should live for himself.

Does this mean that by living for oneself that compassion or good will towards others is prohibited? By no means! In fact, it is only by living for oneself that there can be any true compassion at all.

How to effectively showcase your efforts and successful event using the Young Americans for Liberty Blog:

You spent hours brainstorming, planning, and preparing for your most recent YAL event, and it all paid off. It was your most successful event to date. Congratulations!

But how can you showcase your chapter’s efforts, inspire other YAL members, and show everyone how awesome you are in general?

The answer is simple:  Write a YAL blog post.

7 Steps to Writing a Successful Post-Event Blog Post

1. Get the ability to post on the YAL blog by officially joining YAL.
2. Take time to write out all of the information from your event. Find a way to organize your thoughts in the most cohesive and understandable way possible. Think of every fact and figure you’d want to include, adding credibility. 
3. Add pictures, videos, and links to tell the full story. A great resource on Activism Documentation by  the YAL National Field Director can be found here.
4. Send it to a fellow chapter member, friend, colleague, sibling, parent or anyone else you know who can read, to proofread it. 
5. Post your blog on YALiberty.org and wait for it to be edited and approved for publication.
6. Celebrate! You’re basically internet famous.
7. Repeat for every major event your YAL chapter holds.   

P.S. If you participate in a YAL National Activism Contest & effectively blog about it, you could even win cash money prizes!

Happy Blogging!

Young Americans For Liberty had the honor of tabling recently at the Republican Party of Texas' state convention, where Congressman Ron Paul spoke and also hosted a breakout session. While YAL is a non-partisan organization, it's always worthwhile when our members have the chance to reach outside of our normal student oriented sphere and discuss the importance of integrating a liberty-minded viewpoint into the mainstream of political discourse.

And the good news is that the response we received from the Texans we interacted with was overwhelmingly positive! Individuals from all age groups were incredibly responsive to the notion that there's a place for the increasingly libertarian youth within the two party system. People also seemed to understand that it's a net benefit for society that the 18-29 age group appears to be embracing libertarian ideas at a growing rate. I'm very happy to report that our literature went fast -- especially the latest copy of Young American Revolution!