These are the days when the doing of things in the best and quickest way,
and the living of one’s life to the greatest possible purpose, are among
the livest of issues. The absorbing question is that of really getting on.
One has but one chance at this life, and he has a right to make that one
effort the best possible.
_The Personal Attitude for Right Living._
1. Preserve calmness and steadiness. Victory over material things is but
a passing honor for the one who has failed to conquer himself. The secret
of many a success is coolness and self-possession. The person who has the
consciousness that he is right can look the world in the
face unflinchingly.
2. Avoid selfishness as you would a most dangerous enemy. The first
personal pronoun is a dangerous word. No one else cares to help the person
who tries to help no one but himself. The world has its heroes, but they
are those whose chief concern has been for their people.
3. Have a mind of your own, and use it. Many a failure has been excused
with the words: “I didn’t think.” However, it is our business to think,
and to act on right judgments. Man is he who thinks, and the most
successful man is he who thinks most promptly and accurately.
4. Do not get the idea that your mind is the only one. Others are thinking
also, and some of these persons may be more nearly right than yourself.
One must at least give others credit for having opinions. Listen to all,
and accept only that which seems to bear the test of truth.
5. Strive to be right about things. Investigate until you are clear in
your conclusions. When you are clear, let nothing but additional light
change your course. Stay with the right, though all the rest of the world
disagree with you. If you find that your position was wrong, forsake
it immediately.
6. Do not judge yourself by others, nor your work by theirs. The only
proper standard is rightness. It is a poor thing to be in fashion if the
fashion is wrong.
7. Try to understand other people. Think of others sympathetically, and
give them credit for everything you can.
_Your Personal Resources._
1. The first of your personal resources is time. You have just the same
amount of it that any one else has, and that is twenty-four hours a day.
These twenty-four hours a day are exactly like any other asset in that
they are capable of use or abuse. The waste of them is the same kind of
a mistake as is the waste of money or property. Few people waste their
time in large quantities at a time. Most people waste moments in waiting
or idling, which, put together, would make an aggregate of hours and days.
One should not waste his own time nor that of others. The person who keeps
any one else waiting for him is guilty of theft. Figure out how much time
you lose per day, and then figure how to keep from losing it.
2. The second of your personal resources is talent. Of this all do not
receive exactly alike, but all do receive in reasonable measure. Some who
receive largely seem to do less with their gift than some others who have
received in less degree, and the man who hides his single coin in a napkin
is always a familiar figure. No matter whether one receives many or few,
it is his duty to improve them and make the most of them. Finding one’s
true place in the world is a serious matter. Find out what you are good
for; get ready to do that thing well; then do it with all your might.
3. The third of your personal resources is opportunity. The greatest
issues of years to come will continually be found to hinge upon your
decision and action in earlier moments of opportunity. Opportunity does
not wait around, begging one to grasp it. One must learn to strike at the
right moment. Watch for your chance, and do not fail to seize it when
it comes.
_The Method of Efficiency._
1. Have a definite purpose in life. If you have none, get one as quickly
as possible. If you cannot choose a permanent one, then choose a temporary
one. At all events, have an aim, and let it be clear, definite,
and positive.
2. Having chosen a task, the next thing to do is to get at it. The word
=NOW= is the richest word in the English vocabulary. Do not wait to begin
in the morning. Be able, when the morning comes, to look back on at
least a part of the task completed.
3. Stay with it. It is sometimes harder to stay with it than it is to get
at it. Always, as the day passes and weariness lays hold of mind and
muscle, the temptation to give up gathers strength very rapidly. If the
thing you are doing is worth while, don’t give it up. The rewards of the
game are won neither by the fine beginning nor the brilliant play, but by
the steady endurance which holds on to the last. Life is one great
endurance test.
4. Strive to do only a reasonable number of things, and do those things
just as well as you can do them. The fewer they are, the better the
execution of them is apt to be. Reduce your efforts to the realization of
one great aim. So doing, you will be able to achieve results impossible to
scattered efforts. “This one thing I do” was the dictum of one strong
character. He did that thing, however, with all his might.
5. Cultivate decision. Valuable time and strength are often lost in
deciding things too unimportant to justify the loss. Learn to think
quickly and clearly. Arrive at conclusions promptly and accurately.
Impulse and desire are secondary, while the sense of having done the
right thing best satisfies in the end.
6. Make each effort bring you a little nearer to the goal. You will never
have cause to complain of any day that has witnessed real progress. Do
not try to cover the ground in a single dash, but push forward steadily
and patiently. Be willing to wait much, to fail occasionally, and to toil
always. At the end you will have something to show for each hour.