By George Mattew Adams (1913)

Poise is a large phase of Success already worked out. Pot there can be little of Success without Poise. Poise is keeping your head when everybody else loses theirs. Poise is Power — square jawed and firm set.

When Blame all seems to come your way; when the fingers of Fault-finders all seem centered in front of your face; when Failure after Failure files into your door; when former Friends form into foes; when Clouds creep onward, black and threatening — then’s the time for Poise!

Then’s the time to face the Crowd and cut the air with your command of Confidence and — Poise. The Cool heads are the Battle winners. And you who are ruling and conserving through the art of Poise, you are preserving Peace by being prepared for War. The Strong Man always Listens — and Thinks. In such an attitude he can consider and weigh with Justice and rare Freedom the most puzzling problems.

Poise to such a man is like a Bank full of funds. Poise put into your Character will balance and proportion it — make it fit and formidable. How many times you have seen the Man of Action at his desk, calm and collected — with plenty of time for anything important — while about him is confusion and an atmosphere of importance that is, after all, charged with very little importance.

Study out and apply to yourself — Poise. Poise starts when you begin to eliminate Fear and Disorder.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Some people fancy that to Dodge some work that they ought to do is about the easiest possible thing to do. The truth is, however, it is always easier to walk right up to your work and — Pace It. No one but laggards dig up excuses for Dodging what they should Face. It is unfortunate that the most costly lessons are many times learned late in life.

The greatest reason for this is our timidity and cowardice in Facing every problem just as soon as it Faces us. Many a man has evaded a problem in his youth that he could easily have Solved at that time and then gone on, but which he refused to grapple with until compelled to Face It late in life under cover of the bitterest pangs of sorrow and remorse.

It takes greater courage to Decide to do a thing than it does to Do the thing. Have you a particularly difficult piece of Work to do to-day? Face It. Have you an Enemy? Face him — and make him your Friend.

You feel yourself capable of more important work than you are now doing? Face the new Work, and decide to Master it. Whatever your Problem, Face It — with Courage and without Fear, and with the Calmness that comes to a man when he decides to go ahead according to his Conscience.

Sidestep — Dodge, from nothing. If a thing is worth working out, Face It and Finish it.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Just as soon as you begin to Think or Do something, you begin to have Influence. Influence is something you can’t keep at home. And when it gets away from you, you can never call it back. Your Influence makes you Something of Somebody else.

Influence has no boundaries. Once started, though it may seem ever so trifling, yet it may have as its destination the farthermost comers of the Earth. If you would get a conception of Power, realize the Influence of a Strong Man. It is well to remember that what you have that you can’t help but give away is your Influence. Bear in mind that your Influence is never wholly absorbed, nor does it disappear into Nothingness. It Counts again and again.

Influence has no end. The three greatest objects in life — Friends, Happiness, Success — are each dependent upon proper Influence. So it is good to know that even the humblest person is, after all, master of his own Influence. He can send it out to scatter Sunshine or Shadows. It’s his Choice. A man’s greatest Responsibility in this world lies in the way he acquires and gives out — his Influence.

Your Influence to-day is sure to have a tremendous bearing upon the total work of the world. Your Influence upon other people and the Influence of other people upon you is sure to become a Force and a Factor in the complete work of your day and theirs. See that your Influence is kept true and wholesome and it will return to refresh you, again and again.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Self-Control is simply manly Courage fully fit — ready to act calmly in Emergency. It’s the Man at the helm in complete Power. Also, Self-Control is the Man Self-Happy because Self-Bossed.

You can Be what you Will, if you Will to Be.

For the intricate Forces of the Brain cluster about each other seeking a Leader. And the Man-power steps out and takes command. First of all, you are what you are. Rude hands never shaped you. Divinity formed you in the raw. Then Divinity must shape you into the Strong. Self-Control is the cornerstone of Divinity.

You can Be what you Will, if you Will to Be.

Rule your own Self and you immediately find yourself in the center of things, for you draw others your way. The great Shop with its thousands of wheels, belts, bolts and screws, all working in the smoothest unison, grips the admiration as its marvelous Power Plant, human-like in perfect Self-Control, produces its completed Machines. But greater are you in your Human Shop, while under absolute Self-Control, you turn out Deeds worthy and un-ending.

You can Be what you Will, if you Will to Be.

Self-Control must needs be made up of Patience, the ability to keep Still when you feel like Talking right out, and the iron holding down of your own Self for the sake of the Bigger Hours. No man ever won anything without first winning Himself. You are a strong Human bundle of Passion, Red Pepper — and Power. Your Mixing of these things in wise proportion and mastering them will mold you into a sure Success. Try, for —

You can Be what you Will, if you Will to Be.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Achievement is the result of the proper co-ordination between Work and Rest. Were it not for its regular fraction-of-a-second Rest between each throb, the Heart would soon pump itself out.

Relaxation is Energy Stored Up.

Go into any Business Office. Hunt out the man whose work seems to be going on with Smoothness and with the least Friction. Study him carefully — for he is sure to be the Boss himself. Having no time for foolish dreams and useless details, yet such a man is never too busy to Listen and to Learn — and Relax. He makes every effort Count — by periodic Resting.

Relaxation is Energy Stored Up.

There is to Relaxation a quiet, cumulative power that is sure to hold you in good stead if ever Panic or Disorder come near. For it is at such times that every ounce of energy and resource is demanded.

Relaxation is Energy Stored Up.

Relax as you Work. Think as you Go. Reflect upon the Improvement of everything you Do. All things can wait upon a man building up and fortifying his own Soul and his own Character. Invest in Relaxation.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

It is inferred that Manners make the Man. No — the Man makes the Manners. For Manners are the Man. And they point the path of Interpretation to a Character as surely as does the weather-vane tell exactly the direction of the wind.

Be your Best Self always.

You enter a car, an office, a home, pace a street. People — your like and image — you meet everywhere. Your Manners in their presence mark your standing and your own enjoyment. Your smile, your graciousness, your courtesy, change the gruff attitude of a clerk or the cold reception of the one you face whether it be for your profit or his.

Be your Best Self always.

“Sir,” once said Dr. Johnson, “a man has no more right to say a rude thing to another than to knock him down.” The man or woman of Manners is the person of consideration and tact. And nothing but the inbred quality of Manner is genuine. For money or social standing or quick achievement cannot give it.

Be your Best Self always.

Now, Manners are a possession most enviable. Few are born without the possibility of them. A large number who have them hidden away somewhere use them not. To find them out and put them to use and to habit is an event much to be heralded. A better day than this to start could not be found. How about polishing them up at home? How about carrying them as you do your grip or morning paper to your office? How about investing them, as sure dividend bringers, in your office helpers and day associates — from the humblest to the greatest? You can do so if you decide as a settled thing to —

Be your Best Self always.

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George Matthew Adams (1913)

This is the most important day in the history of the world. Because it is the Latest Day — and the only Day of its kind that shall ever dawn again.

There is no To-morrow — To-day.

Worry shall have no part of this Day. Disappointment, Fear, Envy, Bitterness, Regret, Anger, Selfishness, and their like — they are of the Past a part. They must have naught of standing or of voice in this Day. For, as already said, THIS Day shall never come around again. Its reception must be Royal and the works in its twenty-four hours must be performed with serious consideration and under the bearing of Responsibility and Appreciation.

There is no To-morrow — To-day.

Your Smile To-day will be worth the millions in the To-morrow. Your Efforts, your Deeds, your Courtesies, your Words, your written Thoughts, your ALL, will count for more To-day than all your mapped out plans of twenty years to come.

There is no To-morrow — To-day.

What odds if your ancestors were Monkeys a few years back — so you are a Man to-day! Whether or no you shall be the Great man or woman ten years from To-day shall depend on what manner of acting man or woman you are To-day. There are no accidents of Destiny. The Big Thing to be is the Little Thing to do — To-day.

There is no To-morrow — To-day.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

The Stomach is the Firebox of the Body. Its simple construction, patterned by a Supreme Master, is imitated by the human makers of the greatest Engines in the world — Engines that have knit Civilization and populated Nations.

Respect your Stomach.

Every human Stomach is from the same mold. But never has there been bora a human being that took care of his Stomach in quite the same way. In real importance, greater than any other organ of the human Body, it is least respected — it is most neglected.

Respect your Stomach.

For your Stomach is your Success. Nothing can replace a ruined Stomach. Think seriously of this as you burn its walls with the beautifully colored contents of dainty Glasses. Think of this when you hurriedly throw into its marvelous pocket, ill selected and quickly masticated Food. Think of this as you neglect its call for regular Fuel and regular Care. Think of this when it begs for Rest.

Respect your Stomach.

No Stomach ever turned Traitor to a good Caretaker. A companionable Stomach will work wonders for its Master. It will build Power for scores of years. It will knit Strength and Elasticity into Bones and Muscles. It will create unfailing Nerve Centers. It will pump a great Heart. It will give an iron Will and a masterful Brain. Kind Stomachs are more than Coronets, and simple care to them, than Norman Blood.

Respect your Stomach.

Morning, Noon and Night

Respect your Stomach.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Learn to Wait.

Not idly, but with the spirit of Busyness in your system working itself out into some useful Endeavor. For to know HOW to Wait is to master one of the greatest secrets of Success.

Learn to Wait.

The parents of Balzac were wealthy. The son at the age of twenty announced his determination to become an Author. “But,” urged his Father, “do you not know that in literature a man must be either king or hodman?” “Very well,” replied the young man, “I’ll be king!” He was, therefore, abandoned to a rude garret, where for ten years he labored against the fiercest poverty and obstacles. But his Waiting and Work won. Balzac’s name will remain among the greatest in the literature of all time.

Learn to Wait.

To Wait, intelligently, is ability in itself of the rarest sort. For it is a quality imbedded in Fortitude, Self-Mastery and Will.

Learn to Wait.

You hold a humble position. You are restless. You see others of less ability and brains passing you. Wait. The prizes of life seem to you to be unevenly distributed. Wait. The click and glare of Gold and Silver play songs to your senses. But Wait. Do more than you are paid for in real work and conscientious Effort. Conquer the Trifles. Reap the respect of your Superiors. Wait. And your rise to power shall be as the rise to power of the men and women who have made this world what it is.

Learn to Wait.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Hourly thousands of human wrecks topple heedlessly over the Niagara of a Ragged Point-Of-View, and strew the Rapids of Failure into a pitiful sight. The reason? Rudder out of Setting!

Set YOUR Rudder before Sailing.

The boy in School who has as his end but the fitting of his Lesson to the mere Classroom hour, the Clerk who but dreams of his day as done with the end of his eight hours, the man who measures his Success by the weight of his Dollars — these are but illustrations of the Point-Of-View in Life — turned backward — out of Kink. There is but one way to reach the real Port of real Success and that is to —

Set YOUR Rudder before Sailing.

For a Point-Of-View is just plain Purpose. And there is just one kind of Purpose worth any man’s or woman’s Salt — the Purpose that tends to some USEFUL end. Set YOUR Rudder before Sailing. If you start this day with a healthy Point-Of-View, you will end it a happier, healthier, broader, bigger person. How wonderful, too, the individual effect that a high, square Point-of-View has, not upon yourself alone but on your whole environment. In fact, how it makes Environment!

Set YOUR Rudder before Sailing.

Get the right Point-Of-View upon Life. Then it will permeate your Work — make rich the lives of your Friends and your Achievements, bringing at the same time to you a rounded Success. Search out the proper Point-of-View for each task DAILY. In other words —

Set YOUR Rudder before Sailing.

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