Taming Tribulation Podcast

By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Get in Tune!

We learn our greatest Lessons from Nature. At any hour glance at her Wonders — her Grass, Flowers, Trees, Birds, Rocks. What is the most impressive thing about all these things? This — silent Harmony. Nature wastes nothing. She quarrels with no one. She dissipates not. Her Team Work is perfect. All her Laws mesh in perfect Harmony. There are no discords.

Get in Tune.

Where there is no Harmony, there is no Progress. Elbert Hubbard gave some great advice when he said: “Get in Line or else get Out!” This ought to be the Motto of this Old World to every one of its Men and Women.

Get in Tune.

There is not a man or business that cannot increase its efficiency over and over again by the application of this simple rule of Harmony — cutting out the Discords — getting back into Accord with the Purpose at hand.

Get in Tune.

Think of the lost Energy and lost Life through your failure to keep in Harmony with your best Thinking or with the Concern that honors you by employing you. Do you realize that what you are carelessly discarding can never be secured again? Stop — this very minute — the leaking of Smiles, high Purposes, big Resolves. Rebellious Thinking cuts into the Heart of your life Force and drizzles it away.

Wake up! There are no dreary days to the Alert the Masterful. To you who determine to Win, the story of the Stars and the Planets that do their work in perfect Harmony, is the Inspiration that makes every working minute of Your day Wonderful and Livable!

Get in tune.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

John Stuart Mill once said that “a Character is a completely fashioned Will.” Which suggests as the greatest task in life — the training and building of the WILL.

Think, not merely, but ACT the Think.

For that is the only sure way to the educated Will. To act with decision, firmness, and promptness when an Emergency arrives is to feed nourishing food hourly to the Will. The weak Will is the starved Will.

Think, not merely, but ACT the Think.

Note the Strong Man. He sees a thing to do and immediately DOES it. The thing may look trivial. It may even seem the work of some other fellow. But without hesitancy, as though dispute was greater than the task, the Strong Man gets the thing Done — so that he may have Time for other and Bigger things.

Think, not merely, but ACT the Think.

The Tragedy of the ten-dollar-a-week Shop Girl, the fifteen-dollar-a-week Clerk, the out-of-a-job Grown Man, is the Tragedy of an untrained Will. The late E. H. Harriman once said: “I am not a ten per cent man!” Which was his way of saying that he was Master of his own Will and a King among Doers.

Think, not merely, but ACT the Think.

Of all things To-day that you should not abandon, are the things you least desire to do. For Will building is to do the menial, if necessary, the hum-drum, maybe. But doing everything to a finish as best you can. Knowing full well that a daily mastery of the Little Things worthwhile makes easy and natural the doing of the Big Things when they come around.

Think, not merely, but ACT the Think.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

If you would step into some great seat of Power and Plenty, some day, just get into the Habit of Patting people on the back — with a real Pat of Encouragement.

Give away your own Success.

There is nothing in all the world so stimulating as to feel the thrill of Hope coloring the cheek of some fellow to whom you have just given the Grip of Grit.

Give away your own Success.

Even a Race Horse goes better after a pat on the Nose. The Boot Black gives you a better Polish if you remember to Smile while he Shines. Half the wrecks of life are strewn along the Gutter of Failure for no other reason than this — starved for want of Encouragement.

Give away your own Success.

There are no “Favored of Destiny” Successes. The only Winners are the Favored of Encouragement. The Smile, the hearty Hand Clasp, the sterling Cheer — the cup of Crystal Water — these are the things that make Men, mold Commerce and start to humming Cities and Nations. If you like to Whistle, teach the art to somebody else who doesn’t know how.

Give away your own Success.

And, by the way, it is the greatest Fun in all the world! The next fellow to you right now, whoever you are and wherever you are, is just as Human as you are. Turn your pockets of Encouragement inside out. Keep them empty by giving their contents away — for they will always be full.

And, if these little talks help YOU from day to day, get the knowledge to the fellow who wrote them. It will Encourage him.

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We are all a bunch of Job holders, no matter the name by which we are known in our work. To work is to be dignified, whether we use a shovel or a pen. There is but one worker in all the drama of work who dishonors the whole profession. He’s The-Man-Afraid-Of-His-Job. Get this into your Head —

YOU are “The Man Higher Up!”

If you will but be this, from this minute you will grow and gather Power. For The-Man-Afraid-Of-His-Job is the man who fears somebody else above him, behind him, alongside of him. He has no Independence for he is all Dependence.

YOU are “The Man Higher Up!”

Results take care of themselves. First be YOURSELF. You may lose your Job. But what of it? You will have then gained a bigger one — Master of Yourself. Cromwell once said that “A man never rises so high as when he does his best not knowing whither he goes.” And Emerson says: “Why should we import rags and relics into the new hours?’’ Keep busy.

YOU are “The Man Higher Up!”

Believe it and proceed. Honor your Job — be it ever so humble — and it will Honor you. Be Positive. Dissolve partnership with The-Man-Afraid-Of-His-J ob. Go at your work with the belief that you alone know best your own work and you’ll find that it won’t take long for others about you to realize for a fact that —

You ARE “The Man Higher Up!”

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Who are they that are the chief Hinderers and Obstructors of the Race — Thieves? No. Anarchists? No. Idlers? No. Grafters? No. Who then? Just these — the Men and Women with a Grouch.

Be too Busy for a Grouch.

Par the Fellow with the Grouch is the Fellow with a glass of Prison in his hand who will pour it down your throat if you let him. But you will escape him if you will only —

Be too Busy for a Grouch.

A Grouch never helped anything or anybody. And he never failed to do Harm. The Big Man with a Grouch becomes at once a Little Man.

Be too Busy for a Grouch.

Suppose the Grouch does irritate you, suppose he does try to get you off your Guard, suppose he does try to make you “Look Cheap,” suppose he does attempt to “Get your Goat.” Look him in the eye. Then knock him into smithereens with a 60 h. p. 20th Century model Smile — and Pass On to your Work and your Business.

Be too Busy for a Grouch.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

If you realized just what Worry is you would stop using it in your business. For Worry is the name given by the Devil to his choicest brand of smelling salts and the more you get into the habit of using them the more you come to know what Hell is really like. Here’s an antidote for Worry —

Smile, Smile, Smile!

For where Smiles are, Worry is not. Worry is just plain poison. It is the most treacherous of poisons for it not only eats into the finest powers of your mind and life but it spreads and radiates like a contagious disease. Worry can do no harm in the atmosphere of cheer, great faith, hope —

Work. Work, Work, Work!

How useless Worry is — how foolish! Realize but this and you will very soon banish it and forever. Can you think of a single instance where Worry rendered you a service? Well, then, get rid of it.

Smile, Smile, Smile!

Worry never did and never will bring anything to pass. It never earned a cent and it never helped a human being. But if you keep busy, if you are continually seeking to render some service, you will never have time nor inclination to Worry.

Work, Work, Work!

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Environment is Self-Atmosphere. Also, it’s the invisible Power of Circumstance that always stays around within call. Which is to say, that Environment is the Servant of every man.

You can BE Somebody right where you are.

Environment is a personal affair. So, if your present Environment hinders you, walk away from it. Hunt out a new Environment. Men and Women who form the habit of getting things done, make their own Environment, hour by hour — day by day.

You can DO Something right where you are.

Bunyan, in Jail, writing the immortal “Pilgrim’s Progress’’; Milton, blind and domestically all out of kink, penning “Paradise Lost’’; John Brown, walking up to the Gallows, smiling, a Prophet of Freedom; Helen Kellar, blind, deaf, dumb, yet the embodiment of Sunshine and Light; these are Masters of Environment!

You can BE Somebody right where you are.

People worthwhile to this world, make their own Environment so attractive that it draws human beings their way. You, who Employ, surround yourself with Cheerful Workers. You, who are Employed, keep your mind saturated with Cheerful Thoughts. Your Environment is what you choose it to be. Add to your Worth Stature.

You can DO Something right where you are.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Use! This is one of the most inspiring little words in all the languages of words. Think of what this great America was before men began to use it! A marvelous area, true, but so unhelpful to mankind. But as soon as Thinking Men came and began to Work its Dirt — a Miracle flashed into the face of a sleepy Old World. For —

Use is Growth. Hang your arm to your side and let it remain there over a long period and it will wither away. Non-use always means Decay, Starvation — Death.

Use is Growth.

You have a Brain — may be as wonderful and as great as any that ever worked. But unless you set to work the little Cells that ache for something to Do, your whole existence will become but an ordinary affair.

Use is Growth.

Do you realize that Distinction which comes to people is simply a matter of Brain Cell Opportunity worked to a Finish — merely taking advantage of every single Chance for advancement — no matter how small the Chance?

Use is Growth.

Your Minutes Used, your Chances Used, your Legs, Arms, Muscles — every Power of Your Body and Brain USED, means a sweeping toward your Purpose that nothing can stop. Those who use what they have and what they get, are the men and women whose names spot History. Do you want to be Somebody? Well, then, remember this —

Use is Growth.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

This world is saturated with Human Beings, Jobs, Businesses, Works of Art, Enterprises of Machinery — that are ragged and frayed at the edges, so to speak, because somebody is constantly blundering.

Whatever you Do — Do it Well — to the Finish.

Failure starts to germinate when you first begin to slight your work. The slight may be ever so small — but be not deceived — at that point your Success begins to die.

Whatever you Do — Do it Well — to the Finish.

Have Sense and Courage enough to realize that you will make Mistakes right along. The big thing to Master is the Art of Learning from these Mistakes so that you never make the same ones twice. Conquer every Obstacle that gets in front of you. Win and pass on. Be Thorough.

Whatever you Do — Do it Well — to the Finish.

Nothing that is Worth While is unimportant. And nothing that is important can you afford to neglect or do in a slipshod way. The Employer IS an Employer because he was once a good Employee. Thoroughness is at the bottom of Winning. No structure ever stood — built upon half sand and half stone. Be Thorough — stamping daily upon your very Brain, as a Motto, this thought —

Whatever you Do — Do it Well — to the Finish.

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By George Matthew Adams (1913)

One of the greatest gifts of use in the bringing on of Success is the ability to Eliminate. The ability to Eliminate every thought, habit, action that does not contribute and construct toward some useful purpose.

Carry no Dead Wood.

The soldier entering upon his long campaign straps to his back nothing but the lightest equipment — yet he carries everything necessary and every article figures one hundred per cent Efficient.

Carry no Dead Wood.

Why fume and fret and fuss over little annoyances? They are not worth it. Eliminate them. Then step ahead and you will be surprised at your increased agility through lighter equipment.

Carry no Dead Wood.

Here are a few things to Eliminate to-day — Time Wasting, Bitter Words, Worry over things that never happen, useless spending of Money, the memory of Unintentional Mistakes.

Carry no Dead Wood.

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