The Washington herald., 1915-01-02
RUGGED AGGRESSIVENESS
BY ORISON SWEET MARDEN.
Author OF Pushing to the Front" Etc

(Cop5rght, Igl5.)
In advertising for a man for a RESPONSE
bic position, firm stated, among other
qualifications. that he must be capable
of coping with antagonism."
Evidently, what this firm wanted was
young man with backbone and grip
, and stamina, who was not easily dis
! couraged; one who would not stop or
give up when obstacles confronted him.
One Of the first things to do in start
ing out for success is to show the world
4 that you are not made of putty or straw,
but that you have some stability in you.
You should make a reputation as early
| as possible for doing things. Let your
friends know that whatever you put
your hands to will be accomplished, no
matter what may stand in the way.
People whose blood is full OF positive
force are the leaders, the aggressive men
who get to the front. They do not lag
| and loiter behind. waiting to be attacked
| They take the Initiative. and push ahead.
| regardless OF obstacles.
The man who does things. who brings
about results, who feels within himself
the power of achievement, and is deter
mined to make himself known in the
world does not ask advice OF everybody
he knows, or wait for precedents. He
lays out his plan, thinks his thoughts,
directs his energies, plays the game with
the cards he has, and does not ask for
an impossible hand. He does not COM
plain because obstacles appear in his
path; and when he comes to them he
goes through them. not over them or
around them. He never whines or
grumbles; he simply keeps to his task,
and works in a vigorous, manly way. He
goes about everything he undertakes
with a determination that insures vic
tory. 1t takes courage and originality to
step out from the crowd and act inde-
pendently-to jump into deep water, as It
were, to swim or sink.
The majority Of people perpetually hold
in their minds thoughts which make
them negative characters
Discordant, tearing-down thoughts.
moods, neutraliZe a large part of their
efforts. so that no matter how hard
they work, the results are negative. II
they could learn to hold only those
thoughts which build up and exclude
those which tear down, keep out of their
mind all thoughts which tend to kill
courage and destroy self-confdence, all
thoughts which paralyZe initiative, their
lives would be revolutionized.
The majority of men and women who
are failures began TO deteriOrate by
doubling or depreciating themselves, or
by losing confidence in their ability. The
UlOIueHl you udEDOT uOuDI ana DtElu 10
lose faith in yourself, you Capitulate to
the enemy. Every time you acknowledge
weakness. inefficiency, or lack # ability,
you weaken your self-confidence. and
that is to undermine the very foundation
of all achievement
So long as you carry around a failure
atmosphere, and radiate doubt and dis
couragement you will be 4 failure. Turn
about face: cut of all the currents Of
N,f NhArn nF raI hnV Nohf
Boldly face your goal with a stout heart
and a determined endeavor and you will
find that things will change for you; but
you must see a new world before you
can live in II.
Man was made to hold up his head, 70
assert his God-given biTthright-to be a
man. Success is as much his normal
element as water Is the normal element
of fish. He was not made to live in
an atmosphere OF doubt, TO be haunted
and dogged through life by Gear and un-
certainty.
If you doubt your ability to do what
you set out to do; If you think that others
are better fitted to do it than you; II
you fear to let yourself out and take
chances; IL you lack boldness; II you
have a timid, shrinking nature; il the
negatives preponderate in your voca-
bulary; II you think that you lack posi-
tiveness, initiative, aggressiveness, abil-
ity; you can never win anything very
great until you change your whole men,
tai attitude and learn to have great
faith in yourself. Fear, doubt, and
timidity must be turned out OF your
n nd.
A man who is self-reliant. positive, op-
timistic, and undertakes his work with
the assurance of success, magnetizes
conditions. He draws TO himself the
literal fulhllmeut Of the promise, For
unto every one that hath shall be given,
and he shall have abundance"