In the present you prepare for tomorrow and continue what you began on the yesterday. Otherwise you are standing still. No man can proceed if he must begin over again every tomorrow that comes to him in his life, he must have done something that can not be completed except in the future. That gives him work to do, something at which he can make progress. You will be of more value tomorrow than you are today because you have advanced by experience—you have learned something, and so you will learn something every day and every tomorrow will find an improvement in you. Your time will be of more value, and your services command a higher price. You must work things around so that this will happen to you. To every young man the future holds everything dear to him, his hopes are all centered on the future. In it he sees a home, a family, honor, fame perhaps, wealth possibly, comforts and a peaceful old age. He may bring all these to pass but he must carry them always in his mind as things to be attained. We may not know what the future has in store for us, but we can shape events, our lives and our doings so that we will know something of the future. When we say we do not know what the future will bring forth, we do not mean things of our own creation because we do know that much, but accidentals, and against those dangers we can provide by taking counsel and making provision to defeat them. Produce Something and Increase Your Own Value to the World The man who is a consumer only is of little use in this world. He is out of balance with energies and activities in the business or professional world. The earth, the soil, is valuable only because it PRODUCES something that did not exist before. It creates in its way. The more it creates or produces, the more its value. When it produces nothing it is called a desert and is avoided for all useful purposes. It is the same way with men; they must produce, make something, and the more things they make or produce, the higher their value, the greater their wage earning capacity, or income producing power. Let the Colored American get into a business of his own; begin in a small way, but make something for others to buy or use. To become a producer he must enter the manufacturing and commercial fields. He must grow up with his business of producing. In this way he will establish an enterprise for his sons and daughters, and he will be able to sit in comfort beneath his own vine and fig tree. Present “Opportunity” lies in taking advantage of present conditions, always remembering that as we progress we open up other and better opportunities that may be temporarily closed to us. To get the means to do this, we must educate and work. The race has made wonderful progress in the field, the workshop, and in the professions, but it must reach out into commercial life, for the wherewith to carry out higher ideals. We must cultivate the commercial instinct if we would master our own destinies.