A man at a cross-roads hesitates and says: “Shall I go this way or that?” He hesitates, starts, returns, starts the other way, and finally goes the wrong way and falls into a hole. It has passed into a proverb that, “He who hesitates is lost.” Of course, there is reason and judgment to be observed in everything, for things should not be done at random, but when there are common sense, education, and good counsel to guide you, to hesitate then is to go wrong. It should not take a man long to decide when there is a speculation presented him, and his decision should be obstinately against the speculation. There are too many good opportunities to succeed in ventures that are legitimate to touch speculation. It is in the legitimate field of operations that indecision is so often fatal. There is another saying applicable to this subject: “Be sure you’re right, then go ahead.” DON’T BE TOO BIG FOR YOUR BUSINESS Most children must creep before they can walk. The reason is because they are not sure of their small limbs and try them before venturing to depend upon them. When the child can walk he goes right ahead and walks all his life without fear or hesitation. It is the same in every line of business. The business man must know just where he stands all the time, and he must begin small in order to learn how to rely upon himself. You are looking for something big, large, something you think commensurate with your abilities. Well, then, let me tell you that you will never find anything to suit you. You are inflated with your ability, your importance, and fail to see the small things at your feet and within your reach that if put together will aggregate the very big thing you want. You aim at the moon and feel bad because you do not hit it. While your aim may be perfectly good and correct, the object may be too far off for you to hit, or else you must work yourself within reach of it and then you will hit it. Small beginnings have made every great man on earth. Out of the huts and squalid cabins of the world have issued men who have conquered the world of arms and commerce. You have the advantage of them from an educational point of view, and think you must be saddled upon a fiery horse before you know whether you can ride a steady going one. The millionaire was not a millionaire when he started, he was an obscure clerk in a dry goods store working for wages that you scorn. Reduce your size to something near the right one and you will see things differently and take what you can get cheerfully, biding your time to reach higher. Let your hat fit your head. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED One of the greatest causes for failure in life is discouragement. It seems to be an element in the life of every man to be up one day and down the next.