Mastery of Fate
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THE mastery of fate implies the constant improvement of everything in one's world -physical or mental; and since the improvement of one's exterior environment requires financial increase, the problem of recompense and reward must be solved.

There are vast numbers who claim they are not being remunerated according to their worth, and this claim is keeping the industrial world in constant turmoil.

The result is detrimental to everybody, whether they are directly connected with industrial activity or not. Therefore, to find a solution for the problem would be one of the greatest discoveries that could possibly be made.

That a great deal of injustice exists in the world, is true; and that many who are strong are taking advantage of multitudes that are weak, is also true; but there is a peaceful way for every individual to secure his own. And it remains wholly with the individual.

There is no remedy in sight that the whole world can adopt, through which industrial justice can be established by law; but each individual can so relate himself to the world that his recompense will correspond exactly with his worth. To do this he must neither under-value nor over-value his work; and he must not compare his legitimate efforts with the efforts of those who employ questionable means. There are a great many who think they are worth more than they really are, because they compare themselves with the unscrupulous.

When a certain person gains great wealth through illegitimate means, many imagine that they ought to gain as much; they are just as good and just as able as he, and work equally as hard.

But in the mastery of fate all kinds of unjust methods must be eliminated completely, because in the creation of one's future there must be no flaws, or the entire structure may have to be discarded.

There is no wisdom in making any comparison between oneself and the man who is gaining wealth by undermining his own future welfare. We do not care for the destiny of such a personage, and there is only loss in store for those who imitate his ways.

Whether we are gaining as much as this one or that one is not the question at all; the question is, are we receiving what we are actually worth? If we are not, we must find the cause, and the way to remove that cause.

If you are receiving all that you deserve, make yourself more deserving, and you will receive more; but if you are not receiving your share, learn the reason why. If you are to blame, change yourself; if your present work is to blame, use your present work as a stepping-stone to something better.

The average person, who thinks he is underpaid, will find himself to be the real cause; therefore, the change of himself is the remedy. And he is usually to blame in this respect, that he overvalues his work and undervalues himself.

No one can advance in life unless he values himself correctly. The man who lives a "common" life, and continues in "ordinary" attitudes of mind will stay "down," no matter how hard he works or how well he performs his particular labor. For this there are several reasons.

It is not simply the visible product of brains or skill that the world pays for; the world also pays for what man contributes to life.

If your personal life is inferior, you give your vocation the stamp of inferiority; and a "common" atmosphere, so detrimental to the progress of any enterprise, goes with you, wherever you may be employed.

If you carry an atmosphere of worth, advancement is in store without fail, because the world does recognize worth, and pays well to secure it.

It is not only the work, but the life that surrounds that work that counts. It is not only the idea, but the words through which it is expressed that carry conviction. And it is not only the ability of the man, but the way he presents that ability that commands attention from the world.

When you present your ability in a crude, common attitude, and present yourself in an atmosphere of inferiority, you are hiding the larger part of your worth, your ability and your skill. And you will be paid only for that which the world can see.

The rays of a skilled mind or a brilliant intellect cannot be seen at first sight, through the dense atmosphere of personal recklessness and crudeness; and the world does not possess the second sight.

But no man can surround himself with a clear atmosphere -an atmosphere that reveals the best there is in him -unless he values himself, and aims to express his real worth in every thought and action.

If a man has superior ability, let him demonstrate by his own presence that he is neither common, inferior nor ordinary. The world demands demonstration; and any one can detect a real man, no matter what clothes he may wear.

The world is constantly in search of competent men, and when you prove yourself to be competent, you will have more rare opportunities than you can fill.

When the average man begins to live, and takes just as much pride in living a real life as he does in producing a good machine, the industrial world will be revolutionized for the better, and every man will receive all that he knows he is worth.

To value yourself correctly, understand the unbounded possibilities that are latent within you, and live in the realization of the greater things that you know you have the power to do. This will produce in mind the consciousness of superiority, and through this consciousness, superior impressions will be formed in mind. From these impressions will come superior thoughts; which in turn will develop superiority in you; because a man is as he thinks.

The principal reason why a man who is down, remains there, and continues to appear as ordinary as his environment, is because he permits his mind to be impressed with everything that his environment may suggest. His thoughts are therefore the reflections of his surroundings, and he is like his thoughts.

Therefore, the man who would become different from his environment must learn the art of original thinking, and must enter the attitude of self-supremacy.

The principal reason why a man is underpaid is because he does not value himself, and therefore hides behind personal inferiority the greater part of his ability.

Another reason is because he works only for the wages that are coming to himself. He refuses to do more than is absolutely necessary, lest someone might be benefited. This attitude produces the cramped condition, which in turn reacts upon the purse.

The man who is afraid to do too much, usually fails to do enough; at any rate, he produces that impression, and his recompense is lowered accordingly.

On the other hand, the man who does his best at all times, regardless of the scale of wages, not only produces an excellent impression everywhere, but makes those in authority feel that he wants the enterprise to succeed. He is therefore better paid, because such men are valuable. They are wanted everywhere, not because they do more than they are paid for, but because they are a living power for success wherever they are called upon to act.

The spirit of success breeds success; and the man who takes a living interest in the enterprise for which he works, even doing more than he is expected to do when the occasion demands, is creating the spirit of success, and will soon share in the greater success that follows.

Among the underpaid, by far the largest number is composed of those who submit absolutely to their present conditions, and therefore remain not only in bondage to unscrupulous taskmasters, but also to their own environments and mental limitations.

They are the many weak, of whom some of the strong take advantage; and it is in behalf of these that reformers demand a change in the order of things. But it is not a change in the order of things that the world requires; it is a change of mind. And when the change of mind is produced, all other necessary changes will inevitably follow.

If you are underpaid because you have submitted to the power of the unscrupulous, cease to live in the attitude of mental submission. Do not antagonize the powers to which you have submitted, and do not resist your present condition. In your external life continue as usual for a period; but change absolutely your internal life.

What we resist we fear; and we always continue in bondage to that which we fear.

What we antagonize, we meet on the inferior side, and thus enter into contact with the very things we desire to avoid. We shall never get rid of the inferior so long as we resist the inferior; and whatever stays with us will impress our minds. Therefore, by resisting the inferior, we produce inferiority in ourselves.

Begin your emancipation by removing your attitude of self-submission; cease to believe that you must remain down where you are. Change your mind; know that inherently you are master over everything in your own domain, and resolve to exercise your supremacy. Refuse to be impressed by your environment; and learn to impress your own mind with superior impressions only. Re-create your own mind according to a higher standard of power, ability and character; thus you will re-create both yourself and your surroundings; because by making yourself stronger and more competent, you will be wanted where surroundings are better, and recompense greater.

The reason why those who are mentally weak remain in submission to inferior environments, is because they either do not attempt to become strong, or because they use up their mental powers resisting adversity.

Every person, no matter how submerged he may be, who will arouse his own interior strength, exercise his own supremacy over his thoughts, thus thinking his own superior thought, will gradually rise out of his condition; and before long he will find both emancipation and the reward of a better place in life. This is the only orderly method to freedom; and will produce permanent freedom. And it is the only natural method to greater gain and better conditions.

However, attention must not be centered too much upon mere financial gain. The principle is abundance of everything that is necessary to produce a complete life on all conscious planes; and the perpetual increase of all these things as life eternally advances.

But these things man himself must create; and creative power increases through the development of character, ability and self-supremacy.