Don't be afraid of making a mistake. Napoleon said "Nobody ever made anything who never made a mistake."
Memory.—Then practise remembering things. A fellow who has a good memory will get on because so many other people have bad memories from not practising them.
At the Olympic Theatre, Liverpool, the forgetfulness on the part of the people in the audience gradually made it necessary for the manager to keep a special room and ledgers for all lost articles left behind in the theatre after each performance. But the happy idea struck him of putting a notice on the curtain by means of a bioscope lantern a few minutes before the end of the performance saying, "Please look under your seat before leaving."
This has made a great difference in the number of things left behind.
People used to leave every kind of thing, even medicine bottles, and false teeth; and once a cheque for £50 was left.
Luck.—A great coral island is build up of tiny sea insects blocking themselves together; so also great knowledge in a man is built up by his noticing all sorts of little details and blocking them together in his mind by remembering them.
If you want to catch a tramcar when it is not at a stopping station you don't sit down and let it run past you and then say, "How unlucky I am"; you run and jump on. It is just the same with what some people call "luck"; they complain that luck never comes to them. Well, luck is really the chance of getting something good or of doing something great; the thing is to look out for every chance and seize it—run at it and jump on—don't sit down and wait for it to pass you. Opportunity is a tramcar which has very few stopping places.
Choose a Career.—"Be Prepared" for what is going to happen to you in the future. If you are in a situation where you are earning money as a boy what are you going to do when you finish that job? You ought to be learning some proper trade to take up; and save your pay in the meantime, to keep you going till you get employment in your new trade.
And try to learn something of a second trade in case the first one fails you at any time, as so very often happens.
If you want to serve your King and Country there is the Royal Navy open to you, a fine service with its grand traditions, its splendid ships, guns, and seamen. It takes you across the seas to our great Colonies and to foreign lands, from the frozen Arctic to the tropical coasts of Africa.