What are the similarities between "If" by Rudyard Kipling and "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost?

Each poem speaks about choice and individuality.  There are certainly differences in how each makes his point, but the philosophy is quite similar.   

Kipling tells his reader to make the difficult choice to:  

...keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs.... (1-2)

And to:

...make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss...(17-18)

Frost says,

I took the one less traveled by, (19)

In each case, a less popular choice is made.  

However, there are some huge differences in how each poet gets his message across.  In "If," Kipling uses a direct comparison between the person being addressed and other people, while Frost uses the metaphor of two paths in a wood.  In the case of "If," the reader is directed to examine his behavior in conjunction with the behavior of others, while Frost's choice takes place as he stands alone.  Kipling's poem is more about being a leader, and Frost focuses more on personal satisfaction.  Kipling addresses the reader in the second person, talking directly to a particular "you," while Frost appears to be musing to himself about the choice he made.  There are literary elements that are quite different, too,  for example, with Kipling using quite direct language and Frost using imagery. 

Given that both have a message about being true to oneself, which do you think conveys the message more successfully?  Whose advice do you find more compelling? 

What common life messages do Kipling's "If—" and Frost's "The Road Not Taken" convey and through what techniques?

Both poems argue strongly that the most fulfilling approach to life is to follow your own star boldly; go with your instincts and trust your choices, even if they may seem unpopular or odd to the majority. If you are true to yourself and your beliefs, you can overcome many obstacles.

Both poems concern life's choices.  Yet, Kipling and Frost demonstrate very different approaches to this topic.  Kipling's speaker is clearly a father addressing his son, and giving advice on how to live his life.  He cautions his son to maintain his integrity in the midst of the world's evils, its vicissitudes in fortune, and the fickleness of public opinion.  He is encouraging his son to choose his responses wisely, cautiously, and nobly.

Frost's speaker is much more subtle, much more ironic.  His poem is about choices too, but unlike Kipling's father, Frost's speaker does not indicate a preferred choice of action.  His speaker comes across a fork in the road.  He can take either path because they are about equally worn and equally fair.  There is no way of knowing which path is the better one to take, and also no way of knowing even in retrospect which would have been the better choice.  He only knows that his choice made a difference--he does not know what kind of difference his choice made.  His sigh at the end of the poem could be one of contentment or regret.  Frost ends the poem in ambiguity.  The speaker's claim at the end that he took the road less travelled by is unsubstantiated by the actual description of the choice presented earlier in the poem, in which the speaker declares three times that the paths were equal.  So, the reader must conclude that the speaker "ages and ages hence" is misrepresenting the choice he made, that his boast that he took the "less traveled road" is a vain one.

Technically, both poets use an alternating rhyme scheme and four stanzas.  Both poets begin lines with a repeating word:  Kipling uses "if" while Frost uses "and."

However, Kipling's poem is inspirational; Frost's poem is realistic.