Wisdom & Empowerment: The Orison Swett Marden Edition (18 Books in One Volume). Orison Swett Marden

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СКАЧАТЬ are often surprised at the advancement to a responsible position of one of their number who is less brilliant than many others. The employer, however, is not looking for brilliancy; but for good sense, soundness of judgment, level-headedness.

      The employer in his search for a levelheaded, practical man, a man who can do things, and not merely dream about them, often passes by the college graduate, the fine scholar, the genius.

      He knows that the stability of his business, the bulwark of his establishment, depends upon employees with good judgment, good horse sense.

      Common sense in practical life has the “right of way.” It ranks far ahead of brilliancy of education.

      The man who worries, who fusses and fumes and who goes to pieces over trifles' exposes his weakness, his lack of self-control. It is an indication that he has not discovered himself, has not come to himself, does not know his God-given power, that he has not claimed his birthright of harmony, of power,—that he has not discovered that he was designed to be prosperous and happy, to dominate. It shows that he has conquered only a little corner of himself.

      We take it for granted that the man who can not control himself can not control others, that he is not suitable for leadership.

      The well-balanced person must have a profound respect for himself, for if he does not, he will do things that are absolutely inconsistent with poise of character. The man who does not think well of himself will express in his manner uncertainty, doubt, anxiety, more or less mental confusion.

      Confidence, a sense of assurance under all circumstances, are among the chief considerations with great business men. We have heard bankers and the men at the head of great concerns ask about an applicant for an important position, “Is he a man you can tie to? Has he reserve? Has he courage, stamina, staying qualities? Can you depend on him in an emergency? Has he the grit that never yields? Has he good, sound principles?”

      Most young men do not realize how much their success depends upon their general reputation. It will make all the difference in the world to you, my young friend, what people think of you, how they estimate your ability, what your reputation is for honesty and “square dealing,” and a good, sound judgment.

      Your level-headedness and honesty locate you in actual life. Every employer is looking for men to fill important positions. Capital is timid, and is afraid to risk money or merchandise with a man who is merely brilliant. But men who have credit and are in a position to help you to capital, are always looking for hard business sense. If you lack that, no matter how smart you may be, how cunning or shrewd in securing business, or how good an advertiser you may be; no matter how good a man you may be or how well you may stand in your community or your church, the capitalist will distrust you.

      One reason why the majority of people have such poor judgment, especially employees, is because they do not depend upon it. Unused faculties never develop any more than do unused muscles. The habit of using good judgment in everything, no matter how trifling, will multiply efficiency a thousandfold.

      You can get along without a college education, if you must—without a great many things, if necessary,—but you can not get on in the world without good judgment.

      Multitudes of students are turned out of colleges every year with a large amount of theoretical knowledge, but they have not had a particle of training along the line of good judgment.

      We often hear people say that they can not understand why Mr. ————— has had such a mediocre career, or has been a failure, when he had such a brilliant mind. But, it does not matter how brilliant a man may be, if he lacks sound judgment, he is all the time queering his own advancement.

      It is the rarest thing in the world for a man with good judgment to fail, even if he is not brilliant, for though he may make occasional mistakes, he will get on his feet again. But the man who makes brilliant strokes now and then, and is all the time slipping up because of poor judgment, will not get on nearly as rapidly as the one much less brilliant, but with sound judgment.

      No matter how brilliant, men with poor judgment are always slipping back and by their foolishness losing a large part of what they gained by their brilliancy or their good qualities.

      If you want to get the reputation of being a level-headed man, you must act like one. Most people are constantly doing things—especially little things—which do not meet with their approval, which they do not consider the best things to be done, under the circumstances, but they do them. In acting thus they lessen the probability of doing the level-headed thing the next time.

      When we feel strongly impressed to do a certain thing, or to do something in a certain way, and we do not do it, or else do it in some other way than that in which we are impressed to do it, we are lessening the probabilities of our doing the wisest thing in the future.

      In other words, if we form a habit of always doing the thing we ought to do, doing it in the way we honestly believe to be the best way, and never allow ourselves to shirk responsibility or to fail to do the best thing because it interferes with our comfort or leisure, we shall, after a while, get into the habit of doing the wisest thing.

      We constantly hear people make remarks like this: “I know that I ought to this thing to-day, but I do not believe I will,” or “I do not feel like it.” And they, perhaps, procrastinate, or let the thing slide along, and do just the opposite to what they know they ought to do.

      Every one who expects to make the most of himself, to make his life a success, must take himself in hand just as he would a pupil or a child, and, no matter how disagreeable or hard it may be, discipline himself to do the right thing always, the wisest thing, and not let himself off with the easy thing or allow himself to do a thing the wrong way.

      A very successful man, who found that he was getting into a habit of letting things slide along, doing the easiest and putting off the hard, difficult thing, suddenly realized that if the habit became fixed it would seriously handicap his career. He turned completely around, forced himself to begin his work early in the morning, and always to do what he felt that he ought to do and in the way which appealed to his best judgment, regardless of whether or not it interfered with his leisure or comfort. The result is that within a very short time he has made himself a strong, vigorous character, and now finds it comparatively easy to do what he ought to.

      But he says that unless he had taken himself in hand, and trained himself as a teacher would a pupil, forcing himself to do the right thing, the wisest thing, regardless of whether it was the easiest or not, he would practically have wrecked his career, because he was naturally inclined to indolence, and to take things easy, to postpone the disagreeable, the difficult task, and to do the agreeable, easy thing first.

      Great characters have ever felt the necessity of this stern self-discipline.

      If you always force yourself to do what you know you ought to do, instead of listening to your inclination, or consulting your comfort or convenience, you will very materially strengthen your character and your judgment, and you will also increase your reputation for level-headedness.

      The trouble is that most of us use our second or third best judgment, instead of our first, because it often fits our comfort and convenience to do so.

      Deplore it as we will, we are most of us lazy, and we like to get out of disagreeable tasks. We do not like to do things which interfere with our comfort, things which tax and perplex us.

      Because we have taken the easy road so often, most of us have fallen into the habit of avoiding the difficult, of shunning the disagreeable, and of procrastinating, СКАЧАТЬ