This is an illustration of remarkable individual efficiency attained by concentration --the power of the human mind which seems inseparable from any great achievement in business, in politics, in the arts, in education. Through it men of moderate capacities have secured results apparently beyond the reach of genius. And in no field has this power of concentration been displayed more vividly by leaders or been more generally lacking in the rank and file than in business. Analysis of the conditions may suggest the reason and the remedy. _The modern business man is exhausted no more by his actual achievements than by the things which he is compelled to resist doing_. Appeals for his attention are ceaseless. The roar of the street, the ring of telephone bells, the din of typewriting machines, the sight of a row of men waiting for an interview, the muffled voices from neighboring offices or <p 107> workers, the plan for the day's work which is being delayed, the anxiety for the results for certain endeavors, suspicion as to the loyalty of employees--these and a score of other distractions are constantly bombarding him. Every appeal for attention demands expenditure of energy--to ignore it and hold the mind down to the business in hand. The simple life with its single appeal is not for the business man. For him life is complex and strenuous. To overcome distractions and focus his mind on one thing is a large part of his task. If this single thing alone appealed to his attention, the effort would be pleasing and effective. It is not the work that is hard; the strain comes in keeping other things at bay while completing the pressing duty. _He is exhausted, not because of his achievements, but because of the expenditure of energy in resisting distractions_. He is inefficient, not through lack of industry, but from lack of opportunity or of ability to concentrate his energy upon the single task at hand. <p 108> All sources of illumination--from the candle to the sun--send out rays of light equally in all directions. If illumination of only _*one_ point is desired, the loss is appalling. The rays may be assembled, however, by reflectors and lenses and so brought to bear in great force at a single point. This brilliancy is not secured by greater expenditure of energy, but by utilizing the rays which, except for the reflectors and lenses, would be dissipated in other directions. _As any source gives off equally in all directions, so the human intellect seems designed to respond to all forms and sorts of appeal for attention_. To keep light from going off in useless directions we use reflectors; to keep human energy from being expended in useless directions we must remove distractions. To focus the light at any point we use lenses; to focus our minds at any point we use concentration.