To this end the schools are doing much.
Settlement workers are contributing their
part. Welfare work is becoming popular in
certain places. Local clubs are being organized
to develop interest in local improvement,
literature, politics, ethics, religion, music,
athletics. These agencies are so beneficial
in results that they are being generously
encouraged by business men.
_Upon entering business every young man
should select some form of endeavor or activity
apart from business to which he shall devote a
part of his attention. This interest should be so_
<p 221>
_absorbing that when he is thus engaged, business
is banished from mind_.
This interest may be a home and a family;
it may be some form of athletics; it may be
club life; it may be art, literature, philanthropy,
or religion. It must be something
which appeals to the individual and is adapted
to his capabilities. Some men find it advisable
to have more than a single interest for the
hours of recreation. Some form of athletics
or of agriculture is often combined with an
interest in art, literature, religion, or other
intellectual form of recreation. Thus Gladstone
is depicted as a woodchopper and as an
author of Greek works. Carnegie is described
as an enthusiast in golf and in philanthropy.
Rockefeller is believed to be interested in golf
and philanthropy, but his philanthropy takes
the form of education through endowed schools.
Carnegie's philanthropy is in building libraries.
If the lives of the great business men
are studied it will be found that there is a
great diversity in the type of recreation chosen;
but philanthropy, religion, and athletics are
<p 222>
very prominent--perhaps the most popular
of the outside interests.
These interests cannot be suddenly acquired.
Many a man who has reached the years of
maturity has found to his sorrow that he is
without interests in the world except his specialty
or business. With each succeeding year
he finds new interests more difficult to acquire.
Hence young men should in their youth
choose wisely some interests to which they
may devote themselves with perfect abandon
at more or less regular intervals throughout
life.
The more noble and the more worthy the
interest, the better will be the results when
considered from any point of view. Indeed,
the interests which we call the highest are
properly so designated, because in the history
of mankind they have proved themselves to be
the most beneficial to all.
CHAPTER X
THE RATE OF IMPROVEMENT IN EFFICIENCY
NO novice develops suddenly into an
expert. Nevertheless the progress
made by beginners is often astounding.
The executive with experience is
not deceived by the showing made by new
men. He has learned to accept rapid initial
progress, but he does not assume that this
initial rate of increase will be sustained.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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