Today I am sharing more of what inspires me from the 1894 edition of The Business Guide; Or Safe Methods of Business by J.L. Nichols. In this business handbook, Mr. Nichols emphasizes that success in business is not only about making money. A successful business person, according to Mr. Nichols, is one who has a strong sense of self, supported by a solid ethical foundation, with a desire to help others less fortunate and to make the world a better place. He addresses issues that we also face today, such as stress management, work-life balance, dealing with others, and finding the right career, and offers practical advice that applies to people in any career or calling. Because of the times in which this book was written, the author most often references young men, but these guiding principles can be applied to men and women of any generation.
Worrying is one of the great drawbacks in business. Most of it can be avoided if we only determine not to let trifles annoy us; for the largest amount of worrying is caused by the smallest trifles. A worrying, fretting, peevish business man is never a success.
The effects of worry are more to be dreaded than those of simple hard work... More business men are wrecked by worry than by work.
The case-book of the physician shows that it is the speculator, the betting man, the railway manager, the great merchant, the superintendent of large manufacturing or commercial works, who most likely exhibit the symptoms of cerebral exhaustion....Suppressed emotion, occupations liable to great vicissitudes of fortune, and those which involve the bearing on the mind of a multiplicity of intricate details, eventually break down the lives of the strongest.
In estimating what may be called the staying powers of different minds under hard work, it is always necessary to take early training into account. A young man, cast suddenly into a position involving great care and responsibility, will break down; whereas, had he been gradually habituated to this position, he would have performed his duties without difficulty...
Safeguards: Call upon your friends often. Keep up all your social relations. Hunt or fish, or take other active out-door exercise. Take a brisk walk before retiring. Read entertaining books and periodicals, and never let your mind settle on one thing and brood over it. Don't sour your mind and disposition by over-doses of business. "Worry" is worse than sickness.
Self-Cultivation
 |
| Photo Courtesy of deathtothestockphoto.com |
Great men have ever been men of thought as well as men of action. As the magnificent river, rolling in the pride of its mighty waters, owes its greatness to the hidden spring of the mountain nook, so does the wide-sweeping influence of distinguished men date its origin from hours of privacy, resolutely employed in efforts after self-development. The invisible spring of self-culture is the source of every great achievement... Be determined to dig after knowledge as men search for concealed gold!
Set a high price on your leisure moments. They are sands of precious gold. Properly expended, they will procure for you a stock of great thoughts--thoughts that will fill, stir and invigorate, and expand the soul. Seize also on the unparalleled aids furnished by steam and type in this unequaled age.
Business Qualifications
 |
| The Village Clock Maker by Abbot Fuller Graves |
The young man should, first of all, study himself. He should consider well the comparative development of the various faculties of his mind, his temperament, the powers of his physical constitution, and the tendency given to his mind by his early training. Let him ask himself, "What am I best fitted to do? What can I do best? What pursuit would be most attractive to me?" Let him avail himself of every opportunity to become acquainted with the various trades and professions, and then observing carefully the impression they make upon him and looking again at his own mental and physical character with reference to each, let him make his selection.
 |
| Miss Remington, 1908 (Courtesy of Library of Congress) |
Get into the right place. How many poor physicians who would have made masterly mechanics; how many wretched merchants, who would have made noble, athletic farmers...No wonder the old philosopher said, "God has made in this world two kinds of holes: round holes and three-cornered holes, and also two kinds of people: round people and three-cornered people. But almost all the round people are in the three-cornered holes and the three-cornered people are in the round holes." Hence the uneasiness and unhappiness of society and the failure of so many enterprises. Get into the right place, stay there and master your situation, and success is yours.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of startupstockphotos.com |
Business Manners
- Be cheerful, and show proper civility to all with whom you transact business.
- There are many who have failed in business because they never learned to respect the feelings or opinions of others.
- Kindness of manners is the best capital to invest in a business, and will bear a higher rate of interest than any other investment.
- Be accomplished, polite, refined, civil, affable, well-behaved and well-mannered, and you will never lose by it.
- Manners make the business man, and give him the art of entertaining and pleasing all with whom he has business relations.
- If you wish to change a man's views in reference to some business transaction or other negotiations, respect his opinions, and he will be respectful and listen to your arguments.
- There are a thousand easy, engaging little ways, which we may put on in dealing with others, without running any risk of over-doing it.
What To Do
Young men, you are the architects of your own fortunes. Rely upon your own strength of body and soul. Take for your star, self-reliance. Don't take too much advice--keep at the helm and steer your own ship, and remember that the great art of commanding is to take a fair share of the work. Think well of yourself. Strike out. Assume your own position... Rise above the envious and jealous. Fire above the mark you intend to hit. Energy, invincible determination, with a right motive, are the levers that move the world. Be in earnest. Be self-reliant. Be generous. Be civil. Read the papers. Advertise your business. Make money, and do good with it. Love your God and fellow men. Love truth and virtue. Love your country and obey its laws. Take (U.S. Presidents) Garfield, Lincoln, Hayes, Grant and other self-made men for your models and aim high, and your success is a certainty.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of www.deathtothestockphoto.com |
No comments:
Post a Comment