WORK HABITS
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Proverbs 10:4
"A man makes the habits and then the habits make the man." I heard this saying repeatedly for the three summers in college I worked with The Southwestern Book Company in Franklin, TN. Every aspect of our sales career was submitted to scrutiny and evaluation based on this saying. Are you getting up early? Eating breakfast? In the field before 8 a.m.? Making 30 presentations a day? Closing the sale? Explaining delivery procedures? Staying positive? Reading worthwhile material? Seeing the good in your co-workers and customers? Making everyone’s day brighter because they met you?"
At the time many of these behaviors seemed rather trivial. But there was a point to everyone of them. Initially all of the college sales staff had to force themselves to follow proper protocol, maintain a healthy attitude, and warmly greet and treat everyone around us. We endured long hours in the heat, humidity and rain. Rejection, loneliness and even desperation were constant companions as we worked far from home. Failure frequently loomed before us, making ugly faces and discouraging us even more. But there was always someone to remind us, "A man makes the habits and then the habits make the man. If you quit now, will quitting become a habit for you? Will you quit college? Your marriage? Your career? Your kids? Stick to the basic habits of success, gut it out through the summer, and you’ll develop the necessary inner ingredients to succeed at whatever you do."
Fortunate are the kids with parents who teach them principles of hard work, commitment, and endurance. What I learned with Southwestern was but a reinforcement of these principles that were practiced in our home. Mom and dad talked to us about how our appearance, attitudes and behavior would be perceived by future bosses. "If you want a good job in the future, get ready for it now" was the message. Wake up call at 4:30 a.m. to milk cows had a purpose beyond the immediate task: it was training for future work.
Sadly, many kids never learn that the habits they are developing now are making them the men and women they are going to be in the future. Sleeping late, a slovenly appearance, crude talk and failure to turn school work in on time is not preparing them for gainful employment in the marketplace. They are learning habits that are deadly to any kind of well-paying job and satisfying career.
Also, youth that never do any kind of work before high school graduation hinder career building skills, development of diligence, and appreciation for the character it takes to survive in the work place. I like going into a grocery store and seeing high school students stocking the shelves, manning the cash register, and carrying out groceries. They may be using their money to buy a car, go to college or pay for a wedding. But even more, they are building character and developing habits for future success.
Recently, an attorney for a large firm told me that when they hire a new attorney, they ask what the prospective new lawyers did during their high school and college years. The attorneys want to hear that they worked in a fast food restaurant, mowed lawns or washed cars for extra money. They don’t want to hear that their college was financed totally by parents, that they slept late, and watched a lot of TV. Those students, the attorney told me, do not know how to work hard once they get a job. But kids who had to scrape and scrap for every dollar in menial jobs will appreciate and work hard when they land a job with an office.
Success, career satisfaction and wealth-building do not happen automatically, haphazardly, or accidentally. They occur because a serious, sober-minded young man or woman thinks about their lives, develop healthy habits, and work hard over the long haul. Diligent hands and worthy habits are the seeds of success. If developed by age thirteen and fourteen, they will be producing beautiful fruit by age thirty and forty. That fruit will be a job you like and income you can live on. Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Warren Baldwin
Note: This picture has nothing to do with the article. I just thought it was neat!
