When young men start in business their thoughts are all prospective.
They look forward to the time when they will attain success. They work
hard. They put enthusiasm and long hours into their business. As years
pass they attain success and cash in this world's goods. They buy
beautiful homes and surround themselves with luxury. They indulge in
high living. They have country places. They take things easy. They sit
back in their chairs and imagine their business will go on forever
because they are so well established.
The hard worker is entitled to slacken up a little as success comes to
him, but the moment his energies commence to wane, he should see to it
that he gets the right sort of young material in the institution to
keep up the enthusiasm and hard work which he himself has had.
In the very nature of things it is impossible for a man to keep up his
youthful pace in his mature age, for, as we have frequently observed,
you can't go fast far.
One of the principal elements in Marshall Field's success was that he
got enthusiastic, hard workers around him. The moment he saw signs of
laxity in any of these individuals, he let them out and got new
material.
Laxity means loss of power, and with loss of power the machine does not
do as good work.
Laxity in business is a waste.