Self-reliance, conjoined with promptitude in the execution of our
undertakings, is indispensable to success. And yet multitudes live a
life of vacillation and consequent failure, because they remain
undetermined what to do, or, having decided that, have no confidence
in themselves. Such persons need to be assured; but this assurance can
be obtained in no other way than by their own successes in whatever
they may attempt for themselves. If they lean upon others, they not
only become dissatisfied with what they achieve, but the success of
one achievement, in which they are entitled to but partial credit, is
no guaranty to them that, unaided, they will not fail in their very
next experiment.
For want of self-reliance and decision of character, thousands are
submerged in their first essays to make the voyage of life.
Disappointed and chagrined at this, they underestimate their own
capacities, and thenceforward, relying on others, they take and keep a
subordinate position, from which they rise, when they rise at all,
with the utmost difficulty. When a young man attains his majority, it
is better for him, as a general rule, to take some independent
position of his own, even though the present remuneration be less than
he would obtain in the service of others. When at work for himself, in
a business which requires and demands foresight, economy, and
industry, he will naturally develop the strong points of his
character, and become self-reliant.
A glance at the business men of any community will show who have and
who have not improved the opportunities of their earlier years. The
former transact their business with ease, promptitude, and profit.
They rely upon themselves, and execute what they have to do with
energy and dispatch. But those who shirked everything in their youth
are compelled to rely on their clerks and salesmen for advice, and are
never ready to act when occasions of profit arise. Many parents commit
a lamentable error in this respect. They lead their children to
believe that they can do nothing without the constant assistance of
their superiors, and after awhile the child becomes impressed with
that idea. Fortunate will it be for him when he emerges from the
parental roof, if he can at once acquire the self-reliance which has
been kept down at home--otherwise he must necessarily fail in whatever
independent enterprise he undertakes; and in such a case, while the
misfortune is his own, the fault lies at the door of misjudging
parents rather than at his own.
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