Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-09-27
EARNING POWER
By H. Addington Bruce

| TRNING power, it is important for every
r. worker to understand, depends on gooc
many things in addition to mental ability
and technical skill. In particular it is affected
profoundly affected, by such factors as these
The attitude of the worker toward his work
The use of leisure.
The attitude toward the employer.
The life attitude in general.
The presence or absence of Self-control.
Not only workers who dislike their work
but also those who feel no really hearty inter
est in it, need ever hope to develop earning
power in any high degree. Whereas, enthusiasts
for tn work they do may find themselves able
to do that work better-hence to win promo
ton more rapdily-than many workers far bet
ter equipped than they in point both of inbor%
mental capacity and proficiency through train
ing.
This is especially likely to be the case if
besides being ardent workers, they are careful
to use their leisure wisely.
Workers who give their hours of freedom tc
anuSementS that deplete their vitality must
obviously lessen their earning power, if only
because of the i'll effects of their "fun on their
health. AmuSements that really refresh, on the
other hand, have a distinctly beneficial in
fluence so far as earning power is concerned
AS for the attitude toward the employer, this
is of Importance for several reasons, not least
of which is the relationship that exists be-
tween emotional states and productive ability
When sentiments such as envy animOSity
and even hatred of the employer obtain among
workerS-aS is too often the case in these days
of Bolshevistic propaga1da-the earning power
must inevitably diminish. Bitter sentiments re-
act unfavorably on all the vital processes hence
impair health and efficiency alike.
And just as bitterness towawrd the employer
lessons earning power through a damaging re-
action on mind and body, so does the earning
power lessen under the influence of general
life attitude that is predominantly gloomy. anx-
iouS, and respondent.
On the opposite. earning power is appreciably
increased when cheerfulnesS is the dominant
trend. George V. N. Dearborn does not ex-
aggerate in saying:
"Workday JOY has economic status. 1t is
highly dynamogenic, increasing the expenditure
of energy in every kind of work. happy girl
in paper-box factory will probably make at
least per cent more boxes in a day than the
same unhappy canpileup.
moreover. the work done under the stimulus
of joy is not only faster. but better in every
way. For it means an attentive interest in the
djuStmentS. making them more exact"
From all of which it follows that self-control
has much to do with earning power.
Some men conSpicuously lacking in self-con-
troll do, undenably, exhibit great power as
earnerS. But they are exceptions to the rule
that in proportion as control is absent earning
power will suffer As one, after ALL would
naturally expect
For the uncontrolled, being the prey of their
passions and desires, are prone so to behave
as to put constant strain on their physique
The outcome must be more or less weakening
of mental as we'll as bodily vigor.
Ponder this brief statement of trusms which
too many people see fit to ignore. Mayhap you
yourself have been ignoring one or all of them.
If so, you need no longer find it astonishing
that your earning power is nowhere near what
you believe it ought to be.
Copyright 1921, by The Associated Newspa-