Evening star., 1927-10-02
the First Job Has Little Effect on Ultimate Success

from experience They come from fail.
ure in recitation and vet attack the
next lesson with determination To
master. The old proverb If at irst
YOU don't succeed. try. try again is
a psychological truism TODAY.
Base ball fans OF quarter century
ago Will remember Edward Morgan
Lewis After several successful years
at professional ball ne went in for
higher education and proved his
mastery of his new profession when
he was elected dean of the Massaehu-
setts Agricultural College in 1924.
Even in the early years OF school
we should try TO understand our
abilities and disa hilities to think over
the problems Of life rather seriously
from the point Of view OF the oopor
tunities it offers. endeavor to see in
some OF these opportunities some
thing for which We have some apti-
tude. as well as some interest: get
the best training We can. and when
that adventure of life. the first lob.
is entered into We should try to real
ize that this is the proving ground.
that We may advance far in this par
ticular job il we avoid the pitfalls
have described above. But we
should also have the courage to
change our job. even when such
change results in a lower salary. If
We see in other work something we
are sure we are better fitted for and
will be happier in.
MEMS failures are seldom the result
of one single factor. They are
far more often the result of various
factors, some of which are the results
of faulty early training, some coming
from the individuals own encourage
ment of tendency to fly from
reality rather than to face it. that
mental trend fostered in childhood
that leads the individual to escape
from hard tasks by indulging in day
dream or fantasy. 1t is the flight
from reality that leads the hard
worked Office boy with his humdrun
tasks TO dream OF himself as the
great home run hitter. drawing .
salary OF $4,000 a year and riding
around in high powered motors. Not
that We don't all have our day-
dreams and profit by these imagins-
tive flights. hut it is when we use
them constantly as our escape from
disagreea BILE tasks and when they
become a habitual alibi that they un-
ht us for life's work. And some fail
from the fact that round peg is OBJ
viously trying TO fit itself into q
square hole. like an earnest student
and ardent lover of modern languages
| know. who is failing as a furniture
salesman because he hates it and Is
doing it only because a. domineerinr
father insists on the sons learning
the family business.
Unhappiness, mediocrity and fail
ure would at times be obviated if
employers would orient their en-
ployes when they start their first
job. At this time some direction
about the nature and purpose of the
work. some explanation of the diffi-
culties and a few hints as to method
of approaching the task may be the
determinant of success or failure
Not that spoon-feeding at this stage
is to he encouraged. but the employer
should not forget that many a good
racehOrse has been taken to a well
built racetrack. but spoiled by the
crude methods of its trainer. It has
been determined that the ma jority
of flying accidents are due not to
faulty planes, but to lack Of more
training of the aviator or to person.
ality defects in the flyers. Proper
selection of human material for jobs
and proper training in the work can
not be too strongly emphasized.
l|Dohltk dL tNe pTODlem OF lie
frankly, we realize that it is a matter
Of many adjustments. The human
mechanism is constantly being called
upon TO make such adjustments,
some of them so simple that we
make them automatically-such as
the adjustment that the body makes
when we climb steep hill. in the
faster brea thing and the increased
pulse rate, or the wearing of warmer
clothes in cold weather. or refraining
from a hearty meal just before we
are going to take strenuous exercise.
But other adjustments are more
subtle. They lie in the control OF
our emotions, in the ability to face
the realities of a situation rather
than TO wrap ourselves in cotton wool
and find ourselves in world Of fam
tasy. in learning how to live with
people by actual experience in doing
so rather than by simply reading
about it in books. The ability to
make these adjustments while we
are in the formative years means the
ability to succeed in our life job
and the lack of it usually spells
or failure.