y step to amazing
proportions if your promises are always kept.

The business world places much confidence in promises. The note in the
bank is a written evidence of the promise. The note says on the face of
it "I promise to pay." The Government of the United States issues bank
notes on the face of which is a promise.

When you make promises as regards dates, jot down the promise in your
memorandum book. Whatever you do, keep that promise. The man who breaks
his promise in little things will break them in greater ones.

When you make a promise to meet a man it is just the same as promising
to pay a man money. In either instance you are in the man's debt, and
the obligation is not cancelled until the debt is paid. In other words,
until the promise is fulfilled.

Just so sure as the sun sets, the man who habitually breaks his
promises will surely break his business.

Independence

It seems to be the rule rather than the exception that the moment a
business man attains success he grows independent.

There is no such thing as independence within the full meaning of the
word. Every creature in the world is dependent more or less.

The man who takes delight in his so-called independence and forces it
to the front, soon receives knocks.

The constant tapping and knocking hurts anyone. Boosts beat knocks. The
man who has a reputation for being independent never gets boosts.

Some business men forget the obligations they are under. They forget
the help that was extended to them in time gone by. They furnish up a
fine mahogany office, with an outer room, and outside of this another
room with an information desk. They cultivate coldness and
independence. They make it difficult for their friends to see them.
They put a lot of red tape around their business, and by these acts
they get out of touch with the pulse of the business. They look at
things through colored glasses. Their judgment gets warped.

In proportion as a man cultivates independence and autocratic ideas,
just so in proportion is he nearing the brink over which many have
fallen to destruction. When an independent man has a fall, his enemies
glory and loud are the shouts that arise from them, and if we listen
closely we will hear the multitude say: "Serves him right."

There is nothing like democracy in business. By this it must not be
understood that the head of the concern is to see every pedler, or
every life insurance agent. But if the business