J.C. Penney's Secrets to Success.

Over the past 3 weeks, I have tremendously enjoyed reading a book entitled "Lines of a Layman." The book was written by J.C. Penney who started the J.C. Penney store. The book is written in small yet practical chapters that are very interesting to read. After reading the book, I have shown my 7 biggest takeaways. These 7 topics are the ones he emphasized the most and have been great for me and hopefully you. You will find quotes of what he said under each thing.

1. Prayer

"For some time now, I have found the spending of 15 to 30 minutes each day in prayer to be exceedingly helpful, so much so that I would not let the day go by without this practice. In this way, my first thoughts before starting the day are on God, on Christ, on my spiritual needs, and those of others. Every technique of prayer is good, which draws men near to God.”

2. Church

“I believe that every man owes it to himself, his family, his community, and his country not only to refrain from labor on Sunday, but to interest himself in church. I believe in a strict observance of Sunday, the one institution having for its field of endeavor the worship of God and the combating of all manner of sinister and corrupting influences. A man in any walk of life who consciously observes the Sabbath by taking advantage of the inspirational and tranquilizing influences of such observance is made stronger physically, mentally, and spiritually.”

3. Hard Work

“It is a natural thing to want to succeed, but all are not willing to pay the price of success. Some folks have a wishbone instead of a backbone. They are not willing to subject themselves to hard labor in order to plant seeds of their ambition. They want to reap benefits, but without much work.”

4. Ambition

 “A young man of ordinary mind and body, with ordinary talents, led on by a great ambition, will accomplish far more than the man of the finest mental and physical equipment who drifts.”

5. Responsibility

“Responsibility is always a sign of trust. Any young man who takes as much interest in the business of his employer as he would in his own is bound to succeed. One should always work with this in mind. I intend to make myself so indispensable to this business that my firm cannot get along without me.”

6. Study

“There may be those who say they have lost, if they have ever had it, the faculty for study. They tell us they find no fascination in books. We grant such a deplorable condition possible, but what then? Why not cultivate a taste for study? Why not seek to reacquire a fondness for those things which study alone ensures? Why not to try to learn how to appreciate the joys that result from mental effort? The time spent in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding is rewarded by realization of ideals and growth and power and determination.”

7. Acceptance of Criticism

“Blessed be criticism, and it should always be welcome for the real good it does. A real critic need not be feared, for he is a friend. One of the easiest mistakes one can make is to conclude that he is a critic when actually he is only finding fault or giving an expression of personal opinion colored by prejudice. Intelligent criticism is never crude or rude. It is neither unkind nor unjust. It seeks a personal interest. It should be thoughtfully received and considered because of the kindly motivation with which it is given.”