The Virtue of Industry

 "The Last Anvil Makers" by Nathan Green

The moral virtue of industry is perhaps among the most important of all, at least in terms of achieving work related goals. Firstly, it is quite indispensable towards one's success in almost any endeavor which requires effort or energy. Whether you apply the specific terms of work ethic, productivity, labor efficiency, or other terms, you need to develop and maintain some form of applied dedication in your life. I personally prefer the use of the word industry, because I feel that it best sums up what I am trying to develop, among the related terms for work-related values. It is with this virtue that one can build enormous fortunes, move entire mountains, or clear out tons of excrement from their lives. One can never have enough industry in their attitude and being.   

Being industrious implies a number of things. It means that you strive to make the most of your time, it means you can put up long hours, it means that you are steady and consistent in your work habits, and it means that you get things done. It is a very powerful virtue, a driving force for accomplishment and progress that can and should be applied to everyday life. It allows you to check off from the to-do list all of your priorities in proper order and in due time, but it can also be applied with equal effectiveness on the minutiae such as reorganizing your favorite videos on Youtube. Once you reach a certain level of industry or let's say work rate, you are in a position to move up to the next highest tier, because you can always find that better way to employ yourself, that more efficient way to shave off a few minutes or move faster. The standard bar you apply on one day is meant to be broken on a future date, and surpassed yet again after that. You should never be entirely comfortable with a level you maintain in regards to industry, because there is always room for improvement somewhere, in some way. You cannot really be certain if you are maxed out even if you feel that way, because the reality may be that you are capable of doing much more.  

Being in a state of high industriousness is like living in a sacred place where time becomes a watchful and admiring friend. The experience is like moving through another dimension, doing things naturally with little pause or hesitation, like being in a fluid state of thought and immediate sustained action. It is like becoming a living machine which senses and experiences fully, except is almost unaware of limitations such as fatigue or difficulty. Industry overcomes, overpowers, forces submission and demands domination. Industry does not yield, it is an overdriving and sublime sensation when experienced at its height as an emotion. It is perfectly reliable, perfectly consistent, always intends to be of maximum use and always trys to eliminate that which is not a necessity. Time, actions, and eternity-this is industry.