“Shortly after the Japs took Pearl Harbour，”Galen Litchfield began，“they came swarming into Shanghai.I was the manager of the Asia Life Insurance Company in Shanghai.They sent us an ‘army liquidator’—he was really an admiral—and gave me orders to assist this man in liquidating our assets.I didn’t have any choice in the matter.I could co-operate—or else.And the ‘or else’was certain death.
“I went through the motions of doing what I was told，because I had no alternative.But there was one block of securities，worth750，000，which I left off the list I gave to the admiral.I left that block of securities off the list because they belonged to our Hong Kong organisation and had nothing to do with the Shanghai assets.All the same，I feared I might be in hot water if the Japs found out what I had done.And they soon found out.
“I wasn’t in the office when the discovery was made，but my head accountant was there.He told me that the Jap admiral flew into a rage，and stamped and swore，and called me a thief and a traitor！I had defied the Japanese Army！I knew what that meant.I would be thrown into the Bridge house！
“The Bridge house！The torture chamber of the Japanese Gestapo！I had had personal friends who had killed themselves rather than be taken to that prison.I had had other friends who had died in that place after ten days of questioning and torture.Now I was slated for the Bridge house myself！
“What did I do？I heard the news on Sunday afternoon.I suppose I should have been terrified.And I would have been terrified if I hadn’t had a definite technique for solving my problems.For years，whenever I was worried I had always gone to my typewriter and written down two questions—and the answers to these questions：
“1.What am I worrying about？“2.What can I do about it？
“I used to try to answer those questions without writing them down.But I stopped that years ago.I found that writing down both the questions and the answers clarifies my thinking.So，that Sunday afternoon，I went directly to my room at the ShanghaiY.M.C.A.and got out my typewriter.I wrote：“1.What am I worrying about？
I am afraid I will be thrown into the Bridge house tomorrow morning.
“Then I typed out the second question：“2.What can I do about it？
“I spent hours thinking out and writing down the four courses of action I could take-and what the probable consequence of each action would be.
1.I can try to explain to the Japanese admiral.But he “no speak English”.If I try to explain to him through an interpreter，I may stir him up again.That might mean death，for he is cruel，would rather dump me in the Bridge house than bother talking about it.
2.I can try to escape.Impossible.They keep track of me all the time.I have to check in and out of my room at the Y.M.C.A.If I try to escape，I’ll probably be captured and shot.
3.I can stay here in my room and not go near the office again.If I do，the Japanese admiral will be suspicion，will probably send soldiers to get me and throw me into the Bridge-house without giving me a chance to say a word.
4.I can go down to the office as usual on Monday morning.If I do，there is a chance that the Japanese admiral may be so busy that he will not think of what I did.Even if he does think of it，he may have cooled off and may not bother me.If this happens，I am all right.Even if he does bother me，I’ll still have a chance to try to explain to him.So，going down to the office as usual on Monday morning，and acting as if nothing had gone wrong gives me two chances to escape the Bridge-house.
As soon as I thought it all out and decided to accept the fourth plan—to go down to the office as usual on Monday morning—I felt immensely relieved.
When I entered the office the next morning，the Japanese admiral sat there with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.He glared at me as he always did；and said nothing.Six weeks later—thank God—he went back to Tokyo and my worries were ended.
As I have already said，I probably saved my life by sitting down that Sunday afternoon and writing out all the various steps I could take and then writing down the probable consequences of each step and calmly coming to a decision.If I hadn’t done that，I might have floundered and hesitated and done the wrong thing on the spur of the moment.If I hadn’t thought out my problem and come to a decision，I would have been frantic with worry all Sunday afternoon.I wouldn’t have slept that night.I would have gone down to the office Monday morning with a harassed and worried look；and that alone might have aroused the suspicion of the Japanese admiral and spurred him to act.
“Experience has proved to me，time after time，the enormous value of arriving at a decision.It is the failure to arrive at a fixed purpose，the inability to stop going round and round in maddening circles，that drives men to nervous breakdowns and living hells.I find that fifty per cent of my worries vanishes once I arrive at a clear，definite decision；and another forty per cent usually vanishes once I start to carry out that decision.
So I banish about ninety per cent of my worries by taking these four steps：
“1.Writing down precisely what I am worrying about.“2.Writing down what I can do about it.
“3.Deciding what to do.
“4.Starting immediately to carry out that decision.”
Galen Litchfield today is one of the most important Americanbusiness men in Asia；and he confesses to me that he owes a largepart of his success to this method of analysing worry and meeting it head-on.
William James said this：“When once a decision is reached and execution is the order of the day，dismiss absolutely all responsibility and care about the outcome.”In this case，William James undoubtedly used the word “care”as a synonym for “anxiety”.）He meant—once you have made a careful decision based on facts，go into action.Don’t stop to reconsider.Don’t begin to hesitate worry and retrace your steps.Don’t lose yourself in self-doubting which begets other doubts.Don’t keep looking back over your shoulder.
