Let’s take the case of Galen Litchfield—a man I have knownfor several years; one of the most successful American businessmen in the Far East. Mr. Litchfield was in China in 1942， whenthe Japanese invaded Shanghai. And here is his story as he told itto me while a guest in my home：“Shortly after the Japs took Pearl Harbour，” Galen Litchfieldbegan， “they came swarming into Shanghai. I was the managerof the Asia Life Insurance company in Shanghai. They sent us an‘army liquidator’—he was really an admiral—and gave me ordersto assist this man in liquidating our assets. I didn’t have anychoice 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， becauseI had no alternative. But there was one block of securities， worth ＄750，000， which I left off the list I gave to the admiral. I left thatblock of securities off the list because they belonged to our HongKong organisation and had nothing to do with the Shanghaiassets. All the same， I feared I might be in hot water if the Japsfound out what I had done. And they soon found out.
“I wasn’t in the office when the discovery was made， but myhead accountant was there. He told me that the Jap admiral flewinto a rage， and stamped and swore， and called me a thief and atraitor！ 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 JapaneseGestapo！ I had had personal friends who had killed themselvesrather than be taken to that prison. I had had other friends whohad 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 supposeI should have been terrified. And I would have been terrified ifI hadn’t had a definite technique for solving my problems. Foryears， whenever I was worried I had always gone to my typewriterand written down two questions—and the answers to thesequestions：
“1. What am I worrying about?
“2. What can I do about it?
“I used to try to answer those questions without writing themdown. But I stopped that years ago. I found that writing downboth the questions and the answers clarifies my thinking. So， thatSunday 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 tomorrowmorning.
“Then I typed out the second question：“2. What can I do about it?
“I spent hours thinking out and writing down the four coursesof action I could take-and what the probable consequence of eachaction would be.
1. I can try to explain to the Japanese admiral. But he “no speakEnglish”。 If I try to explain to him through an interpreter， I maystir him up again. That might mean death， for he is cruel， wouldrather dump me in the Bridge house than bother talking aboutit.
2. I can try to escape. Impossible. They keep track of me allthe time. I have to check in and out of my room at the Y.M.C.A. IfI 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 sendsoldiers to get me and throw me into the Bridge-house withoutgiving me a chance to say a word.
4. I can go down to the office as usual on Monday morning. IfI do， there is a chance that the Japanese admiral may be so busythat 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 chanceto try to explain to him. So， going down to the office as usual onMonday morning， and acting as if nothing had gone wrong givesme two chances to escape the Bridge-house.
As soon as I thought it all out and decided to accept the fourthplan—to go down to the office as usual on Monday morning—Ifelt immensely relieved.
Basic Techniques In Analysing Worry When I entered the office the next morning， the Japaneseadmiral sat there with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Heglared 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 sittingdown that Sunday afternoon and writing out all the various stepsI could take and then writing down the probable consequences ofeach step and calmly coming to a decision. If I hadn’t done that，I might have floundered and hesitated and done the wrong thingon the spur of the moment. If I hadn’t thought out my problemand come to a decision， I would have been frantic with worry allSunday afternoon. I wouldn’t have slept that night. I would havegone down to the office Monday morning with a harassed andworried look; and that alone might have aroused the suspicion ofthe Japanese admiral and spurred him to act.
“Experience has proved to me， time after time， the enormousvalue of arriving at a decision. It is the failure to arrive at a fixedpurpose， the inability to stop going round and round in maddeningcircles， that drives men to nervous breakdowns and living hells.
I find that fifty per cent of my worries vanishes once I arriveat a clear， definite decision; and another forty per cent usuallyvanishes once I start to carry out that decision.
So I banish about ninety per cent of my worries by takingthese 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 large part of his success to this method of analysing worry and meetingit head-on.