students, "Be willing to have it so. Acceptance of what
has happened is the first step in overcoming the conse-
quences of any misfortune." And let me add: that advice
includes acceptance of what now is happening (and cannot
reasonably be prevented), and also what may be expected
inevitably to happen in the future. Be willing to have it so.
Don't fight it-if you can't beat it-ACCEPT itl Be willing
to have it so. Then adjust. When Fate closes one door,
Faith opens another. Seek the open doorl
Now let's consider the other kind of unpleas-
antness which is a problem that can and must be solved.
The following method is positively effective in solving all
kinds of problems, not just unpleasant ones.
It might be well to mention here that most
problems, as such, are not unpleasant, but primarily are
stimulating. Certainly that should be your attitude toward
all problems. For very many years, before I retired, I was
president of a multi-million-dollar advertiSing agency. We
used what we called the "Problem Approach Method" in
working for 102 clients. That simply means that we ap-
proached every situation assigned to us as a problem to
be solved. Naturally, we made a continuous study of all
the best methods of solving problems.
Here, in condensed form, is the most effective
method of solving problems:
(1) WRITE DOWN EXACTLY WHAT THE PROB-
LEM IS. Don't just think about it. Write it down.
Write it down exactly, precisely, concisely. Remember
that Charles Kettering, the great inventive genius of