I Believe: A Creed for the Individual Who Has the Capacity to Help Himself
FEBRUARY 1932
VOLUME 149
BY JOHN TOMAJAN
1. I believe in myself.
2. I believe in my own power to act to eliminate depression from the world by removing its causes
(a) from my own private life;
(b) from my own business or profession;
(c) from the group with which I am in contact, whether it be my friends, my business associates, my clients or customers, or my competitors.
3. I will, myself, begin now to use my power to this end.
4. I will undertake to bring about action to eliminate depression on the part of those who are within my control or influence.
WHAT IS THE PRESENT CONDITION ?
As it concerns me, personally.
In order more clearly to see my course of action, let me review my own situation now.
For more than two years our country has been in a depression.
During most of that time I have been depending upon some force outside myself to change the condition from depression to prosperity.
In my willingness to let someone or something else push me out of the depression, I have done nothing constructive myself to bring about prosperity.
I find myself in a state of inertia.
It is a law of nature that a body remains at rest or moves in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force.
I have obeyed that law.
But I have failed to realize that nature has given me power — the power of my own mind — to move my own body to action, and to move others to action.
I have failed to think constructively about this external force which I possess and which can and will overcome the inertia from which I suffer.
Copyright 193S, by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.
Although I have had the power to overcome this inertia by applying this force of constructive thought, I have not used that power.
Nature insists upon growth. There is no standing still in nature. There can be no growth where there is inertia. The only alternative is death.
Growth is a surplus of return over expenditure.
In other words, growth is profit.
And, therefore, if I am to be in tune with the law of nature, I must always think and act profitably. I must grow.
There must be no standing still in my life.
I must end inertia in myself.
I must move forward.
The power of my mind is the force which can put an end to this inertia in me.
Although I have not been using this power, I still have it to use if I will. Nothing can take it from me. No one can use it but myself.
The question, then, is: —
How can I use that power to move myself forward and upward?
As it concerns my relations with others.
I find that I am not alone in this condition of inertia. Nor am I alone in my failure to employ the power of the individual mind as the force to overcome inertia. The general attitude around me seems to be beset with the belief that the evil is caused by a power beyond our control and that the cure must come also from a power beyond our control.
A real emergency exists.
It has been common for people whose opinions receive wide publicity to propose panaceas such as public building programmes, anticipatory industrial expansion, ‘ Buy to bring back prosperity’ campaigns — in short, all manner of plans for expenditures which have neither a basis in actual present need nor any prospect for future profit. Their purpose is purely to provide a sedative during an emergency.
Too little thought has been given in these proposals to the fundamental principle that, unless a profitable effect is to be secured by these expenditures, the condition which it is sought to correct is likely to be made more acute.
If the purpose of public building programmes is simply to provide employment during an emergency, the same problem of unemployment will return as soon as the programme has been completely executed.
If railroads and private enterprises embark upon expansion plans not justified on the grounds of the profitable operation of their businesses, but only to perform what may appear to be a public duty in providing employment, they will not have solved the real problem. They will simply have deferred its solution.
Specifically, no business action should be taken in the depression which is in itself not profitable at any time. No action should be taken in the depression which would not have been taken if no depression existed.
If anything is done to relieve the effects, as distinguished from the causes, of depression, it should be done not with the idea of ’bringing back prosperity,’not for business advance, but with an honest realization that a social, not an economic, need is being met, and that the value of this action is palliative, not preventive.
There is no double standard as to what constitutes ‘good business.’ There is only a single standard. That same standard applies both in times of depression and in times of prosperity.
WHERE IS ADVANCE COMING FROM?
From what source, or from what types of minds, is to come this external force which will end inertia and start growth?
Not from the Parasite. He seeks in all his activities to reap profits from the work of others, but is unwilling himself to make any useful expenditure.
Not from the Ignorant. His mind is incapable of studying the situation, distinguishing useful from wasteful action, or selecting the correct course to pursue.
Not from the Beggar. He will not work. He seeks to be supported by others.
Not from the Gambler. He depends upon chance to provide for his comfort and well-being.
This external force cannot be found in any of these types of minds.
It can come only from the Worker who has a logical, independent, initiating mind. He alone is the individual who can supply the external force to overcome this inertia.
I believe in myself as an individual who has this power. And, therefore, I willingly undertake the responsibility which rests with me as a logical, independent, initiating Worker.
But I recognize that the need is for skilled, not unskilled, Workers. Therefore, I must make myself a skilled Worker.
PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION AS THEY AFFECT ME
Prosperity and Depression are terms which constantly come up in written or oral discussions. These two terms describe, rather than define, composite conditions. They are composites of the condition of every individual in the community.
Since I am attempting to find my place in a programme of positive advance, I must first define these terms as they relate to myself.
Prosperity is a condition in which there is available on the part of most people in the community a surplus of return over expenditure. This surplus is available for expansion in consumption. Expansion in consumption means higher living standards for everyone. This surplus, put into circulation, makes possible greater income for those through whose hands it passes. And, if all who are in the economic chain have their affairs in balance, each recipient of this surplus in circulation continues to keep it in circulation.
In other words, prosperity is a condition in which most individuals, and hence the community, have their affairs in order, with the result that there is a surplus of return over expenditure — namely, a profit.
It comes back to the individual. And therefore, if there is to be prosperity, I must, to do my part, look for profit in my activities.
Depression is a state where bodily and mental forward action has ceased. As considered here, it is caused by an economic condition. Again this is much easier to understand if I think of it in terms of me.
If my income is not sufficient to cover my expenditures, and if this situation continues, I become depressed.
This discouraged feeling taints all my activities and my attitude toward my work, my associates, my life.
So long as my income is not sufficient to cover my outgo, I become increasingly depressed.
And inasmuch as the community is made up of individuals, if the majority of its members are in that same condition, there is a general depression — a generally depressed attitude.
In other words, depression is a condition during which most individuals — hence the community — are in a discouraged state of mind because their efforts are not yielding profitable results. They have no surplus of returns over expenditures.
Now to return to myself: —
It is natural for me to feel that of the two factors, income and outgo, the only variable is income. I am likely to feel that my expenses are fixed. Consequently I am inclined to conclude that I am at the mercy of income, which, by being above outgo, makes me rich, and, by being below outgo, leaves me poor.
This is not only incorrect. It is dangerous.
Control of profits for me lies in outgo, — expenditures, — not in income. There can be no return without expenditure. But profit lies in control of expenditure, a measuring of expenditure by the result to be obtained, and an exercise of that control to produce a steadily increasing surplus over the expenditure which has been made.
This requires me to secure quality of action.
I must postpone thought of quantity of profit growth until I am assured of its quality.
To repeat, outgo must be measured by results and must be controlled if profit growth is to be achieved. And my outgo can be just as clastic as income if facts are faced squarely and prompt application is made of whatever measures are necessary to adjust the expenditure to the return with a view to obtaining profit growth.
When it becomes my will, and the will of the individuals who compose the mass, that we shall make our own prosperity, — not wait to have it made for us, — surpluses will be built up. And because, under those conditions, most individuals will be in a position of growth, — of living within their incomes, — depression will disappear and prosperity will take its place.
WHAT SHOULD I Do?
If I agree to these definitions,
If I agree that the condition of the community is the total of the conditions of its component parts,
If I agree that I, as an individual, can control my own personal situation by applying myself the mental force that will overcome the inertia in me — If I agree to all this, then my course is clear.
1.I must put my own personal affairs on a basis of liquidity. I must so arrange my affairs that nothing will depress me and hinder my progress. I must analyze every expenditure I make of time, energy, space, or money, and measure it in terms of the result to be attained. For growth, the effect of my action must exceed the cause. If in any of my expenditures I cannot prove that a surplus or a profitable result will be obtained, I must either eliminate those expenditures or revise them.
I must put my own house in order.
2. I must put my business or profession in that position.
3. I must act to help all those with whom I am associated, or with whom I deal, to arrive at that position.
4. I must give circulation to the doctrine of the power of the individual to control conditions.
5. I must act to neutralize the vicious doctrine of dodging individual responsibility.
6. I must exert my efforts to supplant that doctrine with one which demands that I do my part to help make those with whom I deal prosperous, — that is, in a profitable position, — by seeing to it that I am myself in a position of liquidity — that is, one in which my action is free of depressing influences and produces growth.
WHAT CAN I Do?
It is relatively simple for me to cast a balance of income and outgo so far as my personal fortunes are concerned. I should know with reasonable accuracy my prospects for income. I should govern my expenditures accordingly. The problem is one of living within my means.
No less important is the problem of the individual business. The source of income in a business is sales — the distribution of its products to the consumer. The source of sales is consumption — that is, the use of the product. Therefore, in striking a balance between income and outgo in a business, it is necessary to determine with reasonable accuracy the probable consumption in that business — that is, the probable use of its product.
Many businesses, for one reason or another, have now become unprofitable. And many businesses are still waiting for a great miracle to transform their position into one of profit by suddenly increasing their volume of sales.
They are looking for action taken by others to push them ahead. They are not looking to increase the quality of their own work.
The external power which they should seek in order to advance is the mental power of the men who direct their affairs. It lies within themselves. It must be exercised. There lies the fundamental force for forward action. It must be applied from within. It will not come from without.
To repeat: —
There are two ways to profit — by increasing income or by controlling expenditure. Yet, while I mention them as two ways, they are not mutually exclusive.
The usual practice seems to be to do nothing about expenditures until all efforts to obtain increased income have failed.
The correct process is just the reverse. Control expenditures, — the basis of the returns, — and the returns are automatically controlled.
I do not say ‘eliminate expenditures.’ I do say ‘control expenditures.’ And when I speak of expenditures, I do not limit myself simply to money expenditures.
Any expenditure, whether of time, effort, energy, space, money, — in short, everything that goes together to make what I produce, — is a subject for keen scrutiny and rigid control.
Useful expenditure precedes profit.
Wasteful expenditure destroys profit.
The control of expenditures is wholly within the province of the individual or the single organization.
And it is my duty as an intelligent, independent individual to make the selection in the scope of my own activities, take action to eliminate wasteful practices, and control my expenditures and ensure their usefulness by proving, before any expenditure is made, that the results obtained will be profitable.
WHAT MUST I Do TO-DAY?
The community is made up of individuals, and the condition of the community reflects the condition of those who compose it. In the same manner, a business is the sum total of the work of those who are engaged in it. And its profitability as a whole depends entirely on the profit growth that each individual puts into the work he is doing.
It is true that, unless I am in charge of a business, I cannot have a broad influence in it.
But: —
I am in charge of my own work and my own life.
I am an individual.
I am the least common denominator of the group with which I am identified.
I am the single cell which, in combination with other cells, composes the body of the community.
I can influence general conditions in my group by the manner in which I conduct my own life and my own affairs.
Therefore: —
1. I must first put my own personal affairs in order.
2. I must see to it that in my own daily work, whatever it may be, I review it carefully, and skillfully eliminate all wasteful action, and limit myself only to useful action.
3. I must put my own daily work on a profitable or profit-producing basis. I must work to secure a proved surplus of return over expenditure.
4. I must propagate the doctrine that prosperity comes from within and not from without.
5. I must see to it that those who come within the scope of my influence will apply their efforts to the same end.
This is my creed — and all these things I can and will do, beginning today.