By George Henry.

THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, Sept. 7, 1918.

If it were within my power I would so order it that every Silver Badge issued to a discharged soldier would be accompanied by a free enrollment for a course of Pelmanism.

For Pelmanism is of the greatest importance to the discharged soldier, and I am putting up my views in regard to it upon record because I believe that the lessons to be learned from my own case may be of some service to many thousands of my comrades in the great Brotherhood of the Silver Badge.

It is just a year since the day when I cast aside khaki, consigned my tin of "Soldier’s Friend" to oblivion and feverishly arrayed myself in the most flamboyant clothes that my tailor and hosier could provide…

In my pre-war days I had gained a comfortable income in the practice of my profession. My mind had enjoyed ample exercise and was always (if I may be forgiven a smile) at "concert pitch." And so I thought that, with a world teeming with new topics, ideas, and ideals, I could not fail to produce my best, and rebuild my shattered fortunes.

I took a holiday, and, returning, came to my desk filled with a resolve to work as never I had worked before.

It was just there that I came down to earth, and the bubbles of my childlike faith bespattered themselves on the stones of reality.

One morning of fruitless, futile scribbling showed me that nearly three years’ service as a soldier had had its inevitable effect on my mental processes.

• That nimble wit I had been so proud to possess positively would not be stimulated.
• That ability to analyze a subject and classify its components that had made my previous work clear and forceful had fled.
• That ease in the choice of the right word that had made work a recreation had taken a fancy for aviation and winged away.

And it was not just a matter of mood, for this inability to work persisted. In a week or two there came the realization that it was a chronic state. The reason was not far to seek. For nearly three years my every day activities had been planned ahead for me.

Almost my every action had been governed by the decisions of my superior officers. Day and night, week in, week out, I had, and rightly so, surrendered myself to the mechanical will of the military machine. My thinking had been done for me. I had no reason to think for myself. Indeed, I soon learned that "thinking for oneself" was a short path to the pleasures of "pack drill."

All of which resulted in a brain lying fallow. Its function had not been properly exercised—it was a great obese brain, over-fed with facts and impressions, suffering from a species of mental indigestion, torpid and unresponsive to my will.

I had, indeed, come to a pretty pass! It was necessary for me to earn at least double as much as in pre-war days merely to provide the bread and butter of respectability. How was I to make provision for this—much less for the occasional jam that makes life livable—with my mind rusted, faculties blunted, and thinking-power to a great extent atrophied by disuse?

Obsessed by this sort of query, little wonder that that sneaking little traitor, the Imp of Introspection, came upon the scene. I gave way to depression and doubt, and feared for my future. I began to think that I was going to be one of life’s "wash-outs," and in the light of later learning, I really think I did for a time belong to that peculiar species of humanity—until Pelmanism came to me!

Until Pelmansim came to me—by the prosaic path of a daily paper announcement, and the subsequent clipping of a coupon. Many thousand of Silver Badge men have hesitated over that same coupon. I wish I could make them realize to the full importance of it. For Pelmanism gave me what it has given many a thousand men and women. It gave me courage first of all. The first "little Grey Book" refreshed and stung my mind into activity, just as a plunge into a cold bath reinvigorates a tired body.

The Imp of Introspection and the legions of other mental devils who are his co-mates fled from my ken. I had no further use for them, and as "Grey Book" followed "Grey Book," and the fascinating exercises of Pelmanism unfolded their interest and charm, my mind began to bestir itself and throw off the shackles of its hibernation.

Pelmanism changed my whole outlook on life, gave me new interests, and made me THINK.

My mind began to function more speedily and easily. I found that I could collect my thoughts, concentrate on a subject, analyze and classify possibilities, and finally express myself without the hair-tearing and other temperamental performances which are popularly supposed to be the accompaniment of creative work. The upshot is that today my work is accomplished with ease, and I am never tired of reiterating the fact that Pelmanism pays for itself a thousandfold.

So much for my personal experiences of Pelmanism. I have dealt with my own case at length because it is typical of thousands of others. I have lately had an opportunity of investigating the work of Pelmanism, and found that the register of the Pelman Institute teems with cases of students who, at their introduction to the Course, had suffered from the same mental "dry-rot" that was once my portion.

I found, too, that among my brothers of the Silver Badge there is a great army of Pelmanists equipping itself for the stern struggle for a living that follows the laying down of the weapons of war. In many cases, officers who have appreciated the qualities of the men who served under them have paid for a course of Pelmanism for such men on their discharge from the Service.

The end.

Remember, What matters most in your life is YOU and what you do with your life.

Pelmanism is an authoritative message to taking Action—the Pelman Course reveals, in simple terms, that all action in life is preceded by THOUGHT.

To start reading this rare and unique course, simply scroll to the top of the page and click on the 15 Lessons link in the navigation bar.