Of course, as you would suspect, my reading assignment on January 1st would be Benjamin Franklin’s 13-point Virtues Plan, as if New Year’s resolutions are a thing. I won't spend much time talking about the plan itself because, frankly, I never followed it for more than a couple of days, let alone years, as Franklin did.
Franklin's concept of self-improvement, which he developed at age 20, was inspired by his study of philosophers and the virtues they assured were required for moral perfection. The thirteen virtues included: (1)
Temperance: Eat not to dullness and drink not to elevation.
Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.
Order: Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., Waste nothing.
Industry: Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.
Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice: Wrong none, by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Moderation: Avoid extremes. Forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring; Never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles or accidents common or unavoidable.
Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
It's fun to read Franklin's autobiography on the matter, recalled in fondness, and I'm sure, a tempered view from the age of 79. He skillfully (of course, this is Benjamin Franklin we are talking about) identifies the plan and his reasoning behind the processes intended to acquire each virtue in their full measure. Franklin noted a couple of affirmations at the top of his record-keeping book and created a prayer to seek divine help along the way. But true to form, life got in the way. He first ran into some difficulty (poking holes through the paper of his notebook) and went through several of his planned repetitions before business and travel abroad kept him too busy to attend to the details.
Franklin laments that Order (let all your things have their places) gave him the most trouble, which he blames on a good memory. For those who would laugh at this statement, I can attest to the truthfulness of the cause and effect. Not of my own accord, having a poor(er) memory, I firmly believe that everything should have a place and everything should be in that place concept. However, my lovely wife has an incredible memory and is more than comfortable putting things randomly about the house and knowing where to go to retrieve them when needed.
I love that Benjamin Franklin could never get the hang of the virtue (Order) and later admits (through the story of the speckled ax) that a person with perfect character might be envied and hated and, therefore, a benevolent man should make allowances to retain his friends by keeping a problem or two of his own. Franklin addresses his 13 virtue plan through his autobiography, hoping his posterity might benefit from his experience.
It feels awkward that I don't have a similar story to pass on to my posterity. The closest I come to self-improvement through a group of listed virtues would be The Power of TQ. The 10 Choices of Intentional Excellence include broad categories such as Energy, Mission, Attitude, Set Goals, Make Plans, etc., to which entrepreneurs E.R. Haas and Kent C. Madson added ten skills for each element. Finally, from each of these 100 items (10 broad categories x 10 skills each), Messrs Haas and Madson created guides, workbooks, and questions designed to bring out the ideas of successful living more personally. The effort by the E.R. Haas team led to over 10,000 different training systems, which I have studied for most of my professional life. The thirteen virtues plan seems simple by comparison; Benjamin Franklin was clearly the more intelligent, concentrating his efforts on thirteen versus the thousands I tried (in vain) to improve.
Written January 2, 2025
Grammarly provided editorial assistance.
Thanks for Reading!
References
(1) The Complete Harvard Classics 2021 Edition - ALL 71 Volumes: The Five Foot Shelf & The Shelf of Fiction. Volume 1 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Redhouse. Kindle Edition. Location 1388.