Modern social science has since proved that tracking and accountability are two key components of successful habit formation. He was also hundreds of years ahead of the curve for the fun and addictive trend of gamification. I came across 13 Virtues in college. It was mentioned in a couple of paragraphs in the middle of a magazine article about Franklin, but reading it was like that key tied to the end of Franklin's kite in the storm: It charged a sudden desire to try the method myself.
Adopting and adapting. In his autobiography, Franklin recommends that all his readers take the 13 Virtues challenge if they seek moral perfection. He defines each virtue, explains how they build upon one another and outlines how to chart one's progress. As excited as I was to try it out, I hacked the experiment slightly in a way that I hope Franklin would have approved.
First, I didn't adopt his list of virtues wholesale, although it was a good starting place. I took my own long, honest look in the mirror and chose virtues that better countered my personal shortcomings. I even asked my friends about my faults, because we're easily blind to them. Franklin explained how Humility was added to his list after a friend told him he needed to work on it.
Start a new good habit, kill an old bad one. Secondly, I didn't simply track how well I thought I exemplified a given virtue, as Franklin did. Instead, I gave myself specific tasks to complete each week. For me, these were more measurable and helped me take a step closer to that virtue. I volunteered for a charity, stopped procrastinating over a project, meditated, wrote poetry, wrote letters to friends, read interesting books, tried new ways to save money and started new workout routines.
And I tracked my progress in a notebook. I first wrote down the definitions for my own 13 virtues, kept a list of ideas for weekly goals for each virtue and then made entries stating my goal and my self-assessment at the end. I kept this up over five marble notebooks for a decade.
I also reassessed my list every year or two, swapping out virtues over time. Two were lifted from Franklin's list. The weekly tasks were often fun. One week, for Friendliness, I'd call a friend every day. Another week, I'd attempt going vegan for Morality. Erudition sent me looking up every word I came across and didn't know. Sometimes, I just learned something -- or something about myself -- and other times, 13 Virtues became a reason to do something enjoyable or interesting, especially in categories such as Creativity or Erudition.
Other weeks weren't as enjoyable, but they all felt like self-improvement. Because 13 weeks is a predictable schedule, I could plan ahead and incorporate vacations and holidays. Self-improvement experiments can be gratifying even while they're self-improving. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. These videos are meant to raise additional questions and enhance discussion, not replace it.
As the youngest son of the youngest son for five generations back, Benjamin Franklin was by custom and tradition destined to be a nobody. Yet thanks to his own resourcefulness, he more than escaped his destiny. His life spanned the 18th century, and he managed to see and to participate firsthand in much that it had to offer. Read more about Franklin. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other.
Read more on page 1 of the Worksheet PDF. Read more on pages 2 and 3 of the worksheet. Read more on page 4 of the worksheet. Read more on page 6 of the worksheet PDF.
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