A Page From Mr. Franklin's Playbook

Ben Franklin (personal hero) famously worked on things he called "The Thirteen Virtues" for years and years and years. He devoted the largest chunk of his autobiography to them, actually. His Thirteen Virtues are, as follows:

"Temperance. Eat not to dullness; 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 employ'd 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; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."

"Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."

"Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."

"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."

"Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."

[Lifted shamelessly from Wiki because there's no way in hell I actually remembered all of that]

When I was in college, a poor undergrad with an English minor, we had to read excerpts from Franklin's autobiography. I remember that he would choose one of these virtues a week to work on--only one. The rest, he'd let just sorta let the chips fall where they may. I remember thinking it was a great idea because if you did it long enough, some of things you did during, say, "Humility Week" would eventually start bleeding over into "Cleanliness Week" without you consciously focusing on it because you became so used to behaving in certain ways. I thought it was an excellent way to work on things you disliked about yourself without becoming completely overwhelmed.

Since I've been thinking of the various ways that I want to better myself lately, I think I'm going to start doing this. My "virtues," of course, will be different from Ben Franklin's, and I doubt that the ideas I come up with will be so cohesive, but I figure that if you wanna change yourself for the better, you might as well jump in with both feet. As Teddy Roosevelt (another personal hero) said:

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Now to just decide what I want to start with....