This week, we were introduced to Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues and his charting system.

What is Benjamin Franklin’s Virtues?
These 13 virtues served as a guide to him and inspired to live into the virtues on a daily basis for most of his life. He attributed most of his success and happiness to the pursuit of these virtues to become a virtuous man. He was on a path of self development and realized that he needed to take his personal growth into his own hands. He conceived of the virtues to model his behavior.

Ben Franklin’s virtues are: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility.
The virtues are listed on a chart, vertically, and the days of the week are listed horizontally.
You work on each virtue weekly, then repeat. A great example of this and his journaling can be found in his autobiography and in the book: Franklin’s Ways: 13 Virtues For A Better Life

The MKE Franklin Makeover
In light of this, MKE is implementing their own version to pursue. This system helps us become more aware of our behavior and thinking in our daily activities. This awareness allows us to harvest these virtues and combine them into a powerful ally. We identify the virtue and score upon it, much like Ben Franklin did in his journal.

The virtues that we are using are: Courage, Imagination, Persistence, Self-Control, Decisiveness, Well Organized, Cooperation, Pleasing Personality, Taking Initiative, Enthusiasm, Specialized Knowledge, Kindness, and See God In Others.

As many of our tasks are built upon, it’s about being an observer and building awareness in our subconscious.
I started with Taking Initiative virtue this week and I’m seeing/observing literally thousands of instances of people taking initiative, including myself.

I’m finding this to be a fun to do and looking forward to the benefits of bettering my behaviors and personal growth.
I’ve got a feeling that I will be continuing this exercise long after the next thirteen weeks, perhaps, the next thirteen years, and beyond…

See you next week!