Between 1771 and 1783 Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography. It contains a lot of what you would benefit from and is only about 175 pages long. Franklin could be called the grandfather of self-improvement literature in the United States. His Poor Richard’s Almanac series included many stories and advice for the common man. In fact, it was a collection of Yankee wisdom accumulated over decades.
Perhaps the most interesting and potentially useful part of Franklin’s autobiography is his description of his self-improvement project. As a young man, Franklin quickly came to understand his own weaknesses and the weaknesses of those around him that led to their failure. He was a keen observer and quickly picked up those habits that led to his success as well.
When he was twenty years old, he set out to improve himself in a very systematic way. He first ascertained the qualities that he found most important to cultivate, including Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and humility. Then he devised a simple daily log and chose one of these virtues each week to focus on. His record contained a matrix with a list of the virtues he wished to perfect in his life on the left side and on the top a list of the days of the week. Then he would mark a dot or check mark in each box when he did not meet his own expectations of the virtue he sought to practice that day. His goal was to have a week off from all brands showing success.
Franklin used this method off and on for several years until he perfected as many of the virtues as this method allowed. While Franklin would have been the first to admit that he never achieved perfection in any of these virtues, he is also known to have mastered several of them. As a young man, for example, he was known to be brash, argumentative, and rude. Over time he came to understand that such behavior was not for his own success. Through repeated self-discipline and efforts like these to modify his own habits and behavior, he became a man of great understanding. He became known for being a good listener, rarely offering his own opinion, and a man everyone liked and admired.
You can also use Franklin’s method of reflecting on your own behavior and habits and efforts to change them.
First decide what you would like to work to change about yourself. Find what you want to improve the most in your habits, behaviors and practices. Then make a list and decide to focus on one of those improvement items each week or month. Franklin chose a week because it seemed neither too short nor too long. You could do the same. Reflect each night before you retire on the day’s activities and note any failures you may have experienced or any notable successes in your behavior change. Each morning focus on what you plan to change and make the decision to do it.
You’ll also be more successful in this endeavor if you keep your little notebook with you and refer to it frequently throughout the day, both to remind yourself of what you’re looking to improve and to make sure you don’t forget to record your successes or failures.
You will discover, as Franklin did, that while you may not achieve perfection, you will change yourself in ways that will amaze you and bear great fruit in your future success.
Try Benjamin Franklin’s method of change and improvement. It’s simple and it won’t cost you a dime.