Benjamin
Franklin's self-improvement program included 13 virtues that he felt were
important guides for living along with principles for each that would, in his
opinion, define a person of good character. He developed a scorecard for
evaluating how well he measured up to his own ideals. Throughout his life,
Franklin tried to live by these virtues though not always successfully.
The results of
the Virtue Quiz are as follows:
How you
measure up:
You made some
very virtuous choices. You chose the answers that closely reflected Ben's own
self-improvement plan. Although Franklin gave up on his formal effort to be
more virtuous, he devoted much of his life to self-improvement. You've made a
good start on that yourself.
You might
want to think about how you approach:
Tranquility:
Ben didn't sweat
the small stuff. Think about what's REALLY important to you in life, and worry
less about the smaller annoyances.
Select three of
Franklin's virtues and reflect upon them in your blog. Ask yourself, how can I
include them in my daily life?
Order: Let all your things have their places.
Let each part of your business have its time.
There is a time
and place for everything; these things must be accomplished in a precedential
order with allowances for multi tasking and shifting paradigms and priorities.
Family,
vocation, academics and home are all priorities that occasionally shift in the
order they need to be addressed and with respect to the necessity of the
situation.
The amount of
individual attention one gives each priority is directly proportional to the
individual need at a given time and individuals that are directly effected by
those shifting priority and decision making processes.
As a Master
Mason I am taught to devote eight hours for vocation, eight hours for sleep and
eight hours for family.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at
accidents common or unavoidable.
This is where
Ben and I part company, as a retired military member there is a defined need
“to sweat the small stuff”. As a matter of fact most CEO’s and persons of
influence and great responsibility such as a surgeon do in-fact sweat the small
stuff, as it inattention to detail that can get you into trouble, your
objective not being met or a life hanging in the balance may be lost. Also it
is possible to loose a trust or confidence that was afforded to you by an
inattention to detail.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body,
clothes, or habitation.
As the saying
goes… cleanliness is next to Godliness. That said and realizing we, as mortals
will never be able to fill Gods shoes while here on earth, we can emulate him to
be clean in mind, body and soul. As a member of society we owe it to our fellow
man to also be clean in our daily interactions with individuals in our
vocations, lifestyle and household. After all, do we as a person really trust
the individual to preform a duty or service who is unkempt in his or her vocation,
lifestyle or household?
Additional information:
I have had the
pleasure of reading several books by William Bennett. I find them clear concise
and to the point, without sugarcoating or attempting to lessen the reality of a
particular topic. As the saying goes “birds of a feather, flock together”.
Other good
books about virtues are books by William Bennett, including virtues for
children. And the classic “The Death of
Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals” also by William J.
Bennett.
Biography: William
J. Bennett served as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
under President George H. W. Bush and as Secretary of Education and Chairman of
the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Reagan. He holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree in philosophy from Williams College, a doctorate in political
philosophy from the University of Texas, and a law degree from Harvard.
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