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. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has famously given himself interesting annual goals such as meeting a new person every day, learning Mandarin, writing thank-you notes and reading a book every fortnight.
The 'know thyself' weight loss resolution. The road to perfection can take many routes and is worth the journey, even if you never arrive at the destination. Although I've taken a break from 13 Virtues, there are some experiments and projects I still do today that were forged in its fire. I started writing letters to myself in the future during a week of Introspection and kept it up ever since. 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.
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 extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. Tranquility Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.
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