Benjamin Franklin Self-Improvement Project

Between 1771 and 1783 Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography. It contains a lot that 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 great observer and quickly learned those habits that led to his success.

When he was twenty years old, he set out to improve himself very systematically. He first ascertained the qualities he found most important to cultivate, including Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and humility. He then 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 a list of the days of the week on the top. Then he would mark a point or a 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 on and off for several years until he perfected many of the virtues as far 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. He over time he came to understand otherwise that kind of behavior was for his own success. Through repeated self-discipline and efforts such as 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 of himself, and a man everyone loved 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 on changing about yourself. Find what you most want to improve 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 retiring on the day’s activities and write down 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 a decision to do it.

You’ll also be more successful in this endeavor if you carry 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 pay off in your future success.

Try Benjamin Franklin’s method of change and improvement. It’s simple and won’t cost you a dime.