Any American knows Ben Frankin was an important Founding father but most don't know…
…that beyond all the great things he did for the development of our country, he also had a wellness routine to help him thrive in life. Yes, you may already know he was the only founding father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the U.S. – the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Great Britain (1783) and the U.S. Constitution (1787). You may also know of many of his inventions and creations, but he was also into wellness and creating a thriving life?
Yes, he actually was a bit of a leader in the wellness space with his 13 Virtues that he lived by. In 1726, at the age of 20, Benjamin Franklin created a system to develop his character. The virtues in the system were…
- 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.e., Waste nothing.
- Industry: Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.
- 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 extremes. Forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
- Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes, or habitation.
- Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
- Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring; never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
- Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
My thoughts on these Virtues…
Now in all honesty virtuous living in the years that Ben Franklin was alive was still a thousand or two years after the Buddha or Jesus so certainly there were many people living virtuous live and practicing virtuous practices long before Ben Franklin. However, it is interesting knowing he started a virtuous regimen in his twenties and was able to commit to it his whole life. This may be one of the reasons he was so successful in his life.
One thing I must admit as well is that all people including Franklin are human and if you read Ben biography or autobiography you may see areas where he fell short of some of these virtues at times. I assume anyone of us will do the same from time to time, but it seems to me building a solid regimen in your life is a powerful way to live a thriving and fulfilling life.
Where I am at in life, my head goes to the Buddhist trainings I am studying currently as I read these 13 virtues. I think of the Middle Way which is said to facilitate enlightenment by avoiding the extremes of self-gratification on one hand and self-mortification on the other. I also think of Loving-Speech, Do No Harm or Reverence for Life and others from the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
Here is another interesting fact: Franklin created 13 Virtues for a reason. You see in Franklin’s practice, he focused on one virtue every week and he was able to go through his whole list of virtues 4 times a year to continually work on his virtues every week of the year. Each virtue got 4 weeks of practice a year. He even created a worksheet he used to tally which virtues he did well or where he messed up. How powerful is this as a concept in the 1720’s when he started this practice.
Conclusion…
No matter if you like or see value in Ben Franklin’s 13 virtues or you think you might create 13 (or any other number) of your own virtues is this something you would try? I love the idea and I call these Success Habits in my world. I do daily meditation every morning as soon as I wake up and this keeps me centered. I try to read at night and try to get in an hour of reading in each day. I study mindfulness, psychology, Taoism, and Buddhist philosophies on a regular basis and try to put these ideas into informal practices throughout my day.
I find this practice of building daily routines or healthy habits a powerful mix to create a thriving and a more fulfilled life. I hope you found these ideas helpful and if you have your own practice share with me in the comments what kind of things you are doing. If you do not have a program like this in place, but would like help building one that best serves you give me a shout and let’s talk. The coaching side of Hellagood Life is all about implementing concepts like this in your life.
Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you next week!