Franklin Virtue Plan For Building New Habits

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin describes a system by which he cultivated thirteen values and virtues. He began by personally defining each virtue and setting specific rules to follow for each one. Using these rules, he determined precisely what actions were necessary to adhere to each value. For instance, Franklin defined the virtue of Temperance as follows:

Temperance – Eat not to dullness, drink not to intoxication.

In this way, he made each of his values specific and measurable. To ensure daily adherence, he listed all the values in a column and drew seven columns for the days of the week. He would focus on one value per week, marking a dot beside the virtue in the appropriate weekday column whenever he lapsed. He continued this until he could go an entire week without any marks for a given virtue, at which point he would move on to the next one. This process continued until he had cultivated all thirteen virtues.

This system is excellent for building new habits. Start by clearly defining and making your target habits measurable. Create a table with the habits in the left column and the weekdays along the top row. Focus on one habit at a time until you can go an entire week consistently adhering to it. In the following week, focus on the next habit while continuing to maintain the previous ones. For each lapse, mark a dot in the appropriate field and extend your focus on that habit by an additional week until you achieve a week without any lapses.

You may need to repeat this process multiple times until your habits are established and automatic. To reinforce your focus, you can write each habit clearly on a note card. Carry the note card with you or place it in a visible spot while focusing on a particular habit. This will help ensure you don’t forget it.

Task
Select a few habits you’d like to cultivate. Each habit should be clearly defined and measurable. Then, create a table with the habits in the left column and the days of the week in the remaining columns.
Focus on the first habit for an entire week, marking a dot for each lapse in the corresponding field of the table. Once you can maintain the habit for a full week without any lapses, add the second habit to your focus. After successfully following both habits for a week, add the next one, gradually building all habits with Franklin’s virtue Plan.