Don't know
where to start?
Why not take some advice from Benjamin Franklin who, in his autobiography,
attributes all of his success and happiness to just one practice? Franklin writes about his early years, and says
that in his youth, he determined that if he could “acquire the essential principles of successful living,” then
those principles should lead him to a successful life. But what method could he use to acquire them? A man cannot change his
skin over night. He decided to choose thirteen ideals that he would attempt to master in his life, and he decided to give
one week’s strict attention to each ideal, “leaving all others to their ordinary chance.”
In this way,
he would cycle through all thirteen ideals over the course of thirteen weeks, and then repeat the process four times a year.
Each time that an ideal would circle around, he would develop a new and deeper understanding of that ideal, and find new ways
to integrate it into his life. Franklin’s ideals were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity,
justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility—which he defined as imitating both Jesus and Socrates.
For the past
five years, I have cycled through my own rules. The fourteen rules that I have outlined in my book and on this website: cause
and effect, definition, reflection, focus, strategy, responsibility, vacuum, process, contribution, attraction, entropy, understanding,
persuasion and indirect effort. The impact that these rules have had on my life has been well worth the effort.
No one can
change everything in an instant. So, take one rule at a time, give it one week’s “strict attention,” and
leave all of the others to “their ordinary chance.” You will find links to each rule in turn at boarding.
If you don’t
like my rules, I hope you’ll write your own.
And have a
worthwhile life...
