Good 'Ol Benjamin Franklin

I came across some profound wisdom recently. I thought it was worth passing on. In my humble opinion, we've drifted a long ways away from how Benjamin Franklin saw his world. Maybe it's time we learned from one of our great Founding Fathers instead of just "drinking the Kool-Aid" distributed by people who only think they are hip? Sometimes "hip" isn't where we need to be. Read this and decide for yourself.

Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Principles for Success

During the course of Benjamin Franklin’s illustrious life, he recognized that certain ideologies helped bring him his remarkable success. He developed a simple method to master the 13 principles: he gave special attention to a different principle each week, and in the course of a year, he practiced all 13 principles 4 different times.

1. Temperance – watch what you eat and drink and take care of your body.

2. Silence – don’t say anything if you can’t say something significant or something nice about somebody else.

3. Order – there’s a place for everything and everything should be in its place.

4. Resolution – do what has to be done and do what you say you’re going to do.

5. Frugality – waste nothing and be very careful about the way you use money.

6. Industry – don't waste your time. Get rid of the unnecessary tasks in your life, and always be doing something that is useful

7. Sincerity – be honest in all your communications. No deceit. No manipulation.

8. Justice – It's all about being kind and fair. Or as Franklin put it, "Wrong no one."

9. Moderation – avoid extremes and seek moderation. You don't have to win every argument, for example. You could agree to disagree.

10. Cleanliness – have a clean body, clean clothing, and a clean house, Franklin advocated this.

11. Tranquility – choose your fights carefully; don't get upset about those things that don't really matter. As Franklin wrote, "Be not disturbed at trifles."

12. Chastity – choose morality; no one ever got ahead ... forever ... by doing the wrong things ... for long.

13. Humility – be truly humble.

Finally, Sam Palmisano, CEO of IBM, once pointed this out, "Some of the best advice I ever received was unspoken. Over the course of my IBM career I've observed many CEO's, heads of state, and others in positions of great authority. I've noticed that some of the most effective leaders don't make themselves the center of attention."