Rung Two thoughts: Tallies
Evaluate all 13 virtues at the end of each day. Mark a dot for any time you think of when you didn't hit the mark. Now ... let's count dots! Why? Because data is fun!
Reader’s note: Reminder that Rung Two is “The achievement of one’s objectives requires a good plan and consistent effort.” This is an update on how my dots in Franklin’s virtue marking system are working for me.
Here’s a comparison of where I stood after four weeks at June 28 and where I stand now at six weeks at July 27:
Industry: 16 at 4 weeks, 20 at 6 weeks
Cleanliness: 13, 19
Temperance: 10, 15
Tranquillity: 7, 10
Silence: 5, 7
Frugality: 5, 6
Resolution: 2, 5
Humility: 2, 3
Moderation: 2, 3
Sincerity: No dots, 3
Order: 2, 2
Justice: 1, 1
Chastity: No dots
It’s interesting to see how some of these don’t seem to resonate so far in my day-to-day life—that is, I don’t have a problem sticking to Franklin’s virtue as he phrases.
Industry grew, because I think I’m lazy (as Franklin thought of himself and fought hard against). Interesting that that was supposed to be the virtue to work on this week, and I put off starting the chart. Oh, little brain, I know your fears.
Cleanliness grew, as I don’t always keep my apartment, my car and my stacks of paper or unshelved books, hither and yon, in their place, neat and cleaned all the time. And if I don’t take a shower? Well, a dot for you, Brendan!
Temperance grew, as I tend to, sometimes, once a day, eat too much or eat too much of the wrong stuff. A dot!
Tranquillity, being too affected or unduly affected by things, is a daily struggle for someone who’s both emotional and rational, but also uses internal feelings as a barometer. You get used to letting highs and lows get high and low and throw you off, because, inside, you’re hunting to figure out how a thing makes you feel. More fine-tuning to continue to come!
Silence comes when, well, I talk too much or talk so much I exhaust myself. It’s good, regularly, especially at least once in any conversation, to sit back and stop thinking about what to say and really take in what’s going on and just paying attention to the other person’s words.
Frugality? I think I did pretty good!
Resolution’s failures came because I made some to-do lists along the way that started well and then unraveled temporarily. I have a real tendency to set up systems, lists and plans, try to execute them quickly, and grow disillusioned with plans that don’t finish or bear fruit quickly. This is a fine-tuning, though, as I am perfectly capable of responsibly getting done what needs to be done. But a failure in doing what one has resolved comes in two ways, so there’s two levers to pull, which I like: Resolve to do less or different things, or be disciplined and finish what you resolve. Either one is fine for this!
Humility is less of a problem with someone like me with a long-practiced, but nuanced self-critical voice and emotional reactions. But pushing down on my own self-esteem seems to, paradoxically but understandable, lead me to get angry and judgmental of others. Judge myself? Judge others. Be humble, maybe, about one’s strengths but also the expectations of how far those strengths go … and a gentle reminder, constantly, that faults pull those strengths down to Earth.
Moderation is less of a problem. I’m a bit extreme in thinking, but my day-to-day is pretty moderate.
Sincerity, I think, bubbled up in the past few weeks as I said things I didn’t truly mean in the moment to people-please.
Order? Justice? Chastity? Apparently not problems just this moment.
So, Sunday, starts a new week of Industry. Industrious Brendan!
Which of those virtue words rings the most for you right now? I suspect our own intuition, if you’re relatively self-reflective, will lead you to where your resistance is. You are possibly either over-judging yourself for failure or avoiding your own internal sense that it’s time to face your failure and slowly change course.
Good luck!