Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues: #6. Industry
#6. Industry. Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.
In the book, Rick teaches Shawn about the magic Franklin half dollar coin, and the “tails” side of the coin is Industry.
‘Tails’ means Industry. If you flip that coin and it comes up Tails, then Industry tells you that you need to get off your tail and you need to get out there and work. If you’re on the job, good things happen. Generally speaking, if you work hard, you’ll be rewarded for your work. Much of society has forgotten the virtue of hard work. Hard work pays off. So that’s it. Pretty simple, huh?”
I’m thankful for my dad who taught me to work on our family farm. There’s always work to be done at the farm. Fixing fences, cleaning stalls, digging ditches, hauling hay, grooming horses, repairing equipment, and countless other jobs. In fixing fences, we learned about efficiencies. It would take maybe 20 minutes to figure out the first process. Then, the next time, it would only take 10 minutes, then five. We learned how to cut off unnecessary actions.
The thing about the farm is that there’s always work to be done there. So, it doesn’t really matter which job you do, but just be employed in doing something!
Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues: #5. Frugality
#5. Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
While Homes in Order focuses on finances and the daily value of money, Benjamin Franklin’s angle is probably more profound. This quote implies that the value of money is in how much good it can do for either others or yourself.
I love the model in the book where Rick challenges Shawn with $100 bill and asks him how he will invest it. I guess we could make another model based off of this slightly different angle. “Here’s $100. How much good can you do with it?”
Here’s $100. How much good can you do with it?
Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues: #4. Resolution
#4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
#4 ties in with #3. Again, I’m pretty good at task lists, but the problem I have with a task list, especially on my Google calendar and task app is that it is so easy to just reschedule tasks for later in the week.
As Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard have said, “If you have something to do today, put it not off til tomorrow.” Procrastination isn’t a phenomenon for just our modern day and age. It’s human nature, and it’s timeless. Maybe the timeless part is the problem!
What about finance? What about paying off your mortgage? Classic example. Everybody would like to pay off their mortgage, but few resolve to give up their vices so that they will actually do it!
Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues: #3. Order
#3. Order: Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.
2014 is the Year of Order for me. I wrote the book on financial order for homeowners, but there are so many more places in my life that are screaming for order. I can start with my desk and my garage!
On my smartphone homescreen, I have some vital apps: Calendar, Task List, Clock. The insight I take from Benjamin Franklin here is “Let each part of your business have its time.” I’m pretty good at task lists, but this year, rather than just go through the task list, I’m going to work on assigning each task its time.
I know, there are time management gurus who make a career off of this stuff and might say this is simplistic. But for me, it’s a step. Small strokes fell great oaks.
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