Transcription
[Music] welcome to this session today we are going to talk about something it's almost the through line of Elite Performance and exponential productivity and a life beautifully lived and self discipline.
I'm going to go to the everyday hero Manifesto and in particular chapter 42 which is titled Ben Franklin 13 virtue habit installer and I'd like to read from that chapter if I may.
One of the books that most shaped me as a young man was the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. What still stands out to this day is his method of installing the 13 virtues he believed to be most important for a life of success, well-being, and lasting influence.
As context I'd like to share a passage from the book. It was about this time that I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. Ben Franklin writes, "I wish to live without committing any fault at any time. As I knew what was right and wrong, I did not see that I might not always do one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined."
And then I'll continue with my writing in that chapter. Although Franklin knew what he had to do to become a deeply moral man, he often found that he slipped. The solution was to build a system to break weak habits by meticulously installing stronger ones.
The statesman's primary virtues for a great life are:
1. Temperance: carefulness in drink and food.
2. Silence: avoid trivial conversations and using words words that are harmful.
3. Order: practice austerity in physical spaces and perform each pursuit precisely.
4. Resolution: do what you promise to do without fail.
5. Frugality: be cautious with your expenses and avoid waste.
6. Industry: manage your time well and avoid unnecessary activities.
7. Sincerity: never deceive anybody and be yourself under all conditions.
8. Justice: treat everyone equally and do nothing wrong.
9. Moderation: avoid the extremes of both sloth and asceticism.
10. Cleanliness: keep your body, living space, and environment immaculate.
11. Tranquility: maintain inner peace and do not ruminate over small matters.
12. Chastity: do not practice meaningless sexual pursuits.
13. Humility: model the great Saints, sages, and seers.
And as you'll see in this chapter, he literally created a table where every week he would work on one of the 13 virtues. And so over a 13-week period, he could check mark where he did well while working on that virtue over the week and make a little X, for example, where he failed. That would build awareness. With that awareness, it would give him the ability to make better choices. That would create better results.
Awareness really is the DNA of transformation. When you become aware of the 13 virtues of Ben Franklin and then you build a chart like he has that I showed in the chapter, you can become so aware of where you're slipping and where you're winning and remedy the the areas that need to be optimized and and improved.
So if there was a 14th virtue, or maybe the golden virtue, really is, as I start off in this session talking about it, it's self-discipline. It's about willpower. And people often ask me, Robin, how do you build willpower? Well, you build willpower by the consistent doing of difficult things. We live in a world of too much ease. There's too much pleasure. You know, the ordinary person lives like royalty did 300 years ago, but we grow stronger by doing difficult things. That's why the Spartan warriors had voluntary discomfort. That's why Aristotle slept on the floor. Another chapter in the everyday hero Manifesto. That's why it's really wise to put yourself into uncomfortable situations regularly so you build self-discipline.
So let me leave you with one of the finest ways I know how to build self self-discipline. It's joining the 5 AM Club. You know the research of University College London that if you do something for 66 days, it becomes automatic. It becomes automatic. You reach the point of what they call automaticity. You know that all change is hard at first, it's messy in the middle, it's beautiful at the end.
So my challenge to you today, make a commitment from the deepest place within you to get up for the next 66 days at 5:00 AM. It is a great way to win the battle of the bed. It's a great way to build moral toughness. It's a great way to overcome your weaker desires. It's a great way to start the day well. Once you're up at 5, give yourself that 60-minute victory hour where you exercise and then you reflect and then you learn. The way you start your day dramatically affects the way your day unfolds. You'll become so much more strong by practicing this discipline of moral strength. I'll see you in the next video.