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Ben Franklin: Keeper of his own 'Permanent Record'
Merlin Mann | Sep 1 2005
Turns out Thomas Jefferson wasn’t the only one who was way ahead of us. In his autobiography, Ben Franklin discusses the time when he’d first committed himself to following the 13 virtues he considered necessary for “moral perfection.”
These include several of the values typically associated with Franklin, including “Industry” and “Frugality” (remember, he’s the original “healthy, wealthy, and wise” guy). This kind of bold and squirrely plan—reportedly followed “pretty faithfully” until late in his life—illustrates nicely why Franklin is regarded as the spiritual father of life hacks, but it’s his novel record-keeping that exposes him as a true geek. From this Flamebright.com page on Franklin:
[Scroll down the page for a small photo illustrating a page from the book, as shown above, right.] As wikipedia notes, “He eventually realizes that perfection is not to be attained, but feels himself better and happier because of his attempt.” Sounds like a successful project to me. He had a plan, he checked his progress, and, then, despite falling short of “perfection,” he ended up a little better than when he started off. Plus, he certainly must have developed a more mindful outlook along the way. And, of course, he did invent that cool little book—a surprisingly Excel-like tracking app—and that you just gotta admire for pure nerdery. More on The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin< ul> Technorati Tags: benfranklin, lifehacks, self-improvement, statistics, tracking 8 Comments
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Historians debate how closely he...Submitted by cneil (not verified) on September 3, 2005 - 10:50pm.
Historians debate how closely he actually followed his list. Some people think he never really used it much at all. » POSTED IN:
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