I understand his virtues and why he chose them.

I'm looking at the book and am thinking I should really read it again, or at least parts of it. To determine your governing values, Smith says you should ask:

What are the highest priorities in my life?

Of these priorities which do I value most?

You can see the "catch" there, if you're spending your time and energy on things you don't really value, you might want to reconsider!

He does say that determining your own "governing values" isn't easy but that it's rewarding. He gives some examples of how they can be used.

From his own constitution:

16. I have order in my life at all times.
I maintain a sense of order in all aspects of my life. My physical surroundings are always clean, organized, and structured so that they bring calm into my life. My personal hygiene is immaculate, as are my personal habits.

Well, I read that and thought, that is not me. As a matter of fact, I don't even want that level of "immaculate" order! It really impressed upon me the importance of setting my own standards.

Here's another example he gave from a woman's constitution, where she stated the value, then the Long-range Goal that went with that value, then concrete small steps she could take to get there:

1. I am a patient, understanding mother.
Long-range Goal: Happy, unstressed loving children.
I make time for my children, taking comp time when necessary and reserving my weekends to spend quality time with them. I put myself in their shoes before I decide on discipline, and believe that I do not have to inflict physical pain on them when trying to teach them not to do things that I don't think are acceptable. I love my children unconditionally, and I make sure they know I love them even though I may not approve of some of their actions. I don't sweat the small stuff and let it affect my basic relationship with my children.

And another example:

A2. I have a happy marriage.
1. I communicate with my spouse.
2. I consider her thoughts, feelings and needs.
3. I enjoy her company.

(Much more of a shorthand approach.)

In his list of values that show up at seminars he includes Beauty, Ambition and Imagination & Creativity. These really interested me because what it causes us to do is accept, "I'm ambitious, this is who I am and it's a good thing," and figure out how ambition can work in our lives in a positive way. (As one example.)

So after reading all this, I remember being excited about doing my own constitution. I remember it fairly well (the list of values, anyway) and am going to dig it out and see how it has changed.

And I'm thinking about making an index card for each value and rotate them weekly (as Franklin did) so that I have that to read daily and remind myself of my higher goals.