Success is All About Character

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues and my life was forever changed.

Ben's 13 Virtues
Benjamin Franklin identified 13 characteristics that he felt he needed to be successful in life.  Each week he focused on a different characteristic to learn more about it and focus on incorporating it more fully into his life.

Ben's 13 Virtues were ...

Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Success and Character

Spending some time thinking about this list and the practice of embracing one at a time continually over a lifetime brought me to the realization that success is achieved not by what you "have" over your lifetime, but by how well you achieve "being" in each of the characteristics you deem important.

Being in a characteristic is having character.

Success is all about character.

What Does Character Mean to You?

Not everyone finds that the same characteristics speak to them.

And that is a beautiful think because the world would be pretty boring if we were all alike. 

The key is to understand what characteristics you would like to focus on in your life.  To understand what feels successful to you.

I happen to have like Ben's list but it wasn't quite right for me.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what my ideal self would look like and came up with ...

Determined.

Observant.

Kind.

Vulnerable.

Joyful.

We each need to develop our own list.  The list of characteristics that we strive to grow in.  The list of characteristics that, when achieved to a great degree, will make us feel successful.

I encourage you to spend some time coming up with your own list of what is important.  Ben's is a great starting point because it really does cover much of human nature.  

Look at each of his virtues and picture yourself achieving success in that area.   What does it look like to you?  What is important to you? 

Also picture what disgusts or angers you in each area.  How can you achieve the opposite?

Then look at everything you discovered about what character means to you and come up with your own list.

Write it down.  Keep it with you.  Make it your wallpaper on your phone.  Design a water bottle with it written on there.

Your list will be different from everyone else's. 

Which is why we often find conflict with others.  Why we find it hard to work on a team with certain people.  Why we become frustrated with our kids.  Why we have arguments over politics.  

We are all operating with different characteristics in mind.  Each of of us trying to achieve success in different characteristics.

Nobody is wrong.  Just different.

Living a Successful Life

Discovering what characteristics make you feel successful is only part of the journey.  Next you have to live them!

Ben focused on his one week per characteristic.

I decided to focus on mine every day by creating a journal listing each of my characteristics and spending some time each day writing about how I had grown in each area or where I was struggling. 

It was a great help keeping me focused.

You might find your sweet spot somewhere else, but I really encourage you to come up with a plan that suits you for keeping your focus on your character.

Wishing you much success!