My New Year’s Resolution was invented 1500 years ago. Read on…
Towards the end of 2022, I was reading a book on happiness, Mind Hacking happiness by John Hargrove, and it referenced the 13 virtues self help project that Benjamin Franklin invented. I sidelined from my book and was so intrigued to find out more before eventually completing the well-worth read.
With this method, he perpetually tweaked the 13 virtues he felt were most important to him. You could say Benjamin Franklin invented the first self-help book, over 1500 years ago. And here I am in 2023 making it a staple for my method of empowerment. It was ingenious to me that he would take a fifty two week year and divide it by 13, to get 4. That would mean that every quarter of the year, one could start working on a new virtue, and improve it once again.
It’s an amazing vision, so I adopted it, and updated the 13 virtues to make them my own. He lived in a very different time than me, and temperance was one of his virtues. I don’t drink, so it means nothing to me. Fitness was not of utmost importance to him either, but it’s so is to me, as is the learning that is always evolving around exercise and nutrition. That’s why I became a NASM certified personal trainer again to keep on top of that wealth of knowledge. Even though my body doesn’t move the same as it did when I was younger as a personal trainer, the human body has not changed, so exercise physiology still applies. It’s science.
The first virtue that I am going to remove is temperance and replace it with Fitness. Here are Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues, and Vickie’s 13 virtues follows right after.
Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues:
- Temperance
- Silence
- Order
- Resolution
- Frugality
- Industry
- Sincerity
- Justice
- Moderation
- Cleanliness
- Tranquility
- Chastity
- Humility
It took me some time to look over all of the virtues and see what was important to me and figure out my own. Because of how important physical fitness is to me to be able to stay active, living, functioning, and showing my son that if you are determined, and you believe in something, you can make anything happen. It’s going to take hard work and determination, but never give up. In order of importance, these are my 13 virtues for starting off 2023.
Vickie’s 13 Virtues:
- Gratitude
- Physical Fitness
- Planning
- Cleanliness
- Organization
- Completion
- Mindfulness
- Creativity
- Journaling
- Learning
- Self Care
- Nutrition
- Thriftiness
After working on this 13 virtues project last year for nine weeks, I places the first nine virtues in order of importance to me. Further down the list, I didn’t really have a chance once the new year hit to start over again. So these can be changed in order at any time.
Sometimes the virtues will overlap, like when I am planning my physical fitness for the year. I am organizing the exercises into order, so I’ve included a few virtues right there. But more importantly, it is important for me to just tweak something with physical fitness in mind for my life. I am doing this to empower myself, and to always be a little better than I was yesterday, ultimately being the best version of myself that I can be.
Many of my blog posts will be relating to things that I am discovering along my journey in doing this project, especially this week when I was planning out my new routine for the year at the gym. I can’t wait to see what comes of it!
Do you have a plan for change in 2023? Drop a comment below and let me know. Love to hear from you.
