Start With A Win - 13 Steps For Success by Benjamin Franklin

Episode Date: June 19, 2019

When Benjamin Franklin was 20 years old, he wrote Thirteen Virtues for people to live by. Adam and Mark discuss these virtues, their relevance today, and how they relate to the world almost 300 years after Ben Franklin wrote them.Temperance – Not overindulging, but partaking of an optimal levelSilence – This emphasizes the importance of listening and recognizing that you have two ears and one mouth for a reason; You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with (and, consequently, listening to)Order – Have the right interests in mind for your self and your daily routineResolution – Do what you planned to doFrugality – Waste nothing and spend less than you makeIndustry – Time is money, so be generous and provide value to those around youSincerity – Think before you speak and speak the truth, particularly on social mediaJustice – Do what is right and recognize how your actions impact othersModeration – Be reasonable and consistent, seeking balance in all thingsCleanliness – Take care of yourself and your environmentTranquility – Don’t get upset about little things and do your best to be at peace with everyoneChastity – Be smart and carefulHumility – Keep your pride in check, be honest, be grateful, and imitate Jesus and SocratesLinks:http://www.thirteenvirtues.com/Connect with Adam:https://www.startwithawin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/REMAXAdamContoshttps://twitter.com/REMAXAdamContos https://www.instagram.com/REMAXadamcontos/ 

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Atop of the 12th floor of the Remax World Headquarters, you're listening to Start With A Win with CEO Adam Kantos. And top of the 12th floor of REMAX World Headquarters here in Denver, Colorado, Adam Kantos, CEO of REMAX with Start with a Win. Here with me today, we have producer Mark. How are you? I am doing so good. So good. Yeah. Man, you always bring the show up a level. Well, it's all about that positivity. That's right, it is. That's right. Yeah, and you know, how you kind of live your life, your virtues and things like that, right? That's so true. It's all

about those virtues. You know, one of the founding fathers of our country, Benjamin Franklin, this guy had some virtues that he published. It's Ben Franklin's 13 virtues. Have you heard of those? You know, I recently have, and I was actually really surprised about them because one is they were written like in the 1700s. And second, the guy was like 20 years old when he wrote them. Wrote them? Wrote them? Wrote them. Wrote them.

He wrote them. I don't know what they called it back then. They could have called it written. Written. Yeah. So he wrote these virtues when he was 20 years old. And I was just surprised at how relevant they are still to this day. Oh, they're amazing.

I think he kind of viewed himself a little bit as like a Socrates or something like that. Yeah. Philosopher. Yeah. Well, let's get into these 13 virtues. It's interesting when you start reading through these, one is the language that was used. So some of it kind of needs some translating, but let's get into them. Should we kind of translate them as we go along? Yeah, I think that'd be good. All right, the first one, the first of Ben Franklin's 13 virtues, temperance. So he talked about eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation. And I think it's interesting because this first one is really about not overindulging

in food or drink. And this essentially makes those other virtues possible. Yeah, it kind of kicks off the temperance thing, kind of kicks everything else off. Yeah, it's interesting. In today's day and age, we talk about a healthy lifestyle. Don't go put down a pizza in a box. Moderation. Yeah, yeah. Don't end up on the floor sloppy drunk, things like that. I mean, live a wholesome, good life when it comes to how you feed your body and what you're able to create from yourself as a result of your actions. All right, the next one, silence. I love this. So this is about the

importance of listening and organizing yourself into that old, that adage that Jim Rohn pushed so much about being the average of the five people you spend the most time with, because you listen to those people. So this is about being silent in their presence and learning from them. Yeah. Speak not, but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation. Whoa. Did you come up with that? No, that's Ben Franklin. Oh, gotcha. That's awesome. Yeah, it's right. And I've heard it said before,

you have two ears and one mouth, use them proportionately. So we can all take a note from that. Exactly. And I think in today's day and age also, don't be so quick to jump on the keyboard and hammer out a diatribe on Facebook or something like that. Yeah, that's at avoiding the trifling conversation.

Yeah, exactly. So, all right, the next one, order. Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time. So I see that as organize yourself and your day. Yes, totally. And it's interesting because when we look at how we block out our time and how we do things that create productivity for us, we also waste a lot of time. Some of those in-between

moments, it's like spare change, spare time. But simply put, this is do what you're set out to do. Put those systems in place in order to accomplish your goals through the order. So, you know, have the right interest in mind. Yeah. Next one, resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought to. So this almost kind of goes with the one before it. So resolution kind of goes with order. It's like you put out what you're going to do and then you do it. Yeah, exactly. I guess we can't get any more simple than that, right? Yeah. All right, then the next one, frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself. For example, waste nothing. Yeah, spend less than you earned.

Sounds simple enough, but a lot of times we do the opposite. Well, it's hard. We live in this culture of consumerism, right? And when you can get two-day shipping on Amazon. Or go to Costco and buy in bulk, right? Yeah, you can't get out of Costco less than $150. Right, I need 200 rolls of toilet paper and five pounds of peanuts. Right. All right, next one.

Industry. Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions. So really, related frugality, time is money. You know, Ben Franklin believed that, you know, being ever useful was a key to success. And I completely agree with that. And this goes back to really, you know, a lot of our philosophy of give as well. So, you know, be useful, be valuable. Yeah. So the next one, uh, sincerity,

use no hurtful deceit, think innocently and justly. And if you speak, speak accordingly. Wow. This should be part of the rules of Facebook. Yeah. Don't gossip. Don't spread rumors. Don't be deceitful. Yeah. This is great. I mean, it's great. This is from his role as a printer. It's essential virtue. Think before you speak and speak the truth. Wow. I wish more people lived to that. Yeah. We've kind of lost some of that in today's day and age. And a lot of times, people start confusing information with truth. Well, there's no, and too, there's no repercussion, right, for trolling somebody, for lack of a better word, you know, especially when you can just do it from

behind the keyboard. Keyboard bullies, right? Yeah. All right, next one, justice. Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty. So, you know, basically live life by doing what is right. And we often focus too much on ourselves. It's important to also see how your actions impact others. So, I mean, be a good person. Yeah. Try not to do harm to anybody else. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right, next one, moderation. Avoid extremes. So, you know, think about where you're at.

And forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. What does that mean? Well, it means everything should be balanced and engaged and moderately. Yeah. And, you know, the extremes are rarely the answer. I agree in pursuing excellence. Yeah. And achieving mastery and things like that.

But that doesn't come from going to extremes on things. For instance, you don't sit down and see how much you can eat. You don't go into the gym and see how much you can eat. You don't go into the gym and see how much you can lift. And you don't try and push somebody you're doing business with to see how much you can sell them. You're about creating moderation and creating consistency in your life so that you can have repetitive success. Yeah. One, you know, the whole keeping things in balance as far as, you know, even something that's good could be bad, right? Yep. You know, as a business person, you know, if you're, if you're pursuing something to such an nth degree that you're isolating your

family or, you know, your friends or whatever that may look like, I mean, your relationships start to suffer, right? Yep. Yeah. I think reasonable would be another word you could use here for moderation. Yeah. How about the next one? I like this. Kind of a clean person myself. Cleanliness. He obviously has not ridden on an airplane lately.

Look in that seat pocket in front of you. Yeah. Kind of gives you the chills, doesn't it? Yeah. When we know about your traveling habits with disinfectants. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I love this virtue. Cleanliness. So tolerate no uncleanliness in body clothes or habitation. Which was so relevant for back in the 1700s, right? People just threw their sewage out in the streets. Yeah. Essentially, this is take the time to take care of yourself and your environment.

Yeah. I think if everybody did that, life would just be a little bit nicer. Yeah. Agreed. So next one, tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable. So, you know, don't get upset about the little things as it does more harm than good. And people are so quick to fly off the handle now that there's no tranquility left in this world, frankly, or very little for that matter. I mean, just, you know, it's funny

because like today's Darren Daly was, it doesn't matter. He talks about this yogi that he saw. And that was, you know, one of the things the guy said, there'd be a problem. And he would say, it doesn't matter. And you almost kind of have to look at a lot of things in life and think that and address the things that really do matter. But don't let these little things get to you. Yeah. Yeah. I think there's an old proverb that something that says something to the effect of like, you know, as it concerns with, with you try to stay at peace, you know, with everybody. Exactly. Exactly. So next one, uh, societal statement here, uh, chastity, not going to dig too deep in this other than, uh, be smart and careful, I think. Yeah. All right. And then the last one, humility. And really, he had a simple way of putting this. Imitate Jesus and Socrates. Last but not least

is humility here. So we need to keep our pride in check and not be overconfident in ourselves or our actions, we need to practice humility with each other. It's okay to say, I'm sorry, I apologize, I was wrong on that. It's okay to not be right. And so many people dig in their heels and they plant their flag and they won't accept changing their mind or exploring other viewpoints. And what we need to do is we need to both embrace humility and humbleness, as well as, you know, accept the fact that people are going to use humility and humbleness. As a result, we can move on from things and get past them and

be great people together. And I mean, who doesn't love a humble person? Right, right. In fact, I have in my office, stay hungry, stay humble, which I think is a strong statement in society today. Yeah, I think that's awesome. Well, why don't we wrap this thing up with a Benjamin Franklin quote? Okay, well, I've got a good one for you here. Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. That's great. Once again, I just love that this was written in the 1700s, but everything on this list

is so relevant to today. You know, if you, and the thing about this guy is that he woke up every day, right? And he tried to execute each one of these virtues every single day of his life. And look what he did. I mean, he's on the $100 bill. Right. Here's a good, yeah. I mean, talk about a legacy, right?

Yeah. You want a Ben Franklin? You know, it's, but it's, it's cool because this is about being a good human being. Nothing more. It's about being a good human being. And if we all practice the rules of being a good human being every day, talk about a great way to start with a win. Totally. I love that. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for spending time with us today and our special guest, Benjamin Franklin and his 13 virtues written back in the 1720s. Some amazing rules for life

and certainly a great way to start with a win. Thank you so much for listening to Start With A Win. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Don't forget to go onto iTunes and subscribe, write a review, or rate the show. It helps us get the word out and reach more people. You can follow Adam on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And remember, start with a win.