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Speaking of virtue(DW# 844)

A few weeks ago, we spoke of how we can "chisel" our character one virtue at a time.
For today, let us reflect on this concept of living with virtue.
People of conscience and understanding throughout the ages have attempted to live a life of virtue, to have an upstanding character.
 
In modern times, however, the idea of living with virtue seems a bit old fashioned. David Brooks in his excellent book, The Road to Character writes that modern society is obsessed with what he calls "résumé virtues." Your degrees, accomplishments, your title, your social media profile etc.

 

He explains that résumé virtues are important for success of course but they are certainly not the whole picture of living a meaningful life.

 

David tells us we need to focus more on "eulogy virtues"—the stuff that, ultimately, REALLY matters. Eulogy virtues, he explains, are the kind of things that people remember about you after you die, and when your...
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Start and end the day with reflection(DW #835)

The next lesson from Franklin will be familiar to many of us in the Muslim faith who practice daily accountability for ourselves and our actions.

He started each day with reflection about how he wanted to show up in the world and ended each day with examining whether or not he lived up to his intention from the morning.

He asked himself simple questions to initiate the process of intention and accountability:  

In the morning he asked himself: "What good shall I do this day?"

And at the end of day this question:: "What good have I done today?"

So simple right?

I would add though, that it might be helpful to be slightly more specificin our daily intention and reflection.

For example:

Morning: What specific act of kindness shall I do today? To whom? How? At what time?

Bedtime: Did I do at least one act of goodness/kindness today? To myself, the family, my community, the world?

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Develop daily rituals(DW #834)

One of the virtues that Franklin valued and continued to work on was the virtue of "Order". And this included order in his surroundings and how he spent his time.

 

This is what he said about valuing time:

 

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." Benjamin Franklin

 

And so Franklin meticulously planned, tuned, worked and reworked his schedule to structure his days to fit in everything he wanted to achieve.

 

"The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should have its allotted time…"

 

"Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."

 

Many years later, time management experts believe that adopting daily rituals and habits is key to success in many areas of our lives.

 

So what do your daily rituals look like? What do you do in the morning? What is your bedtime rituals.

 

Developing and adopting rituals is a powerful way to...
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Time tracking(DW #833)

Yesterday we talked about how Ben Franklin accounted for every hour of his day.

 

If we are like most people, when we want to get control of our calendar, we start by planning our time.

 

Peter Drucker, who is considered the father of modern management, believes that this is a mistake.
 
He explains that while most people start time management by PLANNING their time, this is not the most effective way to do it. He recommends instead, to start by TRACKING our time. Before planning, we need to get more clarity on where our time is currently going.

 

(As we have discussed before, the simple act of tracking ANYTHING immediately improves the performance of that activity. So it makes sense)

 

So, if you are brave enough to confront how you are actually spending your time, take a few days to account for your time moment by moment. I do this every few years or so and it is SUCH an eye opening exercise.

 

(The last time I did this was before I got on Instagram...
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Account for your time.(DW #832)

The next lesson we explore from Ben Franklin’s Moral Perfection Project is that he had a detailed diary of what he did at specific times of the day.  

 

From 6pm to 9pm, for example, his diary read: "Put things back in their places, music, diversion or conversation followed by examination of the day".

 

(Reading that bought a smile to my face. I could do with a time block for "putting things back in their places". How about you?)

 

It seems that all his time was accounted for, not just his work day. In this way, he appears to have balanced his work and his other commitments, including commitments to himself.

 

How about us? Do we have a set time for "diversion" or do we binge-watch Netflix after the workday is over?
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