As part of my personal self improvement action plan, I was recently bookmarking some web sites to auto-load as I opened my browser in the morning.  I usually spend the first 15-30 minutes of my day reading, listening to or watching helpful content to get myself in the right frame of mind for the rest of the day ahead.

I was looking for some good quotes to reference, and I was fortunate enough to stumble across an excellent site that chronicled the life and philosophy of Benjamin Franklin.

To my surprise, I discovered that this legendary Founding Father was a life-long self improvement enthusiast!

Now, I was fully aware of the fact that Ben Franklin was a well-read scholar, intellectual, inventor, scientist, writer and savvy politician known for his clever wit and ability to get things done.  I guess that should have been a tip-off!

However, I was amazed to learn some additional facts about this great man of history…

Ben Franklin was actually quite the athlete, and was an early proponent of regular workouts and physical fitness.  Having taught himself how to swim, he was an avid swimmer his entire life and was even inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame.

He formed The Junto in 1727, a group of men drawn from diverse occupations and backgrounds that all shared a mutual spirit of inquiry and a desire to improve themselves, their community, and to help others.

In an effort to save money to buy additional books to read, Ben Franklin decided at a very early age to become a vegetarian since meat was quite expensive in those days.  This decision provided him with not only better health but also the funds needed for the purchase of the books – a double-edged self improvement sword.

Also at an early age, he embarked on a self-imposed journey of what he referred to as ‘moral perfection’.  This ultimately led to his famous 13 Virtues list.  As a personal self improvement plan, Ben Franklin would concentrate on one virtue for an entire week, then move on to the next.  To track his progress, he carried the list with him at all times and after 13 weeks he’d start at the beginning again.  Quite an aggressive plan!

With this amount of self improvement consciousness, is it any surprise that he would eventually become a legendary figure in U.S. history?

Having learned all of this additional information about this incredible man, I have made the decision to make Benjamin Franklin one of my mentors/guides to personal development and self growth.  Wouldn’t the world would be a much better place if we all did the same?

Thanks Ben,
- Scott

So, you’ve formulated a list of goals for the coming year and you’ve broken them down into action steps.  You are making sure that you consistently make progress on these steps on a daily basis.  Excellent!

However, in this mad quest to achieve bigger and better things, I’d like you to make sure that you do one very important thing on a daily basis:

Be grateful …

Goals are necessary if we want to continually improve – don’t get me wrong. But we need to balance that goal-getting journey with gratitude.

It’s so easy for us to lose focus on the wonderful things we already have as we are trying to achieve more. This can lead to serious feelings of inadequacy and lack that can cripple our progress and well-being.

Life is good, as long as we are always looking for it in everything we do and have.

Here is a video that will help you get grateful in a hurry.  I apologize if you’ve already seen it, but I just watched it for the first time a few days ago and it got me on track mentally – immediately.

Powerful …

So, if you woke up on the right side of the grass this morning … be grateful.

If you’ve got a roof over your head and food on the table … be grateful.

If your kids are healthy and happy … be grateful.

If you’ve got a decent job during this global economic downturn … be grateful.

Always strive to be the absolute best that you can be.  But always take some time out to be grateful for what you’ve already been blessed with …

- Scott