In the late 1720s, Benjamin Franklin sat down by candlelight and opened a small leather book. He was 20 years old, recently married, and already a successful printer in Philadelphia. By any measure, his life was going well.
But Franklin had a problem.
Despite his success, he was making enemies. He loved to win every debate.
Franklin realized he was rubbing people the wrong way, and it was holding him back. So he decided to reform his character through what he called a "bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection."
He created a list of twelve virtues he wanted to live out: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, and chastity.
Each virtue came with a specific and personal definition.
His plan was to focus on one virtue a week, cycling through all twelve every three months. He kept a small book where he marked his failures each day, working to minimize the marks over time.
After working on it a while, Franklin shared his list with a Quaker friend.
"Ben… you need to add a thirteenth virtue," his friend said. "Humility.”
Franklin was surprised by this harsh feedback, and he added humility to his list as a thirteenth virtue.
Principles as Decided Automatic Behaviors
Think of principles as pre-decided decisions. Instead of burning mental energy re-evaluating the same choices over and over, you create rules that handle them automatically.
Here are a few of mine:
Remember that everyone is doing the best they can. This saves me from taking other people's behavior personally and prevents me from wasting energy on judgment.
Don't make big decisions when you're hungry or sleep-deprived. This principle protects me from poor judgment during compromised states.
Pause before acting. This creates space between impulse and response, allowing me to choose my reaction rather than just react automatically.
These aren't grand philosophical statements. They're practical tokens that help me remember what I value and how I want to operate.
Values vs. Principles
Values are the deeper guideposts—authenticity, growth, service, family. They're the fundamental things you care about.
Principles are the operational rules that help you live those values in daily decisions. They're the smaller, memorable tokens that keep you aligned when circumstances get complex or pressured.
If you value family above everything else, your principle might be: "I drop anything for my family and close friends." No deliberation needed when they call.
If you value focus and deep work, your principle might be: "No phone notifications during creative time." The principle protects the value automatically.
The Universal Wisdom Connection
Some principles come from observing patterns in physics, thermodynamics, or other systems at work. The principle "energy follows attention" applies whether you're managing a team, building a business, or developing personal habits.
Others emerge from wisdom traditions—the idea that principles should be simple, memorable, and actionable has guided everyone from Boy Scouts to Alcoholics Anonymous.
At work, we have principles like "Don't create triangles—give feedback directly to the person" and "Leave the room better than you found it." These aren't just nice sayings; they're operational rules that prevent dysfunction and guide behavior when things get complicated.
Making Your Principles Yours
This week, notice the recurring decisions that drain your energy or lead to outcomes you don't want.
What automatic behaviors are you already living by, even if you haven't named them?
What values do you hold that could be translated into simple, actionable rules?
The key is making sure they're genuinely yours—emerging from your own experience and values rather than borrowed from what you think you should believe.
Years later, reflecting on his virtue project in his autobiography, Franklin admitted something: he had succeeded at his first twelve virtues but completely failed at the thirteenth.
Because humility wasn't really his principle—it was someone else's suggestion. He had tried to adopt a virtue he didn't genuinely value, one that didn't emerge from his own understanding of who he wanted to be.
Your principles need to be compatible with who you actually are and who you're genuinely trying to become. They should feel like natural extensions of your values, not foreign impositions you're forcing yourself to follow.
When principles are authentically yours, following them doesn't require willpower. They become automatic behaviors that make decision-making easier, not harder.
Take care,
Josh