Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues

In 1726, at the age of 20, Benjamin Franklin created a system to develop his character. In his autobiography, Franklin listed his thirteen virtues as:

1.  Temperance.

     Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2.  Silence.

     Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself;
     avoid trifling conversation.

3.  Order.

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

4.  Resolution.

     Resolve to perform what you ought;

     perform without fail what you resolve.

5.  Frugality.

     Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself;

     i.e., waste nothing.

6.  Industry.

     Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful;

     cut off all unnecessary actions.

7.  Sincerity.

     Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly,

     and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8.  Justice.

     Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits

     that are your duty.

9.  Moderation.

     Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries

     so much as you think they deserve.

10.  Cleanliness.

       Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths,

       or habitation.

11.  Tranquillity.

       Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common

       or unavoidable.

12.  Chastity.

       Rarely use venery but for health or offspring,

       never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of

       your own or another's peace or reputation.

13.  Humility.

       Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

ThirteenVirtues.com brings Franklin's simple system to the information age. You can track your progress against Franklin's virtues with your favorite web browser. Or maybe you don't agree with all of Franklin's original 13 virtues - no problem. Just add, remove, or change them so that you only track what you are interested in.

Learn more about
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

"I propos’d to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with fewer ideas annex’d to each, than a few names with more ideas; and I included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurr’d to me as necessary or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which fully express’d the extent I gave to its meaning." - Benjamin Franklin

Lessons In Manliness: 

Benjamin Franklin’s Pursuit of the Virtuous Life

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/06/01/the-virtuous-life-wrap-up/

Benjamin Franklin is an American legend. 

He single handily invented the idea of the “self-made man.”
Despite being born into a poor family and only receiving two years of formal schooling, Franklin became a successful printer, scientist, musician, and author. Oh, and in his spare time he helped found a country, and then serve as its diplomat.

Speaking English with a Strong Accent in Chinese

Despite a rather imperfect English accent, Mr Low Thia Khiang (a senior Singapore MP - Member of Parliament) certainly knows how to be sarcastic.  

Listen to his speech in the parliament on the Lee Family's Saga in Singapore - it's clear and objective, but galling ...

新加坡工人党的秘书长 - 劉程強的国会发言

Nice Quotes

“Once we accept our limits, we move beyond them.”

  ~  Albert Einstein

https://yourpoweriswithin.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/once-we-accept-our-limits-we-move-beyong-them-albert-einstein/

It takes confidence and courage to acknowledge there are areas where you could improve – but this is true for everyone. No one is perfect, and everyone struggles with something. It’s the people who are willing to take an honest look at their weaknesses who consistently grow stronger.

Only in identifying your limitations can you stretch yourself and redefine what’s possible.

When you feel challenged professionally, socially, emotionally, or intellectually, remind yourself that you can always grow wiser, stronger, and smarter. Once you accept yourself for who you are without judgment or shame, you give yourself every opportunity to do that.

Knowing, accepting and loving who you are is the first step in becoming who you can be.

While I tried to search for more articles related to this quote,

I stumbled upon a French trader/mentor’s diary by Ramón Morell

with many more entries of nice quotes from day to day.

https://ramonmorell.com/2016/06/13/once-we-accept-our-limits-we-move-beyond-them-albert-einstein/

“Once we accept our limits, we move beyond them.”  is not only a sentence pronounced by Albert Einstein but a crtieria he followed while revolutionizing our knowledge about physics and the universe.

He was a genius indeed, self learning Geometry at 11 and demonstrating Pithagoras theorem at 12 while learning integral and differential calculus. When he faced his limits, he explored new ways to go beyond them.

This is a strong and positive reference for us.

Some Randomly Selected Quotes from Ramón Morell’s Diary:

“A bird is safe in its nest – but that is not what its wings are made.” for.”   (Amit Ray)

“My advice is to never follow any advice, starting with this one.”

(Teo León)

“Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, a vision.”   (Gandhi)

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by and that has made all the difference.”   (Robert Frost)

“Sometimes I think my head is so big because it is so full of dreams.”   (R.J. Palacio)

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”   (Winston Churchill)

“Successful people don’t have fewer problems. They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward.”

(Ben Carson)

“The moment you stop worrying about success is when success will happen.”   (Glenn Beck)

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

(John Wooden)

“You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.”   (Deepak Chopra)

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

(Robert H. Schuller)

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius.”   (Marilyn Monroe)

And here’s another one I stumbled upon...

 “If you are depressed you are living in the past.

  If you are anxious you are living in the future.

  If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

  ~  Lao Tzu  (A Philosopher in Ancient China)

Sometimes We Win, Sometimes We Lose

What you learn from your loss can bring victory!

http://www.johnmaxwell.com/start-your-journey

Dr. John C. Maxwell believes that the greatest lessons we learn in life are from our losses.  Everyone experiences loss, but not everyone learns from it.

In his book "Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn", Dr. John C. Maxwell explores the most common lessons we learn when we experience loss.

He then explains how to turn a set-back into a step forward by examining the 11 elements that make up the DNA of those who learn:

01. Humility                 - The Spirit of Learning

02. Reality                          - The Foundation of Learning

03. Responsibility        - The First Step of Learning

04. Improvement               - The Focus of Learning

05. Hope                       - The Motivation of Learning

06. Teachability                 - The Pathway of Learning

07. Adversity                - The Catalyst of Learning

08. Problems                       - The Opportunities of Learning

09. Bad Experiences    - The Perspective for Learning

10. Change                           - The Price of Learning

11. Maturity                  - The Value of Learning

Learning is not easy during down times; it takes discipline to do the right thing when everything is wrong.  This book provides a road map to doing just that.

As Dr. John C. Maxwell often points out 

– experience isn't the best teacher;

evaluated experience is.

"Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn"
Author John C. Maxwell’s latest book

helps readers learn from—and even embrace—losses.

Emily J. Mitchell  |  October 19, 2013

http://www.success.com/article/sometimes-you-win-sometimes-you-learn

Out this month, Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn: Life's Greatest Lessons Are Gained from Our Losses by John C. Maxwell helps readers “learn how to learn”—from losses, failures, mistakes, challenges and bad experiences.

“I want you to become a continual winner by being a habitual learner,” Maxwell says. He quotes political theorist Benjamin Barber: “The question to ask is not whether you are a success or a failure, but whether you are a learner or a non-learner.”

Maxwell finds that, in America especially, instead of a “sometimes you win, sometimes you learn” attitude, people approach mistakes with a “sometimes you win, sometimes you lose” attitude. But the latter view results in more harm than growth, he says.

Maxwell gives the 11 traps that people tend to fall into when losses happen in their lives:

01. The Mistake Trap: “I’m afraid of doing something wrong.”  — Losses hold us back!

02. The Fatigue Trap: “I’m tired today.”  — Losses wear us out.

03. The Comparison Trap: “Someone else is better qualified than I am.”  — Losses cause us to feel inferior to others.

04. The Timing Trap: “This isn’t the right time.”  — Losses make us hesitate.

05. The Inspiration Trap: “I don’t feel like doing it right now.”  — Losses demotivate us.

06. The Rationalization Trap: “Maybe it’s really not that important.”  — Losses allow us to lose perspective.

07. The Perfection Trap: “There’s a best way to do it and I have to find it before I start.”  — Losses cause us to question ourselves.

08. The Expectation Trap: “I thought it would be easy, but it isn’t.”  — Losses highlight the difficulties.

09. The Fairness Trap: “I shouldn’t be the one to have to do this.”  — Losses cause us to ask, “Why me?”

10. The Public Opinion Trap: “If I fail, what will others think?”  — Losses paralyze us.

11. The Self-Image Trap: “If I fail at this, it means I am a failure.”  — Losses negatively affect how we see ourselves.

Maxwell describes solutions to these traps, and encourages his readers to continue learning, from both wins and losses. His book offers 13 chapters on how to learn in different circumstances and adopt a learning perspective.

Extended Readings:
1. https://www.slideshare.net/Shiv_Shivakumar/sometimes-you-win-sometimes-you-lose

2. https://craigtowens.com/2013/10/22/21-quotes-from-sometimes-you-win-sometimes-you-learn/

Congratulations, Cassandra Hsiao.

Cassandra Hsiao, a 17-year-old Malaysia-born student in Orange County, California, has stunned everyone with her extraordinary achievement of getting acceptance letters from 8 Ivy League universities.

* The Ivy League universities are among the most prestigious and highly-ranked universities worldwide, and are often associated with academic excellence and high selectivity of admissions. 

The Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) student, has an impressive 4.67 GPA and an excellent 1,540 SAT score.

Cassandra, who is a student journalist, is active in extracurricular activities.  She is the editor-in-chief of the school’s magazine and the president of one of two student bodies.

OCSA creative writing director Josh Wood said: “Cassandra was multi-faceted.  She’s such a go-getter and makes opportunities for herself.”

Read the Essay that got a Malaysian-Born Girl Accepted Into All 8 Ivy League universities. Source: http://afterschool.my/news/72793-2/

A 17-year-old girl by the name of Cassandra Hsiao, achieved the incredible feat of being accepted into all eight Ivy League schools.

Hsiao, who resides in Walnut, South California, has offers from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Cornell and Pennsylvania, leaving her with arguably the most pleasant headache of her life, as she decides which world-class institution she wants to join as part of the class of 2021.

Hsiao immigrated from Malaysia at just 5 years old. She’s a first-generation immigrant, and while her resume was impressive beyond all measure, it was her essay about learning English that impressed the universities.

Speaking of her impressive resume, her GPA stands at 4.67, while she scored 1540 on her SATs. But her impressive resume somehow gets even better the longer you go on. She’s one of two student body presidents, an editor-in-chief of the school’s magazine and active in her community.

Not satisfied being just good with the books, Hsiao has conducted on-camera interviews on red carpets at film festivals, media screenings and press conferences. She’s even interviewed Captain America himself, Chris Evans!

In addition to being accepted to all Ivy League schools, she was also accepted to Stanford University, John Hopkins University, University of Southern California, Northwestern University, New York University, Amherst College and many others in the UC system.

Here is the essay that helped Cassandra pull of this truly incredible feat:-

In our house, English is not English. Not in the phonetic sense, like short a is for apple, but rather in the pronunciation – in our house, snake is snack. Words do not roll off our tongues correctly – yet I, who was pulled out of class to meet with language specialists, and my mother from Malaysia, who pronounces film as flim, understand each other perfectly.

In our house, there is no difference between cast and cash, which was why at a church retreat, people made fun of me for “cashing out demons.” I did not realize the glaring difference between the two Englishes until my teacher corrected my pronunciations of hammock, ladle, and siphon. Classmates laughed because I pronounce accept as except, success as sussess. I was in the Creative Writing conservatory, and yet words failed me when I needed them most.

Suddenly, understanding flower is flour wasn’t enough. I rejected the English that had never seemed broken before, a language that had raised me and taught me everything I knew. Everybody else’s parents spoke with accents smarting of Ph.D.s and university teaching positions. So why couldn’t mine?

My mother spread her sunbaked hands and said, “This is where I came from,” spinning a tale with the English she had taught herself.

When my mother moved from her village to a town in Malaysia, she had to learn a brand new language in middle school: English. In a time when humiliation was encouraged, my mother was defenseless against the cruel words spewing from the teacher, who criticized her paper in front of the class. When she began to cry, the class president stood up and said, “That’s enough.”

“Be like that class president,” my mother said with tears in her eyes. The class president took her under her wing and patiently mended my mother’s strands of language. “She stood up for the weak and used her words to fight back.”

We were both crying now. My mother asked me to teach her proper English so old white ladies at Target wouldn’t laugh at her pronunciation. It has not been easy. There is a measure of guilt when I sew her letters together. Long vowels, double consonants — I am still learning myself. Sometimes I let the brokenness slide to spare her pride but perhaps I have hurt her more to spare mine.

As my mother’s vocabulary began to grow, I mended my own English. Through performing poetry in front of 3000 at my school’s Season Finale event, interviewing people from all walks of life, and writing stories for the stage, I stand against ignorance and become a voice for the homeless, the refugees, the ignored. With my words I fight against jeers pelted at an old Asian street performer on a New York subway. My mother’s eyes are reflected in underprivileged ESL children who have so many stories to tell but do not know how. I fill them with words as they take needle and thread to make a tapestry.

In our house, there is beauty in the way we speak to each other. In our house, language is not broken but rather bursting with emotion. We have built a house out of words. There are friendly snakes in the cupboard and snacks in the tank. It is a crooked house. It is a little messy. But this is where we have made our home.

Congratulations, Cassandra Hsiao.

Marc Goodman: Future Crimes

Future Crimes: A Vision of Crimes in the Future

Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for Our Connect World

1. http://www.futurecrimesbook.com/

2. Everything Is Connected, so Everyone Is Vulnerable

     and What We Can Do About It

    https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/books/review/future-crimes-by-marc-goodman.html

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E97Kgi0sR4

10 Tips for a Job Interview

10 TIPS RECRUITERS WON'T SHARE

Source: https://www.thenakedceo.com/articles/job-seeking/10-tips-recruiters-wont-share

From the moment your resume lands in a recruiter’s inbox you’re being judged. From the way you craft your sentences, to your spelling ability and punctuation skills – any cracks may receive an automatic disqualification regardless of your talents.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Pushed for time:

Most recruiters don’t have time to pick a diamond from the rough, they want the stone (that’s you) already cut and polished. With so many eminently qualified professionals around, recruiters have the luxury of picking and choosing from a smorgasbord of talent – so bring your A-game.

2. First impressions on your interviewer count:

You may have heard this a million times before, but most people don’t believe it actually applies to them. Simple resume spelling and punctuation mistakes will immediately hurt your job aspirations. As will a dishevelled and unprofessional appearance.

3. You need to look the part:

Need a haircut? Are your shoes scuffed? It may sound like basic stuff, but a surprisingly large number of people get it wrong and any of these things can see you struck from the list without a word. Here’s how you can dress to impress.

4. Actions are important too:

The adage you can tell a lot about a person from their handshake has never been truer, and a weak, overly forceful or even a clammy one won’t do you any favours. Neither will fidgeting, not paying attention, being aggressive, arrogant or a timid little mouse.

5. Eye contact with the HR manager:

If you can’t look someone in the eye you’ll come across as untrustworthy and, if you stare them down, overly aggressive. And you won’t get hired. Make sure you don’t annoy the HR Manager.

6. Timing is everything:

Time management skills are essential in any job, so if you can’t get to an important meeting on time you can kiss the job goodbye. If you do receive a communication from a recruiter, it also is essential to apply as soon as you can to indicate interest.

7. Be eager, not pushy:

Do you like being nagged for updates every day? Neither do recruiters, so don’t do it.

8. Retain boundaries:

No matter how well you feel you know the recruiter, keep your communications professional at all times. Find out about the secret life of recruiters on LinkedIn.

9. Be prepared for your interview:

There’s no excuse for not having researched the company you plan to join. You need to be able to ask intelligent and insightful questions about the company and its direction and stand out from the crowd – or risk fading into obscurity. Read our job interview preparation tips.

10. Communicate effectively:

Don’t forget to ditch the ums and ahs, don’t speak too quickly or slowly, and don’t waffle.

Tips to make a good impression on recruiters:

- Recruiters don’t want fixer-uppers

- First impressions are crucial

- There’s no excuse for not doing research

- Ditch the verbal fillers