Alex Shalman . comPractical Personal Development

This article is part of the How To Become An Outstanding Person In Twelve Weeks series. The twelve weeks will allow you to tap into your hidden potential and become a productive power house like the infamous “first American”, Benjamin Franklin.

While I believe that anyone and everyone could accomplish “outstanding” status, I also believe that it takes dedication and elbow grease. I present you with a step-by-step guide to accomplishing this goal, just dig in and start now.

You may notice that the excel charts display all the virtues that I mark with only one being in the spotlight . In the interest of saving time and being direct I will not discuss the outcomes of the other virtues, although you can see asterisk by where I slip up. I will go into more detail only when a virtue is being featured and in the recap at the end.

Order (Week 3 of 12)

My progress with Order.

Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time. Benjamin Franklin had his own business, was involved in many facets of the Pennsylvania government, was postmaster and the go to guy for the affairs of many friends and associates. Now I know that Order was a big part of assisting his time management. This virtue is all about getting things done.

I’m going to be honest, Order was not an easy virtue to keep up with this past week. I am a bit OCD when it comes to certain cleaning and organizing tasks, so for me to consider something in perfect order means that it’s been scrubbed to a shine. I don’t mean to sound like the old cliche you use at a medical school interview, when they ask you to name one of your faults you say “i’m a perfectionist”.

In order to complete my goal for this week I actually had to slightly let go of being a perfectionist. No more spending too much time doing dishes or anything for that matter. I quickly put things back after I use them and left the house clean before leaving for a couple of days.

What I noticed from my participating in this virtue is that my house feels like it has a lot more energy, free space and life. My home actually makes me happy, because everything is where it should be. How does this affect my productivity? Well, if everything is back in it’s place, I obviously know exactly where it is and can practically get it in the dark.

Letting each part of your business have it’s time isn’t that difficult. I’m not doing any traveling, so I don’t have to miss work, classes or blogging. Even if I was, with current technology I would be able to do it all from anywhere in the world. I guess I got an advantage here over good ol’ Ben Franklin.

Becoming Outstanding Series

• How To Become An Outstanding Person In Twelve Weeks

• Week 01 - Temperance

• Week 02 - Silence

• Week 03 - Order

• Week 04 - Resolution

• Week 05 - Frugality

• Week 06 - Industry

• Week 07 - Sincerity

• Week 08 - Justice

• Week 09 - Moderation

• Week 10 - Cleanliness

• Week 11 - Tranquility

• Week 12 - Chastity

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