Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues with Misty Howard

In this episode of the Franklin Planner podcast, hosts George Wright III and John Harding welcome special guest Misty Howard, a passionate advocate for timeless values and historical wisdom. They delve into the life of Benjamin Franklin, exploring his early years, the values that inspired the Franklin Planner system, and how he discovered his mission. Misty shares Franklin’s journey from a challenging youth to becoming a pivotal historical figure through virtues like temperance, silence, and resolution. The discussion emphasizes the importance of self-evaluation, developing a personal value system, and the correlation between virtue and happiness. The episode concludes with actionable advice for listeners of all ages on how to cultivate character and transform their lives by aligning with timeless principles.

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Episode Timeline

00:34 Benjamin Franklin’s Early Life and Virtues

02:42 Discovering Your Mission and Purpose

04:20 Benjamin Franklin’s Youth and Determination

15:04 The Turning Point: From Drifting to Deliberate Purpose

20:06 The 13 Virtues of Benjamin Franklin

27:34 Applying Franklin’s Principles Today

Thank you for joining us on this Journey to create your best life and to lead your Life and Teams. Please share this show, and we look forward to the journey we will take together.

The Franklin Planner Team

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Episode Transcript

George Wright III: Alright, welcome back to the Franklin Planner podcast. We are excited today to be able to host a special guest. Misty Howard, how are you today? 

Misty Howard: I’m doing good. Thanks for having me. 

George: That’s great. No, you know, listen, we’ve been trying to put this together for a while, so for those of you that are first-time listeners, I’m joined in-studio— My name’s George Wright III. I am your cohost, and I’m here with John Harding, who is also my cohost and an owner and board member at Franklin Planner. John, how are you? 

John Harding: I’m doing great. I’m happy to be here with you and Misty, and focused on how to help people lead their life better. 

George: We’re gonna have a really [00:01:00] fun discussion today, and this discussion comes around real timeless values and, you know, we’re gonna talk today about Benjamin Franklin and his early life and virtues that have inspired the Franklin Planner system. And so before we do that, let me introduce Misty real quick.

Introducing Misty Howard

Misty Howard is a passionate advocate for timeless values, historical wisdom, and she’s a voice for the youth. She’s really been able to tailor some timeless historical principles and values to the voice of the youth, which is why we wanted to have her on today. Right, John? 

John: That’s true. And, you know, as you think about Franklin Planner, there’s a connection as we learned about Misty that really increased our, you know, desire to have you on Misty, so thank you. We’ve had a bit of work to get going, but you are, I would say, an enthusiast for history, timeless principles, and our name, the Franklin Planner. I think of Ben Franklin. A couple of our founders that we’re grateful for, Stephen R. [00:02:00] Covey and Hyrum W. Smith, both had this huge passion, and I think we’re well anchored on timeless principles, unchanging truths, and particularly Hyrum Smith had such great interest in history and in our founding fathers. He had great interest and insight all around the life of Ben Franklin and the corporate office, the early headquarters, and really, for years, a statue, a bronze statue, of Ben Franklin sat out right at the entry. 

George: Oh, wow. 

John: Anybody that came through. And there really are some very interesting reasons for that. So there’s kind of a connection here that many of our listeners know of, and if you’re early, would like you to know of. And Misty is a great answer to be a great [00:03:00] guest and part of our team to join us. So I wanna make that connection. 

George: Yeah, for sure. And here’s the thing. We’re gonna talk today about discovering your mission early on at a young age, and using that to anchor your life with purpose and peace. So Misty, if you wouldn’t mind, could you just kind of give our listeners a little bit of your background, what has fascinated you about Benjamin Franklin, and give ‘em a little context for our conversation today.

Misty: Yeah, sure, be happy to. So yes, I am a great history enthusiast. I spend a lot of my time studying history. I do a history podcast, and so I focus a lot of my studying around the early American period, the founding era, and there truly are just some incredible people that come onto the stage at that period in history.

Benjamin Franklin: Champion of Personal Improvement

And Benjamin Franklin, I’ve done quite a bit of studying about Benjamin Franklin, and I would say that he arguably is one of the most recognizable figures [00:04:00] in American history in general, and there’s a lot of reasons for that. He’s known— he is, like, the funniest character, incredible wit, but he also was just a very accomplished individual. And that was not just in America. He was internationally renowned as a scientist and a philosopher, known for his political theory. 

But today, of course, we’re gonna be focusing on his other accomplishments that I think are less known, which is his understanding of personal improvement. And you don’t understand truly how incredible it is, what Benjamin Franklin accomplished, until you know his backstory and what he came from.

George: Yeah, that’s the part that I was kind of fascinated by as well. So that might be a great place to start, because we wanna begin by talking a little bit about the idea of youth and finding purpose early in life, because most people think of Benjamin Franklin, like, in the later years. And so I would love for you to kind of start us [00:05:00] out with this idea of Benjamin Franklin in his early years and how he discovered his mission so young, and then we can kind of talk a little bit more about that.

Franklin’s early life

Misty: Um, yeah. You know, I wanna say along those lines here first that I love being an advocate for, you know, the younger generation people in their twenties, maybe, that are discovering their life in the decade of decisions. But Benjamin Franklin—like you said, we kind of see him in this grandfatherly way—but a lot of who he was was based on the decisions that he made early, and I have found this pattern in history, which is that the most successful people are often not those who are born in great circumstances, who are just wildly talented and just were so naturally gifted at everything. It’s the people that had great determination, and Benjamin Franklin is definitely one of those. 

So, just to give you a little bit of context, Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. [00:06:00] His father was married twice, and he was the fifteenth of seventeen children born to his father. [Laughter] Yeah, big family. And his parents didn’t have a lot of material means— Actually, his father owned a shop where they would, you know, make candles and soap and things like that, but Franklin wanted to become a sailor, and his father was not excited about that. He wanted him to pursue other vocations, something that was less dangerous, and he realized that Benjamin had an aptitude for learning.

Humble beginnings

Franklin from a young age loved to read, and so his father put him in school, but because their finances were strained, he ended up getting taken out of school and worked under a personal tutor for some time before quitting school altogether and joining the family business, which he really did not like. He didn’t enjoy his time. [Laughter] Apparently he thought it was boring, I guess? Just making candles and soap. [00:07:00] 

But altogether, Benjamin Franklin had about two years of formal schooling, which—when you consider that he would go on to become one of the greatest minds of his time and earn a number of honorary degrees and invent new things—you’d think, how is that even possible? How could he have risen so far from what he was and what he started with? But—kind of giving you a little more detail there—as he got older—he turned twelve years old—his father actually had him apprenticed under his older brother in the printing business, and he was an indentured apprentice, meaning that he would work from the ages of twelve to twenty-one. 

And I mean, you think about a twelve-year-old today having to do labor like that, it seems like— And he’s working long hours, so how is he supposed to improve his mind or his situation? But, you know, they say if there’s a will, there’s a way. [00:08:00] Well, Benjamin Franklin had a lot of will, and he discovered that he could, if he was frugal with his time and his money, that instead of going out to lunch with all the other employees at the print shop, he instead would just pack his own lunch, which was just, like, a piece of bread and a handful of raisins—yeah, that sounds great. 

George: Right. 

A pivotal education

Misty: And then he would stay behind, and he would spend all of his lunch break reading, and then he would save money so he could—guess what?—buy more books. And so that’s how he began to improve his mind, ‘cause he knew that education was the key to changing his situation. He also—

George: Do you think that— Yeah, I was gonna say, do you think that the education and that love for that is what helped him to sort of narrow down and find his, kind of, mission and purpose, the fact that he was an avid learner?

Misty: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, it was both the improvement of his mind, but it was also his determination to [00:09:00] increase his writing capacities. Benjamin Franklin viewed writing as a principal means of his advancement, and so he would take sections of the newspaper, and he would try to rewrite it, and hopefully not only just create something that was as good, but he would try to improve it and make it better. And his writing increased dramatically. He, even at sixteen years old—this is kind of one of those funny stories from Benjamin Franklin’s life—is that he started writing under a pseudonym, which was Silence Do Good. Maybe you’ve heard this story before. 

George: Mm-hmm. 

Misty: Yeah. Well, he knew that his brother, who he didn’t get along with super well, would not want to print anything that he wrote. And so he started writing under this false identity of this widow, and you get a lot of, uh, you could see his wisdom and his wit because he’s not just talking about funny things, even though he is. But he’s talking a lot about some deep concepts.

Resilience in the face of adversity

And so, Franklin, though—this is key to understand this shift in [00:10:00] Benjamin Franklin’s life—was that he didn’t get along great with his older brother. In fact, he says that his older brother would beat him at times, actually pretty frequently, which he took extremely amiss. Can’t imagine why.

George: Yeah. 

Misty: And— but he makes this really interesting note in his autobiography where he says that he thinks that’s his— It was his brother’s tyrannical treatment of him that created in him this eternal hatred against oppression. And I love that he was able to take something that he could have become a victim to, and, you know, and felt that, “Hey, because I wasn’t able to get a good education, because I have to work so hard, I can just roll with life the way that it was destined out for me,” but he definitely does not do that; he takes control of his life and decides he’s gonna take a new course and ends up leaving his apprenticeship and moving to Philadelphia.

George: Yeah, well his resilience, obviously that’s a great example of, in his youth, how he [00:11:00] took what most people would call, you know, a victim mindset and, you know, could feel very oppressed, and turned it into something that helped to push him forward. And it’s interesting, John—I was gonna mention to you, ‘cause, you know, you talk a lot about “there’s greatness within all of us,” and clearly he’s a great example of that. But especially with the youth, I mean, I think it’s so important that the youth find ways to pull their greatness out, and Benjamin Franklin’s a great example of that overall, to be able to find that.

A Message for the Youth

So how do you think, you know, younger people today can really discover their greatness and kind of turn it into purpose? I’m trying to find, maybe, some parallels here that he can offer the youth today and what they can use from his story to turn that into their purpose and direction. 

Take responsibility for your life

Misty: Well, I would say that this idea of becoming a victim to your circumstances, unfortunately, is very—it’s very [00:12:00] prevalent today—but I would say it’s even more so among youth because society loves victims. You know, we— It’s so easy to make excuses to not do great things because of what we’re born into, or the, you know—maybe what other people do or how other people treat us—but if we can take full responsibility for our own actions and be proactive, then we are able to, instead of, you know, be shaped by our circumstances, we can then shape our circumstances. And it’s a lot easier to do that than you, uh, than you originally think. Sometimes it’s a mindset shift. 

George: Yeah, and in these early years, this is why, you know, John was gonna mention to you, it really comes down to the power of choice, right? And so when you talk about the principles of Franklin Planner and discovering your mission and vision and values early, it is really a matter of choice of where you put your focus.

John: No, it is, and Misty, I love what you said about—you know, [00:13:00] people are facing—all of us have challenges, and I even think, you know, some people say, “Well, these challenges aren’t ones that we face,” or “No one’s faced this.” If you’re feeling like a victim at the age of, you know, the wise age you are of twenty-six, what do you see—and I want to come back to this, these principles—what do you feel like you see, you know, of your peers? 

You’re kind of in this Gen Z, and most people can’t keep track of all that, but think of the ages of, you know, mid-teens to almost thirty years old. Is this young adult, you know, an evolving generation? What do you see as you look at history like this, and then let’s stay with this Ben Franklin history. What do you see happening kind of around you? What do you think the opportunity is for people, you know, your age and as it relates to—that was years ago, but—Ben [00:14:00] Franklin is an awesome example of leading your life but coming not from much, right, and against a lot of obstacles that we don’t hear about until now.

Greatness requires effort

Misty: Well, I would say that something that I have observed is that we live in an era of apathy where, you know, we … Especially with youth, we’re raised with this idea of “take the easiest course you can,” “live your childhood as long as you possibly can,” taking as great advantage of that, and then take the path of least resistance. And we do have, you know, we want to take the easy route of getting something for nothing, and, you know, the idea of hard work and taking the more difficult course is not as popular. And I know it doesn’t sound as exciting, but I think young people are especially susceptible to that pitfall of just wanting to take the easy [00:15:00] route. 

But greatness is only achieved by taking the harder course. You know, it’s— And you have to depart from, you know, what you may even have other people telling you that you can or cannot accomplish. And you have to have the faith in yourself and have something deep inside yourself that drives you outside of the forces around you.

George: Yeah, that’s a great point. In fact, I think that that’s a great segue into something that’s a core part of what we wanted to talk about today, which is going from just where you’re at to a turning point of direction.

Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues

And, you know, we wanted to get into this idea of how did Benjamin Franklin, you know, get to a point where he went from drifting to deliberate purpose with these thirteen virtues that helped him to transform his life. Because people that are—they’re trying to figure out what they’re doing, or how they’re doing it, and their direction. There has to be a turning point, and he’s a great example of that—back to what John said—when [00:16:00] he developed these thirteen virtues. So maybe you could help us kind of lay the foundation of where that turning point happened.

Hitting a low point

Misty: Yeah, so Benjamin Franklin, after he decides to leave Boston, he moves to Philadelphia and finds work at a print shop there. And as he—something kind of crazy happens in his life, actually—so the governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, he actually approaches Benjamin, and he tells him that he’s going to set him up and send him to England to go and get some printing contracts and get some new equipment, and that he’s going to help him create a new business in Philadelphia, which sounds great. It sounds amazing, until he gets to England and realizes that Sir William Keith was not going to keep any of those promises. 

And so he’s kind of left on his own, but he decides to make the best of it, and he stays in London. But, as he’s in London, I would say that this is probably the most [00:17:00] directionless period of Benjamin Franklin’s life. He’d made some promises with a girl that he would one day marry that he left behind in Philadelphia, and he wrote to her one time, and he kind of forgets about her and the commitments that they made. He spends more money and time on amusements than you’ll ever see at any other time; he’s a very frugal person and worked really hard, but as a young adult—you know, he’s between eighteen and twenty, he’s living in London—and he starts mixing with some more sordid company and adopting some of their values. But, as he has an opportunity to go back to Philadelphia, on this journey he begins to evaluate what he really wants out of life. And what I love about Benjamin Franklin is he’s not just thinking about temporal success. 

What is true success?

And I wanna make this point too—this is something that I absolutely love about the Franklin Planner opposed to other time management systems—is that other [00:18:00] systems are focused more on just doing things efficiently. You know, “If you could just do things faster then everything would be great.” Where the Franklin Planner is focused on, you know, creating a value system and focusing on your priorities, on the things that matter most, and that success is not just termed by monetary gain. There’s a lot of people that are successful, you know, as far as they make a lot of money, or maybe they have enjoyed fame or success in that region, and yet they feel a lot of emptiness in their life, where Franklin was focused on creating a life that was balanced and that was a lot about self-improvement and creating values that surpassed just temporal success.

George: Yeah, that’s interesting. And, you know, it’s also interesting, your perspective there, because I know you’ve referred to those as kind of his lost years, but what’s interesting to me is that most people see when he created [00:19:00] the virtues and some of these things, but really, that period of time was pivotal to his growth, leading him to the creation of the thirteen virtues, right? Without that— That wandering and lost time is really what helped him to pivot and transition.

Grounded in principles

So I think sometimes that’s lost in the context of people that might be struggling, not knowing what they’re doing, but if they can come back and get grounded into some principles— So I’m curious how Benjamin Franklin developed these thirteen virtues and how it transformed his life at that point now, in these years.

Misty: Well, so he actually, when he did this, he created them in order of (what he believed was) importance, and that each value would add on to the other value and make it easier to live. And so he did, he developed these thirteen virtues, and it began on the ship, but it was over the next couple of years, between the ages of twenty and twenty-two, that he really solidified what he was— what he [00:20:00] had in mind. And he created a system, so that way he wasn’t just thinking, “Oh, I want to be a better person.” A lot of the times we all have that idea of, like, “Oh, I want to be better.”

George: Yeah. 

Misty: But how do you go from zero to a hundred? You know, how do I go from being not a great person to becoming somebody that I really want to be? And so, for him— I have a list of the virtues here if we want to discuss those.

George: Yeah. Let’s go through ‘em. Yeah, for sure. 

The Thirteen Virtues

Misty: Okay. So, uh, his first one was temperance. He said, “Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.” And he purposely chose this as the first one because he felt that balance was really important in life. And isn’t that true, that we all struggle with balance a lot of the times? We fall into pitfalls of, just, extremes? And anytime you get extreme, life gets chaotic? You have to find the balance. 

John: So true, Misty. I have to say, just listening to you, and I know [00:21:00] that listeners will love this. You are so wise beyond your age. 

George: Yeah. 

John: So keep going, but you are a great voice for people of any age, because the research that George and I have done and which builds on all this other research as you go through these just validates, no matter what your age, to think carefully about, you know, what your life is, what’s your mission and the vision of your future, these values—or virtues, as he lists them. We’ve done research that clearly shows that even the neurons in your brain, when you’re in your last old-age years, how vital it is to know these things you’re gonna go through. And you’re making a great point today that we’ve always felt strongly about, that it’s never too young to figure out and start thinking about [00:22:00] what matters to you, what are those values. So keep going. You’re wise beyond your years. 

George: Well, and to your point, though, this wisdom is coming, just like with Misty, from Franklin in his twenties. This isn’t, like, virtues that were developed in his late, you know, final years, or whatever—

Misty: [Laughter]

George: So—yeah, we don’t want to— I know that was a little context— Anyone that’s listening, anyone listening needs to realize that early years is what defines a lot, and that’s why it’s such a powerful message. But, so— First, first one. Okay, keep going. 

Misty: Well, first, can I just add this point too? That one of the benefits of starting to make good habits in your youth is that it’s a lot harder to break habits—

George: Yes. 

Misty: —when you get older. And it’s never too late to decide, you know, to get direction in your life and to align with your values, but it’s a lot easier to do it when you’re younger. And, I have to wonder, how would America have been different if Benjamin Franklin had not, at this period, [00:23:00] decided to get direction in his life? I mean— 

George: Yeah. 

Misty: I don’t— I don’t know, but it could be very different. 

George: It could be very different, for sure. So—so do me a favor, let’s list out the thirteen virtues. Let’s list them out, and then we can kind of go back and touch on them. Um, we don’t have a ton of time, so I wanna make sure we get to all of them and, uh, so go ahead and go through those with us. 

Misty: Okay, so his second one is silence: “Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.” 

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

Resolution: “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.” 

Frugality: “Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; waste nothing.” 

Industry: “Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off unnecessary actions.” 

Sincerity: “Use no harmful deceit; [00:24:00] think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly.”

Justice: “Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.” 

Moderation: “Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.”

Cleanliness, which is number ten—sorry, I should be listing these by number. 

George: No, that’s good. 

Misty: “Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.”

Tranquility: “Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable.”

Chastity: “Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or injury of another’s peace or reputation.”

And humility, which to him was to imitate Jesus and Socrates, which his— I know his thirteenth one was added later when somebody else suggested it; I guess pride is something that we can’t very well see in ourselves. 

The Thirteen Virtues and the Franklin Planner

George: You know what’s so interesting is—and you said this at the beginning of the [00:25:00] virtues, right, which is that he developed these over time, and it took a little bit of, you know, over the years—it didn’t just all come at once—and I thought of an interesting question I wanted to ask you, John, because the Franklin Planner system was very much modeled after many of those same principles.

A system for self-evaluation

But what Misty said was that it was his self-evaluation process that really had him develop these. It wasn’t because he just came up with a really cool, you know, list of thirteen things; it was his self-evaluation process, and where the Franklin Planner was patterned after that. You talk a lot about this self, you know, evaluation—not just, “Here’s principles and things you wanna follow,” but how critical and core is that, both for youth and for people today, to have that self-evaluation in order to guide them with leading their life?

John: Right. I think it’s huge. We talk a lot about the motivation in any of us when we connect with things that, you know, enable [00:26:00] us to lead our own life, versus someone else to lead our life, or for our life to not be going anywhere. So, George, you think about— We talk about, Misty, the Productivity Pyramid that kind of came along and mirrored this system, and the base of this is to really be thoughtful—you know, seek out, learn, read—but to take time to think about your own mission, what matters to you. We say “Have a vision for your future.” Think about the equivalent of these virtues: what do you value, and also, the roles you play in your life and who matters most to you in addition to what matters most to you. 

Some of those terms, you know, might be new to people or might feel complicated, but really, we’re just talking about really being intentional about and believing you have greatness in you, and a leader; you have the [00:27:00] ability to think about that. The Franklin System, I know—you know, the planner, Misty—we know is a mindset. This is a mindset that Ben Franklin had—and through, you know, a lot of, I think, obstacles, and somewhere in there, all that will you talked about—he had some vision that he could do this, and we all have that ability. So, George, I think it’s just vital; the Franklin planner system is a great mirror of this. It is kind of a life leadership system to help you do that, so no matter how old you are—I’m thinking of our amazing listeners that might have grandchildren, children, neighbors, friends, the youth—this is a very cool system. Like, Ben Franklin had to work at that. 

Find your direction first

George: Yeah, and to your point that you had said, Misty, it’s not just about time management productivity, right? So as we talked about Benjamin [00:28:00] Franklin in his early years, kind of discovering and finding his direction and then his self-evaluation process, leading him to, you know, these virtues that transform his life, it kind of leads us to this other area we wanted to talk about while we have time, is governing values, because, you know, there’s these unchanging principles that you started with that said that the people that you find that are the most successful—these virtues—and you mentioned it as well, you know, where Franklin discovered the direct link between virtue and happiness. And so, as you take your finding your direction and mission and your self-evaluation process and you use that to lead your life, and then you get to a point where you link that—that link between the virtues and happiness—talk to us about Benjamin Franklin and how he reflected that, and some of your thoughts on that.

Choose your governing values

Misty: Well, for— One thing that I appreciate, talking about the Franklin Planner and how it ties to Franklin’s governing values, is that, you know, we’re [00:29:00] not basing it purely off of the exact values that Franklin chose; it’s about finding your governing values and the things that specifically matter the most to you and that would determine a successful, happy, productive life where you can find peace with yourself because you’re lined up with your values. And this is such a different approach because a lot of the world will tell you that you have to achieve success at the expense of your values—and that you have to, you know, if you’re gonna have to step on whoever you gotta step on to be successful—where this is a totally different way to view this, where it’s becoming a better person. You know, starting with purifying ourselves, and trying to become the best version we can be, that our values can actually be the catalyst for our success, and lasting success that helps us to feel at peace, not just with what we accomplish but who we are. 

And Franklin actually [00:30:00] termed this as his pursuit of “moral perfection,” where he literally— I’m like, I can’t think of a higher goal than that; he wanted to be perfect. He thought, “If I can,” you know, “know what I should be doing, why not? Why can’t I just do it all the time?” And he was systematic about it. You know, he would mark when he would have a failing in his little book; he’d have a little book with him, he’d always mark down if he, uh, ever had a slipup on any value that he was going through. You know, he had the system of a value per week, and that helped him to be conscious of his improvement. And he discovered that by improving himself, he became a happier person. 

Finding Your Path in a World of Superficiality

George: Wow, it’s interesting you say that, ‘cause I was gonna ask you—whether it’s youth, or anyone today—like, how do you cultivate character and virtue in a world that’s dominated by, like, instant gratification and superficial success? And you just talked about how Franklin had a system for actually evaluating just that, you know, [00:31:00] as opposed to like, “How many dollars do I have in the bank account?” How much, you know, whatever. How do you cultivate character and virtue in a world that’s dominated by instant gratification and, you know, um, money success?

Have a stronger “yes” inside

Misty: Well, I think it was, uh, Stephen R. Covey that said to say no to something, you have to have an even stronger inside “yes.” And so you have to have something that you’re committed to, whether that’s your own personal growth, your own personal achievements, a value system or religious-based system—whatever it may be, you need to find out what matters the most to you, and then try to keep those commitments to yourself. 

George: That is so great. That’s so great, ‘cause I was gonna ask— I was gonna ask John, you know, this is totally based on these Covey principles of a principle-centered life, right? Like, how does that apply to what everyone’s doing today?

Principles bring success

John: Hyrum Smith called it inner peace. You know, when we determine what those [00:32:00] values are, and it’s— I think you’ve caught it together here. It’s one thing to, you know, really be the master of your destiny—kind of that “Invictus” poem, you know, where “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”—it’s another thing to do that and to align it with timeless principles of effectiveness that are proven. 

When you put those together, I believe that’s where this happiness, this lasting joy, comes. You’re still the master of your destiny, George, you’re— This is not in any way trying to empower people to do anything but decide for themselves and just tap into the brilliance that’s in them and the greatness that is in them. And we have Ben Franklin, in this case today, and history that shows you can be down and out, you can [00:33:00] be beat around, you can have many obstacles, and you can tap in to that unbelievable greatness in you and make the obstacle the way. And if there is a process and kind of a mindset and a tool set that works, and— Misty, you’ve—

George: I mean, that leads you, so I wanna do this, I want to ask you both—and I think what we’re gonna need to do, Misty, is we’re gonna have to have you back to dig into some—like, you have some awesome stories that we have not been able to get into this episode—but I want to ask both of you a question—take as much time as you want, but—I’d like to ask you, Misty, to just kind of summarize for us these things we’ve talked about, from Benjamin Franklin’s life and perspective of finding your mission, creating intention, and living a virtuous life. 

And then, you know, I’d love to have, John, you come in, uh, from our, you know, [00:34:00] our company founders and things like that that have come in, and how do you live this principle-centered life in that same way, because we’re talking about parallels here, right? Benjamin Franklin living this, creating a real standard that became a foundation for Franklin Planner, and then today how you can utilize that to really live those same principles. So could you do that for us, Misty? Just kinda, like, bring this together for us on his life overall. 

Benjamin Franklin’s Legacy

Misty: Oh, well, I’ll say that I think one of the things that I personally love the most about history is that you do get to see how principles don’t change. That they apply in one person’s life as well as they apply in someone else’s. And so Benjamin Franklin is someone who was able to— I would describe him as a discoverer of truth, you know, whether that was in science or philosophy or anything you can imagine, he was honestly so talented in many different areas. But I [00:35:00] would personally say that the greatest discovery that Benjamin Franklin made is one that we don’t talk about enough, and that is the great correlation between happiness and virtue.

And he actually says here that at the end of his life, he admits that he never arrived at this great goal of moral perfection. But he does say, he says that, um, that he fell far short of it, “yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and happier man than I otherwise should have been. … And it may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor owed the constant felicity of his life down to his seventy-ninth year, in which this is written.” He says, “I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit.” 

Develop virtue to achieve happiness

So I think that we can learn from that, that we can— And this is, you know, [00:36:00] everyone is seeking happiness and satisfaction in life. We all are. And I would say that the young people are especially seeking that type of peace and feeling like their life matters for, you know, in some way. And Benjamin Franklin, we can learn from him that it’s by becoming the best version of ourselves and seeking to adopt good habits and good values, and to overall develop virtue in our characters, that we find what we ultimately are looking for, which is success and happiness. 

George: Yeah, that’s so true, and I think that that is— Sometimes people get caught up in the fact that they’re looking for certain things, but it does come back to happiness, fulfillment, direction in life, so— John, what are some of your thoughts on that? 

Misty’s Perspective

John: I’d like to ask Misty one more question and then I have something that I think will connect to her answer, but I’m not sure what, exactly, how you’ll answer this, Misty. You are a, I think, a [00:37:00] great thought leader as it relates to history, and you’re very unique, I believe, in that for how young you are, you really have this wisdom, but you also have this twenty-six-year-old perspective. There are so many of our partners and listeners and customers that have grandchildren, children, that are your age who have really tapped in—I mean, their stories flow to us—that they are agreeing with you, you know, as to this system. 

And many of them, Misty, might have, you know, learned of Franklin Planner through a corporate or an organizational setting. And they are— They could teach us—and they do, daily, so much. I think there’s an incredible opportunity that you demonstrate for all of us that have neighbors, friends, [00:38:00] children, grandchildren, to share what we are talking about and know, and to share the Franklin system and, mainly, the principles that help people. But do you have some specific advice for people your own age, or for those who have children and grandchildren, you know, related to these principles, and even Ben Franklin’s life, that you would add to what you said. Just—“Hey, this is what I can see. I’m twenty-six, and I see this. I see this.” So I would love to hear just a response there. Then I have an invitation for everyone, George. 

Be selfless and proactive

Misty: Well, I would say that self-development is only a means to an end. You know, we’re trying to develop ourselves, but it’s for a purpose. We should be seeking to develop who we are so that we can help other people. And that’s really where satisfaction comes, because you will hear things about improving yourself, but it’s often [00:39:00] just very self-centered, you know? Be better so you can be feeling better about yourself, which we’ve discussed, obviously—it’s not bad to want to be happy through these things—but I would say that one of the unalterable laws in existence is that we feel happier when we’re thinking about other people and doing things for others. 

And so my invitation to young people and, you know, to other people who know young people who should be trying to find direction in their lives, would be to set aside time to actually think about what you want out of life. Benjamin Franklin had that long journey across the ocean, and I can’t help but think that part of it was that he was so distraction-free. You know, that was a long journey, and he actually says in a— it’s funny enough, he says, “I got tired of talking to the people who were around me,” and so he just had this time to reflect. 

Take the time to plan your future

But we have to make time to reflect today. It’s not gonna happen to you. You have to set aside everything else that’s happening in your life and take the time to write [00:40:00] down what you truly value in life and the qualities that you want to develop if you could see the end result of who you are, you know. Like, the ultimate finished version of yourself that you’d like to see, I would say take the time, write it down, physically, what you want to become, and then start making the goals necessary to become that person. 

John: I love that. 

George: Yeah, and there’s very few things in life today that separate you from the daily digital overload. And so Benjamin Franklin had a true benefit there, where we probably couldn’t handle having that long of a trip nowadays. [Laughter] But—but silence, time— Franklin Planner is a great way to create that barrier in your life of having some time to reflect, but—John. 

One Final Challenge

John: Yeah, my invitation is, you know, the best way to learn something and to share and to feel [00:41:00] like you’re making a difference is to share a principle, or if you’ve had great results with the Ben Franklin process or the Franklin Planner or these timeless principles; George, my invitation is to share this with five people. Anything that you feel is a timeless principle or related to something you may have learned. I wanted to say one person in a way, but I would love for us to think about those in this case that might be younger, that might be near your age, or children, grandchildren, neighbors, and share this. Share what you know, if you know this, and then sit down, like you’ve said, Misty, for yourself, and kind of renew that truth, because no matter what your age, great benefits come from tapping into that [00:42:00] potential in you. 

And Misty, I want to thank you so much. I know George will— Here’s— We want to hear your thoughts, George, but— Thank you for joining us, and we’ll invite you back, and it’s been so great. History kind of anchors; I feel actually a peace and a steadiness to history when we’re examining people who have led their life, who have fought through obstacles, and leave for us great hope. There’s great hope. I mean, the future can be so bright, even in the midst of really difficult things, and we’ve seen that through history. 

George: Yeah. And, uh, you know, there’s so many lessons to be learned, so— Misty, we appreciate you being with us on the show today. You’ve been a great asset and gave some great context to everything we’re doing. Is there any last thoughts you have for our listeners before we end our show? 

Misty: No, I would just say that principles [00:43:00] don’t change, and that if we conform to ‘em, life gets a lot better. 

George: Yeah, I agree, I agree. And listen, for those of you listening, if you’re inspired by the message, one of the best ways to be a leader is to instill greatness in others and to share the message and to, you know, not just apply these principles in your life—that’s one of our goals, right, to lead your life—but also to help others, and that’s part of— A lot of our listeners are leaders and they’re executives and they’re individuals that have influence in the world, and these timeless principles of virtue and mission, and purpose and direction, are all things that you can share, and when you share those, you make an impact, and you make a difference. And so we would encourage you to do that. 

We’d also encourage you to kind of hit us up and let us know what you wanna hear more about and what you’re working on and how you’re leading your life. Tell us your story; let us know what you’re both struggling with and what you’re winning at. And we appreciate you being here, listening to us this week as well. So, for those of you first time [00:44:00] listening, make sure that you like and subscribe on the show so you don’t miss any episodes, and we will look forward to talking with you again on our next show. Have a great day. ​ 

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About Misty Howard

Misty Howard is a historian‐enthusiast and podcast host who brings a fresh, youth-oriented voice to timeless values and historical wisdom. She serves as the creator and host of the podcast Faith Ignited (described as “Immersive, real stories from history, seen through the lens of faith”). Her work focuses on exploring the lives of influential historical figures—especially from the founding era of the United States—and connecting their personal values with modern leadership, mission-driven living, and character development. Misty emphasizes the importance of self-improvement, purpose, and narration of historical truths often overlooked in mainstream narratives. Her style blends historical research, faith-based insight, and practical application for younger audiences.

Guest Resources:

Podcast Link: Faith Ignited — available via Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc.