Often the most uow information can be taken from a simple history lesson. Franklin was the youngest son of 17 children. His father was a poor candle-maker. Franklin decided that it was up to him to make his own way in the world. First, he spent five unhappy years toiling as a printing apprentice for his older brother, James. Back in those days, printing was hard work. Franklin was responsible for managing and moving the printing press plates which was tedious and extremely heavy. In frustration and despair, Ben broke the law of the colonies and ran away from his apprenticeship. He had to bribe a ship captain to take him to Philadelphia.
Accept Full Responsibility For Your Life
Franklin was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher , politician, Freemason , postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist , civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod , bifocals , and the Franklin stove , among other inventions. Franklin earned the title of «The First American» for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity , initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager , «In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat. Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of After , he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle , a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of British policies. He pioneered and was the first president of Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in and later became the University of Pennsylvania. He organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected president in Franklin became a national hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing shipments of crucial munitions from France. He was promoted to deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in , having been Philadelphia postmaster for many years, and this enabled him to set up the first national communications network. During the revolution , he became the first United States Postmaster General. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. From to , he served as governor of Pennsylvania. He initially owned and dealt in slaves but, by the late s, he began arguing against slavery and became an abolitionist. Benjamin Franklin’s father, Josiah Franklin , was a tallow chandler , a soaper and candlemaker. Benjamin’s father and all four of his grandparents were born in England.
Quick Facts
Now, years after his death on April 17, , Boston and Philadelphia are about to become beneficiaries of Franklin’s 18th century wisdom. Politicians, historians and civic leaders are at odds over how the money can best be spent to solve 20th century problems. Should it go to fighting youth gangs, building low-cost housing, or reducing government budget deficits? Or should it still go to Franklin’s original purpose, helping young tradesmen get started in their jobs? Shannon, the Attorney General of Massachusetts and one of the officials involved in trying to determine who will get Franklin’s bequest. Franklin, who was born in Boston but moved to Philadelphia at age 17, left the money in a codicil to his will. Then, years after his death, part of the money should be disbursed, with the remainder given out a century later.
What should you take from this?
Glenn Stok has always found ways to solve problems and develop a better way of doing frxnklin, such as what he discusses in this article. We all need to make decisions in life. However, other decisions can sometimes be stressful, such as choosing a career, voting for the right candidate, what car to buy, what town to move to when relocating, maybe even where to take the wife and kids on vacation.
The absence of both sides of an argument causes confusion and uncertainty. When we only are consciously mindful of one side of the case, we most likely will end up choosing the wrong option. Every choice we made in the past has brought us to the exact place where we are now—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
If we have too many options to choose from, then we need a logical method of analyzing and organizing them that will help with making plans. Ben Franklin had a solution. He found a way to help make difficult decisions by creating a list of pros and cons. This can also be thought of as a balance sheet because he would apply a weight to each item for consideration. I learned this from reading his personal letters 1 that were published by Leonard W.
Labaree editor in Franklin didn’t have an easy life. It was full of conflicts as was evident with his commitment issues and his chasing after women. The first is a simple method that most people use. The second is a detailed technique that Franklin used to help make difficult decisions with the conflicts he had in his life.
Make a list in two columns. One column contains all the pros and the other contains all the cons. This strategy has two advantages:. Clarity is so important in order to decide how you want to handle things or which path in life you wish to follow. This helps avoid procrastination, which usually is due to a failure to understand the outcome of various options. When one does not know what to expect, they tend to do.
Making lists provides a great benefit. It helps with making informed decisions, and the visual clarity achieved from the lists brings things into focus. When you make the effort to write down all the pros and cons, you are actually forcing your brain to realize all the positive and negative aspects of the decision you are having difficulty.
That gives you the power to take action in the right direction! Analyzing pros and cons may also help with commitment issues. Making a list such as this brings it visually in focus. Franklin clearly explained the problem we all have with decision-making.
I have my own way of explaining it based on what I learned from studying his methods. He would list the pros in one column and the cons in the other column. For many of us, that list may suffice to help visualize both sides of a decision. However, a large list might be too overwhelming to consider and it may leave one with more confusion. Ben solved that problem, and made the list much more enlightening, by applying an algorithmic technique to the process:.
This process reduces the list to a manageable size and mony leaves the most important items to consider for making the ultimate decision. Did Ben Franklin have commitment issues with getting married? Maybe ffranklin used his method of listing pros and cons to make this decision.
He dated Deborah Read while she was married to another man. Later, when her husband passed away, he settled down in a common-law marriage with. They never officially married. She had a child from her dd, and she and Ben had two children of their. The first of the two children they had together, Francis Folger Franklin, died of smallpox.
The second, Sarah Franklin, took care of her father in his old age. It was good he had her. She was a dedicated daughter. I would not say Ben had a commitment problem. He probably analyzed the pros and cons of the relationship, with his balanced list technique, and settled on keeping it as a common-law marriage. To him it obviously made no difference. He had a close family and was a decent man with the way he frsnklin all the trials and tribulations of his life, such as with the loss of his first child.
Ben Franklin had a very interesting life, although a difficult one. I can see how he came up with the idea of applying pros and cons to his thought process to make decisions.
I’m sure that he found it to be an easy way to analyze the options available in his life. Benjamin Franklin, Mr. Labaree, Yale University Press, To comment on this article, you must sign in or sign up and post using monsy HubPages Network account.
Karmallama — Oh, but there are many people throughout history who are interesting, each one with something unique to offer. Thanks for stopping by. Paul, minnesota. Very good subject matter. It is hard to choose a more interesting man to talk. Good hub! Thank you Glenn for the wonderful and well scripted article on Benjamin Franklin. Did you know he’s the «father of time management? The ideas on time management has been attributed to. He’s a great mind and an inspiration to us all.
Marisaupa, Thanks for adding that bit of information. I didn’t know that he is most recognized outside of the US. As you stated, Ben Franklin was a very interesting and wonderful man. It is beh wonder why of all the Founding Fathers he is often the most recognized by people outside of the United States. Great hub, Franklin is my favorite founding father and if he were alive now he would be a major figure on the world stage.
This country may have failed at the start if not for BF. Good Hub. The Ben Franklin sales close is used in sales all the time. Pros and cons Practical and effective. I was using it one time on another sales person LOL — he said «I use that close. Maek like this close because not only does it work, but it makes sense too doesn’t it? There is also a great many who believe that the writings of Shakespeare were actually Ben and he used this Shakespeare howw to hide behind Good hub.
The pro and con list is a good idea. I have used that at times in my life when struggling to make an informed decision. I don’t think Ben was interested in committee.
He was brilliant, but like to chase the woman and enjoyed the drink. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Mwke and Hubbers authors may earn revenue on this page based on affiliate relationships and advertisements with partners including Amazon, Google, and.
HubPages Inc, a part of Maven Inc. As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a monwy website experience, owlcation. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so. Glenn Stok. Simple Formula for Making Decisions Make a list in two columns. This strategy has two advantages: You can visually see that one column ends up longer than the other, so it becomes obvious that either the pros win over the cons or the other way.
If the two columns are pretty much the same length, the list will still help you become more familiar with the good and the bad among the available options. Ben solved that problem, and made the list much more enlightening, dranklin applying an algorithmic technique to the process: Once he completed the list, he would analyze it and apply estimated weights to each item. Then he would strike out two items with the same hoa. He continued by removing from the list all items where one pro would equal in weight two mske.
That eliminated three items. Then he extended this in reverse by removing all items where two cons equal three pros. Conclusion Ben Franklin had a very interesting life, although a difficult one.
Great Minds: Benjamin Franklin: Founding Nerd
Ben Franklin’s Decision-Making Method and Techniques
Benjamin Franklin is famous for his money making and money saving trends, among various inventions. This plan was based on a mathematical concept known as exponential growth. Exponential growth is fraanklin term used to describe compound interest, which is what Franklin thought would make Boston and Philadelphia very dir cities in a couple hundred years. In his will, Benjamin Franklin left his money and assets to various family members and friends. Interestingly, he also left pounds just under Canadian dollars each to Boston and Philadelphia. There were some restrictions. At the end of the years, the city was allowed to spend cranklin quarters of it on a city improvement project and the rest was to be reinvested for another hundred years at the same interest rate. The formula for compound interest is:. Where T is the total amount in the fund, including the interest accumulated over t years, compounded n times annually, at an interest rate of i on a principle investment of P dollars. This will give us the total amount of the fund, including the interest, accumulated over frankli. This is because of compound. So, at the end of the years, each city should have over 21 million dollars in their investment fund. Compound interest works on the basis of exponents. Dkd fact, how much money did ben franklin make exponent is the money making difference between compound interest and simple .
Comments
Post a Comment