Go Ask Ben

Life is both a series of choices and opportunities. This is why it is so hard to answer the question, "where do you see yourself in five years?" The question itself is flawed. A better question is, "what goals have you set for yourself that you want in the next five years?" Some will ask, "how can I set five year goals?" The easy answer is, what do you want that will take more time to achieve? One of Ben Franklin's 13 Virtues was Resolution. "Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve." - Ben Franklin Goal setting is as much planning as it is having the character to "perform without fail what you resolve." Persuing goals, both big and small, was Ben Franklin's legacy and it took him a lifetime to achieve them.  We should know where we want to be in 1, 5, and 10 years because we have set meaningful goals. If you don't, then you'll never know where you're going.

When a person wants to make a big change for the better, there will be a few things present. First, a resolve to make a defined and total change. Second, a plan to accomplish the goal. Third, a lack of character**. Yes, I said it. We often don't have the most important thing to make a real change. Ben Franklin observed this problem when he wrote, " What you seem to be, be really. ” - Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1744 In other words, the very thing you want to become, be doing those things when no one else is looking. For this is the basis of character and character becomes the foundation for personal achievement.  People who want to lose weight need to work on their character as much as their habits. People who want to want to save for retirement have to work on their character as much as their spending.  In the end, we can be whatever we want to be if we will develop the strength of character. My challenge is, "What you seem to be, be really.” **Webster's dictionary defi