Mentor Advice

From Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I left school at ten years old. Ten! Every accomplishment I achieved came from books I read myself and questions I wasn't afraid to ask. Intelligence is not fixed at birth — it's a skill you build. Start a small habit: read one useful thing each day. Ask one clarifying question in each meeting. Admit when you don't know something; people respect honesty far more than pretended expertise. In a year, you'll know more than most.

From Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Ah, I know this struggle well. I once listed thirteen virtues to practice, and "Industry" was among them. Here's what worked for me: shrink the task until it feels almost trivial. Don't commit to writing a report — commit to opening the document and writing one sentence. Don't vow to exercise daily — vow to put on your shoes. The beginning is always the hardest part. Once in motion, we tend to stay in motion. Also, examine what you're avoiding. Often we procrastinate not from laziness, but from fear. Name the fear, and it shrinks.

From Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Ha! Let me tell you about my famous thirteen virtues. I devised a system to achieve moral perfection — temperance, silence, order, resolution, and so forth. I would focus on one virtue each week, tracking my failures with a little black dot in my notebook. The result? I never achieved perfection. Not even close. My book was filled with dots. Order, in particular, vexed me terribly. I could not keep my papers organized no matter how I tried. But here is what I learned: The pursuit improved me, even if the goal remained forever distant. I was like a man who wished for a speckless axe and kept grinding until the whole surface was bright, even if never perfectly smooth. "A speckled axe is best," I concluded. Some imperfection is the price of actually using your tools. Perfectionism is procrastination wearing a mask of high standards. It says, "I cannot show this to the world until it is flawless" — but that day never comes, so nothing is ever shared. Meanwhile, the person who ships imperfect work, learns from criticism, and improves... they've lapped you three times. Do your best work. Then let it go. A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan next week. Poor Richard knew this well.