Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life takes a thorough look at the life of one of the most influential humans that ever lived and explains how he could achieve such greatness in so many different fields and areas.

Ben Franklin started learning early. At just ten years old, he took his first apprenticeship and worked ever since. So by the time he took a job with printer Samuel Keimer at age 17, he’d been learning for seven years already.

But picking an industry and committing to learning the tools of the trade is just one part of the equation. He was also hell bent on improving personally, a trait which, I think, has allowed him to confidently switch topics.

Having taken the job to further improve his writing skills, he eventually ended up staying because of the long, philosophical discussions he had with Samuel (which had a great influence on his later debating and speaking ability). To integrate learning into every single day, he even created a 5-hour rule for himself, spending one hour each weekday on reading, writing, setting goals, coming up with ideas, talking with like-minded people and reflecting.

One of the books that most impacted him is called The Pilgrim’s Progress, a religious story outlining the Christian journey in the form of a dream.

You could say that Benjamin Franklin was one of the first self-improvement nerds, loving to learn and obsessing about making consistent progress with his life, just like you and me 🙂

For all his success in business, what Ben Franklin really wanted to do was write. That’s why he took an apprenticeship with a printer in the first place. He also worked at the New England Courant, the first, independent Boston newspaper, which belonged to his brother.

Of course the only way to get better at writing is to get feedback for it, so he was eager to publish some of his essays in the newspaper, but since he was 17 years old, nobody would’ve taken him seriously. So instead, he created a female alter ego, Mrs. Silence Dogood, in whose name he published his funny first attempts at writing.

Sure, having access to a newspaper isn’t something everyone can count on, but if Ben Franklin found a way to really learn how to write in 1721, so can you in 2016. Even better, today, you can publish almost anything online, free for the world to see – whether that’s a video, a song or something you’ve written.

“I don’t have a publisher/agent/film school education” aren’t valid excuses any more. If you really want to learn, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.