Author: Henry Anderson

In all honesty I was I would have taken this challenge more seriously. Because it was school related I didn’t get as into practicing my virtues as I would have like too because it felt like school work rather than bettering myself. Reflecting back on the 10 days that we spent on this assignment I do think that this assignment is better than the average English assignment because it has given me an opportunity to improve and better Myself if I were to put in a lot of effort. Although I don’t feel like I made progress for myself these 10 days I still hope that I can continue to better myself by trying to follow some of the ideas from this assignment.

moderation- I would say moderation was one of the virtues I focused on the most. Before this assignment I was hanging out with friends every night and spent little to no time with family and struggling to get my schoolwork done. i made sure to time manage better during the ten days and I would hang out with my little brother and always watch a show with my dad before I went to bed. Doing this was enjoy able because I really do like spending time with my family. My grades also improved and if finals go how I want I should end with very good grades.

frugality- Frugality was one of my strongest virtues during this challenge. The reason that I decided to use this as one of my virtues is because at the time of the beginning of the assignment I was just starting to run out of money from my summer job. This was a major change in my life due to the fact that I was spending like crazy before the assignment. Being more frugal led me to eating healthier because I stopped eating out and cooking for my self. Another positive was that I stopped doing things with friends that cost so much money and sent more time with my family.

accountability- For me accountability and moderation went hand and hand. With spending less time with my friends it allowed me more time to do school work. Also I now find my self in a new habit of doing school work with extra time at the end of class instead of going straight to my phone. This has led to an improvement in my grades so I would say that accountability was a success over these 10 days.

self-discipline- I did a poor job at self discipline. My goal was to go to the gym every day but I only went like half the time. Although it was a busy 10 days for me I still would like to have spent more effort on this virtue. I plan to really focus on this one after Christmas break to improve my self so hopefully this is a positive from this assignment.

cleanliness- Cleanliness was a virtue that I was not very good at keeping up throughout the 10 days. When I started this assignment I wanted to help my mom with the house more and keep my room clean and that just didn’t happen. My room stayed clean for like two days then went back to it’s normal state. I did the dishes a few times but I didn’t help my mom to the extent that I wanted too.

moderation- A

frugality- A

accountability- A

self-discipline- A

cleanliness- B

This was the last day of the challenge and it was much better than yesterday. Today I finally got back to the gym, I didn’t spend any money and I spent time with my family. I think today was a blueprint for how I want every day to go and I hope that I continue that now that the challenge is over. I wouldn’t say that I was successful in this challenge because I know I could have done way better. I can still work and practice my virtues after the challenge to live a happier and healthier life.

moderation- B

frugality- D

accountability- C

self-discipline- C

cleanliness- B

Today was not my best day for the challenge. I’ve started to lose motivation and I don’t know why. I went out to lunch for the second time during the challenge and one of my goals was to stop spending money. This was also the second day in a row where I didn’t make it to the gym. One positive thing was I got all of my school work done. I need to get back on track for the next two days to actually gain something out of this challenge. Tomorrow I am going to make it a priority to make it to the gym and to spend time with my family. 

moderation- C

frugality- A

accountability- A

self-discipline- C

cleanliness- C

I Started off today as stressed as I have been through the past eight days. I had an exam in my class that I struggle the most in, physics. I am proud of myself for putting in the work last night and today to succeed. I took the initiative to go and get all my questions answered by my teacher which is something I wouldn’t normally do. After school I spent time with friends as opposed to spending time with family. I didn’t make it to the gym for the third day in a row so tomorrow I’ll make a better effort to make it to the gym. 

moderation- D

frugality- D

accountability- B

self-discipline- B

cleanliness- A

Today was one of my more stressful days of the challenge because I have a physics exam tomorrow. Because of this I struggled with spending time with my family. Today I would also consider a failure because I went out for lunch today and one of my goals was to not spend money on food when I don’t have to. I didn’t make it to the gym today but I did play football after school. I did well on studying for my physics exam so that is a positive. I also helped my mom in the kitchen which was also a positive. 

moderation- A

frugality- A

accountability- B

self-discipline- A

cleanliness- A

Today was the best day of following and improving on my virtues. I started off my day by waking up and doing my school work. This was a surprise to me because I normally don’t have the motivation to do my homework until later. Then I went to my sister’s house and raked and bagged leaves for four and a half hours. After that I came home and played XBox with my little brother. I spent more time with my family today than the rest of the days for this challenge. After I played Xbox with my brother I had a family dinner then I ended the night going over to a friends house to watch the chiefs game. Today my work ethic was better than any day during the challenge.

moderation- B

frugality- A

accountability- B

self-discipline- C

cleanliness- D

Today was the first day of the challenge during the weekend. I had a college football party at my neighbors house today so I didn’t have to spend money on food. Also because of this football party I was able to spend time with my family at the same time as hanging out with my friends. This was my strongest day for my moderation virtue because I spent equal amounts of time with my friends and my family. I didn’t make it to the gym today because I spent all day at my neighbors house. Even though I didn’t make it to the gym I in a way made it up because I played a lot of backyard football today. I feel it was harder to focus on my virtues over the weekend. I don’t go on my computer over the weekend until Sunday most weekends so there were times I forgot to focus on my virtues. 

moderation- D

frugality- D

accountability- B

self-discipline- C

cleanliness- B

I had an all around average day as far as the challenge goes. I spent almost no time with my family because I had plans with my friends. I spent twenty dollars on dinner which is the most that I’ve spent through this whole challenge. I did make it to the gym today and my room is clean so I still did well on a few of my virtues. I also helped my mom clean the kitchen after school. I need to bounce back and have a better day tomorrow to get back on track.

Grades

moderation- C

frugality- A

accountability- D

self-discipline- B

cleanliness- B

Day three wasn’t as successful as the first two. I really procrastinated on my homework and didn’t finish my homework until around 11. It was also the first day when I cracked and ate some of my little brother’s Halloween candy. Although I still made it to the gym, the actual workout wasn’t as good as previous days. I didn’t have a chance to spend money today so at least I was good there. I had an off day today but I hope to learn and improve from this day. 

Grades

moderation- A

frugality- C

accountability- B

self-discipline- A

cleanliness- A

Day two of this challenge went about as well as day one. I focused on the same virtues as I did day one and again I was successful. Just as day one I completed all of my school work and homework in class so I had plenty of time to spend with my family. I still found time to clean my room and go to the gym after school. Before this challenge started I didn’t realize just how much time I had when I don’t procrastinate with homework. I feel less stressed than usual so I think today was a success.

Grades

moderation- A

frugality- D

accountability- A

self-discipline- A

cleanliness- B

Today is day 1 and I am excited to start on this two week journey. Today I really focused on Self-discipline. I made my own healthier meal tonight and made it to the gym. Another thing that I did better today than usual was working on my school work. I completed all of my homework in class today and that left me with more time to spend with my family. Because I didn’t have to do homework I was also able to practice football so my moderation with spending time with friends, family, and football also was a lot better today. Overall I would say my first day was a success. I hope to build on today and continue to improve throughout these two weeks. 

Franklin believed in the idea of striving for moral perfection. Although no one can ever be actually perfect I think it is a great idea to have that mindset in life. Researching Franklin motivated me to try and take this challenge more seriously because of how much he accomplished in his life. I also am motivated for this challenge because I am always looking for ways to better myself. Franklin attempted to accomplish this by creating a list of virtues. 

The five virtues that I have decided to work on are moderation, frugality, accountability, self-discipline, and cleanliness. Firstly I am going to work on moderation by spreading out my time better between football, friends, and family. A way that I am going to do this is by making sure I spend time with my family before I work on football and hangout with friends. The next virtue I am going to work on is frugality. I spend way too much money on food and things I don’t need so I am going to start eating at home and not spending money where I don’t have to. I do this by keeping track of my spending. Another virtue I am going to work on is accountability. I need to hold myself accountable for my school work and continue to improve my grades. I will do this by creating a planner and making sure I finish all of my work. Self discipline is another virtue I will work on. When I work on self discipline my goal is to continue to go to the gym every day but also start making my own healthier meals for myself. The last virtue that I am going to work on is cleanliness. I want to keep my room clean and help my mom around the house more. 

My hope for this challenge is that I will come out at the end as a better and healthier person. I know I won’t be able to become morally perfect in two weeks but I still think it is always a good idea to try and better myself. If I see real change in my life for the better I hope I carry on with practicing perfecting these virtues after these two weeks.