#3.  Order:  Let all your things have their places.  Let each part of your business have its time.

2014 is the Year of Order for me.  I wrote the book on financial order for homeowners, but there are so many more places in my life that are screaming for order.  I can start with my desk and my garage!

On my smartphone homescreen, I have some vital apps:  Calendar, Task List, Clock.  The insight I take from Benjamin Franklin here is “Let each part of your business have its time.”  I’m pretty good at task lists, but this year, rather than just go through the task list, I’m going to work on assigning each task its time.

I know, there are time management gurus who make a career off of this stuff and might say this is simplistic.  But for me, it’s a step.  Small strokes fell great oaks.

#2.  Silence:  Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself.  Avoid trifling conversation.

Silence is golden.  How easy it is to talk bad about people.  If we do it long enough, it becomes hard to say nice things.  

Challenge:  Find someone who bugs you, then try to list a couple of nice things about them, and then engage them in a positive conversation!

Politics.  In our world today, the louder and more anti-___________ you can be, the better following you’ll get.  Our politics are more polarized than I can remember.  The farther left or right you can go, the more airtime you’ll get.  But how intelligent are we?  I’ve been thinking lately that it would be cool if there was a news organization (maybe I’m influenced by The Anchorman 2 that I just saw) that would publish/broadcast news of politicians without putting a ( D ) or an ( R ) behind their name when talking about the issues.  I don’t think we’re smart enough to do that.  We need that ( R ) or that ( D ).  They’re our safety zone.  When we hear a politician saying something, how many of us have to look for the ( D) or the ( R ) to see if we agree with them or not?

Temperance:  Eat not to dullness.  Drink not to elevation.

Happy New Year!  The first day, and the first virtue.  This might have been a good idea to publish yesterday, before New Year’s Eve.  But what better time to start than today?

I think Temperance can have a financial aspect as well.  In the book, Shawn sees Rick order the cheapest thing on the menu, and water.  You can save a lot – money, calories, weight – by ordering water!

Two years ago today, after ice fishing with a medical doctor, we stopped at a fast food joint to grab lunch.  He ordered water.  He said that he’d just read an interesting medical article that said something to the effect that if you are a regular soda drinker, just count on an extra 10 pounds of weight to haul around.  If you are a regular diet soda drinker, you can count on an extra 15 pounds.

Have a Happy New Year, tempered with self-control!