How to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions (Franklin's 13-Week Method)

Most New Year's resolutions fail by February. But Benjamin Franklin used a system for self-improvement that worked for his entire life—and it's perfectly suited for New Year's resolutions. Instead of one vague goal, Franklin used 13 specific virtues, focusing on one per week in a continuous cycle.

His 13 virtues system is the original resolution methodology. Here's how to apply it to make this year the one where your resolutions actually stick.

Key Takeaways

• Franklin focused on 1 virtue per week, not all at once
• He tracked daily failures with simple marks
• The 13-week cycle repeats 4 times per year
• Specific definitions beat vague goals
• Progress comes from awareness, not perfection

Why Most Resolutions Fail

Research shows 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by mid-February. Why? They violate almost every principle of behavior change:

The Four Resolution Killers

1. Vagueness: "Be healthier" means nothing measurable
2. Overload: Trying to change everything at once
3. No tracking: What gets measured gets improved
4. No system: Relying on willpower, which is finite

Franklin's 13-week method solves all four:

• Specific: Each virtue has a precise definition
• Focused: One virtue per week, not 13 at once
• Tracked: Daily marks for every fault
• Systematic: The cycle repeats automatically

Franklin's 13-Week System

Franklin described his method in his Autobiography:

"I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues... I determined to give a week's strict attention to each of the virtues successively."

The system is elegant: 13 virtues, 13 weeks, 4 cycles per year. By year's end, you've practiced each virtue four times with focused attention.

Step 1: Choose Your 13 Virtues

Franklin chose 13 areas of character he wanted to develop. You can use his virtues or create your own. The key: each must be specific and actionable.

How to Define a Good Virtue

• Specific behavior: "Exercise 30 minutes daily" not "get fit"
• Observable: You can tell if you did it or not
• Daily applicable: Something you can practice every day

Example Modern Virtues

• "No screens after 9 PM"
• "Read 30 minutes before social media"
• "Express gratitude to one person daily"
• "Complete most important task before email"
• "Eat vegetables with every meal"

Step 2: One Focus Per Week

Franklin's insight: don't try to be perfect at everything. Pick one virtue and give it your full attention for seven days.

"Thus in the first week, my great guard was to avoid every the least offence against Temperance, leaving the other virtues to their ordinary chance."

Why One at a Time Works

• Builds focus: Attention creates awareness
• Reduces overwhelm: One change is manageable
• Creates momentum: Success in week 1 motivates week 2
• Forms habits: 7 days of intense focus starts building patterns

Step 3: Daily Tracking

Franklin marked every failure with a dot. His goal was a clean page—a week with no dots. This simple tracking created powerful accountability.

"I was surpris'd to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined."

How to Track

• Each night, review the day
• Mark any fault against your focus virtue
• Aim for "clean" days—no faults
• Watch for patterns: when and why you fail

Use our Ben Franklin Virtues app to track digitally, just as Franklin tracked with his paper book.

Step 4: Four Cycles Per Year

13 weeks = 1 cycle. 52 weeks ÷ 13 = 4 cycles per year. Each virtue gets four weeks of focused attention annually.

The Power of Repetition

• Cycle 1: Build initial awareness
• Cycle 2: Deepen practice, fewer faults
• Cycle 3: Habits solidifying
• Cycle 4: Near-automatic behavior

Franklin practiced this system for decades. He never achieved perfection, but he achieved improvement—which is the point.

Franklin's 13 Virtues for Your Resolution

You can adopt Franklin's original virtues or adapt them. Here they are with his definitions:

1. Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation
2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself
3. Order: Let all things have their places; let each business have its time
4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail
5. Frugality: Make no expense but to do good; waste nothing
6. Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful
7. Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly
8. Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting benefits
9. Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries
10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation
11. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles or accidents
12. Chastity: Use the intimacy with moderation for health or offspring
13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates

Modern Adaptation

Starting This Week

1. List 13 areas you want to improve this year
2. Give each a specific, measurable definition
3. Order them (start with easiest for quick wins)
4. Begin week 1 on Monday with your first virtue
5. Track nightly—mark any failures
6. After 13 weeks, start cycle 2

For the complete breakdown of each virtue and how to practice it, see our Complete Guide to Franklin's 13 Virtues.

Track Your Resolution Progress

Use our Ben Franklin Virtues app to track your weekly focus virtue, mark daily faults, and watch your progress across all four cycles. Franklin proved this system works—let it work for you.